midday
I never tired of the vast , silent forests that seemed to shut us in , nor of the dancing silver of the swift water under our keel , nor of the great rocky bluffs under whose grim shadows we found passage . To me the hardships even were enjoyable : the clambering over rough portages , the occasional mishap , the coarse fare , the nights I was compelled to pass in the canoe , these only served to give added zest to the great adventure , to make real the unusual experiences I was passing through . I was scarce more than a girl , young , strong , little accustomed to luxury , and my heart responded to the exhilaration of constant change , and the thrill of peril . And when , at last , we made the long portage , tramping through the dark forest aisles , bearing on our shoulders heavy loads , scarcely able to see the sun even at midday through the leafy screen of leaves , and came forth at twilight on the shores of the mighty lake , no words can express the raptures with which I stood and gazed across that expanse of heaving , restless water . The men launched their canoes upon the surface , and made camp in the edge of the forest , but I could not move , could not restrain my eyes , until darkness descended and left all before me a void . Never had I gazed upon so vast a spectacle , so somber in the dull gray light , stretching afar to the horizon , its wild , desolate silence adding to its awful majesty . Even when darkness enshrouded it all , the memory haunted me , and I could but think and dream , frightened and awed in presence of that stupendous waste of waters .