FOREST AND STREAM. 



19 



conveniences fat camping out, cheap Outfits, boats, r.-K'klf-, 



ides, excellent hotel accommodations, and gentle- 

 manly and obliging amateur sportsmen, ever ready to help 

 creation. Here we have the great northern 



.1 ■ i J. ins thirty pounds. The 



■■ii. the Ik-: t of fish, excepting Ihe troul family, 

 weighing froto throe tn twenty pounds excellent at all 

 Tronl Lake, thkiy--fjve miles north of Btaluerd, 

 niul sill tlic lakes, reservoirs for the Prairie River, a tributary 

 of the Mississippi River, are full of speckled beauties, 

 the genuin ■ r ■■■'v 1 have heard sportsmen from 



■ ! east recount their wonderful exploits in landing 

 nine- pound trout from lakes and rivers in Maine and the 

 Provinces. Having whipped many a mountain brook in 

 northern Pennsylvania and western' New York, and never 

 ■ : i i pricking a "two pounder," I have not usually 

 listened tn these recitals with much satisfaction. 1 take it 

 all hack now. and with proper humility beg pardon for 

 anv unjust, suspicion 1 may have entertained that these 

 gentlemen were Irving to impose upon mv credulity. Such 



ust in this State, if not in Maine. The geological 

 period in which the granite hills of Maine and \ew Hamp- 

 shire were elevated, was cognizant of the working of the 

 same forces in the northern part of this State. The forces 

 that opened up their rock-ribbed granite channels were at 

 work here at the same time. And the rippling brooks 

 rifting our granite ledges are filled with "mountain brook" 

 trout, as in the east. 



in the month of May last, a gentleman whose word is 

 reliable, (hut who never shot a deer with a birch-hark lan- 

 tern, route from Aikin to Braiuerd, assisted by a re- 

 volver and a "heavily loaded" double barreled shot gun, 

 that would not harm a deer if "Haviland," your whilorn 



■ 1 1 ondent, did manipulate it — see last number Fokkst 



■. u aught out of a lake with an outlet into 

 Prairie Paver, three .mlmn jonl/wiH*. one weighing twenty 

 pounds, one seventeen pounds, and one about lour pounds, 

 much to his surprise, us he had, like many others, doubted 

 the existence of large trout in this region." 



While at Gull Luke a few days since mine host of the 

 Hotel de Gray gave his testimony of the proportions of 

 many of the trout caught, in these upper lakes. And upon 

 furtherinvestigalion numeinns panic- have - en and tasted 

 the trout brought me by Indians, large silver-aided fellows, 

 spotted enough to satisfy the most ardenl longings of the 

 yearning sportsman. 



During next month a party of us will penetrate the 

 wilds of Cass county. Equipped with all the delicacies of 

 the trout epicureanism, with fly and net, tackle and rod. 

 shot gnu and rifle, we shall explore the bottom of her 

 lakes, examine into the hidden haunts of her deer, and 

 promise that the first twenty pound trout; landed shall be 

 forwarded on ice to the Foukst asd Stream, that the 

 curious may have recorded evidence of the favorite sporting 

 locality of the continent. "Haviland." as soon as he-re- 

 covers/' from that "<' ' V! barrelled shot at the birch-bark 

 lantern," will he eager for the frav. Bedford will be there 

 with tape line balances and a ready reckoner, and the'large 

 game will be proportioned Trttfi oiactest consideration of 

 truth. Bedford. 



Bi'aine.nl, Jlhn>., Jul;/ 20th. 



For Fowl and Stream, 

 BASS FISHING IN ONTARIO. 



Tarn convinced that the finest black bass fishing within 

 easy access of New York city is to be found about the 

 island that lies in Lake Ontario, a score or less of miles 

 from where it merges into the St.. Lawrence River. T have 

 fished every nook In the Thousand Islauds: have dragged 

 my spoons in the clear water of Cayuga, Oneida and Cbam- 

 plaia Lakes and have cast my flies' info the famous rapids 

 id" the Oswego River— and with fiue success too— hut the 

 memory of the sport around the islauds in old Ontario over- 

 shadows everything else. I have just returned from there, 

 and if I can describe my experiences, my enthusiasm will 

 readily be pardoned. 



