Our two adventurers had not far to go. Hurry knew the direction, as soonas he had found the open spot and the spring, and he now led on with theconfident step of a man assured of his object. The forest was dark, as amatter of course, but it was no longer obstructed by underbrush, and thefooting was firm and dry. After proceeding near a mile, March stopped,and began to cast about him with an inquiring look, examining thedifferent objects with care, and occasionally turning his eyes on thetrunks of the fallen trees, with which the ground was well sprinkled,as is usually the case in an American wood, especially in those parts ofthe country where timber has not yet become valuable.
"This must be the place, Deerslayer," March at length observed; "here isa beech by the side of a hemlock, with three pines at hand, and yonderis a white birch with a broken top; and yet I see no rock, nor any ofthe branches bent down, as I told you would be the case."
"Broken branches are onskilful landmarks, as the least exper'enced knowthat branches don't often break of themselves," returned the other; "andthey also lead to suspicion and discoveries. The Delawares never trustto broken branches, unless it is in friendly times, and on an opentrail. As for the beeches, and pines, and hemlocks, why, they are to beseen 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 abeech and a hemlock--"
"Yes, and there is another beech and a hemlock, as loving as twobrothers, or, for that matter, more loving than some brothers; andyonder are others, for neither tree is a rarity in these woods. I fearme, Hurry, you are better at trapping beaver and shooting bears, thanat leading on a blindish sort of a trail. Ha! there's what you wish tofind, a'ter all!"
"Now, Deerslayer, this is one of your Delaware pretensions, for hang meif I see anything but these trees, which do seem to start up around usin a most onaccountable and perplexing manner."
"Look this-a-way, Hurry--here, in a line with the black oak--don'tyou see the crooked sapling that is hooked up in the branches of thebass-wood, near it? Now, that sapling was once snow-ridden, and gotthe bend by its weight; but it never straightened itself, and fasteneditself in among the bass-wood branches in the way you see. The hand ofman did that act of kindness for it."
"That hand was mine!" exclaimed Hurry; "I found the slender youngthing bent to the airth, like an unfortunate creatur' borne down bymisfortune, and stuck it up where you see it. After all, Deerslayer, Imust allow, you're getting to have an oncommon good eye for the woods!"
"'Tis improving, Hurry--'tis improving I will acknowledge; but 'tis onlya child's eye, compared to some I know. There's Tamenund, now, thougha man so old that few remember when he was in his prime, Tamenund letsnothing escape his look, which is more like the scent of a hound thanthe sight of an eye. Then Uncas, the father of Chingachgook, and thelawful chief of the Mohicans, is another that it is almost hopeless topass unseen. I'm improving, I will allow--I'm improving, but far frombeing 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; "aloping red-skin, at the best, I make no question."
"Not so, Hurry, but the best of loping red-skins, as you call 'em. If hehad his rights, he would be a great chief; but, as it is, he is onlya brave and just-minded Delaware; respected, and even obeyed in somethings,'tis true, but of a fallen race, and belonging to a fallenpeople. Ah! Harry March, 'twould warm the heart within you to sit intheir lodges of a winter's night, and listen to the traditions of theancient greatness and power of the Mohicans!"
"Harkee, fri'nd Nathaniel," said Hurry, stopping short to face hiscompanion, in order that his words might carry greater weight with them,"if a man believed all that other people choose to say in their ownfavor, he might get an oversized opinion of them, and an undersizedopinion of himself. These red-skins are notable boasters, and I set downmore than half of their traditions as pure talk."
"There is truth in what you say, Hurry, I'll not deny it, for I've seenit, 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 youcome to find!" This remark cut short the discourse, and both the mennow gave all their attention to the object immediately before them.Deerslayer pointed out to his companion the trunk of a huge linden, orbass-wood, as it is termed in the language of the country, which hadfilled its time, and fallen by its own weight. This tree, like so manymillions of its brethren, lay where it had fallen, and was moulderingunder the slow but certain influence of the seasons. The decay, however,had attacked its centre, even while it stood erect in the pride ofvegetation, bellowing out its heart, as disease sometimes destroys thevitals of animal life, even while a fair exterior is presented to theobserver. As the trunk lay stretched for near a hundred feet along theearth, the quick eye of the hunter detected this peculiarity, and fromthis and other circumstances, he knew it to be the tree of which Marchwas in search.
