126 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



and that his success was due to fishing some other stream, 

 possibly only known to himself. This conjecture once hav- 

 ing entered my brain, 1 determined that there was hut one 

 way to solve the question, and that was, to dog old Barnes ! 



Row, this dogging old Barnes, although imperative, was 

 anything but a comfortable subject for contemplation, and 

 the mora 1 looked at it the less I lilted it, inasmuch as old 

 Bitint^ w ould most likely prove to be the last person in the 

 world who would quietly submit to any such operation as 

 dogging. On the contrary, there was every reason to be- 

 lieve that he would show tight, and in that case, the dogger 

 would be sure, supposing that individual to be myself, to 

 come off second-best, and, perhaps, be thankful to escape 

 with his life from the powerful thews and sinews of old Earn es. 

 Yet, something must be done. Old Barnes was not only 

 making me unhappy — he was wrecking me mentally and 

 physically, llu had, in fact, become my bcie noir. At last 

 the climax came — old Barnes began to trouble my dreams. 

 3 dreamed that 1 put in operation my plan of dogging him; 

 that he turned upon me, and in the twinkling of an eye 

 pitched me into the brook, and was, in the facile manner in 

 which such things are managed in dreams, in the act of 

 coolly fishing me out with his landing net, when I awoke 

 from an unrefreshing slumber. 



Fully determined to accept all risks and dog old Barnes, I 

 started out one fine afternoon in June in hope of getting 

 sight of him. I crossed the little bridge at Healy's brook, 

 and had walked about three miles in the direction of old 

 Barnes' stronghold, when I was suddenly brought to a stand- 

 still by seeing that worthy himself, basket on back, and 

 rod in hand as usual, cross slyly out of the woods on the 

 upper side of the road. Convinced that he had not seen me, 

 I concealed myself in such a way as to be invisible to and 

 yet able to watch him. 



He looked about him suspiciously for a moment or two, 

 trying to discover whether he had been observed; then, ap- 

 parently reassured, he turned toward tho village. When 

 within "twenty feet of where I stood, he, to my horror, 

 suddenly halted, shifted his evidently weighty basket from 

 his shoulder to the ground, and seated himself upon a stone 

 at the roadside. A pretty situation, truly. I thought he 

 had seen me, and determined to bring matters to an issue. 

 Fortunately, I was mistaken, as, after resting himself, he 

 arose, put on his basket, and walked off, muttering to him- 

 self in a curious monotone. As soon as he was out 

 of sight, I walked rapidly to the place whence he 

 came out of the woods, and at once struck in. 

 Alter stumbling about for awhile in the underbrush, 1 

 found the semblance of a path, or deserted road. Hollowed 

 it for about a mile, when it abruptly ended. I then started 

 off in a direction which would intercept any brook flowing 

 toward the main river. A couple of miles further on I heard 

 the splashing of a rapid stretun, and in a few moments — 

 Tv.-'vk.u I was on the banks of as charming a trout stream 

 as evei *'■ -i,....;! the eyes of a humble disciple of dear old 

 Isaac This was the main stream, and Healy's brook was 

 only a branch. Had I pushed through that reeking morass, I 

 would have come on the main stream a little higher up than 

 where I now stood. 



The poet might have had just such a brook in view, when 

 he wrote his exquisite lines : 



"Whyles owre a linn lh« burnle plays, 



As tbrongh the glen it wimpl't; 

 Wbyles 'roand a rocky scaur' it strays; 



Whyles In a wlel it dlmpl't; 

 Wbyles glittered to tho nightly rays, 



We' bickering, dancing dazzle; 

 Wbyles cook it underneath the braee, 



Below the spreading nozel." 



I had not brought my fishing tackle with me; but, never- 

 theless, as much of the true anglor's enjoyment is derived 

 from an appreciation and love of the beauties of nature, I 

 thoroughly enjoyed my walk under the rustling boughs, and_ 

 through the tangled undergrowth, fragrant with the per-" 

 fumeof myriads of fernsandllowersjtistburstinginto bloom. 

 The next morning I was off at sunrise to profit by my 

 lucky discovery. Carefully retracing the route I had fol- 

 lowed the day before, I reached tho stream without mishap. 



