58 With Rod and Gun in New England 



CHAPTER II. 



A BRIGHT AWAKENING. GOOD TROUT FISHING. A PAIR OF BEAUTIES. 



A SURPRISE FROM A " LAKER." LIFTING STRENGTH OF A FLY ROD. 



Size and weight of togue. — How to cook a "laker." — The 



FOOD SUPPLY AFFECTS THE TABLE QUALITIES OF TROUT. RAPID IN- 

 CREASE IN WEIGHT OF TROUT AND SALMON. ARTIFICIALLY REARED 



TROUT NOT AN EPICUREAN DELIGHT. ARE SEA TROUT AND BROOK 



TROUT IDENTICAL. LANDLOCKED SALMON AND THEIR PECULIARI- 

 TIES. — The California salmon as a fresh- water fish. — Won- 

 ders of modern fish culture. — Qualities of the Danube 

 salmon. — Salmon rising at a leaf. — A grand fight with a 



TWENTY-POUNDER. SPORTSMEN'S APPETITES. How TO MAKE "a 



smoker" in the woods. — Habits of the black bear. — Bears in 

 Nova Scotia. — The raccoon and his peculiarities. — Coon hunt- 

 ing. — The ruffed grouse our most important game bird. — 

 Habits of the grouse. — Great number of grouse killed and 

 marketed. 



WOODPECKER busily sounding his reveille, "Rat-a- 

 tat-tat," on an old stub behind the camp, awoke me 

 early on the following morning. I arose, and emerg- 

 ing from the tent gazed upon a scene such as every 

 lover of nature delights in. The sun was just rising 

 above the mountains in the east, tingeing the few clouds 

 which hung in the horizon with purple and gold ; the 

 surface of the lake away in the distance was covered with a slight haze, 

 above which the forest in the middle distance and the mountains far away 

 arose in grandeur and beauty. Through the haze the cry of a loon was 

 heard calling to his mate, and in the thicket near by the flute-like whistle 

 of a thrush and the chatter of a pair of saucy squirrels who were scolding 

 at our intrusion, were heard. The delicious fragrance of the woods, the 

 wild flowers, the earth itself, was present everywhere. 



Arousing the guides who were still soundly sleeping, — it is rarely, 

 indeed, that a guide is out before me in the morning, — my companions 

 and I went to a sandy point just above the outlet, where we enjoyed a 

 glorious bath in the cool water of the lake. What a splendid tonic it 

 was, and how fresh and invigorated we felt when it was ended ! 



Our breakfast was ready when we returned to the tents, and the fried 

 salmon steaks, boiled potatoes, biscuit and coffee were discussed with the 

 best of appetites. The breakfast over, we lighted our pipes and prepared 

 for the day's employment. 



