234 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



it has been the salvation of many an oul fit. Once the Indians 

 ran off with our herd in the darkness of a stormy night. One 

 of our muleteers immediately discovered the Jos^ ran to 

 the camp of the half hostile Indiana, wh > were just preparing 

 to vamoose, and yelling as though he had a regimeni of fiends 

 with him, with his sombrero folded into the semblance of a 

 revolver, he dashed among the astonished savages, leaped 

 upon the bell-horse and galloped away with all the mules fol- 

 lowing. It was a far braver thing to do than you have any 

 idea of. 



This attachment of your mule to the bell becomes a great 

 nuisance when you fcnnie to ride along with the train, making 

 equestrianism a dreary labor, notwithstanding the fact that 

 the gait of most mules is as easy as that of horses. Mile after 

 mile you plod along in the rear at a right-foot-left-foot, right- 

 foot-left-foot jog, that wears out muscjes and patience. The 

 sun beats down, the dust rises up, and your only entertain- 

 ment is the cow-bell hung on the neck of the leader. The 

 first hour you do not mind it much; the second.it grows 

 wearisome ; the third, painful, and you hold your ears to shut 

 out the monotonous clangor. After the fourth hour you go 

 crazy. All life renters about that tireless hammering and your 

 mind loses itself in endlessly conning some absurd refrain in 

 unison with the ceaseless copper c a ter of that ding-dong bell . 

 " Hokey pokey, winky w n?, 



Linkum lankum muse dan?, 



The Indian swore thai he could hang. 



The man that couldn't keep warm." 



That's the kind of music to march by. 



" But why do not you take un'o your mule wings and flee 

 away from this ?" asks one. Because you rnus n't, and because 

 you can't, You mustn't, first, since it would soon wear out 

 the little beast that must carry you two thousand Western 

 miles this summer — and Western miles are a good deal longer 

 than Eastern ones. You can't, second, for what is misery to 

 you is melody to the mule, and if you try to to ride him out- 

 side the hearing of the bell he may perhaps be made to go, but 

 it will be in such a protesting, baiting, lame and blind way, 

 with such "uncertain step and slow," turnings of reproachful 

 eye and brayings of mouth, that you will 6nd it better to en- 

 dure the evil of the pack-train than to try to escape from it. 

 Stop behind to pick a flower and you must tie your mule as 

 strongly as you would moor a frigate. A mule cannot bear to 

 be left alone, and although he knows that he can go straight 

 back from wherever you may take him, following a trail like a 

 S >und, yet he considers himself hopelessly lost and forlorn 

 when he can no longer hear the bell. It is his use and habit 

 to go with it; it means everything that makes life happy for 

 him and he will endure very much punishment before forsak- 

 ing it. 



Mules have much individuality, and take strange notions. 

 One can see this in their countenances. They vary greatly in 

 sagaGity and in tractability. All their characteristics are positive, 

 and frequently asserted in the most startling manner. They are 

 crotchety, too. One I knew would never allow himself to be 

 caught to have his pack put on or adjusted until all the others 

 had been attended to ; then he was quite ready. Another 

 was a good and gentle riding animal, and had no objections 

 to your pipe, but you must get out of ' the saddle to light it. 

 Strike a match in the saddle, and the devil entered into that 

 breast on the instant. It is often impossible to overcome these 

 prejudices. I had a mule once that would bray ferociously 

 and incessantly whenever it was out of hearing of the train- 

 bells. It was an excessively annoying habit, and, persuaaion 

 failing, I used to dig my spurs into its sides, and hammer its 

 head first with a strap, then with the butt of my pistol. I 

 felt that there was no sense in the absurd practice, and was 

 bound to break it at once. But after an hour or two it was 

 hard to keep my seat, for about once a minute the beast would 

 duck its head and jump as though propelled from a cannon, 

 uttering a terrible bray, as though just to invite punishment. 