About twenty yards above the place where I stood the 

 brook tumbled over a ledge of rocks into a deep pool. Just 

 at the tail of the fall I hooked and netted two very pretty 

 trout, neither of them quite up to a pound, but not to be 

 despised, and an earnest of what I might expect. 



A little to the right of the fall there was quite a deep pool 

 —rather a difficult place to fish, owing to the overhanging 

 trees. After several failures, I made a cast to my mind. 

 Splash ! splash ! two of them. Well, I would have been 

 satisfied with one at a time; but I reeled them in, and netted 

 as pretty a brace of trout as ever were hooked, weighing 

 ne pound and a quarter each. 



A few more casts without a rise, and I was about moving 

 up stream, when splash! Ah! "a big 'un," as old Barnes 

 would say; and I quite agree with him, when, at the finish 

 of a brisk little fight, I reeled in and netted a two-pounder. 

 Another cast or two without result, and I clambered over 

 the rocks at the little fall, on my way up stream. 

 Above the falls there was a long run of shallow, quick 

 water. Away, at the end of the vista, under the hanging 

 houghs, the" blue sky and fleecy clouds of the loveliest 

 month of alltheyear— "the leafy month of June"— glimmered 

 at the summit of a picturesque cascade, which tossed and 

 fretted from a height of thirty feet to the dark pool at its feet. 

 Wading up through the Bhallows to within easting dis- 

 tance of the broken water and pools under the cascade, I 

 hooked and netted thirteen trout, ranging from one-half to 

 one pound and one-half in weight. I have no doubt I might 

 have caught as many more at this spot, but bent on explora- 

 tion, I made a detour, and came out a little further up stream 

 above the cascade. 



Hero! found another long stretch of tumbling, swirling 

 water, interspersed with falls and rips. My basket now 

 began to weight me, aB I picked up the shining beauties by 

 two's and three's, in the rips and pools. Close behind a 

 jutting rock, and in the quiet water inaido of an eddy, I saw 

 a heavy rise, and tried every means of getting my flies there, 

 but the overhanging trees bothered and prevented my doing 

 :,<.. Finally, 1 waded to the opposite side of tho bxoo] & 



well above the place where I saw the rira, made a oast, aftd 



permitted the line to float down with the current, a little be- 

 i„ w th,. , ,|,| | . I, Worked it over to the spot— splash .' and 

 1 have him fast, This fish proved to be a lively fellow, and 



desperate runs, obliging mt to follow him up 



anil down the brook, and leading me into ail manner of wet, 

 alipprrv, and unpleasant places. But at last I reached a 



•spot where f could safely net him, and his race war run. 



This tront was quite a big fellow, touching three pounds 

 in weight; as also were two of hers, which I caught out of the 



I. 



I afterward learned that very heavy fish, reaching five 

 and six pounds, were often taken further up the brook, and 

 just below tho dam on the big lake, out of which the brook 

 flows. When the dam was raised for river driving, V HC 

 to be the best time. Strange to soy, that was the only time 

 the brook was fished by the natives! and then onlv ftrra ihol I 

 distance below the dam. Old Barnes was wiser, and 

 profited thereby: but then old Barnes was an angler. 

 I now had quite as much weight as I cared to caiTy, and 

 was just wading round a projecting rock on my Tebirn, when, 

 who on earth is this? As sure as I live, it's old Barnes! 

 Ho was fishing one of the pools I had passed, and was in 

 the act of playing a heavy trout. 



My dream presented itself to me with such frightful dis- 

 tinctness that 1 almost tumbled into the brook. "The next 

 instant old Barnes saw me, and for once the fox, surprised 

 out of his usual self-possession, slackened his line tor a mo- 

 ment, and his prey was gone. 



"That was a big 'un, niaaster,"he coolly remarked, and re- 

 sumed casting. 



Retribution had overtaken him at last. He knew that I 

 was in possession of his secret. Passamaquoddy. 



IFor Forest and Stream. 

 BEAR HUNTING fN MISSISSIPPI. 



