"Thou'rt passing from the lake's green side,
And the hunter's hearth away;
For the time of flowers, for the summer's pride,
Daughter! thou canst not stay."Mrs. Hemans, "Edith. A Tale of the Woods" II. 191-94
Our two adventurers had not far to go. Hurry knew the direction,
as soon as he had found the open spot and the spring, and he now
led on with the confident step of a man assured of his object.
The forest was dark, as a matter of course, but it was no longer
obstructed by underbrush, and the footing was firm and dry. After
proceeding near a mile, March stopped, and began to cast about him
with an inquiring look, examining the different objects with care,
and occasionally turning his eyes on the trunks of the fallen trees,
with which the ground was well sprinkled, as is usually the case
in an American wood, especially in those parts of the country where
timber has not yet become valuable.
"This must be the place, Deerslayer," March at length observed;
"here is a beech by the side of a hemlock, with three pines at
hand, and yonder is a white birch with a broken top; and yet I see
no rock, nor any of the branches bent down, as I told you would be
the case."
"Broken branches are onskilful landmarks, as the least exper'enced
know that branches don't often break of themselves," returned
the other; "and they also lead to suspicion and discoveries. The
Delawares never trust to broken branches, unless it is in friendly
times, and on an open trail. As for the beeches, and pines, and
hemlocks, why, they are to be seen on all sides of us, not only by
twos and threes, but by forties, and fifties, and hundreds."
"Very true, Deerslayer, but you never calculate on position. Here
is a beech and a hemlock--"
"Yes, and there is another beech and a hemlock, as loving as two
brothers, or, for that matter, more loving than some brothers; and
yonder are others, for neither tree is a rarity in these woods.
I fear me, Hurry, you are better at trapping beaver and shooting
bears, than at leading on a blindish sort of a trail. Ha! there's
what you wish to find, a'ter all!"
"Now, Deerslayer, this is one of your Delaware pretensions, for
hang me if I see anything but these trees, which do seem to start
up around us in a most onaccountable and perplexing manner."
"Look this a way, Hurry--here, in a line with the black oak-don't
you see the crooked sapling that is hooked up in the branches of
the bass-wood, near it? Now, that sapling was once snow-ridden,
and got the bend by its weight; but it never straightened itself,
and fastened itself in among the bass-wood branches in the way you
see. The hand of man did that act of kindness for it."
"That hand was mine!" exclaimed Hurry; "I found the slender
young thing bent to the airth, like an unfortunate creatur' borne
down by misfortune, and stuck it up where you see it. After all,
Deerslayer, I must allow, you're getting to have an oncommon good
eye for the woods!"
"'Tis improving, Hurry-- 'tis improving I will acknowledge; but
'tis only a child's eye, compared to some I know. There's Tamenund,
now, though a man so old that few remember when he was in his
prime, Tamenund lets nothing escape his look, which is more like
the scent of a hound than the sight of an eye. Then Uncas, the
father of Chingachgook, and the lawful chief of the Mohicans, is
another that it is almost hopeless to pass unseen. I'm improving,
I will allow-- I'm improving, but far from being perfect, as yet."
"And who is this Chingachgook, of whom you talk so much, Deerslayer!"
asked Hurry, as he moved off in the direction of the righted
sapling; "a loping red-skin, at the best, I make no question."
"Not so, Hurry, but the best of loping red-skins, as you call 'em.
If he had his rights, he would be a great chief; but, as it is,
he is only a brave and just-minded Delaware; respected, and even
obeyed in some things,'tis true, but of a fallen race, and belonging
to a fallen people. Ah! Harry March, 'twould warm the heart within
you to sit in their lodges of a winter's night, and listen to the
traditions of the ancient greatness and power of the Mohicans!"
"Harkee, fri'nd Nathaniel," said Hurry, stopping short to face his
companion, in order that his words might carry greater weight with
them, "if a man believed all that other people choose to say in
their own favor, he might get an oversized opinion of them, and
an undersized opinion of himself. These red-skins are notable
boasters, and I set down more than half of their traditions as pure
talk."
