July 4, 1889.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



487 



west longitude; thence from the intersection of that meridian 

 in a southwesterly direction, so as to pass midway between the 

 Island of Ottou and the Copper Island of the Kouiandorski couplet, 

 or group, in the North Pacific Ocean, to the meridian of 193° west 

 longitude, bq as ro include in the Territory conveyed ihe whole of 

 the Aleutian Islands east cf that meridian," 



The United States Treasury Department in a letter 

 written by Mr. H, F. French, Acting Secretary, took the 

 ground in 1881 that all water within the boundary as 

 thus defined belonged to the United States. After refer- 

 ring to the definite n of the boundary given above, Mr. 

 French says: "All the waters within that boundary to 

 the western end of the Aleutian Archipelago aud chain 

 of islands are considered as comprised within the waters 

 of Alaska Territory;" and further, "all the penalties 

 prescribed by law against the killing of fur-beaiing 

 animals would therefore attach against any violation of 

 law within the limits before described." In March, 188(5, 

 Hon. Daniel Manning, Secretary of the Treasury, again 

 called the attention of the Collector of Customs at San 

 Francisco to this subject, and confirmed the construction 

 placed by the Department on the extent of the United 

 States jurisdiction in these water.-'. 



A result of Mr. Manning's letter was the seizure of 

 several Canadian sealing schooners. Their captains 

 were arrested and in several cases taken to Sitka, tried, 

 convicted, lined and imprisoned, while their cargoes 

 were confiscated. 



On the trial of the mast- r and mate of the schooner 

 Thornton in August. 18S6, held at Sitka, Alaska, before 

 the United States Court, Judge Dawson presiding, is 

 reported to have repeated the language used by Mr. 

 French : "All waters within the boundary set forth in this 

 treaty to the western end of the Aleutian Archipelago 

 and chain of islands are to be considered as comprised 

 within the waters of Alaska, and all penalties prescribed 

 by law for the kill mg of fur- bearing animals must, there- 

 fore, attach against any violation of law within the 

 limits before described, "~ 



The Canadian Government protested against the seizure 

 of the sealing schooners by the United States revenue 

 cutters, the imprisonment and fining of the masters and 

 the confiscation of property, and the rights of the matter 

 have never yet been determined. 



In seizing the Canadian fishing schooners in 18S6 and 

 18S7, although they were captured at a distance of 60 

 or 70 miles from land, the Government acted as if these 

 waters belonged to the United States. It protected its 

 tenant, the Alaska Commercial Company, and enforced 

 the law as laid down in the Revised Statutes. The inter- 

 est of the United States in the open waters of Bering 

 Sea is limited to the seal fishery, and it is to be hoped 

 that the Government will insist upon protecting these 

 valuable interests. If this is not done we must submit 

 to see an important source of revenue taken from us, a 

 possession of great value made worthless, our seal fish- 

 eries destroyed, and a valuable mammal exterminated. 



G. B. G. 



ttsnjm ^onmt 



TO ALLAGUASH LAKE AND BEYOND. 



[Concluded from Page l£6^ 



NEAR the southern extremity of Allaguash Lake, from 

 the summit of a steep hill some 500ft. above the 

 lake, we looked over the country to the east, south and 

 west for a great distance. Below lay the forest, tinted 

 with autumn colors, the red, yellow* and brown of the 

 hardwood trees blending with the light green of the 

 poplar and darker shades of hemlock. So thickly are the 

 treetops crowding to the light in these wild woods no 

 breaks appear, and as with a. great carpet of rich pattern 

 are the hills and valleys spread. Eighteen lakes may be 

 plainly seen, and in all the vast expanse only one house, 

 t hat at Chamberlain Lake. To the east looms majestic 

 Xatahdin, his crest white with snow, south far away is 

 Kiueo marking the center of Moosehead Lake; west are 

 the mountains whose waters are gathered by the little 

 streams that form the West Branch of the Penobscot. 

 All these may the eye compass in the clear autumn air. 

 Men follow the water courses and trails, and camp beside 

 the larger lakes and grounds, yet much of the surface of 

 this wilderness through swamp and on mountain is never 

 trodden save by the wild animals that roam at will. 

 "Who can doubt that somewhere in these wilds are ponds 

 to which the moose and deer come to slake their thirst, 

 where no rifle's sharp report has ever echoed, along the 

 shore, where trout in generous plenty live in waters never 

 rippled by the sportsman's fly? 



The maps show two small ponds due north from Alla- 

 guash Lake, the nearest apparently one-half mile dis- 

 tant, the other just beyond and pouring its waters into 

 the first. We devoted a day to visiting these ponds. 

