Sept. 30, 1886.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



189 



dive like a full-grown senior of his species, and stay under 

 water as long as he supposed danger was near. In the 

 words of George, "He would pop under water like an eel 

 and then swim like lightuiug!" A very curious hird, 

 surely; and we tried hard to save bini alive in order that 

 the attempt might be made to domesticate him in some 

 duck pond wliere the dc>mestic;itiou of wild waterfowl is 

 being tritJd. A wonderful little bird he was, with not a 

 feather on him — not even a pinfeather. But he was cov- 

 ered with do\vn so thick and soft that not a. drop of water 

 coidd reach his skin, though he Hoak himself in that tem- 

 perance fluid all day. Indeed, there was not force enough 

 to the breath to blow open the thick, fiu'-like down so as 

 to see his body through the aperture thus made. Young 

 and unfledged" though he Avas, he had all the expert diving 

 abilities of a senior great northern diver. 



On the trip to the lake, George sincerely hoped that 

 Annie might hear an owl hoot in the niglil , and Omer 

 admitted that he should be satisfied if Grace could hear 

 the loon's cry, the barking of a fox or the bleating of a 

 fawn. Emma thought she should like to see a bear or a 

 hedgehog. As we returned from fishing at dusk, on the 

 second night of our stay, the doleful and startling notes 

 of a laughing or barred owl suddenly rang out. On the 

 instant George answered him in his own notos. There- 

 mark was made tliat this species of the owl maybe called 

 down very near to the imitator, if he be a good one, and 

 George kept on calling. Soon his owlship began to near 

 the camp, evidently expecting to meet his mate or a male 

 rival. He did not come very near just then, and the 

 calling was abandoned. But the owl was evidently in- 

 terested. His hooting was kept up, much to the delight 

 of the ladies. Soon O'scar, who had quietly been on the 

 watch, came in, with a twinkle in his eye. "He is right 

 up here in a great birch!" The camp is sm-rounded with 

 birch trees, tall and ghostly. It took but a moment for 

 Omer to seize his gim, and before all of us were outside 

 the door there came a report and a thud dnectly on top 

 of the camp. The body quickly slid off the roof, and 

 Mr. Owl was picked up dead. Not so his mate; for that 

 poor bu'd kept up its lone, laughing hoot the most of the 

 night. 



The owl adventure was but the beginning of surprises 

 for the ladies. On the night following Oscar again came 

 in excited. "There is a bear or a deer out here!"' he ex- 

 claimed. Then gi-aljbing a kerosene lamp— a cm-ious 

 weapon with which to figlit a bear, by the way— he rushed 

 into the woods, up hiU, in the rear of the camp. He was 

 followed by George with a candle and Omer with a 

 revolver. The lamp flitted and darted among the trees, 

 when, "Here he is!" came from Oscar. The revolver 

 cracked, and crashing through the brush went the boys, 

 over treetops and brush piles that would have been very 

 difficult of scaling in the daylight. "Here he goes! There 

 goes!" Then "thwack," "thwack" on sometliing. "Oh, 

 I've got hun!" came from the earnest Oscar. The hedg- 

 hog weighed almost a score of pounds. He had been fol- 

 lowed by lamplight over brush and fallen trees a distance 

 of nearly forty rods and killed with a club. With diffi- 

 culty we tlu-eaded our way back to camp. The chimney 

 went off the lamp and the candles went out. Fortunately 

 Oscar had a supply of matches. This was not the last 

 hedgehog adventm-e of the trip. On the second night 

 after, to use the words of Oscar, "I could not sleep ^^Tith 

 that creeter gnawing and rattlin' round, so I got up. The 

 fii-st thing I saw was the axe." To judge by the blow, lie 

 did see the axe. The hedgehog, which distiu'bed his 

 shmibers by gnawing the doorsteps, was cleft almost in 

 twain. 



But the prettiest sight of all did not come under the 

 eyes of tlie ladies, much to the regret of the men of 

 the party. We had wandered up a trout stream, 

 after cros'sing a pond, for into the woods. We had tired 

 of catching small trout, too small to be retained, and 

 throwing them in again and had started for home by a 

 spotted trail, a shorter cut. The sight was all the more 

 curious since we were talking loudly about the trail and 

 some spruce trees where we had been looking for gum. 

 Passing an old spruce top there sprang up, not 10ft. "from 

 the party, a fawn about half gTown. The beautiful 

 little creature tmmed, gave one look, then boimded away. 

 To say we gave chase would express the exertions put in 

 to capture the animal alive but feebly. But the chase 

 was in vain. The spotted creature quickly disapj)eared. 

