•38, 1882.1 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



249 



4. "Canoe anil Camera,'' by Thomas Sedgwick Steele, Hert- 

 ford, Conn,, from tBe author 



D. Meersehatmi and amber iagar balder (curved brook troul I, 

 incase, donated by f. J. Krjldenberg, 125 Fulton street, 



No ) Y..rk ' 



Score of Costs, Feet. 



Lent;! h 



Vrob. 



Eb.Iii. 



.i Rap eeli,,, 7 b 



i W llliainson..? B 



W, Murray ... ..8 



6 .i 'i.l.i .'.II. T I! 



■ I '" ■ .in;, . ,,? u 

 0. H. Murray 8 P 



M Culnaae. ; li 



1st 



50 3d -lth 5th IjiI. 



135 ltiil — 180 158 BSti 137 1-5 

 ItiD 1155 161 t'JC (Hi 



iaa 235 47 



135 — — 135 



(i 40 - - 



Mail} good casts outside the lines were made but the rule 

 of casting iu a lane, to secure accuracy, was new and both- 



ii i he null slants. Mr. Roosevelt's casting was much ad- 

 mired for his COOjneS8, as will as Ms record. 



SINGLB-HAMiED FLY-CASTrNti.— CLASS li. 

 Judges: Francis Endieott, Henry F. Crosby; .las. Unities, referee. 

 Scale ot Points. — Distance, actual cast; accuracy and delicacy ten 

 each . 

 Open to all who fiaye never won a first prize at this or any 

 r contest, The winaers to have choice of the following 

 prizes in tin' order ci their awards: 



1. "Game Fishes of the United States," plates by S. A. Kii 

 bourn, aul tcxl by U. Brown Uopdp, presented by Chirles 



Seribners Sons, New York .'. . . 



S. Split bamboo fly rod, presented by Mr. Fred Malleson, lsitl 



First street, Brooklyn, X. Y tio 00 



<l. One portable "Straaauau" canvas boat, seat and oars com- 

 plete, presented by Frank Holmes, Chagrin Falls, 20 00 



1. Copy of "Pysshe ami Fishing," by Dame Juliana Berners 



(American edition) 150 



5. tine year's siibsji-iptioa to FottssT AND STREAM, i 01) 



Length weight i>is- 



ofRod. of Rod. tauee. Deli- Aeon- Total 



Ft.lu. 0Z3. Ft. eaey. racy. Points 



I: i I I'd lit; M K5 8 8 ]0s 



T. B. Mills 11 (i 10 77 7 m 



HI. Ciilhauc ....'1 10 70 9 8 87 



W. Holherton II II 60 10 8 78 



EuVRggelt 10 m 8 57 8 7 72 



I.'. A. Bryan 10 i 8 55 8 7 70 



.SALMON CASTING. 

 Judges: C, F. Feariug, James Benkard; L. W. Winchester, referee. 

 Scale of Points.— As in single-ban l";l (ly-eastiti.e;, Class B. Open to 

 all. Winners may choose prizes, 



1. A finely finished, German silver mounted, hexagonal split 



bamboo salmon rod. presented by Conroy & Bissett, 135 



Fn lton st ree l„ Ne w Yo Bit $50 00 



2. our dozen parent, tinted spoon bails (assorted sizes), with 



largo photo, of 101b. mnskallonfe'e. presented by «. M. 

 Skinner. Clayton. £f, Y 10 00 



3. One year's subscription to Foxiest and Stream 4 00 



Length of Dls- 



Hod. taaee. Deli- Acute Total 



Ft. Ft. caey. racy. Points. 



H. W. Ibtwes 20 lltl 7 !) 1S2 



KenbenWood ...18 105 10 124 



ir. Priehard 17 107 7 (1 323 



) s hi ■ am is H h u ioj 



In this class the easting did not at till come up to the stand- 

 ard in either of Hie points of distance, delicacy or accuracy. 



Satu nicer. ' >i;"roi:i;[t 21. 

 The day was fine with Varying wiuds from off shore to 

 behind the casters, who i'steed the south. The only remain- 

 ing contest was the 

 .sim.i.e ifAxnrcn fly-casting— class c. (champion class.) 



Judges: Francis Endieott, W. C. Harris. Fred. Mather, referee. 