 After going a short distance into the woods, keeping a 

 north course by compas, we found a spotted line, which 

 we followed till it crossed the stream flowing from the 

 nearest pond. Here we left the line and followed the 

 stream to the pond, a distance from Allaguash Lake of 

 two or three miles. The appearance of the shores indi- 

 cated that it had been a favorite resort for moose and 

 caribou during the warm weather. On one side of the 

 pond was a small open bog much cut up by caribou, and 

 lying just off this bog in the woods was a dead caribou 

 calf. A bullet hole through the shoulder told the cause 

 of her death. This was evidently the work of our trapper 

 guest. As none of, the meat had been taken it seemed 

 apparent that the wretch had killed the beautiful young- 

 creature in pure wantonne*s. Truly we entertained no 

 angel unawares at our camp that night on the banks of the 

 Allaguash. When we first looked out on this pond many 

 black ducks were feeding in groups over its shallow parts. 

 They were wild and suspicious, as if accustomed to the 

 sight of hunters. The black ducks are just as wild in 

 the remotest of Maine lakes as along our settled coast. 

 Not so with the partridges (ruffed grouse). The partridge 

 in the wilderness is entirely different from his kindred 

 in Massachusetts or Connecticut. As found in the back- 

 woods of Maine he is very tame, rarely flying away when 

 flushed, but seeking the first convenient log or tree, 

 where a few feet from the ground he feels secure in 

 allowing the hunter to approach within 30 or 40ft. 

 Should the first shot fail to secure him, a second can 

 usually be tired before he is alarmed. We secured many 

 partridges with our .44 rifles, very few once seen escap- 

 ing us: nor did it seem a difficult matter with the help of 



the excllent Lyman sights to shoot so as to hit the head 

 or neck only. 



From the first pond north of AUaguash Lake the second 

 lies nearer east than north, and the two are not con- 

 nected, and while the waters of one flow south to the 

 lake, the other finds its outlet in Allaguash Stream two 

 miles above the lake. 



The almost continuous rain caused us to stop longer at 

 Allaguash Lake than we w^ould otherwise, our intention 

 being to camp yet further to the northwest. The open 

 game season was close at hand, and our vacation was 

 more than half passed, when on the morning of the first 

 pleasant day for over a week we left our comfortable 

 camp and sought the head of Allaguash Stream. A party 

 had camped two miles above the lake, and the stream 

 was cleared to that point, but beyond driftwood fre- 

 quently obstructed the passage of the canoes, and the 

 axes our guides carried were brought into use. As at 

 noon we ate our lunch of raw bacon and hardtack, with 

 water from the stream as our drink, we felt like true ex- 

 plorers, for we had left behind us the last signs of civiliz- 

 ation, and the empty tin can and the discarded whisky 

 bottle of the camper were seen no more. For half a 

 day we worked steadily up stream to a distance of about 

 five miles above the lake, where leaving the canoes we 

 started through the woods by compass to Mud Ponds, the 

 head of the main stream. The maps show the distance 

 we had to tramp as two miles, yet only after four hours 

 of continuous walking did we reach the ponds. The 

 lower Mud Pond, and the only one shown on any maps I 

 have seen, is a sheet of shallow water covering about a 

 thousand acres. Grass and lily pads show over nearly 

 the entire surface. Along one side is a large open bog, 

 then nearly flowed out by the high water. Some rods 

 from the pond a trapper ha*d at some time made his head- 

 quarters and cleared a little space for wood. A ruined 

 dam at the outlet of the pond showed the work of pine 

 loggers thirty-five or forty years ago. There was good 

 pine ail through this Allaguash region, but when that 

 was gone the loggers left the country and have never re- 

 turned. Nor are they likely to do so unless it be to get 

 the cedar from the swamps, or the white wood from the 

 dryer lands, for there is little valuable hemlock in this 

 vicinity. Thoreau, writing about the Maine woods 

 in 1853, said: "The pine supply of the Penobscot comes 

 chiefly from the head of the Allaguash, the region of 

 Chamberlain Lake and the East Branch." He mentions 

 that a Bangor lumberman told him the best log his firm 

 secured the year before scaled 4,500ft., and was w-orth 

 $90 in the boom at Bangor. This valuable lumber was 

 eagerly sought, and many sections of Maine now deserted 

 were once populous with lumbermen. 



