The Mirrors of the Old Magnetawan 
I HAVE long thought what a blessing it would be if the 
hosts of Pennsylvania and Ohio people, and others as 
well, could fully realize during the sweltering summer sea- 
sou how much they could add to tlieir stock of health, 
how much lliey could add to tlieir stock of delightful 
memories by a sojourn into the cool and refreshing cli- 
mate of northern Ontario. Nearly every ordinary wage 
earner may . do this, if economical. Twentj'-five dollars 
\vill suflice for a two weeks' trip to the Muskoka country 
and insure the tourist good boarding, ^ood bathing, boat- 
ing and fishing, and an abundance of ozone-laden air so 
rich and bracing that, barring organic troubles, it would - 
even bring one back from the jaws of death. 
If the tourist will go as I have gone, far from the haunts 
of men to some sheltered nook on a Canadian lake — audi 
these lakes arc legion — carrying a modest and meager . 
camper's outfit, there he ma}', like Abraham and Sara, 
dwell in tents and not be ashamed to have angels or even 
•gtnglers visit him. He may do this at a cost so small that 
Staying at holfne is pure prodigality. Fuel is free, game 
and fish are free and abundant, and I have never found so 
many luscious wild fruits and berries in any other region. 
I gathered last season, within easy reach 
of our camp, down the Severn River 
at the Ragged Rapids, abundance 
of red raspberries, blackberries, blue- 
berries, wild strawberries, wild goose- 
berries, currants and service or June 
berries. The June berry was a theme of 
much discussion in the columns of 
Forest and Stream during the early 
part of this year. On the hillsides of 
old Pennsylvania the tree often grows 
30ft. high, but here it rarely attains 8ft. 
in height; but the berries if anything 
are superior. All these you may gather 
and relish them all the more keenly be- 
cause you did gather them and know 
they are fresh and liome grown. In 
fact, you maj' almost forage in the en- 
emy's country, and at the end of yoiu" 
sojourn go home all sunbrowned and 
\'igorous-looking on the outside, and 
so renovated and repaired on the inside 
that you forget that there was ever a 
half broken down man in the wide 
world. You will have gathered and 
stored enough vitality to last you until 
the warming sun again crosses the 
Tropic and warns you that the time of 
your migration again draws nigh; and 
you are disturbed and restless and your 
spirit longs for the land where cool. 
bracing breezes always blow and where 
valiant, lusty trout and bass are gamely 
vaulting for the early flies; where giant 
pike and mighty mascallonge bask by a v 
fringe of wild rice, or northern rush. 
On a certain morning in earlj^ July a 
party of happy-hearted campers drew 
away from the Pittsburg station and 
swept down the splendid valley of the 
Ohio River, passing so many ambitious 
towns and villages that are persistently 
pushing their borders toward Pittsburg 
that the Smoky City may soon have the 
modest village of Wheeling for a sub- 
urb. Our Lake Erie train soon draws 
us reluctant from the rock-scarred hills 
of the old Ohio, and we hasten north- 
ward over miles upon miles of the most 
splendid upland country on the conti- 
nent. We are borne through the very 
heart of the grape growing district of 
New York, and when we remember 
how delicious are those selfsame 
grapes, we marvel that the orange, the 
olive and the pomegranate did not se- 
lect this lovely land to perfect their rich 
f 1 nits. 
We hasten by Buffalo, on past the 
thunders of Niagara, waiting not to 
watch its wonders, for far to the North- 
land are visions of deep, shady pools, 
rushing, riotous rivers, and the recol- 
lections of their rush and roar leap over 
many leagues of glad green fields to tell us of the haunts 
and habits of lusty, hard-fighting bass, pickerel and mas- 
callonge. 
"And 'tis there that we arc going with our rods and reels and 
traces, 
To a silent, smoky Indian that we know. 
To a couch of new-pulled herhlock, with the starlight in our 
faces. 
For tlie Red Gods call us out and we must go." 
1 might add that our experi'ence of last summer's out- 
ing hardly accords with those of the poet Kipling. We 
liad entirely too much "starlight" in our faces, and just 
as much too little "new-pulled hemlock" in our couches — 
so much so that those old Laurentian rocks that form the 
framework of the region bred a- supreme contempt from 
an undue familiarit}^ with mj^ dorsal vertebrje. By way of 
friendly advice to any one desiring to taste the rather hazy 
pleasures of a balsam bed, I would say: ^e sure to prepare 
voiir bed carefully the very first day in camp, and have 
the work done in daylight. When you think you have 
gathered enough balsam boughs for your bed gather twice 
as much more. Lastly, cut the pine tufts from a goodly 
supply of pine branches, scatter these over your bed to the 
(;\^pth of 2in., and your sleep will be so restful that you 
will leap into the delight,? ot the coming day as joyfully 
as into a paradise. 
