B14 



FOREST AND STffi££m\ 



[Jan, i& 1891. 



The Powder Tests.— New York, Jan. 8.— Editor For- 

 est and Stream: We have been interested readers of 

 your reports of the comparative powder tests in the last 

 issues of your paper, and indorse all you say regarding 

 the importance of proper wadding for all nitro as well as 

 other powders. American manufacturers of shotguns 

 will learn that making 10-bore guns with la-bore 

 chambers in these days of paper shells and nitro or fine- 

 grain black powders is not the correct thing, whatever 

 advantage this manner of boring might have had fifteen 

 years ago, during the days of brass shells and heavy 

 loads of coarse grain black powders. We have never 

 seen the gun with which you made the tests in question, 

 but if the same is so wide in the barrel that a 12 -bore 

 wad will not be tight fitting everywhere from chamber 

 to the muzzle, then we will guarantee to be able to load 

 cartridges which will still do better work with Schultze 

 and "E C" powders than those you have put to the test, 

 because all of them were loaded with only No. 12 -gauge 

 wads. — Von Lengerke & Detmold. 



The Possum Cxub.— Chicago, 111., Jan. 9.— Mr. Win. 

 Werner extended his first annual royal complimentary 

 game dinner to the members of the Possum Club last 

 night. Report later, — E. Hough. 



CONCERNING " FOREST AND STREAM." 



I never saw so much interesting and valuable reading 

 matter crowded into a sportsman's paper, and it's no special 

 number, but every issue. I have beard any num ber of people 

 mention it.— C. H. M. 



Manchester, N. H.— Although on the shady side of 60, 1 

 get_ a good string of trout for this section, and once in a 

 while an old cock grouse on the wing: and the next best for 

 long winter evenings is Forest And Stream, I follow the 

 stream and wood with each outer, and enjoy his good luck 

 and know how to sympathize when a blank is drawn.— J. H, 



tar m\d ffwqr fishing. 



The full texts of the game fish laws Of all the States, 

 Territories and British Provinces are given in the Booli of 

 the Game Laws. 



THE WOLF OF THE WATEKS-II. 



[Continued from Page A7S.] 



nPOWARD the close of the second week matters began 

 J- to look serious and the prospects for realizing our 

 pleasant anticipations as to the big fish were certainly 

 discouraging. In view of these depressing circumstances 

 we determined to hold a council of war and decide upon 

 plans for future action, so that night we drew up to the 

 rough board table inside the closed tent and concentrated 

 our thoughts upon the problem before us. A neighbor- 

 ing settler from whom we had been renting our boats and 

 who kept a log hotel for the accommodation of transient 

 fishermen, was called in, but as it was clearly to his 

 interest to have'us remain where we were, we of course 

 utterly failed to elicit any satisfactory information from 

 that source. A day or two before we had received infor- 

 mation that led us to believe that we could find what we 

 were after in Plum Lake, about eight miles distant, and 

 we determined to push on further north, feeling very 

 confident that the chances of suecess would not thereby 

 be lessened, to say the least. Prompt arrangements were 

 made with the teamster who brought us out, and before 

 daylight next morning, with a small stock of provisions 

 and a light canvas tent, we started forth. 



Plum Lake was reached about noon, and we immedi- 

 ately set to work putting up our little V-shaped house, 

 trimming boughs for our beds and preparing something 

 to satisfy the cravings of the inner man. We also se- 

 cured the services of a guide whom another small 

 party had ieft here the day before, as we firmly believed 

 that we had trusted to our own judgment about long 

 enough. Up to this time the weather had been fair and 

 warm and the sun had daily traveled across the wide, 

 blue expanse with hardly a cloud to obscure its ardent- 

 glance. But a change now took place. It became colder, 

 with a drizzling sleet falling all day long, being driven 

 hither and thither by the sharp north wind, Tbe lake 

 we were on was a beautiful piece of water. It was long 

 and narrow with many thickly wooded islands dotting 

 its surface at almost regular intervals, affording pleas- 

 ant relief to the eye. About a quarter of a mile from its 

 _ ^*>.4-l«y «*•<="• T,-akp. so named on account of its pe- 



^-med us 

 .1 added 



: - sing an 



■ dinner 

 on after 

 rumerous 



islands Mat lay m our ooure«. ain.m 6 the end of 

 the lake our route layover an old trail, the exact location 

 of which it was difficult to discover from the boat, but 

 the guide had been here often before, and he directed us 

 to row up to where, above the bushes that lined the shore, 

 could be seen the smooth white surface of a single birch 

 that served as a mark for our landing place. 