Forty years ago there were few caribou and no red deer 

 in the region of which I write, but moose were very 

 numerous. The Maine law at that time prohibited for- 

 eigners from killing moose at any time, confined the 

 white American to certain seasons and allowed an Iudian 

 to kill them at all times. I believe the great decrease in 

 the number of moose is due more to the Indians and the 

 foolish sentimental policy of the Maine lawmakers than 

 to any other cause. Thoreau says his Indian guide had 

 killed" ten moose in a day; that three Indians camped up 

 the Northeast Carry had the skins of 'twenty-two moose 

 they had killed in two months' hunting, and" which they 

 sold for $2.25 each. An old man whom we met at 

 Chesuncook said he once counted between there and the 

 Northeast Carry the carcasses of sixteen moose in the 

 river, where they had been left by a party of Indian 

 skin hunters. These facts not only show how plenty 

 these now rare animals were, but also where they have 

 gone. The few moose yet in Maine's woods bring no in- 

 considerable money annually to the State. I have been 

 told of one man who has spent $5,000 in Maine trying to 

 kill a moose, and he has neither secured the moose'nor 

 given up the task. It would be greatly to the benefit of 

 Hunters who wish to call moose if the law was changed 

 so as to make September an open month, for only during 

 the September moon is there a reasonable prospect o*f 

 success in calling. It was once my pleasure to meet a 

 sportsman just in from moose calling. His Indian had 

 called a moose to the water, but was unable to get him 

 to come out of the bushes, and a shot into the shadows 

 was unsuccessful. Said the hunter: ' 'I have never seen 

 any sporting to compare with this. I could hear the 

 moose comiug for an hour, and when he came down off 

 the hills to the water, I could think of nothing but a 

 locomotive off the track and running through the woods. 

 I have killed no moose, but that experience was w-orth all 

 this trip cost me. It fairly made my hair stand on end 

 to hear that moose come. Yes, sir; it was worth $150 of 

 any man's money." 



In the pond by which we were camped the moose had 

 left their tracks everywhere and the lily roots they had 

 torn up covered the water mingled with the leaves of 

 the lilies yet growing. The caribou had worn away all 

 the small growth in the woods around the pond. In the 

 warm days of July and August this must be a gathering- 

 place for the game from all the surrounding hills. 



We had no canoes with us here and so we constructed 

 a raft the frame of which was the gate from the old 

 dam. The morning after our arrival at Mud Pond, hav- 

 ing constructed our raft we poled away to the northern 

 end. In all this long trip until now* we had seen no 

 large gan. e— tracks everywhere, the creatures that made 

 them nowhere; but there on the north shore -stood a great 

 caribou buck. How foolish it now seemed to have left 

 our canoes behind. With a canoe the chances of getting 

 this goodly buck with his wide-spreading antlers would 

 have been good, but he would not let the clumsy, slow- 

 going raft with four men so plainly in sight approach 

 near enough to give us any chance to kill him. His 

 size we shall never know, 'his track was the size of 

 the crown of a man's hat. By the time we had informed 

 ourselves by what path the caribou had come and gone 

 and caught a few trout, three animals came into the 

 water away at the end of the pond from which we had 

 that morning come, we never were near enough to tell 

 what they were, but two deer came to the water soon 

 after, and these were probably of the same herd. Our 

 investigations that day showed us another pond con- 

 nected with the one we were on, by a stream some 40 or 

 50 rods long. As our maps did not indicate any such 

 body of water, we were particularly anxious to explore 

 it. To enable us to do this, our guides went the follow- 

 ing day to the camp at Allaguash Lake for more provi- 

 sions. Thus my companion and myself were left fbr one 

 day to our own resources for amusement, 



The day was pleasant, and our plan was to watch for 

 game at the northern end of the pond where we bad seen 

 the caribou. My companion was to look for animals 

 coming to the water, while I went into the woods and 

 watched some caribou paths. As I left my friend ho 

 asked when I would be ready to go back to camp, to 

 which I replied at 4 o'clock. It was then 7:30. Having 

 selected a suitable place I sat down with my back to a 

 tree and my rifle in hand. The little red squirrels were 

 the only creatures stirring, and these heartily resented 

 the unwonted intrusion, coming close to me and 

 scolding in noisy chatter. As the day wore on even 

 these hid away, and the occasional quack of a duck on 

 the pond was the only sound to break the stillness of a 

 calm day in these remote forests. As hour succeeded 

 hour I became more and more tired of this kind of hunt- 

 ing, began to consider if this was really the way to have 

 a good time after all, and if the caribou had not' deserted 

 these paths for the season, so that I might wait till next 

 summer before one came along. Yet I was ashamed to 

 show myself to my friend, for had I not said I would 

 stay till 4 o'clock. So about 1 o'clock I went around 

 through the woods, keeping out of his sight, to the 

 newly discovered pond. Coming quietly to its Bhore I 

 looked out over its surface, and there, within three or 

 four rods, was a flock of twenty-eight sheldrakes fishing. 

