488 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



fJuTY S22, 18S0. 



fortunate beings mav be well illustrated by the facj that 

 I hare frequently been given untfruited fishing privileges 



hyi 



hand 



11I..L 



lid to total strangers, and on U 



ve upon one Occasion had my sport feed as to 



of days by the boat of a country house at which 

 I was then sta-yin ;ai a vited guest, twas considered 



fortunate even b tot, [lie old gentleman, though 



he had never seen a trout caught, was a monomaniac 



upon the subject of game preservation for its own sake 

 only. No well-worn track wound along among the ferns 

 and briars and rushes that fringed the banks of that 

 most sacred stream. The trout of generations had con- 

 gregated and grown lazy and died in the. pools and riffles 

 of those neglected waters. There wore thousands of 

 them, and X think they would have risen at your boots 

 or your hat had you run through your fly-book. Gene- 

 rations of keepers had walked thousands of miles in the 

 '1 11 quest of daring intruders who might have the har- 

 dihood to cast a fly upon that precious stream, whose 

 contents never benefitted, even to the extent of one 

 breakfast per annum, their jealous and distant owner. 

 Well do 1 remember those four days that afl important 

 looking document intimated to the keeper I was to have 

 for an attack upon those unsophisticated troutlings. I 

 was a sail young dog in those days where a lisli was con- 

 cerned, and I am afraid the four days, under the some- 

 what lax observation of that worthy functionary, were 

 considerably stretched, till I began t'o get fairly ashamed 

 of myself ; not for my stolen license, I am afraid, but for 

 devoting so much tone to the slaughter of innocents who 

 did not know a March brown from a bumblebee. 



Heaven preserve us from the average English game- 

 keeper. It is the fashion, because he can shoot straight 

 while his brother can only drive a wagon or turn a fur- 

 row, to regard him as a mighty tine fellow. So lie may 

 be, doubtless, among his equals at the village tap— and it 

 is natural he should be a demi-god among that large pro- 

 portion of the '•jeitnesse U'oree" whose sole aim in life is 

 to acquire the arts in which he and their grooms have 

 long ago attained perfection— but he is certainly not seen 

 t ) advantage when ordering his master's guests to their 

 pasta in a pheasant cover, with a shrewd eye to their 

 " tipping" capacities, or haunting, with visions of possi- 

 ble sovereigns floating before his eyes, the quiet-loving 

 and independent angler who wishes him at Jericho, and 

 to whom, when merely trout fishing, he can render no 

 possible sendee. Catching trout in an open water must 

 have a zest for the true sportsman that is utterly want- 

 ing in a prolific river that is very closely preserved. It 

 is the difference between knocking over a cantering hare 

 before tbe sticks of the beaters in an English covert and 

 cutting down a January quail at full speed in a Virginia 

 wood. While speaking of fish preservation in Great 

 Britain, 1 should mention that there is an immense quan- 

 tity of trouting water [hat would not bear, from its im- 

 mediate proximity to great centers, being thrown indis- 

 criminately open to the public, and is rightly preserve,] 

 in a liberal manner by private individuals or clubs, and 

 generally utilized to its utmost capacity. 



One distinct feature of the border stream we were 

 lately discussing is the presence of the "gray " or " bull " 

 trout, a species ot salmon trout that is found, with 

 scarcely any exception, in the northeastern rivers and 

 tributaries, and nowhere else, I believe, in the kingdom. 

 These tish, which a novice could not distinguish from a 

 sea trout, ascend [he Wear, the Coquet and the Tweed in 

 October to spawn, and begin rising to the fly the follow- 

 ing February, when they afford most excellent sport, 

 running from one to ten pounds in weight. As an article 

 of food, however, they are useless for polite tables, being, 

 of course, poor and out of condition. In April they 

 go dowu again to the sea, so are never to be had 

 in a season when they an) fit for food, and are conse- 

 quently not thought worthy of legislation. I have had line 

 sport with them on small trout tackle early in March 

 when the weather has been too cold for the brook trout 

 to rise, and the held has been left clear for the " bullies.'' 

