DAYS WITH THE LAND-LOCKED SALMOX. 99 



northerly inland village in the province. It is quite 

 invisible behind the pine- trees, and is probably small 

 and poverty-stricken. A man was engaged in a boat 

 fishing for pike-perch (Fr. doree) with bits of fish, 

 while before camping we managed to get a couple of 

 fair-sized trout with bait. Hardly ever are trout 

 caught in the lake itself, but occasionally maskalonge 

 fall to the angler's lure. The gnat plague, as I have 

 before observed, was at its height. One comes, after 

 a lapse of time, even in this matter, to forget past 

 discomforts. People assert that one can become 

 accustomed to gnat stings ; but in the worst places 

 in June, at any rate this is impossible. 



Next day, at midday, we arrived at a hamlet in a 

 bay of the lake, the only one for nearly twenty miles, 

 and a more lonely and uninviting spot could hardly 

 be imagined. Earely, if ever, had any one visited 

 these people, except perhaps an Indian or a stray 

 trapper. My wish to photograph the hut, of course, 

 produced much excitement, and the women disap- 

 peared into an inner chamber, but not to hide them- 

 selves. It did not occur to me at the moment that 

 they had gone to array themselves in their best, but I 

 attributed their proceedings to diffidence, until they 

 at length emerged, looking exceedingly uncomfortable, 

 in tawdry finery that had evidently seldom, if ever, 

 seen the light before. For, indeed, for whom and for 

 whose benefit were they ever to find the opportunity 

 for beautifying themselves ? Copies of the photo- 

 graphs have been sent to them from England, probably 



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