the actual state of things. The
formation of the point permitted the place to be circled on three of its sides,
and the progress of the boat was so noiseless, as to remove any apprehensions
from an alarm through sound. The most practised and guarded foot might stir a
bunch of leaves, or snap a dried stick, in the dark, but a bark canoe could be
made to float over the surface of smooth water, almost with the instinctive
readiness, and certainly with the noiseless movements of an aquatic bird.
    Deerslayer had got nearly in a line between the camp and the Ark, before he
caught a glimpse of the fire. This came upon him suddenly, and a little
unexpectedly, at first causing an alarm, lest he had incautiously ventured
within the circle of light it cast. But, perceiving at a second glance, that he
was certainly safe from detection, so long as the Indians kept near the centre
of the illumination, he brought the canoe to a state of rest, in the most
favorable position he could find, and commenced his observations.
    We have written much, but in vain, concerning this extraordinary being, if
the reader require now to be told, that, untutored as he was in the learning of
the world, and simple as he ever showed himself to be in all matters touching
the subtleties of conventional taste, he was a man of strong, native, poetical
feeling. He loved the woods for their freshness, their sublime solitudes, their
vastness, and the impress that they every where bore of the divine hand of their
creator. He rarely moved through them, without pausing to dwell on some peculiar
beauty that gave him pleasure, though seldom attempting to investigate the
causes, and never did a day pass without his communing in spirit, and this too
without the aid of forms, or language, with the infinite source of all he saw,
felt, and beheld. Thus constituted in a moral sense, and of a steadiness that no
danger could appal, or any crisis disturb, it is not surprising that the hunter
felt a pleasure at looking on the scene he now beheld, that momentarily caused
him to forget the object of his visit. This will more fully appear when we
describe it.
    The canoe lay in front of a natural vista, not only through the bushes that
lined the shore, but of the trees also, that afforded a clear view of the camp.
It was by means of this same opening that the light had been first seen from the
Ark. In consequence of their recent change of ground, the Indians had not yet