384 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Jcnb lft, 1881. 



yortemxn ^outiut 



NOTES OP AN ANGLER IS THE NORTH. 

 ByFaikchu.i), Jn.— Part Tuikd. 



'IHK JJdOQsWIS OA.KTIEE. 



ri^HE last ray of sunshine huug lovingly around the sum- 

 _L mits of the eastern mountains that close in the valley 

 •when wearily we launched our ennoe upon the swift, dark 

 waters of the river, and paddled to the other shore where, 

 stood our little camp of a departed year of fragrant memo- 

 ries. We are just comfortably settled in our bark wigwam 

 when 



Night draws her same curtain round 

 And plus It, with a si hi-. 

 The warmth of our good log fire, the narcotic odors of the 

 balsams, the murmur of the river and the soughing of the 

 wind through the pines, together with the fatigue of the long 

 day's journey, invite a night of refreshing and undisturbed 

 slumber. 



Early fishing in these high northern rivers is productive of 

 nothing but discomfort to the angler, if not worse— an attack 

 of rheumatism. The early morning air is too cold for the 

 fish to rise to a fly, and there is always a heavy mist over the 

 watCT lhat is as soaking as a Scotch rain. We therefore 

 leisurely prepare ourselves for the day's work. Our little 

 Craft dances merrily in the current and tugs impatiently at 

 her rope to be off on her mad career down the foaming rap'ids. 

 Kt.ienno takes the helm, with anchor and rope close at his 

 hand to drop when 1 give the word. We run the first few 

 rapids without stopping as from past knowledge of the river 

 we know them lo be barren of fish, but a perpendicular blue 

 clay bunk directly ahead points our first stop. About mid- 

 way down the rapid, anchor is cast out ; there, is a sudden 

 tug, a straining to lie free, a slight drag and the canoe brings 

 up just where it admits of a good cast, into the back current, 

 foam-covered and dark from the depth of the water. A few 

 fine fish are taken, and as the rises are then few. we again 

 proceed. We cover nine miles of the river this day, confin- 

 ing our fishing to those pools aud rapids that contained the 

 large fish. On arrival at our destination the weight and 

 score of our fish are duly recorded, which if given would 

 startle the Eastern angler into making, perhaps, a resolve 

 uever to again wet a line in other waters. 



The charming diversity of scenery along this romantic 

 river would prove ample compensation for a journey thither 

 were it lint, besides, one of the finest rivers in Lower Canada 

 for fishing and canoeing- Like all the tributaries of Ihe St. 

 Lawrence taking 1 heir source in the mountainous region Of 

 the North, the, Jacques Oartier, for many miles of its course, 

 is a rapid stream impeded by chaotic "rocks. The middle 

 roaches of the tiverare more tranquil and filled with innumer- 

 able elm covered islands. The settlements extend along its 

 banks for ah ml thirty miles from its mouth, but beyond this 

 the foresls still hold their sway. It is the only river empty- 

 ing into the St. Lawrence above Quebec that hasaruuof 

 salmon. 



A good day's tramp from the Jacques Oartier is the St. 

 Ann's en hau', the upper reaches of which abound in mag- 

 nificent trout, a-i does also the Tuilleries, which is forded on 

 the way. The little lli::iereA>j.r. Pins will yield a good string 

 of small fish lo the unambitious angler, as will the number- 

 less lakes everywhere about. 



For many years 1 hive taken Bmolt in the upper Jacques 

 Oartier, though 1 know of but one well authcnlicaied case of 

 a salmon's having been taken above Dayrees. Yet they inns', 

 ascend this river aunually to near its source, or how account 

 for the annual presence of the young salmon ? 



TOE 11KAVEU. 



It la pleasant to bear testimony to (he fact that this inter- 

 esting littjc rodent is increasing in numbers very rapidly in 

 the Northern wilderness. It is largely due, of course, to the 

 falling off in the demand for its fur and lo the exliuelion of 

 the noble redman. It is a prolific little animal and, whonun- 

 molested, rapidly Increases in numbers. In the Northern 

 wilderness the beaver very rarely locates on a sttvam, but 

 prefers tile lakes. ]| is much easier to dam up their dis- 

 charges, with small risk of their beiug carried away by floods. 