We' started from New York at six o'clock, evening, and 

 following the Hudson River and Central road to Rome N 

 Y, without change, our sleeping car was switched to Ihe 

 Ogdensburg road. An hour after daybreak we found our- 

 selves in the little village of Adams, in Southern Jefferson 

 ( Yinniy. Thence by stage two hours' aftenArd we were at. 

 Henderson Bay, eight miles from the old town of Saekeu's 

 Harbor. Here our yacht was in readiness and afresh 

 breeze quickly wafted us to Galloo Island, (the map-makers 

 sometimes spell it Galloup,) twelve miles away. 



While the boatman was transferring the luggage from 

 the yacht to the shanty, the pari y tripped up on~a little hill 

 just back from the bench and look a look about. The blue 

 'line of the Canadian shore could just be discerned far to 

 the left. Before us, fifteen miles away, was the vcrv be- 

 ginning of the St . Lawrence River, and we had to look past 

 Fox and Grenadier Islands to see where it commenced. To 

 the right were Stoney, Calf and Little Galloo Islands, while 

 far away to the northwest could just be discerned the tree 

 tops on the Duck Island. The islands mentioned form the 

 very beginning of the famous Thousand Island series, and 

 in point of geological formation and vegetable growth, are 

 neatly identical with them. The beach of the lake islets 

 however, is covered with many layers of fine white pebbles 

 that have been cast up from the depths of transparent 

 water. The islauds are in part cultivated and have farm 

 bouses on them, at which may be purchased bread, butter. 

 milk and other luxuries of camp life at prices that might 

 astonish a city housekeeper. Butter twelve cents, milk 

 four cents, and spring chickens, he it spoken with remorse, 

 eighteen cents, not a pound, hut a piece. "Why this cheap- 

 ness?" I asked. "Twelve miles from land," was the re- 

 sponse. 



From the hillock we could see the bass breaking on the 

 shoal which lies a hundred yards from the eastern shore, 

 and the beauties of the islands suddenly faded. Speedily 

 we embarked in the two skiffs which had been towed be- 

 hind the yacht I paddled, and my companion, with his 

 eight-ounce rod in hand, prepared to east. He had not 

 been there before as I had, (for eight consecutive summers 

 be if wdiispeied confidentially,) and knew not what to ex- 

 pect, but as the shallow water began to show itself under 

 the how, he let his leader drop thirty feet ahead of the 

 boat. Shall I ever forget that, throw ! A three pound 

 black bass made the witter boil before the flies were wet. 

 "Sweet Christmas!" cried Ned us he took foothold for a 

 tight, "that's the biggest bass in the lake," Three feet in 

 the air sprung the beauty, twitching evc.rv muscle and flut- 

 tering every fin and shaking his head to free the By, But 



This aft 

 enjoyed 



,...! j hi him no -lack. and striking the water with a Splash 

 the noble fish darted away on :, side tfwi ■■■■ urd the St. 

 .taking out line like mad. Soon Ned checked 

 him and into the air again he went. He will soon tire out 

 if he follows the luetics he has begun, and so he did. I 

 was passing the landing net under him when "WhOOp— 



Hurrah! we've got one," burst from the occupants of the 

 utherboat. He is ! large ,. .airs, I should say, by the 

 way Phil's split bamboo rod bended; and so he was round 

 to he ten minutes afterward wluu dropped in the boat's 

 bottom. And so the fun went on. There seemed lobe no 

 end to the fish. Wc could See then] sometimes a dozen at 

 once in the cleat water. Half tin hour tiller sunset, having 

 fished two rods only two and a half hours, we paddled to 

 the shanty and threw seventy-Ope lia-s on ihe beach, the 

 hircesl, a'four-ponmler: the smallest weighing a little less 

 than a pound. 



ion's sport was a fair sample ol what I have 

 SC water- each summer for eight years. 1 

 ., ...e fish equally plenty at the head and fool of 

 .,;.., i , ,i ;i the toot "i i ItOe Galloo, ai thi head ol 



Fox ami the lower side of the Grenadier [-lands. The 

 Duck Islands is a much better place than either of those 

 named, but is considerably further out, in the lake. They 

 are very rarely visited and their shores are lined with bass. 

