FOREST LIFE. 61 



the night was very pleasant, and the broad moon, slowly de- 

 scending in the west, added her effulgence to beautify the scene, 

 her image being reflected by the rippling waters, while various 

 contrasts of light and shade from the dense foliage, and the pale 

 moonbeam and glaring red camp-fire, gave an effect full of beau- 

 ty, and worthy the attention of an artist. 



"Amid pleasant scenes, we are, however, subject to contrasts 

 of a less agreeable kind ; and here our Indian, while cutting 

 wood, sufiered a severe accident ; his hatchet, accidentally slip- 

 ping, was driven deeply into his leg between two bones, so as to 

 expose the anterior tibial artery. I was then called upon in my 

 surgical capacity, and, having my instruments with me, dressed 

 his wound in the usual mamier, and early next morning we took 

 him to Maltanawcook Island, where we made arrangements with 

 another Indian, Louis Neptune, to supply his place wliile he was 

 recovering from his wound." 



These difficulties of transportation have been somewhat abated 

 by the construction of roads, which penetrate much nearer to 

 lumber berths than formerly, and enable us to convey our pro- 

 visions, implements, and even boats, with horse teams, a consid- 

 erable portion of the distance once laboriously performed by wa- 

 ter. I am not familiar with any kind of labor which tests a man's 

 physical abilities and powers of endurance more than boating sup- 

 plies up river. The labor of carrying by falls, and portages from 

 lake to lake, imposes a heavy tax upon the body. Barrels of 

 pork, flour, and other provisions, too heavy for one man to carry 

 alone, are slung to a pole by the aid of ropes, one man being at 

 either end, and thus we clamber, under our heavy burdens, over 

 rocks, the trunks of fallen trees, slippery roots, and through mud- 

 sloughs, sometimes without any path, through the thickets and 

 groves of trees. The boat is turned bottom upward, the gun- 

 wales resting upon the shoulders of three men, two abreast near 

 the bows, and one at the stern. In this position we pass over 



