THE 



[Entered According to Act of Congress, in the year 1879, by the Forest and Stream Publishing Company, in the Offloe of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.] 



NEW YORK, THURSDAY, MARCH 11,1880. 



CONTENTS. 



Answers to Cohkesfondknts 109 



109 



EDITORIAL:— 



Notes; The Mutual Interests of Farmers and Sportsmen ; 

 The International Fishery Exhibition ; The International 



TtiHe Match 110 



Ftsn CUH3JRE:— 



Acclimatization of Whiteflsh in New Zealand; Liver-fed 



Fish ; American Fish Cultural Association - 105 



Oasis IUq and Gun :— 



Live Quail: Costly Ammunition ; Notes; Brule Lake; Duck 

 Shooting on Long rsland ; Winter in North Carolina: A 

 Worthy Example; Eight-Dollar Stubb Twists; Shooting 

 Matches 112 



Game Protection:— 

 Should the Gun be Taxed? A New Maine Association; The 

 Migratory Quail in Pennsylvania; The Lehigh Association. Ill 

 The Kennel :— 

 Our London Letter: Two Anecdotes of Collie Dug's; The 

 New York Bench Show; Entries for the Derby; Cockers 



for Woodcock and Grouse ; Notes 107 



Miscellany :— 

 Unfrequented Regions of the Adirondacks ; Dulling for 



Trout 108 



Natural History:— 

 Books of Reference; Notes; Signs of Spring; Winter 

 Weather; Albinos in California; RaUu* Aeffans !u Con- 

 necticut 10t 



rrjnLTsnEns' Department , 10S 



The Rifle:— 

 Hange and Gallery ; The Lyman Sight: A Hunter's Experi- 

 ence with Bullets Ill 



Sea and River Fishing :— 

 Notes: Tin ke Country; Prince Arthur's Laud- 



am-, i.uiiai :■■ : Varnished fly-Rods and Casting Sideways: 



Salmon-poisoned Dogs ; A Boat In Three Hours 10(1 



Woman's Column:— 



Canoeing on the Derwentwater ,.. 1C8 



Yacuting and Canoeing :— 

 The ll-rreshnrr System of Steam Propulsion: To Corre- 

 snondents; The Facts in the Case; The Canoe l"!oii'TU«s- 

 Yachting News 115 



JC 



nfmjaentcd Regions of the 

 Mdivondacks, 



I WILL endeavor to describe a few localities in the 

 northern portion of the Adirondacks, most of which 

 have been comparatively little frequented by sportsmen 

 Irom abroad. There are but two roads in the country, run- 

 ning north and south, reaching up into the heart of the 

 Adirondack region. One is from Malone, running directly 

 south to Paul Smith's on St. Regis Lake, and past 

 Meacham Lake : the other from Moira and Brushton, 

 fourteen miles west, running directly south and parallel 

 to the other to Blue Mountain. After going ten miles 

 south there is no road crossing from one to the other, 

 ami all the couutry between the two is an unbroken wil- 

 derness. All the parties going in at the northern end of 

 the Adirondacks, or nearly all, have gone in by the Ma- 

 lone road, and of course that portion in the western part 

 of the county has not been nearly as much hunted as 

 tlie eastern, except in the extreme south end. which has 

 been hunted and fished over by parties fitted out from St. 

 Regis and Saranac Lakes, and by parties coming in by 

 Tuppers Lake. The road that runs south from Moira 

 ends at Blue Mountain, twenty-four miles south of here. 

 It is nearly opposite Meacham Lake on the Malone Road, 

 about fifteen miles west of there and about twenty-five 

 iniles northwest from St. Regis Lake, or Paul Smith's 

 house. There is a house there kept by Henry Phelps, 

 with all kinds of accommodation for sportsmen, and 

 charges reasonable— SI per day for board, and $1,50 for 

 guides. He will rig out parties with camping rigs, boats, 

 etc. , who wish to go to some of the streams and ponds in 

 the vicinity. The house is large and commodious ; he 

 seta a good table, has good beds, and is much better liked 

 than the former proprietor, Merrill, who died a year or 

 so ago. The foot of the Sixteen-mile Level of the St. 

 'Regis River is near the house. Boats can run up sixteen 

 miles on this, and it is a splendid place for deer and 

 trout, with a bear occasionally. The localities, which are 

 mostly new, and have been but very little visited, will 

 all have to be reached by way of the Blue Mountain 

 route, Wolf Pond, eight miles southwest from Blue 

 Mountain House, is but very little visited. The upper 

 branches of the Parishville River run close to it and 

 abound in trout, some of a large size,, and, in any deceit- 



kind of a day one can catch all the trout he can carry. 

