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Terms, Five Dollars a Year. I 

 Ten Cents a Copy. | 



NEW YORK, THURSDAY, AUGUST 14, 1873. 



| Volume I, Number I. 

 I 103 Fu lion Street. 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



ON the falir face of Nature let us muse, 

 And dream by lapsing stream and drooping wood ; 

 Tread the dark forests whose primeval ranks 

 Since the creation dawn have cast their shade ; 

 Ponder by flowing stream and ocean tides, 

 And note the varied forms of life they hold, 

 Mark the wild game so clear to hunter's heart, 

 The swarming fow" that skim the salty deeps, 

 The birds that haunt the woodlands and the plains, 

 The fish that swim the seas, the lakes, the streams, 

 And tempt the thoughtful angler to their marge ; 

 Glance at the life that fills our native woods, 

 And game of Asian plains, and Afric wilds. 



When soft May breezes fan the early woods, 

 And with her magic wand the blue-ey'd Spring 

 Quickens the swelling blossoms and the buds, 

 Then forth the russet partridge leads her brood, 

 While on the fallen tree-trunk drums her mate ; 

 The quail her young in tangled thicket hides, 

 The dun deer with their fawns the forests range, 

 The wild geese platoons hasten far in air, 

 The wild ducks from their Southern lagoons pass, 

 And soaring high their Northward journcyings take, 

 The dusky coot along the coast-line sweeps, 

 The piping snipe and plover that frequent 

 The sandy bars and oeaches, wing their flight, 

 And all the grassy prairies of the West, 

 Teem with the speckled younglings of the grouse, 

 And all the budding forests :.nd the streams 

 Are gay with beauty, joyous with young life. 



Then swell the first bird melodies ; the wren 

 Chirrups and perches on the garden rail, 

 The blue-bird twitters or the lilac hedge, 

 Or flits on azure wings from tree to tree ; 

 The golden robin on the apple-bough 

 *Hovers, where last year's withered nest had been, 

 The darting swallows circle o'er the roof, 

 The woodpeckers on trunk of gnarled trees 

 Tap their quick drum-beats with their horny beaks, 

 The crow caws hoarsely from the blasted pine, 

 High in mid air the sailing hawk is pois'd, 

 While from the grove "the purple pigeon-flocks 

 Burst with loud flapping in the grain-sown fields. 



Fair is the scene in Autumn, when the frosts 

 Frora palettes rich, with prodigal, gorgeous brush 

 Color the nodding groves with brown and gold. 

 Then silvery-skied, and purple-haz'd the dome 

 Of heaven's deep vault, and fair the earth below. 

 Far up, where sunny uplands scope their sides, 

 Shaggy with woods, prone to the brimming stream, 

 Where bowering oeech trees shake their laden boughs, 

 And oaks their varnished acorns high uplift, 

 Where the broad butter-nut its gummy fruit 

 In russet husks slow-ripens day by day, 

 And where in crowded ranks the chestnut groves 

 Wave oat their broad-leav'd pennons to the air, 

 And from their prickly burs shake treasures down, 

 There the quick clusterings of the squirrels sound. 



The gentle valley with its belt of hills 

 Crown'd to ilieir tops with grand, primeval woods, 

 Glows with all forms and hues that nature loves. 

 Deep in its hollow stretch meadows brightly green, 

 Kept verdurous by the full o"erflowing stream ; 

 Yet t lie deep swamps and thickets that engird 

 The river-reaclies, are resplendent all, 

 Their umbrage tinctur'd with imperial dyes. 

 The maples tall with blood-red foliage burn, 

 The hickories clap their palms of burnish'd gold, 

 The poplar thrusts its yellow spire in air, 

 The russet oaks and purpled dogwoods blend 

 Their colors with the alder's sable green, 

 And scarlet sumacks ; all contrasted rich 

 With sombre evergreens, and willows pale. 

 And when the winds autumnal, wailing strip 

 The frosted foliage, like a host they stand, 

 With trailing banners and with drooping plumes. 



