n 



VXD STREAM, 



averaging tlirr-c rju;irtt?rs of a pound, l! also lin.= a mov- 

 able, close-fitting cover, on which Hit: angler situ, w-Ub-D 

 hole of about four inches in diameter on oach side, into 

 which he slips his iish on releasing tbein from the hook. 

 The pusher stands in the Btcrn, and with bis ten foot pole 

 directs or arrests the motion of the boat, which fully occu- 

 pies his lime and skilli leaving him no opportunity to assist 

 the angler iri landing his Ash, a thing thai requires cool- 

 ness and dexterity when three lusty grayling are darting in 

 :is nv.iny directions as one draws ilicm 'wiiiiin dipping dis- 

 tance, 'The. space between the well and Where the pusher 

 stands is used for stowage, wiih dunnage, as slides 01 • trips 

 of board, to keep stores and camp ecjuippagc Erorn the 

 Moor if the bOaf should be leaky, 'i'lie boats are n..t over 

 eleven inches deep. And it is isurpTieing to note the capa- 

 city and staunchness of these apparently frail litQe barks, 

 mule of half inch white pine. 



July '.V)t/i— About nine in Hie mornim: wc commenced 

 our voyage on this little river of s&rta-pushiiig through 

 openings in the alders, hauling our craft over Ions, and 

 dodging the cedars protruding from the lowhanks. It was 

 ..ur'iiiienlion to tarry none "on the Way until wegot.to 

 Cump Mullock, ten miles or so down stream, but after we 

 had passed the junction wiih the stream already men- 

 tioned, some three miles below Grayling, and a good operi 

 cast riffesing, 0:in hailed me: "1 say old man. put your rod 

 together and Sample the grayling, just lo see what Ih'-y 

 lire." So we uncased mil' "artillery," and "limbered up." 

 .V l!i" second east. I hooked, and after 8 sharp tussle land- 

 ed, ati-h of six ounces or so. "Throw him in," ~iii< I Dan, 

 "we keep iiolliinc nuclei a half pound on this nip," Well, 

 1 lookedat my first captive from snout to caudal, Bud as il was 

 still struggling, before 1 tooklhe hook from itsmoulh, 1 put 



il over I he side of the boat to observe the play of Us power 

 t'ul tail and the tints and markings of it- magnificent dor- 

 sal in Hie snnli-iil. beneath the placid surface. "Poor fish- 

 ing up here," said Len, "too much spearing and netting; 

 but still we must have some for dinner, so keep on." 1 



though) ii very g I fishing, and at notm, when we stopped 



in luneh, 1 had twenty handsome lish in my well, and Dan 

 had atmul tin: same number. 



We had occasional showers in the forenoon, mid after our 

 luneh I) heavy rain, which, wiih a prospect of a wet tvtgjlt, 

 drove us to camp early in the afternoon. Our india rub- 

 bers were wet on the clolh side, our blankets were damp, 

 and our stores were also somewhat wet. 1 expected to pass 

 an uncomfortable night, but Johnny Sharp, tackling the 

 huge slump of a Norway pine, some twenty feel high, laid 

 it low, then splitting off the knots and other resinous por- 

 tions. >oon bad a lire big enough to mast an ok, \\ e opened 

 i he broad front, ot our shelter lent toils genial warmth, 

 hung up our blankets and india rubbers, put on the tea 

 keltic and potato pot, put fifth id tile pan, and presently 

 these culinary iinpleiiienisdisonuised most excellent music. 

 We replenished the inner and dried the outer man, and 

 between the puffs of smoke from bis dudeen Dan sang-.— 



-1)111 O. lite is sect! 



liftC 



lokini; tobuccy." 



" and turned in and "slept 



And then we toot 



the sleep of the innocent." 



July -Ms!. — I was awakened in llie morning by Dan's 

 query, "Feel any mosquitoes last night, old man." "No," 

 I replied, "1 fOTgpt thut there were such things. Don't 

 you take mosquito nets and tar ointment when you cump 

 out?" "None," responded Dan, "and, what is more re- 

 markable' of the few such stragglers or black tin- that 

 may sometimes he found in this region they never Attack 

 you in a cedar swamp." 1 subsequently found that, as a 

 general rule, the cedar "swamps" along the river had an 

 cleval ion of from three to eight feel above the surface"!' 



the water. But there was no stagnant water,, the thirsty, 



sandy soil drinking up the rains as last as they fall, and 



consequently there wen- no mosquitoes or punkies. 



