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(.amphkil, Oiiawa. The Parry Sound division of the Canada Atlantic Railway renders readily accessible for the first time one of the most remark- able regions of lake and stream, primeval forest and rugged rock that can be found anywhere. It lies between the Ottawa River and Georgian Bay, and is a compact territory over forty miles square, with an area of nearly 2,000 square miles, comprising eighteen townships and six half townships in the District of N.pissing. and representing in the aggregate a million acres of land and water. The Ontario Government has set apart and reserved for all time to come, "for the benefit, advantage and enjoyment of the people of the Province," this Algonquin National 1 ark In it, the citizens of Canada have a possession, the value ot which they have not yet even remotely realized. It is in reality a huge game preserve, a fisherman's and sportsman's paradise a source of water supply, a field for reforestry operations, and a natural sanitarium which bids fair to outdo the Adirondack region and other noted health resorts of America. RIVERS AND LAKES. In the va.Ieys, between the rocky ridges of the Laurentian formation are the fountain-heads of the Muskoka, Magnetawan. Madawaska, Petawawa. Amable du Fond, and South rivers-all important streams, emptying into Georgian Bay, the Ottawa and Mattawa rivers, and Lake Nipissing. Within the limits of the Park IS a large part of the watershed which divides the streams flowing into the Ottawa river from those which empty into Geor- gian Bay, and there is probably not to be found elsewhere within the Province a tract of country which in the same limited space Rives rise to so many important streams. Therefore, one of the principal objects that the Government had in view when establish- •ng the reservation was the protection and maintenance of their water supply. The interests of the lumberman, who annually floats large quantities of timber to market down their waters, of the manufacturer for whose mill-wheels they supply the motive The Ottawa Naturalist. [June power, and. of the farmer ,o whom a continuous supplv o. wa.e .n .pnnKS well and stream is an absolute nece'sity .Tut ''''* P'"'''*'"" "^''''^^ ""^ "'"Je to keep the hills and h.Khlands of this inland plateau covered with hea v forest Krowth. The park contains within its bo ,d ri.!^^ .' immense^ volume of water in lake and river, brook, p^ a ke/n^h f ''^""r "^ '"'""" *■"'" ''"^' ""^ "^^-y — ' >f -inter keep he founta.nheads of the important streams rising there con t-nually replenished, the density of the forest retarding cvaporat on and the spongy layer of leaves and decayin,^ vegetati.' S ::r vL'rTh' ""^'"*'' :- -"-■''" -^ e,uab,^ow thrii^h out the year. The reservation ,s a veritable lake land, it beintr estimated that there are about ..ooo lakes and ponds withi^^s P^rk^Lh b "^'T '"'-' «"''^'P>-on'the map o t Park that has been .ssued by the Ontario ^^overnment. but many of the smaller ones have not as yet been accurate v locked' Many ot the lakes are of great natural beauty-„ot too larg to be picturesque, nor too small to possess „,anv a mirrored isle Great Opeongo lake in the south east corner of the Park is the largest body of water, being twelve miles in length. , a .^l noble sheet of many square miles in extent, is verv irregular ^ s ape. possesses numerous islands. and presents' m, picturesque features. At a certain spot on the lonely shore o IS lake there are still the remains of an ancient burial ground o the Algonquin Indians, reminding us of that once powerful race which, in days gone by. held all this northland as its untitled domain The name of the Park is the only reminder that we have of this primitive ownership, for the white man has displaced the red, the stalwart brave has vanished to his happy hunting- ground, and the pale-face reigns in his stead. The superinten- dent o the Queen Victoria Niagara Falls Park writes rf:^ of the lake scenery of the region : '■ Kach expanse of water has some charm peculiarly its own. On every side the forest primeval clothes the hills and mountains with ^ erdure of varying hue down to the very shore ; deep shades are thrown across the --./Rark waters of the lake, whose placid surface mirrors to perfec- tion every outline of cloud or hill, tree .r rock ; while the babv ripples from the bow of the canoe, or the congeries of air bubble's 11)01 ] CaMPHKI.I.