258 



THE ADIRONDACK. 



gallop, keep ahead of them — and it was a grand spec- 

 tacle. The vast columns of smoke rolling into the 

 heavens, yet leaning eagerly forward, as if straining 

 on the chase — the lambent tongues of flame, shooting 

 at intervals above the murky mass that hugged the 

 tree tops, and the steady roar, like that of the surge, 

 filled me with new ideas of terror and sublimity. 

 The rabbits and foxes in countless numbers, smelling 

 the danger from afar, scoured the thickets in every 

 direction — the deer ran frightened from their haunts, 

 and nature herself seemed to stand aghast at the fury 

 of the devouring element. But the leaves and shrubs 

 alone fed the flames — the tall trees were only scathed 

 and blackened, which, together with the lowness of 

 the land, lessened and concealed the effect of the 

 scene. 



A prairie on fire is simply a mass of flame, rush- 

 ing like a race horse over the ground — terrible to 

 behold, but exhibiting a sameness in its aspect that 

 leaves no room to the imagination. But a mountain 

 of magnificent timber ablaze is another matter — ^from 

 base to ridge your eye takes in the whole extent, and 

 you look on a bosom of fire, from which rise waving 

 columns and lofty turrets of flame. 



