o22 
FOREST AND STREAM. 


civilization are passed, and the whole prospect is one of 
Pulling the three canoes abreast we pur- 
sue our way in happy commune. We leave Deer Bay on 
our left. It is the largest on the lake, thickly covered with 
rice, and its shores closely grown with trees of various 
types, looking in the calmness of noon time like a close 
wall of leaves defending the peaceful water from all intru- 
ders. Now, fora mile or two in length, the right shore 
rises in a sloping hill, nearly two hundred feet in height, 
giving the effect of a vast, closely wooded slope from the 
beach up, appearing to extend grandly and proudly to the 
silver-bordered clouds that rest serenely upon its summit. 
Taking a turn to the left we hear the rumbling of another 
rapid, and after holding a consultation «s to the proper 
channel to run, we go down singly, Thad. again proceed- 
ing inthe van. We conclude to take the side channel, and 
gently floating through the softly moving sweep of water 
at the head we turn by the edge of the rocky side,with 
the increasing movement of the current, apparently about 
to rush against the parapet of solid rock in front, when the 
stream, by a sudden swerve, as if in merry caprice, bears 
us around, and then, as if angry at having carried us in 
safety through twists and turns, sends us with the force of 
its full speed éver the collected volume of its bounding 
waves, and we’enter th@ strangely named Lovesick Lake. 
Here we met another party of hunters, like ourselves. It 
seemed so strange—as if they had sprung up from the 
water by some magician’s wand, after moving the whole 
day through scenes of enchanting wilderness and peaceful, 
quiet beauty, which had never in all the roll of ages been 
disturbed by the innovations of man. They were going, 
they said, to the rice beds on Deer Bay for the evening duck 
shooting. They told us where their tents were pitched, 
and advised us to establish ourselves on an island opposite 
theirs, which we agreed to do, having concluded previously 
to make this lake our permanent camping ground. Frank 
primeval nature. 
Stalwart had known these gentlemen for years, and hence ' 
the greeting of him and his friends was cordial indeed, our 
canoe and theirs having been drawn. up close together. 
Like us, they were four in number. They told us they had 
that morning (their first one out) killed a deer, and it was 
agreed that they should visit our camp in the evening to 
arrange for a deer hunt in one party the following morn- 
ing. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon, and in a 
few minutes after, we reached the island of our destination, 
where we at once proceeded to unload our canoes and pitch 
our tent. This island was one well adapted for our pur- 
pose, being elevated and dry. From where we landed the 
approach to the level above was steep, but the ascent made 
without difficulty. Onthe other side the rocks were per- 
fectly perpendicular, and rose directly out of the water 
about thirty feet. The tent having been tightly fixed, 
Frank and I selected a trolling hook and line and started 
off in search of fish, proposing to return in about half an 
hour, while our two companions prepared the evening re- 
past. Passing around the point of the island, we move 
under the high overhanging cliffs that skirt its side; then, 
as we near the border of a large rice bed, I let out the troll- 
ing line in hopes of securing the prey. In a few minutes, 
while Frank and I were cementing our friendship with 
mutual assurances of a constant attachment in the future, 
I feit a sudden jerk, then, as I took a firmer hold of the 
line, a stubborn pull. Knowing the cause was an active 
maskinonge, I began to haul in. Feeling the resistance, he 
darted forward, then to one side with a wonderfully strong 
plunge. As I brought him near he bounded to the sur- 
face in frantic efforts to get free, and gave us a very liberal 
sprinkling. A couple of quick pulls, however, and a good 
steady haul, laid him captive in the canoe, when, witha 
last désperate whisk of his tail he snapped my briar wood 
pipe in two like a piece of thin glass and sent the pieces 
flying in the air. Thus ended the history of my favorite 
pipe, which was carefully strengthened with a silver ferule, 
and thus a plump twelve pounder of the finny tribe was 
lost to his companions of the deep to satisfy the selfish 
sport of man. After catching one or two more T roll up 
the line, and we quietly take a sauntering sort of paddle 
about the edge of the lake to drink in all the native beauty 
of the view. I think neither poet’s pen nor artist’s pencil 
could fully and clearly describe the delight that fills the 
mind, or the peculiar thrill of serenity and pure sensation 
of awe that stirs the heart and moves the thought to invol- 
untary devotion in such a scene. The water is as calm and 
smooth as a sheet of glass, supporting on its even surface 
large patches of rich full blooming lilies of spotless white: 
ness, surrounded with their broad, deep green leaves; and 
very carefully, without knowing it, do we dip our paddles 
so as not to mar their matchless purity nor disturb the 
sweet repose of floral beauty at rest upon the water’s bosom. 
