m 



V AND B'.» 



From a half-pound to a pound) Ffdm two bo 



"ni3, mid beyond tftat Die dealgnalann deppnds 

 rather upon the aonrmaad 01 language tlioflflhofiasnatetbaH 

 apon any recognized nomenclature 



We stopped at Maimanse Island for dinner, and after 

 ward, although the wind had shifted La ihe Boulhweal aud 

 was fi'eSheoing up rather rapidly, wo startedoul i -;■ ting 

 tn ruu Into Montreal River if lbs wind should increase 

 much. Wo bowled along quiti rapl ) I winrlcame 



heavier and heavier. The coast between Maimanse and 

 Montreal River is an iron-bouud and dangerous one. There 

 .ire two Oi three little bays into which with some winds a 

 boat like ours could run, but one must be well acquainted 

 with the coast to risk an attempt to run ashore in a westerly 

 gftlfe. But the wind was gradually drawing to the westward, 

 and getting worse for us, both indirection ami force. We 

 had passed the Qaobeo Mines and were looking anxiously 

 along the coast tor some sheltered nook into which we could 

 tun, or some stretch of sandy shore where wo could beach 

 the boat in comparative safety, when we descried, or fancied 

 we did, a short sandy beach between two jutting points, and 

 we thought it safer to risk a landing than to so further. On 

 running closer in we found the sandy beach was a bouldered 

 one, and while it was at Ihe southern edge partially shel- 

 loivd tiom the wind by a huge point of rock, yet the sea 

 broke heavily all along" it. .But we were "in for it," as we 

 :,,i: id BOl risk putting out tj sea again, and we made ready 

 tO land. The single sail we bad latterly been carrying was 

 quickly dropped, the mast unstepped, one of the men put to 

 the oars to steady the boat, the masts hurriedly converted 

 into poles to fend us off the sharp rocks, and, without regard 

 to getting wet, F. and 1 jumped out and gathered some poles 

 and logs on the shore, upon which we could rest the bow of 

 the bOat. This done, the men brought the boat in, w e lifted 

 the bow on the logs, and leaving one man in the stern to 

 fend off, wo hurriedly threw out'the heavier traps, and mak- 

 ing rollers or slides of the masts aud oars, we drew the boat 

 high and dry on the steep and bouldered shore. Aud it was 

 none too soon, for the wind increased and the sea came 

 heavier and heavier. Ahalf-hour later, and while we might 

 have got ashore, it would have been with a stove □ 

 a loss of many of our provisions. The chance of some fish- 

 erman passing near enough to relieve us would have been 

 all that was left, except a tramp through the wilderness for 

 seventy-live miles to civilisation. 



The place in which we found ourselves was a gully be- 

 tween two spurs of tho mountain. As soon as we had the 

 boat and our traps all secure, F. and I proceeded to examine 

 our surroundings. On each side of the cove the rocks rose 

 sheer and sharp to a hundred feet in height, rising higher 

 and higher as they receded from the shore, until the two 

 spurs joined a quarter of a mile inland. The present beach 

 was steep, but gradual in asceut until it reached about 

 twenty-five feet above the lake surface. At the north end 

 the. boulders were from four to eight inches in diameter, and 

 gradually increasing in size to the south end, where there 

 were none less than ten inches. They were like the rocks 

 there, of granite. At the upper edge of the beach there was 

 What seemed to be a wall of boulders, seven or eight feet in 

 height, slightly sloped, and which we found some difficulty 

 in climbing. Once above it we found an uucieut beach, 

 sloping back more gradually than the modern one for a 

 hundred yards, and a height of fifteen or eighteen feet (pos- 

 sibly more), with a wall at its rear similar to tho first we had 

 climbed, back of which was another heach reaching to the 

 foot of the mountain. These beaches were all of boulders, 

 with little or no vegetation, and corresponded with the 

 heights of other ancient beaches I have noticed in many 

 pa«S of the lake coast. Without any pretentions to geolo- 

 gical knowledge, it struck me as a casual observer that the 

 variations of the lake level shown by the beaches were not 

 gradual, but sudden. 



