Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1858-01-14

been promised to the Indians (Which | resolv-
| ed to give, whether won or not, and they
unmurmuringly pressed on, nearly the whole
day, on their cumbrous show-shoes, scarcely
| giving time to cook the game we killed then,
shouldering their packs, off again. They en-
deavored to beguile the WEAKNESS of the way
by lively sallies, at which they laughed till the
silent woods rang with their merriment.-
Chingoos (the ermine) J, the younger brother,
was the most joyous as we'll as most active of
! US all and however weared he might be
when when we stopped for the night, he laugh
| ed and tested as he cut with his tomahawk
| the evergreens which were to form our not un-
comfortable shelter, and be strewn beneath
the bearskns on which we slept. Shegashie
! (the cray -fsh) was our cook and fremaker
and the rapid way in which he heaped on
| scores of dry branches, and raised blazing
| pile above the snow, always excited my admi-
ration.
When we had accomplished nearly half our
journey, we had not overstepped the time we
allowed ourselves but the continuous exer-
| tion was beginning to effect our limbs, and the
| perpetual glare of the sun on the snow infam-
| ed our eyes. This we found by far the greater
| hardship of two. I shall never forget the joy
we felt, one morning, when the sun remained
| hidden beneath the heavy cloud-banks in the
east. Almost forgetting our swollen limbs in
| the gladness of being delivered from his daz
zling rays, we travelled merrily on through
eafess forests of gigantic trees through tracts
of smaller trees, thickIy studded with the arch,
the spruce and the fir, whose dark foliage
gloomed almost black against the stainless
| snow through woods tangled with wild vines,
| nd fr,c
length we reached the shores Of a small frozen
| lake
Once more we reioiced that the day was
| dim for in crossing lakes ard rivers, we al
ways suffered most, being deprived of the net
work of branches which yielded US q shade
| sometimes almost impenetrable But our ex-
ultation was short-lived An exclamation Of
disappointment burst from the Indians. and
! looking up | saw few large snow fakes float
ing slowly through the air.
60 Let US put off our snowshoes," said She
gashie " we must halt here" "Why ??
because the snow will blind our eyes to
the path"
The path, however was an Indian figure
of speech We were travelling through an un-
trodden wilderness, guided from point to point
by some rock, or bank, or quantity formed
Tree. Dul lueSe OLJeCtS uNeu ElNluiN Ill lile
Indians recollection. They had travelled this
road twice before and what an Indian once
sees remains imprinted in his memory forever.
At Shegashies announcement looked over
lonringlv. could not bear 70 lose an hour,
far less a day and | said perhaps We might
get across before the violence of the SnOw-Storm
came on My guides shook their heads
However, after a time, they agreed to make
the attempt.
Accordingly, off we started across the lake,
the snow-1akes floating and playing lazily
around us and, more than once, we congrat-
ulated ourselves that their appearance had not
deferred u.s. But, when we had got about
halfway across, the snow-storm came dashng
down in our faces with fierce gust that al
most threw us off our feet. Staggered aud
breathIess we stopped Near as the brothers
were | could see no more than the outlines OF
their dark forms through the thick curtain oi
snow which fell between Us while nothing
wus visible beyond but dazzling snow-hakeS
tumbling, whirling and rushing down to over
whelm us.
"We must" cried Shegashie keep the
wind in our faces or We shall never reach the
shore"
lie at once led the way his brother and |
following, and with difficulty distinguished him
as he shuffled heavily on before US. Already
the weight of snow upoa our snow-sho"s I'M
peded US greatly, and 1t Increased each mo-
ment, until VIC could scarcely drag them along.
The snow blew in our faces, sharp as iclcles,
whirng past US, in wild eddes, almost beating
US down. AS the storm increased, the wind,
which had hitherto blown steadily in our faces,
began to waVer, and to dash the snow down
upon us in every direction. 1t was impossible
to go on.
The last faint lingering shadow ofhope pass
ed away, and we felt there was nothing left
but to die Once or twice | wondered | did
not feel the torpor, which is the precursor OF
death among the SNOW, steal over my senses;
but we determined not to die inactive, and the
violence Of my exertions heated to such de-
gree. that more than once found myself wip-
ing the moisture from my brow, as l fought
| the hopeless battle against the whirlwlnd.
| That | am alive to write this is proof of
| the unsIumberng Providence watching over
all for there was no earthly hope for us,
when an unseen hand guided us to saefty.-
| How We reach the shore none OF Us ever knew;
but, at length, still battling against the blind
! ing snow, ShegaShie's snow-shoes struck tree.
! Close behind it thicket of dwarf frs, ard we
shrank into its sheter-saved for the time.
| For hours the the snow continued to fall as
if inexhaustbIe at length, however, it ceased,
and the setting sun shone out in the western
sky, red and angry. The Indians said that
another snowstorm was at hand. So we set
about making the best preparations we could
for the night Our friendly thicket was no bad
shelter, aud Chngoos and | set to work with
our tomahawks to cut away the branches, un-
| til the place somewhat resembled bower
then shaking the cut branches free from snow,
we laid them up in soft piles to sleep upon
| Meantime Sherashie busted himself in making