Virginia illustrated : containing a visit to the Virginian Canaan, and the adventures of Porte Crayon and his cousins

Front matter

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GENERAE D. H. STROTHER : " PORTE CRAYON." Baltimore, March 8.— A dispatch fiom Charlestown, W. Va., says that General David Hunter StrotK-r died at that place to-day.

Contents

VISIT TO THE VIRGINIAN CANAAN.

CHAPTER PAGE

I. THE JOURNEY TO CANAAN 13

Chapter 1, The Journey To Canaan

In Randolph county, Virginia, there is a tract of country containing from seven to nine hundred square miles, entirely uninhabited, and so inaccessible that it has rarely been penetrated even by the most adventurous. The settlers on its borders speak of it with dread, as an ill-omened region, filled with bears, panthers, impassable laurel-brakes, and dangerous precipices. Stories are told of hunters having ventured too far, becoming entangled, and perishing in its intricate labyrinths. The desire of daring the unknown dangers of this mysterious region stimulated a party of gentlemen, who were at Towers1 Mountain House on a trouting excursion, to undertake its exploration in June, 1851. They did actually penetrate the country as far as the Falls of the Blackwater, and returned with marvelous accounts of the savage grandeur of its scenery, and the quantities of game and fish to be found there. One of the party wrote an entertaining narrative of their adventures and sufferings, filling a stout volume — which every body ought to read.

During the winter of 1852, several of the same party, with other friends, planned a second trip, to be undertaken on the first of June following. At that date, so fully was the public mind occupied with filibustering and president-making, that the notes of preparation for this important expedition were scarcely heard beyond the corporate limits of the little town of M , in the Val-

THE VIRGINIAN CANAAN.

Ley of Virginia. Even in this contracted circle the excitement was principally confined to the planners themselves, while the public looked on with an apathy and unconcern altogether unaccountable. Indeed, some narrow-minded persons went so far as to say that it was nothing but a scheme of idleness, and advised the young gentlemen to stick to their professions, and let the bears alone. But, as may be supposed, all such met the usual fate of gratuitous counselors who advise people against their inclinations.

In the daily meetings which were held for five months previous to the date fixed for their departure, our friends discussed freely and at great length every thing that appertained, or that could in any way appertain, to the subject in view, from the elevation of the mountains and the course of rivers, down to the quality of a percussion-cap and the bend of a fish-hook. They became students of maps and geological reports ; read Izaac Walton's "Complete Angler11 and "Le Guide et Hygiene des Chasseurs ;" consulted Count Rumford and Doctor Kitchener, and experimented largely in the diiferent kinds of aliments most proper for the sustenance of the human system. Mr. Penn, the author, copied at length a recipe for mat ing cat-fish soup, assuring his friends that, when surfeited with venison and trout, this dish would afford them a delightful change. Mr. Porte Crayon, the artist, also furnished frequent designs for hunting-coats, caps, knapsacks, and leggins, modeled, for the most part, from those of the French army in Algiers. "For,11 said he, "the French are the most scientific people in the world; and as they have paid more attention to the equipment of their army than any other, every thing they adopt is presumed to be perfect of its kind.11

EN GRANDE TENUE.

DRAMATIS PERSONS.

The result of all this studying and talking was, that every one differed from his friend, and equipped himself after his own fashion. The commissary department suddenly concluded that biscuit and bacon were the most substantial, portable, and palatable articles of food known to the dwellers south of the Potomac, and accordingly made arrangements to have ample supplies of both ready for the occasion.

THE COMMISSARY DEPARTMENT.

With the opening spring the buds began to swell and the bluebirds to warble, and the zeal of our adventurers kept pace with the season, so that by the first of April all were ready, fully equipped, " straining like greyhounds in the slip." The intolerable vacuum between this and the starting-day might be graphically illustrated by leaving half a dozen blank pages ; but as such a procedure might be misunderstood, or characterized as clap-trap, it may be preferable to fill up the blank by introducing the dramatis per- S07iw who are to figure in the following narrative.

Mr. Penn, an author of some distinction, has already been mentioned. He is gaunt and tall, with distinguished air and manners, flowing "and graceful gestures, prominent and expressive eye, indicating, according to phrenology, a great command of language. In this case, however, the science was at fault, for when Penn got fairly started in discourse he had no command over his language

THE VIRGINIAN CANAAN.

at all. It poured forth in an irresistible torrent, carrying away the speaker himself, and overwhelming or putting to flight his audience.

