SPECKLED TEOUT. 135 



acceptable to the camper-out as a pure article in the 

 way of woods and waters. Any admixture of human 

 relics mars the spirit of the scene. Yet I am willing 

 to confess that, before we were through those woods, 

 the marks of an axe in a tree was a welcome sight. 

 On resuming our march next day we followed the 

 right bank of the Beaverkill, in order to strike a 

 stream which flowed in from the north, and which 

 was the outlet of Balsam Lake, the objective point 

 of that day's march. The distance to the lake from 

 our camp could not have been over six or seven 

 miles ; yet, traveling as we did, without path or 

 guide, climbing up banks, plunging into ravines, mak- 

 ing detours around swampy places, and forcing our 

 way through woods choked up with much fallen and 

 decayed timber, it seemed at least twice that distance, 

 and the mid-afternoon sun was shining when we 

 emerged into what is called the " Quaker Clearing," 

 ground that I had been over nine years before, and 

 that lies about two miles south of the lake. From 

 this point we had a well-worn path that led us up a 

 sharp rise of ground, then through level woods till 

 we saw the bright gleam of the water through the 

 trees. 



I am always struck on approaching these little 

 mountain lakes with the extensive preparation that 

 is made for them in the conformation of the ground. 

 I am thinking of a depression, or natural basin in 

 the side of the mountain or on its top, the brink of 

 which I shall reach after a little steep climbing ; but 



