At first, the heat of their bodies melted the snow;
they became wet, and being without food or fuel, the cold soon
penetrated, and in several instances froze the whole into a body of
solid ice. Some again, were found in a state of wild delirium, frantic,
mad; while others were picked up, one here, and one there, overcome in
their fruitless attempts to reach Pembina--some half-way, some more,
some less; one woman was found with an infant on her back, within a
quarter of a mile of Pembina. This poor creature must have travelled, at
least, one hundred and twenty-five miles, in three days and nights, till
she sunk at last in the too unequal struggle for life." Such scenes
might be expected in the valleys of the Highlands of Scotland, or amid
the heavy snows of New Brunswick or Quebec, but they were a surprise
upon the open prairie. Some of the settlers had devoured their dogs, raw
hides, leather and their very shoes. The loss of thirty-three lives cast
a gloom over the whole settlement.
Anxiety had been aroused throughout the whole Colony. The St. Lawrence
often overflows its banks at Montreal, the Grand River at Brantford and
the Fraser at its delta, but the rarity of the Red River overflows led
the people, after their winter disaster, to hope that they would escape
a flood.
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