THE AMERICAN SPORTSMAN'S JOURNAL. 



(Entered According to Act of Congress, in the year 1S79, by the Forest and Stream Publishing Company, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington 



NEW YORK, THURSDAY, JULY 1, 1880. 



CONTENTS. 



Answers to Correspondents 432 



hew York Archery Club; Orltnnl Arohers; Private Prac- , 

 ticoClub; Brooklyn us. Worth Side 431 



Cricket:— 



Matches and News Notes - 4ol 



BMTOBIAL :— 

 The Victory in Ireland; Our Ride Supplement; The Fly- 

 Casting Tournaments : Books for Summer Heading ; Mi- 

 gratory Quail ; Tho Tileston Memorial Fund - 43+ 



Fisn Culture:— 

 Tennessee Shad 430 



Game Bag and Gun :— 



New Jersey State Sportsmen's Ajsneintion; Some More 

 Double Shots; The Fools Not All Dead Yet; Shooting 

 Matches; The Now Jersey Tournament 435 



Game Protection :— 

 Work tor Game Protectors; A Working Society 435 



The Kennel:— 

 Mr. Dalziol's Letter to the Llvc-Slock Journal ; Working 

 Dogs in the Mountain S vales for Summer Woodcock 

 Shooting: Eastern Dogs for Pruirio Chicken Shooting; 

 Fleas and Mange; Photographs; The Illustrated Book of 

 the Dog 430 



MlSCELLANV :— 



Muskoka and the Georgian Bay islands .- 427 



Our Western Letter 433 



Trapping Wild Pigeons - 433 



Natural History:— 

 Spring Notes from Minneapolis - 428 



Publishers' Department 433 



The Rifle :— 

 The Irish-American Match, with Illustrated Supplement; 

 Range and Gallery . 437 



Sea and River Fishing : — 

 Fishing Notes from Miramlchl ; Bass and Muskalonge Pish- 

 ing; Buss Fishing- In Illinois; A Dead "Rise"; Rye Beach 

 Fishing ; Notes ; Fly-Casting 430 



Yachtinq and Canoeing :— 

 Yashting News 440 



Inskoha and the jjjjJiwQwti j§mj 



THERE is nothing so pleasant as reading an acconnt 

 of a fishing or hunting trip with pleasant compan- 

 ions and plenty of sport, except the trip itself ; and I, 

 for one, although enjoying the sketches very much, al- 

 ways feel a want, in most of them, of practical infor- 

 mation. 



Persons of ample means can, of course, take advan- 

 tage of any narrative they read, and go and do likewise, 

 still I have no doubt there are numbers of your readers 

 •who, like myself, are very eager to go on just such 

 jaunts, but not able to go if they are too expensive ; also 

 many others who would be saved much trouble and loss 

 of time and expense if they had any practical experi- 

 ence to guide them. 



The following is an account of a trip made among the 

 lakes and hills of Muskoka and the Georgian Bay Islands 

 waters. 



Our party consisted of four — Capt, S., his wife, M., 

 her companion, Bliss F., and myself. Our outfit was as 

 follows : One barrel containing provisions— ham, corn 

 meal, dried beef, syrup, tea, coffee, etc. ; one bag of hard- 

 tack (not the veritable hard-tack of the old Bait, but 

 Canadian, large, square and very palatable, costing five 

 cents per pound), one canvas sailor's donkey or water- 

 proof bag, for each of the men ; one trunk for the ladies, 

 a bundle of bedding covered with a buffalo robe, and a 

 box ten inches square by forty inches long containing 

 guns, fishing tackle, ammunition, etc., and a small 

 hatchet ; one tent ten by ten feet, five and one-half feet 

 high at eaves, so no inconvenience of stooping, and hav- 

 ing a partition in center. The tent was in two pieces, 

 top and sides, and made into a bundle like a carpet-bag. 

 The poles came apart in the middle, so that they, with 

 the fishing rods, made a very small bundle. No hoats, as 

 we expected to get them at our destination. 



We procured a passage on the large schooner Midland 

 Rover from Goderich to Midland City, and left "G." on 

 Thursday, the 10th of July, 1879, Weather rainy 

 all day, but very pleasant in the evening, with a light 

 southerly wind. We remained on deck chatting, sing- 

 ing and enjoying the novelty until almost midnight, As 



the vessel was only taking lumber on her return trip, we 

 had the deck all to ourselves. 



Friday, the 11th, the weather was foggy and drizzly, 

 wind very light all day. Busied ourselves arranging fish- 

 ing tackle, etc. In sight of Cove Island Light at the end 

 of the Indian Peninsula at midnight. 