Mr. Dindon, a fine, athletic sportsman, not a dandiacal popper at quails and hares, but a real Nimrod, a slayer of wild turkeys and deer, to whom the excitement of the chase was as the breath of his nostrils, and who sometimes forgot even that in his keen appreciation of the poetry of forest life. He was never known either to be wearied in a hunt or silenced in a debate.

Mr. Jones was somewhat inclined to be stout, not to say fat. Mr. J. was equally fond of rural sports and personal comforts. Ambitious of being considered a thoroughgoing sportsman, he kept the best dog and the most beautiful gun in the district. He frequently appeared covered with his hunting accoutrements, followed by his dog, and generally went out alone. Prying persons remarked that his game-bag was usually fuller when he went out than when he returned. Dindon, who was knowing in these matters, always said that J. was a humbug ; that all this apparent fondness for the chase was a sham ; that Jones, as soon as he got out of sight of town, found some shady place, ate the dinner that stuffed the game-bag, and went to sleep ; when he woke, would drag himself through a thicket hard by, muddy his boots in a swamp, and return with the marks of severe fatigue and determined hunting upon him, and with whatever game he might be able to purchase from straggling urchins or old negroes who had been lucky with their traps. For the rest, Jones had some rare companionable qualities. He could give a joke with enviable point and readiness, and take one with like grace and good-humor.

The sprightly sketches which illuminate this unskillful narrative are the most appropriate and shall be the only introduction of our friend Porte Crayon. He has rendered the subjects with great truthfulness, and has exhibited even some tenderness in the handling of them. If he has nothing extenuated, he has, at least, set down naught in malice. Porte, indeed, modestly remarks that his poor abilities were entirely inadequate to do justice either to the sublimity of the natural scenery or the preposterous absurdity of the human species on that memorable expedition.

PREPARATIONS FOR THE JOURNEY. 17

Mr. Smith, a gentleman of imposing presence, of few words, but an ardent and determined sportsman, and a zealous promoter of the expedition, completes the catalogue.

Some time during the month of Ma)', X. M. C. (for certain reasons his initials only are used), an accomplished and talented gentleman residing at a distance from M , received a letter which

ran as follows :

"Dear X., — "We have fixed upon the 1st of June to start for the Canaan country. Our party will consist of Dindon, Jones, Smith, your old friend Penn, and myself. Can you join us"? If so, give us immediate notice, and set about making your preparations without delay. I would recommend to you to procure the following equipments : a water-proof knapsack, fishing-tackle, and a gun ; a belt with pistols — a revolver would be preferable, in case of a conflict with a panther ; a hunting-knife for general purposes — a good ten-inch blade, sharp and reliable ; it will be useful for cleaning fish, dressing game, and may serve you a turn when a bear gets you down in a laurel-brake. Store your knapsack with an extra pair of shoes, a change of raiment, such as will resist water and dirt to the last extremity, a pair of leggins to guard against rattlesnakes, and the following eatables: one dozen biscuits, one pound of ham, one pound of ground coffee, salt, pepper, and condiments. This will be the private store of each person ; the public supplies will be carried out on horses.

"The place of rendezvous is the Berkeley Springs; the day the 31st of May. " Yours in haste, Porte Ckayon."

The corresponding committee had the gratification of receiving a favorable reply to the foregoing : "X. will certainly come." All right ; the party is made up. The last of May has come. Cra}~- on, in full hunting costume, is standing on the politico of the great hotel at the Berkeley Springs. Messrs. Jones and Smith have arrived ; their equipments have been examined and pronounced unexceptionable. Here comes X. What a pair of leggins ! And there's Penn with him, in a blue jacket out at the elbows, with a rod like Don Quixote's lance.

"Ah, gentlemen! well met," shouted Penn, as they approached. "You see before you a personification of Prince Hal, at a time when he kept rather low company." Quoth Jones, "He look> more like Poins on a thieving expedition."

"Ah! my fat friend, are you there? glad to see you. I have a rod here, gentlemen, that will make you envious. See how superbly balanced ! what a spring it has ! the very thing for brookiishing, for whipping the smaller streams. And then see how easily carried." Suiting the action to the word, he unjointed it,

B

THE VIRGINIAN CANAAN.

and slipped it into a neat case, portable, light, and elegant. "I procured one of the same sort for Smith when I was in New York. I will show you also a supply of artificial flies," continued Penn, drawing a leather case from his knapsack, "and a fine bug calculated for the largest sized trout.1'

Here he produced a bug, which renewed the astonishment and hilarity of the company.

