Dec. 2, 1911.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
807 
Douglas Lake, the fisherman or boating man can 
go to meals without having to dress for the oc¬ 
casion, and a general spirit of camaraderie pre¬ 
vails. On the 6th of August I reached Pellston, and 
for the first time was met at the railway station 
by an automobile which whirled over the five 
miles to Bryant's in much less time than the 
heretofore horse and buggy had required, and 
I arrived in ample time for dinner, and the greet¬ 
ing of old acquaintances, whom I was glad to 
again meet. There is a charm about this place 
and its surroundings that does not grow less, 
notwithstanding the fact that the fires of 1908 
destroyed so much heavy timber, restricted the 
rambles among the woods, and changed the ap¬ 
pearance of the vicinity very much. But nature 
has tried very hard to conceal the ravages and 
the former bare hills are now covered with a 
second growth so that one who had not been 
conversant with it in former days would hardly 
observe the changes actually made. The beauti¬ 
ful island, so easily reached from the hotel with 
its lovely trails on either side proved a great 
attraction, and visitors loved to wend their way 
through the sinuous paths that pass among dense 
thickets and open glades with entrancing vistas 
among the virginal forest growth, and the fre¬ 
quent flight of ruffed grouse startled from their 
habitat adds much to the delight of city people 
who for the first time hear and see this fine bird 
in its native haunts. Then the many fine views 
of all portions of the lake make these trails yet 
more beautiful. 
The large tract of heavy maple, beech, birch, 
hemlock and pine, known as the “big woods,” 
a hilly tract a half mile northwest, that escaped 
the fire ravage, is also a very pleasant place for 
the lover of nature to ramble through. Some 
of the trees are over five feet in diameter, mon- 
archs of the forest, and in their shade one fre¬ 
quently finds more or less of wild life especially 
black, gray and red squirrels, and the ruffed 
grouse or partridge, and occasionally the Vir¬ 
ginia deer. A man and woman who were sitting 
on a hilltop in early October had the good for¬ 
tune to see three at once and were greatly de¬ 
lighted. 
Bonfires in front of the hotel nearly every 
night added much to the pleasure of guests dur¬ 
ing the season, and corn and mallow roasts were 
of frequent occurrence, while song, dance and 
story artists were impressed on every occasion. 
A thrilling incident occurred during the earlier 
part of the season which nearly cost the life of 
a young man from Anderson, Ind., whose name 
escapes me. He took a boat and rowed out over 
a half mile, doffed outer garments, and in bath¬ 
ing suit plunged in for a swim. In the mean¬ 
while the boat drifted away, and finally he was 
too exhausted to reach it or the shore, and 
shouted for help. Miss Winnie Bryant hastily 
launched a boat, and getting someone to accom¬ 
pany her, hurriedly pulled out to the almost un¬ 
conscious man who rested his hand on the boat 
until they could get him in, when he became 
wholly unconscious, and was taken ashore. By 
constant effort he was finally brought out of his 
comatose condition after some two hours of hard 
work. All who were present were unanimous 
in praise of the heroism of Miss Winnie and 
agreed that she was deserving a Carnegie medal. 
Raspberries were quite plentiful and added 
much to the table enjoyment, but the weather 
was so dry at the proper season when black¬ 
berries needed rain that there was but a poor 
supply of the latter. The new bushes have come 
up thickly where destroyed by the fire and the 
promise for the future is good. 
The camp of the civil engineers and biologists 
of the Michigan University at the southeastern 
bay or the lake was again well attended and ably 
conducted, and has become quite a welcome 
feature. Their neat array of tents about the 
curvature of South Fishtail Bay, with the com¬ 
missary department and national flag on the hill 
beyond, make a pleasing picture, and when a 
few boat loads have a night off and traverse the 
lake, the various quartettes and glee clubs fill the 
air with their melodies, much to the delight of 
the listeners. The camp is subject to strict dis¬ 
cipline, and the out-of-door daily practice in all 
branches of civil engineering helps to make them 
more proficient, besides building them up physi¬ 
cally. The biologists have a wide field in wh'ch 
to pursue their studies and find many rare speci¬ 
mens. 
