TUPPEK'S LAKE. 85 



forest. This lake, some tea miles long, and from one to 

 three in width, is one of the most beautiful sheets of water 

 that the eye of man ever looked upon. The scenery about 

 it is less bold than that of some of the other lakes of 

 this region. The hills rise with a gentle acclivity from the 

 shore ; behind them and far off rise rugged mountain 

 ranges ; and further still, the lofty peaks of the Adiron- 

 dacks loom up in dim and shadowy outline against the sky. 

 From every point and in every direction, are views of placid 

 and quiet beauty rarely equalled ; valleys stretching away 

 among the highlands ; gaps in the hills, through which the 

 sunlight pours long after the shadows of the forest have 

 elsewhere thrown themselves across the lake ; islands, some 

 bold and rocky, rising in barren desolation, right up from 

 the deep water ; some covered with a dense and thrifty 

 growth of evergreen trees, with a soil matchless in fertility ; 

 and some partaking of both the sterile and productive ; 

 beautiful bays stealing around bold promontories, and 

 hiding away among the old woods. These are the features 

 of this beautiful sheet of water, which none see but to 

 admire, none visit but to praise ; and it lies here all alone, 

 surrounded by the old hills and forests, bold bluff's, and 

 rocky shores, all as God made them, with no mark of the 

 hand of man about it, save in a single spot on a secluded 

 bay, where lives a solitary family in a log house, surrounded 

 by an acre or two, from which the forest has been cleared 

 away. 



" Will somebody tell me," said Smith, as we sat 011 



