56 SPORT, TRAVEL, AND ADVENTURE 



At two in the afternoon we reached timber limit, 

 and here a few stunted trees showed their tips above 

 the snow ; but beyond, the bleak surfaces of Deep 

 and Long Lakes appeared bare and forbidding, and 

 the loud shriek of the gathering gale warned us to 

 venture no farther that day. We hurriedly scooped 

 a hole in the snow, and lined it with our furs ; then 

 the sleigh was mounted as a bulwark against the drifts, 

 and we lay down in our strange excavations, ex- 

 hausted and utterly disheartened. Mac at length broke 

 the silence. ' We might have a fire o* some sort,' 

 he said, looking round. Very gingerly he and his 

 companion crawled towards the tree -tops, and broke 

 off the tough green branches. After much coaxing 

 the unwilling wood ignited, and we clustered joyfully 

 round the pungent smoke for there was little else 

 and endeavoured to infuse some warmth into our frozen 

 bodies. The thick blackness of night was rapidly 

 closing over, and the storm showed no signs of 

 diminishing ; so we obtained what timber we could 

 from the tree-tops and stored it in our shelter to feed 

 the feeble fire through the long, dreary night. Then 

 we thawed some snow and boiled a ' billy ' of coffee, 

 and the warm fluid helped to sustain us greatly, ; but 

 still the wind howled, and the snow pattered down on 

 our faces with relentless force, and the drifts from the 

 edge of our pit ever and anon deluged us. How we 

 passed that night is beyond description. We huddled 

 near to each other for warmth, while our dog beside 

 us groaned and shivered violently, despite all our efforts 

 to protect him from the icy blasts. 



Morning at last arrived, but no welcome light 

 appeared ; the air continued murky and dense with 



