146 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Sept. 15, 1887. 



A MISSISSIPPI RIVER RESORT. 



NEW BOSTON, 111.— New Boston is one of the oldest 

 and in consequence one of the smallest towns along 

 the Mississippi River. It is 34 miles above Burlington, 

 la., 55 miles below Rock Island, 111,, and Davenport, la. 

 There is an average width of two miles of lowland on 

 either side. The mouth of the Iowa River adds its waters 

 to the Mississippi opposite this place, and the bay known 

 as Sturgeon Bay here meets the river. All this" lowland 

 overflows at times, and forms numerous lakes, sloughs 

 and marshes at all seasons of the year. Our duck shoot- 

 ing opens with the first signs of spring, often before 

 the ice is gone. Mallards are generally the first, and 

 many a good bag of canvasbacks has stopped at this point, 

 followed by teal, both blue and green- winged, with sum- 

 mer ducks, of which a few make their home here. T ,est 

 you class us all as pot-hunters, I will defer mentioning 

 the number killed. Suffice it to say that of those killed 

 none are allowed to spoil. 



Along with the summer come the woodcock and jack 

 snipe, then the teal and later our large ducks again. 



There are many reasons why game abandons certain 

 sections. My experience of thirty years here leads me 

 to believe that when everything is favorable we have just 

 as many ducks as ever, though less geese. I know that 

 some of the oldest river men say that we had more ducks 

 here during our high water of 1881 than they ever saw in 

 as many miles of river, and they only saw those along 

 the river and islands. Of islands there are a good many, 

 and most excellent places for sport they are, too. In that 

 year on either side of the stream it seemed to be one 

 swarming mass of ducks; and how I wished that every- 

 body knew about it and would get out for a day and keep 

 them up. It looked as if there were ducks enough for all 

 then and for all time to come if they could be protected 

 during their breeding season. 



I remember a remark that one of America's best wing- 

 shots made, who comes here regularly, that such papers 

 as the Forest and Stream did more harm than good by 

 publishing all places where game could be found; but I 

 don't agree with him there. I am positive there is a ring 

 which keeps all members posted and makes a business of 

 visiting as many of the best places possible during the 

 open season, and whose motto is secrecy. A stranger 

 inquiring of this invariably meets the wrong man first, 

 and is very apt to take proffered advice. G. R. M. 



Maine Lumber Camps and the Moose.— A corres- 

 pondent who has had unusual opportunities for learning 

 the facts writes of the Maine lumbermen: "In the far- 

 back camps, where big game is abundant, may be found 

 one or more hunters who are harbored, generally with 

 free board, for the sake of having fresh meat provided, 

 and to save the proprietors from the penalties, the hunters 

 are paid $4 per hundred pounds for the dressed meat 

 delivered at the several camps. The hunters set up lines 

 of traps for fur and cover a great extent of territory, 

 reaching far beyond the operations of the lumbermen, 

 where game, especially moose, seek uninterrupted 

 grounds. But in most camps some of the men have rifles 

 and on Sundays go hunting, and a great deal of game is 

 gotten by them, but mostly deer and caribou, especially 

 the latter, as caribou are always on the move. In crust- 

 ing time these men kill many moose also; and I know of 

 proprietors who kill a large share of the meat used in 

 their camps. One of these shot 4 moose, and more thati 

 20 deer and caribou two years ago, most of them out of 

 season. Another shot 6 moose, the same season, in one 

 day. Now I will relate some facts I learned on my last 

 trip this summer. One hunter shot 12 moose, not to 

 speak of deer and caribou; and another man in the same 

 camp shot 3, and of these 15 moose the meat of only 3 was 

 saved. Another hunter shot 8, another 7, and two others 

 4 each. Here are 38 moose shot by 6 men in and about 

 the works of 2 operators only. Now there are a score or 

 more of op rators in country as well stocked with big 

 game as those mentioned. My trips every summer cover 

 territory not visited by sportsmen, ^nd embraces 100 

 miles or more of main streams and small tributaries. I 

 visited 8 camps, and at all of them were seen moose legs, 

 heads and pieces of skins. More than this, I saw and 

 talked with some of these very hunters and men who 

 worked in the lumber camps. Every season till this I 

 have seen live moose nearly every day, while in that sec- 

 tion some days several together; but on this last trip I 

 saw three all told, and not one track to where I used to 

 see dozens. This tells the whole story, and if next win- 

 ter should be as favorable for crusting as the last past, 

 the moose will receive their quietus, or nearly so. From 

 present indications greater operations are planned than 

 those of last season." 



