UNCLE IN ENGLAND. 285 



only for whiskey, which they like better than any 

 thing else. They bring baskets, and little bowls, 

 and dishes made of the bark of the birch-tree, 

 and are glad to sell them for spirits, flour, or 

 pork. They come down the river in their canoes, 

 and can paddle them across the rapids just oppo- 

 site this house, where no European could ven- 

 ture in a boat. 







" June 5th. Our first spring flowers were 

 hepaticas, which actually carpeted the ground 

 as daisies do at home ; they were single, but very 

 large, and blue, pink, and white. We had the 

 pretty yellow dog-tooth violets in profusion ; 

 then white and crimson lilies; both of them 

 handsome, but with an odious smell : there was 

 another very elegant-looking plant, with a leaf 

 like fumitory, the root a collection of reddish 

 bulbs, and the flower something like a butterfly 

 orchis. 



" We have now abundance of yellow, white, 

 and purple violets, but the white only have a 

 sweet smell. There is also a beautiful yellow 

 lady's slipper, and numerous other flowers, which 

 I may describe some other time. 



" Our shrubs are leather wood, cranberry, dog- 

 wood, Alpine honeysuckle without scent, and 

 syringa. The trees are elm, mople, oak, beech, 



