AoausT 20, 1880.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



65 



powder and shot when compared to the birds of bur up- 

 lands : hut tliero are those who consider the rail as only 

 inferior to the reed-bird as a delicacy for tlie table, and 

 we must confess that a nicely broiled rail is not to be 

 saeered at. 



If you go rail shooting do your best to be " high boat," 

 i.e., kill and bring home the most birds, and erer altii 

 you will linger in the remembrance of the pusher, I'l it 

 is something added to his reputation to have " high boat,' 

 aud the chances are if you ever go again you will be re- 

 ceived with a w^elcome, D. P. 



ALL ABOUT COBB'S ISLAND. 



Warrenton, Va., Aug. \Mh, 1880. 

 Editor Forent and Stream :— 



I see. in your last issue, a card from a Poughkeepsie 

 man disputiug ray account of Cobb's Island, and rather 

 i-arcaatically asUiog for further information. For his 

 benetit, as well as your sport^mon readers, I will give a 

 brief history of the frnjious .spnrting resort. 



Many years ago — wlifn you, I aud the wearied proof- 

 reader who revises iliis were boys — there dwelt in a 

 shanty on a barien sainl bank, that had risen, like the 

 fabled isle Calypso, frnm out of tlie depths of the ocean, 

 a rough, weather-beaten lislierman named Cobb, who 

 Rained Ms living by casiing his nets as well as shooting 

 ducks, wild fowl and pci'si-, vast quantities of which, iu 

 the winter, flocked t<. the L^reax EroailwiUer rei,aon lviu>r 

 near. When he lir.l h..ii,i^ht his dnindiu u was but four 

 or live acres in extent, luid the price ptiid was «:_'.() ni 

 gold itnd ten ba^'.s "t salt. Never was mduev e\'er jjUiee.! 

 to greater advantage, for Old Neptune, generally so mer- 

 ciless tih'l <:ruel. and who remorseles.^ly gathers in much 

 of thtit garnered wealth that is seeking oilier elinies— 

 yet sometimes in his royal humor giv es a roval gill — an<i 

 this simple fisher, like the one in the Ara I aan Nights, 

 was iu luck. Day by day, liour by liour. by the (^ease- 

 less, restless action of the waters did his islan<l increase ; 

 audnatnre, to waid ol]' all danger of its being swept 

 away by a tidal wave, ffiruti-d breakers, in the Ugure of a 

 half moon, that broke tlic strenglli of the northwest 

 wave*, and shattered them into liavuj less fuain v,-heji they 

 struck the island. It is a sight to see tliose billows in a 

 high wuid — racing one behind another like eraeic horses 

 strung ont in a sixteen mile race — coming in on the home 

 stretch, and tiien dasliing themselves against the bar 

 with a noise like the booming of distant artillery, In 

 calm weather it sounds like a mouody played in low 

 twiuabers, and 



" The loagiie long roller tlvundering' on the reef " 

 seems a requiem to maiiyapoor fellow who sleeps bis 

 last sleep on the island, tor Cohb's Island soon became a 

 wrecking station. On this dtmger.jns coast junny asttitely 

 vessel has been dashed to pi.'Ces and tlieir cre«s dro\vnpd 

 in the vieinitv of this island. Indeed, the oht man tlobb 

 and bib stalwart sons made many t.h..nsands of dollars 

 salvage from wrecked vessels, as well as rescuing man\' 

 livai. Iu one ship alone, that went to pieces on the is- 

 land, theu- share of the profits of the cargo they saved 

 amounted to ifS.OOO. All that is over now, for there is a 

 United States life saving station on the island, under 

 charge of Mr. Crump, who, by the way, is a geuial, fi^ue- 

 souled fellow. 



Time passed on — aa time, that maddest of wags, will 

 always do— and from a little sand bank of ouly a few 

 acres, old roan Cobb found himself posseasedot a domin- 

 ion of several Jiundred. Trees had grown up, gardens 

 been laid out. and his boys, becoming men, became, as 

 was natural, amljilious ; and disdaining the humble life, 

 and its sure but slow gains of their |)rogeintors. they de- 

 termined to spend the few Ihonsainl t= .;.' 1:1 earned in 

 then- dangerous calling by litting i g place. 



