10 A. M.—Down river in boat to Bedford, with C. [William Ellery Channing] A windy, but clear, sunny day; cold wind from northwest . . . River has risen from last rains, and we cross the Great Meadows, scaring up many ducks at a great distance . . . A hawk above Ball’s Hill . . . Walk in and about Tarbell’s Swamp . . . Crossed to Bedford side to see where [they] had been digging out (probably) a woodchuck. How handsome the river from those hills! The river southwest of the Great Meadows a sheet of sparkling molten silver, with broad lagoons parted from it by curving lines of low bushes; to the right or northward now, at 2 or 3 P. M., a dark blue, with small smooth, light edgings, firm plating, under the lee of the shore . . . Approach near to Simon Brown’s ducks, on river . . . As we stand on Nawshawtuct at 5 P. M., looking over the meadows, I doubt if there is a town more adorned by its river than ours.