- AtGONytMN PaKK. from each Mroke ot the paddles. >r|isten in the sunlight like diamonds, or as the stars on a December ni^'ht. To the tourist the continual change from lake to river, tVom rivci to porta>;e, and from portage to river and lake a^ain, make a dcliyhtfnl panorama which captivates the eye and the senses, and provides abundant opportunity for the cultivation of the tastes in the study of all the varying phases of the landscape, and impels a seeking' after more perfect knovvledye of the many varieties of animal and vegetable life, which have their habitat in the territory." TI.MIIER. This .egion forms part of the great forest which formerly covered the whole Province, and which here consists of white and red pine, hemlock, tamarac, balsam, spruce, cedar, birch, maple, beech, ironwood. ash and basswood. All the lands embraced in the Park limits are now covered by licenses to cU timber, and on certain of them, pine has been cut for nearly half a century. Bush fires and lumbering oper.itions have made serious inroads upon the supply of pine, but it will still be many years before the Park can. under existing contracts, be freed fr-jm these operations. There are no other vested interests in the reservation, so that eventually the Crown will have sole ownership and control of all its products and resources. A FINE CANOEING AND CAMPINC. tlROUNP. For canoeing and camping, the Park ofTers unexcelled facili- ties and attractions. The rangers have already made over a hundred miles of trails and portages, and have cleared obstruc- tions from, and otherwise improved the navigation of, manv of the streams. This work will be continued until the comparatively free navigation of the more important routes through the reservation has been secured. As a rule, the portages are short and easily made, and are generally welcomed by the canoeist, giving him a chance to stretch his legs. Forty or more log huts or cabins have been erected at different points throughout the Park, and this number is to be yearly increased. They are intended to furnish shelter to the rangers and others in their canoe trips through the reserve, and vary in distance from seven to ten miles of each other— the limit being a day's journey on snowshoes in the winter. The Ottawa Natj-halist. [June A NATIHAI. «,.\MH I'KKSKMVK e aNo proved conclusively the neic^sifv i ,r i f''«*'«^rvc. He'si;;" ."---."V .„.z;::i '--'::; r :j: Me SHid that pnor to the inception of the Park sc.r.eU -. h »ou,h of Lake N.p.s.s.nf;. and that in what is now the Park only that here are now hundreds of colonies of these imees^" an.mals within its boundaries. ,n many cases, they C 2 :! ''jt'r T' '" ''-' -'^" ''"''' "P"-HeVuin::f d ones. The beaver houses which dot .ho ed^-es of the stre-.mw and marshes are. like the dan.s. marvels of en,. „. eri u Td arch.tectural skill. The menu of this industrious iudeL If the fores cons.sts principally of the tender bark of the Zlinls and he afterwards utili.es the denuded trunks for hi d' m . "tTc For;"/ '"'"^.^^ '"'"^ '""^ " '^^P-^ "•• the Royal Commis ion o. Fore.st Reservat.on and National Park." may be of interest : fonnd old h"Tu ''"' '"'^ '■" "^'■'^ ^''^'^''^^ "--etobe .n\Z^^r,Tu '""^ '■''*'""' ^^y"^''' '"^'"-"trious and harmless am«a! should be preserved Irom destruction. First, because is and, second, because from its habits if :< « i, ^e.„at.a, conservator Of water. '^;;;.L^ mark to say that were th.s rej,'ion again stocked with beaver as it damsLTBe ''■"^^' '^' '^" ^^^^y -wnship at least a hundred excTusive tT\ '" "' '"'' "'"^ ''" '^•"">' ^ f«-'"" ^^ heaver, dam b H *"' """'""^ '" *^^ ''"^-'^ «-' -ers where no dam bui dme is necessarv ir. .u- . increased by p" " '. fifth '^ "' "''" ''"'^ ""'" '^ from the l„mh • • ''^'■^' ""PO'-ta»t circumstance irom the lumberman's point of view. IQOl) Camphkm.— Al.»;O.N\>UIN Pahk. • " The beaver i. h mo.t prolific creature, and, if leli undi.- tnrhtd. .he projjony ol a sin^Hc co..ple would, in a few years stock a larK'c extent ol anintrv. The youn^ beavers remain in the name house as th. parents until they are a vear old. when the^ strike off in couples for themselves, and either' build a new house on the same pond or select a site on some other creek, and there erect a dam and house. In a lew weeks the dry swamp or marsh IS transformed into a lake, and the stock of provisions, consisting of a pile of saplings and brush, for winter use, is laid up beside the house, only a few of the limbs showing' above the surface of the water. In the interior of the house a dry. warm nest is made, where they remain all winter, (ioinw out at the call of hunger to the pile of provisions, they drajj a piece ..p out of the water and eat the bnrk. which, to^-ether with the roots of aquatic plants, is their only food, thrusting: the pole back a^^ain info th. water. Here they remain until the long, warm days of sprinj; soften the ice. when, cutting' a hole in if. they k'o out for a taste of fresh food n the beK'inniiiK of May they brin^^ forth their youn^-, which almost invariably consist the first year of two, after which the averafje number is from four to six." Otter are also r -w very plentiful, and the marten, m.nk, fisher and their fur-coated kin are not behind in fecundity. In fact, the net.work of waters that course through the dark tree-avenues of the reservation are becoming thickly populated with these animals, and this region affords grand opportunities for the observation and study of the naturalist. The true sportsman will certainly rejo.ce that there is now such a sanctuary for our nobler game, and that already the lordly moose, which has been almost totally exterminated in Nova Scotia. New Brunswick and elsewhere, and which b,dr fair to suffer a similar fate in this Province, is again multiplying. It seems almost incredible with what ferocity and wastefulness such animals as the moose have been hunted and killed in the past. According to an official report, in the spring of 