Works, and it was estimated that, with a connecting branch road, the iron might be conveyed to Albany for two dollars a ton, and compete profitably with other iron in the market. A plank road was also projected from Adirondack village to Preston Ponds, and down the Cold River to the Raquette, at the foot of Long Lake.

But the labour on the road was suspended, the iron interest of the United States became depressed, the Adirondack Works were rendered not only unprofitable, but the source of heavy losses to the owners, and for five years their fires had been extinguished. In August, 1856, heavy rains in the mountains sent roaring floods down the ravines, and the Hudson, only a brook when we were there, was swelled to a mighty river. An upper dam at Adirondack gave way, and a new channel for the stream was cut, and the great dam at Tahawus, with the saw-mill, was demolished by the rushing waters. All was left a desolation. Over scores of acres at the head and foot of Sandford Lake (overflowed when the dam was constructed) we saw white skeletons of trees which had been killed by the flood, standing thickly, and heightening the dreary aspect of the scene. The workmen had all departed from Adirondack, and only Robert Hunter and his family, who had charge of the property, remained. The original proprietors were all dead, and the property, intrinsically valuable but immediately unproductive, was in the possession of their respective families. But the projected railway will yet be constructed, because it is needful for the development and use of that immense mineral and timber region, and again that forest village will be vivified, and the echoes of the deep breathings of its furnaces will be heard in the neighbouring mountains.

At Mr. Hunter's we prepared for the rougher travel on foot through the mountain forests to Tahawus, ten miles distant. Here we may properly instruct the expectant tourist in this region in regard to such preparation. Every arrangement should be as simple as possible. A man needs only a stout flannel hunting shirt, coarse and trustworthy trousers, woollen stockings, large heavy boots well saturated with a composition of beeswax and tallow, a soft felt hat or a cap, and strong buckskin gloves. A woman needs a stout flannel dress, over shortened crinoline, of short dimensions, with loops and buttons to adjust its length;

a hood and cape of the same materials, made so as to envelop the head and bust, and leave the arms free, woollen stockings, stout calfskin boots that cover the legs to the knee, well saturated with beeswax and tallow, and an india-rubber satchel for necessary toilet materials. Provisions, also, should be simple. The hunters live chiefly on bread or crackers,

and maple sugar.

The usual preparation is a sufficient stock of Boston crackers, pilot-bread, or common loaf-bread, butter, tea or coffee, pepper

and some salted pork, to usc The utensils for cooking are

and salt, an ample quantity of maple sugar, in frying or broiling fish, birds, and game. a short-handled frying-pan, a broad and shallow tin pan, tin tea or coffee

The hard, or Sugar Maple (Acer saccharinum), abounds in all parts of the State of New York. It is a beautiful tree, often found from fifty to eighty feet in height, and the trunk from two to three feet in diameter. From the sap, which flows abundantly in the spring, delicious syrup and excellent sugar are made. In the Upper Hudson region, the sap is procured by making a small incision with an axe, or a hole with an augur, into the body of the tree, into which a small tube or gutter is fastened. From thence the sap flows, and is caught in rough troughs, dug out of small logs. [See the initial letter at the head of Chapter III.] It is collected into tubs, and boiled in caldron kettles. The syrup remains in buckets from twelve to twenty-four hours, and settles before straining. To make sugar it is boiled carefully over a slow fire. To cleanse it, the white of one egg, and one gill of milk, are used for every 30 lbs. or 40 lbs. of sugar. Some settlers manufacture a considerable quantity of sugar every year, as

much as from 300 lbs. to 600 lbs.

pot, tin plates and cups, knives, forks, and spoons. These, with shawls or overcoats, and india-rubber capes to keep off the rain, the guides will carry, with gun, axe, and fishing-tackle. Sportsmen who expect to camp out some time, should take with them a light tent. The guides will fish, hunt, work, build "camps," and do all other necessary service, for a moderate compensation and their food. It is proper here to remark that the tourist should never enter this wilderness earlier than the middle of August. Then the flies and mosquitoes, the intolerable pests of the forests, are rapidly disappearing, and fine weather may be expected. The sportsman must go in June or July for trout, and in October for deer.

Well prepared with all necessaries excepting flannel over-shirts, we set out from Adirondack on the afternoon of the 30th of August, our guides

with their packs leading the way. The morning had been misty, but the atmosphere was then clear and cool. We crossed the Hudson three-fourths of a mile below Henderson Lake, upon a rude bridge, made our way through a clearing tangled with tall raspberry shrubs full of fruit, for nearly half a mile, and then entered the deep and solemn forest, composed of birch, maple, cedar, hemlock, spruce, and tall pine trees. Our way was over a level for three-fourths of a mile, to the outlet of Calamity Pond. We crossed it at a beautiful cascade, and then commenced ascend

ing by a sinuous mountain path, across which many a huge tree had been cast by the wind. It was a weary journey of almost four miles (notwithstanding it lay along the track of a lane cut through the forest a few years ago for a special purpose, of which we shall presently speak), for in many places the soil was hidden by boulders covered with thick moss, over which we were compelled to climb. Towards sunset we reached a pleasant little lake, embosomed in the dense forest, its low wet margin fringed with brilliant yellow flowers, beautiful in form but without perfume. At the head of that little lake, where the inlet comes flowing

sluggishly from a dark ravine scooped from the mountain slope, we built a bark cabin, and encamped for the night.

That tiny lake is called Calamity Pond, in commemoration of a sad circumstance that occurred near the spot where we erected our cabin, in September, 1845. Mr. Henderson, of the Adirondack Iron Company, already mentioned, was there with his son and other attendants. Near the margin of the inlet is a flat rock. On this, as he landed from a scow, Mr. Henderson attempted to lay his pistol, holding the muzzle in his hand. It discharged, and the contents entering his body, wounded him mortally he lived only half-an-hour. A rude bier was constructed of

:

boughs, on which his body was carried to Adirondack village. It was taken down Sandford Lake in a boat to Tahawus, and from thence again carried on a bier through the wilderness, fifteen miles to the western termination of the road from Scarron valley, then in process of construction. From thence it was conveyed to his home at Jersey City, and a few years afterward his family erected an elegant monument upon the rock where he lost his life. It is of the light New Jersey sandstone, eight feet in height, and bears the following inscription :-"This monument was erected by filial affection to the memory of DAVID HENDERSON, who lost

his life on this spot, 3rd September, 1845." Beneath the inscription, in high relief, is a chalice, book, and anchor.

The lane through the woods just mentioned was cut for the purpose of allowing the transportation of this monument upon a sledge in winter, drawn by oxen. All the way the road was made passable by packing snow between the boulders, and in this labour several days were consumed. The monument weighs a ton.

the

While Preston and myself were building the bark cabin, in a manner similar to the bush one already described, and Mrs. Lossing was preparing a place upon the clean grass near the fire for our supper, Mr. Buckingham and Sabattis went out upon the lake on a rough raft, and caught over two