FOREST AND STREAM. 



isfied our appetites, we turned to the fragrant weed, and 

 while watching the curl from our bria^ roots waxed elo- 

 quent^ over the scenes of auld lang syne. Quiet finally 

 prevailed as one after another, stretching himself on the 

 hemlock boughs, surrendered to 4 'nature's sweet restorer." 

 In this condition, and while unable to speak for themselves, 

 let me make you acquainted with the occupants of Camp 

 Butler, That one with his feet turned towards the fire and 

 head resting'on his arm, is Mr. I., a prominent "limb of 

 the law" from Cleveland, Ohio, and a genial, warm-hearted 

 gentleman he is. He is the wit of the party, and his sallies 

 and puns largely contribute to the cheerfulness of our 

 camp. _ This one, with his head resting on an old meal 

 bag, his pants stuck into a pair of well-worn boots, and his 

 body twisted into the shape of a figure four, is Mr. B., of 

 Boston, another disciple of Blackstone, and learned in the 

 law. He is the best fisherman of the party, as well as a 

 great authority on euchre. His opinions are never appealed 

 from, and when he decides that the right bower, if well 

 played, would always take a trick, the whole bench con- 

 curs. That bundle of shawls contains Charley F., a good 

 fellow, who knows how to cook a trout as well as capture 

 him. Your correspondent completes the party, respecting 

 whom modesty compels me to remain silent. We were 

 astir at daybreak, and performed our morning ablutions in 

 the ice cold water of a neighboring brook, while honest 

 Pike busied himself in preparing our morning meal. It 

 was ready on our return, and, such as it was, was soon 

 discusssed, when, with our tackle prepared, we set out for 

 the scene of operations. Arrived at the pond we divided 

 into two parties, and embarking on rafts which had been 

 prepared by the friendly hands of some former visitors, 

 pushed out into midwater. Mr. I. had brought a new and 

 untried split bamboo rod, the qnalities of which he was 

 anxious to put to the test, so to him, therefore, was ac- 

 corded the courtesy of the first cast. Anchoring near some 

 lily pads, while his comrade, Mr. B., was skirmishing with 

 a worm, he made the first cast accordingly. Straight out 

 went the line, delivering the fly with the lightness of a 

 snowflake. Again and again he threw, handling the long 

 line with consummate skill, his light bamboo responding 

 to every motion. The next cast brought up a fish, which 

 seized the tail fly, splashed, and went down with it. Now 

 then my genial friend, from the way in which that tip 

 crosses the butt you have hooked an old stager, and unless 

 you keep him well in hand you will have to score a lost 

 fish. It's a clear field, and no favors for you, my beauty, 

 though all in vain are your mad efforts to escape. Yield- 

 ing to the steel-like spring of the tough bamboo which met 

 him at every turn, he was at length brought alongside and 

 landed on the raft, where he pulled the scale down to two 

 and a half pounds, and raised our hopes of a good day's 

 sport accordingly. We were destined to be disappoint- 

 ed, however, for every effort to entice another of them 

 from his lair proved futile. Crestfallen and discouraged, 

 we reluctantly reeled up and poled ashore, where, in 

 mournfnl tones, we lamented the uncertainty of trout fish- 

 ing. In the afternoon two of us resolved to try the little 

 pond adjoining the large one, and in company with Ethan 

 we headed for that point. Poling out to nearly the centre 

 of the pond, we drove the pole into the mud and com- 

 menced operations, meeting with no better success than 

 that of the morning; so after exhausting the resources of 

 our fly books we came to the conclusion that there were no 

 trout there, and that we were the victims of a misrepresen- 

 tation. Our deliberations were suddenly interrupted by 

 an exclamation from Mr. I. "Hallo, M., there's a rise." 