1887, to give an example, the carcasses of not less thin sixty moose were four ] in this district, the animals having been killed for their skins alone. During the preceding winter, between Lake Traverse on the Petawawa and Bissett's station on the C P R a distance of a little over twenty miles, seventy moose were The Ottawa Naturalist. [fune and r '""^'"''^" '' '^""'^^"■"f ^f^^- --e females, and ,t they even avera^^ed only one calf each, here was jjame enough destroyed m one season to stock the Park. Besides afTord.ng noble sport to the hunter, the moose is a very valuable an.mal to the settler and the frontierstnan. and it would be a pitv to allow h.m to be exterminated like the buffalo of the western Pla.ns without at least affording, him every opportunity of survival. A full-grown moose weighs upwards of ,.ooo pound., and will dres. ooo pounds of beef, while his skin will make twe, ty pairs of moccas.ns, wh.ch readily sell at two dollars a pair ofthrnrl"''^^-'"'u ''"■ ''■'' "°^-'»hstanding the onslaughts of the pot-hunter m the past, and of their natural enemy the wolf always, growing m numbers. For here. too. the wolt, he fiercesl and most cunning enemy of all animal life, thrives, and claims Quadrunr'^TH"'"''.'''.'"""^ *'^^ >'^""^^ ^^^^ -^'^ «-«"- quadrupeds. The mterlocked antlers of moose and deer, which the rangers occasionally find in the Park, tell of forest tragedies where conflicts have been waged to the death and the strife has been .gnommiously terminated by the arrival ot the wolves on the shown, V"'''" '"^^"^'* ^°"^^ Park, the writer was ' shown (and got an excellent photograph of) two pairs of these locked antlers wh.ch had been taken from the carcasses of two bucks found the previous winter in the woods, and whose inex- tricable gr.p of each other caused their mutual destruction. It wou^d. m fact, be impossible to separate them without destroying BIRD LIFE. Bird life is also being attracted to the Park. Owin- ^he foxes - which, however, along with the wolves, bears and other destruc- tive and objectionable animals and birds, are being gradually killed off y the rangers Wild duck are reported plentiful on som of the lakes, and wild r.ce has been sown with the intention of at- igoi] Campbell — Algonquin Park. trading,' these birds to other waters. It is said to be the govern- ment's intention to introduced black K'ame and capercailzie from Europe, and prairie fowl from our own western plains. FISH, AND H,HING. The disciples of good old Izaac Walton will find in the streams and lakes of the Algonquin Park an ahundance of trout, pike, pickeral, and, in certain localities, white fish and herring. Hels of large size are plentiful in the Opeongo branch of the Madawaska I Strange to say, both black and rock bass are missing. With the 4 view of introducing these excellent and gamy fish. General Manager Chamberlm, o( the Canada Atlantic Railway, offered special facilities for their transportation from other lakes in the F'arry Sound District to those of the Park. As a rule, brook trout, con- s.dered by many as the " King of fishes." are looked for in rushing mountain torrent or the shining silver brook, but while the waters ot most of the brooks in the reservation are dark, it seems to suit the taste and requirements of this loveliest and gamiest of fishes Mr. George B. Hayes. Prison Commissioner of the State of \ew York, claims to have fished nearly all the streams of North America, but says that for game qualities as well as beauty of color and form, the brook trout of the Algonquin Park excel all others. Perhaps the biggest of these speckled beauties are caught in the Petawawa river, where they range on an average from half a pound to four and a half pounds in weight, almost, if not quite equal in size to those of the famous Nepigon. Most of the brook trout are of a superior quality of flesh, being firm, and ranging in color from a rich cream to the brightest salmon tint, while the skin exhibits Its glorious rainbow hues. In most of the lakes the salmon trout, commonly called grey or lake trout, abounds. To catch them, spoon or bait is used, as they seldom rise to the fly To fish within the Park limits, it is necessary to get a permit from the Superintendent, and, even then, the use of rod and line and trowl- ing line only are permitted. Moreover, the angler is only allowed to take such fish as he requires for his own use. within the Park and is forbidden to carry away or wantonly destroy any piscatorial spoils. It IS not likely that the waters within the reservation will ever he choked with the sawdust which has proved so fatal else 8 The Ottawa Naturalist. [June where, so that, with the afore-mentioned restrictions in force the finny tr.bos should there have ^reat opportunities for increase'. geological formation a.nd minerals. The land comprised ip the Algonquin Park is in {general of little use tor agricultural purposes, being, as might be expected from its situation on a watershed, for the greater part rough, broken and stony. There are few high hills, the surface" being mostly com- posed of rocky ridges, alternating with valleys, swamps and marshes. The rough ribs of the F.aurentian formation everywhere