366 Trout-Fishing in the Rangeley Lakes. 



afternoon, and thus left me at leisure to enjoy a scene which was 

 in itself singularly beautiful, and which was an appropriate setting 

 for a striking incident. As the sun was sinking behind the hills, 

 close under which we were fishing, it threw their long shadows far 

 out on the lake, while the waters on the eastern shore were still 

 bright with the golden light of the gentle June evening. In the 

 distance, we descried three specks upon the water, which gradually 

 grew in size as they steadily approached us, until we made out 

 three batteaux laden with the " river-drivers," who were returning 

 from their perilous and tedious journey down the Androscoggin 

 with the great log-rafts, — the results of the previous winter's lumber- 

 ing. The first sound which disturbed the Sabbath-like stillness of 

 the lake, as the batteaux came nearer, was the steady thump, thump, 

 thump of the sweeps in the rowlocks. Then we heard the sound 

 of voices, but at first too indistinctly to determine whether it was 

 the echo of boisterous talk, or some river-driver's song, with which 

 the oarsmen were keeping time. But soon the sounds, as they 

 became linked together, grew into that grand old tune, " Corona- 

 tion," and the words, 



" All hail the power of Jesus' name ! " 



came to us over the peaceful waters, sung with all the strength, 

 steadiness, and fervor which might be expected in a congregation 

 of religious worshipers. Nothing could have been in more perfect 

 harmony with the scene, and yet nothing could have been a greater 

 surprise than to hear this tune, and the words with which it is so 

 inseparably connected, coming with such zest from the throats of 

 men who have gained an undeserved reputation for roughness, not 

 to say profanity, of speech. 



During the extremely warm weather, the trout naturally run 

 deep in the lake, since there only can they find the cold water in 

 which they thrive ; but even then the streams afford good sport ; 

 so that the angler cannot spend a week at the lake during the 

 fishing season without certainty of getting better sport, and more 

 of it, than can be found in any other resort in the country. An- 

 other fact that adds greatly to the pleasure of fishing in the Range- 

 ley Lakes is, that with the exception of the land-locked salmon 



