486 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[July 15, 1886. 



Address all communications to the Forest and Stream Publish- 

 ing Co. 



TWO MONTHS AMONG THE CREES.-I. 



ONE spring some years ago I was stationed at a post of 

 the Hudson's Bay Company, in tlie Northwestern Ter- 

 ritory, and busily engaged in Indian trading. Opposition 

 was strong and petty fur traders were traveling about in all 

 directions. Early in March I received instructions to choose 

 a man from the fort employees and pass the remainder of the 

 trading season at a certain mountain some eighty miles dis- 

 tant, on the Lower Saskatchewan. Accordingly, having 

 selected my man and everything being in readiness, one 

 stormy evening we started, each driving a team of dogs, 

 with a keen west wind blowing squarely in our faces. On- 

 ward we traveled over lake and portage, spelling about 3 

 A. M. and boiling our copper kettle of tea, with a meal of 

 the inevitable pemmican (at the time the only food used 

 through the North). The poor dogs looked wistfully on, 

 their turn for food coming once only in the twenty-four 

 hours, at the end of the day's journey. 



Pierre, my companion for the spring, was a grizzled old 

 French half-bieed, who had spent a lifetime in the wild 

 regions of the North, and had accompanied one of the over- 

 land expeditions in search of Sir John Franklin; many and 

 eft were the tales he told over the camp-fire. However, at 

 present, he was silent and rather glum, not relishing leaving 

 his comfortable cabin for a stormy March night across 

 country; but at that time I was young and full of zeal for 

 my employers, and thought nothing of hardships to forward 

 their interests. 



Reharnessing our dogs, onward we went, reaching our 

 destination late the next night. Choosing a suitable place for 

 encampment we soon put up our leather tepees, and having 

 stowed our trading goods under cover, were settled down 

 for the spring. 



In a short time I became acquainted with the surrounding 

 Indians, and one of them, a venerable old chief named Yel- 

 low Bear, chose me as his grandson, and I reciprocating his 

 attachment, we became great friends and used to chat by 

 the hour over a cup of tea and a pair of long-stemmed pipes, 

 using the Indian kiliikinick with our tobacco. He had been 

 a mighty moose hunter in his day, and had shot many a 

 noble buck, telling me one time of a narrow escape when a 

 wounded bull moose charging him, knocked him down and 

 stood over him with its hoof raised ; he lay as dead, for upon 

 the first movement the brute would have trampled him with 

 his forefeet. After some time it walked a short distance 

 away, still watching his motionless form and finally went 

 off; the old man, regaining his flintlock gun, reloaded and 

 followed the brute, very soon giving him his quietus with a 

 ball through the heart* I asked him if he was frightened. 

 He said no, not at that time, but once having been on the 

 trail of a moose for three days, eating little or nothing, 

 (not being able to shoot at small game for fear of 

 alarming the deer), he came on the track of 

 Wen-de-qo, which means, translated, Evil Spirit or 

 cannibal. He described it as very awful in appearance, 

 and following it he came on the creature, according to his 

 description of immense stature, with a skeleton body and a 

 black face. Upon his firing at it there came a clap like 

 thunder and the oid man lost consciousness. Coming to 

 after a time he found himself unhurt, but weak and giddy. 

 Similar stories I have often heard from natives in different 

 parts of the North; and I fancy their origin is in the Indians 

 generally exerting himself violently for some time on very 

 scant food and becoming light-headed in consequence. 



We had started on our spring excursion but poorly sup 

 plied with provisions and were getting down to very short 

 commons; the Indians likewise; all hands were anxiously 

 looking for the arrival of the wildfowl. Geese were always 

 the first to appear. Paddling up the river with Pierre one 

 evening I had the good fortune to shoot a large sturgeon, 

 which made a capital addition to our scanty fare. A week 

 elapsed, when to the delight of all the encampment, a flock 

 of geese passed over, and we immediately made stands and 

 setting out our decoys succeeded in bagging five before the 

 close of the day. For the rest of the spring we revelled in 

 abundance of game. 



