November 3, 1881.] 



FOREST AND STREAM, 



273 



Wftfxt'-tdfi,'/, 'Mat. — Devoted the day to fishing and hunting, 

 and bagged three bass, six pickerel, five squirrels and three 

 grouse. 



Thursday, 22d.— A severe thunder storm and high wind 

 kept us in camp at] duy. The rain was needed as fires were 

 ragiug all around us. 



Fri'i/iy, 83(i. — Made au excursion to Pleasant Lake, three 

 miles from Black Lake, into which its outlet Mows. Shot 

 six ducks and two squirrels. It raiued in the afternoon. 



Saturday, 24///,. — Still raining, but we packed, and started 

 up Indian River, reaching Masealonge Lake before night, 

 and camped there ; bagging on the way four squirrels, eight 

 ducks, ten pickerel and four maskanonge. 



Sunday, 25th -Rowed up the river to Red Lake, where 

 we staid all night. 



Monday, 20///.— Made an eaily start for home, break fafitcd 

 at Stony Point, and reached Theresa at 11:30 a. m., killing 

 a couple of squirrels on the way. The whole trip of eighteen 

 days cost us ft'3.75 each. Our score was seven maskanonge, 

 nineteen pickerel, three pike, seven bass, eleven ruffed 

 grouse, nineteen ducks and twenty-six squirrels— ninetv-t wo 

 head in all. . C. A. Wali;a"dt. 



Tmm, A'. >'., Oct. 22, 1881. 



ROWING IN A CIRCLE. 



AN Ki'IBODK OF TUB BIO TIMBER. 



WE had gartered around the stove in the old boat house 

 after a few hours of fishing, and under the influence 

 of a well-brewed rum punch, were discussing the events of 

 the day. 



"I never taste this punch," said Ford, "without being re- 

 minded of a curious experience which happened to a friend 

 of mine on this very stream, not many months since. If 

 you'd like to hear the story, I'll tell it to you." 



We all, of course, assented. 



"It was in October, about the middle of the month, and a 

 first-rate day for bass. I started up the creek in my big boat, 

 with Jack Thaw and Charlie Titus, Ned and Herb Titus hav- 

 ing gone on ahead in the little skiff. Well, we fished awhile 

 about the old wharf just up above Easttown, and not far from 

 the Buck pond, where I've taken many a fine pike and yel- 

 low perch, as late as the last week in November. We did 

 pretty well at the Wharf, Charlie Titus hooking a couple of 

 black bass of fair size, and the rest of us a sprinkling of yellow 

 perch. It was getting toward noon, however, and the tide 

 was running out like a mill race, and coming pretty well on 

 toward the flood. Jack Thaw proposed that we should go up 

 above the old canal boat that drified against the bank" last 

 spring, you recollect, and take some lunch before we, started to 

 fish on the turn of the tide. Of course, none of us were very 

 loath to do that, for we knew that Jack had with him some 

 bottles of punch mixture, brewed by himself, and that it was 

 sure to be be forthcoming as soon as lunch was spread. We 

 ptdled on up-stream pretty lively and made for an old pier- 

 head just above the stranded boat, which was nice and 

 grassy on top, with a half-d'zcn maples growing about thirty 

 feet back from the water, just as shady and cosey a place for 

 dinner as you'll find anywhere. 



"We'd hardly got to the shore before we were hailed by a 

 boat coming from the opposite direction, containing one man 

 whom we did not recognize at first, as his back was toward 

 us, and he was bending down, pulling in our direction with 

 all his might and main. As he neared us, we saw that it was 

 Rod Lamont. He pulled alongside and got out and joined 

 us. 1 thought he looked a little flushed when he landed, and 

 he began to talk pretty freely, but I attributed this at the 

 moment to the fact that we had not met for some time, as 

 he'd passed several months in Europe since we'd last fished 

 together. 



" We had a capital spread. I opened some bottles of that 

 Egg Harbor claret, the Martha and the other kind, and Jack 

 Thaw mixed a puuch that beat anything of the kind I ever 

 saw him get up. Besides this, we had lots of bread and but- 

 ter, boxes of sardines, shrimps and 1 don't know wdiat all. 

