248 JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 



lined with blankets, and furred caps; but 

 none of them used any defence for the face, 

 or needed any. Indeed we have already 

 mentioned that the heat is abstracted most 

 rapidly from the body during strong breezes, 

 and most of those who have perished from 

 cold in this country, have fallen a sacrifice 

 to their being overtaken on a lake or other 

 unsheltered place, by a storm of wind. The 

 intense colds were, however, detrimental to 

 us in another way. The trees froze to their 

 very centres and became as hard as stones, 

 and more difficult to cut. Some of the 

 axes were broken daily, and by the end of 

 the month we had only one left that was fit 

 for felling trees. By entrusting it only to 

 one of the party who had been bred a car- 

 penter, and who could use it with dexterity, 

 it was fortunately preserved until the arrival 

 of our men with others from Fort Provi- 

 dence. 



A thermometer, hung in our bed-room 

 at the distance of sixteen feet from the fire, 

 but exposed to its direct radiation, stood 

 even in the day time occasionally at 15° 