All this time one or the other of us had been traveling to 

 the different tents of Indians in the neighborhood, and get- 

 ting a goodly share of furs. Some ten miles away a free 

 trader had pitched his camp among what was considered a 

 hard lot of Indians, all of them pagans and great medicine 

 men. They had sent a message stating that there was no 

 use of our visiting them as they had a trader and were going 

 to give him all their hunts. Pierre thought we had better 

 take them at their word; but piqued at their off-hand treat- 

 ment of a company which had often helped them in the hour 

 of need, I determined to see them, and accordingly paddled 

 up one morning, finding them encamped on the bank of a 

 stream. On landing I met with a cool reception. Nothing 

 daunted, however, I sat down and lit my pipe. Most of 

 them were busily engaged feasting on duck eggs, and finally 

 a tall, dignified locking old savage beckoned me to share his 

 repast. The meal finished, I questioned a few of them as to 

 whether they would trade, but was met by a prompt refusal. 

 In despair I finally accosted a rather good-looking squaw and 

 used all my powers of blarney with her, stating that on her 

 next visit to the fort various small presents would come her 

 way, if she would trade only a little. At last, after casting 

 some dubious glances toward a grumpy-looking buck, she 

 went to her tent and returned with ten muskrat skins. Un- 

 packing my goods, I very soon satisfied her on the exchange. 

 This proved only a beginning, for the sight of the glittering 

 wares was too much for poor Lo. Before long, much to my 

 delight and the disgust of the half-breed trader, I had most 

 of the furs in the camp in my possession, with a cordial in- 

 vitation to come again. So much for the powers of blarney. 



Some evenings after this, taking my gun, 1 started toward 

 the mountain which, crowned with firs to its summit, over- 

 hung our camp, while close by a rapid river rushed down its 

 slope and sped on its way to the mighty Saskatchewan. 

 Having shot a rabbit or two, I came on a large bear's track 

 very fresh, and following it cautiously for a short time I 

 caught a glimpse of Master Bruin through some stunted wil- 

 lows. Before I could get a shot he set off at a round pace, 

 and with my heart thumping like a small engine 1 rushed 

 after him, for it was my first bear hunt. I could depend 

 well on my gun, it being what is called in this country dis- 

 tinctly an H, B. gun ; they are all made of one standard, 

 2ti-bore, and rather long and heavy in the barrel, throwing 

 ball like a rifle for 200 yards. Knowing the lay of the 



country, I made for a point where it was likely the bear 

 would pass. And hardly had I thrown myself down when 

 crashing sticks warned me of his rapid approach. He sud- 

 denly came into view, a large brown beast, not over thirty 

 yards distant. Firing rapidly, I struck him in the leg. It 

 seemed only to enrage him, for, after biting at the wounded 

 spot savagely, he rushed straight toward me. Not having 

 had time to reload my barrel, I reserved the other until the 

 muzzle nearly touched his jaws, and pulling the trigger 

 jumped on one side. By the very impetus of his charge he 

 was carried some paces past me, and after a kick or two lay 

 stone dead. So close was he that the powder had scorched 

 his mouth. Rex. 

 A-si-nis koa, Sipi, Oet. 27, 1885. 



[to be continued.] 



DAYS WITH THE BARMECIDE CLUB. 



IX. 



FOUR, eight and a pair, seven are fifteen two, twenty-five, 

 that's a go; thirty-one, four holes — and almost innumer- 

 able variations on the above were played until the monotony 

 of the proceedings became so thick it could have been 

 cut with a club; and it must have been the disgust felt by 

 the rainy day at our unprofitable employment indoors that 

 dislocated its spinal column and buried it in the irrevocable 

 past, while it was succeeded by a day of sunshine which un- 

 locked our doors and again scattered us over lake and brook. 



