LONG LAKE COLONY. 59 



LETTER IX. 



LONG LAKE COLONY — A LOON — CROTCHET LAKE. 



Taking Mitchell with me, we embarked on Mon- 

 day in his birch bark canoe for Crotchet and Rackett 

 Lakes. Paddling leisurely up Long Lake, I was 

 struck with the desolate appearance of the settlement. 

 Scarcely an improvement had been made since I was 

 last here, while some clearings had been left to go 

 back to their original wildness. Disappointed pur- 

 chasers, lured by extravagant statements, had given 

 up •in despondency, and left; and I was forcibly 

 reminded, as I passed along, of a remark Dr. Todd 

 made me last summer. Speaking of his Long Lake 

 Colony, I mentioned that its prospects were rather 

 gloomy. " Yes," said he ; " the best people are all 

 going away ; in a short time, there will be nobody left 

 but hunters. It won't be settled for a century." It 

 must have been with extreme regret he was forced to 

 come to this conclusion, after having taken so much 

 interest in it, and appealed so much to the sympathy 

 of the public, and obtained so much money only to be 

 thrown away. " It won't be settled for a century !" 

 Time enough yet, then, to arouse attention to this 

 section of our country. I have no doubt his latter 