We found upon the beach a piece of the deck of some 

 wrecked vessel, large enough for a floor for our tent, and 

 wo improved tho occasion. About dark the storm was at its 

 height, and some rain fell. The sea dashed all night upon 

 the rocks within a few feet of our tent, but our slumbers 

 were not disturbed. 



We found a clear, still morning when we awoke, without 

 a breath of air stirring, but the swell was coming in heavily. 

 About ten o'clock, by great labor and some risks and duck- 

 ings, we got the hoat loaded and pushed off. So heavy a 

 sea was hard upon the Towers ; but by noon we made 

 Montreal River, where wc stopped for dinner. 



F. and 1 climbed the rocky heights to get a view of the 

 falls. Below the falls the river runs through a perpendicular 

 cleft in the rock, hardly more than twenty-)! ,,v. feet, wide, 

 and nearly a hundred deep. The falls are very line, but the 

 best view I have ever had Of them was from the lake, three 

 or four miles off the moulh of the river. I presume there 

 are trout in the stream, as I took one or two at, a ripple just 

 above the mouth of the river. But, so far ai 1 know, the 

 approaches to the stream above the falls are impracticable, 

 and the existence of huge pike in the pool just before the 

 river eHlers the lake renders it improbable that there should 

 he many trout below the falls. The water is quite dark, and 

 the flow is so great as to color the lake for a considerable 

 distance along the shore. After dinner wc bad a pleasant 

 sail with a fair breeze to the Agawa, which we reached 

 about four o'clock in the afternoon. 



We were at last at the Agawa. It had been thought of for 

 B year or two before opportunity offered for a visit. 1 had 

 heard much of it. Some of my friends had gone in canoes 

 up to the falls, eight or ten miles from the mouth, and had 

 given glowing accounts of the fishing and the scenery. I 

 found it a cold stream, with clear water, and with trout in 

 every pool and upon every rapid. As we approached it we 

 could see that beyond a mile or so of alluvial formation, 

 there was a mountain chain that gave promise of numerous 

 ripples and falls and pools. The" gravel banks and sandy 

 shores of the bay into which the river debouched showed 

 that the stream must he quite long, and at times bring down 

 huge quantities of earthy matters to the lake. A big snag 

 or two slock fast in the sands on the bar, with the roots pro- 

 jecting above the water, were enough to indicate the charac- 

 ter of some parts of its banks. 



We landed upon tho west side of the river, and unloading 

 our boats, J 7 , and I left the men to arrange a camp, aud took 

 the boat up the stream, to get a mess of trout tor supper. 

 We went Up a half mile, and returned iu an hour with trout 

 enough for a day for all. I lost two hooked at once, by the 

 leader breaking, and F. brought iu the biggest fish, a three- 

 pounder. Just across the river from our camp was a hut or 

 log cabin, belonging to the Hudson's Bay Company, and iu 

 the late winter and early spring occupied by an ageut buy- 

 it.e furs. This had been taken possession of by a Cleveland 

 party fora camp, and shortly after we came down the nver 



down also. We went over to see their spoils, it 

 was indeed a wonderful day's work, as we then thought it. 

 There were trout from a. half-pound to three and a half 

 pounds in weight,, beautiful fish and immense strings of them. 

 It seemed au unnecessary wasle of material to kill so many ; 

 party expected logo up the coast for a day 'or 

 I wo, the supply was probably none too great. They had 

 been up the river only two miles, they said, and that since 

 noon. 



