001. 1, 1886.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



Sw.retariea of canoe, clubs are requested to send to Fobest and 

 Strbaji their addresses, -witli name, memberslaJp, signal, etc., of 

 tlieir clubs, and also noi ices in ad\-ancc of meetings and races, and 

 report of tbe same. Canoeists and a]) interested in canoeing are 

 requested to forward to Fouest and Stream their addresses, with 

 logs of cruises, maps, and information concerning,'Jijeir local 

 waters, drawings or desci'iptions of boats and fittings, and all items 

 relo/ting to the sport. 



FIXTURES. 



OCTOBEK. 



u u \ Hartford and Springfield I Fall Meet, 

 1 New England Div. A. C. A. ) Calla Shasta. 



EASTERN DIVISION, A. C. A. 



THE newly-formed Eastern Division of the Association is mak- 

 ing a strong effort to enlist canoeists throughout New Eng- 

 land generally, and to increase tlieir inimbers laigely before the 

 next meet. There are many canoeists in the New England States 

 who cr\iise and wlio arc niembora of clubs, but who as yet have 

 taken no interest in the A. C. A. and the meets; but with a bra.nch 

 establishort among them there are additional inducements to join, 

 and il is prubulilc llial. before sprinji canoeing will receive agreat 

 impulse in the East. In order to make the Association better 

 known to outside canoei^tw tlic oillccrs of the Eastern Division 

 have sent out the following invitation: 



Purser's Office, Eastern Division, A. C. A., Harttord, Conn., Oct. 

 1, ISSfl. Dear Sir- There will be a fail )-ace meeting of this Division 

 at Calla SJinsIa, -i grove situated on the west bank of the Connec- 

 ticut l\ivcr', aboiii tour miles below Springfield, Friday and Satur- 

 day, Oct. 8 and fi, INSG. Tli.c following is the programme of races 

 on Saturday, Oct. \K I. Sailing (no limit as to rig or ballitst). II. 

 Sailing (limited to if) sq. ft.). III. Ojjcu sailing. Any boat of any 

 recognized club, \Nitliout regard to A. C. A. limits. IV. Con.sola- 

 tion sailing. Owing to lack of wind at the June meet, several 

 beautifully embi'oidered flags designed as prizes for the above 

 races were not competed for, and they will be awarded to the vic- 

 tors iu the fonr e\ents named. Additional events will probably 

 be added later. AH canoeists are tn-vited to be present and take 



fiart in the I'aces. whether A. C. A. men or not, and all New Eng- 

 land men are earnestly requested to join tlie Association. The fall 

 regatta of the Springfield C. C, most of whose events are open to 

 all, is to be held at C\\lla Shasta during the meet, which will be an 

 additional attraction. Canoeists will be expected to provide their 

 own shelter. Board and such provisions as bread, butter, eggs, 

 milk, etc, can be obtained in the immediate vicinity. Canoeists 

 receiying this circular are requested to notify other canoeists in 

 their vicinity and ask them to send their addresses to the purser 

 in order that they may receive circulars in future. A circular, 

 giving the objects and advantages of the Eastern Division of the 

 A. C. A., will be mailed later. Per order of Paul Butler, Vice- 

 Commodore. W. B. Davidson, Purser, United States Bank, Hart- 

 ford, Conn. 



The new organization of the A. C. A. makes it possible for mem- 

 bers in each locality to push the interests of the Association with 

 better l esn U s than nave before been possible. The local meets will 

 do much to aid tbem in tbis and should become most important 

 factors in the future development of the A. C. A. The Eastern 

 Division is already taking steps to utilize this means of promoting 

 canoeing, and their coming meet promises to be an imjwrtant 

 event. 



A CRUISE ON LAKE VERMILION. 



IT is not so much tbat the cruise I am about to give the leading 

 incidents of was in any particular way remarkable, butbecaxise 

 Lake Vermilion, wondertul and beautifid as it is, has not as yet to 

 my knowledge found its way into the columns of the FOBKST AND 

 STHEAjr :\nd because now that it is made get-at-able by a railroad 

 connecting it with Lake Superior and a daily steamer with Duluth, 

 it is probably soon destined to become a favorite objective point 

 for sportsmen wlio seek genuine recreation with their trout; 

 hence it is with the liope of leading into pastures new many who 

 fear not some little adventure on virgin wat-ers and in forests 

 primeval that I write, hoping all who may come after may fare 

 no worse than did our little party of four last fall in the glorious 

 weather of October and No^•eraber. 