 There is. however, little choice of water at the foot of the 

 lake. Wherever a shoal makes out from the islands Ihe 

 bass congregate. These grounds are rarely visited, save by 

 the inhabitants of the neighboring hamlets, and the fish 

 scarcely know the fear of the hook. Next, to the. Duck 

 Islands', however, I have found bass thickest at the foot of 

 Halloo.' There is fine pickerel and pike fishing in the little 

 bavs that indent the main shore, and often a musealouge is 

 taken there. 



The black bass begins to bite in these waters about the 

 first of .Tune; July and August are the best months. They 

 rise to flies in the'shallow water very readily at times, and 

 often in turn current be made to look at one. I have had 

 them rise for an hour as fast as I could land them, and 

 then i use as suddenly .-is though there was not a fish in the 

 lake. Ply fishing cannot therefore be depended on. I 

 stand at the bow and have the boatman paddle along the 

 edge of the shoals, and so that 1 can drop my flies over the 

 shallow water near the shore. In this way I have taken 

 eighty ba-s in an afternoon. 

 however, tit the live miuuow, 

 bait. The shiners spawn in 

 the beach and can easily be 

 at the edge of a shoal, I bJM 

 without raising the anchor, i 

 generally average heavier tm 

 trolling bait. There is a st 

 of Honey Island, about whi 



let go the anchor over this old hulk and in an bo 

 hooks captured seventy-four bass. A gale drove us io 

 cover, or I am afraid we might have filled the skill. There 

 is always good fishing over the wreck, and I know of a 

 part v of fanner's bovs who caught two hundred and fifty 

 bass' there in an afternoon. For bait fishing I use a skiff 

 trout rod, and let drop the anchor in about twelve feet of 

 water. 



Next to bait fishing the trolling li 

 The boat is slowly cowed close to 

 dragged eighty of a hundred feet, 

 bass 'fishermen is in using too large 

 deed it would be in very deep watt 

 that I would use a spoon a bit broa 

 a five cent nickle. Yet I have seet 

 Lawrence with a Spoon as large as a Barllctt. pea 

 spoon should not be larger on the shoulder thn 

 penny. 



The most killing trolling apparatus for black bass is a 

 tiny spoon at the end of a leader, and above it four or five 

 gaudy flies. A spoon attracts many tish that do not strike 

 it. as many fishermen who have seen same following their 

 16 flies often offer a tempting 

 fish are abundant, often more 

 I have seen Prof. Appy, of 

 t once on such a trolling appa- 

 is as line a fisherman as he is 

 small gold-plated spoon for 



The lish 



bite 



more readily, 



which 



s het 



e their natural 



the sumi 



ner t 



lOnths close to 



caught. 



Wit 



i the skiff held 



e taken 



over 



i hundred bass 



nd thost 



cau 



:ht in this way 



n the fish 



that 



take the fly or 



nkeu wn 



c.k on 



the north side 



h the ba 



ss congregate. We 



>oks take the t 



dn 



• she 



r tin 



.st lish. 



A has 

 i nickli 



bait may 



•einvmber. and tl 





moreover, where 



than one 



ire taken at once. 



Rocheatei 



. land four bass at 



ratus. T 



ue Professor, who 



musician. 



is very partialto a 



The island above-named may be reached from any of the 

 fishing villages along the .Tell'erson County shore. The dis- 

 tance is short from Cape Vincent, Sacket's Harbor, Three- 

 Mile Bay, Chaumont, or Henderson. The honest fisher- 

 men at the latter place charge three, four or five dollars a 

 day for their services, according to the kind and number 



lil-boat that 

 price is three dollars, 

 en along the shore as 

 a jewel of a boatman, 

 •ctly, and ownso.com- 

 s Henderson \ 



of boals they furnish. For two pi 

 is small enough to be rowed, the 

 There are doubtless many as good u 

 Alden Stevens, but I know him to be 

 and he understands the grounds perf 

 fortable shanty on Galloo. His addr 

 York. The expense of reaching Henderson Bay is $8.40. 

