842 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Nor. 30 18S& 



.iDIROmiACK PURVEY NOTES. 



XIU. — THE WOODS OF OTHER PEOPLE. 



HAVING- given a sketch of the Adirondacks of Mr. 

 Murray, as he pictures it in his truthful and reliable 

 book (let no wretched man attempt to pun on "reliable," the 

 word is not formed from re to iterate). It has been suggested 

 that it would he only fair to give a picture of the region as 

 seen through my mvn Spectacles. This would seem fair 

 enough if the aforesaid Brazilian pebbles were believed to 

 differ from those of other lovers of fclie silent woods that 

 cover nearly one-fourth of the .State of Hew York, but they 

 are supposed to be achromatic and Consequently convey the 

 same image to the eye as do those of ' 'Nessmuk," and the host 

 of other good fellows who have written of the woods. 



That the pure balsam-laden air of this elevated land is 

 good for thosG threatened with pulmonary troubles there is 

 no doubt, but that it is the place to bring a hopeless con 

 sumptive there may well be don. ts. Tie' cold nights often 

 pinch one whose veins are not well filled; and the comforts 

 of home are not to be found. Much as the old campaigners 

 dislike to see the influx of tourists and picknickers, whom 

 they regard as trespassers upon their domain, there is no 

 remedy for it. Ease of access has opened up their old 

 haunts and they will never be closed again, therefore their 

 only refuge is to go deeper in or over to the yet unpolluted 

 wilds of Northern Canada, The Adirondacks of to-day are 

 far from what they were twenty years ago, and those who 

 are only beginning to know them now will sigh with regret 

 for the good old times of to-day, twenty years hence. This 

 is the case with all human retrospect. The old times were 

 the good and the present will become "old limes" S00U 

 enough and will be looked back to with the same reverence 

 which we now bestow on the past. Times change and men 

 change and the days when the moose browsed along the 

 Raquette and the wolf howled from the hillsides will come 

 no more. Still there is much that is delightful to sueh as 

 "love quiet and go n-angling." Many small lakes afford a 

 partial seclusion not attainable on the main lines of travel, 

 and tempt the man who is weary of business and the ways 

 of the money-changers lo rest and refresh himself. 



To persons who know nothing of the charms of a wilder- 

 ness it is hard to convey a conception of its pleasures; to 

 correctly fool up its delights against the sura of the disadvan- 

 tages and deprivations which they magnify, and to show a 

 balance in favor of the woods. First and last comes the 

 sense of freedom. This is imperfectly secured at the great 

 hotels, and is found in perfection only in camp. 1 hurriedly 

 note down the following curses of humanity that one is free 

 from in the woods: Starched shirts, cuffs, collars, shaving, 

 stiff hats, and conventionalities generally, the fiend who 

 whistles or eats peanuts on the cars, the demon who spits 

 all around your hoots in the street cars, bells, steam whis- 

 tles and other rackets, car-splitting caomen at railway 

 stations, traveling agents and lightning-rod men, milkmen's 

 yells, duns, the sheriff, business, politics, hand-organs, beg- 

 gars, stair-climbing, and tlie many other annoyances of life 

 which arc sometimes termed minor ones, but which tend to 

 shorten our days. Add to these the newspaper with horri- 

 ble pictures of Lydiu E. Pinchman, that "noted but untitled 

 woman," and the jokes of the alleged "funny man" on those 

 fresh subjects of goats, mother-in-law, and putting up a 

 stove-pipe, also frequent anecdotes "of the mule and his 

 playful characteristics, and you have a few more burdens 

 lifted from suffering humanity. The hlackfly and an odd 

 mosquito or two are, at some times of the year, the only 

 thing that can be said to detract from your enjoy- 

 ment of life in the woods. It is claimed that the Adiron- 

 dacks are becoming hackneyed, and that there is too much 

 civilization there. This is only true of the fashionable 

 routes, and I have several times said that if one breaks away 

 from these he can find lakes where there arc no hotels with 

 pianos and no full-dress dinners; places where the guides 

 have not been spoiled by men of wealth, who have given 

 them lavish presents until they arc above working for those 

 who cannot, or will not, give them a sum equal to a prince's 

 ransom, in addition to their monthly pay. 



