454 



RECREATION. 



drink. The new growth of the extensive 

 brule makes fine feed, and is a good place 

 to find them. There is plenty of moose 

 wood, and ground hemlock on the ridges. 

 In fact the feed is unlimited. I have still- 

 hunted, " tramping the bush " as Canadians 

 call it, for 3 seasons, from Deux Rivieres 

 to Lake Kippewa, and it is all a good moose 

 country. 



It is hard to beat the customs of a coun- 

 try, and the heavy socks and moccasins to 

 be had at the country stores are best to 

 wear. Provisions are cheap and good. 

 First class guides can be hired at $2 a day. 

 It is best to take a cook for the party, who 

 also helps with the packing. Guides do 

 not, as a rule, furnish canoes or camp out- 

 fit. 



To my mind there is but one right 

 way to hunt moose, and that is by still 

 hunting. A good hunter must know the 

 habits of the game — what it feeds on — when 

 and where it is apt to lie down, which di- 

 rection it is likely to take when started. 

 All this and more can be learned better in 

 2 weeks of still hunting than in 20 seasons 

 of paddling about the lakes and calling. 



The satisfaction and the results are great- 

 er. An Indian said, in commenting on my 

 success in hunting, " Go through the bush 

 makes luck." Hamilton Vreeland. M.D. 



CAMP RECREATION. 



J. W. WARREN. 



The idea of " Camp Recreation " orig- 

 inated in my mind one hot day, last August, 

 while working in the hay field. Perhaps it 

 was a longing for the cool shade of the 

 pines and hemlocks, that led me to think 

 of the place and to exclaim to my brother, 

 " Let's go camping, to Green pond. It's 

 just the place to have a good time and rest 

 for a few days." We had made indefinite 

 plans for a few days, at the sea shore, but 

 never once had we thought of Green pond, 

 which had all the advantages and none of 

 the drawbacks of other places. It was only 

 8 miles from home and we could take all 

 the camp luxuries we wanted, without any 

 trouble. A consultation with a friend liv- 

 ing near by, and a hastily written invitation 

 to 2 friends at Middletown, N. Y., which 

 soon brought a letter of acceptance, com- 

 pleted our plans. A few days were spent 

 in making a tent and getting things to- 

 gether. 



Then the 12th came, bringing a wel- 

 come change from the intense heat, and we 

 started for the pond, in high spirits. Our 

 wagon was a large covered camping wagon 

 we boys had planned and built 2 years be- 

 fore, and which had done good service on 

 several trips. We carried our birch-bark 

 canoe, and other things too numerous to 

 mention. 



It did not take long to reach the foot of 

 the rrfountain, where all the things were un- 



loaded, and the empty wagon drawn up the 

 steep rocky road to the pond. This is about 

 2-3 of a mile long and Yz mile wide, and lays 

 on a broad shelf of Green Pond mountain 

 in the town of Sherman, Fairfield Co., Ct. 



Words cannot describe the beauty of this 

 lovely pond; its bluish green water glis- 

 tening in the sun like an emerald, in a set- 

 ting of dark hemlock and pines. Its shores 

 are rock-bound but not steep, with no 

 swamps near to mar their beauty. No sign 

 of civilization is near. We could well be- 

 lieve we were on some lonely lake in the 

 vast forests of Maine. 



The remainder of the day we spent in car- 

 rying our things up the steep road to the 

 pond. Next day found us all in camp, W. 

 L. B. and W. L. C, of Middletown, N. Y., 

 H. V., L. G. W. and J. W. W., of Brook- 

 field, Ct., and the camp routine began with 

 military exactness. We spent the day in 

 building a table with seats facing the pond; 

 also a fire-place, and finished our hemlock 

 bunk. The following days were occupied 

 in exploring the country and climbing the 

 mountains from which some fine views 

 could be had. 



Some of us tried fishing; but although 

 we could see large bass swimming lazily 

 around, yet we were unable to catch 

 any. Two photographic outfits enabled us 

 to take home many views of camp life and 

 mountain scenery, that we prize highly. 

 Two violins for those musically inclined, 

 and a large supply of reading matter, in- 

 cluding Recreation, helped to pass many 

 pleasant hours, when tired of tramping. 

 We had a well stocked arsenal and often 

 did our Winchesters wake the echo against 

 the mountain. We made some fine scores 

 at target shooting. The 18th was visitors' 

 day and our camp was dressed in holiday 

 attire. Nine friends and relatives came, 

 and we gave them a good camp dinner, in 

 which flap-jacks took first place. The next 

 day was W. L. C.'s last in camp. On the 

 22d, we broke camp and returned home. 



One thing that helped to make our trip 

 pleasant was our birch canoe. Not a day 

 passed but some or all of us were explor- 

 ing the shores in it or paddling around to 

 enjoy the smooth gliding motion; it 

 seemed to be just the thing we wanted to 

 make our camp a success. 



The most pleasant part of the day, to me, 

 was at sunset when the shadows crept slow- 

 ly up the slope of the mountains until only 

 their tops were gilded by the setting sun, 

 and the quiet so peculiar to the woods, set- 

 tled down with the darkness over all the 

 earth. The evenings were cool enough to 

 make a fire not only a luxury, but a neces- 

 sity. The scenes that will linger longest 

 and clearest in our memories will be those 

 of the evening hours spent around the 

 camp fire, watching the dancing flames and 

 the play of the light and shadows on the 

 dark back-ground of the woods. 