"What is it for?" "What sort of creature is it?" "What does it represent?" shouted one and all. .

"I have not dipped into entomology lately, but I have been assured that this bug is calculated to take none but the largest fish. No small fish will approach it, from personal apprehension ; and no trout under two-and-twenty inches in length would venture to swallow it."

"If I were called upon to classify that bug," said Jones, "I would call it a chimera ; in the vernacular, humbug /"

"Come to supper," said Porte. "We start at two o'clock to-night by the train."

The sun that rose fair and bright on the morning of the first of June found our fishermen just entering the United States Hotel in the town of Cumberland.

"Who the are they?" inquired one of the matutinal loafers in the bar-room.

" Oh ! they be some o' these Hung'ry fellers, I reckon," replied a gaping stable-boy.

"Right, boy, right!" said Mr. Jones; "quite right; here's a dime. Landlord, let us have breakfast in the shortest time imaginable."

The route from Cumberland to the Oakland depot, on the summit of the Alleghanies, and the trip from thence by wagon to Towers', was as barren of notable adventure as it was fruitful in jokes

A. HUMBUG.

THE HORSES AND GUIDES. ]/J

and hilarity. At Towers' they found their old comrade Dindon, who had gone ahead to procure guides, horses, etc.

"Well, what have you brought up?" asked Dindon.

"Eleven hundred and forty biscuit, twenty pounds of ground coffee, forty pounds of middling, and two hams ; lard, salt, pepper, sugar, et cetera; all well packed and in good order. What have you done V

' ' The eight loaves of bread are ready. " " Good ! " " The horses are ready.11 " Good !" "The guides are still to be looked after.11 ' ' Hum ! let us see the horses. " ' 'Andrew, bring out the animals. "

Lame Eat and Old Sorry here made their first appearance on the stage, and were received with mingled laughter and indignation. Lame Kit's fore leg was as stiff as a ramrod ; and old Sorry, among other defects, was blind and distempered.

"What an inhuman idea!11 said Jones. "You donrt really mean to afflict these wretched tackies with such loads of hao-gase as we have here ?"

Dindon was aroused. " I'll bet a thousand dollars you havent two such horses on your estate.11

"No, 111 swear to it,11 responded Jones. "If I had, I'd have them shot within an hour.11

"No, sir,11 rejoined Dindon, with heat. " I mean that you can't produce their equals for strength and endurance.1'

"I won't take advantage of you," said Jones, "but will offer you a more equal bet : that, if you load them with this baggage, neither of them will live to reach the banks of the Cheat River."

"That shows your judgment in horseflesh. But what can be expected of a man educated north of the Potomac ? What can he know about horses V

Jones assumed an attitude confronting Dindon. "I'd like to know," said he, "if Northern horses are not universally conceded to be superior to Southern V

" Gentlemen," interposed X., "I foresee an interminable wrangle. Well adjourn. Cough them down."

The following day was spent in engaging guides. Thornhill, an intelligent, energetic, good-tempered fellow, agreed to undertake the business. His dwelling was a specimen of rural architecture

THE VIRGINIAN CANAAN.

not noticed by Downing, nor characterized by any of the writers on that subject. Porte declared it looked like the connecting link between a hut and a wood-pile ; but, like the pearl in the oyster, the gem of disinterested hospitality is found as frequently in these 1 nimble abodes as in the proudest mansions of our good old State.

THORNHILL'S CABIN.

All things being arranged at Towers1 for an early start on the third, Crayon and X. M. C. shouldered their guns and knapsacks, and started for Conway's, nine miles distant, on the route to the Canaan country. They were to engage Conway to accompany the party, and to be in readiness to join the main body as they passed in the morning. Crayon had traveled the road on a former occasion, and, as he pretended to considerable skill in woodcraft, confidently took the lead, and struck into the forest by a blind path. For four or five miles all went well, until the declining sun was hidden by the tall crowns of the firs, and the path became more and more indistinct. Crayon became thoughtful, and dropped behind.

"Whose dogs are these?" quietly asked X.

Crayon looked up, and saw two wolves standing in the path, within thirty paces of them, staring with amazement at the strange intruders. In the twinkling of an eye his piece was leveled, but the wolves, with equal celerity, had betaken themselves to the bushes.

