How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"What call you the volume?" said David, misconceiving the other's meaning.
"'Tis open before your eyes," returned the scout; "and he who owns it is not a niggard of its use. I have heard it said that there are men who read in books to convince themselves there is a God. I know not but man may so deform his works in the settlement, as to leave that which is so clear in the wilderness a matter of doubt among traders and priests. " (12.25-12.26)
In other words, nature and the forest have taught Hawkeye everything he cares to know. He scoffs at David's book learnin' because, from his point of view, it's completely impractical.
Quote #8
The hunter, like the savage whose place he filled, seemed to select among the blind signs of their wild route, with a species of instinct, seldom abating his speed, and never pausing to deliberate. A rapid and oblique glance at the moss on the trees, with an occasional upward gaze toward the setting sun, or a steady but passing look at the direction of the numerous water courses, through which he waded, were sufficient to determine his path, and remove his greatest difficulties. (13.2)
This passage evokes a direct comparison between Hawkeye and Magua. How else might the two of them be the same? This passage also demonstrates Hawkeye's mad skillz in the forest by detailing the clues he uses to navigate his route.
Quote #9
The whole landscape, which, seen by a favoring light, and in a genial temperature, had been found so lovely, appeared now like some pictured allegory of life, in which objects were arrayed in their harshest but truest colors, and without the relief of any shadowing. (18.4)
This passage comes from a description of the scene three days after the Fort William Henry massacre. This is an incredibly direct comparison between the landscape and human nature, supporting the idea that essential aspects of human nature might be found in the wilderness.