CHAPTER XV.
LIFE OR DEATH?
After the great five days' storm, which lasted until
the 4th of October, the whole country was buried in
snow, and every possibility of finding even a little moss
for fuel was excluded. Winter indeed had overtaken
us. Ice was forming all along the shore of the Bay,
and it was evident that within a very few days travel
by canoe must be at an end.
On the above date, though light snow continued to fall, the wind had gone down sufficiently to admit of launching the canoes after a long portage out to meet the tide. In spite of the most vigorous exertion, all we were able to make during the day was ten miles, and that through a chilling spray which froze upon us and encased canoes and men in an armor of ice. We had great difficulty in getting ashore at night, having again to portage a long distance over the low-tide boulder flats.
On the following morning the water of the Bay was out of sight, and it was not until about noon, when the tide flowed in, that we were able to float the canoes. We were so obstructed by the new ice and a strong head-wind, that we were not able to make more than a mile or two before being again forced to struggle to the
