240 
ing, and at all seasons plenty of game and edi- 
ble fish, reward the angler’s care. The gars, 
too, do not annoy one quite as much here as 
in the river. Should any one feel disposed to 
explore the region here described, they can 
rest assured that they can, in the proper sea- 
son, find sport in plenty, both for rod and gun, 
and will never have cause to regret their visit 
to Berwick’s Bay. It is easily accessible from 
Mobile, Alabama. 
THE NEVERSINK COUNTRY. 
Those who love fishing, not merely for its 
associations, and love Nature as well, who 
would be content to wade the stream all day 
perhaps without landing a half pounder, and 
who enjoy the hardships ofa life in the woods, 
and the spice of camping out, would do well to 
maxe a short trip to the wild lands of Ulster 
and Sullivan counties. They are easy of ac- 
cess, and in point of solitude, no doubt they 
are superior to the Adirondacks, where, it is 
said, aman cannot bathe in a mountain lake 
without cutting his feet on the remnants of 
some broken whisky bottle, or lie down at 
night without staining his blanket on a cigar 
stump—eloquent traces of some of our modern 
woodsmen. 
The Beaverkill and Neversink rivers, the 
most important streams in this region, have 
for many years been well known to New York 
sportsmen, and are now almost abandoned, 
and considered “‘fished out,” but there are still 
many parts of this wilderness, especially at the 
headwaters of the Neversink and its tributa. 
ries, which have never yet been visited by the 
white man, and numerous streams, small but 
well stocked with gumey little trout, and un- 
fished, save by the wary mink. 
There are several ways of reaching this re- 
gion, but the shortest and least expensive is to 
take the afternoon boat from New York to 
Rondout, on the Hudson, and pass the right 
at a hotel, taking the 7 A. M. train the next 
morning on the Rondout & Oswego Railroad 
for Big Indian Station. Reaching here at 9 
A. M., a tramp of five or six miles on a road 
which follows the Big Indian River to near its 
headwaters and then crosses the mountains, 
will take you to the sources of the west 
branches of the Neversink. There are log 
houses here and there along the road at which 
THE SPORTSMAN’S AND TOURIST’S GUIDE. 
you can inquire the way and purchase such 
provisions as you can carry. It wil! pay to 
camp the first night on the Big Indian, and by 
striking down a bark peeler’s road about half 
a mile above the last saw mill, you will reach 
a wild little hollow through which the stream 
flows. A rod or two above the old corduroy 
bridge, and close beside the stream are poles 
of a shanty, and in front of them the remains 
ofa fire, where a party camped one night a 
few Summer’s since, and had fair luck with 
the trout before dark and ufier sunrise the 
next morning. The east and west branches 
flow about twelve miles, separated by high and 
thickly wooded mountain ranges, before unit- 
ing to form the main stream. Each is full of 
trout, as are also the Biscuit and Fall brooks, 
tributaries of the west branch. 
small, a half pounder being generally the max- 
imum of a day’s fishing, and the average much 
less. The most taking flies are found to be 
the whitewinged coachman and the brown hen. 
But the trout rise so well to everything, there 
is no necessity of changing the cast so very 
often. 
The expenses of a two or three weeks trip, 
including extras, are $15. Items: Fare on 
boat from New York to Rondout, including 
supper, $2; hotel at Rondout, $1.50; fare to 
Big Indian, about $2, making for trip and re- 
turn $11. As there are no expeuses after 
leaving Big Indian Station, except buying 
bread and butter &¢., at an occasional log 
house, the $4 remaining will be amply suffi- 
cient. 
For baggage, carry a fly rod, axe, rubber 
and woolen blankets, coffee pot, and creel. 
The nights are usually very cold, wild pigeons 
are sometimes numerous, partridges are abun- 
dant, and deer may be sometimes seen. Many 
of the rarer warblers will be found breeding 
here, as also the hermit thrush, olive backed 
thrush, and olive sided flycatcher. Bear tracks 
are frequently seen, and foxes and porcupines 
though very numerous, are not often met with, 
The Neversink country is no place for those 
who cannot camp out without all the luxuries 
of civilization and who require three or four 
guides to do their work. Guides cannot be 
had, and a man must be content with such 
luxuries as he can carry on his back for ten 
miles over some of the steepest mountains in 
the State. 
The trout are 