"There is truth in what you say, Hurry, I'll not deny it, for I've
seen it, and believe it. They do boast, but then that is a gift
from natur'; and it's sinful to withstand nat'ral gifts. See; this
is the spot you come to find!" This remark cut short the discourse,
and both the men now gave all their attention to the object
immediately before them. Deerslayer pointed out to his companion
the trunk of a huge linden, or bass-wood, as it is termed in the
language of the country, which had filled its time, and fallen by
its own weight. This tree, like so many millions of its brethren,
lay where it had fallen, and was mouldering under the slow but
certain influence of the seasons. The decay, however, had attacked
its centre, even while it stood erect in the pride of vegetation,
bellowing out its heart, as disease sometimes destroys the vitals
of animal life, even while a fair exterior is presented to the
observer. As the trunk lay stretched for near a hundred feet along
the earth, the quick eye of the hunter detected this peculiarity,
and from this and other circumstances, he knew it to be the tree
of which March was in search.
"Ay, here we have what we want," cried Hurry, looking in at the
larger end of the linden; "everything is as snug as if it had been
left in an old woman's cupboard. Come, lend me a hand, Deerslayer,
and we'll be afloat in half an hour."
At this call the hunter joined his companion, and the two went to
work deliberately and regularly, like men accustomed to the sort
of thing in which they were employed. In the first place, Hurry
removed some pieces of bark that lay before the large opening in
the tree, and which the other declared to be disposed in a way that
would have been more likely to attract attention than to conceal
the cover, had any straggler passed that way. The two then drew out
a bark canoe, containing its seats, paddles, and other appliances,
even to fishing-lines and rods. This vessel was by no means
small; but such was its comparative lightness, and so gigantic was
the strength of Hurry, that the latter shouldered it with seeming
ease, declining all assistance, even in the act of raising it to
the awkward position in which he was obliged to hold it.
"Lead ahead, Deerslayer," said March, "and open the bushes; the
rest I can do for myself."
The other obeyed, and the men left the spot, Deerslayer clearing
the way for his companion, and inclining to the right or to the
left, as the latter directed. In about ten minutes they both broke
suddenly into the brilliant light of the sun, on a low gravelly
point, that was washed by water on quite half its outline.
An exclamation of surprise broke from the lips of Deerslayer, an
exclamation that was low and guardedly made, however, for his habits
were much more thoughtful and regulated than those of the reckless
Hurry, when on reaching the margin of the lake, he beheld the view
that unexpectedly met his gaze. It was, in truth, sufficiently
striking to merit a brief description. On a level with the point
lay a broad sheet of water, so placid and limpid that it resembled
a bed of the pure mountain atmosphere, compressed into a setting
of hills and woods. Its length was about three leagues, while its
breadth was irregular, expanding to half a league, or even more,
opposite to the point, and contracting to less than half that distance,
more to the southward. Of course, its margin was irregular, being
indented by bays, and broken by many projecting, low points. At its
northern, or nearest end, it was bounded by an isolated mountain,
lower land falling off east and west, gracefully relieving the sweep
of the outline. Still the character of the country was mountainous;
high hills, or low mountains, rising abruptly from the water, on
quite nine tenths of its circuit. The exceptions, indeed, only
served a little to vary the scene; and even beyond the parts of the
shore that were comparatively low, the background was high, though
more distant.
But the most striking peculiarities of this scene were its solemn
solitude and sweet repose. On all sides, wherever the eye turned,
nothing met it but the mirror-like surface of the lake, the placid
view of heaven, and the dense setting of woods. So rich and fleecy
were the outlines of the forest, that scarce an opening could be
seen, the whole visible earth, from the rounded mountain-top to
the water's edge, presenting one unvaried hue of unbroken verdure.
As if vegetation were not satisfied with a triumph so complete,
the trees overhung the lake itself, shooting out towards the light;
and there were miles along its eastern shore, where a boat might
have pulled beneath the branches of dark Rembrandt-looking hemlocks,
"quivering aspens," and melancholy pines. In a word, the hand
of man had never yet defaced or deformed any part of this native
scene, which lay bathed in the sunlight, a glorious picture of
affluent forest grandeur, softened by the balminess of June, and
relieved by the beautiful variety afforded by the presence of so
broad an expanse of water.
