a
stormy day, did he not always keep his water up to the boiling-point,
and did not the very best whiskey in Quebec diffuse about his chamber
its aromatic odor?

I moved forward. The die was cast.

The channel near the shore was from six to twelve feet in width, filled
with floating fragments. Over this I scrambled in safety. As I
advanced, I could see that in one day a great change had taken place.
The surface-ice was soft and disintegrated, crushing readily under the
feet. All around me extended wide pools of water. From beneath these
arose occasional groaning sounds--dull, heavy crunches, which seemed to
indicate a speedy break-up. The progress of the season, with its thaws
and rains, had been gradually weakening the ice; along the shore its
hold had in some places at least been relaxed; and the gale of wind
that was now blowing was precisely of that description which most
frequently sweeps away resistlessly the icy fetters of the river, and
sets all the imprisoned waters free. At every step new signs of this
approaching break-up became visible. From time to time I encountered
gaps in the ice, of a foot or two in width, which did not of themselves
amount to much, but which nevertheless served to show plainly the state
of things.

My progress was excessively difficult. The walking was laborious on
account of the ice itself and the pools through which I had to wade.
Then there were frequent gaps, which sometimes could only be traversed
by a long detour. Above all, there was the furious sleet, which drove
down the river, borne on by the tempest, with a fury and unrelaxing
pertinacity that I never saw equalled. However, I managed to toil
onward, and at length reached the centre of the river. Here I found a
new and more serious obstacle. At this point the ice had divided; and
in the channel thus formed there was a vast accumulation of ice-cakes,
heaped up one above the other in a long ridge, which extended as far as
the eye could reach. There were great gaps in it, however, and to cross
it needed so much caution, and so much effort, that I paused for a
while, and, setting my back to the wind, looked around to examine the
situation.

Wild enough that scene appeared. On one side was my destination, but
dimly visible through the storm; on the other rose the dark cliff of
Cape Diamond, frowning gloomily over the river, crowned with the
citadel, where the flag of Old England was streaming straight out at
the impulse of