CROSSING THE NELSON. 231 
hours we tramped southward down the coast, with the 
cutting wind in our faces. During the afternoon we 
sought shelter, but finding none our course was altered 
and shaped for the nearest wood, several miles inland. 
The great advantage of travelling on the open plain 
is that there the snow is driven hard, and hence the 
walking is much better than in the woods, where the 
snow is soft and deep. Nevertheless, when the weather 
is rough, as it was on this occasion, the heavy walking 
is preferable to travelling in the open country in the 
teeth of the storm. 
For the remainder of the day we bore southward, 
and about sunset made camp on the south bank of a 
stream known as Sam’s Creek, in a lovely snow-laden, 
evergreen forest—an ideal Canadian winter woodland 
picture. From this beautiful but chilling scene our 
tramp was continued next morning at daylight. The 
low shore of the Nelson was again reached and fol- 
lowed, until about noon a decided change in the character 
of the land was observed. A boulder clay bank com- 
menced to make its appearance, and this as we advanced 
rapidly reached an elevation of twenty-five or thirty 
feet, and as we proceeded up the river became higher 
and more thickly wooded. The change was a great 
relief from the level, treeless coast. 
We were now well within the mouth of the great 
Nelson River, and could already, through the rising 
vapor, dimly see the outline of the opposite shore. 
Considerable ice was coming down the river, and on 
this account we felt some anxiety as to crossing, but we 
were now within a few miles of the boat of which we 
had been informed, and it seemed possible that we might 
