Aran. 5, 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



183 



Cooper used i" CoiBe ovei I -very year from England for the 

 sole purpose of catching salmon, and as be was nol a waste- 

 ful man, lie frequently had bis fish prepared and smoked 

 on tbc fishing grpTrndsfoi the purpose of taking them home 

 for distribution among his friends. Se oode oaughi three 

 hundred and twenty salmon in r-ixi y days. He fished it 1 1 

 along tin river, but bis favorite pools were at the foot of 

 tire rails, "where ho had a permanent camp — the only other 

 camps on the river, -which were really regular log cabins, 

 utM.l hnih it i in- Papineau Palls belonged to the iieponent 

 and a curious character named Gillmore, of whom more 

 anon. 



It was on Hi'- Nepisiquit, moreover, where ,i number of 

 N'« Sorkere were in the habit of enjoying rarfrsporl, 

 when tbje averagt anglers of Yankee land did not know a 

 -alin.'ii ri-..:i] a > ..(Iti.-ili— the ntiines of tlio.se pioneers being 

 Lillie and Emmctt. The) preceded the writer on the 

 Nepisiquit. hut not as tly'-ti-lierinen for Salmon on Other 



for 



i the Nepisiquit, 

 ■- which were 



waters. The lessi 



John W Nicholson of St. Join 



Yankees indebted to him for all sorts af kindness might 



numbered by the score. Sir Edmund Head, when Go 



of New Brunswick, was a frequent vis 



and he once lost a fly and a whole 1 



recovered a week afterward, fastened to the upper lip of the 



very impolite salmon. On all the rivers hitherto mentioned 



poaching for salmon is extensively practiced. 



A Hi i imw tortlie Miramiohi. another glorious river, long, 

 very beautiful, withput any high falls, and where most of 

 the fly-fishing is confined to its head waters, Heir the canoe 

 traveling, to obtain sport, is more extensive than on any 

 other that T kunw Tbemosi convenient place whence to 

 embark for sport is Hoicsetown. where tlie angler can obtain 

 all the necessary equipmom in the way of canoes, tents and 

 provisions. The first settler upon this river, in i;di. was a 

 Scotchman named William Davidson, and lie used to take 

 and export evcrv venr from fourteen hundred to two thou- 

 sand barrels of salmon,, bill of laic years (he yield of the 

 wliole river has not reached a thousand barrels. The prac- 

 pearing and netting salmon out of season has long 

 ticrii more universal ontlus rivet than any other in New 

 Brunswick, which is a great misfortune. Th 



tions of the river, 

 and frequented 1)5 the 

 this connection, thai i 



sha 



tpper dot 

 low, clew 

 [itioned in 

 nee abuu- 



(JapM on 

 The] 



thi-.-tc 



m. they 



that v..- 



beyond the Grand Falls, 

 ini'lcs from the Bay of F 

 tsriea below the falls we 



years tl 

 and Ar 



have to 



lishini 

 lostook 

 r rusiuv 



■ has be,- 



The fit 



years he 



le the striped bs 

 are now extinct. 

 ■an now mention is the St. John, in 



which are, however. Iwo hundred 

 uucly. In former times a )| jt. s tribu- 

 ne ■- isiiril by the salmon, but of late 

 :i goodish in only two. the Tobique 

 cilities for Visiting the mair " 

 ;u quite convenient, but th< 

 branches just mentioned canuoi be explored without 

 ing to the canoe, and the lover of beautiful scenery as well 

 as the anglers can never fail of being repaid for any hard, 

 ship- tUGy may he called upon to endure. The Great Kalh 

 are a special attraction, and those who may reach that place 

 in their wanderings, ought not to omit a visit to the Mada- 

 waska River and Lake Temisconta further north, which are 

 tributaries of the St. John. 



