114 JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 



men carrying a tent and some instruments, 

 leaving the canoes and cargoes to be trans- 

 ported by daily journeys of two or three 

 miles. The distance is fourteen statute 

 miles, and there are two small lakes about 

 five miles from the north side. Several 

 species of fish were found in them, though 

 they have no known communication with 

 any other body of water, being situated on 

 the elevation of the height. The road was 

 a gentle ascent, miry from the late rainy 

 weather, and shaded by pines, poplars, 

 birches, and cypresses, which terminated 

 our view. On the north side we discovered 

 through an opening in the trees, that we 

 were on a hill eight or nine hundred feet 

 high, and at the edge of a steep descent. 

 We were prepared to expect an extensive 

 prospect, but the magnificent scene before 

 us was so superior to what the nature of 

 the country had promised, that it banished 

 even our sense of suffering from the mus- 

 quitoes, which hovered in clouds about our 

 heads. Two parallel chains of hills ex- 

 tended towards the setting sun, their va- 



