.230 THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE BY LAND. 



Tlie flowers in the open glade were very gay ; 

 tiger lilies, roses, the Gallardia picta, the blue borage, 

 the white and purple vetch, red orchis, and the marsh 

 violet were the most conspicuous. After leaving the 

 lake, tracks diverged in various directions, and the 

 one we followed ended at the river's edge. We, how- 

 ever, discovered an old, grown-up track, which also 

 came to an end very quickly, where was a rough log 

 structure, which appeared to have been used as a cache 

 for meat, for it was too small to have served as a dwell - 

 iuo-. The river here widened into a lake about a mile in 

 ]eno"th, and some half a mile in breadth. We encamped 

 for the night, hoping to recover the right trail on the 

 inorrow. The mosquitoes and gad-flies were more 

 tormenting than ever, and the horses wandered rest- 

 lessly about all night long. Mr. O'B., who chose to 

 make his bed in the open air, passed a wakeful time, 

 in expectation of being trampled to death by the 

 horses, who persisted in walking over him in spite of 

 the thumpings they received from a long pole w^hich 

 he invariably kept beside his bed for the purpose, and 

 before daylight he crept into the lodge for safety. 

 Milton, dreaming at the time, w^oke up with a shout, 

 and Mr. O'B. cried out in terror, " Oh, dear ! oh, dear ! 

 this is perfectly horrible — what has happened ? It's 

 ^y^^]y r^^iQ — (9'^. — dont shoot, mi/ lord T Every one then 

 woke up, and there was a general commotion ; but 

 flndino- the alarm groundless, all returned to their 

 blankets, except the unhappy cause of the disturbance, 

 who remained sitting out the hom's of darkness, too 

 discomposed for sleep. 



