bottle, knock off the bottom, and dropping into the neck thereof,
through the opening thus made, a candle, to have a most excellent
lantern. And the beauty of it is, that, every time you wish to use such
a thing, you can have a _new_ one.

But to return to my description of the cabin. It consists of one very
large room, in the back part of which are neatly stored several hundred
sacks of flour, a large quantity of potatoes, sundry kegs of butter,
and plenty of hams and mackerel. The furniture consists of substantial
wooden stools, and in these I observed that our friends followed the
fashion, no two of them being made alike. Some stood proudly forth in
all the grandeur of four legs, others affected the classic grace of the
ancient tripod, while a few shrank bashfully into corners on one
stubbed stump. Some round, some square, and some triangular in form.
Several were so high that, when enthroned upon them, the ends of my
toes just touched the ground, and others were so low that, on rising, I
carried away a large portion of the soil upon my unfortunate skirts.
Their bunks, as they call them, were arranged in two rows along one
side of the cabin, each neatly covered with a dark-blue or red blanket.
A handsome oilcloth was spread upon the table, and the service
consisted of tin plates, a pretty set of stone-china cups and saucers,
and some good knives and forks, which looked almost as bright as if
they had just come from the cutler's. For dinner we had boiled beef and
ham, broiled mackerel, potatoes, splendid new bread made by one of the
gentlemen of the house, coffee, milk (Mr. B. has bought a cow, and now
and then we get a wee drop of milk), and the most delicious Indian
meal, parched, that I ever tasted. I have been very particular in
describing this cabin, for it is the best-built and by far the
best-appointed one upon the river.

I have said nothing about candlesticks as yet. I must confess that in
_them_ the spice of life is carried almost too far. One gets satiated
with their wonderful variety. I will mention but two or three of these
makeshifts. Bottles, _without_ the bottoms knocked off, are general
favorites. Many, however, exhibit an insane admiration for match-boxes,
which, considering that they _will_ keep falling _all_ the time, and
leaving the entire house in darkness, and scattering spermaceti in
every direction, is rather an inconvenient taste. Some fancy blocks of
wood with an ornamental balustrade of t