$0V. 10, 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



303 



name of all of ihcin; for a letter so rlirectc-d from elsewhere, 

 runs less risk of going to some other of the several Ham- and 

 Horn- burgs and botirgs than by any of the others. Nature 

 lias done a ureal dc.-tl for (lie place" la the way of healthy 

 and picturesque location, with pine forests bounding the 

 horizon in several directions; a cool, bracing climate, and 

 m ■■"': ii i : health-restoring springs ample enough to 

 meet all demands, Arl ami business enturprise 1ms com- 

 pleted Naturt 's unfinished work, ami the medicinal waters, 

 made palatable by the surroundings. Broad and well- 

 shaded promenades, beautiful gardens, artistic rock work, 

 grottoes and fountains, palm gardens and swan ponds, 

 within all directions plea-ant wood paths leading off to cosy 

 retreats amid the pines, form some of the attractions, which 

 every morning from seven to nine amuse the immense throng 

 of people who arc ill. and people Who think they are, and 

 people whom the doctors assure that they are," and who 

 gather at the springs or bruiinra to indulge in the regulation 

 draughts; and the springs are- so varied" in their medicinal 

 qualities, that they meet all emergencies. At the Elisen- 

 brunnen the fa. man drinks himself "lean; and three hundred 

 yards away at the Stahlbrunnen or feteel spring, "rich" iu 

 iron, the debilitated and lean man seeks strength and fat. 

 That word "rich" T quote is one in such common use by 

 the doctors, that il has grown into the vernacular, and one 

 day, when alter heavy rains Iwas doubtful as to the eondi 

 tion of an angling stream I wished to visit, the German guard 

 whom I consulted told me, "Don't go to morrow, the Brook 

 will be too 'rich' in mud;" and this man's stock of English 

 wa- very limited. 



Up and down the long promenade the crowd marches, all 

 busily engaged in digesting; for the rules are: On an empty 

 stomach sip very slowly the amount prescribed, from three 

 to six ounces, then lii'leen minute.-, promenade, then another 

 five minutes of sipping, and so on for an hour or more, and 

 all of Hie lime a tin i ban 1 it: giving OS choice seta tions A 

 the most fashionable music. 



By A. M. the springs are deserted. 1 lie crowd has melted 

 awav and its integers, in wrappers and slippers, are attack- 

 ing the matutinal coffee and eggs to meet again at 3 P. M.. in 

 the beautiful. grounds of the luirgarten. to listen again to sweet 

 music, to stroll again up and down, and circle as listlessly 

 as did the white whale at the Aquarium,, to drink eau-SUCre 

 and enjoy each other's costumes. And in the evening the 

 same thin.: over Ugfcln :urer:efled by perhaps a re-union or 

 dance iu the splendidly fitted up halls, whose origin is due 

 to the gambling business, of which this was once a center, 

 and to which theoretically only the payers of the Kur-tas 

 are admitted, thus assuring a tolerably select party, but 

 practically open to every one, for no one is called upon to 

 811QW his or her kurtkb'l or nbumvuieid, and this is well 

 known to the couriers, and valets, and •'femM/:i" of Prank- 

 fort, but forty minutes away, and practically the re-unionis 

 wry much mixed. But I am again otf the track. IFor 

 further particulars see Baedeker.] 



Tea miles north of the city the Wcilbach (Weil Brook), 

 Which is by far the best stocked stream to which 1 had 

 access, winds its way thr.mgh*the valley of the name, and, 

 like every thing and body in Germany," does a great deal of 

 work, its particular duty being to irrigate the vineyards and 

 farms, and to turn the funny old-fashioned wheels of many 

 mills in the villages through which it flows. Among these 

 fortunately there are no saw mills, the natural enemy of 

 trout streams. Its source is near the lieldtberg, and after 

 thirty miles it discharges into the Calm, a tributary of the 

 Rhine. 



Two sections of this stream are leased by the proprietor of 

 fhd Royal "Victoria Hotel, who in them finds a source both 

 of pleasure and profit, as well as a means of affording 



i : M in his guests. Two other sections, are owned by 

 the villages of P/orf weil and Schmitteu, and these four I 

 fished. 



