March 22, 1913 
FOREST AND STREAM 
365 
DOUBLE TRACKING SOUTHERN PACIFIC AT VERDI, NEV. 
a tribute to that lake-route connected with the 
steamers that ply between Fort William, Port 
Arthur and Sarnia. The “Huronic,” “Saronic,” 
and the more sumptuously appointed “Hamon- 
ic,” offer all the comforts and luxuries of the 
most perfectly equipped ocean liners. The 
voyage through these inland lakes is truly a 
delight, and surely it behooves those on holiday 
bent, to give them serious consideration. 
There is ever an incomprehensible feeling 
of delight inseparable from an ocean voyage, 
which by virtue of Canada’s great lakes, is not 
denied the dwellers in the interior of this land. 
It is not necessary to draw upon our imagi¬ 
nation, to believe in very truth we are plow¬ 
ing the majestic waters of the Atlantic or the 
silent depths of the lonely Pacific, as the log 
reels off mile after mile of fresh water, in a 
manner worthy of emulation by many of her 
salt-water rivals. From the moment we em¬ 
bark at Sarnia until we disembark at Fort 
William, ocean customs, ocean pursuits and 
ocean amusements are ours. 
Monotony, together with dull care, are be¬ 
hind. Everything is bright as it can be in this 
world; the life, perchance, is novel, and despite 
the fact that we are surrounded by hundreds of 
miles of fresh water, there is a decided smack 
of the ocean about the whole. 
One has only to sit silently watchful, com¬ 
fortably ensconced in a deck chair, to observe 
the effect produced on the worn and tired who 
have decided to avail themselves of a “Superior 
outing.” Every hour spent on these bracing 
waters tells a silent tale, and it might be truth¬ 
fully stated that every passenger bears an elo¬ 
quent testimony to their efficiency in those in¬ 
sidious ailments which are so hard to diagnose. 
It is quite impossible to describe in a brief 
sketch; probably impossible to describe in a 
succession of voluminous sketches, the pleas¬ 
ures to be derived from a sail on Canada’s in¬ 
land waters. 
Let not the intending passenger be hood¬ 
winked into the belief that such a voyage as 
this is fraught with the faintest suspicion of 
monotony. Nothing could be further from the 
truth. If, however, monotony consists of an 
interminable repetition of varied incidents, such 
as we are confronted with at every hour of the 
day, what objection can we raise. This is 
exactly that which we came for. Incident, ex¬ 
citement, comfort, pleasure, novelty, and the 
rest of the desirable items, never absent from a 
lake voyage, cause time to fly on swallow’s 
wings, making our voyage all too short, our 
pleasures far too fleeting. 
There is another route-, however, providing 
equal enjoyment for that one who is not alto¬ 
gether sure of those qualifications which are 
deemed to be of greater or lesser importance 
in the general “make up” of a sailor. 
From many ports on the borderland of On¬ 
tario’s Highlands, excursions may be made to 
a host of delightful resorts. Connections are 
made by steamer with Parry Sound, Midland, 
Meaford, Collingwood and Owen Sound, which 
embrace the very heart of the world-famed 
Thirty Thousand Islands, than which there is 
nothing more distinctly unique on the conti¬ 
nent of America. 
If it be but little more than one hundred 
miles from Penetang to Point au Maril, there 
is, condensed into that distance, such a pro¬ 
fusion of beauty and loveliness, such a succes¬ 
sion of verdant slopes and tree-fringed islands, 
as may be encountered in no other land on 
earth. The visitor from far distant scenes 
stands mute in wonder, at the glories here re¬ 
vealed. One is constrained to think that some 
benign visitor from the stellar regions, rudely 
surprised in the distribution of his many charms 
in the Highlands of Ontario, packed his treas¬ 
ures too hastily, with the result that in passing 
westward, an abundance of his heavenly gifts 
were recklessly showered about the coast. 
Many foreign authors and writers make 
allusion to the Thirty Thousand Islands of the 
Georgian Bay, as well as to the Thousand 
Islands of the St. Lawrence; thus indisputably 
testifying to the impression made upon, their 
minds by these delightful resorts. Even Jules 
Verne, the most descriptive of French writers, 
speaks in no ungenerous way, nor is he sparing 
in his praise of these beauty spots. 
This inland lake scenery, in and around the 
Georgian Bay, may indeed, for lack of a more 
descriptive designation, be truthfully termed 
incomparable. 
Go where you will, nature in some dif¬ 
ferent humor is to be encountered in this 
region, yet never is she tiresome or want¬ 
ing in variation. The most exacting leave 
these “islands of the blest” with a set determina¬ 
tion to renew their acquaintance therewith, 
and at the earliest oportunity make further ex¬ 
plorations. 
There is as much scenery here, as much 
charm, variety and surpassing interest, as would 
suffice for a whole continent. And this, if un¬ 
expressed is the consensus of opinion of all 
who once become infected with the glamor of 
this lake district. 
The patriotic words of Wilfred Mills, so 
admirably set to music by Laura G. Lemon, and 
dedicated in a spirit of laudable loyalty to her 
“dear countrymen,” come instinctively to mind: 
“P'tire moonlight gleaming on -wide inland sea. 
Pictures the home life most dear unto thee: 
Splendor of sunrise on peaks soaring high. 
Symbols thy glory in years drawing nigh.” 
The Illinois Game Commission Law. 
Chicago, Ill., March 3 .—Editor Forest and 
Stream: Some of the enlightened sportsmen of 
Michigan have been working for a game com¬ 
mission law during the present session of the 
Legislature. The bill was drafted by the sports¬ 
men and introduced by Senator Francis King. 
But for political or other reasons, the Senator 
deserted his guns and threatened to withdraw 
the bill if it was pushed. 
The shout went up that the Democrats were 
planning to get control of the game wardens’ 
department, and so the bill had to be chloro¬ 
formed to prevent the calamity. So politics 
again demonstrate its narrowness. 
I wonder whether it is politics or some other 
nigger in the woodpile which prevents the pres¬ 
ent administration from making wholesale ar¬ 
rests of those who are spearing rainbow and 
steelhead trout. 
In one respect Michigan has very stringent 
laws, and they apply to the non-resident. 
Rupert Starbird. 
Black Woodchucks. 
Rutland, Vt., March 3.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: I was much interested in the com¬ 
munication from W. M. Hardy in your issue of 
March i relative to black woodchucks, and like 
him was rather surprised that a former corres¬ 
pondent referred to this phase of the woodchuck 
as rare. Of course it may be uncommon in some 
sections of the country, but it is not unusual in 
Vermont. I have collected mammal skins of all 
descriptions in this' State for several years, and 
have had occasion to see many woodchuck hides 
as well as the live animals. I think I have never 
seen a black one in the rhain range of the Green 
Mountains or even in the hill pastures, but in 
the valleys and more particularly in the ledgy 
country along Lake Champlain fully 10 per cent, 
of the animals will be black. The mountain 
“chucks” are always of the red and gray type. 
I have never observed any that were intermedi¬ 
ate between the black ones and the common 
color. George L. Kirk. 
