FOREST AND STREAM. 



L880, 



Crowfoot Frills, each from ten to twenty feet high, the 



nn.meof the former being so siig;.m:-.[i . ■■ >■. ':.-.■■, 

 Formation thnt (he Qtiartermasler declared that h /hi;' 

 honestly see the indentation of the axle. Aimtl H • imp 

 ■ ' -in Medwav, and in the morning wo passed 

 Ledge Falls, which although the last of the ] i 

 the East Lraiiob, was none the less inter, hi. 

 gangers, to lighten the canoes, strolled along 

 gathering bright flowers and curious colored stones, while 

 the guides, alone in their canoes, ran the cataract, meet- 

 ing us in the dead water below. These falls are composed 

 Of slate of a greyish color, which after the first steep 

 pitch form into numerous cascades, produced by the 

 sharp ridges of rock which, extending out into the stream 

 from both shores, decrease in height as they approach 

 the center. A dark red stona attracted my attention 

 and I waded into the water to secure it., and on regaining 

 fchi ■■' II'"" soon after, threw it into my camp bag. little 

 dreaming of the value of my prize. On reaching homo 

 it was examined by an old and experienced lap' . 

 proved to be one of the finest pieces of jasper ever found 

 in this country. A portion of the stone as an article of 

 jewelry iuerustcd with the magic words " Ledge Falls/' 

 is highly prized ■>"" "K> w worn as a souvenir by the writer. 

 The stream now gradually widens; with a strong but 

 noiseless How : the mountains retire, and the banks of the 

 are lor the most part bordered by foot-hills and 

 grassy knolls. Glimpses of civilization begin to dawn as 

 i mallv pass a log-house whose lonesome appear- 

 ance is on I v relieved by the happy faces of child o ai 

 the door. 'Corn fields wave their tall sterns, while broad 

 pa s . >f potatoes (for which Blaine is justly celebrated) 

 Uouri^h here surprisingly. It is a sudden change from 

 ] i , . , ', .: . ii a month's camp life, and seems to 



wards home more and more rapidly. 



■',';,",. .■!!■" so : a: ; I." V n i ■■'" "' ' i'.'ro an ! > 



:,-,,', I, o si ilwav (a small town on the left bank of the 

 Penobscot River, of about four hundred inhabitants), and 

 are speeding still faster and faster through the broad 

 river to Mattawamkeag on the European & North Amer- 

 ican Railroad, We have followed the river in its devious 

 windings, from a width of fifteen to now an expansion 

 ivi bundredfeet, We have felt the mysterious 

 sill h -. D f the wildi mess at early- morn, or as the twi- 

 light lessened and the shadows deepened about the camp, 

 only broken by the chirp of the cricket or the weird aud 

 plaintive cry of the loons on t 



Our tour has I 



Srsttoiastwi orests.nol le waterfalls, piu- 



,11,, jam I L ' ..I cascades : a region in which an artist 



might ii,, is -with profit to both eye* and 



brush, while the recuperation to ones neaitli by tlie out- 

 door life in the dry atmosphere cannot be over-estimated. 

 Springing - "'- unjoint our rods, pack up the 



Camera°coBap3e the. canvas canoe, and with hearts full 

 of thanks to the kind Providence which has watched 

 over our two hundred mile voyage, we bade adieu to our 

 as we do now to the reader. 



Thomas Sedgwick Steele. 



fiternent filled from 



er-Ii 



land, thr 

 millions 

 elets bav 



jadi 



..ft 



d byin- 

 ih'lvmj 



<•;. tl 



e winter 



sun 



, and all 



stem 



e, and all 

 here. 



run 



rung no- 



y, corrupted into 



' Tucke- 



nter 



morning 



in 



the year 



Irei ftleaf I o£J i c 



n, had so shaken me 

 n invitation from a 

 shooting and fishing 



A WINTE R IN LO UISIANA. 



TO those who dwell in high latitudes, aud among hills 

 and mountains, the first sight of "Tuckepaw" 

 County, is simply a revelation. 



