"We dined upon bread and butter and maple sugar, in a sunny spot in front of the cabin, and then commenced the ascent, lea\ang our provisions and other things at the camp, where we intended to repose for the night. The journey upward was two miles, at an angle of forty-five degrees to the base of the rocky pinnacle. "We had no path to follow. The guides "blazed" the larger trees (striking off chips with their axes), that they might with more ease find their way back to the camp. Almost the entire surface

THE HUDSON.

was covered witli Loulders, shrouded in the most beautiful alpiue mosses. Prom among these shot up dwarfing pines and spruces, which diminished in height at every step. Through their thick horizontal branches it was difficult to pass. Here and there among the rocks was a free spot, where the bright trifoliolate oxalis, or wood-sorrel, flourished, and the shrub of the wild curi'ant, and gooseberry, and the tree-cranberry appeared. At length we reached the foot of the open rocky pinnacle, where only thick mosses, lichens, a few alpine plants, and little groves of dwarfed balsam, are seen. The latter trees, not more than five feet in height, arc, most of them, centenarians. Their stems, not larger than a strong man's wrist, exhibited, when cut, over one hundred concentric rings, each of which

indicates the growth of a year. Our ' , -Si

journey now became still more difficult, at the same time more interesting, for, as we emerged from the forest, the magnificent panorama of mountains that lay around us burst upon the vision. Along steep rocky slopes and ledges, and around and beneath huge stones a thousand tons in weight, some of them apparently poised, as if ready for a sweep down the mountain, we made our way cautiously, having at times no other support than the strong moss, and occasionally a gnarled shrub that sprung from the infrequent fissures, where the dwarf balsams grow.