ACROSS THE ST. LAWRENCE 239 



down three, which we secured. They were a 

 God-send to us. My brother was suffering from 

 cold feet and hands. I plucked the feathers, 

 warm and dry and stuffed his mittens and shoes 

 with them, the two Labries using in the same way 

 what little was left. The meat I put in my car- 

 tridge bag in reserve. All that day we held on 

 to our piece of ice. The wind had increased to 

 a strong gale and the weather clearing, it got 

 intensely cold. (It registered that evening at 

 Pointe des Monts, 15 below zero) . 



At sunset we were about 14 miles S.-E. of 

 Pointe des Monts. Mr. Fafard, the lighthouse 

 keeper, had very thoughtfully kindled the light 

 for us, in case we might require it as a guide to 

 the shore. For a while it showed us our position, 

 but at eight o'clock we lost sight of it. The 

 ever-increasing width of open water to the N--W. 

 of us was now sufficiently long to raise a good sea 

 and we began to feel the roll, till near 10 p.m. it 

 became so heavy that the sea washed over our piece 

 of ice. The open water was then close to us. I 

 estimated we were then 18 miles S--E. of Pointe 

 des Monts. Our only safety now lay in getting 

 deeper into the ice towards the South Shore. The 

 canoes were got ready and we shoved on south- 

 wards. For awhile we resumed the "ladder 

 work" . Then as we got further south, the ice got 

 firmer with the cold, and began to bear us, and 

 we dragged the canoes. An hour later we struck 



