FOREST AND STREAM, 
231 
For Forest, and Stream, 
HISTORIC ONONDAGA. 
A TERRITORY famous in history as far hack as 1643, the 
scene of many battles, and for centuries the home of a 
, once honorable and powerful tribe of Indians—the Ononda- 
gas. A century or more ago the county was rich in fish and 
game, and was choice hunting ground. Its sturdy forests 
gave way to civilization, and now it is one of the wealthiest 
eouni ies of the Slate, and has a population of about 
110,000. Some eight, miles soulh of Syracuse a remnant— 
numbering about 30Q—of the once honored and powerful 
tribe is still found, scattered over a large area of unculti¬ 
vated land, kuown as the Onondaga Reservation. They 
still maintain many of their riles and ceremonies, though 
they have become semi-civilized, and quite recently elected 
a chief, according to the usages of a century ago. The 
old chiefs have “all passed away. Cnpt. George was the 
last of the ancient line, and his death seemed to sever 
much of the past, from the present. He was a noble, stal¬ 
wart, intelligent chief, and in bi3 day among the best war¬ 
riors and hunters known to the Five Nations. They are 
now an indolent class, subsisting on the commonest food, 
and in scanty quantities at that. Many of them are still 
adepts with the bow and arrow, and all retain a love for 
hunting and fishing. There aro many evidences of the 
once fruitful ‘‘happy hunting grounds” remaining. A cen¬ 
tury ago Central New York was densely covered with 
Sturdy*timber, and it requires no very vivid imagination to 
picture a country as wild and picturesque as the great 
Northern Wilderness is now, and thousands of times more 
valuable. Looking out from Syracuse, we see tbe Oneida 
Lake, twelve miles distant on the north, well stocked with 
bass, pickerel, and other varieties of fish, with its outlet 
leading iuto the Oswego River, famous half a century ago 
for its eels, aud now tor its Oswego bass. To the south 
are. a dozen small lakes and many streams where trout 
flourish, aud in SUancateles Lake, clear and cold spring 
water, as handsome salmon trout aro taken as ever struck 
a hook. To the westward are Cayuga and Seneca lakes, 
which flood thousands of acres, known as the Montezuma 
' marshes, by all odds the most fruitful locality for ducks 
and snipe anywhere in this region. The marshes are 
drained imo the Seneca River, which has an outlet into the 
Oswego River, crossing the foot of pretty Onondaga Lake, 
Ix(i miles, near this city, where there is found at proper 
seasons good fishing aud shooting. 
The rolling lands of the county are particularly favor¬ 
able for the maintenance of trout streams, but witli so 
many anglers as are found here it is not surprising that 
the streams are rapidly becoming barren. A tew catches 
are brought in betimes from streams in the towns of Fnm- 
pey andPabius, in tlio southern part of the county. 
Reuben Wood is the Seth Green of Syracuse—a fat, 
jolly, ami faithful son of Walton, who is a sort of oracle 
among anglers, lie has fished everywhere, and “the boys” 
do say he can catch a trout where one was never seen be¬ 
fore. 
John H. Mann is both a good angler and hunter, and the 
inventor and maker of trolling spoons. 
There are many evidences still in existence of the dif¬ 
ferent, races of people who have been upon the soil of Ibis 
locality, and also of the turmoils that have at various 
times stained its acres with blood. In the town of Pom- 
pey stones bearing singular carvings aud unintelligible hie- 
roglyphies have Been found, which, taken in connection 
with a Sugar-loaf shaped hill a short distance south of 
Syracuse, at once reminds us of Phcenecians aud mound 
builders. Crucifixes, medals, and other articles of an¬ 
tiquity have been from time to time found, and distinct 
traces of fortifications, oE which nothing whatever is now 
known, have been found in several localities, The French 
war left forts at the outlet of Oneida Lake and at Green 
Point, and though constructed more than a century ago 
their outlines are still well defined. Stone axes, arrow 
poinls, and many oilier Indian antiquities are so frequently 
found that they attract lit.Lie interest. Rev. Dr. Bush, of 
Cicero, lias a very large and interesting collection of such 
articles. 
