October 13, 1881.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



205 



story relative to a certain Selallicuin which once inhabited 

 the North Arm of the Inlet, and in ancient times destroyed 

 many Indians. This Selallicum was peculiar in form, 

 being shaped like two fishes joined together at the tails. 

 It used to lie stretched across the mouth of the North 

 Aim, just under the Eurface of the water, with one of its 

 heads near each shore. Whenever a canoe would attempt to 

 pass up the Arm the monster would wait until it was directly 

 over its body and would then rise to the surface, overturn 

 the canoe, and with one or both of its heads devour the oc- 

 cupants. In this way it destroyed many Indians, for the 

 North Arm was a great hunting groutid and fish, game and 

 berries abounded along the river. At last the depredations 

 of the Selallicum became so terrible that the Squamish Indi- 

 ans had lost nearly half their tribe, and no one any longer 

 dared to go up the Arm, so that the people feared that they 

 would starve to death. Now there was a young 

 man in the tribe who had seen his comrades' mis- 

 ery and pitied their misfortunes, and at length 

 he resolved that he would sacrifice himself for his people, 

 and would kill the Si-lallicum even if it cost him his own 

 life. So one day he went about to his family and bade them 

 all good-bye, saying that he was going away and should not. 

 come back for a long time. Then he went away into the 

 mountains, and no one saw him more. He fasted for many 

 days, and prayed to the good spirit, and at last, when he was 

 very weak, he dreamed one night that a very large white goat 

 stood near him as he slept, and spoke to him long and wisely. 

 The next day the young man went up further into the moun- 

 tains, and gathered certain roots and herbs, which he dried in 

 the sun, and afterwards, building a fire, scorched. Then he 

 scraped them into a po wder and mixed them with some medi- 

 cine oil and rubbed the whole over his body — over his head 

 and arms and body and legs. He left no part untouched. 

 Then he walked down the mountain to the shore of the inlet 

 and dived into the water. For five years he lived in the 

 water, scarcely ever coming out on shore. In all this time 

 he never spoke to a man. He was so much at home in the 

 water that he could swim faster than a seal or a salmon, and 

 at the end of that time his medicine was so strong that he 

 could call the fishes or the seals to him, and lift them into his 

 canoe. Now he was ready to fight the Selallicum, and, tak- 

 ing two spears, one in each hand, he swam to the mouth of 

 the North Arm, and diving under the monster, thrust them 

 into it. The fight was long and terrible, but at length the 

 battle ended and the monster was dead. The young man 

 was terribly wounded and expected to die. His wounds 

 were so severe that he could not move, and he floated on the 

 surface of the water like a dead salmon. As he lay there on 

 the water he heard the sound of a paddle ; and a canoe, in 

 which sat his brother, stopped by him. The two recognized 

 each other, and the brother lifted the wounded man into his 

 canoe and took him to shore. The latter then told his 

 brother to take him up into the mountains, and to gather cer- 

 tain roots and herbs, which he should first dry in the sun and 

 then scorch in a fire. Then he told the brother to scrape 

 them into powder and to mix them with the oil of a medicine 

 fish, and to rub them over his whole body— to rub the mix- 

 ture over his whole body, leaving no part of it untouched. 

 This the brother did, and immediately the young man rose 

 from the ground and walked about sound and whole. Then 

 the two brothers went home to the village. Since that time 

 the Selallicum has never been seen in the North Arm. This 

 story, which I have thus briefly outlined, as nearly as possi- 

 ble^ the Indian's words, was told by him at considerable 

 length and with great particularity and detail. 



We reached the town of Hastings about six o'clock, and at 

 once took the stage for New Westminster. The next day I 

 left for Victoria. y 0< 



Gamp on Loughborough Inlet, B. C. 



Routes to the Ducking Gbounds.— As the season for 

 duck shooting draws near, it is worth while to suggest to 

 those who purpose visiting the South, during the season, 

 how they can most conveniently reach their destination. 

 We presume that about the middle of November the exodus 

 for the shooting in South Carolina will begin, and the mem- 

 bers of the various clubs, their friends, and those who an- 

 nually go to Van Slyke's, will commence to move off. The 

 famous shooting grounds on Currituck Sound have, by the 

 completion of the Elizabeth City and Norfolk Railroad, been 

 brought within twenty-four hours of this city, and recently 

 arrangements have been made by which the route is some- 

 what shortened. 



