196 FLY-FISHING IN MAINE LAKES. 



about to relate ever really occurred ; but certain 

 memoranda, and this small scar on my forehead 

 which I shall carry to my grave, are abundant testi- 

 mony of its truth. 



"It was the winter of 18 . I had been travel- 

 ling in the western part of the States, or, rather, 

 what was then known as the Great West ; but with 

 the exception of a few miserable settlements, mis- 

 called cities, on the farther bank of the Mississippi, 

 the broad expanse of country lying between that 

 mighty river and the Pacific coast was almost the 

 sole abiding-place of that fast-disappearing race 

 whose memory and deeds our poets and novelists 

 have perpetuated in many a romantic tale. 



" These aborigines of the soil, known to us through 

 authors and poets as the 'untutored sons of the 

 forest,' the ( noble savage,' and the ' red man of 

 the plain,' were, with the exception of a few hunters, 

 trappers, and explorers, the sole inhabitants of that 

 vast extent of country, now divided into States and 

 Territories, possessing large and thriving towns and 

 cities, all adding, with their vast resources of cereals 

 and precious metals, to the wealth of our country, 

 etc. ; as the historian will .tell you, and all of which 

 you know as well as I. 



" At the time this incident took place I was liv- 

 ing in the city of New York, and had made several 