"Ay, here we have what we want," cried Hurry, looking in at the largerend of the linden; "everything is as snug as if it had been left in anold woman's cupboard. Come, lend me a hand, Deerslayer, and we'll beafloat in half an hour."
At this call the hunter joined his companion, and the two went to workdeliberately and regularly, like men accustomed to the sort of thing inwhich they were employed. In the first place, Hurry removed some piecesof bark that lay before the large opening in the tree, and which theother declared to be disposed in a way that would have been more likelyto attract attention than to conceal the cover, had any straggler passedthat way. The two then drew out a bark canoe, containing its seats,paddles, and other appliances, even to fishing-lines and rods. Thisvessel was by no means small; but such was its comparative lightness,and so gigantic was the strength of Hurry, that the latter shouldered itwith seeming ease, declining all assistance, even in the act of raisingit to the awkward position in which he was obliged to hold it.
"Lead ahead, Deerslayer," said March, "and open the bushes; the rest Ican do for myself."
The other obeyed, and the men left the spot, Deerslayer clearing theway for his companion, and inclining to the right or to the left, as thelatter directed. In about ten minutes they both broke suddenly into thebrilliant light of the sun, on a low gravelly point, that was washed bywater on quite half its outline.
An exclamation of surprise broke from the lips of Deerslayer, anexclamation that was low and guardedly made, however, for his habitswere much more thoughtful and regulated than those of the recklessHurry, when on reaching the margin of the lake, he beheld the view thatunexpectedly met his gaze. It was, in truth, sufficiently striking tomerit a brief description. On a level with the point lay a broad sheetof water, so placid and limpid that it resembled a bed of the puremountain 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, andcontracting to less than half that distance, more to the southward. Ofcourse, its margin was irregular, being indented by bays, and brokenby many projecting, low points. At its northern, or nearest end, it wasbounded by an isolated mountain, lower land falling off east and west,gracefully relieving the sweep of the outline. Still the characterof the country was mountainous; high hills, or low mountains, risingabruptly from the water, on quite nine tenths of its circuit. Theexceptions, indeed, only served a little to vary the scene; andeven beyond the parts of the shore that were comparatively low, thebackground was high, though more distant.
But the most striking peculiarities of this scene were its solemnsolitude and sweet repose. On all sides, wherever the eye turned,nothing met it but the mirror-like surface of the lake, the placid viewof heaven, and the dense setting of woods. So rich and fleecy were theoutlines of the forest, that scarce an opening could be seen, thewhole visible earth, from the rounded mountain-top to the water's edge,presenting one unvaried hue of unbroken verdure. As if vegetat
ion werenot satisfied with a triumph so complete, the trees overhung the lakeitself, shooting out towards the light; and there were miles along itseastern shore, where a boat might have pulled beneath the branches ofdark Rembrandt-looking hemlocks, "quivering aspens," and melancholypines. In a word, the hand of man had never yet defaced or deformed anypart of this native scene, which lay bathed in the sunlight, a gloriouspicture of affluent forest grandeur, softened by the balminess of June,and relieved by the beautiful variety afforded by the presence of sobroad an expanse of water.
"This is grand!--'tis solemn!--'tis an edication of itself, to lookupon!" exclaimed Deerslayer, as he stood leaning on his rifle, andgazing to the right and left, north and south, above and beneath, inwhichever direction his eye could wander; "not a tree disturbed even byred-skin hand, as I can discover, but everything left in the ordering ofthe 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, ifshe has passed half the time you mention in the centre of a spot sofavored."
"That's naked truth; and yet the gal has the vagaries. All her timehas not been passed here, howsoever, old Tom having the custom, aforeI know'd him, of going to spend the winters in the neighborhood of thesettlers, or under the guns of the forts. No, no, Jude has caughtmore than is for her good from the settlers, and especially from thegallantifying officers."
"If she has--if she has, Hurry, this is a school to set her mind rightag'in. But what is this I see off here, abreast of us, that seems toosmall for an island, and too large for a boat, though it stands in themidst of the water!
"Why, that is what these galantine gentry from the forts call MuskratCastle; and old Tom himself will grin at the name, though it bears sohard on his own natur' and character. 'Tis the stationary house, therebeing two; this, which never moves, and the other, that floats, beingsometimes in one part of the lake and sometimes in another. The lastgoes by the name of the ark, though what may be the meaning of the wordis more than I can tell you."