Our party was made up (if I do say it) of splendid timber, but 

 somewhat diftereudy constituted and most of the members de- 

 serve special mention. First of all the Commodore, whose hair 

 and short beard of iron gray make him fifty or sixty, but thanks 

 to Itis outdoor life and sportsmanlike habits, as hale and hearty as 

 a young buck. A perfect encyclopedia of sportsman's informa- 

 tion is he, not a make of gun in civiliiicd existence but what he 

 knows the peculiar characteribtics, excellence or defect cf; not a 

 maker of rods, spoons, bait or fly btit he knows them personally or 

 by reputation, nor is there a boat builder of any excellence in 

 either the United States or Canada that lie cannot canvas the 

 merits of, and he will talk to you by the hour of the different 

 kinds of chokeborcs, powders, wads, shells, hooka and tackle; 

 boats, fisb and game, and he can no more do without his Forest 

 AND Stkham than he can his supper. 



Next in order the skipper, yet a young man, a mechanical genius 

 in his way, and a splendid sailor. He built the boat we made the 

 trip in when he was 30. It was his first attempt at boat building, 

 but be never made a mistake. She is of the Wliitehall model, 

 canoe built, 16ft. x4.9 beam, rows v.'eU and is a splendid sailer. 1 

 furnished him his time and material, he the skill a'nd labor, so we 

 own her together and named her the Vildn^. and I must say as a. 

 specimen of amateur build, or any other build of her class for that 

 matter, is without a ri\ al in Duluth waters. 



Next the writer, shipped as cook only, but who managed to flght 

 his way to the dignity of commissary^ for reasons hereafter to be 

 explained. 



Last, but not least, by any means, the sailor, because upon this 

 cruise he developed the most extraordinary passion for sailing that 

 can well be imagined, but being ordinarily a landsman he was 

 necessarilj' shipped as a green hand. Bow he got his soubriquet, 

 of which he is yet proud, remains to be told, just now perfect can- 

 dor compels me to state that the "sailor," though perfectly brave 

 and "true" in his element, had a horror of a canoe, and as there 

 was notliing to be had on Lake Vermilion at this particular time 

 but birch barks it was mainly on his account that we had resolved 

 to ship our own boats overland for the trip, and this was how the 

 Viking came to plow the 'waters of Lake Vermilion, one of the first 

 sliips if not the lirst sliip of her kind to sail the far west end of the 

 lake. 



Tlie waters of Lake Superior heaved to a geutle swell and re- 

 flected the misty sun glow of late October with silvery sheen, as 

 the good steamer Dove, yvith our boats and traps afioard, plied for 

 tbe ne^^' town of T^vo Harbors, 30 miles from Dnlutli. Tills town 

 site w as formerly known to anti-Duluthians as Agate Bay, from 

 the gi'eat amount of cornelian agate f ormerly f otmd there and still 

 found, though iu less quatitity and smalleriu size than wlienllirst 

 visited the place, l"i years ago. Now the great ore shipping docks 

 of the Duluth and Iron Range Railroad Co. more than the agates, 

 monopolize the interest of the traveler, and are well worth seeing. 



Thanks to the general superintendent, Mr. G, H. White, we ex- 

 perienced no diniculty in getting our boats shipped on the same 

 train we were to take, which greatly relieved our mmds, and by 

 4 P. M. we were in the new iron town of Tower, with only one 

 problem left, how to get the Viking and the Racine from the depot 

 to the lake. Friend Basset, however, relieved us from this diffi- 

 culty, for to the sportsman tourist it must be owned that the town 

 is most unfortunately located in the most tminteresting spot 

 imaginable midway between tbe iron mines, where the depot is, 

 and the lake, about a mile and half from either, where nothing is 

 to be seen except the .straggling main street of a new town cut out 

 of the jtrirniti^-e wilderness. It maybe for some reason best kno^vn 

 to the proprietors that the town, prosperous as it Ls, was not located 

 on the Jalce shore, so low, lev^el and beautiful for that purpose, but 

 to me, and presumably to the town people, it must always be a 

 source of regret. However, the cheerfidness and comfort of the 

 Pioneer Hotel cannot be denied, and after an abundance of refresh- 

 ments and a good night's sleep, our two pets, the Viking and the 

 Racine, were without injury or blemish (it must be owned, however, 

 that the watchful and anxious eyes of the skipper never left them 

 while making the portage), and, betimes the next morning, 

 launched on the waters of Lake Vermilion. 



