hunters provided entertainment around the stoves all winter. When I read in Longfellow’s Hiawatha of Iagoo the great boaster — He the marvelous story-teller, He was someone I knew well. The best hunter, the best shot and infinitely the most important of all, the best hound.
As she pointed out, this was the only holiday the men took all year and being allowed to go on the hunt was a rite of passage for boys. “Then the outsiders and sportsmen started coming and the trophy and status symbol was a fine set of antlers and the whole picture of the hunt was changed.”[35] Stories of hunting, much more than those of fishing, were coloured by the controversies that raged around issues of conservation, and the very different perspective of those who hunted for food and those who hunted for sport.
The Sportsman and His Guide
Very few sportsmen made their way through the wilderness or the waterways of Northern Ontario without an experienced local guide. There was a good reason for this, and it was not because the guides did the portaging and the cooking. Freedom from those menial tasks added to the pleasure of a trip, but the real need for a guide was safety. An early CPR brochure had this to say about Lake Nipissing:
Lake Nipissing, it must be remembered, is in many places quite shallow, the bottom-rock coming within a few feet of the surface, and now and again a big wind comes sweeping down and lashes the water into a fury that makes sailing an impossibility. If an ordinary boat were caught in such a blow, far out on the lake, the chances of the crew would be something too slim to be worth mentioning, but the visitor can rely upon getting pleasure and sport without running any unnecessary risk. Of course it is taken for granted that all parties not composed of seasoned sailors will always adhere to the golden maxim: “Never stray far upon strange waters of any size, especially sailing, without an experienced guide to direct matters.” With this point kept in mind the dangers of Lake Nipissing amount to very little.[36]
A close call could add spice to a holiday, as Matt Hoover admitted: “The guides duly cautioned us to take no unnecessary chances in dangerous water. Despite this we had one or two narrow escapes, which, however, proving to be escapes, only added zest to our life in the wilds.”[37] But accidents did happen. D.M. Christie and twenty-five-year-old George Rispin of Chatham, Ontario, were “experienced canoeists” who had canoed the French the previous year, when they, with Arthur Northwood, returned for a second trip in 1894. These were not reckless youth, but respectable members of their community. D.M. Christie was a barrister, a forty-year-old bachelor, and senior member of his law firm. Arthur Northwood had just been accepted as science master at Ottawa Collegiate Institute.
Fivemile Rapids, shown on this 1958 topographic sheet, were within easy reach of the camps on Wolseley Bay and the Dry Pine outpost camp of the CPR French River Bungalow on Commanda Island. This was recognized as a good place to fish. In the Grand Trunk guide, Lake Nipissing and the French River, Mathew Hoover noted: “The southern branch, in making one of its numerous excursions deeper into the forest, describes a half-circle, in the course of which are five rapids, one mile apart. The Indians shoot all of them, but the tenderfoot, if wise, walks, around.”
Courtesy of the University of Toronto Map Library, G_3400s_50_1948_41I1e_1.
Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».
Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.
Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.