 All the snvill lakes in the interior that I have visited bore 

 evidence of the presence of beaver there at some period, and 

 many of them were then occupied by families of these in- 

 dustrious little animals. 



To such an extent was the beaver trade carried in Canada 



dhar 



■ular 



between the 

 and Jesuits i 

 than to lhe 

 1 1 enlireh u 

 and at one p 

 community < 

 rerucy of the 

 ports were c 

 ottered at a fixed p 

 Actions of the Fl 



11-0 M 



riod the 

 f beavei 

 :olony. 



e legitimate occupation of the people, 

 colony threatened to become simply a 

 traders. Beaver skins became the cur- 

 The company that controlled the ex- 

 pelled by royal decree to take all the skins 

 ' le. From " The Journal of the Late 

 ih in Canada," -Beyard & Ludovick, 

 l(ii):i, I extract the following bit of information from the evi- 

 dence of one Andre Casparus, an escaped prisoner, before 

 Gov. Fletcher: 



"The said Andre says ho saw a prodigious quantity of bea- 

 vers at O.tawawa; an 'inhabitant of Canada called Jaques clc 

 Taille told him he had 3,001) beavers of his own there and 

 that there was as many beavers now in Ottawawa as would 

 load 200 canows to Canada, and each eanow generally holds 

 nine to ten hundred beavers." 



This was simply the number collected in one district. 

 When lo this is added the supply from five or six other dis- 

 tricts equally prolific sonic idea of the numbers of the little 

 rodents aunually slain for their fur may be formed. "When 

 beaver bats went out of vogue in Europe the colony became 

 bankrupt. The storehouses' were filled to overflowing with 



pelts for which the 

 iairii them, which 

 Of late years tl 

 beaver of wbii 

 the naturalist angle 



■!<et, and it was decided to 

 fas accordingly done. 



on for other furs has respited the 

 lot been slow to avail itself and 

 oft find an opportunity to study i's 



i fash 



it has i 



r may 



curious and interesting habits, 



WINI'KU F1SII1NO, 



In Canada winter fishing is as much followed as a pastime 

 as in the more balmy months of summer, aud as illustrating 

 the harif hiioil of tile Canadians and their indifference to cold 

 in following tin; gentle craft I will ask the reader to accom- 

 pany me to a camp of these ardent lovers of trout fishing iu 

 all its guises. 



Their favorile resort is some one of the large lakes several 

 days' journeying from the settlements, Well, within the 



shelter of a large clump of balsam trees, they have made 

 their camp— not much of an affair certainly— a hole dug iu 

 the snow aud aleaii-t,o of green branches and birch bark built 

 up with space in front for the huge log fire, and an unob- 

 structed view of the heavens. 



It is vet early in the day, but the long Arctic night has 

 descended upon (he forest. The uiddv glow or the fire dis- 

 closes a highly animate scene within the 'a/bane. The three 

 occupants are all busily engaged in some labor, while one of 

 them carols forth some old ditty to which the others lend a 

 hearty chorus. The night is divided into watches in order 

 to keep the tire up, and woe be to the unlucky watchman 

 who falls asleep at his post. His punishment is double duty 

 the next, night. 



As our friends appear on the lake in the morning they pre- 

 sent a striking aud novel appearance. To protect, themselves 

 from the fiereethlasls that blow over the lake they have press- 

 ed into service every particle of textile fabric in their pos- 

 session. The blankets, doubled with a drawing string to 

 fasten around the neck, a rope to further secure it about the 

 waist make excellent, overwraps to the rather worse-for-wear 

 overcoats the tails of which fringe the blanket. Their feet 

 have lost all semblance of shape,' but are elephantine in pro- 

 portions covered 88 Ihej are with Successive layers of socks, 

 moccasins, panrpoos overtopped with bagging secured at the 

 ankle with rope again. They are undislinguishable from 

 each other by their countenances, for these latter are invisible 

 from the wraps with which they have encased their heads. 

