Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-02-27
A NIGHT OF PERIL.
An Adventure ON n Cake of lee.
~. A.. D.. u,,ron Com,erciai.

: An Adventure ON a Cake of Ice.
From the Port Huron Commercial.
Leon de Boux, a native Of Gaspe
in Lower Canada, and for the las
four months at work on the Manitor
island, left his log cabin on Satur.
day, the Sd inst, with his dog, 6
large, powerful Newfoundland, in
| pursuit of game. He soon discov-
cred fresh tracks Of a large bear.
Cautiously following it, he reached
the shore of Lake Huron, and saw
at no great distance on the ice a
very large animal, climbing over
hugh blocks of ice, which the storm
of the previous night had thrown
in wild confusion on the rocky
coast he approached. Suddenly, the
bear stopped and tried to retrace
his steps to the neighboring forest.
To intercept the animal, De Boux
and dog went on the ice, which
seemed secure, as the road was for
miles uninterrupted by water. He
gained on the bear from minute to
minute; when he saw, to his aston
ishment, that the huge bear stopped.
looked around and retraced his
steps, chasing the dog before him.
He shot, and well-aimed ball en-
tered the head and killed him on the
spot. ga
Rushing toward the carcass, he
did not observe that the wind had
changed; that the ice groaned and
cracked. He reached the beast and
tried TO drag it to the shore, not
more than three-quarters of mile
distant. But imagine his surprise
when he found that the wind, blow
ing fresher and moro violent, made
a chasm between him and the land
more than two rods broad. At
once seeing his perilous position, he
fred rapidly and halloed at the top
of his voice no one answered echo
alone brought his own voice back
out of deep recesses and rocks, and
he vas rapidly drifting in q south
westerly direction to the middle of
the lake. His position was indeed
most dangerous; the wind increased
from moment to moment, and when
night set in it blew a perfect hurri-
cane, breaking the large piece of ice
on which he stood into a thousand
fragments, throwing him at one mo-
ment against icy masses, at another
covering him with freezing wave.
There he sat on the dead bear, his
shivering dog at his feet looking
wistfully at his master for help.
De Boux saw no help; every
moment threatened death; the cold
was intense; he prayed and asked
God to end his sufferings; the ice
in the meantime driftcd more and
more to the Michigan shore, and
when day began to break over the
water he could see far in the dis |
lance dark line, which grew until |
he could distinctly discover that it |
was land; suddenly the ice on |
which he lay stopped. 1t had joined |
huge fields of ice. Exhausted and |
frost bitten, he walked for miles to
wards the shore on the frozen ele.
ment, when again the large island
Of ice broke, drifting steadily to-
wards the Michigan shore. Now
be could distinctly see trees and
huts, he heard the barking of dogs;
he tried to load his gun to fire; i'm
possible, his hands were swollen
and benumbed, he halloed and
shOuted-no help. And again a
hight passed, and again day broke
over the waters, and he lived still
IN the meantime the wind had
urned more to the east, and forced
he ice right in the western shore;
on his wounded hands he
It last reached terra firma about six
niles east of the lighthouse, where
iome kind-hearted fishermen found
md took him to their shanties.