And now as I recall the countless scenes of beaut 

 the glorious .sport associated with the great rivers thai 1 

 have mentioned, there seems to he- no opd to the pi 

 of the wilderness to a man who loves nature but is obliged 

 to spend his days in a pent-up city. To such an one the 

 parlor car On our great railroads cannot be compared with the 

 birch canoe as it glides over the crystal waters in the hadow 

 of overhanging trees, nor the athletic games of the dav with 

 the joy of testing our skill in capturing the peerless salmon; 

 nor l'a.-hio liable musie with the sounds of the night on the 

 hanks of a Lonely lake, nor a bed of down saturated with 

 sewer eas in a great city palace, with a bed of cedar bought 

 under the light of the stars: nor a great dinner with bfloom 

 prehetisiblo dish,--, with a bit of broiled salmon cooked by 

 your canoe man on the margin of a stream, where the voice 

 .■I B ranting politician was never hea 



Having now taken a bird's-eye view or the haunts ol the 

 Canada and New Brunswick, it may he well enough 

 mi, in this connection, the literary authorities 

 ishiiiir in the Provinces,' as well as a few of the 

 ?d anglers with whom it has been my privileg, 

 .... sport. 

 In 1833, as well as before and after thai dale, the gov.... 

 m. -ni Of N.w l.Siim .wiek published a number of reports on 

 the fish and fisheries of that Province by Moses II, Parley 

 The) were the result of personal investigations; and cei 

 taini'd a great deal of valuable information on the sab ii" 

 aud other sporting fishes. He was a good angler and a mo- 

 aeeiiniplish.il gentleman, and his reports were pioneer pub 



sain 



to me: 

 --■ I in- i 



beat ions 



sea. 



Win 

 done fi 

 their v 

 able to 

 of Can 



In LI 

 log .\. 

 Hardy 

 on 



ibis continent on the treasures of river and 

 r. I'l-rl'-v did for New Brunswick was subsequently 



anada b'y Kichard Nettle and Pierre Forth, and 



us reports will be found both interesting and vaju 

 those who may wish to be posted about the rivers 

 aud their beautiful denizens. 



s published in London entitled, '•Sport 



i the 



ihing 



ilTair. but full of 

 n fo 



the Ne 

 id volume < 



1 New Bn 



World. ' 

 f which 



"•I . 



id 



bj Campbell 



'veral chapters 

 i unpretending 

 iluable for its 



• hunting 



In ,.-..ial oi ihe voluine- published bv .). M. Le Maine, 

 ..1 Quebec, willbefound many charming chapters on the 

 tores! and river .spoils of Canada, and especially on the 

 haunts of salmon. Of all the men who have been. 'and .-..-,• 

 now di. ing good literary w-ork for the Canadians, 1 do not 

 know of one win. has made himself so generally useful as 

 Jlr. Le Moine. 



Lu 18(50 a book entitled, "Salmon Pishing in Canada," 

 was published iii London from the pen of A Resident," 

 alias Rev. William Agar Adamson. and edited by Sir James 

 Edward Alexander. The crowning feature of this volume 

 .' head and tail pictures, which havchofli- 

 Vithanvlhine allied 



to\ 



.ith tin 



•Mtbjei 



Its 



id i le 



.( le 



-tie 



questi 



on the i 



itfigriiy oJ the preacnl writer on the 



-nl 



-.dm.. 



1 (is.hil 



g, aim then the author indorset 



h 



posit 1 



in by CC 



p\ ing nearly fifty pages from I Ik 



ar 



Will.-I 



The 



look, b.owover, is worth having, 



„•<- 



the la 



:t thai 



icarly all its information is borro 





attempt td 



jocI of 



olcsaid 



. ...d from 

 other writers 



In speaking of the more noted anglers of Canada and 

 New Brunswick, 1 beein with Harrison Stephens, of 

 Montreal, He was a native of Vermont, but became a citi- 



zen of Canada, while y t a young man, and was so success- 

 ful in business that In- was at one time reported to be the 

 eallhies-l man in Canada. II.- was alSo wiih.ml a peer as 

 salmon fisherman, nor was he excelled as a hunter. The 

 Goodbout was bis favorite stream, and ids captures there 

 amounted to a great many hundred fish, but he did much 

 •xecution on other rivers, ll was my privilege to fish with 

 dm mi the Jacques Cartior, and I was also a witness to his 

 kill in catching black bass at the mouth of the Ottawa, and 

 in the Si. Lawrence under the great bridge, The last time 

 that 1 saw Mr. Stephens was in his own house, the year 

 preceding his death, lie was then a very old man. but his 

 spotting talk was as delightful us in tho olden times, and 

 bavin- told me of a wonderful littte lake for trout, which 

 he had recently purchased with a thousand acres of land. 

 invited me to join him there in the eoming summer, but he 

 neve) saw his pel lake, nor did we ever meel again. 



