m 
FOREST AND STREAM 
c 
-V 
watched the inarch of these white-plumed cloud battalions, 
and saw them gather and concentrate their forces in dark 
and solid masses in the west, untfi the muttering of dis¬ 
tant thunder reached our ears, like the roar of a great 
battle, When this came we crept closer along (die shore, 
or watched for a new landing place upon intervening 
islands. The ruin soon visited the distant heights, and 
the. clouds fluall_y hid,them, and wo could See the columns 
of the storm advancing against the wind, the falling rain 
bent and twisted by tbe gale. It brought to mind with 
a clearer appreciation of the poet’s accuracy of descrip¬ 
tion—I think it was Byron—the lines then, as now, 
quoted from memory :— 
The roar of the storm came nearer, and the harsh black 
line it marked upon the water came closer and closer. 
"Wehurriedly pulled up our canvas in a sheltered island 
bay, covered our provisions, and let it rain. Again and 
again that day did the storm advance and retreat. We 
could see the lashing of the waves, the flash of white 
caps, and the distinct line of the rainfall, now a mile and 
now ten miles away. But not until we readied a camping 
place and erected our tent, did the full fury of the storm 
break upon ub. Looking out from between our can¬ 
vas walls lipon'the black water,we felt how frail Our little 
canoes would prove in the angry sea, and how certainly 
would they have gone to the bottom had we been caught 
by the gale even a short half mile from shore. 
A few miles sail in the narrow lake, following the 
Bound of the falls, which we heard occasionally during 
the night, we reached the first cataract of Nepigon River 
about 10 o'clock the next morning. Hurrying over the 
short portage, with our rods and landing nets, we were 
soon casting our flies upon the rushing water with a zest 
as keen as if making the first cast of the season. And we 
were well rewarded. A sumptuous dinner of broiled trout 
filled a want long felt. Our success before noon brought 
us to the adoption of three and a half pounds as a limit of 
size: below which any caught and uninjured were to be 
returned to the water. Twice that afternoon my fly was 
struck by huge fish, which marched oft like, wild horses 
regardless of line and rod. From one the hook pulled out. 
and the other took hook and leader away with him. I 
dared not give him more line, for some sharp rooks 
around which they were going would have cut it like a 
knife. 
We changed the limit to four pounds the next morn¬ 
ing. I do not recall how many we took in all during the 
day, but the fishing surpassed anything I had ever seen, 
F. and I brought into camp, after an absence, of only an 
hour and a half, five, weighing respectively 15L 4|, 44 , 4fi 
and 3J pounds — an average of 4 pounds 7 3-5 ounces each, 
The smallest fish was the first caught; and, as the weights 
wore taken after getting back to camp, I believe he would 
have marked four pounds when first killed, These were 
only a part of what were taken that day. 
The next morning I took my rod, and with Wassy as 
canoe-man, crossed the pool at sunrise. 1 tried a few long 
casts without a rise, when 1 thought I would try a short 
one nearer the shore. The fly had barely touched the 
water, not twenty feet from mo, when tbe best fighter (if 
not the largest trout) I ever hooked, struck in earnest. 
For a full half hour my muscles as well as my tackle 
were in a constant strain. .Every artifloo a trout ever re¬ 
sorted to. he tried upon me. Now a rush out into the 
deep swift water, carrying out the line until my thumb 
felt blistered with the friction of the reels ; then a sudden 
turn towards me, leaping from the water with a shake of 
tbe head like a terrier with a rat ; now a dive to the bot- 
t nn and sulking, until, with some sharp jerks, 1 would 
rouse him into more active hostilities ; until at last, every¬ 
thing tried, the little bamboo unshaken, but with the 
leader half-frayed off, and the feathers of the fly torn to 
t liters and ruined, the brave fish surrendered, and I more 
titan half-wished ho bad not been so hooked as to kill him. 
He deserved his liberty—he weighed four and a half 
pounds. 1 need noL narrate how we took Others; but the 
Bport and the scenery were both unsurpassed in our ex¬ 
perience, With the exception of the accidental catch 
with a metal minnow in Lake Nepigon, we did not in one 
waole summer take a trout with aught but the fly. 1 
bjliove, however, wa could with bait have taken even 
larger ones than we did, as is sometimes done on the 
river, as well as elsewhere. But such taking we had no 
taste for. It is the sense of skill and the excitement of 
tbe cast and rise which is the charm of Hy fishing. 
With a few observations upon the general character of 
the lake and river, I will take leave of the reader, if any 
have thus far followed my story. I should like to tell 
of the trip down, and of the dignified Chippewa Chief 
wo met one evening sitting in state at the end of a port¬ 
age, under a birch bark blanket, in the dismal min, and 
of other things of which my memory is full, but lack of 
space forbids. 
