1764.] A HUNTER'S PARADISE. 247 



along its banks, and the panting negro cools his 

 limbs in its refreshing waters. 



To these great rivers and their tributary streams 

 the country of the Illinois owed its wealth, its 

 grassy prairies, and the stately woods that flour- 

 ished on its deep, rich soil. This prolific land 

 teemed with life. It was a hunter's paradise. 

 Deer grazed on its meadows. The elk trooped in 

 herds, like squadrons of cavalry. In the still 

 morning, one might hear the clatter of their ant- 

 lers for half a mile over the dewy prairie. Count- 

 less bison roamed the plains, filing in grave 

 procession to drink at the rivers, plunging and 

 snorting among the rapids and quicksands, rolling 

 their huge bulk on the grass, rushing upon each 

 other in hot encounter, like champions under shield. 

 The wildcat glared from the thicket ; the racoon 

 thrust his furry countenance from the hollow tree, 

 and the opossum swung, head downwards, from the 

 overhanging bough. 



With the opening spring, when the forests are 

 budding into leaf, and the prairies gemmed with 

 flowers ; when a warm, faint haze rests upon the 

 landscape, — then heart and senses are inthralled 

 with luxurious beauty. The shrubs and wild fruit- 

 trees, flushed with pale red blossoms, and the small 

 clustering flowers of grape-vines, which choke the 

 gigantic trees with Laocoon writhings, fill the 

 forest with their rich perfume. A few days later, 

 and a cloud of verdure overshadows the land ; while 

 birds innumerable sing beneath its canopy, and 

 brighten its shades with their glancing hues. 



