the uncertainties of the lake. I therefore
unwillingly resolved to terminate our survey here and to remain satisfied
for the present with what we had been able to add to the unknown geography
of the region. We felt also pleasure in remembering that we were the first
who, in the traditionary annals of the country, had visited the island and
broken with the cheerful sound of human voices, the long solitude of the
place.

"Out of the drift-wood on the beach, we made ourselves pleasant little
lodges, open to the water, and, after having kindled large fires, to
excite the wonder of any straggling savage on the lake shores, lay down,
for the first time in a long journey, in perfect security, no one thinking
about his arms. The evening was extremely bright and pleasant. But the
wind rose during the night, and the waves began to break heavily, making
our island tremble. I had not expected, in our inland journey, to hear the
roar of an ocean surf. The strangeness of our situation, and the
excitement we felt, in the associated interests of the place, made this
one of the most interesting nights I remember during our long expedition."

The next morning they set out at an early hour, on their return to the
main land, about nine miles distant. When they had rowed about three miles
the clouds gathered, menacing a storm, and a strong wind rose, blowing
directly against them. The heavy sea which they encountered caused a
leakage in the air chambers of the boat, and they were in imminent danger
of finding a grave in the bottom of the lake. It was with much difficulty
that a man, stationed at the bellows, supplied the chamber with air as
fast as it escaped.

At length they effected a landing on marshy ground, about nine miles from
the encampment. Two men were immediately dispatched to the camp to bring
horses to take back the boat and baggage.

"The rude looking shelter," writes Colonel Fremont, "we raised on the
shore, our scattered baggage and boat lying on the beach made quite a
picture. We called this the fisherman's camp."

The horses arrived in the afternoon. It was then blowing such a gale that
a man could hardly stand against it. The water of the lake was rapidly
rising, forced in by the wind. Very hurriedly they packed their baggage
and had scarcely left the spot ere it was entirely submerged. They reached
the camp in the edge of the evening, just in time to escape a thunder
storm, which blackened the sky and deluged the ea