Although we heard the rain pattering on the Ily 

 of our shelter lent, when we. turned in, the sun rose 

 bright, the. skies were clear, and Hie morning cool. We 

 embarked after breakfast, with the determination ot not 

 making a easl until we got below the 'limit ol Dm in- 

 mer explorations. Of course we broke this agreement by 

 an occasional east as the boats glided along within striking 

 distance of SOine pretty pool, atid about eleven o'clock, 

 coming to a deep, wide, well-shaded How ot gmopthjy- 

 • ■lidiiig water, which, bv the by, Dan, who was in advance, 

 had hurried through, 1 could not resist the temptation any 

 longer, and commenced in earnest. I made havoc among 

 the' tins. No lish under fourteen inches found entrance 

 into my well, I thought I had exhausted the pool, but 

 D.-ii w'lio, of course, was Standing while 1 sat on the cover 

 of the well, said "Not by a jug full; I can see live limes a , 

 inany as you have taken." 1 must have killed fifty from 

 the head 'to the lower end of ibis water, a distance of 

 twenty yards, and then pushed on looverhaul Dan. "\\ bat 

 luck, my boy," 1 asked, as I came up wiih him a mile be- 

 low. "'Well," he replied, "I am ashamed to look a gray- 

 ling in the face. Thai upper dropper, the drab winged 

 coachman, you gave me, is bloody murder to them. If one 

 lakes il he goes trolling the lower drop fly and stretcher 

 through Hie pool and hooks two more for me. 1 am going 

 lotake one dropper off, two kills them too fast. H- 

 slaughter." Alter lunch our .-port still continued. In one 

 whirling, eddying deep little lift, Close by Ibe bank, while 

 Len held on to the boughs of an overhanging cedar I 

 hooked and landed, in live successive casus, fifteen fish, 

 varying from a half to pound in weight. We soon had OUT 

 wei'l- so full that, the iish commenced dying, and a little 

 after four in the afternoon We pUSkod on to find a good 

 camping place, lhal we might kill and salt them down, and 

 ha>c lime to make things comfortable for the night, tor 

 mere was muttering thunder and occasional lightning to be 

 ■ ecu far up the river. With entrails out, heads oil, sailed 

 down and pressed hard, we had two tony pound kus full, 

 Which, wita those We had eaten and reserved for supper 

 and n-eukfast, mads our catch a little over a hundred 

 pound.,, gross weight. 



A few .voids about, the Hies we used and the game qual- 

 bics i. four grayling. 1- itzhugli's favorite whip is the Jewel 

 II,-, (mimed alter L. n,l to* stretcher, having lead-colored 

 WlugS. red hackle lor legs, and body of yellow floss, wrap- 

 ped with Hat gold tinsel; first droppei, black wing-, body 

 and tegs, wrapped with silver tinsel; Second or upper drop- 

 per, a 'plain brown palmer without lin.-cl, all on No. '.I books. 

 1 had for a grcalcr pari of the Hist day a Jewel lly for 

 Stretcher; drat droppsr a black hackle, llv.. 10 hook.) on 

 yellow Moss body; upper dropper, brown Fennel l;;, on No. 