 There are no mosquitoes on the islands. The cost of camp 

 or shanty life is small, and a part*' of five might spend ten 

 days at the foot of the lake for $40 each, including car 

 fares. Five dollars a day would be the boatman's oharge 

 for the yacht and two skiffs. In going this way the party 

 eau easily do the Thousand Islands also, by turning Ihe 

 yacht into the river and cruising down and back. I have 

 always •included this iu my three-weeks' trip. The fishing, 

 however, is far better in the lake. 



WILD WOOD SKETCKES. 



FROM NOTES rv TTTE ARTIST. 



IT was my good fortune to have made one of a party of 

 hunters in the wild woods of Canada. Any one" not 

 having seen lhe.se vast woodland regions can scarcely con- 

 ceive the beauty and grandeur of the scene upon which he 

 is about to enter. Owing to the dense foliage and green 

 undergrowth in the summer months, it is with difficulty 

 the eye penetrates the far off depth of these forests. In 

 the winter, or hunting season, these woods present a fat- 

 different view; widely extended views or vistas open upon 

 the sight. The season Ol Ihe veat in which we visited 

 these woods is known as the Indian summer. The weather 

 was mild yet bracing, and at night we found our camp tin- 

 was uot at all unpleasant, hut very cheery. Here we found 

 in tlie middle of October no mosquitoes to annoy us, and 

 no flies to vex and bite us. From the 1st of November, 

 and during the approaching winter months, is the best of 

 all times to visit the old Canadian forests. 



One afternoon, about two o'clock, we entered the slilb 



1 : ted hunting grounds. The most pro- 



found silence reigned around, and not a sound awoke tie 

 of the old forest, oaks; not even the shrill whistle 

 of the woodpecker, or Ihe chirp of the squirrel, was heard. 

 We listened in Vttin for tin: sound of the woodman's axe. 

 or the bark of the settler's dog 



Arriving at our chosen camp ground after a two hours' 

 tramp, and depositing our knapsacks, guns, rods, and camp 

 stuff upon a very hue Site near a large rock, sheltered with 

 huge, overhanging hemlocks, W6 prepared to ere.t our 

 camp. The site was quite picturesque, as from the door, 

 or front of OUr Camp, through the openings of the trees, 

 lay in the quid serenity of the evening hour the waters of 

 -rgelake. There being six persons in OUT party. 

 it did not "take very long to erect a comfortable, warm 

 camp, and arrange 'our preparations for passing our first 

 night iu the wilds. Behold us, then, on the evening of our 

 first night sitting around our camp lire, which seemed to 

 burn with a brighter glow for being lighted in the deep 

 wood's solitude. Soon the odor of our uewlv made coffee 

 Steamed forth gratefully upon our senses, and we all sal. 

 ready to punish the good things which Sambo, our good 

 darkey servant, had in preparation for us. (hi our journey 

 aloug'the forest path one of our parly had the good fortune 

 to bag four pigeons, which, together with three grouse, 

 killed by another, made the principal materials for our first 

 Slipper, And a. right good supper it was, for our fatigue 

 gave to our viands as rich a flavor as tne best of Worces- 



It may not be uninteresting to the reader to take a peep 

 within our camp. Each man was provided with a canvas 

 covering of four yards square, made of a very tight, com- 

 pact, threaded duck. These squares had holes ~on every 

 side, so that by uniting them all in one an impervious au'd 

 goodly sized tent could be readily made. Many very pleas- 

 ant nights have I spent beneath these coverings 'in the 

 depths Of the wildernesses of Maine, within the Canadian 

 grounds, and beneath the deep, umbrageous boughs of the 

 Adirondack!?. Here, then, seated around our camp fire, or 

 lying at full length upon our couch of fragrant hemlock 

 boughs, were the assembled camp. At the extreme, right, 

 with his back to a large rock, which makes one side of our 

 camp, you notice a young nun about twenty-two years of 

 age, though looking much vouuger— Frank Ravnor, we 

 will call him— an agreeable companion, full of 'life and 

 quiet, humor, and always ready to sing a song, tell a story, 

 or contribute to the general stock of amusement. Bis pil- 

 ing brigand. Hisscarlet vest, brown corduroy hreechea; 

