142 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Sept. 21, 1882. 



ADIRONDACK tiUHVUV MITKS, 



X.—A RAINY DAY TN GAMP. 



\ RAINY day in camp in often welcome to h party that 

 1 *- is actively engaged at all times, when it is possible to 

 scompllsli anything, and on such occasions the-ever busy chiefs 

 Of divisions Of Ebe survey improve Lht? drizzling hours by 

 figuring up the distances between the peaks of all mountains 

 which are visible from not only a single peak, but from each 

 other, also measurements of angles are looked over for cor- 

 rection Or VBrifieatfoH, the field notes are consulted for items 

 lo add lo existing maps, and the cheerful tables of loga- 

 rithm.-, yield information both literal and figurative. In 

 Other, leuts, however, where the rodsmeu, guides, and other 

 atlnchces are gathered, rhGllding clothes and implements 

 and doing such other work as has been put off for just such 

 an opportunity; there is a hum of conversation on various 

 topics. Wishing to start an argument and then back out 

 and leave others to fight ft out, 1 asked Iho knowing guide: 

 •'Why is it that the sun puis out (I tire?" 



"It's because there's chemistry ju the sun's rays that don't 

 agree with fire, "said he. after a pause in which he evidently 

 hesitated between fear of appearing not to know, and doubt 

 hf to the cause of the alleged phenomenon. 



"Because there's chemistry in your grandmother's black 

 Cat ." said the Careful guide, removing his pipe to empty and 

 refill it, 'I've heard o' that. thing about the sun shiniug on a 

 log fire and putting it out, pvei since I was knee-high lo a 

 gfasshnppec. and T've watched, but never made up my mind 

 whether the sun had any effect or not." 



"Of course il has effect," chimed in the positive guide. 

 "You let a log fire burn all nighl in front of your tent in 

 winter, and then see how quickly gray ashes will form on 

 l he coals and put them out as soon as the, bright .morning 

 sun strikes I hem. Yon can't fell me anything about that, 

 'cause T've seen it too often, and I know it's so." 



"Oh, yes! You know it all, you do," put in the teasing 

 guide, who never missed a chance to bother the positive one, 

 "You knew the ice would bear us up on Minnow Pond last 

 fall, and when you went on it the rest of us knew whose 

 breeches got wet and who came near losing bis axe, and 

 would have lost it if the water had been deeper. And you 

 are the one that knew that the trail out of Big Moose that 

 we were on didn't go to Twitebell, and so started off on the 



other oue and brought up at " 



'Well. I don't see what that, has to do with the son. nor 

 what you want to 'throw up a mistake like that for, every 

 chance yon gel," retorted the other, "but, when I say I have 

 seen He sun put a fire out, 1 know what 1 am talking about, 

 i hi l saen it and I know it; that's all there is about, it." 



'Flow do you know that the fire wouldn't have gone out 

 anyway at; that, time if the sun had not come out?" asked 

 the careful man 



"I tell you i{ is on account of the chemistry," asserted the 

 knowing guide, with a shake of hie head. "I guided for a 

 doctor once, and T heard him say that light hurt, some of his 

 medicines, and he talked about chemistry and other things 

 in wood and water which I've forgot all about, but they are 

 there all the same." 



"This is one of the things that would be hard to prove, 

 and I don'l see how you are going to do it," said the careful 

 guide. "Your fire goes out perhaps because it has burned 

 out, or the wood is wet. and you think the sun does it. Now 



a betting man,, but the thing's agin reason, and if you have 

 never seen a silk handkerchief shot at, and have faith that 

 it can't be hit strong enough to risk it, just go out and hang 

 it up and you won't have this delusion long." 



The handkerchief was hung up by two corners to a limb 

 of a sapling near the tent, and when all was ready the pistol 

 cracked, and a large rent near one corner was the result. 

 A dozen excuses were made by the knowing man. "The 

 day was rainy and the electricity in the air look the same from 

 the silk." "The handkerchief was wet or it would never 

 have been done, because the water made if loo heavy to 

 dodge over the, ball." And besides, "it wasn't fair to shoot, 

 at the corner where it was tied; anybody would know that 

 it couldn't dodge there." and other learned reasons were 

 given to account for the unexpected result I was much 

 interested in this discussion of a question that I had heard 

 among hunters thirty years ago, and which, like the philos- 

 ophy of shooting a candle through a board, and pistol balls 

 through glass, often come, up when shooting is the theme of 

 conversation. I had seen bullets shot through glass without, 

 cracking it to any extent, and once saw the thigh hone of a 

 man which had been driven through an inch hemlock board 

 by his jumping from a three story window, and was there- 

 fore prepared to believe the candle story, but the handker- 

 chief feat was one on which I had some doubt, and to-day 

 do not pretend to say whether a bullet striking fine so sus- 

 pended, fairly in the middle, would go through it or uot. 

