The area of this jack-pine park was covered by the waters of Lake Superior a long time ago, when the big lake was even bigger than it is now; and over the whole Lake Superior region is written a most wonderful story of great ice-sheets and floods for those who can read the story of lakes and streams and hills and of the great deposits of gravel and small stones and large boulders.
While Ganawa and Bruce were paddling the canoe up the fairly swift current, Ray sat in the stern and had a line out, baited with a piece of flannel; and by the time Ganawa stopped for a meal and for rest, Ray had caught enough rainbow trout for the men, and a pike and a pickerel for Tawny.
The Michipicoten is carrying about as much water as the Wabash or the Minnesota, but its water is clear and cold with just a tint of brown in it, and pike and pickerel and large rainbow trout may still [[93]]be caught in its waters in the same pool. It is not to be thought, however, that they will always bite on a piece of flannel; for, like fish in other waters, at times no bait will tempt them.
If any of my readers should ever paddle up the Michipicoten from the mouth toward the big falls, they would naturally use a fly or they might keep a trolling-line out and enjoy the thrill of catching a big rainbow trout, for the country of the Michipicoten is still a wilderness and its waters still flow cold and clear.
In 1775 spoon hooks had not yet been invented and, of course, no trout-flies could be bought of any Indian traders.
Whenever the three travellers came to a place where some one had camped, they landed and examined the spot with great care.
“My father,” asked Bruce, “how would you be able to tell whether Indians or white men had camped on the river?”
“If I found a button,” Ganawa replied, [[94]]“or a coin, or paper with printed words, I should say that white men had made the camp.”
They spent the better part of a day in paddling some ten or twelve miles up-stream. They examined minutely three camping-places near the river. At each place the Indians had left their tepee-poles standing, as is their custom to this day. None of the places showed signs of very recent camps; however, at one camp Ray picked up a scrap of printed paper; but the words were French and the sign, therefore, gave no clue as to the whereabouts of the friend of Bruce.
At the foot of some rapid water, Ganawa made camp for the night, and the lads now saw the advantage of leaving the tepee-poles standing at each camp, for within a few minutes Ganawa had their long strip of deerskin wound around the poles, fastened it to the ground, and the tepee was ready.