On my arrival at ITombourg I naturally drifted into ac- 

 quaintance with the piscatorially inclined sojourners, and 

 one day, comparing tackle with some, of them, it was unani- 

 mously carried that my little split bamboo, or as the Euglish 

 termed it "glued rod," would come into good play in settling a 

 question — the question being, would of would not the 

 Taunits trout appreciate the allurements of the tly. A cor- 

 respondent of the London FiM had iu its columns asserted 

 most dogmatically that they would not, and had endeavored 

 to prove by most illogical reasoning that German trout 

 cared only for a diet of worms. Against this we had the 

 positive evidence of a. young English gentleman, that iu the 

 Weilbuch he had caught quite a number with the fly, but 

 there were doubting Thomases, of whom, however, I was 

 not one, for in five minutes' conversation I knew that he 

 knew how, and had done it, and moreover, he gave me a 

 well-used cast of three tiny gnats with which he had done 

 it, and I owe to their use and the advice he gave me much 

 of my subsequent success. The doubters had tried flies and 

 failed utterly. This, or rather the failing part, I could 

 readily believe, for the rods and gear shown me we're most 

 eminently adapted for cutiuer fishing. One murderous con- 

 trivance iu particular attracted my attention, it was nothing 

 more nor less than a small gang of live hooks on gut, the 

 lower hook being triple; I think it was called "Clark's 

 tackle.'' A two inch trout could hardly rush by this con- 

 trivance, and when baited with several worms, woven in 

 and out, iu a fashion I'm glad to say I didn't learn, it was 

 sure death to anything that came near it. 



Another arrangement was a phantom minnow, which was 

 attached to a short, strong line, it to along, strong pole, and 

 it firmly gtasped by a lusty young English parson, who 

 otherwise proved to !>e a very jolly companion. [Note.— 

 The "otherwise" is intended to connect with the method of 

 flahingand not with the profession.] His kit did most excel- 

 lent service. One day when the brook was high and "rich 

 in mud," and with 'a current like a mill race, my flies 

 skipped harmlessly over the muddy surface, until at last I 

 fitted out a regular Adirondack east of a red hackle, scarlet 

 ibis, and split ibis, the latter. I believe, invented by Perry, 

 who has a camp on Third Lake. Pulton Chain, at least so he 

 told me when he sold it to me, a'l large hooks, and with 

 these I made up somewhat, securing in two hours about a 

 dozen fair sized &Bh— four to twelve ounces— during which 

 period the worms of our companion drowned themselves in 

 disgust at. their non-success, while the Parson was kept 

 fairly busy, and yanked out twice as many fish as the other 

 two of the party collectively. Pishing for breakfast, with 

 no reserve stock, at the spring high water and. rain, I -hotild 

 vote tie spinning minnow a success, but for sport there 

 was more in ten minutes with my light rod than ti 

 hours with his heavy one. 



My lirst trip was' on a bright sunny day, and I enjoyed 

 the companionship of a very jolly Irish gentleman, brother 

 Of Col. Nolan, member of Parliament, who, being a great. 



pedestrian, had, ou foot, roamed ovei much of the rouie, 

 and was so well up in the legendary lore, of the country that 

 he beguiled the time, with bits of the same, as we pat tt I); 

 old ruined castles and villas of Roman and Rhenish origin, 

 and the two hours' drive secnTed very short; but that a trout 

 stream lay at, the further end of the route, 1 could have wil- 

 lingly prolonged il to twice the time. 



The road ran straight, north, cutting a line through I he 

 dense pine forests, until it crossed the' summit, then wonr.d 

 down into the beautiful Weil Valley, through fields and 

 farms, on all of which a force of women and children were 

 laboring, and many of those we met or overtook im the 

 road were laden like so many beasts of burthen, hike the 

 Africans, in Germany the woman of the middle and lower 

 Classes is the laborer of the family, ami like the African 

 woman she "totes" her bundles; and I should fancy that to 

 a person seeing it for the first time, the loads they carry 

 would produce astonishment, but they don't seem to mind it. 



Europeans generally, audi thinkthe Teutons particularly, 

 are very economical peoplw, and among the things which 

 we : waste and they save is power. To call a man an "idle 

 dog" here could hardly be considered as using insulting lan- 

 guage, for except among the upper classes of canines there 

 seems to be no such animal here. Big dogs aud little dogs all 

 work, and I hey, with the women and cows, perform a 

 large portion of the hauling, which in other countries is 

 done by horses. Ou the road we encountered some very 

 curious combination teams, such as two cows, a woman 

 and a cow, two dogs, one dog and a woman, all dragging 

 farm pioduce; very seldom was there a, man in the party, 

 and when there was one, his load consisted of a big pipe 

 and perhaps a dinner basket. Not onc_' did I see a man 

 give a particle of assistance to the team. 



