FOREST AND STREAM 
401 
to llie admiration of Sebatis our speckled spoil*. With in¬ 
finite gusto we attack the lunch which Sebatis has wailing 
for us'; and as nothing to advantage csn be done in th-n 
ing in the heat of the day we saunter off into the woods 
for a sketch, and soon nnd a lovely spot where trailing 
arbutus in full bloom mingles its perfume with the bios 
soms of the wild cherry and moose-wood, and ttansfer it to 
our portfolio. Retracing our steps to camp we find every¬ 
thing packed in readiness for our return to Lake Utopia, 
at the head of which lake we are to have the evening's 
fishing. Oil we tramp, cross Mill Lake, carry the canoe 
over another portage of a quarter of a mile, launch upou 
Lake Utopia, and paddle to the head of the lake. Ileie, 
•while we are dining, we hear a rustling in the bushes; an* 
iudiau appears beating a canoe on his hack, followed by 
two others carrying packs, guns, snowsboes, &c. It is the 
old Indian chief, John Francis, ltis son, Mitchell Francis, 
and the Indian doctor, Sankobasin. They are on their way 
home from the sugar camps, where they have been since 
winter boiling maple sugar, trapping, &c. We invite 
them to join us at dinner. Sebatis informs me that the 
old chief is a good story teller, has an excellent memory, 
and can relate interesting incidents concerning the first 
settlement of the country, which he had from his father 
aud grandfather. As he has all his dresses belonging to 
his Million as chief of Fassamaquoddy Indians with him, 
we offer to draw his portrait if he will remain all night. 
The old man kindly acquiesces, and invites us to be his guest 
for the night in the sugar camps on the hillside. So we 
cross the lake to the mouth of a cool brook where we think 
the trout will be rising in the evening. As we draw near 
we see them breaking, anchor the canoe, and in an hour 
or two our baskets are filled. A shelldrake starts up in 
alarm and fiies far away until his form is lost in the golden 
depths of the evening, recalling vividly the lines by the 
pout Bryant:— 
‘•Whither 'midst falling dew 
While alow the tnaveus «1th the last steps of day, 
Far through their rosy depths dost thou pursue 
Thy solitary way?' 1 
Accompanied by the chief, his son, and Dr. Sankobasin 
—the latter has a peculiar expression, he laughs only with 
the lower half of his face, his eyes gleaming savagely at 
you all lhe while—we tramp off to the sugar camps, 
where we arc to spend the night. The camps are situated 
on the side of a hilt covered with maple trees, a brawling 
brook runs at llie door, and a break in the forest affords a 
peep at the lake and gives the charm of distance to a 
primitive and very lovely scene. It was well we had a 
good supply of previsions, for our family had increased 
alarmingly, and we now numbered six persons. Sebatis, 
working under the eye of his chief, exerted all his powers 
and serveu an excellent supper. After the old man had 
told us many interesting stories of old times, hunting 
yarns, &e., at Sebatis’ suggestion we asked him to sing 
some Indian sougs, aud we are not likely to forget the 
strange, wild scene—the old man beating time on a birch 
bark drum improvised for the occasion, and singing song 
after song in Indian, until the grey dawn peeping through 
the chinks in the camp warned us to our tardy couches 
The next day we devoted to taking the old edict's portrait. 
He retired to his camp to make his toilet. “Shade of 
Commodore Trunnion, who is this?” We were startled to 
find an old naval officei of the time of George IIL stand¬ 
ing at the camp door with his back towards us. The only 
part of his dress which appeared at all incongruous was 
his hat, which was a common black hat with two bands of 
gold lace around it. It was our friend the Indian chief. 
The propriety of his having his portrait drawn in Indian 
costume was hiuted at, hut as he was in the habit of wear¬ 
ing this dress on great occasions, and it had been handed 
dow r n to him by his fathers, some difficulty was experienced 
in prevailing upon him to change, particularly as he evi- 
delifly considered himself eregrande tenue, as also did the 
other Indians. At last he retired, and presently reappeared 
in porcupine quill and bead work, ornamented sashes, leg 
gins, moccasins, &c.; but all our efforts to get rid of the 
epaulets were unavailing, as he considered he was makins 
a great sacrifice in giving up the hat, &c. He expressed 
himself much gratified with the likeness. We passed the, 
remainder of the day pleasantly roaming about in lhe 
Woods, securing many charming bits of scenery, and 
towards evening we packed up and started down the lake 
in campauy with the chief on our way home. As we 
paddled along the old chief amused us by singing Indian 
songs until Sebatis told me That he was the only man in 
the tribe who could give the war whoop of the Passama- 
quoddy’s, and that he would do so it he were asked. The 
requist was made; but as the chief did not make any 
reply we began to fear that, he would Dot comply, when 
suddenly the echoes of the lake were awakened by the 
most unearthly yell, so loud that in could be heard at a 
great distance, and utterly baffling ail description. It 
carried the mind back a hundred years, when instead of 
our peaceful party the lake was traversed by bands of 
painted braves, and the echoes were awakened by a series 
of yells such as the one we had just heard. Evidently “of 
the past the old man’s thoughts weTe,” as he sat in his 
canoe with downcast eyes aud his head bent forward on 
his breast. 