Saturday opened warm and sunny ; hardly any wind ; 

 only sailed ten or twelve miles last night. We found 

 ourselves oft" the Flower Pots after breakfast. As the 

 vessel was going very slowly, Capt. S. and I lowered the 

 canoe into the water by ropes at each end, and, towing 

 her to the bows, we both got into her from the dolphin 

 strikes and paddlod off to visit the "Pots." They were 

 three in number at the time of our visit, although for- 

 merly there were seven, the remainder having been over- 

 thrown by storms, or human vandals. They are com- 

 posed of immense blocks of stone weighing many tons, 

 over thirty feet in height apparently, and stand in the 

 water at the southeastern limit of the island, which is 

 nothing but a mountain of rock covered with evergreens 

 and shrubbery to its very summit. The Flower Pots 

 have the appearance of cones inverted or standing on 

 their apexes, and, in my opinion, were formerly parts of 

 the mainland, or rather main island, which have become 

 detached and worn to their present shapes by the action 

 of the water. The lake, or rather bay, for we enter the 

 Georgian Bay as we pass Cove Island, was very clear at 

 this place, and we were able to see the boLtom at a great 

 depth. After enjoying a slight stretch on shore, we 

 picked a few wild flowers for the ladies and paddled off 

 after the vessel, catching up to her when she was oppo- 

 site the Bear's Rump, an island of rocks covered with 

 evergreens, and of such a shape as to entail on it the eu- 

 phonious name given above. 



The cook gave us a very fine salmon trout for dinner, 

 which the men had caught before we came up. The 

 night was light and starry, as we slowly forged through 

 the middle of the largest of fresh water bays. I re- 

 mained on deck enjoying the scene and a cigar until 

 1:30 a.m. 



Sunday morning. Light and sunny ; breeze still light ; 

 caught a large black bass with trolling hook, and almost 

 caught a trout, but he flung him3elf off the hook as he 

 was°leaving his native element. The captain stated that 

 he caught nine salmon trout on the last trip up. but that 

 wo were now going too slow for fishing. The line used 

 in deep sea trolling is about the thickness of a slate pen- 

 cil ; the spoon is some three by two inches, and the 

 hooks some two or three inches long. 

 At dinner time we passed the Western Islands (the spot 

 here the ill-fated steamer Waubuno was supposed to 

 have foundered last fall with all on board). We arrived 

 in Midland about 6 A.M., having experienced a very de- 

 lightful voyage up. Midland we found to be a very en- 

 terprising town, situated on the eastern shore of a small 

 bay of the same name opening into the Matchdash Bay. 

 Its chief industry is lumbering ; and it is also, at present, 

 the terminus of "the Midland Railway, of Canada, which 

 was finished to here the present year. 



Monday we intended to leave on the Midland Railway 

 for Bracebridge, via Orillia, but owing to an accident 

 which happened to one of our number we were obliged 

 to wait over until Wednesday, when we left by the noon 

 train, reaching Orillia at 2 P.M. Left Orillia at 4:15, via 

 Northern Railway for Gravenhurst, where we took the 

 steamer Winona, and, after a pleasant voyage of some 

 sixteen miles on lake and river Muskoka, we reached 

 Bracebridge. 



Bracebridge is the chief town of the district of Mus- 

 koka, and is situated at the head of navigation on the 

 Muskoka River. We found the hotels full of sports- 

 men and guides, all getting off for a shoot in the woods 

 or a fish in the rivers and lakes, so plentiful hereabouts. 



On Thursday, after a good deal of bargaining and talk- 

 ing, we made "arrangements with a livery-keeper to take 

 us to Baysville, some sixteen miles from Bracebridge, and 

 come for us for the sum of $12, which we at first thought 

 was rather exorbitant, as we all, bag and baggage, only 

 made one load, but going over the road changed our 

 minds. We started after breakfast and made the sixteen 

 miles in time for supper at the other end, and, of all the 

 roads I ever saw, that is the worst— some forty-nine 

 hills, all of bare rock, at one time called the "Devil's 

 Gap." The wagons had to be unloaded, and everything 

 hauled over it in stone boats, it was so precipitious. 1 

 think our appearance, as we were on the road that day, 

 would have created no little commotion in a civilized 

 town. A large wagon, filled with boxes and bags, etc., 

 etc.. a bufTalo robe stretched over, and all bound securely 

 with ropes ; on the top of all the ladies in large hats, and 

 the male portion of the parties in havelocks. Our driver 

 added not a little to set off the group. We were honored 

 by the livery-keeper himself, as ladies were an unsual 

 article in that country, and had to be driven carefully. 

 He was a tall, dark, tine-looking, strapping fellow, and 

 hatl formerly been a guide and trapper before this region 

 had been opened up, and he was very entertaining with 

 his stories ot olden times in the woods we were going 



through. 



branch of the Muskoka River, about two and a half miles 

 from Trading Lake, of which it (the river) is the outlet. 

