338 



FOKEST AND STREAM. 



;;; ; yr/7,'i all the broOliS anil lakes in the basin of tile interior 

 Lave been formerly and many are still inhabited by beavers, 

 '-,•;■, t but these have in many places been 

 destroyed try Indians, The Dark of the biroli tree tn 



i of a dwarf willow, which abounds at thi edge oi 

 the waters, is the favorite food of the beavers They" also 

 subsist on the largo roots of ihe while water lily, i • 

 odarata;) called by the Indians beaver rOJt, which Iney de- 

 tach in pieces from amongst the mud at ihe bottom of the 

 lakes and pools. They sometimes, although seldom here, 

 eat of the bark of the spruce fir, (Pt'niui Iniliiimen.) They 

 obtain the bark from (be trees by gnawing the trunks 

 through about two feet above tbe ground, and thus caus- 

 ing them to fall. The side, on Which a tree is intended to 

 fall is cut two-thirds through, the other side one-third. 

 Sometimes, OS liappbnB with the most experienced Wood- 

 cutter, a tree slips off the stem and will not fill! to the 

 ground owing to the support from the branches of adjacent 

 trees. The. work has then to be performed over again 



above the first cutting, us we saw had happened with tbe 

 beavers ill several instances; some of the trees thus brought 

 to the ground were hilcen iuoHes and Upwards ill diameter. 

 The tree being felled, every branch by additional gnawing 

 becomes accessible, and by sub-dividing, portable/ 

 The sagacity displayed by the beavers in constructing 



their bouses has been often described ; but it is in their 



draining operations v t their reason is evinced. They fre- 



cmently dam up su.-j'V-'A-ooks as have birch trees growing 



plentifully aiGwe their margin and build their houses — with 



one always immersed or dipped into the margin of the lake 



thus fbrmedi They also, by damming, raise the level of 



natural lakes— to accommodate the Surface 10 some eligible 



site near the margin, or on an island or rock, chosen to 



build their house upon. On first witnessing Ihe extent of 



work performed of some of these dams, it is difficult to 



persuade oneself that it has not been done by man. The 



materials used an-, trunks of trees gnawed down by the 



beavers themselves for the purpose, mud, sticks, stones, 



and i 



mater 



mud-li 



human beings, iu 



door, or aperture 



ferent abodes for 



for four or five m 



of the year, accoi 



These are sometli 



differs from a Sui 

 more substantial. 

 surface of the wa 

 about two feet, tl 

 house has often a 

 if the ground wil 

 ingress to and fro 

 of the Wintei 



rds 



The 



el— of ir< 



he 



mb!e in their ex 

 a eight to ten f 

 .me parts, dwell ll 

 r the escape of sn 

 immerand Winter 

 iths, and thelattei 

 ing to the tern pel 



i;d of the 

 >r a hemispbt 



s. They have di 

 upvingtheformt 

 en or eight montl 

 re of the seasotii 

 A W 



Sipally in being larger and 

 he chief entrance of both is under the 

 in the lake; that of the .Summer house 

 of I lie Winter about three feel. A 

 icr entrance at the. back or land side 

 ruiif, also under water for egress and 

 he adjoining woo, Is. If the entrance 

 was placed nearer to the surface than 

 is stated, it might be frozen up from the outside during tbe 

 Severity Of the Winter, and a stop put to the egress and in- 

 gress into and out of the lake. In Summer the beavers cau 

 travel up and down the brooks, swim round the lake, go 

 into the woods in search of food, and return to their houses 

 to rest, in Winter the whole surface of the country, land 

 and water being sealed under snow and ice, instinct directs 

 these animais to concentrate at one accessible spot under- 

 neath a stock of provisions to subsist on during thai season. 

 It is easier for them to build a house close to where a 

 Winter stock of food is to be procured, than to carry litis 

 to the house occupied in Summer, around which much of 

 the food has probably been consumed. A fatuity, which 

 consists generally of two old, and two, three Or four young, 

 will commence early in September to build a house for the 

 "Winter, and soon afterwards to collect 11 slock of provi- 

 sions. They fell tree after tree iu the manner described as 

 near as possible to lite Winter house, gnaw, the branches 

 into portable pieces, carry them one by one to the margin 

 of the lake, swim with them to near the front entrance, 

 then dive and deposit them to Ihe bottom; if llic piece is 

 inclined to float Lhey stick one end in the mud and even lay 

 stones upon it, In October or November, by the lime the 

 lakes are frozen over, anil snow covers the .ground, the 

 house is completed and the Winter's stock of birch wood, 

 with the bark on, placed around ihe entrance. Now iu re- 

 tirement they dive through to the bottom of the lake and 



j up at pleasure to within the bouse a piece to eat of 



the bark; when stript they carry it out and bring in another. 