PERHAPS no section of country has been such a para- 

 dise for game as that part of the State of Mississippi 

 lying between the Tallahatchie, Coldwater, and Mississippi 

 Rivers. In 1833 my grandfather emigrated to Panolo County, 

 Mississippi, from Tennessee, allured by the exceedingly pro- 

 ductive soil and the enormous quantities of game. He there 

 entered a laTge amount of government land, and remained 

 the rest of his life. Himself and his three sons became 

 noted for their success as bear and deer hunters. My grand- 

 father owned the best pack of bear dogs that the count ry 

 afforded, and many a bear became their victim. Billing one 

 winter his eldest son was in at the death of forty-five bears, 

 The old gentloman was very careful of his dogs, and would 

 allow no one to hunt them unless he was along to take 

 care of them, the great danger consisting in their being 

 killed or crippled by a wounded boar. One Sunday the 

 family had all gone to church excopt my youngest uncle, 

 who was then ten years old. He had frequently begged per- 

 mission of his father to accompany him on a bear hnnr, but 

 had always been refused. He recognized this as b i 

 and when the folks were well out of sight, he took down the 

 heavy rifle from the hooks over the door, slipped the amuni- 

 tion-pouch over his shoulder, and started for the bottoms 

 with all the dogs at his heels. He had gone about two miles, 

 when the dogs struck a trail, and off they went; their con- 

 tinuous baying soon announced that the game was treed. 

 Making his way cautiously through the dense undergrowth 

 in the direction of tho dogs, he soon found them making it 

 very hot for an old she bear. She was occupying what is 

 termed a clay root, formed by a large tree having been blown 

 down. The old Madam was in this hole with her back to the 

 tree roots, and the dogs on all sides of her. He observed a 

 log lying near by, that commanded a good view of the show; 

 ho slipped the "old rifle across the log for a rest, not hav- 

 ing strength to hold the old fusae at arm's length. Taking 

 deliberate aim at where he supposed the bear's heart to be, 

 he puUed the trigger, and the old flint lock snapped. This 

 he did a second "time, with the same result, He then re- 

 primed her, and making a third attempt was successful, the 

 old gun spoke, and the heavy ball went crushing through the 

 bear, killing her instantly. This was a very happy termi- 

 nation; he was not more than twenty paces from the bear, 

 and if she had discovered him when he was attempting to 

 shoot, or had only given her a bad wound, it would have 

 been all day with the lad. A kind providence cared for the 

 fearless youth on that occasion, and on many others of a 

 similar nature, and his life was spared, to he offered up a 

 willing, but useless, sacrifice lo the demon of secession, on 

 that terrible Seventh of August, before Atlanta, where he fell 

 at the head of his company, shot through and through by a 

 minio baU; and though laid away to reBt in that little country 

 graveyard in Georgia, your memory, my dear uncle, is still 

 fresh and dear in our hearts, and time will never be. long 

 enough to efface the recollections of your noble, fearless 

 nature. But to resume: Game, alw 7 ays plentiful in that sec- 

 tion, became much more abundant during the war, when all 

 who could handle arms were at the front. I have soon five 

 deer in one bunch, within a quarter of ». mile of home; 

 turkeys could be found every day in season; squirrels and 

 quail were on all sides; and the bears became so numerous, 

 that they committed extensive depredations upon cornfields 

 and hogs. One field in particular, known as "the hurricane 

 field " (so-called from having been visited by a tornado, up- 

 rooting nearly every tree), lying about a mile from the house, 

 and containing some two hundred acres, had suffered es- 

 pecially from their devastations; on the back side of this 

 field was a strip of late corn, of about eighteen acres, that 

 was well-nigh devoured by the bears. I was then a lad, six- 

 teen years old. One Saturday afternoon, Old Uncle Jack, a 

 colored factotum, came to ray"Cousin J. (three years older 

 than I) and myself, and told us, " De bar were just goin' for 

 dat piece of corn on the back side of de hurricane," and ad- 

 vised us " to go fur de bar." Cousin J. had suffered from in- 

 fancy with sore eyes, and it was about all the poor fellow 

 could do to see "a bar " by daylight, let alone hunting him 

 at night. Nothing daunted, we concluded we had lost some 

 "bar," and commenced preparations. It was then about two 

 hours by sun, and no time to lose. Taking an axe, we 

 started for the field to reconnoitre and to select our posi- 

 tions, and arriving on the ground, soon found the tale not 

 at all exaggerated. The field looked as if fifty bare-footed 

 Aegroea had been traveling around in all directions, and there 

 was scarcely a stalk of corn that had not been broken down. 

