252 A NEW LAKE DISCOVERED. 



I infer from the fact that its roots spread far out every 

 way, and reach down into the water beneath, that it can 

 hardly be transferred to the garden, or become civilized. 

 It would be a great acquisition to the collection of the 

 florist if it could, for I know of no flower that excels it 

 in richness of color, gracefulness of appearance, or in gor- 

 geousness of beauty. 



We saw abundance of deer feeding quietly upon the 

 narrow meadows, and upon the lily pads on our way. 

 We had no inclination to injure them, and we let them 

 feed on. Some of them were hugely astonished, however, 

 at our presence, and dashed away, whistling and snorting, 

 into the forest. Two miles from the lake, we came to a 

 rocky barrier, down which the stream, came rushing and 

 roaring, for fifty or sixty rods, in a descent of perhaps sixty 

 feet in all. Around these rapids the boats were carried, 

 and we found, above them, the water deep and sluggish, 

 flowing through a dense forest, the tall trees on the banks 

 stretching their leafy arms across the narrow channel, form- 

 ing above it an arch delightfully cool, through which the 

 sunlight could scarcely penetrate. We followed this chan- 

 nel a long way, when we came to a little lake or pond, 

 four or five miles in circumference. It was a perfect gem, 

 laying there all alone, so calm, so lovely in its solitude, 

 with no sign of civilization around it, no sound of civili- 

 zation startling its echoes from their sleep of ages, no 

 human voice having perhaps ever been heard upon its shore 

 since the red man departed from the hunting-ground of 



