LOST IN THE FOG 115 



WEDNESDAY, Aug. 23. On getting up this morn- 

 ing, we found it very foggy : nevertheless we went out 

 as usual after birds, but saw very few. In trying to 

 return to our cabin, we lost all idea of the points of 

 the compass, and, although we were not a quarter of a 

 mile away, we were entirely ignorant of where we 

 were, or of the direction in which we were going. 

 There was no danger of our being permanently lost, as 

 we could not walk far in any direction without coming 

 to roads and inhabited country ; but it gave us consid- 

 erable uneasiness to find ourselves in such a predica- 

 ment. 



We wandered about for some time, over fallen trees, 

 through thick underbrush and ferns, but could find no 

 path, or anything we had ever seen before. At last I 

 sat down on the ground, and, taking a pencil and paper, 

 tried to recall the direction in which we had been wan- 

 dering. I had come to the conclusion that our course 

 lay in the opposite direction to that we were pursuing, 

 when Shelley called out that he could see a cabin, which 

 must be inhabited, as smoke was coming out of the 

 chimney. We started for it in a bee-line, over the 

 fallen trees, until almost near enough to knock at 

 the door, when, to our surprise and joy, we discovered 

 that it was our own cosey abode. The fire was blazing 

 briskly in the great fireplace, and we concluded to 

 remain at home till the fog should clear away. 



About noon the sun came out, and we started again, 