 Deer, hears and panthers are to be found there. I was 

 there in June last, and at night the deer would come 

 and the shanty and whistle at all hours \ and we 

 frequently heard a catamount scream, and one of the 

 party saw two on the banks of the pond. There is no 

 road in there, only a blazed trail. When I and my 

 party went in, we had Mr. Phelps take our boat and 

 baggage on a jumper — a sort of sled — and part went 

 ahead and cleared the road ; the rest stayed by the sled 

 and helped it over logs, and in that way we got along 

 very well. The river there is fifteen to twenty-five yards 

 wide, and there are levels of still water and rapids. The 

 levels have to be fished from a boat. 



There is another branch a short distance below, which 

 is smaller, but it is full of trout, and has never been 

 fished by a dozen different persons. I did not go to it, 

 for we got more trout than we wanted where we were 

 close to our camp. There is a very good shanty at the 

 pond, made of logs, with a bark root, with a door and 

 small glass wiudow, belonging to a trapper who traps 

 here in the late fall. All the couutry west of Blue 

 Mountain is an unbroken wilderness for miles, until you 

 come to the back settlements in St. Lawrence Comity, 

 and there are several ponds and streams which have 

 no name and are only frequented by trappers and a 

 few still-hunters. Oavauaugh Pond is only three miles 

 from Blue Mountain House and is a great resort for 

 deer and other animals, but it is not much of a place 

 for trout. Many deer were killed there last season by 

 only a few persons hunting. Mr. Phelps keeps a boat 

 there, and has a rough shanty built on its shore. All 

 this country west of the road for eight or ten iniles 

 north of Blue Mountain House has never been visited 

 but hy very few, if any, sportsmen. It is out of the 

 way of parties coming from the large sporting houses in 

 the" eastern section of the Adirondacks. and the only way 

 they can reach it is to come down the St. Regis River, 

 through Sixteen-mile Level, and this would be a trip no 

 guides would like to undertake. 



Three miles up tho Sixten-mile Level on the St. Regis 

 River. Quebec Crook empties, and about five miles up 

 the brook is Muddy waska Pond. It is a rough road into 

 it from the river, and a boat has to be earned more than 

 half the way. It is a good long day's tramp to go there 

 from the Blue Mountain House. The pond itself is not 

 much, but there is a level above and below it of about 

 four miles in length each, with deep water and many 

 trout of large size, ft is a famous place for deer and 

 other animals. It has been visited by some few from 

 abroad, who went in with guides from McCollom's on 

 the Meacham Road, but few have been in, on account of 

 the distance from any road. I have been there several 

 times and always had good success. At the foot of the 

 lower level there are a few beavers yet, and one is occa- 

 sionally seen. 1 have seen birch trees four inches in di- 

 ameter freshly cut by them ; and they were there last 

 season, for a friend of mine saw one while he was fishing 

 at the falls, One was killed two years ago. I have 

 caught many big trout in both the levels, and have 

 hooked some that took hook and most of my line off 

 with them several times. The stream can be fished nicely 

 with a fly from a boat. Parties going in must take a 

 boat in with them, as none are kept there, except by 

 some hunter who hides his boat. I and two others ex- 

 pect to have one there of our own next season. We have 

 one now at Wolf Pond if no one has found it and made 

 away with it. 



Four miles below the Blue Mountain House, on the 

 river, is Spring Cove House, at the head of another level ; 

 it is owned by Den Smith. He keeps sportsmen and acts 

 as guide himself, and is a good one. He will furnish 

 boats and provisions and everything for camping out, 

 and will go anywhere with parties at a reasonable price. 

 He was up on the'Sixteen-mile Level four weeks last sea- 

 son, with two young gentlemen from New York City. 

 He is a good cook anil understands all about hunting and 

 fishing'. His address Ls the same as that of Mr. Phelps, 

 St. Regis Falls Post Office, Franklin County, N. Y, Par- 

 ties going to either hud better write a, week or so in ad- 

 vance, and if to Mr. Smith he will meet them at St. Regis 

 Falls. His place is some distance off the main road. 



About five iniles lower down the river is the Hum- 

 phrey Level, eight to nine miles in length. Several fam- 

 ilies live near there and will take a limited number of 

 boarders, Three or four famiiies live in that vicinity, 

 among whom is old Bill Edwards, who has killed inure 

 large game than anyone man in the nurthern part of 

 the Adirondacks. He has hilled seven catamounts or 

 panthers, and bears and wolves by dozens. He acts as 

 guide and will go with parties to any locality, but can- 

 not furnish anything but boat and dogs. Mr. Dimmick, 

 a resident there, wiU always accommodate a few boarders 

 at seventy-five cents per day and throw in the use of his 

 boat. It would be a good place for two or three to spend 

 a week or more, who could handle a boat themselves and 

 fish and enjoy the mountain air at a small expense. It 

 is about fifteen miles from hero (Moiraj, and if they 

 wished to go off to any oilier place they could get Ed- 

 wards for guide, or some of the others there. There are 



several small ponds near there in which trout are quite 

 numerous ; besides, good trout-fishing can be had in the 

 river. The East Branch of the St. Regis empties into the 

 Middle Branch near the foot of this level, and along both 

 streams hero is a great place for deer. It was on the 

 East Branch, near here, that a party of three killed four- 

 teen deer and a boar in one week November last. Up the 

 East Branch, through its whole length to where it rises 

 in Meacham Lake, is an unbroken wilderness, except one 

 or two small clearings of an aero or two ; one at the only 

 place where it runs near a traveled road. That is at the 

 old Sanford & Skinner Saw Mill, at the foot of a level of 

 eight or ten miles. A Mr. Sampson keeps a house here 

 and boats, and has several grown up boys who act as 

 guides ; it is a good locality for deer-hunting and trout- 

 fishing also, and is the greatest place for ruffed grouse I 

 know of ; in faot they are plenty all over the North 

 Woods clear down to this village. 



