OR, THE LAKE LANDS OF CANADA. 185 



The 23d day of October had been reached ; our party 

 was still encamped on the portage between Upper Long 

 and Sugar-Bush Lakes ; the preceding night had been 

 cold and rainy, the morning was cold and cloudy, with oc- 

 casional gusts of wind accompanied by falls of snow and 

 hail. This damp, cold atmosphere is productive of a chilly, 

 disagreeable sensation which seems to permeate every part 

 of our bodies while we stand listlessly about our camp- 

 fire. These disagreeable sensations, coupled with autumn's 

 grave and cheerless surroundings, have caused me to think 

 this morning of my fireside and family. The leafless trees, 

 sombre clouds, angry gusts of wind, and the pelting storms 

 do not commonly produce in me the most agreeable mental 

 conditions, but that morning I was especially gloomy. It 

 was therefore necessary that I should make some effort to 

 arouse myself from this horrible condition of despondency. 

 I could not bear the thought of remaining one day longer 

 Inactive in camp. It was therefore necessary that we 

 should start immediately on our long-premeditated recon- 

 noissance, and .start we did, although the weather was most 

 unpromising. The announcement to my guides that we 

 would make ready and leave our camp as soon as possible 

 was, I presume, owing to the unsettled state of the weather, 

 somewhat of a surprise; however, but little preparation was 

 now required, and before nine o'clock we took our de- 

 parture from camp. We started off in the direction of 

 Sugar-Bush Lake, and discovered a fresh moose-trail within 

 three hundred yards of our tent. These imprints of the 

 animal's feet left in the soft earth were so clear that we 

 were entirely satisfied as to his identity, and it was equally 



