CHAPTER Ix. 
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. With the hope of 
saving unnecessary search, it was resolved to climb to 
the top of a hill not far 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 from 
the base of the hill could clearly trace the course of — 
the river, winding away to the northward. While my 
brother and I were thus engaged in viewing and sketch- 
ing the country, hammering the rocks, tracing the lines 
of ancient sea-beaches, etc., which were here clearly 
defined at no less than seven different elevations, vary- 
ing 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 venison simmering over a fire of moss. 
More than this, some flour, a little of which still remained, 
