THE LAKE TROUT. 255 



through a rough, granitic country, and are interrupted by 

 numerous falls, many of which are highly picturesque. 



"The coast is for the most part rocky, and the north 

 shore is much indented by deep bays surrounded with high 

 rocky cliffs. Countless islands are scattered along this 

 coast, many of them rising precipitously to great heights 

 directly from the deep water. Some present castellated 

 walls of basalt, and some rise in granitic peaks to various 

 elevations, up to 1,300 feet above the level of the lake. 

 Nowhere upon our inland waters is the scenery so bold and 

 grand as on the north shore of Lake Superior. The irregu- 

 larities of the coast, with the general depth of water, afford 

 numerous good harbors." (^American Cyclopcvdia, aj'ticle 

 ^^ Superior. ''^ 



But if I dream thus of future joys of angling, and of 

 nature's beauties, it is because I have already had a taste 

 of them in the past. 



My first memorable experience of this sort was as far back 

 as in 1884, when I was one of a party of four who, in a 

 well-manned and well-provisioned yacht, set forth to spend 

 the month of July cruising in Lake Superior. We talked 

 bravely on leaving Chicago of the Nepigon River as our 

 objective point, and really did cherish some hopes, I think, 

 of seeing its wild beauty, and letting our lines fall in its 

 pleasant places for the sportive and toothsome creature, that 

 is know to all honest and simple-minded anglers as Salvclinus 

 fontinalis. But "the best laid plans of mice and men" 

 don't always run our way, as we full soon found out. The 

 early part of our trip was decorated by those highly-colored 

 events that are always happening in books. We almost 

 capsized during a sudden squall, when the green hands were 

 on deck and the seasoned hands (I wonder if that is why 

 they are called "old Salts".') were below. We had numerous 

 encounters with wild storms and ferocious and persistent 

 winds, sufficient almost to supply Clark Russell with material 



