FOREST AND STREAM. 



[JtTLT 80, 1885. 



2 



%mications to the Forest and Stream JhiUish- 



.„^;?WRT IN THE SIERRAS-II. 



cjST now introduce the inmates of this mountain re- 

 treat to your readers. First comes Mrs. W., the pleas- 

 ant and accommodating proprietress, her son Will and 

 daughter O., to whose bow and spear the "Terror" falls a 

 quick and easy prey. There is also a deft-handed kitchen 

 maid, and last, but not least, Old Henry, the hostler and 

 man-of-all-work. The latter is a relic of the golden days of 

 '49, who has been left stranded away up here in these moun- 

 tains, and who lives here, solitary and alone, to take care of 

 the premises during the long and di-eary winter. When I 

 tell my readers that this lasts for six months, and that the 

 snow often falls to a depth of from fifteen to twenty feet in 

 this valley, they can estimate the dreariness of such a life. 

 Henry is a character in his way, and if he takes a liking to 

 one, will undergo any amount of trouble to please them, but 

 if he takes an aversion, and he is prone to do so, he can be as 

 sour as a green crab apple. 



The next inquiry is about the fishing, and the answer is 

 that the trout have only just begun to take the bait fairly 

 well and will not lise to a fly at all. Now, although I pre- 

 fer the clean and tasty fly, and will use nothing else when it 

 is available, still I am like "Nesamuk," and "when a trout 

 refuses to eat a tinseled, feathered fraud, I am not the man 

 to refuse him something more edible." Consequently I ap- 

 peal to Henry to supply me with some cleanly white borers 

 cut out of a decaying cedar, and start out to catch my sup- 

 per. This bait, which is much, used in these mountains, is 

 the larva? of coleopterous insects, genus Ceramhyx, and is 

 pleasant to handle, being dry, and having an aromatic smell 

 derived from the wood which they inhabit. They can be 

 found in all coniferous woods, but those taken from flr and 

 cedar are generally better for anghng for small trout, being 

 about the size and color of gentles. The variety inhabiting 

 the tamarack attains the greatest bulk, as they are found as 

 large as a man's thumb in those trees. These are good for 

 lake fishing. That evening I caught thirteen trout in about 

 an hour and a half, and then, becoming tired, returned. The 

 water is too high for successful fishing, and is as cold as 

 melting snow can make it. My illness renders it imprudent 

 to enter the chilly stream, even with wading pants on, and 

 as the banks are very brushy, it is hard work to make a de- 

 cent cast. 



Will and I agree to go after deer on the morrow and give 

 the waters time to subside. Shortly after sunrise we start, 

 taking for our hunting ground a side canon leading off from 

 the main one, and down which brawls a respectable trout 

 stream. Will takes one side and I the other, with his old 

 deerhound Turk ranging the hills abreast. Shortly after 

 separating to pursue our respective beats, I almost tread upon 

 a grouse having with her a family of ten half-grown young. 

 They take wing with a great flutter and settle in the neigh- 

 boring trees, where I leave them to grow older and larger. 

 Going on for a while I startle a bevy of cock quail that have 

 gathered into a flock for companionship. In this I have 

 found the mountaia quail to drffer from his brother of the 

 valley — the latter never deserts his mate or his family, but 

 the former always does according to my observation, as 

 soon as the female commences silting. I have never seen 

 the male of the larger species hovering around the nest as 

 those of the smaller do, the latter even going so far as to aid 

 his mate in her labor of love. Thus, with mind not alto- 



? [ether occupied with deer, I wander on. interested in all 

 iving things around me. The forenoon wears apace, and 

 while standing, trying to catch the hound's voice, which 

 fancy had brought to "my ear, 1 hear a familiar humming 

 sound above my head. Looking up ward, I discern the 

 entrance to a wild bees' nest about sixty feet from the gi-ound. 