"This is grand! -- 'tis solemn!- 'tis an edication of itself,
to look upon!" exclaimed Deerslayer, as he stood leaning on his
rifle, and gazing to the right and left, north and south, above
and beneath, in whichever direction his eye could wander; "not a
tree disturbed even by red-skin hand, as I can discover, but everything
left in the ordering of the Lord, to live and die according to his
own designs and laws! Hurry, your Judith ought to be a moral and
well disposed young woman, if she has passed half the time you
mention in the centre of a spot so favored."
"That's naked truth; and yet the gal has the vagaries. All her time
has not been passed here, howsoever, old Tom having the custom,
afore I know'd him, of going to spend the winters in the neighborhood
of the settlers, or under the guns of the forts. No, no, Jude has
caught more than is for her good from the settlers, and especially
from the gallantifying officers."
"If she has--if she has, Hurry, this is a school to set her mind
right ag'in. But what is this I see off here, abreast of us, that
seems too small for an island, and too large for a boat, though it
stands in the midst of the water!
"Why, that is what these galantine gentry from the forts call
Muskrat Castle; and old Tom himself will grin at the name, though
it bears so hard on his own natur' and character. 'Tis the stationary
house, there being two; this, which never moves, and the other,
that floats, being sometimes in one part of the lake and sometimes
in another. The last goes by the name of the ark, though what may
be the meaning of the word is more than I can tell you."
"It must come from the missionaries, Hurry, whom I have heard
speak and read of such a thing. They say that the 'arth was once
covered with water, and that Noah, with his children, was saved from
drowning by building a vessel called an ark, in which he embarked
in season. Some of the Delawares believe this tradition, and some
deny it; but it behooves you and me, as white men born, to put
our faith in its truth. Do you see anything of this ark?"
"'Tis down south, no doubt, or anchored in some of the bays. But
the canoe is ready, and fifteen minutes will carry two such paddles
as your'n and mine to the castle."
At this suggestion, Deerslayer helped his companion to place the
different articles in the canoe, which was already afloat. This
was no sooner done than the two frontiermen embarked, and by a
vigorous push sent the light bark some eight or ten rods from the
shore. Hurry now took the seat in the stern, while Deerslayer
placed himself forward, and by leisurely but steady strokes of
the paddles, the canoe glided across the placid sheet, towards the
extraordinary-looking structure that the former had styled Muskrat
Castle. Several times the men ceased paddling, and looked about them
at the scene, as new glimpses opened from behind points, enabling
them to see farther down the lake, or to get broader views of
the wooded mountains. The only changes, however, were in the new
forms of the hills, the varying curvature of the bays, and the
wider reaches of the valley south; the whole earth apparently being
clothed in a gala-dress of leaves.
"This is a sight to warm the heart!" exclaimed Deerslayer, when
they had thus stopped for the fourth or fifth time; "the lake seems
made to let us get an insight into the noble forests; and land and
water alike stand in the beauty of God's providence! Do you say,
Hurry, that there is no man who calls himself lawful owner of all
these glories?"
"None but the King, lad. He may pretend to some right of that
natur', but he is so far away that his claim will never trouble
old Tom Hutter, who has got possession, and is like to keep it as
long as his life lasts. Tom is no squatter, not being on land; I
call him a floater."
"I invy that man! I know it's wrong, and I strive ag'in the feelin',
but I invy that man! Don't think, Hurry, that I'm consorting any
plan to put myself in his moccasins, for such a thought doesn't
harbor in my mind; but I can't help a little invy! 'Tis a nat'ral
feelin', and the best of us are but nat'ral, a'ter all, and give
way to such feelin's at times."
"You've only to marry Hetty to inherit half the estate," cried Hurry,
laughing; "the gal is comely; nay, if it wasn't for her sister's
beauty she would be even handsome; and then her wits are so small
that you may easily convart her into one of your own way of thinking,
in all things. Do you take Hetty off the old fellow's hands, and
I'll engage he'll give you an interest in every deer you can knock
over within five miles of his lake."
"Does game abound!" suddenly demanded the other, who paid but little
attention to March's raillery.
"It has the country to itself. Scarce a trigger is pulled on it;
and as for the trappers, this is not a region they greatly frequent.
