ADVENTURES IN THE BACKWOODS. 291 



ill effects of roosting for half a dozen hours in a leaf- 

 less tree, in a severe North American January's frost; 

 for a mortification ensuing in both his feet, the only 

 chance of saving his life, was by amputating both his 

 legs. However, the doctor yet lives to narrate his ad- 

 venture, or as he terms it, "his wolf scrape;" and is one 

 of the few instances on record in his part of the world 

 of having been in real danger of becoming a supper for 

 a few of those hungry animals. 



The winter was more than usually severe among the 

 mountains on the north waters of the Susquehanna. The 

 snow fell pretty early in the month of December, so that 

 winter might be said to have set in pretty decidedly some 

 time before Christmas. I had been on a visit for a few 



weeks in the vicinity of S L ; but had accepted 



of an invitation to meet a party of my own country- 

 people, at the residence of my kind friends, Mr. and 

 Mrs. T , on the last day in December, with an under- 

 standing that we were "to dance in the new year;" for 

 even in the back settlements of America, we could at 

 times meet and dance, and enjoy whatever the country 

 afforded, forgetting for a time the gayer and more splen- 

 did scenes we had once been familiar with in our dear 

 native country. The distance I had to travel was but 

 six miles; yet the road if a dim track through the 

 woods might be so called was at all seasons bad, now 

 the snow was so deep that it was rendered still worse, so 

 that it took a considerable time to get through it. At 

 that season of the year, the wolves occasionally infest the 

 neighborhood; and although at all seasons depredations 

 are liable to be committed upon the small flocks of sheep 



