164 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 



Riding in the cool of the day was much more agree- 

 able, yet, notwithstanding the physical comfort, I 

 must confess that the lonely and unknown road gave 

 rather a gloomy forecast to my thoughts. Beside 

 this, I found some difficulty in obtaining necessary 

 directions, and lost the chief charm of the journey — 

 a view of the beautiful country through which I was 

 passing. 



It had not been my intention to do any travelling 

 after sundown unless the heat made it absolutely 

 necessary, but in this instance I felt justified in chang- 

 ing the original plan. Moving along through the 

 unfamiliar scenes, I missed the pleasant coloring of 

 woods and fields under the broad light of day, the 

 noisy hum the sunshine calls forth, and the sound of 

 the birds, always the sweetest music to me. Instead 

 of these there wa? the mystical silence of night, 

 broken only by the clatter of Paul's hoofs over the 

 dusty road. Four hours' steady travel brought us in 

 sight of the straggling lights of the little post-village 

 of Fairport, where we stopped for the night. Found 

 several Rochester papers awaiting me here, which con- 

 tained pleasant reference to my proposed lecture at 

 Corinthian Hall. 