Those who intend to visit Currituck can take the 3:40 

 p. m. train at New York, as per advertisement of the Asso- 

 ciated Southern Railways in another column, reaching Nor- 

 folk at 9 o'clock a. m. They should leave the train at 

 Suowden, which place is reached at 10:50, and proceed 

 thence by private conveyance to Currituck Court House 

 where they can take the steamer Cygnet for Van Slyke's and 

 other landings. If for any reason the steamer should be 

 detained, they can continue on overland to the shore. The 

 charge for conveying passengers from Snowden to Vau 

 Slyke's will, wc understand, be §2 each. The agent at 

 Snowden will furnish all necessary information. There is 

 no hotel at Currituck Court House, but a good dinner can 

 be obtained at Captain Walker's. We understand that by 

 taking the all-rail route, via Richmond and Petersburgh, one 

 can leave New York about 9:30 o'clock p. m. and reach Snow 

 den at 6:55 p. m. the next day, 



THE DREAMS AND THE STREAMS OE TEE PAST. 



rp HERE be dreamy days in summer time, when all sounds 

 -L that come to the ear are like the droning of a nursery 

 crone; when the bees, and the water-fall, ami the tannery 

 wheel, and the wind in the solemn pines, all seem to hit it 

 off in unison, singing an overpowering lullaby that dulls the 

 senses daliciously. It was on such a d iy as this that I wrote to 

 the blessed old Judge (your sometimes correspondent "Eilz"; 

 to know when I could meet him on the stream, «nd be with 

 him in some new old spot among the favorite resorts of other 

 days; and hear from him again the tales of former plenty, 

 the recollections of famous catches and misses ot the Past. 

 Now, the Judge is a confirmed hu<l</:l<>r h-)iij>"r<i-: (fli, und 

 faithfully believes that there were more pretty girls, and big 

 trout and fine fellows, in the good old days before the flood, 

 than there arc now or ever have been since that "critter 

 went sloshin' around with his darned old ark scaring the fish 

 and drowning folks." So just to humor him I dropped into 

 the same vein; but, alas! the sleepy song of Nature over- 

 came me, and I woke up with a start, ouly to find that I had 

 mixed up the trout and the maiden in my verses in frightful 

 fashion, and had produced a modern poetical mermaid 

 worthy of Barnum : 



Oil, the dreams and the streams ol the Paat ! 



What a charm when one fondly recalls 

 How lull were the former or Hope, 



And the latter o£ wonderful " hauls!" 



Tou remember the maiden so coy, 

 Who'd an eye like tlie blue o£ the sky— 



You think, with, a spasm ot joy, 

 Ot the day when you first cast a fly. 



now her lips, like the roses, were red, 

 How you worshiped the curve ot nor nose— 



Tou feel even now the sweet thrill 

 As you " nipped " a ball-pounder that rose. 



Full the daintiest maiden was she 



That ever was tempted with bait- 

 How speckled and glossy her sides, 



And how swift through the water her gait. 



And the hair falling down from her gills 



Was so golden and flowing and tree ! 

 Not a thought had you then ot the chills, 



Though you waded in lore to your knee. 



if delight, 



You were filled with 



As you fondled her dear dorsal 

 On rivals you looked with cc 



Those who Ashed with a t< 



'hteinpt, 

 jw-string and pin. 



Tou remember the swItt-whMIng " swash *' 



When she rose to your artfuleat cast, 

 And how you were mad and said " Gosh I" 



As you missed her and lost her at last. 



But now, looking back on it all, 

 You can say, 'twlxt the twinges of gout, 

 " She flipped at the fly with her t all 

 And was only a flngerllng trout." 



Oh, the dreams and the streams of the Past! 



What a wonderful halo is this, 

 That so circles the creels of old days, 



And e'en softens the pang of a miss ! 



The Major. 



THE GREAT SOUTH BAY. 



IN TWO PABTS — PAKT TWO. 



NEXT morning's "snipe shoot" was another failure. Mr. 

