126 
forty-eight pounds, The bass fishing in this pond is fast 
improving, and is likely to continue to for some years yet. 
On the morrow it was fish day in the village. 
Aug, 28 we took the rail for our Connecticut home, arriv- 
ing after an absence of more than a month without one 
delay or one accident by boating, shooting, driving and 
railroading. The fifteen of us that went to Mount Vernon 
as ‘summer boarders” are all safe and sound, and recount 
the pleasures we haye enjoyed with zest and gratitade, 
J, W. T. 
Naw Brrrarn, Sept. 6, 1584. 
ON THE MOOSELUCMAGUNTIC. 
| hee has been my intention for several years to spend a week 
or favo on the above named lake, but 1 never had that 
pleasure until the present season. Seven of us met at the 
railroad station on the morning of June 3, equipped with 
rods, reels, lines, and all the needed outfit for camp life in 
the woods, and as the train moved north we felt more like 
boys just out of school than business men on a vacation, and 
after a two days’ ride on cars, buckboard, stage and steamer, 
we found ourselyes unpacking our traps in the yery pleasant 
camps owned by Capt. Fred Barker, at the mouth of Bema 
stream, 
Our party was composed of merchants, manufacturers, 
mill superintendents, insurance agents, bankers, lumber 
dealers and designers. It-would be strange if out of them 
all somé would not be found full of fun and frolic, and in 
this case we were favored with two or three of the most fun- 
loving, side-splitting jokers that ever struck the Maine woods, 
and no man has any business with such a crowd as this was 
unless he has a double fastening put on to his trouser and 
vest buttons before he leaves home. 
We had been in camp two days and some of us had taken 
several large trout, which were put into fish cars that were 
fastened to a boom of logs, Some of our party who had 
stayed behind a day or two now came into camp and, of 
course, had to take a look at the big fish, and this was just 
the place where the fun began. Out walked the new-comers 
to the end of the boom, and craning their necks to peep into 
the car, the log on which they stood began to roll. Now, 
no one hut 4 first-class “‘river driver” can stand on a log 
turning at the rate of twenty times a minute. So in they 
plunged, waist deep, into the cold water. 'To say that yells, 
screeches and roars of laughter filled the air would be put- 
tine it light, for one of the party, ‘““‘who should have been a 
minister,” actually danced a jig on a flat rock near by in the 
presence of the whole company. his was a good send off, 
as if acted as a cooler on a not day, andthe jig gave unlimi- 
ted sport to all that were fortunate enough to see it. 
The next day some of the mugwumps of the tribe went 
down on the steamer to Upper Dum to meet some friends 
they expected in to join the party, as they wished to give 
them a proper reception, and a little surprise also, at the 
same time, They besmeared their face and hauds so they 
were just dripping with tar and oii, but as they neared the 
Janding they looked in vain for their friends, and no one 
stood ready to grasp their friendly hands, In their stead a 
crowd of admirers followed them around with such exclama- 
tious of delight as, ‘‘Big Ingun—waugh! Heap black man— 
waugh! Muchred man! Caroin achin chemokama!” and 
other pet and endearing names. It was noticed, however, 
that they took the first boat back fo camp, and they were 
whiter if not wiser men. 
The “‘great joker” of the party weighed only 114 pounds, 
and it was surmised by some that Capt, Barker imported 
this same fellow to keep us from eating him out of house 
and home, for at eyery meal some of us had to leave the 
table or burst at bis jokes and queer sayings; but we always 
forgaye him, for he was a splendid fellow, take him as a 
whole. We did, however, have one really “‘troublesome 
customer’ in the party, We christened him the ‘‘infant,” 
on account of his size and his terrible hankering after milk, 
He weighed 246 pounds ‘‘when quiet,” bat when “‘stirred 
up” he would swing nearly 1200 pounds; this is no joke, for 
he would actually *‘clean out’ the whole camp when in his 
tantrums, As this was his first irip to the Rangeleys, we 
used to tag him with a large pasteboard tag, as he hada 
habit of wandering off in the woods, and with all our care 
of him he strayed away over the mountains and was gone all 
day, but finally turned up all right with about a bushel of 
small trout ina bag strung across his back, which in part. 
