THE ALLEGASH AND EAST BRANCH. 
239 
of hermit, at that dam, to take care of it, who spent his 
time tossing a bullet from one hand to the other, for want 
of employment, — as if we might want to call on him. 
This sort of tit-for-tat intercourse between his two hands, 
bandying to and fro a leaden subject, seems to have been 
his symbol for society. 
This island, according to the map, was about a hun¬ 
dred and ten miles in a straight line north-northwest 
from Bangor, and about ninety-nine miles east-southeast 
from Quebec. There was another island visible toward 
the north end of the lake, with an elevated clearing on 
it; but we learned afterward that it was not inhabited, 
had only been used as a pasture for cattle which sum¬ 
mered in these woods, though our informant said that 
there was a hut on the mainland near the outlet of the 
lake. This unnaturally smooth-shaven, squarish spot, in 
the midst of the otherwise uninterrupted forest, only re¬ 
minded us how uninhabited the country was. You 
would sooner expect to meet with a bear than an ox in 
such a clearing. At any rate, it must have been a sur¬ 
prise to the bears when they came across it. Such, seen 
far or near, you know at once to be man’s work, for Na¬ 
ture never does it. In order to let in the light to the 
earth as on a lake, he clears off the forest on the hillsides 
and plains, and sprinkles fine grass-seed, like an en¬ 
chanter, and so carpets the earth with a firm sward. 
Polis had evidently more curiosity respecting the few 
settlers in those woods than we. If nothing was said, 
he took it for granted that we wanted to go straight to 
the next log-hut. Having observed that w r e came by 
the log-huts at Chesuncook, and the blind Canadian’s at 
the Mud Pond carry, without stopping to communicate 
with the inhabitants, he took occasion now to suggest 