 Green hunted killey fish through the mud and water 

 of the meadow, and the Commissioner discoursed on his 

 favorite subject, the wonderful natural attractions of Long 

 Island and the Great South Bay. On their way back to 

 breakfast they got a few shots at an immense flock of ox- 

 eyes, and secured enough game for breakfast, dinner and 

 supper. Bidding good bye to their friends 'of "Castle 

 Oonkling" and the Wawayanda, they headed further toward 

 the west. Mr. Green had, since the beginning of the trip, 

 made the yacht " lie to" alongside of auy fishermen working 

 their nets, and he had examined the pounds and interviewed 

 all manner of bay-faring men. After we had passed Oak 

 Island, with its club-house and promising snipe grounds, 

 over which the Commissioner breached a partimr tigh, and 

 were bravely heading for Cedar Island, an indefinite spot 

 where the Co mm issioner once, in early boyhood, had great 

 sport and had lived since to manhood's prime in the hope of 

 having it again, Mr. Green perceived two fishermen up to 

 their waists in water " treading out clams." This singular 

 employment, the like of which he had never seen before, 

 argued an immediate explanation that was plainly beyond the 

 limits of his credulity. He had studied out the working of 

 the oysttr tongs and clam rake, and, to the great Surprise of 

 the owner in each case, had taken lessons and had insisted 

 upon working them himself, and had brought up clams and 

 oysters from the vasty deep ; but to believe that people just 

 walked around in the water till they stepped on the rounded 

 bivalves, and then picked them up with their hands was giv- 

 ing too much credit to the productiveness of even the Great 

 South Bay. So he must go and see. We went, and the 

 men confirmed all that had been told of them as the yacht 

 lay with sheets eased off, and Mr. Green satisfied hi3 doubts 

 and learned "something new about clams." But the men 

 were working in shallow water which was shoaler still 

 around them, and hardiy had we left them two hundred 

 yards before the yacht, of light draft though she was, ran 

 solidly aground on a sand bank. All manner of efforts were 

 made to get her afloat; sheets were cased off and trimmed 

 in : the jib and mainsail were worked at alternately ; a long 

 pole was used to try and "head her around" — but in vain. 

 The yacht was fast and the tide was falling. Here was a 

 predicament for an exploring party. The next twelve hours 

 were evidently to be spent exploring a limited space of sand 

 bar, but the Commissioner's equanimity was not to be dis- 

 turbed, His golden rule of life had been "Don't Worry," 



and be was not going fc> forget his precept for all the fish in 

 the Great South Bay. He calmly turned to the Superin- 

 tendent and remarked: 

 "Do you like to bathe?" 

 " Yes," replied Mr. Green. 



"If so, now is the time to bathe, and salt water bathing ia 

 strengthening. 



So those two wise and rather stout men stripped off their 

 clothes, aud stepped overboard. Mr, Green was about dis- 

 porting himself in the water, aud had in mind the excellent 

 chance that presented itself to practice a little "treading out 

 clams," when the Commissioner remarked as calmly as be- 

 fore : 



"Now, if all bands will come to the bow, aud get under 

 the bowsprit we can shove her off." 



So it proved. It must have been a funny sight to any be- 

 holders, those Stout, elderly and dignified gentlemen gar- 

 mentless, working away at the Au Revoirloget her into 

 water where she would be herself again; but lightened, as 

 she was, of a good deal of solid flesh she swung around easily, 

 and made off so fast that they had to clamber aboard in 

 haste, and Mr. Green was compelled to postpone the study 

 and practice of the great art of "treading out clams" to a 

 more convenient season. 



'■Now," said the Commissioner when they were fairly un- 

 der way again, "beyond this point I am 'not familiar with 

 the bay, having forgotten about it, but I have my charts which 

 I made in old times." 



"What" exclaimed Seth Green, "don't know the wav, and 

 your man, don't he know it ?" 



"Ohno, a manintheSouthBayonly mindshisown business. 

 If he fishes for clams he knows where the clams are, if he 

 uses a net he understands just where aud how to set it, if he 

 digs mussels or catches 'bunkers, mussels and 'bunkers are 

 the extent of his knowledge. Why should he wcrry himself 

 with vain things ? My man worked in the middle part of 

 the bay. Into the East Bay he has told me he went once. 

 Into the West Bay, though but thirty miles from his home, 

 he has never presumed to penetrate. But I told you i can 

 rely upon my charts." 



"Then," said Seth Green, decisively, "the sooner you be- 

 gin to study them the better." 