I ought not to be so much here myself, but Jude pulls one way, while
the beaver pulls another. More than a hundred Spanish dollars has
that creatur' cost me the last two seasons, and yet I could not
forego the wish to look upon her face once more."
"Do the redmen often visit this lake, Hurry?" continued Deerslayer,
pursuing his own train of thought.
"Why, they come and go; sometimes in parties, and sometimes singly.
The country seems to belong to no native tribe in particular; and
so it has fallen into the hands of the Hutter tribe. The old man
tells me that some sharp ones have been wheedling the Mohawks for
an Indian deed, in order to get a title out of the colony; but
nothing has come of it, seeing that no one heavy enough for such
a trade has yet meddled with the matter. The hunters have a good
life-lease still of this wilderness."
"So much the better, so much the better, Hurry. If I was King
of England, the man that felled one of these trees without good
occasion for the timber, should be banished to a desarted and forlorn
region, in which no fourfooted animal ever trod. Right glad am I
that Chingachgook app'inted our meeting on this lake, for hitherto
eye of mine never looked on such a glorious spectacle."
"That's because you've kept so much among the Delawares, in whose country
there are no lakes. Now, farther north and farther west these
bits of water abound; and you're young, and may yet live to see
'em. But though there be other lakes, Deerslayer, there's no other
Judith Hutter!"
At this remark his companion smiled, and then he dropped his paddle
into the water, as if in consideration of a lover's haste. Both
now pulled vigorously until they got within a hundred yards of
the "castle," as Hurry familiarly called the house of Hutter, when
they again ceased paddling; the admirer of Judith restraining his
impatience the more readily, as he perceived that the building was
untenanted, at the moment. This new pause was to enable Deerslayer
to survey the singular edifice, which was of a construction so
novel as to merit a particular description.
Muskrat Castle, as the house had been facetiously named by some
waggish officer, stood in the open lake, at a distance of fully a
quarter of a mile from the nearest shore. On every other side the
water extended much farther, the precise position being distant
about two miles from the northern end of the sheet, and near, if
not quite, a mile from its eastern shore. As there was not the
smallest appearance of any island, but the house stood on piles,
with the water flowing beneath it, and Deerslayer had already
discovered that the lake was of a great depth, he was fain to ask
an explanation of this singular circumstance. Hurry solved the
difficulty by telling him that on this spot alone, a long, narrow
shoal, which extended for a few hundred yards in a north and south
direction, rose within six or eight feet of the surface of the lake,
and that Hutter had driven piles into it, and placed his habitation
on them, for the purpose of security.
"The old fellow was burnt out three times, atween the Indians and
the hunters; and in one affray with the red-skins he lost his only
son, since which time he has taken to the water for safety. No
one can attack him here, without coming in a boat, and the plunder
and scalps would scarce be worth the trouble of digging out canoes.
Then it's by no means sartain which would whip in such a scrimmage,
for old Tom is well supplied with arms and ammunition, and the
castle, as you may see, is a tight breastwork ag'in light shot."
Deerslayer had some theoretical knowledge of frontier warfare,
though he had never yet been called on to raise his hand in anger
against a fellow-creature. He saw that Hurry did not overrate
the strength of this position in a military point of view, since
it would not be easy to attack it without exposing the assailants
to the fire of the besieged. A good deal of art had also been
manifested in the disposition of the timber of which the building
was constructed and which afforded a protection much greater than
was usual to the ordinary log-cabins of the frontier. The sides
and ends were composed of the trunks of large pines, cut about nine
feet long, and placed upright, instead of being laid horizontally,
as was the practice of the country. These logs were squared on
three sides, and had large tenons on each end. Massive sills were
secured on the heads of the piles, with suitable grooves dug out
of their upper surfaces, which had been squared for the purpose,
and the lower tenons of the upright pieces were placed in these
grooves, giving them secure fastening below. Plates had been laid
on the upper ends of the upright logs, and were kept in their places
by a similar contrivance; the several corners of the structure
being well fastened by scarfing and pinning the sills and plates.
The doors were made of smaller logs, similarly squared, and the
roof was composed of light poles, firmly united, and well covered
with bark.
