6 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[August 3, 1882. 



TIM POND AND THE SEVEN PONDS. 



EBiftor Obtest and StrMm; 



Alter my health became impaired I went to Maine, my 

 native State, for rest from a large business, tor recreation 

 and Strength. While there 1 was persuaded by friends of 



other years to go to Tim Pond. 1 found such myriads of 

 trout, had so much sport and gained so much health that I 

 often talked of it, and the next year took friends and neigh- 

 bors with me, meanwhile writing to Forest afd SifBBAM 

 about it. My friends ami 1 have continued to go, and I have 

 continued to" write, and in short this is how Tim Pond and 

 the Seven Ponds became my Mecca. 



Some things that I first wrote were then criticised by a 

 Class thai 00* I -nrhusiasfieally endorse them. What I have. 

 stated as facts are now so recognized, and what I gave as 

 estimates have proved to be substantially accurate. 



But from letters which my friends and I are almost daily 

 receiving, and from BtateTaentB and questions which I See in 

 FOREST AND Stream, which, now that 1 am shut in from 

 the green world around me, I read with redoubled avidity, 

 I am admonished that lean still lie of service to those for whom 

 I have an increasing sympathy — invalid sportsmen, the ex- 

 hausted business man, 'and the" gentlemanly patron of manly 

 Bports. 1 am made aware also that several ladies are antici- 

 pating revisiting the scene of their last years' enjoyment 

 at Tim Pond during this season. 



it is generoiir. and just that those visiting these places 

 should know the facts regardless of any personal pecuniary 

 interest in them. What statements 1 present as facts can be 

 substantiated bj cumulative and undoubted evidence, and 

 what 1 give as' estimates are backed by an array of honest 

 authority. 



Parties from this State, New York, and Massachusetts, 

 for the last year or more, on starting for Tim Pond and the 

 Seven Ponds via Smith's, have taken the popular routes, after 

 reaching Boston, of the Eastern, or Boston & Maine, 

 Maine Central & Somerset R. R. to North Anson, arriving 

 at — P. M. Then take a stage the same day for Northern 

 Portland, eight miles distant, and spend the night at the 

 Dingo House. The next morning they take the stage or 

 private team, as they may elect, and travel in view of the 

 loveliest and most varied scenery to Smith's Farm. After 

 dinner they take a backboard wagon to Smith's cabins at 

 Ton Pond, arriving in good season" for tea. The next morn- 

 ing, if one bfl in such haste, the journey may be continued 

 to the Seven Ponds. 



The distance given by residents on the route from the 

 railroad terminus at N Anson to Smith's Farm is forty-five 

 miles. The distance from Smith's Farm to Tim Pond, as 

 recently measured by chain, is a few rods le.ss than six 

 mdes, and from Tim'Pond to Big Island Pond— one. of the 

 largest, of the Seven Ponds— also" measured by chain, is a few 

 rods more than twelve miles, making the entire distance 

 from N. Anson to the Seven Ponds sixty-three miles, and 

 the time from Boston to the Seven Ponds, two days and a 

 half. 



Smith, for excellent, reasons, has selected as the site of his 

 forest hamlet , high ground a few rods from a sandy cove of 

 Big Island Pond^ and a few rods from "L." Pond, two of 

 the largest of this grand cluster of ponds. 



Speaking with reference to a line running about north 

 and south, this location is about the center of the group, 

 making it very convenient to reach any of the number, for 

 the distance from one pond to another varies from a quarter 

 of a mile to a mile. 



On one side of this site is a. clear, cold spring of water, 

 and on the other a beautiful brook comes rollicking down 

 from Snow Mountain. By putting a dam across tbis stream 

 Smith proposes to construct a trout basin in which to im- 

 pound the charming, tinny fellows to take at any moment 

 fresh for the table or for guests to take home. 



At Tim Pond there are "eight good log cabins, besides one 

 for cooking and one for dining. And a friend writes: 

 •'Smith has three cabins ready for use the 1st of June at 

 Seven Ponds, and before the 1st. of July expects to have as 

 good a set of cabins here as at Tim Pond." 



