reach the shanty just as the rain commenced; and well for us it proved
that we had gained a shelter for ourselves and steed; for I seldom
witnessed a more terrific storm. The lightning was awful, accompanied
by the loudest thunder I ever heard. The volleys of heavy hail-stones
on the shingled roof, together with the rushing sound of the wind, and
the crash of falling trees, made it impossible for us to hear a word
that was said. Indeed, I did not feel much inclined for conversation;
for I could not help meditating on the peril we had escaped. Had the
storm commenced an hour or two earlier or later, we should have bean
exposed to its utmost fury, as there was no place of refuge nearer than
twenty miles either way.

To show the terrible danger we had avoided, I counted a hundred and
seventy-six large trees that had fallen across the road between
Sebach's and Trifogle's--a distance not exceeding twenty miles.

What a contrast this road now presents to what it was when I used to be
in the habit of travelling over it! I remember, once having been sent
on some important business to the settlement, which admitted of no
delay. It was late in November; the snow had fallen unusually early,
and there was no horse then to be procured at Goderich; so that I was
obliged to walk without even a companion to cheer the solitary way. I
found the walking exceedingly laborious: the snow was fully a foot deep
and unbroken, save by the foot-marks of some lonely traveller.

I was very curious to learn who the person could be who had been
necessitated to take such a long journey through the wilderness alone.
The second day of my journey, my curiosity was gratified by seeing the
name of the person written in large characters in the snow. I stopped
and read it with much interest: it was that of a Scotchman I knew,--one