THE AMERICAN 



r 



SPORTSMAN'S 



JOURNAL. 



[Entered According to Act of Congress, in the year 1879, by the Forest and Stream Publishing Company, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at "Washington, 



NEW YORK, THURSDAY, MAY 20, 1880. 



CONTENTS. 



Answers to Cobbespondknts 331 



Archery :— 

 The Theory and Practice Of Aiming; Highland Park; New 

 York Archery Club 318 



Cricket:— 



Notes Of Clubs, and Reports of Meetings 31B 



Editor: At s— 



Notes; The New York Dog Show; Lessons from Another's 

 Log ; Ths Team to Ireland ; Our Western Letter 312 



Fran Ouctore:— 



The Netv Dam in the Kennebec 30 



Game Bag a:vd tins.-— 



Snipe Shooting; 'Owo Snipe at One Shot: Pennsylvania 



Shooting; wild Pigeons; New York State Con- 

 vention) Shooting Hatches.- , 313 



Game Pkotectiox:— 



Dr. John P. Ordway ; "Virginia 313 



TheKenkei,:— 

 The New York Dog Show; "Nick" on the Show; Kennel 



Notes 8 09,317 



Misc:elt,ant:— 

 Fly-Fishing ou the Nc.pieon: Sporci i > i nee of the 



War; Northern Michigan. '. 305 



Natural Hlbtorv:— 

 My Tame Owl; A Voice for the Sparrows; Spring Field 

 Notes; That Showerol Worms; Eiming Rnfi. id Sronse) 



Prairie Chickens prtakii.L, ■: ■ :;. ■ .in,- s,;i'in-..! Ll--. 



Up a Winter Store? Arrivals at the Hardens 309 



Publishers' Department -- 319 



The Rii'le:— 



Range and Gallery 315 



Sea and River. Fishing :— 

 Fly-fishing for Black liass; Notes from Virginia; Trout in 

 Tennessee; lie Is llight ; Cape Cod as a Resort for Sports- 

 men 309 



News , 319 



Sk Asking an Urn Jjfcpiaon. 



* — 



CHICAGO LAWYERS IN THE BRITISH "WILDERNESS. 



God never did make a more calm, quiet and innocent recreation 

 than angling.— Izaak. "Walton. 



WE pity the man who would not gladly travel a 

 thousand miles for the sport we are now enjoy- 

 ing. The scenery, the climate and the fishing continue 

 to fill our bodies with vigor and our spirits with enthu- 

 siasm. 



We had long heard of this as a famous trout stream, 

 and in no respect are we disappointed. If the traveler 

 on the Hudson admires its Palisades, we look in admi- 

 ration on towering cliffs two hundred feet high ; if other 

 fishermen glow with enthusiasm in capturing the trout 

 of Northern Michigan, or Maine and the Adirondacks, 

 we are landing those which, in a nobler stream, grow to 

 far larger proportions. A single trout landed yesterday 

 would fully furnish the head of the family table of any 

 ' of our friends, and our saddest thought is that wo are so 

 far away as to render that impossible. 



Our party is organized with a view to do ample justice 

 to the attractions of this northern wilderness : James L, 

 High, John Lyle King, Joseph E, Bonfield and myself, 

 lawyers, and Lorenzo Pratt, Esq., who, though not teob- 

 . nically a lawyer, has mingled sufficiently with the pro- 

 fession to entitle him to associate in the ranks established 

 by go<»d old Father Lzaak of "anglers and very honest 

 , men.' 



I Why fa it that lawyers are such fishermen? There 



■are two parties now on the river besides our own, and 



L. nearly every member is a lawyer. To atone for the two 



| non-professionals, two of the lawyers from Louisiana 



have 1 nought their wives, said to be the first white 



women who have ever ascended this river. We have 



found the same thing true in other trips. 



This river being the outlet of the lake of the same 



name lying about forty miles north, is one of the most 



t important streams on the north shore of Lake Superior, 



pt when contracted into narrows or rapids, is 



from fifteen to thirty rods wide, and for about ten miles 



of its length it widens into lakes varying from half a 



' mile to two miles in width. Most of the good fishing 



in the upper half of the river, and much of that is of 



such a character that no experienced angler would think 



ol fishing it. The good fishing lies in the pools, rapids 



and other short stretches, which would aggregate prob- 

 ably four or five miles of river, within which the fisher- 

 man should confine his efforts. 