 An eight-pounder on a twelve-foot rod, and a fine cast 

 is about as excellent an imitation of salmon fishing as 

 could be procured. Right sociable are the evenings, too, 

 at the rustic inns that are scattered along the banks of 

 the Tweed that nestle among the hills which, look down 

 upon the White Adder and the Black Adder, the Teviot 

 and the Tyne, ami the hundred little foaming burns that 

 feed them. Through April and May the chances are 

 some eight or ten lovers of the craft will smoke their 

 pipes and sip their toddy round the blazing peat fire 

 that, in those latitudes, is :.i ihat .1 1 so doubly wel- 

 come. Every hole that contains a trout, from Edin- 

 burgh to Carlisle, from Glasgow to Berwick, is dis- 

 cussed with the accurate knowledge of old habitues. 

 What fish are caught, as the second tumbler begins to cir- 

 culate ! What monsters are extracted from the waters 

 of'Still St. Mary's Loch." What magnificent, fellows 

 are still lying beneath Kelso Bridge, with whole casts in 

 their jaws. What prodigies have been performed in the 

 days of old upon the very stream whose music can be 

 heard, even through the closed windows, above the 

 moaning of the pine woods, before the depletion of its 

 waters, which these veterans declare has long taken 

 place. The hard-worked lawyer from Edinburgh is 

 there. The mercantile interests of Glasgow are well rep- 

 resented. Canny Northumberland contributes a couple 

 of grave-looking beings glad to escape from the blaok- 

 1 LeO Is and.the rattle ot trucks that surrounds New- 

 aaiJ H-tvne. Iwo or three young gentlemen from 

 England, who are supposed to lie studying agriculture in 

 the Lotbians hard by, have driven over in a tandem, 

 while an angling parson, ironi a neighboring parish, and 

 a medical student lrom Edinburgh, complete the variety 

 The stuffy little bedrooms, too." I can see them now' 

 with Robert Burns and his Highland Mary looking down 

 benignly upon me. from one wall, and the portrait of a 

 gentlemen with pink cheeks, immense shirt front and 

 monstrous choker decorates the other. The looking- 

 glass was always cracked across the center ; the work 

 probably of some loo hilarious angler in days gone by, 

 and gave each consecutive occupant of the room the im- 

 pression that he had caught the mumps, while the win- 

 dows rattled unceasingly in the constant breeze. Early 

 hours, such as American anglers from the nature of tile 



cliraate partly, and partly from the national pronpness 



to being up betimes, were tic exception. Nobodv fn 

 England begins lining till about it o'clock, though I 

 have known anglers in the Scottish riverafiftb. all night 

 Joug With ft worm m summer, wading up stream, aud 



with 



Berwi 



Dhmf: 



voiiilerful results. The hills of IVebloshirc and 

 kshire, and the still wilder moors of Lanark and 

 ies. abound with those rustic inns, that still exist 

 h the same state as they are depicted by Scott in 

 it, Ronan's Well," while the austere but kind- 

 id antes that usually preside over them, if they 

 l such viragoes as " Meg Pods," are generally very 

 ipublo of keeping order 111 their establishments, 



RlNUWOUtl. 



'St 



CAMP NOTES. 



V BY BODIXES. 



WHEN one grows weary with office work, but labors 

 on through the dreary winter, anticipating with 

 joyful emotion the good restful time in store, when June 

 shall at last arrive and bring to him a season oi 

 tion in the woods ; when one longs for the time to come, 

 planning for it months beforehand, setting the day for 

 the start and inviting a coterie of eongeuial spirits to 

 join in a camping-out exclusion, no greater disappoint- 

 ment COUld likely occur than to have a delay or post- 

 ponement become necessary. 