A Wild Rice Project.— Northern and Northwestern 

 Railways, Engineering Department.— Toronto, Sept. 9.— 

 Editor Forest and Stream: In order to increase the 

 quantity of wild rice in many of the very numerous small 

 lakes on the northern portions of these railways, and to 

 introduce it in lakes where at present it is not found, we 

 have decided, if the scheme be practicable, to , sow a 

 quantity in such a manner as to answer our purpose best. 

 I would like to have the experience of your practical 

 correspondents in the following: What time of year would 

 it be best to sow? What depth of water should it be sown 

 in? Should the water be still water? What is the best 

 manner of sowing so as to insure sinkage of the grain 

 without too deep penetration into the mud? What is the 

 best kind of bottom to sow on? What is the most 

 northerly limit south of which wild rice will grow in 

 quantities large enough to answer for duck feed? At 

 present there are not large quantities of rice north of 

 Gravenhurst, and our intention is to encourage the ducks 

 by providing it if we can. Duck shooting through these 

 lakes is very good although rice is not their staple food. 

 — H. Holgate. 



Quail in Florida.— Narcoossee, Fla., Sept. 2.— The 

 promises for quail shooting here this season have been 

 particularly good, and on the opening day, yesterday, we 

 were not disappointed. Mr. Frank Vans Agnew, Mr. F. 

 L. Woodham and myself bagged twenty -five brace; other 

 good bags were also made. The coveys, probably on ac- 

 count of the dry breeding season, are very large, and 

 birds are very strong on the wing. If the unsportsman- 

 like trapper and equally bad potter will leave them alone, 

 we may hope for several more good days. — A. E. Wood- 

 ham. 



Flint-Locks for Africa. — Not many days ago I made 

 a pilgrimage through the vast collection of arms para- 

 phernalia in the store of Wm. Read & Sons, Boston. The 

 zeal of the sportsman and the admiration of the devotee 

 were within me as I looked reverentially upon those 

 almost sacred treasures. All that could awaken enthusi- 

 asm surrounded me, and all that could inspire imagination 

 confronted me. But passing all these, and shutting out 

 of mind resolutely the temptations of the glittering show 

 cases, I fourid as a curious fact that the firm were then 

 filling a large order for military weapons from one of the 

 colonies of Africa, and that by peremptory instruction 

 the modern percussion rifles were all to be altered back 

 to the flint-lock system. The occurrence is almost in- 

 credible in this day. It is enough to startle the advocates 

 of the breechloader and the hammerless and the other 

 forms of progress in this age of wonderful progress. I 

 found the explanation to be that these guns were to be 

 given to the native troops, who would not use other than 

 the flint-lock weapon. Shades of our forefathers ! How 

 it carried my thoughts back to the olden times, to be 

 standing there, under the shadow of Bunker Hill, gazing 

 upon stacks of the flint and the flash pan. We are wont 

 to claim that science and the arts are encompassing the 

 earth with rapid strides, and so undoubtedly they are. 

 But clearly this African field is virgin soil as yet to them. 

 — Gloan. 



Dories for Duck Shooting.— "If the sun rises at five 

 we must all be up and off in our dories before the first 

 gleam of the sun comes dancing over the water,'" said I. 

 "Dories," said the Major, with a somewhat horrified ex- 

 pression on his face, "you don't mean to say that you ex- 

 pect to kill any ducks from one of those "flat-bottomed 

 boats; why the birds can see them a mile away and won't 

 come within a dozen gun shots of you." "By all means 

 I do," I replied. Now let me tell Forest and Stream 

 why a dory is the best to use in ducking on the New 

 England coast. The dory is a boat that is used by all the 

 fishermen on the coast, and the ducks on their passage 

 north become perfectly accustomed to the sight of it, and 

 by the time that they have gotten near enough to dis- 

 cover that the boat contains a sportsman instead of a man 

 with a hook and line, Messieurs the ducks are very likely 

 to feel the effects of an ounce and a half of No. 4 shot. 

 Moreover, even if the dory were twice as conspicuous, 

 the birds would come quite as near, for it is not the sight 

 of a boat at all that causes them fright, but the slightest 

 movement on the part of those who are in it. So in the 

 case of the dory, the sides being higher than those of the 

 ordinary float or keel boat, the sportsman is kept more 

 out of sight. Further, it is easier to land on the beach 

 from a dory in case of a storm. — S. deR. 



An Adirondack Buck.— "Frank Newell, James Clon- 

 ney and C. F. McHenry," says the Binghamton Republi- 

 can, "returned from the North Woods Saturday, where 

 they have spent the past two weeks. Of course they 

 have fish stories to tell, but they have fish too, and Mr. 