Now there was nothing to mar the pleasure of our outset except, 

 what there was of it, a head wund; and as we had been repeatecfly 

 ioM that there was always a head wind on Lake Vermilion, in 

 whatever direction one inight head, this did not disappoint us at 

 first; but after we had rounded Sucker Point and had plied the 

 white ash lireeae o\-eT Big Lake and nearly to the Narrows, about 

 twenty miles, it grew to be somewhat monotonous, and wo com- 

 menced to sigh for even a Dakota blizzard if it would only come 

 from the right direction. Still this monotony of labor did not pre- 

 vent us from enjoying the beautiful fall weather and the fine var- 



iety of changing scenery that we slowly passed— for the misty baze 

 ot autumn is, without doubt, the best condition through wbich to 

 view in its shifting pliases, the varied features of this fine lake, its 

 bold headlands and rocky islands furnishing at every turn beauti- 

 ful incentives for the artist's jjencil, and more particularly views 

 calculated tor the tender treatment of earth and air in India ink 

 or sepia so much in vogue just now with the artists of Cciitur]/ and 

 Harper. We dined at Oold Island, so called from an unfortunate 

 attempt made some twenty years ago by a company of speculators 

 to unearth the precious metal hero, aiul had clioseu to spread our 

 meal very near the old Newson shaft, which we afterward visited. 

 The sailor and I had vohuiteered to aupei-intend the culinary ojier- 

 ations for the party, Avliiio the coinniodoro and the skipper went 

 out prospecting. W e had hardly got tliL- camp kettle on before Ave 

 heard lirst a shot fi-om one direction and then one from another, 

 and in a few minutes our ranking seniors came in, each ot them 

 with a plump partridge; but more than tliis, (:he commodore came 

 provided with a game bag full of potatoes that he had foraged 

 from some Indian field, v^ here, lunvever, he declined to tell, and 

 we cared not to know. He simply .said "bouljong" for supper, and 

 this, to me at least, meant volumes. 



Having dined as hungry men will, and smoked, we proceeded 

 again against the wind, whiclt contintied to shift around every 

 turn and headland square against us until wc had fairly reached 

 the opening to the big west end of the lake. There for the first 

 time the yvind commenced to play us fair on the side, and while 

 we were casting about for a good camping spot for the night the 

 skipper had espied an island about in the center of the lake and 

 two miles ahead, and said, "I can reach the lee of that island, 

 and there's wbero we will camp to-night." Now a smart breeze 

 was blowing, and I knew that the square edge of a three-mile 

 sweep was liable to prove uncomfortable to less nautical friends 

 than he, yet as I never presumed to question either the skipper's 

 orders or his judgment, I at once acquiesced. And here is wdiero 

 the sailor first engendered tliat love for the poetry of billowy 

 motion that kept developing more and more from this time to the 

 end of the trip. Camp, lovely spot, well sheltered, ;ind— bouljong. 

 (Orthographically this is not a success, but phonelically and gSLS- 

 tronomically entirely so. Please let the (commodore have his way 

 in a little matter like this, seeing that it was he wlio furnished (he 

 potatoes, from Heaven knows where, but without which it could 

 never have been such a divine success.) 



