478 



RECREATION 



modern summer resort, there is too 

 much of it. True, close to a hundred 

 thousand people probably "do" the 

 Thousand Islands every summer, but 

 one can easily start off in his boat and 

 find an islet which for the time is all 

 his own — not a living soul upon it, and 

 not a sign of human habitation, except 

 possibly an empty can or the ashes of a 

 last year's camp fire. 



The great river here has spread out 

 into a lake. In fact some call it the 

 "Lake of the Isles," stretching away in 

 some places fully seven miles from the 

 American to the Canadian mainland, 

 and extending 40 miles down stream. 

 The islands are of all shapes and all 

 sizes, from a point of rock just large 

 enough for you to sit upon, to the one 

 which is the site of a city numbering 

 thousands. In places the hotel builder 

 has invaded the playground, but not 

 enough to interfere with its natural 

 charm. 



History has it that over 250 years 

 ago the first white man was guided to 

 this place in his batteau, by an Indian, 

 but nature has changed little since the 

 French explorers first saw the head- 

 waters of the St. Lawrence. They are 

 as deep, and as clear and as blue to- 

 day. Most of the islands still have their 

 forest growth. The thousands of chan- 

 nels winding here and there among 

 them have not altered, and many of 

 these are so narrow, that only the canoe 

 can traverse them. Thus it is that the 

 upper St. Lawrence remains one of the 

 great American fishing grounds. The 

 sportsman who brings his flies and bass 

 rod can get a basket of which he can 

 boast. The troller who has the right as- 

 sortment of silver spoon hooks has a bat • 

 tie royal with the muscallunge. In the 

 shallower water, perch which will tip 

 the scales at nearly a pound apiece, 

 get hungry, especially at dawn and 

 dusk, while both small-mouthed and 

 big-mouthed black bass inhabit the 

 waters throughout the region. No im- 

 agination is required to tell a fish story 

 at the Thousand Islands, for if a man 

 has "the right bait and knows when and 



