apex of elevations, though it generally ran a little one side of the extreme top, especially in exposed situations. Avoiding open places save in the immediate neighborhood of towns and camps, it was universally shaded by forest trees. A somber silence, now and then interrupted by the notes of birds or the howling of beasts, reigned along these paths. Fallen trees and logs were never removed, the trail was either continued over or took a turn around them. The Indians built no bridges, small streams were forded or crossed on logs, while rivers and lakes were ferried on rafts or in canoes.
"The main trail of the Iroquois extended from Hudson, on the Hudson river below Albany, westwardly to Buffalo, crossing the Genesee at Cannawaugus—now Avon. From Canandaigua lake a branch ran northwest to the head of Irondequoit bay, then to the Genesee falls, and along the lake ridge to the Niagara river at Lewiston. This was the grand line of communication between the Five Nations, and the ultimate destination of every other trail in the present state of New York. Along its
