444 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[JUXT 6, 188&. 



A Practical Suooestion.— Great numbers of deer arc 

 killed in the spring months in the Adirondacks. Same facts 

 relative to this slaughter are given elsewhere by our corres- 

 pondent, "Adrion Ondack." He mentions one ease of a 

 party who killed a. doe bearing two fawns. Measures should 

 be taken to suppress this detestable business. It would seem 

 to be the proper thing for the ''New York State Association 

 for the Protection of Fish and Game" to give the matter 

 their attention. They can remedy the abuse and save these 

 deer from the June night butchers. This is a "practical 

 suggestion," though it may be thought impertinent as well. 

 We shall be happy to give to the New York State Associa- 

 tion for the. Protection of Pish and Game more explicit 

 directions as to the exact localities where these outrages have 

 been and are now being committed. 



The New Yoke Woodcock Season opens August 1st. 

 We are told that in some parts of the State there is promise 

 of an excellent woodcock and ruffed grouse season. 



FOREST AND STREAM FABLES. 



VIL— THE SOCIETY OF PERCH FOR THE PROTECTION OF MIN- 

 NOWS. 



ONCE upon a time the Perch became aware that the Pike 

 were getting all the minnows, catching them in season 

 and out of season, till it was certain that if the work of destruc- 

 tion went on much longer there would be nothing but worms 

 and flies, or starvation, for the Perch. 



So they put their gills together to devise some means 

 whereby the evil might be made an end of. After much talk 

 over various plans they settled upon that of forming a Society 

 of Perch for the Protection of Minnows, and at once organ- 

 ized, with a President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, 

 Prudential Committee, and so on till there, was not a full 

 grown Perch among them but had an office of some sort. 

 Several wide-mouthed Perch made long speeches, and the 

 others waved then- fins in applause, and all concluded that 

 the Minnows were safe, aud that thereafter no Pike would be 

 so bold as to dare to touch one. 



Then they adjourned to feast on a great supply of Worms 

 provided by one of the members, and after that spent two or 

 three days in racing with one another, and trying which 

 could most skillfully snap a fly from the edge of a lily pad. 



But all this while the Pike went on gobbling the Minnows 

 just as if nothing had happened. 



MORAL. 



Resolutions, speeches, feasts and trials of skill will not do 

 everything for the protection of Fish and Game. 



tm\nn %oun$L 



For many years I have felt a deep interest in the conservation of 

 our forests and the plauting of trees. The wealth , beauty, fertility 

 and healthfulness of the country largely depend upon it. My indig- 

 nation is yearly aroused by the needless sacrifice of some noble oak 

 or elm, and especially of the white pine, the grandest tree in our 

 woods, which I would not exchange for Oriental palms. My thanks 

 will be due to the public school which is to plant a group of trees in 

 my honor. I could ask no better memorial. I have always admired 

 the good taste of the Sakokis Indians, around Sebago Lake, who, 

 when their chief died, dug around a beech tree, swaying it. down, and 

 placed his body in the rent, and then let the noble tree fall back into 

 its original place— a green and beautiful monument for the son of the 

 forest.— John OK Whit tiew, 



THE GREAT SWAMP. 



BY A. MULE. 



BUT few persons can pass into the Great Swamp without 

 a certain weird, mysterious, sensation. The plunge, 

 almost immediately, from 'the open fields aud stunted vegeia- 

 tion of the uplands into the gloomy aisles and among the 

 great trees of the more fertile morass is apt to impress 

 the most careless with a sense of the wonderful in nature, 

 As we go further in, the air becomes cooler, the shadows 

 deeper, the silence more deathlike. The huge trees grow 

 taller, until th.-'r giant forms seem as if lifting themselves to 

 the clouds; and tremendous vines, parasites worthy of such 

 chiefs, swing from trunk to trunk, twining, curving and 

 springing among the lofty openings with a boldness almost 

 terrifying to the six-foot gazer below. The rich, dark soil is 

 always clamp and fat, and full of larvte and beetles and 

 rotten wood. The streams are warm and dark-colored, 

 though clear, and ihe water bugs play lazily in the yellow 

 sunshine upon the glassy surface of then- sluggish drifts. 



There is but little green to be seen there even in summer. 

 A little switch cane, or a bunch of mistletoe, or possibly a 

 bush occasionally may show a green tint, but the prevailing 

 colors are the deep, sombre browns and funereal grays. The 

 trees are nearly all large, and at such heights" i lie leaves 

 arc seen against the sun and appear almost black. Theshade 

 is too dense for grass and the tree trunk" are brown and 

 wrinkled, except where an occasional sycamore gleams our. 

 Of the darkness like a tombstone. All issad, silent and dark. 



