ACROSS THE ST. LAWRENCE 237 



not move, and though it may vary in thickness 

 from six to seven inches to as many feet, one can- 

 not walk on it. The only means of advance in 

 such a case is to work the canoes in the manner 

 termed by seal hunters "ladder work," which is 

 accomplished in the following manner : All the 

 four men get into one canoe. The light and emp- 

 ty one is then drawn up alongside and pushed 

 forwards its whole length. The men then all get 

 into it, while the other is in turn drawn up and 

 the same thing repeated over and over again. 

 Twelve feet are thus gained each time. It is slow 

 and laborious work, but it has been the salvation 

 of many a canoe's crew. In our case it failed 

 owing to the gale of northwest wind and the heavy 

 current. For three hours we worked steadily at 

 this "ladder work/' losing ground all the time, 

 till we gave it up as a useless expenditure of 

 strength. 



A canoe manned by another brother of mine 

 Peter and a young hunter named M. Boucher, 

 made a desperate attempt to come out to us, but 

 the gale had increased so much that they had to 

 turn back. When we ceased work we were more 

 than four miles out. 



In the canoes we were very much exposed to 

 the cold wind and badly cramped up, besides 

 which I was soaking wet. Here and there 

 amongst the slush were pieces of solid ice. We 

 therefore went to work again to reach such a 