I have given you a sketch of soma of the localities 

 that I know of, where good sport at either hunting 

 or fishing can be had, places I have visited myself. But 

 there is a large portion of the country between the two 

 main roads, which I never visited, and I know of no one 

 who ever did. 



The Blue Mountain House is situated in a fine locality 

 and the view from it is the best of any sporting establish- 

 ment I ever visited in tho mountains. One can look from 

 its door over a tract of country sixty miles in extent. 

 White Face Mountain, in Essex County, is in plain sight! 

 also Debar Mountain beyond Meacham, and the whole 

 chain of mountains in the northeast and St. Regis in the 

 southeast. It is the best place I know of for the sports- 

 man to go to that is easy of access, and to fit out from to 

 go to other localities not much frequented, to camp out, 

 aud the cost will not be one half what it would be at St! 

 Regis Lake and other places east and southeast. Of 

 course they have not all the extras to be found at Paul 

 Smith's or Martin's and other older establishments, but 

 plenty of good food and good beds, with board by the 

 week' for*-!. 



I go independent of all. I have a tent, boat, sheet-iron 

 stove, etc. I camped seven weeks on the Sixteen-mile 

 Level all alone in August and September last. Took 

 along a sack of flour and all other things and did my own 

 cooking and baking. The whole trip did not cost mo over 

 $15 from home. I killed a great many spruce partridges 

 in September. They are living on berries then and 

 have no bad taste. I caught a great many trout in Au- 

 gust with a fly in the nrany deep spring holes along the 

 level, and gave, a great many away to blue berry parties 

 who come in there in August to gather the berries. The 

 first week I was there I heard a catamount scream regu- 

 larly every morning about 3 o'clock on Buck Mountain 

 opposite my camp, and shortly after an old hunter gath- 

 ering spruce gum over there saw him or his mate. 



There are one or two places on the Malone Road to St 

 Regis Lake, where much better hunting and fishing carl 

 be had than in tho vicinity of the sporting-establishments 

 or hotels. McCollom's, about halfway between Meacham 

 and St. Regis Lake, is yet a grand good place to go for 

 deer or trout. I went there every season for eight or nine 

 years previous to the last two. Osgood River and Hay's 

 Brook, close by, are good trout streams, and I have 

 caught a trout in each that weighed three pounds, one 

 three pounds two ounces by MeColloui's steelyards, and 

 the other measured twenty inches in length. I never 

 fished hi Hay's Brook but what I got my basket full of 

 trout, It is the best stream for trout in the hot days in 

 July and August I know of, as the water is cold on ac- 

 counl of the many springs along its banks, and trout run 

 up it from Osgood River and Meacham Lake. (The Os- 

 good River enters into Meacham Lake). There are some 

 large trout in it, but the average run from eight inches to 

 twelve inches in length, with some up to eighteen inches 

 and twenty inches. Muddy waska Pond lies west of McCol- 

 lom's some eight miles, and a fewfparties go in this way. 

 Spring Pond, Chain Ponds, Baker Pond and Rice Pond 

 are all within two miles of the house. Mr. McCollom 

 will accomodate a few boarders at from $1 to $1.25. He 

 has a large farm, keeps forty or fifty head of cattle, has a 

 large ice house and is a good hunter. Quebec Pond aud 

 Pplusby, Jr., are six and seven miles southwest of there. 

 Thev are frequented considerable by parties from St' 

 Regis Lake. On the whole I consider McCollom's the' 

 best place for hunting or fis hing on that road. The head 

 of Meacham Lake is only four mUes north, and parties 

 wishing to go there will take his boat down, and thev 

 can fish and hunt there it they like, as he often does. 

 Meacham Lake affords better sport in my opinion than 

 any of the old sporting establishments, or rather locali- 

 ties, which have had hotels near them for any length of 

 time to accommodate sportsmen. Mr, Fuller has token 

 considerable pains to keep the lake stocked with young 

 trout, aud has a regular batching establishment of his 

 own. Salmon trout are caught there weighing from 

 twe.ntv-five to thirty pounds in May quite frequently by 

 trolling. Mr. McCollom's address is A. C. McCollom 

 DuaneP. O., Franklin Co., N. V. Mr. Fuller's is A. R. 

 Fuller, same post office. Ragged Lake, the State Dam 

 on Salmon River, and the Bend on same river above 