A very different man. with a verv different history from 

 the one [ust nam.-,!, was Willi.-.m Gi'llmore. whose acquaint- 

 ance I formed on the Nepisiquit. He was a native of Dub- 

 lin, and of good family, had been an army ollicer and the 

 possessor of property; hut when reverses overtook him he 

 came to New Brunswick and taught a school on Heron Island, 

 in the Bay of Clialeur, with a salary of £20 per annum. How 

 he became a fisherman and when he made himself a lot: 

 cabin on the Nepisiquit I cannot tell; but he was the best 

 fly-lishcrmnn who ever killed salmon there aud a maker of 

 beautiful Hies; and be died in bis cabin during one of my 

 visits lo his favorite river. He was somewhat intemperate, 

 and had much trouble with the people of Batlmrst, but be- 

 cause 1 had taken his part and treated him with kindness, 

 the bulk of his property was willed to me. which consisted 

 of a book of artificial tiies of his own manufacture. 



Another of my more noted piscatorial friends was Robert 

 Egger, the Hermit of the Aroostook, the storv of whose life 

 I "published in 18-18. He was a -rand old Englishman, 

 brother-in-law of William Jerdan (the famous editor of the 

 old London l.ilnvn/ Cto&tte), and several nights that I spent 

 in his cabin on the Aroostook are among my most delightful 

 recollections. I fished with him both on that river and on the 

 Tobi.pie. and 1 found him tq be not only a capital angler, 

 but a true gentleman and the most sensible hcrmi l lever 

 kn,w. He also has passed over Hint great river from which 

 there i9 no return. 



Another of my angling friends, whom I must not omit to 

 mention in this place, is John "W. Nicholson. He was born 

 in Ireland, but lias lor main years been a inerehanl in the 

 city of St. John. He has caught salmon in Ireland, Canada, 

 New Brunswick aud Nova Scotia, and in his skill for throw- 

 ing the fly as well as making them I have never known his 

 equal. And it may also be said of him that he lias done 

 more to facilitate the desires of anglers, when going north 

 from Yankee laud, than any other man. By his kindness 

 in every way, and especially by his warm-hearted hospital- 

 ity and wonderful fund of fish stories, he has won devoted 

 friends almost without number. His favorite river has 

 always been the Nipisiquit. of which he has for many years 

 had the exclusive control. 



Partiug company with the Atlantic salmon, I desire to 

 put upon record the list of streams within the limits of the 

 New England Stales, in which they were formerly found, 

 ns follows: Aroostook, Saint Croix. Denny's River, Last 

 Machias and Machias. Pleasant or Wescong'us River. Nar- 

 raguagus. Union, Penobscot. Saint (leorge. Medomae. 

 Sheepscott, Kennebeck, Androscoggin, Royals River, 

 I'resiimpsc'.t. Saeo. Monsam, Piscataqua, MerrVimae, Paw- 

 lux. i. T'n ones, Quinnebaug, Shelucket, Connecticut, Quia 

 nipaiek and Ilousatonic. Willi perhaps some half dozen ex- 

 ceptions the salmon is to-day almost unknown in all these 

 Streams, and SO long ad their names are remembered will 

 there remain a blot upon the tame of the Yankee race, be- 

 causeof their greed and ignorance in neglecting the preserv- 

 ation of the salmon in their beautiful livers. 