 Some time, when in the woods all alone, I will fry flic ex- 

 periment. 



The rain continued, and the, corner of a box happening to 

 be pushed against, the tent, the wafer came through 

 there, and the teasing guide turned to the knowing 

 one and asked, "Why is il, that water will come 

 through canvas where anything touches it'; is it, on ac- 

 count of chemistry or electricity?" But, the knowing man 

 seemed to have his thoughts afar off and replied not to the 

 very evident sneer. The conversation now languished 

 through the apparent depression of the knowing man, and 

 when the jocular teaser endeavored to rouse if by goingover 

 to tie side of the one whom he had made his target by say- 

 ing that "any man of sense would know that it wasn't a fair 

 tLiug to shoot a handkerchief where it was lied," the know- 

 ing one merely turned a weary eye on him and heaved a 

 sigh. One. of the rodsmen who had taken no pari in the 

 conversation bill seemed to desire it to go on, after along 

 meditation on a subject for debate, propounded the old 

 question, "What becomes of all the pins?" A depressing 

 silence plainly showed that no one was interested, and even 

 the face of the positive man gave evidence that be did not 

 care, what became of them. As this problem bad been fully 

 worked out by Tubal Cain long before the, dawn of the 

 Christian era] ventured to give his solution. "They fall to 

 the ground and become, fenv-pins." An old hound that had 

 been lying by the door of the tent shook his ears as if an 

 extra large mosquito was boring for oil in one of them and 

 he looked me squarely in the eye with a most heart-broken 

 expression; bul when the rodsman rejoined. "That destroys 

 my hair-pin-ness," be ran howling from the tent and was 

 neverseen aeain. V- ^- 



I have seen fires burn 

 why not lay it to the n 

 is chemistry in darkne 



oropoimdcr of that lea 

 "Now I'll ask you 



11 day i 



American flags hoisted at. each end of the building symboliz. 

 the brotherly feelings which unite all true sportsmen, l 

 matter of what nationality, into one common bond 

 brotherly feelings. 



The tired locomotive which had been snorting and puffing fc 

 over two hours since he started from Quebec rests here a lei 

 minutes, and after being duly watered and fed speeds onwar 

 tow T ard Campbellton. Here we alight and transfer otui 

 selves and baggage to the near-by Royal Hotel, kept as c 

 yore by mine host, Sproul, a rubicund, jolly landlord 

 reminding us of the types of the now fast passing away oli 

 regime known far and wide by all who chanced to have th 

 good fortune to fall into their hands. 



He of the Royal Hotel never tires to administer to th 



needs and comforts of his pi, 

 himself an ardent fishcrma 



arrangements for a day's trip tc 

 streams and lakes. Campbolltoi 

 attractions, and a good point to st 

 of the noble art of angling. r I 

 wards all points of the compass wi 

 The Metapedia, Seanmenac, No 

 good streams may all be reached I 

 ten hours, while "the Restigouehe 

 rruire even this short time, as thi 

 Two near-by beautiful deep uiotti 

 and Doyle's 'lakes, alter their own 

 grounds of mine host, who rarely 

 with a big load of the large, hand: 

 abound in their ice-cold waters. 



I may not dwell here upon my personal experiec 

 trespass upon your readers' patience by detailing what ha 

 often enough taxed severely my own, whenever success di 

 not attend my efforts. Neither can I well picture, on th 



dally inclined guests. H 

 1 will not be slow to mak 

 any of the near-by trot; 

 i is indeed a focus of (lies 

 trt from for all disciple 

 hey may diverge hence t( 

 bout any danger of i'aihm 

 rville and other equall 

 y rail or team in less thai 

 ovl Caseapedia hardly n 



■V are almost withi , sight 

 itain lakes, called Parke 

 jrs, are the favorite fishin 

 fails to return from thei 

 iornelv colored trout whic 



ng tip 



ions perhap; 

 to listen 



ight when the strong tu 

 my small eight-ounce i 

 i pay attention to my lis 

 thai' most delicious 6f a 

 niggling prize as the cs 

 . We freely aekuowledg 

 leedlesslv prolongt 

 little longer to th; 



other hand, my satisfai 



at my wrist and the 



admonished me time 



and to idle away a few mi 



pastimes— the playing witi 



amuses herself with a livel 



of having on sundry occai 



this agreeable occupation 



sweetest of all musical notes, the whirring noise of the swi: 



revolving reel, whicu beats tune to this wild entertaiumen' 



the crowning desert of this prescnl vacation journey. 