The most Impressive feature, however, is perhaps the deep 

 silence brooding over these wild and lonely scenes. So far 

 as I know, in the true uncleared swamp there are no song 

 birds and but few others. Near clearings they are abund- 

 ant, and in the toad occasionally there are blackbirds or 

 doves. But in the recesses of the swamp the stflbieSi expe- 

 rienced by day. is almost unbroken. A little, sileut brown 

 birdmayilit from a bush, or a painted woodduck glide away 

 from the intruding step, but these are all. The boding hoot 

 of the owl, the scream of the hawk, the stuttering yell of the 

 wildcat- and the croaking of frogs form the orchestra here— 

 the true music of the Great Swamp. 



To those who dwell here there are two seasons more 

 tharply defined than the four divisions of OUT almanacs. 

 These are the wet and the dry. About June 1 generally the 

 roads dry oil', the travel smoothes them until they are even 

 as floors,' and from then until about December ),". they are 

 the best roads in the world without exception. To travel 



there in a Carriage beneath the interlocked trees, upon a road 

 smooth, elastic. 'level and free of dust, and to smell the fra- 

 grant odors breathed lavishly by every swamp in spiring, is one 

 of the most delightful experiences. When the winler rains 

 set in, however, it only requires forty-eight hours to make 

 this beautiful country one sea of nasty, villainous, sticky mud, 

 whose! omnipresence and persistence there until next June 

 are simply detestable, and render wheeled travel almost im- 

 practicable. 



And looking at the matter purely from a sportsman's, 

 standpoint, this is not the worst; for there is no hunting in 

 the summer. We would try the bear if practicable, but the 

 heat w T ould kill the dogs. Even Brer Bear himself retires to 

 a cool recess as a summer retreat, while the gnats, mosqui- 

 toes and ticks make it lively for man, dog, deer and turkey 

 altogether. For a short while in November and December 

 we have '-cool, frosty nights, genial days, dry weather and 

 general paradise for the hunter. But alas, these "flit e'er 

 one. can point the place." and we arc left to stump about in 

 the mud and rain 



What a countiy for a hunter this must have been before 

 the white man got hold of it! It was altogether different in 

 its general features. But I shall discuss this hereafter. 



Of course it settled slowly-, having always had the reputa- 

 tion abroad of being quite unhealthy. So news was news in 

 those days, and hospitality was paid by conversation just 

 as it should be. The peddler— the land speculator— the 

 traveler in general performed the office of news-bringer and 

 were welcomed and begged to stop as a favor. 



Our friend old Shelb. was then young Shelb., but was then 

 as now a clear-eyed, honest soul with a strong disposition to 

 speak his piece out if be fell strongly. 



His nearest neighbor was nearly twenty miles away, and a 

 friendly rub against a fresh mind occasionally was very 

 agreeable even to the quiet hunter. 



So it was with sincere pleasure one long summer's after- 

 noon that he saw a solitary horseman riding down the road 

 toward his house. He rose from his chair — met the well- 

 dressed stranger outside the gate and cordially insisted on 

 having him stay for the nighl at least. 



To this, as it w r as late, the traveler coaly assented, but did 

 uot respond warmly to the greetings of hfs host. Shelb. put 

 up the horse himself — carried saddle and bags to the porch 



gave City a big tansy julep and a turkey -tail fan, and then 



asked "What's the news'?" The stranger replied civilly but 

 distantly that he "did not know.'' 



"Anything late from Mexico?" Stranger didn't know. 



In vain did the simple woodsman ply his unlucky guest 

 with all sorts of questions, calculated as he thought to lessen 

 his shyness. Finally the stranger deliberately asked Mo. 

 "to shut up and not 'bother him and he would pay double 

 fare for the night's lodging." 



Shelb. rose without a word and brought saddle and lug- 

 gage before them. "Is that yournV" said he. 



"It is mine." said City, 



"Then blast you, take it aud git!" 



And he rose up and gat. 



Tom S used to say that fellow was apt to remember 



the lesson, just as he heard once between Shelb. aud a 

 turkey. The turkey had a broken wing and Mc. tried to 

 run him down on foot. They had a hot chase, but Shelb. 

 finally stumbled and fell on his belly across a big log where 

 he lay. while turkey loft. "Go, then, blast you," he panted, 

 "you'll roost low the balance of your days!" 



When Shelb. was very much younger than now, he says 

 he was a regular high.-b.oss — whatever that sort of a boss 

 may be. I rather think that is intended more to express a 

 slight tendency to red-eye and fighting at musters, together 

 with a touch o'f sky-blue vest and brass-buttoned coat, among 

 the ladies, than any distinct declaration of improper gallan- 

 tries. 