 After a careful examination of the premises, we finally chose 

 for our position one of their most prominent trails for going 

 in and out of the field. The fence, a substantial rail fence, 

 had been partly broken down where they numbed i iver, (in 1 

 the top rails were worn smooth as glass by the friction of their 

 rough, hairy bellys in Sliding over. Having -.o short, a. time 

 for preparation, our plans were very crude. Our i.i .. 

 make a platform adjacent, to hi- orossfflg-plftce, Bnfficiently 

 high to prevent him from Buanting us. Hastily felling a 

 mal japhng tnd >I oi fork . ire soon had a roost, 



mad- puttinc ,;,.. end of the sapling n 



: ,:,. other sndhj our forks I 



was allowed for an;, thing move extensive. Hurrying home, our 

 suppers were soon" bolted, and our guns brought forth. A His- 

 cription of the guns may bo in ord"er J, had borrowed from 



a freedman an old Sharpe's rifle, rusty and dilapidated, and, 

 as afterward transpired, had been loaded since the previous 

 winter. The owner, however, assured J. that it was lately 

 loaded, and would be sure to go off in order. My gun was 

 an old, double-barrel, muzzle-loading shot-gun, and with it 

 I could do fair execution at small game. There was one little 

 detent that somewhat marred our evening's enjoyment— the 

 left tube was badly rust-eaten, and on the inner side of the 

 tube there was a rust hole clear through to the inside. I 

 loaded the gun as heavily as was prudent: in each barrel were 

 six navy balls (not having uny buck-shot). In addition to 

 this formidable 1 arm, I buckled a belt containing a navy re- 

 volver to mv waist, and off we went, feeling capable to handle 

 all the bears in the Miss, bottom. We got to our stand just 

 at dark, and carefully went to roost, and being the most 

 venturesome, I sat about midway the polo, my legs dangling 

 in the air, J. occupying the end of the roost next to the 

 tree. We had hardly settled into our positions; before the 

 musquitoes settled into llvir positions, and, Gracious Peter ! 

 we thought they would carry us off, rvriena voknt. It being 

 the latter part of August, and the nights cool, they soon left 

 us t more pleasant reflections. A "new moon gave a faint 

 light, and all was quiet, save an occasional hoot from an' owl. 

 I never expect to be in a more lonesome place than that 

 seemed to us; and wo were sure the thumping of our hearts 

 would scare all the bears out of the woods. Once or twice, to 

 relieve the monotony, I drew my gun up to my face, and 

 carefully sighted an imaginary bear, much to J.'sannoyanco. 

 That lost interest for pie, and' it began to grow tiresome to us 

 in our constrained positions. We had then been there about 

 one hour, and I was sitting with my gun across my lap, look- 

 ing at the ground, and wondering how long before I would 

 probably be conscripted, when I mysteriously became aware 

 of a presence, liaising up my eyes, and glancing down a 

 trail that ran along the fence, I saw, not twenty-five stops 

 away, a great, gauni bear. The brute seemed as long and 

 tall as a cow, and had come up tho path as noiselessly its late, 

 and arriving at that point, had, no doubt, scented tremble, 

 and stopped motionless. As I raised my head to him, he 

 discovered me, and there wo gazed. Realizing that the time 

 for trouble had come, and not saying a word, I carefully and 

 deliberately cocked the right-hand barrel, and raising tho gun 

 to a level with his breast, pulled trigger. That infernal old 

 tube on the left barrel caught fire from the right, both barrels 

 went off, I went off, and the bear went off badly crippled. 

