Forest and Stream 
$3 a Year, 10 Cts. a Copy, 
Six Months, 
NEW YORK, SATURDAY, JUNE 8, 1912. 
VOL. LXXVIll.—No. 23. 
127 Franklin St., New York 
T hat was exactly where the rub came. How 
could it be possible that, within such a 
trifling distance, within but a few hours’ 
railway journey of their old familiar haunts, lay 
concealed somewhere a veritable “Fairy-Land. ’ 
A "Fairy-Land" such as they had heard about; 
such as they had read about; such as they had 
talked about, but such as they had contemptu¬ 
ously ignored. Someone had made a most perti¬ 
nent allusion to the fact that in their craving to 
investigate the attractions of "all the world, 
they had completely overlooked the advisability 
of "beginning at' Jerusalem," and this caused 
them to think. 
What had the Highlands of Ontario to do with 
Jerusalem? they asked each other. Nothing what¬ 
ever; it was purely a figure of speech. Ihen 
why adopt incomprehensible metaphors? I'he 
question was asked and simultaneously the light 
dawned. The connection was plain as a pike¬ 
staff, and the more they realized the true gist 
of it, the more they were set thinking. 
Of course it took some little time, but at last 
they heard the plaintive appeal of their own 
lovely North-Land, to come and worship at her 
shrines of beauty and enchantment, and they 
went. They saw, and were conquered. 
Their determination was laudable; it was the 
tardy outcome of a patriotic resolve, but there 
still was time to wipe out the stigma and dis¬ 
loyalty and acknowledge in sack-cloth and ashes, 
their sins of omission. 
An occasional si,gh might have been heard to 
escape them as they packed their grips. A strong 
determination, not to look backward, consumed 
them as they wended their way to the depot with 
someth’ng akin to the a‘r of martyrs about to 
suffer in a righteous cause. Within twenty-four 
hours, however, they knew they were right; they 
were convinced that in departing from the old 
order of things, in spending their holidays in one 
or other of the numerous delightful resorts so 
prodigally distributed by bounteous nature with¬ 
in their own land, they were contributing their 
quota to the support and maintenance of their 
country’s interests. In plain every-day parlance, 
they were supporting "home industries." 
Their return was heralded by a patriotic wave, 
which received expression in a most pronounced 
“I told you so" sort of air. Hesitancy and ap¬ 
prehension had been supplanted by dehghted elo¬ 
quence. In return for a wavering faithfulness 
what did they receive? “Good measure pressed 
down and shaken together and running over.” 
Each man a Benjamin’s portion. 
Truly, in this old world of ours it is not every 
man who gets his deserts. 
And thus it is with every tourist, holiday maker 
as well as every jaded member of the great 
human family who flies to Ontario’s North-Land. 
The quid pro quo system of this delightful coun¬ 
try is most assuredly based upon the most gener¬ 
ous principles. The presence of the individual is 
the only stipulation laid down, in return for 
which Dame Nature, dressed in her most attrac¬ 
tive garb, comes to meet him at the landing, and 
with her sweetest of smiles and her coyest of 
looks, escorts him through the inextricable mazes 
of surpassing beauty, scattered broadcast through¬ 
out this delightful northern land. 
Most people know that Huntsville is but 145 
miles north of the city of Toronto on the Grand 
Trunk Railway, but how many know anything 
of the charming country of which it is the hub? 
The day is not far distant when this northern 
town will have to own its greatly increased popu¬ 
larity to its pro.ximity to this "Fairy-Land” of 
Ontario. 
"Superlativeness'’ is akin to extravagance, and 
frequently possesses a smack of the "deluderin” 
talk of Paddy, yet there are occasions when we 
poor mortals are perforce compelled, for very lack 
of words, to wax descriptive by the aid of such 
questionable means. Alexander Pope, in his im¬ 
mortal lines, ‘True wit is wisdom to advantage 
dressed, what oft w’as thought, but ne’er so well 
e.xpressed,’’ suggests the existence of similar dif¬ 
ficulties 200 years ago. 
The vista from the deck of the steamer, as 
Fairy River is navigated, and later, the lovely 
stretch of water cunningly named Fairy Lake, 
while Huntsville is fading into the dim distance, 
is in itself more than sufficient to compensate the 
most reluctant visitor for any risks taken. It is 
somewhere in this locality that the transition 
takes place from doubt to delight, from uncer¬ 
tainty to certainty. It is here he metaphorically 
shakes hands with himself, feels on the best 
terms with h'mself, and congratulates himself on 
the possession of that undoubted perception, that 
inexplicable acumen which alone could suggest 
such a heavenly resort. Even the visitor to Can¬ 
ada’s ‘'Fairy-Land” takes a modicum of credit 
unto himself for the existence of these northern 
glories that is only human nature. 
Narrow channels, beautiful bays and rocky de¬ 
clivities, all surrounded by tiers of balsam, spruce 
and cedar, through all of which the beautiful 
Muskoka River insists in playing his part, as 
though imbued with a set determination that this 
picture would be incomplete were he not to lend 
his fascinations to the perfection of everything. 
As one visits the numerous spots of enchant¬ 
ment in this “Fairy-Land" he cannot help won- 
