132 HILLS AND LAKES. 



old man had the weight of too many years on his 

 shoulders, and I loved my wife and children too well 

 to allow of our taking it. You and I, Squire, shan't 

 see it, but this country is spreadin' and spreadin' out, 

 and the time will soon be, when a man can go in a 

 fortnight from the Bay State to the great ocean of the 

 "West, crossin' the great prairies, and dashing over the 

 Kocky Mountains, down into the broad valleys be- 

 yond them, where will be found great cities, rich 

 farms, and millions of people." 



" Why," said I, " Tucker, you're getting poetical. 

 You've furnished a theme for thought which we had 

 better improve upon our bed of boughs in the shantee." 



In the -morning we started down the Upper Sara- 

 nac. This lake is the largest in all this region, being 

 some fourteen or fifteen miles in length, by from one 

 to three in breadth. In speaking of distances I do 

 not profess to be precisely correct ; I give the best of 

 my judgment only, and I have not myself the most 

 perfect confidence in its accuracy. I am not, there- 

 fore, to be held responsible for any mistakes that may 

 occur in my measurements. I judge of the size of 

 the lakes by my eye, and of the distance from each 

 other, by the time it took us to travel it. These are 



