£44 
c 
FOREST AND STREAM, 
metal uniting -with the quicksilver, and resting on the 
floor-. Some sulpurets escape with the tailings, which 
are collected in pits below and retreated. An arastra 
will work a small mine to good advantage. 
The Witch Ledge wasdicovered, as were a dozen others, 
by Niokolas Haley, a practical miner, who has been about 
the best slandered man in this vicinity, He had uphill 
work to obtain credence to his tales as to tho richness of 
Alaakain gold. It was, I remember, fully explained to me 
in San Francisco, that Haley was a fraud, that ore from 
other regions was brought up here and mines salted bo 
a i to make a rush which would benefit the ring of which 
Haley was ringleader, and with a fortune at his control, 
The man has struggled on in poverty, persevering, and at 
last his upward turn has come. Within a month, he has 
sold to San Francisco parties, who at last came up to ex¬ 
amine, over seventy thousand dollars worth of ledges, and 
still owns enough to keep him rich. If, as I believe they 
will, the minerological resources of Alaska bring her into 
prosperity again, its citizens should always do honor to 
this miner to whom they will owe it. 
From the “Witch” to the “Last, Chance,” the trail 
again led along the summit of a steadly rising 
ridge ; it was a dreary climb: rain and fog shut out all 
scenery, and the rocks were devoid of life. Ptarmigan had 
disappeared; occasionally we could hear their skir-r-r on 
Ode side or the other, as we passed snow banks, the edges 
of which reached into our limited field of vision. 
As I stumbled along way above the clouds, with a good 
guide and gun and trail, and certainty as to my where¬ 
abouts, and the probable termination of my journey, I 
contrasted mentally my condition with that of Haley, 
when he, the first white man, searching for wealth plod 
also along this ridge scanning eagerly the surrounding 
country in hopes of seeing quartz, and when at last he 
arrived at the peak from which the glistening body of 
quartz was visible, I could feel just how he felt when he 
named it the*" Last Chance." Had not fortune befriended 
him then and there, I could forgive him for giving up in 
despair. But he found it, and on it as his last chance 
took his chances. He has been rewarded ; that vein of 
quartz has, if reports are true, and I believe them, brought 
him twenty thousand dollars. But little work is going 
on here ; t wo men were blasting and picking, and a pile 
of ten or twelve tons of broken ore had been accum¬ 
ulated. 
A half hour’s pause for a smoke and chat, and then 
on again and upward, for our final destination, the re¬ 
motest, highest and greatest of all the discovered ledges 
—the “ Great Eastern,” Again a ridge, which, ascend¬ 
ing for a mile steadily, rose suddenly live hundred feet in 
a precipitous peak, on top of which stood two monu¬ 
ments of stone. Magnified by the fog, they seemed of 
grand proportions ami a mile distant, but we"gained them 
easier than we thought to, for we were becoming ac¬ 
customed to such exertion. Our muscles bad hardened 
and our lungs so expanded that long, deep breaths were 
possible, and that great rester, perspiration, was flowing 
freely. How many such peaks were between us and the 
summit? But our task of scaling them was still more 
lightened by the abundance of birds, which had all 
sought these high and desolate places. I do not know 
how many we shot—we ceased to count—hut I do know 
that when we reached the southeastern side of the last 
peak, and could look down into the great valley below 
us, and discern the belt of timber two thousand feet be¬ 
low, where we should camp for the night, we were all 
Well loaded. 
A few hundred feet down, and the character of the 
oountry changed. The slopes faced southerly and soil 
took the place of brown rocks, and soon—for we traveled 
rapidly—-blue-bells and blue-berries appeared, and the 
round was networked with the burrows of moles, or 
eld mice. Then came ground pines and cedars, then a 
brawling brook, which we crossed, and soon rested be¬ 
neath some giant pines, when, with wood and good 
sweet water, we found our camping ground. 
Four trees, forming a parallelogram ten feet by six, 
furnished uprights on which to pin our cross beams, and 
soon we had two canvas-roofed shanties, with bedding of 
boughs faoe to faoe, with a huge camp-fire in the space 
between them, The tree limbs furnished olothes-pegs on 
which to dry onr wet elothes, and disrobing ourselves to 
the skin, wrapped ourselves iu our blankets, native style, 
which greatly amused the Siwashes, who busied them¬ 
selves in drying our garments before the camp-fire, and 
in preparing a ptarmigan stew by the following receipt: 
Skin and dismember one bird for each member of the 
party, then one for a chance comer—“ for Jack,” as 
we used to say; then a couple more for good 
measure ; then jiork, salt, flour, beans, potatoes, 
onions and hard tack — all, if you have them, any, if not; 
boil all together for tliree-quartera of an hour, and serve 
in very largo panBful, and eat with spoon, for it is some¬ 
thing like pigeon pot-pie, which is not perfect until the 
birds themselves, which are left flavorless, are thrown 
away. By the time the stew was ready aud the coffee— 
Siwashes make splendid, clear coffee, with no settler—we 
had built up garment by garment, and were attired quite 
respectably for a night dinner in the mountains, aud we 
did justice to it. 
