CHAPTER NINE.
LOST IN THE SNOW.
THE DIVIDING RIDGE--A MISHAP--MORE DIFFICULTY WITH THE SNOW--THEPROVISIONS RUN SHORT--THE DOGS BEGIN TO SUCCUMB--HUGH, ARCHIE, AND REDSQUIRREL ARE LOST IN A SNOW-STORM--DONE UP, AND NO SHELTER.
"The first part of our difficulties are approaching an end," said UncleDonald the next morning, as we were starting. "It is possible that wemay reach the dividing ridge by nightfall."
The news caused every countenance to assume a cheerful expression. Wepushed on in high spirits. The river, which had been growing less andless as we proceeded, at length became a small stream, fed by a falldown a steep slope, up which we had, as before, to make our way by azigzag path.
On reaching the summit we found ourselves in an elevated valley, withmountain peaks on each side towering magnificently to the sky, the raysof the rising sun glancing on their snow-clad sides.
The surface of the lakes afforded a level and easy road. Away went thedogs at a brisk trot, the men shouting with glee as they thought ourdifficulties were over.
Climbing up the banks of one lake, we crossed over the ground toanother, and then went on again as before. We quickly got over seven oreight miles, when we saw a stream, which, issuing from the eastern endof the last lake, ran down a gentle incline. The bright rivulet was afeeder of one of the vast rivers which flow towards the Arctic Ocean.
A joyous shout was raised; we had crossed the dividing ridge, and thevast plain through which flow the Saskatchewan and Athabasca lay belowus. Several trees which grew by the lakelet were marked, to show theboundary of the North West Territory, into which we had now entered.Having quenched our thirst from the little stream, we again set out, theground sloping perceptibly towards the east.
The rivulet widened as we advanced, and after we had gone a short way wefound it completely frozen over. The ice being of sufficient thicknessto bear our weight, we at once descended on to it, and away we went at agreater speed than we had hitherto gone, every one being in the highestspirits.
We had now to make a long circuit through a dense forest, keeping awayfrom the river, for fear of slipping down over the precipices whichformed the side.
Hugh and I, while sitting on our snow-shoes, were gliding downwards,fancying that we should reach the bottom of a hill without difficulty,when presently I saw him, on coming to some object concealed by thesnow, give an unintentional jump, and over he went, head first,clutching at the shrubs and trying to stop himself. I was laughing athis mishap, when I felt myself jerked forwards, and then away I went inthe same fashion.
After some tumbling and rolling, with arms and legs outstretched, wewere both pitched into a deep snow reef at the foot of the hill.
One of the loaded sleighs, driven by Corney, before he had time tounharness the dogs, as he was about to do, broke away from him, and awayit went, the poor dogs, terribly frightened, endeavouring to keep aheadof it, but it went faster than they could. In vain Corney and RedSquirrel tried to stop it. Had it kept clear of all impediments nogreat harm would have happened; but, unfortunately, it came in contactwith a log, turning the poor dog who had the leader's place into apancake, while the front part of the sleigh itself was shattered tofragments. We hurried to the spot. The poor dog lay dead, with itshead and limbs fractured.
We were some time occupied in repairing the broken sledge and harness.Continuing our journey, the river level was at last reached, when, onlooking up, we saw that we had stood on a projecting ledge of ice notmore than two feet in thickness, which might have given way beneath ourweight and carried us down to destruction.
Hitherto, when not travelling on the ice, we had to make our way oversnow seldom less than two feet deep, but as we reached the base of themountains it suddenly disappeared. As far as we could see to theeastward, not a patch was visible. Had it not been for the frozenrivers and the leafless trees, we might have fancied that summer wasreturning. This phenomenon occurs along the whole base of the RockyMountains, where there is a belt of nearly twenty miles in widthperfectly free from snow.
The ground being hard, we made good way over it, directing our courseabout south-east towards a stream running into the Saskatchewan.
The stream we were steering for was reached. Travelling over the ice,we were soon again in a region where the snow lay thicker than ever, andit became very trying to our dogs. Our special favourites, Whiskey,Pilot, and Muskymote, went on bravely, in spite of their hard labour byday and the intense cold to which they were exposed by night. They,knowing fellows, whenever they stopped, carefully picked out the snowwhich, getting between their toes, would have cut them severely; butsome of the younger ones, not understanding the necessity of so doing,allowed it to accumulate, and became lame.
