280 GRAYLING. NORTHERN MM UK. AN. 



uninteresting country. Occasionally, however, from the car 

 window, we saw sonic very pretty little emerald lakes, 

 which had a half wild, half-mild beauty that contrasted 

 strangely with the surroundings. The rail -road pushes up 

 northward, past station after station, where once were a 

 steam saw-mill, a collection of rude cabins, a hotel" and 

 a " store," and where now the mill is going to decay or is 

 burned down, the cabins deserted, and the whole town con- 

 sists of a forlorn family or two. The valuaMc pine of the 

 neighborhood has all been cut, sawed and marketed, and 

 the town experiences "reversion." The railroad presses 

 on to new fields, and the history of the lower lumber 

 regions repeats itself. At some points, however, ihe xoil 

 shows itself susceptible to cultivation, and a sparse fann- 

 ing commuity springs up. So much we saw on our way 

 to the village of Grayling. \Ve -> ; i\\ much that was better 

 and more promising, in the northern part of the Peninsula, 

 llartvvick, our host, had complied with our reqiie-t. and 

 engaged for us the services of two good men. One of 

 them, William D. Jones, is a famous tisherman, hunter and 

 trapper, who knows all about Northern .Michigan, its rivers. 

 lakes, fish and game. Within three years he had trapped 

 forty-two bears, shot many deer, and fished for grayling in 

 the Au Sable, Manistee, Cheboygan and Pigeon rivers. The 

 other, Charlie Robinson, served us well, and ' ' poled " to 

 our entire satisfaction. 



By the middle of the afternoon we had procured our sup 

 plies, blankets, etc., and then we took to the river, dose to 

 town, the Au Sable, famous in the recent history of gray- 



