As to the
poor mare, she had icicles depending from her nose six or eight inches
long, which I broke off; and holding the bridle under my right arm, and
averting my face a little from the storm, I tried to run and draw her
into a gentle trot, but it was all in vain; she was too anxious about
her foal, which was tired and becoming weak, and could scarce come up to
her when she called it. Full of anxiety as I was about myself, I could
not but admire the solicitude of this good mother for her young, so
earnestly does the voice of nature plead even with the inferior animals;
that voice which God has planted in ourselves, no less for the safety of
the species we are bound to protect than to express the intensity of the
love we bear to our offspring.

After trying in vain to get the mare out of her snail's pace without at
all improving my own situation, I perceived that I must be making
leeway, for I had lost sight of the _charette_, so I determined to mount
again and push her into a trot; we had got up a quasi-trot in the
morning, and I hoped I might succeed in doing it again, but it took me a
long time to do it. I was so benumbed that I could not regain my seat in
the saddle until I had made several efforts, and then the adjusting my
blanket-coat, and the covering my face to protect it from the cutting
sleet, lost me so much time, that I was in a worse situation than
ever,--separated from my party, night approaching, and somewhat
apprehensive that in the gray light that was beginning to prevail I
might wander from them and be unable to rejoin them. Being already half
frozen, and feeling rather faint at my stomach, it was clear to me that
in that case I should certainly be frozen to death.

Getting on as well as I could, and ruminating very unsatisfactorily upon
these possible consequences, the storm began to abate, and the wind
veered to the northwest; the mare knew this, and gave immediate signs of
it by improving her pace. As we went on the weather began to clear up,
and as I was straining my eyes to look for the _charette_, I heard the
horse which drew it neigh several times; to this the mare immediately
answered, and soon after came a cheer from the men. Miler was soon seen
advancing to meet me, with the joyful intelligence that the trees at
Grosses Isles were in sight. He said the horse in the _charette_ was the
first to see them and to announce the discovery by neighing; so that,
although horses have not yet reached