82 THE ALLEGHAISTES. 



All through that portion of Western New York accessible 

 by the Erie Eailroad, both in lake and stream, and in the 

 tributaries of the Delaware, trout are to be found in great 

 abundance. Greenwood Lake, twelve miles fi'om Turner's, is 

 a favorite rendezvous. In Pike county, Pennsylvania, 

 there is fine fishing, of which I shall speak particularly in a 

 subsequent chapter. The valley of the Juniata in Penn- 

 sylvania, and the Cheat Eiver in Western Virginia, are famous 

 for the number and size of their trout. 



The Cheat Eiver country extends through Eandolph and 

 Preston counties, and comprises one of the most savage por- 

 tions of the Alleghany range. The river and its tributaries, 

 the Blackwater, Seneca Creek, the Laurel, Gode Fork, all 

 abound in trout, and run through a labyrinth of moun- 

 tains, roaring down ledges, leaping precipices, winding 

 through dismal gorges, and everywhere dashing and scin- 

 tillating with foam and bubbles. Perpendicular walls run up 

 to the sky. Great pines cling to their crevices, and threaten 

 to fall before the first windy gust that whisks down the 

 ravine. Such a combination of tangled w^ildemess and rug- 

 ged grandeur is seldom seen. The White Mountains arc tame 

 in comparison, and Tuckerraan's Eavine becomes a mere rift 

 in the rock beside these mighty chasms from whose misty 

 depths rise confused sounds of rushing Avaters and niutter- 

 ings of unseen agents. Near the source of the Dry Fork are 

 the " Sinks," where the river rushes into the side of the 

 mountains and disappears for a time, then suddenly emerges 

 to view and continues its course in the sunhght. The Cheat 

 derives its name from the fact that its waters are so clear, and 

 at the same time so dark as to deceive the stranger in regard 

 to its depths when crossing its fording-places. It is reached 

 by the Parkersburg branch of the Baltimore and Ohio Eail- 

 road. 



Away up among the mountains of the north-east corner 

 of North Carolina, where the boundaries of four states join, 

 are the sources of many trout-streams which form the tribu- 



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