ADIRONDAC. 99 



bear tracks in the snow, but had never yet met Bruin. 

 Deer are more or less abundant everywhere, and one 

 old sportsman declares there is yet a single moose in 

 these mountains. On our return, a pioneer settler, at 

 whose house we stayed over night, told us a long ad- 

 venture he had had with a panther. He related how 

 it screamed, how it followed him in the brush, how he 

 took to his boat, how its eyes gleamed from the shore, 

 and how he fired his rifle at them with fatal effect. His 

 wife in the mean time took something from a drawer, 

 and as her husband finished his recital, she produced 

 a toe-nail of the identical animal with marked dramatic 

 effect. 



But better than fish or game or grand scenery or any 

 adventure by night or day, is the wordless intercourse 

 with rude Nature one has on these expeditions. It is 

 something to press the pulse of our old mother by moun- 

 tain lakes and streams, and know what health and vigor 

 are in her veins, and how regardless of observation she 

 deports herself. 