Such be the scenes in wondrous forest-land 

 Such be the scenes by sea and lake ami stream 

 That we would picture ; wild romantic sceues, 

 Dear to the hunter's and the angler's soul. 



Isaac McLeli.ak. 



ANTIOOSTI. 



THE JOURNAL. OF A NAVAL OFFICER. 



TILL within the last few years, the island whose name 

 stands at the head of this article, has been to the great 

 majority, what may well be termed "terra incognita." 

 Heard of but seldom, and then only in connection with dis- 

 aster, it is perhaps no wonder that the island has from the 

 earliest times acquired an ill-omened reputation, from the 

 long list of ships whose timbers have found a last resting 

 place on its shores, and whose names swell the ghastly re- 

 cord of missing vessels. Situated at the entrance of the 

 Gulf of St. Lawrence, and lying in the centre of the high- 

 way of that tide of shipping which sets in towards the lum- 

 ber mart of the world, it is not a matter of surprise that at 

 the opening and close of the navigable season, the heavy 

 storms which sweep the Labrador coast, and dense fogs 

 which then prevail in those latitudes, coupled with the in- 

 sidious currents, should lure many a ship within the line of 

 reefs which circle its shores. The mind is however apt to 

 magnify dangers it cannot fully comprehend, and there is 

 little reason to doubt that were the island better known, 

 many of the wild reports, amounting almost to superstition, 

 with which fancy is wont to invest it, would be dispelled. 

 Some forty years ago before the erection of light houses, 

 shipwrecks were of much more frequent occurence than 

 they are at present, and the tales of suffering which from 

 time to time startled the public ear, and caused the imagina- 

 tion to dwell with horror on the scenes of want and misery 

 enacted on its shores, have done much to keep up the evil 

 notoriety of the island. 



In the beginning of this century the only residents were 

 a few trappers who earned a good living from the rich furs 

 with which the island then abounded. The black and silver 

 fox were often met with, and a good skin fetching as much 

 as £40 or £50, the proportionate gains of the trappers can 

 be easily imagined, to say nothing of otter, marten and bear, 

 with which latter animal the island almost literally swarmed. 

 By far the most profitable source of these worthies' income, 

 who in many cases appear to have been little better than 

 pirates, was however derived from the ships .cast away on 

 the reefs encircling their buccaneering home. The howl of 

 the storm as it swept down the valleys and moaned fitful- 

 ly through the pine branches, and the ceaseless lashing of 

 the surf, breaking angrily on the shore, was to the dwellers 

 there music of the sweetest import. They well knew the 

 treacherous nature of the coast, and it was seldom that the 

 morning broke without revealing some scene of disaster. 

 Perchance some had escaped, and hailed with joy the ad- 

 vent of a friend, for in what other light could they regard 

 the stranger who now approached. In many cases fortu- 

 nate were those who perished midst the roar of the tempest, 

 rather than live and learn the savage cruelty of man. Too 

 often, alas, there is reason to believe that many a life spared 

 by the elements, was sacrificed to the cupidity of the wreck- 

 ers. In those days, when the loss of a vessel could only be 

 known months after its occurence, there was absence of 

 proof, and the length of time which had lapsed since the 

 fatal day soon stilled the rumors of bloody deeds which 

 were now and then whispered abroad. 



It was not till the year 1829 that the government of Can- 

 ada was roused into activity by the general consternation 

 which was displayed when the news of the loss of the 

 " Granicus," with all hands, and the almost incredible hor- 

 rors undergone by those who had escaped shipwreck only 

 to meet a more horrible death, became known. Towards 

 the end of 1828, anxiety began to be felt for the safety of 

 the ." Granicus," a large ship on her passage to Quebec, and 

 as the winter months rolled on, and no tidings reached 

 those who anxiously awaited some loved one's return, she 

 was probably put down in that long list of ships which 

 have foundered in mid ocean, and whose fate must for ever 

 remain a misterf. 