They built a hotel of that rand.)liii;;: - i i , 1 1 ;tecture 

 known as the Virginia tavern, al^ ., i., .iiiages. A 

 wliarf was constructed, a tugboat puicluised to bring 

 guests from Uherrystone, and then the iilaoe was thrown 

 open to the public." A great rush ensued, and the island, 

 from its varied attractions, soon gtilhered a large crowd. 



My first visit to the island was feair yetirs ago. I was 

 then the Soutliern correspondent, as well as writer of 

 sketches and tales, for the Foniisi and ,STl!£.\^[, and if 

 the gentleman from FoughUeepsie will tuin to its col- 

 umns he will find that I was unsparing in my deiuincia- 

 tionof the management of Cobb's Island, In truth, af- 

 fairs were in a bail way. The Cobbs themselves, not titled 

 by eduoatiou or training to run a watering pkoe., got a 

 man by the name of SegaV to conduct it: and he con- 

 ducted it on the Boss Tweed principle, lie actually did 

 not keep account books, and the Cubbs were in profound 

 ignorance of the outlay as well aa the income, and the 

 profit and loss were utterly nnkuown to them. Under 

 Iris sway Cobb's Island became almost a robber's den, and 

 woe to the unlucky sportsman who fell into their clutches. 

 All, from the chief clerk to the boot-blaok, took a hand 

 in plundering him. It was legalized robbeiy. They did 

 not point a pistol at the guest's head aud cry, "Stand 

 aud deliver," but theV got his money all the same. The 

 habitues of the island behaved in the polite way of the 

 Spanish bandits, wlio. when they see an unwary traveler 

 journeying along all uucaiiseious of dauger, prepare an 

 ambu.sU for him, and siuldenly the startled pilgrim is 

 brought to a halt by seeing a half a dozen huge belt- 

 mouthed blunderbusses pointed at his body, while a 

 voice, in persuasive accents, is hoard crying : "Chanty, 

 gentle stranger ; for the love of G,_xl, charity." Then 

 the guides charged the spoi-tsman, as tlie Poughkeepsie 

 manobserved, ssa per day, aud even more, if they thought 

 they could bleed him. and l/esides, they took half the 

 game he killed; everything was c-vtia, ton, and charged 

 accordingly. It was simple onlragcius ; and as a jour- 

 nalist I fought tooth and nail against .Segar's tidministra- 

 tion of this sportsman's paradise. I starieil tiie S irginia 

 press in a cioisade against this seaside resort that was 

 swindling the public ; andalso in the Foiiest -Vnd .Stueaji 

 I denounced the place, and did more than any one per- 

 son to break up tliat disgraceful ring. 



Two years ,igci the wiiole coucern bursted. Mr. Segar 

 left with some ten tliousau<l dollars, the Cobbs tell me, 

 that he grabbed as his share, leaving them literally 

 iiolhiiig, nay, leaving them deeply iu debt. In perfect 

 disgust the Cobbs threw the whole thing up. They sold 

 the tugboat for a mere song, and went back to their oj- 

 cu|:ialion of oysteriug, huntmgand fishing. 



Last year Tom Spady joined with the grandson of old 



man Cobb and reopened tlie place in a nuiet wa3% and, be- 

 ing a sensible man, he has remedied all the former abu- 

 ses. There is absolutely no extortion, and everything is 

 open and withoixt guile. The rates o( hci:u\] are cheaper 

 than any resort on the Atlantic coast, he iig •^50 a month, 

 )? I 'J per week aud $3 per day. So f,'u- from the guides 

 chargingsportsmenanything they want, thet'e are printed 

 schedulesof prices hmig up all over the hotel. I copy 



Guests desiring guides will find the following prices:— 



For shootiug on a tide, oao person .' tl 50 



" ■' " two persons 2 50 



For flsliing, eacli pereon ,.. , ,, 50 



Fur bhiultiug, eaoli person 75 



Spady & Cobb, Proprietors. 



Thus it will be seen tiiat the cliarges are very reason- 

 able. The guides furnish everything, decoys, boats, etc., 

 andaseacli hunting trip lasts several hoiirs, generally 

 a half a day. they earn their money by tlie hardest kind 

 of work, I know'of no manual laboV that is equal to their 

 duties of crouching close behind a blind ona aaltmeadow, 

 with the bla/.ing sun beating down, straining \onr eves 

 to catch siLditnfthe birds, so as to whistle them to 'the 

 decoys, :iii-i tilm.ist blinded by the dazzling glare, and 

 then chasing v.-ontided binl.s. often waist deep i n water. 

