420 



RECREATION. 



strange beings who invaded his domain. 

 At our first camping place a large buck 

 walked between the fire and our tent while 

 we were sleeping; this we learned in the 

 morning from his tracks. 



While this is a moose country, par ex- 

 cellence, no great claim can be made for 

 the Tobique as a trout stream. Its waters 

 are clear as crystal and it has numerous 

 most inviting pools, but trout are scarce. 

 By constant casting, however, we managed 

 to get enough for our meals; but it was not 

 until we reached Bathurst lake that trout 

 fishing to satiety was obtained. There are 

 many salmon in the Tobique, but as the 

 river is protected, we did not attempt to 

 take any. 



About noon of the first day we arrived at 

 a logging camp, a busy enough place in the 

 winter, but quiet and almost deserted now. 

 It had been left in charge of an old 

 man, who greeted us as voyageurs from an 

 almost unknown world, for ours was the 

 first party to ascend the stream since it was 

 deserted by the river drivers earlier in the 

 season. 



A little way above this camp we cached 

 our large camera and reserved only the 

 kodak, for there were carries ahead and the 

 river was growing shallow in places. It 

 was a mistake, for we could have taken the 

 8xio throughout the trip. The carries 

 were short and not difficult, and we made 

 better progress than we would have thought 

 possible. In its upper part the stream is 

 narrow and very swift. Several times we 

 were obliged to wait while some dead tree 

 or grounded drift wood was cut away to 

 allow the passage of the canoes. The wa- 

 ter was clear as crystal and, in the quiet 

 pools, mirrored the branches of the trees 

 which, in the narrower parts, met overhead, 

 forming one of the pleasantest green path- 

 ways imaginable. m 



About mid-afternoon of the third day we 

 emerged from the narrow stream upon Nic- 

 tor lake. The lake is beautiful, hemmed 

 in "by green mountains, mostly low and pic- 

 turesque, though at the North rises a 

 rocky, precipitous mountain, some 2.000 

 feet in height. As we entered the lake 

 there were indications of the approach of a 

 thunder storm, so the setting poles were 

 discarded and paddles plied vigorously to 

 reach our camping place before the storm 

 broke. An Indian rarely uses a paddle 

 when bottom can be reached with a pole, 

 but in some places ahead of us the water 

 was more than 80 feet deep. 



We had a most novel place for our 

 camp; a small, rocky island 100 feet in 

 length and rising perhaps 5 or 6 feet above 

 the water. It was far enough from the 

 shore to be free from midges, black flies 

 and mosquitoes, and it had been swept by 

 ice until scarcely a vestige of vegetation 



remained. Our tents were speedily set up 

 on it and carefully guyed, for the spot had 

 no protection from the wind. Our beds of 

 fragrant browse were ferried from the 

 shore and soon the cold rock floor of our 

 tent was transformed into a soft, green 

 couch. The storm, which held off longer 

 than we dared to hope, broke at last, but it 

 was of short duration. 



As the sun reappeared we looked down 

 the lake and saw it ringed in many places 

 by the trout as they rose to the surface in 

 pure sportiveness. The canoes were in- 

 stantly pushed out, a cast of flies looped to 

 the leaders and sent fluttering over the 

 water. The fishing in Nictor lake was a 

 little disappointing to some of us, but we 

 never had any trouble in securing all the 

 trout we needed. It is said that trout will 

 not take a fly immediately after a thunder 

 storm ; but that theory was disproved in 

 this case at least, for we caught several 

 trout in our half hour's fishing, most of 

 them of good size. 



Several days of perfect weather followed 

 our arrival, and the trout were just scarce 

 enough to give true zest to the fishing. 



Not far from our camp, on the nearer 

 shore of the lake, stood a tall tree, towering 

 far above its neighbors, in which 2 magnifi- 

 cent eagles had a nest. One day the tree 

 was cut down and a baby eagle taken from 

 the nest. It seems like vandalism as I write 

 it, but it did not seem so then. He soon 

 learned to eat fish from our fingers ; but he 

 was a treacherous little rascal, and not at 

 all particular whether he dined on fingers 

 or fish. On our return trip he was taken 

 with us, and he is now healthy, if not 

 happy, in a park not far from Boston, 

 where he is the subject of interesting news- 

 paper items inspired by the press agent of 

 the park. 



We frequently saw moose wading in the 

 edges of the lake ; and one morning we 

 were hastily called away from breakfast by 

 the tidings that a big bull was swimming 

 across the lake. A moose can swim fast, but 

 he is no match for 2 active paddles. We 

 soon had a canoe on each side of him, but a 

 few yards distant from the immense head, 

 which was forging through the water with 

 ears laid flat against its neck. The kodak 

 was brought into requisition, and several 

 films were exposed on him. When he struck 

 the bottom he lit out for shore at a mighty 

 pace, sending the water in every direction. 

 When landed, he shook the water from his 

 great shaggy coat and disappeared in the 

 forest without waiting to bid us adieu. 



After some weeks spent at Nictor, camp 

 was struck and a short carry made to 

 Bathurst lake. This is neither so large nor 

 so beautiful as Nictor, but it is a delight to 

 the fisherman's heart. I believe there is no 

 water in the world where trout are more 



