Grouse. 8 3 



lasted long enough to make the ice solid, besides which it 

 was covered with about half an inch of light snow that 

 had fallen, concealing all bad-looking places. The ice 

 after bearing the cautiously stepping pony for a few 

 yards would suddenly break and let him down to the 

 bottom, and he would then have to plunge and paw his 

 way through to the opposite shore. Often it is almost im- 

 possible to make a pony attempt the crossing under such 

 circumstances ; and I have seen ponies which had to be 

 knocked down and pulled across glare ice on their sides. 

 If the horse slips and falls it is a serious matter to the 

 rider ; for a wetting in such cold weather, with a long 

 horseback journey to make, is no joke. 



I was still several miles from the hut I was striving to 

 reach when the sun set ; and for some time previous the 

 valley had been in partial darkness, though the tops of 

 the sombre bluffs around were still lit up. The pony 

 loped steadily on along the trail, which could be dimly 

 made out by the starlight. I hurried the willing little 

 fellow all I could without distressing him, for though I 

 knew the road pretty well, yet I doubted if I could find it 

 easily in perfect darkness ; and the clouds were gathering 

 overhead with a rapidity which showed that the starlight 

 would last but a short while. The light snow rendered 

 the hoof beats of my horse mufHed and indistinct ; and 

 almost the only sound that broke the silence was the long- 

 drawn, melancholy howling of a wolf, a quarter of a mile 

 off. When we came to the last crossing the pony was 

 stopped and watered ; and we splashed through over a 

 rapid where the ice had formed only a thin crust. On the 



