FsBKTTAMr 24, 1881.] 



FOftEST AND STREAM. 



65 



TJie Indian iu the meantime working his way upward, 

 stopped within a tew feet of the place, but from his actions 

 L was satisfied he was ignorant of the kid's position, and, 

 fearltig the pri?C would escape, in my excitement I shouted 

 at the top of my voice ; hut the sound must hive died away 

 hefore reaching him, for he tools no notice. Presently he raised 

 his musket anil leveled at the old, one, which still remained 

 in the same position on the shelf above, hut lowering it again 

 he commenced a. search among the rocks for the "lost kid. 

 His stupidity annoyed me, for had he kept his position he 

 commanded, so far as I could see, the only way by which the 

 kid could escape ; for below was a perpendicular cliff of a 

 thousand feet against the side of which no possible foothold 

 for anything without wings could be seen. But in this I was 

 mistaken, for a rock, loosened by the Indian's foot, rolling 

 over the cliff started the little animal from its hiding place, 

 and with a bound it sprang outward and down. The thought 

 of its fate sent a cold shudder through me. A thousand 

 feet, sheer down, to be ground to atoms on the rock-s below ! 

 But no— down it went fifteen or twenty feet, alighting on a 

 rocky cone which stood out at a slight angle from the main 

 cliff, on the top of which there was scarcely room for its feet 

 middled together. Had it started from that point and soared 

 away over the tops of the trees which studded the valley it 

 would not have surprised me in the least, aud I wa'tcd 

 breathlessly for its next move. 



For a moment it rested like a speck of snow upon I he dark 

 gray granite cone, then with a downward spring of perhaps 

 ten feet it reached a narrow shelf which had before escaped 

 my notice and which ran along the face of the cliff to the 

 wooded mountains on the right. But. a sadder fate awaited 

 the unfortunate animal than if it had fallen into the haml3 of 

 the Indian. The terrible bird which in narrowing circles had 

 kept above the scene, aud whose piercing eye had taken in 

 the vantage of the position — the kid separated from the pro- 

 tection of its dam — stopped suddenly in its course, then 

 swooped downward swift as the lightning's flash, its great- 

 wings cleaving the air, and seizing "the poor kid, just when 

 life and liberty seemed so near, bore it clear of the cliff, flut- 

 tered a moment in mid air, then drifted downward along the 

 mountain side, disappearing below the tops of the swaying 

 firs. 



The chase was over, aud with a sigh of disappointment I 

 shut up my glass and waited the return of the Indian. It was 

 nearly dark when wo reached camp, and after partaking of 

 some of the delicious trout which Charley had hooked from 

 the creek, I lit my pipe, and being somewhat tired with my 

 exertions, rolled myself in my blankets*, and with a beautiful 

 clear sky for a roof and the " babble, babble" of the creek for 

 a lullaby, I lay dozing, cogitating over the. events of the day. 

 Finally the forms of the two Indians, dimly outlined through 

 the smoke of the camp fire, faded entirely away and I glided 

 into dreamland, and all through the. night re-enacted the 

 scenes of the chase. The kid's" terrible leap, my frantic ex- 

 ertions to reach the top of a cliff where goats were being 

 killed by the two Indians, till at last a large white-headed bird 

 lifted me from the rocks and dropped me over a precipice— 

 theu, with a start, I awoke and found it was daylight. My 

 dusky companions were already astir, and after the morning's 

 meal I announced my intention of starting for home as I had 

 procured what specimens I required for the present. Bu' the 

 old hurter, feeling no doubt disappointed at his want, of suc- 

 cess during the last two days, and anxious to satisfy me that 

 he was worthy of the name he bore, induced me, by repre- 

 senting that we would almost be sure to secure a kid, to ac- 

 company him to a high table laud which he had pointed out 

 the day previous, lyiug between two snowy peaks. I was 

 satisfied this trip would occupy the greater "part of the day, 

 but the hope of obtaining a kid decided me in making it. 