’Twas the old, old story. Eat to what would be rex»le- 
tion elsewhere ; our pipes, conversation, and then an early 
straightening out on the cedar boughs. The Siwaslies on 
tho other side of the fire were happy and comfortable, for 
they had their food receptacles, not full perhaps, for that 
is an apparent impossibility, but so near to it that they 
were, content. They are fearful gormandizers, yet can 
subsist and workhard on a bit of smoked salmon. They, 
too. amused themselves with stories, and were mightily 
tickled at our attempts to pronounce, in their guttural 
dialect, the names of various articles. 
My comrades soou Blept soundly, but I was wakeful, 
though pleasantly so, and spent two or three hours in 
revery. Reminiscences of Piseco life came home to me ; 
but I missed one of the luxuries of Adirondack camping. 
Thera were no mosquitos to make music, nor flies for 
company-. All was silent, except for the steady “ patter 
chuck," as the Indians term rain : the rushing of water¬ 
falls, and the occasional roar of a tumbing glacier. I 
thought of Haley, in his lonesome wanderings; con¬ 
trasted my comforts with his discomforts, and was happy. 
I thought of home, and remembered that it was the 
monthly anniversary of my last night there; and becom¬ 
ing unhappy, went to sleep and got over it. 
The next morning, fresher than when I started on the 
trip, (for I had danced witli the Russian girls at the wed¬ 
ding of a pretty Kamschatkan five hours, and had drank 
Russian tea to such extent that sleep was wooed in vain, 
when in the wee small hou is I sought it), I was ready after 
my stew, hard tack and coffee, for a day- among the 
ptarmagin. 
The fact that it was raining hard did not deter us, for we 
had soaked our guns in coal oil the night before, and they 
were in fair condition. A straightaway' climb of, I am 
afraid to say how many feet, or at what angle, hut it 
lasted for over an hour, brought us to the back bone of 
the mountain, and among the birds. 
We headed on to the southeast, for we had yet to visit 
the greatest of all the as yet discovered ledges, not inap¬ 
propriately named the “ Great Eastern: ’’ this we reached 
in another hour, and found it all that had been repre¬ 
sented ; imagine a mile or more of the backbone of a 
mountain, glistening here and therewith quartz, I will 
not use your columns as an advertising medium, but will 
simply say that I became fully convinced that I had for 
once done a wise thing when I put what I could spare in¬ 
to its stock. 
Visions of bonanzas floated around me in the mist, and 
I thought with Mrs. Haley, “ I'll rifie in lily carriage yet.” 
She can, now, for her husband a few weeks ago a poor 
man, is now a rich one. 
The day cleared as we returned, aud we had a gloriouB 
time; birds plentiful, no bears, and such magnificent 
scenery, towering peaks, deep chasms, waterfalls, glaciers, 
snow banks. The journey had been a hard one, but as 
the Shaugraun says, " Bedad 't-waB worth it.” 1 will not 
undertake to describe—Clarence King alone could do it. 
Read his most fascinating description of mountain scen¬ 
ery and you will have it. I can’t do it. Wlieu we got 
back to camp we counted up Rixt.v-l'our we had distribu¬ 
ted freely to the miners, and had lost great numbers by 
their falling into ravines or on the faces of glaciers, where 
our Siwashes dared not go. I tried hard to save a skin, 
but could not; they were too tender. I had promised Or- 
vis some of the snow white feathers for liis flies, hut the 
damp and blood so soiled them that I knew he could do 
betterwith a whitepigeon. A repetition of the experience 
of the night before, except that 1 slept soundly-, and in 
rite morning we started for home—I, with but three car¬ 
tridges left. I did not fire one of them ; the day was 
rainy and we did not see a bird after leaving the extreme 
summit, We had to back some of our game: the sixty- or 
seventy pounds was a little more addition than the Si¬ 
washes, already well burdened with onr camp equipage, 
and specimens of rock from the different mines, could 
stand, and I found to my delight that, while in coming up, 
my Parker 12-bore was a burden, in going down I carried 
some thirty pounds without fatigue ; and when safely on 
board, in roy stateroom, and rubbed down after a cold 
bath, I noticed with delight, that themuscles of my calves 
had perceptibly enlarged and hardened, and I had gained 
four pounds in weight, Our trip was just in time ; four 
days after the mountains were covered with snow and pre¬ 
sented by moonlight one of tho most beautiful sights I 
ever witnessed. But for the snow, I should repeat my 
trip. _ _ Piseco, 
IN THE HIGHLANDS OF VIRGINIA. 
