IN THE MAINE WOODS. 



W. S. WALKER. 



It was at the close of a beautiful day, that 



3 tired yet happy individuals boarded the 

 evening train in the early part of September 

 for a few weeks' vacation in the Maine 



woods. Horace a tall, slim, lank, 



good natured fellow, that every one liked. 



Joe , short and stout, with an appetite 



that any backwood's man might feel proud 

 of, and I. We carried luggage enough to 

 last us all winter. We had a wall tent, 

 12 x 16 feet, with fly, blankets, cooking 

 utensils, folding camp stove, fishing rods 

 of different kinds, and each 2 guns, shot gun 

 and rifle. . 



We arrived in Rockland early the next 

 morning, went aboard the steamer, " Frank 

 Jones," lying at the wharf, ready to sail, 

 and after a pleasant trip of 4 or 5 hours, 

 disembarked at Sargentville in Hancoc . 

 County. Then, after some delay, we hired 

 I e team and driver and drove over 

 of sweet perfumed country road, 

 early frosts had changed the sum- 

 of the trees into autumnal splen- 

 due time we reached the head 

 v a the Bagadwee river, where we 



a^.v ...oaded, and waiting to eat a lunch, 

 and to hire a suitable flat-bottomed boat, we 

 again loaded, pushed our boat from the bank 

 and allowed the current to carry us toward 

 the outlet of the river. Oh, what happi- 

 ness! this was what we had wafted for a 

 whole year, and we shouted and yelled like 

 school boys. We camped that night about 



4 miles down the river on a thickly wooded 

 point, and soon had the tent up and a fire 

 going, but as it was too late to try shoot- 

 ing that night, we cooked ham and eggs 

 for supper. It didn't seem right to call 

 them " ham and eggs," they tasted so much 

 better than any we ever had at home. 

 " Juicy joint and hen fruit," is better. 



Early next morning we started on our 

 journey down the river again, and just be- 

 fore noon, found what we were looking for, 

 the outlet of Burnt Island pond (a sheet of 

 water 8 miles back in the woods). Rowing 

 ashore I left the other boys to look out for 

 our stuff, and went in search of another 



team to haul our outfit into the above men- 

 tioned pond. I soon induced a farmer to 

 yoke his oxen and take us through 8 miles 

 of an old logging road to the pond. 



At the river we found the boys an- 

 chored a few rods from the shore having 

 fine sport catching Tom Cods (Frost fish). 

 We soon had everything loaded into the old 

 hayrack, and in less than ope hour's time, 

 were in the woods away from every human 

 being. We halted just long enough to get 

 our shot guns together and then we ranged 

 ahead of the team keeping the old logging 

 road in view, and the result was 4 ruffed 

 grouse and 2 rabbits when we reached camp, 

 which was just at dark. We got our boat 

 into the water again and rowed across the 

 pond to our camping ground, the only 

 clearing near the pond. It was 10 o'clock 

 that night before we had our tent up, 

 boughs cut for our bed and supper cooked. 

 This was fried grouse, bread and tea. 



We awoke bright and fresh early the next 

 morning and were on the pond when the 

 sun showed itself above the treetops. We 

 had a good mess of trout, not large ones but 

 weighing from Y\ to i]/ 2 pounds each. 



We spent 2 weeks in this delightful spot, 

 and caught all the trout we cared to eat. 

 We could have killed plenty of grouse, 

 but only shot them when we wanted some 

 to eat. We saw frequent signs of deer, but 

 only one large buck. He walked into the 

 clearing the night before we broke camp, 

 likely attracted by the light burning in our 

 tent, and as he was to windward of us could 

 not get our scent. He stood there within 

 25 yards of the tent in the bright moon 

 light, whistling, until we all had a good view 

 of him. The law protected him, and he 

 seemed to know it. 



We got some fine trout in the 2 weeks we 

 were there, the largest weighing 3V2 pounds. 



We went for a rest and good time, not 

 to slaughter game. At no time during our 

 stay were we more than half a mile from 

 our camp. 



We came home feeling rested and ready 

 for business for another year. 



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