Ilor Days anp Cotp Niguts. 241 
SECTION SEVENTH. 
JOLLY SPORT ON RATTLING RUN. 
“Oh! not in camp or court 
Our best delights we find, 
But in some loved resort 
With water, wood, and wind; 
Where nature works, 
And beauty lurks, 
In all her craft enshrined.” 
The days were divided into four hours of night, made sein- 
tillant by the aurora borealis, and the lunar bow more bril- 
lant than daylight, but cool and hushed, so that no sounds 
remained but the rushing waters, the splashing of the royal 
salmon, and the piteous cries of seals; three hours of morn- 
ing, mild and serene, enlivened by the wild music of the birds 
of the wilderness and the occasional sounds of animals forag- 
ing for breakfast in the mountain forests by which we were 
surrounded; fourteen hours of a day, when clear, ranging in 
the sun from cighty to ninety degrees Fahrenheit ; and three 
hours of mild twilight, with hght enough to read. 
The morning was clear and still; not a zephyr swept 
through the gorge by the falls, or came up laden with the 
fragrance of codfish from the Gulf. The shrill music of our 
two charming birds and an occasional splash of feeding sal- 
mon were the only sounds which reheved the monotone of the 
clear and rapid river. Our plateau, surrounded by majestic 
mountains, steep and rocky, formed a vast amphitheatre. 
The river was still falling, and as thin and clear as possible. 
Our assembling at breakfast proved that the black flies had 
partially desisted from scoring us, and each member of the 
party felt relieved of farther danger from that scouree. It 
is worthy of remark, that from the almost unbearable annoy- 
ance caused by the punishment from black flies on our ar- 
rival, we had in one short week become so accustomed to 
them that they ceased to elicit our fear or attention. 
The morning time to angle for salmon having expired, we 
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