The buckboard road from the Farm to Tim Pond and 

 thence to Seven Ponds is no ordinary affair. 1 have ridden 

 over it and walked over it, and know every rod of it. It is 

 made and used for double teams as well as single ones. 



Bushes and old logs are cut and put aside; trees are taken 

 out by the roots; stones are dug up; knolls are shoveled off 

 into hollows; streams and marshy places are bridged, etc., 

 etc. In truth, it is a good forest 'road. I have ridden on 

 worse public roads in more than one town in Maine. Some 

 parts of it are rough. 1 do not say the best of it is as good 

 as those through the village of New Portland. But it has 

 cost Smith many hundreds of dollars. All sportsnr n are 

 indebted to him" for their great pleasure in passing through 

 this shady retreat, with the" boughs of the umbrageous trees, 

 centuries" old, intertwined over their heads, and for the com- 

 fort the}- receive in riding here, instead of being forced to 

 tramp over a precipitous trail, marked by spotted trees, and 

 crawling under windfalls or splashing in mud when tired 

 nature is just ready to faint by the way. Yes, and we will 

 thank him that, with strong horses, he wdll take all the 

 tackle, guns and munition we may desire, that we need 

 leave nothing behind that WO so much wish to have with us 

 for the two weeks' fishing and shooting. 



"Look hereupon this picture, and on this," to sketch 

 some of which I have seen the original myself. Two who 

 have been far more than a quarter of a century hunters, 

 trappers and guides in the Kangeley , Kennebago and Seven 

 Ponds regions shall furnish some, material and some shall be 

 gleaned from the writings of Capt. Barker, the columns of 

 Fobest and Stream, etc., etc. 



Phillips is tlie terminus of the railroad on the route from 

 Boston to Seven Ponds via Kennebago. From the above 

 authorities, and I think them good and reliable, Capt, 

 Barker says; 'Arriving on the train at Phillips spend the 

 night tnere. next morning take the stage twenty miles to 

 Rangeley." So far we agree with him. "After dinner," he 

 says", "make ready and start for Kennebago." AVe still 

 agree. lie does not say at what time the guests will reach 

 Kennebago and so I must rely on several truthful persons, 

 who have been over the path' many times and know every 

 furlong of it. We will say that they reach there in season 

 for supper and spend the night there. The next morning 

 they pack into a boat, pull live miles on the large lake, up a 

 stream, cross a small lake, up an inlet, then take a trail that, 

 leads to the most southerly of the Seven Ponds, and my 

 authority puts it at . fifty -five miles from Phillips. But they 

 have not yet reached "Big Island Pond, where the Smith 

 cabins are, and the central and most prominent of the ponds 

 for trouting, location and scenery. Those ponds north of 

 Big Island Pond are considered better for trouting than 



those south of it. I do not mean exactly north and south, 

 but speaking in general terms. From a map at my side I 

 judge it to be from three to five miles from the southern 

 point of the group of ponds to the central point which will 

 give us a common point from which to compaie the dis- 

 tances of the two routes in question. Adding then, say, 

 three miles to the fifty-live of the Kennebago route from 

 Phillips where the trail strikes the southerly region of the 

 Seven Ponds, wc have fifty-eight, miles from the Phillips 

 terminus of the railroad to a common and central point of 

 the region under discussion. And my friends, you have the 

 two pictures. For I have already shown you, it is Bixty- 

 throe miles from the North Anson railroad terminus to the 

 Seven Ponds common point via the Smith Farm and Tim Pond 

 route. So far I have endeavored to show the whole of both 

 pictures, that those who have never seen them may see and 

 choose tor themselves. Those who have seen the original of 

 both make the same choice. 



