CHAPTER XIII.

NARROWLY ESCAPE DROWNING--ACCIDENT TO INDIAN GUIDE--AM NEARLY FROZEN
TO DEATH--MISUNDERSTANDING BETWEEN ALGONQUINS AND IROQUOIS--MASSACRE
AT HANNAH BAY.


Nothing occurred this year out of the usual routine, save an accident
that happened to myself, and had nearly proved fatal. A couple of
hounds had been presented to me by a friend, for the purpose of
hunting the deer that abounded in the neighbourhood. The dogs having
one day broken loose from the leash, betook themselves to the hills;
and the first intimation we had of their being at liberty, was the
sound of their voices in full cry on an adjacent hill. I instantly
seized my gun, and following a beaten track that led to a small lake
at the base of the hill, I perceived a deer swimming towards an island
in the middle of the lake, and only a little beyond the range of
gun-shot. An old fishing-canoe happening to be at hand, I immediately
launched it, and gave chase, without examining the condition it was
in. I proceeded but a short distance, however, when I perceived that
it leaked very much. I continued, nevertheless, to paddle, till I got
nearly half-way across to the island; but by this time the quantity of
water in the canoe had increased so much, that my ardour for the chase
began to give way to anxiety for my own safety. I perceived a large
hole in the stern of the canoe, now almost level with the surface of
the lake, through which the water gushed with every stroke of the
paddle. The fore-part appearing free from injury, I immediately
inverted my position,--a movement necessarily effected with much
difficulty in so small a craft; and having thus placed myself, the
stern was consequently raised a little higher. I then paddled gently