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The Englishwoman in America by Isabella L. (Isabella Lucy) Bird
page 51 of 397 (12%)
night than a barn. We were for the time being perfectly congenial, and
determined on thoroughly enjoying ourselves. We sang, and rowed, and
fished, and laughed, and made others laugh, and were perfectly happy,
never knowing and scarcely caring where we should obtain shelter for the
night. Our first day's dinner was some cold meat and bread, eaten in a
wood, our horse eating his oats by our side; and we made drinking-cups, in
Indian fashion, of birch-tree bark--cups of Tantalus, properly speaking,
for very little of the water reached our lips. While engaged in drawing
some from a stream, the branch on which I leaned gave way, and I fell into
the water, a mishap which amused my companions so much that they could not
help me out.

After a journey of thirty miles our further course was stopped by a wide
river, with low wooded hills and promontories, but there was no ferry-
boat, so, putting up our horse in a settler's barn, we sat on the beach
till a cranky, leaky boat, covered with fish-scales, was with some
difficulty launched, and a man took us across the beautiful stream. This
kindly individual came for us again the next morning, and would accept
nothing but our thanks for his trouble. The settler in whose barn we had
left our horse fed him well with oats, and was equally generous. The
people in this part of the island are principally emigrants from the north
of Scotland, who thus carry Highland hospitality with them to their
distant homes. After a long walk through a wood, we came upon a little
church, with a small house near it, and craved a night's hospitality. The
church was one of those strongholds of religion and loyalty which I
rejoice to see in the colonies. There, Sabbath after Sabbath, the
inhabitants of this peaceful locality worship in the pure faith of their
forefathers: here, when "life's fitful fever" is over, they sleep in the
hallowed ground around these sacred walls. Nor could a more peaceful
resting-place be desired: from the graveyard one could catch distant
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