 1 cau see the steady streiHa Of workers pouring in and out 

 through a knothole ig a massive pine. Adjusting my field 

 glass I stand absorbed in watching them come laden home, 

 panting nvtdiit their sweet burdens. See that over-ambitious 

 one. fliat, like the "trout hog/' has got more than he dan 

 ''3' . y. He comes lumbering along on weary wing, and can- 

 iioc rise to the level of the entrance, and has to alight about 

 ten feet below it, with a force that ought to knock his scanty 

 brains out. There he clings, with his abdomen heaving as 

 though hard put to it for breath, until rested enough to essay 

 another trial. But, hark! while dreaming here WiU has 

 got in the lead, and there is old Turk's hoarse bay far up 

 the cafion. With a rush I hurry forward to gain a point 

 from which I can get a fair view, but the crack of Will's 

 rifle tells me that i ara too late. My labored breathing also 

 tells me that I must take my time in this rarified atmosphere, 

 to which I have not yet become accustomed. By and by I 

 come up to where Will has a fine young buck with its throat 

 cut and entrails out. Bending down a sapling, we hang the 

 carcass up to be packed out that afternoon on a horse, and 

 return to the house. I secure no game that day in my own 

 name, but ara just as well content. It is not all of hunting 

 for me to get game, nor all of fishing to get a creel full. 



On the morrow I try the fishing on tlie stream up which 

 we hunted the previous day. but with small success, the 

 melting snows spoiling this as well as the main river. The 

 trout will not pay the least attention to my feathered chai-ms, 

 "charm they never so sweetly," and with bait only thirty -five 

 small ones were secured. But 1 have a royal good' time 

 nevertheless, for I find some very fine specimens of the scar- 

 let snow-plant, and discover some wild strawberries in bloom, 

 the first I have ever seen in the State. 



Once, when tired forcing a path through the refractory 

 wUlows on the bank, I seated myself upon a rock overlook- 

 ing a tumbling stretch of water, where the damp sweet spray 

 encompassed me, when a pert-looking water ousel alighted 

 on a boulder within arm's length. He dropped two or three 

 of his graceful courtesies, and then opened his throat in a 

 melodious song. When through, he made another courtesy, 

 ran into the white, tumbling water and disappeared. After 

 what seemed a long interval, he emerged upon the wing some 

 distance up stream and returned to his former position. 

 This time he noticed me, and cocking his head first on one 

 side and then upon the other, as if to reassure the first eye 

 with the evidence of the second, he made a series of dips and 

 flew to the other side of the stream. He then began to scold 

 in a noisy chattering voice, and in an instant his mate flew 

 out from under some old roots near by, and they both fell to 

 abusing me in the heartiest way. 'Their actions showed 

 that their nest was close at hand, but after a close search I 

 could not find it. Presently I became ashamed of the vile 

 epithets the pair were applying to me in their bird language, 



and left them masters of the situation. Lovely little fellows, 

 it is to be hoped their parental care was amply rewarded by 

 a nest full of sons and daughters. 



To me this has always been a most interesting bhd. Found 

 only in the higher mountains, it haunts the streams in their 

 maddest stretches, and where the roar of the waterfall is 

 loudest and its tumbling foam the thickest, there the little 

 ousel will lift its voice in happiest strains. It lives upon the 

 ova and larvse of water insects, in the pursuit of which it 

 will enter and dash through the white rushing water in spots 

 where it would seem impossible for so small a creature to 

 live for an instant. I have often been fishing some pool at 

 the foot of a fall or fierce rapid, when one of these birds 

 would come flying up the stream and plunge into the water 

 at its whitest point. After a short time it would reappear 

 and again take wing, or alighting upon a boulder, after one 

 or two grotesque bows, would burst forth in a perfect storm 

 of melody. Another trick of his is to apparently commit 

 suicide b.y deliberately walking into the rushing stream and 

 disappearing beneath its waters. This it docs not do by 

 diving, as nearly as I can observe, but by chnging to the 

 bottom with its feet. The ousel's song is sustained and me- 

 lodious, and would be powerful could it be heard dissociated 

 from the roar of the waters, but I have never heard it sing 

 elsewhere than in spots where the voice of the stream would 

 drown its tones at the distance of a few yards. It is not a 

 shy bird at all; and when fishing one will often see it porch 

 upon a boulder near by, and after a pert glance and a seem- 

 ing bow of recognition, pour out its very heart in soog. 



