2. The soil is mostly primitive," composed of ranges and groups of lofty mountains and deep valleys, with beautiful intervals, alongside of the rivers, which have been washed down from the sides of the mountains. Say what we will about the fertility and glories of the everlasting flats of the West, the primitive soil is associated with what man loves, and what makes men. 3. It is connected with the blue mountains, and the pure air which flows over them. It is associated with the leaping brook, the gushing waterfall, and the pure waters which come rushing down from their mountain home; with manufactories and industry, thrift, health, a bracing climate, and a virtuous community. 4. The grandeur and number of mountains in this wilderness,arealmost incredible, while the lakes defy any attempts at description. There are more than two hundred of these whose names I know, and with whose location I am acquainted, counting none whose diameter is less than two miles, while some of them are fifteen, eighteen, and twenty miles the longest way. 5. Most of these lakes are imbosomed among mountains, which seem to hang round them like rough but stern guardians. The highest of these, Blue Mountain lake, is over eighteen hundred feet higher than Lake Champlain.o 6. It would take a man in vigorous health, using all the strength and diligence which he could possibly command, at least six months, to visit all these lakes, so as to obtain any tolerably correct notions of them. 7. The scenery, on these lakes, is grand and beautiful beyond anything of which I ever conceived. The lakes of Scotland" have been celebrated of old, in story and in song, but the time Lake NOTES. -a Primitive soil; a soil formed from the disintegration of primitive rocks, as granite, gneiss, &c. b The flats or prairies of the West are alluvial soil. Champlain'; a lake lying between New York and Vermont, 120 miles in length. d Scotland; that part of Great Britain lying north of the Cheviot hills and the river Tweed, will come, I doubt not, when these lakes will become the most interesting resort to be found in this country, for the great, the rich, the curious, and the fashionable. 8. Most of them are surrounded with forests which grow on the water's edge, and glass themselves in mirrors which reflect every leaf; most are studded with romantic islands, covered with the mighty forest, where the eagle finds a home unmolested, unless, peradventure, the hunter causes the smoke of his camp to curl up among the trees, and scare him from his eyry. 9. Of all the sheets of water upon which my eyes ever rested, and I say this after having passed through Lake George four times, and among the "thousand islands" of the St. Lawrence' twice, under the most favorable circumstances, none will compare with Racket lake, for sublime and mysterious beauty. 10. Two hundred persons have selected this spot as their permanent home, where they have built the hunter's lodge of bark, and adorned it with the antlers of many a stag, and with many a trophy of the art and skill of man, over the instincts of the forest; and if they had an eye on the grand and beautiful, I should not wonder at their choice. 11. But Racket lake is not alone in its power, to create deep emotions in the soul. If you were out on Tupper's laked in your little boat, so light and frail, that your guide can carry it on his head for miles through the wilderness, you might look up the lake, and see the islands extending for miles in length. 12. Then in the long distance, say ten miles off, you see the white pathway of Bog river, as it comes out of its dark NOTES.a Lake George; a beautiful lake in the eastern part of New York, 33 miles in length. It is celebrated for the transparency of its waters, and the beautiful scenery about it. b St. Lawrence; a large river separating New York, in part, on the north from Canada. c Racket lake; a small lake west of the southern extremity of Lake Champlain. d Tupper's lake; a lake south of Racket lake. solitude, and tumbles headlong down the everlasting rocks leaping into the lake, and lost forever. 13. Then your tiny boat floats under an island, whose per pendicular height of solid rock must be hundreds of feet, and which seems falling on you, while you know that the depth of the dark waters beneath your boat, is at least eighty feet more. 14. Or, if you come up Lake Champlain, and enter the wilderness through Indian pass, your journey is still wilder and wilder, till you reach the magnificent gorge through which the Au Sable' pours its mountain waters, and where the perpendicular rocks are one thousand feet high. 15. Under these everlasting battlements, you may stand and look upward in silent amazement; or you may go to the top, and creep out and look off, shuddering and shivering, and feeling that you have hitherto known what emotion meant only by name ! 16. This wilderness is a vast forest. Before the white man came, this, from time immemorial, was the rich huntingground of the Indians. On this ground they sought their food, and furs, and fish, and often met in hostility, waylaying and destroying one another. 17. You can see where their houses once stood, and where the corn waved. The tall pines too, that now sigh over the lonely spot, bear the marks of the Indian boy's tomahawk. The forest is grown over their little graveyard, and the loon raises his indescribably lonely notes, over the hallowed spot. 18. But the red man is about gone from this wilderness. I met with some four or five only, in all my wanderings. The white man next came in to hunt, and still continues to come, NOTES. -a See Indian, p. 131, note b. bAu Sabie (d-sä'ble); a river rising in the Mohegan mountains in New York, and flowing north-east into Lake Champlain. c Loon; an aquatic bird nearly as large as a goose; the upper parts are black, shaded with green, and the lower parts of a pure white. but the pioneer settler is on his way, and the race of hunters is doomed to pass away. QUESTIONS. 1. What is the extent of the wilderness in the state of New York! 1. What is the state of New York, and where is it situated? 1. What is Massachusetts, and where is it situated? 2. What is the soil of this wilderness? 2. What is a primitive soil? 2. What is the soil of the flats of the West? 4. What is said of the mountains and lakes of this wilderness? 5. What is said of Lake Champlain? 6. How long would it take a person to visit all these lakes? 7. How do they compare with the lakes of Scotland? 7. What is Scotland? 9. How does Racket lake compare with Lake George in beauty? 9. What is said of Lake George? 9. What is the St. Lawrence? 9. What is Racket lake? 11. Where is Tupper's lake situated? 14. What is the height of the cataract of the Au Sable? 14. What is the Au Sable? 17. What is a loon? 18. Do the Indians now inhabit this wilderness? ERRORS.-1. Whur'fore for where'fore; 3. ne'er for ne'er; 4. hem for hymn 5. stawm for storm; 8. geth'er-in for gath'er-ing; 8, frum for from. THE LAST LEAF. W, G. CROSBY. 1. LONE trembling one! Last of a summer race, withered and sear, And shivering, wherefore art thou lingering here? 2. Thou hast seen all The summer flowers reposing in their tomb, And the green leaves that knew thee in their bloom, 3. The voice of spring, Which called thee into being, ne'er again Will greet thee, nor the gentle summer rain 4. The zephyr's breath No more will wake for thee its melody; But the lone sighing of the blast shall be 5. Yet a few days, A few faint struggles with the autumn storm, 6. Pale autumn leaf! Thou art an emblem of mortality. The broken heart, once young and fresh like thee, 7. Whose hopes are fled, Whose loved ones all have drooped and died away, 8. But list, even now I hear the gathering of the wintery blast; It comes, thy frail form trembles, it is past! And so art thou! QUESTIONS. 1. How did the last leaf appear? 6. Of what is it an emblem 19* |