THE DUSKY GROUSE. 133 
from the banks even by sinking wells to a depth of sev- 
eral feet. The shore ends so abruptly in some places 
that a man of war can float alongside it, but it recedes 
gradually in others, until it finally breaks off at a height 
of twenty or thirty feet above the bottom. The magnif- 
‘Icence he-pativrama visible from this lake cannot be 
described, and must be seen to be appreciated. 
Our tent was pitched in an alcove of towering pines, 
which seemed to have been arranged as a temple for the 
nymphs of the forest, so regularly were they grouped. 
This idea was strengthened by the hymn-like murmuring 
of the branches which bent to and fro in the evening 
breeze, and the gentle soughing of the waves on the peb- 
bly beach. When the tent was erected and all prepara- 
tions made for a regular week’s work, by gathering and 
chopping wood, digging holes in which to cook bear 
and deer heads, and cleaning away the deep bed of leaves 
that surrounded the camp, it was so late in the evening 
that we deemed it best to postpone an assault on the 
game of the region until the next morning. I was much 
pleased with this decision, as if gave me an opportunity 
of enjoying the magnificent landscape spread out before 
me, and to drink in its varied beauties. 
While Smith and myself were seated on the shore, ab- 
sorbed in our own thoughts, and heedless alike of the 
moaning of the pines or the screaming of the loons, 
which rode on the wavelets in the middle of the lake, 
our attention was attracted by a drama which was taking 
place in the air. We had noticed, as soon as we came 
near the lake, the abundance of hawks, ospreys, and 
white-headed, or fishing eagles, that were either sailing 
and circling in the firmament or demurely perched on 
some towering tree from which they commanded a view of 
the lake and the surrounding country. We inferred from 
this that the region was well stocked with food, but we 
did not know until afterwards what a favorite ground it 