 These- gentlemen are now upon pleasure bent! Its attain- 

 ment, however, might, be considered much like hard work 

 by a captious critic. "Each man is armed with a heavy chisel 

 mounted upon a long pole aud a paddle scoop. The' fishing 

 ground is reached and they all commence a vigorous pound- 

 ing upon the ice with their chisels, working them about iu a 

 small circle, so as to form holes only sutlieientlv large tnhaul 

 a fish through. It is a good half hour's labor" and then the 

 friendly emulation of catching the first fish keeps them iu 

 good humor and their blood in circulation. But as the bites 

 slacken there is a vigorous running to and fro and much 

 stamping aud clapping of arms. The sun is bright in the 

 heavens, but it apparently admits uo ray of heal. Afore 

 holi s are cut for the. exercise afforded, and a temporary heat 

 is thus stimulated, but it is painfully apparent that, a sugges- 

 tion on the part of one of them for" a return to camp would 

 be promptly secemeled and acted upon. Finally some one 

 does hinl that a short run to camp would prove an agreeable 

 stimulus to fresh exertions on thelake and away ihey all go. 

 Their chilled blood is warmed at the lire, and, undeterred by 

 their former experience, they are all off again and fishing 

 away as vigorously as ever. Thus they keep it up all day, 

 and find enjoyment iu it. There is no accounting for taste 

 in this world as the old lady said when, etc. 



TO BE OOXTIXITED. 



TENTING IN MICHIGAN. 



I HAD never camped out ; and the idea of rusticating a It 

 n<utc(if/(t during the sultry August days was peculiarly 

 inviting. 



We started on a bright, warm morning on the Grand 

 Rap'els and Indiana Railroad, from our busy, stirring town 



of Q . The cars whistle, and ho! for the glorious North ! 



Hurrah for the land whose whispering cedars tell of health 

 and vigor; whose lakes are framed in many-hued (lowers: in 

 whose forests dwell, in joyous peace, the birds, and in whose 

 brooks aud si reams revel bass aud pickerel and dainty trout. 

 On we Hew behind our iron steed— past towns and villages 

 that spring up in this Michigan of ours like mushrooms iu a 

 night : past saw-mills and tlour-mills bordering every stream 

 and lake: past lhe forest dispossessed of its kingly trees, 

 dethroned and beheaded by the busy lumberman, ""and past 

 the forest, untouched in its rugged graudeur, save where our 

 fiery steed had hewn down for 'itself a road. 



O'ur rajlway journey terminated at Traverse City, but, gay 

 liu.lt- p sort US it is, it could not tempt us to remain, so'WC 

 took lhe evening boat, Utile Jennie Sutton. Our destination 

 for the night was Elk Rapids, but Traverse B ry was so 

 rough that the captain refused to take us further than Old 

 Mission that night. There was only one other passenger be- 

 sides our two selves. The crew consist! d of lhe engineer and 



boy, whil 

 trim person mate, singer 

 be needed that the afor 

 It 



da 



could not answer to 



were about us, for, 



has reminded us of the Uav 01 .Naples, 



of Capri and its town nest! i nj I 



and of the sunny days not so long ago 



waters with merry hearts. 



We stayed, perforce, at, Old Mission 

 quiet, dead-alive little hamlet that is 

 ing its short summer season by familie 

 iug Ihe height of city dust and heat, 

 region who is widest known is Mr. Par 

 orchard ,,'for this, you must know, ' 

 fgion; has sent samples across th< 



rdy captain combined in his own 

 Chaplain, Or whatever else might 



itid grimy engineer and small boy 

 :1 the, evening shadows 

 at same Traverse Bay 

 with its wooded Island 

 30t of the hills behind, 

 i that we saileel its blue 



or a day or two, that, 

 iiktd up a little dur- 

 iojouruing there dur- 

 'he inhabitant of the 

 alee, whose vast fruit 

 a great fruit-growing 

 big fish pond to Great 

 Britain itself. In odd contradiction to this fact is the scarcity 

 of fruit for sale to travelers ; desiring one or two juicy apples 

 for immediale consumption: we had lo try a whole half- 

 bushel basket of them which were being shipped from the 

 dock to Chicago. 



