THE MUSKOKA LAKES 7 



bluff. I continued on for half an hour, and 

 then entered into a dark shadow cast by a 

 rocky island about 200 ft. in height. These 

 rocks were many tons in weight and piled 

 irregularly. Between their crevices trees had 

 taken root, and added to their mysterious 

 grandeur. Here was a natural fortress ; and if 

 I could once ascend, nothing without wings 

 could pass me unobserved. The rocks were 

 perpendicular on the western side, and the huge 

 blocks above appeared like houses tumbled in- 

 discriminately one upon the other. I walked 

 round the island, and discovered, growing to the 

 water's edge, a dense copse of small trees, 

 which afforded me a way to the heights above. 

 Here a splendid view revealed other islands 

 close by." 



My note on Crane Lake, written at the time 

 of my last visit, September 3rd, 1902, is as 

 follows : 



" No emigrant has penetrated thus far into 

 Nature's own domain. The sound of no wood- 

 man's axe has ever rung through these forest 

 glades. The earth, as the Great Hand framed 

 and fashioned it, is here. No ordinary painter's 

 brush or pen could do justice to this beautiful 



