FOREST AND STREAM 
853 
In the Hudson Bay Country 
Sport Along Canada’s Newest Transcontinental Railway. An informational Little Story. 
Notes From a Sportsman’s Log. 
Milady With An 18 Pound Pike. 
One of the favorite routes to James Bay 
recommended by the white men who have made 
many of the routes is by way of the Paguatchuan 
river which runs into the English or Kenogami 
and thence into the Albany river and James 
Bay. It is claimed for this route that at certain 
waters it can be made from the tracks of the 
railroad to the waters of James Bay with but 
two carries. It is also claimed that at one place 
there is seventy-five miles of fast water which 
can be run in one day without a carry. There 
are brook trout in the upper reaches of this 
trip: that is, in the Paguatchuan and the Eng¬ 
lish rivers. 
It is the custom of the Indians to run down 
one river and come up another river, some 
streams being better adapted to travel one way 
and others to travel in the opposite direction. 
It is also a custom to learn the depth or pitch 
of water in the various rivers and adapt the 
trip to those streams most favorable at the 
time. Few experienced canoe travelers in this 
region go up and down the same river. Six 
weeks is the customary time to allow for a com¬ 
fortable trip down any of the rivers and back 
to the railway, although it can be made in three 
By James A. Cruikshank. 
Photographs By the Author. 
(Concluded from last week.) 
weeks if one is willing to travel light and fast. 
The Ombabika is another popular river for 
the James Bay trip, but it takes three weeks to 
make the trip from the railway. It is an easier 
trip than some of the other rivers, however, and 
for that reason is popular for heavy packing. 
It was on the banks of this stream that I saw 
Indians carrying over two hundred pounds of 
flour in tump-line loads over the carry from the 
tracks to the river, but balking at the ungainli- 
ness and size of a twenty-pound sewing machine. 
That sewing machine, probably headed for the 
wife of some Hudson Bay post factor or pos¬ 
sibly for some Indian squaw, was very nearly 
left on a carry; it took a good deal of argu¬ 
ing to make the young braves swing its light 
bulk on their backs. One of the traders, famil¬ 
iar with the Indian dialect in use there, told 
me that the older Indians of the party regarded 
the thing with some sort of superstitious awe 
and were averse to carrying it with them. 
There are innumerable wonderful canoe 
cruises available all over this region, especially 
toward the western end of it. Round trips can 
be made to the north or the south covering hun¬ 
dreds of miles without uncomfortable carries, 
through game and fish country which is unsur¬ 
passed and returning to the railroad where 
trains may be had for the home journey. One 
of the best of these is south from the station 
at Ombabika on the lake of that name, thence 
across the upper end of Lake Nipigon, to White 
Sand River, Wabinosh Lake, Treeby Lake, 
Tunnel Lake and Trout Lake. This is a 
scenic trip of rare beauty, furnishes wonder¬ 
ful fishing for big brook trout, contains no 
carry longer than a mile and a half and abounds 
in magnificent camp sites in the midst of great 
game country. It could be done in a week, or 
even three days of fast travel, but is worth a 
whole vacation. 
Another fine canoe cruise is north in 
Sturgeon River, starting from Superior Junction, 
to Dog Lake, Sturgeon Lake, and following 
along the river until one is tired, for the river 
parallels the tracks for nearly a hundred miles. 
This trip comprises a great variety of scenery, 
with many rocky, bold lakes, much placid water, 
great moose country, considerable caribou and 
bear and abundance of brook trout of great size. 
All of these cruises to which reference has been 
made are in the headwaters of the famous 
Nipigon. The upper reaches of the Nipigon 
waters, above the lake of that name have been 
practically untouched by sportsmen and are 
virgin territory for the lover of wildness, fish 
and game. 
The Indians of this region are Cree and 
Ojibway. Few of them speak any English at 
all. They are unspoiled by civilization and un¬ 
familiar with the requirements of the average 
sportsman or camper. It would 'be better to ar¬ 
range for guides either by correspondence with 
the Hudson Bay company factor at Lac Seul, 
near Graham, or by arrangement with one of 
the outfitters at Nipigon village on Lake Super¬ 
ior. Many of the Missinaibie Indians know this 
region fairly well and the Hudson Bay post 
there might help out with guides. The local 
Indians along these waters spend the winter 
away down near the bay trapping and hunting 
and when spring comes make their way up river 
to the nearest post. Since the railway pushed 
into their territory they extend their southerly 
trip to its tracks and camp for several day to 
see a train go by. “Ish-ko-tah-toboggan” they 
remark, as it whizzles along, which means “fire 
toboggan” and is far from being a bad descrip¬ 
tion. 
They are exceptionally good canoemen and 
perennially good natured. They have the latest 
Winchester rifles and are fast discarding their 
fine birch bark canoes for the basswood or cedar 
canoes of the Peterborough make. The near 
presence of many gigantic canoe birches in this 
region as well as native skill in canoe building 
makes the price of canoes very cheap here. A 
good bark canoe can be bought in this region for 
ten dollars but it is not wise to trust to getting 
one on short notice for any trip. At the Hudson 
Bay post of Lac Seul even a pool table has been 
Two, Four Pound Square Tail Trout. 