"I remember," said the Commissioner, as he brought them 

 out of the cabin to the waning light of day, "that there was 

 a white house, which bore northeast and northwest or north- 

 by-east or about that, from the opening in the bulkhead, but 

 I forget exactly which white house it was, and there seem 

 to be several." 



"Perhaps," replied Mr. Green, with deepest "sarkassum," 

 "it is that white house we passed an hour ago, or that one we 

 are abreast of, or that one a mile ahead. As everybody seems 

 to paint his house white on this shore you have quite a 

 choice." 



"Oh !" replied the Commissioner, innocent of the ill-con- 

 cealed irony, "this was a large, white house, it is either that 

 one in the distance or some one beyond." 



At this the Superintendent bouueed around in restlessness. 

 "Let's follow some other boat, that one ahsad, she sjems to 

 be going our way." 



"It is a thousand to one she is not, there are villages all 

 along the bay, and every cove is converted into a harbor. 

 We shall find the house, but what troubles me is the course. 

 I seem not to have marked it on the chart. I must have . 

 known it so well once." 



"And suppose we cannot find it, what then ?" asked Mr. 

 Green, anxiously. "Where can we make a harbor?" 



"Oh, we .can anchor anywhere. The water is not over 

 four feet deep where we are. But we can surely find the 

 channel. It was staked out. So they took "heart at sight of 

 every oyster stake, and eel pot stake and net stake in their 

 course. 



"What is the bulkhead anyhow?" asked Seth Green, after 

 a pause. 



"Itisa strip of sand like a shallow sand bar, miles long, 

 and dividing one part of the bay from the other. There is 

 some way of passing around it, but I do not know how, and 

 that would take us far out of our course, and nearly up to 

 the mainland. We shall find the channel, never fear." 



This easy confidence was justified; they discovered the 

 narrow passage, only a few feet wide, staked out in the 

 middle of that long bar of sand, but the tide was running 

 strongly against them, and as the wind also was ahead they 

 found it impossible to make any progress, and were com- 

 pelled to try to go around the obstruction. It seemed a long 

 journey, aud soon they had parsed from the open bay and 

 were threading their way through narrow channels, among 

 marshy islands, but fortunately the tide was nearly full, and 

 ordinary flats were well covered with water. Night found 

 them at last surrounded by islands in a part of the bay they 

 were wholly unacquainted with, and with no other boat near 

 them. They did not want to anchor in the track of larger 

 vessels, for fear of being run down in the night, as they had 

 no lantern, but there was no help for it, and they dropped 

 anchor in a bliud creek. It had become dark, the wind was 

 blowing hard, and there wasa damp, cold sleet falling. Hardly 

 had the Au Revoir brought up on her cable than the Commis- 

 sioner called out, " We are on au island, I can see the grass 

 through the water." Fortunately they floated over it, and a 

 fresh cast of the lead, that is a sounding with a long oar, 

 revealing good water, the anchor was dropped again and all 

 hands went below tired, hungry and not altogether satisfied 

 with their position for the night. A he.rty supper, that 

 panacea for all ills, swallowed, and to bed we go. 



" All's well that eud3 well." Daylight next day shows us 

 that we could not have chosen better had we known every 

 inch of the bottom of the bay. We were in the best water, 

 and Point Look-Ont, our immediate haven, was in full sight 

 We hud only to go straight for it, that is as straight as the 

 innumerable intervening islands would permit. Point Look- 

 Out is the easterly extremity of Long Beach, connected with 

 the principal hotels by a lecal railroad which runs every Inur 

 to and fro over the sandy beach. The point is on the edge 

 of an inlet which lately broke through, and already boasts of 

 a hotel and a half dozen cottages. The hotel is admirably 

 situated for families who prefer quiet -to the noise of the great 

 caravansaries. To gentlemen it offers the attractions of 

 boating, tolerable shooting and fair fishing. There I left the 

 party for a time, Mr. Green to interview boatmen, study 

 the habits of fiddler-crabs, chase minnows through the 

 ditches, and learn all about the bitching capabilities of 

 Hempstead Bay, as the South Bay begins to be called in this 

 neighborhood. The Commissioner to sit on the piazza of the 

 hotel, watch the ocean commerce throusrh his glass, and ex- 

 patiate upon the future glories of all tlie saudlteaehes that 

 lie between his favorite island and the broad Atlantic. These 

 important matters accomplished and I rejoined them, aud 

 once more we sped away back by another route into the 