compensated us for the trouble he madeus. He tried fly- 
fishing with a bait rod, but when he saw some of ithe old 
veterans kill some large trout with a 9-ounce split. bamboo, 
he declared he was ‘‘converted,” threw his bait rod into the 
lake, borrowed a spare fly-rod that was in camp, and fished 
like a little man ever after. When he was fairly “‘domesti- 
caled’’ he proved to be the ‘‘very best fellow” in the whole 
camp. 
I think some of the old campers ought to come in for their 
share of “‘pigheadedness,” but for want of space will only 
mention one or two brilliant feats. One day while the writer 
was trolling, he leaned over the side of the boat to change 
the water in ihe minnow bucket, and just at this instant an 
old “‘sockdolager”’ of a frout struck the bait. To grab the 
rod and strike the fish took but afew seconds, but turning 
to take the bucket into the boat again, ‘‘lo and behold,” the 
bubbles that came to the surface of the water was the only 
Indication of where the bait and bucket was to be found, 
7. ¢., on the bottom of the lake. There was no “‘cuss words” 
about it, but thai hoat was ‘“‘yanked’’ about a mile to camp 
in double quick time, and the vld man shut himself up in his 
room for about iwo hours. 
I was down at the pier next morning about 6 A. M., lay- 
ing the flies off across the stream when, ‘‘gewhiteker!” what 
a trout rolled up at my fly but missed it. The blood went 
to my fingers’ ends with a rush, and my heart thumped my 
breast like a trip-hammer, and eyery instant I expected he 
would come up again. Hearing a rattling of the stones on 
the pier I turned to meet the gaze of one of the old veterans, 
who with disheveled hair and eyeballs glaring wild and wide, 
spake thusly: ‘‘Did you—did you—hear that moose?” ‘Moose 
be darned, you squash head, did you not know that Barker's 
cow got lost in the mountains yesterday, and has not been 
found yet?” It is needless to say I was instantly lett alone 
on that pier to meditate on moose and my big trout. 
We chartered Barker’s small steamer Oquossoc one day, and 
arranged for a trip up the Mooselucmaguntic to Oupsuptic 
Lake, across that to the river, then up the river to Cupsuptic 
Falls and the head of navigation, and only twelve miles to 
Parmachenee Lake. It is impossible for me to describe the 
trip up this river, just wide enough for the little steamer to 
follow its snake-like channel, I think the steamer headed 
to every point of the compass going up. The trees were 
covered with white, long-banging moss, and just in the back- 
ground the grand old mountains reared their heads heaven- 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
ward. At 11 A, M, we ran the bow of the Oquossoe into the 
bank below the falls and tied her to a small tree, and off we 
scrambled up the stream to test the trout fishing, 
For myself, I selected a long reach of rapid water, which 
I think is called the Second Falls. As the old and tried 
split-bamboo pitehed the flies outward and upward and 
finally settled on the rushing current the golden sides of two 
noble trout came gleaming up through the water, and with a 
splash took the dark-winged Montreal and silver doctor. 
The usual merry song of the reel is heard as they rush down 
the stream and the fight begins, At this instant I hear 
shouts just above me up the river, and turning I see one of 
our party with his rod bent to a half circle and his face 
beaming with smiles and a satisfied expression, which means 
much with a geauine trout fisherman. We spent two hours 
takink plenty of fish, then adjourned to the steamer where 
we partook of a good dinner of fresh broiled trout, boiled 
eggs, fried potatoes, fresh bread and plenty of good coffee. 
After dinner the steamer was headed down the river and we 
arrived in camp at 8P, M. We decided that this trip was 
the most enjoyable one we had while on the lakes. 
