August, 1918 
FOREST AND STREAM 
459 
whoop for very joy, though we 
are certainly old enough to be¬ 
have ourselves better. Up a 
steep hill, which gives your lit¬ 
tle engine all it can do, we sud¬ 
denly come in sight of beautiful 
Silver Lake, and the village of 
Kempville. Here ends the first 
stage of our journey. At the 
little hotel lunch can be had if 
desired, and it is here that I 
finally cast aside the garb of 
civilization and don my old 
corduroys and flannel shirt. At 
the small store (connected by 
’phone with Yarmouth forty 
miles away) we pick up our 
guides, also our eggs, butter 
and other perishables, and 
with many a shout of “Good 
Luck” from the kindly villagers, 
we make the last five miles in 
a wheeled vehicle. This is soon 
over, though your good little en¬ 
gine has had to do some strong 
panting in negotiating the hills 
which have been graded with 
the object of “gitten thar” in 
the shortest distance; then with 
a “View Hellow” we sight 
Farmer Crowell with his wagon 
team all hitched up, ready to 
carry your duffle in. You can 
ride too (if you like it, and feel 
that the jouncing you have re¬ 
ceived from Yarmouth out has 
not sufficiently settled your 
breakfast into your boot soles), 
but I would strongly advise 
walking! 
A tramp of about two and a 
half miles (though it feels to 
your soft muscles and anxious 
longing to be nearer twenty-five) 
through a very rough, very hilly 
and sometimes very wet coun¬ 
try, then with a huge sigh of 
relief and a shout of exultation, 
you see Lake Solomon glittering 
through the trees. A hasty 
transfer of dunnage to the ca¬ 
noes that await you here, a 
hasty fare-well shout to the 
farmer, and away we go. The 
lake is a beautiful sheet of 
water, about an average of a 
mile wide, by three miles or 
more in length, with the sur¬ 
rounding hills closely wooded to the top. 
Near the centre is a clump of very small 
islands, like little Japanese toys, with very 
stunted, gnarled old pines on them, not 
more than six feet high, but looking as 
if they might be a thousand years old. 
Here the sea gulls come to lay their eggs 
(as they build no nests) and the plaintive 
calls of the anxious parent birds, as they 
hover close over your heads, are very 
touching. 
With rapid strokes of the paddle, it 
does not take long to reach the foot of 
the lake, where, on a high, narrow strip 
of land, which divides it from another 
fine lake, stands the “Main Camp.” This 
consists of a group of buildings, the 
centre one of which is the dining room 
and kitchen, well appointed, with every¬ 
thing necessary. This building stands on 
the highest point of land, and from the 
piazza which surrounds it, a beautiful 
Now while we eat, let us say 
something of the material of 
this lunch. Besides the cus¬ 
tomary eggs and bacon, which 
prevail at most camps, we have 
moose steak, nicely browned 
rabbit stew, and glorious big 
blue-berries for dessert. Now 
don’t thing for a moment that 
1 am getting my dates mixed, 
as these articles of food are 
undoubtedly very much out of 
season. The solution lies in the 
fact that Ned, who is by way of 
being a very enterprising chap 
besides the best of guides and 
good fellow, once upon a time 
took lessons in canning, and in 
the proper season puts up an 
ample store of everything good 
to eat; and as these are not 
prepared for the market but are 
to be served to his delighted 
patrons, they are of the choicest 
cuts and the finest fruit. 
These berries were of such un¬ 
doubted excellent character that 
when I submitted a sample of 
them later on to one of our 
largest wholesale grocers in 
Boston, they accepted them on 
sight, and as Ned was only too 
glad of the opportunity, he 
filled quite a large order very 
successfully. 
After dinner, we ran down 
the lake to the discharge, and 
quickly captured our first trout 
of the season. These were of 
a fair size and unmistakably 
gamey, as are all of the trout 
in the cold head-waters of these 
rivers. Returning about sun¬ 
down, we picked up a few more 
right at the camp, where the 
short connecting stream be¬ 
tween the two lakes runs in. 
After a lusty feed of fresh 
caught trout, a good long 
smoke, and a few sleepy re¬ 
marks,—the Oblivion—we had 
well earned after a strenuous 
day under the blue sky. 
Next morning broke bright 
and crisp and found us hard at 
work, sorting over our duffle, 
reducing it to the smallest 
possible working dimensions as 
we had before us a long and hard road to 
travel by land and water. As we expected 
to be away from the main camp and our 
base of supplies for at least ten days, it 
goes without saying that much had be 
lugged across the many carries that lay 
between us and the “Terra Incognito” we 
expected to explore. And right here it 
would be well to warn those who love their 
ease to stick to the Main Camp and enjoy 
the very good sport that can be obtained 
within easy striking distance of a good 
bed and plentiful larder, for the journey 
we contemplate is no lazy-man’s job. Beds 
of “browse,” meals eaten from tin plates, 
tea and coffee drank from tin “pints” was 
.to be our portion, but were we not going 
to find new country and unsophisticated 
trout! After a careful sorting of our 
stores, etc., two canoes were loaded and 
we were off. Ned, with the bulk of the 
stores in one canoe and Bert (Ned’s son) 
Ready for an attack on the stronghold of the trout 
The Doctor oiling his shoes for the next trip 
Ned and the Doctor preparing the midday lunch 
view is had of both lakes. And truly they 
are beautiful, with their fine rounded en¬ 
circling hills, closely clothed in the fresh 
green tints of the hardwood growth, with 
just enough black pines scattered through 
to give emphasis to the color scheme. 
Scattered amongst the trees, surrounding 
the dining camp, individual camps have 
been built for those who prefer to be ex¬ 
clusive, though I never saw one of them 
occupied, everyone preferring the more 
genial atmosphere of the big, general log 
camp' lower down towards the shore of 
the second lake. Here everything is as it 
should be, big stone fire place, big com¬ 
fortable beds ranged along the walls, with 
the usual deer-, and moose-horns and guns 
hung on the walls. 
After a refreshing wash, and putting to¬ 
gether our rods, the welcome summons 
from the dining camp hails us to a much 
needed lunch. 
