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 Ten Cents a Copy. j" 



NEW YORK, THURSDAY, SEPT. 18, 187;?. 



( Volume I, Number G, 

 "( 103 Fulton Street. 



MEXICAN 



For Forest and Strtam. 

 SCENERY. 



HIGH on" a bare, volcanic cliff, 

 Above the sailing clouds I stand, 

 And gaze o'er many a shining eagne 

 Of outspread, flowery'Mexic land. 

 Beneath me ancient forests lie, 

 Their green tops rippled by the breeze, 

 Their massive foliage heaves and swells 

 Like tumbling billows of the seas. 

 So thick they weave their leafy screen, 

 That scarce a broken sunbeam falls 

 Thro 1 the green arches ;to illume 

 The sombre shadows of their halls, 

 And many a grotesque swinging vine, 

 Like glittering>erpent climbs their tops; 

 The cactus twines its color'd crowns, 

 The aloe its red garland drops, 

 And tropic birds on spangled wings, 

 Flit thro' the fairest openings. 



And here the browsing deer-herds roam ; 

 Now scouring the extended plain, 

 Now lost in arbor of the wild, 

 Now wandering by the tumbling main. 

 Far thro' the thick, umbrageous depths, 

 The shy wild turkey leads the brood, 

 And swarms of chattering monkeys sweep 

 Along the summits of the wood. 

 High soaring in the upper air, 

 Vast cones volcanic rise like clouds, 

 Each with its vapory flag of smoke, 

 That ever the white crown enshrouds: 

 The Indian ages long ago, 

 Long ere the Spaniard trod the shore. 

 With awe beheld these mystic flames, 

 And hearken'd to the crater's roar; 

 Dreaming that goblins of the mine, 

 With incantations wierd and dark, 

 Mingled their orgies in the gloom 

 Of night, and lit each lurid spark. 



Far down, amid the valleys green, 

 Soft scenes outspread the fairy land; 

 Flowers of gay hue and fragrant smell, 

 Broadca8t.are;sown by Nature's hand: 

 All the rich colors that entwine 

 The rainbow, here celestial shine, 

 Each radiant with eternal bloom, 

 Each aromatic with perfume . 



Afar I hear the tinkling bells 



Of the slow caravans ascend; 



And voices of the muleteers, 



In soft, harmonious cadence blend . 



Far off, o'er Guatemala's plain, 



O'er peasant huts I see the smokes. 



And from each rustic chapel hear 



The evening bell-chimes' measur'd strokes. 



And twinkling in the setting sun. 



The distant city glistens white, 



Belfry and cupola sublime, 



Transfigured with the streaming light. 



Isaac McLelt.an. 



& 



l;w witJf the <^<ititmlwt§. 



— — ♦ — ■ 



Steamer Blue Light, j 



Peak's Island, Me., August 16, 1873. j 



Editor of Forest and Stream: — 



I write you from Peak's Island, a place the existence of 

 which is perhaps to you, as it was to me, not long since, 

 unheard of. 



But that was our bad luck. The denizens of Portland 

 and of the adjacent towns know, and knew, of it and in 

 its evergreen groves seek the relief which its constant, 

 cooling breezes and delightful climate offer during the 

 "heated term;' ; for up North and down East though it be, 

 Portland does have its "heated term," 



It is easy of access, for a trim little steamer, the Ex- 

 press, commanded, clerked, pursered, and steered by a most 

 popular captain, makes a number of regular trips daily; 

 with great groves of grand pines, and here and there a 

 noble elm, furnishing shady, romantic walks and snug 

 nooks for resting; with a craggy beach on its further side, 

 against which the broad Atlantic drives its billows, and in 

 an easterly storm, dashes surf furiously to its highest cliffs; 

 with here and there, in the magnificent view seaward, scat- 



tered dots of rocky islets, where, clear from man, the little 

 petrel, the gull, and tern make their nests and rear their 

 young in safety. Here, at sunrise, one can commune with 

 Nature, and hardly realize that within a gunshot, just across 

 the belt of pines, civilization is amusing itself. For on 

 this side there is a quiet sheltered anchorage where the 

 smallest boat can stay secure in the heaviest storms. 