 Sure enough, a trout had risen, seized a fly, and disap- 

 peared. Our expiring hopes were raised, and we were 

 soon busily engaged in quest of our prey. Our flies, how- 

 ever, were evidently unsuited to their tastes, for though 

 we carefully fished every inch of surface in the pond we 

 failed to tempt a single rise. Resorting at last to a large 

 blue lay fly, which had on many occasions stood me in 

 good stead 'in my pursuit of bass, I cast out upon a lily 

 pad, and gently dropped it thence into the water, when in- 

 stantly an angry rush, a plunge, and a quick tightening of 

 my line assured me that a good fish was fast to my light 

 tackle. Away he dashed, the line cutting through the 

 water like a a knife till, wearied by his struggles to escape, 

 he concluded to come in out of the wet. Prom the earnest 

 way in which he battled for liberty, I had mentally 

 put him down at two pounds, and was correspondingly 

 disappointed to find that he slightly exceeded a pound only. 

 They were now rising rapidly, so dropping my last captive 

 into the creel I cast and hooked another good one. The 

 water now seemed alive with them. Furnishing my friend 

 I. with a fly similar to my own, we caught a fish at nearly 

 every throw, keeping at it until darkness put an end to our 

 sport when we poled ashore and found ourselves in pos- 

 session of a very handsome catch, running from a quarter 

 of a pound to a pound. Lighting his birch bark torch 

 Ethan struck off for camp, where we arrived about nme 

 o'clock, sufficiently fatigued and ready for supper. 



The next day being Sunday we quietly remained m 

 camp The following morning found us early astair, and 

 under a due sense of responsibility as regarded the coming 

 results of the day, which was to be our last in camp, much 

 anxkity beiny felt to make such an addition to our string 

 as would enable us to meet our friends at headquarters 

 with a sufficient demonstration of our success and skill. 

 Mr Land myself decided to fish the little pond, while 

 Ethan and Mr. B. were to go to another which had not as 

 yet been visited. We arrived at our pond at six o'clock, 

 pushed out, and commenced business. The trout rose 

 handsomely, and for two hours we had some glorious 

 sport, till suddenly they stopped for good, and terminated 

 our success. ' . » 



Returning to camp we rested in the shade, took a pull at 

 our briars, and anxiously awaited the arrival of our com- 

 rades, who shortly emerged from the woods. 

 "What luck, boys?" 

 "Good* see here!" 



When 'opening their baskets, they exhibited the finest 

 mess of brook trout I had ever seen. There were just 

 forty-two fish, the smallest weighing half a pound and the 

 largest, of which there were two, weighing two pounds 

 and a half each. As I looked at the fish I resolved to have 

 a look at the pond whence they were taken. Accordingly, 

 during the afternoon, accompanied by Ethan, we made the 

 start. Arriving at its shore, I remarked to Ethan, as 1 

 looked out up©n a shallow sheet of water, covered with 

 pond lilies, "there are no trout in there, I know." 



"Now don't be in a hurry," said he, "just wait a little, 

 and while poling away from shore he quietly worked the 

 raft out to the pond, where I noticed a clear spot about 

 twenty feet in circumference; "Do you see that hole? 



said Ethan; "well that's a spring hole; it is about eight 

 feet deep, and right there, and nowhere else, we took those 

 big trout you saw this morning. Keep quiet now, and I'll 

 move up a little bit closer." 



As I stood on the edge of the raft, rod poised, ready to 

 make a cast when the proper moment should arrive, I must 

 confess I felt just a little bit excited. Reaching the desired 

 spot, my line was soon in the air, and shooting out straight 

 before me delivered the fly in the centre of the hole. A 

 furious dash, one flash of his silvery sides, and away he 

 went for the pads; once in them there was little hope for 

 me. Giving him the butt, I succeeded in turning him, and 

 soon had him alongside, wmere Ethan landed him, weigh- 

 ing two pounds, upon the raft. One after another of the 

 beauties did we take till, having secured seventeen, we 

 concluded that, as the night was fast approaching, and we 

 had a two miles' tramp through the woods ere camp could 

 be reached, we had better start. 