Borne by the evening breeze from the distant shores of 
the lake come the tinkling of bells and the lowing of herds, 
telling of that civilization before which his race is passing 
away, so fast that in all probability in a few short years 
they will be numbered with the things that were. About 
three bundled souls are all that re-noun of this remnant of 
a once powerful community. The old man will sing no 
more lo-nighL. Ab we Bean the beautiful lake, reflecting so 
powcrlully in its glassy waters the hills now gilded by the 
Setting sun, we almost fail to recognize it as the scene of 
our boisterous passage two days ago. Presently our land 
ing place is reached, and as wc disembark, highly delighted 
without! summer holiday, and bearing with ua to the toil 
and drudgery of our every-day life the belief that all those 
who make the search will never fail to find “tongues iu 
trees, hooks in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and 
' good in everything." Pabsamaquoddy. 
•It.may be here remarked that In tbe-e waters yon cannot have a tty 
too traudy. The nio-t billing fly we u?ed ha.- ruusi ruci ea as follow*: 
Bcdy, red and black plg’e wool, ribbed with gold; liga. r,d-backle; 
wings, tbo H-arlet feathers from a parrot's tail mixed wiib ibe feathers 
from the back of the wood itack; ttiis, with the red and black palmer^t 
and the mealy vttile tty lor bight.flellim: are the only ll.es We fot-i.d neces¬ 
sary. When these do not take yoa may often exhaust your book wllh- 
om bringing a lish up. 
—It is proposed to make use of carrier pigeons to convey 
news of wrecks from lightships to the shore, 
. v For Forest and Stream. 
V A TRIO OF LOST ANGLEKS. 
S OME twenty years ago, three of us left Williamstown 
(up among 1 lie Berkshire hills) at daylight, one fresli 
clear aurnmer morning; bound for the forest region of Ver¬ 
mont, on a trout ing expedition. F. was a young Dominie, 
and as enthusiastic an -ngler, as even good Dr Belhune 
It., who was enjoying his collige vacation, was a persist¬ 
ent experienced trouter; and last, this deponent. There 
was little piospect for fly fishing, most of the streams be- 
ingsnmucl) overgrown,as to render casting an impossibility; 
but wc were noi fastidious, our object, was to “get out 
doors,” and have a tramp, and that we did. The ride was 
an unqualified pleasure, as our span of tree going horses 
bounded rapidly aloug through villages, till we entered a 
more primitive dis-triet, where partly cleared farms, and 
stump fences abounded, and this being the end of our 
drive, we pulled up in a bam yard, and were greeted by a 
sullen growl from a grippy looking bulldog, whose jaws 
bristled with quills gathered in his recent worrying of a 
hedgehog. Being thus “tree’d,” we shouted “Hallo the 
house," and the proprietor at last broke cover. Our first 
question was, “Will the dog bite?” the answer, laconic 
enough. “Bite? Yaas. What dy’e want?" Slowly 
the old codger sauntered toward us, aud calling his dog, 
began pulling out the quills. After much catechizing, we 
were permitted to “coma down," put up the horses, and 
get them a bite of hay. This done, and having received 
some charv instructions as to the stream, we rigged up our 
tackle, and leaving behind all superfluous clothing, were 
soon tramping acreas the clearing, finding the brook with 
out difficulty, and getting fairly to work. The trout, proved 
numerous, but small. So we pushed ou in quest of some 
of greater size, our instructions being to lish down till 
we came to where another stream came in, and then follow 
up the other, and it would bring lis out near the starting 
point. This seemed plain, but it was shown by the sequel, 
how easy it is for anglers to err through haste, and over¬ 
confidence. The fish were so unsophisticated, that one of 
us actually caught a decent-sized trout from between the 
straddling legs of the man next ahead 
It was towards noon, that, after passing through a very 
disagreeable alder swamp, we struck what we took to be the 
stream, which we were to follow up, and then observed that 
the sky was obscured by mist-scud, the atmosphere had an 
increasing chill, and the wind was sighing for stormy 
weather. Counting upon reaching the farm house for a 
late lunch we had brought no provisions. Creeks full of 
irout, but no matches; clothes wet to the waist in the 
swamp; no drink but water; only small pocke’-kmves with 
which to cut wood for shelter, and no compass. It was in 
this condition, that a little later, we ran the brook right 
into a spring iu tiie mountain side, and it became apparent 
that we were astray in our reckoning. At first we were 
only amused at the mishap and supposed we could readily 
retrace our steps for alillle, and strike tile right track; but 
viewed from a different side, everything appeared strange; 
and thus we wandered about the den*e woods, stumbling 
over logs, and climbing through windfalls, till near six 
o’clock, when we came across an old bark road, and fol¬ 
lowing it, emerged on the turnpike, three as weary fellows 
as ever got into a fishing scrape. Near by was the cabin 
of a charcoal burner, and the hot tea with biscuits, there 
obtained, will not soon be forgotten. 