 Rod took several glasses of wine and closed in pretty lively 

 on the punch, so that, by the time we'd got through and were 

 ready to resume fishing, he didn't seem to care whether he 

 fished or not. 1 laughed agood deal to see how he picked up 

 the punch bowl and carried it over to his boat, putting it 

 down on the bottom right in front of where he sat to row. 

 Of course by that time the punch wasn't nearly so strong as 

 it bad been, because the ice in it had melted considerably and 

 toned it down j but still there was plenty of strength left in 

 it and a good deal more material than I'd like to absorb, even 

 if I hadn't taken anything beforehand. 



"Well, we started off, Hod in his boat and the rest of us as 

 we had been in the morning. Pretty soon we found a place 

 to pull in a little from tie; current, and threw in our lines 

 where the water backed in from the creek and out of the 

 reach of the strong tide. Our boat fished on in this way for 

 about an hour, moving from side to side of the creek as the 

 fish got to biting slow, and we supposed that Rod had pulled 

 alongside the other boat and that they all were fishing 

 together. But as we rounded a point we saw Herb and 

 Ned Titus in their skiff and Rod about a hundred yards 

 off by himself. He wasn't fishing, that was certain, for we 

 could see him rowing to and fro along a distance of about 

 fifteen feet, apparently trying to get into an old narrow chan- 

 nel that connected tins part of the creek with that further 

 toward the mouth and made a short cut down stream. If 

 you noticed this morning, when yen get about a mile or so 

 above here the main stream makes a wide circuit of at least 

 a mile and corn's round to withiu less than five hundred feet 

 pf where the bend commences. Just across this strip runs 

 the channel that 1 spoke of, and it's generally pretty full of 

 water, especially on a rising tide. As 1 say, we were won- 

 dering what Rod was doing, rowing up and down, now push- 

 ing his boat into tin- ohmuel and then backing out again. 

 Every now and then, however, I noticed that he'd stop row- 

 ing, and we could see his hand go up to his mouth, so that 

 we were pretty well satisfied tlwt he was getting outside of 

 the balance of the punch. We were interested in fishing, 

 and didn't pay particular attention to bis antics, until ftually 

 we saw him rowing right through the channel, and supposed 

 that lic'il concluded to go on to the boathouse and wait for 

 us there. Where wc were we could only see for about half 

 the distance through, as after that his boat was hiddtnby 

 the reeds. 



"We fished on for about hall' au hour after he left, and then 

 put Up tackle and started for home, Neil and Herb going 

 ahead and we following slowly after. We rowed through 

 the channel against a strong tide, and came into the main 

 Stream without seeing anything of Rod. We tpiled on pretty 



slowly, as the current was unusually swift and the boats not 

 very light. 



"We were a little surprised not to have overtaken Hod on 

 the way down, and this was somewhat increased when we 

 passed the place where he'd hired his boat to find no indica- 

 tion that he had been there since morning. We then, of 

 course, took it for granted that he'd gone on t0 the boal 

 house, and pushed ahead. When we fjut there Dickson told 

 us that he'd seen nothing of either Hod or the boal, and added 

 that very likely Rod was off his balance, as he had taken a 

 pretty stiff glass of grog at the boathouse before starting to 

 join us up-stream Here was a quandary, and for some time 

 we couldn't make up our minds what course to pursue. In- 

 quiry at the tavern across the creek satisfied us that Rod 

 must be still somewhere up-stream, and the only theory to 

 account for his non-appearance was suggested by Charlie 

 Titus, who expressed the belief that he had pulled through 

 the channel, and when he got beyond it and into the main 

 stream, that he'd forgotten to keep on against the tide, and 

 had allowed his boat to drift with the current, which was 

 then, of course, running in exact l3 r the opposite direction 

 from where he wanted to go. As it was about a mile around 

 the bend to the point where he had first entered the channel, 

 he must have got clear round and pretty close, behind us, 

 though out of sight, just as we rowed into the channel on 

 our way home. 



