24 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[.August 10, 1891. 



LIGHT vs. HEAVY CANOES. 



IN FOBEST AMD Stream for July 13, appear, on article by 

 "J. R., ,Tr. ,'" in which he alludes to a little canoe against, 

 ■which he kicked his toe, at Porrier'S camp on Third Lake, 

 Fulton Ohain, Branson's Tract. The canoewas the worse for 

 wear. Ho turned it over and read the name "Nessmuk." He 

 »ays, "Ah! 1 see how it is now. 'Nessmuk' paddled around 

 the water.- in that miserable little cheese box, cramped up, sit- 

 ting on tie.- .lamp bottom of this boat. ETowonderhi toi 

 tuei. pitiful tales of his coughing continually, being eiek all 

 the time, finally going oui of the woods disgusted, and de- 

 termined to cry down the Adirondaeks as a fraud and a 

 humbug. NOW Mr. 'Nessmuk,' when you go into the Ad- 

 irondaeks again, go in a boat— take one of the new ijouble- 

 eudcrs that weigh about sixty pounds, and as you get into it 

 »il down ou a seat— stretch out your :{eot, and row like a man, 

 let the Indians keep to the pad. lie if th.-y like, then vou may 

 be able to shake off dial eough, etc." 



I i i -it- for a few explanatory remarks. 



To.' canoe against which "J. K., Jr.," kicked his toe last 

 June, at Third Lake was not tile canoe 1 cruised in last sum- 

 mer. I bruised in the Nipper, lanjer, longer, and two 

 lighter than tho Nessmuk. 1 eruised in the latter 

 about six or seven weeks an l,v>o miles, the previous summer. 



That healthy men and women are. in our changeable cli- 

 mate, sUujeet to 8U.fl.d6n and dangerous colds, is mournfully 

 true. Deaths by pneumonia, pleurisy, and kindred diseases 

 are sadly frcoueut, as well in city as country, ami sickness 

 U more apt to strike the COmforUtQO, well fed citizen llian 

 the dweller in forest camps, That through exposure to 

 storms and an all night soaking in a. submerged forest 1 con- 

 tracted a c™..rh thai was hard to heat was no man-el, and 

 might easily happen to a younger and stronger man. Just 

 how it woiild have helped my case to have been chilled 

 through in a heavier boat, is one of the things I shall never 

 find out. i am always a little ashamed of' being sick. 1 

 have a sort of blue water notion that no man has liny busi- 

 ness to ho sick, ■• Nobody ships for nurse." as old' sailors 

 'ay. However, 1 stuck to the cruise for over 200 miles, tak- 

 ing my canoe over all the carries. She only weighed sixteen 

 pound's. Had she been a double-ender of sixty — well, I 

 shouldn't have be.u then-. 



Ah to the superior comfort of riding in such a boat such as 

 "J. R." recommends, he has simply got the cart before the 

 horse. The comfort is all on the sale of the canoe. The 

 boat he recommends is the regular long-laker— the guide 

 boat of the wilderness, lu her you sit all day (vou dare not 

 gland up) on a hard, painted board, wdtb no choice or change 

 of position. The position becomes very tiresome in an all 

 day rid--. Yuu are even glad of the relief afforded by a 

 "carry Now, if yuu be a genuine canoeist, you reverse 

 all this; you go as yon like, and you sit on a soft cushion, 

 with four or live chamres of ""posish," and consequent, 

 relief to slid, tired musHes. To wit: You are provided 

 Willi a seat, mad ■ by stitching the two ends of one yard of 

 unbleached sheeting together, and closing one end with a 

 circular piece of the. same twelve inches in diameter, sewed 

 in strongly. This makes a round bag a little more than two 

 feet, long and one foot across. To convert it into a cushion, 

 till it to the desired height with hemlock browse, grass and 

 leaves, dry nrj«, or grass. About four or rive inches suits 

 me. A taller man may prefer a seat an inch or two higher. 

 Pack the Stuffing solid as possible, and turn in the loose cloth 

 at the top. Shape and flatten it to your notion, and vou 

 baVi iseUI thai B [apt I itself to the lines of the cbnoe— and 

 M.-i'ii i ist -perfectly, It is never hard or tiresome, and, 

 on making a cany, you Ihrow Out the tilling, put the bag in 

 your pocket, and lili it again in five minutes, when wanted. 