After leaving the vdley of the creek, which is about one- 

 fourth of a mile wide, the asceut lay over a succession of 

 benches thickly timbered with giant firs, gloomy and silent 

 as the tomb, save when the weird notes of the dusky grouse, 

 coming from beyond the spectral trunks, broke in upon the 

 ghostlike Stillness ; and it was witli a feeliugof relief that we 

 poked our heads above the last, liuc of sighing lirs, and 

 scrambling up a rather steep incliue reached the open table 

 laud above. What a prospect awaited us I Nearly surround- 

 ing the little plateau and back as far as the eye could reach. 

 dark granite and snow-covered peaks reflected the bright raya 

 of the" sun from a thousand different angles. The little pla- 

 teau was composed of low grassy ridges with miniature val- 

 leys between, dotted here and there with clumps of juniper 

 and stunted piues, while heaps of crumbling rocks, resem- 

 bling the ruins of ancient castles, filled up the foreground. 

 This was the home of the hoary marmot, whose sharp, pro- 

 longed whstlc sounded so strangely human. Here, too, was 

 to be found that strange little animal the little chief hare or 

 rock rabbit; while in graceful circles above the opening 

 soared that terrible scourge of mountain and plain, the white- 

 headed eagle, seeking, no doubt, a morning meal in the shape 

 of a fat kid. Although the eniblcm of a great people, I have 

 a sort of supernatural" antipathy to this bird, and this dislike 

 was created under the fallowing distressing circumstances : 



In the early days of the Province — in the days of the gold 

 excitement— I had, in company with an old mining partner, 

 decided upon prospecting the head waters of a river far to 

 the north of this ; mid for this purpose had in early fall 

 cached a large quantity of provisions in a cabin situated 

 some eighty miles up the river. It was on our journey tow- 

 ard thisTcabin that the incidents I am about to relate trans- 

 pired. We left the mouth of the river on December 20, 

 with the snow at least four feet deep ; but being supplied 

 with first-class Indian snowshoes, aud having a light load to 

 haul on our sleds, we calculated on making the trip in six- 

 days, and took with us only provisions to last about that 

 time. But on the second day a blinding snowstorm came 

 on, in the midst, of which we missed our way aud followed 

 up a large tributary instead of the main river ; nor did we 

 discover our mistake until the morning of the tenth day, 

 when the storm cleared up aud showed us our position. 

 There was nothing left for us but to retrace our steps. 



Our provision , which were nearly exhausted, were dealt 

 out a mouthful a day until they were finished. Our sleds, 

 which then became too much fo"r us to haul, were abandoned, 

 together with our blankets, and for five days, with nothing 

 to eat, we dragged ourselves along over the desert waste of 

 snow, and for "five nights we built our camp-fire and walked 

 around it, not daring to lie down lest sleep, that clully sleep 

 that of ten knows no waking, should overpower us. During 

 all those days a large white-headed eagle kepi, us company, 

 either soaring in regular circles behind, or ahead, perched on 

 some naked limb, awaiting our approach. At, night his 

 place would be near our camp, and the first streaks of dawn, 

 would reveal the "Sexton," as we christened him, pluming 

 his feathers to resume the journey. Night nor day did he 

 leave us, and to our distorted imagination, with death as -it 



were closing in upou upon us, each day he appeared to grow 

 larger. Finally, when weak and exhausted and with bodies 

 worn lo mere skeletons, we draeced ourselves through the 

 door of the home cabin, he uttered a piercing shrink, and 

 soared back toward the mountain;. And it was well for 

 him (hat lie .lid, for my companion, though scarcely able, to 

 hold his rifle, fished it out from among the things we had 

 cached, and with eyes wild and glaring as I he eagle's, waited 

 for his approach ; but he never returned. Since that time I 

 never get a specimen of this bird, but it is with a feeling of 

 revengeful satisfaction that I strip him of his skin. But to 

 return to the present. The old hunter, who had been pros- 

 pecting the neighborhood for goals, returned, his greasy face 

 glowing with satisfaction, aid announced the result as fol- 

 lows: " ltiyou sheep ! " " Hi you tenass ! " (Plenty of sheep, 

 plenty Of yoUng ones) ; and following him a short distance 

 over a grassy ridge wc came upou small bands, either feed- 

 ing or lying bsneath the shelter of some bush or overhanging 

 rock. There were abo a number of kids skipping and 

 frolicking about, much in the manner of those of our domes- 

 tic flocks. But although we used every artifice, the capture 

 of a kid proved a failure. At one time we felt sure of suc- 

 cess. We had come upon four goats with two kids lying 

 upon a narrow shelf, one side of which ascended almost per- 

 pendicularly over one hundred feet into a wooded ravine, the 

 ascent on the other side being almost as abrupt . We were 

 satisfied the goats would go up the face of the rock, aud that 

 the kids might be unable to follow them, or if they did, as a 

 last resort, we would shoot the old ones. Wc approached 

 within a hundred feet, when they suddenly turned and laced 

 ns. With foot advanced and every nerve strung to its high- 

 est tension, we waited the first move upward. But they 

 surprised us by using widely different tactics from what wo 

 expected. 