But to follow the example given me. I must call attention 

 to a. few features. By the N. Anson line, the stage take.-, us 

 through charming scenery and over good roads forty live 

 miles to the Smith Farm, and then come eighteen mileB to 

 the common point, spoken of at the Seven Pond-, by buck- 

 board wagon. We can take with us much or littl- h iggttge, 

 We can walk a part or all of the distance, shooting or fishing 

 by the way; or we can ride all the distance and need OOl .-oil 

 the blacking on our shoes, from the platform of the station at 

 N. Aaisou to the door of Smith's cabin at Seven Ponds. 



By the other line we can take, a stage twenty miles to 

 Rangeley — good road, grand scenery. Then "a Btrong 

 wagon, three miles," then ten miles on foot or horseback; 

 then more change of baggage into a boat; down the large 

 lake, up a stream, across' a small lake, up an inlet to a twelve 

 mile trail. "Well, it is none of your modern Smoothed out 

 ones," so a. sportsman told me last September, just as he 

 "grounded arms" after "enmiug through" said trail, nor did 

 he feci as though he bad been sauntering through "The 

 Happy Valley." ' He thought the proprietors would make a 

 buckboard road if it was possible or practicable, but he. did 

 not see anv need of it, now that Smith had chosen the better 

 way, etc. ," etc. Alter we come to the end of the old trail we 

 can have more boat and more "carry," or all "cany" till we 

 arrive, at the common central point on the shore of Big Island 

 Pond, thirty -five miles from where we began our "Paddle 

 and Portage." Shades of our grandfathers! Leave out 

 twenty-five miles ride on a good stage, over a good road and 

 through a fine country for the sake of a tramp ot such hard- 

 ship: What, an "inspiration!" It almost equals that of 

 which we have heard too much of late. Suppose I have 

 been misinformed and have overestimated — though I think i 

 am nearly correct, and have underestimated rather than over- 

 stated — a"nd instead of this thirty-live miles of "hardship" 

 there are but twenty-five. Can I, or any other invalid or 

 merchant, minister, or hardy, fun-loving sportsman afford to 

 undergo such an unnatural and exhausting -t rain roller than 

 ride twenty-five miles in a stage'.' Sim- this exhibition of 

 the two pictures, it is unnecessary for me tO say » bid) route 

 has the least hardship. 



We will now consider the question of time. Being ill I 

 have not seen the most recent time tables, but think that 

 trains from Boston arrive and depart at the same, or about 

 the same time at Phillips and North Anson, and we. have 

 seen that via the North Anson route a passenger is two days 

 and a half in going from Boston to Big Island Pond. 



By Phillips and Kennebago the passenger from Boston 

 stops for the first night at 'Phillips; next day he is on his 

 way to Kennebago, and spends the second night there. The 

 third day ho is to do the balance of the thirty-five miles, and 

 if he is a" strong man and has a good guide he will reach Big 

 Island Pond late in the afternoon, with a good appetite and 

 a disposition to sleep. It is not requisite to take another 

 view of the pictures before we decide as to the superiority 

 in the matter of time. 



I will now speak of the transportation of supplies and bag- 

 gage by horse power. Oh! no. I have no example for this! 

 It is, however, the real thing after all. Just here a most dis- 

 creet silence has been observed. 



1 mav be able to walk the eighteen miles from Smith's 

 Farm to Seven Ponds, though in impaired health, by taking 

 ttiestal short distances, a frequent lunch and perhaps a 

 night in some of the temporary camps on the road, and cer- 

 tainly the road is an easy one 'for a walk. But I want, sup- 

 plies" for the table in plenty and fresh. I am fond of trout 

 and game in their season, but do not want them all the time. 

 I want variety; meal, flour, salt pork, butter, eggs, potatoes, 

 and if I remain in long, beef, mutton, buckweat, syrup, 

 sugar, coffee, etc., etc. With a good road and double team 

 to "connect with the outer world we get them. When we 

 depend upon a trail and a man's back things are sometimes 

 scarce. T. S. Steele found it so, and I did once. Then I, 

 with thousands of others, want my "traps" with me. A 

 fidl "kit" for a gun and rod and perhaps for a rifle. Yes, 

 and I want some changes for raiment. Accidents have, oc- 

 curred. A small medicine chest along shows good judgment. 

 Shall, can a man "carry" all these for me and a score ot 

 others? I tell you the supply train is a good thing to have. 

 and I shall board with the man having one, though I do ride 

 on a stage. Gentlemen, you have a right, to keep silent on 

 this point just as much as 1 have to talk about it ; or you have 

 a right to tramp those thirty-five miles rather than ride in a 

 stage, but let me advise you to send your supplies by a good 

 strong team. 



