270 Field and Forest Rambles. 



animals, and the native narrowing his exertions to merely 

 hunting and fishing. Now their vast solitudes are only the 

 resorts of an occasional moose, reindeer, or Virginian deer, 

 with an anchorite bear or two, and very few, if any, of the 

 lesser furred animals, such as the sable or mink. 



The clearings and settlements in such level forest tracts, 

 being often far apart, and not joined by roads or footpaths, to 

 the person unexperienced in wood craft it became, as before 

 observed, a serious matter to get out of his reckonings ; and 

 instances are recorded of individuals having been put to great 

 straits on that account. Not many years ago a mysterious 

 and melancholy occurrence of this description took place in 

 the above region, of which the following particulars were com- 

 municated to me. 



A young English gentleman took up a temporary residence 

 in the district, for the purpose of gaining information relative 

 to agriculture and the system of reclaiming forest land, with 

 the ulterior view of becoming a colonist. . He was healthy, 

 strong, and active — qualities indispensable to meet the hard- 

 ships of a backwoodsman. Early one autumn, when the leaf 



was beginning to turn, Mr. B , the unfortunate individual 



referred to, set out from a friend's house, where he had been 

 staying for a few days, for the purpose of making his way to 

 his own residence, which lay on the banks of a river about 

 six miles distant. The nearest route led through a large tract 

 of forest, and was indicated more or less by " blazing," which 

 is merely removing chips of bark from the trees. 



Provided with compass, a supply of chocolate, brandy, and 

 a gun to shoot partridges on the way, he commenced the 

 homeward journey, and although it was new to him, it scarcely 

 occurred to himself or his hosts that he could possibly lose 

 the way. But in order to make this point certain, he was ac- 

 companied for a certain distance by his friend's son, who on 

 parting with him pointed out the direction of the remainder 

 of the route, which was clearly indicated by a swamp with a 



