1 84 BIRCH BROWSINGS. 



him and predicted the failure of his enterprise. But 

 having made up' his mind, he possessed himself thor- 

 oughly of the topography of the country from the afore- 

 said hunters, shouldered his axe, and set out, holding 

 a straight course through the woods, and turning aside 

 for neither swamps, streams, nor mountains. When 

 he paused to rest he would mark some object ahead of 

 him with his eye, in order that on getting up again he 

 might not deviate from his course. His directors had 

 told him of a hunter's cabin about midway on his 

 route, which if he struck he might be sure he was 

 right. About noon this cabin was reached, and at sun- 

 set he emerged at the head of Dry Brook. 



After looking in vain for the line of marked trees, 

 we moved off to the left in a doubtful, hesitating man- 

 ner, keeping on the highest ground and blazing the 

 trees as we went. We were afraid to go down hill, lest 

 we should descend too soon ; our vantage-ground was 

 high ground. A thick fog coming on, we were more 

 bewildered than ever. Still we pressed forward, climb- 

 ing up ledges and wading through ferns for about two 

 hours, when we paused by a spring that issued from 

 beneath an immense wall of rock that belted the high- 

 est part of the mountain. There was quite a broad 

 plateau here, and the birch wood was very dense, and 

 the trees of unusual size. 



After resting and exchanging opinions, we all con- 

 cluded that it was best not to continue our search en- 

 cumbered as we were ; but we were not willing to 