 Newell bears the proud distinction of having shot and 

 killed a real live buck. Just how this was done and 

 many other incidents of one of the most enjoyable trips 

 of the season can be heard by engaging any one of the 

 trio in conversation. They also have photographs taken 

 in the woods showing the party in hunting costume, the 

 guide, bis dogs and the dead deer." [We should like to 

 know just how it was done. That photograph of the 

 guide and dogs is suspicious.] 



Ontario.— Dundas, Sept. 8.— Duck shooting began on 

 Sept. 1, last Thursday. As usual there were more gun- 

 ners in the marsh at daybreak than ducks. Some funny 

 incidents are related, including several upsets into the 

 rather solid wetness of the marsh. Two young Hamilton 

 lawyers, who have many times been ducking in the 

 marsh when ducks were more plentiful and their years 

 fewer, spent the whole night on the banks of a pet pond 

 to find when dawn broke that just eighteen guns were 

 there to keep them company. Two ducks showed up 

 before breakfast, but both got away. 



m and ^h er ^inhxng. 



Address all communications to the Forest and Stream Pub. Co. 



Angling Talks. By Geo. Dawson. Price 50 cents. Fly- 

 Rods and Fly-Tackle. By H.P.Wells. Price $2.50. Fly- 

 Fishing and Fly-Making for Trout. By J. H. Keene. 

 Price $1.50. American Anglers' Book. By Thad. Norris. 

 Price $5.50. Sportsman's Gazetteer . By C. Hallock. 

 Price $3. 



THE LARGEST BLACK BASS. 



LENS FALLS, N. Y., Sept. 9.— Editor Forest and 

 J Stream: In your issue of Aug. 25 you publish a 

 communication under the caption "The Largest Black 

 Bass," signed by Mr. A. N. Cheney, of this place. Mr. 

 Cheney refers to three large bass besides the Lake Ronkon- 

 komo fish spoken of by you as the biggest, in your paper 

 of Aug. 18. The claim made by Mr. Cheney is for a fish 

 of 8 Jibs, weight. The files of Forest and Stream con- 

 tain record of one still larger than either under question, 

 and I can vouch for the accuracy of the record. On page 

 91 of Forest and Stream of Aug. 31, 1882, you will find 

 the following: "Enormous Black Bass. — Glens Falls, N. 

 Y., Aug. 25. — Landlord Pardo, of the American House, 

 caught the champion black bass on the 24th. It was 

 23|in. long, 19in. girth, and weighed 8£lbs. It was of the 

 small-mouth species and was taken in Glen Lake, some- 

 times called Long Pond, three miles north of this place, 

 with an 8oz. rod and fine tackle. — F. Joyner." 



Mr. Joyner is the well-known canoe builder of this 

 village, and he was raised in the Adirondack region, and 

 has legitimate claim to authority in fish matters, in which 

 he takes great interest. 



There is not a particle of doubt in my mind as to the 

 truth of the weigh (s given in the recent cases, but my 

 fish was the largest by the record, and while the question 

 is up the matter ought to be set right. Geo. Pardo. 



TROUT AS CLIMBERS. 



NEARLY every one who has been in the part of Coos 

 county immediately north of the White Mountains, 

 or has ridden on the Grand Trunk Railway between Gor- 

 ham and Island Pond, must have noticed two peaks 

 which stand out very conspicuously from the other moun- 

 tains. They are nearly conic .1 in appearance, and are so 

 close together as to look from some points almost like one. 

 They are quite destitute of vegetation for at least one-half 

 of their height, and altogether present so striking an 

 appearance that once seen they are not soon forgotten. 

 These are Percy Peaks. At their eastern base lies Christ- 

 ian Lake, formerly North Pond. Under the new name it 

 is the property of the Percy Summer Club, of which Geo. 

 P. Rovvell, of New York, and Hon. Osinon Ray, of Lan- 

 caster, N. H., are members. 



Although so well known as these peaks are, very few 

 people know that immediately north of them is one of 

 the prettiest brooks in New England, This brook rises 

 in Nash P:nds— three ponds which lie north of the Percy 

 Peaks and ten or twelve miles from the settlements — 

 high among the mountains, where they nestle in their 

 sandy beds perfect gems of the forest. In these ponds 

 monster trout used to live; azid it was not uncommon for 

 those who knew the way to go there and return the next 

 day with all the trout they could bring, and not one of 

 them a small fish, but ranging from fib. to 51bs.; and not 

 once in a while did they go, but many times each sum- 

 mer, and winter too for that matter. Few knew the way, 

 and so jealously was the secret guarded that people be- 

 lieved that the outlet ran under ground for a long way. 

