274 
THE MAINE WOODS. 
considerably increased tlie danger on the lakes and rap¬ 
ids, as well as the labor of the carries. The skin was 
ours according to custom, since the Indian was in our 
employ, but we did not think of claiming it. He being 
a skilful dresser of moose-hides, would make it worth 
seven or eight dollars to him, as I was told. He said 
that he sometimes earned fifty or sixty dollars in a day at 
them ; he had killed ten moose in one day, though the 
skinning and all took two days. This was the way he 
had got his property. There were the tracks of a calf 
thereabouts, which he said would come “ by, by,” and he 
could get it if we cared to wait, but I cast cold water on 
the project. 
We continued along the outlet toward Grand Lake, 
through a swampy region, by a long, winding, and nar¬ 
row dead water, very much choked up by wood, where 
we were obliged to land sometimes in order to get the 
canoe over a log. It was hard to find any channel, and 
we did not know but we should be lost in the swamp. It 
abounded in ducks, as usual. At length we reached 
Grand Lake, which the Indian called Matungamook. 
At the head of this we saw, coming in from the south¬ 
west, with a sweep apparently from a gorge in the moun¬ 
tains, Trout Stream, or TJncardnerheese , which name, the 
Indian said, had something to do with mountains. 
We stopped to dine on an interesting high rocky 
island, soon after entering Matungamook Lake, securing 
our canoe to the cliffy shore. It is always pleasant to 
step from a boat on to a large rock or cliff*. Here was 
a good opportunity to dry our dewy blankets on the open 
sunny rock. Indians had recently camped here, and ac¬ 
cidentally burned over the western end of the island, and 
Polis picked up a gun-case of blue broadcloth, and said 
