35 



and all tlie ^Hravqnng''^ we had to do was one 

 rather x)leasant carry of two miles. 



As for black flies, (which Mr. Murray thinks 

 no great annoyance,) they are plentiful in Maine, 

 and they are i^lentiful in the Adirondacks too ; 

 and in the latter region their bite is sharper 

 than in the former. If any one can pass through 

 Marion Eiver, Eaquette Eiver, Forked Lake, 

 Long Lake, &c., in June, or early in Jidy, and 

 not he serionsly vexed by the black fly, he is 

 indeed most fortunate — a bitter experience prov- 

 ing the contrary in the writer's case, and in that 

 of a companion fisherman who will give melan- 

 choly testimony to the fact, yet Mr. Murray says 

 of the black fly, '' I regard it as one of the most 

 harmless and least vexations of the insect family." 



While on the subject of black flies, the follow- 

 ing extract will not be out of place, agreeing as 

 it does so perfectly with the experience of the 

 writer and of many of his friends, who have 

 been in the habit of visiting fishing grounds in- 

 fested by these insects. 



SPORTING SKETCHES BY AN OLD ANGLER. 



From Stewart's Quarterly Magazine jor April, 1869, published in St. 



John, New Brunswick. 



" The only drawback to our complete comfort, was the 

 pertinacious attacks of black flies, midges and mosquitoes. 