"It must come from the missionaries, Hurry, whom I have heard speakand read of such a thing. They say that the 'arth was once covered withwater, and that Noah, with his children, was saved from drowning bybuilding a vessel called an ark, in which he embarked in season. Some ofthe Delawares believe this tradition, and some deny it; but it behoovesyou and me, as white men born, to put our faith in its truth. Do you seeanything of this ark?"
"'Tis down south, no doubt, or anchored in some of the bays. But thecanoe is ready, and fifteen minutes will carry two such paddles asyour'n and mine to the castle."
At this suggestion, Deerslayer helped his companion to place thedifferent articles in the canoe, which was already afloat. This was nosooner done than the two frontiermen embarked, and by a vigorous pushsent the light bark some eight or ten rods from the shore. Hurry nowtook the seat in the stern, while Deerslayer placed himself forward, andby leisurely but steady strokes of the paddles, the canoe glided acrossthe placid sheet, towards the extraordinary-looking structure that theformer had styled Muskrat Castle. Several times the men ceased paddling,and looked about them at the scene, as new glimpses opened from behindpoints, enabling them to see farther down the lake, or to get broaderviews of the wooded mountains. The only changes, however, were in thenew forms of the hills, the varying curvature of the bays, and the widerreaches of the valley south; the whole earth apparently being clothed ina gala-dress of leaves.
"This is a sight to warm the heart!" exclaimed Deerslayer, when they hadthus stopped for the fourth or fifth time; "the lake seems made to letus get an insight into the noble forests; and land and water alike standin the beauty of God's providence! Do you say, Hurry, that there is noman 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 lifelasts. 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', butI invy that man! Don't think, Hurry, that I'm consorting any plan to putmyself 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 ofus 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 beautyshe would be even handsome; and then her wits are so small that you mayeasily 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 giveyou an interest in every deer you can knock over within five miles ofhis lake."
"Does game abound!" suddenly demanded the other, who paid but littleattention to March's raillery.
"It has the country to itself. Scarce a trigger is pulled on it; and asfor the trappers, this is not a region they greatly frequent. I oughtnot to be so much here myself, but Jude pulls one way, while the beaverpulls another. More than a hundred Spanish dollars has that creatur'cost me the last two seasons, and yet I could not forego the wish tolook 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. Thecountry seems to belong to no native tribe in particular; and so it hasfallen into the hands of the Hutter tribe. The old man tells me thatsome 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 meddledwith the matter. The hunters have a good life-lease still of thiswilderness."
"So much the better, so much the better, Hurry. If I was King ofEngland, the man that felled one of these trees without good occasionfor the timber, should be banished to a desarted and forlorn region, inwhich no fourfooted animal ever trod. Right glad am I that Chingachgookapp'inted our meeting on this lake, for hitherto eye of mine neverlooked on such a glorious spectacle."
"That's because you've kept so much among the Delawares, in whosecountry there are no lakes. Now, farther north and farther west thesebits 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 JudithHutter!"
At this remark his companion smiled, and then he dropped his paddle intothe water, as if in consideration of a lover's haste. Both now pulledvigorously until they got within a hundred yards of the "castle," asHurry familiarly called the house of Hutter, when they again ceasedpaddling; the admirer of Judith restraining his impatience the morereadily, as he perceived that the building was untenanted, at themoment. This new pause was to enable Deerslayer to survey the singularedifice, which was of a construction so novel as to merit a particulardescription.
Muskrat Castle, as the house had been facetiously named by some waggishofficer, stood in the open lake, at a distance of fully a quarter of amile from the nearest shore. On every other side the water extended muchfarther, the precise position being distant about two miles from thenorthern end of the sheet, and near, if not quite, a mile from itseastern shore. As there was not the smallest appearance of any island,but the house stood on piles, with the water flowing beneath it, andDeerslayer had already discovered that the lake was of a great depth,he was fain to ask an explanation of this singular circumstance. Hurrysolved the difficulty by telling him that on this spot alone, a long,narrow shoal, which extended for a few hundred yards in a north andsouth direction, rose within six or eight feet of the surface ofthe lake, and that Hutter had driven piles into it, and placed hishabitation on them, for the purpose of security.