 But when the lumbermen went into that region, it was 

 more fully explored and more people found their way 

 thither, until their fame spread far and wide, and soon 

 the larger trout, the pride of the pond, were gone, and 

 not one was left to keep up the departing glory of those 

 beautiful waters. With nets and setlines, spears and 

 rendrock, in season and out of season, summer and win- 

 ter, on the spawning bed or on the June rise, they were 

 taken until now a trout that will weigh a pound is a rare 

 fish in those waters. Small ones are there now just as 

 plenty, and though an immense amount of fishing has 

 been done there in the last ten years, still the stock is 

 kept good. 



As stated, these ponds are situated high above the sur- 

 rounding country, and many hundred feet above the base 

 of the Percy Peaks, and so there could be but one way for 

 trout first to reach the waters. That way is through 

 the outlet called Nash Pond Brook. This brook, after it 

 leaves the pond runs through a swamp for a few miles, 

 but at last reaches a spur of the peak and comes rushing 

 and roaring down its side like any well-conducted trout 

 brook; but before it can reach a quiet resting place again 

 it has to go over ledges which would prove destructive to 

 anything except water. After a race of a mile or more 

 over and under rough granite boulders, sometimes out of 

 sight but not of hearing, it comes to its first slide, which is 

 down a smooth granite ledge about 75ft. long, and at an 

 angle of 50 degrees, and then it becomes a rushing, noisy 

 brook again, until it takes its last slide and plunge. This 

 is near the foot of the peak, and is not far from the junc- 

 tion of Nash Pond Brook with Nash Stream. The ledge 

 over which the water falls is of granite, and has been 

 worn so smooth by the action of the water that no dirt 

 can collect on it, and it is at all times of perfect color. 

 The great volume of water which in the spring rushes 

 down this brook has carried away all soil from each side 

 of its center for a distance of 10 or 15ft., and has also 

 worn these sides much smoother than they would other- 

 wise have been. This ledge stands at an angle of about 

 40 degrees, and has a perfect face except that there is a 

 small crack running diagonally across it about half way 

 up, but this does not in the least break the descent of the 

 water. The distance from the bottom to the top of this 

 slide lias been variously estimated at from 125ft. to 175ft., 

 but I think that it cinnot be more than 140 or 150ft. The 

 water here as in the fall above is only a few inches deep 

 — I should say not more than 6in. — and always runs in 

 one channel or bed. So smooth does it look in its fall 

 that one could almost imagine it was glass. At the bot- 

 tom of the slide is a nearly level place some 15 or 20ft. 

 long, which is strewn with rough and jagged boulders, 

 among which the water rushes in perfect foam. But 

 here it does not stop, for below is a pool of about 30 or 

 35ft. in diameter — perhaps it is a little longer one way — 

 and into this the water falls with a plunge, clearing the 

 steep wall by about 2ft. at the bottom; and there for a 

 few moments it finds a chance to rest before it begins 

 again its headlong rush down the mountain. This pool 

 is quite deep, and in its shady nooks one can always find 

 a few nice trout. 



I will acknowledge that it does not seem possible that 

 a fish could go up this brook, for in the first place they 

 must leap up over a perpendicular fall of at least 6ft., 

 only to find a mass of foam and seething water for a rest- 

 ing place before it begins its climb of at least 140ft. of 

 swi My moving water, only to find when that point is 

 gained that another climb remains, which is scarcely less 

 difficult than the first. But it is a fact that trout do go 

 up and that quite frequently. 



I have conversed with many fishermen who have fished 

 that brook and have always asked them if they caught 

 any between the falls, and in nearly every case the reply 

 has been in the affirmative. I have caught them in the 

 foaming water above the fall at the foot of the long slide, 

 and after I had caught all I could my friend would catch 

 some more that afternoon or the next day, and on one 

 occasion I saw one jump over this fall and disappear in 

 the foam above. 



The nature of the brook between the two falls is such 

 that trout would not select it as a spawning bed, and I do 

 not think that it would be possible for the spawn to reach 

 maturity there, and such being the case their ranks must 

 have been supplied from below or there would soon be no 

 fish to catch. 



Within a few years a dam has been built at the outlet 

 of the pond on this brook for the purpose of saving the 

 water to help drive out the logs in the main stream, and 

 it is the business of our man to go from the drive up to 

 this dam, a distance of about five miles, and open the 

 gates at such times as the water may be wanted. He has 

 told me and others that when coming back after having 

 raised the gates, he has repeatedly seen fish going up 

 the long falls and hardly ever did they fail to reach the 

 top. 



It is claimed by those men whose business takes them 



