MORE DISASTERS. 131 



wretched was our situation, that of our poor mess- 

 mate particularly, aggravated as it was by illness and 

 extra exposure. 



Another day dawned, but brought no comfort to 

 our now chilled souls as well as bodies. Think, dear 

 friends, of the utter desolation and dreariness of 

 uninterrupted snow ; the livelong day, the weary 

 night, snow, only snow, now falling perpendicularly 

 in broad and massive flakes, now driven by the 

 freezing blast in slanting sheets which sought each 

 nook and cranny for a resting-place. In scenes of 

 stirring excitement there is much to blind one to 

 possible contingencies, or at least they are congenial 

 to the spirit, but this our miserable condition, deso- 

 late and monotonous, called for all the quicksilver 

 in one's veins. 



A partial clearance towards noon stimulated 

 Mooldooyah to a new effort, but no success attended 

 his endeavours, which only created fresh troubles. 

 In descending a steep hill, my sledge broke down, 

 and we had only just again started, after a long delay 

 to repair it, when, at the steepest part of the descent, 

 Martin's equipage turned over and threw him and a 

 large case of pemmican out upon the snow. I tried 

 to stop his dogs, but they ran, sledge and all, over 

 me and escaped to the bottom of the hill, where they 



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