We struck camp the next morning, and turned our faces 

 homeward, whence, in addition to what was consumed by 

 six hungry fishermen, we carried ninety-four as handsome 

 brook trout as the most enthusiastic fisherman could wish to 

 see. They ran from a quarter of a pound to two pounds 

 and a half, and were duly displayed and admired at head- 

 quarters. 



Good bye, old camp; long will the happy moment passed 

 under your roof live in my memory; and you, old guide, 

 may your shadow never grow less, but, like the sturdy 

 pines among which you make y our home, long may you 

 wave. To you, my genial western friend across the rugged 

 head of old Mount Washington under the shadow of which 

 we have passed so many ple:i>a;it hours, I waft my regards. 



I nave thus, Mr. Editor, endeavored to demonstate the 

 fact that not only are brook trout still abundant in the 

 White Hills, but also that many may be taken which weigh 

 over half a pound. J. G. M. 

 <»»■ — — 



CAPE 



For Forest and Stream. 

 BRETON. 



i 



I II AD fancied, and I suppose others fancy, that Cape 

 Breton is a desolate sort of place, inhabited by the 

 waifs and strays of mankind, who earn a precarious living 

 on the coast by cod fishing, and in the interior by no one 

 knows what; that ice and snow are the portion of the in- 

 habitants for eight months of the year, while the balance is 

 divided about equally between fog and fine weather. How- 

 ever true this may be of the seasons, the impression one 

 forms of the people does not suggest any great struggle in 

 the fight for existence. In traveling from Hawkesbury, 

 in the Gut of Canso, to Fort Hood; from there to the Mar- 

 garee Forks; thence to Baddeck and back again, by the 

 Bras d'or Lakes to the place of starting, one traverses a 

 country in some places thickly settled, but all apparently 

 well settled by a race of men physically the superior of 

 of any other on the face of this continent. They are 

 chiefly of Highland Scotch descent, with a sprinkling of 

 French Canadians, and as a matter of course nearly all 

 Roman Catholics in their religious belief. The accommo- 

 dations in the way of inns in the villages we passed 

 through were of the poorest and dirtiest description, the 

 only really decent place we came across being the Bras 

 d'or Hotel at Baddeck. There was nothing Frenchy, how- 

 ever, about this establishment, as the name might imply, 

 nor was it again Highland Scotch in its internal economy. 

 It lay somewhere between these opposite poles, being kept 

 by a Mr, Crowder, of English and Irish descent, and we 

 found it a clean, comfortable, country hotel. The Cape 

 Bretoners seem to be very prolific in the propagation of 

 their species . No immigration is wanted here; only give 

 them time and they will compass the same ends themselves. 

 Nothing under ten children is considered a large family, 

 and those who fall short of this generally consider it neces- 

 sary to explain the unusual circumstance. The meadow 

 lands lying along the rivers, called "intervals," produce 

 large quantities of tolerably good hay, and this seems to 

 be the favorite crop of the people. Scarcely any grain is 

 raised, the long Winters being doubtless partly the cause 

 of this; but 1 suspect the people themselves, like their 

 Highland progenitors, are not specially industrious. 

 Women constantly may be seen harrowing the fields and 

 doing other unfeminine work, as in the Lowlands of Scot- 

 land ; but unlike that country, their husbands are probably 

 looking at them out of the kitchen windows. The hay 

 crop, requiring little labor, suits exactly the genius of the 

 people and the exigencies of the seasons. When patiently 

 waiting in the Spring of the year for the grass to grow, a 

 certain' portion of the inhabitants devote themselves to 

 making as much money as possible in conveying benighted 

 passengers across country, in what are called "Extras" — an 

 appropriate term for the extortionate charges demanded 

 from strangers unacquainted with the proper rates, which 

 vary according to the appearance and necessities of the 

 passengers carried; and as stages on many of the routes 

 are, like angel's visits, few and far between, the necessi- 

 ties of many are urgent enough. The breed of small 

 horses on the island, though remarkable for their "staying" 

 qualities, are certainly a forlorn, ragged lot of quadrupeds. 