There are four ponds upon and between the mountains 
three miles back of Barker’s camp, and boats are kept there 
for the use of sportsmen, These ponds are clear as crystal 
and swarming with trout. Barker has built a good log 
camp on the shore of the largest of the ponds, which makes 
it the best and jolliest place to camp in the Maine woods, 
So I start in my boat, casting the flies over the clear spaxkk- 
ling waters, with a cool breeze from the northwest, and a 
snow bank of half an acre on the south side of the ponds on 
the 25th of June, taking trout two at a cast and weighing 
from 4 to # pounds each. | thought of the people at home, 
sweltering in the hot sun with the thermometer at 90° in the 
shade. As I filled my lungs with the exhilarating air, redo- 
lent with balsam and pine, I muttered to myself, “How fool- 
ish some people are who can come to such a place as this as 
well as not, and still neglect it year after year for the sake 
of losing a few dollars for some one to wrangle about here- 
after.” Iknow some have not a taste for trout fishing and 
do not care to enthuse oyer beautiful mountain scenery, 
cool brooks or the lovely wild flowers that grow in such pro- 
fusion in the wild woods, but with me itis different. As 
the body begins to weaken and the eyesight to fail, the 
mountains seem to take on new beauties and more majestic 
forms as tier after tier loom up in the dim distance. Once 
Lused to pass by the tiny flowers, but now J often stoop 
and gather a few of these gems of the woods, to snifi of 
their fragrance and admire their wonderful beauty, and as 
the memories of the many happy days come crowding 
upon me I long for the time 10 come when I can again hic 
away to that haven of rest and enjoyment, the Mame wilder- 
ness. AS ee 
Purwam, Conn., Sept. 1. 
TROUTING IN NEW HAMPSHIRE, 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
In your issue of Sept. 4, now lying before me, I see an 
arlicle signed *“‘Yon W.,” describing a trip in June last to 
the Second Connecticut Lake. Among other sentences de- 
scribing tlie experiences of the trip I find the following: 
“What can I say of the adventures of the threemen from 
Connecticut who went up to Uncle Tom’s upper camp, 
where he spends the winter trapping for sable and fishers, 
spent one night and fished down the Hast Inlet the nextday, 
coning out of the woods looking asif they had been par- 
boiled and then skinned.” 
I presume I was one of the men to whom reference is 
made. ltis quite probable that our appearance when we 
returned from the East Inlet that afternoon was « surprise 
to the men whoslept on Uncle Tom’s comfortable beds. 
However that may have been, certain it was that their con- 
duct on the day previous was a greater surprise to us. For 
nineteen years I have made one, and, when possible, two 
trips to the woods every season. I haye met on those trips 
and shared my blanket with mén in all of the walks of life. 
The Indian, the half breed, the trapper, the settler, the euide, 
and even the millionaire tourist, have, without exception, 
whenever | have met them, shown the humanity and unself 
ishness which I had thoroughly come to believe was so much 
a part of life in the woods as the sweet scent of the pine on 
the restful outlines of the everlasting hills. Upon reaching 
the Second Connecticut Lake on this June morning, | met 
for the first time in the forests, a spirit of hoggishness and 
selfishness (and I can call it by no lighter names) that would 
have even disgraced the civilization of our large cities. 
These were the circumstances under which it was ex- 
hibited. We three, on the day previous, having been stop- 
ping at the First Lake, some eight miles from the Second, saw 
Uncle Tom’s man, Harding, and told him as he was going 
into camp that we would be there on the following day to 
stop with Uncle Tom afew days. We arrived at Uncle 
Tom’s cabin a little before noon, and found, L think, six 
persons there, among whom I presume was the writer of 
your article. Uncle Tom came out io the corner of the 
cabin in a few mimutes with an expression of what I took to 
be genuine disgust upon his countenance at the position in 
which he was placed, and proceeded to explain the situation 
tous. He gaid that Harding had brought the announcement 
of our intended visit to him the day before, and that he then 
had informed the gentlemen(?) who were his guests at that 
time of our coming, Hach man was occupying a good-sized 
double bed alone, and he expected them, he said, of course 
to do as others always had under like circumstances, double 
up and let us in. 
