THE FORESTS OF ACADIE. 



41 



{il»lo l)!U'kw»K)(lH fiiiiiKU", titwnnla wlio.so {'IcariunjH it was 

 Runi to tiviul. Pcrlmits for lioiirrt Itcforc wo hiul almost 

 despaired of ([uitting the forcnt by niglitfiill. On Hriiding 

 thf IiKliaiiH into tree-tops to rcconiioitiv, the disheartening 

 ery vvouKl be, " Woods all round as far ns we can see." 

 Further on, p 'rliaps, we should hear that there were 

 " Lakes all round ! " Worse again, for then a wearisome 

 detour must be made. Jiut at last some one finds signs 

 of chop}iing, then a stactk of cord-wood, and then we 

 strike a regular blazed line. Now the spirits of every 

 one revive, and we soon emerge on the forest road with 

 its elean-eut track, corduroy i>latfonnM through swamps, 

 and rude lojx bridijes over the brooks, which brings us 

 witliin the welcome sound of cattle bells, and at length 

 to the broad c;lare of the clearinijjs. 



Ik'fore leaving the woods, however, we may not omit 

 to notice those characteristic trees of the American forest, 

 the maples, partieulaily that most important member of 

 the family, the rock or sugar ma[»lc — Acer saccharinum. 

 lAjund generally interspersed with other hard-wood trees, 

 tliis tree is seen of largest and most fre(|uent growth in 

 the Acadian forests on the slopes of the C-ol»equid hills, 

 and other similar runnjes in Nova Scotia, often ffrowinjr 

 together in large clumi»s. Such groves are termed 

 " Sugaries," and are yearly visited by the settlers for 

 the plentiful supply of sap which, in the early spring, 

 courses between the bark and the wood, and from which 

 the maple sugar is extracted. Towards the end of 

 March, when winter is relaxing its hold, and the hitherto 

 frozen trees begin to feel the influence of the sun, the 

 settlers, old and young, turn into the woods with their 

 axes, sap-troughs, and boilers, and commence the opera- 



