s, or behind me,
Unless you are careful, and look for me well."

The first part of our road lay along the shores of the St. Lawrence.

The sun shone brightly, and the drifting ice in the gulf glittered in
its rays as it flowed slowly out to sea; but ere long the warm rays
acted upon the snow, and rendered walking toilsome and fatiguing. After
about an hour's walk along the shore, we arrived at the last hut we were
likely to see that day. It was inhabited by an Indian and his family.
Here we rested a few minutes, and I renewed my snow-shoe lines, the old
ones having broken by the way.

Shortly after this we passed the wreck of what had once been a fine
ship. She lay crushed and dismasted among the rocks and lumps of ice
which lined the desolate shore, her decks and the stumps of her masts
drifted over with snow. Six short months before, she had bounded over
the Atlantic wave in all the panoply of sail and rigging pertaining to a
large three-master, inclosing in her sturdy hull full many a daring
heart beating high with sanguine hopes, and dreaming of fame and glory,
or perchance of home. But now, how great the change!--her sails and
masts uprooted, and her helm--the seaman's confidence and safeguard--
gone; her bed upon the rocks and pebbles of a dreary shore; and her
shattered hull hung round with icicles, and wrapped in the cold embraces
of the wintry ocean. Few things, I think, can have a more inexpressibly
melancholy appearance than a wreck upon a rocky and deserted shore in
winter.

The road now began to get extremely bad. The ice, over which we had to
walk for miles, had been covered with about six inches of water and
snow. A sharp frost during the night had covered this with a cake of
ice sufficiently strong to bear us up until we got fairly upon it, and
were preparing to take another step, when down it went--so that we had a
sort of natural treadmill to exercise ourselves upon all day; while
every time we sank, as a matter of course our snowshoes were covered
with a mixture of water, snow, and broken ice, to extricate our feet
from which almost pulled our legs out of the sockets.

In this way we plodded slowly and painfully along, till we came to a
part of the shore where the ice had been entirely carried off, leaving
the sandy beach uncovered for about two miles. We gladly took advantage
of this, and, pulling off our snow-shoes, walked along among the shells
and tangle of the sea-shore. At this