192 YEARBOOK, PUBLIC MUSEUM, MILWAUKEE [Vol. II. 



portunity to observe. Yet everyone seemed rested in the morning and 

 we were on our way at half after seven. We paddled across Island 

 lake through a narrow neck into Manitowish lake, with its famous re- 

 sorts, the oldest being Theo. Koerner's Spider Lake resort, on Highway 

 10. Along Manitowish lake, the boys discovered a strong echo, which 

 they really overworked. 



We then deserted the Manitowish river, tvirning south through 

 South Branch river, to the right of Deer Creek Lodge, into Alder lake. 

 At the south end of Alder lake, we found, in the rear of an old boat 

 house, the end of an old canal. A reconnoiter of the canal showed 

 that it led about twenty-eight hundred steps into Little Trout lake, and 

 since 1,740 of the writer's steps make a mile, we had about two miles 

 to go, either dragging the canoes or portaging. We did a bit of both. 

 The water was turned on through the canal about noon, so that one 

 could wade and pull the loaded canoes, thus helping the long trip 

 through the meadows. The cranberries along the banks were abun- 

 dantly fruiting, and the native dewberries were at perfection. Also 

 bullfrogs were plentiful, so that in this short trip the writer managed to 

 catch more than fifty. We had frog legs for supper. Instead of mak- 

 ing the last hundred and fifty feet of the canal where the sand made 

 going difficult, we portaged across a narrow strip of land, which landed 

 us on Little Trout lake. 



We crossed Little Trout in a southeasterly direction to the juncture 

 of dead and green timber and there fovmd a canal containing more 

 water than the former one, but also more brushy. One man took the 

 canoe through, while the rest walked the banks. The banks were lined 

 with white birches and little balsams, and the vistas stretched away in 

 a straight line. It was a beautiful sight and we took several pictures, 

 though the beauty was one of color rather than of form. This canal 

 led into a little round, mud lake, where there was no fishing so far as 

 we could discover. Another beautiful, short canal led into McKay or 

 Crooked lake. We paddled a regular U-shaped course through this 

 lake to the farther end, where we again picked up our canal trip. This 

 was a long canal with a fish trap in it, and leading into little Sunfish 

 lake. We did not think it was Sand lake, because it was so small, so 

 scouted out around the lake and struck the home of some Chippewa 

 Indians, where the women and children were industriously making 

 baskets for the Indian fair. They were also chewing choke cherries, 

 which they called "Pawahi nienun." Running strips of the moist 

 basswood through their mouths gave these strips a faint pink color. 



