NEW YORK, THURSDAY, OCT. 15, 1874. 



For Forest and Stream. 

 SONG OF AUTUMN. 



YOTT love Nature* Then greet crisp October- 

 Let us welcome Its advent with glee, 

 If old Winter he sullen and sober, 



His youth is most jaunty and free; 

 If Summer enchants and beguiles us, 



With sunshine and bird melody; 

 If Spring ever wins and bewiles ns. 



With many a sweet mystery, 

 Let us still have a heartfull forever, 



For the glorious days of the Fall, 

 When the gold of thesun will no t sever 



Its hues from the rain on the wall; 

 When the tints of the fair Summer flower* 



Live again in the haze of the air, 

 And the dreams of voluptuous hours 



Are seen in the colors they wear; 

 When valley, and mountain, and lakelet. 



Are wrested with foliage so bright 

 That we feel that the blessings of Summer 



Were never so fair as their flight. L. W. L. 



THE PROUD RED GROUSE. 



r the hill. 



BT ROUERT POWI 



SOON as the sun peeps c 

 And birds are piping merr'ly, 

 When mists of night at mom distill 



In dewdropa pure and pearly, 

 Then from the covert whore he dwells, 

 Among the purple heather-tHills, 

 The grouse leads forth to bracken dell9 

 Ills hungry brood right early. 



The capercailzie and curlew 



Mny speed :i<:rc>s the mosses; 

 The darting snipe, that dips in dew. 



May haunt the hags and fosses; 

 These tempt us not to greet the sun, 

 And range the heath wilh dog and gun. 

 This day the proud red grouse alone 



Our sporting craft engrosses. 



We long to see him upward spring 



And spread each russet featber; 

 And with the wind, on Whistling wing. 



Sweep crowing o'er the heather. 

 Then haste we now unto the hill 

 Where roams the game old grouse at will; 

 His fate, foregone, we shall fulfill 



Ere home we hie together.— IApplnmW * Mmjnzit,'. 



For Forest and fttrti 



the ffilderqess. 



WE are encamped at Little Round Lake, Hamilton 

 County, N. T. For ten days and nights we have 

 dwelt in the heart of the woods. "We were three days 

 wending our way to this remote corner. Up the river by 

 boat all day to Albany, thence to Fonda, where we peace- 

 fully reposed on feather beds. Next morning to the busy 

 village of Oloversville. After a homely dinner we left for 

 Northville in a rickety stage. No episodes, save the advent 

 of a colossal personage occupying the middle swing seat, 

 giving a wide margin for the support of the spine at the 

 expense of pigmies. Northville is a quiet village of one 

 long shady street lined with ancient pillared homes. Early 

 the following day we were alert for the drive up the 

 mountains; broke our fast by candle light. At last we 

 were under weigh, drawn by a pair of antique sorrel cobs; 

 but we eared little for speed, surrounded by a landscape 

 surpassing show, startling peaks, exquisite sky, etc., and 

 all that sort of thing — at any rate, creating appreciation, 

 defying expression ; beside, landscapes have been overdone. 

 At Lake Pleasant there arc three stalwart brothers, Scandi- 

 navians, who have been bred hunters and fishermen. 

 Inured lo hardship, they not unfrequently puss the rigorous 

 winters trapping along the banks of the streams. They 

 can despoil the waters of their finny denizens when all 

 craft of the novice ^ fails, so skilled are they in piscatorial 

 art. Provided with' blankets and t clad in bloomers, and 

 head gear, a calico sun-bonnet— my consort in corduroys 

 and cow-hide stogas — we were driven on a back-board three 



miles as far as Elm Lake. For a comfortable vehicle over 

 an undulating cow-path commend me to a white ash buck- 

 board; itsopliantly accommodates itself to the mysterious 

 cuts. 



Our guides led the van with an ox hauling a sled, in 

 which were conveyed our food and utensils. I was snugly 

 stowed away with the potatoes, kettles, salt and bread; 

 however, not before inspecting the blackened ruins of a 

 fine old house recently destroyed by fire, built sixty years 

 ago by Mr. Rhinelander of New York. The site is some- 

 thing enchanting. There was state and gay company from 

 the South and East enlivening this retreat by a silvery lake 

 swarming wif.h trout, and at that time deer in every thicket. 

