Page:Narrative of the Discoveries on the North Coast of America.djvu/76

 and a pair of lean ravens, which attended us for the greater part of the day. A strong southerly wind blew during the night.

At daylight on the 27th we found that a strong thaw had taken place, which rendered the travelling execrable; our route was full of deviations, which my guide declared necessary to avoid a rough thickety country. The fact was, the man was again at fault; and I was on the point of taking the guidance out of his hands, to shape a straight course for Carlton, when I found him kneeling on a hillock, with what purpose I know not; but, on questioning him, he said he recognised a low hill before us. On reaching it, we found ourselves in the midst, as it were, of a grand amphitheatre, being on every side surrounded by superior woody ridges. A few miles further lies the "Lake of the Moose Deer;" after passing which we gained the top of a range of round hills, extending across our route, where we lodged in a little hollow at sunset. In the course of the day we saw several tracks of buffalo bulls, and shot some partridges.

With the dawn we were again in motion. A light fog overhung the earth, which the rising sun soon dissipated, lighting up its fragments, as they rolled away, with bright and changeful hues. Our route traversed patches of brushwood,