 No mother doe was seen; but the signs of deer in those 

 woods are as numerous as the marks of sheep in a pasture 

 devoted to their raising. Much of this is due to the en- 

 forcement of good game laws, such as Maine has reason 

 to be proud of. Each one of us had a good view of the 

 Httle deer, a sight hardly to be expected more than once 

 in a lifetime. Somehow the theory of okl hunters and 

 guides and of some writers on tlie deer also, that the mother 

 doe hides her young far from the sight of man has been 

 somewhat weakened in our minds. 



Such was a part Avhat we saw and what we did on our 

 pleasant trouting trij) into the woads only a few days 

 ago, and we leave it to the reader whether we ougJit to 

 have been hajjpy and a satisfied party. Were the ladies 

 brown? Ask them, or better, then friends, who hardly 

 knew them at the railway train on the evening of their 

 retm-n. But there was something better still. Annie 

 went into the woods almost an invalid. For fifteen 

 weeks she had been confined to the house. In fact, her 

 husband hardly knew if she would be able to take the 

 trip at all. But the result was one of the best appetites in 

 the camp and a gain in flesh and spirits that any doctor 

 might well be proud of. For tired nerves, a weary brain 

 or bad digestion, give us the moimtain air, joined with 

 trout fishing, boating, woods adventures and a jolly com- 

 pany in a camp in the wilderness. Special. 



The Page Fly.— Stanley, N. .J., Sept. 25.— Editor 

 Forest and Stream: In the Foeest and Stream, 16th inst., 

 W. K. P., Athens, Pa., requests a, description of the 

 Page fly and wishes to know where it can be obtained. 

 Michael, the famous fly-tyer, for many yea^vs with Andrew 

 Clerk & Co. and later with Abbey & Imbrie, designed it, 

 partly thi-ough my suggestion, about twenty-five years 

 ago, to be used specially in Kangeley waters. Many of 

 my largest ti'out were taken on tliis fly. It has also 

 j)roven very effective in black bass fishing. Abbey & 

 Imbrie and A. G. Spalding & Bro. , of New York, and' H. 

 O. Stanley of Dixfield. Maine, make it. I inclose speci- 

 men.— Geo. Shepakd Page. [The fly is a very pretty 

 one, with a yellow body, red ibis wing and the shouldei'- 

 bar of the wood duek on each side of the ibis]. 



THE HOME OF THE BIG TROUT. 

 I. 



T>ENEATH yon tortDous root that clutches wide 



The o'erlinns hn-uk above the eddying tide- 

 Like talons of some niiglity hird of prey— 

 The jnoriarcli of tlic river holds his sway. 

 A fatlioin deoji of shade and solitude, 

 Enwrentbed and over-archod with root-cIaw8 rude, 

 Serene, impregnahle— he views afar , 

 The shimnieriag sunheam or the elemental war. 



II. 



The spear of poacher or the fiBhor'a lure 

 Appals not him—his fastness is secure; 

 And when fhc fleeing shoal of frightened fry 

 In frantic liaste from danger hurry by. 

 Like the liigh Oods beyond the clouds and strife 

 And swift alarms that cloy a lesser life, 

 He dwells In his deep fortress, void of harm, 

 An autocrat, untameable, and proud, and calm. 



in. 



But as the glowing, charioted King 

 Of Day declines, in splendor westering; 

 And the soft-plumed moths, amid the gloom, 

 Swarm on their downy wings, forth from his home 

 He sails the darkling stream, ambrosial food 

 To gather fi'om llie myriad fluttering brood. 

 Hark! to his s\vift spring on the floating fly 

 That rings sharp-sounding 'neath the silent starlit sky. 

 IV. 



And now, alone, oh angler, canst thy wile 



The dweller of that fortress fast beguile. 



Strong he thy rod, and strong thy silken line. 



Firm ho thy nerve— strength in all things combine. 



And if the piercing steel his bony jaw 



Imprison fast, allo^v thy prey no law; 



'Tis peek 'gainst peek— no quarter— to the death! 



The monarch trout yields not to aught of meaner faith. 



J. H-AnKINOTON Kbbnb. 



FISHING IN ALASKA. 



THE islands of southeastern Alaska aboitnd in trout 

 streams. By following up many of them, from 

 where they empt}^ into salt water, one often discovers 

 small lakes nestling in tlie bowl-shaped depressions among 

 the mountains. These lakes are fed by streams from the 

 melting snows on the mountain tops. The land is for the 

 most part higli and the streams are swift, the obstructions 

 in their channels forming rapids and waterfalls, near 

 which it is customary to find deep, dark pools, where the 

 big trout are usually captured. 