IN THE DAEK. 21

"Well, you don't say they were wolves ? I supposed they were some of the neighbors1 dogs. What a mortification ! I might have shot them both.11

"There are no neighbors hereabouts, X., and no dogs wandering about. The rule is to crack away at every four-legged creature you see, and the chances are that it is legitimate game. But we must be moving ; night is coming rapidly on. Push on for Conway's. "

Within the next mile Crayon came to a stand-still. "X.,11 said he, musingly, "at what hour does the moon rise to-night?1

"Don't know ; haven't observed ; are we not near Conway's?11

" My friend, it is useless to disguise matters. In fifteen minutes it will be pitch-dark. I have seen no trace of a path for the last half mile. This country looks strange to me. I couldn't go back if I would, I wouldn't go if I could ; we should be laughed at."

"This life is all new to me," said X., with resignation; "but go on, and I'll follow till death."

"X., can you see a star, or any thing that might serve as a guide to prevent us from making circles ?"

"No, I can see nothing but trees and bushes, and can hardly see them."

"Follow on, then ; well try it."

As they trudged on, the forest grew murkier and darker, and the undergrowth more dense and tangled.

" Where are you, Porte ?" " Here ; come on." " Ho ! I'm up to my knees in a marsh!" "Hist! did you hear that?" "Yes. Keep close, and don't shoot, or we may kill each other. Be careful of your fire-arms, and depend on your hunting-knife." " Good heavens! we are getting into a laurel-brake. Turn back, or we are gone."

On they struggled, torn by briers, throttled by wild vines, and tripped up by fallen timber.

" Porte ! stop. I'm' ready to perish with fatigue ; let us rest a while on this log."

"X., did you ever sleep in the woods?"

" No, I never did."

"Have you any thing to eat in your knapsack?"

22 THE VIEGINIAN CANAAN.

"Not a mouthful ; to lighten my load, I tmnbled mine into the general provision-bag.11

"I did the same thing.11

"How unlucky ! I will take this impressive opportunity, Mr. X., to read you a lesson in woodcraft. Never leave the camp without a day's provision with you.11

"But are we likely to get to Conway's to-night?11

"The probabilities seem to be against it ; but let us try again.11

Another hour of fruitless toil, and no hope.

"X., don't it seem to be getting lighter on our left hand1?11

"Ho! by all that's jolly, I'm on open ground, and feel something like a beaten track under my feet."

A broad gleam of light shot across the wood like the sudden flash of a torch, revealing a long vista in the forest and the trodden and rutted surface of the highway.

"Whoop! whoop! hurrah! the moon and the big road — the bifif road and the moon. I knew it ! I knew I couldn't be mistaken. Here's the stream. We're not a mile from Conway's."

The wanderers, notwithstanding their fatigue and knapsacks, indulged in a pas cle deux and an embrace, then cheerily resumed their route. The moon rose higher and higher ; anon they heard the bark of a dog — a long, welcome bow-wow. X. quoted Byron :

" 'Tis sweet to hear the watch-dog's honest bark."

Then they came to a clearing, with a double cabin in the midst. The chorus of dogs was at its full.

" Get out, ye whelps ! Who's there V

"Hallo! old otter, come out of your den. Here are friends."

The old man stuck his weasel face out of the door, and after a short scrutiny recognized Porte Crayon. "Well done," said he; "but I'm glad to see ye. I heard ye were in the country, but I didn't expect to see ye at this time o' night. But come in ; ye must be hungry. Gals, get up, and find the gentlemen some supper."

The old man's buxom daughters tumbled out of a bed in a dark corner of the room, and soon the fresh-heaped fire roared and sparkled in the chimney, and the table was spread with the best in the house — cold bread and meat, fragrant glades butter, rich milk, and

CONWAY'S.

maple beer. As they supped, they narrated their adventure with the wolves, at which their liQst chuckled greatly. A bed in the spare room of the cabin received the weary couple, who slept soundly until the morning.

" How delicious ! What an invigorating atmosphere ! What a magnificent forest is this that walls us round!11 were their first exclamations on issuing from the cabin. When they had breakfasted, they took their seats upon a comfortable stump in front of the house, while Conway completed his simple arrangements for the journey.