 Now rani, grass overruns the foundations. The barn 

 boasts a sky light, and the wily spider weaves unmolested 

 amopg the rafters, but the band of mau could add naugbl 

 to the serene loveliness of this clysium. They say it was 

 haunted, but we must push on, it is beginning to rain. In 

 this region the sun is hidden, damp clouds concuss and the 

 rain descends lrippir>grej the astonished wayfarer, who has 

 scarcely forgotten the blue dome that would more than con- 

 struct a garment for a cat, of a few brief preceding 

 moments, is nnrotnantically deluged. Our brave ox 

 plunges through bushes, brakes and over decayed logs, 

 crushing, loppling. The men sturdily walk. The rain in- 

 creases, and I take refuge under the blanket spread over 

 the sledge. 



The firmament lowers darkly, and now hail sharply pelts 

 us; still I am a somewhat suffocated, unwilling prisoner. 

 The gentleman ahead has donned a picturesque bandanna 

 havelock and stalked into the brush in quest of partridges. 

 Presently is heard the echo of a shot gun, and three flut- 

 tering birds are brought down. This causes much excite- 

 ment. I emerge from the wet blanket, put on my calico 

 sun-bonnet, raise my umbrella and resolve to witness this 

 sporting prowess or perish. The rain slackens — the sun 

 peeps forth for a second— bang : bang ! and two more hap- 

 less fledglings are triumphantly strung up for our supper. 

 Woe is me ! my balmoral is sopping, my hair is horribly 

 disheveled and plastered around my eyes. The pung tilts 

 recklessly and pours rusty rivulets from the skillet upon 

 my shivering anatomy; however, we hear the cheerful 

 shout of the advance guard, who has not goaded Bright, 

 the faithful ox. It tells us (bat deliverance is at hand. 

 We now come into a clearing one and one-half miles from 

 our promised haven. 1 stamp about to get warm ; the ox 

 is tethered for the night and we hopefully go up the hill, 

 the vines and leaves dripping in our faces. Over some 

 marshy places the herculean guide nimbly carries me, lest 

 1 sink too deep in the mire. A boat is taken from a hollow 

 and we skim across an azure lake hemmed in with gigantic 

 trees that spread away up some steep hills into dense 

 jungles. 



How fatigued and hungry we are. I scramble impet- 

 uously after the drone of ft guide, (mau of all work,) and 

 we discover a birch bark shanty the shape of a Dutch oven. 

 About three feet in front of the large open side is a stone 

 fire-place. Very soon enormous beech and spruce half 

 tree trunks are blazing there, and we recline upon the 

 balsam boughs "shingled" on the ground of the hut. How 

 grateful is the warmth, and the delicious odor of the hem- 

 lock buds permeates the air! We dried our clothing so 

 hastily that a certain pair of corduroy unmentionables 

 were scorched a beautiful brown in a short time, and the 

 stogas curled and frizzled in the ashes. Our supper of 

 fried potatoes and the birds was highly relished. If you 

 want a good cup of tea, drink it without milk from a tin 

 cup. Never was sleep sweeter or more profound; awaken- 

 ing to grope back to consciousness, seeing the spruce 

 sparks sputter and hatching the stars through the trees. 



Our ablutions are made in the brook below, the inlet of 

 the lake. Sometimes we there surprise a portly squirrel 

 titivating — arranging his whiskers over the molten surface, 

 preparatory, I shrewdly suspect, to paying court I o some 

 sweet-voiced blue jays, who give matin concerts just us the 

 sun trembles upon the rim of the horizon. Nor is he their 

 only listener. The butterflies softly sway their jaunty 



wings, the chipmunk pauses in his depredation upon our 

 cup-board, and his frogship catches every note ns he gut- 

 totally applauds from (he edge of the bike. 