The next morning Captain M., of the Cleveland parly, 

 persuaded us to go up the coast with them, and after break- 

 fast, we sailed for Gravel Kiver. We passed slowly along 

 the Agawa Island rocks, saw the paintings upon them, done 

 probably centuries ago— although some of them, judging 

 from the picture of a~horse there, must have been "painted 

 within two centuries— now, alas ! from the action of the ele- 

 ments, obliterated. Last year, when I passed there, 1 found 

 the frost hud scaled great pieces oil' the rocks, and the best 

 of the pictures are gone forever. There are yet left some of 

 the coarser ones— a caribou, a bear, and some others of ani- 

 mals. We concluded to take dinner at Sand River, where 

 we found some beautiful falls aud lots of small trout. 1 

 think they were the liveliest trout I have ever seen, and the 

 hardest to catch. Our hooks were too large for trout of that 

 size, but we managed to take quite a number. Sand River 

 is a favorite Indian encampment, and there are always stand- 

 ing there poles with skins of animals, strips of cloth 

 and other things attached thereto, after the manner of the 

 northern Indian tribes. I was told by Mr. Kosseau, an old 

 trapper and guide, and more, recently the owner of a lake 

 fishery located at Maimanse Point, that there is a trail run- 

 ning up past the falls of Sand River by which canoes can be 

 carried, and that trout are very abundant and of respectable 

 size up the river. Although I have since then visited there, 

 my stay was each time too short to look for the trail. 



We found Grand River a beautiful stream of clear water, 

 but up about the falls, which must be magnificent in flood, 

 the stream was separated into too many small ones to afford 

 tine fishing. There was an abundance of small trout, and in 

 the hour we spent there we captured quite a number. The 

 black tly was in his element. We had hurried up to the 

 falls, leaving gloves, veils, mosquito oil, and every defense 

 against thtm at camp at the mouth of the river, and were de- 

 fenseless. They came around our heads like halos around 

 saints in pictures, though some words were probably used 

 not known to saints. We fought them off with branches, as 

 a boy does wasps or bees, and hurried back to camp and 

 smoke. 



The next day was Sunday, and we enjoyed the cool breezes 

 from the lake and the extra dinner we had time to prepare. 

 The succeeding morning, before breakfast, our Cleveland 

 friend took a four-pound trout from the pool within twenty 

 feet of our tent, but the water was too clear to fish there 

 later in the day. The wind blew too heavily to permit us to 

 get out of the river in the morning, and we spent tho day 

 until five o'clock in the afternoon in wandering about the 

 shore of the little bay and shooting at whatever offered itself 

 for a mark. We fished off the rocks from sheltered places, 

 but without success. We did not try the falls again. We 

 found a flue spring of water coming down the mountain, 

 which by our thermometer showed a temperature of thirty- 

 eieht degrees. 



At five, although the sea was heavy and the while caps 

 were thick over the lake, we started out. The voyageurs did 

 not like to venture, but as tho skies were clear I thought the 

 wind would die away as usual by the time we reached the 

 Agawa— as it did. In fact we had to row for the last three 

 mTles, and it was nearly dark when we reached there. We 

 found the west bank of the river occupied by three or four 

 Indian lodges, aud wc camped on the east back. Captain 

 M. camped on Agawa Island. Next morning wc went up the 

 river. From the first we had good fishing. About half a 

 mile up I saw on the right bank, just at the edge of the 

 water, a small tree-top projecting about two feet into the 

 water' so that a little eddy formed below it, upon which there 

 was foam circling about. 1 carefully cast there from the 

 boat, and two fine fellows struck at. once, and were safely 

 landed. We took from there eight fine trout, as last as we 

 could land them, weighing not less than one and a half 

 pounds each. I have never failed to take several there at 

 each visit, except my last one, although the tree-top has 

 worn down to a bare branch or two. At that last time I 

 learned the secret of my success there. The water was a 

 foot and a half lower than I had ever before seen it; the 

 dead, bare branch stuck out from the bank above the-water, 

 and a foot or two from it there poured out a stream of ice- 

 cold water two or three inches in diameter. 1 had therefore 

 attributed our luck to the little eddy, when in fact it was the 

 cold spring water in which the fish congregated. 