 They scuttle along, however,at a great pace, drawing loads 

 that look absurdly out of proportion to the drawers. The 

 rudimentary education of these equines has been sadly 

 neglected. They put bits in their horses' mouths; but in 

 obedience to the rein the little animals do not turn about 

 their whole bodies. They simply turn their heads round, 

 the bodies pursuing the even tenor of their way. It is 

 only after a prolonged pull at the rein, and after describing 

 a mighty circle that the heels consent at last to follow the 

 head ! Of cattle, the country seems well supplied, and of 

 a very fair breed; but the representative hog is a curiosity 

 indeed. It is a parti-colored animal, with long legs and 

 nose to match, but withal admirably adapted for subsMling 

 operations in a thickly wooded country. The tail (unlike 

 the more civilized pig) is a prominent feature, of sufficient 

 dimensions to supply the entire youth of the country with 

 whistles. When cooked, he richly deserves Johnson's 

 scornful criticism of certain viands, "111 bred, ill fed, ill 

 cured, ill cooked." 



Bituminous coal of excellent quality is supposed to un- 

 derlie the entire country, and their plaster quarries are nu- 

 merous and of considerable prospective value. At present 

 the coal mines are in a sadly depressed state, and will 

 probably remain so as long as the Americans prefer dear 

 fuel to cheap. The sale of liquor is proscribed on the 

 island; but this is a law that the inhabitants don't feel 

 themselves bound to respect. 



"The cock may crow, the day may daw, 

 Bat i'aey wUi have their barley bree." 



Smuggling, too, is carried on with a good deal of zest 

 by some of the people, but occasionally a custom officer 

 pounces down upon some contraband rum and seizes the 

 same in Her Majesty's name, which the inhabitants not 

 infrequently recover in their own during the following 

 night; a case of this kind occurred during our visit to the 

 Margaree. 



^ In regard to salmon fishing, the Margaree River is con- 

 sidered the best in Cape Breton ; but there are doubtless 

 many smaller streams on both shores of the island where 

 good sport might be had. The banks of the river are 

 quite open and clear of trees, and there are few rocks or 

 impediments of any kind to prevent one fishiDg it with the 

 greatest ease. The owners of the pools up and down the 

 river, within a mile or so of the forks, are in the habit of 

 renting their rights to certain fishermen, and unless one en- 

 gages these pools many months in advance, a trip to this 

 river for salmon fishing would probably result in unmiti- 

 gated disappointment. When, howevei, the river is full 

 of fish, I understand there are some good pools up the 

 northeast branch, which the owners have not yet learned 

 to charge for, and in which good sport can be had under 

 certain conditions of the river. For trout fishing, the Mid- 

 dle and Baddeck Rivers are first rate, and for sea trout I 

 had excellent spoit at tide water in the Margaree, killing 

 many ranging in weight from one to three pounds. On 

 our road to Baddeck, in one of ihe afore-mentioned "ex- 

 tras," we were highly amused at the difference of opinions 

 expressed by the people we met on the road, in regard to 

 the fishing in these two rivers. Men living on the banks of 

 the river all their lives were positive there were no fish in 

 them; others living miles away swore they had killed 

 them theree pounds in weight, and of unprecedented 

 length! Those living on Middle River highly recommend- 

 ed the Baddeck for sport, and those on the Baddeck ex- 

 tolled the praises of the other; and so it went on till we 

 put up our rods and tested the matter for ourselves. I 

 confess I pity the strangers who have to rely upon the 

 peasantry of this country for their information in regard 

 to things piscatory. They will probably exclaim in their 

 haste, "all men are liars," but if they have the good for- 

 tune to make the acquaintance, as we did, of the Rev. I. 