It seems a wanton sacrilege to displace the fair ornaments 
with which nature has adorned herself. The lake side is 
closely lined with rocks and ledges of uneven height, from 
out whose crevices grow tall pines and large firs without 
the slightest evidence of soil. The water is deep quite up 
to the rocky shore, and the intervening spaces between 
some of the moss-covered, sloping rocks are filled with a 
luxuriant growth of trees of numberless shapes and sizes 
The autumnal variegated tints of orange, yellow, scarlet, 
green, and red, intermingled with the unaccountable har- 
mony of Nature’s marvellous work, contrast so pleasingly 
with the deep and constant color of the foliage of the 
heavy evergreens. These rocks and wooded growths are 
hich and close, and nothing can be seen over or between 
them. There is almost an angular bend at this part of the 
irregular shore, forming, as it were, a temple for the ap- 
pearance of the divinities of the place. The evening is 
impressively still, the water is supremely calm, like the in- 
nocent sleep of a fair infant; the mild subdued light of the 
receding sun produces the shadows of the objects in view, 
inverted beneath the lake; our paddies are quietly, ten- 
derly, with sacred care, placed across the canoe; our 
frigndly talk is hushed; we are as motionless as the placid 
lilies that surround us; we are lost in the sublimity, the 
grandeur of Nature, fast bound in the awe of the majesty 
of her magic spell. Atlength the approach of falling night 
reminds us of our companions in the camp, and we return 
to our tent upon the island, exchanging, as we go, expres- 
sions of wonder and admiration. Inthe evening we gath- 
ered drift boards from the island. and made seats around 
our camp fire, while arranging which the measured sound 
of paddles, and the steady hum of voices met the ear. We 
immediately proceeded to the shore, and there met our ac- 
quaintances of the afternoon. Their canoes pulled up, we 
all formed a pleasant social crescent before the fire, the can 
having been previously hung above the blaze in readiness 
fora brew with which to welcome our sporting guests. 
The night was cool and frosty, not very bright, yet myriads 
of twinkling stars sparkled in the deep bluesky. No lights 
or signs of any kind gave token of civilized life. Our 
small party of eight, gathered from various quarters of the 
globe (some of whom had travelled in many climes), had 
met on this tiny islet ina small lake, surrounded by miles 
upon miles of the untouched wilds of Nature, and no 
sound was heard save the constant rushing noise of the 
swiftly flowing rapids. There was Major Howard, an Eng- 
lishman, now living in the neighborhood of Peterborough, 
and Mr. Loring, a civil engineer of the same place, with 
others of lively and social predilections, who all told inter- 
esting and romantic incidents of foreign travel, as well as 
sporting and hunting experiences in the wilds of Canada. 
In the clear bracing air of the autumn evening, as we 
smoked our pipes and sipped the warming beverage, our 
talk became richly savored with the hunter’s phraseology. 
‘How clearly,” said the Major, ‘‘we can hear the tumb- 
ling of the rapids; the night isso calm. That point, you 
know, just at the head, used to be a favorite camping 
ground, but of late it has been rather abandoned. There 
have been several drowned in running through. Two poor 
fellows were lost the past summer.” 
‘And why didn’t they Jearn to swim,” put in our Irish 
friend, Carrcll, ‘‘or not go poking themselves into traps 
they couldn’t get quietly out of again.” 
“But my dear fellow,” replied the. Major, ‘‘the eddies 
are so strong, you know, that even good swimmers have 
rather 4 frail chance; and as for guns, why bless your 
heart the foot of these rapids is fairly paved with them.” 
