MID-SUMMER ALONG THE OLD CANAL. 



Shady groves, green grass, wild flowers, and the 

 sweet songs of our native birds in their chosen haunts 

 who in the hot and dusty days of mid-summer does 

 not dream of such delights? True, parks there are, 

 Collett's. and Forest, easy of access both, and each 

 with its own peculiar charms, but for him who likes a 

 degree of privacy the crowds which gather there with 

 their bustle and noise savor too much of those to be 

 seen daily on the streets of the city. 



To many persons, and especially to any one inter- 

 ested in the objects and doings of nature, there comes 

 at times an irresistible desire to leave, as far as pos- 

 sible, all signs of civilization ; to plunge, as it were, 

 into a wilderness and spend an hour, a day, or a week 

 in solitude. To a resident of Terre Haute, one of the 

 best and most accessible places for such a day's out- 

 ing is along the old W abash and Erie Canal between 

 Conover's and the Five Mile Pond. True, it is not a 

 wilderness, but there is many a shady nook and quiet, 

 secluded spot where one may rest free from interrup- 

 tion .and enjoy the pleasing odors of wild flowers 

 and the songs of sweet singing birds. On a recent 

 date, a day hot, sultry, and disagreeable in the im- 

 pure air of the city, I sought this favorite resort of 

 mine, and it is of the birds I saw and heard, the flow- 

 ers I met with, and a few of the thoughts which 



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