CHAPTER XXXIV 

 AYLMER LAKE 



One of my objects was to complete the ambiguous 

 shore Hne of Aylmer Lake. The first task was to find 

 the lake. So we left the narrows and pushed on and 

 on, studying the Back map, vainly trying to identify 

 points, etc. Once or twice we saw gaps ahead that 

 seemed to open into the great inland sea of Aylmer. 

 But each in turn proved a mere bay. On August 12 

 we left the narrows; on the 13th and 14th we journeyed 

 westward seeking the open sea. On the morning of the 

 15th we ran into the final end of the farthest bay we 

 could discover and camped at the mouth of a large 

 river entering in. 



As usual, we landed — Preble, Billy, and I — ^to study 

 topography, Weeso to get firewood, and curiously 

 enough, there was more firewood here than we had 

 seen since leaving Artillery Lake. The reason of this 

 appeared later. 



I was utterly puzzled. We had not yet found Ayl- 

 mer Lake, and had discovered an important river that 

 did not seem to be down on any map. 



We went a mile or two independently and studied the 

 land from all the high hills; evidently we had crossed 

 the only great sheet of water in the region. About 

 noon, when all had assembled at camp, I said: "Preble, 



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