“But,” said he, “what did they say to me but that their 
money was as good as anybody's else, and they would pay 
me anything Lasked if I would turn you fellows from the 
door and let them each occupy the whole of a double bed, 
and,” continued he, ‘‘I suppose I must,” 
We went into the cabin, loked around 4 little, talked ‘the 
matter over in their hearing, they the while looking at us as 
though we had intended stealing something to which they 
had a vested right, and finally concluded that as we must 
sleep somewhere, and the little cabin up the inlet was nearer 
than the place from which we started, we would go there. 
Those six men stood on the steps and watched us start off for 
a seven-mile trip up an exceedingly narrow and difficult 
stream to find a bed for the night. 
Atter a hard trip we arrived at our destination about dark, 
and went to work at once to cut boughs for our bed and 
make ourselves as comfortable as cireumstances would admit, 
Work as hard as we could it must have been long after each 
of these six gentlemen had rolled over in the comfort of his 
whole bed, before we were in 2 position to turn in, 
The next morning we packed up and came back, as there 
was no fishing there, and we had no provisions after eating 
our breakfast. I presume we looked a trifle rougher when 
a 
7 ae i re 
[Smpr. 11, 1884. 
we came back than did any one of those gentlemen who had 
slept for the night in a most comfortable bed surrounded by 
a good mosquito bar; but we didn’t start up there that after- 
noon looking for fun exactly, but rather in search of that 
which they would not give us—a bed, For my own part I 
cared but little about the discomfort, for I am accustomed 
to all sorts of roughing it, but the gentlemen with me were 
not, and to them it was far from comfortable. Had 1 not 
seen this article in print I should probably have never asked 
for admission to your columns on the subject, though at the 
time we all felt decidedly unpleasant about it. 
Now this is what the three men from Connecticut can say 
about their own adventures. What they said at the time 
about the conduct of the gentlemen who had made those 
adventures necessary was, while true, rather too pointed for 
publication in the pages of your paper. 
A word as to the trout. ‘The day I was there your writer 
and his companion came in from the main inlet with two 
creels of fish. Three or four of them were of fair size, a 
dozen or so smaller still, weighing about a quarter of a pound, 
the bulk of the remainder so small that 1 looked first at the 
fish and then at the man, wondering how he, a man of years, 
and formerly officially connected with the business of caring 
for fish in the State, could have been led into slaughtering 
such infants, THREH-BARRBL. 
BRiIpGEPORT, Conn. 
SKINNING THE TROUT STREAMS. 
M2: JAMES ANNIN, JR., the wellknown trout cultnr- 
: ist at Caledonia, N, Y., sends us a letter which he re- 
ceived froma man in Oswego county last January, which 
says; “Having heard that you intend stocking up your trout 
ponds, I thought I could furnish you, as that business Ihave 
followed for ten years, more or less, I stocked a pond last 
summer located in Onondaga county. Trout taken from the 
erecks wild average in length from four to eight inches. I 
would like to engage with you for 4,006. They are becom- 
ing very scarce in this country. Hoping to hear from you 
soon, | remain,” etc, 
We do not care to give this man’s name, and thereby ad- 
vertise his business, which is probably that of netting trout. 
In sending us this letter, Mr. Annin writes: ‘I intended to 
have sent this letter before, but it has been mislaid and has 
just turned up. It shows how the young fish are cleaned 
out of the streams by these fellows. From what I hear I 
think there isno doubt but what there has been a great 
amount of this work done during the past season, J know 
of its being done in Western Pennsylvania. A man was 
paid by the month by a person having private ponds, to go 
on the streams and camp out and fish, keeping the fish, large 
and small alive, and about once in ten days the pond owner 
would send in for them and take them tohis ponds and after- 
ward sell them.” 
