LAKE DWELLERS. 167 



writing up the notes. The scenery on the al)ove-named 

 hikes very pretty, and the water in good order for canoe- 

 ing, a light breeze following us and cooling the air. 

 Lunched on an island, and, leaving the lakes, entered a 

 small rapid stream. Here the shade of the maples, which 

 completely overhung the brook, was most grateful, and 

 the light green of the sunlit foliage reflected in the water, 

 with masses of king-fern, and a variety of herbaceous 

 plants growing luxuriously on the banks, grey rock 

 boulders with waving crowns of polypodium rising frorx 

 the stream, and reflected on its smooth though swiftly- 

 gliding surface, and the moss-covered stems of fallen 

 trees which continually bridged it over, formed an ever- 

 changing panorama, which evoked many expressions of 

 delight as we quietly glided down the brook — a beau- 

 tiful realisation of Tennyson's idyll. The water was 

 clear as crystal, and covered golden gravel, and there 

 were frequent ' silvery water-breaks,' caused by trout 

 jumping at the multitudes of small blue and green 

 ephemerae which danced above. Here we first saw the 

 works of beaver. Pointing towards the bank, on sud- 

 denly rounding a turn in the brook, our head Indian 

 Glode whispered, ' There beaver-house ; ' and we held 

 by a projecting rock to examine the structure for a few 

 moments. I confess I was disappointed. Instead of the 

 regular mud-plastered dome I had expected and seen 

 depicted in all works of natural history, the house 

 appeared merely as an irregular pile of barked sticks, 

 very broad at the base compared with its height, and 

 looking much like a gigantic crow's nest inverted, and 

 formed without any apparent design. It was in present 

 occupation, for the tall surrounding fern was beaten 