"By this time it was pretty dark and showed signs of a 

 storm. Jack Thaw began to get uneasy, and had visions of 

 Rod's body lying on the bottom of the creek, and kept fancy- 

 ing all the time that he saw his boat floating upside down 

 and coming toward us on the falling tide. We talked the 

 thing over for about au hour, I suppose, and finally Jack and 

 I got out my big boat, and, fastening a lautern on the bow, 

 we gave Dickson the oars and all three of us started up- 

 stream. The way Jack Thaw peered around in the dim 

 light, looking as if he expected any minute to see Rod's face 

 staring up at him from the water, made me feel pretty un- 

 comfortable, I can tell you; and whenever a bass would 

 jump out of the water he'd give a start that would almost 

 upset us. 



"It must have been about eight o'clock by the time we got 

 to where the short cut entered the creek, where, if Charlie 

 Titus was right, Rod must have made hi3 first mistake and 

 turned the wrong way. We'd looked under every projecting 

 mass of roots, and poked the oars through every bunch of 

 reeds and alders along both banks, and had seen no indica- 

 tions of Rod ot the boat. We were getting pretty tired, 

 and the wind about this time commenced to blow, while 

 dark clouds went scudding overhead, and the waters hissed 

 and splashed noisily against Hie boal. 



"Suddenly Jcak Thaw T called to Dickson to stop rowing, that 

 he thought he heard a voice. I'm a little dull of hearing, 

 and whatever sound of the kind there was didn't reach me. 

 But Jack insisted that we'd better pull in-shore, for there was 

 evidently some one there needing assistance. Before doing 

 so, however, he sung out, ' Who are you, and what's the 

 matter?' A faint voice, which none of us recognized, came 

 back, 'I'm a stranger and in trouble.' This decided us, and 

 we made for the bank, which here rose some six feet above 

 the water, and a corresponding height above the adjacent 

 land. It was, in reality, a Bort, of levee to protect the fields 

 from the tide. As our boat grated against the shore, Dick- 

 son took the lantern, jumped out and clambered up the bank. 

 We could see bim poking the lantern about in front of him, 

 and presently he put it on the ground and, holding bis .sides 

 with both hands, his body shook ami quivered as if lie was 

 in a spasm. 



" ' What's the matter, Dick,' I Bhonted, ' Why don't you 

 go down into the meadow and see what the poor devil wants ?' 



" ' Oh Lord, oh Lord !' he hallooed back ; ' it's Rod. 

 Come here and look at him.' 



" ' Rod !' I said, ' it can't be ; why, where's his boat?' 



" ' I don't know,' he answered, ' but he's here, that's cer- 

 tain;' Aud with that he picktd up the lantern and slid 

 down the bank on the opposite side. 



"For a few moments we could hear the murmur of voices, 

 mingled with laughter from Dickson, which he seemed en- 

 deavoring to repress ; then a struggle and the splashing 

 sound of mud aud water, and finally" two figures emerged 

 from the meadow and appeared on top of the bank. "By 

 the light of the lautern we of course at once custinguished 

 Dickson, but without the hitter's previous announcement we 

 would never have recognized in the torn and mud-covered 

 object at his side the county and elegant Lamont. His face 

 and hair were begrimed with ditch waler and slime, his coat 

 huug about him in tatters, and long strips of dirty cloth were 

 all that remained of a pair of Poole's pantaloons. Descend- 

 ing toward the boat, with the aid of Dickson's arm, he fell 

 rather than sat down upon the stem seat, and for some time 

 maintained an obstinate silence, refusing to tell where he 

 had been, or how he had reached the place we had found 

 him. Finally, as we were about returning, he said that we 

 had better not leave until we had got his boat, that he was 

 responsible for it, but he guessed, though, it was a good ways 

 off. I asked him whether he'd tied it up anywhere, and he 

 said that he'd hitched the rope around one of the ribs of the 

 old canal boat, near where we'd lunched in the morning, and 

 he supposed it must be there yet. I then asked him how far 

 off he thought the place was. He said he guessed about six 

 miles, because he'd been asleep in the boat, and when he 

 waked up it was after midnight, and he'd been walking 

 across the fields for two or three hours since. Of course we 

 knew that it was only about eight o'clock then, but we said 

 nothing, and pulled for the boat. 



