30 THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE BY LAND. 



were barely above the surface. It became very doubt- 

 ful whether they would float till daybreak. 



The night air was raw and cold, and as we sat in 

 our involuntary hip-bath, with the rain beating upon 

 us, we shivered from head to foot ; our teeth chattered, 

 and our hands became so benumbed that we could 

 scarcely grasp the paddles. But we dared not take a 

 moment's rest from our exciting work, in watching 

 and steering clear of the snags and rocks, although we 

 were almost tempted to give up, and resign ourselves 

 to chance. 



Never will any of us forget the misery of that 

 night, or the intense feeling of relief we experienced 

 when we first observed rather a lessening of the 

 darkness than any positive appearance of light. 

 Shortly before this, the storm began sensibly to abate ; 

 but the rain poured down as fast as ever when we 

 hastily landed in the grey morning on a muddy bank, 

 the first practicable place w^e came to. Drawing our 

 canoes high on shore, that they might not be swept ofi" 

 by the rising flood, we wrapped ourselves in our 

 dripping blankets, and, utterly weary and worn out, 

 slept long and soundly. Q) 



(^) Mr. Eoss, the author of the " Fur Hunters of the Far "West," in 

 his " History of the Red River Settlement," makes mention of a storm 

 very similar to the one described above. In that instance the party 

 were camping out on the plains ; three tents were struck by the 

 lightning, and two men, a woman, and two children killed. Several 

 horses and dogs were also killed. The rain fell in such torrents, 

 that in the course of a few minutes the flood of water was so 

 great that two small children narrowly escaped being drowned. A 

 summer rarely passes in Red River without the loss of several lives 

 by lightning. 



