RESTING: THEN ON AGAIN. 155 



reached a position on the hills directly opposite the houses on the 

 other bank. After a great deal of hallooing and shooting blank 

 discharges of powder from our guns, a boat started out from the 

 other side, and slowly approached us ; soon we were on the oppo- 

 site side and close beside a nice warm fire, drying our wet clothes 

 and partaking of the hospitality of a kind-hearted inhabitant of this 

 little settlement. 



Here I found two young men who were destined for the same 

 point that I hoped to reach that night, so I decided to avail 

 myself of the opportunity and accompany them. 



We first called on some of the inhabitants of the place, and 

 found them cordial and genial people, well meaning and hospitable 

 to strangers. I found myself invited to partake of bread and tea at 

 each place, and at last was obliged to refuse absolutely even the tea 

 which was thus generously pressed upon me, and which is the 

 beverage so abundantly partaken of all along this coast. At last 

 we had finished all our calls, for the present at least, and so we all 

 started for Old Fort Bay, seven miles distant across the river, the hills, 

 and several ponds. Since our journey presents a continuation of 

 the one I had just taken, except inland instead of along the di- 

 rect coast line, I will try to give you some idea of it. 



The scenery here is very similar to that we had just witnessed, 

 with the same features of frozen river and lakes, and journeyings 

 over hills and snowy slopes ; but there was enough variety to 

 make the trip new and pleasant, rather than full of tedious mo- 

 notony. 



We started on our journey by rounding the bend of the river 

 which had this year been frozen over earlier than usual, when we 

 came at once upon a long stretch of open ice. In this part of the 

 river, as in fact in any of these salt-water lake basins, the water usu- 

 ally freezes several times before it finally becomes caught on either 

 side. Each time it freezes, the soft ice loosens and goes floating down 

 the river ; thus several days of alternate freezing and open water 

 occur usually before the ice finally catches for the winter. Strange 

 to say, this year the ice caught and held the first time, and so, as 



