Page:Historic highways of America (Volume 2).djvu/44

40 very bad road, over which we had great difficulty in proceeding with our snowshoes on our feet, as they caught in the branches of those trees. Finally, beyond the declivity of the land, we reached a mountain, so high that it took us more than three hours to reach its summit. In addition to hauling my train, I held in my arms a little child three years old, the son of my host. I carried him in order to relieve his mother, who was loaded with another child, besides her baggage, on her train. Beyond the mountain, we came to a great lake which must be crossed; every step that we took made us think of death, and made us fear that we would be swallowed up by the waters. We sank in it up to our knees, and deeper still, beneath the upper layer of ice, which was thinner, while the second stopped us from sinking farther. Frequently the road was too slippery, and a false step would occasion a bad fall; and not only the legs, but the whole body, would be immersed in the water.

"The ninth day was an extraordinary one, as regards both the length of the road,—amid several lakes and rapid rivers,