ened by the clouds. It was very cold. The wind
howled round the crags, and the whirling snow blinded,
and every moment threatened to engulf them. They
saw how impossible it was to proceed farther, so re-
turning to the cabin, they made preparations to win-
ter there, near what is now called Donner lake.
Soon their horses and cattle were all gone; some butchered and eaten, others strayed and buried in the snow. A little game was with difficulty killed, but not sufficient to satisfy hunger. Starvation stared at them. It was death to go away, and death to remain there ; it is easier, however, to die in active endeavor than in passive despair. After three several failures, Eddy and sixteen others, five of whom were women, succeeded in crossing the summit on snow-shoes. This was on the 17th of December. They were now in the heart of the Sierra, faint, having but little food, and almost buried in the soft snow, which con- tinued falling day after day. They had one gun, but not a livino; thino- was to be seen. Some were stricken with snow-blindness, and on the 23d of December, one, Mr Stanton, from Syracuse, New York, fell be- hind and perished. It was each for himself; they were all now as fiends seven times hardened.
Christmas found them burrowing in the snow, and debating whether to attempt to proceed or to give it up. Eddy and the women determined to go on ; the others sullenly refused to move. From the start the allowance had been one ounce of food to each, three times a day ; now they had been without any food for two days. One, Patrick Dolan, proposed the casting of lots to determine which should die. Eddy assented; William Foster objected. It was then proposed that two should fight until one was slain ; then that they should continue their journey until one should suc- cumb, which last proposition was finally accepted. Then they staggered on three miles farther and en- camped. With great difficulty they succeeded in lighting a fire, but during the night it was extin-
