them to new
energy; and the hitherto motionless vessel was now made to obey the
impulse given by the tow ropes of the boats, in a manner that proved
their crews to have entered on their toil with the determination of
men, resolved to devote themselves in earnest to their task. Nor was
the spirit of action confined to these. The long sweeps of the schooner
had been shipped, and such of the crew as remained on board laboured
effectually at them,--a service, in which they were essentially aided,
not only by mine host of the Fleur de lis, but by the young officers
themselves.

At mid-day the headlands were seen looming largely in the distance,
while the immediate shores of the ill-fated fortress were momentarily,
and in the same proportion, disappearing under the dim line of horizon
in the rear. More than half their course, from the spot whence they
commenced towing, had been completed, when the harassed men were made
to quit their oars, in order to partake of the scanty fare of the
vessel, consisting chiefly of dried bear's meat and venison. Spirit of
any description they had none; but, unlike their brethren of the
Atlantic, when driven to extremities in food, they knew not what it was
to poison the nutritious properties of the latter by sipping the putrid
dregs of the water-cask, in quantities scarce sufficient to quench the
fire of their parched palates. Unslaked thirst was a misery unknown to
the mariners of these lakes: it was but to cast their buckets deep into
the tempting element, and water, pure, sweet, and grateful as any that
ever bubbled from the moss-clad fountain of sylvan deity, came cool and
refreshing to their lips, neutralising, in a measure, the crudities of
the coarsest food. It was to this inestimable advantage the crew of the
schooner had been principally indebted for their health, during the
long series of privation, as far as related to fresh provisions and
rest, to which they had been subjected. All appeared as vigorous in
frame, and robust in health, as at the moment when they had last
quitted the waters of the Detroit; and but for the inward sinking of
the spirit, reflected in many a bronzed and furrowed brow, there was
little to show they had been exposed to any very extraordinary trials.

Their meal having been hastily dispatched, and sweetened by a draught
from the depths of the Huron, the seamen once more sprang into their
boats, and devoted themselves, heart and soul, to the completion of