604 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Jttly 27, 1882. 



\ht ^portBit\m ^ouri$L 



CAMPS OF THE KINGFISHERS. 



IK EIGHT FARTS— PART VII. 



UP to this time Brother R. had done little fishing except for 

 sunfish neareauip, and being the odd man, he had been, 

 truth to Say, rather neglected. A party of three or five, 

 where there is no bank fishing to be had, is an unsatisfactory 

 quanli ty, if all are not able to handle a boat. If you go up 

 in that region to fish, make your party even numbers, unless 

 you dispense with a cook and detail one of the party each 

 day or two to cook and keep camp. 



Bright and early next morning Brother R. and I pulled 

 over to Buzaroo Point, and took our way down the lake for 

 a full day's bass fishing, leaving Dan and the neighbor to 

 swap lies, "talk boss" and lose another monster bass, if the 

 chauce were offered them again. Down at the twin springs 

 at the clearing I had taken lour or five bass that ran large, 

 and as it happened Brother Ii. had felt "nary symptom," 

 whi.ii moved fcim to say that "he didn't believe he was cut 

 for a bass fisher, and he' was a little off, too, on pickerel, 

 8unlish was his meat, his best h Id, as far as he'd got." 



As we moved away from the rushes at the spring a violent 

 pull that made the line sing through the guides started the 

 blood ia him with "Good gracious! look at that — no sunfish 

 this time." He wauled me to take the rod and fasten the 

 fish and then hand it back to him; but as 1 believed it was a 

 big bass that had struck his frog, I suggested that he handle 

 the fish himself and take the full measure of the glory. 

 After giving the fish plenty of time to swallow the frog," 1 

 nodded to him to strike; and, after a furious surge or two, a 

 magnificent bass shot into the air with a leap that showed the 

 stulf he was made of, his mailed sides glistening in the sun, 

 his dorsal bristling defiance, and even at the distance he was 

 away, we fancied his eyes were starting from their sockets 

 in bewilderment, and his mind all torn up as the conviction 

 settled on him that he had got hold of the wrong frog. With 

 a spiteful shake lie belched the frog out and threw it up the 

 line as far as the sinker would let it go, while Brother R. 

 was shaking, not spitefully, but with excitement. 



"Land o' Goshen ! there's a mate for the one Uncle Dan 

 didn't get. Had I better wind him in?" (I noticed a marked 

 difference in Brother R's and his Uucle Dan's manner of 

 expressing themselves— a very marked difference.) When 

 the bass struck the water he made a rush out into the lake 

 and only for a quick, "Let your reel run, man; let the reel 

 go," he would have said goad-bye to us, as Brother R. 

 seemed bent on "winding him in," with the rod pointing 

 straight at the fish. A sharp admonition to "hold up youi 

 rod,' and "keep your hand from the reel ha. die till "yon 

 have to nsc it," got him to understand the difference in 

 handling a large plucky bass, and flirting out a 3-oz. sunfish, 

 and hi soon cooled down and made a very creditable fight 

 with a small-mouthed bass that was dead game from Up to 

 tail, It was a hard, game fight on both sides, and when 

 the fish was finally worn out and "wound in" alongside.it 

 ■was hard to tell which was the worst "bushed," Brotner R. 

 or the bass. I lifted him over the side and laid him tenderly 

 in the bottom of the boat, "a thing of beauty and a joy for- 

 ever,''' and Brother R. give a yell that I have no doubt was 

 heard in Bellaire. Swiuging his hat aimlessly around bis 

 head he shouted, "Hooray [""hooray for Brother R. ! Talk 

 about your big bass, look at that* fellow! You old King- 

 fishers ought to be ashamed of yourselves, to bring a greeny, 

 a tenderfoot, you might say, up here to lam you all out by 

 catching the 'bull bass,' as you say. I just came up here to 

 show you old-timers how to catch bass. That's worth the 

 whole trip to Michigan, hooray!" All this and more, in 

 great good humor, arid' the "tickle." running out of him at 

 every pore. He sat down badly fagged, fanned himaeH 

 violently with his hat, and requested that we pull back to 

 thssp/ingand cool off. I have no doubt but that bass 

 looked to him to be of ten or twelve pounds weight, but 

 when we hung him on the scale that evening he pulled it to 

 just five and three-quarter pounds, the third one we had 

 takeu that pulled the abale to this same notch. 