 I knew if the old cuss was past traveling he would make it 

 hot for me, and between the time that I was thrown back- 

 ward from the pole and struck the ground, I had drawn the 

 old navy, cocked it, and was ready for business at close 

 quarters, but, luckily for me, his wounds did not prevent his 

 running, as only a seared bear can run, through a cane-brake, 

 He made more noise than a six-mule team would have made, 

 going over the same ground on akeen run. As the last echoes 

 of his departing lordship died away, J. recovered from his 

 amazement and affright sufficiently to inquire, " What was 

 the matter ?" and catching sight of my dim outline on the 

 ground nnderneath, it was all I could do to keep him from 

 attempting to discharge that old Sharpe's rifle at me. Per- 

 haps I will never fully understand the danger I was in, if my 

 shot had disabled the' bear so as to prevent him from run- 

 ning — with a wounded bear under me, a scared boy above me, 

 and a seared boy in me. As it was, I escaped with a bad ease 

 of compound fracture of gun-stock, a very lame back, and 

 any amount of severe disappointment at losing the bear; 

 however, my loss was his gain, though I have no doubt that 

 if he recovered from his wounds and fright, that he still re- 

 members " my bear hunt." 



For Forest and Stream. 

 THE PINE FORESTS OF PENNSYL- 

 VANIA 



THE enthusiastic sportsmen and lover of untamed nature, 

 who has not visited the great pine forests of Northern 

 Pennsylvania, has a rich store of pleasure laid away in tho 

 future! Even those who drearily imagine there is 

 more worth seeing in this world, and udvei ise them 

 as waiting passengers for the other, might be "spirited up" 

 a trifle if they could be put up in position to get a quitf of 

 tho piney odors of these huge mountains - 



smelling bottles of Dame Nature," as a I I a) tnai I Sxcnrflian- 

 ist aptly named them. Those who fold their hands and 

 lazily think there is "nothing doing," have only to embark 

 for Renovo, and they will be likely to change minds long be- 

 fore they change cars, for they will hear the sound of inn um- 

 erable s'team and un-steam saw-mills. They will see flocks 

 of little, white, innocent, dove-like looking villages, encir- 

 cling the sturdy forests as though bent on gaining an en- 

 trance into their "heart of hearts." Great already is their 

 success. Many a lofty pine which has defied the winds and 

 snows of the changing years, is laid low; and these insidious 

 machines, the ponderous engine ami the savage saw, buzz 

 forth or shriek out their triumphs. No white-nested ( illage 

 is there so insignificant as not to have its school and its 

 saw-mill; none so idle or so poor but they can set up these 

 twin deities of industry and progress. 



Williamsport, one of the largest lumboring towns on the 

 route, has fifty steam saw-mills and many superior schools, 

 and is that renowned plaoe which, in primitive I n 

 said to have been governed by "fair-play men," who were 

 eventually "spoilt" by the advent of the lawyers. Renovo 

 is not a saw-mill town. It is not celebrated for any ' 'imcient 

 doings" in particular. It is not the site of an Indian mas- 

 sacre, or an Indian treaty, or a poet's cottage. Here a plain 

 (to us), nameless pionoer from Jersey's shore, lived with his 

 family, until bought out by the Philadelphia &Erie Bail- 

 road Company, which has "established its works. I 

 converted, with that railroad speed which is tho American 

 substitute for "magic," the sleeping, egg-shaped valley into 

 a wide-awake business place, that drowns the soft music of 

 "Susquehanna's floods" with the bustling activity of seven 

 hundred machines. Renovo is a good place for excursionists 

 for general reasons, the most important of which is, because 

 it is midway to everywhere, 01 practically expressed, because 

 i I i ar, and yet so far:" that is, you are neat enongfi 

 to enable you bo get nearer if you desire, and far em id (h ofi 

 not to be" too near if you don't want to be. near. Besides, 

 it has everything comfortable in the way of a line, commodi- 

 ous hotel." This is undoubtedly a pleasant resort, even 

 though you here made up your mind to " OBgh >l most 

 vehemently. This pleasant stopping plno - on 



M: . h "i I oi I U rumbling Susquehanna, at - 



ward through the mountains, and midway l " ' - " Hynal 



and Keating, where the. Snsqlli u i po 



aid is deserted by the railn 

 it, industriously for sixty miles or mote, bud ■- nofl to 



prefer to follow the "new love""/, h. t 

 even into M 

 flyner is also much frequented by sportsmen. I;. 



