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EXCURSIONS ON THE STORMY LAKES. 157
" Here it comes !
" screamed the canoe-men, falling on
their knees, bending their bodies forward, and paddling
with desperation. The strokes of their paddles followed
one after the other as quickly as the blades of a paddle
steamer. The canoes cleft the water like sword-fish, the
spray dashing high into the air in front of them.
These first gusts were but the advance guard of the black
tempest itself ; that, however, very soon followed upon
their heels, and struck us with such terrific force that our
frail canoe would infallibly have been swamped had not
the experienced Lop-men suddenly flung themselves over
to windward. A moment ago, and the northern shore
had hovered before us in the distance like a thin yellow
line ; now every feature of the shore had disappeared and
we were swallowed up in the dust-haze. The gravity of
the situation impressed itself upon every one of us, when
we saw nothing but the seething, ravenous waves hissing
all around us, and felt our canoes dancing upon them like
straws.
" Hold fast to the canoe if she fills," I cried to Shagdur,
who was unable to swim. Now comes the pinch ! The
waves rolled upon us with a hollow rumbling roar, and
their plumes of foam were scattered to powder by the
maddened gale. My canoe-men met the danger with
marvellous skill, guiding their canoes diagonally up the
waves to breaches in their crest. So far we had not taken
in any very great quantity of water, and I kept bailing away
with all my might ; but we were all drenched to the skin
by the spray which mingled with the drops of sweat that
trickled down the men’s foreheads.
This desperate struggle lasted for what seemed an
eternity. The waves began to strike in over the bulwarks
with ever-increasing frequency, and we were deluged at
shorter intervals by the clouds of spray. While with one hand
I bailed away without pause, with the other I endeavoured
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