We secured the boat and set out briskly over the rough 

 and very indistinct pathway, which at times became so 

 faint that it was barely noticeable. From the top of a 

 small hill, down between the moss-covered trunks of 

 some old hemlocks, we caught a glimpse of the lake 

 showing a silvery white in contrast with the dark 

 shadows of the forest. We struck the shore at the ex- 

 treme point of one of the curious symmetrical inlets or 

 bays and sat down for a moment to enjoy the untamed 

 wildness of the scene. The wind was blowing at a lively 

 rate, breaking the blue water up into short, choppy 

 waves, with here and there an occasional whitecap lift- 

 ing its snowy crest above the deeper colors beneath. 



It was still drizzling and sleeting and the atmosphere 

 presented such a dull, leaden, dreary-looking appearance 

 and tbe air was so chill and damp, that to any but the 

 enthusiastic angler, conscious of the proximity of a long- 

 sought pr.zp, the day would have seemed disagreeable 

 indeed. But not so to him. He feels a strange and 

 thoroughly enjoyable sense of satisfaction and comfort 

 steal over him as he enconces himself snugly between 

 the roots of a great spreading tree and, drawing his rub- 

 ber coat about him, defies the cutting wind and the be- 

 numbing rain. It is a feeling that comes only to the true 



sportsman and lover of nature in its untainted wildness, 

 for while to his more matter-of-fact companions he may, 

 under these circumstances, seem a most miserable and 

 dejected piece of humanity, he is, in reality, enjoying to 

 the utmost one of those happy moments that come so 

 seldom in his busy life. He is in complete sympathy 

 with the elements in all their infinite moods. He laughs 

 with them in the bright sunshine to the hopeful notes of 

 joyous birds, and when nature takes on an earnest mein, 

 clad in the white purifying robes of icy winter or in the 

 dark mantle of the summer storm cloud, he also becomes 

 serious and thoughtful, but not gloomy. 



His deeper, subtler, nobler thoughts find vent and en- 

 couragement and strange, sweet fancies, for which he can 

 find no adequate symbols, well up within him as he 

 watches the ceaseless play of foaming waters or listens 

 dreamily to the moaning of the invisible wind as it hurries 

 by, carrying the rain drops in misty sheets past the friendly 

 shelter of his snug retreat. 



There was but one boat on Star Lake, and it had been 

 toted over the crooked, torturous trail only at a great out- 

 lay of labor. It was large enough to accommodate but 

 three conveniently, including the guide, who, of course, 

 bandied the oars. 



About 100yds. from the shore a small sandy bar, covered 

 with a few stunted pine trees and as many patches of 

 brown, dead grass, rose to the height of a few feet above 

 water level. Our guide said we would strike this point 

 first, as there was an excellent stretch of feeding ground 

 along the north side where the pebbly bottom, hidden 

 here and there with wide strips of grass and weeds, de- 

 scended gradually from the shore. He also informed us 

 that he rarely pulled from one end to the other without 

 making a catch. As before stated, neither of us had ever 

 caught a muskallonge, and, in fact, had never seen one 

 either dead or alive, and now that we felt assured that we 

 were really in the home of the royal fish, with great 

 probability of establishing intimate relations with them, 

 it was no wonder that we experienced a pleasurable thrill 

 of anticipation. Our oarsman appeared cool and collected, 

 as though it was an every-day business with him, and we 

 envied him his calm indifference. We sat facing the 

 stern, and on nearing the point of sand let out about 

 25yds. of line with a No. 8 Skinner hook attached by 

 means of two strands of annealed copper wire, and 

 nervously awaited developments. 



