passed a summer's moon in these retirements, hollowed myself a canoe,
and fished for sustenance.

From the shore of Wallersee, our road led us straight through arching
groves, which the axe seems never to have violated, to the summit of
a rock covered with spurge-laurel, and worn by the course of torrents
into innumerable craggy forms. Beneath, lay extended a chaos of
shattered cliffs, with tall pines springing from their crevices, and
rapid streams hurrying between their intermingled trunks and
branches. As yet, no hut appeared, no mill, no bridge, no trace of
human existence.

After a few hours' journey through the wilderness, we began to
discover a wreath of smoke; and presently the cottage from whence it
arose, composed of planks, and reared on the very brink of a
precipice. Piles of cloven spruce-fir were dispersed before the
entrance, on a little spot of verdure browsed by goats; near them sat
an aged man with hoary whiskers, his white locks tucked under a fur
cap. Two or three beautiful children, their hair neatly braided,
played around him; and a young woman, dressed in a short robe and
Polish-looking bonnet, peeped out of a wicket window.

I was so much struck with the exotic appearance of this sequestered
family, that, crossing a rivulet, I clambered up to their cottage and
begged some refreshment. Immediately there was a contention amongst
the children, who should be the first to oblige me. A little black-
eyed girl succeeded, and brought me an earthen jug full of milk, with
crumbled bread, and a platter of strawberries fresh picked from the
bank. I reclined in the midst of my smiling hosts, and spread my
repast on the turf: never could I be waited upon with more