There is aJleal of mystery connected witli the history of 
this locality, and it is certain that a vast amount of very 
valuable knowledge and information has been lost to 
history. This is particularly true of Syracuse and the 
country immediately surrounding it, and embracing the 
wonderful salt springs, once valuable only as deerlicka, and 
now yielding annually many million bushels of salt. There 
is every reason for believing that this locality was not long 
ago covered with water, and a water line is easily traced 
along the base of the mountainous hills on the south. That 
there has been a vast amount of wash from these hills is 
proven by the discovery at various times of the heads and 
antlers or deer, bones of large animals, and, in sinking a 
salt well, pieces of an elm log ISO feet below the surface 
were brought up, aud sea shells have been found at as great 
n depth. There, are people now living who remember when 
the laud now occupied by the Central City was a dense 
swamp, full of rattlesnakes and other venomous reptiles, 
together with ferocious wild animals. 
For Fore&t and Stream. 
THE GREAT FALLS OF THE POTOMAC. 
HERE probably is not in all the broad limits of this 
1 Union a river which unites more sport, of floeli and 
fowl, more picturesque beauty, and more varied grandeur 
than the Potomac, or, as the old chronicles spell it, Paw-to- 
meelc, meaning in the Indian dialect, “The River of Swans.” 
Commencing and originating in the Alleghany Mountains, 
it ripples along a small stream, bat still is the dividing line 
bcLweeu the iwo States of Maryland and Virginia, and 
gathering strength as it. advances—fed as it is by number¬ 
less small streams and creekB—its banks widen, its depth 
increases, and current grows more rapid, until it readies 
the Blue Ridge Mountain, when it assumes the appearance 
of a swift flowing river, and it rushes through the moun¬ 
tain pass at Harper's Ferry a stream of indescribable beauty; 
still onward it flows until within some ten miles of Wash¬ 
ington, when the river tumbles over the Great Falls. 
The scenery at, this place looks as if there had been a 
war of the Titans, huge masses of rocks of every con¬ 
ceivable shape and Size wail in the river, and through its 
rocky bed the Potomac falls some thirty or forty feet, and 
dashing upon the rocks below, all churned into white fotun 
that bubbles and seethes in mad turmoil, eddying and surg¬ 
ing around the rocks. The river hero is shut in a narrow 
passage pf about two hundred feet, and the roar of the 
falls and bubbling of the water can on a calm day be heard 
for miles. Around the falls there is a long avenue of trees, 
and there are some of the most beautiful and romantic 
spots I ever saw, rivalling in scenic lovliness Watkin’s 
Glen. This place is celebrated for its bass fishing, and is a 
famous spot for anglers, and those disciples of Izaak Wal¬ 
ton who delight to catch these gamy fish. They aTe veTy 
plentiful at the foot of the falls, and as many as one hun¬ 
dred have been caught in one day by a single rod, varying 
from nine to fifteen inches in length. The bait is a silver 
minnow, and as it is twirled in the water, the bass takes it 
at a dart. There are many different kinds of fish in the 
river a little below the falls tliat can be caught in great pro¬ 
fusion. I know of no place where the fisherman can so 
successfully prosecute bis trade, and have more enjoyment 
at such a cheap rate as at this lovely spot. Good board can 
be obtained at tbe falls for a dollar a rlay, and boat and 
lines thrown in, and there are no extra expenses that I 
know of. Write to Mr. Wm. E. Dickey, Spitigvale, Fair¬ 
fax County, Va., and he will giveall necessary information. 
