The Portland daily press., 1893-07-07
ON LAKE AND STREAM.
The Delights and Catastrophies of Canoe.
ing.-An EventfuI Sunday.

ing.-An EventfuI Sunday,
1t was the afternoon of recent Satur-
day when two young Portland canoeists
embarked with their small canvas boat
upon the Maine Central train, enroute
for Sebago Lake station. They had de-
cided to go Saturday and return Monday
morning because Sunday excursions of
that nature were pro tenn admissible for
them, since their mothers were both
absent from home. They could quiet
their own consciences by arguing that to
worship nature occasionally on Sunday
is as acceptable as worship in a church
edifice, but their mothers had ID good old
fashioned conviction to the contrary.
They were to reach the lake station at
about 43O p. m. and paddle the canoe to
Frye's Island, where they were to stay
that night in the unoccupied house there.
The next morning they were to paddle
across to Whites bridge, at.the source of
the Presumpscot, thence by way of Out
let Brook, over into Little Sebago Lake,
thence through Collins Pond and Hitch
Brook to Pleasant River and SO into the
Presumpscot. But unfortunately lit was
rainy Saturday afternoon. 1t was not
'only sea-turn'' either, for as they APP
preached the lake, the wind and rain in
creased. Luckily on the same train was
Harry Virgin Esq, of Portland, who was
going up the lake to Northwest River in
his steam launch and who kindly offered
to take them along Also Line Daniels
the Portland taxidermist was on the
train. He is an oracle where weather,
fish, game etc. are concerned. He en-
couraged the canoeists by assurance that
the wind would blow from the northeast
the next day and the rain would cease.
1t was a long wet sail up the lake that
evening 1t poured most of the time and
the waves were by no means contempti-
BILE, but as the wooded shores at North
west river and the various club houses
there came clearly into view the clouds
parted over the hills in the background
and the red sky beyond gave promise of
a clear morning. Our two explorers had
decided that in their moist condition
warm supper 'and bed at Geo. Fitch's
house were preferable to their own house
keeping at Frye's Island. At Fitch s
they found Line Daniels. He had come
around by the train and the stage. He
had been at Sebago seven weeks and had
caught ~ salmon. He had gone home
day OF two before intending to stay but
he heard that the fish were beginning to
bite again and decided to hasten back.
He has fished at Sebago for over twenty
years regularly and has caught great
many salmon, but the fish are more in
applicable than ever this year. They
seem to be scattered all over the lake
and likely to be caught anywhere, and
quite as likely not to be. In previous
years he has fished all the time for live
days without success and then gone out
and caught five fish in couple of hours,
but nevertheless there seems to be more
uncertainty this year than ever before.
He promised to waken the young men
at three the next morning as they needed
an early start to cross the great bay in
the calm of that early hour, They were
in the water by 4.30 and their paddles
were urging the light canoe in the direc-
ton of Frye's Island, over five miles
away. 1t had cleared and the wind had
worked around towards the northwest as
Line" had predicted; The waves were
not large and the paddlers did not realize
that to cross that great bay in such. a
craft was q reckless undertaking under
any conditions. These lakes are calm
one hour and rough the next.
They had proceeded about two miles
and were well into the middle OF the
ba9,o, ~ mat ,,nn1eassoti bo;s+ero,,a
They tossed the light canoe like an egg
smell. Inc water swept over her DOW
With 0 conn,s "n for ohoyt fo,.r fse+ o TIC
sky grew blacker; SO did the water. The
waves grew higher and the white caps
angrler. II was necessary TOT 1he canoe TO
nobly nroed nv the naddles in strong
and skilful young hands, toj which anx-
iety lent an added vigor. There are al
ways some waves larger than the rest.
There are generally three OF them to-
| gether. The canoeists were afraid of
those waves. They would lift the canoe
SO that her bow would be completely out
OF water and the gunwales OF her cock
pit almost submerged. Their iaboring
elbows would plunge into the crest of