But a few days more were remaining in which we could 

 practice our gentle art, and the time we improved though it 

 was barren of wonderfully substantial results. But all the 

 same we whipped the riffles and the eddies and the mirror- 

 like stretches on the brook, the ripples and the quiet on the 

 lake; and managed by persistent effort to keep the wolf from 

 the shanty, and we all felt that we had improved our casting 

 to an appreciable extent, and that was idle time not idly 

 spent. 



But then, as has been said a thousand times, "it's not all 

 of fishing to catch fish." The angler knows that fortune is 

 a coquette, an inconsistent goddess, and when with sturdy 

 stride he scatters the dewdrops sparkling on the spider webs, 

 or presses with gentle steps the mossy path that leads him to 

 the lake, he feels that, though he return with an empty creel, 

 there is ample compensation in the cheerful songs which the 

 birds are ringing out in a riot of melody, in the shrill scream 

 of the loon, in the chattering of the saucy bluejay, in the 

 partridge drumming his love beat in some leafy coppice. 

 The merry ripple of the bubbling stream, the radiant sunsets, 

 the wild flowers which jewel the grass and moss, the goodly 

 fragrance of the forest, make care and ill luck stand aloof. 



Though we wooed every ripple with our most seductive 

 casts, yet the fine trout were conspicuous by their absence. 

 There is a wonderful fascination in the uncertainty of ang- 

 ling, and though there was present with us the conscious- 

 ness that it was a will o'-the wisp beckoning us on, we fol- 

 lowed and enjoyed the few finny favors we creeled, increased 

 our avoirdupois and deserved the success we could not com- 

 mand. Still we had the greatest amount of unadulterated 

 sport during these last days, for after no meal were we a 

 trout ahead, and consequently there was not the plague of 

 fishes to admonish us to refrain from further captures, and 

 we were all thankful that we had the good fortune not to 

 catch too many trout and thereby spoil our sport. 



These piscatorial conditions entailed an extra amount of 

 exercise with the rafts, but we were equal to it, and "be 

 mane stringth and arkwardniss" we paddled and poled our 

 clumsy but comfortable old bundle of logs to every promis- 

 ingand unpromising gallon of water in the lake. 



We experimented with an almost endless variety of allure- 

 ments, but neither standard flies nor those nondescripts 

 evolved out of our inner consciousness effected good results, 

 but only tended to confirm our belief that a limited assort- 

 ment of flies selected with due regard to place and season 

 was sufficient, for what few fish came to us came through 

 the medium of our old friends. During these days we had 

 neither forgotten nor neglected Our Lake, as some of us made 

 almost daily trips to it lor the exercise probably, as the fish 

 were very chary of their favors. The two lakes in the im- 

 mediate vicinity of our headquarters were visited, and though 

 they received us with their most gracious smiles, they did not 

 open their hearts. 



George Eliot says, "The happiest women, like the hap- 

 piest nations, have no history;" and so were these last days 

 of our outine uneventful, but full of quiet rest, of comfort 

 and content/'until, according to appointment, the conductor 

 of our team and sledge met us and we prepared for the re- 

 turn trip. The last night was spent in the shanty at Our 

 Lake. We had been pilgrims of pleasure, and though slightly 

 saddened by the consciousness that our pilgrimage must so 

 soon come to an end, for the grim old scythe bearer would not 

 cease his never-varying stroke, we fell asleep to the lullaby 

 of the leaves and the ripples. Millabb. 

 Cheyenne. Wy. 