{Mem. — If you want to draw the greatest amount of pure 

 comfort out of a day's fishing, never take your pocket scale 

 out with you; a four-pound bass always weighs seven pounds 

 until you acquaint him with the marks arid figures on a 

 scale.) 



I believe I had nearly as much pleasure out of that bass as 

 did Brother R. I felt as good to see the satisfact on and 

 pridc-in-his-own-provvess look, beaming all over his face, as 

 though I had struck and gaffed a twenty-five-pound maska- 

 longs. 



We started in to cool off. As we entered the rushes fring- 

 ing the shore, a sudden whirl of his reel brought Brother R. 

 to "his feet with, "Great Governor! there's" another one; 

 there must be a nest of them around here;" and I had to 

 hack the boat out from the rushes a few yards to give him 

 room to handle his fish. After a brief but tough tussle, in 

 which the Brother acquitted himself like a veteran, a very 

 black-backed fellow of about three and a half pounds was 

 put oa his stringer with the other one, and we pulled in this 

 time and cooled'off. 



We fished around in the pockets before mentioned until 

 the trees on the hills back of us began to oast their long 

 shadows around the boat, when we" headed up past Loon 

 Island and to camp. In the pockets we had taken ten or 

 twelve large-moulhed buss that would vary little from three 

 pounds each, Brother R. gctdig decidedly the best of the 

 "old man" in the bout, and when we beached our boat in 

 front of camp I think he was the proudest and happiest man 

 in the whole Wolverine State. 



Near the landing and just across the little stream from our 

 tents we found a couple of wandering brethren, who had 

 come down the lakes in a small yawl, putting up a little 

 c:nter-pole tent for the night, the larger oae greeting us with, 

 '•Hello, fatty! Have a drink!" and he drew from his shirt 

 pocket a small vial of wrath and held it out with a smile on 

 his honest-looking face. On being informed that the bibu- 

 lous end of the party had left for homo; "You're a 

 h— opeful fisherman. Can't take a drink with old Bill Hessl 

 Well, I'll take one myself ;" and he did. We learned that 

 they were iron Grand Rapids, Mich, W. T, Hess, a promi- 

 nent hide and tallow dealer, and Charley P. Pike, of the 

 First National Bank, and brothers-in-law, going through the 

 lakes for a few days' sport and recreation. "Hess was n great 

 big, bluff, hearty man of perhaps 380 pounds, while busy 

 little Pike was fust his opposite— a little, wiry fellow of not 

 over ninety pounds, who seemed lost in the shadow of his 

 big brother-in-law; but they appeared well mated, as they 



were both ardent lovers of the gentle art. A look at "Old 

 Bill Hess," as he called himself, "was good for the eyes, and 

 he found his way to our hearts at once. We helped them 

 fix up, and had' them till the vacant places of Jim and old 

 Knots at the supper table, and before bed time we were all 

 on as brotherly terms as though we had camped and fished 

 together for years, so soon does your honest angler reach the 

 hearts of his brethren of the rod "and reel. 



The next day Brother R. and I fished over about the same 

 water as the day before, taking more fish, but none so large 

 as h's first big one. Dan and" the neighbor fished together 

 again and Hess and Pike concluded to stop over a day and 

 try their luck with us. 



The day developed nothing but more fish; plenty for our- 

 selves and all the neighbors, and when matters were discussed 

 after supper, our two new-made friends concluded that good 

 fishing and good company were two things that woidd bear 

 nursing, aud they would stay another day. 