 Thus 19 the winter spent; at the termination of if, when 

 ihe ice disappears, the hundred pieces of wood, that seven 

 months before were covered with bark are now to be seen 

 lepOSited On the dam entirely peeled. The senses ol 

 hearing and smell, especially of 'ihe former, ol the beaver, 

 are. exquisitely line. It requires the utmost precaution and 

 vigilance of the hunter to steal within shot of them with- 

 out defection, and tins must be always done from the lee- 

 ward. Their sense of sight is weak, 'and they seldom ap- 

 pear abroad during the day. On account Of the value of 

 its skin the beavers are the chief object of Chase with the 

 Indians. These people having made themselves acquainted 



with the different spots throughout the Island where these 

 valuable animals abound most, hunt over lhe:-e alter- 

 nately ami periodically, allowing them three years lo re- 

 generate. We shot many of them for food. 

 {To Ik ('•iii/iiatrti ,1 



1 s( amt Stream* 

 NORTH SHORE OF LAKE SUPERIOR. 



iV BY PARSON SIDNEY Wit. MOT. 



Leaving the little "City of Pines," where the Northern 

 Pacific Railroad crosses tlie Mississippi River at just about 

 the geographical centre of this great Stale, just after an 

 earl v breakfast, we reached belorc dinner the "Zenith 

 City Of the {Insulted Setts. ' This is the name a witty Con- 

 gressman gave Dululh. iMeaniiig to ridicule its Western 

 ambition and dampen its enthusiasm, be really gave the 

 unique and plucky little city at the head of lake navigation 

 its best advertisement. We were bound for oui first trip 

 On the great Lake, and visions of big trout, such as the 

 " Pishiiuj TovrUt" of the Nepigon had described, d.aieed 

 before our eager eyes. On this staunch Canadian si earner 

 Ontario -we had put our boat and luggage for a quick pas- 

 sage to Silver Island, designing 10 work our way back 

 along shore by a "white-ash breeze," when the "'gentle 

 zephyrs " which roar from the northeast would not fill our 

 aaila. 



" We" were Caplain ((rant, of twenty years experience 

 011 the rugged coast— a good flshenuau, an efficient camp 



manager, an experienced sailor, with the. rare fault of 

 cautiousness amounting to timidity — lohn, a clever and 

 powerful half-breed; "good boy Fred," and the " Rector," 

 by whose invitation 1 went, glad to be the pioneer Of the 

 " Brainerd Forest and Stream Club" in those wonderful 

 regions your editor has so graphically reported to the 

 angling World. On the same steamer with us were Bishop 

 Whipple, of Minnesota (undeniably of the true apostolical 

 succession, for his slouch hat bristled like a porcupine with 

 hooks given him in all parts of the world, and a moie 

 graceful and energetic whipper of trout streams, and a 

 more genial camp companion one could not find in Jiis large 

 lake-dotted diocese; what would his divinity students 

 have thought could they have seen his dashing wading, his 

 quick whirling of bis two hands into a Japanese butterfly 

 when we bragged of our big trout before he saw it, and 

 heard his cauip yarns; this 'is a long, awkward seutenec, 

 but anglers lines spin out when they don't exp, sel it Some 

 times)— Judge Wilder, of Bed Wing", a most worthy com- 

 panion of his Bishop, and three younger gentlemen, no 

 green bauds at sport, with a line boat and outfit— grand 

 old Captain and lithe Indian. Our boyhood's dreams 

 even never compassed a grander outfit or more emmgiug 

 company. 



