RECREA TION. 



65 



ported our tent, provisions, etc., to the 

 yacht, and were advised we could steam 

 through lake Helen and up the smooth, 

 though rapid waters of the river to Camp 

 Alexander, some fifteen miles above. 

 Near the camp, which is on a point of 

 rock, around the point of which the river 

 sweeps in foaming rapids, the water is 

 broken and rapid, and of course un- 

 navigable. The captain of our party, 

 Richard Northam, an all-round genius 

 and a man of unbounded resources, un- 

 dertook to act as engineer and pilot. 

 He held all offices of dignity on ship, 

 and on shore ruled with an iron hand, 

 and as chief cook, wielded the porridge 

 pot as his scepter. Finally, we are all 

 aboard, and our stately little vessel is 

 gliding through the clear deep waters. 



forest crowned heights. By the time our 

 tent is spread and our effects portaged 

 from the yacht to the camp, the dark- 

 ness is on us. 



After a light supper, we close our 

 tent for the night and resting on our 

 blankets, listen to the monotonous roar 

 of the river, are lulled to sleep. We 

 hardly seemed to have closed our eyes, 

 before the morning light came, so deep 

 and unbroken had been our rest. It 

 fell to the lot of the writer to catch fish 

 for breakfast. The rod, light and pliable 

 was quickly jointed, an eighty yard 

 quadruple reel with a silk line attached, 

 and a nine foot single gut leader, a Jock 

 Scot and a Professor fly. 



Just below the camp, some 30 feet, a 

 narrow pathway led to the brink of the 



BROOK trout. — Salvelinus Fontinailis. 



How glorious and inspiring the pros- 

 pect ! Lake Helen, clear as a mirror, 

 stretched out before us ; on either shore 

 the great headlands of rock tower into 

 the blue heavens ; the white clouds sail- 

 ing over us are reflected with marvellous 

 clearness in the shining flood. 



We pass out of lake Helen and enter 

 the river, broad, deep and powerful in 

 its flow. The shores are densely wooded; 

 beyond are the mountain ranges. The 

 little steamer puffs and struggles to 

 make its way upward. At times we can 

 scarcely see that she is gaining against 

 the current, but all hands take hold of 

 the poles, we steer for shallow water 

 near the shore. Muscle and steam com- 

 bined prove effective, and we move up 

 to the landing at Camp Alexander, just 

 as the sun is dipping below the great 



river from which the vapor was still 

 rising. The water ran swift, deep and 

 glassy, boiling in curling eddies. Some 

 60 feet from the shore a narrow rock 

 broke the surface. Casting above it the 

 fly falls lightly on the water, as the cur- 

 rent bears it near the rock, there is a 

 gleam as of a jewel ; a swift rush, and, 

 leaping clear above the water, a noble 

 trout in over eagerness missed the fly. 

 Once more the brilliant lure strikes the 

 water, falling a few feet short of the 

 rock. Shooting up from under the rock 

 the eager fish takes the fly, a quick strike, 

 the line fairly smokes and the reel spins 

 with electric speed. What a strain is 

 on the rod ! But I work him back into 

 the deep pool below the rock. Down, 

 down into its dark depths he goes. The 

 rod bends like a whip, and the wary 