"Is the fat gentleman in your company this time?11 inquired he. " Well, I never expected to a-seed him agin. Is the big-eyed gentleman coming too ? he that writ a book, I disremember his name. And the one with spectacles V m I

Br

^»1

"Yes, they are all coming.11

Anon, loud voices are heard issuing from the depths of the forest, which gradually approach, until those of Jones and Dindon are distinguishable, and the words, confusedly mingled, "Northern

THE VIRGINIAN CANAAN.

horses — Southern horses — trotters — thousand dollars — Eclipse ;" then a long string of expletives. The head of the column emerges from the wood : this is no other than the fat man, stripped to his silk shirt and pantaloons, with a great pack on his back and a sapling in his hand ; he was a good personification of Orson of the Wood. He presently halted and faced about.

"Dindon, I say, hush ! you have the advantage of wind in this argument, but not of reason. You know I am short of breath ; I can't walk and discuss at the samQ time ; it is ungenerous to press it now ; wait until we halt for dinner. At present I say, peremptorily, hush !"

The detachment from Conway's now joined the march, and, whooping, laughing, singing, and wrangling, they wound along under the gloomy archway of the trackless forest. As they marched the party naturally fell into Indian file, with the baggage in the centre. Thornhill, with his tomahawk belted about him, led the van ; Dindon, Crayon, and Penn followed ; then came Lame Kit, led by Conway, and Old Sorry, conducted by Powell, a hunter who was engaged to go in with them to bring the horses out after they had reached their destination. Smith and X. M. C. formed the rear guard, and far behind lagged Mr. Jones, probably with the intention of avoiding useless discussions, and of mana-

THE MARCH.

FIRST NIGHT IN THE WOODS. 25

<nng his wind to the greatest advantage. After a march of six miles they entered a green glade of great beauty, watered by an amber rivulet, which they leaped with their packs and guns. This rivulet was the infant Potomac ; that leap was from Maryland into Virginia. Now they breasted a mountain — a long, tiresome tug it was, that took the conceit out of more than one of the party who started fair that morning. On the summit they took a breathing-spell. This is the dividing ridge between the waters of the East and the West. In a short time they crossed another amber brook, a tributary of the Ohio, and one of the immediate sources of the Blackwater. About five o'clock in the afternoon they emerged from the dreary forest into another waving glade, and at the farther border Thornhill gave the welcome order to halt for the night.

Cheerfully our adventurers deposited their guns and knapsacks, and, after a brief repose, joined the hunters in heaping up dry logs and combustibles for the camp-fire. How the fire blazed and crackled ! How grandly the smoke volumed up among the lofty tree-tops ! The horses, relieved of their burdens, Avere tethered in the glade, up to their bellies in grass. While preparations for supper were going on, several of the party got out their fishing-tackle, and tried the little stream that watered the glade. It was alive with trout ; and half an hour after, a hundred of the small fry were served up at supper with the biscuit and bacon. It was a meal that a monarch might envy. A good bed of hemlock branches was duly spread, the fire replenished with larger logs, and the weary party disposed itself to sleep as best it might, pillowed on log or knapsack. The excitement produced by the novelty of the situation kept X. awake. The gloom of the forest around was intense ; the camp-fire blazed in the centre of a group of four lofty firs, whose straight and mast-like trunks were illuminated by its light for a hundred feet without the interruption of a limb, and whose tops interlaced and formed a lofty and almost impervious covering over the sleepers. X. raised himself upon his elbow and broke the silence :

" What a picturesque scene ! What a couch ! What a canopy! What sublime bed-posts!"

THE VIRGINIAN CANAAN.

" Go to sleep, poet," growled a drowsy fellow, "or youll be sorry for it to-morrow.11

THE ALARM.

Presently a noise was heard in the forest — a wild, unearthly cry, an incomprehensible sound. Every body sprang up. "What the deuce is itf inquired the sleepers, rubbing their eyes. " Gentlemen,11 said Dindon, deliberately cocking his rifle, "get your arms ready. I know that sound well ; it is the cry of a wolf. " Again the terrible voice echoed through the wood, nearer and more distinct. There was a general clicking of gun-locks. Jones, who had made himself a comfortable nest at the foot of a tree, pitched into the centre of the group ; Crayon sat the picture of

THE ALARM. 27

deliberate valor, with hunting-knife in one hand, revolver in the other, and a rifle lying across his lap ; X. crept on all-fours to get possession of his double-barrel ; Penn, in whose poetic bosom the joy of meeting with an adventure overbalanced every personal consideration, with nervous haste drew forth his book, and began noting clown the incident. Thornhill and Powell, however, so far from evincing any anxiety, seemed bursting with suppressed laughter, while Conway sat smoking his pipe with imperturbable gravity. Here is an extract from Mr. Penh's note-book :

" Camp No. 1,10 o'clock P.M. — Disturbed by a terrible cry, somewhat resembling this : Too-too — too-hoo — too-too — too-hoo. Supposed to be wolves or panthers. In momentary expectation of an attack. If we perish .... Half-jiast ten. — Sounds ascertained to proceed from owls of the largest size, but not dangerous. Camp calm, and disposed to slumber."