A QUAINT QUARRY. 



meditative mood. Guy had long been doing so in propria 

 persona, for the place was new to him and he had many 

 strange nooks to explore. I was soon roused from my retro- 

 spection by his .giving tongue, and starting up, I found him 

 intent on almost taking to the water, but without seeing, at 

 first glance, any cause for his undue excitement. Evidently 

 thinking me very stupid and stolid, he looked into my face 

 and again made the air ring with his music. I now saw, 

 about a fathom's length from shore, a large fish rise to an 

 alder catkin afloat on the surface. The water was so deep 

 and so dark that I could not name the fish, but I presume 

 it was a species of dace, once very abundant here. It was 

 amusing to see the dog attempt to step upon the water and 

 to hear his angry voice at being baulked of a firm foothold 

 and a dash at this novel prey. The fish soon disappeared, 

 and so did Guy — to "fresh fields and pastures new," Won- 

 dering, I trow, at his discomfiture, leaving me to moralize a 

 bit and also to wonder if there were now as good fish in 

 the pond as I used to draw thence. I am disposed to doubt 

 the fact, for thoughtless boys and men have made within, 

 as well as out of, the water, and very "small fry," as well as 

 coarse, are only left ' 'to point the moral" and to bear wit- 

 ness to the "changes and chances" which a greedful and 

 selfish age is making in the fair domains of nature. O what 

 heart of grace she has, however, and how bravely she strives 

 to hide man's 'ravages aneath a veil of greenery and broidery 

 of fair flowers! Ever kindly, ever soothing, ever glorious 



and beautiful and buoyant ! 



0. W. R. 



vative and still cleave to my quill), roused my favorite 

 beagle from his post-prandial nap, took 'baccy, hat and stick 

 and went forth a field. 



It was a lovely afternoon of a typical May day— an Eng- 

 lish May— and my thoughts dwelt upon fair English scenes 

 and the "sweet day, so cool, so calm, so bright" of the 

 saintly Herbert and the prose-poetry of dear old Walton, and 

 these, it may be, led my feet to the water rather than to the 

 budding wood. I chose, as I always do, the "cool, se- 

 questered" way to a pond, erstwhile a wonted haunt of mine 

 for bottom fishing and whence I had taken many a goodly 

 perch of a pound weight and more. Circumstances and 

 sentiment have kept me from the place for years and I even 

 began to wonder what changes might be visible in the once 

 secluded and beautiful place. Secluded and beautiful I 

 found it, but evidently more frequented than of yore and a 

 less desirable and promising water for fishing. An old turn- 

 pike divides the pond, and on this "causeway" had been 

 planted, since I last saw it, the ubiquitous and unsightly 

 telegraph poles! I stood aghast and bewailed this flagrant 

 change and untoward evidence of civilization. The pike, 

 even in parts near to villages, had long been in desuetude, 

 and this loveliest portion had been seized upon as a con- 

 venient place over which to hang the wires for the use of a 

 new line of railway contiguous thereto, making a short cut, 

 though marring the beauty of the place. 



I found a hole where I was wont to make a cast, and 

 sat down to burn 'baccy and let my thoughts run riot m 



Address all communications to the Forest and Stream Publish- 

 ing Go. 



THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION. 



THE thirty-fifth meeting of the American Association for 

 the Advancement of Science, will be held at Buffalo, 

 N. Y., from Wednesday morning, Aug. 18, until Tuesday 

 evening, Aug. 24, 1886. 



The headquarters of the Association will be at the High 

 School, and all the offices and meeting rooms will be in that 

 building or in one of the school houses near by. The hotel 

 headquarters will be at the Genesee House. A special circu- 

 lar in relation to railroads, hotels and other matters, has been 

 issued by the Local Committee. In order to take advantage 

 of these arrangements, members who have not received the 

 Local Committee's circular should send for a copy at once. 

 Arrangements for excursions and receptions will be an- 

 nounced by the Local Committee. For all matters pertain- 

 ing to membership, papers and business of the Association, 

 address the permanent secretary at Salem, Mass., up to Aug. 

 12. From Aug. 12 until Sept. 25, his address will be Buffalo, 

 N. Y. 



The officers of Sections D and H have issued special cir- 

 culars relating to the meeting, which can be had by address- 

 ing the respective secretaries. Special information relating 

 to any of the sections will be furnished by their officers. In 

 Section E special attention will be given to the problems 

 connected with the Niagara Falls and its gorge. 



