20 NATURE IN ACADIE. 



On my right, the arm I was upon was shut in by the 

 granite ridge I had previously crossed, while to my 

 left the shore was lower and clothed with dense woods 

 which descended right to the water's edge, where the 

 monarchs of the forest struggled with the dwarfish and 

 mis-shapen underwood for a footing among the dripping 

 boulders, draped with green moss and fern, and for 

 ever kissed by the little ripples which sped across the 

 crystal waters to cast themselves with a murmuring 

 sigh against these adamantine breasts. The eternal 

 lapping of the water as the ripples played among the 

 boulders, was the only sound that broke the strange 

 and almost weird stillness. Never a cry came from 

 the vastness of the forest, never a bird cast a mo- 

 mentary shadow upon the lake — all Nature, in fact, 

 seemed to be silent and inanimate. 



A faint breeze " was wafted over the lake, but not 

 enough to sway the boughs of the stern and rigid 

 pines and firs. The rippling waters sparkled brightly 

 in the sunshine, but I looked in vain for aquatic birds 

 upon their surface, neither was I able to meet with 

 much in the dense and solitary woods through which 

 I passed during my long tramp round the lake, but 

 in a thick spruce- wood I flushed a single " spruce par- 

 tridge " or Canada grouse — a rather handsome grouse 

 which is said to be not very abundant anywhere in 

 this neighbourhood at the present time. 



The strangest fact about these forests is that, in 

 spite of their lonely and retired nature, one is con- 

 stantly imagining oneself in close proximity with fre- 

 quented parts, or even habitations. Thus, whenever 

 I emerged into a more open part, I fancied I detected 

 signs of there being some track or clearing, although 

 the idea was always dispelled on closer observation ; 

 or again I frequently imagined I caught glimpses of 

 buildings through the trees, but if I endeavoured to 

 find my way to them, they vanished as completely as 

 the mocking mirage of the desert. 



I was quite three hours on this lake, which at first 

 appeared to be by no means so extensive, although 



