hwRUBSR 16, 1881.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



385 



tttupa potato and threw it 



a', the old fellow, aud < ai beautiful to 



Bee his i i the light of iti- 



tettigeuc .;,.;,. luutenance. He 



toft \o$h mt at the bouses, 



■ pe&Ms at the Canoe. 1 



■ ii .-.pear, which I thought 

 might prove useful later, as the fish were now running up 

 into tin reams in considerable numbers. We 

 camped a mile or two down the iulet, and as we were about 

 to start next mol risit from the Shvashes, 



oes fi ml a lot, of salmon just taken 

 from the water. They aiao brought a paOaie/i of berries, 

 presumably in return for a piece of tobacco that 1 had given 

 the old fellow the evening before. From here two days run 

 brought us to Twin Fallu on Hothatn Sound, near the foot 

 of which we camped. These falls arc by measurement of 

 the Professor's aneroid barometer 1,510 feet in height. 

 They are much more impressife when viewed from the 

 water at a distance of a Utile or two than when seen from a 

 point nearer at hand The enormous timber obscures the 

 viewwhen the falls are approached too closely, and although 

 you are deafened by their roar only an occasional glimpsi 

 of the water is to- be had. The river which supplies them 

 flows from a depr i ton.0 the top Of the tncunlain, and just 

 as it leaps over the cliff is divided into two streams by a 

 large island. A great body of water passes oyer the fall, the 

 river being a very considerable stream. We estimated the 

 first leap of the water at 500 feet clear, the succeeding ones 

 being less nigh, perhaps from 300 down to 150 feet. 

 The next morning we made a late start, and before moving 

 an I] nir or two leaning over the side of the canoe 

 and watching the occupations of the different marine animals 

 which were moving about at the bottom of the shoal water 

 near the shore, There were hundreds of little crabs, the 

 largest about the size of a silver half dollar, clambering 

 about like so many gnats over the rocks, and apparently feed- 

 ing on the vegetable matter that grew upon them. They 

 walked slowly about plucking the food with their curiously 

 swollen white claws, using the right and left alternately, so 

 that while one w told thefood to the mouth, the other 

 n b supply. They seemed wholly absorbed 

 in what they were doing, their jaws moved continuously, 

 and altogether U i business-like and methodical 



aspect. The largest of these animals were of a deep purple 

 color, whilethe smaller Ones seemed to be almost always of 

 a dull grayish green, which corresponded very closely with. 

 the hue Of the rocks on which they fed, and is no doubt in a 

 measure protective. They seemed to get along Very peace- 

 ably together, though, once in awhile, if a small crab came 

 too near a large one, the latter would make a threatening dash 

 at his neighbor, which would at once retreat with many de- 

 fensive demonstrations of its claws. Then there were the 

 curved white tubes Of the marine worms, fixed to the sides 

 of many of the stones; some of them deserted and empty, 

 1 1 om the mouths of others protruded a cluster of deep, 

 crimson tentacles, the whole looking like some beautiful 

 White-stemmed flower. If the red cluster was cautiously 

 approached and touched, it was instantly withdrawn, and 

 the tube appeared emp y. Five minutes later, perhaps, a 

 small spot of red would slowly be noticed far down in the 

 tube, the arms would giadually appear, and resume their 

 flower-Hke appearance. The barnacles which covered the 

 rocks above a certain line were not the least interesting of 

 the living creatures which were to be seen here. At those 

 stages of the tide when the water did not reach them, the 

 shells remained closed and showed no signs of life ; but as 

 soon as they were fairly covered, each little pair of valves 

 opened and the tiny arms were extended and swept through 

 the water with a regular motion, which ceased only when 

 they had grasped some morsel of food which was floating 

 by. When this took place, the arms were quickly 

 drawn inio the shell, the valves closed and the animal re- 

 mained quiescent for some little time. It was interesting, 

 too, to watch the sea urchins or, as they are sometimes called, 

 sea eggs, and the star-fi?hes as they moved about Over the 

 bottom. Both progress very slowly, the sea urchins, per- 

 haps, the more so of the two. The latter advance by a con- 

 tinuous moti m of llieirlong ambulacra! spines, and can make 

 journe; i ible length, though apparently so ill- 



provided with organs of locomolion. If one be turned over 

 on its back on a flat rock, it can readily right itself by means 

 of the Bame gradual but continuous movement of the spines. 