 and long boots are all in keeping with the character, and 

 his inseparable companion, "Bill," as he calls his long 

 stemmed Dutch pipe, is alwavs at his side. Careful of 

 giving or taking offence, he is a capital huntsman, of whom 

 we shall have occasion to speak hereafter. Beside him is 

 Gordon Gordon, a young man with a dark olive counte- 

 nance, sitting down at this writing. When Gordon stands 

 up you will say he is every inch a man. Although young, 

 he has seen much active life, and passed through many 

 perilous adventures. His future history will be told more 

 It length iu these sketches. He was a' true friend, trusty 

 and reliable, ami joined our party for the "sport of the 

 thing," as he said, and to "amuse his mind." The short, 

 thick set young man, lying with his feel propped up near 

 the fire is William Hartshorn, by profession a sailor, and a 

 New Yorker by birth. He is known to the part v simply 

 as Jack. Jack was ever on the alert for fun, frolic, and 

 mischief. He was the life of the party; always ready, a 

 he said, for a "steak or a lark." and he could eat with a 

 keen relish either venison steak or boiled skunk. Gardner 

 is that man you see with his gun in hand He is looking 

 for some game even now, dark as it is. Hold, he. is aliout 

 to lire! Bung goes the gun, and look, he is going towards 

 the lake, ami is lost to sight through the trees. " In a mo- 

 ment he returns, and brings into 'camp the result, of his 

 first shoo:. Ba, ha! three very rim: ducks ■— oluc winged 

 teal— a very good eating bird when fat. or when a man litis 

 a good sharp appetite, quickened In a long East "These 

 ducks," he said, "were sitting neai the Water's edge, and 

 as soon as I could make them out to be ducks I tired upon 

 them; they are fat and juicy, they'll eat well for break- 

 fast." 



"The locality is a good one, is it not, for some sport for 

 us to-morrow ■?" asked Gordon. 



"Yes," replied Gardner, "though it is somewhat early for 

 these birds to leave their favorite feeding fields, vet ther 

 sometimes come iu great numbers in a single night. I 

 have at early morning often bugged from tell to twenty of 

 them, and when they first approach a pond in the woqi 

 you will find them huddled closely together, sitting upon 

 the mud near the water. You have only to approach them 

 carefully, and you can bag large numbers. Their flight is 

 rapid; they are sometimes shot on the wing, but not. often. 

 When these ducks alight, among the tall sedge or weeds, or 

 on the sand, they drop very much like a ship? pt wood- 

 cock. Their ptincipal food, which they much delight in, 

 i.- ■-, n,nls. vejoiuble food, and wild rice. They will fatten 

 in a week, and if eaten at, this period are very sweet and 

 fat. They will also lose their fat in a week. "When prop- 

 erly served, 1 love dearly to 'pick their bones.' They are 

 considered good table birds." 



The artist I shall only describe as a tall, black haired 

 gentlemen, possessing to a very great degree a keen love 

 lor field sports of every kind, a good dinner, :uul a good 

 story, with a genial nature that quite teadily adapted it- 

 self to almost any company. 



Last mentioned, but not least iu the consideration of the 

 members of the camp, was .Sambo, a shrewd, laughter-lov- 

 ing "colored pusson, "With a large share of mother wit, 

 ami under his imperturbable blackness there was much 

 kindliness Of heart and real goodnature. Sambo was the 

 sou of a Guinea negro, wdio was stolen from his island 

 home and purchased by a wealthy planter of southern Vir- 

 ginia, named Colonel Calvert. Sambo's mother was a sort 

 of Creole by blood, who came from the coast, of Share 

 Leone, and, like the father of Sambo, was also a stolen 

 negro. Sambo took all his redeemable qualities from his 

 mother, who,- he said, was much "liked by all tie white 

 gernmen who come to see ole massa." He could do almost 

 anything quickly and handily, and, as Gordon often said, 

 was "a darkey of value; a rare article to have aboi 

 camp." 



Thus I have, m the capacity of artist to the expedition, 

 given you a brief sketch of our eanip in the Canadian 

 woods, and an introduction to our party as they might, have 

 been seen within our lent upon the first evening of our 

 sojourn. 



1 7b (V ■ 