Entomology might be studied profitably here, bad we the 

 requisites — a gauze flapper or sharp instrument to transfix 

 the legions of insects. By the inscrutable laws of nature, 

 (see Mr. Darwin,) they are furnished with appliances I'm 

 gaining sustenance, weapons offensive and defensive, 

 streaked, speckled, grizzled, striped and indented, parasites 

 of moss, tree bark and leaves; winged monstrosities, with 

 bodies like a cannon, in prismatic colors, go booming wher 

 ever their sweet will and the expanse of the Adirondack 

 Park invites. The mosquito is abroad early and late, wind- 

 ing his blithesome horn; he is accessory to the altacks of 

 the "rjunkies" that rejoice in jumping wilh stinging tiny 

 feet upon one's nose, ears and hands, when slumber pre- 

 vents resentment of such murderous familiatity. The in- 

 sinuating centipede threads the fragrant balsam shoots, and 

 small worms, looking like fir twigs, until they propel by 

 drawing ftp their backs, crawl leisurely in the punk- 

 wood. Some ungainly artful beetles will be stricken 

 dumb upon the slightest provocation, and pretend to be 

 dead. Poke them never so gently and they seem stiff ami 

 stark, but keep a look out and after a time you will see Sir 

 Beetle revive and steal away. Bats whirr near the fire in 

 the dusk, and the dull hoot-owl shrieks dismally. We are 

 told that panthers and wolves are not far distant on flu 

 mountains, so I at once get into a frenzied alarm, and im- 

 agine I hear the wolves bark. There is a State bounty for 

 the panthers, so they are diminishing. 



In the cool early dawnings we go out fly-fishing. Some- 

 times a bait is attractive, and we have tried trolling with a 

 spoon-jig. The luck of the amateur angler varies accord- 

 ing to the time of year, the direction of the wind, ifec. 

 Veterans will coolly inform us that such and such a pool 

 isn't up lo time for fish just now. Their logic is, thai 

 if we had arrived a fortnight earlier, or had postponed out 

 visit, perhaps until after the frost, "I don't say but wliat 

 you might o' ketched slathers o' fish." Query, were we 

 not born under the wrong planet? possibly ours is not a 

 game temperament. What arc we to rely upon, when some 

 people aver that there are no temperaments? Well, noth- 

 ing daunted, we gaily anchor, unearth ourfly-hook, discuss 

 the merits of the scarlet ibis fly, grey hackle aud white miller; 

 untangle the leader— peer into the depths,then courageously 

 whip out in hope of "getting a rise." We see the ripple 

 of "a break" here and there; real flies come to the surface, 

 those whose wings have stirred, and others ready to leave 

 the chrysalis, when they start into the air seeming to know 

 pleasure in the use of their blush-tinted, filmy wings, and 

 are lost in ether. Now what joy is ours, when we hook a 

 trout, perhaps not large, but so pretty; its mottled sides 

 glistening with red and canary-colored spots. Wait a 

 while | don't scare them. Ah! the slender rod is bent 

 nearly double with the autics of the scaly unseen, violently 

 swishing to and fro. See ! there are two fish, one on the 

 hackle. Fie ! an insignificant chub. The guide inserts 

 finger and thumb under itsgillsand contemptuously throws 

 it away. Poor chub ! its neck is broken. The heavy one 

 is a slippery customer. 1 have much ado to secure him; 

 he is a beauty, (scarlet ibis was his destruction,) peach-blow 

 and orange, with vivid blue and cherry dots. He is appe- 

 tizing in his last moments— floundering.gasping on the floor 

 of the boat. His jaws are torn and bleeding. Dear trout- 

 ling 1 it seems pitiful, but you must succumb. This is 

 '■natural selection," if you please. Atnoon-tide we return 

 to camp for luncheon, seldom more than lea, bread and 

 butter, and for those who affeei them, an onion. The bag 

 of Bermudas, here by my foresight, is jealously guarded. 

 We have two irregular meals daily, i.e. when we can get 

 them. The fish are strangely capricious. But this very 

 precariousness adds zest to the situation. Were we to 

 bring delicacies and modern patent cooking vessels, the 

 charm of eking out our living would be dispelled. We 

 learn the following from the chief guide: — The growth 

 of the trout quite naturally depends upon ample food and 

 clear water. Experiments be has made in this wise: 