In the latter end of March, or beginning of April, of the 

 following year, some sealers cruising in the vicinity of Fox 

 Bay, on the north-east side of the island, were astonished 

 at seeing a "Jacob's Ladder," hanging over the side of a 

 limestone cliff near the head of the bay. In such a spot so 

 strange a sight denoted something unusual, and pulling 

 hastily ashore, the sealers discovered that the ladder was se- 

 curely fastened at the top of the cliff. To ascend was the 

 work of a few minutes, when they were startled by the 

 scene before them. A number of rude huts and tents stood 

 on the summit, and as they examined each, and no sign of 

 human life appeared, and all seemed bare and deserted, the 

 question presented itself to their minds, where could the oc- 

 cupants be. It was soon answered. One small square hut 

 still remained to be examined, and as they tried to raise the 

 latch they found it barricaded from within. Surely here at 

 last they would discover some sign of life, or at all events 

 something to throw light on the mysterious surroundings. 

 Hastily forcing the door and pressing in, the sight that met 

 their gaze was one not easily forgotten. Before them sat 

 the skeleton of a man, with a ghastly grin, as if to welcome 

 these visitants to the abode of death. That which invited 

 their attention however, and made the blood run cold and 

 curdle in their veins, was a deep pit in the centre of the 

 floor. In this lay the remains of a human trunk, the head, 

 legs and arms having been previously cut off, while the 

 blackened and charred appearance it presented told only 

 too plainly what the ashes beneath confirmed. No diary or 

 any record was to be found, though from a rude kind of 

 calendar on the wall they were led to believe that the unfor- 

 tunate occupants had survived till the end of January 

 Two skulls and a few bones were all that remained in the 

 other tents, though, from the number and size of the latter, 

 the greater portion, if not all, of the crew and passengers 

 must have been saved. One tent a little apart from the rest 

 showed by its better construction and a few articles of ap- 

 parel that it had been inhabited by a lady, the only female on 

 board. The horrors and sufferings undergone by these un- 

 fortunates baffled description. We can picture them when 

 first wrecked, probably towards the latter end of November, 

 thankful at their merciful escape and busily employed in 

 building huts and tents for their shelter. If they were not 

 cheerful, at all events they were tolerably contented under 

 the circumstances, and perhaps thought of the time "when 

 they should look back, not without some feeling of pleas- 

 ure, at their sojourn as castaways. As the winter days closed 

 in, and the cold snow and bitter frosts descended, seizing 

 everything in their icy grasp, we can still picture them as 

 first awakening to the sense of their danger; but as the days 

 and weeks rolled on, and they saw their scanty stock of 

 provisions dwindling rapidly away, straining their eyes fat- 

 out to sea, for help, from whence no help can come, it is 

 difficult to realise the awful feeling of despair which must 

 have seized them. While "life remains there is hope," is 

 an old saying, but the reverse is very often true ; so long as 

 the flame of hope burns, no matter how small and flickering 

 the spark, all is not over; but once extinguish it and let in 

 despair, and the rest is quickly told. One by one their little 

 numbers melted imperceptibly away ; starving, their bodies 

 numb and paralysed with cold, their minds worn out with 

 weeks of mental agony, all hope of succor vanished, and 

 in mute despair, they lay them down to die. The snow 

 forms their shroud, and the plaintive moaning of the win- 

 ter blasts as they sweep through the pine tops, their funeral 

 dirge. Now at last we might suppose their troubles were 

 over, and that their fleecy covering would keep them pure 

 and safe in its close embrace, but even yet they are not suf- 

 fered to rest in peace. The bears root out the corpses, and 

 fight and scuffle for the prize, and soon a few bones are all 

 that remain to tell the tale of woe. The skeleton found 

 must have barricaded himself in to resist their attacks, and 

 then commenced his awful work of cannibalism ; he had 

 apparently fallen lifeless before completing the act, and so 

 been mercifully spared that additional horror. 



When the news of this disaster reached the main land, the 

 government dispatched an official to investigate the matter, 