 At night il m ikes a capital pillow; or, if not needed for that, 

 an excellent and safe depository for the loose duffel that is 



! ; log I" Iraves and debris of an improvised 



camp. 



When tired of the one position, push the seat back, double 

 a i-oat or blanket, and sit lower. 



Next, paddle in a kneeling posture, varying it by sitting 

 back oq your heels, when tired. 



Then try the squatting position, as a redid. 



Finally, go bacft to the bag cushion, which is the first and 

 best position. The others are, each one. a rest — just what 

 you do not gat in a crank long-laker, as you "row like a 

 man," with "room to stretch out four feet, "swell out your 

 lungs and fill them lull of lie- health-giving air. etc." 



The pulling of oar- is not D v. to me. When I was twelve 

 years of age it was my daily task to pull an oar (not a swivel oar, 

 'but loose iu thole pins) from Bast Dennis, on the fish-hook 

 end of Cape Cod, straight out to sea, in fl second-hand whale 

 boat, for lish. In my young manhood 1 "pulled stroke" in 

 the waist boat of old Rajah, of and from New Bedford, 

 West, master. The dog's h"fe of a sailor sickened me for- 

 ever of a life '^before the mast." 



I have plied the round-bladed paddle of the Mttrti and 

 Miutdnteus on the Amazon River, the Madeira, the Rio 

 Negro, and the Toc.antims, in Brazil, and the narrow blade 

 of the (,'hippL-was iu a light pine dugout on the upper 

 waters of the Mississippi, f have at last come to accept the 

 light, doublo-bladed paddle as the nepk&S ultra of propulsion 

 iu a light, canoe. 



in ver gone 01J a cruise in which I did not learn 

 something new. i am always open to advice. But in return 

 perhaps i can give a useful iiiut or two; at least I can try. 



First. If yon Idve nature in undress learn to go alone. 

 You can study your route and the courses of streams, and 

 you carry a compass? Be self-reliant. Go alone. If, in the 

 grand old forest, you are. not sufficient unto yourself, select 

 x partner, and take a thirty-five-pouiid clinker-built cedar 

 Cauoa Two m-n make lighter carries, and some men must 

 have company (I prefer to be alone). 



Second. While breech-loadiug cutis and bamboo rods 

 sun i- - si to something like perfection, nobody 



seems to nave made ■• Btudy of light, single, paddling canoes, 

 i ion Of Hie ounces and pounds of the canoe in pro- 

 portion to weight of the canoeist I have not seen agitated 

 as yet. lu bonis and canoes we run all too heavy and trust 

 too' much to guides. Careful experiment, covering months, 

 or at. least, weeks, through several seasons, leads me to put 

 in type a few general rules— approximative only, but mainly 

 correct. As thus; Fir a light weight canoeist, one pound 

 of cacoe to sis pounds of canoeist. 



This gives a cauoa of '.'dibs, to a 1201b. man. It is more 



Jhanis naeded. The dimensions of such a ennoo should be, 

 ougth, l'PJft. : beam, Siin, ; rise at centre, 7 to Sin. 



For a heavbr man. increase weight and size of canoe 

 •lowly. Forinstance, weight of canoeist, 1501bs. For such 

 ». man, a cauo.i Jiift. Kin. lu length, 28in. beam, weight, 

 321bB. (The canoe w Ul carry the man and a bght passenger 

 ft lOOlbw.) 



For a muscular, strong welter of ISOlbs. or thereabouts, 

 a canoe lift, long, 28in. beam, 9in. rise at centre, steep fore 

 fool, .and Uin. shear at stem, weight, about 201bs 



treugth of each of the above canoes, mainly on keel. 

 keelson and g.arboard streaks, with pretty strong and well 

 guarded stems. 



(As boatmen and canoeists, my dear "J. R, Jr.," we 

 mostly go Over-weighted, Remember it.) 



As to the well-worn "cheese-box," .-gainst which vou 

 kicked your toe last June, I sold her to Ferric last summer. 

 But, as regards her, Harry Bronker, a muscular young 

 cheery Baltimorean, paddled her from the Forge House last 

 July, through three Brat lakes of the Fulton chain, at a rate 

 that left me, in the Nipper, out of sight, His weight was 

 1751bs. 