In this letter I shall tell about Naha and what we saw 

 there last year. It is on ReviUagigedo Island, near the 

 upper end of Behm Canal, and is a station of the North- 

 western Trading and Fishing Company. Through some 

 misdirected influence the name of this place has been 

 changed to Loring, and it is so known in the post office 



directory. In like manner the Haidah settlement, on the 

 southern extremity of Pi-ince of Wales Island, has been 

 changed from Howkan to Jackson, after the king mis- 

 sionary of Alaska. It should be the duty of every one to 

 studiously avoid the use of such names whenever it is 

 possible to do so. 



Naha possesses pectdiar natural advantages as a fishing 

 station, which I stall endeavor to make clear with the 

 help of the accompanying topographical outline. From 

 the outer bay an arm of the sea runs inland about a mile, 

 with high land on either side. At its head this arm bends 

 at right angle and communicates with a salt-water lake. 

 Tins lake is the interesting f eatm-e of the region. Its out- 

 let is conti-acted to about fifteen to twenty feet wide, and 

 is so obstrticted with rocks tliat at ebb tide the water 

 stands higher in the lake than in the arm, and conse- 

 quently there is a waterfall at the outlet mnning seaward. 

 When the tide is rumiing flood the water banks up in 

 ai-m, the level of the lake is lower than the outside water, 

 and the rapids are tmmed inward toward the lake. The 

 trading and fishing company have erected a packing 

 house over the rapids and haul then seines in the lake, 

 where the salmon accumulate in great numbers. The 

 way the salmon swarmed in 1885 in the fresh-water 

 stream that empties into the head of this lake was one of 

 the great sights of nature. Dming the active seining 

 season the mouth of the river is obstructed by a wire trap 

 held to the shores by a wne fence. This trap could be 

 raised and lowered at will. I am going to tell no "fish 

 story," though what I am about to relate has more than 

 once provoked an incredulous smile from those to whom 

 it was told. 



We visited Naha twice. First in the middle of July, 

 when the trap was down and there were no salmon in the 

 stream. At that time I ascended the river by wading 

 about a mile, and fished for trout at the foot of a water- 

 fall about 8ft. high.* The second visit w-as a month later. 

 The trap was then raised, and the river was full of 

 salmon. The word full must be accepted almost literally. 

 A few yards from the foot of the falls the bed of the 

 stream is narrowed to abotit 20ft. vnde and the water 

 deepens to 5 or 6ft. Lower down it is broad and shallow, 

 and can be waded. At the foot of the falls, and for some 

 distance below, the salmon were packed so densely that 

 the water was awork with them. Their dorsal fins and 

 backs protruded from the water, and the progress of our 

 canoe was materially impeded as we paddled through 

 them. The piurpose of our visit was to fish for trout in 

 the river above the falls, but the efforts of the salmon to 

 sm'motmt tins obstruction were so interesting that we sat 



* E. A. Scidmore, in her book on southeastern Alaska, gives this 

 fall a height of 40ft. 



down on the rocks and watched them for a long time. 

 The fish were leaping from the water and falling back 

 into it all the time; many were in the an at the same 

 time. Where the body of the water is thick enotigh and 

 not too vertical in its fall, a salmon can propel itself 

 along it for several feet by its great muscular strength. 

 I have seen this done; but it was not possible here, owing 

 to the projecting rocks that broke the cohmtn of water. 

 Occasionally one would fall into a pool behind some pro- 

 jecting ledge, and from there, as a vantage ground, after 

 resting a while, would endeavor to overcome the re- 

 mainder of the height. Once in a while one would 

 succeed, but oftener it wotdd be washed back by the 

 rushing water, after having almost gained the top. I 

 think I may safely say, that not more than one in a 

 thousand succeeded in getting into the smooth water 

 above. Cut and bruised by the rocks, exhausted unto 

 death by their violent exertion, and smothered in the 

 jam, the great mass of them succumbed to the struggle, 

 or returned to the sea whence they came, and where they 

 are lost to human knowledge until their next annual 

 migration. The shores below were strewn with their 

 carcasses to the mouth of the river, and all around the 

 shores of the lake they lay, sickening the air with their 

 decay. On one piece of llat river shore they were piled 

 one upon another for twenty feet beyond the" edge of the 

 water. The water had fallen and left them there. The 

 Avire fence holding tJie tra,p to the IjanJfs at the mouth 

 was brolfen down by the weight of the dead mass drifting 

 against it. In addition to these which we saw great 

 numbers must have been carried away to sea by the cur- 

 rent and tide. The bears and eagles feed a.nd grow fat 

 upon the living, and the ra vens and gulls upon the dead. 