Next morning our adventurers were stirring betimes — refreshed the half-extinct fire, dispatched a hasty breakfast, and resumed their inarch before sunrise. This was a hard day for most of them. The broken sleep and unusual beds had not done much to repair the- fatigues of the previous day ; the hills were steeper ; and the fallen timber cumbered the route so greatly, that they were frequently obliged to make long detours to find a passage practicable for the horses.

The bodies of these fallen giants afforded quite a curious spectacle as they lay prone and supine, singly and in monstrous heaps, frequently a hundred and fifty feet in length and eighteen in girth, coated with a rich covering of moss, and their decayed wood affording a soil for thickets of seedlings of their own and other species. Sometimes they were seen spanning a ravine at a giddy height, like suspension bridges, the parasite growth forming a parapet or hand-rail, as if for the safety and convenience of the passer. Sometimes the faithless surface yielded to the tread, and the astounded hunter found himself imbedded to the armpits in what he had supposed to be solid wood. The climbing of these barricades was one of the principal items in the fatigue of the journey, and any one who happened to look back on that day would generally see Mr. Jones astride of one of them, beseeching the party to wait a while. It would be well for the venatical reputation of

THE VIKGINIAN CANAAN.

Mr. Jones if the events of this day could be effaced from the record, or covered by a black veil, like the face of Marino Faliero among the doges of Venice.

" Look at him," quoth Dindon, triumphantly ; "he pretended to underrate that lame mare, and now he's glad to hang on her tail. He said she couldn't carry her load to the Cheat River, and now she is carrying his knapsack and himself into the bargain. I suppose, Jones, you'll now own you're no judge of horse-flesh V j BtsJ

THliOUGH THE WOODS.

" It's too bad,1' said X. " Let go, Jones. Have you no greatness of soul? Don't you see the poor beast can hardly get along?'1

But, deaf alike to satire or remonstrance, Jones kept his hold, until Kit, with a long-drawn breath, stood stock-still. "Thar', now," said the hunter, " I've been a looking for her to drop." The mare was released, and Jones attempted to seize Old Sorry by the same appendage. He, however, being too blind to see the justice of such a proceeding, relieved himself with a kick.

The hunters had been dodging the laurel-brakes all day. They seemed to dread the passage, and would frequently go miles around, to avoid it. They had stories of men who had spent days in them, wandering in circles, and who had finally perished from starvation ; and they say when once fairly in there is no calculating

AMONG THE LAURELS.

r\ tmn

. as

I

" U u> Ss t;

PASSING THE LAURELS.

when you will get out. Some of these brakes extend for many miles, and are so dense that even the deer can not pass except by finding the thinnest places ; and when the experienced woodman is forced to cross, he always seeks a deer-path. The ponderous strength of the bear enables him to traverse them more easily. In them he makes his lair ; and our adventurers often found the laurel recently torn and broken by bears in going to and from their places of retreat. With the horses the passage could not even be attempted without a previous clearing of the way by the axe-men. Upon consultation, it was considered necessary to cross the brake before them, and the guides went into it lustily, while the rest of the company, one after another, dropped asleep. In about two hours the way was cleared, but it was with much difficulty that the horses could be induced to proceed. The guides swore like the army in Flanders ; Kit's stiff leg would not yield to circumstances ; and Sorry became several times so tangled that he had to be released by the axe. The footmen passed ahead of the horses, and soon found themselves in similar circumstances. They sank up to their knees in mud and water ; they were throttled by the snake-like branches of the laurel, and were frequently obliged to resort to their hunting-knives to extricate a leg or an arm from its grasp. Ascending the stump of a riven hemlock, a striking picture presented itself. The laurel waved up and down as far as the eye could reach, like a green lake, with either shore walled by the massive forest, and out of its bed rose singly, or in groups of three or four, the tallest and most imposing of the fir species. The heads of our adventurers appeared and disappeared alternately as they struggled through ; and, whether visible or invisible, the crackling of branches, the rustling of leaves, and a rolling fire of execrations marked their progress. All else was silent.