The whole Adirondack region is so elevated that the lakes 

 lie above the rest of the State, and it is so evenly divided 

 between mountain and lake that the air is not only pure, hut 

 dry, and when the thermometer marks zero one cannot real- 

 ize that it is so cold because the shivering which is felt in a 

 damp atmosphere is absent. Probably a temperature of 

 twenty above zero in New York city feels colder than when 

 the mercury stands at the cypher here. To get a fair idea 

 of what an elevated source of water supply this region is, 

 take a map and note how the waters flow in every direction 

 from a circle, of which Long Lake is nearly the center. To 

 the northwest, into the St, Lawrence, flow Moose Buret, 

 Black River, the Oswogatehie, and the streams which lie as 

 far east as the northern part of Franklin county. The Sara- 

 uac, Ausablc, and smaller rivers flow to the northeast into 

 Lake Champlain, and so into the St. Lawrence. Prom the 

 southern part of Hamilton county most of the waters flow 

 south to the Mohawk, except the Sacandaga River, which, 

 with the streams from the northern portion of the county 

 and those of Warren and part of Essex counties, seek an 

 outlet toward the Hudson. Such a region is always a 

 healthy one, and when we add that swamps and marshes are 

 comparatively scarce, it follows that the Adirondacks are 

 Bupcrior as a health resort to most wooded countries. At 

 the same time its restorative powers have been exaggerated 



in a manner that has sent those who were past restoration 

 into the woods to die. 



Trout fishing is the chief allurement in the way of sport, 

 and those who are interested in preserving the attractions 

 here should try to keep the fishing up to its former standard 

 by both protection and propagation. They are very careless 

 in This matter and take little heed of those who violate the 

 laws or who introduce fishes which may prove to be hurtful 

 to the native, species. The introduction of black bass into 

 Raquette Lake and pike into Long Lake was an outrage on 

 the trout fisher, aud in my opinion the placing of the rain- 

 bow, or California, trout in waters where our own beautiful 

 native (rout are fouud will be classed as equally pernicious 

 after our anglers find that they haVc replaced their favorite 

 fish liy tlicir rapid growth, which means a great consump- 

 tion of food and a crowding of the weaker to the wall. 

 This fish is in season at the wrong time, being a spring 

 spawner, and its capture is prohibited by law between 

 May 1() and September 1. Of what use then will it be to 

 the angler who is only in the woods between those dates'/ 

 The only quality to recommend the rainbow trout is its 

 rapid growth and its gatniness, and the latter quality has not 

 been fully demonstrated. I have seen no reason why we 

 should have this fish in any waters suited to our native trout, 

 and I have steadily opposed its introduction in such waters, 

 but it being a new thing it has come in with a bit of gush- 

 ing enthusiasm which may cool off some day, and the fish 

 instead of a blessing will prove the reverse. 



As 1 came up on the cars this last time 1 sat in the seat, 

 with a young man who was just sprouting his first mous- 

 tache, he eyed my rod for a moment and then asked if the 

 fishing was good where the rod aud its owuer were journey- 

 ing. He was told that the season for trout was over, but 

 that perhaps some other fishes might be found, whereon be 

 launched into a glowing account of his first and only front- 

 ing experience. He w T as a salesman in a New York mercan- 

 tile house and had enjoyed a two weeks' vacation in the 

 Adirondacks. Ho rattled off the names of a, few lakes, hotels 

 and guides, and was evidently "old woodsman" himself. He 

 had never fished before, and had the fortune to take many- 

 large trout every day that he fished, and wound up with, 

 "I took one that weighed four pounds." 



"Indeed!" said I, "that was a largo one, did you take it 

 with a fly?" 



"0, yes, I had on a big fly, but my float got under the boat 

 and I nearly lost him." 



"You should have kept your float away from the beat, for 

 ,f he should drag it under the keel your sinker might get 

 fast somewhere and the fish would break away." 



"The sinker did get fast on the bottom once and I thought 

 the fish would get off, but I fetched him in." 



"How heavy a sinker do you use in the Adirondack waters 

 with a large fly?" 



' 'About an ounce, that is heavy enough where there is no 

 current." 



"Yes," 1 answered, "an ounce should be sufficient, I will 

 have to cut mine down. 1 have fished a little but never took 

 a trout that would weigh four pounds." 



Hi' smiled with satisfaction to think that his trout had not 

 been beaten, and little suspected that he was about the 

 hundredth young man who had told mo of taking a four- 

 pouuder on his first trip to the woods, and sis he left the car 

 wished me "good luck." Leaning back in my seat I fell to 

 wondering how it is thai they all do it, and why n four- 

 pounder never falls to my lot, it must be that I don't put the 

 right sort of sinker on my fly. P. M. 