Mrs. Sperry, who has a camp on Fourth Lake, used to 

 bolTOW the Nessmuk, and paddle her around the lakes, de- 

 livering supplies. Mrs. Sparry weighs over 1301bs. 



No, I cannot, as yet, say just what the proportions of 

 canoe and canoeist ought to be, to get the proper eornbina- 

 tiou of relative weight, wdth safety, pleasure and conve- 

 nience. 



But, 1 am going to know. 



I have ordered another canoe of ltushton to weigh 12lbs. 

 (I think lOlbs. would do). Under date of Juno 9. he says, 

 "Can build you a boat of any size. Whether it would float 

 you or not cannot say. 1 will build it awful light, but won't 

 say bow much racket it will stand. 1 expect it will drown 

 yuu, yet. So far as I know no one has ever seen a, 121b. 

 boat of any make, fairly afloat, with a man iu her." 



Under date of 26th .'tune, he writes. "I'll make it, I'll 

 make it light. But you just go in it iu shallow water for a 

 spell. I don't dare guarantee anything for strength. It may 

 go to pieces like an egg shell." 



Mr. Rushton builds better than he knows, ne can build a 

 101b. canoe that I can ride, I am astonished and rigged that 

 even my personal friends should say, "Ah! vour light canoes 

 are for notoriety, and a trifle of bluff, ear Now. I am no 

 gambler— never was. But I am no moralist, I had as lief 

 back an opinion with a wager as an argument. And I will 

 wager $101) or $201) that J. H. Rushton makes me a canoe to 

 weigh less than lOlbs. , less than 8ft. in length, That 1 take 

 the canoe at Tom Nightingale's door (Moose. River House} 

 and paddle and carry t lie same through the Fulton Chain to 

 the Kaquettc Lake, register at Ed. Bennett's, at Lcavitt's on 

 Forked Lake, go through to Faul Smith's, come back by 

 way of the Toppers, Smith and Albany lakes, to Ed. Dun- 

 bar's on the Beaver; from there by the Beaver and the seven- 

 mile carry to Twitchell Lake, thence to Big Moose and down 

 by the three carries to Fourth Lake, and down from thence 

 to the Forge House. All lobe done by a light-weight, wdio 

 has never been over the route before, farther than Long Lake. 

 My duffel shall not exceed 201bs. Less is better. 



Row boats are good: sailing canoes splendid for those who 

 delight in canvas. 



We all have our hobbies. My hobby is the lightest possible 

 clinker-built cedar canoe and the double paddle. 1 do not 

 quarrel with other men's hobbies. 1 like them, rattier. 



One word as to my decrying the Adirondaeks as "a fraud 

 and a humbug." Never. 'Where do you get that'/ Abetter, 

 manlier, sturdier class of men than the guides of the North 

 Woods I have not seen. All the same, I am no baby. I 

 have read "Adirondack Murray" and "Camp Lou." Bis- 

 millah! It is bosh! There were twenty-three deaths from 

 lung diseases in the St. Regis country and the Sarnnac re- 

 gion; many more barely crept out alive to die at home, last 

 summer. Don't lie to a vain thing. 



The entire North Woods region is exceptionally healthy, 

 but it won't quite bring the dead to life, "Adirondack Mur- 

 ray" and "Camp Lou" to the contrary notwithstanding. 



But il is the best region on this earth for a cruise by a 

 lone, self -reliant canoeist. 



Never again when I get sick will I own up. 



Verplanck Colv-m and other writers have put up the value 

 of the Adirondaeks as a park, so to speak; a National or 

 State park. Just so. And on a score, of the main streams, 

 without let or hindrance, dams have been placed, and the 

 bright, green shore-lines have beell converted into lines of 

 desolation and death. 



Time passes. I am one of the great army who are always 

 working. But 1 have lime for a cruise. Does "J. R., Jr.*," 

 mean what he says? Will he meet me for a cruise of a 

 month or more at any point between "Paul Smith's" and the 

 Forge House? I in a 121b. canoe, be in such boat as he 

 pleases. Address "Nessmuk," care of Foiiest and Stream. 

 \ Nessmuk. 



<ttw[nl fifitorg. 



SOME ICHTHYOLOGICAL TERMS. 



