132 Hills akd Laees. 



old man had the weight of too maii}^ years on his 

 shoulders, and I loved my wife and children too well 

 to allow of our taking it. Yon and I, Squire, shan^t 

 see it, but this country is spreadin' and spreadin' out, 

 and the time will soon be, Avhen a man can go in a 

 fortnight from the Bay State to the great ocean of the 

 West, crossin' the great prairies, and dashing over the 

 Eocky Mountains, down into the broad valleys be- 

 yond them, where will be found great cities, rich 

 farms, and millions of people." 



" Why," said I, " Tucker, you're getting poetical. 

 You've furnished a theme for thought which we had 

 better improve upon our bed of boughs in the shantee." 



In the morning we started down the Upper Sara- 

 nac. This lake is the largest in all this region, being 

 some fourteen or fifteen miles in length, by from one 

 to three in breadth. In speaking of distances I do 

 not profess to be precisely correct ; I give the best of 

 my judgment only, and I have not myself the most 

 perfect confidence in its accuracy. I am not, there- 

 fore, to be held responsible for anj^ mistakes that may 

 occur in my measurements. I judge of the size of 

 the lakes by my eye, and of the distance from each 

 other, by the time it took us to travel it. These are 