The voyageurs poled the boat up the stream. In some 

 places the rapids were so broad and shallow that we had to 

 disembark and walk past them. In others it was inch by 

 inch against the swift water that the boat would be urged 

 up the'stream. The skill of the Indians and voyageurs at 

 this work is remarkable. I remember upon one occasion, 

 when a party of four of us were at the river, wo had two 

 faithful fellows in one boat, who were good sailors but poor 

 river-men. These two could not take the boat and two pas- 

 sengers up one of the rapids. In spile of them the cm-rent 

 would strike the bows so as to swing tho boat around and 

 carry us back down the stream, aud even after P. and I dis- 

 embarked, it was with the utmost difficulty they could take 

 the boat up. That night there was considerable chaffing 

 from the others, and a bet was passed that the youngest of 

 them all, a boy of eighteen or nineteen, could alone take the 

 heaviest' boat up that rapid. He was a fine specimen of 

 half-breed Chippewa, but we doubted his ability to do what 

 ho had undertaken. At the foot of the rapid F. and I and 

 the elder guide, who were in the boat, disembarked. Plac- 

 ing himself in the stern, the young man took his pole and 

 started up the stream. The rapid was about seventy-five 

 yards in length, with a descent of nearly four feet, as we 

 thought. Not once in the ascent did the boat's nose swerve 

 an "inch from the true line, and in a few minutes he was in 

 the still water above, and his bet was won. With a light 

 canoe the performance would seem worthy of note to a white 

 man ; but with a heavy Mackinac boat, twenty-three feet 

 long,' it seemed almost an impossibility until it was done. 



Wot far above this rapid, at a point where a little stream 

 comes in from the west, is a pool every visitor to the Agawa 

 will remember. It is twenty-five to thirty feet in diameter 

 and twelve to fifteen feet deep. The main current of the 

 river so passes it on the east side as to make an eddy. Here 

 the fisherman always stops, and has some glorious sport. At 

 limes when the fish will not riso to the surface, the expe- 

 dient of lotting the flies sink a few feet and rapidly bringing 

 them to the surface will prove successful, I have seen un- 



hooked trout, following booked ones to I he surface, Captured 

 by the landing-net quite frequently. But it must be said 

 that where the trout does not rise to the fly the prime charm 

 of angling i" lost, ft is the Intense walchi'ulncss and Ihe ex- 

 ercise of si. i.: i C Ifltfog and in striking which is the delight 

 of the true angler. Any other methods of capture may be 

 justified by necessity, but not by any true principlce or line 

 feelings of' the sportsman. 



Upon this occasion the trout rose freely, but as we wished 

 to go a mile further up, we did not slay long. Disembark- 

 ing at this fall, we walked up and waiu d for the boat. We 

 here left the gravel batiks of the river and eame directly into 

 the mountains. The stream flowsclose against the mountum, 

 which towers straight up a thousand feet in the air, the 

 stunted evergreens at the top seeming to overhang us as we 

 move up the river. For a quarter of a mile we go near the 

 middle of the stream, casting from side to side, taking many 

 from the deep channel right under the mountain. Dp to 

 this time the limber skirting the stream has kept the moun- 

 tains from view; hut from this on the scenery is grand. The 

 cliffs rise on every side, and at every turn of the river new 

 views meet the eye. There are line fish taken along iu these 

 deep pools, but the mountains so obsorb the atteni ion that- 

 one hardly care3 for aught else, until he becomes accustomed 

 to the scenery. 



At the foot of tho next rapid is an eddy, which never has 

 failed me yet. I cannot tell how many trout I have taken 

 from it, but there are enough left, Wu go ashore again here, 

 as the rapid is long and rather shallow ; aud when the hoat 

 reaches the next pool we get in and quietly cross the river 

 to a sand-bar on the left bank, just in casting distance from 

 a great water- worn rock. The pool here is large and deep. 

 Just where the bare rock and the wooded back meet, and 

 the boughs overhang the water so that a cast has to be rather 

 under-handed to put your fly where you want it, are some 

 cold springs, which the big fellows monopolize, even as the 

 big fellows do in human life. .Now, be careful] Put your 

 tail fly right in where that tongue of water reaches into the 

 bank! Ah, the dropper caught a leaf — quick! take it off 

 and try again! There, you have him, a line two-pounder; 

 now bring him out where there is room to play him and I 

 will try my hackle. And so, taking turns aud fish one after 

 another until a fly is caught iu the brush, and the clearing of 

 the tackle disturbs the brilliant company, we move a little 

 distance off, build a fire, take a hurried but grateful meal, 

 and resume where we left off. We try different parts of 

 the pool from the sand-bar and the boat, and in our excite- 

 ment take in more than we ought, for we cannot, use them 

 all. Then, letting the boat float lazily over the pool, We 

 look down into the water and see hundreds of the most 

 beautiful and gamiest fish, unless it be the salmon, that is 

 known to the sportsman. It is now three o'clock, and just. 

 for the scenery we go up the river lo the next point, and 

 then turn our faces toward the camp. It. does not take long 

 to go, for the current is swift. We make tho two miles iu 

 half au hour, aud are at camp. Booking over ourpile we find 

 the largest, taken bv F., three and a half pounds. There 

 are enough to last us to the Sault, if we do not take another. 

