s, from all their means of support, to go they know not where, and
to live they know not how.

A few sad days were passed in the ruined town, and on the 2d of April
the party embarked, at five in the afternoon, in a packet for Albany.
At seven o'clock in the morning of the 4th day, after an eventful
voyage, in which they narrowly escaped shipwreck from a gale in the
Highlands, they landed at Albany, where they were hospitably
entertained by General Schuyler.

After a brief rest, on the 9th, they set out for Saratoga, which was
distant about thirty-two miles. They were conveyed over an exceedingly
rough road of rocks, and corduroy and mire, in a large, heavy, country
wagon. From this place, Franklin wrote,

"I begin to apprehend that I have undertaken a fatigue
which, at my time of life, may prove too much for me."

After a short tarry at the country seat of General Sullivan at
Saratoga, the party moved on toward Lake George. In those northern
latitudes the ground was still covered with snow, and the lake was
filled with floating ice. Two days of very exhausting travel brought
them to the southern shore of the beautiful but then dreary lake. Here
they took a large boat, thirty-six feet long, and eight broad. It was
what was called a bateau, which was flat-bottomed, and was but one
foot in depth. There was one mast, and a blanket sail, which was
available when the wind was directly aft. There was no cabin. A mere
awning sheltered partially from wind and rain.

Thus they crept across the lake, through masses of ice, a distance of
thirty-six miles, in thirty-six hours. There was a neck of land, four
miles in breadth, which separated Lake George from Lake Champlain. The
heavy boat, placed on wheels, was dragged across by six yoke of oxen.
A delay of five days was thus caused, before they were ready to embark
on the latter lake. The navigation of this small sheet of water,
surrounded by the primeval forest, and with scarcely the cabin of a
white man to be seen, must have been romantic indeed.

They sailed when the wind favored, and rowed when it was adverse. At
night they ran ashore, built their camp fire, which illumined lake and
forest, boiled their coffee, cooked their viands, and, some under the
awning, and some under the shelter of a hastily constructed camp,
slept sweetly. The ice greatly impeded their progress. In three and a
half days, they reached St. John's, near the upper end of the lake.
The toils