KTAADN. 
37 
through thickets, and carried their baggage and their 
boats over from lake to lake, sometimes several miles. 
They carried into Millinocket Lake, which is on another 
stream, and is ten miles square, and contains a hundred 
islands. They explored its shores thoroughly, and then 
carried into another, and another, and it was a week of 
toil and anxiety before they found the Penobscot Piver 
again, and then their provisions were exhausted, and 
they were obliged to return. 
While Uncle George steered for a small island near~ 
the head of the lake, now just visible, like a speck on 
the water, we rowed by turns swiftly over its surface, 
singing such boat-songs as we could remember. The 
shores seemed at an indefinite distance in the moonlight. 
Occasionally we paused in our singing and rested on our 
oars, while we listei^d to hear if the wolves howled, for 
this is a common serenade, and my companions affirmed 
that it was the most dismal and unearthly of sounds ; 
but we heard none this time. If we did not hear , how¬ 
ever, we did listen , not without a reasonable expectation ; 
that at least I have to tell, — only some utterly uncivil¬ 
ized, big-throated owl hooted loud and dismally in the 
drear and boughy wilderness, plainly not nervous about 
his solitary life, nor afraid to hear the echoes of his 
voice there. We remembered also that possibly moose 
were silently watching us from the distant coves, or 
some surly bear or timid caribou had been startled by 
our singing. It was with new emphasis that we sang 
there the Canadian boat-song, — 
11 Row, brothers, row, the stream runs fast, 
The Rapids are near and the daylight’s past! ” — 
which describes precisely our own adventure, and was 
inspired by the experience of a similar kind of life, — 
