OF THE POLAR SEA. 



21 



formed with the greatest coolness and judg- 

 ment. It is impossible to describe my sen- 

 sations as I witnessed the various unsuc- 

 cessful attempts to relieve Belanger. The 

 distance prevented my seeing distinctly 

 what was going on, and I continued pacing 

 up and down upon the rock on which I 

 landed, regardless of the coldness of my 

 drenched and stiffening garments. The 

 canoe, in every attempt to reach him, was 

 hurried down the rapid, and was lost to 

 view amongst the rocky islets, with a ra- 

 pidity that seemed to threaten certain de- 

 struction; once, indeed, I fancied that I 

 saw it overwhelmed in the waves. Such 

 an event would have been fatal to the whole 

 party. Separated as I was from my com- 

 panions, without gun, ammunition, hatchet, 

 or the means of making a fire, and in wet 

 clothes, my doom would have been speedily 

 sealed. My companions too, driven to the 

 necessity of coasting the lake, must have 

 sunk under the fatigue of rounding its in- 

 numerable arms and bays, which, as we 

 have learned from the Indians, are very 



