224 



CHAPTER XII. 



BLACK SPRUCE MINIATURE LAKE THE MINK NATURAL ARBOUR 



UNSUCCESSFUL STALK AFTER A COW MOOSE THE CANADA PORCU- 

 PINE SNIPE WATER-SNAKES CURLEWS ROASTED OWL EN- 

 CAMPED ON THE MARGIN OF A LAKE INGRATITUDE OF A GREY 



WOLF. 



AFTER traversing a considerable space of thickly- 

 wooded, low-laying ground, I came out on rolling 

 prairie sparsely covered with trees. Its surface 

 was extremely irregular, making the walking un- 

 usually laborious, for boulders of every size and 

 shape, covered over with a thick and many-coloured 

 clothing of moss, lay around on all sides. To the 

 left, standing alone, bursting from a fissure in the 

 rock, grew a large black spruce, towards which, as 

 it was the most prominent feature in the foreground 

 of the landscape, I directed my steps. The regular 

 growth of this tree always renders it attractive ; its 

 cones make it a favourite with young folks ; and the 

 favourite summer-beer being procured from it, the 

 good housewife .is not without a feeling of tender- 

 ness towards it. In the northern New England 

 States, and in the provinces, it is abundant, and 

 consequently has always been associated in my mind 

 with civilisation. The one before me was the first 



