47 



The American visitors are very successful, using a long line and 

 allowing it to sink in the deep water to a depth of upwards of one hun- 

 dred feet. The rocks to the east and south of the lake are of the 

 Laurentian formation, but contain no economic mineral, at any rale 

 none have been discovered so far. In the lake itself are islands of 

 crystalline limestone, and on the west shore I believe both lead and iron 

 have been found and were formerly worked. 



But to return to the Blue Mountain. From its highest pa-ttheround 

 conical hill already mentioned, a magnificent view may be obtained on 

 a fine day. Charleston Lake stretches below, at its head is the little 

 village of that name ; a little beyond, the spire of the church at Pine Hill 

 rises amid a grove of pine trees ; to the north-west the eye ranges over 

 a tract of rock and woodland, to the south and east is the river St. Law- 

 rence, the fertile country intervening, and far beyond, the hills in the 

 United States, where the limit of vision is bounded by the foot hills of 

 the distant Adirondacks. Altogether the view is unique in this part of 

 Ontario. But a ramble among these rocks and ridges is very tiring on 

 a warm day, and few would care to undertake it alone. 



Formerly as mentioned this region was a great resort for deer, and 

 the older settlers tell how numerous they used to be. But within the 

 last few year's they may be said to have disappeared and now only an 

 occasional straggler is seen. Bear too and wolves were formerly num- 

 erous ; the last bear that I have heard of was seen four or five years ago 

 by two farmers in the neighborhood, although traces of them have been 

 since seen ; and during the past " fall " three are said to have been met 

 with near the Gananoque water some four miles from Charleston Lake. 

 Wolves were thought to have become extinct, but in October 1887 a 

 large one was poisoned close to the Blue Mountain. A number of 

 sheep had been previously missed, one farmer losing as many as twenty- 

 eight, killed, as was thought for a time, by dogs. In the partially eaten 

 carcase of one of these strychnine was placed and thus the 

 wolf was obtained. The person who captured it, told me of its large 

 size, and the layers of fat he found under the skin clearly proving it had 

 fared well on the farmer's sheep. A second one was suspected of being 

 in the neighborhood; but none have since been seen. The lynx or 

 wild cat, as the settlers call it, is still found among the rocks. Of the 