 V: hook On coming to the little rift'trlton Leu held em 



to the cedar boughs, I hooked and lost several good fish, as 

 he supposed, from llie hooks being too small, and, at his 

 suggestion, changed them for larger: viz.- — White-winged 

 coachman, foi stretcher, brown hackle for Jlrst and leud- 

 eolored wing coachman for second dropper — all on No. 6 

 hooks. Throughout the trip I found the latter the most 

 killing fly, using il as upper dropper; although the water 

 cricket— V. i. a black palmer on a yellow floss body — Was 

 almost as killing -When using it tor, a stretcher on bright 

 duys. After passing the mouth of the north branch, which 

 made the river quite turbid, we both used larger (lies of the 

 colors described. 1 fully agree With Mr. Ainsworth that 

 in pluck and endurance the grayling is not a whit behind 

 the trout. Then: is this difference, however, when the 

 grayling -is lifted from the water he scorns In siv: "It is 

 Till "up with me," and is lifted aboard with pendant tail, 

 while the trout, like a certain denomination of Christians, 

 believes in "(bull perseverance," and struggles and flounces 

 in air, H ml pm'n. Mv experience in August on the An 

 Sable was noi thai of Mr. Ainsworth's in Junoohthe 

 Hersev. lie bad frequent rises to cue strike. 1 found 

 litem generally to strike with as much certainty as trout, 

 and l.'i book themselves as securely. So much was the 

 laller the ease that after the first day I seldom used Hie 

 landing net, but lifted them in. even three at. a lime, weigh- 

 ing almost as many pounds. The engraving in a back 

 number of Forest and Stjveam is a very tifnO representa- 

 tion of the gravling, although of rather slender proportions 

 even for a y"ou'iig lish; when they get to be a half pound 

 ami upwards they increase rapidly in breadth and depth, 

 with very small proportional addition to length, and loosing 

 somewhat in symmetry. The wide-spreading dorsal'and 

 long Ventral and anal tins give them great power in a slant- 

 ing dash across the current. 1 could but admire the fine 

 delicately-proportioned bead and handsome prominent <y\ 

 as did Mr. Ainsworth, When 1 brought, in two lish on the 

 droppers— not more than fifteen inches apart— I frequently 

 held I hem for a while beneath the surface of the limpid 

 water to admire the colors and motion's of the dorsal J!n. 

 Il looked like a beap.tifu.llv colored leaf waving in the 

 stream. The pectoral.- and veutrals also exhibited pretty 

 metallic spots. As to their edibility, I think they are in- 

 terior 10 trout. 



1 hope 1 am not wearying you and your readers, Mr. 

 Editor, with my description of these han<bomo lish. ibe 

 tackle to lake them wiih and the country and streams 

 winre they abound- 1 did not. intend to wrhe.even this 

 eon-l, hut 1 think the subject justifies il. 1 will try to 

 hasten on to the end. 



• ;,•/ _.\\ ,. were now eighteen or twenty miles be- 

 low Cr.nline. the stream bad spread out to Ihicc limes its 



width there. Tlio general depth of thesmoothly-floWiug river 

 di,d not exceed eighteen incites, a foot was more common 

 than two lee:. Ii was in the deeper holes of the bends that 



we found Hie lish, our boats being held with Hie selling 

 poles out in the stream while we cast in shore, or when, ii 

 was contracted to half or a third of its usual width, wash- 

 ing out deep channels. We had passed over two Or three 

 mSes.of splendid ground (n hurrying on lo our camping 

 place the afternoon before and were almost tempted to go 

 back. "But what's the use?" Dan asked; "what would we 

 do wiih our fish, and we had \ el a hundred and thirty 

 miles of llie river to run?" So we merely "look oil' the 

 v. iie edge" bv filling our wells full of grayling and then 

 pushed On to rind the entrance of the south branch; Len 

 and John exChlir&log in wonder at the schools ol" fish as we 

 passed over Hum.' The grayling is (he. ftsfi of the river. 

 Some suckers, a few little red-lius and shineis, no bass, no 

 lhke and no eels, of course, lor l hey are not found above 

 Niagara falls. But well down towards the mouth Of llie 

 river some of tlie smaller Species of white lish are found at 

 certain seasons of the year. We passed the month ol the 

 south branch eight or ten miles below wherewe passed un- 

 der the first bridge we had seen, and much to our relief, 

 found a WOOd-choppOr'S but on the bank, where we eased 

 our consciences by giving away the lish in our wells. A 

 little below w ■I'iuucheil. 



is out wells WeTe empty we fished occasionally, as we 

 dropped rapidlv down stream. Casting in towards the 

 bank in likely places, will) a short line, ami allowing our 

 Hies to come into the wake of the boat and frequently hook- 

 ing lish within three feel of the stern. They did not ap- 

 pear to mind the boat much, and in the language of Alex- 

 ander Selkirk 1 exclaim— 



passing the mouth of the north branch we found the 

 water almost loo turbid tor fishing, but al the fool ot 

 rapids, where H fell off into smooth, deep pools, picked up 

 a leu It was evident that we bad left Hie best ol" the hsh- 

 iii"' behind up .-ireani. We pitched our lent al "> 1'. M. , 

 made a good oed of spruce boughs, ate our supper, (how 

 good the potatoes wav. i never knew I was fond of pota- 

 toes before.) and turned in. 



■Xnqust iJ. Our object now was to make time; our fish- 



.... ■ esuppOScd, was Overhand having had a surfeit of 



'•'How far is ii to Thompson's, do you thipk, Len?" asked 

 Dan as he sipped his coffee. 