 Scale of Points— Distance alone to count. Open to all. Winners 

 to have choice of prizes. 



I. E. G. Blackford, Fulton Market, New York, Cash $25 00 



i. A Befhabara fly -rod, presented by Fred. D. Divine, 70 State 



Street, tltJca, N, 1 10 00 



3. Revolver, .Si-calibre, presented by Messrs, .!. P. LoveU & 



Sons, Boston, Mass 10 00 



4. One year's subscription to Fan est and Stream 4 00 



5. "Book of the Bl ek Bass," by Dr. J. A. Heashall, presented 



by Robert Clarice & Co., publishers. Cincinnati, O 3 00 



Length of Weight of Longest 



Pod. Rod. Oast in 



Ft. In, Ozs. feet. 



II. Priehard 10 4% 8 ill 



R, it Leonard 11 ti 8%j SO 



It. W. Hawes 11 (i 8J? 85 



T. B. Mills 11 (i m TO 



M. Oulhana ... 11 ti 1QJ4 70 



Sir. Priehard, of the Washington Gun Club of Brooklyn, 

 here made his remarkable Cast of ninety-one feet iu his 

 peculiar rolling (brow. This has been variously called a 

 "water cast," an "underhanded cast," and a "hoop-snake 

 Cast." The line lies ou Ihe water at perhaps sixty feet, and 

 by recl'ng oil more line it is sent out with a rolling motion 

 Until the dies leap out beyond. There are various opinions 

 ■on the m.erits of this mode, which is new. here, but is said to 

 be used in England. Some contend that it is impossible to 

 take a fish in this manner on account of the commotion in 

 the water near tie caster. The other contestants retrieved 

 their lines and cast, in the usual manner, and made many 

 good casts. Only once did Mr. Priehard go beyond eighty- 

 five feet, but as this contest was for distance alone he was 

 awarded the fir st prize. 



Prof. ,T. L. Bajifoot. — In QurlwtofFi.su Commissioners 

 we noted the fact no appointment had been made in Utah iu 

 the place of Prof. L. Barfool in April lust. The London 

 Gardeners' Monthly and Uartioultumt, referring to the death 

 al Prof. Barfoot of the .Museum of Natural History, Salt 

 Lake City, say.-.: "He was born at Warwick Caslle. England, 

 in 1810, a lineal decendant of Robert Bruce, and at the time 

 of his death heir to the earldom of Crawford. He embraced 

 Mormonism in London iu 1850, and in 1805 immigrated to 

 Salt L'ike City, where he resided until he died." Upward 

 of half a dozen persons imagine themselves to be Earl of 

 Crawford, but the House of Lords has decided whom it will 

 recognize under that title. A Mormon peer would h [ve Had 

 all the charm of novelty at Westminster, where as yet there 

 is not even a .lew. 



Big Black Bass, — Ou the 18th a black bass was caught. 

 on the St. Clair flats, Michigan, by Mr. B. B. Barney, which 

 weighed seven and three-quarter pounds. Judge E. D. 

 Potter, of Ohio, the well-known fishculturist, saw it and 

 pronounced it o small-mouth. The fish is now alive and is 

 for sale. Here is a chance for some one who lias a large 

 aquarium to obtain a tuouster, Shotdd this fish die it should 

 Ul to the Smithsonian Institution that its figure may be 



CAMPS ON THE WAY. 



III.— STILL AT T1IR lUCTllUF.n HOCKS. 



"Southward sailed the seagulls o'er him, 

 Southward sailed (lie ship that bore him, 

 Till at Urontheim haven lauded 

 Olat and his crew again." _ LmitifcUou: 



\ V E landed at Miner's Creek on the evening of the 3d of 

 * *' August, and intended leaving ou (he 7th. but a storm 

 sotting iu from the nottli, we were unable tOget away until 

 thellth. During that time ample opportunity was afforded 

 to acquaint ourselves with our serronudiugs.'and there was 



t an hour's time, that bung heavily over us. 



Almost dally we visited the lake' and the falls, now that 

 the way was known and a. boat was at hand to enable us to 

 do so. 'Had Miner's Creek Falls been favorably located, long 

 ere this Ihe place would have been celebrated by the his- 

 torian, the poet, and the painter: but. outside of any line of 

 travel, and bard to reach even by the trained woodsman, the 

 icy waters of the creek pour in fleecy whiteness over the 

 rim of the nncieut lake shore in the heart of the "continuous 

 woods." where no si mud is heard save its "own dashiugs." 