I HAVE never been in this section before, I believe, 
though, I have written up all the rest of the Old 
Dominion for the Fokest and Stream : have carried 
your readers over the stubble where the partridges lay 
thickest in Piedmont, Virginia; have gone with them 
over across the Main to Cobb’s Island, and had royal sport 
with the willet and curlew on the blinds at that lone 
isle. We have travelled together through the “Great 
Dismal" and fought the mosquitos and listened to the 
croaking of thousands of frogs and the hooting of the 
great horned owls, and we have floated side by side on 
the mystical haunted Lake Drummond, where the spec¬ 
tral ship sailed noiselessly along like the Flying Dutch¬ 
man with the ancient old Captain Vauderdecken at the 
helm. We have seen there, too, the weird Indian maid 
and lover so true— 
11 That oft at the midnight damp 
Would cross by the fight of a firefly lamp, 
And paddle their white canoe.” 
We have witnessed together the great steeple-chases 
between the black horse cracks and the Englishman who, 
like Mark Meddle, that dashing gentleman in the “Lon¬ 
don Assurance, ” must have been bom on horseback. We 
have sailed over summer seas and rough ridden over the 
Fairfax Hills behind Captain Fitzhugh'a hounds on that 
memorable occasion when the pack chased old Mrs. Her¬ 
bert’s pet fox right through the yard clean into the house, 
and when Douglass, of the “ Capital,” was pitched head¬ 
foremost into the old lady’s bee-hives by his stumbling 
horse that he had bought at a horse sale at a great bar¬ 
gain a few days before. We have almost frozen together 
as we sat by our decoys off the coast ou a freezing day, 
with a keen nor'west wind that cat like a knife, making 
fancy shots at the mallard and brant as they Hashed by, 
borne, ou the pinions of the wind. And we have held 
high wassail with the fair Hog Islanders and drank that 
Christmas Eve many a bumper to their buxom charms. 
But we have never been in the mountains together, your 
readers and I, so we will take advantage of this bright, 
clear, bracing weather and turn our steps mountain ward 
to hunt deer, turkeys, and squirrels, and try the bass on 
the south branch of the Potomac. 
Our objective point was Staunton, where we rendez¬ 
voused. When the hunting party assembled it consisted 
of three, a good trinity, for according to Mr, Rory 
O’More, ‘ ‘ there’s luck in odd numbers. ” We were a long 
time starting. Each member had as much baggage as 
an ox team could pull, and there was only one buggy and 
a horse for the entire outfit. We crammed iu our traps 
somehow and started. 
There was Mr. Smith, a rotund, good-natured fellow, 
who was the best forager I ever saw, and could carry 
mure different articles in his saddle bags than Wyman, 
the wizard, could pull out of his magic bag. Mr. Smith 
was fond of sporting and ready at all times for anything. 
He was one of that kind of men always getting ready, 
but rarely on time ; he was always going to kill some¬ 
thing, but somehow didn’t. Mr.'Smith reminds one of 
Voltaire’s sarcasms on LaHarpe, whom he called an o ven 
that was always heating up, but never cooked anything, 
ill-, Jones completed the group; a flue sportsman, who 
enjoyed everything with a keen, vivid zest, I came to 
Staunton via Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, and I can¬ 
not speak in terms of too high praise of General Wickatn, 
the President of the road; not because he commanded 
my brigade during the war and gave me a furlough to go 
to the rear one Christmas to a certain old baronial hall,but 
because of the great changes he has made in the manage¬ 
ment of the road, and especially for his kindness to 
sportsmen. Some years ago this road was the worst to 
travel on in America, and a man with a dog and a gun 
was fair game for all the employees ; a being who was 
made to pay roundly for his pleasure. General Wickaui 
has stopped all that. Every sportsman is allowed to carry 
one dog free. If he has over one he is charged but a very 
moderate, reasonable price, and ordere are given to con¬ 
ductors to take the very best care of the pointers and set¬ 
ters, and the owner can visit them as often as he likes. 
I know of no other railroad that exercises such liberality 
toward that much-abused, over-charged class known as 
sportsmen, and General Wiekam deserves their thanks 
aud will receive them from every hunter who travels over 
the Chesapeake and Ohio. 
After leaving Staunton we stopped at a Binall frame 
house on the side of the road with a little tin Bign, on 
which was written “ Hotil.” We put up our team and 
soon supper was ready. We were savagely hungry and feli¬ 
citated ourselves upon dining off stewed squirrel, broiled 
venison and roast wild turkey. Deluded mortals that we 
were I All we got was some rye coffee and fried bacon. 