 So I changed my tactics — paid no attentiou to the noise, and 

 in a couple of days had no further annoyance. They know 

 w'.iat disturbs you, and malignantly do that one thing, regard- 

 less of pain to themselves. Another mule I had was an ex- 

 ample. He had a trick of swelling bimself out when I put 

 the saddle on, so that it was impossible to draw the girth 

 tight ; I might as well have tried to draw in the waist of a 

 steamboat boiler. I always had to catch him unawares, after 

 we had got started, in order to tighten the girth sufficient for 

 safety. There is no denying that they are very wise and cun- 

 ning in their way, hardly any denying that they can talk 

 among themselves ; but it is an unfortunate fact that their 

 wisdom is all exerted for wickedness, and their conversation 

 used chiefly in plotting combined mischief. 



It happens, therefore, that an Eastern man unused to work- 

 ing about mules, finds their tricks and treachery, lively heels 

 and diabolical disquisitions, a constant check upon the enjoy- 

 ment of Western wandering. The mule packers are the most 

 desperately profane men I ever saw ; they exhibit a real genius 

 iu profanity. It is not suprising, considering the continual 

 vexation to which they are subjected, and which they must 

 not retaliate, lest they should injure the precious strength and 

 carrying power of the little animals, upon whose endurance 

 their lives and fortunes depend, and which make mules far 

 more valuable than horses, after all, for- mountain service. 

 But it is my honest and 6erions opinion, founded upon much 

 observation, that so long as any considerable number of pack 

 mules are employed there, it is utterly Useless for any mission- 

 aries to go to the Kocky Mountains. I doubt whether there is 

 power enough in Christianity to overcome the wicked influence 

 i the mule. Ernest Isgersoll. 



VACATION RAMBLES IN MICHIGAN, 

 WISCONSIN AND MINNESOTA.— NO. 2. 



By the Fditoe. 



GKXTLE.NirN: October 2~>, 1877. 



It is gentr.illy easier to imagine what may be than to re, 

 member what has been. There are few events of our lives 

 that impress themselves so indellibly upon the memory that 

 they remain vivid and green until the end. In taking up the 

 back track (as a woodman would say) of my vacation ram- 

 bles, I find the trail so cold that I am often at fault. Interest- 

 ing incidents and observations, names of persons, places and 

 things, which gave pleasure and satisfaction for the time 

 being, have passed quite out of mind, so that I am exposed to 

 one of two inferences, namely : that my journeyings were 

 monotonous, vapid, stale and unprofitable, or that I am un- 

 impressionable, listless and ungrateful to the many friends 

 who vied with each other to make my vacation agreeable 

 and improving to body and mind. " For instance, I remembca 

 we hunted for grouse oue week in Southern Minnesota. My 

 friend John Swainson, of St. Paul, had a beautiful red setter, 

 whose sagacity was fully up to his nose, and both were sel- 

 dom at fault. He was a good dog, and stood on many a bird 

 for my bag. He had a noble pedigree, too, and John, ou 

 venerable venator, his master, was justly proud of him. He 

 was an animal to be remembered, and yet, woe's me ! I've 

 forgotten his name ! What ingratitude must I reproach my- 

 self for ! Thankless for every chicken promptly retrieved and 

 brought to hand ! Thankless for cautious drawing on birds 

 so that none were prematurely flushed ! Thankless for hard 

 work afield in the broiling sun of noonday ! What will be 

 my reward when I shall seek hereafter to enter the Dog 

 Heaven ? Shall I not then be forgotten as well by the dog's 

 master as by the dog ? 



This comes of losing one's notes and memoranda by cap- 

 sizing in the Mississippi River. I shall never take notes again 

 f I im to be capsized. It's a waste of time. I remember 

 seeing some of our " goods " floating afar downstream, while 

 I was still swimming determinedly for the shore athwart a 

 four-mile current. The wind was blowing more than fresh, 

 and speeded them on their career. I saw them, as the minstrel 

 sings, 



" Way down on the Mississippi floating : 

 Long time they traveled on their way—" 

 And then finally they all sank to the bottom ! They say, 'tis 

 "an ill wind that blows no one good." This was one of these 

 winds ; it did not waft one good to the shore. Fortunately 

 ray mishap came after my rambles had been two-thirds accom- 

 plished ; and I have to affirm despite catrastrophes and appear t 

 ances of uegation, that my vacation was not only pleasant bi t 

 profitable. Of this I will try to convince you. 



