A STEADY DOWNPOUR. 89 



logs, a foot in diameter, on the fire, we kept it 

 going. We still had a little tea and a few 

 crumbs of broken biscuit left, and so were not 

 very badly off after all. 



On the following day we were unable to move 

 and had scarcely anything to eat — nothing, in 

 fact, but a small ration of biscuit — as we thought 

 it advisable to keep a little in reserve. As long 

 as the rain lasted we occupied our time in chop- 

 ping down dead trees and keeping the fire going, 

 but as soon as the weather cleared, as it did 

 early in the afternoon, we set to work to dry 

 our things, and by nightfall had everything 

 comfortable once more. 



The clouds had by this time completely 

 disappeared, and the moon, now nearly at the 

 full, was shining softly over forest, lake, and 

 river. During the night there was a hard 

 frost, and the next day— November 7th — was 

 beautifully bright and fine. We made an early 

 start, and getting on to the high ground as 

 soon as possible — since all the low lands near 

 the lake were deeply flooded — walked steadily 

 all day. When the sun went down we were 