We rusticated here, in this paradise of small children, foi 

 a day or two, then crossed Old Mission 

 steahier, "Queen of the Lakes," whoso 1. 

 captain we had Styled, on a previous trip, 

 And then— ah ! the scenery we travel 

 i stream, where Iloel 



tl 



across i 

 age- way f< 



by our rough 

 soared away 

 to afford no i 

 small hamlets which sent 

 tain lhe mail packages 

 all this time we wer 

 blue sky above Hocked 

 mirroredu the 



velnia l 

 fleecy 

 meath 



in the trim little 

 tmzed and courteous 

 'King or the Lake." 

 ed ! Now along a 

 i of birds, disturbed 

 ly on light pinions and 

 so woody shores seemed 

 „ Here" aud there were 

 lives to the elocks to ob- 

 :he rar-off world. And 

 a shimmering blue— a 

 clouds, and a blue sky 



We leave the boat at "Russell's Landing. Here we stayed 

 over night and the next morning cyme the ride in the wagon 

 — " stage " by courtesy — through avenues of tall forest trees, 

 by mossy, fern-grown glens, up bill and down dale, over 

 stu nps and corduroy, while purling brooks and bird aud 

 whispering cedar murmured an accompaniment to our dri- 

 ver's story— his narrative of life in the North Countrie, the 

 richness of the soil, the plentilude of fish and game, the dis- 

 tance from the busy home of the world and his cares about 

 the education of his children— no school within four miles. 

 His words I heard as one not hearing, for I was listening to 



the hum and stir of life around us, in every tree and under 

 every fern and bramble. There, also, was not the battle of 

 life being fought? 



Arriving at the Central Lake Mr. Krieger, our driver, 

 helped John fix up the tenl, au A tent, with a hinged centre- 

 pole fixed in two forked trees at each horizontal extremity. 

 This same hinged pole afforded a pleasant aud cheerful break 

 n the monotony of our fnl. life, for when we would bo sit- 

 ing beneath it and least expecting it, it had a way of twist- 

 ing in its forked sockets, so that the hinge came undcrniOBt, 

 then suddenly collapsed, and woe be to tho unlucky cranium 

 that received its weight. 



Our location was oa a wooded bank that ran down to the 

 lake and near its foot was the merriest, coolest, prettiest lit- 

 tle stream imaginable. We called it our refrigerator, for 

 fixed In its stony bed wo sot our pail of cream and our crock 

 of butter and actually kept the former sweet four days. Our 

 bod was made of first a wisp of hay on the ground, then 

 our rubber sheet, then a comforter and lastly blankets. 



Wo gleefully opened our camp chests and, taking a fallen 



tree for side-board, I arranged our store of shining si) , 1 



mean tin-ware, along it. Sorely grieved was I to discover 

 that with all our careful packing various disruptions arid 

 breakages had occurred among our provisions. Tbo jar con- 

 taining huckleberries had smashed and metamorphosed the 

 bag of salt till it was black iu the face; the canned cherries 

 had risen in mutiny and had a set-to with the crackers and 

 the single pot of jelly had been overturned and generally 

 spread itself over everything and into evriv one.!; and cranny 

 that, if could lind. The salt was all we had, so wo dare not 

 throw it, away— and alter all it tasted just as usual, if its 

 color was a little uncommon ; and as for the smashed cans of 

 fruit, an adventurous chipmunk came slyly down from its 

 leafy home and amused us for days by its appreciation of our 

 civilized food. 



John, you must know, is a first-rate cook and his coffee 

 and broiled ham were perfection. His claf <i\;'>i»>;\ never- 

 theless, Was fish chowder — such Pish Chowder, loo! let us 

 spell it with capitals, as befits its rank. It was luade with 

 the delicious fish we caught ourselves, seasoned with green 

 red peppers and onions, while potatoes and crackers floated 

 in a sea enriched with pork — that, indeed, was a dish for 

 princes 1 



Wo were not, you must understand, quite outside the 

 bounds of civilization ; and so the awful animal I heard 

 prowling about our teut the firs', night was not a bean nor 

 even a tiger— it was simply a slraycow that was exploring 

 our provision chest. I was rather disgusted On goin 

 next morning to take an observation to find that a " city" of 

 half a dozen houses, with one acting as a hole!, mo In ai 

 Ihe post office and store of the country round, was within 

 call; but we found the nearness of ihe "city" quite a con- 

 venience when our bread was finished and our s up 'water- 

 logged." 