The usual arrangements bad been fully completed for 

 an annual, camping out expedition. Tents, cooking uten- 

 sils, provisions, aud all other camping conveniences hail 

 been carefully packed in two large, iron-bound camp 

 chests, and the dray on the barn floor ready to carry 

 them to the depot. George, the cook, was on hand early, 

 his black face shining with pleasant recollections of the 

 previous year's experience. All the campers had collected 

 m and about my yard, with rods, guns and other para- 

 phernalia and bundles strewn around. But an hour in- 

 tervened to train time. I had awakened that very morn- 

 ing with an excruciating pain in the joint of my great 

 toe. So persistent was this paia that I was compelled to 

 resort to crutches to admit of my superintending the 

 loading of our fixtures. The campers looked on sorrow- 

 fully ; aud, eager to go as mysi If, vet, al] advised against 

 a fellow going to camp on crutches. Many were the sal- 

 lies of wit discharged at my condition and at my ex- 

 pense. The swelling continued in the toe-joint, however, 

 and by the time, the dray was ready to leave the yard, I 

 wa3 completely prostrated with the rapidly increasing 

 pain. It very soon became evident that I must yield to 

 the solicitation of friends, if uot to the pleadings of my 

 great toe, and postpone the day for our departure. This 

 thought was exasperating, and pained me almost as 

 much as the confounded toe, inasmuch as friends were 

 expected, from a distance, before the week would end ; 

 indeed, two friends had already left Mew York for the 

 camping grounds, expecting to join us there on this very 

 evening. There seemed to be no way of apprising them 

 of my misfortune and arresting their journey, hence my 

 great perplexity. In my dilemma a good friend came to 

 my relief and volunteered to journey to the rendezvous 

 and bring them to my house. Letters and telegrams 

 were dispatched to the others, and then, to nurse my af- 

 flicted member. I went to bed, Where I letnaiiied for 

 nearly two weeks, with the roost painful of all diseases 

 — inflammatiry rheumatism. 



At last, I was able to hobble about by the aid of a cane, 

 when I at once gave orders for our departure ; and here 1 

 am, on the Lycoming, the same delightful spot upon 

 which we have camped regularly for the past nine years. 



The natives had been praying for our coming for a 

 month, as no rain had fallen in the valley for mote than 

 six weeks, and with us always heretofore had also ap- 

 peared the rainy season. 



We landed, therefore, as usual, in the midst of a thun- 

 der storm, and pitched our tents between showers. I 

 took a position under a great beech, and, while the rain 

 trickled down my spine, gave directions about the ar- 

 rangement of the camp, for I was too lame to attempt 

 a more active part. 



Now, rain is indispensable to farmers — the)- , 

 well do without it— but to campers, and rheumatieones 

 at that, it cannot be regarded as a necessity nor even de- 

 sirable. But, having passed two weeks here, with an 

 abundance ot rain daily, 1 have come to the conclusion 

 that rain and rheumatism are not incompatible. 1 have 

 slept soundly and well between damp sheets, and have 

 laid my head upon a wet pillow while the mist from the 

 falling rain upon the tent has sprayed my face ; yet have 

 awakened every morning feeling better, until, at this 

 writing, 1 am able to take my rod and supply my quota 

 of trout for the breakfast table, I have sat, with my in- 

 flamed foot upon a camp stool, under a sheltering can- 

 opy, where the wet and dripping trees sent great" dl'ppj 

 of water through the canvas to spatter my paper, ant 

 have watched the birds hump their backs and squirreli 

 whisk their tails in an endeavor to prevent the rah 

 from penetrating to their skins. 1 do not believe that 

 birds enjoy rain any more than do we. I am led to this 

 conclusion by observing them under the ordeal. Now, 

 there is the catbird, for instance, perched on a limb just 

 over my head. He's not happy. He even looks melan- 

 choly, and at times I think 1 can detect an expression of 

 supreme disgust with the dampness of his surroundings. 

