38 NORTHERN LAKES. 



Lake, Passing up Clara Lake he will presently come to a narrows 

 leading into Grass Lake, which is joined to Intermediate River, a 

 stream affording fine fishing. Continuing down Torch Lake to its 

 end, the steamer enters Torch River, a crooked stream three miles 

 long, with charming windings through the woods, and thence 

 passes into Round Lake, a body of water about two miles in breadth 

 by four in length. Then from Round Lake it passes into another 

 connecting channel called the Narrows, which leads to Elk Lake. 

 Rapid River enters Torch River about midway, and this, too, is 

 a fine trout stream. Passing through Elk Lake, the steamer 

 finally reaches Elk Rapids. 



Along the MICHIGAN CENTRAL line soon after passing Bay 

 City, the sportsman enters upon an Eldorado. Just beyond OTSEGO 

 LAKE. a summer resort of fine prospects, we come to STE. HEL- 

 EN'S STATION, where there is a charming lake four miles in 

 length, abounding in bass, pike and perch. Here is one of the 

 sources of the Au Sable River, a stream famous for its fine fish. 



At ROSCOMMON STATION an arm of the Au Sable River is 

 crossed; swift> clear, crooked, and its waters alive with grayling, 

 hundreds of which may be caught in a day by any skilled angler; 

 while the vast forests along the banks abound with deer, turkey, 

 and other game, including an occasional black bear. Five miles 

 from Roscommon, by a beautiful drive through the pine woods, is 

 Higgins Lake, ten miles long and four wide, surrounded by romantic 

 scenery. The lake has no inlet, and the water in the center has 

 been sounded nine hundred feet without finding bottom. The 

 water is so clear that a nickel can be seen on the bottom at a depth 

 ot forty feet, and it has the peculiarity of always showing at least 

 four distinct colors on the surface, dark purple, blue, and two shades 

 ot green. On picturesque points, around the shores are groups of 

 summer hotels and cottages, pagodas, boat and bath houses, and all 

 the evidences of a fashionable resort. The water swarms with bass, 

 pickerel, land-locked salmon, native white fish, and the finest perch 

 that are found in this country. A few miles away is Houghton 

 Lake, one of the largest and most romantic of all the inland lakes, 

 its waters are full of fish, black bass weighing from six to eight 

 pounds being common. 



At GRAYLING STATION the main Au Sable River is crossed, 

 and seven miles west is the Manistee River, both famed for their 

 grayling fishing. The two rivers head within a mile of each other, 