Suddenly wheeling to the left, and with limbs as rigid as 

 if they had been jointless, they slid down the smooth face of 

 the incline and disappeared in the ravine below. I cannot 

 say that I was much surprised, for after witnessing the aston- 

 ishing leap made by the kid on the day previous 1 had come 

 to the conclusion that, unless by mere accident, there is but 

 one animal a match for these little mountain acrobats, and 

 that animal, HaMntiu U'«-octphalm. 



These grassy openings, the old hunter informed me, occur 

 in many places iu the mountains, and used to be, in the early 

 days of blanket making, a great resort for the Indians. 

 Here they would bring their families and camp for weeks at 

 a time, slaughtering great numbers of goats Juid drying the 

 skins before packing them in their canoes. 



The following extracts from an article contributed by my 

 valued friend, Mr. J. C. Hughes, to the columns of Forest 

 and Stkea.ii show the value"of this auitual to the Indians be- 

 fore the advent of the whites. He says ; 



tCheisoatiaof two qualities, namely? a "fine white wool next tins 

 skin, of a liuc grade, and a long, white h; 



I'lextu 

 sthe 



uil OOlffl 



k dim 



« the v 



nthe 





white or yellowish east, but 



Somoto 

 white is the n 



The .skins a 

 different tribi 

 five kind of n 

 with the palm of the hand. xhiH yarn is woven into blanket* 



very rude kind of loom, bypassing the weft over and under the 

 warp with the hand, without the use of a shuttle or other appli- 

 These blankets, although occupying a long time in th ' 



o Indians of all, or nearly all, of the 

 s ou this coast. The. wool is spun in the most, prhui- 

 "- A V the squaws, who tttiat it on the bare k: 



,«,l^ 'PI,!., ™™ I.. n-«nn« 



,, and at one 

 aeipal covering, especially among the 

 The manufacture of these blankets is 

 , owing to the importation of American 

 a- causes ; and it is safe to conjecture 

 >n the increase, instead of decrease, as 

 s the object sought, for by the Indiana. 



cessfui goat-hunter 

 to be sought after 

 is ho was able to 

 two very desirable 

 th this qualification 



i this pa 



ruanufaetur , 



time constituted their pri 



tribes living on the coast. 



vearh decreasing, howevei 



and English ones, and othi 



that this species of goat is 



the fleece, not the flesh, wo 



Sot that the flesh is unpalatable. 



suits are less arduous aud more pro 8 table : ai 



hunting is not so much practiced as when it i 



old adepts are fast dying oil' and the young f: 



to working for the whites as servants, mill h 



cattle herders, etc., than to hunting, the last 



made a great change in their mode of obtaini 



The flesh of this species resembles, in s 

 That of the kids is exceedingly delicate, has .< 

 is eateu by both Indians and whites, and by t 

 preferred to venison. 



Among the Iudiaus of early times, to he a p 

 was to lie a man of note iu ihjj tribe, a hnefba 

 by the dusky damsels looking for a hclpmoel 

 procure at the same time food aud clothing 

 things in domestic economy. And after his <J 

 insured him a sarcophagus, which was placet 

 lage of the dead," and emblazoned with turn 

 of the animal in question, as a memento of h 

 ticular hue during his lifetime. 



It, was uearly dusk when v. e reached camp, but wind and 

 title being in our favor, I decided upon starling at once for 

 home. So carefully stowing my skius in the canoe and 

 wrapping myself in my blanket, 1 nestled down comfortably 

 iu the bow, while the grim old savage, his steady hand gi d. ic- 

 ing us over the rippling waters, sang out, in strange, notes, 

 the songs of his tribe ; and Charley aud the two hoys, who 

 followed behind, catching up the refrain, sent it back echo- 

 ing among the mountains. They were happy— and why not ? 

 for surely this is the Indian's paradise. Here is to be found 

 every enjoyment which the Great. Ruler of the universe con- 

 stituted hi'm to inn-Til. The waters teem with fish that 

 kings might covet. The mountains and valleys are alive 

 wilh animals which furnish him both food and raiment ; and, 

 satisfied with the fruits which the earth affords him. he wan- 

 ders through the forest, or, in his cedar canoe, wrapped in 

 blanket aud mat, he glides over the waters, unheeding the 

 flight of time, whither wind and tide choose to take him. 

