om detection, so long as the Indians
kept near the centre of the illumination, he brought the canoe to
a state of rest in the most favourable position he could find, and
commenced his observations.

We have written much, but in vain, concerning this extraordinary being,
if the reader requires now to be told, that, untutored as he was in the
learning of the world, and simple as he ever showed himself to be in all
matters touching the subtleties of conventional taste, he was a man
of strong, native, poetical feeling. He loved the woods for their
freshness, their sublime solitudes, their vastness, and the impress
that they everywhere bore of the divine hand of their creator. He seldom
moved through them, without pausing to dwell on some peculiar beauty
that gave him pleasure, though seldom attempting to investigate the
causes; and never did a day pass without his communing in spirit, and
this, too, without the aid of forms or language, with the infinite
source of all he saw, felt, and beheld. Thus constituted, in a moral
sense, and of a steadiness that no danger could appall, or any crisis
disturb, it is not surprising that the hunter felt a pleasure at looking
on the scene he now beheld, that momentarily caused him to forget the
object of his visit. This will more fully appear when we describe it.

The canoe lay in front of a natural vista, not only through the bushes
that lined the shore, but of the trees also, that afforded a clear view
of the camp. It was by means of this same opening that the light had
been first seen from the ark. In consequence of their recent change
of ground, the Indians had not yet retired to their huts, but had been
delayed by their preparations, which included lodging as well as food.
A large fire had been made, as much to answer the purpose of torches as
for the use of their simple cookery; and at this precise moment it was
blazing high and bright, having recently received a large supply of
dried brush. The effect was to illuminate the arches of the forest, and
to render the whole area occupied by the camp as light as if hundreds of
tapers were burning. Most of the toil had ceased, and even the hungriest
child had satisfied its appetite. In a word, the time was that moment of
relaxation and general indolence which is apt to succeed a hearty
meal, and when the labours of the day have ended. The hunters and
the fishermen had been totally successful; and food, that one great
requisite of savage