Our turnout presented a striking contrast, a handsome 

 drag, twogaily caparisoned horses, a. driver in gorgeous livery 

 — that of the iiotel— and in the rear, with folded arm;, sat. 

 arrayed in a costume Somewhat Tyrolean, viz., short green 

 coat' with staghorii buttons, a hunting horn, bell-crowned 

 bat, gun— old fashioned pin fire— resti 112 across breast, and 

 held by a strap, thigh boots, and holding a dachshund in 

 leash, a functionary whom in my verdancy I felt, sure was 

 a cfotmeur, and T wondered whether it was the custom to go 

 shooting aud lishing at the same time, and What we were "to 

 shoot. Subsequent developments destroyed all illusions. 



Taking it altogether, our entire outfit" was decidedly the 

 most stunning one that I ever had an opportunity to partici- 

 pate in en route to a trout stream. Remembrances Of legs, 

 lumber wagons and buekboards liitted threugh my mind, 

 and I wondered what would Dau Rndes or Hiram think, to 

 see me coming in to Piseco Lake in such a stunniug style. As 

 Nolan pithily rem-rked, as we took' possession of the affair, 

 "I sav, old boy, this is very swell;" and when the next day 

 I paid my share of the accrued bill, I was by its magnitude, 

 if aught else were lacking, fully satisfied as to the grandeur 

 of the preceding day. 



At 3 P. M. we reached the stream at the head of the sec- 

 tion we were to fish; and as Nisltiu had been there before, 

 he very courteously gave me. the selection, and I elected to 

 start, there and fish" down, he driving to the foot Of the lish- 

 ing to fish up, the brook's course being^ nearly parallel with, 

 and in proximity to, a well-traveled high road. The 

 ehemeW stayed with me, and, after divesting himself of 

 the hunting symbols of gun, dog and hat, substituted there- 

 for a fish basket, measuring-slick and fell hat,, also a box of 

 ■worms and small bottle of a foul-smelling liquid, with which 

 I was to anoint the worms, which he felt very confident I 

 would be compelled to resort, to eventually* 



My first cast, three little gnat i, brought, me a very pretty 

 trout, and I don't remember" reading in your columns a de- 

 scription by any "true sportsman" of incidents attendant 

 upon the capture of a trout at all resembling those which 

 were then experienced by me. I didn't play" that fish, nor 

 did he me; the whole affair might have occupied four sec- 

 onds. I don't believe it did though; but on that assumption 

 I'll divide it up: second 1, cast; ii, strike by treut; 8, ditto by 

 me; 4, trout in hand. If ever a trout was hurried up by a 

 tvro more than this one by me, I haven't read of it, Highly 

 unsportsmanlike 1 confess, but remember it was my "first 

 for two years, and T had been so discouraged, or rather had 

 heard so" many discouraging stories in regard to my pros- 

 pects With flies, that I was probably abeul as surprised 

 wheu the trout struck as he was wheu I did. When in my 

 hand there did occur an incident. My metamorphosed e/e/.v- 

 wur politely advanced and saved me the trouble of unhook- 

 ing lum, I wasted the "thank you" though, for I had mis- 

 understood his motions. Gravely placiug the fish and his. 

 measuring rod side by side, he solemnly pointed to a space 

 of about a quarter inch, between the end of the tail and a 

 broad red mark on his stick, sternly ejaculated "'S>,«" 



(Httle). and gently deposited him in the brook, Then I began 

 to realize what he was there for. Accustomed to our legal 

 Standard Of six inches, Iwas at first rather chagrined at the 

 loss of a seven and thiv.e-quart.-r inch fish, for the brook didn't 

 look as though it would.be very apt to improve on him; but, 

 after a half hour's brisk work, during whit h several fish 

 over nine inches in length, and one a three-quarter pounder 

 (I weighed him with a spring balance, and he actually went 

 eleven and one-half ounces) had been taken, I became quite 

 contented to have the little ones put back, and can't help 

 wishing that our own home standard Wtt3 the same. 