 If removed from the water they have a continuous motion of 

 the mouth and soft under parts as though striving to obtain 

 air. These sea urchil y the crows and ravens, 



which find fhei low water, and, carrying them 



up into the trees, remove the soft body by breaking away 

 the flu i ratal aperture. These shells I have 



thus broken nn the ground in the forest, half a mile 

 from the water's edge, and often covered with the long 

 white Spanish moss, The starfishes move much more rap- 

 idly than the Bea urchins. They progress mainly by means 

 of the suckers with, which tbeh ovided, bat also 



to some extent bj hooking their aims around the angles of 

 the locks and thus pulling tHeiJXBelveS forward for short dis- 

 tances. These, animals arc found along this Coast in great 

 dance end variety. I sawthem black, brown, yellow, 

 ■ red and purple, and ranging in size from the 

 diameter of a five-cent piece up to ten inches. They seemed 

 to be most abundant just about low water mark, though by 



no means confined to any particular depth. They are fre- 

 quently seen clinging to the rooks where they ha v i 

 bare by the tide, and when a great cluster of the large red or 

 purple ones are seen collected in an angle of the rock against 

 the shining black mussels and the brown seaweed, 

 is very pretty. In Princess Louise Inlet we saw in the early 

 morning great numbers of the smaller starfishes clinging by 

 one or at most two arms to the rocks, it being then low 

 water, and these, whether- from cold, or whatever other 

 cause, appeared to be half dead and were shrivelled up and 

 stiff. When placed in water, however, they Soon revived 

 and became apparently as well as ever. 



From our camp at Twin Falls our course for a few miles 

 was southeast, and passing between Captain and -Nelson 

 Islands, we entered Agamemnon Channel, and earl,- in the 

 afternoon came out into Malaspina Straits. A fresh breeze 

 was blowing and, as it was fair, we made sail and bowled 

 swiftly along, camping at evening on the mainland a little 

 beyond Merry Island. Our next camp was on 13owen Island, 

 where we were nearly burned out. We had been looking 

 vainly for a good spot to camp and, at last, in default of any- 

 thing better, had pitched upon a little bay, full of driftwood, 

 but. where we could at least be certain of water. The recks 

 rose steeply from the water's edge and we were obliged to 

 make up our beds on the beach, not feeling at all sure that 

 the rising tide would not disturb us before morning. We 

 found a little level spot where there was barely room enough 

 for four to sleep, and spread our beds here, the camp fire be- 

 ing made against a large drift log near at hand, and as we 

 were all pretty tired after our longday'a pull we went to 

 sleep soon after supper. How long afterward it was that I 

 was awakened by the sound of dashing water I do not know, 

 but when I looked out from under my blankets I saw the 

 great log glowing like a furnace, and Charley, very lightly 

 clad, dashing water over it at a great rate. It was soon ex- 

 tinguished and our only loss was some of the kitchen uten- 

 sils, but had it burned a little longer our blankets would have 

 been scorched and we ourselves would have been thoroughly 

 warmed. Yo. 



IN THE " MASH "-CONCLUDED. 



WHEN the Captain, awoke it was not yet daybreak, but 

 the Hermit of the Marsh was already astir, and the 

 fumes of hot coffee and bacon were borne to the Captain's 

 olfactories. After a hurried wash at the river the breakfast 

 was dispatched, and preparations were made for a try at the 

 ducks. The captured fowl in the pen were shod with a 

 "boot," to which was attached to a cord for anchoring them, 

 aud then placed in the bow of the duck-boat ; the two men 

 with the guns, accompanied by a single dog, embarked, and 

 the light, shallow craft was pushed off. 



"Here we are," said John, after they had poled through 

 the marsh a short distance. 



' ' But where is your blind ?" 



"I will show you when the stools are out. Put the big 

 he-one on the outside, so— anchor first. Now t'other, not 

 too near, or they'll get tangled. Put the mallard drake in 

 the corner and string the others well out. Inow for the 

 blind." 



The blind was a marvel of architecture, built of marsh 

 flag and large enough for the boat to be drawn within it. 

 The opening at which the entrance was made was closed up 

 by an ingeniously constructed mat of flag, plaited together, 

 so that the shooters were wholly concealed, while from with- 

 out it presented a similar appearance to the surrounding 

 morass. 



"There comes a bunch of ducks," said the Captain, as the 

 first gray streaks in the east made the surrounding region 

 visible. 



