A Sportsman 37 



back to the last settlement, twenty miles distant, our 

 double team sled, after depleting it of our personal 

 effects, provisions, guns, lines, etc., with instructions 

 to return for us in ten days. We had two guides, 

 one of whom, Milton Cutting, for thirty-three years 

 afterwards regularly accompanied me in all my trips 

 to the lakes, until his advancing years compelled 

 his retirement thirteen years ago, but is still living 

 at about eighty years of age upon his small farm; I have 

 since contributed to him the yearly sum of dollars equal 

 to his age, and he has frequently remarked to me the 

 increasing interest he has taken in growing old. 



The ice was thick, but we soon got through it 

 with our chisels, and in retired coves we caught bait 

 of chubs and shiners, which equipped our set lines, 

 and we found trout enough to enable us to fetch out 

 upon our return to civilized regions between five and 

 six hundred pounds in a frozen state to dispense 

 among our friends. 



Frozen fish in the ordinary sense is not usually 

 acceptable, for one cannot tell how long it may have 

 been between catching and freezing, or how effectual 

 the freezing was, or if there may not have been 

 a thawing out and refreezing, or exposure to sun 

 while frozen, or various other causes affecting the 

 quality. But any fish well frozen immediately after 

 catching, and so kept without exposure to sun, 

 and slowly thawed out in water in a cool place, will 

 be found to retain all the delicate qualities of fresh 

 life despite all prejudices to the contrary. In fact 

 with care the most delicate fish, being cold-blooded, 

 can be frozen up before life has gone, and so kept 

 frozen for a period of days and then be thawed out 



