76 THE SPORTSMAN'S AND TOURIST’S GUIDE. 
and simple homes they extend a welcome 
and entertain the stranger with that 
whole hearted kindness not to be found 
in the conventional circles of more re- 
fined life. 
THE BLACKWATER REGION. 
The following description of the Black 
Water Region is from the pen of D. 8. 
Green, Esq., and affords much valuable 
information regarding this wild and ro- 
mantic section. 
The stream lies among the mountains 
twenty-six miles south of Oakland, on the 
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. There is a toler- 
able good road through the glades for thirteen 
miles, after which it degenerates almost as 
rapidly as the turnpike out West, which is said 
to have dwindled down to a foot-path that 
finally became a squirrel track, and ran up a 
tree. The last few miles are a mere trace 
through the woods, though this is sometimes 
traveled by wagons, the passengers by which 
generally have the privilege of going on foot. 
The Blackwater is one of the extreme 
eastern affluents of the Ohio. It runs through 
a forest country of probably thirty miles in 
length and width, a tract of some nine hun- 
dred square miles, almost as wild as any part 
of the Rocky Mountains. In all this region 
there is hardly a settler to the hundred square 
miles; in the part usually visited by trout 
fishermen, there is but one house, a lone log 
building ten miles from the nearest settle- 
ment. Years ago Judge Dobbins of Balti- 
more, who owned large tracts of land in the 
neighborhood, built this as a place to bring 
his family in Summer. The property has 
changed owners, but the house is still called 
Dobbins’ ” by the mountaineers. In Winter 
the region is entirely deserted, but with the 
opening of the fishing season in May a family 
by the name of Kitzmiller moves in and 
accommodates visitors with plain and sub- 
stantial country fare. This is the only place 
in the wilderness where shelter or supplies 
can be obtained, except at ‘“ Cosner’s,” eigh- 
teen miles up the river. Visitors who think 
whisky one of the essentials of life, are ad- 
vised to bring it with them, as nota drop is 
to be had on the Blackwater. 
Mr. Kitzmiller is kind and honorable, and 
not disposed to exorbitant charges, consider— 
ing that every mouthful of provisions, except 
the trout, has to be brought twenty-six miles. 
He belongs to the singular sect of Menonites 
who, for a wonder, appear to be practical 
Christians. 
Dobbins stands on the summit of the Moun- 
tain between the Blackwater and North Fork, 
and is said by the natives to have an elevation 
of thirty-nine hundred feet above the ocean, 
though it is more than doubtful if a barometric 
measurement would show so great a height. 
There are sixteen cataracts within hearing 
distance of the house, and the effect in time of 
flood, when the whole sixteen are roaring at 
once, is said to be tremendous. 
The Blackwater is a stream some thirty or 
forty yards in width, clear of driftwood and 
trash, and the chance for casting the fly on it 
is first-class. The fishing in the proper 
season, May, June and September, is mag- 
nificent. The trout average rather small, and 
have not the activity of those of more north- 
ern and colder streams. The large ones, 
however, will give the wielder of a light fly 
rod enough to do. Their flesh is a rich red- 
dish yellow, a regular salmon color, probably 
owing to the fact that their diet is largely 
composed of crawfish, which abound in the 
stream. The effect of the crustacea on the 
flesh of the game fishes that devour them is 
well known. 
The stream flows along after the usual 
manner of trout streams for many miles, until 
it suddenly falls over an enormous ledge of 
rocks, sixty-three feet at one leap. No 
visitor should fail to see these falls, nor to 
explore the tremendous gorge of the North 
Fork, which stream tumbles down eight hun- 
dred feet in less than a mile. 
The Great Falls are very difficult of access, 
yet on the rocks at their foot are cut the 
names of two ladies. 
The pure mountain air, the glorious scene- 
ry, the fine fishing, and the entire absence of 
the multitudinous bores of civilization, render 
the region an angler’s paradise. The Adiron- 
dacks are said to have become hackneyed, so 
that it is difficult to find a.respectable camp- 
ing ground not already littered with fragments 
of lunches, torn newspapers and hoopskirts, 
or to bathe in the lakes without stepping on 