About midway of the stream I met Nolan working up and 

 found that up to that time (about 5 P. M.l, my Hies had 

 badly beaten his worms. We passed each other.' and when 

 the fishing was over (7 P. M ), I found that he had gained 

 on me considerably, for very siugiiituiy — at least so it 

 seemed to me — as the day waned, the trout became much 

 less eager for the fly, and more so for the worm, and, by 

 the way, this happening on another occasion, I record it as 

 a possible peculiarity of German trout. Our score for the 

 four hours' fishing was, total, 78, of which 47 were above 8 

 inches in length, and kept. Of these IT the flies took 39, the 

 worms 18; the largest caught by worms 13oz. ; by flies 

 llioz. ; total weight of the 4? about 10 pounds. 



My other trips were more or less repetitions of this my 

 first," except that this was the mo-t successful, the Wcilbach 

 being the. best brook, and the day the most suitable. Ou all 

 the fly heat the worm. 



I made other trips to other brooks owned by the villages 

 of Dorfweil and Sehmittun, obtaining permit from the burgo- 

 master, wdio collected from me on my finish a. tax of one 

 mark (34 cents] each for every fish I retained. 



The trout in every way resemble our own cultivated brook 

 trout, and were quite as gamy. I do uot think that. I hey 

 were as well flavored, although the salmon ot the Rhine 

 are, to my taste, far superior to those of our Western coast. 



PtSECO. 

 Hombolirg-les-B.mns, Prussia, Aug-. 38, 1SS3. 



RAMBLES THROUGH NEWFOUNDLAND. 



PAKT SIX. 



4 Star as thr, eye could seethe Hoe seemed scrawl; and 

 cL upon a number of cakes or "pamr'was seen a cluster 

 of half a dozen suuning themselves and sucking the ice. 

 These separate:! and tried to waddle off on the hunter com- 

 tcr coming near, but before they got far fell from a blow of 

 the heavy "gall " The hunter strides up to the seal, deals 

 it a blow upon the head, then draws his knife, opens the 

 blubber of the animal down the abdomen and at the back, 

 and iu an incredibly short space, of time strips it of its deep 

 coating of fat. To" the fat or blubber are left attached the 

 skin and flippers, the carcase being leftupon the ice. After 

 the hunter kills and -skulps" a number ill this manner lie 

 'I sv. ;ii, ' ee:' i.i_' j i ,,,,- upon a pan. and rears above the 

 pile a little flag bearing his name. After he has killed 

 enough for a day's hauling, he strings four or five pelts to a 

 rope, which rope he puts over his shoulder, and trudges off 

 to laud, or to his boat, as the case may be. 1 wa3 glad to 

 lend a hand killing, and learnt fairly,' too, how to take off 

 the pelts; but when ii came- to Hie hauling rope, I preferred 

 being "excused." After I had killed and taken the blrxb'bel 

 off :., ,i six, 1 extended tny rambles out the ice, for 1 saw 

 with my glass that there were some larger than others. 



The greater body of seals upon the ice I ascertained were 

 1' mi -,.-:--/" i , ,; ,:,.,/, v — though I came upon a patch of 

 what is known as the square flipper — Ph. bnrbatn. The 

 i irget a which I had noticed, and of which I saw four or 

 live, were ■■doghoods" or the hooded seal— Stemmaiopna 

 - ■... Sow, tin- dpghood is the terror of nil greenhorns 



upon the ice. and many a veteran hunter will give the mon- 

 ster a. wide berth. I had not, heard about its vicious temper, 

 so I readily started off, when one of my companions remarked 

 that if I "could kill you" it, would be something worth 

 doing; 



So I strode boldly off, too full of my enterprise lo hear 

 the- quiet titter which followed me. As 1 approached the 

 animal la :", me and rousing himself began to waddle 

 oil'. I appio •ched within about twenty paces, wheu I 

 paused to survey him before I fired. He was as large nearly 

 as an on. and carried aboul his bead a large hood, which he 

 seemed to have the power «f raising and throwing back 

 or of drawing completely over his head. The nearer I ap- 

 proached, I had observed, the more did the hood close down, 

 and now cocking my gun to begin the action, I found it 

 impossible to get. au exposed part of his head. I iiraii, how- 

 ever, bang into the hoo I, a heavy charge of seal shot, but I 

 found ii hid as much effect as if I had fired a charge of 

 peas. 1 gave him another charge at fifteen paces distant, 

 aud this time in the loins, but neither did this affect the 

 monster; so 1 continued lo lire till I had put aix shots into 

 him, Not even this seemed to have, any effect; on the con- 

 trary, it only seemed to kindle the ire of the unv. iehlly 

 brute, for turning suddenly he faced me, drawing himself 

 up iu the order of battle. 'I then gave him another dose of 

 shot in the teeth, but if was lost in the hood, when I con- 

 cluded that, I had to capture him in some other fashion. 



