tTP THE KIYKI!. SICIITS AND SOVXHS. 247 



duclioiis arc needed in flic wilderness, and our chat of a 

 few minutes, as \ve lay wilh the bow of our boat thrust 

 into the mos,y hank, and as we talked trout and deer, was 

 a pleasant change from the conversational duct my guide 

 and I had kept up all the way from the home-camp. 



.Mile aft:-!- mile up the charming Oswegalehie we slowly 

 paddled, keenly enjoying the scenery and the delicious 

 languor of the gratified senses, swaying the slender rod 

 over every promising water with expectant delight, and 

 watching eagerly the flight and gentle descent of the feath 

 ery and b.irbed deception, bill scanning at the same time 

 every turn and winding of the narrowing river for a day- 

 light shot at a deer. A singular bush or brush of dingy 

 red was seen ahead of us. s|,>\ v h <-ros^in- I he st ream, which 

 on closer inspection, proved to he a red fo\, his long. 

 lu-liy tail floating airly behind him, while his nose just 

 appeared ab'vr the water. Now and I hen a chipmunk or 

 a red squirrel silently paddled his way across the river, his 

 keen, black eyes evidently distressed by the vision we pre 

 s'-nted to him. The plunge of the nmskral disturbed the 

 silence, one |Tsistenl litlle fellow swimming rapidly 

 ahead >f us with a lari^e bunch of <;-rass in his mouth, for 

 his winter home. . Mon-j; the bank, we freipieiitly saw the 

 feed inn- places ol' the deer; the sofi. bare earth by the 

 water's ed^e trodden like M farm yard 



l/iltle success rewarded oui- mid day fishing, but in every 

 tiling else this senile journeying was most enjoyable. At 

 length, between three and four o'clock I*. M., about eleven 

 mile- above Albany IJridgi-, at the "Big Fl 1 Wood " 