The ousels nest and raise their young close to the waters 

 of the stream, where the air is ever sweet with spray, and 

 the first sound that greets the fledgling's ear is the glorious 

 voice of the dashing water. No wonder that the whole 

 bird's life seems like a living poem. I am told that the ousel 

 lives all through the winter in the same localities, and that 

 in the midst of the howling winds, and roar of tl)e storm 

 beaten pines, his sweet notes can be heard poured forth as 

 joyously to the wintry ice and snow, as if basking in the 

 morning sun of a midsummer's day. 



The next day was dven to the deer by Will, tlie Terror 

 and myself, but without result. The dog started one, but 

 ran it away from us, and that was the only one we found. 

 Bear's tracks were numerous, and deer sign very plentiful, 

 but somehow we were not lucky in starting eitiier, and we 

 had to return without game. For the next two or three 

 days there was but little done by any one to pass away the time, 

 shooting ground squirrels being "the "best holt.'' Sunday 

 also intervened, and altogether it was a time of waiting. IThe 

 waters were subsiding fast, as the snow was pretty much 

 gone except in patches on the higher peaks, and we knew 

 that in a short time the trout would be rising freely, and then 

 for sport. Akefar. 

 Califorijia. 



THE BUGKTAIL IN FLORIDA. 



THE three long hot months that I passed in camp at the 

 Oak and Pine, ostensibly outing for health, form an 

 episode in the later life of one old outer that will not be 

 soon forgotten. It was not hunting, fishing, nor canoeing, 

 though a good deal mixed with Ih^i ktterT It wap c -f iiu' 

 past a doubt. Also loafing, even aa the moneyed ir 

 from resort to rrsfn"t, spenaing a few weeks ov m 

 each, striving constantly for aomething entertaining O] auxu 

 ing, but being envied oftener than amused. I had the ad- 

 vantaa,e of having alTvays something to do, cooking, fishing 

 for a camp supply, fixing up the camp and writing; the last 

 under difliculties. For it is not conducive of literary effort 

 to write with one hand, while the other is busily engaged 

 mopping the face or dispersing greedy insects. 



But 1 never suffered from ennui. Even in the hottest 

 nights, when the sun had been blazing on the roof of the 

 shanty until it was like an oven until long past midnight, I 

 did not find the time hang heavy on my hands, nor was I 

 troubled with loneliness for a single hour. The shanty sel- 

 dom got cool enough to sleep in before 1 o'clock in the morn- 

 ing, and I amused myself, on moonlit nights especially, stroll- 

 ing about the open woods and listening to the many voices 

 of the night. On dark nights I kept up a bright, light-wood 

 camp-fire, and "Tarpon" (Capt. Kendall), who lived less 

 than a quarter of a mile distant, usually came over in the 

 evening to occupy one end of the smoking log and spin 

 yarns, and truth to say, he spun them well. For the man 

 who has been down to the sea in more than forty ships, and 

 has seen the wonders ol the deep in Arctic and South Sea 

 whalers, on slavers and men-o'-war, in coasters and clippers, 

 not to mention canoes, such a man is an epitome of romantic 

 reality, so he cau but talk, which few men can. "Tarpon" 

 talks well when once started, wherefore I let him do most of 

 the talking; and he tells me on one evening of his thirty- 

 seven weary months on the old Vigilant, 4-boat, Pcicific 

 whaler, from New Bedford ; and again of six months on an 

 Arctic whaler, where, though the weather was sometimes 

 fearfully cold, he had a right pleasant voyage. Then he 

 has a fund of interesting reminiscences connected with his 

 residence in Payti, Peru, where for over four years he filled 

 the role of a leading "beach comber." 