 Truly "he sowethnot, neither does he reap." Bat I he pic- 

 ture sketched by these meditations is marred by the reflec- 

 tion that in a short time this state of things — this happiness 

 of savage life — shall pass away. Already the " tramp, 

 tramp " of the approaching East sounds faintly in our ears. 

 "I hear. the tread ol yloueers 

 Of nations yet, to be- 

 The first, low wash of w arcs, where soon 

 (Shall roll a human sea.' 



Already a "shining iron track " is being laid, over which 

 civilization, in all its complex character, with all its attend- 

 ing follies, its crimes and its varieties, its crowding and 

 wrangling for wealth and position, its happiness and distress 

 — shall move forward, and the unpretending savage and his 

 food-and-raiment-giving animal, the mountain goat, shall be 

 forced back beyond our ken and only live in the works of 

 the persevering and self-sacrificing naturalist. 



John Fannin. 



Tub Central FtsticuLXiutAi. Society. — Our report in this 

 week's issue closes the proceedings of this most interesting 

 meeting, which we have given in full and more correctly than 

 was attempted by local papers. It has all been stereotyped 

 and will soon be printed in pamphlet form, 



• A TRIP THROUGH THE PROVINCES." 



EtHlor Kov.iZ itnA fitn.jin : 



The author of "A Trip Through the Provi noes," which 

 appeared iu yijuj issue of the lOlhinst., so evidently not only 

 has a keen appreciation of a sporting trip, having what he 

 would probably call a '• first-rate lime," but has taken so 

 much pleasure in talking and thinking over his experiences 

 and writing out his very pleasant (because natural and unaf- 

 fected) record of the same, and moreover is withal so palpa- 

 bly a good fellow, that it seems almost too bad to " go for 

 him." And this is more especially the case from the fact 

 that he writes over his own name. Whereas I, for reasons 

 which to me seem sufficient, object lo appearing in Jtrapria 

 peraotmin a controversy of this kind. If he contented him- 

 self wiih uiving an account of bis experiences there would he. 

 no great harm, even if in his enthusiasm lie did sec every- 

 thing rather rose colored ; but when he goes on to give ad- 

 vice to otheis as to following in his footstep;, the thing is a 

 very different one. The number of bard-worked young 

 clerks in shops, railroads, insurance offices, banks, etc., who 

 yearn after a little outdoor life combined with sport, is enor- 

 mous, and is increasing every day, aud any statement of the 

 possibility of getting good "salmon and trout fishing, with 

 moose, caribou ami deer shooting, in the space of two or 

 three weeks, at a very moderate cost, would be almost sure to 

 start off some parties, perhaps at a great deal of sacrifice of 

 time and hard-earned savings, who', if they found that the 

 hopes held out had been entirely illusory', would very natu- 

 rally return with a feeling that they had been swindled out 

 of their short, annual holiday. 



1 remember perfectly being very much impressed by the 

 exaggerated (though evidently unintentionally so) account of 

 the chances for salmon fishing, which the same conespondent 

 gave in an article some time Ago, on Ihe strength "Of a very 

 iucky experience he Had happened to have at Fraser's; aud I 

 have no doubt that had not "Manhattan" taken the trouble 

 to state the real condition of things in that respect, many 

 would have gone down, prepared for great, sport, only to find 

 that the only free fishing grounds showed more rods thau 

 fish per diem. However, it is not with regard to the fishing 

 that 1 want to protest, as "Manhattan" did that most thor- 

 oughly, as is shown by ypur correspondent's own experience 

 last seasou, although he is perfectly right in claiming that it 

 was an exceptionally bad year. I would say, however, that 

 it is not to bo wondered at that a person's enthusiasm should 

 cause him to mislead others, when it Issogreal St to start 

 him off himself with two friends, without having taken auy 

 steps to find out whether there had been any change iu the 

 Rcstigouche during the past three years. 



