THE VOYAGE ACROSS THE LAKE 171 



"Made 6 meals and 17 miles to-day, rowing 7, sail- 

 ing 10. 



"July 18. Left Stony Island at 6.55; could not get 

 the crew started sooner; sailing with a light breeze 

 which soon died down and left us on a sea of glass. . I 

 never before realised how disgusting a calm could be. 



"Camped at 9.15 on one of the countless, unnamed, 

 uncharted islands of the lake. It is very beautiful in 

 colour, red granite, spotted with orange and black 

 lichen on its face, and carpeted with caribou moss and 

 species of cetraria, great patches of tripe-de-roche, 

 beds of saxifrage, long trailers, and masses of bear- 

 berry, empetrum, ground cedar, juniper, cryptograma, 

 and many others; while the trees, willow, birch, 

 and spruce are full of character and drawing. Sky 

 and lake are in colour worthy of these rich details, the 

 bird life is well represented and beautiful; there is 

 beauty everywhere, and 'only man is vile.' 



" I am more and more disgusted with my Indian crew; 

 the leader in mischief seems to be young Beaulieu. 

 Yesterday he fomented a mutiny because I did not 

 give them 'beans/ though I had given them far more 

 than promised, and beans were never mentioned. 

 Still, he had discovered a bag of them among my 

 next month's stores, and that started him. 



"To-day, when sick of seeing them dawdling two 

 hours over a meal when there are 6 meals a day, I 

 gave the order to start. Beaulieu demanded insolently: 

 'Oh! who's boss?' My patience was worn out. I 

 said: 'I am, and I'll show you right now,' and pro- 

 ceeded to do so, meaning to let him have my fist with 



