242 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Oct. 21, 1886. 



^^^^ Mp^^^^W^ ^onmt 



Addresss all communications to the Forest and Stream Pxib. Co. 



SAM LOVEL'S CAMPS.— IX. 



RADIANT in the light of the camp-fire they found 

 Antoine rejoicing over a baker's dozen of bnllpouts, 

 which he was about skinning. The dressing of these fish 

 was a revelation to Sam and Pelatiah, who had never 

 before seen it done. One cut of the knife forward from 

 behind the sharp-spined dorsal, a ri-p down the back, a 

 snap of the backbone attended by a pistol-like pop of the 

 bui'sting air bladder, and the fish was stripped, beheaded 

 and disemboweled by another motion with a suddenness 

 that made it and these two observers gap with astordsh- 

 . ment. 



Jimmy, after looking on a short time, drew forth and 

 opened his knife, and after carefully licking from the 

 blade the gimimy morsels of tobacco adhering to it, sharp- 

 ened it on his boot and picked up a bullhead, which, with 

 more cuts and a little less speed than Antoine used, he rid 

 of its incumbrances of big head, skin and entrails to the 

 saving of some meat. 



"Saves a mou'f'l er tew o' good meat," he remarked, dis- 

 playing the dressed fish a moment before he cast it into 

 the pan with the others. Then wiping his knife on the 

 gi-ound, he shut it, returned it to his pocket, grunted and 

 lapsed into his normal silence and slow rumination, 

 making no response to Antoine's comment, "Ma way save 

 tam, bah gosh, an' tam was worse more as meats. Mans 

 dat know say tam was money, an' paoun' of money worse 

 more as paoun' of meats, don't it, hein?'" 



When they adjourned to the scow to divide the night's 

 catch of the spear, Antoine could not repress his admira- 

 tion of the fine pickerel, and, more than all else, of the 

 great turtle. ' 'Here, Peasoup," said Joe, bearing it ashore, 

 where it landed right side up and began an aimless jour- 

 ney, perhaps in search of its head, "yer pardner says you 

 eat these 'ei"e overgrowed bugs. 'F you want it, take it." 



"Oh, bah gosh!" cried Antoine, heading olf the ponder- 

 ous present, if a headless tiling can be headed off, and 

 hastening to tether it with a cord to a bush, "Ah'U veree 

 tousan' tam ob-laige to you seh! More as Ah can tol of it. 

 Ah'U took dat home an'' fat up all my waf an' chillens vrid 

 him, you see 'f Airll don't, Sam." 



It was noticeable that while Joe treated Sam with a 

 rude deference and respect, toward Antoine he bore 

 himself with a half contemptuous condescension hardly 

 comporting with the mein of the conquered in the presence 

 of the conqueror, but when then- visitors had departed 

 Antoine said with a grin of great width and satisfaction, 

 "Ant you'll see haow good dat man's 'have itsef every sin 

 Ah'll luk it? Dat was de way for mek hugly mans be 

 good, you betteh b'liev so, bah gosh." 



The next morning's round proved the spring crop of 

 muskrats so nearly exhaused that the traps were forth- 

 with taken up and strung in rusty dozens for transporta- 

 tion, and the disused taUy-sticks went drifting away to 

 conti'ibute their mite of driftwood to various shores. 



Late in the afternoon, wliile Antoine's comrades were 

 assisting him in the final vivisection of the turtle, a team 

 of horses came in sight hauling a lumbering wagon slowly 

 across the fields toward the further shore of the Slang. 



"Hello!" cried Sam, "there comes aour baggidge wag- 

 gin. Who is 't a drivin'? Jozeff Hill, I guess, b' the 

 dumplin' shape on him, an' the way he jounces 'raoimd 

 on the seat, toes jest techin' the waggin bottom. Yes, 

 that's Jozeff," after an intent consideration of the ap- 

 proaching teamster, who presently could be heard bump- 

 mg out snatches of timeless song mixed with broken 

 words of encom-agement and reproof to his team, as they 

 passed across the rough field. 



