Nova Scotia Trout-Fishing 



a trip in a row-boat. Joe was about six feet two inches 

 in height, with thick chest and shoulders, but otherwise 

 slenderly built. His wrists were tremendously bony 

 and strong, and his hands like the claws of some bird of 

 prey. Without any apparent effort on his part, the 

 big ash oars would bend at every stroke, while Joe told 

 stories or sang chanteys. He had a finely shaped and 

 massiv^e head, a shock of canescent hair and a long 

 moustache. He was of Norse descent and reminded 

 one of an old Viking. 



At Indian Gardens there was a dam which backed the 

 water up over the First and Second Lakes, into Lake 

 Rossignol, forming the largest sheet of fresh water in 

 the province. Fine old oak-trees, several acres of 

 greensward, and a swift curving river complete the 

 picture. Pitching our tent, we had lunch and went 

 fishing below the dam. Walter caught seventy odd 

 fish that afternoon, throwing back all those over the 

 limit of twenty. Not being as ardent a fisherman as 

 my camp-mate, I was satisfied with the limit, and induced 

 Joe to run me down through a series of rapids below 

 the dam. Going upstream after this exhilarating coast, 

 Joe again demonstrated his ability as a boatman. He 

 stood in the stern with a long pike-pole, and poled the 

 boat up against the roaring water with surprising ease. 

 Walter fished with waders on while we were amusing 

 ourselves in the rapids. 



After one night at the Gardens we started back for 

 Lowe's Landing, our point of departure, twelve miles 

 away. We passed some attractive wooded islands in 

 the First Lake. Learning from Joe that they were 

 Crown lands, Walter gave our guide the money to apply 

 to the Crown Land Office for a grant of one of them. 

 Joe was to hold it in trust for Walter, and the former 

 still has it. 



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