Nepigon Lake is a great reservoir where the warm 
red waters of its rivers are settled, and clarified, and 
cooled The rivers of Chief’s and Gull bay, I am reli¬ 
ably informed, are of the same general character as the 
many, wo visited. If such be the ease, they cannot be 
the homes or breeding places of many trout, although it 
is possible, as I have before intimated, that they may 
breed in them to some extent when the fall frosts have 
cooled the streams. But I could not learn, either from 
Mr Le Ronde or the Indians, that sucli is the fact. The 
Wabenoosh mav be a breeding place, hut itis not alarge 
river and any” great influx of trout there in the fall 
would be noticed by the many Indians along its banks. 
It. is the only stream we saw with a temperature low 
enough to make it a trout stream. 
The ciitnate of Nepigon Lake and River is milder than 
that of the north shore of Lake Superior, For instance, on 
July 10th, alBig Flat Rock Portage, we found ripeblue- 
borries. On August 8, at Michipicoten River, they were 
in about the same state. July 31 we gathered the service 
berry fully ripe, on the upper part of Nepigon River, 
On August loth, seven miles from Sault Ste. Marie, none 
were to be found ripo enough to eat. Potatoes grew 
finely at Red Rock and Nepigon House, and would any¬ 
where on the river or lake where soil sufficient to sup¬ 
port them could bo found. Hay is raised also, and oats 
could be successfully grown, Turnips and radishes also 
do well, but most other vegetables find the season too 
§hort, Ct C - 0* 
TURKEY HUNTING IN VIRGINIA. 
A NEW YORK SCHOOLMASTER IN THE VIRGINIA WOODS. 
M Y vacation weeks I have been in. the habit of spend¬ 
ing for the last six years in the “ Old Dominion,” 
among friends of a genial and hospitable sort, whose 
homes and hearts have been singularly thrown open to 
me. Until the present year I have put in my time in 
another part of Culpepder County, near the union of 
Culpepder, Fauquier and Rappahannock, where part¬ 
ridges, woodcock, pheasants, rabbits and wild turkeys 
have each in then - tain afforded blessed opportunities for 
wide shooting and tall missing. The trouble with me is 
that I have a splendid breech-loader and a misdirected 
passion for shooting. This passion is a remnant of my 
boyhood days, and affords a rare chance for self-delusion as 
to the “sere and yellow ” age which is creeping on apace. 
It is not a settled fact that middle-aged men never go 
hunting, but it is true that while hunting no thought of 
decrepitude or approaching senility ever enters the brain. 
The fountain of perpetual youth springs ever from the 
muzzle of a double-barreled shot gun. Let me say, for 
the benefit of pedagogues and other sedentary souls who 
have never tried it, that one solid week of gunning in 
the early part of the “ open” fall season is worth any six 
weeks of summer lolling about the corridors and breath¬ 
ing places of seaside and mountain resorts. Let any 
doubting soul try it but once, and save me from further 
digression. 
I have just finished my fifth day of turkey hunting in 
the Virginia woods—glorious days, all of them ; in the 
saddle from eight in the morning until after nightfall, 
taking out, of course, the blissful horns spent in the 
“turkey blind,” listening to the call of the lmman 
“ yelpev,” and the musical return of the real game bird 
of America—for, say what you will, and cite all the 
authorities from Nimrod to Bogardus to the contrary, 
the fact will yet remain, that for genuine health-giving, 
blood-quickeningsport there is nothiugkuowntomen, or 
books to be compared with the coy and fitful “ yelp ” of 
a wild turkey that is incautiously marcliinginto the very 
muzzle of your gun ! But don't make a mistake here. 
They don’t all march, into the muzzle, nor has a hunter 
been discovered who was sure of his bird at a distance of 
twenty paces, though standing still and erect, with a 
clear unmistakable broadside presented to the hunter’s 
gaze. There is many a slip ’twixt cup and lip, and the 
difference between a live and dead turkey is not always 
the pulling of a trigger. But the charm of wild turkey 
hunting does not lie wholly in the pulling of a trigger. 
Mr. Glass’s famous recipe for cooking rabbits has a pecu¬ 
liar application to this kind of sport; for the. turkeys 
must first be found before they can be shot, and to me 
the chief sport lies in the finding. I will not attempt to 
describe the indescribable charm of hunting the game. 
To understand it at all one must know the surroundings 
arid be in full harmony therewith—must have some apti¬ 
tude in the art of “roughing it,” and have sufficient 
practice in horseback riding to render a jaunt of fifteen 
or twenty miles a day, over mountains, through valleys, 
across streams, with fences to pull down, and thickets to 
penetrate, a pastime instead of a labor. He must be 
willing, if needs be, to ride for hours and days with no 
more success than an occasional “ sign ” of the migratory 
flock, a few tracks in the roadways, scratchings 
in the fallen leaves, with an occasional scenting of the 
trail by tiie keen-nosed turkey dog, for you must know 
that tile ordinary bird dog is of no service in this work. 