 An hour ago, be was as lively as a cricket, aud seemingly 

 very happy, warbling and whistling right merrily, as he 

 hopped from limb to limb, watching with much interest 

 the mysterious movements of the invaders of his do- 

 main. But, the moment he heard the thunder pealing 

 among the mountain crags, he cocked one eye heaven- 

 ward, winked meditatively with the other one, dropped 

 his hitherto busy tail, and" became motionless and silent 

 as an oyster. Not another note has he uttered ; and now 

 there he sits with his back arched, his feathers drawn 

 close to his body, his bill elevated and his tail bent at a 

 right angle, from which the rain is pouring in Little riv- 

 ulets, while lie shakos his head occasionally to free his 

 eyes from the blinding moisture. Just once lias lie 

 deigned to look down at me to see how 1 am getting 

 along, with an expression of face plainly indicating that 

 he is prepared to say, if he only could, ''confound the 

 '.•tin ! " Poor fellow ! Wonder whether he ever has had 

 ■hetunatisni in his great toes, aud what his opinion is of 

 the advisability- of such a sufferer sitting out in a rain 

 storm, just for fun? 



Yes, here I sit, watching nature in her different moods, 

 and waiting for [lie appl lirer skies. I note 



the constantly varying colors of the foliage upon the 

 steep mountain, at the foot of which our tents are 

 pitched, In the foreground is a clear mountain stream, 



rOCk-bonnd ami musics] as tinkling silver bells. Above 

 the rocks, rhodod. adrojis, pro fuse. 'in their blossoms, thai 

 peep out from the ovoi hanging foliage of the great 



trees heyond, as though nature had oejistructed a well- 

 arranged and delightful bouquet upon a grand scale. 



As I linger here admiring Mie scene, constantly chang- 

 ing my position to keep ttic rheumatic pnrti, , 



person out of the wet, the thunder rolls overhead, anil 



the great black clouds shut out the light, phi 



the hues in my great bouquet. Now Hashes of lightning 

 illuminate it with a new and weird brilliancy, revealing 

 the very moss-covered rocks, ferns and too're delicate 

 (lowers that before were unobserved in the deep, dark re- 

 cesses of the tangled undergrowth. Soon ihe storm has 

 siienf its force, and passes over the hills to wash aud 

 drizzle other valleys beyond our own; the sun peeps 

 coyly out from behind some lagging ctoud,.as though 

 ashamed for having abandoned us ,-0 long, and again 

 lights up and warms our camp, at once restoring every 

 one to good humor. The turds are the first to give utter- 

 ance to their appreciation of the change, and make the 

 mountain and valley musical with their wild and ecstatic 

 warblings. Tiro catbird is in the advance in expressing 

 his joy. and is now whistling as though in an endeavor 

 to outdo all his feathered companions. 



An hour has passed, and with it all tracesof the storm, 

 The wind has shaken the raindrops from the trees, and 

 the warm sun has already dried the ground. The birds 

 continue their merry warblings. the bees hum and buzz 

 among the flowers and about your ears, and the butter- 

 flies Hop in zigzag courses through the camp, avoiding 

 limbs and bushes in a surprising manner when the awk- 

 wardness of their flight is observed. Our surroundings 

 have become cheerful and delightful, dispelling all 

 thoughts of storms. 



Placing an arm chair, constructed of a barrel and piece 

 of jute, in one of the boats, I paddle down to the oiler 

 slide in the pond and anchor there under the shade of a 

 tree, bait a hook with a wriggling worm, and bub for 

 suckers. A sucker is so slow in making up his mind lo 

 partake of any tempting morsel thrown in his way that 

 I have provided myself With a novel, in the perusal of 

 which 1 may kill time as well as suckers. 1 find this ex- 

 ceedingly engaging amusement for a contemplative. 

