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Show A NIGHT ON THE MUD- FLATS. 167 bordering the eastern side of the lake, without a bush or a shrub to shelter them from its fury. Lieutenant Gunnison says-" The skiff was dragged for half a mile into three inches water, when the wind suddenly shifted to the north, and blew a tremendous gale. Our course was north, and we endeavoured to force our way with four men wading by the sides of the boat, but the gale was too powerful for them, and drove the whole company off the course, so that by the time we were in one foot water, we were obliged to stop; the spray dashed over the boat in showers ; the rain and hail came down in torrents; and soon all hands were drenched to the skin. The mist shut down upon us, and we could only see a few steps around. It was nearly sunset, and rapidly growing dark. The men became bewildered, and despaired of reaching camp, declaring that they could not survive till morning. The snow began to fall fast and the air to become more chilly and raw. Our course was now completely lost, and it was rapidly becoming too dark to read the compass much longer. We therefore determined to turn back for the mud- flat from which we had started, so that we might at least have solid ground upon which to pass the night. After wading and dragging our boat for about a mile, we came upon our trail of yesterday. The men becoming too stiff and benumbed to proceed any farther, we managed to turn the skiff up on its side, as a shelter from the piercing wind, and laying down the oars and thwarts to keep us as much as possible out of the mud, ( which was about four inches deep,) we hufldled together behind it. In a couple of hours the wind lulled, the skiff was turned again upon its bottom, the muddy boards arranged as a sort of platform, and we prepared for our night's lodging. I placed two of the men edgewise on the bottom of the boat, and crawled in alongside of them. The two extra men, ( there were five of us,) laid themselves down on the lower tier, taking care to break joints. We had a bit of an old sail, which, in turning up 4he skiff, had been well trampled in the mud, and was in rather a sorry condition. This we dragged over us as a covering from the snow, which was falling fast. Although we were almost freezing, the heat from our bodies was sufficient to melt it and cause it to trickle down upon us, to our great discomfort. " About eleven o'clock, as nearly as we could judge, the snow ceased to fall, but the piercing wind howled over us till daylight. Nearly frozen to death, we hailed the first streaks of day, and jumped cheerfully into the icy mud, pushed our boat a couple of |