THE KANKAKEE. 371 



draw liis feet from the sticky, muddy bottom, the rifle was 

 slowly brought to bear upon the quarry's heart, and with 

 the report the gallant animal gave a tremendous struggle, 

 and pitched headlong, to rise no more. 



Excuse my wandering from my subject, but as I see in 

 memory the Holland River, the little episode narrated rises 

 before me. 



Another river, similar in its characteristics to the Hol- 

 land River, and also a favorite haunt of pike, is the Kanka- 

 kee, in the northern portion of the State of Indiana, and 

 whether we fished with shiners (resembling minnows) or 

 used the spoon-bait, I and my companions were equally 

 fortunate. For a week we tarried here; the season was 

 early autumn, and seldom at night, when we returned to 

 our encampment, but that each could count from two to 

 three dozen large fish that had succumbed to his skill. Dur- 

 ing that visit I hooked a monster, and although I twice 

 succeeded in bringing him alongside the boat, I had to suf- 

 fer the annoyance of seeing him go off with several yards 

 of my tackle. From the position I was in, I was obliged 

 to treat the foe very cavalierly, for the bottom is full of de- 

 cayed timber, and the limbs of a fallen tree half bridged 

 the water down stream, to gain which my foe made the 

 most determined efforts. 



To state the size of this pike correctly would be a diffi- 

 cult matter ; still, from my lengthened experience, I can 

 form an approximate estimate, and do not believe I ex- 

 aggerate when I say he must have exceeded forty 

 pounds. 



In Southern Illinois, on the tributaries and ponds mar- 

 gining the Wabash, I have killed some very large pike ; 

 but here they were not generally so well fed or so strong 

 as those of the North. 



In Iowa I have also been very successful in capturing 



