EPISODES 393 



pine woods in the distance. And such excellent judges 

 are these persons of the value of the timber which they 

 thus observe, when it is situated at a convenient distance 

 from water, that they never afterwards forget the differ- 

 ent spots at all worthy of their attention. They had 

 observed only a few birds and quadrupeds, the latter 

 principally Porcupines. The borders of the lakes and 

 rivers afforded them fruits of various sorts, and abundance 

 of cranberries, while the uplands yielded plenty of wild 

 white onions, and a species of black plum. Some of the 

 party continued their journey in canoes down the St. 

 John, ascended Eel River, and the lake of the same 

 name to Matanemheag River, due southwest of the St. 

 John, and after a few portages fell into the Penobscot. 



I had made arrangements to accompany Mr. Gillies on 

 a journey of this kind, when I judged it would be more 

 interesting as well as useful to me to visit the distant 

 country of Labrador. 



The road which we followed from Old Town to Bangor 

 was literally covered with Penobscot Indians returning 

 from market. On reaching the latter beautiful town, we 

 found very comfortable lodging in an excellent hotel, and 

 next day we proceeded by the mail to Boston. 



A MOOSE HUNT 



In the spring of 1833 the Moose were remarkably abun- 

 dant in the neighborhood of the Schoodiac Lakes; and, 

 as the snow was so deep in the woods as to render it 

 almost impossible for them to escape, many of them were 

 caught. About the ist of March, 1833, three of us set 

 off on a hunt, provided with snow-shoes, guns, hatchets, 

 and provisions for a fortnight. On the first day we went 

 fifty miles, in a sledge drawn by one horse, to the nearest 