At all events, about this time he found himself located tem- 

 porarily near Himtsville, Ala., and the possessor of a wall- 

 eyed mare,a hundred dollars and more time than he needed 

 by two months. So, he says, he concluded to pay a visit to 

 Old Hickory at the Hermitage, near Nashville, as the great 

 head of the" whole fraternity; 



This was not a morning tall by any means, but we will 

 pass the details, lie stayed two days and a night at the 

 Hermitage, welcomed as only that wonderful man could. 



He relates much and frequently about this visit, but one 

 little incident show r s why the common people loved Jackson. 



There were blue finger-bowls on the table at dinner, and a 

 rough old farmer who was then; used his for a drinking glass. 

 A smile and sneer went round the board full of fine people, 

 and Shelb. says he even smiled himself, as he knew better than 

 that, 



The old farmer saw he was wrong and looked pitiable, but 

 just then Old Hickory caught the "scene, and in an instant 

 Ms eagle beak was dipping down into his finger glass with 

 pist a. suspicion of cold gray eyte over its edge fixed on his 

 hue company. Not a man then dared refuse the challenge, 

 and all used' the bowls! 



We spoke just now of Tom S— — . What a man he was! 

 A diamond self-buried. Rich, handsome, talented, popular 

 —yet: fate darkened his hour. Dead long ago. of cours. — all 

 such men die just as we get to know and love them well. 

 When he was 'just of age he rambled all over Texas and the 

 AVest, and it nail v settled down by a beautiful lake in the 

 Great Swamp. The place was very lovely then, and for 

 long afterward, but overflow, levees and neglect have now 

 destroyed it altogether. 



Here he brought his niggers, cleared the virgin forest, and 

 established himself alone. Of course he and Shell), were 

 soon friends, for both were passionately fond of the woods, 

 though as different as possible in almost everything else. 



One dt" while tie. : h,:nngw;s gang on. a man rode up 



aud inquired for "('apt. S ." lie was a speculator from 



away East, and had been lold by some fool that he could 



hire' Tom S to bunt with him. So he now made the 



proposition frankly to pay $3 per day for board and services, 

 with a bonus of §5 extra for each bear he should be made to 

 kill! 



The poor devil was so besotted ihat he fully accepted Ihe 

 rough cabin and buckskin clothes for the real social status 

 of the elegant gentleman before him. After a moment's 

 hesitation's — - accepted!'" And from that moment there 

 were two distinct establishments there. The Nimrod — the 

 employer — fed on cold com bread, bacon that made the cook 

 weep, and sour buttermilk, The employe took his meals 

 privately in an out-house, and lived as usual— that is, like a 

 prince. " The boss— the master as it were — laid his sore limbs 

 at night upon a loose dry bide; the hireling laughed all day 

 and slept in whitest linen. 



Whs detail the miseries of that poor soul for the few days 

 he staved there? He went out to hunt the bear — in July!— 

 and got into a dense bamboo brake about a mile across, 



Getting separated from S (by accident, of course), lie got 



lost. Then he blew his horn, 'but though answered every 

 time, yet somehow the responses did not lead liim out of the 

 brake. Bound and round he went for all of that blessed day 

 on the inside, while a nigger rode a mule round and round 



outside, and so blew him about at pleasure— Tom S at 



home reading light literature. Toward night S went up 



and brought him out, quite grim, but undismayed. 



Next day, fishing on the lake for a rest, as' he could not 

 swim, he was rash to try the gig from a bean pod of a dug- 

 out, and got turned over, of course. At least that is what 

 happened. 



Tired of both bear and fish, ho rested under the big tree 

 and lazily admired nature. And a tame but mischievous 

 bear got loose and admired him; uot wisely but too well. 

 The hear had been trained by the devils of young niggers to 

 wrestle, and as Nimrod motioned her oil" with horrible ges- 

 tures, she accepted the challenge and went for him with an 

 Injin hug. 



Tattered and torn, and all forlorn, he finally seeks his 

 balmy raw hide and sweet sleep. Alas, by some perverse 

 fate, a glass box of peculiar shape falls with a smash at ids 

 feet, while the dusky coils, the sparkling eye and the thrilling 

 rattle give warning that the awful rattlesnake is loose ami 

 locked in a small dark room with him. He didn't know the 

 snake had no fangs and was harmless, but he felt fully able 

 to go through the panels of the door, and so went. 



A very little of this goes a great ways, even though perpe- 

 trated by a gentleman of the softest manners, and amid the 

 officious condolence of a hundred impish niggers. The mice 

 was recognized at last. 



The day Nimrod was to leave he got a dinner lit for the 

 gods, The true inwardness of the thing developed in the 

 white-clad servants, the glass and silver, the general richness 

 of an opulent bachelor's establishment. 



And Nimrod was well-bred on the whole. He said nothing 

 about the situation until he took his host's hand for an adieuT 

 "I promised you $3 a day, I believe!" he said, smiling. 



