A Cruise on Lake Rossignol 



The Lake Rossignol watershed contains five hundred 

 square miles, all draining into the Mersey River and 

 emptying into the ocean at Liverpool, Nova Scotia. 

 The main basin is known as Lake Rossignol. It is the 

 largest body of fresh water in the province. There are 

 innumerable connecting rivers and lakes. The surround- 

 ing country is uninhabited, with the exception of a couple 

 of hunting-camps and the abode of the caretaker of the 

 dam at Indian Gardens, at the outlet of the big lake. It 

 is a fine game and fish country. Many moose, deer, 

 trout, bear, and other game are taken from its area each 

 season. 



Navigation is difficult on account of uncharted channels 

 and rocks. There are no buoys, lights, or other con- 

 ventional marks by which to steer. As the gates in the 

 dam at Indian Gardens are manipulated to supply or 

 hold back water for the pulp-mills just above the town of 

 Liverpool, the constantly changing water-level creates 

 a condition that makes navigation by motor-boat ex- 

 tremely hazardous for the uninitiated. Consequently, 

 there are only half a dozen power boats within the entire 

 watershed. 



First Day. 



It was a perfect morning. We loaded our rifles, 

 shotgun, blankets, tent, grub, and camera into the motor- 

 boat, and towing a seventeen-foot Peterborough canoe 

 as a tender, shoved off from the dock at our hunting-camp 

 on Lowe's Landing. We headed for the channel out of 

 Lowe's Lake into Lake Rossignol proper. The channel 

 is as crooked as Croker and rocky as the road to Heaven^ 

 but Brother Ken negotiated it safely. We then headed 

 south for the Hopper, seven miles away. En route^ we 

 passed between Bear and Spark Islands, and many other 

 islands unnamed and uncharted. The Hopper is so called 



209 o 



