ERLE OR, PEAT FL 2 203 
blast, our clothing saturated and frozen, and our bodies 
faint and numb with starvation and cold. But we were 
now within reach of the land, and all of us who were 
able gladly scrambled out upon the ice to stretch our 
cramped and stiffened limbs. My brother was in a per- 
ishing condition from the exposure of the night. He 
had been barely: able to keep his canoe afloat by bailing, 
and had sat in the icy water for seventeen hours. I 
wrapped him up as warmly as I could and administered 
half a bottle of Jamaica ginger, the last of our stock. 
We then set about hauling the canoes over the ice to 
the shore, which we soon reached, and where we were 
so fortunate as to find drift-wood. <A fire was quickly 
made, camp pitched, and better still, a meal prepared. 
On the previous day a seal, the only one secured on the 
trip, had been shot, and we were now in a position 
to appreciate it. The three western men were still 
fairly strong, but the remaining five of us were very 
weak and badly used up. We knew now, however, that 
we could be no great distance from Churchill, for we 
had again reached the wooded country, and two or three 
miles back from the shore could be seen dark clumps of 
spruce trees. This was a most consoling fact, for besides 
having meat for several days, we felt that we would 
have shelter and fire. 
As to launching our canoes again, that was ate 
out of the question. If we would reach Churchill at all 
it must be by land. 
As most of us were unable to walk, the only course 
open appeared to be to send on some of the stronger 
men to, if possible, reach the fort and bring back a relief 
party. This plan was proposed, and two of the western 