For years we had had this trip in expectation — not ac- 

 complished on account of- the reported difficulty of 

 reaching here, and the time occupied in going and re- 

 turning. But having set our hearts on coming this sea- 

 son, diligent investigation revealed a practicable and 

 speedy route, and the trip has developed less delays and 

 difficulties than we had feared. The trouble has been 

 that in order to reachRed Rock, at the.'mouth of rlepigon 

 River, it is necessary for the steamers to ascend Nepigon 

 Bay, nearly forty miles, thus carrying them farther 

 out of their course than they are willing to go. But 

 now two steamers of the North Shore Line stop regu- 

 larly at Red Rock, and by arranging to meet one of these 

 at Sault St. Marie or Duluth the whole trip is made easy 

 and delightful. It is probable that the accommodations 

 for next season will be more complete and better under-' 

 stood. 



Like ancient Gaul, this journey was divided into three 

 parts— the first by rail to Duluth, the second by steamer 

 to Red Rock, the* third, which is the only one which now 

 concerns us, is by birch bark canoes, which are the in- 

 separable companions of sportsmen on these waters. In 

 just three days after leaving Chicago we were on this 

 river, which, though flowing through an unbroken wil- 

 derness to-day, has been regularly traveled by the hardy 

 agents of the Hudson Bay Company long before the first 

 white settler arrived in Chicago. 



THE INDIANS, 

 From the various wigwams, as well as from the Mis- 

 sion two miles up the river, the Indians flocked about, 

 not thrusting their services upon us as guides, but judi- 

 ciously wailing to be engaged ; and when the six were 

 selected they commenced getting the canoes in readiness 

 and packing up the camp equipage and supplies, while 

 we were discarding the garments which Chesterfield con- 

 sidered the true test of an English gentleman, and sub- 

 stituting those which would better answer our present 

 purpose. It was a handsome sight — our three canoes 

 working up the rapids, the Indians shouting and whoop- 

 ing, apparently chaffing one another in their rude Chip- 

 pewa dialect, and as they disappeared around a bend in 

 the river we less romantically followed the track across 

 the point, and in a few moments were joined by our In- 

 dians, when we learned that they must stop for break- 

 fast. To those unfamiliar with Indian ways, it may seem 

 a little strange that these simple children of nature 

 should not have breakfasted, as usual, several hours before. 

 It was a lucky thing that High's letter to the Company's 

 agent, had not arrived, as expected, three days before us. 

 For if, as could easily be demonstrated, no Indian within 

 two miles of the post, capable of acting as a guide, had 

 breakfasted at 11 o'clock, and all in anticipation of a 

 contingent breakfast as guide to five unheralded sports- 

 men arriving late the evening before, what must have 

 been the result had the vision of these possible break- 

 fasts in expectation, or contingency, been opened before 

 a larger number of these innocent wards of the nation ? 

 But once in a canoe the Indian appears at his best. He 

 knows just what he can safely do and what he cannot ; 

 what rapids he can run ; how much wind and wave he 

 can paddle her through ;' how swift a current he can pole 

 her tip, and how many awkward white men he can carry 

 in her without letting any of them tumble out. He is 

 also good in an emergency. The first day out our largest 

 canoe, valued as carrying our respected friends High and 

 Pratt, and also as transporting our principal commissary 

 supplies, ran upon a rock and stove a hole in the bottom, 

 through which the water rushed in furiously, half filling 

 her before she could reach the shore. She was emptied 

 instantly, turned on the bank and quickly inspected. 

 The bark covering was torn off over a space at least two 

 feet square. Of the four Indians in council, one started 

 into the woods with an axe, another built a fire and pre- 

 pared the pan of pitchy compound which they always 

 carry, while the others, with their knives, cut away all 

 the' damaged bark, and then moved the ribs and lining 

 until a regular hole was exposed, through which a man 

 might easily crawl. By this time the first craftsman hail 

 returned from the woods with an ample supply of birch 

 bark, whicn they fitted in from the inside of the canoe, 

 leaving a wide lapping of the bark on every side. Then 

 they replaced the ribs and lining, bored little holes all 

 along the edges of the original bark, into which they 

 drove wooden pegs, and finally, after a liberal smearing 

 with pitch, a strip of cotton cloth and another smearing 

 of pitch are added, and the frail craft is launched as 

 seaworthy as ever, and rides as beautifully as though she 

 were built by a worthy master, and might long "laugh 

 at all disaster." 



There is an Indian legend to the effect that once the 

 birch trees grew perfectly smooth and straight, and with 



no branches till near the top. But as the Great Spirit— 

 Nana-Bijoo — was going through the country, to see 

 whether everything was as it should be, he found that 

 the Indians were too lazy ; so ho took a buftch of willow 

 twigs and whipped the birch trees, bringing out knots all 

 over them, thus making it much harder to build a canoe. 

