126 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



There probably dues not exist 

 a more durable, waterproof, and 

 easily prepared covering For a 



wilderness camp than black ash 



hark. The hark is removed from 

 the trunks of the larger trees 

 without difficulty in the spring, 

 cut into sheets four by six feet, 

 and put on, slightly overlapping. 

 The sheets are supported beneath 

 by cross-poles, while cedar strips 

 along the outer surface prevent 

 them from curling. 



To one viewing the interior 

 for the first time, the rich dark- 

 brown of the inner bark might 

 be taken for a covering of well- 

 tanned cowhides. 



The birch bark in use for most 

 Indian tepees along Lake Su- 

 perior cannot be found in any 

 virgin Michigan forests, for it 

 is a second-growth tree in this 

 region, as is generally the case 

 elsewhere. Being inflammable 

 and of a flimsy character, birch 

 bark is not to be compared with 

 the bark of the ash. 



Photograph by George Shiras, 3d 



YEEPOW-BEEEIED SAPSUCKKR PUNCTURING A 

 MOUNTAIN ASH 



THE FIRST GLIMPSE OP 

 PISH LAKE 



WHITE- 



Many insects are attracted by the sweet fluid, furnish- 

 ing food and a potion to the feathered proprietor. 



be had an uncertain number of miles 

 away. 



In the final mile or so many deer run- 

 ways were seen, all converging into larger 

 ones leading toward the lake and each 

 filled with fresh tracks of varying sizes. 



Silence was suggested with a view to 

 getting a shot, but Jack said that this was 

 exactly what he was trying to avoid, as 

 a deer killed away from camp meant de- 

 lay and an unnecessary burden, and so 

 he kept up a continuous chatter. 



TYPE OP SHELTER THAT WAS OPTEN USED 



At length a small clearing ahead indi- 

 cated our goal, in the center of which ap- 

 peared a type of shelter I had occasion to 

 use in later years. It was shaped like a 

 good-sized wall tent, having a narrow 

 opening in the roof for the escape of 

 smoke, with side walls of cedar logs ex- 

 tending up four feet and a double pitched 

 roof of black ash bark. 



ot 



On depositing our packs we 

 were naturally eager to see the 

 lake, lying concealed at the foot 

 the hill a few hundred yards away ; 

 but Jack declared the first thing in order 

 was a meal, then the cutting of balsam 

 boughs for the beds, ample firewood, and 

 a general overhauling of the camp before 

 the lake could be visited. 



Finally all these preliminaries were 

 over and we started down a steep slope 

 for a body of water which, according to 

 Jack, had been unvisited by any white 

 man since the days of the Hudson Bay 

 trappers, a hundred years before. 



Interested as we were, could I then 

 have anticipated what an all-controlling 

 factor this little body of water was to 

 play in the writer's destiny and that of 

 his family, it would have been a much 

 more memorable day. 



A glance to the north disclosed a nar- 

 row lake about a mile long, heavily for- 

 ested with pine and hemlock except at 

 the end, where a semicircular growth of 