1 have said but little this time about trouting, shooting, 

 scenery, cabins, cooks, etc, etc. I need not, for 1 did it 

 long ago. Others have taken up the refrain, and have been 

 crowding honors thickly upon the beauty of the scenery, 

 the excellence of the fishing and shooting, and i have de- 

 cided to rest. It would seem that certain parties wish to 

 inform us who dwell in cities that their favorite proprietors 

 were pioneers at some chosen ponds before the redskins or 

 before the glacial period. Others are profuse in showering 

 blessings and commeudation on the head of hard-toiling 

 Kennedy Smith. All these things amuse mc or afford me a 

 sort of satisfaction. I have had great pleasure and benefit 

 from the. days I have spent by the clear waters and in the 

 dark forests "of Maine. I have engaged quarters at Seven 

 Ponds for the last Tuesday in August, It is now uncertain 

 if I occupy them, but if fairly up from my cot I shall go 

 there to regain my strength. And 1 shall go via Tim Pond. 

 It has no hardships that, one who is able to travel at such 

 places as Saratoga and Newport cannot stand. I had hoped 

 to take my wife ana daughters with me. 1 cannot decide 

 that now. But let me repeat to such as have nervous pros- 

 tration, malaria, first stages of pulmonary troubles, dyspepsia, 

 etc., it is far more for your benefit, and you can better 

 endure to spend a few weeks at Tim Pond and the Seven 



Ponds than a trip to the White Mountains, Niagara Falls 

 and the usual summer rosorts. 



I had arranged to go with Rev. Dr. Craighead of Howard 

 University, a friend or two of this State, friends from New 

 York and' also from Maine. I owe much to those old Maine 

 friends who have pilgrimized to those beautiful spots with 

 me so many times. Once we left Farmiugton with our 

 private teams in the morning, and took supper at the Tim 

 Pond cabins, and had time enough to have caught, fish for 

 a meal if we had thought of it. Again we took breakfast 

 it. a Tim Pond camp, and supper the evening of the same 

 day at the Dingo House at North New Portland. It was a 

 splendid supper; never did I enjoy one more. 



My neighbor, J. Goodrich, Esq.. returned last month from 

 Tim Pond, and says he had just such meals at the Dingo on 

 his way to and from his sport. He says the trouting at Tim 

 Pond was so excellent that he did iiot 'wish to go to Seven 

 Ponds, anil gave it up for this time. He and the friend 

 with him thought they had the richest, f cast yet. 



1 began these lines as a few kind words to those who have 

 never been to Tim Pond and the Seven Ponds, and who 

 wish to go by the easiest route. I think that I have shown 

 this, and will close by saying that round trip tickets from 

 Boston via West Wa'tei'v'ille and North Anson to Smith's 

 Farm are sold for $$. 50, J. W. T. 



New Biutain. Conn., July. 1882, 



JJa%*7 §i§tom 



THE SELF-PRESERVATIVE INSTINCT 

 OF ANIMALS. 



THE RATTLESNAKJE, 

 Editor For&t and Shram: 



Yesterday, in company with two citizens of this place, I 

 spent the i.'ay iii riding over the country on horseback. Our 

 object was to look into the coal formations hereabout. We 

 found coal abundant, and of very good quality. The fossils 

 are in a remarkable state of preservation. 1 picked up a 

 number of the genus I^vtluetus, with the shell perfectly 

 white and pearly, almost, as much so as it could have been 

 when the anim.-il lived in the carboniferous seas. Also got 

 manv specimens of EuomphaUx and cup-shaped corals, 

 which wore perfect in all their parts. Also got one trilo- 

 bite, which had been converted into a beautifully polished 

 clay-iron stone, and the complete preservation of the little 

 animal is something wonderful to behold. Here are his 

 eyes and every lineament, as plain as when they were in- 

 stinct with life. If this little chap could talk, what a tale 

 he could unfold! But he can't talk; he is as dead as Hector; 

 as dead as forty broiled mackerels. The more's the pity. 

