126 LAKE SUPERIOR. 



nent ; so that the sportsman is mainly confined to 

 his canoe and the narrow strip of lake shore between 

 the beating waves and the impending hills. Beneath 

 his feet are the hard rocks, seamed with yellow veins 

 of copper, or wave- worn pebbles sparkling with a 

 hundred varying colors, only less beautiful than the 

 glistening fish that the skilful angler entices from 

 the lake and lands among them. From this narrow 

 strip he surveys the broad expanse of the Big-Sea- 

 Water, and dreams of the countless myriads that 

 rest in its liquid depths. 



He travels with ease and comparative comfort ; 

 in the commodious barge he stows the innumerable 

 articles that fill the measure of a sportsman's luxu- 

 ries, including among them a roomy tent, appetizing 

 delicacies, abundant clothes, and whatever else fancy 

 dictates. With the barge, which, although twenty- 

 two feet long, is light and draws little water, he 

 ascends the larger streams ; or he hires some pass- 

 ing Indian and his birch canoe, that wonderful 

 structure so beautifully and accurately described by 

 Hiawatha : 



" Lay aside your cloak, Birch-Tree, 

 Lay aside your white-skin wrapper, 

 For the summer-time is coming, 

 And the sun is warm in heaven, 

 And you need no white-skin wrapper. 



Give me of your boughs, Cedar, 

 Of your strong and pliant branches 

 My canoe to make more steady, 

 Make more strong and firm beneath me. 