"Odn Maadnsfield Maounting onct didn ndwell-ell, 

 N-a likeli yoii-ugh-tli I-ee knowed full well-n, 



"Git up, oF mare! 



"CiiT-d-nei Maaryit's onli sodn, 

 N-a-a-aliaout tlie aage of twednti-wodn-n-n. 



"Go 'long, Jim, why don't ye, con-ugh-sarn yer ol' pic- 

 tur'! er be ye goia t' other way, you ol' snugent o' the 

 de-sarts!" 



Sam went over in the dugout to meet him and helped 

 him to imharness the horses and shelter and feed them in 

 the shed of an untenanted barn that stood in the middle 

 of the field. Arz-iving at camp Joseph was cordially wel- 

 comed by the others, and soon began to unladen himself 

 of his burden of neighborhood news, to hear which now 

 would remind one of the items of a country paper of to- 

 day. While his late dinner was cooking, and while he 

 ate with full enjoyment the fried pickerel, he told them 

 that it had been "a good sugarin' year— just chop— wal, 

 more 'n midellin, anyway," and undertook to tell how 

 many pounds each neighbor had made, though as usual 

 he was never quite sure which neighbor it was, nor of 

 the number of i)ounds. Also, that "Hanner Ann Jones er 

 her sister Huldy Jane was a-goin' to teach in their dees- 

 trick this summer; that Joel Bartlett an' 'mongst 'em seen 

 a bear up on the side o' Hang's Back — big one er httle one, 

 didn't know, but they seen tew — 'n' Joel, he was a-gittin' 

 ready to fix up his haouse— er mebby 'twas Ms bam — 'n' 

 they was a-buildin' tew er three new haouses for the 

 workmen to the forges — goin' to du hell an' all, er more, 

 to the forges this summer, f er iron had riz, er was a-goin' 

 ter. His father's rheumatiz was wus— didn't know as 

 they was raly vros, but he was a-suff erin' more pain with 

 'em, seem 's 'ough, 'n' he hedn't no gret of an ap'tite t' 

 eat much. 01 Mist" Pm-'nton he was toU'ble well this 

 spring, an' Mis' Pur'nton she was smarter 'n a crickit, 'n' 

 the hull fam'ly wus well, he b'lieved, though mabby some 

 o' the younger feemale portion was a-gittin' sor' er lunsome 

 —like 'nough, he didn't know." Then wagging his head 

 toward Pelatiah without taking his eyes from the not 

 quite unfleshed bones of the bit of pickerel in his hand, 

 "Peltier's folks is weU, I b'lieve, though they be gittin' 

 sorter oneasy 'baout his not comin' back hum; guess they 

 kinder need him 'baout spring's work— do' know 's they 

 zactly need him, but they kinder want him, er think 

 mabby he might 's well be t' hum, naow, er putty soon; 

 'n' Antwin's folks an' young uns is well an' hearty, an' 

 was a poUy voorin' like all git aout when I come along 

 past airly this mornin', I think they was, mabby 'twas 

 the frawgs a-bellerin' ov' t' the pavmd, but frawgs hain't 

 a-bellerin' naow, I ^ess 'twas Antwine's family a-polly 

 voorin'." 



Then when he was relieved of the chief weight of his 

 gossip, he had as great a burden of questions to unload, 

 concerning the luck and adventures of the trappers, and 

 more things than they had seen or heard of. 



As evening drew on they all began to gather a pile of 

 wood to illuminate that night's buUpout fishing, which 

 was to be the great final event of this spring's camp life. 

 Antoine had provided plenty of bait and the angling out- 

 fit for his friends after the approved fashion of his own, 

 except that possibly some of the poles were straighter than 

 his, and at dusk they lighted their fire and began fishing. 