"You certainly did." 



"Well, I shall not pay you a cent, for you have made very 

 much more than that out of me already. Good by!" 



ADIRONDACK SURVEY NOTES. 



r pHE Adirondack survey, to which 1 have the honor to be 

 X temporarily attached, assembled at North Creek, the 

 northern terminus of the Adirondack Railroad, on June 10, 

 and took the stage to North River, five miles up, in the 

 afternoon. Here we met several men who had been in the 

 woods, but had been driven out by the black flies, which 

 they reported as something worse than usual. Remaining 

 at the hotel all night to arrange and assort our baggage, wo 

 look the stage next day for Blue Mountain Lake, a distance 

 of some twenty-five miles, where we were to meet our guides 

 and start for the woods. After leaving the river and pass- 

 ing the first ridge Mr. Colvin pointed out a large mountain 

 on Ottr left which he had located, but which had no name. 

 Upon inquiry of our driver ho told us that he had never 

 heard any name for il. Then the superintendent of the 

 survey offered me the honor of naming it. Here was a 

 dilemma for a man innocent of the names which are. in 

 vogue among respectable mountains! If it had been a .fish, 

 a dog, a child, or most any animate object, a name would 

 have occurred Without hesitation; but to be god-father to a 

 mountain was staggering. It could not well be called ' 'trout 

 mountain," for there were probably few trout on its summit, 

 and for my life no other name occurred. Seeiug a crow far 

 rip the side I asked if any of the mountains bore its sable 

 cognomen, and upon receiving a negative reply, christened 

 it "Crow Mountain," all the party, even to the driver, salut- 

 ing it by uncovering. And Crow Mountain it will be here- 

 after, both in the. reports and to the tourists who ride with 

 that driver. 



The road is good to Blue Mountain, where we arrived at 

 dusk, after passing through a heavy thunder-storm which 

 echoed and re-echoed from the grand old lulls m salvos, 

 which would appal those who do not love this display of 

 nature's force. The rain softened the road so that our heavy 

 baggage wagon broke down, but, thanks to the curtains of 

 I he stage, did not wet us. We remained overnight at the 

 Prospect ' House, whose size and style astonished one who 

 expected backwoods simpbeity. It resembles a large seasii lc 

 hotel and can accommodate" six hundred guests; electric 

 lights, colored waiters, and all the pomp and circumstance 

 of a city house, it struck me as a place where city idlers 

 could play at visiting the woods and yet live in the city. 

 The fact is that one must go far in to escape the horrors of 

 the piano and the telegraph, both of which are here. This, 

 however, is what the great majority of people want, so the 

 only growl at that which we old campaigners can get in, is 

 that Tt is a profanation of the temple, an invasion of the 

 sanctity of the woods by people who are not in sympathy 

 with the genius of the place. There are one or tw o smaller 

 hotels here, bat even thev offer you toilet soap to wash with, 

 and 1 draw the line of civilization at yellow soap, and only 

 find myself "in the woods" when this or the soft article is 

 offered" for your ablutions; that is, if you indulge in such 

 luxuries as amorning wash with soap. A plunge in the 

 lake is toilet enough, without the aid of saponaceous com- 

 pounds, be they "yellow," soft or scented. 



Thine are both black bass and trout in Blue Mountain 

 Lake, but I contented myself with. specimens of "inferior" 

 fishes' which went into the alcohol tank for future reference. 

 The number of visitors here must soon reduce the supply of 

 angling fish unless culture is resorted to, and this the hotel 

 men will do, if they are wise. The lake abounds ve 

 crs anil minnows upon which better fish can feed, and the 

 water is cool and good. From this place one of our party 

 went down to Raquette Lake to establish a place for storage, 

 and on his return he was a sight to behold. "Flii 

 he "you will be introduced to them to-morrow," aud we 

 we're without: formality. The Oldest guides say Ihat it is 

 nineteen years since the black flies were so bad They came 

 late and all at once. Usually they disappear by the BOtb. of 

 June, but there has been no diminution yet. on ihe 20th. I 

 bought a fly-net in New York, and it is a good one. It 

 catches most of them and holds them too; somehow they all 

 get in but can't get out, and after au hour's trial it 

 poses is tie depths of Raqti tte Lake Cur faces mi tiess 

 are almost raw; our arms and bodies are blistered and burns 

 tag from the little pests width crawl down our necks and up 

 our sleeves. Tar oil is only a partial preventive, but life 

 would not be worth the living here without it. If I were 

 only on a pleasure trip I would escape by the first mi 

 egress and forever forswear Ihe Adirondaeks in June. Bj 

 the time this letter reaches you and is put in type the small 

 d's may be gone for the season. F, M, 



