54 WILD LIFE AND THE CAMERA 



spongy moss and climbing over the frequent 

 windfalls. Then there would be hardwood ridges 

 where the gleaming silver-and-white of the beeches 

 and birches reflected all the tender tints of the 

 delicate spring leaves and bursting buds. Many of 

 the early arriving warblers darted among the lace- 

 like foliage searching for unwary insects. It was 

 all beautiful, but the hills were many and steep and 

 the loads heavy, and, worst of all, the mosquitoes 

 and black flies, those terrors of the otherwise perfect 

 north-woods, were wakened to unwonted activity 

 by the warmth of the spring sun. The edge of the 

 lake was reached at last ; here we made camp in 

 simple fashion. No tent from the city outfitters. 

 Itwas not needed in the land of birch-bark. In less 

 than an hour we had peeled off great slabs of glisten- 

 ing bark, enough to cover our lean-to and render 

 it proof against the most severe rains. Before the 

 sun set we visited the lake and caught a few trout 

 for supper. Strange it is how much one enjoys 

 a meal cooked out of doors, where the smell of 

 burning wood permeates everything. The simplest 

 food, badly cooked though it may be, and usually 

 is, tastes better far than the best of indoor cooking. 

 A few rashers of bacon curled and smoked over 

 the glowing embers, eaten with hot soda biscuits 

 (often called scones) baked in the tin oven, is 

 good enough for any man out in the woods, yet 

 the same man would scorn such a dinner served 

 on delicate china in a well-appointed dining-room. 

 Why is it? Just as for the fisherman it is not 

 the fish but the conditions under which they are 

 caught that gives the pleasure ; so it is with the 