 The fish were plenty and blessed or cursed with good ap- 

 petites, and one after another with a sluggish, stubborn, 

 downright pull for life and freedom, was torn from its 

 watery hold and came walloping and 

 creaking to land. To Sam, Joseph and 

 Pelatiah the unhooking of one was at 

 first a rather perilous feat, and Pelatiah 

 gave a bellow of pain when his finger 

 was impaled by the horn of his first 

 fish. "You wan't caffle, Peltiet," said 

 Antoine, as the young fellow came to 

 the fire, by turns sucking and inspect- 

 ing the injured finger, "dem buUpawt 

 he's bit pooty hard wid hees horn, Ah 

 tol you! Touch hoi' of it jus' sam' lak 

 Ah do, you t'umb an' fingler 'hind hees side horn, you 

 palm you hand of it 'fore hees top horn— so. Den squeezle 

 Iieem, haard!" and they all soon got the knack of it after 

 the added lesson of some sorely punctured hands. 



The generously fed fire sent up great tongues of flame 

 licking at the gloom and showered an upward rain of 

 sparks into the branches that waved and tossed in the 

 rising currents of warmed air. Across its dusky-edged 

 circle of light, as the fishermen went to and fro, fell 

 elongated shadows of legs, here joined to the gloom as if 

 that was some enormous beast of undefined ponderous 

 form noiselessly circling about the fire, there stretching 

 from where the distorted, shadowy bodies flitted like 

 gigantic goblins among the spectral boles of great trees. 

 On the water side the poles and lines were defined 

 against the darkness with seeming unreality, as if they 

 were the angling gear of piscatorial ghosts, and when a 

 plunging bait and sinker, or a writhing outdrawn fish 

 broke the water and wavering skimmers of reflected Mght 

 started forth and vanished in the blank silence, it was as 

 if they had broken on the intangible shores of the land of 

 gliosts. But by the cheerful, living fire there was life 

 enough, and such sport as satisfied these jolly but most 

 unscientific anglers. 



By midnight they had sport and bullheads enough to 

 have satisfied greedier men than they were, and Antoine's 

 highest ho]pes were realized in the catching of a great eel. 

 To have heard him cm-se and vituperate the mif ortunate 

 fish while he was unhooking it, one would hardly think 

 he valued it so much. "Oh, bah daamn you to danina- 

 shin, you hugly hoi' daam snakes! What for you ant bed 

 steel an' let me steek you 'tween de necks', hein, you 

 slaamy hoi' coss? You'll ant fit for be decent, bay gosh 

 all feesh hook! Saay, you'll goin' be dead littly, naow, 

 saay, bah damn you?" 



When he had 'stamped and stabbed it into a quiet ac- 

 ceptance of fate, then with a sigh of satisfaction, "Bah 

 gosh! if ma woman don't happy tomorroh naght wen he'U 

 got hees husbin come home an' brought it buUpawt, an' 

 mud turkey, an' heel, bah gosh, it don't no uses for try 

 mek it happy in dis worl." 



Next morning the sleepy occupants of the shanty awoke 

 late, and even while Antoine was cooking the appetizing 

 breakfast of fish, the others bestirred themselves in mak- 

 ing ready for departure. And when the breakfast had 

 been made speedy way v^dth, the canoes began to pass 

 across the Slang -with cargoes of peltry and camp gear. 

 By the middle of the forenoon the boats had made their 

 last trips, and with the baggage were snugly stored on 

 board the wagon, the horses were hitched on and the 

 homeward journey began. All but Joseph Hill, who 

 drove, trudged beside and behind the load through the 

 greening fields that lay between the Slang and the high- 

 way. They were not very joUy as they set their faces 

 toward their native hills, for who ever left a camp where 

 few or many happy hours have been spent without a 

 touch of regretful sadness? Even the hound seemed 

 touched with this feeling, and sent wistful glances back- 

 ward as he ranged the fields and snuffed the faint odors of 

 last night's fox trails. As Sam cast a last look on the 

 spot that had been his home for a month, a bittern's boom- 

 ing and the lazy quack of a dusky duck came from afar 

 across the hazy marshes hke friendly farewells, and the 

 samp squirrel chattered from his favorite hemlock a not 

 unkindly adieu. A wreath of smoke fluttered away from 

 the dying camp-fire like a gauzy flag lowered and trail- 

 ing on the ground. 



