INLAND TROUT FISHING. 657 



boiler and its vast supply of hemlock fuel, were appropriated to the com- 

 fort of those passengers wlio were venturesome enough to trust themselves 

 on this uncouth craft. 



The close proximity into which we were necessarily forced to the hissing, 

 leaking old boiler, was anything but comfortable to a nervous person. We 

 very soon, however, become familiar with danger when it is thrust upon 

 us in this unceremonious way, and the most timorous can often view with 

 calmness a pending, inevitable doom. I am free to own, that, notwith- 

 standing my apparent stoicism at this juncture, I was greatly relieved 

 when we arrived at Rapid River, after a three hours' perilous cruise over 

 the Lake. 



Now, 1 may have magnified the danger and perhaps have done some 

 injustice to the enterprising and ingenious proprietor of this water nymph, 

 but I would not care to take another trip of the kind without a good life 

 preserver around my body, and a very big pile of wood between me and 

 the old boiler. The Lake at some points is one to two miles in width, and 

 the larger portion of its waters flows through the state of New Hampshire. 

 The country around is mountainous, and covered with wood ; the scenery is 

 rugged, picturesque, and very attractive. Some small islands in the Lake 

 vary the landscape and give additional interest lo the general beauty of the 

 views. I had a few distant shots at wild fowl, as we passed up the Lake, 

 which diversion assisted somewhat in distracting my attention from the 

 sibilant boiler : — an occasional unearthly screech from the steam whistle, 

 which reverberated in deafening echoes over the water and through the 

 mountain passes, also infused some spirit into the trip and created forget- 

 fulness of immediate danger. 



As soon as the hermaphrodite came to her moorings, all our traps were 

 transferred to a good-sized flat-bottomed skifi", and by the united efibrts of 

 the captain of the steamer Union, an ex-firestoker, and his helmsman, we 

 were conveyed about a mile up Rapid River, to a point where the " carry" 

 or " portage" commences. When the river is very full, this distance cannot 

 be accomplished in the skiff, as the current is very strong and the rapids 

 dangerous. Under these circumstances a circuitous path through the 

 woods, which connects with the " carry," is the only way left for the 

 voyayeur to continue his journey. 



The carry or road through the wilderness and over the mountains to 

 Rich's Camp, is about five miles in length. To walk this distance in the 

 cool of an autumnal day, is a small matter ; but to have your traps conveyed 



42 