The effect of this ingenious arrangement was to give its owner a
house that could be approached only by water, the sides of which
were composed of logs closely wedged together, which were two feet
thick in their thinnest parts, and which could be separated only
by a deliberate and laborious use of human hands, or by the slow
operation of time. The outer surface of the building was rude and
uneven, the logs being of unequal sizes; but the squared surfaces
within gave both the sides and door as uniform an appearance as was
desired, either for use or show. The chimney was not the least
singular portion of the castle, as Hurry made his companion observe,
while he explained the process by which it had been made. The
material was a stiff clay, properly worked, which had been put
together in a mould of sticks, and suffered to harden, a foot or
two at a time, commencing at the bottom. When the entire chimney
had thus been raised, and had been properly bound in with outward
props, a brisk fire was kindled, and kept going until it was burned
to something like a brick-red. This had not been an easy operation,
nor had it succeeded entirely; but by dint of filling the cracks
with fresh clay, a safe fireplace and chimney had been obtained
in the end. This part of the work stood on the log-door, secured
beneath by an extra pile. There were a few other peculiarities
about this dwelling, which will better appear in the course of the
narrative.
"Old Tom is full of contrivances," added Hurry, "and he set his
heart on the success of his chimney, which threatened more than
once to give out altogether; but perseverance will even overcome
smoke; and now he has a comfortable cabin of it, though it did
promise, at one time, to be a chinky sort of a flue to carry flames
and fire."
"You seem to know the whole history of the castle, Hurry, chimney
and sides," said Deerslayer, smiling; "is love so overcoming that
it causes a man to study the story of his sweetheart's habitation ?"
"Partly that, lad, and partly eyesight," returned the good-natured
giant, laughing; "there was a large gang of us in the lake, the
summer the old fellow built, and we helped him along with the job.
I raised no small part of the weight of them uprights with my own
shoulders, and the axes flew, I can inform you, Master Natty, while
we were bee-ing it among the trees ashore. The old devil is no way
stingy about food, and as we had often eat at his hearth, we thought
we would just house him comfortably, afore we went to Albany with
our skins. Yes, many is the meal I've swallowed in Tom Hutter's
cabins; and Hetty, though so weak in the way of wits, has
a wonderful particular way about a frying-pan or a gridiron!
"While the parties were thus discoursing, the canoe had been
gradually drawing nearer to the "castle," and was now so close as
to require but a single stroke of a paddle to reach the landing.
This was at a floored platform in front of the entrance, that might
have been some twenty feet square.
"Old Tom calls this sort of a wharf his door-yard," observed Hurry,
as he fastened the canoe, after he and his Companion had left it:
"and the gallants from the forts have named it the castle court
though what a 'court' can have to do here is more than I can tell
you, seeing that there is no law. 'Tis as I supposed; not a soul
within, but the whole family is off on a v'y'ge of discovery!"
While Hurry was bustling about the "door-yard," examining the
fishing-spears, rods, nets, and other similar appliances of a frontier
cabin, Deerslayer, whose manner was altogether more rebuked and
quiet, entered the building with a curiosity that was not usually
exhibited by one so long trained in Indian habits. The interior
of the "castle" was as faultlessly neat as its exterior was novel.
The entire space, some twenty feet by forty, was subdivided into
several small sleeping-rooms; the apartment into which he first
entered, serving equally for the ordinary uses of its inmates, and
for a kitchen. The furniture was of the strange mixture that it
is not uncommon to find in the remotely situated log-tenements of
the interior. Most of it was rude, and to the last degree rustic;
but there was a clock, with a handsome case of dark wood, in a
corner, and two or three chairs, with a table and bureau, that had
evidently come from some dwelling of more than usual pretension.
The clock was industriously ticking, but its leaden-looking hands
did no discredit to their dull aspect, for they pointed to the
hour of eleven, though the sun plainly showed it was some time past
the turn of the day. There was also a dark, massive chest. The
kitchen utensils were of the simplest kind, and far from numerous,
but every article was in its place, and showed the nicest care in
its condition.
After Deerslayer had cast a look about him in the outer room, he
raised a wooden latch, and entered a narrow passage that divided
the inner end of the house into two equal parts. Frontier usages
being no way scrupulous, and his curiosity being strongly excited,
the young man now opened a door, and found himself in a bedroom.
