The Wilderness 55 
now the river, having rid itself of the logs, be- 
comes quiet and the lake slowly sinks to its 
normal level. Looking across Long Lake 
from the summit of a ridge, it is astonishing 
how little impression has been made upon the 
virgin woods. In spite of a continuous on- 
slaught of an army of woodchoppers, the 
wilderness seems vast and interminable and 
you realise that the distant horizon does not 
bound, but is bounded by it. 
White pine, being valuable, has been largely 
culled out, leaving only here and there some 
splendid old tree, towering above the hard- 
woods, which doubtless owes its escape to the 
fact that it is unsound. Like some invalids, 
it is left, while the robust are taken in their 
prime. So have the cherry, the ash, and 
the black birch been called and have gone to 
their long home. But the yellow birch, being 
inferior wood, is left, and in this section of the 
wilderness grows to an immense size and is one 
of the most splendid trees, though doubtless 
the poorest lumber. Its beauty is wholly of 
the trunk and bark, the top being somewhat 
straggly and restricted. Usually straight and 
columnar, sometimes leaning and ponderous, 
these massive trunks resemble pillars of dull 
gold lacquer. The larch, which so lately 
