Adventure and adventurers > Away in the wilderness, or, Life among the red Indians and fur-traders of North America

AWAY IN THE WILDERNESS.
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less speed.” At other times they would come
upon a flock of ducks so suddenly, that they had
no time to take wing, so they dived instead, and
thus got out of the way.
Then the yellow hue of sunrise came, a good
while before the sun himself rose. The last of
the bright stars were put out by the flood of light,
and multitudes of little birds on shore began to
chirp their morning song ; and who can say that
this was not a hymn of praise to God, when, in
the Holy Bible itself, in the 150th Psalm, we find
it written, “ Let everything that hath breath
praise the Lord.”
At last the sun burst forth in all his golden
glory. Water, earth, and sky glowed as if they had
been set on fire. What a blessed influence the sun
has upon this world ! It resembles the countenance
of a loving father beaming in upon his family,
driving away clouds, and diffusing warmth and
j°y.
The birds were now all astir together, insomuch
that the air seemed alive with them. There are
small white gulls, with red legs and red beaks, in
those large inland lakes, just as there are on the
ocean. These began to utter their sweet wild
cries so powerfully that they almost drowned the
noise of all the rest. Yet the united chorus of
the whole was not harsh. It was softened and
mellowed by distance, and fell on the ears of the