In the morning neighbor Johnson, of the nursery above, 

 came down for the trout fish he had been promising for sev- 

 eral days past. Brother J. is the boss trout fisher of that 

 neck o' woods, claiming to take about ten trout while the 

 ordinary tenderfoot who drops his clam into the cedar is 

 scoring one, and I have no doubt he was itching to lay "Old 

 Hickory" out, if he went along. Hickory was willin' to be 

 laid out 



I am not an advocate of Sunday fishing, speaking gener- 

 ally, but I believe the good Lord looks with more favor on 

 the gentle angler who with rod and creel follows the mean- 

 dering stream on His day, listening to sermons from stones 

 and rippling water and fearing His praises sung by the mys- 

 terious voices of the woods, than He does on him who fleeces 

 and lies about his neighbor six days in the week and on the 

 seventh bellows sooorous hymns' that never reach higher 

 than the roof, and claims* thereby a place among the 

 anointed. When in the woods on limited time, I go a-fishin' 

 on Sunday if the spirit move me, and the spirit is generally 

 up before daylight looking after the tackle and beckoning 

 me forth long before I am ready in the flesh. 



Brother J. and I went a troutin', Taking his place at the 

 oars in his little white cedar boat, that looked scarcely 

 larger than a duck on the water. I followed, sitting flat 

 down in the bottom, and dove-tailing our legs as the only 

 means of getting all of us into the short little craft As we 

 cleared tile rushes and got into open water I noticed I 

 brought the boat down until there w T as barely two inches 

 between me and a good ducking, and Brother J. cautioned 

 me to "not shift my tobacco from one side to the other with 

 much suddenness, lest a catastrophe overtake us." Down 

 the lake and Intermediate River, stopping a few minutes on 

 the rapids to pick out a couple of dozen clams (mussels) and 

 cut up the feet for bait, we passed the mouth of Cedar, and 

 leaving our boat at the dam at Bellaire, we "went through" 

 the town and took our way up the Mancelona road as*the 

 easiest way to reach the ' 'burnt clearing" on the banks of 

 the Cedar, a mile or such a matter above, and where we 

 proposed to begin fishing. 



From the upper end of the clearing Johnson had at odd 

 times cut a path or trail along the bank of the stream for 

 half a mile, which made it possible to get along at a little 

 better speed than a mile a day, and into this we plunged and 

 were soon where we could get our rods over the clear, 

 limpid water. This is not going to be much of a trout 

 story, as trout stories run; in fact, if any carper is setting 

 himself in shape to enjoy the average number of lies that 

 usually fail to the lot of a well-proportioned trout story, he 

 will be disappointed and may as well not wind himself up 

 too tight at the beginning. We simply fished along the 

 stream wherever we could find room between the logs and 

 brush to drop our clam into the water, to the end of John- 

 son's trail, always in speaking distance of each other, but 

 not often iu sight. 



At tie end of the trail the tangle was of the same dense 

 nature that Jim and I had found it a mile or two above the 

 year before, but we struggled, and crawled, and fished our 

 way along for a quarter of a mile further, when we con- 

 cluded we had enough, if not of trout, at least of tangle. 

 We fished hack to the lower end of the clearing, taking a 

 trout here and there, and losing among the net work of 

 limbs, brush and logs that matted the stream, at least four 

 fish where we got one, and when Bio. J. said it was time to 

 be moving if we wanted to be in camp before dark, we 

 struck into the road for town hungry and tired, as a fox- 

 hound after a hard day's run. 



Back to the camp, we spred our fish- on the table, and on 

 counting them we found that Bro. J. had not taken quite 

 ten to my one, as my creel turned out twenty-four white his 

 count stopped at twenty-two, and hy some unaccountable 

 freak of good luck my trout averaged considerably more 

 than twice the weight of his. 



This "tale of the trout" is not recorded for the purpose of 

 exulting over Brother J., hut simply to find a moral for it, 

 which is "a tenderfoot may sometimes take more and 

 bigger trout, with more spots on 'em, than an old residenter 

 who has hardened and tanned Ids soles by frequent and 

 weary tramps to the haunts of this wary and fickle- 

 minded fish." 