At II A. M. July 7 we reach the city of Toronto, which 
liy interpretation means "Place of meeting." for it is here 
ihe Indians met and bartered with the pioneer traders. 
Twent)' minutes later we boarded the Muskoka Express 
on the Grand Trunk Railroad, a magnificent train, equal 
to the very best we could find in the States. We are soon 
thundering northward at ■ a splendid speed, passing 
through a region of fine farms, large orchards and exten- 
sive crops. The conductor screams "Allendale, fifteen 
t^DRHlSt AMU STREAM. 
minutes stop!" and we all rush out tb catch a glimpse of 
the fair Kerapenfeld Bay, which sweeps with a long, 
rgaceful curve around past Barrie, a mile or more away; 
We rush by Rama, the Chippewa Indian reservation, 
seeing many "smoky" Indians lounging around the sta^ 
tion anxioub to go as eruides down the lonely reache.'^ 
Ill the Severn River. 
Wc are now well into the Highlands of Muskoka, and 
the ozone-laden air leaks into the car windows, bearing a 
rich perfume that is distilled in the tops of the pines, 
hemlocks and balsams that cover this region for a thou- 
sand miles to the westward. 
Of the many jaunts I took during a two months' vaca- 
tion in Muskoka, the most unique and entertaining was a 
journey down the lonely windings of the Magnetawan 
River. 
At Burk's Falls, 17O miles due north of Toronto on the 
line of the Grand Trunk Railway, we reach the eastern 
terminus of the navigable waters of this river. Plere the 
waters from Doe feake, Pickerel and Stony lakes come 
down over Burk's Falls like the "waters of Lodore," and 
form the water supply for the Magnetawan River. The 
water is of a dark brownish color, like stain of walnuts, 
due, perhaps, to the iron in solution having been acted 
BRED IN MAINE. 
upon by the tannic acid from pines and hemlocks. 
We stayed all night at the Daly House, near the Grand 
Trunk station, and our accommodations were the best I 
have found in northern Ontario. 
At 7 A. M. we boarded the steamer Wanita for our trip 
down the river, and never in my life have I seen anything 
so wild and grand as the weird scenery of the lower Mag- 
netawan. 
Magnetawan in the Huron tongue means "wide chan- 
nel," but surely it is a misnomer, for were the channel as 
wide as the river it would still be narrow. Meander 
would better indicate the character of the river, for it 
winds out and in, forth and back. Rarely can you see 
300yds down until your view is cut oft' by a rounding 
bend. Here is a region almost free from the despoiling 
hand of man. The forest primeval stands on either bank 
of a very narrow river. The water has so undermined the 
banks that the trees lean toward the middle of the river 
until from opposite banks their tops almost touch. This 
is not all. There is such a perfect image down in the 
shadowland of these ebony waters that stately pines and 
balsams show almost as clear in the shadow as in the 
substance. Beautifully festooned above with the taper- 
ing tops of pine, hemlock and balsam, below the shadows 
festoon again in even more subdued and dainty colors, so 
that our good steamer Wanita seems to sail down an 
avenue in fairyland that has been canopied above and car- 
peted beneath with a tapestry of dehcious green. 
From out the tangled wildwood on either side dart scar- 
let tanagers, Baltimore orioles,' screaming shrike, blue- 
jays and fleet-winged hawks, and all may be seen as di- 
rectly down in the water as up in the air. Wood and 
black ducks are continually rising and dropping into the 
marshes near the river. 
Nailed to a tree in this priirjeval ioTest, and with not 
another sign of human habitation neat, I spie4 a -double 
fiam.ing sign that could be read from both up and down 
the river: 
CHARLES A, CjEISLER, 
CARPET AND WOOL WEAVES, 
There seemed so very few people to Use carpets, arid 
fewer yet using them, that the sign seemed superfliious. A 
rosy-whiskered, wrinkled old Irishman by the name ol 
Mitchell, game warden for the district, said to Mr. Wade, 
an Orillia banker: "Thon sign's no warse ner Geisler. 
The auld Dutch goose kapes botherin 'the loife clane out 
o' me about a bit uf a bull moose that's been a-comin in 
his garden and atin the praties and tomaties. Just luck at 
the chake of him, sindin' me a letter loike this." From 
a mine of smoking tobacco, buckwheat, and sunflower 
seeds located in his capacious inner coat pocket, he fi.shed 
out a grimy letter, which read: 
Geisler's Bend, 12 July, 1899.— thier herr Gove-mint: 
You nit keep your Moose aus mein garten I sure shootin 
him. Your citizens, , C. A, Geisler. 