The sand-stone cliffs that wall in the bit of lowland which 

 in some remote period of the past formed a little bay to the 

 glial lake, and which was described in Some degree' in the 

 last one of these papers, meet in an acute angle at the place 

 if the cataract, and all hough the creek has cut a deep chan- 

 nel forty or (iftv feet below the hilltops iu the rocks above, 

 yet the walls at the side of the falls rise all of eighty feet 

 above the debris, and the leap of the water is all of fifty feet. 

 My companions thought it not less than sixty. ' One 

 peculiarity of this fall is that the rim where the water pours 

 over is crescent-shaped with the bow outward. This rim is 

 a continuation of a huge eolumnafod buttress that enlarges 

 midwaj Ihe descent down to its broad base. The falling 

 water striking the rock below Ihe point where its enlarge- 

 ment begins, breaks into a snow while foam, and. running 

 down the swelling column iu sudsy streams into the btoad 

 pool below, presents a picture of' unparalleled beauty. A 

 thin veil of mist ever rises, vanishing amid the leafy 

 branches of the hemlocks and maples that crown the walls 

 above, while against the left bank of the pool and quite a 

 way up the hill of debris that rises back of it a strong cur- 

 rent of air sets in from the descending stream which perpet- 

 ually blows thi'herward a cloud of frosty mist which 

 nourishes the rankest growth of moss I ever saw. This air 

 current and its cloud of mist have no dependence upon the 

 currents of air that play in the tree tops above the cliffs, foi 

 every day that I was there 1 found it fiercely blowing as at 

 my tirst "visit, no matter from what quarter the winds above 

 were coming. The pool at the fool of the fall was wide 

 and deep, and it was there that I caught seventeen hand- 

 some trout on my first visit. 



With the green trees all around, with tho.rocky walls and 

 moss-covered hillsides, with the pouring, leaping, foam- 

 ing water, with the mist cloud and the frost cloud, and 

 above all, the everlasting solitude, which here seems to be 

 personified, the Mi net's "Creek Falls are more to be admired 

 than the Minnehaha. All that is needed to make the great 

 traveling public think so is to start the fashion. 



Another waterfall he who traverses Miner's Lake never 

 fails to hear: but in its noise it proclaims that it is at best 

 a feltle straani, and Ihe voyager will be apt to pass it by. 

 One evening, while fishing m the lake, our boat had floated 

 well over to the east side, when on looking up there stood 

 a two-pronged buck gazing at us with a curiosity peculiar 

 tol that animal. Eil reached me the rifle, and' 1 at once 

 fired, when my too curiously inclined friend fell as "flat as 

 a flounder." But before I had time to indulge in that little 

 gratulatory boasting which is sometimes indulged in on such 

 occasions, 'he sprang to his feet and sped off in the bushes. 

 Of course we rowed a shore, beyond drops of blood here 

 and there on the leaves, nothing more was ever seen of the 

 little buck. 



At the spot where he was standing, a small stream entered 

 the lake, and it (lowed over such a white, sandy bottom, 

 and its waters were so cool, that I determined to follow it 

 back to its fall over the old lake shore. It was too late that 

 day, but the next Oscar and I made the trip, and although 

 we" found it a dillicult one to make by reason of the brush, 

 the swamps and the Iocs, we were, nevertheless, amply re- 

 paid for our trouble. The stream is a mere brook, but it 

 has a fall of about sixty feet, and the surroundings are such 

 as to give to the fall a distinction peculiar to itself. As one 

 approaches the place, the perpendicular walls of rock rising 

 on either hand to a height of not less than, one hundred feet, 

 with immense blocks of stone lying at their bases, claim at- 

 tention. As the valley, through which Ihe little stream be- 

 low the fall narrows, it is finally well choked up by these 

 broken blocks, and one does not see the cascade for rocks 

 and trees, until be has fairly climbed the former and looked 

 over. The scene then brought to view is wild and pictur- 

 esque. Imagine a great dome one hundred feet in diameter, 

 with a roof sixty feet from the floor in the center, descend- 

 ing on all sides to the walls, and the floor ascending on all 

 sides to the walls; now, cut this dome in two halves from 

 top to bottom, and one of them wilt represent the scene of 

 this cascade. It was all of fifty feet from the little pool 

 that received the falling stream, back to the walls which up- 

 held the great roof of rock, capped with soil and trees; and 

 an amphitheater was thus formed of grai d proportions. 