Our neighbor headed his cockle-shell for home after de- 

 clining to stop for supper, and soon after we were discussing 

 at the' table the fruits of my day's tramp, seasoned by a 

 choice selection of able-bodied trout lies by Brother Hess, 

 culled f>-om an abundant store gathered together in his 

 various wanderings in the Michigan North Woods. When 

 the last bone was picked and the last delicious morsel had 

 disappeared, it "was voted that before breaking camp another 

 day be devoted to trout, and Brother R., being fired with an 

 ambition to beat Jim's record — of one — concluded to brave 

 the tangles of Cedar and go with the writer the following 

 Tuesday. We went to bed that night full of happiness— and 



trOUt. • KlJNOKISHER. 



[to be concluded.] 



Hamac or Hamak.— Denver, Colo., July.— A recent cor- 

 respondent of Forest awd Stream designates the moist, 

 hardwood lands of Florida by the word hamak. In a later 

 issue you tacitly approve, editorially, the new spelling of 

 the word. Some years ago while iu that State, and writing 

 considerably for newspapers, I used the word hamac. Not 

 because I knew of either authority or precedent for so 

 doing, but for the reason that hammock, bommock, hum- 

 mock, etc, as indiscriminately used, were inappropriate and 

 misleading in their significance. Hamac and hamak give 

 the same sound, and if an Indian word the latter may be 

 the better way of spelling it. If an Anglo-American inven- 

 tion, the other is just as good, and has precedent in tamarac, 

 sumac and similar words, — W. N. B. 



TIM POND AND THE SEVEN PONDS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



We noticed in your issue of June 29, an article headed 

 "Maine Waters and Routes," in which the ground is taken 

 that the nearest, most correct, and easiest way to reach 

 Seven Ponds, the paradise of sportsmen, is by the way of 

 Rangeley, Kennabago Lake, etc. We desire to Bay a few words 

 in reply to this. 



We claim that the superior route to Seven Ponds is hy the 

 way of Smith's Farm and Tim Pond, and we will slate as 

 briefly as possible why we make this claim. Wc notice that 

 Mr. Farmer, in speaking of his familiarity with the wilder- 

 ness, sa3's that his real knowledge extends only from New 

 Hampshire to Moore River, hut we should say in looking at 

 the order in which he has named these several ponds that 

 this no doubt estimable gentleman is more adapted to run- 

 ning a hotel than to guiding parties through the wilderness, 

 He says: "This narrative is intended mainly for the Seven 

 Ponds, Massachusetts Bog, and vicinity, embracing facts 

 gleaned from three famous hunters and trappers." Let us 

 look at some of these "facts!" Warefleld says that "No 

 sportsman's rod had ever cast a shadow upon either of the 

 four of the most northerly and westerly of these mirrors 

 among the mountains." In reply to this we would say that 

 it is a well known fact that sportsmen who are yet alive, 

 with guides who have gone with tliem by way of Tim Pond, 

 have fished in all four of the most northerly of these ponds, 

 and there are guides here who say there are nine of these 

 ponds instead of seven, as these otlier gentlemen state. We 

 are given to understand by Mr. Farmer's letter that the camp, 

 f ourteen feet square, built by three hunters at Norwest Pond, 

 and the camps of Messrs. Grant and Richardson at the more 

 easily approached of the ponds, constitute the chief accom- 

 modations for guests. He says: "Kennedy Smith also has a 

 camp and boats at one .of them." 



The facts are these: ' Mr. Smith has a fine set of buildings 

 erected this season with a capacity for accommodating in a 

 comfortable manner thirty guests." He also has fine boats in 

 several of these ponds Mr. Smith also has a lease of Township 

 No. 3, Range G for a term of years, on which the four most 

 northerly a».d westerly ponds are situated, wuh the privilege 

 of building a buckboard road to either or all of them. In 

 the meantime, he has several nice light birch canoes which 

 can be easily carried from one pond to another. Mr. F. 

 says he that would not advise any but hardy sportsmen to at- ' 

 tempt to visit Seven Ponds. Now, we presume this advice 

 is good so far as it refers to the route by way of Rangeley and 

 Kennehago Lake, but when he applies it to the Tim Pond 

 route we would say that not only hardy sportsman but gen- 

 tlemen in delicate health have visited these ponds, and 

 furthermore, they have profited by the trip physically, 

 and have engaged apartments at Seven Ponds this season for 

 themselves and families, including the ladies. We claim that 

 the Tim Pond route is the superior route. Mr. F, says 

 chat sportsmen doubting bis statements woidd do well to in- 

 vestigate. Most certainly, if all who desire to visit Seven 

 Ponds had investigated the matter, there would be no need 

 of our replying to Mr. Farmer. 



