508 AUDUBON 



Monongahela in April; nay, should you find yourself by 

 the limpid streamlets that roll down the declivities of the 

 Pocano Mountains to join the Lehigh, and there meet 

 with a sugar camp, take my advice and tarry for a while. 

 If you be on foot or on horseback, and are thirsty, you 

 can nowhere find a more wholesome or more agreeable 

 beverage than the juice of the maple. A man when in 

 the Floridas may drink molasses diffused in water; in 

 Labrador he may drink what he can get; and at New 

 York or Philadelphia he may drink what he chooses ; but 

 in the woods a draught from the sugar maple is delicious 

 and most refreshing. How often, when travelling, have 

 I quenched my thirst with the limpid juice of the receiv- 

 ing-troughs, from which I parted with regret; nay, even 

 my horse, I have thought, seemed to desire to linger as 

 long as he could. 



But let me endeavor to describe to you the manner in 

 which the sugar is obtained. The trees that yield it 

 {^Acer sacchariniim) are found more or less abundantly in 

 all parts of the United States from Louisiana to Maine, 

 growing on elevated rich grounds. An incision is made 

 into the trunk at a height of from two to six feet ; a pipe 

 of cane or of any other kind is thrust into the aperture, 

 a trough is placed beneath and receives the juice, which 

 trickles by drops, and is as limpid as the purest spring 

 water. When all the trees of a certain space have been 

 tapped, and the troughs filled, the people collect the 

 juice, and pour it into large vessels. A camp has already 

 been pitched in the midst of a grove ; several iron boilers 

 have been fixed on stone or brick supports, and the busi- 

 ness proceeds with vigor. At times several neighboring 

 families join, and enjoy the labor, as if it were a pastime, 

 remaining out day and night for several weeks; for the 

 troughs and kettles must be attended to from the moment 

 when they are first put in requisition until the sugar is 

 produced. The men and boys perform the most laborious 



