THE AMERICAN SPORTSMAN'S JOURNAL, 



Tormg, Poor Oolla 



NEW YORK, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1878. 



For Forest and Stream and Rod and Gun. 



jfiovtltm fishing in (^Imwtkmn 



By South Fohtc. 



WE are crossing London Bridge on the top of a stage- 

 coach this bright morning, July 6, 1878. Ben, look- 

 ing -wistfully at the ripple and sheen upon the surface of the 

 Thames, bethinks him of those purer streams amid the moun- 

 tain forests, and he ejaculates : 



" Ah, lad, what a morning thi3 for Irout on a stream such 

 as we have seen together!" 



I make no answer, but sink into a reverie ; the chaffing of 

 coachy, cabby and street sweep falls upon a listless car for the 

 nonce. More than three thousand miles of space lie between 

 me and that pretty stream, with which I was so enchanted 

 that from her foaming, restless bosom I plucked my nam de 

 plume, and the bright and pleasant memories now chase 

 and crowd each other in my mind as I while away the hours 

 in fancy upon her mossy banks, 'neath shading sugar maple 

 boughs, among whose branches sing the oriole, robin and 

 cheewink, and where silently flits the rose-breasted grosbeak 

 and the scarlet tanager. Anon, the yellow-billed cuckoo 

 sends forth her weird notes, fortelliug the coming shower. 

 The raven, black and glossy, caw-caws from the dead pine 

 tree top and makes the forest reverberate the sound from hill 

 to mountain. The woodpecker screams out his shrill cry of 

 delight, as he fastens himself upon the Irunkof a dead tree and 

 Viooeeds with loud-sounding, well-directed blows of horny 

 leak to break away masses of rotten wood to find ttie fat. 

 worm lying beneath. I now clamber over gnarled trunk of 

 fallen forest giant and cast my fly into the swirl beneath its 

 shade, or leap from rock to rock, or wade thigh deep in her 

 torrent, my very spirit cooled and refreshed by the laving 

 crystal waters from feru shaded springs. Every now and 

 then a gamy spotted trout is slipped through t lie hole in 

 creel top, and 1 move on until I am rudely aroused hy Rett— 

 "Let us go trout fishing." To which, with a tinge of bitter- 

 ness, I answer : "Ask me to go up in a balloon, go to the 

 tower, to the Crystal Palace, to the Zoological Gardens, or do 

 something possible; but don't taunt a helpless American 

 sportsman with such ideas when their fulfillment is so im- 

 possible." 



" We'll go to Germany to-night," replies Ben, " if you say 

 the word, and by Tuesday next 1 will put you down on a 

 trout stream, amid mountain scenery which your wildest 

 fancy cannot imagine, and where the trout are so savage that 

 they challenge anything from a black palmer to a ' white 

 moth.' The stream is a beauty, and I have a stauding invi- 

 tation from my friend Herr Krieger, who has it in his power 

 to obtain the courtesy of fishing for foreman (the German 

 name for troui), and in any of the mountain streams owned 

 and preserved by the Baron Von Duiker." 



So a fishiug-tac ;le store was sought, and rods, lines, flies, 

 casting-lines, reels (which they call " winches" here), creels, 

 landing-net, and all complete aud new, were purchased at. 

 rates from twenty to fifty per cent, cheaper than in America. 

 In this London s:orc I noticed that bait was also sold— i. e , 

 live minnows, red worms and striped worms — from wet places, 

 with circular stripes arouud them, which they call brandling 

 worms here, aud maggots, obtained by exposing decomposed 

 beef liver to the sun and allowing the big blue-fly to deposit 

 larvm in it, and when they grow" to sufficient sine they are 

 transferred to a vessel containing red sand, which scours 

 them, and they are then ready for use as bait, and are sold by 

 the name of "gentles." They resemble chestnut worms more 

 than anything 1 have seen that did not, grow, live and have 

 its being in a chestnut. The roach and Jack (latter similar 

 lo our pike) take the gentle as bait in the Thames. While 

 selecting our tackle there were scores of sportsmen coming in 

 for various articles, ana the sportsmen were as of various 

 kinds, from the cockney sportsman with dirty corduroys, 

 dirtier shirt, greasy cap, red nose, and one eye bigger than 

 the other ; mouth reaching from ear to ear, with a briar root 

 pipe filled with unsavory tobacco, who, with a contemptuous 

 air, Bpat tobacco juice on the unoffending, sleeping cat upon 

 the floor, and patronizingly to a lady clerk slated his wants as 

 follows: "Hey, lass! ee'l 'ave tuppence 'erth red wurms, 

 tuppence brandlin', an' ha'pennurth gentles. l J ut paper au 

 urn, ee go flshin' in Terns." Alter this he heaved a deep sigh, 

 or rather a snort, as though he had stated all the wants ex- 

 cept the fish, which were to como. 