Each end of the island, two miles apart, is given up to 

 merry-making. Restaurants, where, since the Maine law 

 took effect, nothing stronger than coffee can be obtained — 

 unless the landlord knows you. Strictly temperance houses, 

 but if a gentleman will drink, wdiy, they don't like to dis- 

 appoint him. Swings, rustic scats, croquet grounds, bowl- 

 ing alleys, &c, furnish amusement to the crowds of pleas- 

 ure seekers who come over to the island for a day's picnic. 

 Sprinkled about among the groves are the white, tents of 

 many families wdio .seek relaxation in a "week's camping 

 out," with chowder, clams, and fishing ad libitum; and on 

 a warm, sunny day, the scene is very cheerful. The woods 

 are gay with white frocks and red ribbons; and boys and 

 men bedecked with blue flannel shirts with great white 

 anchors embroidered on the bosom, (for it is the " swell " 

 thing here to be ayachtman;) and two boys with a punt and 

 shelter tent, are happy in considering that they are yacht- 

 ing and camping out. Bands of music and singing parties 

 enliven the evening. 



But there is another side to this; now and then a cold 

 easterly wind, with its inevitable accompaniments of fog 

 and rain, comes upon us, and then, chilled and miserable, 

 our gay campers take to their tents, wrap up in rubber, and 

 happy if their roof sheds water, solace themselves with 

 cards and pipes and pray for a shift of wind, which must 

 come sooner or later. In the midst of the last driving 

 storm, when all nature was clad in dismal gray, trimmed 

 with water colors, I accosted a weather-beaten old fisher- 

 man with, " How long is this thing going to last, Captain?" 

 (it's very safe to call a man " Captain " here — they don't as- 

 pire to General or Judge.) " Wall, I guess it'll tucker out 

 after a bit. I never knowed but one of these sou'easters 

 that didn't come to an end sometime." " Why, when was 

 that? "said I. Said he, "This one,'' and I went my way 

 sadly and sold. 



The central parts of the island, though, on its western 

 face are as quiet and retired as the ends are gay, and here 

 with every facility at its disposal for successful work, the 

 United States Fish Commission has established its head- 

 quarters for the summer. A large workshop on the wharf 

 has been fitted up as a laboratory, the adjacent houses are 

 occupied as quarters, and the wharf itself is turned into a 

 first class dissecting table, where sharks, sword-fish, skates, 

 and other great fishes, surrender their jackets and bones to 

 the keen knives of the "Doctor" and his pupils. 



And the little "Blue Light" lying quietly at her anchors 

 of nights, bears daily, either to sea, or into some of the 

 many sounds and bays into which Casco Bay is subdivided, 

 a party of young men, enthusiastic in the cause of science, 

 bound to search out, and with their own eyes see, the mys- 

 teries that nature has tried so hard to conceal. 



Clad in rnany-hued and ancient garments, it is eviden tthat 

 " dress " is not their forte. Yet, when on Sunday, a " boiled 

 shirt, stove-pipe, and frock coat," take the place of the daily 

 costume; and some, quietly writing or working up their 

 notes, others filling the pews of our little church, and some 

 even the pulpit, it becomes equally evident that "dress" 

 is not an infallible criterion, and that an educated gentleman 

 can bring any dress to his level and not sink to its. 



These, though, are not the views of a damsel, island- 

 born and " raised," who asked me, " What is perfessors, 

 anyway; "and what do they do?" I told her; she mused, 

 and then thoughtfully remarked : ' ■ Well they may be smart 

 enough, but they don't dress up much; they're all married, 

 I hear — I don't think much of 'em, anyhow." 



She thinks better of them now, though, since one Sunday 

 evening, when a " perfessor," hearing her really magnificent 

 voice raised in a grand old hymn tune, with melodeon ac- 

 companiment, went into the kitchen and joined his fine 



bass to her soprano. That Perfessor never got cold coffee 

 again. 