"Them's blue-bills," said the hermit; "they won't stool 

 to live decoys. They alius fly before the other ducks do in 

 the mornin'," 



Soon a large flock of black-duck came working up the 

 river. The stool ducks instantly set up a loud calling, and 

 the flock in the air swerved from their course and swooped 

 down to join their supposed friends. As they wheeled up 

 wind to alight two reports came from thfl blind, and then 

 two more, and seven fine birds floated helplessly in the 

 water, while a cloud of feathers sailed off with the wind 

 over the marsh. 



"A lucky shot," said the Captain. 



"Humph I ort te> got more out o' that bunch. How much 

 lead you shootin":" 



"An ounce and a quarter." 



"Hatter put in half an ounce more. Them on your side 

 carried oil all you give 'em." 



"But half an ounce more would kick me out of the boat." 



"No business to have such a pop-gun, then. Tou can't 

 shoot ducks with less than ten pound of iron, and no use to 

 try." 



Just then a solitary blue-bill skimmed by at a good sixty 

 yard-,' distance, and the Captain, drawing a quick sight, 

 pulled trigger, and, as if to disprove his companion's words, 

 the duck fell to the water, stone dead. 



" Humph I" growled the hermit : "accidents don't prove 

 nothin'. I can drop 'em twice that length by puttin' my 

 shot into a linen rag and ponndin' it home tight. But "l 

 can't do it everv time, and the man don't live nigh Mosquito 

 P'int that can." 



Several more difficult shots were accomplished by the 

 lighter gun, however, and the old man finally admitted that 

 it was " a powerf id good gun for a pop-gun." At length, 

 with two dozen birds in the boat and several lying wounded 

 among the grass, the latter being afti tward brought to bag 

 by the sagacity of the retriever, the Captain declared him- 

 self satisfied with the sport, and the boat was poled back to 

 the shanty. 



As several miles had fob) II d before a villagccouid be 



reached where the C | tuednoksl Ids friend, 



at home, the Gypsy was soon made ready for the - 

 John was supplied with sufficient tobacco tolast him through 

 the winter, a hasty good-bye was said and the canoe resumed 

 its voyage. As he rounded a turn in the channel, the Cap- 



tain looked back, aud saw r tbe Hermit of the Mann wielding 

 an axe as be Cut the wood to prepare his noonday meal. The 

 d( gs sat on their haunches in silence near him, t lie wonderful 

 pig lay in the mud near the shore and the ducks gabbled as 

 they fought among themselves for a few kernels of corn. 

 This was the last time the Captain was ever to look upon the 

 old man, for before the ice left the river in the following 

 spring he succumbed to the combined efforts of ague, rheum- 

 atism and old age, and was laid beneath the ground. K Lnd- 

 hearted, simple old John ! May his spirit live forever in the 

 happier land, where the dull vestments of an outer garb are 

 not suffered to conceal the purity aud goodness of the heart 

 within. 



The canoe now travelled through what was at one time the 

 great hunting ground of the Senecas and Cayugas, situated 

 on eaoh side of the river known to them as Thiohero, "Kiver 

 of the flushes." Many remains of Indian villages and forts 

 are still to be seen, and the whole country around is rich in 

 such relics as arrow-heads and spear-heads, stone tomahawks, 

 pottery, etc. The branches of the Five Nations 

 dwelling in this region were far advanced, comparatively, in 

 agriculture and domestic arts, before the white man invaded 

 their country. They cultivated maize in abundance, beans 

 aud some sort of peas, and their implements for hunting, 

 fishing and cooking were of a superior kind to any used by 

 other tribes. A few miles east of Rowland's Island, near 

 what are known as "Hickory Island Riffs," the remains of a 

 well-built stone eel-weir could be seen a few years ago, before 

 the steam-dredge was put at work to en'arge the channel. 

 This eel-weir was built so carefully and thoroughly that it 

 had withstood the annual spring floods for ages, and its plan 

 of construction was not at all behind that used by fishermen 

 to-day. 



Cross Lake (Indian Tt-ungk-too), which the Seneca River 

 crosses near its southern end, has many circumstances of 

 interest connected with it. Here have been found stone 

 implements for turning up the grouud, carved pottery and 

 pipes, curious spear-heads and other relics in abundance. It 

 was here, acenrdiug to tradition, that the Indian deity who 

 presided over fish and streams (Ti-oun-ya-wat-ha) settled 

 after he had relinquished his title of deity, and assumed the 

 name of ITi-a-wat-ha, or Wise Mac. It was he who cleared 

 the streams so that conoes could, pass through them, and he 

 who taught the Iroquois to cultivate corn and beans. It was 

 he, too, who advised the union of the original five tribes into 

 that powerful confederacy of the Five Nations, which the 

 whites found so difficult to subdue. The tradition of the 

 formation of this confederation, as told by the Onon- 

 dagas, is one of the most beautiful legends of his- 

 tory. Although never in print, to the writer's knowledge, 

 it is well worth embalming in verse, and is a poem even as 

 told in the rough gutturals of the Indian's broken English. 