 All this in w.l.l l.ilood, they not having guns, tind, of 

 course, not being braced tip with the excitement aud 

 stimulus that the shooter feels. 



In the winter the board at the hotel is the same as the 

 summer, uud the charges for a day's duck and .geese shoot- 

 ing is s:! |jer dt.v : anirncveroiice''dnring the last summer 

 or this did the guides claun anv of the irame killed. On 

 the contrarv. liiev woul.l cheerfuUv pack them in ice aud 

 send them off as directed. I forwarded all the birds I 

 killed to friends, aud heard no protest. I know it is but 

 right as regards winter sliooting, th;U the shootist should 

 have all the game he kills. If I see a disposition in any 

 public jiliciH to victimize sportsmen I would be swift to 

 bi-and it through the press. 



The guides tit Cobti's Island, for the most part, are good- 

 natuied, kind, and, as I wrote iu my last, thoroughly 

 honest. I iiave often left valuable things in the boat, 

 and totally forgotten them, but they liavo always been 



There are all kinds of people in this world, a remark 

 you have probably lieard before, and there are various 

 grades among the sportsmen, as well as anv other cla.ss, 

 and I have seen some juean men among the'huiiting fra- 

 tei-nity. \\ by, down to Cobb's Island, "about three years 

 ago, there came a party of five, and they were so parsi- 

 monious that they would not xsatronize the bar, but 

 I ought their whiskey by the bottle, andactually slept five 

 in a bed . 



And now, having e.xplaiiied myself (I hope to the satis- 

 faction of everybody), as Cip'tain Cuttle would ob- 

 serve, "1 had my say, aud what I say I stands to," 



Chasseur. 



o THE EAGLE AND OTHER LAKES OP MAINE, 



IN your issue of Aug, 13th, A. F. J., New York, asks 

 for information, " in regai-d to trout fishing in the 



Eagle and neighboring hakes." how to get there, etc.. etc. 

 Having mtide tiie trip myself. I shall take pleasure in 

 answering him by letter, if he will address me. I wrote 

 up the trip fully tor the Uou ,\ND GitiN, and now have it 

 in my scrap hook, but I omitted to retain the date of its 

 publicaiion, s I I cannot refer him t.i the number it ap- 

 peared in. It was entitled, " Mocisehead Lake, Penob- 

 scot Uiver and 15.;youd." The trip was made in .June, 

 1876, aud a|)peared shortly after iu the Rod and Gon. 

 The trip is a very ]ileasHnt one, and easy to accomplish. 

 It is about forty-two miles from the north end of the 

 carry from ilooseliead Lake. The carry itself is two 

 miles long from the upper end of Moosehead. Said carry 

 can be re.iclu'd by steamer from tjreenville or Ivineo, 

 and teams can be had there to take your ctmops over to 

 West Braucli ; here you will find " .loo ' Morris ready to 

 entertam you over night, and you can start down river 

 eiirly in the morning. You can easily reach 



ROOKY RtFTS, 



about fifteen miles, in time for dinner. Here you will 

 encounter turbulent water for some twenty or thirty 

 rods — dangerous, unless your guide knows his " biz :" 

 otherwise, safe and exciting to run. Four of our party 

 " did it," and found it delightful. Si.t miles further, and 

 West Branch spreads out into (i'hesuucoi'k Lake, where 

 you find a small settlement, and where you can get en- 

 tertainment. You next turn your face "northw.ird. and 

 run up stream up the Umhazookaous River, suiiie seven 

 miles, into the Umbazooksous Lake, cro.ssing the south 

 end of the same. You strike, after a mile's paddle, 



MUD POND CARRY, 



the worst carry in all Maine, about two miles in length. 

 Everything must be " toted " here, so you liad b.est go 

 light through mud, which is .generally to lie found ou 

 this carry. Half a mile across Mud'Ponrl takes you to 

 the outlet, and a mile and a half then leads you into 

 Chamberlin Lake, a t)ody of water some lit teen miles in 

 length, by three in width. Crossing this lake, diago- 

 nally (some four mUes). takes you to Chamberlin" Farm, 

 wliere sportsmen are ttlways welcome. Tlirce miles 

 northerly, followhlg the ea.-,iern slu.ae, and voti reach 

 '• The Locks," which, passing tlirough, rakes y-iu tlirough 

 a connecting fiord, some two miles, into Eagle Lake. 