It is also a happy pastime to view the impressive fort 

 solitudes around us and to listen to the soothing sound 

 foaming cascades, which becomes douby sweet when intt 

 rupted from time to time by the splashing Boise of voracioe 

 playful brook trout. How" quickly do not then our reverb 

 come to an untimely end, and how soon do we not becom 

 oblivious of all charms of scenery, when it becomes a scrim 



question as to whethe 

 that big five-pounder we ha 

 pulls so desperately to free 

 its One-sided, gay, feathery 

 happened to us on the St. 

 was hooked at the. wrong f 

 my canoeman termed jigg 

 me melted away like the. r 

 condense itself into the I 

 imagination magnified inti 

 It turned out to be, after all 

 however, by a ouo-pound 



id go out al night, and then 

 ion or the darkness? Perhaps there 

 : too," added he, with a look at the 

 led theory. 



nothcr question," said the teasing 

 guide to the knowing one, "Why is il that if a, silk handker- 

 chief hung up by two corners will let a rifle ball by it with- 

 out moving or showing that il has been hit? That is the 

 old game of getting abet out of a man that he can't hit a 

 handkerchief at ten rods." 



"You can'! hit the handkerchief because there's electric- 

 ity in the silk, and the ball slips under it without stirring it, 

 bul the. thing can't lie done unless with silk," said the know- 

 ing man. "We tried it once up on the Raquette when no 

 one in the party had a silk handkerchief and so we put up a 

 COtton one for a very fresh young man to shoot at. He bad 

 been telling wlmfa wonderful shot he was when I stumped 

 him to shoot at my big red cotton handkerchief, for a plug 

 of tobacco lo be bought when we sent out to the store again. 

 He took the bet and I fastened the rag up by two corners, 

 ju-,t as I had always heard was the right way, and we meas- 

 ured off tiie distance. He shot, and I'm a sinner if be 

 didn't bore a hole through (he Ihiug and tore it so that it was 

 only li' for a gun cleaner, Of course 1 was elected to buy 

 the tobacco and he crowed louder than ever. Then whenl 

 got to thinking about il afterward I remembered that the 

 old man who toid me about it said that to do the trick the 

 handkerchief must, be silk, 'cause that had electricity in it. 



"Maybe the man chewed his bullet so as to make it 

 ragged," said the young guide, "they say that will fetch it 

 every time." 



Do you believe all this stuff?" queried the skeptical nian; 

 "if you do and have a silk handkerchief about you that you 

 want a hole put in, just hang it up and I will accommodate 

 you by boring it with this revolver." 



"You can't do it," retorted the other, "no man can do it 

 with a smooth bullet, and I'll, bet you two plugs of tobacco, 

 you can't." 



"I don't want to bet," answered the skeptic, "for I am not 



ghe gportmtim gomi$t. 



THE WILDERNESS OF LABRADOR. 



1. — BEIjOW QUEBEC. 



THE brakeman's loud voice shouts at last the welcome 

 word Campbellton. The long, tedious railroad ride of 

 over pOO miles from Buffalo is over, and the locomotive wdll 

 soou be exchanged for the less rapid, but more commodi- 

 ous transportation by steamer, schooner, boat and canoe lo 

 the still far off wilderness which fringes the north shore of 

 the green waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. 



Campbellton is a sleepv little town on the Intercolonial 

 Railroad, midway between Quebec and Halifax, the term- 

 inus of that, fine and well-graded goveri ment road. Past it 

 flows the swift, glittering Restigouehe, which, after pursu- 

 ing its course for thirty miles or more between high forest- 

 clad mountains, widens out here into a large estuary of 

 lake-like dimensions, and blends its turbulent waters a short, 

 distance beyond with those of its boundless parent to whom 

 it owes its birth and surrenders its life. The stranger from 

 the low, dusty, heated plains of our latitudes, may stand 

 here at the wharf, which serves as the landing of the coast- 

 ing steamer, and look for hours, without being conscious of 

 the flow of time, upon the majestic, panorama of nature's 

 own haudiwork, bounded on either side of the; liver by 

 towering mountains fading inland into long, blue, hazy out- 

 lines as far as the eye can reach, while, the seaward view is 

 bounded by the placid waters of sunny Bay de Chaleur. 