"The old fellow was burnt out three times, atween the Indians and thehunters; 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 attackhim here, without coming in a boat, and the plunde
r and scalps wouldscarce be worth the trouble of digging out canoes. Then it's by nomeans sartain which would whip in such a scrimmage, for old Tom is wellsupplied with arms and ammunition, and the castle, as you may see, is atight breastwork ag'in light shot."
Deerslayer had some theoretical knowledge of frontier warfare, thoughhe had never yet been called on to raise his hand in anger against afellow-creature. He saw that Hurry did not overrate the strength ofthis position in a military point of view, since it would not be easy toattack it without exposing the assailants to the fire of the besieged.A good deal of art had also been manifested in the disposition ofthe timber of which the building was constructed and which afforded aprotection much greater than was usual to the ordinary log-cabins of thefrontier. The sides and ends were composed of the trunks of large pines,cut about nine feet long, and placed upright, instead of being laidhorizontally, as was the practice of the country. These logs weresquared on three sides, and had large tenons on each end. Massive sillswere secured on the heads of the piles, with suitable grooves dug outof their upper surfaces, which had been squared for the purpose, and thelower tenons of the upright pieces were placed in these grooves, givingthem secure fastening below. Plates had been laid on the upper endsof the upright logs, and were kept in their places by a similarcontrivance; the several corners of the structure being well fastenedby scarfing and pinning the sills and plates. The doors were made ofsmaller logs, similarly squared, and the roof was composed of lightpoles, firmly united, and well covered with bark.
The effect of this ingenious arrangement was to give its owner a housethat could be approached only by water, the sides of which were composedof logs closely wedged together, which were two feet thick in theirthinnest parts, and which could be separated only by a deliberate andlaborious use of human hands, or by the slow operation of time. Theouter surface of the building was rude and uneven, the logs being ofunequal sizes; but the squared surfaces within gave both the sides anddoor as uniform an appearance as was desired, either for use or show.The chimney was not the least singular portion of the castle, as Hurrymade his companion observe, while he explained the process by which ithad been made. The material was a stiff clay, properly worked, which hadbeen put together in a mould of sticks, and suffered to harden, a footor two at a time, commencing at the bottom. When the entire chimney hadthus been raised, and had been properly bound in with outward props, abrisk fire was kindled, and kept going until it was burned to somethinglike a brick-red. This had not been an easy operation, nor had itsucceeded entirely; but by dint of filling the cracks with fresh clay,a safe fireplace and chimney had been obtained in the end. This part ofthe work stood on the log-door, secured beneath by an extra pile. Therewere a few other peculiarities about this dwelling, which will betterappear in the course of the narrative.
"Old Tom is full of contrivances," added Hurry, "and he set his heart onthe success of his chimney, which threatened more than once to give outaltogether; but perseverance will even overcome smoke; and now he hasa comfortable cabin of it, though it did promise, at one time, to be achinky sort of a flue to carry flames and fire."
"You seem to know the whole history of the castle, Hurry, chimney andsides," said Deerslayer, smiling; "is love so overcoming that it causesa man to study the story of his sweetheart's habitation?"
"Partly that, lad, and partly eyesight," returned the good-naturedgiant, laughing; "there was a large gang of us in the lake, the summerthe old fellow built, and we helped him along with the job. I raised nosmall part of the weight of them uprights with my own shoulders, andthe axes flew, I can inform you, Master Natty, while we were bee-ing itamong the trees ashore. The old devil is no way stingy about food, andas we had often eat at his hearth, we thought we would just house himcomfortably, afore we went to Albany with our skins. Yes, many is themeal I've swallowed in Tom Hutter's cabins; and Hetty, though so weak inthe way of wits, has a wonderful particular way about a frying-pan or agridiron!
"While the parties were thus discoursing, the canoe had been graduallydrawing nearer to the "castle," and was now so close as to require buta single stroke of a paddle to reach the landing. This was at a flooredplatform in front of the entrance, that might have been some twenty feetsquare.
"Old Tom calls this sort of a wharf his door-yard," observed Hurry, ashe fastened the canoe, after he and his Companion had left it: "and thegallants 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 thatthere is no law. 'Tis as I supposed; not a soul within, but the wholefamily is off on a v'y'ge of discovery!"