Imagine a low. fiat mead, n 

 numerable streams and doited 

 letsi all of whii h ste QM i o> 

 parentage' in s mi" hug", ' "ie 

 sparkling bright in Hie rays < 

 seeming to lead an aimless exit 

 where, and all likewise ending 



Such is the Attapakas Count; 

 paw," as I saw it one bright wi 

 ot our Lord 1859, 



Three years of very hard work n 

 plemented bv an intense desire to 1 

 ouainted with Blackstone, Cliitty 

 njusty old tiles of the legal persuas 

 physically, that I gladly accepted 

 great-uncle to recuperate myselJ 1 

 iu Louisiana for a whole winter. 



» Behold of me then 1 " as our lively French friends 

 say, on the good steamer Elepliant, flying on the wings 

 of steam away from the hyperborean regions of Kentucky 

 ro the soft skies and Italy-like Weather of Southern 



Our' boat was crowded with the usual motley crowd 

 that, could then be found on every steamer running on 

 the Mississippi, from the planter who made five hundred 

 , :i , : . haughty., cool, and contemptuous, down to his 

 bumble compeer of five bales, ignorant, excitable, and 

 humble. _ „ 



1 am sorry, alas, to record that there were he i 

 negro dealers, and gamblers, men who. at Lb 

 have ever been regarded as eh, .;■_:.,,. ■ '.,, 

 is, gentlemen who live by their wit-,; exploiters, who 

 lived like princes to-day, blazing m diamonds, and to- 

 morrow, so poor as not to have monej to buy a sutgle 



m After (be first day or two on a steamer, there are nat- 

 urally formed little ctkpa , • a ii"', "-ho ee congenial : 

 taste and sentiment. Aj ong '" 

 3 lorn,'"] wasi themost 



t, r ;,-, til- I"- le men (hi 



fortune to meet, Dr. C -, 

 if be still lives. Should he In 

 rich the 



h-3 will know how m 

 bleBS Dimi real, true 



Dr. C was a li 



exhaustable fun to o 



whose aci)i.iain , 



seal 'i , the most eccon- 

 lt has ever been nr 



of Mississippi—] i '■ - 



: , . , ■ a i ii si Lines, 

 Major" loved him, God 



.:.... I .- 



I am SO 

 Ambrot 



-.si- - . 



beard tl 

 Then 



vhiehe 



Vlll- 



(f. and it was a source of i» 

 v.-nl long imaginary conver- 

 ts held about him : - 

 .. c ji the attic salt of the Nodes 

 but with enough of raulieion.-, personality to 

 na p, and hi - dacl 

 . ., -.■_.-.■ ... _.- a hi. a. 

 _, _ a py , ;,. . I" ■ Iliad SO wilfully 



i mowed any weakness (let us say an amiable 

 ,,.!,, ii." I lector would pounceupon htm.asalordly 

 I tag in wait lor his prey, and crunch bis 



-,ic way, so that the innocent victim felt 



ion. 1 of card p laying, and he and 



E the boa hi "How, would often 



play euchre by the hour. The mate was a lully and u 



coward — no unusual combination. It was during one of 

 these nocturnal orgi-.-. i o_ ; -ouil the "wee BBia 

 hours ayant the tvnl' ' that the Doctor had very uneere- 

 moniously given the mate the lie. Now. I have not the 

 least iloui.it that the mate lied. Indeed, I am certain that 

 he lied, but at that time in the South every fellow tried 

 to consider himself the equal of every one, and tried very 

 hard to make himself and others believe that die was a 

 gentleman. In fact, most of the street fights and bloody 

 encounters were with men of this class, who having no 

 education and no refinement, tried to substitute the pis- 

 tol for good manners, and often succeeded in literally 

 shooting their way into good society. The mate was 

 ambitious, and as it was the first time that he had ever 

 sat. down with gentlemen, now was the tune to cover 

 himself with glory. 



