THE ALLEGASH AND EAST BRANCH. 
247 
Some who have leaky roofs in the towns may have 
been kept awake, but we were soon lulled asleep by a 
steady, soaking rain, which lasted all night. To-night, the 
rain not coming at once with violence, the twigs were 
soon dried by the reflected heat. 
Wednesday, July 29. 
When we awoke it had done raining, though it was 
still cloudy. The fire was put out, and the Indian’s 
boots, which stood under the eaves of the tent, were half 
full of water. He was much more improvident in such 
respects than either of us, and he had to thank us for 
keeping his powder dry. We decided to cross the lake 
at once, before breakfast, or while we could ; and before 
starting I took the bearing of the shore which we wished 
to strike, S. S. E. about three miles distant, lest a sud¬ 
den misty rain should conceal it when we were midway. 
Though the bay in which we were was perfectly quiet 
and smooth, we found the lake already wide awake 
outside, but not dangerously or unpleasantly so; never¬ 
theless, when you get out on one of those lakes in a ca¬ 
noe like this, you do not forget that you are completely 
at the mercy of the wind, and a fickle power it is. The 
playful waves may at any time become too rude for you 
in their sport, and play right on over you. We saw a few 
she-cor-ways and a fish-hawk thus early, and after much 
steady paddling and dancing over the dark waves of 
Apmoojenegamook, we found ourselves in the neighbor¬ 
hood of the southern land, heard the waves breaking on 
it, and turned our thoughts wholly to that side. After 
coasting eastward along this shore a mile or two, we 
breakfasted on a rocky point, the first convenient place 
that offered. 
It was well enough that we crossed thus early, for the 