Evening saw us, valises in hand, rods strapped together, 

 jumping from a Hansom cab at flolborn Station, and we were 

 soon speeding our way by rail over the Surrey downs, the 

 South downs in the dim distance, the spires of London re- 

 ceding from our view, and the grand lowers of the Crystal 

 Palace standing like giants against the sky in the gloaming. 

 The herder was gathering his sheep, the song of the milkmaid 

 came to our ears, and the pretty lasses and lads were playing 

 lawn tennis on green sward at the villas as on we sped to 

 Queensboro'. Here at ten o'clock in the evening we em- 



barked on the staunch little Dutch channel steamer, the StaaU 

 Flushing, to cross the Straights of Dover to Flushing, in Hol- 

 land. Entering the harbor of the River Schelt, we realized 

 that the Dutch had full possession of Holland, as their sol- 

 diers swarmed everywhere, and there we had to open our 

 baggage and exhibit our scanty wardrobes to the 

 Custom House officials, and after a miserable sand- 

 wich compound of strong cheese and black breatl. 

 the military-looking guard shouted out in Dutch, "All 

 aboard'.'' and we were off again by the Netherhmd Slate 

 and Bergiah Hargish Railway. I was hungry ; I was raven- 

 ous, hue that sandwich baffled every attempt to swallow a 

 mouthful. It choked me ; there, was no water on the train — 

 there never is in Europe. I could have spent the entire day 

 over that sandwich had not Ben, who was gazing out of the 

 window of the car, dispelled my hunger by calling my atten- 

 tion to the number of wild duck that were disporting them- 

 selves among the tall Teeds and grasses that grew in great lux- 

 uriance in the water along the railway. They were evidently 

 bred here, as they paid little attention to the passing train. 

 Occasionally they would rise in pairs, or fours or fives, and 

 fly away to some other more secluded spot across the level 

 lowlands; hut oftener they would swim about close enough 

 for us to see their bright eyes. Hares were seen— great big 

 fellows, three or four times the size of our little cotton-tads 

 — scampering away from one hedge to another. 



Along the shore of the arms of the ocean curlew, willet, 

 aud a great variety of the wading birds were seen in immense 

 numbers, and such wing shots were presented as to make my 

 fingers tingle. I was no longer hungry. 



Cranes, bittern, sea-gulls and storks abound everywhere; 

 in fact I bethought me of the boundless Iowa prairies, where 

 it is my wont lo spend September days in shooting prairie 

 chicken, duck and sand-hill crane. 



The roads are in this country all elevated, to permit travel 

 in winter, when the incursion of the tide3 overflow the land. 

 The crops are all flourishing, aud everywhere the waving 

 patches of rye, wheat aud barley are seen. There is no corn 

 here, and no fences. 



The barns and dwellings are all under one tha'ched roof. 

 The women work in the fields, and to view their broad 

 shoulders, big arms, stout, ankles, and, shall 1 say it, big, 

 wooden-shod feet, one would admit they were intended for 

 purposes of industry of a heavy character. Their dress, 

 though plain, is usually clean and tidy. 



We reach Ellerfeld in Germany about three in the after- 

 noon, where there are now Kaiser William's stalwart soldiers, 

 and our baggage is again examined, and off wo go again 

 through Dm-seldorf aud over the highly cultivated rolling 

 lauds of Westphalia to our destination" for the night at. Ua- 

 gen, among the mountains, where we are met by Herr Kaler, 

 another German friend of Ben. 