Neighborly calls were hardly to be expectefl after supper in this 

 far-away region, and we hardly- looked for any such social contin- 

 gency. jU'ter dark, nevertheless, two gentlemen from a birch bark 

 gave us tliis pleasure j ust as we were finishing our last pipe prepara- 

 tory to turning in. They were not guests the sailor and 1 were 

 very anxious to take in for intimate acquaintances, hovv'ever, nor 

 did the Commodore seem to take to them particularly, for yve let 

 him do the honors, and after they had gone he informed us that, 

 though they had probably exiJected to lind a camp and et cetera 

 ready made for the night, he did not urge thorn to stay, but rather 

 to continue their journey for the camp they were or protended to 

 be in search of on the south shore, for he kindly explained to them 

 tbat we (the sailor and I) were wealthy Eastern capitalists looking 

 out pine lands and might not like to be disturbed. And the "East- 

 ern capitalists" were rather i-elieved when they had gone, but felt 

 a sense of meanness, nevertheless, to have been the cause of a 

 somewltat scurvy entertainment in a situation where nature par- 

 ticularly claims a common brotherhood for all mankind. But let 

 it not, on account of this incident, be said that the Commodore 

 was, or is, anything but the most kind-hearted being alive. It was 

 with infinite pleasure that we had noted during the day lus con- 

 tinually repeated acts of kindness to and eft'oits of familiarity 

 with the Indians we now and tlien had met; he always had 

 a kind yvord for them which they certainly understood the spirit 

 of, if not the letter, and his bottomless game bag never failed 

 to bring out a plug of tobticco for every one he met. One sucli 

 scene will always be indelibly impressed upon my mind. Wc 

 had just passed Gold Island when -we met a model Indian family 

 of four on their way to the Indian reservation or towik, now the 

 mart of exchange for all Indian produce in tltis region. In the 

 center of tlie canoe was the squaw, brown and jet t iack haired 

 with her eleven or twelve months papoose as handsome as an 

 Indian babe can well l>e, sleeping serenely though bound so tightly 

 to its board-backed frame that it stood nearly upright against the 

 side of the canoe and square against the bright midday sun. In 

 the bow .a six year old boy^ bright and active, prepared to enjoy to 

 the full the stupendous wonders of the now town and tbe iron 

 horse so lately come to tbe bead of the old lake, and then the 

 "paterfamilias" stately and sedate, with his paddle at the stern, 

 who yvith an almost imperceptible twirl or turn of the wrist made 

 the frail bark move like a thing ot life. I could not help while 

 looking at this picture during the ehort exchange of civilities 

 going on with tobacco and pantomime between the Commodore 

 and the chief, and wdiile the squaw with her eyes was devour- 

 ing the superb finish of the Racine, thinking how immeasurably 

 superior tlie Indian in his native element of wild woods and 

 waters is to the debased and often squalid creature the mere con- 

 tact with oar civilization often leaves liim. 



Ha\dug an object before us we were up betimes the next morning 

 and soon ■with the aid of the white ash reached the far A\'est end 

 of the lake and by noon, having completed otir observations, were 

 dined at the Commodore's summer residence. About here a 

 couple of partridges were bagged by the skipper and then we re- 

 sumed our journey by water tor another point of interest, where 

 it was proposed to spend the night. Our route lay along the most 

 enchanting scenery and the water was as smooth as glass. Our 

 trolling tackle was out, but so was the blinking sun and this was 

 probably the cause of our want of success in t^iis line, but as we 

 passed a certain headland we had an e veiling bit of sport; par- 

 tridges were discovered; I fired, tiic skipper fired (in my haste I 

 had seized lus gun and he my musket — he calls my Pai'ker a mtis- 

 ket from its strong shootiug qualities which he' has tested) and 

 then we both jumped asliore and fired once or twice more and it 

 became a subject of lively discussion when we were under wav 

 again if any ot the poor birds got away. C'ertain it is that we had 

 four birds more for "Bouljong" that night and equally certain 

 that five shells were emptied, but as to who emptied the extra 

 shell yvill never be explained, for we had exchanged guns after 

 the first round, but that no bird got away from us was equally 

 maintained by all concerned. 



The balance of the day was spent in royving and paddling 

 leisurely along beautiful shores between rocky islands anil sur- 

 veying such other objects of interest as we Had come to see. 

 Camped that night on a high headland overlooking a landlocked 

 bay. Having now accomplished the abject of our trip in fact, wo 

 resolved to devote the next day to exploration aitd sport, if any 

 could be found. The Commodore and the writer had often wished 

 for an opportunity to run up an arm of the lake northeast from 

 the big west end, and then follow a creek some three miles 

 further into a tributary lake Avliich was said to be full of \vild 

 rice, hence ducks, and we went accordingly. But except for the 

 keen enjoyment always felt in dipping blades in virgin waters and 

 discovering pastures new the ti-ip was fruitless. The creek proA'ed 

 a sluggish one, easily navigable, but tedious from its continual 

 snake-like coils through a uniform bed of tall reed.s and grass, 

 and the lake, though promising When fiiiall>' reached, \vas envirely 

 void of that sport which wc liad anticipated, for with tlie excep- 

 tion of a few lonely ducks which took alarm at our lir.st approach, 

 the lake was empty. The Commodoi'e would not be satisfied, how- 

 ever, until he had explored it to its extreme length; but while he 

 and the skipper took the Racin(i to scotu- its shores, the sailor and 

 I, with some disgust, took the Viking back to the spot opposite 

 tne mouth of tlie creek which we had pre\nou8ly fixed tipon as 

 our camping ground for the night. 