As we Stayed in "Camp Annie" two weeks, we ware 

 looked on as settlers by the community, and they made us 

 visits of ceremony and took us to their homes with a kind 

 cordiality that was very pleasant; indeed, all the dwellers iu 

 that region seem people of more or fesa ability and intelli- 

 gence, They are a picked people; the oldest resident has 

 been there only about, five years. 



Other tourists came and went, while we stayed on. A 

 party of Southerners roughed it, and a company of Cincin- 

 nati men put up their tent " Camp l'inal'ore" on the bluffs 

 near ours. All these travelers were sufferers from hay- f. , i 

 or asthma, aud had come to these health-giving regions for 

 escape or cure, the air having almost au enchanter's spell on 

 these two complaints in particular. 



One day was very like another in camp. After breakfast, 

 when the dishes were washed (John used regularly to lake 

 an hour aud a half for this job}, wc took our boat and went 

 up the lake for minnows, then down again to some shady 

 nook, where we soon got our cargo of blade bass, stmtish, 

 and that vicious-looking pickerel. When I learned thai, 

 pickerel were cannibals, I coultl at once account for the d(- 

 graded expression on their faces. I took a book with me, 

 and when I tired of fishing I would read aloud. Such 

 gorgeous sunsets as we saw, and such glorious moonlit 

 sides! Given cither of these, with trees and water, and who 

 could not make a lovely picture ? 



At first the noise of the forest bothered me, especially by 

 ight, but I could soon distinguish between the whispering 

 of the trees, the falling of one in our vicinity, and the tread 

 of a human foot on the dried leaves and brash. 



Hew delightful were the afternoons when lying lazily in 

 our hammock, swung in a shady spot in view of; the lake be- 

 neath where the sky was mirrored in the water and framed 

 with goodly cedars, I could read or dream, as the spirit. 

 moved me, and feel no duty's cad to be up and doing. 



But a'l the days were not bright anil sunny. One terrilie 

 storm came when we were fishing some miles from home, 

 and wo had to take refuge among" thick cedars on the shore. 

 1 never saw such a slorm in my life as that one wtis in iuten- 

 tensity. "We had one umbrella and our rubber coats, and fen- 

 six mortal hours we stayed under that hemlock waiting for 

 the clouds to lift long enough forus to rowbaek. The wind, 

 rain, thunder and lightning together raged and roared i\m\ 

 wore supremo, hurling down mighty kings of the forest and 

 forcing them to yield au unwilling homage, and the crack of 

 their powerful limbs added to the tenor of the scene. Our 

 boat- was filled with water up to the seats in the first three 

 hours, then at sunset, when the storm bad reached its fury, 

 the rain had again filled it as full. John sent me to the hotel 

 that night, but himself insisted on going over to the camp 

 where he would stay the night, unless things were too badly 

 ruined to admit of that. At dawn he appeared at the hotel 

 and reported all safe and not much damage done. But when, 

 a few hours laler, he permitted me to wade through the deep 

 mud and climb smitten trees to the camp, I thought there 

 was at least all the damage done that any reasonably content 

 person coald be satisfied -with. I had been priding myBelf on 

 certain bags I had made from towels and pinned to Lhe walls 

 of our tent as additional cupboards for our provisions, but I 

 soon saw how each of these- attachments had resolved itself 

 into a spout for the rain trickling down the walls, not only 

 soaking the food they themselves contained, but pouring 

 down generous streams,on things around the tent. This and 

 the melting off of our coffee pot spout iu the first evening's 

 blaze, were' the most aggravating tests of Christian patience 

 that occurreel during our life in camp. If you think it easy 

 to pour out a cup of coffee, without spilling it, out of what is 

 left when the spout is gone, just try it, that's all. 



Fifteen days passed delightfully in this pretty spOl 

 miles from a lemon," and then Camp Annie was dissolved by 

 mutual consent, and stakes pulled up. Our plan wbb to tafco 

 a guide through the Interinetliate Lakes to a point a clay's 

 journey down where we should come out into the waters 