What was my astonishment next morning, s I 

 fast, when Dr. C., after giving me a graphic detail of what 

 had transpired the night before, be asked mo to stand as 

 I..- second ins duel with" the mate which bad beenar- 

 ii gel to come "ii at Baton Rouge. I agreed readily to 

 aot as the Doctor's second, with a. mental reservation 

 that lie should never meet the mate, bully, coward, and 

 no gentleman, if I Could by any means prevent it. At 

 that time I was a crack shot with revolver, rifle, or shot 

 gun. I owned a pair of Colt's heavy revolvers, with 

 which, bv constant practice, I could at" thirty yards hit a 

 silver half dollar every time. At (he next wooding sta- 

 tion, seeing the mate on shore directing the sable crew hi 

 their loading the wood, I buckled on my revolvers and 

 strolled carelessly up the bank and entered into conver- 

 sation with the mate. 



About thirty or forty yards from us was a dead oak 

 literally covered with wild pigeons. These birds, after 

 they have gorged themselves on acorns, are very tame— 

 .I'i.'ii a. 1 lowing several bar" Is I'lvn a ^ iot gun to be fired 

 among them before they will lie. Calling the mate's 

 attention to these lards. 1 asked him if be could 

 kill one of them with a revolver. "No: aud nary man 

 on yearth kin do it," was I be immediate reply. Asking 

 him to pick out a bird for me, he verv sullenly sail: 

 "Thafn pie-kin' hisself will do." Hardly had he spoken 

 wheu the identical bird fell headlong to the earth. " Ac- 

 cident, bv 0— d !'' burst from his pale lips. " Select an- 

 other," and. as before, the bird, fell to an unnerring aim. 

 Two more, and the frightened birds sailed in a dark blue 

 column across the river. "Now"," said I, "youkaow 

 well why I have shot those birds." The trembling limbs, 

 the pallid countenance, and the broken, disjointed utter- 

 ance but too plainly told that he did know. In the most 

 cheerful manner I assured him thai fan idrm should 

 befall the Doctor, who, he wellknew, couldn't hit a barn- 

 door with a revolver, that I should be compelled, in the 

 interests of good society and friendship, to avenge his 

 death. I further assured him in a friendly way that the 

 shooting which he had just seen me do was a mere baga- 

 telle ; that at ten paces, at the word, I could drive; the 

 head of a lack into a board every time. I entreated him 

 to throw up a half dollar, that I might show hint some- 

 good shooting — shooting that he might remember. But 

 he was effectually cowed. That evening ho withdrew bis 

 challenge, and the good Doctor never knew the reason. 



B-.it, bless my soul ! I started to tell of a winter in Louis- 

 iana. 



It was on a bright winter morning, then, that pulling 



-,:.■ in., blinds oi my window, I looked out over the 

 broad •: a'ja's "!"'i I: k thai lay glancing and sparkling in 

 the moruine- sun. Myriads of wild fowl were disporting 

 themselves in its waters as if they had never heard the 

 roar of a shot gun. Iwc pretty little skiffs lay dancing 

 up and down upon the mimic wax es, while innumerable 

 batteauss and " dug outs" completed the marine force, or 



"'iVre^inginystif. I hastened- down stairs, aud on the 

 landing below found my uncle, aunt and cousins waiting 

 to greet ine, and make me feel at home, In ten minutes 

 I fell perfectly" at home, aud I was soon established as 

 ami de maison. 



My uncle had married, years before, a lady of French 

 extraction. His career had been, in old Kentucky, a not 

 infrequent one. Born to immense, wealth, fine horses, 

 d026 guns and cards had absorbed it all. and Uncle Ghis 

 woke 'one fine morning to find himself a ruined man. 

 ..,,,• Sta ■ ii 1 it time were the refuge of ruined 

 ■,,;, | . uans, vs I ose gi I la] planners, whose general buti- 

 ,.'..,, ;.,..'..' i l: , them favorites in Byery circle. Myuncle 



, , solved upon a. new start in life, aud as a prelimin- 

 ary had married a French heiress, So well had he pros- 



„.V,:,i, that when I came to Louisiana to spend my win- 

 ter, he owned three plantations and about two hundred 

 and fifty negroes. 1 say "about," for what Southerner 

 ever knew his exact number of " niggers " ? 