Our famous rivals for the "speckled beauties "of the 

 North Shore were to stop at Prince Arthur's Landing, one 

 hundred and seventy-five miles from Dululh, and as we 

 were going twenty-five miles further, and intended to be 

 gone the same lime from home, we anticipated a line race 

 and keen competition in fishing. In the cold, foggy air on 

 deck we needed more clothing than in a quiet' morning 

 here with the mercury at zero; but iu the cabin was abun- 

 dant good cheer, and any quantify of that- expectant sports- 

 men's talk which so happily whiles away the heirs. Fish 

 and fishing stories; comparing tackle"; snapping killing 

 hooks; jumping Indian John for all the lore of the coast ; 

 time; passed by. At ten P.M. we helped the Bishop's parly 

 to disembark, and at midnight eagerly carried our boat out 

 at Silver Island, launched and landed 'her, and pulled for a 

 camp-ground a quarter of a mile from the wharf. 



We had dreamed of soft green sward, of romantic camps, 

 of overhanging trees, id" sheltered harbors. The best place 

 the rocky town offered was a rough point where, scraping 

 the larger stones away, we could pitch our tent on a little 

 level, though stony ground. But what was that to enthusi- 

 asts! We slept the sleep of the weary, and a good break- 

 fast, Cooked by- our camp-lire, assured us that the jolly joys 

 of " roughing it " had indeed begun. It seemed' amazing 

 to us that John and the Captain were, so cool about sport. 

 They enioyed camp for camp's sake, ami were not eager to 

 cast a line. We were. Nor was our zeal diminished at 

 seeing a four-pound speckled trout which had been caught 

 early that morning by a gentleman fishing off the roeks, 

 who informed us that such fish were occasionally taken 

 morning and evening miles awav from any stream. After 

 looking about tbe rough mining town, we rowed down 

 shore a mile to pay our respects to General Sibley, the 

 President, and Captain Drue, the efficient superintendent 

 of the rich and wonderful mine which, although situated 

 on the Btnall island half a mile off shore, gives Us name to 

 the town on the mainland. Coasting by Ihe bluff shore, 

 as bold as the sea-coast of New Hampshire, with water 

 clear as the ocean at Isle of Shoals, the eager Rector took 

 wiih a trolling line a beautiful lake trout, weighing seven 

 pounds, which we weighed at once with our club scales 

 taken for that purpose. He was much set up; ami we 

 waited our turn. On the same trip we lost a new spoon 

 among the rocks. Returning over the same route au hour 

 after, some one discovered the spoon in ten feel of water 

 two rods before we reached it, and it was soon fished up 

 by another spoon. We had just finished our early supper 

 when 1 saw some boys fishing from the rocks a hundred 

 yards from camp. One had hooked, but lost, a big trout. 

 My turn was coming. I wish 1 could say I took my eight 

 ounce rod, with most delicate line and daintiest fly. For- 

 est and Stream has taught, me to believe in these. " For- 

 getting "the rude accoutrements behind, " I press toward 

 the mark" of perfection iu appointments and practice in 

 the high art. 



But, Brother Ilallock, "I cannot tell a lie, I did it with 

 my" common joint-pole, an ordinary bass line and reel, and 

 a small snelled hook baited with a piece of pork. Of 

 course, I shall change my name when, iu the future, I write 

 for critical eyes some account of exploits with tackle which 

 is am fait, lest the flavor of that pork cling to me. Stand- 

 ing on a rock thirty feet from the water, I saw a large Bali 

 playing about the boy's beef-baited lines, as if undecided 

 which lo take. The moment I offered it he took. mine. 

 I'm sure for the moment I shouted like a Methodist, rather 

 tlian the sedate parson 1 really am; but as he started for 

 deep wafer with a reel, making such music as 1 never heard 

 before. I red-izad that all my small experience was to be 

 utilized if I would land him. " I coaxed " Bub " to lake out 

 my watch to time Ihe fight, and held that twitching, deter- 

 mined nose as near the lop of tlie water as 1 could and 

 away from numerous sharp rocks. Mitch of the time 1 

 could sec him, and he was evidently so gamcy a number of 

 fishermen removed their lines to give me full play. How 

 he rushed! Twice he leaped from the water. Three times 

 lie scudded from sixty to eighty feel out into the lake. 