FOREST AND STREAM FABLES. 



X.— THE KOX AS A SPORTSMAN. 



ONCE upon a. time there was a Fox who was forever boast- 

 ing of the great numbers of Mice and Birds which he 

 oaught every time that he took the field, aud would closely 

 relate all the circumstances of the taking of each one of his 

 victims. And yet he was rarely seen bringing anything home. 

 One day when met, with some of his brethren and bragging 

 as was his wont of his last day r 'ssport, he told how he had killed 

 twelve Quail in one coppice. "First," he said, "I killed the 

 Old Cock in one side of a brush heap, and then the Old Hen in 

 the other side. Then Five of the Young Birds among some 

 wild grass where they were hiding, and seven more along the 

 edge of a Brook which they were trying to cross, for they 

 could not. yet fly. After I had secured another, the last of the 

 brood, the Old Cook being now thoroughly frightened, under- 

 took to fly over my head as I sheltered myself behind a bush, 

 for the day was bitterly cold, with a foot of snow upou the 

 groimd, when X sprang up and caught Mm. On my way home 

 I picked up two more of the Young Birds that had straggled 

 off into some young Corn." 



He was about to continue his story when an Old Fox who 

 had listened with an apparently careless car now spoke up, 

 saying, "Hold, friend Black Legs, and begin anew, for either 

 thy memory or thy facts are at fault. Thou hast already 

 killed Eighteen Birds instead of twelve, and the Old Cock 

 twice. Then Seven of the Young Birds were too young to fly, 

 though there was a foot of snow upon the ground; but for all 

 that, Two had got among some Young Corn," 



"Upon my Honor," quoth the boastful Fox, while all his 

 companions' heads were opened wide with laughter. "Every 

 word I have spoken is true, but I have somehow mixed Two 

 Stories." 



MORAL. 



If thou must lie, let thy Story have at least the Merit of 

 Consistency. 



$te gportmi<M ghoarBt 



BIRCH AND PADDLE 



IK HEW BRUNSWICK WATERS— flRST FAP15K. 



IF there be anywhere a paradise set apart for the reward 

 of faithful fishermen, I think the streams of Northern 

 and Eastern New Brunswick must surely constitute one of 

 the most favored portions. 



Whether the remote lakes and foaming courses of the 

 Squatook system hold one far from civilization during the 

 hot weeks of August, or the emerald pools and rapids of j 

 Green River, nearer the haunts of men, beguile one to a few 

 days of careless delight, whether our eyes have feasted on 

 the luxuriant banks of Tobiquc and the crystal depths of the 

 hike which is guarded by the beetling front of Bald Moun- ] 

 tain, or have grown bewildered among the myriads of bleak 

 pine skeletons which clothe the rounded Hills of the Mira- 

 miohi, whether we have east our flies on the sunny currentof 

 the R.stigouche, in a very garden of the gods, walled round -' 

 by sonic of the fairest peaks within the four corners Df I 'en- 

 ada, or have wieldrd the Inner la.ncc.wood amid the roarill 

 music and cool breezes of the Nipisiguit, touched by the 

 very spray of the falls, whichever way our paddles may 

 liave guid'ed us, there has been the home of salmon or trout, 

 or both, of goodliest proportions and appetites. 



The fisherman who goes to the Squatooks, indeed, wiR 

 find there no salmon, as these are shut out from all the 

 upper tributaries of the River St. John bj the instirmoimla- 

 ble barrier of the Grand Falls, but he will be amply recom- 

 pensed by the huge size of the "togue" and the abundance 

 and gamincss of the trout, while, if he know aught of the 

 poacher's art of spearing by torchlight, here he may exer- 

 cise his skill with clear conscience at the expense 'of the. 

 swarming whitefisk or "gizzard." 



All the other waters 1 have named are celebrated equally . 

 for salmon and trout, and on one stream — the Miramichi— . 

 that fine game fish, the striped bass, is also abundant. Tot] 

 this latter river, every spring, come vast numbers of sfl 

 trout, and swarm up all the tributaries. 



Aboutthe first week in June they reach a village culled 

 Indi.intown, at the mouth of the Renous, twenty milts 

 above Newcastle. Here, wading out waist deep, never 

 needing to change your ground, you may all day long ha ( 

 reeliug'in alternate "trout and bass, and even be ble 

 haps, with an occasional salmon. The sea-trout go from 

 one to three pounds in weight, the bass up to twelve or thirj 

 teen. This good time at lndiantown, however, lasts only a 

 few days, or a week at the most, and then the fish are scat- 

 tered up the branches. 