In the preceding pages my comments have had sole refer- 

 ence to my personal acquaintance and friend, the common 

 salmon. or. Sahno salar of the Xowh Atlantic Ocean; but as 

 our scientific explorers have recently brought to light much 

 new information bearing upon the salmon of the Pacific 

 Ocean, I shall now submit a brief synopsis of their reveal 

 ings. Leavfngout of view altogether the scientific language 

 which simply overwhelms; the ordinary intellect, we may 



say ihai there is really only i species of salmon on the 



Pacific coast, but there are many varieties The most impor- 

 tant of all the Western fishes is called the California salmon, 



or Salino qvinnal; Hiey are found In all the important rivers, 

 but particularly numerous in the Columbia, which they 

 ascend in April, and where, ever since they were noticed by 

 Lewis and Clark in 1807, they have been highly valued by 

 the white people and Indians as well. Thai they will lake 

 the fly under favorable circumstances, has been 'fully sub- 

 stantiated; and they generally attain much greater size than 

 is common with the Atlantic salmon 



Another variety is known as the hooked-nose salmon, 

 which are smaller than the preceding, and numerous in the 

 streams of Puget Sound and the more northern streams, 

 where vast numbers are taken by the Indians and prepared 

 for winter us:. They ascend the rivers in the autumn: theii 

 flesh, when in season, is yellowish, but highly esteemed, and 

 i heir apparent deformity of snout is peculiar to the male 

 tish. Then comes the humpbacked salmon ; the deformity in 

 this variety being caused by a thick layer of adipose mat- 

 ter, and here again the male has the. honor of giving his race 

 their name. They ascend the rivers in August; average only 

 aboul six pounds in weight; and the flesh is white, and only 

 really relished by the Indians along the coast of Alaska. 

 Another variety, of no great importance, is called the red 

 salmon, or by the Indians ta-ha-nia. It is generally less 

 than two feet in length, and ascends the Columbia in Sep- 

 tember 



There is a large salmon peculiar to Bebring's Sea, Ihe 

 skins of which are used by the Indians for making their 

 garments; also a variety taken in Puget's Sound in the 

 autumn, and known as the spotted salmon, or //-/Win Indian 

 diale.-l ! a large variety in Puget's Sound called the lowalt, 

 with aperfectly while flesh : and then follow what are called 

 unspotted salmon, weak-toothed salmon, a white salmon, a 

 short-tailed salmon, a square-tailed salmon, and the suk-/Ufffi 

 salmon, which is the besl summer fish in Fraser River, aud 

 which has the eccentric habit of dying immediately after 

 reaching a certain lake out of which the overruns, In view 

 of the fact that -o nianv varieties of salmon are found in the 

 waters of the North Pacific, we may conclude that there is 

 no scarcity of trout in that region, which is indeed true, and 

 1 in iv chronicle the fact right here, that I have seen the por- 

 trait of an eight-pound lake trout, whose mother was a na- 

 tive of ihe Sacramento River, but who first saw the light in 

 our of the rivers ol Japan, 



lji$tortt. 



HABITS OF THE BEAVER, 



(/.'/*/'•/■ americanm.) 



IT may seem al first thought a waste of time to add pages 

 to what has been already written in regard lo this ani- 

 mal; and yet a gleaner may Sometime pick a bead loaded 

 with grain, ami he may sometime find standing ShooKs where 

 grass j.s .slightly predominant Hoping little from the one. 

 and incurring all hazards of the other, I desire to "offer a 

 few remarks on the American beaver With past experi- 

 ences and omissions before lis. and with the philosophic 

 scrutiny the naturalist now brings to bear upon the phe- 

 nomena of animal life, this can be better done than ever 

 before; and we owe that much to the public, particularly 

 the young, who are and Will be looking more with each day 

 to these pages for reliable fact. 



Thus far the character and habits of the beaver have b.en 

 studied mostly from "antiquities." Looking at an old dam 

 and speculating BS to how thi- or thai work was done is 

 guess work at best, and liable to be oven urn, ,i or aijl aside 

 by the next guesser, while to look on as the work pro 

 greases and to see how all parts are accomplished is another 

 thing entirely, and true for all lime. The unity Of purpose, 

 the union and harmony of effort, the silent cotamuni'i at ion 



of thought, the perfect intelligence of every verocnl 



make together an exhibition of skill wherein human Intelll 

 gence is strangely overlapped if nol overmatched. M\ 

 object is to enforce those gnat undrrly ing I rut lis in organ- 

 ized life broader and deeper than pure, cold science has v,t 

 reached) or in it -s present aspects is ,. V er likelv to possess. 



When I read Mr. Collins's storv of beaver life in Nova 

 Scotia during the last shooting season, I was pleas d hi yond 

 expression. Here was something new, neither old hash nor 

 guess work; here was a picture of inner life, life at home, 

 worth all that had been previously written of the animal. 1 

 could almost see him come out in the twilight, look over his 

 ruined house, and then set to work to restore ii. I could 

 see him lay and relay the sticks of which it was composed, 

 working till buck and shoulders ached, and then sitting 

 up a moment to rest. Ah. Brother Collins, you could not 

 draw trigger on that "little old man " working to buildup 

 his house that vandals had broken down. 1 should have 

 done the same thing for the same purpose once, bm 1 

 should have felt like fording the stream and putting back 

 with my own hands every stick and every handful of earth 

 I had removed. 



