Sometimes the eyes were open, fixed, dull, wild, and
the brain was seized by a quiet delirium; in other instances the eyes were
red and manifested a transient excitement of the brain; there was marked
delirium in these cases. Some stammered incoherent words, others had a
reserved and convulsive cough. In some blood flowed from the nose and ears;
they agitated their limbs as if groping. (This description of Beaupre
complements the account given by von Scherer.)
Many had their hands, feet, and ears frozen. A great many were mortally
stricken when obliged to stop to relieve nature; the arrival of that
dreaded moment was in fact very embarrassing, on account of the danger of
exposing oneself to the air as well as owing to the numbness of the fingers
which rendered them unable to readjust the clothes....
And they traveled day and night, often without knowing where they were.
Ultimately they were obliged to stop, and, complaining, shivering, forced
to lie down in the woods, on the roads, in ditches, at the bottom of
ravines, often without fire, because they had no wood at hand, nor strength
enough to go and cut some in the vicinity; if they succeeded in lighting
one, they warmed themselves as they could, and fell asleep without delay.
The first hours of sleep were delightful, but, alas! they were merely the
deceitful precursor of death that was waiting for them.
The fire at length became extinct for want of attention or owing to the
great blast.
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