‘Are you an experienced canoe-man, Mr. Bertram,” the 
Major continued, addressing me. ‘‘You’re not? well, you'll 
goon like it. It’s a fascinating life, I assure you. Upon 
my life, Mr. Bertram, it’s: a very.fascinating life; so free, 
and wanting care. Why, we come up here every few weeks 
and take down a deer or so, anda score or two of ducks. 
It is really very jolly, and no end of sport.” 
‘Do you remember, Frank,” said Loring, ‘‘when you 
and I upset on Black Duck Lake?” 
‘Indeed I do, old boy, and I feel chilly every time I 
think of it.” 
And then was told, at some length, how they dived and 
recovered their guns and some of their other traps. 
“T suppose you were rather moist at the time,” said Car- 
roll, ‘‘but it makes a very dry story.” 
_ Then the tin cups were soon replenished from the steam- 
ing can and passed around the circle. 
“There’s one thing true,” said the incorrigible Carroll, 
‘Gt would never do to drink this lake water until it was 
boiled down.” 
And so the talk went on—of yachting in the Mediterra- 
nean, racing in England, and social converse concerning 
mutual friends and acquantances—till we separated, about 
eleven o'clock, having settled to meet at dawn ready to 
chase the deer. 
Then we spread our buffalo skins on the ground in the 
tent and retire for the night, well covered with blankets, 
beneath which we slumber soundly till the break of day. 
The mouth or door of the tent being open, we behold, on 
awaking, the waning stars, not yet entirely chased away by 
the fast approaching sunlight. A hasty toilet: made at the 
lake, a hasty breakfast, and we are ready for the start. 
Frank Stalwart and I were stationel with our canoe at 
one end of our own island to meet the deer, if one should 
cross from the main land, and as we sat quietly waiting 
beneath an overhanging growth of shrubbery, projecting 
from a ledge of rock, said he, ‘‘Rob, did you ever hunt the 
deer before?” 
“Not in this way, Frank; I have generally hunted in 
run-ways.” - 
“And,” he replied, ‘‘a run-away busmess I expect it was, 
was it not?” 
‘Well, it was not so much their timidity as my ineffec- 
tual aim.” 
“ “Tt is time, then, you had an aim inlife. But you may 
be more successful in this method, as you get them at 
shorter range.” 
“T understand,” said I, ‘‘the general theory of this mode, 
but will you be kind enough to give me all the minutie?” 
‘““With all the pleasure in life, old chap. It is in this 
way:—Well, there should be about five or six canoes and 
four or five hounds, and it is very fortunate for us we met 
these other fellows, as they make the party about the right 
strength, and afford us, with our own, the proper number 
of dogs. There is always an injunction understood that 
no firing is to take place on the morning of a hunt, as these 
denizens of the forest are very timid creatures, and avoid 
the direction whence any noise is heard. So remember, if 
a half score of ducks fly under your nose you must let 
them pass. The guns should be loaded with buckshot, al- 
though experienced men kill: sometimes with small duck 
shot. The canoes are stationed at different points, where 
the deer are likely to cross. This morning one is placed at 
Scow Island, half a mile or more to the right, one down in 
the bay, about half a mile to the left, one out at Black 
Duck Lake, nearly two miles away, and others I know not 
where. Two or three of the party go on the main land to 
put out the dogs. Thad., Loring, and Riggits are doing 
that arduous duty at the present time. When the dogs 
strike upon the scent of deer they are let loose. When 
they get within hearing distance the deer break from cover, 
and almost invariably make for the water as a harbor of 
safety from their canine pursuers. As soon as the dogs 
give tongue the men at the different stations are to be on 
the alert, and when a deer enters the water at any particu- 
lar point the man who discovers him must keep perfectly 
still until the animal is well out in the lake, as the deer’s 
senses of smell and hearing are extremely acute. Then 
the canoe, quietly and with as little noise of the paddle as 
possible, meets the intended game, until observed by the 
unsuspecting creature. Then the pursuer flies after him 
with all the skill he has in his power till he gains within a 
short distance of his prey. Then an unmistaken aim, and 
the discharge of the fowling piece lays the forest monarch 
low.” : ‘ 
After faithfully remaining at our post about two hours 
or more, we heard the yelping of the hounds, which made 
us more sharply attentive. It was soon evident, however, 
we were not to have the good fortune of a chase at our sta- 
tion that morning, for ere long there came from. a distance 
the report of guns. ‘Then we knew the hunt was over, and 
we repaired to the tent. In about three quarters of an hour 
the rest of the party came in, and one canoe was the hon- 
ored bearer of a plump young doe. After a time the dogs 
made themselves heard on the main shore opposite, and 
the active Thad. quickly proceeded to bring them over. 