Arrangements have been made by the Local Committee 

 for the proper care and exhibition of instruments and speci- 

 mens, for the details of which and for all other local matters, 

 members should address the local secretary. As many of 

 the railroad companies will require a certificate of member- 

 ship in the Association to be shown on purchasing ticket3 

 lo Buffalo at the reduced rates, a certificate is inclosed in 

 copies of the circular sent to members of the Association. 



The meeting will be called to order in general session at 

 10 A. M., on Wednesday, Aug. 18, in the hall of the High 

 School, by the President, Professor H. A. Newton, of New 

 Haven, who will resign the chair to the President elect, 

 Professor E. 8. Morse, of Salem. After the adjournment of 

 the general session, the sections will organize in their re- 

 spective halls. In the afternoon the sections will meet and 

 the Vice-Presidents will give their addresses. In the evening 

 Professor Newton will give his presidential address. The 

 general sessions and meeting of the sections will be held on 

 the following days, except Saturday and Sunday, until Tues- 

 day night, when the concluding session will take place. 



The following officers were elected last year for the Buffalo 

 meeting: President, Edward S. Morse, of Salem, Mass. 

 Vice-Presidents: A. Mathematics and astronomy — J. W. 

 Gibbs, of New Haven, Conn. B. Physics— C. F. Brackett, 

 of Princeton, N. J. C. Chemistry— H. W. Wiley, of Wash- 

 ington, D. C. D. Mechanical science— O.Chanute, of Kan- 

 sas City, Mo. E. Geology and geography— T. C. Cham- 

 berlain, of Washington, D. C. F Biology — H. P. Bowditch, 

 of Boston, Mass. H. Anthropology— Horatio Hale, of 

 Clinton, Ontario, Canada. I. Economic sciences and statis- 

 tics—Joseph Cummings, of Evanston, 111. Permanent Sec- 

 retary, F. W. Putnam, of Cambridge (office, Salem, Mass.). 

 General Secretary, S. G. Williams, of Ithaca, N. Y. Assist- 

 ant General Secretary, W. H. Pettee, of Ann Arbor, Mich. 

 Secretaries of the sections: A. Mathematics and astronomy 

 — S. C. Chandler, of Cambridge, Mass. B. Physics — H. S. 

 Carhart, of Evanston, 111. C. Chemistry— Wm. MeMurtne, 

 of Champaign, 111. D. Mechanical science— William Kent, 

 of Jersey City, N. J. E. Geology and geography— E. W. 

 Claypole, of Akron, Ohio. F. Biology— J. C. Arthur, of 

 Geneva, N. Y. H. Anthropology— A. W. Butler, of Brook- 

 ville, Ind. I. Economic science and statistics — H. E. Al- 

 vord, of Mountainville, N. Y. Treasurer, William Lilly, 

 of Mauch Chunk. n 



The Entomological Club of the A. A. A. S. will hold its 

 meetings during the week of the Association in the library 

 of the Buffalo Soc. Nat. Sci. The first meeting will be held 

 on Tuesday, August 17, at 2 P. M., and Prof. J. A. Lintner, 

 President of the club, will deliver his address at that time. 

 A special badge will be furnished members of the club at 

 the desk of the local secretary. During the week there will 

 be an excursion to some point of interest, and a reception 

 has been tendered the club by the entomologists of Buffalo. 

 It is very desirable that those entomologists expecting to 

 attend should signify their intention to the secretary of the 

 club who will also furnish any further or additional infor- 

 mation.— John B. Smith, Secretary Entomological Club 

 A A A. S., National Museum, Washington, D. C. 



'The Botanical Club of the A. A. A. S. will hold its meet- 

 ings as usual, during the week of the Association. The 

 first' meeting will take place on Wednesday at 9 A. M. in 

 the room assigned to the biological section. Any botanist or 

 person specially interested in botany, who is a member of 

 the Association and haB registered for the Buffalo meet- 

 ing may become a member of the club by filling out a 