 And yet he is so life-like as I hold him in my hands, I can 

 hardly help thinking that he is about to jump away from me. 



While riding along, our horses became strangely agitated as 

 we neared a fence, and grew more, and more so the nearer 

 we got to it. They pricked up their ears, stuck their heads 

 out as far as they could, snorted with their nostrils, and 

 showed a great uu'williutrness to approach the fence. They 

 were in so nervous a stale as we urged them forward with 

 whip or spur, that they actually trembled. The fence was 

 on au open prairie, with no brush shout it, and we could see 

 nothing whatever to cause such singular agit.at ion, Finally, 

 one of my companions, Dr. Poindexter, of this place, spoke 

 up and s;iid; "There must be a snake here, one of those big, 

 rusty old rattlers." Mr. Seribuer, my other companion, 

 thought so too, and proposed that, we hunt the rattler. Our 

 horses acted so foolishly that Ave took them out of the way, 

 dismounted and hunted the snake on foot. Sure enough we 

 found him lying in the shade of the fence, just opposite 

 where our horses" behaved most ridiculously. He was lying 

 at full length, seeming to be in a great state of contentment, 

 but preceded to coil himself up as soon as he perceived that 

 he was the object, of our attentions. He remained perfectly 

 quiet, except that he licked out his tougue at us. While we 

 did nothing but look at him, he did nothing but look at us 

 and lick his tongue, as if he meant, to say: "Be careful now, 

 don't, come near me, if you'll let me alone, I'll let .you alone. 

 If you bother me, I'll give you lightning." 



1 had an excellent glass with mc, so 1 could study this 

 Cvotulm horri&ua JUBt as closely as lit he had been but four- 

 teen inches from my eyes. I could note every movement of 

 his nerves, and road, as I thought, the very" thoughts that 

 rose up in him. What a proud, Bcornful, wicked eye he 

 has. That eye looks as if it was never softened by a single 

 good thought, and yet as if it were too proud to have re- 

 fleeted a single mean one. Villainy of a high and honorable 

 sort is his nature, if it is possible, that villainy can be of that 

 sort. It seemed to me that he had the eyes of Satau him- 

 self. Did Mother Eve allow herself to be seduced and 

 ruined by such an infernal-looking "cuss" as this ? Then I 

 say that 'her taste must have been miserably perverted, and 

 her virtue morbid! v weak. 



The snake remained looking at us and licking out his 

 tongue, with no other demonstration whatever", until the 

 Doctor' and Seribuer began to advance upon him with 

 stones. He then lilted his head high up and sprung his 

 rattles. I kept my glasses upon him. His eyes blazed with 

 fury; they now had an expression of malignancy and hate 

 impossible to describe, and every part of him quivered with 

 excitement, or with the'impulse, desire orintuiition to strike 

 a deadly blow. It was really a fascinating spectacle to look 

 upon, but not unmixed with a good deal of apprehension 

 and horror. 



Presently a huge stone from Scribner's hand came down 

 upon him with crushing effect. Ho struck it a tremendous 

 blow witn his fangs, but that, was the last warlike demon- 

 stration he made. He had got enough, and acknowledged 

 himself whipped. Ho uncoiled himself and tried to escape 

 by dragging his mutilated form through the fence, but before 

 he could do so auother stone had put him entirely lion tU 

 eombot. He ought to have run a little sooner, as 1 have many 

 times had to do when confronted with "overwhelming num- 

 bers and resources." He was as thick as a man S aim, and 

 above four feet in length He was a villainous looking var- 

 mint, to be sure. I do not. blame, our horses for cutting up 

 so. Did not think to count his rattles, but believe he had 

 only four, possibly only three. 



Is it not singular how horses are provided with this power- 

 ful instinct wdiieh warns them of their deadly enemy, and 

 that they receive the first warning of his proximity 

 through their nostrils? How thoughtful and good is the 

 great Creator even of his dumb brutes— if he did make rattle- 

 snakes! Often in riding about over the wi.ds of Texas I 

 have had my horseB behave strangely without being able to 



