BLACK BXiS AND MUSKALLOXGE FISHING. 205 



BLACK BASS AISTD MUSK- 

 ALL0:N'GE FISHING. 



In the memory of the past there are always remi- 

 niscences the recalling of which give us the greatest 

 pleasure. Such is particularly the case with me when 

 I tliiuk of the scenes and events which I am about to 

 endeavor to describe. I was living -on the confines 

 of civilization literally, for there was but one residence 

 farther nortli than the house of which I was an inmate, 

 and it was inhabited by a canny Scot, who never knew 

 what it was to take a day's relaxation, his entire ener- 

 gy, early and late, being devoted to the improvement 

 of his homestead. Shortly after my arrival I paid him a 

 visit, but I found that information on shooting matters 

 would have to be obtained through my own exertions, 

 for more than a complaint against Bruin occasionally 

 depriving him of a pig, he knew literally nothing of 

 the sporting capabilities of his neighborhood. It is 

 always pleasant on a new field of operations to obtain 

 a slight inkling of what you may expect. It is far from 