"Can't say " responded Len, "we must have come over 

 sixty miles by Ibe river, and I don't lliink we \\ ill get to 

 the mouth of the creek lhal collies down from his house 

 before to-morrow noon. This is a mighty crooked river, 

 it doubles itself up terribly, if you could stretch it out 

 straight I believe il would reach across the Slate ol .Mich- 



Pari ol Lett's profession is to look up and estimate timber 



hind- and he carries in his pocket a map shewing the sec- 

 tions of lands and curses ol the rivers. Producing H and 

 counting the sections as laid down— so many east and so 

 many north— he estimated that, we were about J orly-bve 

 miles from Thompson's, in a straight line, and remarked, 

 "lhal he wouldn't wonder if it was a hundred by Ibeiiv, r." 



We Struck lent. >: id luggage and started llie river 



now had an a'verugtt width of a hundred and. twe.nty feet, 

 wiih a deep, steady "curieni, in many places no bottom fo 

 be found will, a ten-fool setting pole, lhe temperature o! 

 the waier, which was .",4 the first, day bad risen to 05, sd wc 

 i g6od springs along the bank. Stopping at one 

 lo take "suHiiu' lo drink," J.hm asked Len to lei bun look 

 at bis map. , , „ 



"What ..reek's Dial thai puts in on the right: 



"Some call b Spring Creek, some call it Millers Creek. 



"Were you ever there':" 



"Uuee." 



"Pret.iy sizeable stream, eh':" 



"Yes. about the size of this river at Srajling." 



"Ami freshens up the water considerably"? "We II gel 

 some good fisMOg there." 



Dan, as, everybody know-. i> a figid I're-Jjylerian, "as 

 touching the law, a Pharasee," and "after the straitesi 

 sect." lie fishes frequently wiih the Reverend Mr. 

 Sehntzes, bis pastor, on week days. Was he going to li-h 

 on the Sabbath? Being of a persuasion, that allows such 

 indulgence I told him that / might, but remonstrated with 

 him as lo his engaging in the sport. "What would his 

 straight-laeed family ami relatives think of it?" He seemed 

 lo iie convinced of "his wrong inientions and expressed his 

 determination to push on "to make distance," as he said. 

 But what did 1 si ,• when 1 cot in the mouth of Milters 

 Creek, some eight or len miles beloW Dan had irone 

 ahead. There he was, as John held the boat in two fed 

 of water, bawling in the grayling hand over fist — three at a 

 time. I held up my linger reprovingly. He said there 

 was a destitute little settlement of wood-choppers at lhe 

 floating bridge a few miles below, and they were entircly 

 OUt of fish, and ended Ins excuse bv quoting those memor- 

 able words:— "Wherefore ii Is lawful to tio well tm the 

 Sabbath day." There was no resisting such argument. I 

 joined him.' For a half hour il beai ail the fishing; We lis, I 

 up lhe riv.r, ami we slopped only because our wells would 

 hold m.i more. We "rave all ol those that were belly up lo 

 lhe people at the Boating bridge. 



'•Dow far to Boqiie Vaiej-ban's?" asked Len of the man 

 as he picked up lhe rish we threw on the bridge. 



"'ijoui t.n miles," was his reply. 



Len knew Koque Vaughan; had been al his house on a 

 survey ing expedition anil slopped with him on a deer hunt. 

