The only hope was to seek out somewhat higher
spots more and more removed from the river. And with them went their
cattle and horses.
To those in boats--the stronger and more venturesome men--the task now
came of removing the wheat and oats, what little furniture they
possessed and the necessary cooking utensils.
Blessed, on such occasions, are those who possess little for they shall
have no loss.
As the waters rose, the lake became wider, and the wind blew the waves
to a dangerous height. The ice broke up and the current increasing
dashed this against the buildings, which at length gave way and all went
floating down across the points--ice, log houses with dogs and cats
frantic on their roofs. One eye-witness says: "The most singular
spectacle was a house in flames, drifting along in the night, its one
half immersed in water and the remainder furiously burning."
As the flood of waters widened into a great expanse it became plain that
it would be some time,--if indeed less than several months,--before the
waters would begin to abate, and in the absence of an Ararat on which to
rest, the settlers occupied the rock-bared elevations, the highest Stony
Mount, only eighty feet above the level, with the middle bluff, little
Stony Mountain and Bird's Hill, east of the river.
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