" As I mentioned, the old hulk was only a short row from 

 where we were, and we reached tee phee in a little 

 over ten minutes. Hod was greatly astonished that we 

 got there so soon, and insisted that, it was the wrong place, 

 and that we'd mistaken the boat. Jack Thaw, however, 

 speedily convinced him to the contrary by reaching for and 

 bringing out the punch bowl, which he held up before Rod, 

 significantly remarking: 'Why, it's perfectly dry!' To 

 this, however, Rod made no response, and we thereupon 

 fastened his boal to the stern of mine and started to row back 

 to the boat-house, heading, as wc did so, up stream, when he 

 excitedly exclaimed: ' Don't go that way ! Don't go that 

 way ! I've been that way four limes already and never got 

 any farther than this. There's a kind o* "a whirlpool up 

 there, aud if you once get into it, you keep going round and 

 round I' Jack explained that, we didn't intend going ifl the 

 direction he had indicated, but were merely heading up 

 stream to get the boats clear of the shore before stalling to 

 to row down. This, seemed to pacify him, and we continued 

 our way quietly, the light from the lautern in the bow shin- 

 ing brightly over the water. 



"We bad reached the place where the narrow channel 1 have 



spoken of met the main stream, and were just crossing the 

 point of intersection when Rod called to Dickson, who Lad 

 the oars, to stop. 'Now, look here, boys,' he said, 'this is 

 a little too thin. You can't play this on me any longer. I 

 came out of this channel into the creek by your instructions 

 four times, and struck it foul every time. Don't you see that 

 you've got to go through it from "this side or we'll never get 

 out? You gave me the wrong direction this afternoon and 

 kept mc fooling round here for the last six or seven hours. 

 Now I want to go home, and the way to go is right through 

 that cut— just the opposite way from what you made mo 

 take before.' 



" We tried to make him see that such a course as he indi- 

 cated would be merely reversing the circle that he had been 

 row! ng iu all the evening, and would bring us out always at the 

 same place from which we had started. He couldn't or 

 wouldn't see it, and began to get a little ugly. Fortunately 

 Dickson had bis pocket flask with him, and he passed it 

 across to Rod, with the remark that if he took a look through 

 that telescope he'd maybe see things in a different light. As 

 you may imagine, this" had the desired effect, and hardly a 

 minute had elapsed before Rod was sound asleep in the bot- 

 tom of the boat. We pulled back as fast as possible, and 

 reached Eastownin time to lake the 10:30 train. Wc roused 

 Hod at the boat-house, put some clothe? on him and got him 

 into the cars, where his somnolence continued until we 

 reached home. Ever since that night, however, he has in- 

 sisted that the only way we ever got back was by following 

 his advice at the channel, and persists in asserting that if 

 we'd gone on as we were when he stopped us, we'd bo 

 rowing the circle yet." 



"Ford," said Vermillion, as the former ceased, "do you 

 say that story is true ?" 



" I do, and can prove the same by the testimony of living 

 witnesses. And what's more, the thing got out around East- 

 town and the neighborhood, so that Lamont never comes 

 down here but what half a dozen fellows hail him with a 

 "Hello, Rod, how about that circular row on the Big 

 Timber?" 



.—*«»_ 



BASS IN THE POTOMAC RAPIDS. 



Washington, D. C, Oct. 24. 