It has been easy enough since to decide that our pro¬ 
tracted tramp was unnecessary, and that we might have 
put in practice some of the simple and shrewd devices, by 
which those skilled in woodcraft, determine their where¬ 
abouts, and point of exit, but, although neither of us 
lacked ordinary grit, or discernment, the great fatigue, 
want of food, and natural anxiety, doubtless tended locon- 
fuse; at all events this deponent then learned not to go 
upon any such expedition, without proper supplies and a 
guide. ‘ T. W. A. 
«#*// §ultnr L e, 
Parasites on Trout. —The following correspondence 
will be of interest to many of our readers besides those/ 
more directly concerned, and has been sent to us by Setli 
Green for publication:— 
Amsterdam, N. Y., July 14th, 1874. 
. Setit Green:— 
Dear Sir. —I am doing a little in raising brook trout; 
have a private pond of brook water; artificial pond; water 
from two to thirteen feet deep Put in some yearlines in 
the fall of 1873 They have done finely till now. 1 find a 
few dead fish floating upon the water; they seem to be at 
tacked by something that destroys the fins and tails; a sort 
of a scurvey. To-day I found four fine ones floating, and 
fastened upon the tail of one of them a very curiouB green 
bug about the size of a pumpkin seed; long legs, red 
eyes and a long stinger, at least three eighths of an inch 
long. I am inclined to think ii is the cause of the trouble 
Can you give me any information in reference to it, or any 
cause for it, or tell me where it islrcaled of in ar.y book 
upon the subject ? I have the monster safe in a bottle and 
shall watch him curiously. It you can give me any infor¬ 
mation I shall he glad to have it, or if you have any book 
upou the subject, would be pleased to get it. 
1 am Truly YourB, E. D. Bronson. 
V Rochester, July 19lh, 1878. 
E D. Bronson. Esq.- 
Dear Sir:— I never have seen trout die in exactly the 
same waj, by having their fins ea'en off. I hare no doubt 
but, that you"have one of the insects that hasdottedt. The 
cause is that you have no quick running witter like a creek, 
with gravel bottom mnniug iu your pond. By having 
such a place when arty insect is fastened on a Irout he will 
go to the quick running water and will soon run it off. 
Putting trout in a'pond with mud and weedy bottom that 
contains water insects, and no stream flowing into it, is like 
lying a man’s ltatidB and placing him where there are 
plenty of mosquitoes, gnats and black flies. Tile running 
water and gravelly bottom answer the same purpose iu 
keeping the trout, free from insects as our hands do in 
keeping the mosquitoes from us. Yura truly, 
Seth Green. 
Shad in the Susquehanna.—A correspondent in whom 
we have every eoafldencs, writes us regarding the catch of 
shad in the Susquehanna the past season. From his letter 
we extract the following:— 
“Summering" near Newport, on the Juniata, I cattle 
across an old fisherman, and asked about the Shad catca 
this year. He replied that a friend of his, one of the old¬ 
est fishermen on I Tic river, had been down to “llaverdy'’ 
(meaning Havre de Grace, at I lie mouth nt the Susquehanna), 
and reported this season to l-o the meane-t in ilie memory 
of the oldest fisherman. Fie could not explain; it was 
simply “so. and that's nil." “Then,” said 1, “you folks 
above the fishway must have ronie out very slim." “Well, 
now," said he, "it wnrnT so lire ulful had ttflerah; we must 
have caught here niglt onto 500 shad; audit' them eit-ses 
at. Columby that fishes right at the fishway would 'a give us 
half a chance, we might 'a done better. But they sweep 
their seiucs in front of the fishway hack and furred the 
whole blessed time, uiglit and day, aud the hgieloter wou’t 
puss no laws agin It, 'cause they’ve got so many wotes. 1 
blieve in my heart the fishways would lei con-ideraldeshad 
up if they were wa'ched proper If there bail been auy 
kind of run this year we wou'il ’a doue right well," 
w Fish Cultutie on tiiie Connecticut River —The ef¬ 
forts at increasing the shad in ilie Connect lout River for 
the last few years, under the direction of Fis.lt < out mission¬ 
ed of different Slates, are watched with interest along the 
river. There ha- been a gradual increase Ot shad in the 
river since the Commissioners commenced ihtie labors. 
