shortly changed,
first to a light, and then to a heavy snow; and by the time I dragged
myself the mile to the top of the mountain, it was coming down, and no
mistake!

"It was impossible to see one yard in any direction, and my legs were
already beginning to _talk_; but it was too late to think of turning.
I had had only to fight through one extra deep drift as yet, and knew
the road hitherto well; but now I had to turn off from where the track
lay hid, and had not gone far when my difficulties fairly began, and I
was quickly ploughing my way through some five or six feet of snow.

"Half an hour's hard work found me clear of that, and for a couple of
miles everything went swimmingly. The snow was here firm enough to
bear my weight, although now and again, bump! down I went through the
crust, nearly jerking my joints out. The nearer home the deeper got
the snow, and, of course, so much the more tired I felt. The main
creek to be crossed was hidden entirely; and as its exact whereabouts
was not very easily guessed at, you may depend it was not a pleasant
sensation to plump down and find myself up to the neck. Luckily, the
water was no depth, and as my boots were tight and long, a hard
scramble pulled me out of my first trouble.

"A short rest, and I was again on my way; but it took me a good many
hours to get the next three or four miles, even though I met no more
serious difficulty than some very heavy drifts. I was getting very
tired, and hungry, too, and you may fancy it was no joke wading the
snow, never less than two feet, lucky if not going past the knees at
every step; but at last I was in a mess, and how to get out of it I
knew not. The look of the country, when a lull gave me the chance of
seeing, showed I was off my road; and when I felt I was lost, my
thoughts were anything but satisfactory.

"I knew not which way to turn, so sat down to think it over, and was
looking around as well as the drifting snow would permit, when coming
along my tracks was a large yellow dog. My heart gave a bound of
delight, and jumping up, I let a 'cooey,'[A] to tell its master that
some one was in the same predicament, as I doubted not he was.

"Slowly a minute or two passed, but no reply to my communication.
Alas! all was silence, and I then saw, by its pointed ears and bushy
tail, that it was a dingo, or native dog, which was running my
footsteps. It was no use sitting where I was. So on I started in the
direction I fancied,