Our host made up for his bill of fare by offering to carry 
us deer hunting early the next morning ; so we went to 
bed to dream of knocking every deer in Augusta County 
cold and dead as a door nail. It seemed that hardly had 
we got to sleep when we were awakened by a bead thrust 
in the opened door and a voice shouting: “Get up! get 
up! day’s a breaking!” “Well let it break and be 
broken !" said my comrade as he sullenly sat up in bed ; 
“ for it don’t owe me anything.” A solitary tallow dip 
spluttered alone in silence, making the room more dis¬ 
mal looking, but we made a rush and dressed and then 
went out in the porch. It was still dark ; the morning 
star shone witli a steady brilliancy. Lord ! how cold it 
was! We sat and shivered as we waited for our ancient 
Nimrod to appear. He came at last, with his pack of 
hounds that consisted — as I am an honest man—of one 
old toothless dog, with half of his hair rubbed off his 
hide. 
“ Say, old man, is that all youx pack?’ said my com¬ 
rade. 
“ That air dog is a plenty to strike up a trail,” said the 
mountaineer, 
“ But,” we said, “he can’t run fast enough.” 
“Well,’’ was the reply ; "he don’t look none too skit¬ 
tish, I allow, but he can bang to a trail, anyhow.” 
We started and reached the road and were placed upon 
our respective stands. 1 stood skivering for about two 
hours, looking anxiously for that deer, but it never came 
—which made about fifty times I've been on deer stands 
in my life, and never have seen a buck or doe yet. I’ve 
done with deer hunting now. It’s very good shooting 
when you are out of meat, bu£ as sport 1 can’t see any fun 
in it. Even if the deer did come along your way, I for 
one can't throw enough ecstatic pleasure in one shot to 
pay me for three or four miserable hours spent in perfect 
solitude meditating upon the sins of a misspent youth. 
We returned bootless from the chase, and struck for 
our meals ; and just here we made a discovery—it was 
this: In this rustic Hotel de Ville, we found that there is 
no variation between the meals. The bill of fare was 
this : Breakfast: coffee, bread and fried pork ; dinner : 
coffee, bread, and pork fried; supper : fried pork, coffee 
and bread : entrees: water, salt, and pepper. But for 
the consolation of Bumgardner’s best, we would have 
mutinied—but we managed to stand it. 
By the way, this kind of liquor known as the Bum- 
gardner Whiskey, is the finest, purest brand ever manu¬ 
factured in Virginia. It is absolutely pure, strong, and 
has no headache in it. To tourists, travellers, and sports¬ 
men it is the very best stimulant they can get, and it is 
worth more than all their fancy, bright-colored, but 
adulterated liquors put together, that people will insist on 
poisoning themselves with. If Jove ever got drunk, as 
Homer in his Iliad said he did, then it must have been on 
Bumgardner’s liquor. 
I never saw or heard the like of the birds this season. 
From all parts of the State I hear the same aocounts of 
the plentitude of the partridges. This is owing partly to 
the dry season we have had in tire past summer, and 
partly and greatly to the strict enforcement of the game 
laws. There will be splendid sport this fall. The close 
season expires in Upper Virginia on the 15th of October, 
and in Tidewater, Virginia, on November 1st. For the 
information of those gentlemen sportsmen who desire to 
hoard, and who wish to have fine sport, I refer them to 
the following persona in different portions of the State, 
who can either take boarders with priviledges to shoot 
over their grounds, or will refer them to those who wifi. 
For shooting in the Uplands, write to Captain Wm. H. 
Fowler, Staunton, Va. To those desiring* to shoot near 
the coast, where wild fowl can he had as well as par¬ 
tridges, write to Hon. O. Finney, Accomac Court House, 
Va. To those who want to explore the Great Dismal 
Swamp, aud shoot around its borders, address Captain 
S. S. Shriver, Suffolk, Va. To those desiring splendid 
duck, goose, and brandt shooting, with furnished decoys, 
guides, and boats, let them write to Kenneth McKown, 
Cobb's Islands, Va. , via Cherrystone. I have no axe to 
grind in writing this. 1 Bimpiy do it for the benefit of 
your readers, 
It is pleasant to leave the city at this time of the year; 
the time when nature dresses herself in her most brilliant 
robes, queens it royally in the sovereignty of her radiant 
beauty. It is a never ending delight to travel in these 
mountains with the ever varying scenery, and the forest 
of every imaginable hue, from the pale yellow of the 
sugar maple, the vivid green of the mountain larch, the 
deep crimson of the dogwood, the rusty brown of the 
chestnut, the sea green of the pine, the deep red of tlia 
beach, and the Bismarck color of the elm, all combined, 
form scenery grand, beautiful, and indescribable. 
But as fair as nature looks by sunlight, it is far more 
pure and lovely by moonlight; the clear pure air gets 
clearer and purer with that magical light which has a 
deeper charm than the sunshine, and as one travels along 
the mountain roads it acts like a stimulant. Here you 
wind along the brink of a mountain; below is a sheet" 