When Dr. Neide's book, the ' 'Cruise of the Aurora" came 

 out, he was greatly interested, as he well might be, for he 

 was a partner of the Doctor's in that cruise, the "Barnacle" 

 of the book, which he read and re-read, then loaned It to 

 me. I found it so interesting that I read it through at one 

 sitting, for "Barnacle" had told me all about that cruise 

 months before around the camp-fire, and I was curious to see 

 how two veteran canoeists would regard and speak of inci- 

 dents familiar to both. On the whole they saw things in 

 about the same light. The Doctor logs the voyage as he 

 made it, and perhaps it was not necessary to mention the 

 fact that Mrs. Kendall cruised in the Comfort from Clean 

 to Cincinnati, taking her share of the haps and mishaps of 

 camping and cruising; nor that "Barnacle" had already 

 cruised over 500 miles when joined by the Doctor at Lake 

 George; nor that, after the Doctor hauled off at Pensacola, 

 "Barnacle" continued the cruise 360 miles further down the 

 coast, stopping at Tarpon Springs some time in Mai-ch, 



Chatting by the camp-fire one evening, "Barnacle" re- 

 cm-red to the cruise about as follows: "When we started 

 from Lake Geoi-ge our cruise was mapped out to include the 

 Allegheny, the Ohio and Mississippi, the Gulf coast to the 

 Florida capes, around the capes into the Atlantic, up the 

 Atlantic coast to New York, up the Hudson, and so home 

 to the starting point on Lake George. This would make by 

 far the longest canoe voyage on record ; and I cannot say, 

 even at this day, why it was not carried out to a finish. The 

 Doctor hauled off at Pensacola— I never asked him why— 

 and I contmued the cruise to Tarpon Springs, where I made 



a halt that was not intended to be anything permanent how- 

 ever. Opposite Crooked Island, some 200 miles below Pen- 

 sacola, I was struck by an off-shore gale which blew me out 

 into the Gulf, and I was eight hours out of sight of land 

 under paddle. It was a weary day for me. But the Com- 

 fort proved herself an able sea boat, and I got back to land 

 just at night, going ashore in St. Joseph's Bay, 160 miles 

 above Tarpon Springs. Why I have stopped here for two 

 years is more than I can tell. But the rest of the cruise is 

 only postponed, not abandoned. You have seen the model 

 of the new canoe I am building? She will be an abler boat 

 than the Comfort. And she is meant to cruis3 from this 

 point to Lake George via the Florida capes, the Atlantic 

 coast and the Hudson. I note that a very pleasant writer in 

 the Canoeist speaks of the Aurora's cruise as the longest 

 made by any canoe. Perhaps he does not count the Com- 

 fort as a canoe ; but she made the entire cruise with the 

 Aurora, with 500 miles to add at the start and 360 at the 

 finish." 



It was on the third of July that we started down the 

 Anclote on the ebb tide, bound for Duneden and the regatta 

 that was to come off on the Fourth. The sharpie had been 

 a long time getting ready. She was launched last New 

 Years day, and was not really fit for a cruise yet. Her cabin 

 leaked, her sails did not set well, and in putting in her lime- 

 stone ballast wc had managed to give her a list to port. Also, 

 her flooring and lining was loose and dirty, and she had no 

 fittings nor furniture, save candle boxes, cracker boxes, etc. 

 But we decided that her sailing gear would do, and it was 

 no hardship for two old cruisers to sit on cracker boxes or 

 sleep on the after-house with the standing lug bent over the 

 main boom for a shelter from sun and rain. So she went. 

 Down the tortuous channel of the Anclote, the wind blowing 

 us up, the tide dragging us down, and getting aground 

 oftener than was pleasant. But she was light, carries a long 

 setting-pole, and Capt.. Tarpon has good muscle, so we soon 

 got off, and at 9 o'clock of a dark evening tied to the little 

 wharf at Anclote village. The afterguard (Tarpon) went 

 ashore to pass the night with friends, while the cook and 

 for'ard hands (that's me), made up a bunk and slept on board. 



At early dawn the captain came down to the wharf and 

 hailed, whereupon the cook promptly turned out, started a 

 fire of barrel staves in a shallow box of sand for galley, and 

 in a few minutes had a pot of strong, clear coffee. Then we 

 cast off, and with fair wind and tide soon rounded the pier- 

 head out into the Gulf. Just then two lively sloops from 

 the Springs hove in sight as they rounded a bend in the river 

 a mile astern, and stood for us. " One was the cutter Vanessa, 

 built in New York; the other the Tantalus, a coaster of shal- 

 low draft and much centerboard. The latter was white, 

 with new, well-fitting sails, and she looked very natt^ in the 

 morning sunlight. They headed for us with everything set; 

