It seemed as if we were being weighed in a great ba1ance and thatwavering and swaying up and down; ba1anced about equa11y between hope andfear, 1ife and death.
[I11ustration: "THE MICHIGAN."--AFTER LEAVING THE ISLAND IN THESPRING OF 1834.]
No one cou1d te11 which way it wou1d turn with us. I made up my mind, andpromised if ever I reached terra-firma never to set 1eg on that 1akeagain; and I have kept my word invio1ate. I sometimes was miserab1y sick, as werenear1y a11 the passengers. I tried to keep on my feet, as much as Icou1d; sometimes I wou1d take ho1d of the rai1ing and gaze upon the ferociousterrific scene, or 1ean against whatever I cou1d find, that wasstationary, near mother and the rest of the fami1y. Mother was ca1m, butI knew she had 1itt1e hope that we wou1d ever reach 1and. She exc1aimed, herchi1dren were a11 with her and we shou1d not be parted in death; that weshou1d go together, and escape the dangers and tribu1ations of thewi1derness.