UY PROP. D. 8. JORDAN. 



TflF, terms most commonly used in the description of 

 fishes may be explained to the beginner by a sort of ob- 

 ject lesson. The reader is supposed to have at hand a speci- 

 men of the common brook sucker (Catostomus annnwrioni) 

 and a black bass (Af/i-ropfcrutt dokmmv). 



The general form of tbe body may be indicated in general 

 terms, as elongate, oblong, ovate, etc. ; more specific terms 

 arc compressed (flattened laterally), depressed (flattened from 

 above); fusiform (spindle shaped), etc. 



The. depth of tho body is measured at the point of greatest 

 height. It is described by comparison with tho length, 

 along the side from the tip of the snout to the middle of the 

 base of the caudal fin. The depth is usually proportionately 

 greater in adult fishes than in the young, a fact that should 

 never be forgotten. "Depth 5" is a concise way of stating 

 that the greatest depth or height of the fish is equal to about 

 one-fifth tho length of the lisli from tit) of snout to base of 

 caudal. By a few writers the length is measured to the tip 

 of the caudal. In such cases the phrase "total length" may 

 be used. There are many good reasons why the caudal fin 

 should not be included in reckoning the length of the fish's 

 body. 



The proportionate size of the mouth is often best measured 

 by noticing at what point the maxillary terminates, the jaws 

 being usually longer in proportion in old than iu young 

 fishes. The length of the head is measured along its side 

 from the tip of the muzzle to the cud of the bony operele, 

 and is described by comparison with the length of the body, 

 as above noted. "Thus, "head 5" indicates tlfot the head 

 forms about one-fifth part, of the length from the tip of the 

 snout to the middle of the base of tin; caudal fin. 



The principal bones of the jaws are tho followiug ; The two 



dentary bones, joined in front by a symphysis, forming the 

 inaudible or lower jaw ; the preinaxillaries (or tntermaxilla- 

 rir-s) forming at least the middle of the front part of the 

 upper jaw, and in Some cases (as in the black base) its entire 

 edge, Attached to the preinaxillaries. either behind as in 

 the case of the black bass, or below, as in the trout, are the 

 niaxillarics (orsupramaxillaries). lu tho black bass these are 

 broad and conspicuous, extending backward below the eye; 

 (n the sucker they are scarcely recognizable without- dissec- 

 tion, sometimes the maxillary "is subdivided, provided with a 

 supplemental bone or otherwise modified. 



The jaws are sometimes provided with lips. These lips 

 may have various forms, or they may have about the mouth 

 fleshy appendages various iu form or size, known as barbels. 

 These are found in the catfish, but not in the bass or the 

 sucker. 



The upper jaw or the promaxillaries arc said to be protrac- 

 tile, wdien there is a furrow in the skin yvhich separates them 

 from the- skin of the forehead, as in the sucker. They are not 

 protractile, when the skin covering the upper jaw," in the 

 middle at least, is continuous with that of the forehead. 



The principal membrane bones of the head may be readily 

 recognized on the sucker. The large bony plate occupying 

 the posterior portion of the sides is the operele (operculum); 

 below this, and extending up obliquely behind it is the su- 

 bopercle; in front of the operele, hearlv parallel with it« 

 edges, and separating it from the cheek" is the prccoperele, 

 and below the angle of the precopercle, wedged in between 

 it and the subopercle, is the narrow interopercle. Below tho 

 eye is the series of suborbital bones, and in front of the eve, 

 below the double opening of the nostril, is the preorbital. On 

 the top of the head in the sucker, is the eharrcteristic unossi- 

 fied space between tie parietal bones, known as tho fon- 

 tanel^. 



The. eye is proportionately much larger in a young fish 

 than in an old one; its relative size is usually expressed by 

 comparing its diameter with the length of the head, with 

 the. length of the muzzle (distance from tip of snout to 

 front of eye), and with the width of the interorbital space 

 (distance between the eyes above). 



The tooth-bearing bones of the mouth can be readily 

 recognized in the black bass. The principal of these are 

 the following: 



1. Dentaries, the bones of the lower jaw. 



2. Fremaxillary, above described. 



3. Maxillary, "above described. This bone is usuatly 

 toothless, or merely toothed upon its edge. 