 I dwell upon the slaughter here, because I wish to empha- 

 size tlie great prodigality of nature. All this sacrifice of 

 life is caused oy the blind instinct, which impells these 

 fish to seek the sources of fresh- water streams to deposit 

 their ova. Such sights as we witnessed have probably 

 been repeated from time immemorial, yet every year 

 sufficient numbers get above the falls to produce the 

 swarms that come into the lake annually. I reason on 

 the supposition that only those fish return to a stream 

 that have been hatched at its source. When we see how 

 few are necessary to produce the many, and how 

 thorotighly exhausted are our eastern streams, we can 

 appreciate how more complete are the devices of man 

 than those of nature in the depopulation of the rivers. 

 The season of 1885 was very diy, and the river was very 

 low, and it is possible that in a wet season the salmon may 

 have less difficulty in overcoming the falls. 



After tiring at the sight of their struggles we caught 

 several of the salmon by simply plungmg om* arms in the 

 water and lifting them out. With the roe thus obtained 

 we climbed above the falls and fished for trout. The 

 water was still and we could not induce them to rise to 

 the fly. Three of us caught, in about two homs, fifty a8 

 pretty trout, weighing from f to 21bs. each, as we ever 

 caiTied back to the ship. They were pretty to look upon, 

 but were not gamy; they invariably succumbed after a 

 very short struggle for liberty. We captured at the same 

 time several fish closely resembling the Eastern brook 

 trout, if they were not 'identical with it. It is possible 

 that they Avere sea ti-out that had gotten over the falls 

 where so many salmon had failed; but they presented 

 several noticeable differences. For instance, they were 

 slender and of more gTaceful outline, and the spots were 

 a more vivid red, but the marks that attracted my atten- 

 tion more than any other were the lines of color, black and 

 whiteonthe pectoral,ventral and anal fins. Ihave noticed 

 only the white line on the fins of the sea trout. I captured 

 trout with similar markings at one other locality, on Prince 

 of Wales Island in a little stream emptying into wdiat is 

 called Niblack Anchorage, on the north side of Moira 

 Sound. There is a waterfall a few rods from the mouth 

 of the stream, which has a vertical fall of at least fifteen 

 feet, and the trout were caught in the water above the fall 

 in the first week of July. I met Mr. Charles Hallock when 

 he visited southeastern Alaska last summer, and dminga 

 conversation with him I mentioned these trout. He con- 

 sidered it not improbable that they might be identical 

 with the Eastern species, especially when" I told him that 

 I had killed the Canada grouse in the same region; "for," 

 he said, "they seem to go together in their distribution." 



To give another instance of the pommingling of the life 

 of the two sides of the continent at abotit these latitudes, 

 I will mention how surprised I was to find the dainty 

 little twin-flower {Linnea borealis) growing abundantly 

 on the islands of the Prince of Wales Archipelago. I 

 first became acquainted with this flower in 1877, in the 

 vicinity of Halifax, Nova Scotia, where it was growing 

 side by side with the dwarf Cornus canadensis. Here I 

 found them similarly associated. The red-berried elder 

 {Samhuctis piibens), and the Northeastern species of sun- 

 dews and butterworts are likewise common plants on the 

 Northwestern coast. Such cases might be multiplied 

 both from the animal and vegetable kingdom. T. H. S. 

 WitANGELii Stbait, Sept. 3, 1886. 



The Nipissing Eegion.— One does not ordinarily "give 

 away" a good thing when he has discovered it, but when 

 he has found more of a good thing than he can use, it 

 seems selfish not to tell "the other fellows. That is my 

 case. The good thing is a land where deer and bear are 

 abundant, where there is a good chance to get a moose, 

 where black bass are just waiting to take the first fly 

 which is thrown to them. The place is the Nipissing 

 region, Ontario. I have been there twice, and know 

 whereof I affirm. Go to Toronto, then by rail on a new 

 road, which has just been opened from the upper end of 

 the Muskoka Lakes to Lake Nipissing, get off at Com- 

 manda and take to the woods. Before you go, write to 

 Thomas Smith, Restoul, Ontario, and ask hi'm to meet 

 you where the beasties are. Then, if you don't kill all 

 you want, it will be because you don't know how, and in 

 that case Tom will kill them for you, and you need not 

 mention that fact when you show the heads to your 

 friends.— S. D. McC. 



Paper Cases for Rods.— Post Mills, Vt., Sept. 30.— I 

 notice in the Forest and Stream of Sept. 16 an article 

 by ' 'Fly Rod" which speaks of a paper cartoon as being 

 the best to keep rods in in winter. Can "Fly Rod" tell 

 me where, when and by whom such patent was taken 

 out on these rolls, as I entered an ap]3hcation for a patent 



' early in '82 for these cartoon rod cases and have been 

 using them off and on ever since, and to-day I use them 



' in mailing fishing Rods.— Thos. H. Chubb. 