From liagle Lake a very pleasant trip may be made 

 through the Allegash into tlie 8t, John Riy.a-, and thence 

 down to Woodstock iriu Grand Fall.-,) or .St. .Jolm. N. B. 

 This trip has been often taken by spori smen. " From 

 Morris' it may be easily done m ten days, or e\-en ei;:;lii-, 

 with smart guides. We made our trip from Moos-eheaii 

 to Eagle Lake, and return to Maosehead, in five days, 

 Without fretting, spending one day atEagle Like. Bat 

 you have to keep moving to do it, and guides don't much 

 like it, and will likely tell you " it can't be did." 



Regarding the fishing, you will have no trouble in the 

 fishing season in catching all the trout you need to eat, 

 but you -will not find them as plenty as at Moosehead 

 and its tributaries, nor as large. Good guides, however 

 familiar wicli the waters, will find trout always in the 

 season. 



The best guide I know of to take the trip with is Capt. 

 Samuel Cole, Greenville, Maine, whicli, by the way. u a 

 good place to start from, and where other good guides 



may be obtained. At Kineo House, also, you will gen- 

 erally find plenty of guides, if you write in advance to 

 the proprietor of the ICineo House, Greenville, Maine. Be 

 sure, hosvever, you get at least one guide who is familiar 

 with tlie roaie, aud that all your guides are expert river 

 guides, otherwise you may find your canoe bottom up, 

 as canoeing iu tjuick water is quite a dill'ereiit atlair from 

 canoeing in a lake. Good river guides will charge you 

 from !*;i to sttjtjij per day, canoe included. One guide to 

 two men is amply sufficient, if you go light ; otherwise, 

 one to eacli mtin. " 



From Morris' down the West Branch, several pleasant 

 trips maybe taken. From Clicsuucook. a pleasmit and 

 very exciting trip nitiy be made t.j Old Town, Maine. i;ia 

 river all theway is;f>e carriesi. A book. " Summer A'a- 

 cations at iMoo.sehead Luke and Ticiiiit}-,'" Isy Lucius 

 Hubbard, will give you valuable iniormalion, lias a Hue 

 map, and is richly illtLStrated with heliotvpe plates ; puh- 

 lished by A. Williams & Co., Boston, price St. 50. Au- 

 other excellent book, with same uuip, " Guide to Moose- 

 hciid Lake and Norlihern Maine," published by Bradfoid 

 & Authony, Biston, will afford you much iiseful in- 

 formntion ; price, 7^> cents, I (hiiik. I would recoinmei.d 

 all spijrisiiien gcing in that direction to purchase both. 

 The Forest and Stream Fublishiug Company wjU send 

 them to you upon receipt of price. Geo. A. Fav. 



West Meriden, Conn., Auy. IWi. 



Pa^vtuuket, R. I, Ai'g., 20lh. 

 Seeing noalUtsiou to the inclo.sed in your issue of I'Jth 

 inst., allow me to call a.ttention to errors m yoiir an- 

 swers. Ansvvers should be, viz.: Trouciiig good all 

 through that country. The lakes ycui mention are very 

 easy of access, All "of the larger lakes can be reached 

 with only one carrv. viz.; Jlud Pond Carry; that is 

 leavmg out I^.U'theas'i Carry at lu'adof .Moosehe.id, wnere 

 canoes and b.aggage are carried across in ivagoiis. Doz- 

 ens make the trip every year— over thirty to my knou':- 

 edge ruade it last year in AtigusL .tad .Sep'teiuber. Plenty 

 of guides and all" kinds id' sii|)plies I'an be obtained ;it 

 the Kineo House, Moosehead Lake. E.-ccuse my correc- 

 tions of your answers — should have written last week 

 had I been at home. I have been through the country; 

 inquired about, several times ; once with my wife and 

 two children — a boy of nine, and girl of seven — on my 

 way down the St. John's. 1 was there last year on my 

 way from St. John to the Aroostook waters, and am 

 going same route this year, taking with me one of your 

 occasional correspondents aud a brother-indaw, T. ,?. 