 I. Chisholm, whose parish is at tide water in the Margaree, 

 they will rind one bright and shining exception to the rule, 

 for certainly a more courteous, hospitable, Christian gen- 

 tleman it has never been my f ortune to meet. Wherever 

 we went we found his name a passport to the hearts of the 

 people (for he is very much beloved by them all), besides 

 being a gentleman well posted up in regard to the people 

 and places, rivers and streams throughout that portion of 

 Nova Scotia. All the rivers being late the past season, we 

 were amongst the number of unfortunates who had to re- 

 turn home minus any fish. But I received a letter some 

 time ago from my faithful camp servant, Patrick Tomp- 

 kins, according to promise, giving me a list of fish killed 

 after I left, which 1 give you below. I may state in con- 

 clusion that said Tompkins owns one very good pool in 

 the river, besides having certain proprietary rights over 

 two others, and anyone wishing to fish there next season 

 might find it to their advantage to correspond with him. 

 The take was as follows: Col. C, 25; Capt. B., 19; Mr. 

 T., 51; Col. R., 8; Col. G., 9; others, 20. J. D. C. 



-^*+- 



MOOSE 



HUNTING IN 



WICK. 



Fur Forest and Stream. 

 [MEW BRUNS- 



BEING a close season here for moose until September 

 17th, 1876, I started for the headwaters of Tracadie, 

 ]N. B,, for September calling. I did not arrive at the river 

 until the 17tb. Then, through a heavy cold rain, proceed- 

 ed over six miles of a passage road to my old camp and 

 found everything all right, but not a diy match to start a 

 fire with. After trying until I was half choked with smoke 

 to start one by friction, I gave it up as hopeless. I then 

 cut the short end of a cartridge, poured part of the pow- 

 der from it on my dish-cloth and folded it up loosely; then 

 holding the gun close to it, I pulled the trigger and the re- 

 sult was a fire, and a hot cup of coffee, some broiled par- 

 tridge, (which i shot coming in) and a good warming up. 

 Hugh then started for home with the horses, leaving me 

 alone. Such a lonesome, weary night, but warm and com- 

 fortable, hoping against hope that the wind would die 

 away so I could have the morning's calling at least. Up 

 at four o'clock, and a mile away on the Big Meadow, only 

 to find it blowing a strong breeze— so an end to calling for 

 that day at least. I did not mean to be idle, as there was 

 a first-class chance to track. So finding a fresh one in the 

 meadow, I worked it up for about an hour an a half, feel- 

 ing more and more certain as it grew hotter that it was 

 "the big one" I had tried for more than once before, but 

 with poor success. I once or twice got a glimpse as he 

 was going out of sight. Coming nearer every minute it 

 was necessary to be very cautious, always leaving it going 

 to the lee; move on for about one hundred yards, take it 

 up, then lee again, always watching the turns, until it 

 made a sudden right angle. On looking up quickly I could 

 just distinguish through the alders the outline of a large 

 moose's head, sixty-five yards away. He must have heard 

 me, as he was still listening, looking over me and to one 

 side. I dared not move, but watched the ears for full 

 three minutes, waiting for him to turn. Directly the ears 

 were slightly moved forward, then the great head swung 

 round, but not until it was full side to did I bring the gun 

 up. Catching a quick glimpse on a line with the ear, hut 

 slightly forward of it, 1 fired. A mighty spring upwards- 

 and with a great crash, down he went on his back. I 

 ran quickly forward in time to see him spring to his feet, 

 stagger around, moaning pitifully, then down, up again, 

 and down again for the last time. I went back to camp 

 for the axe, and for the next two hours I had hard work, 

 being all alone, dressing it . He was in splendid condition, 

 and weighed about one thousand pounds, having a hand- 

 some set of antlers, four feet from prong to prong. I have 

 since mounted it, and it is a periect beauty, as all admit 

 who see it. I went out for Hugh and the horses, and it 

 took all the next day to get the moose out, when I returned 

 to camp for Monday's calling. _ 



Sunday morning was a perfect one for calling, but 1 

 concluded to let it alone and visit a camp four miles away 

 to see if there were any signs near it. When a mile from 

 camp, I heard a buck rub his horns about one and a hah 

 miles up the meadow. Then I wished I had my caller, 

 but I left it at camp, not intending to use it. So 1 put my 

 hand to my mouth and did my best to give the sound, and 

 with good success, as I could hear the young buck when 



