Snow Shoes and Canoes | Page 6

anxious about me, and would take every
means to discover where I had gone; but even in daylight he could not
have followed my track, as the snow must instantly have obliterated it.
I resolved as long as I had strength to push on, though I had missed the
wood for which I was aiming. I might, I hoped, in time reach another
which would afford me protection.
The storm instead of abating only seemed to increase in violence. As
the night wore on I found my poor horse advancing at a slower and
slower pace, showing how fatigued it had become, while I had scarcely
strength left to move forward; still I was afraid to halt. At last it
stopped altogether, and I myself felt utterly exhausted. Further it was
impossible to go, but how to endure the cold and keep the blood
circulating in my veins was the question. It seemed to me that I must
inevitably perish; still I resolved to make an effort to preserve my life.
My horse was standing stock-still, with its back to the wind. I
bethought me that the only chance I had of retaining existence was to
dig a hole in the snow, in which I might crouch down, and wait till the
storm was over. I set desperately to work. While so employed, the drift
eddying around my head nearly suffocated me; still I persevered.
Having dug down to the ground, I took off the pack-saddle from the
horse's back, which I placed as a cushion below me, and then putting
the saddle-cloth over my shoulders I crouched down in the hole I had

made, which I could not help dreading was more likely to prove my
grave than to afford any efficient shelter.
I knew for certain that, should I fall asleep, death would ensue, and that
I must exert all my energies to keep awake. I had not been long seated,
doubled up in my burrow like a mummy, before I felt the cold begin to
steal over me. My feet were the first to suffer. I tried to keep them
warm by moving them about, but it was of no use.
At last I took off my frozen shoes, and tucked my feet under me on the
pack-saddle; then I rubbed them as hard as I could. I was tempted at
last to take the horsecloth off my shoulders, and to wrap my feet up in
it, but all was of no use. They appeared to me to be frozen, while my
whole body seemed changing into ice. At last I had scarcely strength to
move either my hands or feet. During this time the inclination to sleep
almost overcame me. I struggled against it with all the resolution I
possessed. I was perfectly well aware that, should I give way to it,
death would be the consequence.
I took every means I could think of to keep awake. I shouted; I even
sang, or rather I tried to sing; but the most melancholy strains were the
only results of my efforts, my voice sounding as hollow as that from a
skull--if voices ever do come out of skulls, on which subject I venture
to be sceptical.
I kept moving from side to side, and up and down, filled with the dread
that, should I stop, I should fall asleep. The snow all the time was
gathering round my head, forming an arch over me, and I had
frequently to make a hole in front, so as to obtain sufficient air for
breathing.
How I lived through that dreadful night I cannot tell. Morning came at
last; the snow had ceased to fall as thickly as before, allowing the light
to penetrate through the veil drawn over the earth. Faint as was the light,
it gave me a glimpse of hope. I might still reach the wood, and by
obtaining a fire thaw my benumbed limbs. My first efforts were
directed towards breaking out of my icy prison; but the hole in front of
me was so small that it was not till I had made several attempts that I

could force my body through it.
I at length managed to get up on my feet, when I took a look round.
There stood my poor horse, where I had left it, rigid as a statue, and, as
I believed, frozen to death.
On every side I could see nothing but one vast expanse of snow. I could
not, however, remain where I was. Either on horseback or on foot I
must try to reach a place of shelter and to find my companions. I now
remembered that I had taken my shoes off. How to get them on again
was the difficulty, for when I felt them, I