74 LAKE SUPERIOR. 



numbers their brethren of Kew Brunswick, where 

 the rocky soil is less suited to them, and, in spite of 

 all defences during hot weather, inflict much misery. 



Don's first idea was to despise their attacks, and, 

 disbelieving the virtues of pennyroyal and creasote, 

 stoically to endure the discomfort of the woods 

 as a necessary accompaniment to enjoying the 

 pleasure; but by the time tea was over he had 

 changed his mind, and at bedtime carefully enve- 

 loped himself in his veil. 



The thermometer rose to eighty-six in the tent, 

 and being little lower at midnight, the veils were 

 found to be rather suffocating. The moderate tem- 

 perature of the northern climate is the great protec- 

 tion of the sportsman ; ordinarily in a trip of a 

 month there will not be three oppressive days, but 

 when the weather is warm and insects numerous, a 

 good chance is offered to exhibit courage and jollity. 

 Next morning, when the heat continued, and the sun, 

 rising above the hills, shone through the dense fog 

 like a globe of fire, Don wore a solemn but patient 

 expression of countenance, and fully justified my 

 confidence in his endurance. 



The weather during the early season had been 

 warm and dry, and the lake was two feet below its 

 ordinary level, and although its main body retained 

 a cool temperature, the shallows were heated. The 

 rivers, on the contrary, that flow into it from the 

 north, taking their rise from swamps and shallow 

 ponds, not only are tinctured with decaying vegeta- 

 tion and are of a rich amber hue, but had absorbed 