My aunt's father had been a nobleman of the old 

 regilne in France, and very stately and proud, vet with 

 whata kind heart let these lines bear witm •-., 

 stalwart sons and two blooming daughters completed the 

 uauafihold; the Sons, taught in all field sports and 

 ,...;.,, ', . tea ,as was usual in the South, taught 



,,■■,-' ,, .• . ,., ,'.. .,!..-! an. iini.li'Sied as children. 

 sao-.-e- ..a!,, an 1. as I sat down to mv fil'st ; I 



'■mylinesare-casJ m pleasant places." 



A saddle of venison, relic of yestei ■ lay 3d a ter, broiled 

 quail, /eon - n k, fried perch, corn cakes and 



Cafe ''(."■ latt, made up a most a a ■ 1 1 



which I did full justice. Here for the first time I saw 

 . the table at br: 

 Iliad brought my own gun with me, a Wesrley-K!ch- 

 a-.n- >".-'. Ii, 'a large guage at that time, a hard fritting, 

 .1. .,...• di". ".V, weapon, superior in all things to (be mod- 

 em breech-loader, except in facility of loading, oh 

 had guns of French make, serviceeM" ,il: 

 enough, but apt to get shaky and unreliable at more than 

 . . We spent that day upon the lake and I am 

 . i io w many ducks fell to my gun. Suffice 



it to sav that it was slaughter. Thousands upon thou- 

 sands of ducks, braut and getse wore continual; . 

 over our heads, and he had but small skill in 



lid not have filled his skiff, much less game bag, 

 in a day's shooting, 



Nowhere I can there be found si i 



shooting and fishing as can be found in the lakes and 

 bayous of Southern Louisiana. There is something apall- 

 ingly grand about some of the lakes. Giant oj 

 wreathed to their towering summits with the 

 looking gray moss, stand like pyramids rather than trees, 

 while the wind waving the moss gives it a fantastic and 



weird resemblance at a distance to float'iii ba 



(he sails of great phantom ships gliding ; I 



faraway over the sea. Thin the streams, too, dark, 



secret and mysterious, seem to bold within their 



depths of I; i" ecrets, dark, unfatliomaij! 



big, Then. too. the forms of animal life are as\nried as 



the scenery. Kank upon rank in serried columns stand 



the roseate spoonbill aud the crestei I crane, melancholy, 



sedate and silent. Squirrels, black, re I 



from tree to tree and violently scold th 



their domain, long held by prescriptive right : a 



widely ajirt deceitfully smilling, bask in. tl tsTihii 



Upon thousands of decaying logs. 01' i-avhn along lazily, 

 the tipes of their noses j list 

 old slumps or huge oj trees, During i 1 



. i with " I . 

 ■ "el me of all desire to bunt them. 

 eveningmy cousin Herbert proposed that we si" t I 1 ride 

 over to a lake some miles distant which we hadu. ver be- 

 fore visited. Taking our rifles, we were soon speei 1 tag on r 



: .a- to the Jake. On our way thither ra 

 informed me that the alligators in that particular Jake, 

 from some cause, were the most ferocious lied lie had 

 ever seen. There were wild stories afloat among the 



i' told me. of a cruel plants \ side bis re- 



' y Slaves wade i I light the alliga- 



tors, by which many of them were killed and eaten. 

 "They certainly have hada tasteo n aid Herbert, 

 laughing, "and you must watch out, for they an 

 biggest that 1 have, ever seen, and the most .; 

 Presently we earn: in. sigh . .:,.-. of which, from 



its very singular appearance, I often dream to thisdaj J 

 Imagine a deep circular basin lower than the 

 aronndit, containing perhaps a thousand acres. 