 How glad was I my line was long and well tied; for the 

 unfortunate " Reetoi " had his untied line all reeled oil and 

 run away with by a large fish a few minutes before I struck 

 mine. At last he submitted to be towed gently along shore 

 lo a spot where 1 could clamber down by some" coarse vines 

 to a shelving rock, for I did not dare risk lifting his main 

 weight in the air. "Bub," a good specimen of that enter- 

 prising country boy yon will always find clever to a gentle- 

 man who will speak 'to him kindly, held my pole until I got 

 down and then handed it to me. Clad enough was I lo find 

 my lish was not unhooked in the transfer. The sight of me 

 drove- him off in his last fierce dash for liberty, but he came 

 back again subdued. I had no gall ncr landing net, and the 

 waves were dashing nearly to my knees on the shelving 

 rock. Bringing him carefully in on the- crest of a big wave 

 which swashed me well, I kept him in, and the reilux left 

 him (lapping at my feet. Grabbing him as lustily as ever 

 a boy did his first shiner, and removing the hook," I ran at 

 once' to camp to weigh hint — to get all the honest Weight 1 

 could— white he wiih tret. I think he lost two ounces of 

 blood, as the hook was deep in him; but I was glad to 

 notch him at four pounds fourteen ounces, while John 

 stuck to it " five pounds six, fair enough." lie was twen- 

 ty-two inches long, and it took twenty-one minutes to cap- 

 ture him— the " biggest fish ol the season " on that section 

 of the North Shore. Report gives Lady Dufferin, Who 

 accompanied '' My Lord Dufferin" on his grand excursion 



up the' Lakes, the champif 

 have heard no figures. Her 

 at my minuteness in descril 

 average brotherhood will 

 such a capture- by one whos, 

 the "Roaring Wcp- 



lship of the Nepigon; but I 

 es of nine pounders will smile 

 ng so small a battle; but the 

 pprectate the exhiliration of 

 previous experience had been 

 t Milford, Conn., where I 



never put in my basket a trout weighing more than four 

 ounces. Notching his length on my pole, and taking his 

 tintype by the skill of a strolling artist, I sent him to a 

 lady. Next morning we started on our long pull home. 

 Of this in another paper. 



rd, MinnemUt, Bee, 2Gi/t, 1874. 



fibr Forest and Stream. 

 A FORTNIGHT JN THE WILDERNESS. 



Being tiil Journal of a Party that Spent two Pleas- 

 ant Weeks in the Summer ofIsTH in Eating, Sleep- 

 ing, Rollicking, and Trout Fishing in tub Wil- 

 derness oe Northern Nrcw York, to the Great 



BlSNIttl'UT OF THEIR PHYSICAL BKINCl, AND WITHOUT 



Harm to their Souls, or Interference with the 



Eights on Enjoyments of their Fellow Men. 



THE party, consisting of two middle-aged gentlemen, 

 viz., Richard IX Sherman and Josiah L. Foote, both 

 residents of the pleasant county of Oneida, two sons of 

 Sherman, viz., James, aged eighteen, and Sanford, aged 

 sixteen years, with their young friends, Edward R. Oteen, 

 eighteen; Clark S. Bailev. seventeen, and Wm. P. Abbott, 

 seventeen, left Utica 01V Friday, July 18th, 1873, by the 

 Black River Railroad, en route for the wilderness of North 

 ern New York, where it lias been the custom of tbe elder 

 Sherman to spend from two to four weeks in the pleasant 

 Summer each year for the past twenty-live years. This 

 route was eighteen miles by rail, twenty-two by good Wagon 

 road, and after that four by foot travel to their final desti- 

 nalion, which was a pleasant stream, hereafter to be de- 

 scribed, a lew miles from the southern border of the great 

 wilderness which forms the larger portion of Northern New 

 York. Their outfit was complete for the occasion. Each 

 man and boy had his pack basket, in which his luggage 

 was snugly stowed. The baskets were fitted to the shoul- 

 ders by pack straps, and carried like knapsacks, in this 

 manner a weight of thirty to fifty pounds may be carried 

 by a person of average strength many miles a day without 

 severe fatigue, the straps acting after the manner of shoul- 

 der braces, and permitting free action of the lungs. The 

 outfit of each person, consisted of two suits (including the 

 one worn) of stout woolen clothes, a thick army blanket, 

 a rubber poncho, felt hat, hob-nailed high shoes, and leather 

 slippers. Each man had his knife and fork, tin cup, plate 

 and spoon, two towels and such little articles pf the toilet 

 as his tastes required. Eaeli hail his fishing rod, basket, 

 and minor tackle, and to tlie whole party was one rille and 

 one shot gun. A complete cooking kit, consisting of camp 

 kettles, frying pans, coffee pot, etc., including a small tin 

 Dutch oven, formed an essential part of the outfit, and the 

 supply of provisions inventoried about as follows: — 



Bacon and ham, forty pounds; dried beef, twelve pounds; 

