Caught in the Rain. 271 



returning empty-handed ; but, as if the spirits of 

 departed red men were in league with the clouds, 

 when near our journey's end it began to rain, and 

 our courage was not equal to facing a storm. It 

 remained to us to return home or seek the shelter 

 of a near-by woods, and we chose the latter. 



Let us hope that our horse was not unhappy, 

 browsing the wet leaves of chestnut sprouts ; we 

 certainly were not, feasting on many a product 

 of foreign lands ; an inspiriting lunch suggesting 

 postprandial contemplation on my part and a 

 spirit of exploration on the part of my compan- 

 ions. I sat in the carriage and studied the woods 

 in front of me ; they hunted for wild-flowers where 

 the trees offered moderate protection : we were all 

 happy. 



There is little merit in a pine woods or a cedar 

 swamp, because of its monotony. We may be 

 impressed with the silence that pervades it, or by 

 its vast extent, but the pleasure that Byron asserts 

 of pathless woods, if he had such as these in 

 mind, is to me a myth. Animal-life seems largely 

 to shun such spots, as if the same feeling of in- 

 tense loneliness unpleasantly affected it ; but when 