A single glance sufficed to show that the apartment belonged to
females. The bed was of the feathers of wild geese, and filled
nearly to overflowing; but it lay in a rude bunk, raised only a foot
from the door. On one side of it were arranged, on pegs, various
dresses, of a quality much superior to what one would expect to
meet in such a place, with ribbons and other similar articles to
correspond. Pretty shoes, with handsome silver buckles, such as
were then worn by females in easy circumstances, were not wanting;
and no less than six fans, of gay colors, were placed half open,
in a way to catch the eye by their conceits and hues. Even the
pillow, on this side of the bed, was covered with finer linen than
its companion, and it was ornamented with a small ruffle. A cap,
coquettishly decorated with ribbons, hung above it, and a pair of
long gloves, such as were rarely used in those days by persons of
the laboring classes, were pinned ostentatiously to it, as if with
an intention to exhibit them there, if they could not be shown on
the owner's arms.
All this Deerslayer saw, and noted with a degree of minuteness that
would have done credit to the habitual observation of his friends,
the Delawares. Nor did he fail to perceive the distinction that
existed between the appearances on the different sides of the bed,
the head of which stood against the wall. On that opposite to the
one just described, everything was homely and uninviting, except
through its perfect neatness. The few garments that were hanging
from the pegs were of the coarsest materials and of the commonest
forms, while nothing seemed made for show. Of ribbons there was
not one; nor was there either cap or kerchief beyond those which
Hutter's daughters might be fairly entitled to wear.
It was now several years since Deerslayer had been in a spot
especially devoted to the uses of females of his own color and race.
The sight brought back to his mind a rush of childish recollections;
and he lingered in the room with a tenderness of feeling to which
he had long been a stranger. He bethought him of his mother, whose
homely vestments he remembered to have seen hanging on pegs like
those which he felt must belong to Hetty Hutter; and he bethought
himself of a sister, whose incipient and native taste for finery had
exhibited itself somewhat in the manner of that of Judith, though
necessarily in a less degree. These little resemblances opened a
long hidden vein of sensations; and as he quitted the room, it was
with a saddened mien. He looked no further, but returned slowly
and thoughtfully towards the "door-yard."
"If Old Tom has taken to a new calling, and has been trying his
hand at the traps," cried Hurry, who had been coolly examining the
borderer's implements; "if that is his humor, and you're disposed
to remain in these parts, we can make an oncommon comfortable season
of it; for, while the old man and I out-knowledge the beaver, you
can fish, and knock down the deer, to keep body and soul together.
I've always give the poorest hunters half a share, but one as actyve
and sartain as yourself might expect a full one."
"Thank'ee, Hurry; thank'ee, with all my heart--but I do a little
beavering for myself as occasions offer. 'Tis true, the Delawares
call me Deerslayer, but it's not so much because I'm pretty fatal
with the venison as because that while I kill so many bucks and
does, I've never yet taken the life of a fellow-creatur'. They
say their traditions do not tell of another who had shed so much
blood of animals that had not shed the blood of man."
"I hope they don't account you chicken-hearted, lad! A faint-hearted
man is like a no-tailed beaver."
"I don't believe, Hurry, that they account me as out-of the-way
timorsome, even though they may not account me as out-of-the-way
brave. But I'm not quarrelsome; and that goes a great way towards
keeping blood off the hands, among the hunters and red-skins; and
then, Harry March, it keeps blood off the conscience, too."
"Well, for my part I account game, a red-skin, and a Frenchman as
pretty much the same thing; though I'm as onquarrelsome a man, too,
as there is in all the colonies. I despise a quarreller as I do a
cur-dog; but one has no need to be over-scrupulsome when it's the
right time to show the flint."
"I look upon him as the most of a man who acts nearest the right,
Hurry. But this is a glorious spot, and my eyes never a-weary
looking at it!"
"Tis your first acquaintance with a lake; and these ideas come over
us all at such times. Lakes have a gentle character, as I say,
being pretty much water and land, and points and bays."
As this definition by no means met the feelings that were uppermost
in the mind of the young hunter, he made no immediate answer,
but stood gazing at the dark hills and the glassy water in silent
enjoyment.