Michigan is now, comparatively speaking, one of the older 

 States. We discover this after we have gone farther West. 

 Visitors of scarcely thirty years ago are surprised to find 

 much of its then wilderness now settled and cultivated. Its 

 southern and middle section is carpeted with meadows and 

 grain fields, and dotted with villages and hamlets. It is the 

 great orchard of the West— the distributing fruit centre of 

 all the country northwest of Pennsylvania. What luscious 

 apples one finds on the west shore ! All the hardier fruits 

 grow there in full perfection. That is the section which old 

 Pere Marquette and his co-evangelists selected for the estab- 

 lishmentof their missions;and it is astonishing to discover with 

 what unvarying sagacity they always chose the most salient 

 points throughout America as respects climate, accesibility, 

 military strategy, or missionary work. Modern geographical ex- 

 plorations.or recent surveys have failed to discover more eligible 

 or commanding sites than those they selected. Grand Rapids is 

 the "hub" of Michigan. I do not know that its influence 

 extands beyond where it is carried by its many distinguished 

 representatives at Washington and elsewhere. I cannot con- 

 jecture that it would disturb the system of theuniverse if its 

 single light was snuffed out. 



It certainly has not the commercial importance of Chicago 

 or St. Paul. It is not the focal point of a vast internal com- 

 merce, nor yet the frontier distributing depot of au illimitable 

 and rapidly growing region from whose multiplying settle, 

 ments come constant demands for farm implements, mechanical 

 apparatus, and consumable g*oods of all kinds. Bu t one fact 

 must be accepted, namely : that the State of Michigan could 

 not do without it. Grand Rapids supplies all the households 

 of the State with furniture manufactured fiom the beautiful 

 hardwoods that adorn and enrich its swaying forests— its 

 beech, ash, oak, hickory, curly and bird's-eye maple, which 

 the extension of the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railway to its 

 northernmost limits has made opportunely accessible. It 

 manufactures the " chairs of State " which it fondly hopes its 

 aspiring statesmen may some time hereafter fill. It utilizes in 

 many ways all the products of the forests, farms and quarries 

 of the State, and obtaining them cheaply grows rich upon 

 their ready sales and reasonable profits. It grows also in 

 population and architectural beauty. It has 35,000 inhabito nts ; 

 it has also thirty-five churches, and yet is not impoverished ! 

 Just imagine the pecuniary straiu that compels one thousand 

 men, women and children, including paupers, to support a 

 whole churcb and its minister ! Consider for one moment 

 the encouragement afforded to the minister to "be not back- 

 ward in well doing." ["Why do the heathen rage and the 

 people imagine vain things?"] I consider a single church 

 spire in a village of moderate size an indication of refinement, 

 thrift and good order, especially if it be of fair architectural 



aste and well-painted ; but if I were seeking a place for 

 permanent residence and discovered several steeples I would 

 skip it instanter and move on further, no matter how luxu- 

 riously the trees clustered in its streets or how lustily the cocks 

 crew in the genial warmth of its morning sun. 



Grand Rapids occupies both sides of the Grand River, a 

 lively stream that tumbles through its purlieus in a series of 

 rapids, and then flows forty miles in volume sufficient for 

 navigation, emptying into Lake Michigan at Grand Haven 

 Its bus-iness portion covers what was the river "bottom," and 

 its environs spread over and crown the surrounding hills in 

 picturesque demesnes and charming villas of no ordinary pre- 

 tentions. The streets are abundantly shaded, and the general 

 aspect is cheerful and vivacious, encouraging good humor 

 even "in storm and wintry weather." The principal struc- 

 tures are of the cream-colored brick, which so generally pre- 

 vails throughout the Northwest and Ontario, in the cities of 

 Toronto, London, Bay City, Saginaw, Milwaukee and St. 

 Paul. Its hue and tone are most grateful to the eye. It 

 combines with granite, blue stone, red and olive sandstones 

 and red brick with the most striking and successful architec- 

 rural effects. It always looks clean when it is most dirty, 

 and bears weather stains like a veteran trooper. It looks cool 

 in summer, and is in sufficient contrast with the sparkling 

 snow to wear an aspect of warmth in winter, especially when 

 worked up with darker trimmings. The attractions of sur- 

 rounding garden flowers are enhanced by their contrast there- 

 with, and the green of their foliage or of window-blinds is not 

 "killed" as it is when in contact with red brick. 