 As usunl with Canadian towns, the nucleus of the village 

 was a sawmill, located at the first falls on the river, and 

 in consequence was at the head of navigation. We drove* 

 immediately to the river bank, and pitched our tent for 

 the Brat time. We procured our fishing permits from Mr. 

 Wm. Higgings, who is the sub-inspector for this region. 

 We also got our boats, etc., through him. He is the 

 principal sporting character in the neighborhood, and 

 keeps a number of hounds. 



It seems like olden times once more, to be sitting 

 around a camp fire with the varying light reflecting on 

 the white canoes at our backs. 



Friday morning we Btruck tent and left Baysville for 

 Trading Lake, all of us in one boat twenty-feet long, and 

 vouchsafed to be a good sea boat. We also towed a flat- 

 bottom skiff containing our luggage, which had been 

 considerably decreased l-y our constituting Baysville a 

 storehouse, and leaving the trunks, etc., there. As 

 our injured companion required some rest, we deter- 

 mined to camp at the foot of the lake over Sunday, and 

 so pitched our tent in an open glade on a bank possessing 

 an extensive view of the lake, where we remained until 

 Monday amusing ourselves by getting enough fish for our 

 own use, eating berries, and exploring the neighboring 

 islands. We caught one speckled trout weighing four 

 pounds. The view from our tent was very pleasing, in- 

 deed. In front, as far as the eye could reach, stretched 

 the beautiful, cool lake, its surface dotted with islands, 

 the banks in some places very rocky and high, and in- 

 dented principally on the northwest with deep fiords, 

 which give to the lake its second name of " Lakes of 

 Bay." 



Monday, July 21st, 1879. Up very early ; sunrise re- 

 minded me of those lines of the poet beginning thus :— ^ 

 " The morn, in russet mantle clad, 

 Walks o'er the dews of you high eastern hill." 

 Struck camp after a hurried breakfast, and made for 

 up the lake, with a lair wind, turning our large boat into 

 a sail craft by the help of an oar and part of our tent. 

 The flat bottom we surnamed the "pollywog," on account 

 of her propensity to waddle in towing. 



The upper part of Trading Lake is divided into two large 

 bays, one running to the northeast and the other to the 

 northwest. We decided to take the last as our scene of 

 operations, and dined at noon on the point of the penin- 

 sula separating both the bays, and constituting the half- 

 way mark also. Reached the end of North bay at 0:30 

 r.5I., having enjoyed a delightful sail of eighteen or 

 twenty miles from the foot of the lake with a fair wind. 

 Pitched camp in a grove of pine trees about six or 

 eight feet above the level of the lake. Back of us, and 

 on all sides, the mountains rose to considerable height. 

 Black flies were rather troublesome ; the other pests are 

 out of season. 



Ned Gould, the champion hunter and fisher of these 

 regions. liveB about half a mile from our camp, across 

 the end of the bay. He was very obliging to us during 

 our stay, letting us have his canoes, etc., whenever we 

 wanted" them. 



We remained in this locality over a week, fishing, 

 shooting, etc., etc., and enjoying ourselves thoroughly. 

 We found that, as regards lishing, we had made a great 

 mistake omitting to bring worms with us, as this being 

 deep fishing period, the trout all lying at the bottom 

 were gorged with minnows, and would only look at spe- 

 cial bait, such as worms, of which there are none to be 

 procured in the country. Howsver, although we did 

 not catch as many as we had hoped to, those we did get 

 were large, and we have no doubt if we had been a month 

 or six weeks earlier we could have caught immense 

 numbero, as the water appeared to be teeming with 

 them. 



As for shooting, we had some good sport with ducks, 

 and a number of very exciting chases after loons. These 

 are large birds of the duck species, about the size of 

 geese, black on top with a white breast, and are unpala- 

 table as food on account of being too tough. The down 

 is very thick and close, and is said to ward off any ordi- 

 nary shot or bullet. When skinned and cured the pelt 

 is used in the backwoods for the seats of chairs, etc., and 

 in towns and cities for boas, muffs, etc., and id very 

 durable. 



At ni^ht the birds emit a weird, mournful cry, like a 

 person drowning. They cannot rise in the air except 

 against a very strong wind, and then they have to fly 

 some distance before accomplishing the. teat. To counter- 

 balance tins disadvantage they can remain under water 

 a long time, and swim very rapidly while so immersed. 

 We chased one for a long time one day, and had eventu- 

 ally to get Gould and another man to help corner him 

 up When we got him he was almost full of buckshot. 



Friday, Capt. S. going off on a trip with Gould, I got a 

 canoe of Gould, and taking the ladies, took a trip up the 

 north branch of the Muskoka River, which empties into 

 the bay just opposite us. We paddled up to the falls, 

 some three or four miles, and on our arrival there, unan- 

 imously concluded that the scenery we had passed 



Ve found Baysville a lively viUage, situated on a I through was the finest of its kind we had ever seen. The 