A good turkey dog is a rare article ; and indispensable in 
the finding- process. Not only must he have a nose for 
turkeys, but must know how to flush a flock when he 
finds it. giving prompt notice of the fact. 
There are but two (logs that belong to this class within 
twenty miles of this place, and but two men living in this 
region of wild turkeys who are known, as successful 
hunters. I have spent the last five days with these men 
and dogs, the net income of which does not quite average 
three turkeys a day. My own share in this slaughter 
can he computed on the fingers of the right hand, leaving 
three fingers and a thumb for next year’s tally-, The 
record of this performance has been duly engraved upon 
a spent shell, and reads thus :— 
The load from this shell brought down a line young turkey 
gobbler lu the Virginia woods, near Kapidiln Station, Oot. 30th, 
1879: and tills reeord was made on the spot. The credit of the 
performance is duo to Jim Lewis, of Mitchell, the prince of 
■ yelpors .”—HuiuUscat in pace. 
To he a good “ turkey yelper” is to have a liberal educa¬ 
tion, and requires an amount of practice and self-denial 
worthy of even better results. The rarity of this accom¬ 
plishment renders its possessor a marked man in the 
country, and opens to him all the avenues of social and 
political preferment. 
I doubt, however, if this is made an especial part of 
rudimentary education in the schools, and fail to notice 
the endowment of a chair of turkey yelping in the Wash¬ 
ington at.d Lee College or the Vanderbilt University. It 
will probably come in as a reconstruction measure. 
These, however, are only the notions of a school-master, 
who is not necessarily a statesman or a politician. 
After an early start yesterday morning, and a few hours 
of prospecting in the woods and pineries, our dog Nina 
struck a trail, and was off in a flash, In a few minutes 
her note of exultation proclaimed the fact of a flush, and 
twoline gobblers went sailing over our heads, and were 
lost to view in the forest leaves. The Doctor, who is the 
champion turkey wing shot of the country—and who, 
by the way, was one of the chief spirits of Mosby’s clan 
—drew up his 14-gauge muzzle-loader, but was loo late 
to mark down his bird. Having a record of fourteen 
bagged turkeys this fall, without a miss shot, lie 
prudently held his load for a surer score. “ Brother 
J olm ” con tented himself with observing the plumage and 
avoirdupois of the receding game, exclaiming in satisfac¬ 
tory tones, “ That’s a fine flock I" Jim Lewis quietly 
cast his eye about for an eligible spot to ereet a blind, and 
the Schoolmaster quivered with inward satisfaction. To 
him, as a chief source of joy, there seemed approaching 
one more ciiance to wipe out the disgrace of two consei u- 
tive anil conspicuous miss shots. For the past twenty- 
four hours he had been mentally figuring upon tins prob¬ 
lem : “If an ordinary pedagogue, with a good gun loaded 
with three drachms of powder and an ounce and an eighth 
of No. 5 shot, can put forty pellets within an area of ton 
inches square, at a distance of fifty yards, why may not 
the saine pedagogue hit the broadside of a turkey goo * 
bier with the same gun and load at a distance of twenty- 
five yards V" He had as yet been unable to arrive at a. 
satisfactory answer ; and here seemed coming a practical 
method of solution. There were three “ yelpevB" and one 
professor, and it was decided that there should be con¬ 
structed three blinds—a yelper to a blind—and that tbe 
Professor should go with the one most likely to bring him 
the first Shot. To this post of honor and responsibility 
Jim Lewis was elected, and we began work at once, “ Tbe 
first thing,” says Jim, “is to select a good position for the 
blind. It must be as near as practicable to the spot where 
the flock was flushed. It must be made to conform to 
the general appearance of its surroundings, so as not to 
seem conspicuous or an unusual feature. It must com¬ 
mand the immediate outlying space, so as to get a clear 
shot at the approaching turkey, at a distance of from 
twenty to forty yards." 
Such a spot was selected, and in a brief space a blind 
was constructed, mostly of oak and pine saplings, which 
were easily hewed down with our jack-knives. We got 
inside the blind, giving room for the dog, whom we cov¬ 
ered in part wi th leaves to conceal the white spots on his 
body winch might possibly he observed through the aper¬ 
tures by the keen-sighted turkey. “Now,” said .lim, 
“I’ll give yon a point or two, for you are to kill the first, 
turkey that comes in range. Your first danger will he to 
shoot too soon, as yon are likely to be deceived as to dis¬ 
tance. To.avoid this let us fix the range in our calm mo¬ 
ments. There is a pine tree to our left which is abont 
thirty stepB distance. If a turkey comes to a clear space 
this side of that tree you will be almost sure to bag him 
if you get a good aim and hold your gun Bteady. There 
is an oak to our right, at least forty steps away. If the 
bird comes in that direction and is not likely to come 
nearer it may be well to blaze away; but if he is coming 
on towards ns, wait till he gets nearer—not near enough 
to bite us — but near enough to afford of shooting at his 
head. The fact is, a turkey coming to the blind looks. 