The snow now lay two feet in thickness over the whole surface of thecountry, making it fearfully heavy work to get along. We frequently hadto go ahead to form a track; and even so soft was the snow, that thepoor dogs would wallow through it up to their bodies, until they werewell-nigh worn out with their incessant labour.
We, however, pushed on, for had we ventured to stop our whole partymight have succumbed. Our provisions were well-nigh exhausted, andneither buffalo, nor deer, nor smaller game appeared to enable us toreplenish our stock of food. Our object was to get on a stream with asoutherly or south-easterly course, on which we could travel until wecould strike a line across the country leading to the missionarystation.
We made short journeys between sunrise and sunset. At the end of eachday our first task was to clear away the snow, so as to have a space forour camp fire and room for the party to stretch themselves round it.The most sheltered spot was selected for Rose's hut, which, when woodwas wanting, was formed of buffalo-robes. She seemed to enjoy thejourney, and was as blooming and merry as ever. The poor dogs were thegreatest sufferers. They had hard work and scanty food. First onestretched out its legs and died, and then another did the same; and onemorning, when we were starting, even Pilot could not be coaxed away fromthe camp fire. No one had the heart to kill him, but stand on his legshe either could not or would not, so he was left to his fate in thefaint hope that in an hour or so he might recover his strength andovertake us.
As we pushed forward, on one side rose the lofty peaks of the RockyMountains, and on the other stretched out a vast extent of comparativelylevel land, in some parts open prairie, in others dense forest. Theboughs of the trees were thickly laden with snow, the whole country,indeed, was wrapped in a white wintry mantle. The scenery was dreary inthe extreme. Our spirits sank; it seemed that we should never come toan end of our long journey.
The sky, hitherto bright, became overcast with clouds about the timethat we had got over about two-thirds of the day's journey. Hugh andRed Squirrel and I were at some distance in the rear of the party, whensnow began to fall and the wind to blow with unusual violence. The snowcame down so thickly that it seemed as if the contents of a hugefeather-bed had suddenly been emptied upon us. Thicker and thicker itfell; so great was the obscurity that we could scarcely see a yardahead, while the tracks of our companions were almost instantlyobliterated.
We shouted, expecting that they would reply, and that we should beguided by their voices, but no sound came in return. We tried to runon, hoping to overtake them, when Hugh fell and broke one of hissnow-shoes. We, of course, stopped to help him up, and in so doing musthave turned slightly about. Red Squirrel, ever fertile in resources,set to work to mend the shoe. This he did very rapidly; but even thatshort delay was serious. As soon as Hugh was on his legs we againhurried on, supposing that we were following close behind the rest ofthe party. We shouted and shouted, but still there was no reply. Iasked Red Squirrel if he thought we were going right.
He did not answer.
It is seldom that an Indian loses his way, but at length I began to fearthat he was at fault. He acknowledged, indeed, that he was so. Weunslung our guns, hoping that if we fired our friends would hear thereport, and fire theirs in return,
but neither Hugh's nor mine would gooff. We put on fresh caps, and both again snapped. I felt in my pouchfor my pricker, to try and clear out the nipple, but could not find it.I asked Hugh for his.
"I'm afraid that I dropped it yesterday evening in the camp, and Ithought that I would look for it in the morning, but forgot to do so,"he answered.
At last we gave up the attempt in despair. More valuable time had thusbeen lost. Red Squirrel urged us to go on, saying that he thought hecould guide us by the wind. On and on we went. The snow fell asthickly as ever. At last Hugh declared that he could go no further. Wewere both suffering from fearful pains in our ankles--the _mal deraquette_, as the French Canadians call it, produced by the pressure ofthe snow-shoe straps.
I looked anxiously about, hoping to discover some trees or shrubs whichmight afford us shelter and enable us to light a fire, but a thick veilof falling snow shrouded us on every side. I consulted Red Squirrel asto what we should do. One thing was certain--that if we remained in theopen, exposed to the biting blast, we should perish. I feared that suchwould be our fate. Poor Hugh gave way altogether, and, casting off thestraps from his ankles, threw himself down on the snow, and begged us toleave him.