To anybody who knows the circumstances of the transac- 

 tion there is something almost ludicrous in the idea of 

 Eraser's speaking, "almost with tears," of the thirty odd 

 thousand dollars that the New York Club paid him for his 

 house and lights. But as I said before, it is not with regard 

 to fishing that I want to take the liberty of inakiug a'few 

 eorreeth ins to the " Tour Through the Provinces." 



As the ground that I lake is thai one should not give ad- 

 vice and make statements with regard to the capacities of a 

 certain locality for sport, without having accurulc and per- 

 sonal knowledge thereof, it may not be out of place for me to 

 present my credentials, so to speak, for the assumption of 

 the authority I o criticise. They simply consist in the fact of 

 having with a friend passed during the last three autumns: 

 five, six and seven weeks in the country spoken of, most of 

 which time was either in icnts or ia canoes, or excursions in- 

 to the intern,, wiih the best guides in the way of 

 cauoemen that ihe Provinces afford, We devoted each year 

 the first part of oiu- vacation, /. e., from six days to a fort- 

 night, to salmon fishing, and the rest to shooting. Having 

 been pretty well over the Province of New Brunswick and 

 that part of the Province of Quebec which is about Gaspft 

 Basin, 1 feel that 1 have the right to state certain points, 

 which I know to be facts. The remarks and advice which 

 your correspondent makes with regard to shooting in the 

 Provinces are evidently his honest impressions, but are de- 

 rived just aS evidently from hearsay, as by his own statement 

 he has only been there in the spring or early summer. 



First, and foremost, in the way of misleading those who 

 might be induced by his delightful account of the facilities 

 for sport to take a trip to the Provinces, he makesnomention 

 of flic fact that, unless they went to break the law and rim 

 the risk of being arrested and fined they must before tiring a 

 shot pay £20 for a license iu iS T ew Brunswick aud $50 for 

 one in Nova Scotia! One would think that this waa a 

 pretty important fact for anybody who proposed going there 

 to know, and one that would make considerable difference in 

 the expenses of tin! trip, to say nothingof the unpleasantness 

 of being hauled up as a poacher or law-breaker. 



Hespeaksof m * ■_• ai ! caribou being very pleiily; deer 

 uot so much. There was a deer shot in Gloucester County, 

 New Brunswick, some years ago, and the tradition is kept by 

 Ihe Indians as an extraordinary occurrence. There may he 

 some few that cross I he St. 3 Ohh 1 ti ver from Maine, but certain- 

 ly east Of the Tobique and in all the parts of New Brunswick 

 visited by the author of the "Tour Through the Provinces," 

 a deer would be looked upon as a great curiosity, and as for 

 Rava Scotia, although I cannot speak from personal experi- 

 ence, I believe fully that no deer, i. t. Or,://* virffilifarim, 

 ever browsed. There moose and caribou are quite pleuty, 

 bUt what the chances of a parly's going down ou a few days' 

 vacation, with al United exchequer, would be of getting ouo 

 is a different question. 



In winter, with deep snow, anybody who went to the right 

 place aud got hold of the right sort, of guide, could be sure of 

 killing a caribou or two, and very likely a moose. But in 

 order to do so he would have to put ou his snow shoes, start 

 off with a few biscuit or hard tack, and a little tea aud sugar 

 in his pocket, and follow his Indian or French guide a route 

 through the woods, camping under a bough she'ifer at night, 

 and generally leading a life of physical strain and endurance 

 that few men not bred in Ihe woods could stand. 1 do not 

 mean to say that moose and caribou may uot be shot in tho 

 aulumn, because I know that they are. Last season, when I 

 was at Ballnust, an English gentleman brought down the 

 river one of the finest caribou heads that 1 ever saw, aud Ihe 

 year before a gentleman on the Geological Survey shot two 

 ou the very same canoe route that my friend and myself 

 went over a week or so later. But after all, it is a matter of 

 chance, and implies of necessity having good hunters for 

 guides, starting into the interior in birch canoes, two men to 

 eacli sportsman, and au extra canoe with its two Canoe men 

 for supplies, if any lengthened i rip was to be made ; all of 

 which is not of course compatible with the quickness and 

 cheapness which is held out as an inducement. I can only 

 say that a yotmggentleman, a wonderful shot, of my acquaint- 



