Georgies Present | Page 5

and showed every
hospitality to their unexpected guests. It was a curious sight, the whole
party, men, women, and children, lying around the fire in the middle of
the tent, upon spruce boughs, spread like feathers, to form the couch.
The softest and cleanest deer skin was most courteously offered to the
guest, and he passed the night very comfortably, truly thankful for the
accommodation thus afforded him, and without which he must have
suffered greatly from exposure to the weather, for the snow fell fast
during several hours."

At this point of her narrative Mrs. Ward rang for a candle, and desired
the servant to bring her writing desk. "I shall find there," she said, "the
original MS. given me by my dear husband on his return from this
journey. He wrote it amid much difficulty, for very frequently the ink
would freeze in spite of all the precautions he took. Paper, too, was
very scanty, and had it not been for boxes, containing a supply of this
article, which had been washed on shore from different wrecks, he
would have found it impossible to procure enough for the purpose.
Anxious, however, to preserve a diary of each day's proceedings, he
persevered to the best of his power, and the result was this scroll, now
discoloured by age, and some of the leaves a good deal torn, but the
hand is clear and legible throughout. I think you will like to have me
read you a short extract, giving an account of a very dangerous part of
his expedition. But, in the first place, I should mention that, when
travelling into the interior, he was obliged to walk in Indian rackets, or
snow-shoes, a very difficult matter to one unaccustomed to their use."
"Why difficult, grandma? I thought snow-shoes kept you from slipping,
and made it much easier to walk in winter."
[Illustration]
"The snow-shoes of which I speak, my dear, are very different from
anything you have ever seen; nor could you imagine it possible to
travel in them if you had a pair now before you. The racket is a
machine consisting of a sort of net-work stretched upon ledges made of
very hard wood. They are about two feet and a half long, and fourteen
inches broad; and in the middle is fitted a kind of shoe, lined with wool
or hair, which is tied on to the ankle. By means of these strange snow-
shoes, the feet are prevented from sinking into the soft, deep snow.
Even the Indians, shod in this fashion, occasionally meet with heavy
falls, especially when descending very steep hills; and a foreigner feels
terribly awkward and at a loss when first he attempts to use them. They
are exceedingly fatiguing, too, as they become very heavy when wet;
and the wearer is compelled to walk with long and rapid strides, in
order to prevent the rackets from striking against each other.
Sometimes, when the day's journey was a long one, the faithful terrier

which accompanied your grandfather throughout the whole route would
howl for very exhaustion; and whenever his master stopped to look
about him, or to set his compass, the poor brute would scratch about
and make himself a bed for a few minutes' rest in the soft snow."
"Poor Doggy!" said George, "I can pity him for I remember once when
I walked some miles through the snow, and my shoes got clogged up, I
was so tired, what Uncle Tom called 'dead beat,' that I could not help
crying the last mile before I reached home."
"Imagine, then, your grandfather starting and making the best of his
way over the snow-clad country until the afternoon began to warn him
that he must make a halt. At about four o'clock the traveller has to
begin his preparation for the night's lodging, and this he does by
clearing away the snow (which is sometimes ten feet deep) from a
square space; for which purpose he makes a rude shovel, cut out of the
side of some standing tree; and, as snow does not adhere to wood as it
does to iron, this is the best thing to be used in removing the snow.
When the ground is quite cleared, the wood for the fire is laid in the
centre, about a foot of loose snow being left round the space in which it
is to be kindled. Upon this, the spruce or fir branches, which easily
break off when bent sharply backwards, are laid all one way, with the
lower part of the bough upwards. Thus the bed is made. The excavated
snow forms a lofty wall round the square; and here the traveller lies,
with no covering from the weather, nor any other shelter than the walls
of snow on