Down the St, Lawrence. 113 



the Watertown and Cape Vincent Railroad, and afterwards 

 passes between "Duck Island" and the "Galops Islands." 

 Westward, though scarcely one of the thousand islands, lies 

 Amherst Island, the original French name of which was the 

 " Isle of Tanti": it now belongs to the Earl of Mountcashel ; 

 5,000 acres of it are under good cultivation. The channels 

 between the •extremities and the mainland are called the 

 Upper and Lower Gaps. As a fishing ground for pike, 

 maskinong^, black bass, dore, &c., no part of the St. Law- 

 rence can compare with the shores of these islands. The 

 largest-sized maskinong^ are taken here, not with an ordinary 

 bait, for they scorn the small bait that is so tempting a morsel 

 to their kindred pike ; " but," says Weld, a good fishing 

 authority, speaking of this locality, " I have invariably taken 

 them with fish of a large size, such as no other angler would 

 ever think of pufting on his Hne." Forty or fifty pounds is 

 not an unusual weight for them, and instances are not wanting 

 where much larger ones have been caught. Lanman, in his 

 " Wanderings," makes mention of a maskinonge he took here 

 which weighed 49 lbs., was nearly 8 feet in length, and took 

 one hour and a quarter to land after he was first hooked. 

 (Vide " Small's Fresh-water Fish," p. 45.) There is also very 

 good spearing here at night, and a week or two spent on 

 either of thes^e islands will amply repay the fisherman, besides 

 giving him the invigorating benefits resulting from the lake 

 breeze. There is no difficlilty in getting canoes or accom- 

 modations at any of the farm-houses, but hotels are few and 

 far between. The whole channel of the Lake of the Thousand 

 Islands is a famous spot for sporting ; myriads of wild fowls 

 of every description may be found here, and the facilities for 

 coming upon them round some interposing point, by sud- 

 denly rounding one of the many islets, or, again, by lying 

 concealed on one of the islets and taking them on the wing 

 in their flight past, make this amusement more varied than 

 in most other shooting grounds. It is necessary to have a 



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