Not many days passed before mink and skunk and 

 woodchuck began boldly to visit the deserted shanty, and 

 mouse and chipmimk took up their abode in it. Moss 

 and lichens began to grow on the slowly rotting roof, 

 blades of grass and weeds sprang up among the brands 

 and ashes of the fireplace, and growth and decay began 

 to obhterate the traces of human occupancy. 



tube, then they would stop the escape of air by means 

 of a wooden clamp made something on the prin- 

 ciple of a lemon-squeezer or bullet mould, consisting 

 of two pieces of wood with a hinge at one end and a 

 hook to fasten it at the other. When ready they would 

 place the sack over their right shoulder, and forming 

 the strap into a loop of the desired length, would pass 

 one strap down the back and the other over the chest, 

 abdomen and down the other side af the right leg, plant- 

 ing the hoUow of the foot in the loop, the straps being 

 just of sufficient length to cause them to stand in a 

 slightly stooping attitude. Having charged the tube with 

 a short dart, or a peUet of hardened clay with a tuft of 

 gobvnch at one end, they were ready to dischai-ge the 



TRAVELS IN BOON GAH ARRAHBIGGEE 



FBOM TSE diary OF JOSEPH GOATEE. 

 T5DITBD BT V. H. TEMPLE BBLLBAV. 



(Continued.) 



WITH venison from the axis, and the meat of pod rab- 

 bits, kangaroos and the jerboa, which we found in 

 abundance, together with winged game, water fowl and 

 fish of various kinds, our table was profusely and luxuri- 

 ously supplied. The small ^ame we killed in various 

 ways, sometimes with the bingee, sometimes with the 

 bow and arrow, the use of which by the way I taught, 

 they being strange to say, whoUy ignorant of tliat primi- 

 tive and universal weapon, and oftener with a marvellous 

 native weapon, the like of which I have never seen else- 

 where. This instrument consisted of a large bag made 

 of an elastic gum closely resembhng India iubber, crossed 

 and recrossed with fibres of the gobwich to give it strength. 

 To this bag was attached a flexible tube and to the end of 

 that again a reed tube of about four or five feet in length. 

 On the top of the bag was a kind of saddle from which, 

 in place of stirrups, depended two long straps that could 

 be fastened together at the ends, so forming a loop. This 

 bag the natives would inflate with air to the full ex- 

 tent of its elasticity by blovdng through the reed 



NATIVE PREPARING TO DISCHARGE THE FOUFAH. 



THE FOUFAH. 



piece. With the right hand holding and aiming the reed 

 bairel, and the left hand on the clamp or trigger ready to 

 release it and so allow the escape of air, the marksman 

 would straighten himself up with all his strength. This 

 would bring the strap to a great state of tension, and at 

 the same time cause a pressure of from 150 to 2001be. to 

 iDear on the aheady distended air reservon or bag. This 

 combined pressiure naturally forced the air, when re- 

 leased, with great power through the tube, proi)eIling the 

 missile (pellet or dart) with immense velocity. This 



FAC-SIMLE FROM J. GOATER'S NOTEBOOK. 



weapon would readily kill small game at 200ft., and carry 

 effectively 300. The natives use tliis with great skill 

 and rapidity, getting three shots out of one charge of air. 



Besides this instrument these people use the simple 

 blow pipe in the same manner as do the natives of South 

 America. 



They often employ their air gun or Foufah, as they caU 

 it, to shoot fish when basking near the surface of the 

 water, in which case they have a small detachable cork, 

 containing a fine line of the gobwich coiled up inside, at- 

 tached to the dart, which disengages itself when the fish 

 is struck and marks its com-se. This is something hke 

 whale flshing on a small scale, and is rare sport, large fish 

 being captured in this way. I have myself caught speci- 

 mens of the mongaboo, weighing over lOOlbs., in this 

 manner— a vicious, wily game fish that will rarely take 

 the hook. 