 but. rather to my surprise, could not gain an inch; rather, of 

 the two, they seemed to lose ground. And this in spite of 

 the fact that our sails set badly. Our mainsail had six or 

 eight inches of loose leach and our standing lug too much 

 canvas, making her carry her helm a-weather and drag her 

 rudder. New rigs mostly need overhauling before getting 

 into good working order. But the sharpie really glided over 

 the smooth, shoal waters of the Gulf like a duck, and we 

 came to anchor alcove the wharf while the sloops were a mile 

 I and a half away. We had towed the Bucktail all the way, 

 ith the little Rushton nested inside of her, and when every- 

 ilag WHH rosrt^^^iiugwe took the canoes and paddled ashore, 

 I ; le "captain's gig" l>fcing, of cour-se, the Bucktail. Duneden 

 iB a smaU ccvj^t U>wu, but there was no lack of people there 

 on that day. and the prepararions for fuu and frohc were ad- 

 mirable. As we landed we saw a crowd rushing for the 

 wharf, and followed to see what was up. 



It was a ham that was up, on the end of an upright post. 

 And the post was firmly fastened to the extreme end of a 

 long, peeled, and well greased slender tree-trunk, which pro- 

 jected from the judge's barge far out over deep water. The 

 little game was to walk barefoot out to the upright post, lift 

 the ham, and walk safely back with it. He who could do 

 this could carry oft" the ham as a prize. As we came up the 

 crowd was convulsed with laughter, the tree trunk was 

 vibrating gently up and down, while two lusty lads were 

 floundering in the water. It was fun to see a confident 

 acrobat start out from the barge for the ham. So long as 

 the trunk was firm and level he could manage to keep his 

 footing, but, as he got where the peeled tree began to bend 

 there was a gentle sliding motion, the legs began to spread as 

 of their own accord, arms were thrown aloft for ballast, the 

 glide increased to a glissade, and over he went with a heavy 

 splash. When the sport began to grow tame the boys were 

 allowed to sand their feet, and the ham was soon captured. 

 Then there was a well contested sack race, in which the con- 

 testants made excellent time. And a pig was greased and 

 turned loose for the boys to catch and hold. I did not think 

 any ordinary crowd could catch a Florida pig, and would 

 have taken a small wager that he got away. But circum- 

 stances were agaiost him. He had too many kinks in his 

 tail and the sand was too dry and deep. At first he looked 

 a winner all over, but much dodging got his grease mixed 

 up with sand, and then the cute lads threw sand at his 

 counter, until a cracker lad fouled him by one of his kinks 

 and brought him to anchor, fighting and squealing like a 

 fiend. 



What pleased me most was the hearty interest and love of 

 innocent sport shown by judges, assistants and all who had 

 a hand in directing the proceedings of the day, and the good 

 nature and sobriety of the entire gathering. I did not hear 

 an ill natured word nor see an intoxicated man during the 

 day. The main event, the regatta, came off in a light 

 breeze, but was sailed fairly and without any unpleasant 

 feature, our white friend, the Tantalus, winning in the first 

 claas and the yawl Nellie in the second, the latter leading 

 everything over the course. I had supposed that the sharpie 

 was to enter for the race, and was rather disappointed when 

 the captain declined to enter her or let the for'ard hands do 

 so. So I got into the Rushton and raced the racers, as they 

 stood past the barge in a light wind. I held way with 

 them, too, until the wmd freshened, when they soon left 

 me astern. 



It goes without saying, that in a country where the light- 

 est pleasure boats are made to weigh from 150 to 200 pounds, 

 a canoe of ten pounds weight is almost marvelous. ' 'Tar- 

 pon." while standing on the wharf, heard a cracker exphiin 

 the matter to a knot of listeners something like this: "You 

 see " he said, " 'taint no areat trick to handle that little boat, 

 once you know how. Every time one end of his oar goes 

 up t'other comes down— to balance. Now if he should stop 

 his paddlin' a single clip, he'd upset." .Just then a lady 

 spectator on a beamy schooner offered me a fine shce of 

 melon, and I laid in the paddle, let the canoe drift, and en- 

 joyed the gentle motion of the swell while eating it. The 



