sturgeon that weighed two hundred pounds and over, and in such
quantities that he hesitated to tell his experiences on his return.

Henry's stories of five hundred whitefish taken with a scoop net at the
rapids of Sault Ste. Marie in two hours were no longer questioned. The
size of the red-fleshed land-locked trout (the quail-of-the-water), of
pickerel and bass, astounded him. His travels had broadened his views.
The chatter of his Iroquois and Algonquin friends was now easier of
interpretation. The riddles of the wilderness were more easily read. He
now realized how possible it was, in this continent of unsurveyed
immensity, to journey for weeks, after leaving the white man's domain
hundreds of miles behind, and then reach only the rim of another kingdom
of even far greater fertility. He also realized that beyond these
laughing lands lay a rugged world of desolation, bounded in turn by the
rasping ice-floes of the Arctic.

If Brock's mind had expanded, so had his body. He was, as he expressed
it, as "hard as nails." The close of 1811 found "Master Isaac" a grand
specimen of manhood. Inclined to be a little portly, he was still
athletic. His face, though a trifle stern, had grown more attractive,
because of the benevolent look now stamped upon it. He was still fair
and florid, with a broad forehead, and eyes though somewhat small, yet
full and of a grayish blue, a charming smile and splendid white teeth.
Always the same kindly gentleman and always a soldier. His life at Fort
George had been one of great loneliness. He read much and rapidly, and
would memorize passages from the books that had left the deepest
impression. History, civil and military, especially ancient authors, was
his choice, and maps his weakness. Over these, with his devoted aides,
he would pore late into the night, until he knew the country almost as
well as his friend the Surveyor-General. For variety he feasted upon the