V The Ways of Whisky Jacks 113 



of the seas into the bay was very graceful, and, 

 as the waves were wonderfully short, the curves 

 were beyond counting, but each was as regularly 

 drawn as if by the hand of Albert Durer himself. 

 What a fearful gale it must have been outside when 

 we, embayed and almost land - locked, got such a 

 dose ! As we were nearly foodless we had rather 

 an anxious time of it, for, had the gale continued, 

 we should have had to force our way, through 

 forest and swamp, to Fort William. However, 

 the wind went down and we reached there the 

 next day in the boat. This was the heaviest gale 

 they had had for a long time, and it did immense 

 damage at Silver Islet, twirling the strong piles 

 in two like frosted carrots, and strewing the shores 

 of the lake with the mighty pines which had once 

 formed the sea-defying " cribs." 



* Some of our birds are pleasant and familiar, 

 particularly the woodpeckers, who abound, and are 

 as tame as Belgian scenery. They delight in tapping 

 the fire-scarred trunks of the pines, and eye one 

 between the taps with their heads inquiringly on one 

 side, as if asking for our opinion on the subject of 

 grubs. Another, the " Whisky Jack," though a sad 

 one as to colour, is by no means a sad one as to 

 conduct, unless the accusation which he lies under, 

 as to an undue fondness for the liquor from which 

 he takes his name, may be considered in that light. 

 One hears his quaint whistle as one passes through 

 the woods, but it is not until one has camped that 



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