At the foot of the falls is the celebrated haunt of tbe shad, 
aud men with dip nets, stripped and tied for safely to tbe 
rocks, take them out in great, numbers. A tragedy hap¬ 
pened there, a few years ago—two negroes were engaged 
in dipping out shad, when one taking his turn refused to 
tie himself to the rock, saying that he could swim out 
easily. lie was a tremendous fellow, and a Bplendid 
swimmer, but lie fell in and was tossed liko a cork from 
side to side, and though he struggled for his life gallantly, 
and tried to reach the rock, yet the waves bore him circling 
around until he sank to rise no more, and his horrified 
companions could do nothing to save him. His body was 
never recovered though every eifort was made. A singular 
fact is that the depth of the water at the foot ' of the falls 
has never been ascertained, though there were repented 
trials. It must be like the “devil’s hole,” near Niagara— 
bottomless. To a lover of the grand and beautiful this is a 
favored spot, a few days could be most eujqyably spent, and 
the reality of the scene must he left to the imagination. 1 
can no more do justice to this sublime picture of the fall¬ 
ing water, nor convey an adequate idea of its grandeur 
and grace by my pen, than can an artist by his pencil paint 
the cataract; lie may represent the whole expanse of fall¬ 
ing waters, the foam, the cliffs, the spray, but where is the 
motion, where is the rush of the torrent, the smooth gliding 
of the waves above the falls, and the dash of the waters 
beneath, the ever changing glistening stream, with its 
vivid rainbow shifting from point to point—no, it can never 
be done by the pencil or brush, nor even by the pun of an 
Onida, a do Lorgy, or a Julie d’Artoune. 
I have said that the Potomac was as fruitful for game 
and fish as any river on the continent. Such has been the 
fact, its waters swarming with wild-fowl, its creeks with 
birds delicious to the epicure, aud its depths teeming with 
fish of many varieties, made it the paradise of Lhe sports¬ 
men; but now all this is changed. The hundreds ot pot¬ 
hunters kill all the birds, swivel guns and the deadly sink 
boxes exterminate the wiid-fowl, and the seines and gill- 
nets devote the fish to destruction. Unless the States of 
Maryland atul Virginia pass stringeut game laws, aud that 
very soon, the superb spurt in'the Polomuc for the sports¬ 
man and fisherman will be a myth and a tradition. It is 
estimated that there are fully one thousand gill-nets always 
set on the Potomac from the mouth of the Chesapeake to 
Washington, and they destroy ten fish where they catch 
one. To show the consequence, and the truth of uiy as¬ 
sertion, I will give, as Mr. Grudgrind would say, a few 
facts: At the Stony Point lauding, (fished this year by Mr. 
H. Clark), there are employed seventy-five men, with a 
steam engine for hauling, aud this week, with a five-mile 
seine, the hauls averaged but 600 shad, when a few years 
ago 60,000 shad was a commou haul. At llighpoint landing 
Capt. Cramp employs sixty-five men, and lie averages 
about 300 shad and as many herring. And ibis is but the 
tale of all, and the fisheries have proved a failure, anti 
nearly all the proprietors of the landings have in despair 
“cut out” with a heavy pecuniary loss. This tells its own 
tale; and it Ib a shame upon botli Stales that the enactment 
and enforcement of adequate laws for the protection of 
fish and game have not been made. And not until the 
press brings this subject home to the people will it he 
done. 
In conclusion I will say that the beat time to fish at 
the falls or in the river is the latter part of lliis month 
until July. Chasseur, 
Alexandria , May 6 th, 1876. 