 Editor Forest and Stream : 



Two friends and myself took a day among the bass in the 

 Tapids above Chain Bridge, on the Potomac, tl is week.' The 

 day was not good, beine cool and variable, with gusty winds 

 from the northwest. We found the water warm and"the fish 

 in the rapids and shoals. They took the minnow well but 

 would not rise to the fly, and I have never been able to get 

 them to do so so late in the season. I used an eight-foot rod 

 made of red cedar and iron wood, cedar butt and middle 

 joint and tip of iron wood. Ihave used this rod for about six 

 years. I made it myself, and this season cut down the mid- 

 dle piece and tip to the size of a very fine trout fly rod, j nd 

 it casls a fly remarkably well. I used a patent enameled oil 

 silk tapered line, a single gut leader aui I Sproat 



hook, casting the miBiiow just as if it were a fly: no float 

 and no sinker. 



Every man to his liking. I prefer this rig to all others, 

 and also this method of casting the minnow to all others. 

 I land the largest bass with great facility, and I find that 

 they take the minnow or crayfish as though tendered to them, 

 it seems to me, better than any other" way. My tig is as 

 light and as easily handled as a huggy whip, aiid answers 

 perfectly well for bait or fly. I have' often cast minnows 

 there for bass, and caught and landed heavy fish with a very 

 delicate ash and lancewood trout fly-rod. 1 have no doubt, 

 however, of the superiority (J f j ron W ood to all other wood 

 in strength and durability, and capacity to spring back to its 

 place after playing a heavy fish. This opinion is backed by 

 very large experience of rods and fish and fishing. I lauded 

 two small striped bass ; the other gentlemen did not get any 

 of them. Our party obtained a handsome siring of beautiful 

 fish, and returned to the duties of line wiser, happier, and 

 better men than if wc had refrained ourselves from that most 

 enjoyable and enjoyed day on the rapids. We had our guns 

 along, and one of the gentlemen stopped a mallard from a 

 passing bunch, which put itself on shore and crept among 

 the rocks to be seen, of course, no move. 



Before I stop let mc say what 1 know aboul putting a cray- 

 fish on a hook. I pass the hook through the posterior 

 thoracic ring on the back bringing out the point on the 

 underside. I find a recently shed "crawfish the most killing 

 bait 1 have ever tried for bass when in rocky rapids, especial- 

 ly for large fish. If the crawfish has had his new ernsli on 

 long enough to become once more dark and leathery in ap- 

 pearance it is by no means so taking. 



The best minnow by long odds is a small catfish, which 

 will live often a half a day on a hook. The fish do not mind 

 the squirms of the bait the leasl in the world. 

 December there is excellent fly-fishing i: 

 rapids from Chain Bridge up to Great Fal 

 striped bass are now caught above Little Fall 

 the bass very gamey, and my two stripe 

 for their weight. 



From June to 



the Potomac 



Hut few 



We found 



vonderfully so 



M. G. E. 



THE INTERNATIONAL FISHERY/ TROUBLES. 



WHEN the Toronto Globe, in its spite, spoke of the "no- 

 torious Batson,"it undoubtedly meant Mr. Kitz J. 

 Babson, Collector of the Port of Gloucester, Mass., and sup- 

 posed that its article would effectually squelch that gentle- 

 man, both by the epithet and the misspelling of his name. 

 On the contrary, Mr. Babson still flourishes, and is collect- 

 ing the figures which will prevent anothe) such treaty as 

 that of Washington being agreed to by the United States. 

 The facts are these : The British Provinces feel sore be- 

 cause, for five and a half million dollars paid by the Cnited 

 States, they had to allow the American fishermen to fish in 

 their waters, The Americans are dissatisfied because their 

 government has paid for privileges which they do not get, 

 aud which are worth nothing to them if they could get fh i 



The result of the Halifax conference was "thai, for 

 >'5,o()0,00t), the American fishermen were to have the privi- 

 lege of fishing in the waters of British North America tor 

 twelve years, and that the Canadians should have the right 

 to send fish to the United Stales free of duty, either go*! 

 menl having I he privilege of terminating the agreement by 

 giving two years' notice. When the fishermen from the 

 •''Stales'' went into the bays for bait they were met by local 

 laws and armed resistance, and the " three mile limit" was 

 defined by lines running from headland lo headland, instead 

 of following the coast line. 



Both parties to the agreement are dissatisfied, and no 



