Days in the OpenCrandall, Lathan A. (Lathan Augustus)
General
Days in the Open
Crandall, Lathan A. (Lathan Augustus)
Fishing
The evening of that day found us on board a vestibule Northwestern
train, bound for Duluth and the Nepigon. At Duluth we exchanged rolling
for sailing--by steam. If the weather had been at all nasty, we should
have combined rolling with sailing; for the little tub which plies
between Port Arthur and Duluth was evidently designed to exemplify all
the possibilities in the way of tumbling about. But Lake Superior was
on its good behaviour, with its face as smooth and calm as that of a
sportsman when he has just landed a five-pound trout. The captain was
one of the most genial of men, and the cook was undoubtedly a genius. We
were not privileged to meet him personally, but we had abundant evidence
of his culinary skill. The memory of his soup will linger with us
forever. After mature deliberation we unanimously agreed that it was
unlike anything we had ever tasted. We tasted it but once, for whatever
other failings we may have, we are not greedy--at least for soup made
from a strong decoction of musty hay, flavoured with extract of logwood.
The polite waiter, observing that the Business Man was playing with the
soup spoon instead of eating, mercifully inquired, “Have you got tired
of your plate?” Disgust, relief, unsatisfied longing and a choice
variety of unclassified emotions expressed themselves through the hasty
affirmative of the B. M.
If this chapter did not aim to treat of fishing, the writer would be
tempted to say that Port Arthur is “beautiful for situation.” It lies
one hundred and eighty miles east of Duluth on the north shore of Lake
Superior. At this point the land rises gently from the lake shore, and
from the elevation in the northern part of the town a beautiful panorama
is seen. Immediately before us is Thunder Bay, hemmed in by the rocky
walls of the mainland, Pie Island and Thunder Cape. A narrow passage
opens out into the lake, through which Isle Royal may be dimly seen in
the distance. Thunder Cape rises to a height of fourteen hundred feet,
and Pie Island--which takes its name from its shape--is not less than
one thousand feet high, with a little lake on its top. The sides of both
island and cape are exceedingly bold. We watched them one August night
as the setting sun touched the bold rock into gold and purple, and saw
the shadows steal over the waters and up the precipitous sides of the
cliffs until water and cliff were hidden in the darkness.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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