1764, Oct.] THE MARCH OF HIS ARMY. 211 



of pack-horses laden with provisions, their prog- 

 ress was tedious and difficult, and seven or eight 

 miles were the ordinary measure of a day's march. 

 The woodsmen of Virginia, veteran hunters and 

 Indian-fighters, were thrown far out in front and 

 on either flank, scouring the forest to detect any 

 sign of a lurking ambuscade. The pioneers toiled 

 in the van, hewing their way through woods and 

 thickets ; while the army dragged its weary length 

 behind them through the forest, like a serpent 

 creeping through tall grass. The surrounding 

 country, whenever a casual opening in the matted 

 foliage gave a glimpse of its features, disclosed 

 scenery of wild, primeval beauty. Sometimes the 

 army defiled along the margin of the Ohio, by 

 its broad eddying current and the bright landscape 

 of its shores. Sometimes they descended into the 

 thickest gloom of the w^oods, damp, still, and cool 

 as the recesses of a cavern, where the black soil 

 oozed beneath the tread, where the rough columns 

 of the forest seemed to exude a clammy sweat, 

 and the slimy mosses were trickling with moisture ; 

 while the carcasses of prostrate trees, green with 

 the decay of a century, sank into pulp at the light- 

 est pressure of the foot. More frequently, the 

 forest was of a fresher growth ; and the restless 

 leaves of young maples and basswood shook down 

 spots of sunlight on the marching columns. Some- 

 times they waded the clear current of a stream, 

 with its vistas of arching foliage and sparkling 

 water. There were intervals, but these were rare, 

 when, escaping for a moment from the labyrinth 