This year the work at Holyoke, or South Hadley, lias been 
impeded by the hot weather. The Springfield ITriinn suvs: 
—"This extremely warm weather, unites it soon lets up 
considerably, will spoil the prospects of the Fish Commis¬ 
sioners at the shad hatching grounds, and the whole work 
will have to lie pul over In another season, for the tempera¬ 
ture of the water has now risen to 87 md 88 degrees. Pro¬ 
fessor Hager and Captain Smith have tried the experiment 
of turning in a brook uuder their boxes, hut the cold 
water ran at the bottom, not ronuiug with the river at the 
lop till dissipated. Operations must wait, for rains, bring¬ 
ing higher and cooler wliter, One of the shad receuily 
'akett presented the appearance and the sytnpioms of hav¬ 
ing been sunslruck. as the spawn were coagulated and 
dead. The; fish had probably lain in loo shallow water and 
been sunstruck. No hutching of any account has Ot eu 
done fox'some days." Von G. 
Cultivating Carp in condensed Water—A n ex¬ 
change says:— 
An important suggestion lias lately been made in regard 
to Hie utilization of i erlant waters in the cultivation ot fish 
hitherto supposed to-be unnvai’able. The articles Let era to 
certain ponds along the Rhine, connected with a variety of 
manufacturing establishments, which are intended io re¬ 
ceive Hie wap r condensed by Meant engines. One of these 
ponds is 120 feet in length, with a depth at the sides of 
lour leet, running down to sixteen feel in the centre, and 
is supplemented by the dike which runs around lltreesides 
of the manufacturing establishment. This dike iu the ag¬ 
gregate is about 1,000 feel Iuug by twelve leet wide aud six 
feet deep iu the middle The entire water area is about 
24,000 leet, with a depth of six feet in Ilie dike, and stxieen 
feet in the centre of pond. 'I lie dike and pond are simply 
excavated out of the earth, and are neither bricked nor 
Cemented. They are. simply made to carry away surplus 
condensed water, which rumi into the pond at 110 ilygreCS 
Fahrenheit. Tire temperature of lhe pond jusl where the 
water runs in is about ninety degrees, and the coolest part 
seventy-six degrees Fahrenheit. Tliree hundred carp about 
live inches in 1* nglh were introduced seven years ago, aud 
now the young can be seen all the year round. Fi.-li weigh¬ 
ing four to five pounds are quite common, and one hundred 
pounds may he easily taken in an hour. Goldfish also thrive 
excellently iu the water. It appears that the fish like best to 
tie where the water is warmest, especially tile younger oues. 
The locality referred to is tteur Bonn, ou Lhe Rhine. 
42 at nr a I §islorg. 
CHARGES AGAINST THE CROW. 
O UR most careful ornithologists cannot agree as to the 
habits of this interesting bird, ami differ more es¬ 
pecially in regard to its diet, petltr-ps, than upon any oriier 
point. But by adisenssiou through the columns of Forest 
and Stream, definite cnnelu-iona may possibly he,arrived 
at in a short lime, if careful observers of birds in different 
parts of the country will comribule llmir ob-ervati m=. 
The habits of the crow very probably differ materially in 
different localities. The notes given below are confine 1 
to its habits in New Yoik and New England.. 
In the Eastern Slates the crow is very abundant, and a 
resident during the eutire year. Only a few, however, re¬ 
main through the winter, the. greater part of them 
moving farther south in large flocks on the approach of 
cold weather, hut returning again in March anil April 
Soon ailet arriving the Hocks separate into pairs w hi-Ti 
immediately prepare for nesting- About tile liras <jF April 
the nest is begun. This is a large structure composed of 
sticks and weeds, and lined with fine roots, moss, or cediyc 
bark. It is placed in I lie lop of a tall pine, yr in a era id 
deciduous tree, usually itt the woods. On oue mjrtisinn I 
found a nest iu a small Scrubby pine about fifteen feel in 
h-igbt, growing to a swamp. This tree was lhe only one 
in sight for some distance around and the ne t could have 
been seen from a great distance. Another uest not far 
from this was only nine feel from the ground, but in a 
dense thicket. These two cases were rat Iter exceptional as 
the nest is usually placed from twenty five to seventy five 
feet from lhe ground. Frequentlv tin old nest i- repaired 
and used fur several years* in mn-ees-ion, iir*o ml of a m w 
one being built Iu the early part of tint sea-on i lie nest- 
are often placed in small deeiiL ioih tre-a ami art: very 
conspicuous, as there are then no leaves to aff >r*l mtv con-, 
oealraent. Those built later are pig,out in liiali thick pi op-. 
I have noticed this as being almost a rule in aomo lm.-a'.i- 
ties, although’ it would seem more ualuial it were re¬ 
versed, 
Carrion, is always acceptable to the crow, as food; even 
