FONTINALIS 



it stand the strain, and if so how long 

 might the struggle last? So waged the 

 dispute, till the clamour drowned the 

 rush of the stream over bar and boulder, 

 and nervous loons on the great water to 

 the south of us woke up and talked to 

 one another at the top of their voices 

 across the lake. 



After a twelve-hour day on portage 

 and with paddle, sleep falls upon you 

 like an armed man, but on comparing 

 notes in the morning it appeared that 

 every one had been awakened about 

 midnight by the dismal cry of a lynx 

 from a mountain side a mile away. The 

 repose of the woods though refreshing 

 is seldom profound, and one rises quick- 

 ly to the surface of consciousness. 



At five o'clock we broke camp, and 

 embarked breakf astless for the two hour 

 paddle to the other end of the lake. No 

 prudent navigator makes a crossing 

 between eight in the morning and four 

 in the afternoon, as in the day-time the 



58 