Not a tree could be seen in the lake, but its banks were 

 thickly clothed wilh gigantic, I'm 



waving their banners of Spanish moss in thesi i. e 

 air. Dark, deep and sullen, it s: , m i .' h. abode for 

 monsters of all kinds. Dismoui ting i . -- ■■:..■ 1 - ..; . 

 from the lake, for fear thai tl I 1 igaton migh ea1 oui 

 ponies, we walked down, to its banks, -. ■ , , : i . 

 get the sight that met my gaze. On every fog and their 

 thousands of limbs there were alligators— a vi i 

 mare of alligators. Cold, dark, slimy and crri lasl 

 waters themselves, the w!..l - i -"..:,. , - r , , 

 of a horrid dream. The alligator is a verj tenacii 

 mal of life, and nothing less than a half ounce ba I 

 planted in the eye or under the foreleg is itni 



fatal. That ii-'.' ".a " ich other 1 do no1 I a 



they will tear wounded ones to piei es.ll n- . My cousin 

 Herbert seeing some very rare white cranes on i 

 site side of tht lake.lefl me, and I walked out into the lake 

 upon two huge cypresses that had fallen acroi 



other, and from I hat vantage ground I ■■ 



At first 1 shot verv eoollv, and every sliot told, bul liun- 



dreds of others, attracted . ftn sna I ofblooi 



the water into foam, and ■ 



glared at me with hungry, baleful eyes, as ii tie 



like to tear me to pieces, as they did with their wounded 



companions. 



All this made me a little nervous, ami bavj g riiad 

 shot at; one very large, viciotis-li". I. r. 

 em-aged him, while loading my rifle I saw 

 the Jog behind me. Inch by inch the i 

 crept toward me. My hands trembled so that m 

 would not hold the percussion cap which 1 vain". 

 put on the CO is £ D il tier moment, and 1 tvo id 

 been in reach of his tail, and would have been -' 

 the Lake to be torn into pieces b\ the Iru 



who seethed and boiled at my feet. At tin.-, in 



sharp crack of a rifle rang iu my ears; and] I 



erally Baw the ball strike the monster iu i f. i j c and I he 



next moment he fell dead as a stone from tin ii 



hurry to the shore, to grasp im, cOUSta'B hand, 



lo thank him for my life, red .no 



loo horrible to contemplate caln 



meiit's Work, On our way home he 



when a boy, shooting alligators in this La] 



party bad been compelled to deBisl I gatOttipuT- 



stted'tbem on land. From that eventful evening I lost all 



md except 

 atone who l confined my shooting during 



the rest of my Stay to legitimate game. " 



Feared, as I have been, in a country in v, hie!, 

 had been almost exterminated, Hie nui.i 



these interesting a.nimals was ever a won i 



me. You might ride through the tall and man.. 

 for hours, and perhaps not see a single deer : , i 

 crack of a rifle, you could see many him. 

 peering above the tall grass and weeds, seeking i 

 tain your exact location. 



Well do 1 reme 1 1 " I", r Imut. Tin, 



one in that county practised " still" bunting, or I 



my cousins, Herb":" and Robert had procured a - U 



pack of dei rhot old "Virgini; 



legged, dew-lapped, largo bodied d i Ii ana tot 



had doi.tbl less pulled down many . OKI in merry 



old England. 



n nig having been arranged the 



iiii'orlably early hour i 



roused from sweet dreams by a bright Light 



and a gentleman of the. 



the tone of a privi! - - "' tic : "fsyoug" 



drivin' dis ram ni 



As a dim remembrance of the enthusiasm of 

 vious night, stimulated doubtless by my unci 

 otr hurriedly do i 



jacket anil go down. A shIm i 



-.innuianit, for vour hand must l» 



wdld blast, from a hunting buel i . ,; . 



from the dogs intermingled with 1 1 ...ill 



tittle niggers on (he place; with a v\h 

 sweeping gallop, we are ■• 



Faint streaks of the rosy dawn light up 

 as you a re posted at your "stand" " 

 deep stream, and you aiv ; . ' i i ...;.., 



.nies as many as twenty dooi das! 

 that place in order to cross ches am i 

 the deeji mouthed thunder that so fieri tyanrl i a 

 I- " 1 1' ib hind. Shivering ro 



. . ' .'.. i ..: in. .iningair here is col 

 gnarled root of a ini- n 



good you have done anil ail the i | 11 i ". 

 book-keeping, with the balance ■ 

 you stop that aud recall all that yim have ever i " 

 ileer hunting, " Chevy chase, chevv chase ', " tb 