We had now been out two nights, and our commissariat had got 

 into that state wbere something liad to be done. The fact was our 

 stock of bread had given out. We had plenty of the raw material 

 for bread, but it was tolerably \^■cll known by most in the party 

 that sometliiiig had to be done to this material before it could 

 become of real service as the staff of life. .Inst what this thing 

 was seemed not so much a mystery as a subject for some shvness. 

 Tliey all knew how, but somehow seemed to evade the point at 

 issue. For the commodore to slap a little bread togetlier was an 

 easy matter. The skipper thought it simple onougb and the sailor 

 guessed he had made flapjacks in the army. So it seemed that I 

 Avas the only one in the wliole party, that far from despising the 

 operation, really knew that bread-making was an art, because 1 

 had seen it done. 1 had even helped at the process; for once Avliile 

 out when we had nothing in the w-orld for a bread pan but 

 birch bark, I had furnished the bark. So I had resolved that while 

 my friend, the sailor, was fixing camp, I would surprise our seniors 

 with hot bread f oi- supper. But how- there came to be the amount 

 of genius, tact, science and manipulative skill required for this 

 delicate operation in one person at one time, A\'as indeed a mystery 

 not only to myself, but e . en more so to my companions. However, 

 the bread was good; was greeted with applause in fact; and tliis 

 was how I suddenly became invested with the undisputed dignity 

 of chief cook and commissary for the party. (I might add botlle- 

 M'asher also, but it hardly agrees \\dth mx notion of dignitv.) Slept 

 like horses— tired drag horses— or like mules for tluit matter, for 1 

 have been privately ihformed since then that sotmds issued from 

 our tent that night something like the braying of that animal, at 

 any rate a noise the like of whicli probably never before disturbed 

 their solitudes, and tlws is to be hoped may never again. The next 

 morning we commenced to retrace o-ar course, bomeward bound 



in fact. The weather had up to this time been most favorable 

 and still continued fine. We had a splendid run across the big 

 west end, a four mile sheet of water, witli the Avind on otir 

 quarter, and tbis wind became even more favorable as we entered 

 the narrows, and for some seven miles we had a glorious run right 

 before it, roost of the lime cliasing tl>e billows M'ing and wing. 



But it was no( intended that we should go the whole length of 

 Lake Vermilion and back again without being favored Avith a lit- 

 tle demonstration of what it can dowlienit has a mind. .Siren- 

 like, she had lured us into tbe innermost recesseii with her sw eet- 

 est smiles, but it was anotiicr niattei- as soon as we made it mani- 

 fest that we intended to leave her fair Viosom for good, 'then she 

 became tearing rnad, and wc \vcre not slow to catch on. A bend 

 inthearni of i lie lake neccssif ating a shifting course across the 

 wind bad just been passed, and wc had a three-mile stretch of 

 clear sailing before us and exposed to a two-mile sweep, v\ In-n tlie 

 skipper anutfed tlie .air significantly and merely .'^atd "wind." Sure 

 enough, some ugly-looking clouds were seen bearing down upon us 

 in great shape, and they Avcre not slow in coming. I telt pretty 

 tolerably sm-o that the 'Viking would stand abuost any sea that 

 this part of the lake could W'Cll kick up: altliotigh, with (hree 

 good-sized fellows on her .and all our luggage, slie was loaded 

 rather too lieavily, but what made the situation serious just here 

 was the Racine in tow with the comniodore in her, '^Vonld she 

 stand a suddenly kicked up cliopping sea r^ght square across her 

 beam? was the question, for should the commodore spill out or 

 even till we would bavc to stop to get him aboard, of course, 

 which Avottld ba.-ve been awkward for both parties. As 

 the wind kept inereasing to quite a gale, several pos- 

 sible contingencies, any one of wbicb would be accom- 

 panied by disagreeable complications, kept dancing before me 

 with entirely' too much vividness for jierfect composure. Mean- 

 while I watched the Coutmodore in lus little sliell. Shei;ecame 

 fascinating under tlic circumstances— she lias alvva^ sbcen a bcauty. 