But the larger work on the dam just below was missed, a 

 blank in natural history it is our luck to fill out, "acknow- 

 ledging in. etc.," thiil the whole nieril belongs to a sportsman 

 naturalist who seems. ,is you will see. under the circum- 

 stances of the case, to have "risen from savage lo cv\ ili/,-,1 

 life." A few days after reading .Mr. Collins's narralivc. 1 

 was agreeably surprised by a visit from an old friend and 

 pupil,' George. Daniels, who had Spent the pasl summer pre 

 paring subjects in Ihe Stale Cabinet of Kansas. Research 

 for that purpose led him to the adjoining Indian Territm v. 

 where he found undisturbed beaver communiiies among 

 other developments of animal life. Securing three spur 

 Biens for the State Cabinet, the desire iuculcated in bis first 

 lessons in natural history became imperative, demanding 

 verification. Hen- was an opportunity to reach the inner 

 life of an animal whose works had been repeatedly described 

 as exhibiting human intelligence, but whose method and 

 manner of accomplishment no one had seen. 



With two assistants the dam of an undisturbed family 

 was broken down lo the bottom, displacing a large log 

 Which formed its base. Then with jeers at his "dam foolish 

 uess" his companions returned to camp; while he, secreted 

 in the bushes close by. awaited the result. 



He says: "At early twilight five beavfel'a came out from 

 holes in the bank and looked the devastation all over, 

 •Their capacity could not reach the cause, they only saw 

 effects.' The first effort was to get back to Its place the 

 bed log. It was wet. heavy and Slippery, their united 

 strength could hardly move it. so that after tugging u 

 quarter of an hour it was abandoned. They Hen went 

 down the stream, gathering up the sticks of the old ,1am 

 the smaller ones were held above the wider, the larger 

 ones towed up, the beaver holding by the teetli and swim- 

 ming by its side. 



"There was standing »n the bauk directly above the dam, a 

 willow tree some twenty inches in diameter. They .-.II 

 gathered about this tree, one on the Upper side, all the 

 others on the lower side next the dam. Those below Ihcm 

 applied their teeth lo the trunk like great gouges, all in 

 turn as one became tired, ho that in less time than aman with 

 an axe would have done it. the tree loitered to its fall. All 

 at once withdrew from the lower side while the "mister 

 mechanic" began cautiously to cut away the remaining sup- 

 port, this was done, cutting a little here, and a little there, 

 often looking upward, so thai the tree fell with a crash 

 squarely upon aud across the crevice in the old dam. The 

 tree was held several feel above the dam by it- branches, and 

 the beavers all disappeared in the water I could nol BCC 

 what they Were doing, but the tree began to settle an. I soon 

 rested on the dam. They had cut off the branches which 

 held it up. 



"Then commenced the process of closing ihe bin.h .\ 

 beaver would draw up a fair 'cordwood' stick upon the 

 dam, raise it on end, hugging it againsl hi- sliouMer and 

 neck, letting it slide down diagonally up stream leaning 

 back against the fallen tree. Ill the meantime a beaver al 

 the bottom was digging a 'post bole' and guiding ihe post 

 toils place. When Ihis was done the digger would come 

 to ihe surface to breathe, while the one on the lo"- would 

 cut off the stick if loo long for fair work. When the sticks 

 of the old dam were all used they would go into the bushes 

 and soon return, backing out and dragghjg along a - Ick, 

 which was placed in the same manner. This was 

 until the whole gap was filled. The process o( covering this 

 woodwork with earth, leaves, bog. or whatever came lo 

 band was done precisely as Mr. Collins described, hugging 

 a mass against, chin and neck and swimming with hind feet 

 and tail. And thus, forgetful of time, I watched with ab- 

 sorbing and often with almost breathless inter est, the pro- 

 gress of the work, so that when darkness faded into day- 

 light the dam was completed, the tired workers had re- 

 tired, and I left for camp repeating the resolution,'! have 

 killed my last beaver, the v,.r\ !a-(.' 



This is the point where the sportsman aud naturalist rose 

 from savage to civilized life. 



There occurs here a question for the philosophic natur di-.i 

 to settle as be.si he may. What was the medium of communl 