 This is the only thing which the Indian lias against his 

 God, and for this he has never quite forgiven him. 



But aside from a few good points in woodcraft and 

 watercraft, it is difficult to find anyone who lias ever 

 had much to do with the Indian who has much faith in 

 him, or in the prospect of doing anything for him. In 

 his native state he is a haathen. Brought into contact 

 with the white race, he at once contracts their vices, and 

 cannot be taught their virtues. His last condition is 

 worse than his first. The Jesuits have sustained missions 

 along the north shore for over twb hundred years, and 

 what have they accomplished ? His destiny is like that 

 of other inferior races— to die out before the superior, 

 and because they are not, except in rare instances, ca- 

 pable of civilization. 



THE PERFECTION OF FISHING. 



Saturday morning, as the Indians were breaking camp, 

 Bonfield and myself ran out in the smallest canoe to a 

 riffle opposite the point, where we had raised several fish 

 the evening before, and anchored in the stream. At 

 almost the first cast a two pounder rose to his fly, and in 

 another moment I had his mate running down stream at 

 the end of my line. Before I had landed my fish Bon- 

 field had hooked his second, and while he was plunging 

 him Pratt came to the point and shouted to us to come 

 in, as they were ready to go on. But after weighing my 

 fish, and finding that Bonfield had at least five minutesj 

 work before him yet, I naturally throw my fly in again, 

 and quick as a flash out spun the line as a noble fish 

 struck out for the middle of the river. This was encour- 

 aging to us, but discouraging to the others,, who had set 

 their hearts on pushing ahead. Pratt, at the point, was 

 reinforced by High and King, who exacted the promise 

 that we would come in as soon as we had landed our 

 present fish. While we were thus enjoying the first 

 really fine fishing on the river they were suggesting all 

 sorts of speedy methods, not content with giving the 

 lively creatures their legitimate enjoyment of the angler's 

 skill. Bonfield, on landing his second fish, considerately 

 placed his rod in the boat, lest another cast should an- 

 chor him to a third, and then all the energies of the 

 party were concentrated upon my expeditious capture of 

 what proved to be a three and a quarter pound fish. 

 Then, reluctantly, we joined the other canoes, tearing 

 lest another stopping place might not develop as lively 

 sport and our piscatorial appetites sharpened to the 

 keenest edge by this taste of *he famous fishing on this 

 far-famed river. 



At noon we pitched our camp at the edge of a small 

 waterfall, the large pool below which promised well. 

 From 3 to 4 o'clock the whole party whipped this pool in 

 every part, and with every variety of fly. We tried the 

 shallow water and the deen, the swift water and the 

 quiet, the eddies and the swirls, the center and the cir- 

 cumference, the foam at the foot of the falls and the 

 rapids and rocks opposite — but all in vain. Not a single 

 trout showed his glittering side, or even deigned to in- 

 spect the feathery cheat which we lightly drew over the 

 surface of the water. 



Bonfield and I were in agony, and our sorrow's crown 

 of sorrow was remembering happier things. Feeling that 

 our only hope now was in the swift water above, we 

 made the short portage around the falls, and worked our 

 way upward toward a broad and handsome riffle, where 

 for at least forty yards the roughness of the rocky bot- 

 tom was duplicated at the surface of the swift water 

 six feet above. Across half its breadth the current was 

 rapid as a mill tail, and the united efforts of our Indians 

 at their setting poles were required to hold the canoe in 

 position. Only when they could get them wedged into 

 creviceB between the rocks could they succeed in holding 

 her against the sweeping current of the full river, rush- 

 ing to ivard the falls. 



TRUE HAPPINESS, 



Now began the true happiness of the angler, and the 

 reward of his toils, the solace for any disappointments, 

 the balm for any woes. Bach of us struck a fish at al- 

 most the same instant, and our light rods bent and waved 

 with every motion of the fierce captives. The Indians 

 joined'SB the passion of the contest, The rapid current 

 aided the fish and added momentum to Ins every run. 

 The contest called forth all our energy and skill. The 

 fish living in the swift current were quicker, stronger and 

 gamier than those found in the pools. Bonfield's stuck 

 persistently to the bottom; mine dashed desperately 

 about, as though determined to be free from the tortur- 

 ing hook. Our light poles swayed and waved with every 

 motion, but always maintained that regular curve under 

 the severest pressure, which is the highest test of excel- 

 lence of material and workmanship. We must give the 

 fish reasonable play, or they would break our light 

 tackle ; we must keep them under some control, or our 

 lines would be crossed and entangled, and both fish prob- 