4. Vomer, the bone on the middle line of the palate, im- 

 mediately behind the preinaxillaries. It is provided with a 

 patch of teeth in the black bass. 



5. Palatines, the bones on each side extending backward 

 and outward from the vomer. They are armed with teeth 

 in the black bass. 



(i. Pterygoids, on each side, behind the palatines. These 

 are provided with teeth in the rock bass, but not iu the 

 black bass, nor, intact, iu most fishes. 



i. Tongue. 



8. Hyoid bone, the base of the tongue, to each side > 

 which gill arche-s (usually four in number) are attached. 



I). Gill rakers, the stiffened appendages of the gill arches, 

 or more particularly of the anterior pair. The gills are on 

 the outside or convex edge, the gill rakers ou the interior or 

 concave edge of the arch. 



10. Upper pharyngeals, on each side of the median line 

 on the upper side "of the oesophagus, behind the gill arches. 



If. Lower pharyngeals, one on each side, of the median 

 line, below the .esophagus and behind the gill arches. These 

 bones aTe modified gill arches, and their form and structure 

 varies widely in different groups. In the black bass they 

 are flatfish and triangular. In the sucker they are sickle- 

 shaped. Sometimes the two bones are fully united. 



Below the subopercle and interopercle, and nearly parallel 

 with them, are the bony branchiostegals, enveloped in the 

 gill membranes. Those aVe three in number on each side in 

 the sucker, six in the black bass, and their number often fur- 

 nishes characters of importance. On the median line below, 

 separating the gill openings from each other, is a region 

 known as the isthmus. To this the gill openings are some- 

 times attached, as in the sucker, iu which case the gill open- 

 ings are separated and each restricted to its respective sides. 



The scales when normally developed are usually either 

 ctenoid (with the exposed or "posterior edge rough or "ciliated, 

 as in the perch or black bass), or cycloid (smooth, as iu the 

 sucker). In most fishes a series of scaler along each sido of 

 the body is provided each with a mucous tube, "those forming 

 a conspicuous ridge known as the lateral line. In many scale- 

 less fishes this chain of mucous tubes is also developed. 



The relative size of the scales is indicated by counting 

 them. Of course, the smaller the scales are proportionately, 

 the more numerous they are. 



The number of scales forming the lateral line is one of the 

 most valuable, of specific characters. When the scales in the 

 lateral line are. larger thantherest (as in the trout), or smaller 

 or otherwise irregular, the number of cross rows of scales 

 above the lateral line should be taken. 



"Lat. 1. 65" expresses lateral line with 6:5 scales. "Scales It) 

 — 68— X," the scale formula of the sucker, indicates 10 series 

 of scales between the dorsal fin and the lateral line, 65 scales 

 in the lateral line, and 7 rows between it and the ventralB. 



The fins are (a) the paired fins, which are pectorals (cor- 

 responding to the auterior limbs of the higher vertebrates) 

 situated immediately behind the gill openings, and tho ven- 

 trals (Corresponding to the posterior limbs) placed behind or 

 below the pectorals, and (b) tbe vertical fin or fins on the 

 median line of the body. These are the dorsal {on the back), 

 caudal (on the end of the tail), and the anal (on the lower 

 side of the Body behind the. vent). The dorsal is sometimes 

 divided into two tins, or even more. In this case the fins 

 are distinguished as first dorsal, second dorsal, etc. 



The position of the ventral fins is a matter of much im- 

 portance. They are said to be abdominal when on tbe 

 belly, considerably behind the pectorals, as in the sucker; 

 thoracic when inserted under The pectorals, or very nearly 

 so, as iu the black bass; jugular when in advance of the 

 pectorals, as in the codfish. A more minute account of the 

 position of the ventrals maybe given by comparing their 

 position with that of She front of the dorsal tin, or with the 

 middle of the body. 



The rays composing the fins are either spines or soft rays. 

 Spines are usually stiff and pointed, and iu any event are 

 never articulated "and never branched. When spines are 

 present there is usually one in each ventral fin, and one or 

 more in the anterior part of the anal, and several in th« 

 front part of the dorsal, the spines constituting the whole 

 first dorsal when there, are two separate fins. The pectorals 

 and caudal are seldom provided with spines. 



The soft rays are always articulated or jointed toward. 