 Standing between the wall and the pool and looking upward, 

 the Stream, as it pours oyer the rocky edge, appears to come 

 from a hole in the sky. 



At the foot of the debris which makes the rising floor of 

 the amphitheater a spring of cool water bu ml .a up, aud 

 along the outer line of the opening grew beds, thick with 

 the gresnest and most feathery ferns 1 ever saw. Standing 

 back of the fall, under the vaulted roof, and looking out to- 

 ward the evening sun, the stream of water sparkling and 

 flashing in the sunlight as it broke into ten thousand drops 

 in mid air, the waving ferns at my feet, the two lines of high 

 rock wall running off in a widening angle, and the rampant 

 trees growing among the huge rocks in the valley between, 

 tin -,,'i-i.i,- presented was wild and romantic in the extreme. 

 As I stood there on that August afternoon and looked out, 

 ami saw all these things and more toft, and as my compan- 

 ions and I talked of the wildness and beauty, aud solitude 

 of the scene, we wondered whether the place had ever been 

 visited before. In the dust aud sand that has accumulated 

 all over the floor of the amphitheater not a print of a foot, 

 human or beast, was to be seen, ami as the tracks we made 

 were deep and plain, and beyond the reach of rain, it 

 seemed to us lhal many a year would come aud go ere our 

 footprints would be obliterated, ami so we reasoned (hat the 

 men wljo row up the lake for the trout that are to be had at 



the large falls, never visit this little gem, and perhaps we 

 are the first of white men to stand face to face with it, But 

 after we had gathered a handful of ferns each and taken 

 our last look and clambered over the rocks that lay near the 

 eutrance and gone down into the great thickets that spring 

 up out of the moist valley, I found where someone, years 

 before, had chopped off a log, and, though I could tint pies 

 the motive that led to the "chopping, I~ nevertheless knew 

 from the prilit of the ax that it had not been done by an 

 Indian. One skilled in the use of an ax had done the work, 

 and that man, whoever he was, had at least seen the little 

 falls, or which, if I had my way, would become known as 

 Fern Falls. 



On the western side of the lake could be heard from out 

 the thick woods and farup the hillside the gurgle and rush 

 of water over a rocky bed; and one day, being curious to 

 where the fountain came from, I climbed the hill lo ils 

 very top, and on a level with the highest of the pictured 

 rocks, a large spring of icy cold, clear and sweet water 

 burst forth and went leapintr and bounding: down the sleep 

 hillside, to find, after a sho't race rest, in the bosom of the 

 great iake, Which stood at a level two hundred feci at least 

 below the rent which brought the spring to light and air. 

 And as we slaked our thirst at the fountain, and rolled 

 stones down the hillside, we questioned one auothar as to 

 where that larger fountain could be, wdiich sent this water 

 up to this high level; but no answer was triven. 



Miner's Lake (and I call it that for want of a better 

 name) is but little oyer a half mile long, and somewhat less 

 in width. Around the outer edges the waters are shallow 

 and lily pads and coarse grasses grow in luxuriance. In 

 the central parts it appears to be deep. Countless pike 

 swim in these waters. As one enters the lake where (be 

 water is somewhat shallow, it is quite common to see the 

 pike lying amidst the thickets formed by the lilies and 

 grasses, watching for such unwary yellow perch as may 

 happen to be cruising by, or for such thoughtless frogs as 

 trust themselves too far' from home. The trout supply fall- 

 ing short by reason of adverse weather, we were driven to 

 fish for pike for the pot, and Oscar aud I, in half an hour, 

 one evening, with a spoon made at Grand Rapids aud 

 which persistently refused to revolve, hooked nine within 

 thirty minutes, six of which we landed. These, with great 

 uniformity, ran 24 and 25 inches in length, aud were in 

 good condition. 