"Have the Governor's or the King's people given this lake a name?"
he suddenly asked, as if struck with a new idea. "If they've not
begun to blaze their trees, and set up their compasses, and line off
their maps, it's likely they've not bethought them to disturb
natur' with a name."
"They've not got to that, yet; and the last time I went in with
skins, one of the King's surveyors was questioning me consarning
all the region hereabouts. He had heard that there was a lake in
this quarter, and had got some general notions about it, such as
that there was water and hills; but how much of either, he know'd
no more than you know of the Mohawk tongue. I didn't open the trap
any wider than was necessary, giving him but poor encouragement in
the way of farms and clearings. In short, I left on his mind some
such opinion of this country, as a man gets of a spring of dirty
water, with a path to it that is so muddy that one mires afore he
sets out. He told me they hadn't got the spot down yet on their
maps, though I conclude that is a mistake, for he showed me his
parchment, and there is a lake down on it, where there is no lake
in fact, and which is about fifty miles from the place where it
ought to be, if they meant it for this. I don't think my account
will encourage him to mark down another, by way of improvement."
Here Hurry laughed heartily, such tricks being particularly grateful
to a set of men who dreaded the approaches of civilization as a
curtailment of their own lawless empire. The egregious errors that
existed in the maps of the day, all of which were made in Europe,
were, moreover, a standing topic of ridicule among them; for, if
they had not science enough to make any better themselves, they had
sufficient local information to detect the gross blunders contained
in those that existed. Any one who will take the trouble to compare
these unanswerable evidences of the topographical skill of our
fathers a century since, with the more accurate sketches of our
own time, will at once perceive that the men of the woods had a
sufficient justification for all their criticism on this branch of
the skill of the colonial governments, which did not at all hesitate
to place a river or a lake a degree or two out of the way, even
though they lay within a day's march of the inhabited parts of the
country.
"I'm glad it has no name," resumed Deerslayer, "or at least, no
pale-face name; for their christenings always foretell waste and
destruction. No doubt, howsoever, the red-skins have their modes
of knowing it, and the hunters and trappers, too; they are likely
to call the place by something reasonable and resembling."
"As for the tribes, each has its tongue, and its own way of calling
things; and they treat this part of the world just as they treat
all others. Among ourselves, we've got to calling the place the
'Glimmerglass,' seeing that its whole basin is so often hinged
with pines, cast upward to its face as if it would throw back the
hills that hang over it."
"There is an outlet, I know, for all lakes have outlets, and the
rock at which I am to meet Chingachgook stands near an outlet. Has
that no colony-name yet?"
"In that particular they've got the advantage of us, having one
end, and that the biggest, in their own keeping: they've given it
a name which has found its way up to its source; names nat'rally
working up stream. No doubt, Deerslayer, you've seen the Susquehannah,
down in the Delaware country?"
"That have I, and hunted along its banks a hundred times."
"That and this are the same in fact, and, I suppose, the same in
sound. I am glad they've been compelled to keep the redmen's name,
for it would be too hard to rob them of both land and name!"
Deerslayer made no answer; but he stood leaning on his rifle,
gazing at the view which so much delighted him. The reader is not
to suppose, however, that it was the picturesque alone which so
strongly attracted his attention. The spot was very lovely, of a
truth, and it was then seen in one of its most favorable moments,
the surface of the lake being as smooth as glass and as limpid as
pure air, throwing back the mountains, clothed in dark pines, along
the whole of its eastern boundary, the points thrusting forward
their trees even to nearly horizontal lines, while the bays were
seen glittering through an occasional arch beneath, left by a vault
fretted with branches and leaves. It was the air of deep repose--
the solitudes, that spoke of scenes and forests untouched by the
hands of man-- the reign of nature, in a word, that gave so much
pure delight to one of his habits and turn of mind. Still, he
felt, though it was unconsciously, like a poet also. If he found a
pleasure in studying this large, and to him unusual opening into
the mysteries and forms of the woods, as one is gratified in getting
broader views of any subject that has long occupied his thoughts,
he was not insensible to the innate loveliness of such a landscape
neither, but felt a portion of that soothing of the spirit which
is a common attendant of a scene so thoroughly pervaded by the holy
cairn of nature.