CHAPTER X. 

 MEETING WITH NATIVES. 



Borne down by the river, we had launched on the bosom 

 •of Aberdeen Lake without effort, but not so easy a matter 

 was it to find our way out. After spending a day in unsuc- 

 cessful search, it was resolved to climb to the top of a hill a 

 short distance back from shore, and view the country with 

 our field-glasses. 



From the summit, which was found by the aneroid to be 

 four hundred feet above the lake, we obtained a magnificent 

 view of the surrounding country, and could clearly trace the 

 ■course of the river, winding from the base of the hill away 

 to the northward. While my brother and I were thus en- 

 gaged in viewing and sketching the country, hammering the 

 rocks, tracing the lines of ancient sea-beaches, etc., which 

 were" here clearly defined at no less than seven different ele- 

 vations, varying from 60 to 290 feet above the surface of 

 the lake, the men were usefully employed in collecting black 

 moss, which in this neighborhood was found in abundance. 



Since entering the lake nothing more had been seen of the 

 ■drift-wood, but on our return from the hill in the evening we 

 found camp already pitched, and near it a big kettle of veni- 

 rion simmering over a fire of moss. More than this, some 

 ffour, a little of which still remained, had been baked into 

 grease cakes by John, and with these, the venison and hot 

 tea, we enjoyed one of the heartiest meals of our lives. 



On the morning of the 29 th, enshrouded by a dense fog, we 

 entered the river, and though for a time we could see neither 

 bank, we knew our course from my sketch made on the hill- 

 top. Later in the day the weather, clearing, enabled us at 

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