protrude, and in granite or gneiss dip at all angles to the south- east, the strike of the strata being northeast bv southwest No hmestome. so far as the writer knows, occurs, and the indications of mineral hitherto found are few, consisting principally of traces of iron. Mining exploration or prospecting for minerals within the Park is prohibited except under certain conditions and pro- visions. The working of mines and the developing of mininjr interests would be regulated in the same way. A FIELD FOR EXPERIMENTS IN FORESTRY. Much might be said about the possibilities for useful experi- ment in forestry which such a region affords. The re-planting of burnt areas, the re-filling of gaps in the original forest, the ob- taining of accurate information anent the soils, localities and ex- posures suitable for certain trees, the discovery of the best method of obtaining from a forest the maximum amount of product which It IS capable of yielding without at the same time trenching upon Its capacity, and the solution of the problem of destroying the branches and tree tops left on the ground by the lumberman during the culling of a pine forest, are all experiments of a great probable value which might advantageously be made. CLIMATE. The retention of such an extensive block of forest is bound to have a beneficial influence on the climate of the surrounding country. Forests tend to promote humidity, and exert a temper- ing effect upon injurious winds, preventing the fierce hurricanes and blizzards" common in unforested lands. They also help to equalize the atmosphere, cooling the summer air and mitigating 19 51 I Cami'iiei.l— Au;oNyLi\ Park. ■ sseverny in ,he winter. Consecuen.ly. ,he destruction of a :Z ?::.?■ ?^ '''"" '''''-'' " - ^^'-'"^^ - ^---"v aneL countncs vh.ch once possessed forests became sterile after havini been deprived of them. ".t^uif^: A \AT.IR\L SA.MTARIUM. Owing to the altitude Of this repon. and its bracing ...mos- Phere-redolent wuh ,he resinous odours ol the pine and balsam. he";;::' "T'" ^'^■"r"- '"'-'^ —Pti- may recov. ostheabh and v.gor. The id.u has been shown to be well J unded , , , ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^ .^^. ^.^^,^^^ . ^ ^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^ _ eM . The old Romans sent sufferers ot this class to Libr. vvhere by breathmg the bal samic emanations of the pines which re abounded they are said to have received much benefit. In he Adirondack I-orest Sf Xew Vork State a sanitarium has been m operation for n,any years, with the special object of relieving patients m the early stages of consumption. It offers to such ,h' benefit of climatic treatment, a systematic out-door life, hygienic ha Its and suitable medical treatment, and its reports ;howt ha nt>-five per cent of the patients are apparently cured ; while uve tyfiveor th.riy per cent more are sufficiently restored in health to resume their work or support themselves by their own efforts wh. e hving in a suitable climate. The Gravenhurst sani- tarium on Lake Muskoka is a newer institution, which has also attained a considerable measure of success in this sort of Dr. Otto Wal.her. at the sanitarium at Norurach. in the Baden Black Forest. Germany, are better than those obtained at any similar hospital in the world. However, there can be little doubt but that a sojourn in the pine forests of this Nipissing upland with Its pure air. good water and aromatic breezes, would be beneficial to many afflicted with weak lungs. THE PARK HEAnQL'ARTERS. The Park headquarters were at first situated on Canoe Lake but. for various reasons, Cache Lake was considered a more suitable spot for them, and they were removed thither. Suitable buddings for the accommodation of the superintendent and his lO The Ottawa Naturalist. [June staff of six or seven rangers, were erected during- the summer of 1897 on the lake shore just south of the railway track. The rangers are supposed to be travelling about most of the time, in order to keep a sharp lookout for trespassers and poachers, and against fires, and to watch especially the' waterwavs and usual entrances to the Park. They incidentally erect shelter-lodges, make other improvements, and wage war on wolves and other noxious animals. On a rocky point, about fifteen feet above the water, and so embowered in birches and spruces that one might paddle by un- conscious of its presence, stands "Fort Necessity" — one of the shelter-lodges. It is a small, rustic, one-roomed cabin, containing a sheet-iron stove, rude stools and table, and a plaifvirm bed the width of the building. The latter will accommodate, if necessary, six men, three at one end and three at the other, lying feet to feet. The inlet of the lake is near by, and a paddle of half a mile up it brings you to White's Lake, in the vicinity of which— and within the sound of the locomotive whistle— a fine beaver-dam and other works of that exemplary animal can be seen. Enough has, doubtless, been said abouc the Algonquin Na- tional Park to give some idea of its character and resources, and of the great inducements which it offers to the canoeman, the camper, the sp'^-tsman, the seeker after rest and health, and the lover of Nan