CHAPTER XV. 



LIFE OE DEATH? 

 FTER the great five days' storm, which lasted until 

 4th of October, the whole country was buried in 

 y , and every possibility of finding even a little moss 

 fuel was excluded. Winter indeed had overtaken 

 us. Ice was forming all along the shore of the Bay, 

 and it was evident that within a very few days travel 

 by canoe must be at an end. 



I On the above date, though light snow continued to 

 fall, the wind had gone down sufficiently to admit of 

 launching the canoes after a long portage out to meet 

 the tide. In spite of the most vigorous exertion, all we 

 were able to make during the day was ten miles, and 

 that through a chilling spray which froze upon us and 

 encased canoes and men in an armor of ice. We had 

 great difficulty in getting ashore at night, having again 

 to portage a long distance over the low-tide boulder 

 flats. 



On the following morning the water of the Bay was 

 out of sight, and it was not until about noon, when the 

 tide flowed in, that we were able to float the canoes. 

 We were so obstructed by the new ice and a strong 

 head- wind, that we were not able to make more than a 

 mile or two before being again forced to struggle to the 



