104 HILLS AND LAKES. 



plain, bellowing and roaring in seeming terror at some 

 terrible destruction behind them. Then came vast 

 droves of wolves, panting and howling, in immense 

 numbers, with jaws distended, and tongues lolling out, 

 like hounds wearied by the chase. None seemed 

 seeking for prey; a mortal terror was upon all; all 

 were fleeing, as it seemed for life, towards the belt of 

 timber land visible in the distance. These vast waves 

 of animal life swept by me ; the roar of their countless 

 voices died away, like the tempest in its onward flight. 

 Then I saw the reason of their mortal terror. Away 

 in the distance, was a dense line of dark murky smoke, 

 wreathing and twisting heavenward, wrapping earth 

 and sky in its sombre folds. On came the fearful 

 visitation, preceded by a line of fire athwart the whole 

 of that vast plain, flashing and glancing upward as 

 new fuel was grasped by its devouring tongue, and it 

 was hurled onward by the rushing winds. On it 

 came, crackling and roaring, like a mighty billow of 

 flame, devouring and overwhelming all things in its 

 terrible career. Onward and onward it came, with 

 the speed of the war horse, and the roar of the tor- 

 nado. Before, it was destruction; in its rear, the 

 blackness of desolation. Far as the eye could reach, 