 To see her rise and fall on tlie crest of a wave or lay herself calmly 

 between two monsters as if to invite dcslrucfion, onl>' to come up 

 smiling and shoke hei-self again saucily for another and deeper 

 plunge was something I had l eatl aliout rterhaps, but never before 

 seen. Tlie Commodore's paddle, it must be understood., hoAvever, 

 was not idle, foi- to ha\ e left her to the tender mercies of a tow line 

 would be asking too much under tlie circuiustance even of a 

 Racine. The wind kept augmenting, but so did our speed, and 

 when we finally gained shelter from a friendly headland, the 

 tension my nerves bad been put to relaxed, and I began to shake 

 as if with the ague. The captain and I have both been in many 

 ticklish places together, have even been capsized, but 1 am safe to 

 say tliiit L was ne\ cr more excited in my- life than over this gallant 

 struggle of the little Racine wit h ttie inermaids of Lake A'ermilion. 

 The Commodore, over whom Ave had had all this fuss, had never 

 changed a muscle; the skipper never uttered a word of thanks, 

 but the sailor drew one long and deep sigh of relief, as with a 

 pathos most significant he remarked, "Water! MuchAvaterll Too 

 much Avater!!!" 



HaA ing gone ashore, stretched our legs and consulted our maps, 

 we discovered that from this point we had nearly a straigbt shoot 

 of only a couple of miles to the first narroAvs, with tlie wind nearly 

 aft, so Av-e were not long in taking advantage of this fact and get- 

 ting under AA-ay again in the same order tliat Ave Averc before, for 

 the Commodore laughed at the idea of giAung np his Racine and 

 indiAidual liberty- noAV with the wind in so favorable a quajter. 

 The race across this .stretch was not less exciting, but less danger- 

 ous, and we Avcnt it a Avhocping; we passeil some Indian bo>-a in a 

 canoe lying to .n the nioulli of thcnartoAVs, and their moutbs were 

 literally agape with amazement at the rate Ave swooped by them 

 (pcrhai)S also at the «trangc craft wc Avere in). And no\v it Avas 

 determind tbat, aa the winrl A\-as increasing to a steady gale, we 

 should only make Gold Island and get dinner tliere while awaiting 

 future action of the elements from ;i bovc. 



We found a loA-ely spot for our purpose in a. slicllcred coa-c, and 

 Avent to work with that mathematical precision Avhich invariably 

 characterizes the movements of the commissary A\bcn in camp 

 and prepared a meal fit for far higher personages than any Ave had 

 to deal A\ith, i. c, "the gods," Avhicli, ba\ ing discussed to our 

 stomach's content (for the stomach's is apt to be heart's content 

 in such cases), Ave proceeded to discuss the fnvlcward situation OA'er 

 our pipes and the .smouldering camp-fire. After due deliberation 

 and taking the rather too tempestuous Aveather into consideration, 

 it Avas resolved to take it easy and row along under the protection 

 of the north shore ttntil aa-c should reach a point from av hi ch we 

 could make a straight shoot, with tbe Avind .abaft, for Bircli Point. 

 Right here it may be remarked tbat (his plan suited the sailor 

 exactly, except in so far ,ns it migJit bo thought necessary to sail. 

 He liked sailing, he remarked, and he had gro« ii quite enthusias- 

 tic over it on this trip; indeed, it a\ iis the poetry- of motiun long 

 sought for, but it Avas a mistake to suppose thatsiich poctrvshould 

 be indulged in except on smooth Avatei'. It had been his'lifclong 

 habit to sail on smooth water, he said, and he had nev er met with 

 an accident: but on rough Avater people should always roAA-. And 

 to prove his honesty of opinion and purpose he ey-en 

 proposed to roAv himself; but this proposition, it must be 

 remarked, Avas met Avith somewhat of incredulity bv the 

 rest of the party, and yet the i.ipinion, experience and 

 logic of the sailor had such Aveight with us t hat when a\-c started 

 "it Avas rowing we Avere;" and thus wc daAvdlod along watching 

 the Aveather which Avas P'.ill'y and boisterous; stopped once intend- 

 ing to raise a .shelter of our tent to escape a threatened sJujwer, 

 but thought better of it as it appeared to blow over; proceeded 

 until we had come lo a rioint ft' m Avhcre avc could cross this arm 

 of the lake for Hirch Point, the place Aviiere avc had ini ended to 

 camp if the weather should;pro\ e too boisterous for continuing our 

 Avay across Big Lake to 'loA\cr, atid jnst here it AA-as Ave met a 

 Sight, or rather a sight passed us that slrtiek the Commodore and 

 myself with a sense of sluimc and the skipper Avith something 

 like silent wrath. A half a dozen birch barks Avcrc seen plying 

 along m the A-ery center of Storm channel and tlieir occupants we 

 knCAv to be Indians from the fact that tliov used their blankets 

 only for s.ails and they Averc LaAung a lovely time playing with 

 wind and waves. This avus too much for the skipper and AA-ith 

 suppressed rage he comnumdcd me "Give iicr the foresail, Mr. 