Moose have been protected by law for nearly ten years 
in Ontario and are now fj^irly abundant in this district. 
This is surely a land of promise for 
moose, deer, bear, lynx, and an occa 
Sional timber or gray wolf. Splendid 
cover, sparse population and an effi- 
cient and M'ell enforced code of game 
laws have done much to check the wan- 
ton destruction of the native wild ani- 
mals. 
Some twenty miles from Burk's 
Falls the Magnetawan widens to the 
distance of two miles or more, and 
here answers to the call of Cecebe 
Lake, which means "much duck," and 
the many fleet feathered messengers 
. that keep beating up and down the lakr 
a-ttest that this lake is well named in 
the Huron tongue "Cecebe." Hereto- 
fore much of the country traversed by 
the Magnetawan has been low and 
swampy, but here the islands and shore 
line stand high up out of the water 
Numerous islands well wooded with 
pine, poplar, cedar and hemlock enrich 
the scenery. As we rounded a rocky 
point a lone but not lonely fish- 
erman exultingly held up a string 
of twenty-five bass. I have never 
been able to see how any intelli- 
gent angler can be so foolish and bar- 
barous as to kill twenty-five fish. 
Twenty of those fish might and ought to 
have been returned to the water. How 
often, oh, how often in the days gone 
by have I seen splendid bass rotting in 
heaps— anglers unable to use their 
catch and too foolish and cruel to re- 
turn the fish to the water. Again and 
again I have seen campers trying to 
give fish away to the farmers. Let 
farmers catch their own fish and return 
all you can't use to the water, and fish- 
mg here at least would be good for 
' generations to come. 
In Cecebe Lake we found bass, 
pickerel and perch fairly abundant 
enough to satisfy the wants of any in- 
telligent angler. 
What is good fiishing.? Fishing is 
best when there are just fish enough to 
keep the angler out in the open air all 
day in quest of fish. Enough to add a 
zest and pleasure to the exercise of 
rowing boats or walking here and there 
tor his fish. Enough fish to keep him 
interested and not enough to satisfy his 
desire to feel those delightful sensations 
that come when the reel screams and 
the line pays out. This happy mean 
between the two extremes is the sum- 
mum bommi of good fishing. 
At the village of Magnetawan there 
IS a waterfall that is passed by means 
of a system of locks. Magnetawan is 
. •, , , ,^ ^ "^^"^ village of perhaps 100 ho.uses. 
A mile below Magnetawan we swing into view of a splen- 
did, newly built brick house. The steamer Wanita wab- 
bles up to the landing to unload two or three thousand 
dollars worth of fine furniture. All this magnificence in 
this almost desolate country leads one to suspect some 
sudden stroke of fortune. My wife said: "I suppose he is 
just home from the IClondike. You know the Klondike is 
not far from here.'' Just then a tall, fair, handsome 
young man of perhaps twenty-three sauntered down to 
Ihe landing, threw oft' his belt containing a large pistol, 
lifted his white military hat to some lady acquaintance and 
asked the captain if all the furniture had come. 
"You seem to have struck it rich," I said by way of 
introduction, to which he only smiled. "Been to Klon- 
dike?" "Yep." "How long ago?" "Oh, I left Magneta- 
wan away back m spring of '94. That's pretty early for 
Klondike, isn't it? Well, I first joined the mounted po- 
lice at Winnipeg and was sent into that country." "How 
did you happen, on such luck?" "Oh. I don't know; ac- 
cidental, I guess. I and Dack Henderson were riding 
down a draw when my saddle girth broke. Fixing it my 
horse pawed up some stuff that looked suspicious, and in 
two hours I gathered up these nuggets." Here he dis- 
played a crude looking but valuable watch chain made of 
fifteen gold nuggets. "Dack got more'n me." 
When the Wanita pulled away from the landing Capt. 
McArthur, of the steamer, said to me: "See }'ou talkin' to 
young Elthon Jenkins. He come back here with $200,~ 
000, hunted up his old sweetheart, took her to Winnipeg, 
dressed her like a queen and married her. Lord! biit she's 
lucky." 
A dozen miles below Magnet&wan we entered Ahmic 
Lake. This resembles the Muskoka Lakes. Bold and 
rockj'- and abundantly supplied with islands — an ideal lake 
for the canoeist and camper, ' ■ 