Just how far this may be legitimate rests entirely on the 
mode of capture. The only remcdy is to prohibit the cap- 
ture of trout below a certain size by any means. 
THE MONSTER BLACK BASS. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
l returned from Lake George Triday night after several 
days of poor fishing. This is the second week that my 
Texas friends and I have put in at that over-fished lake. 
Next we will try the back bay of Lake Champlain and 
then the St. Lawrence. On the 28th I caught a bass of 
about two pounds that the spawn was oozing from as I put 
the net under it, Lake George is a very late lake for bass 
spawning, because, I suppose, of the cold spring water of 
which it is largely composed, 
When I got home I was informed by about 50 people 
that Long Pond (4 miles from here, where I caught a bass of 
7 pounds 14 ounces in 1877, of which I sent you a photo) 
had knocked the record out of sight by furnishing a small. 
mouth black bass—the only kind in it—of eleven and one- 
quarter poands. Great Scott!! How do you feel now? 
The statement paralyzed me when I was obliged to admit 
that it was about correct. The fish was caught last 
Wednesday by Reuben Seeleye. | interviewed his son who 
did the weighing and he tells me he weighed the bass on 
steelyards. No one but Mr. 8.’s family saw the fish 
weighed, but Mr. Norman Cole, editor of the Glens Falls 
Messenger, saw and measured it; and he gives the measure. 
ments as 25 inches long and 2] inches girth. ‘This is three 
inches longer and 24 inches greater girth than my fish. My 
bass weighed 8} pounds on steclyards when caught, but 
erocer’s scales, fifteen hours after, only made it 7 pounds 14 
ounces, While Seeleye’s bass may not have been as 
correctly weighed as it might have been on grocer’s scales, [ 
am foreed to admit that it must have weighed about the 
weight claimed. Maud 8. knocks onlya quarter of a second 
off the “‘record” at a time, but this fellow puts on 3 pounds 
ab a single clip. 
Long Pond (very nice people now call it Glen Lake) is 
between' here and Lake George, and is about 14 miles lone 
You see the pond from the plank road as you get within a 
mile of Brown’s ‘‘Half Way House,” ond now. the railroad 
Tuns along its west shore. I did not wish to believe the tale 
concerning this big fish, but was forced to do so after 
investigation. A. N. CHmnny. 
Gunns Fauus, N. Y,, Aug. 81, 
Grows or Carp,—Nashville, Aug. 3.—Hditor Horest and 
Stream: To-day I met Mr. H. B, Gray of this county 
(Davidson) and from him I learned the following experience 
with German carp: In April he placed nine adult carp in a 
pond in which there had never been fish of any sort. These 
carp were of two varieties, five scale and four leather, On 
last Saturday Mr. Gray seined the pond, and found to his 
surprise, five hundred fry, averaging in length from three 
so six inches, and fifty which were at least fen inches in 
length. The question now arises as to the presence of the 
large ones. Mr. Gray is personally known to me and I am 
Satisfied that tle aboye mentioned is correct. In addition Mr. 
Gray said that the flesh of the fish were excellent food, espe- 
cially those which had remained afew days in a small pond 
of clear cold spring water. Mr, Dave Jackson from near 
Lebanon, in Lincoln county, has had experiences in carp 
culture almost as fabulous as those of Mr, Gray, and is as 
enthusiastic in his admiration of the new industry in this. 
State. George Eberhardt procured fifty or sixty carp fry,, 
two years ago, from Col. Geo. F, Akersand placed them in a 
pond upon his farm near Nashyille. The original ones have 
grown to an enormous size, and the increase in the numbers 
of young ones is beyond belief. I have never hesitated to: 
say that the introduction of carp into Tennessee was des- 
tined to be of incalculable benefit to her citizens, and the _ 
statements of such as the above, are only convincing proofs of 
the success or the enterprise.—J _ D-H. 