 Longfellow has taken the wise man of the Sentcas for the 

 hero of his well-known poem, "Hiawatha" (which is pro- 

 nounced JTee-a-iMtthti f not, as elocutionists have it, Hy-a- 

 watfi-a), but the poet's account of this character differs 

 widely from thai of the Indians' tradition, and the writer 

 hopes in some future number of this paper to give the version 

 of the latter as it was told to him. 



All this has little to do with the voyage of the canoe, 

 Gypsy, although the Capiain's thoughts, as he paddltd 

 through this historic region, were all upon the traditions aud 

 lore of this ancient people, tire Romans of the Western 

 Hemisphere. With every dip of the varnished blade a new 

 idea was brought to the mind. On that round hill was a 

 Seneca or Cayuga village. On this eastern shore of Cross 

 Lake, near the cold spring, is where the great Hi-a-wat-ha 

 had his lodge, with his beautiful daughter aud his white 

 canoe. At this shallow "riff'' the warriors of the con- 

 federacy forded the river to confront their enemies from the 

 north, and perhaps even here waB fought one of the bloodiest 

 battles of their conflict. 



Passing Cross Lake we shoot down the'rapids of "Jack's 

 Riffs," aud eight milea further reach the village of Bald- 

 Winsvflfe. Here the voyage of the Gypsy is interrupted for 

 a few days ; while the Captain pays a visit to some hunting 

 friends residing near by, and here we will leave the little 

 craft for the present, reserving for another time the chronicle 

 of her renewed voyage down the Seneca and Oswego rivers 

 to the Great Lake, and close around the shore of old Ontario 

 to the St. Lawrence River and C a Shneoa, 



CRUISE OF " THE NIPPER." 



IX THBEK PAHTS— PART It. 



THE NIPPER was up for a rather extended cruise, tostart 

 July 3. Iquote a brief entry from my journal, under date 

 33: " Slept later than usual, and on rising found my 

 knapsack missing. The loss is irreparable. Spent the day 

 paddling around the lakes, trying to trace it. It has gone, to 

 Bine Mountain in the duffel of Mr. Durant and his guide 

 Moody— taken by mistake." The guides assured me it would 

 come back by the first boat coming from Blue Mountain, or, 

 perhaps, the Raquette. The mistake was a most natural one. 

 The knapsack was of oiled ducking, black, not heavy, and 

 easily taken as a part of the oilcloth goods that hung on the 

 same large nail. I was fain to wait with what patience I 

 could. 



Bays passed, and the knapsack did not come back. I put 

 the time in by climbing the hills— Bald Mountain especially; 

 paddling, botanizing, di gu : blti I off the fir trees for the 

 few drops of balsam contained in ihein, aud fishing for lake 

 and brook trout — with little success. I interviewed guides 

 and tourists, studied maps of the Wilderness, aud strove— in 

 vain— to keep dry. To give an idea of just what the weather 

 wasjlike at this lime, I will give a few brief quotations from 

 a journal kept faithfully on the spot : 



July 10. h. Gale and heavy raiu. Frequent showers 

 wind mainly from the north. 



17th. Heavy wind and cold rain from the North, every 

 one shivering with cold. Five people in the house with hard, 

 chronic coughs. Bark, bark, all night. 



I8;h. Rain, rain; blow, blow, from the north, as usual. 

 Cough, cough. Five of us keep it up. Two will most likely 

 never be better. 



I'.Ch. Like the I8;h. cold and rainy. Rained all night. 



20th. Put on a gum coat, to k my little hatchet, and went 

 ■ v Wi 'Old roast an ox, and got 

 raining; Rains nearly all the 

 time. 'Tisn't the moat favorable weather for lung diseases; 

 not the healthiest region, I should say. Parties who come for 

 health are every day going out, disgusted and sick. Still the 

 camp is ft ill. 



21st. Johu D. Fraser visited us. ilehaa been taking views 

 of the scenery in Brown's Tract, and taking them well. But 