 First they all went out a little way from the shore and 

 formed a line, open enough to allow each duck to flap 

 his wings without striking any other duck, so the line 

 extended 75yds. or more. Then all together they beat 

 the water with their wings, making a great commotion, 

 driving the little fish before them toward the shore and 

 into shallow water. Having reached a place where the 

 water was sufficiently shallow to suit them they all went 

 to fishing with great energy, not neglecting the vocal 

 accompaniments of the sport. Again and again did they 

 form their line with military precision and advance on 

 the schools of little fishes. A welcome call from my 

 companion, who said he: knew when he had enough, re- 

 lieved me from any embarrassment in making my ap* 

 pearance, and I gladly joined him in a return to camp. 



The next day we constructed a raft on the Upper Pond 

 and poled the whole length from end to end. It is a 

 beautiful, deep, clear water pond, crescent-shaped, about 

 two miles long by one-half mile wide, fed by five little 

 streams. This is the head of the Allaguash, for just over 

 a low and narrow dividing ridge lies Chemquasabamti- 

 cook Lake, whose waters flow north. 



The trout had gone to their spawning beds, but we 

 caught enough sterile fish for our dinner, and I do not 

 doubt in summer each little strea*m has gathered about its 

 cool waters as they enter the pond a school of large trout. 

 At the upper end of this pond we fired at a caribou at a 

 distance of 400yds. without effect. 



I hope to go again to the head of the Allaguash. I 

 shall tarry not for the comforts of Chesuncook Hotel, 

 linger not amid the delights of Allaguash Lake, but push 

 with utmost haste to Mud Ponds, and no matter how grea t 

 the labor my canoe shall be taken to the journey's end. 

 In a fair state of the water this journey should be accom- 

 plished and a canoe afloat on Mud Pond in five days from 

 Boston. The lower pond is the place for game and the 

 upper is the ideal home of the trout. 



The end of our journey was reached, so we turned our 

 faces homeward, and a day's travel brought us again to 

 Allaguash Lake. In our investigations of the country 

 about the lake a family of beavers had been found and 

 left undisturbed to be trapped on our return from Mud 

 Ponds. We had only two nights in which to keep the 

 traps set and caught no beaver, so had to be content with 

 what might be learned of their habits. This familv. ac- 

 cording to our guides, consisted of two old and two young 

 beavers. Their home was in an open bog, through which 

 a stream from the hills sought the lake by a dozen chan- 

 nels. These channels they had closed by little dams a 

 few feet in length and 2ft. high. The structures were in- 

 significant compared to the beaver dams on rapid water- 

 courses. A gentleman, who is a careful observer of the 

 ways of animals, and whose business as prospector for 

 minerals has many times placed Mm in positions to 

 observe the beaver, tells this story : 



A party of miners built a dam and dug a channel to 

 conduct the waters of Rapid Creek in the Black Hills 

 across a bend, so as to enable them to wash out the bed 

 of a portion of the creek far gold. For many successive 

 nights the beavers put a dam across this canal and the 

 miners tore it out each morning. The beavers' way of 

 making a dam, as shown by their work in this canal and 

 on the creek, was to place a row of small trees or bushes 

 across the current, the butts fastened in the ground and 

 the tops lying up stream in the water. These tops catch 

 first floating sticks, and gradually as they fill up leaves 

 and any small particles floating with the current. The 

 more compact the mass becomes the harder are the butts 

 crowded into the earth and the firmer becomes the dam. 

 Beavers are now becoming scarce in Maine, where eight 

 or ten years ago they were very numerous. When Mr. 

 Steele made his Aroostook trip his guides caught four- 

 teen beavers while his party were going down the river. 

 The Indian, John Nicholas, went back to the same country 

 later that season and caught seventy-nine more. Red- 

 man, our guide, told of once leaving twenty-five families 

 undisturbed around the headwaters of the* West Branch 

 when his season's trapping was over. Then the families 

 were large, containing often seven or eight or even a 

 dozen individuals, living boldly on streams of consider- 

 able size. Now they are in small families and of tenest 

 found in some little stream or hid away in some bog like 

 those we discovered. 



From Allaguash Lake we carried three miles to Round 

 Pond on Corcomgomoc waters. Allaguash Lake is much 

 more easily reached by this route than by the one we 

 took going in: in fact, Allaguash Stream from Chamber- 

 lain Lake will not float a canoe in a dry or even in an 

 average season. 



At Round Pond is a camping place where several par- 

 ties had stopped during the last summer. The camp reg- 

 ister—a board nailed to a tree— indicated the presence of 

 ladies and children, while the children's play-house with 

 its dried mosses and wild flowers was a pleasant reminder 

 of happy childhood. Some of these campers may be 

 pleased to know that in the frosty October evening 

 and morning of our camping here we fed liberally their 

 school of tame chubs gathered about the wharf. With a 

 delight like that of children did we two gray-headed 

 men feed these eager little fishes, for the heart grows 

 young in these old woods. It was our last night in camp; 



