in one
afternoon, weighing from three to five pounds each, every one of which
fought like a hero, diving with a plunge for the bottom, skiving with
a rush down, across, or up the river; leaping clear from the water
and shaking his head furiously, to throw the hook loose from his jaw,
before surrendering to his fate. In Wilson's Bay, a sweet place, three
miles from the village by water, or one and a half by land, we caught
as many more on another afternoon. We took a sail-boat and glided
round Lighthouse Point (a pleasant drive of two miles from the
village), out into the lake, and steered for Grenadier Island, five
miles distant, on which we tented for the night, and the bass we
brought home the next day were something worth looking at. Near the
upper end of Long Island are other prolific bass shoals, where the
fisherman may enjoy himself. Indeed, he can scarcely go amiss in the
surrounding waters.

The black bass of the St. Lawrence are not only game fish, but are, in
excellence of flavor, scarcely excelled by any fish of this country.
Baked or boiled, they have few superiors, and as a pan fish, are
excelled only by the brook-trout of the streams. The season for taking
them commences in July; and continues through September. August is the
best month in the year for the bass fishermen. If, during that month,
he will supply himself with a strong bass-pole, a strong treble-action
reel, stout silk lines, and proper hooks, and visit Gape Vincent, he
will find boatmen with a supply of minnows, ready to serve him; and if
he fails to enjoy himself for a fortnight among the black bass of the
St Lawrence and Ontario, he may count himself as a man who is very
hard to please.

We spent a pleasant week at Cape Vincent, and then turned our faces
homeward, invigorated in strength and buoyant in spirits, to begin
again a round of toil, from which we, at least, could claim no further
exemption.

"H----," said a friend of mine, as he stalked into my sanctum, a few
days after my return, and seated himself at my elbow, as if for a
private and confidential talk, "did Smith really shoot the bear, the
skin of which he brought home, and which he exhibits with such
triumph. Tell me, honestly, as between you and me, did he in fact
shoot him?"

"Smith certainly did shoot that bear," I replied.

"But is the marvellous story he tells about the manner of killing him
really true?"

"That, of course, I cannot tell," I replied, "as I have ne