We had fallen to a
ravine where the vast caribou herds had wandered from the storm.
Says M. Radisson, with a depth of reverence which words cannot tell,
"Men," says he, "thank God for this deliverance!"
* * * * * *
So unused to man's presence were the caribou, or perhaps so stupefied
by the storm, they let us wander to the centre of the herd, round which
the great bucks had formed a cordon with their backs to the wind to
protect the does and the young. The heat from the multitude of bodies
warmed us back to life, and I make no doubt the finding of that herd
was God Almighty's provision for our safety.
For three days we wandered with nothing to eat but wild birds done to
death by the gale. [1] On the third day the storm abated; but it was
still snowing too heavily for us to see a man's length away. Two or
three times the caribou tossed up their heads sniffing the air
suspiciously, and La Chesnaye fell to cursing lest the wolf-pack should
stampede the herd. At this Gillam, whose hulking body had wasted from
lack of bulky rations, began to whimper--
"If the wolf-pack come we are lost!"
"Man," says Radisson sternly, "say thy prayers and thank God we are
alive!"
The caribou began to rove aimlessly for a time, then they were off with
a rush that bare gave us chance to escape the army of clicking hoofs.
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