So ended the morning’s work. 
After the midday meal we sat and smoked, or lay on the 
blankets basking in the sun till four or five o’clock, when 
we set out for the evening’s duck shooting, some of the 
party remaining near the camp and others going up to the 
large rice bed near Deer Bay. And the party reassembled 
in the evening well rewarded with game. 
Thus we spent the time; and richly did we enjoy the 
days as they passed. Indescribable was the pleasure of 
hours upon hours every day in the clear open air and sun- 
light, with the exhilerating exercise of paddling, the inspi- 
ration of the scenery, and the excitement of the sport all 
commingling their various charms. We were well able 
before we left to verify the words of the Major, for truly 
did we find it a fascinating life. Our freedom was perfectly 
unalloyed. We had no cares of business nor the exactions 
of the conventional pleasures of society. Liberty was 
was there unbounded. : 
But now I will not make any further narration of our 
camping expedition, but in another paper may say some- 
thing of the conclusion of our journey and the romantic 
interests of these spots of nature so beautifully wild. 
Ros. BERTRAM. 
—___=)+——____-—— 
FatirneG Leaves.—Many persons think that when the 
leaves turn red and yellow in the fall, it is because the 
have been killed by the frost. But a little observation will 
show that such is not the case, and that the autumns when the 
leaves are most beautiful are those in which the frost is the 
latest. A severe frost kills the leaves at once, and they 
soon fall, brown and withered. To be brilliant, they must 
ripen naturally, and our hot September and October mid- 
day suns have probably much to do with it, as in England, 
where the falls are apt to be damp and cloudy, the leaves 
are not bright, and American artists, who strive to paint 
our maples and woods as they see them, are unjustly ac- 
cused of over coloring. The leaves fall because they are 
ripe, and have performed the service that was ailotted 
them. The leaf is the laboratory of the plant, and in it 
are performed most of the operations essential to its growth. 
It takes the crude materials gathered by the roots, refines 
them, rejecting all that is not essential to the plant, and out 
of the remainder constructs the highly complex bodies that 
are found in other parts of the plant. These rejected parts 
consist mainly of* earthy matter that was in solution 
in the water taken up by the roots, and it is deposited-in 
the cells of theleaf. 'Thisis shown by the fact that the leaf 
contains far more ash than any other part of the plant. In 
some plants the ash of the leaf amounts to over twenty per 
cent., while that of the wood rarely exceeds two or three. 
When the cells become completely clogged up with thia 
matter, the leaf can no longer perform its functions, and so 
ripens and falls off. x 
————————_—_$_ 0 
PREMATURE PREPARATION FOR SPRING.—The Providence 
Journal says :— : - 
All the lovers of house plants know how they stagnate 
during the dark December days. But hardly has January 
come before the leaf-buds and flower-buds start out in pro- 
fusion. We think of January and February as the heart 
of winter, yet the leaf-buds of many trees and shrubs, even 
in our Arctic climate, begin to swell at new years, and con- 
tinue to increase during the winter. ; 
This year we notice a particular phenomenon, interesting 
but unpromising, like other precocity. The buds of trees 
and shrubs swelled rapidly after the leaves of the last summer 
had fallen, and early in November were as far advanced as- 
usually in March, or sometimes April. The summer drouth 
and copious autumn rains will perhaps explain this. The. — 
cold November hardly checked the premature develop- 
ment, and the warm December has continued it. The red — 
blossonis are now to be seen on some of the early maple 
trees, and the sprays of the elm are beaded with swollen | 
flower buds. The buds of the grape vine under our win-_ . 
dow are bulging out. We are all interested in the ques~ — 
tion: Will the fruit buds suffer? OMS IGE Faes 


