Nepigon River Fishing 



of both guides, who trot away under it 

 among the rough stones with a sure and 

 quick step. All this work they do with 

 surprising care and patience and expedition. 

 These portages are the social exchanges 

 of the river. If no one there meets the 

 voyager, scraps of newspaper or marks 

 on wrappers disclose what natives of what 

 town lately crossed the trail. More often 

 occupied by flying camps at either end, 

 and always convenient baiting-points after 

 the toil of reaching them, the guides here 

 meet their friends, and the angler makes 

 acquaintances. New-comers produce the 

 mails and latest papers for those who care 

 for them ; descending parties bring notes of 

 the sport promised or failing. Fly-books 

 are compared, scores sometimes confided, 

 cocktails, cigars, and addresses exchanged, 

 and after an hour's joint lunch each goes 

 on his way, wishing the other good-speed. 

 The guides, all mutually well known, bear 

 each other's burdens, helping good-na- 

 turedly in portaging, sharing generously 

 their provisions, and their masters', and 

 lingering a great deal more sociably than 

 is sometimes convenient for the latter. 

 Often a flotilla debarks, bound to or from 

 the Hudson's Bay Company's Nepigon 

 House on the Lake. Their trim canoes, 



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