larger and nearer than he really is, and an inexperienced 
person is very apt to shoot out of range." This explana¬ 
tion would have afforded me great relief for past offences 
but that I know that none of my misfortunes came from 
a too loug range. They were inexcusable and inexpli¬ 
cable, if not irretrievable misses. Tbe requlsitehaJf hour 
has elapsed, and the “ yelper" begins his work, at first softly 
and cautiously, with listening ears after each call, then 
more loudly and clearly, sending out into the reverberat¬ 
ing forest the seductive and appealing notes of the 
genuine wild turkey. A few minutes only elapse before 
a distant and faint response is heard. The blood leaps 
to the extremities, and the Professor’s heart begins to 
thump against his ribs like atrip hammer. The breech¬ 
loader is brought to the shoulder and its muzzle pointed 
in the direction of the sound. “Better not shoot yet,” 
says the yelper, “he may come in sight if you can wait 
a minute or two.” “All right,” responds the Professor, 
“ I'll wait for orders, only don’t prolong the time on my 
account; I’m ready and cool, and the turkey that comes 
within my range this day must bite the dust.” In less 
than a minute the answering notes have grown nearer 
and yet more near, and in the distance appear two beau¬ 
tiful young gobblers, marching breast to breast into the 
very jaws of destruction. Occasionally they stop for a 
moment to get the direction of the call, and again re¬ 
sume the walk of death. “There,’’ says the Professor, 
“ they are both together and within easy range ; let mo 
shoot, and I’ll bag them both.” “Better not risk it,” 
whispers the yelper, “they are farther than you think; 
besides, they are coming nearer every second; no n?ed 
of risking your fire or throwing it away. Wait till they 
step upon that log that lies directly in their course and 
then you can’t well miss them.” This seemed a reason¬ 
able proxiositlon, as it proved a sound one, for in a mo¬ 
ment the foremost victim sprung lightly upon the log, 
stretching up his long neck, and seeming to peer directly 
into the muzzle of the breech-loader. “Now you may 
fire," quietly said the yelper, and no sooner said than the 
death-dealing pellets sped on their fatal mission, and the 
tall young gobbler lay sprawling upon the ground with 
two broken legs, a broken wing, and several side issues 
that bespoke unusual earnestness on part of tbe Pro¬ 
fessor. Meantime gobbler No. 2, who was supposed to 
be under the eye ot the yelper, took to his wings, and 
without molestation sougiit the securer retreat of the 
distant pines. “ Why didn’t you shoot,” modestly asked 
the Professor. “I was waiting to see you miss, expect¬ 
ing to help you out,” was the reply. “ Thank you,” re¬ 
sponded the Professor, “I always help myself to turkey 
when it is thrust ‘under my very nose.” And when the 
dead gobbler was brought into the blind and lav prone 
as a trophy of undoubted skill, the Professor straightened 
himself up, and a suffusion of conscious rectitude gave 
him the self-assertive air of an old torkey hunter. 
It is well that this record should here come to an end, 
as tbe luck of the hunt seemed to have sped awav on the 
wings of the bird that the yelpe-r neglected to shoot. A 
second flock, however, was “ squandered ” at the close 
of the day, from which the yelper and the Doctor each 
seemed a sample, leaving the rest to be “called up" at 
day break, of which, if ever an account is given, itinust 
be the subject of another screed. Pedagogue. 
Rapidan, Culpeper Co., Fit., Oct. 31st, 1879. 
ST. JOHN AND THE UPPER SAGUENAY 
I N the latter part of July, 1879, accompanied by a frieud 
I left Quebec for the Saguenay. Lake St. John, oui 
destination, lies 120 miles nearly due north of Quebec, bin 
the only practicable route is down the St. Lawrence ant 
up the Saguenay river, then by private conveyance to the 
lake, in all nearly throe hundred miles. A railroad oui 
to the lake from Quebec will he completed in two or three 
years, and a large wheat country be developed. 
The monotony of a driving north-easter which facec 
us all day down the Gulf was relieved at Tadousac by j 
short visit to the Canadian Fisheries establishment 
There were 300 sal m on in the pool, many weighing forty 
or fifty pounels. They were leaping and playing with c 
magnificent ease and strength, which rendered this, oui 
first view of King Salmo, truly impressive. His Majesty 
gained at least one admiring subject by showing tin 
gleam of his royal sides that afternoon, and I hero declare 
my allegiance, Vivjh le roil 
The leaden light was deepening as we steamed awaj 