A Petrified Forest in the Desert. —David Rideout, 
who has been engaged in preparing a section of a petrified 
tree for tbe Centennial Exposition, gives the following rela¬ 
tive to the petrified forest of northwestern Humboldt. On 
the plain, about thirty miles west of the Black-rock ridge 
of mountains, stands one of the greatest natural curiosi¬ 
ties ever discovered in Nevada. It is a petrified forest, in 
which the stumps of many of the trees, now changed into 
solid rock, are still standing. There are no living trees or 
vegetation of any kind other than stuuted sage brush in 
the vicinity. Some of these ancient giants of the forest, 
which flourished perhaps thousands of years ago, when 
the climate of Nevada was undoubtedly more favorable 
for the growth of luxuriant vegetation than at present, 
rival in size the big trees of California. Stumps, trans¬ 
formed into solid rock, stand in an upright position, witli 
their roots imbedded in the soil, as when growing, that 
measure from fifteen to twenty-six feet in circumference, 
anti the ground in the vicinity is strewn with the trunits 
aud limbs, which retain theii natural shape and size. Mr. 
Rideout, determined to secure a section of one of these 
trees for the Centennial Exposition, with two other men, 
spent twelve days in cutting it from the stump. This was 
accomplished by drilling ail around tbe tree ami separating 
it with wedges. The specimen is three feet high and eight¬ 
een feet in circumference, and its estimated weight is three 
tons,_ _ _ 
—The London News of the 3 l JLh gives an itinerary of the 
new lines of coaches, the genLlemen drivers of which in¬ 
clude the Earl of Bective, Col. Chaplin, Major Furnivut, 
and other members of tlio aristocracy. Above a half- 
dozen lines are enumerated. 
—Spain, having got rid of the plague of Carlists, is now 
suffering from a plague of locusts; and the soldiers have 
been told off to destroy the insect devastators. 
#4 
THE USE OF FOUND NETS IN INLAND 
WATERS. 
1 / Department of M artne and Fisheries, ) 
’ Fisheries Branch, Ottawa, 26th April, 1870. ) 
Sir— Reverting to several telegraphic and oilier commu¬ 
nications which have lately passed between the Minister 
and yourself, on the subject of the close seasons for spring 
breeding fishes, and the use of gill nets aud “pounds” for 
tlio capture of those aud other fishes during the spring and 
summer time in Lake Erie and the Detroit River, 1 am de¬ 
sired to request your attention, and that of other parties 
more immediately interested, as well as of the general 
public, to an entirely disinterested view of tbe matter. 
The close seasons for pickerel, masbinonge, and bass are 
fixed by the Fishery Regulations of the 3d September, 
1875, at various periods between the 15th April and the 
15th June, and for whitefish between the 12th November 
and tlio 1st December. In adopting these restrictions tbe 
Government lias in view the protection and increase of 
fish, tlie improvement of the fisheries, and the lasting bene¬ 
fit of the fishermen and consumers. 
The operation of these necessary regulations appears to 
some—and usually to those persons who are at least impa¬ 
tient, if not altogether opposed to, tiny restrictions what¬ 
ever on their fishing pursuits—to be comparatively inju¬ 
rious to Canadian fishermen, in consequence of their 
proximity to United States fishermen, who are said to fish 
unrestrictedly within the same geographical district. 
Whenever, therefore, the close seasons adopted, or methods 
of fishing prescribed, are found to curtail somewhat the 
operations of Canadian fishermen engaged in these border 
waters, the cry is raised that we are protecting fish for the 
benefit of United States citizens; and that we not only de¬ 
prive British subjects of catching the fish in Canadian 
waters when tlio market is most profitable, hut thereby 
abandon such market, to the exclusive profit of our foicign 
neighbors. It must be admitted that all this seems at first 
sight to be very plausible, mid is no doubt well calculated 
to attract public notice and enlist local sympathies. But 
is it not, in a considerable degree at least, fallacious? 