"When one is acquainted with all these various and widely\ 

 differing resorts, it becomes difficult lo make choice between** 

 them; each has its own peculiar advantages and disadvan- 

 tages, but all abound in such good things as the sportsmanli? 

 heart desires. Perhaps what is known as the "Squatook' 

 Trip," taking all into consideration, is the most thoroughly ' 

 enjoyable, The Squatook Lakes arc less widely known than 

 the other waters named. They are frequented chielly by 

 old habitues, who, having been lured thither once, have need- 

 ed little persuasion to go again and again. Here the ac- 

 cepted mode of conveyance is "birch and paddle, " the canoe 

 made by the Milicete Indians of the bark of the white larch 

 tree heing the perfection of small craft for speed, lightness, 

 noiseleSSnCBS, and carrying capacity. 1 propose i to occupy 

 this paper with some "account of an expedition round the. 

 Squatooks lately accomplished by live coinpanions-in-arms, 

 bent on escape from the fury of the dog star and on captuiw| 

 of trout and togue. 



TUE SQUATOOKS ASO I.AKK TEMISCONATA. 



Temisconata is a long narrow lake just outside the bouoVj 

 daries of New Brunswick, in the Province of Quebec, mi 

 lying parallel to the general course of the St. Lawrcnffl 

 Its outlet is the Madawaska River, almost entirely u iNcw 

 Brunswick stream, which empties into the River' St. John 

 at Edmundston. Midway up the lake, on its southern side. 

 flows in the Toledi River, which is fed by Toledi Lake and 

 Squatook river and lakes, all in New Brunswick. The lit- 

 tle village of Edmundston, shiretown of Madawaska^ 

 county, is in easy communication by rail with all parts d£ 

 Canada and the United States. Our order of proceeding was 

 to take canoes at Edmundston and pole up the MadawasSa 

 fifteen miles, thence to make a portage five miles across 

 country, on the left-hand shore, to Mud Lake, which empties 

 by means of Beardslcy Brook into the Squatook RiverJHj 

 slip down this river with its chain of placid expansions^ 

 till we should float out upon the waters of ToImS 

 Lake. Toledi River would then receive us tumultuously, 

 and if we should survive its angry rapids and cas- ) 

 cades, eject its forcibly at last into the rude bosom 01 

 Temisconata, whence plain sailing back to Edmuudslon, 

 This makes a round trip of one hundred and odd milt (a R 

 all, save the first fifteen, with the current. It isusua]j^_ 

 such expeditions, to take a canoe and Indian guide for eael 

 member of the party, a very luxurious plan, by which all 

 one has to do is to foil comfortably on green houghs in «JT 

 middle of the canoe, while the Indian in the -tern pt'upajt 

 the craft all day long, by the pole when going ngaiutfflH 

 stream, when in still water or with the current by means W 

 the paddle , But we were old canoemen, and intendejWW 

 rely upon our own skill and knowledge of wood oral I 

 laborious part of such undertakings is the poling, and limf, 

 we would have only fifteen miles of this, or cue day » 

 journey ; and as for the rapids and falls to be run, we wfllfi 

 no new hands at work of this sort, and eagerly, indeed, *J> 

 looked forward to the tension of nerve, strain c mis '• 

 and wild excitement amid the foam and spray and r>ar - 

 We would do then our own poling and paddling, and cook- 

 ing and tent-pitching, as well as our own lisl in md s 



ing. 



It was on a pleasant evening in the middle of Jul\ m\ 

 we found ourselves on the banks of the Madawaska, just 

 outside of Edmunston, with all our impedimenta about I* 

 As we were tired of civilization and eager for the wildCMWl 

 and its savage delights, we disdained to put up at "'«,% 

 lagc inn, so we straightway pitched our l< til 

 meadow beside the landing place, whence we inUjudM 

 making ocr start in the morning. To ran no risk of detajSffl 

 inferior craft we had hi ought two stanch canoes by rail witn 

 us from the Indian village opposite t'redericton, where ftg 

 may be obtained for leu or twelve dollars apiece. WW* 

 the camp was in order and the five "inner men" had been 

 atmcaseuwith clam chowder and tea, we weul out oil M 

 ■ucture exact ly over tue 



tilt] 



hade 



30n was at the full, and the bridge cas 

 to width sank the river in sullen black 