Now let us notice the distances as he speaks of them. 

 He says the distance from railroad to Seven Ponds by way 

 of Tim Pond, etc., is seventy miles at least, while by way of 

 Kennebago and Rangeley route it is less than forty-five miles. 

 Now the facts are these: From railroad to Smith's Farm, 

 over a good stage road, the distance is thirty-eight miles; 

 from Smith's Farm to Tim Pond six miles; fiom Tim Pond 

 to Seven Ponds twelve miles thirty-four rods hy actual 

 measure, making from railroad to Seven Ponds fifty-six 

 miles instead of "seventy at least." Now let us look at the 

 Rangeley route for a moment. Mr. F. says the distance 

 that; way from railroad to Seven Ponds is less than forty-five 

 miles. All sportsmen who have visited this country knov 

 very well that the distance from Phillips to Rangeley is 

 twenty miles. In your issue of Sept. 18, 1881, Capt". F. C. 

 Barker gives the distance from Rangeley to Seven Ponds, by 

 way of Kennabago, as twenry-eight utiles. Other parties 

 who are familiar with the route say it is over thirty. Tak- 

 ing either statement makes it over forty-five miles. Mr. P. 

 claims that it is easier walking than riding in this country, 

 aud that parties can reach Seven Ponds much easier and 

 quicker by his route. Now we claim the Tim Pond route 

 to be much the easiest route, because one can tide- all the 

 way from Smith's Farm to Seven Ponds by buckboard, 

 single or double, or by saddle-horse, and even if one prefers 

 to walk we claim that, even then it is much easier to walk 

 over a much-traveled road than by a blazed line over wind- 

 falls and through bushes and brush about the .same distance. 



Mr. F. also says that parties can reach Seven Ponds one 

 day sooner by the Kennabago and Rangeley route. We. 

 desire to call especial attention to this remarkable statement. 

 Parties buying tickets from Boston to Smith's Farm will 

 reach Tim* Pond on the secoid day. Here is good accomo- 

 dation and splendid fishing. Then the Seven Ponds can be 

 reached in six hours the "next morning. We earnestly re- 

 quest Mr. Farmer or any one else to explain how one can 

 reach Seven Ponds from Boston a day or a a hour sooner than 

 that. We simply say it cannot be done. We would also 

 add that parties returning home can by the way of Tim 

 Pond, make connections to save one-half day, making the 

 trip in two days from Seven Ponds to Boston. We need 

 not refer to the fishing in Seven Ponds, as it is a well-known 

 fact that it: is the best in New England. Mr. Snuth adver- 

 tises in Forest and Stream, and parties wishing to know 

 more in regard to the matter can receive all the information 

 they desire by addressing Kennedy Smith, Euslis, Maine. 

 e'stis. Me . Backwoodsman 



[A letter from J. W. T. on this subject is i n type.] 



Wilt.iam Tell.— William Tell is another fraud who has 

 been unearthed of late years. He is a fraud because he 

 never existed, just as Gessler never existed, so say the 



records. A few years ago, some fellow who was a good shot 

 traveled all over Switzerland giving exhibitions of his ability 

 to shoot apples off his son's bead, a kind of a Swiss Dr. 

 Carver. Whenever he made a very good shot, the people 

 would call out: "Do teh!" That's how he came ,o be called 

 Tell. All the rest has been added by lying historians — 

 lexas Sif tings. _ 



That Catskill Panther.— Baugor. Me., July 20.— I no 

 tice a paragraph going the rounds of the journals to the effect 

 that a Cambridge student hunting birds in the C 'aiskill Moun- 

 tains, N. Y.. was frijihtencdhome by a panther. That panther 

 deserves the thanks "of the public. If you have no game 

 wardens, cultivate panthers. They will at least free you 

 from that class of donkeys who shoot birds in the breeding 

 season. — S, 