Some of the old habitues of the lake have 
dropped out by death, but new faces are seen 
from year to year. Among those there this sea¬ 
son were three estimable young business men 
from Cleveland, Ohio, Messrs. Wyman, Shupe 
and Yale, and Mr. and Mrs. Sawyer and others 
from Indianapolis who were good company and 
greatly pleased that they had found Douglas 
Lake so attractive. They had good reason for 
being a bit disappointed in the bass fishing, for 
while there are plenty in the lake, for some un¬ 
known cause they were very loth to take bait 
except earlier in the season. All through August, 
September and October a day’s fishing hardly 
ever resulted in over four or five to a rod, al¬ 
though all varieties of bait were used. All that 
I took this season were caught upon a single 
fly, either the professor or coachman. Who can 
account for the vagaries or moods of the small- 
mouth bass? It is true there are many minnows 
in the lake and at times they will take them 
viciously in preference to anything else, and again 
will either not touch or catch and kill and let 
go. 
One day a peculiar deposit was found cover¬ 
ing the surface of the water which had the ap¬ 
pearance of crude oil, but after a few hours 
settled on the shores whither it was driven by 
the wind and could be scooped out in masses 
one-half inch thick and looked like black paint. 
It would leave a $tain upon the hands or upon 
any surface on which applied, and when the 
water was drained off and the mass became dry, 
it was a fine brownish powder. General McKee, 
who had observed it, and to whom I showed the 
powder, said he had no doubt that it came from 
some volcanic eruption, the ashes being diffused 
through the air and finally by the rains deposited. 
A few days afterward he told me that the news¬ 
papers mentioned an eruption. Later we were 
told that a similar deposit on Mullet and Burt 
lakes had been the cause of much speculation. 
The trout streams in this vicinity yielded very 
fair returns this season and many an appetizing 
dish was prepared for the guests. 
By some provision, or more probably perver¬ 
sion of a law presumably made for the benefit 
of the Indians, whitefish are speared in Indian 
River between Burt and Mullet lakes for a num¬ 
ber of days in the late fall, and when the run 
is good, a goodly number are taken each night 
from boats having jacklights, two persons usually 
spearing, with one with oars or paddle slowly 
propelling. Some of the hotel habitues spent a 
few nights on the river, with but fair success, 
nevertheless we enjoyed a few messes of white- 
fish freshly killed, and wished there were more. 
Late in October flocks of ducks began coming 
in and passing to the south, and a few fell vic¬ 
tims to the hunter. Occasional flocks of wild 
geese went by, and one especially large flock of 
several hundred made such noise as to attract 
general attention, and their formation much ad¬ 
mired. During the hunting season a few ducks 
and many ruffed grouse were brought to bag, 
although it is hard work to hunt grouse unless 
one has a good dog trained for the purpose, as 
there are so many logs and underbrush in the 
vicinity of their habitats which only a small dog 
can pass through with ease. Those who other¬ 
wise secured three or four birds in a day were 
fortunate. 
The season has been one marked by much ra : n 
and very high winds. There were no severe 
frosts until very late in October. The gradual 
change in the coloration of leaves was very 
beautiful and extremely interesting to a lover 
of nature, and while in my eleven-foot canvas 
boat Wanderer I slowly rowed about the points 
and bays I could note the effect of the daily 
change and appreciated it to the fullest extent. 
Having passed twelve weeks again in this de¬ 
lightful portion of the country, my time was up, 
and I returned to my desk and duties on Nov. 1, 
well pleased with my vacation. 
THE TOP RAIL. 
Clark Russell’s death recalls an incident 
that amused me greatly. According to previous 
arrangement I met a camping companion at a 
certain beach one Saturday night. There was a 
strong flood tide and a gentle breeze, so I sailed 
right up on the beach before my friend knew 
that I was within five miles of him. The night 
was dark and cold, a fire was burning before the 
tent, and he was wrapped in blankets and sat 
reading and toasting his feet, while a huge 
lantern hanging on a crotched stick threw its 
beams all about. Too comfortable to be dis¬ 
turbed, my friend greeted me cheerily, and went 
on reading. In carrying my duffle up to the 
tent I paused, looked over his shoulder and read 
the title of his thick volume. It was “The 
Frozen Pirate,” and in truth it was a fit story 
to read on a frosty autumn night in a lonely 
camp. 
* * * 
In the papers it was stated that in a recent 
powder mill explosion one of the workmen was 
blown into a certain river, to be fished out pres¬ 
ently, not much the worse for the experience. 
The river mentioned happens to be five miles 
away from the scene of the accident, but unim¬ 
portant details like that are overlooked by papers 
which insist that they are never yellow. 
Grizzly King. 