 We lunched, and as we ran down stopped lo lake an on- 

 easional east, just because it was comparatively difficult 

 now lo get a rise or hook a grayling. Presently 'wc saw a 

 "dun .out" in shore and a man and bov gathering r.^phci- 

 ncs. "Halloo ! you old rascal," said Leu. "don't be dodg- 

 'oil; there as if you were t'oimc lo shoot and rob us; come 

 mil ami show y'ouiseli plainly Or I'll put a load ol buck 

 shot into you." "Who is it, "Len," 1 asKcd. "Why that's 

 Koque Vaughan, as clever a fellow as ever lived." ' Koque 

 came down'lo the bank of the river, "Why, is that you, 

 you darned old transgressor? I didn't know you." Koque 

 had been in search oi h.-h wiih his s|tear. fclis string con- 

 sisted of a grayling, a sucker and a small chub. After 

 Chatting awhile we gt»l bis dugout along side andgave him 

 as near as we could estimate the weight, about lolly 

 pounds of lish from our wells. lb- opened his r\<^ in 

 astonishment, asked us how we were oil' lor pork, said he 

 had plenty and pressed us to stop at his house, a hundred 

 yards below, and gel some milk, fresh butter ai 

 "Dan told him he wauled to make dislauccaui! declined Ins 

 hospitality. "How far lo Thompson's.," asked Len, in 

 patting, "Tweiiiv-four miles I. y land;" "and three limes 

 that by water," added Len. Presently we found an icy 

 cold brook plunging from u bUtlk eight Eeet high luto the 

 river and pitched our ten t on. a bud of moss six or eight 

 inches deep. Il was a lairy-like place, that "Cedn.- 

 tswamp," where we camped, 



August :W.— Having still sixty or Seventy miles lo run we 

 determined not to linger on the way to fish, but killed a 

 good many grayling, as 1 have before described, by casting 



shore 



villi t 



river 



and Ihen allowing the tlies lo swing wiih the curre.nl into 

 lhe wake of the boat. About 5 P. M. we passed under a 

 bridee With a squad of lumbermen's lodges on the bank. 

 "iNdw," said Len, "1 know where 1 am." Just three miles 

 from the creek we push up to gel to Thompson's. We 

 found, on enquiry, that there was a drive of logs just ahead 

 and lhal the cieek running down from Thompson's was 

 full of bus. w e bargained wiih a man who was bawling 



lev- lo wagon our boats and luggage lo Thompson's, 

 whose house was three miles away."" We gave him all of 

 our dead fish, say about twenty pounds, and packed, in a 

 large-hamper about twice as many for our landlord. We 

 were loltl by the man al the Boating bridge and also by 

 Koqiie Vaughan thai the grayling were quite plenty 

 there, in May, but that they had run up above the 

 north branch," where Ihey were not disturbed by log- 

 driving, in June, and yet Dan and 1 each of us 

 must have put two dozen or moreinto our wells, as 

 we ran tin: sevciily miles below. We killed some an 

 hour or so before "we lifted our boats out of the water. 

 There was no telling how far we had run since leaviug 

 Grayling. Johnny Sharp Was positive il was at least a 

 hundred and eighty miles. Len expressed no opinion, but 

 Dan, who is rather given to underrate in such things, 

 thought -it was fully a hundred ami sixty miles. In sum- 

 ming up the fish we. had packed, given away and eaten, 

 (none spoiled on our hands,) Dan's estimate was two hun 

 died and IhiilV pounds, and yet the actual lime of lishimr 

 tlid not amount lo two days of ten hours each. U the Lime 

 spent in running the river had been devoted entirely (o 

 anglimr above °l he south branch I am confident we could 

 have taken from six to seven hundred pounds. We killed 

 a great many fish m a pound, si ■ ot a pound and a quar- 

 ter, but none larger. 1 tlo not lliink they attain a greater 

 Size in lhe An Sable, in running the river We saw twelve 

 deer and one bear. Dan levelcd'his gun al a splendid doe 

 just io see how he could pink her if he was so disposed, but 

 lowered the muzzle, as she likely had fawns by, and il was 

 out of season. 



We reached Thompson's with our boats about sunset. 

 This gentleman is, as the term U applied, a "Scotch Irish- 

 man" by bjrtl}. lie came when a small hoy from Ireland 

 and lived, until he had grown up. ill the timber country of 

 lhe Siiiamahonine' in Pennsylvania. He ihen moved l.o 

 Michigan, is a large holder of valuanle timber lands, and 

 keeps a l>ig roadside tavern, it appears, as much lor the 

 fun of it as anything else. His large, neat house and big 

 I'cnnsvlvaniadookmg barns bespeak Hon: and good judg- 

 ment. Re is a splendid specimen tjf a man. .-mi young 



say Ihirtv-live— .iver six feet, and well proportioned. He 



received us kindly, took a bottle ol Cognac iron, its straw 

 wrapper, gave us a, gpbd suppeis good beds, and a good 



breakfast," and loading our boats and luggttge on a sioul 

 wagon, placed us in one with springs ami -■ ni US rejoicing 

 towards Tawas Citj - , on a level mad twenty-live mil - 

 long "and as straight as agon barrel." We arrived in I av, a! 



Oily to dinner, and then look the last steamer Shei r for 



Hay Lily. I am sorry 1 have forgotten the name ol lhe 

 Captain, but he was Hie cleverest ami most gentlemanly 

 skipper 1 have traveled with for a quarter of a century. 

 Thus ended from beginning to end one of the roost pleas 

 ant excursions it has been my happiness to undertake. 