So I laid mv gun upon the ice, and seised piy gait, strid- 

 ing out for the assault; but that was prjtjaggjjfcauriy's state 

 of feeling too; for he advanced at a fc3H ■toward 



me. I stood, scared at the monster's arWH ^V could 

 not summon courage to assault him; hut 'vdH^Rly was 

 he it oecurcd to me that 1 might assault Knatf^Ti behind, 

 which. I did; but 1 might have pounded till the day of 

 judgment and yet not have harmed him, In trying to 

 strike him upon the heat) I ventured somewhat too far, aud 

 before I recognized my folly I was disarmed, Hoody holding 

 my gall in his mouth. 



Then I reloaded my gun and fired four more rounds into him, 

 but still the brute, held fast to my gaff, and I was obliged to 

 retrace my steps, utterly at a loss how to account for having 

 left it behind. I found no young seals anywhere npou the 

 floe, though many of the females were large with young, 

 aud would evidently whelp iu a few days. On my return I 

 came to a small lake, and found that it was swarming with 

 seals, which frightened by the hunters had gone in there. Not 

 less than fifty round blackheads might be seen at once pop- 

 ping above the water, aud again sinking below it. 



L found four or five of the fishermen at a, rendezvous, 

 wlere there were several piles of pelts ready to start with 

 another "tow" for the edge of the ice. They' had lulled all 

 the seals within a pretty wide aiea, and remarked that they 

 would "not last many day-." Then one of them saw me 

 Without my gait, and a.-.k'ed where it was. I told him I lost 

 it in a hole coming iu, and" that 1 had a narrow escape from 

 being drowned. "From being eaten, perhaps, von mean." 

 be sal I with a wicked leer; and I found they all knew 1 was 

 telling a lie. And l.hwn they began quizzing me in tceir 

 own uncouth way, asking inc how I liked "killin' dog- 

 hoods," aud how long he stood me "tantaliziu of him," 

 Then they told me that "a doghood baint no fool;" and that 

 •he kno wed a greenhorn." I bore the charting as Sweetly 

 as 1 was able, and then tied two pelts to a rope and started 

 away with the rest for the boat, which we had left on the 

 edge of the ice. When we reached it with our tows the 

 full number of pelts aboard was thirty-two. Each pelt was 

 worth on the average £1 or $4, so that it will be seeu a valu- 

 alJe day's work had already been done. Some young lads 

 wdio had come out in some of the oilier boats had prepared 

 dinner lay boiling the kettles on the ice, and frying a number 

 of seals' flippers on large pans brought out, for the purpose, 

 and though, from the carelessness in preparation, there was 

 a strong flavor nf seal oil ou the meat, 1 never remember 

 having made a more delightful meal. 



With i he towing of another load each of pelts from the 

 slaughter ground the day's programme was ended, as all the 

 seals within near range, had been killed. I apprised the 

 party of our boat of the lake Iliad seen, which gave them 

 great delight, and after dinner Was ended we repaired 

 thither with our three guns. Then taking up our shelter 

 behind some ice pinnacles we opened fire on every head as 

 it appeared. My companions had dint muskets, a'nd these 

 sometimes "burnt, prime" or "hung tire," and where they 

 did go promptly off in three cases out of four the seal weut 

 down at the flash iu the pan and escaped. Even with my 

 gun I missed a number of shots, th« head dipping at the 

 Hash. This was especially the case wdieu either myself or 

 the gu» was seen before firing. 



The mongrel doirs worked admirably, pouncing upon 

 every seal we killed and dragging him to the. edge of the ice, 

 when eticof the men stood" ready with a. boat-hook, and 

 pulled the care.,.-,: up, lifting out the dog na well. 1 could 

 not say how many seals wc killed in the lake, but we lauded 

 between twenty and thirty, took off the pelfs, piled and 

 flagged them. These it was the intention to let stand dur- 

 ing" the night, and taking the remaining loads from the first 



