THE SUSQUEHANNA!!. 101 
would be death. Luckily I had a pair of pistols 
in my hulsters, and having fired a few signals, 
the attention of the people on shore was at¬ 
tracted towards us, and a small batteau, which 
is a light boat with a flat bottom, was dis¬ 
patched for our relief. This was not sent, 
however, for the purpose of bringing a single- 
person back again, but to assist us in gettings 
to the opposite shore. It was slipped along 
ahead of the large boat, and two or three 
men having stepped into it, rocked it about 
from side to side until the ice was sufficiently 
broken for the large boat to follow. The bat¬ 
teau was now in the w ater, and the men seat¬ 
ing themselves as much as possible towards 
the stern, by so doing raised the bow of it 
considerably above the ice ; by means of boat¬ 
hooks it was then pulled on the ice again, and 
by rocking it about as before a passage was 
as easily opened. In this manner we got on, 
and at the end of three hours and ten minutes 
found ourselves again upon dry land, fully pre¬ 
pared for enjoying the pleasures of a bright 
fireside and a good dinner. The people at the 
tavern had seen us coming across, and had 
accordingly prepared for our reception ; and as 
each individual thought he had travelled quite 
far enough that day, the passengers remained 
<* 
/ together till the next morning. 