After dinner we take a drive down the valley of the Ruhr 

 and tip the mountain-side to an old castle of the Feudal ages 

 The scenery is picturesque and grand, the river winding its 

 serpentine way, a mere silver ribbon on an emerald ground of 

 meadows, dotted here and there with the herd3 of cattle, far, 

 far below ua in the valley. In front of us, frowning at the 

 castle and, as it were," bidding defiance to its hereditary 

 power, is old Geisberg .Mountain, with iis balllementcd tower 

 monument, erected in fhe time of King Jerome Bonaparte, 

 last King of Westphalia, in honor of one Baron Sttin. Who 

 this baron was I was not able to learn, further than the 

 Deutcher, who handled the whip and reins at my side with 

 such drxtarity as to keep his fine, big, Weslphalian bays on 

 the jump constantly up hill and down vale, assured me the 

 baron was a ' ' grosser mown, " (great man) " in dos country." 

 That evening Ben's friend, soon to become my own as well, 

 and one long to be cherished in my bosom, called upon us, in 

 the person of Heir Peter Krieger, direclor-in-chief of the 

 Sluoden and Schwerle Eisenindustrie, which is the large iron 

 works of the region, employing many hundreds Of men. Herr 

 Krieger is an enthusiastic sportsman, and speaks English 

 fluently, and, as we sat that, night over a bottle of real i-lbch- 

 helmer, and pure Seltzer water from the spring less than fifty 

 miles away, we were regaled with some thrilling stories of 

 great furiLlen (trout) the genial Herr had taken, and in re- 

 counting in detail his adventures with big pike and forelkn 

 his very soul would light up and his soft gray eyes flash with 

 a fervor that only a true lover of the sport can feci. At last 

 we parted for the night, he to return to Schwerle and we lo 

 bed ; but before leaving the kind Herr Krieger informed us 

 thai, his carriage would be sent at six in the morning to take 

 us to the fishing-grounds, twenty miles awav in the mountains, 

 near Hirudin, where, by the time we would arrive, he would 

 have the necessary permits awaiting us from the Baron Von 

 Duiker, whose harouial residence is in the Bait Mountains, 

 near Nunden. Press of duties at the works prevented the 

 kind Herr Krieger from going with us, but he would join us 

 later in the sport. 



At six promptly wo had a good breakfast stowed away 

 under our fishing jackets, and rods and other armamentaria 

 pmatoria on the front seat of the big German road carriage, 

 with Alter Coonrod on the box and a fine pair of deep bays 

 looking through the collars. A grand flourish of the long whip, 

 which cracked and cracked again at each successive flourish 

 like a German needle-gun, sent the powerful bays into a 

 bounding gallop down the broad, level road, shaded by linden, 

 poplar and beach trees. The hoofs resounding in the cool, 

 damp morning air made dame and red checked fraulein peep 



from small cottage windows. We were happy and greeted 

 everybody, light and left, who smiled and greeted agara anil 

 shook their heads approvingly, all of which amused Alter 

 Coonrod. who, at last, with a loud rur-r-r-r-rr, a roll of the 

 Dutch for whoa, drew his horses up at the first toll-gale and 

 confidentially told the toll keeper en pauanl, that we were 

 Americaners. The toll being paid by Go<inrod,who imperatively 

 told Ben, who speaks German, that Herr Kreigergave him the 

 money for toll and would be very angry if it was bol 

 bursed by him. We yielded our attempts to pay, and, ac- 

 knowledging the friendly greeting of the old toll keeper, 

 away we wenl again at a spanking pace over the best roads it 

 ever w r as my good fortune to travel upon. 



But we had been up late aud early and traveled far, and the 

 big deep seats of the carriage were sleep invilinar. and to sleep 

 we went, when I dreamed of trout and DutclTelieesc, Rhine 

 wine and Bologne sausages, and the immortal and indomitable 

 tribe of barbarians who in early limes inhabited Ike 

 forests and mountains— the Cbemskians. I dreamed that 

 their chief, Armc-nius, came down to the stream where I was 

 fishing and ord.rcd me off the premises, lie was clad chiefly 

 in the consciousness of hi3 own power, with a string of wild 

 boar tusks hanging around his neck. This was about all he 

 had to cover his niikcdnes3, except a wealth of blonde curls 

 and a wild boar skin, with the bristles on, hanging about his 

 waist. When I ventured to ask this magnificent barbarian 

 how far 1 had to go to get off his dominions, he told me it 

 would take five days' journey. But this was all a dream, and. 