 Steele. I ciunot ima.gino who the parliy of three you 

 mention could be. I intended camping on Eagle Lake 

 last year, but the camp fires were so thick 1 left for tlie 

 Aroostook, and believe mine to be the ti is t canoe tha.C 

 ever went from Churciiill and through Sjiider Like into 

 Aroostook waters. 1 was so delighted .» ith the trip, 

 and have talked so much of it to Steele, thtit he has sig- 

 nified a desire to go with me this ye.ir. We start aboiit 

 Sept. lath, and I presume on his return ho will give yon 

 an account of it. 1 should have done so last year luid I 

 been that kind of a man. LymaN B. Goff. 



CAMP CEEAM O'TARTAR. 



No Man's Land, Avrjust, 1880, 



DEAR FORFST: —Every party wliii'b has gene in to the 

 Woods this season, saveours, heralded us departure 

 by many promises of prowe,ss in hunting and lislimg, and 

 many promises of lish ; and a squad which went down 

 east "by water actually aud deliberately took a historian 

 along to chronicle its adventures, 

 quietly — so quietly that I'll wager a 

 against a basket of wine that no c.i 

 are. So. to save curious readers bnu 

 dava, I will unravel our iiersonal idei 

 is a trio— the ■■Doctor," the "Major" 

 So now you know us. Much go(al 

 Much good the camping out has do, 

 (aught everything c.itciiable in thi:: 

 cold, and we daily "wax faf and "k 

 very wantonness of 

 has a small in.sect 



or rather frequently, see 

 pursuit of a strange insect. 



We slipped oil 

 amper of trout 

 kno..vs who ■.\e 



;ur party 

 •■Scribe. ' 

 do you ! 

 Wo have 

 1 this re.gion except a 

 i-ax faf and "kick" up our heels in 

 mjoyinent in living. TJie Doctor 

 t, with which he'i.s occasionally. 



id tlif 



10 saw him so eugagt 

 with the idea that he iu 

 Yesterday he was chasi 

 a double-headed i.iug— a 

 catching a root he took 

 a eood swimmer lie cai 

 The Jh 



uuiug frantically about m 

 Some country gentlemen 



1 went away strongly impressed 

 I the ileliriiim tremens slightly, 

 ig what lie si.lemnly avers was 

 lieail at eacli end— and his foot 

 a header into the lake. Being 

 le ashore as soon as he came to 

 t swim a stroke. The other 



he had our day's supply of cigars in his hat, 

 and when stepping from one boat to the other he stejipi d 

 deliberately between tbeiii into ilie lake, Down he 

 went, aud coining up agtiin tiniong a raft of "weeda'- 

 lie sputtered, ■-.Save the cigars." and sank once more. 

 We saved every cig.-tr, and tiie man. and dn.il ihem. 



The Major avisIus every day. many limes a day, for 

 his sword. Not that he has any tea's for his personal 

 safety, but it would be so handy to spear frogs with. 



The Doctor has just mide an important scieutiuc dis- 

 covery. He has found out that grasshoppers in this sec- 

 tion -are suliject to tiie hip complaint iu whortleberry 

 time. Ue is no,v writing an article, in very small cbalk, 

 on tlie coser of a craci-:er-box, to the London Lancet 

 aiinouiicing this fact. He ex|iects to pay all his campiug- 

 out expenses by the remuiieration he will receive for tiie 

 communication, but it's my opinion that he will be out 

 of |iocket the e.xprtss charges ou the ci^acker-bojc cover, 



It' you, dear I-'urest, expect to receive with this screed 

 any hsh you are mistaken — very much so. What we 

 l\e sell, and don't send a scale lo our bosom 

 friends. "We have a ready market, and the more fish 

 we dispose of the less our camj>iiig out costs us, which 

 is an outrageously sellish, but ;ui entirely common sense, 

 view to take of it. The Doctor does not derive Igia.OOO 

 per annum from his practice ; the Major was related 

 by his grateful country a pension for knocking off hia 

 left great toe wlule fighting, or fleeing, or something in 

 the Wilderness, so he isn't rolling in wealth, and as' tor 

 me, who ever heard of an "ink-slinger'' with any tUthy 

 lucre? But oh, Forest, if you will but come and see 

 us (you can't stay too long) you shall eat of the best, 

 drink of the choicest, and read the Doctor's cracker-box 

 cover essay. AVill you come 'i The Scriise. 



