SPORT IN NEWFOUNDLAND. 



A. H. SEYMOUR. 



One day in July, 1895, at the kind invita- 

 tion of R- G. Reid, contractor of the rail- 

 way system of this colony, a party consist- 

 ing of Sir W. V. Whiteway and 3 sons, 

 Judge Bennett, Dr. Paterson and me, 

 started to visit the region of Grand lake, 

 Deer lake and the Humber river. Mr. Reid 

 was most generous in his treatment of us, 

 giving us a special car and accompanying 

 us to the then headquarters, Sandy Pond 

 Crossing. 



Having spent a few days as Mr. Reid's 

 guests at headquarters, we started early one 

 morning to the outlet of Grand lake, called 

 Junction brook. Arriving there we had our 

 2 tents quickly put up. The scenery was 

 beautiful. We camped at the edge of the 

 water and the surroundings were all one 

 could wish, except that flies were too plen- 

 tiful. As soon as possible we got our boats 

 ready and, steering clear of the rapids, we 

 anchored in mid-stream. W i hen we had 

 anointed ourselves with a good application 

 of Nessmuk's punkey dope, a mixture 

 of Stockholm tar, pennyroyal and castor 

 oil, the flies ceased to annoy us. We were 

 rather late for the salmon fishing but we 

 succeeded in getting some sea trout, weigh- 

 ing from 1 to 3 pounds; also some fresh 

 water trout of same weight. Grand lake is 

 the largest lake in Newfoundland and is 57 

 miles long by about 5 miles wide. In the 

 lake is Glover island, 30 miles long and 

 about 2 miles wide. I call it " Pill Box 

 lake " because Glover island also contains 

 another lake and that lake another island, 

 and so on until we have 3 more islands and 

 4 lakes; putting one in mind of a nest of 

 pill boxes- 



On the borders of Grand lake can be 

 found, buried in the sand, traces of the 

 Indians known as Beothukans. Some of 

 our party secured flint arrow heads, etc. 

 Anyone going there about July 10th can 

 secure salmon, sea trout, etc., in great num- 

 ber. Here, too, the upper Humber river 

 commences. This river flows into Deer 

 lake and thence to Bay of Islands. The 

 outflow from Deer lake is called the Lower 

 Humber. We spent a few days at Deer 

 lake, viewing the surroundings, and visiting 

 Bennett island, owned by our friend Judge 

 Bennett. This place would make a splendid 

 headquarters for a camp and is about V4. 

 mile square. It is situated at the mouth of 

 the Upper Humber, where it flows into 

 Deer lake. There are some good fishing 

 streams emptying into Deer lake, besides 

 the Upper Humber, called North and South 

 brooks; but the home of the salmon is 

 about 15 miles up the Upper Humber, at 

 a place called Willow Steadies. This is 

 a favorite resort of our naval men in sum- 



mer. The salmon caught there are said to 

 weigh from 6 to 20 pounds each. We went 

 down the Lower Humber in a large skiff 

 under the pilotage of George Nichol. I 

 can recommend him as a good guide. 



The scenery on this river is grand. The 

 high mountains on each side and the deep 

 steadies and rapids each in turn fascinates 

 the tourist. At last we reached " Birely 



ON GRAND LAKE. 



cove," Bay of Islands, a beautiful spot and 

 well worth seeing. Having spent a few 

 hours there, we again started for Deer lake 

 and enjoyed the sensation of poling up the 

 rapids. The scenery and the fishing and 

 shooting along the Upland Railway Line 

 cannot be excelled. The sea journey, too, 

 is now reduced to a mere nothing, as one 

 can take passage from New York by rail 

 to Sydney, thence to Placentia by steamer 

 and only have to spend 19 hours on the 

 water. In a short time even the sea voyage 

 will be reduced to 6 hours; when the 

 steamer runs from Sydney to Port au. 

 Basque. 



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