kalvmah's adventures. 237 But, alas ! the poor girl's strength was not equal to her courage, she was faint from want of food, and, exhausted as she was, she could no longer wield her paddle. For some hours she struggled on, and seemed to be approach- ing the island, although those on it could not see her, as she was but a speck upon the ocean. She struggled on until her stiflfened arms and bleeding hands fell powerless, and, losing consciousness, she was floated along in her frail kayak at the mercy of winds and waves. She did not know how long this lasted, she remembered nothing more, until a sudden shock roused her, her kayak had struck against something, it opened beneath her, and she was plunged into cold water, the freshness of which revived her. A few moments later, she was flung upon the sand in a dying state by a large wave. This had taken place the night before, just before dawn — that is to say, about two or three o'clock in the morning. Kalumah had then been seventy hours at sea since she embarked ! The young native had no idea where she had been thrown, whether on the continent or on the floating island, which she had so bravely sought, but she hoped the latter. Yes, hoped that she had reached her friends, although she knew that the wind and current had driven them into the open sea, and not towards the coast ! The thought revived her, and, shattered as she was, she struggled to her feet, and tried to follow the coast. She had, in fact, been providentially thrown on that portion of Victoria Island which was formerly the upper corner of Walruses' Bay. But, worn away as it was by the waves, she did not recognise the land with which she had once been familiar. She tottered on, stopped, and again struggled to advance; the beach before her appeared endless, she had so often to go round where the sea had encroached upon the sand. And so dragging herself along, stumbling and scrambling up again, she at last approached the little wood where Mrs Barnett and Madge had halted that very morning. We know that the two women found the footprints left by Kalumah in the snow not far from this very spot, and it was at a short distance farther on that the poor girl fell for the last time. Exhausted by fatigue and hunger, she still managed to creep along on hands and knees for a few minutes longer. A great hope kept her from despair, for she had at last recognised