 1 dare say. prompted hy the historical impressions of the 

 country and ihe atmosphere of theTeutoberger Forest, which 

 lies among these very hills and vales. 



There a noble sbalt rears up its head 200 feet high, upon 

 which is a statue of the brave and crafty Armenius, sword in 

 hand, erected in fond memory by his descendants, the pres- 

 ent inhabitants of Westphalia. The story of Armenius, the 

 Gheruskiau prince, is a little digression, which I will give you 

 briefly as toll me the night betoro by Herr Beekhaus, his in- 

 telligent, descendant. 



Armenius, son of the Cheruskian prince Ligimer, was born 

 the year 10 Anno Domini, and while young was captured bv 

 some Roman legions fighting iu Northwestern Germany, a 

 long distance from his own home. Ho was taken to Roma as 

 a hostage, and while there became educated iu the Latin lan- 

 guage and Roman|arts of war, and was afterward made a Roman 

 citizen, knight and commander of a cohort in the battles <<« In 

 Danube against the enemies of Rome. He, after gaining 

 honors abroad, returned lo his native country, where Varus 

 was now Roman Governor of the province. Varus was se- 

 cretly much hated by the warlike ami liberty-loving Chcrns- 

 kians for his oppressive tyranny and injustice to these subjects 

 of Roman empire; and Armenius, wiio still loved his native 

 country wiih that love that can never die in the heart o I a 

 veritable patriot, formed a secret resolution to free his nation 

 from the hated Roman yoke,.andtoluis end he feigned friend- 

 ship to Varus, who soon after intrusted young Armenius with 

 the command of the German legions sent to quell other tribes 

 which Armenius had secretly excited to rebellion. He then, 

 with thesy legions of German warriors reunited, drew Varus 

 and the Roman legions, all now informed of the situation, into 

 the Teutoberger Forest, much of which is marshy and intri- 

 cate, aud iu which the German warriors were hidden, and here 

 a batilc raged lor three days in terrific storm and rain, where 

 barbarian lance clashed against Roman shield, and the Roman 

 warriors were slain in count less numbers. Varus vanquished, 

 his warriors nearly all sliln around him, now in desperation 

 at the last moment, threw himself on his own sword ' 

 Item yield himself a living prisoner to his barbarian subjects. 



The Romans sent back their legions under Germauicus, but 

 the brave Armenius, now called the liberator of his country, 

 fought with his cohortsaad hurled them back again, and neVCI 

 more could Roman yoke be placed on Cheruskian neck. 



This brave and youthful prince was afterward murdered by 

 his own parents, for what reason my historical budget does 

 not speak. 



But we are by this time on the stream— the limine— which 

 winos through the Bait Mountains, and while we are put I i 

 together our rods and casting lines aud flics, the followil 

 note is handed to Ben by a man who has just dismounted 

 from ahorse. I look over Ben's shoulder as he reads it, hut, it 

 is Dutch to me, and I impatiently tell hiui to give it to us iu 

 Eoglish, and quickly, too. lie translates as follows : 



"This is in reply to my friend Herr Krieger'a honored 

 favor, in regard to fishing, for his friends, which 13 granted 

 with pleasure, etc." 



" That's all right. Stand aside, my boy, I an g<Jjng to cast 

 right over ihere, where I sea two Whaling l,L ones fooling 

 around." 



The line is dry and the gut all curled up, bul, out it goes, a 

 distance of eighteen feet, and drops lightly on tbu sur- 

 face by an old log. Two big fellows make a dash at; if, 

 one of them going clean out of water ; bul. I am excited and t 

 strike Wildly, not hooking either. 



"Kd-p cool, lad, you'll break your rod," said Ben, 

 you lunge and jerk that way; recollect you arc nol catching 

 black bass now with a two-pound trolling rod." 



I cast again lightly in the same spot, when there is another 

 rush, and a twenty-inch savage breaks water at once, Willi my 

 fly already down m his stomach. The way be tears things 

 about tells me he is firmly hooked, anil I, lor Tear of my light 

 bamboo tip, humor him by letting him take a spin down to- 