While Hurry was bustling about the "door-yard," examining thefishing-spears, rods, nets, and other similar appliances of a frontiercabin, Deerslayer, whose manner was altogether more rebuked and quiet,entered the building with a curiosity that was not usually exhibited byone so long trained in Indian habits. The interior of the "castle" wasas faultlessly neat as its exterior was novel. The entire space, sometwenty feet by forty, was subdivided into several small sleeping-rooms;the apartment into which he first entered, serving equally for theordinary uses of its inmates, and for a kitchen. The furniture was ofthe strange mixture that it is not uncommon to find in the remotelysituated log-tenements of the interior. Most of it was rude, and to thelast degree rustic; but there was a clock, with a handsome case of darkwood, in a corner, and two or three chairs, with a table and bureau,that had evidently come from some dwelling of more than usualpretension. The clock was industriously ticking, but its leaden-lookinghands did no discredit to their dull aspect, for they pointed to thehour of eleven, though the sun plainly showed it was some time pastthe turn of the day. There was also a dark, massive chest. The kitchenutensils were of the simplest kind, and far from numerous, but everyarticle 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 raiseda wooden latch, and entered a narrow passage that divided the innerend of the house into two equal parts. Frontier usages being no wayscrupulous, and his curiosity being strongly excited, the young man nowopened a door, and found himself in a bedroom. A single glance sufficedto show that the apartment belonged to females. The bed was of thefeathers of wild geese, and filled nearly to overflowing; but it lay ina rude bunk, raised only a foot from the door. On one side of it werearranged, on pegs, various dresses, of a quality much superior to whatone would expect to meet in such a place, with ribbons and other similararticles to correspond. Pretty shoes, with handsome silver buckles, suchas 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 away to catch the eye by their conceits and hues. Even the pillow, onthis side of the bed, was covered with finer linen than its companion,and it was ornamented with a small ruffle. A cap, coquettishly decoratedwith ribbons, hung above it, and a pair of long gloves, such as wererarely used in those days by persons of the laboring classes, werepinned ostentatiously to it, as if with an intention to exhibit themthere, if they could not be shown on the owner's arms.
All this Deerslayer saw, and noted with a degree of minuteness thatwould have done credit to the habitual observation of his friends, theDelawares. Nor did he fail to perceive the distinction that existedbetween the appearances on the different sides of the bed, the headof which stood against the wall. On that opposite to the one justdescribed, everything was homely and uninviting, except through itsperfect neatness. The few garments that were hanging from the pegs wereof the coarsest materials and of the commonest forms, while nothingseemed made for show. Of ribbons there was not one; nor was there eithercap or kerchief beyond those which Hutter's daughters might be fairlyentitled to wear.
It was now several years since Deerslayer had been in a spot especiallydevoted to the uses of females of his own color and race. The sightbrought back to his mind a rush of childish recollections; and helingered in the room with a tenderness of feeling to which he had longbeen a stranger. He bethought him of his mothe
r, whose homely vestmentshe remembered to have seen hanging on pegs like those which he feltmust belong to Hetty Hutter; and he bethought himself of a sister, whoseincipient and native taste for finery had exhibited itself somewhat inthe manner of that of Judith, though necessarily in a less degree. Theselittle resemblances opened a long hidden vein of sensations; and as hequitted the room, it was with a saddened mien. He looked no further, butreturned slowly and thoughtfully towards the "door-yard."
"If Old Tom has taken to a new calling, and has been trying his hand atthe traps," cried Hurry, who had been coolly examining the borderer'simplements; "if that is his humor, and you're disposed to remain inthese parts, we can make an oncommon comfortable season of it; for,while the old man and I out-knowledge the beaver, you can fish, andknock down the deer, to keep body and soul together. I've always givethe poorest hunters half a share, but one as actyve and sartain asyourself might expect a full one."
"Thank'ee, Hurry; thank'ee, with all my heart--but I do a littlebeavering for myself as occasions offer. 'Tis true, the Delawares callme Deerslayer, but it's not so much because I'm pretty fatal with thevenison as because that while I kill so many bucks and does, I've neveryet taken the life of a fellow-creatur'. They say their traditions donot tell of another who had shed so much blood of animals that had notshed the blood of man."