Armed and loaded with trawls and dredges, harpoons 

 and fishing gear, at 9 A. M. the Blue Light sounds her 

 whistle, and runs in by the dock, and then a string of hur- 

 rying men, with green buckets and scoop nets, bottles and 

 sieves, take possession, and away we go, if it is a fair 

 smooth day, right out to sea, till the color of the water pro- 

 claims deep soundings. Then in sixty to seventy fathoms 

 of water we go to work to find what sort of bottom is there, 

 what sort of fish, what sorts of animal life. 



The lead shows soft bottom, . and over goes the trawd, 

 a large bag net, with a beam some tenor twelve feet long- 

 across its mouth, fastened at each end to an iron runner. 



This machine is strung with a bridle to which is attached 

 a towing line, and is lowered to the bottom. A good scope 

 is given to the line, which is led in through sheaves on an 

 iron crane to the drum of a small windlass on the forecastle 

 of the steamer. When ready, the ship is backed slowly, 

 and the trawl drags along the bottom. It may catch on some 

 unexpected obstacle, and perhaps be broken and torn to 

 pieces. A simple contrivance, however, obviates much of 

 the danger. When the tow-line, a three-inch hemp rope, is 

 paid out its proper length, a piece of small rope is fastened 

 to it jnst outside the outer sheave, and then the towing line 

 is slacked out until all of the strain comes upon the small 

 line, which is made fast inboard. A good lookout is kept, 

 and should the trawd catch, the small line will break; im- 

 mediately the engine is stopped and reversed, the larger line 

 is slacked out, and before any damage can take place, the 

 vessel has moved ahead toward the trawl, which is imme- 

 diately hauled in for examination. Steam here saves hands, 

 and our little deck engine soon rounds in a hundred fathoms, 

 and the big net comes to the surface, is gathered inboard, and 

 its contents dumped out upon the deck for' investigation. 

 And a motley collection it sometimes presents. In its 

 pockets odd fish such as flounders and skates are entangled, 

 and among its meshes strange crabs and starfish ; while 

 from the closely netted, pouch tumble out anemones, sea 

 urchins, and shrimps, with no end of varieties of Crustacea 

 and mollusks. 



Once wc brought up a great rock fully six hundred pounds 

 in weight, and our little engine had to puff hard to get it 

 safely up. Its presence in a soft mud plain, as the bottom 

 here seems to be, some three hundred feet from the surface, 

 was an anomaly, but probably ages ago it was torn from 

 its birth place in the frozen north, and slowly drifted to the 

 southward by an iceberg, until melting clear, it dropped, 

 and there has lain, while countless generations of terra 

 bixiclialina and other inhabitants of deep cold water have 

 made it their resting place and home. A bottom tempera- 

 ture of 37°, while at the surface the mercury stood at 63°, 

 seems to confirm my idea that we have struck here a little 

 branch of an Arctic current. We have found here in this 

 cold water belt several specimens that have before been 

 supposed to exist no nearer to our coast than on the Georges 

 Banks in 400 fathoms depth. 



The dredge is a smaller and stronger apparatus, on the 

 same principle, and is used on stony bottoms where the 

 trawl would be torn and cut to pieces. It is a strong net 

 bag that will hold two bushels, made fast to a pair of flat 

 iron jaws; this is also dragged, but at a less degree of speed. 

 When either is brought to the deck it is an amusing sight 

 to see both professors and non-professors gather eagerly 

 about the mouth, and as the contents emerge forty fingers 

 go poking and picking at the heap ; and the worms and 

 clams, if not already as indignant as their nature will per- 

 mit at the rough usage they have received, most certainly 

 must become so, could they but hear and understand the 

 hard names they are called. "Mgm aranaria^ sings out 

 a voice, and a poor clam finds himself bucketed. ' l Asterius 

 vulgaris;" '-caUsta convexa;" nereus," are called out rapidly, 

 and the note taker puts them down, and a little white shell,' 

 a starfish, a clam, (to ordinary eyes,) and a big red worm 

 are popped into bottles. 



Or perhaps we have struck mud bottom, and the dredge 

 comes up with a quarter ton of it. To an unscientific eye it 

 *eems of ho value; but wait a bit; the load is'emptied into 



