28 CAMP FIRE REMINISCENCES 
Dalle told me that they nested on many of the 
islands in these lakes and that he had often found 
them with their large drab eggs. 
About a mile from the cabin we ran into the 
shore and with canoe and baggage proceeded to 
negotiate the portage of about one mile to a lake 
above. Dalle, picking up the canoe, put it upside 
down on his head and marched off, while Semond 
proceeded with my help to pile up a tremendous 
load, probably 120 pounds or more in weight, upon 
his head, and having lit his pipe and adjusted his 
head strap, started also. Making my way to the 
front, I led, carrying a 30-40 Winchester, and ex- 
amining the ground carefully for tracks. A sec- 
ond trip was necessary before we had everything 
on board at the upper lake, and then a delightful 
paddle of a couple of miles brought us to another 
portage, a short one, to Petit Lac des Cédres. This 
time, we started in the stream a short distance be- 
low the lake, and the canoe, having a heavy load, 
was not easy to manage, as the water was exceed- 
ingly rough. Every eddy had to be taken advan- 
tage of, and sometimes in crossing a bad rapid 
from one to the other, we seemed in danger of 
being swamped, but with lightning paddle strokes, 
now here, now there, the clever habitants brought 
us in safety to the placid lake. 
At the upper end of this lake, the timber was 
very heavy, and the portage, which was about a 
mile long, led through it to Grande Lac des Cédres, 
the most beautiful sheet of water possible. It was 
several miles long by perhaps one mile wide, and 