 Captain M. has taken some off the Agawa rocks, and refuses 

 any. The poor Indians come in from fBhing on the bay 

 with a canoe load of lake trout, weighing from eight to six- 

 teen pounds each, and have enough; so we slightly salt 

 some to last. 113 on the return trip, aud make up our minds 

 to reach Maimanse Island the next day. 



We have but one regret— that is, that we took so many 

 trout that day as to make it a crime to fish the next. 



We visited the Indian lodges that evening. Caplaim M. 

 presented the chief's wife — or rather one of the chief's 

 wives— with a broad plug of "navy," and by daylight the 

 next morning the chief was over lo the cabin trying to sell 

 her to the Captain for fifty dollars. He had two more, and 

 was willing to sell one. As the Captain had one waiting for 

 him at the Sault, he declined to invest, aud negotiations 

 ceased. 



The Indians showed their honesty by scrupulously keep- 

 ing away from our camp while we were absent. The men 

 were out trolling for lake trout, but the women and children 

 were left in their encampment, and with a little canoe they 

 had they could have crossed the river— about thirty yards— 

 and helped themselves to many things dear to the Indian 

 heart and stomach. 



We packed early and loaded our boats. Two or three of 

 the Indians came over to visit us, and I distributed a pint of 

 brandy among them, without any visible effect. Some hard 

 bread, onions and potatoes, produced more sign$o.f gratitude 

 than anything else. A few nails from empty boxes and the 

 boxes themselves were accepted. But they asked for noth- 

 ing. They were civil as well as honest. One of them, a 

 splendid specimen of physical manhood, nearly six feet high 

 and straight as an arrow", aud about nineteen years old, we 

 learned on our next visit had died of consumption the pre- 

 ceding winter. Still, it seems as if life, with all their priva- 

 tions, has charms for them. When they have food, it ia a 

 feast; if none, they suffer in silence. They are quiet, peace- 

 ful and grateful. Not profuse in thanks, one can see even 

 in their stolid faces that they possess the virtue of gratitude, 

 and I doubt not many of the other virtues upon which the 

 white man claims to hold a monopoly, 



We had a fine sail to Maimanse. It was on another occa- 

 sion tlnat we landed at the Quebec Mines, and the boys, un- 

 der command of Gen. H., stermed the heights and captured 

 two or Ihrce old cannon, which were years ago taken there 

 for defense against the Indians. But iu lurn the force under 

 the General were driven from the hill in disorder by an as 

 sault from the army of flies about the old village. The 

 mines are deserted. The church stands I here yet, and some 

 of the other buildings, but they are fast falling to decay. Oc- 

 casionally an Indian or a fisherman prowls about the hill, 

 but the mines are worthless, and they will never be re- 

 opened. 



Camping at Maimanse Island, we learned a tug would be 

 up the next day 10 take the fish down to the Point of Pities 

 for salting and shipping. There were two fisheries in opera- 

 tion there, one at the Island aud the other at Rosseau'e, near 

 the Point. Bo we sailed down to Rosseau's, aud waited for 

 stow. There was quite a settlement there, and we in- 

 spected the mending of the nets and the people generally. 

 AU but one or two were half-breeds. We found so) 

 grass, which seems to grow plentifully about clearings. I 

 have found it in great profusion arouud deserted nshing 

 stations on the extreme North Shore. 



An hour or two before dark the tug started with three 

 boats id tow, as follows: First, tho fish boat, loadetl to the 

 guards with fish; second, Captain M.'s boat, and, lastly, 

 ours. The tug had but two officers— the captain and mate. 

 The mate was also pilot, wheelsman, fireman, engineer and 

 cook. The captain, after supper, took his position iu tho 