 rheumatic mind: for your attention becomes about 

 evenly divide;.' between the. bobbing cork and the start- 

 ling situations of the characters in the novel. While 

 thus employed, the heroine 01 the novel was preparing to 

 escape from a prison through a window by the aid of -a 

 rope, and an ardent lover outside the prison walls ; and 

 as my mind quickly outran the story, enabling me 10 

 foresee what a splendid time those two loving young 

 people would have hugging each other as they slid clown 

 the rope together, and as I was dreamily speculating 

 upon what they would do when they reached the friendly 

 covered' the garden, down went mv cork, followed by 



the novel, also by the heroine, to give me a bettei 0] ■ 



trinity to see what was pulling at the end of /,<// line. A 

 vigorous jerk upon the rod Ijrought to tl 1 ori TOOTI 



strous and solemn-looking sucker, which persisted in 

 extending his proboscis and squeaking in a peculiar 

 manner, in derision or perhaps dismay at the situation. 

 While disengaging the hook from his tough snout, the 

 lovers slid dowu the rope unobserved, and got nicely 

 away to a magnolia grove. It was moonlight tern 



but broad daylight lo me and the sucker. All this hili 

 the young man had his arm about the waist, oi the young 

 woman, and Was constructing the usual sweel en 

 tences for her attentive ear. He was again de- 

 claring his undying love, and making preliminary 

 p reparations to seal it with the usual kiss, always 

 provided for such contingencies, and my Ehoi h 

 became fully wrought up to the situation, I imagined 

 even that it was dark (although the sun was just then 

 scorching my nose) ; my olfactories caught, frequent wafts 

 of the magnolia blossoms ; J saw the pretty, coy young 

 maiden and her pouting, willing lips : indeed, the verita- 

 ble and inevitable smack had almost sainted my ears, bo 

 in sympathy was 1 with the story and the two young 

 people; when, down went that confounded co, 

 This outside interruption of my reading and reveri, 

 brought me at once from the contemplation of ii, turn to 

 fact. My cork was under— way under, and becoming 

 more so' every moment. 1 couldn't belt) it— 1 doubT 

 whether I could have done otherwise had I been the 

 young man— I dropped the girl once more, and pulled on 

 [he rod, and delivered into the boat asquirmj , si pperj 

 eel. Was there ever before such an instance *ot the at- 

 tempted mingling of romance and reality? Sentiment 

 and eels ! I contemplated that slimy, restless creatine 

 as he attempted to tie himself into •' true lover's knots " 

 in the bottom of the boat, and tried to reconcile his un- 

 timely appearance with my story. But he wouldn't mix. 

 1 philosophized over the affair for some Qrrnutes, but 

 could not revive in my memory a solitary instance where 

 am eel appeared at a lover'e wooing before, Had it been 

 a snake, history would have offered a parallel, but never. 

 haying encountered a young woman who would frater- 

 nize with an eel, and fearing that the young man might, 

 lose ids kiss, I threw the luscious rascal overboard and 

 regretted my hasty action, most sincerely, ten minutes 

 later. Lor, would you believe if/ notwithstanding the 

 favorable condition of affairs — magnolia trees — in the 

 dark— pretty girl — pou ting lips — and all that, the blamed 

 fool didn't kiss her after all I Something alarmed them, 

 and they fled while I was fussing with the eel. So, hav- 

 ing lost the felicity of witnessing the lover's salute, and 

 being cheated out of my pTOBpectivi breakfast, too, 1 per- 

 mitted the lovers to con tin ae then flight, while J wound 

 up my line and paddled hack to camp, queer phantoms 

 Of suckers, eels, lovers, pouting lips, painful toes, and 

 fair maidens leading the way. 



Arriving there, I found two of the campers had just re- 

 turned from up the stream with trout and woodcock for 

 the mid-day meal. While George prepared dinner, we all 

 lay off in the large tent and smoked our pipes, I dried 

 my back in the sun. rubbed my great toe, and tl 

 ened down the tents preparatory to receiving | 

 shower that was heralding its" approach in rumbling 

 where among tlie distant m,, 1 1 



— Newport society has receiver irmontin 



the "official announcement" that Prince Leopold will 

 uot be able to keep his engagement there m consequence 

 of having sprained his ankle while salmon-fishing in 

 Canada, 