"I hope they don't account you chicken-hearted, lad! A faint-hearted manis like a no-tailed beaver."
"I don't believe, Hurry, that they account me as out-of-the-waytimorsome, 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 bloodoff 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 prettymuch the same thing; though I'm as onquarrelsome a man, too, as there isin all the colonies. I despise a quarreller as I do a cur-dog; but onehas no need to be over-scrupulsome when it's the right time to show theflint."
"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 usall at such times. Lakes have a gentle character, as I say, being prettymuch water and land, and points and bays."
As this definition by no means met the feelings that were uppermost inthe mind of the young hunter, he made no immediate answer, but stoodgazing 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?" hesuddenly asked, as if struck with a new idea. "If they've not begun toblaze 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 regionhereabouts. He had heard that there was a lake in this quarter, andhad got some general notions about it, such as that there was water andhills; but how much of either, he know'd no more than you know of theMohawk tongue. I didn't open the trap any wider than was necessary,giving him but poor encouragement in the way of farms and clearings. Inshort, I left on his mind some such opinion of this country, as a mangets of a spring of dirty water, with a path to it that is so muddy thatone mires afore he sets out. He told me they hadn't got the spot downyet on their maps, though I conclude that is a mistake, for he showed mehis parchment, and there is a lake down on it, where there is no lakein fact, and which is about fifty miles from the place where it ought tobe, if they meant it for this. I don't think my account will encouragehim to mark down another, by way of improvement."
Here Hurry laughed heartily, such tricks being particularly grateful toa set of men who dreaded the approaches of civilization as a curtailmentof their own lawless empire. The egregious errors that existed in themaps of the day, all of which were made in Europe, were, moreover, astanding topic of ridicule among them; for, if they had not scienceenough to make any better themselves, they had sufficient localinformation to detect the gross blunders contained in those thatexisted. Any one who will take the trouble to compare these unanswerableevidences of the topographical skill of our fathers a century since,with the more accurate sketches of our own time, will at once perceivethat the men of the woods had a sufficient justification for all theircriticism on this branch of the skill of the colonial governments, whichdid not at all hesitate to place a river or a lake a degree or two outof the way, even though they lay within a day's march of the inhabitedparts of the country.
"I'm glad it has no name," resumed Deerslayer, "or at least, nopale-face name; for their christenings always foretell waste anddestruction. No doubt, howsoever, the red-skins have their modes ofknowing it, and the hunters and trappers, too; they are likely to callthe place by something reasonable and resembling."
"As for the tribes, each has its tongue, and its own way of callingthings; and they treat this part of the world just as they treatall others. Among ourselves, we've got to calling the place the'Glimmerglass,' seeing that its whole basin is so often hinged withpines, cast upward to its face as if it would throw back the hills thathang over it."
"There is an outlet, I know, for all lakes have outlets, and the rockat which I am to meet Chingachgook stands near an outlet. Has that nocolony-name yet?"
"In that particular they've got the advantage of us, having one end, andthat the biggest, in their own keeping: they've given it a name whichhas found its way up to its source; names nat'rally working up stream.No doubt, Deerslayer, you've seen the Susquehannah, down in the Delawarecountry?"
"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 wouldbe too hard to rob them of both land and name!"
Deerslayer made no answer; but he stood leaning on his rifle, gazingat the view which so much delighted him. The reader is not to suppose,however, that it was the picturesque alone which so strongly attractedhis attention. The spot was very lovely, of a truth, and it was thenseen in one of its most favorable moments, the surface of the lakebeing as smooth as glass and as limpid as pure air, throwing backthe mountains, clothed in dark pines, along the whole of its easternboundary, the points thrusting forward their trees even to nearlyhorizontal lines, while the bays were seen glittering through anoccasional arch beneath, left by a vault fretted with branches andleaves. It was the air of deep repose--the solitudes, that spoke ofscenes 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 turnof mind. Still, he felt, though it was unconsciously, like a poetalso. If he found a pleasure in studying this large, and to him unusualopening into the mysteries and forms of the woods, as one is gratifiedin getting broader views of any subject that has long occupied histhoughts, he was not insensible to the innate loveliness of such alandscape neither, but felt a portion of that soothing of the spiritwhich is a common attendant of a scene so thoroughly pervaded by theholy cairn of nature.