A NIGHT ON THE MUD-FLATS. 167 



bordering the eastern side of the lake, without a bush or a shrub 

 to shelter them from its fury. Lieutenant Gunnison says — "The 

 skiff was dragged for half a mile into three inches water, when the 

 wind suddenly shifted to the north, and blew a tremendous gale. 

 Our course was north, and we endeavoured to force our way with 

 four men wading by the sides of the boat, but the gale was too 

 powerful for them, and drove the whole company off the course, so 

 that by the time we were in one foot water, we were obliged to 

 stop ; the spray dashed over the boat in showers ; the rain and hail 

 came down in torrents ; and soon all hands were drenched to the 

 skin. The mist shut down upon us, and we could only see a few 

 steps around. It was nearly sunset, and rapidly growing dark. 

 The men became bewildered, and despaired of reaching camp, de- 

 claring that they could not survive till morning. The snow began 

 to fall fast and the air to become more chilly and raw. Our 

 course was now completely lost, and it was rapidly becoming too 

 dark to read the compass much longer. We therefore determined 

 to turn back for the mud-flat from which we had started, so that 

 we might at least have solid ground upon which to pass the night. 

 After wading and dragging our boat for about a mile, we came 

 upon our trail of yesterday. The men becoming too stiff and 

 benumbed to proceed any farther, we managed to turn the skiff up 

 on its side, as a shelter from the piercing wind, and laying down 

 the oars and thwarts to keep us as much as possible out of the 

 mud, (which was about four inches deep,) we huddled together be- 

 hind it. In a couple of hours the wind lulled, the skiff was turned 

 again upon its bottom, the muddy boards arranged as a sort of 

 platform, and we prepared for our night's lodging. I placed two 

 of the men edgewise on the bottom of the boat, and crawled in 

 alongside of them. The two extra men, (there were five of us,) 

 laid themselves down on the lower tier, taking care to break joints. 

 We had a bit of an old sail, which, in turning up the skiff, had 

 been well trampled in the mud, and was in rather a sorry condi- 

 tion. This we dragged over us as a covering from the snow, which 

 was falling fast. Although we were almost freezing, the heat from 

 our bodies was sufficient to melt it and cause it to trickle down 

 upon us, to our great discomfort. 



"About eleven o'clock, as nearly as we could judge, the snow 

 ceased to fall, but the piercing wind howled over us till daylight. 

 Nearly frozen to death, we hailed the first streaks of day, and 

 jumped cheerfully into the icy mud, pushed our boat a couple of 



