A THUNDER-STORM. 263 



down as if the flood-gates of heaven had been opened, ac- 

 companied by the loudest thunder and most dazzling light- 

 ning. There is nothing that more powerfully impresses 

 man with the omnipotent power of the Creator, or with his 

 own utter insignificance, than being placed alone, unpro- 

 tected from the warring elements, listening to the dismem- 

 berment of limbs from the parent tree-trunks by the fury 

 of the blast, or the scathing power of the electric fluid. All 

 my efforts to keep a good fire were futile sleep was out of 

 the question while the incessant attacks of the mosquitoes 

 made me restless and irritable. No sick man or storm- 

 tossed mariner ever more ardently longed for break of day. 

 The night appeared endless, and doubts of whether the sun 

 had not been delayed in his course, or taken his departure 

 to gladden with his rays the inhabitants of other planets, 

 intruded themselves. At last, faint lines of light glimmered 

 in the east, foretelling the departure of darkness, and with 

 greater satisfaction than I ever previously experienced, I 

 rose from my wet and uncomfortable resting-place. To 

 seek my lost route was my first endeavor, and for more 

 than an hour I wandered without success. At last, when 

 almost yielding to despair, I struck the margin of the lake 

 I had been shooting on the evening before; and what a 

 beautiful, enthralling scene lay before me ! The placid wa- 

 ter only rippled where the wild duck sported, or the vora- 

 cious fish pursued to the surface their destined prey ; while 

 the shadow of each tree that grew near the margin was so 

 distinctly reflected that the minutest limb or twig could be 

 traced with perfect precision. 



I stood entranced, and so great was my admiration, that 

 nothing could have induced me to disturb the harmony 

 of the picture by destroying the life, or disturbing the re- 

 treat, of the beautiful creatures which formed its promi- 

 nent features. To the left were several deer and fawns. 