 self-raising flour, eighteen pounds; potatoes, sixty pounds; 

 corn meal, oat meal, and crushed wheat, fifteen pounds 

 each; mixed crackers, twelve pounds; bread, twenty-live 

 pounds; sugar, twenty pounds; butler, twelve pounds; 

 dried fruit, twelve pounds; Bermuda onions, twenty 

 pounds; condensed milk, six cans; beans and corn, ten 

 pounds; eggs, sixteen dozen, and small stores, such as pep- 

 per, salt, matches, candles, lemons, maple syrup, tea, vine- 

 gar, etc., lo match, the whole being estimated on the basis 

 of two and a half pounds of solid" food per day to each 

 person. Two axes, a cross-cut saw of the "lightning" 

 pattern, and a hatchet, completed Ills outfit. The journal 

 ot the party's movements commences with the start from 

 Utica, as follows:— 



Friday, July 18M.— The party left Uiiea at eight A. M. 

 by railroad tor Prospect, eighteen mile, distant. Arriving 

 there we found the transportation ordered awaiting us. 

 The members of the party were stowed in a large spring 

 wagon, and the supplies" and baggage iu another. We 

 stopped to lunch at Raul's "Hunter's llouie," fifteen miles 

 distant from Prospect, and on the border of the great 

 woods. Nothing eventful occurred on tint day's trip till 

 we crossed the east branch or ihe West Canada "Creek, one- 

 mile east of our stopping place for the night, Here, some 

 eighty yards distant from the road, we observed it huge 

 black bear in chase of a flock ol sheep. Oil seeing us he 

 .abandoned the pursuit of the sheep ami retreated slowly 

 to the adjoining thicket, not disappearing, however, till 

 Clark Bailey, who had a good breech loading Ballard rifle, 

 sent him a parting salutation. The shot was an excellent 

 line one, but struck a tree about afoot above the bear's 

 back. At six P. M. we arrived at Beecratt's. This is the 

 last house iu the settlements. It is situated iu the town of 

 Morehouse,, Hamilton county, on the \VfcSt Camilla Creek, 

 and about forty miles northeast of L'lica. It is Ihe end of 

 the road, which would here butt into - the mountain, but 

 that, to save its brains, it loses itself iu Beecraft's cow yard. 

 The hostelry of Beeeraft is famous with all who visit ,this 

 region. Come when they may, morning or evening, mid- 

 night or noon, there is always a welcome for them, ami 

 the house, though old and rickety, and boasting not over 

 half a dozen rooms altogether, seems, in the spirit of its 

 hospitable host ami hostess, lo expand with the occasion. 

 None were ever denied a night's free lodging in it, and 

 none ever left its doors with appetites unsatisfied. The 

 alacrity and cheerfulness with which every want of the so- 

 journer is ministered to hyth- motherly Mrs. Beeciait make 

 her ]1!>U*« a pleasant home 10 all, and leave endurlugly im- 

 pressed on the memory a grateful sense of her kindness. 

 A bountiful supper awaited us, and a comfortable night's 

 rest prepared us for the anticipated labor of the morrow, 



•Saturday, July i'JIh. — We awoke to the music, not of sing- 

 ing birds, nor to the patter, but the splash of rain on the 

 roof. We hoped it would clear away before noon, so that 

 we might pack for the woods, but it 'did not, ll continued 

 to rain heavily during the day, and we were forced to post- 

 pone the departure for the morrow. The day was spent in 

 alternate euchre and eating. As there is nothing particu- 

 larly worth recording of the day's incidents, wo may as 

 well devote a few lines lo a description of our place of des- 

 tination. Tlie water called Itbe "Metcalf" is a cold spring 

 stream which rises in the wilderness and ends there. Its 

 general course is westerly, and it enters the north branch 

 of the West Canada Creek about four miles above Wilkin- 

 son's, which is the last settlement on that line, and nearly 



