i9° 



RECREA TION. 



sly birds under almost all conditions; but 

 this was our first hunt for nearly a year. 

 Then, too, a big covey of ruffed grouse 

 creates a little excitement in almost any 

 one's system. 



It was now n o'clock, and so hot our 

 clothing was wet through with perspira- 

 tion. Seeking the shade of a spreading 

 hickory, we rested and ate our lunch. 

 After an hour or so, the hunter's instinct 

 began to assert itself again. This feeling 

 was increased by the sound of muffled 

 drumming, coming from the edge of the 

 field under the alders. When within 40 

 yards of the swamp, a young cock strutted 

 up and down the fence that separated the 

 field and marsh. The dog was sent ahead. 

 As we expected, the bird flew directly up- 

 ward. Jim sent a load of 8's into the air, 

 doing no damage, and as the bird was 

 nearly out of range, I dropped him. 



This was where the covey of young birds 

 had been flushed. The dog got up 2 more 



in retrieving my bird, which shows how 

 grouse will return to a certain spot. 



We now tried the marsh again, wading 

 about for some hours. Several woodcocks 

 were flushed, and a fair number of them 

 killed. As we came out into the field, where 

 our horse had been left, the lengthening 

 shadows told that our day's sport was at 

 an end. When the wagon was reached, 

 our coat pockets were examined. The 

 count showed 13 grouse and 9 woodcock. 

 Not much of a bag, perhaps, if one judges 

 by numbers, but we were well satisfied. 

 We had had a day of royal sport, and the 

 birds that were left have furnished us many 

 a good time since. 



Give me a good companion, a fair num- 

 ber of birds, and a well-broken dog, and 

 my mind is at peace with the world. I can 

 then, for the time being, forgive the man 

 whose bull chased me out of a field wherein 

 lived 40 woodchucks, with such haste that 

 in climbing the fence I broke my rifle. 



OUR ALASKAN EXPLORING EXPEDITION.— CANOEING ON 



THE STICKEEN. 



A. J. STONE. 



As I have heretofore referred but briefly 

 to the difficulties of navigating the Stick- 

 een, I will here describe one of our experi- 

 ences, in our first attempt to get up that 

 river. 



There were 4 of us in the party, Ed, a 

 white settler, with his Indian wife, and I. 

 Our boat was a flat bottomed, sharp point- 

 ed scow, well built, but too heavily laden 

 for the strength of the oarsmen. We had 

 been working very hard to make an aver- 

 age of 7 miles a day. The lower Stickeen 

 is very wide, and, in many places, divided 

 into numerous currents and separate 

 streams by long, narrow, wooded islands. 

 As we had no pilot who knew the stream, 

 we often took the wrong route and at- 

 tempted channels that were simply impas- 

 sable. 



We fought our way up until we gained 

 a point almost opposite the Great glacier. 

 Here we encountered a strip of water that 

 flowed over a sand bar about 3 miles long, 

 and that was so shallow we found we could 

 wade it. Giant trees that had fallen and 

 been brought down from above, were 

 stranded here and there on this bar and 

 gave lis no end of trouble. 



We must either travel through this 

 stretch or go a long way back and around; 

 and the latter we declined to do. The wa- 

 ter was so rapid we could neither row nor 



pole our boats through it; so 2 of us waded 

 it the entire length of the bar. We were 

 compelled to use the greatest precaution 

 in order to keep moving, the swift current 

 often proving almost too much for us. 



After using up the greater part of the 

 afternoon at this work we finally landed 

 at the head of a little island, piled high 

 with drift wood, at its upper end. In a 

 little eddy, behind a large drift, we halted 

 for rest, about 100 yards from the main- 

 land. 



To our left was the main body of the 

 river, while just ahead of us a heavy body 

 of water left the main stream and poured 

 over and down a side stream, through 

 jagged rifts of lodged timbers. The cur- 

 rent was simply frightful. There was no 

 way around it. The river, to our left, was 

 wide and. rapid enough to prevent our 

 crossing. Where the side stream separated 

 from the main one, there seemed a ridge 

 or crest which we thought might be pass- 

 able. We tried it, but after a desperate ef- 

 fort, lost control of our boat and after be- 

 ing turned 2 or 3 times and driven back 

 with fearful force, managed to regain the 

 eddy. 



The river was rising rapidly and night 

 coming on. Something must be done. The 

 island was low, and liable to be submerged 

 before morning, so we could not think of 



