, did not return, and
great anxiety was felt for them. Four or five men the next day set out
in search for them. After wandering about all day unsuccessfully
through the pathless forest, they returned at night disheartened, and
the little settlement was plunged into the deepest sorrow. It was
greatly feared that they had been waylaid and captured by the savages.
Twelve men then, well armed, set out to explore the wilderness, to
find any traces of their lost companions. They also returned but to
deepen the dejection of their friends by the recital of their
unsuccessful search. But, as they were telling their story, a shout of
joy arose, and the two lost men, with tattered garments and emaciated
cheeks, emerged from the forest. They gave the following account of
their adventures:

As they were gathering thatch about a mile and a half from the
plantation, they saw a pond in the distance, and went to it, hoping to
catch some fish. On the margin of the pond they met a large deer. The
affrighted animal fled, pursued eagerly by the dog they had with them.
The men followed on, hoping to capture the rich prize. They were thus
lured so far that they became bewildered and lost in the pathless
forest. All the afternoon they wandered about, until black night
encompassed them. A dismal storm arose of wind and rain, mingled with
snow. They were drenched to the skin, and their garments froze around
them. In the darkness they could find no shelter. They had no weapons,
but each one a small sickle to cut thatch. They had no food whatever.
They heard the roar of the beasts of the forests. They supposed it to
be the roaring of lions, though it was probably the howling of wolves.
Their only safety appeared to be to climb into a tree; but the wind
and the cold were so intolerable that such an exposure they could not
endure. So each one stood at the root of a tree all the night long,
running around it to keep himself from freezing, drenched by the
storm, terrified by the cries which filled the forest, and ready, as
soon as they should hear the gnashing of teeth, to spring into the
branches.

The long winter night at length passed away, and a gloomy morning
dimly lighted the forest, and they resumed their search for home. They
waded through swamps, crossed streams, were arrested in their course
by large ponds of water, and tore their clothing and their flesh by
forcing their way through the tangled underbrush. At last they came to
a hill, a