Below the falls and down lo the lake is trout, fishing, and 

 from the outlet down to the mouth of the creek troul are 

 also to be found. The stream both above and below the 

 lake U bordered with brush ami trees, and logs aud brush 

 often formed a. uet work above the creek. Fishing in 

 Miner's Creek was laborious work whether above or below 

 the lake, but it was nevertheless delightful, for the trout 

 were wary and gamy. They were much lighter colored 

 than their Thunder Kiver congeners, and it required more 

 patience and skill to take them. My associates found them 

 so difficult to catch thai the trout fishing was left to me alto 

 gether while at that place, and- I must say Ihat I seldom 

 took over fifteen or twenty at a fishing, but those fifteen or 

 twenty, running from six ounces to fifteen (One a full pound) 

 gave me so much to do, that I shallalvvay.s remember among 

 my most valued fishing experiences the trout of Miner's 

 Creek. And there was a fair game supply accessible. 

 Whortleberries fairly covered the ground, aud pigeons and 

 grouse came down from the hills to eat them, and the boys 

 got many a bird for the pot. Foxes abounded in great 

 numbers, but Ave paid no attention to them. Deer also 

 were abundant, ami while we did not hunt for them particu- 

 larly, inasmuch US the "fifteenth" had not yet come, never 

 :beiesswe always carried runs with us and would have 

 been "mighty glad" to have knocked over a good one. I 

 got a shot in that way but without a fatal result, us hereto- 

 lore stated. 



Finally a storm set in from the north which lasted three 

 days, and tbeu trout fishing ceased. The little lake, hemmed 

 In as it was by hign hills covered by lull trees, was not 

 affected by the wind which blew with so much violence out- 

 side, and so one night t determined to try my hand fire- 

 iiuiiting. 1 had never had any success in luat way, but as 

 our larder was running somewhat low and we did not know 

 now long we might be wind-bound, 1 determined to have a 

 deer ii fortune favored, ami so. when night came, I set forth 

 alone, and at about ten o'clock 1 entered the lake aud began 

 niv weary round. For two hours 1 paddled slowly and 

 silently around the shores, listening to the "voices of the 

 night,'"' and once hearing the unmistakable stump of a deer, 

 wliich was soon followed by a snort and the sound of run- 

 ning through brush. 



At about midnight a black cloud like the segment of a 

 great circular plane appeared in the 'northern sky, and lest 

 tuere might be a coming storm 1 at once left the lonesome 

 lake and headed for home. But I had not gone, far when a 

 glance at the ominous cloud told melt was not b cloud after 

 till, for the stars shone through it with mid-sutumer luster. 

 Just then a ray of light like a knife blade shot up from the 

 eastern end of the "circle and I knew it was the aurora 

 boreulis. Following this ray a fan-like cluster of long ones 

 appeared tit the western end, after which the entire rim of 

 the great plane became luminous with yellow light. Grad- 

 ually this faded aw.iy, when long lance-like opaline 

 lays' trembled far up toward the zenith, after which they 

 turned to a rose hue, and then trembling faded away. The 

 phenomenon was beautiful iu the extreme, and it was a late 

 nour before I withdrew and went to bed. While looking at. 

 the shifting, trembling lines ol light shooting zenithward 1 

 could not help but think of that line of Bryant's, in the 

 "Ages" I believe, wheu he speaks of one — 



•'Who unwinds the eternal dances of the sky." 

 Of the date of August 7, 1 tiud this entry in my journal; 

 "Cloudy this morning when we got up. Pretty soon a breeze 

 came on from the north, and it not only blew the smoke into 

 our eyes, but into our victuals. Aud although the little 

 spurt of rain is over, and the wind has lessened, and Ihe sun 

 is casting a sickly light through a rift in the clouds, old Su- 

 perior is castim;' up mire and dirt with considerable vim. 

 tlow I do wish' a big blow would come on from the north, 

 provided it did not last more than an hour or so— just long 

 enough to send the. great waves thumping and thundering on 

 our beach and against the great rocks on either hand of us." 

 Well, 1 bad my wish, but without the proviso. The .storm 

 came, but it was no one hour's affair — for three or four days 

 the wind blew a gale from the north, and the great lake 

 foamed like a setc and I saw the waves heat against the 

 rocks and heard the hollow boom as Ihey flung themselves 

 into the holes and caverns already cat ved out of the yicluing 

 sandstone. And the storm brought another set of campers 

 to our little haven, a sghoolraajteif and four college boys, 