Every unbiased and observing pei'son, who devotes any at¬ 
tention to this subject, knows that the spring and summer 
fishes of our great inland bikes are attracted insliorc and 
towards the islands and shoals by the two great leading in¬ 
stincts of want of food aud reproduction. Tlio quantity 
of food and the facilities for propagation are quite as at¬ 
tractive generally on tlio Canadian as they are on tho Uni¬ 
ted Slates side, of the lakes and rivers. Indeed, it is pretty 
well known Unit, wilb the sole exception of the shoals 
around those groups of islands which are situated on either 
side of tile boundary line, the best feeding and breeding 
places are on lhe northern shoves nnd in the waters of 
Canada. Then, ns regards the "deep sea" fishings in out¬ 
side waters, the fish frequenting Close areas which are 
more or less open to both nations, cannot be considered iu 
any oilier light than a common property of mutual advan¬ 
tage altogether irrespective of the shores to which they 
may resort for nutriment or to increase their species. It 
seems, therefore, conclusive to impartial minds that the in¬ 
vidious effect Of our protective system is in fact and effect, 
however convincing in theory and appearance, much more 
fanciful than real. The idea that, in snub extensive bodies 
of water as tbe great lakes, the local range of various kinds 
of non-migratory fishes extends across an imaginary water 
boundary, is not at all a practical one. It has been very 
industriously cultivated in support of claims made by 
fishing communities to be exempted from economical re¬ 
strictions; but, it is so obviously an excuse that tho parties 
using it have always confined themselves to mere asser¬ 
tions. 
Regarding lhe licensing of pound nets, it, is necessary to 
make some observations. The pound net is an American 
invent,ion. It has succeeded in fishing out certain United 
States waters, and has gradually crept into ours. Its de¬ 
structive qualities are indellildy impressed on the languish¬ 
ing fisheries of the Lake Slates and the impoverished 
shoves of the northeastern Atlantic States of the American 
Union. It flourishes for awhile everywhere, and having 
exhausted fish in one locality it is shit ted to another. Fish¬ 
ing in season and out of season, and all through every sea¬ 
son, for all kinds and sizes of fish, it abates not its ravages 
for any cause but exhaustion. This is substantially the 
account given of its workings in the United States by Pro¬ 
fessor Baird and Mr. Milner, two able officials of the 
Federal Government. Tlio Fishery Laws of Canada have 
always prohibited this obnoxious engine, buL out of con¬ 
sideration for the relative position of Canadian fishermen 
living on the lakes where pounds were in common use by 
their American neighbors, the Fisheries Act- provides for 
their uho under certain conditions imposed by means of 
special licenses. Hence their existence on the shores of 
Lake Erie. Notwithstanding these precautions, and the 
imposition of a heavy license fee, they have multiplied 
under Lite pressure of just such arguments as are now need 
to induce us to remove from them every prudent restric¬ 
tion. Tlie applicants for licenses to set additional pounds 
eaclt year arc almost invariably connected with the interest 
of United States citizens, Who have fishing gear to use or 
dispose of, or have overcrowded or used up tneir own fish¬ 
ing grounds. In addition lo their increase in numbers, 
their capacity lias been enlarged, and it. lias proved im¬ 
practicable to ensure tbe strict observance of close seasons 
for any kind of fish so long as they exist. Each holder of 
apounduet license bind3 himself to observe tho fishery 
laws. Yet he does no such thing. He catches fish when 
everybody else is forbidden, and by means of nets having 
meshes of a size prohibited to all other fishermen, Com¬ 
plaints against tin- "pounds” aro frequent from the gilt 
nutters and seiners. They fish steadily from morning to 
night throughout forbidden,periods, when certain irinds of 
fishing arc unlawful, osicnsibly catching other kinds of 
fish which are always iu legal season. Their owners assert 
that it. is impossible to put tliem into disuse from balurday 
nights to Monday mornings, during which time tho fishery 
laws and tlio Sahbatli ouservauce laws forbid every de¬ 
scription of fishing. The seine fishermen on the Detroit 
River, and the gill net fishermen around the islands in 
Lake Erie, incessantly complain that whilst they are com¬ 
pelled to observe tbe close season for pickerel, maskinouge, 
and bass in flic spring time, and for wliuefish iu tlie au¬ 
tumn, and to do this arc obliged to desist altogether from, 
fishiug, the "pounds” arc killing off everything. They con- 
