They bit hard, and made the blood run. They were so
big and such noisy creatures that their horrible buzzing sent the
cold chills chasing over me whenever they made an attack. Still
they were not so bad as mosquitoes.
And now we were afloat again on beautiful smooth water. The lake
stretched away to the southwest six and a half miles. We camped
that evening on a rocky ridge stretching out in serpent-like form
from the west shore of the lake above. The ridge was not more than
fifty feet wide, but it was one mile long. The rocks were grown
over with moss, and the willows and a few evergreens added their
touch of beauty. These long narrow points were a characteristic
feature of the lakes of the upper plateau. In this and the lakes
above, through which we passed the day following, there were many
small, rocky islands, some of them willow covered, some wooded.
The shores everywhere were wooded, but the difference in size in
the trees was now quite marked. They were much smaller than on the
river below. The water was clear, and we could see the lake beds
strewn with huge boulders, some of them reaching to very near the
surface. Here we began to see signs of the Indians again,
occasional standing wigwam poles showing among the green woods.
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