Al Ibis time of the year, beginning of July, its surface is 

 not, unlike the seas of 'happier climes, as yet undimmed by 

 the dark skies and the fierce gales which but a, few short 

 mouths hence will herald the advent of winter. The, deeply 

 Wooded slopes of the Restisrouche at its mouth, with their 

 green mantle of sombre p ne trees all over-arched by the blue 

 vault, of heaven fleeced with white clouds, are morning and 

 night reflected with mirror-like faithfulness upon flic glassy 

 surface of the river, and duplicate tnus down to its destin- 

 ation the fairy landscape wt ich adorns everywhere the 

 course of this sreat artery of the northern wilderness. 



We had gained the first glimpse of it at Metapedia, 

 thirteen miles west of Campbellton, where a massive and yet 

 withal artistically constructed iron bridge _ spans its swift 

 current, and where the angler may, within full sight of 

 great arches, cast his fly for tae salmon, the royal game fish 

 of these crystal cool waters. 



A club house belonging to the well-known Restigouehe 

 Association, and located on the site of Dan Frazer's late 

 tavern, is also additional guarantee that we are approaching 

 the center of good fishing grounds, and the English and 



illy going to laud safe] 

 s hooked, and which tugs an 

 (self from the encumbrance ( 

 moustache. And when, 

 fohu's River, that a large troi 

 d, near the ventral fin. by wh; 

 g. the beautiful view aroun, 

 ists before the noonday sun. I 

 ais of the struggling "fish, tl 

 absurdly gigantic proportion' 

 only a four-pounder, icinforcec 

 urinative comrade which ha 

 taken a notion to the second fly. 



We had enjoyed glimpses of Campbellton in former year 

 its lakes and streams, including Mill Stream and McKoi 

 nonsbrook, both of which empty iuto the Metapedia te 

 miles or more above Metapedia station, had all bee 

 revisited, and to avoid the danger of monotony we pack u 

 our baggage for Gaspe and northward beyond this termini 

 point. 



There is still, as four years ago, a semi-weekly i 



steamer plying between Campbellton and ports north as ft 

 as the little village of Gaspe, on the northeastern extrcmit: 

 of the peninsula of Quebec. At present it is the St. Lav 

 Fence, and she has good accommodations for her passeil 

 gers, although her table, like that on board of the grandih 

 quently named Royal Mail Line, between Toronto and Moi 

 treal, is far below the standard of American coasting steam 

 ers. To judge, however, from her build and appearand 

 the chances of a safe and quick passage are fair, whic 

 offsets to some extent the barren prospect of a good squat 

 meal. The heavily oxygenated, invigorating sea air is aftc. 

 all perhaps a better caterer than the best pupil of a Soya 

 who could find a large field for improvement on sundr 

 Dominion steamship flues. 



The distance from Campbellton to Gaspe is about 

 miles, and is accomplished on this occasion in sixteen hour 

 We stop at various places, including New Richmond at tl 

 mouth of the famous Cascapedia, Konaventure and othei 

 of minor importance, which in all tends to retard the prod 

 ress of the steamer, while it also serves, on the other bam 

 to relieve the monotony which generally attends all travi 

 by steamer. The sea is as polished as a mirror, and not 

 ripple dimples its surface which phologtaphs in e. 

 ing tints the great white clouds drifting across the va 

 overarching aerial dome. There are also i ardly any dange 

 ous jutting out reefs, and as the perpendicular rocky wal 

 of the shore fringe abruptly the deep water, the steami 

 approaches time and again close enough to throw a biscr 

 ashore, as sailors term it. 



The tourist, if he be inclined to study the active ageuei 

 and forces of nature which are incessantly at work to alt' 

 the contour of these shores year aftei year, will find here 

 remunerative field tor his" observations and speculalii 

 The cliffs rise, in most instances, vertically from the i 

 and are chiefly composed of a soft, deep red-colored sa 

 stone, which "bears upon its exposed surface, near the wat 

 line, everywhere unmistakable testimony io the wearing an 

 eroding power of water and ice. Wherever the rocks are • 

 harder texture no deep grooves are visible, which appei 

 again in their fullest development, and of many feet in dep' 

 along the softer layers. This is undoubtedly caused chief 

 by the eroding action of ice, which drifts along here in gre 

 masses and accomplishes all of these results with the aid 

 the strong tides and currents which are a peculiar featuie I 

 the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Sooner or later the great ovd 

 hanging rockv shelves, deprived of support, tumble dowi 

 with a crash into the foaming breakers beneath, them, whii f 

 pound and gland them up into .gravel, sand and inud ; f 

 serve, perhaps, in the far off future, as available materiel 

 for reconsohdation and a repetition of the same procef" 

 which take place here now before the reflective mi: 

 These features along the seashore are most conspicuous! 

 displayed from the village of New Carlisle, northward to til 

 fishing settlement of Perce, where the ancfeirt coast line hi 