 Coumdssary, Ave must see where those pet ky squaws arc going." 

 And 1 was only too quick to give her the foresail. Hoaa- (lew as 

 Ave got into big AA-atcr Avhcre the wind had more sweep, tlie waves 

 grew naturally greater, and as Ave neai-cd the ouposite shore, the 

 rain squall that liad been threatening struck us and made things 

 furious; the wind picked uji the Avater and si>lashed the sprav over 

 us in spite of our running aA\ ay Irom it, and the captain, with the 

 sheet in one hand and the tiller in the other, had all he could do to 

 holdher. I bad my hands on Vlie throat halliards and A\'as ready to 

 let go instantly at Avord of command. As for tlte Commodore avo 

 Avasted no thought on him now, for VAith the Avind astern, as long 

 as our rigging Avould Iiold he Avas all right. But the sailor jtist 

 now was rather in an embarrassing position. He couldn't; roA\', 

 that was certain and equally certain it was that this was not his 

 kind of weather for sailing. Then again Ave could not very Avell 

 stay Avhvrc we were, he adniitt'. d c\ en f hat the force of circum- 

 stances A\ ere such as to compel us to go on. c cn if Ave Avent to the 

 bottom, indeed afterward he candidly confessed that as there 

 Avas only one thing tor him to do. this he did A\'itli all the care im- 

 aginable, as he expi'essed ii, "I Avas determined to go dovvn Avith 

 my hair parted right square in the middle," but we did not go 

 down, but on. 



W^e soon entered the itnrrows leading to Big Lake but we had 

 yet some Uistauce to make to Birch Point under a\ hich avc intended 

 to take shelter, tlie wind rather increased than let up, it seemed 

 to make a funnel of the Narrows and bowled us along at a great 

 rate. Here an tmlookedfor complication arose, cither om- course 

 or the Avind bad changed a trifle so that under ordinary circum- 

 stances in order to round Birch Point we should have sluftcd sail. 

 The Avind was now so furious, however, that this simple msineuvi'o 

 could not be thought of and we Avere forced to follow a windAvard 

 shore Avith a sail to AvindA\ ard, bellying so far before the mast at 

 times tbat it Avas in some danger oi being Avrapped fii'ound it 

 (to come around with the commodore in to\VAvas not to be thougbt 

 of),andhereitAyas tbat the sailor's nautical tnoAvlcdge failed him. 

 To boAAl along in mid channel with a friendly windward shorn not 

 far oil, olfering sotnc protection and not a\ ail oursclAcs of it Avas 

 something beyond his ideas of what ougltt to be done, but .still it 

 must be argued that as a landsman his instincts, remained intact, 

 for he repeatedly- put the query-, "Caret w-e get in here some\sheres 

 Avhcre it won't howl so?" bat when this idea had been hinted a fcAV 

 times the commissary- was forced to quiet him \vith a "ssh, dear 

 boy, don't bother tlie skipper now he has all he can attend to," 

 by Avhich time aa'c were near P.ircli Point, the most ticklish point 

 for us to make as yet but pleasant if gained. "Got a hold or the 

 boom if you can," said the skipper to me, "and at the word hattl 

 down and take (he oars, 1 will 'tend to the commodore." "All 

 right, .lohn." "Noav." Down she came! but before I could get the 

 oars in motion the momentum a\-c had gaineil cwung ns into 

 smooth AA-ater witli the Racine under the Viking's lee folloAAdng 

 the tOAV line in the skipper's ready band, and right in the midst of 

 a fleet of birch barks. ^Ve found oursci ves with their dusky occu- 

 pants almost as surprised as we were at the .sudden and unexpected 

 meeting. They had stopped lo make some trifling repairs to some 

 of their crafts and to await a favorable sign from the elements to 

 move on doAvn through Big J^ako. We intended if the weather did 

 not let uj], to stop aU night. 



It was aggi-avating, though, after they bad waited aAA'hile for a 



