40 
THE MAINE WOODS. 
to the fire, and then rambled along the sandy shore in 
the moonlight, hoping to meet a moose, come down to 
drink, or else a wolf. The little rill tinkled the louder, 
and peopled all the wilderness for me ; and the glassy 
smoothness of the sleeping lake, laving the shores of a 
new world, with the dark, fantastic rocks rising here and 
there from its surface, made a scene not easily described. 
It has left such an impression of stern, yet gentle, wild¬ 
ness on my memory as will not soon be effaced. Not 
far from midnight we were one after another awakened 
by rain falling on our extremities; and as each was 
made aware of the fact by cold or wet, he drew a long 
sigh and then drew up his legs, until gradually we had 
all sidled round from lying at right angles with the boat, 
till our bodies formed an acute angle with it, and were 
wholly protected. When next we awoke, the moon and 
stars were shining again, and there were signs of dawn 
in the east. I have been thus particular in order to con¬ 
vey some idea of a night in the woods. 
We had soon launched and loaded our boat, and, 
leaving our fire blazing, were off again before breakfast. 
The lumberers rarely trouble themselves to put out their 
fires, such is the dafnpness of the primitive forest; and 
this is one cause, no doubt, of the frequent fires in 
Maine, of which we hear so much on smoky days in 
Massachusetts. The forests are held cheap after the 
white pine has been culled out; and the explorers and 
hunters pray for rain only to clear the atmosphere of 
smoke. The woods were so wet to-day, however, that 
there was no danger of our fire spreading. After poling 
up half a mile of river, or thoroughfare, we rowed a mile 
across the foot of Pamadumcook Lake, which is the 
name given on the map to this whole chain of lakes, as 