To the two principal hotels in Grand Rapids too much 

 praise cannot be given. I believe they are in some measure 

 connected under the same management. Mr. Furnham Lyon, 

 who has some supervision of each, as well as of the Bancroft 

 House, at East Saginaw, is perhaps the best known caterer in 

 the Northwest, and is deserving of a reputation that has been 

 well earned. To "know how to keep a hotel" implies a 

 knowledge of housekeeping on a magnified scale. The mis- 

 tress of a household knows how many vexations attend her 

 daily avocations; how much hard labor and constant attention 

 is required, and what a continued mental task it is to provide 

 the reasonable variety of food required for three meals per 

 day for her small family ; but to provide four and five meals a 

 day, year in and year out,for a community of several hundred, 

 with all the variety and perfection in cooking which the most 

 fastidious require, as the leading hotels do— why, the duties 

 of a quartermaster-general are nothing in comparison. The 

 quartermaster s menu is not complex. The soldier does not 

 require much time to study up the bill of fare, and :t is as 

 easy for the quartermaster to order the heads knocked out of a 

 thousand barrels of hard tack at once as out of a single one. 

 A quartermaster couldn't run a hotel. The tables of the Mor- 

 ton House and Sweet's Hotel are uniformly good, and the 

 charge of $2.50 per day is so moderate that a man can eat his 

 daily bread wiffiout feding that he is robbing the poor box or 

 hypothecating the appropriation for his funeral expenses. 



Although Grand Rapids is technically neither grand nor 

 rapid (it cannot be considered a "fast" town), I like it well, 

 and I believe that no stranger leaves it without hoping to visit 

 it again. This is more than old Lot could say of Sodom and 

 Gomorrah. 



The town of Grand Haven, near the mouth of the river, is a 

 much frequented resort for the people of Grand Rapids, who 

 make excursions by rail or steamer during the summer season, 

 and the Cutler House at that place is worthy of the reputation 

 it enjoys as one of the most charming watering-place hotels in 

 the Northwest. Mineral water is the principal beverage used 

 there. Reed's Lake, three miles out of Gtand Rapids, is the 

 objective point for pleasant drives, and the little steamers, 

 sail-boats, bass- fishing, picnic grouuds and bathing, afford a . 

 combination of attractions. Fulton Park is a favorite resort. 

 I am particular in mentioning the characteristics of the places 

 I visit, because I know 1 am writing to many people who 

 have never visited the West, and have little idea of what is to 

 be seen there. 



The completion of the Grand Rapids and Indiana railroad 

 has benefited this place considerably by opening up the great 

 central timber region of the northern part of the peninsula. 

 The company offer such inducement to settlers that possibly 

 30,000 have located along its line between Grand Rapids and 

 Petosky within the past five years. Its entire policy is lib- 

 eral, and its management economical and trustworthy. The 

 hardest worked of its officials is W. O. Hughart, Esq., its in- 

 defatigable president. His unremitting labors are varied only * 

 by an occasional excursion to Bear Lake, near Petosky, j 

 where he has an unpretending shooting-box. John H. Page, 

 until lately its general passenger agent, has done a great deal . 

 to bring the country, which the road traverses, into public no- 

 tice, especially by publications in the interest of sportsmen. 

 One of these, is a pamphlet with maps, designating all the 

 principal fish and game resorts, to which the company has 

 provided expeditions and comfortable meaus of access by land 

 and water. Of these 1 shall speak in my next letter, and I 

 shall hope to show that northern Michigan is one of the most 

 attractive regions in the United States. It is by no means all 

 a wilderness. One can take his family with .him wherever he 

 may elect to go, and no Benedict can leave his compliant wife 

 at home under the plea that the journey is too rough or the 

 hardships too severe. Let all the married women who read 



this remember it. Hallocic. 



• — .». — 9 _ 



Wanted.— A copy of the "Naturalist's Directory," printed 

 at Salem, 1S77, for use in this office ■ The edition is out of print. 



