332 PRAIRIE AND FOREST. 



it, there is nothing more destructive to trout and salmon 

 than these minute particles of timber. The fish, as they 

 rest head up stream, imbibe them into their mouths, whence 

 they pass into the gills and stomach, ultimately causing 

 disease and death. When this is known to be the case, 

 would it not be well to insist that this debris should other- 

 wise be disposed of, which may, without much labor or in- 

 convenience, be accomplished by fire? Hendrik Hudson, 

 the first explorer of the magnificent river which bears his 

 name in America, speaks of that river as swarming with 

 salmon ; but where are they now ? Gone, never to return, 

 unless repopulated by artificial means ; in fact, expelled by 

 dams and sawdust, and such like accompaniments of the 

 human race. As with the Hudson, so it would be every- 

 where, if preventive measures were not adopted to stop 

 these abuses, so glaring and unjustifiable, that every well- 

 thinking man can scarce fail to anathematize the short- 

 sighted policy that has formerly marked the advance of 

 civilization. But it is not only fish in America ; game has 

 also thus ruthlessly been dealt with, till forests and farms 

 cease to re-echo the musical, plaintive notes of the partridge, 

 or the sonorous, drumming call of the ruffed grouse. For 

 our part, the most picturesque walk, the most delightful 

 rural drive, if not graced with the presence or note of the 

 feathered warblers, the cooing of the dove, or the flight of 

 birds, loses half its fascinations, half its enchantments, and 

 consequently half the pleasures it would otherwise afford. 



Supposing that you have passed a few days at Upton, 

 and enjoyed, with that relish which is so natural to a sports- 

 man, the manifold pleasures of a country -excursion, we 

 should advise your now leaving civilization, and reveling 

 in the solitude of the pathless wood, where man seldom in- 

 trudes, and nature remains undefiled or deformed except 

 by the assassin hand of the axeman. If you be a good 