We pulled to the upper end of the island and back 

 without getting a strike, and were just making the turn 

 at the lower point for another trip, when Bob, who was 

 fishing next to the shore, was seen to suddenly give his 

 pole a violent jerk and then grasp it energetically with 

 both hands as though his life depended on keeping 

 possession of it. He gasped out something that sounded 

 very much like "By Jinks! I've got him, boys!" but 

 owing to the strain under which his nerves were plainly 

 laboring his articulation was exceedingly indistinct, 

 and it might have been something else— possibly worse. 



Sure enough he had hooked something, for his rod was 

 bent in a half circle, and the taut quivering line, which 

 was now cutting through the water to the left, indicated 

 to a dead certainty that it was alive and not, as fre- 

 quently happened, a bunch of heavy, soggy weeds. The 

 guide immediately turned the boat out into deeper water, 

 never for a moment relaxing his speed, while I reeled up 

 my own line as fast as possible in order to give my com- 

 panion a clear field and to avoid the danger of having 

 our tackle inextricably tangled up. Bob had a goodly 

 number of wary game fish to his credit, but never before 

 had he fastened on to anything that exhibited so much 

 strength and agility as the one that now claimed his un- 

 divided attention. "Reel him in slowly and don't give 

 him a bit of slack," cried Sully, the guide, as he applied 

 himself vigorously to the oars. Poor Bob was doing his 

 utmost to follow these instructions, but strain as he might 

 the handle of his reel would not budge an inch; so he 

 soon desisted from this vain effort and devoted his en- 

 ergies to retaining possession of the pliant rod that 

 with every twist and turn seemed liable to be wrenched 

 from him. 



It is perhaps needless to say that we were both consid- 

 erably excited, and I added much superfluous advice to 

 that of Sully's in the way of disjointed and spasmodic 

 entreaties to "Hold on to him, Bob!" "Don't let him break 

 the rod," etc., etc. We had not caught sight of him yet, 

 but just at this point the water was lashed into a white 

 foam a short distance back, and the huge, shining form 

 of a savage muskallonge shot perpendicularly into the 

 air, clearing its native element at least four inches. 

 What a magnificent sight, and what a magnificent fish! 

 Its mouth was wide open; its muscular, symmetrical 

 body rested for a brief instant in a beautiful curve, and 

 as it dashed its head wildly from side to side in the mad 

 endeavor to free itself, we could plainly hear the spoon 

 rattle between its sharp, wolfish teeth. It remained in 

 view but a short moment before it fell back with a loud 

 splash, and through our excited vision it appeared to our 

 be wildered minds a veritable shark in size and ferocity. 

 Well named, indeed, was this "wolf of the waters." 



The rush was so sudden and so entirely unexpected 

 that, combined with Sully's shrill warning" to slack his 

 line, it was little wonder that Beb lost what little sense 

 he still retained and became to all appearances tempor- 

 arily insane. His actions, at least, justified this assump- 

 tion, for he now dropped his rod, and, grasping the bare 

 fine just above the reel, commenced hauling in handover 

 hand as fast as the struggling monster at the other end 

 would allow. 



The effect of this move was disastrous, as the line which 

 he deposited indiscriminately over the bottom of the boat 

 in bis crazy haste, became so closely identified with vari- 

 ous other articles therein that further use of the reel was 

 out of the question. Once again the muskallonge broke 

 water and then started due south with so much vindictive 

 energy and at such a terrific rate of speed that the line 

 fairly hummed through the fingers of my now paralized 

 companion. He again attempted to manipulate the reel 

 with sore fingers, but a bunch of badly tangled line re- 

 fused stubbornly to be wound, and with a smothered im- 

 precation on Teels in general, and this one in particular, 

 he grasped the rapidly receding line, determined to do or 

 die, and to me, making these observations in a state of 

 semi-lunacy, the outcome of the struggle seemed shrouded 

 in doubt. By this time Sully had abandoned all hope of 

 seeing his oft-repeated instructions obeyed and had settled 

 down to a study stroke, confident that nothing but a streak 

 of good luck would bring our game to bag. But Bob's 

 strong, steady pull was slowly but surely telling on the 



strength of "Old Musky," and his frantic, powerful rushes 

 from side to side and straight down became less frequent 

 and vigorous. 



We were now well out from the shore, in deeper water, 

 and these tactics had been kept up so long that we felt 

 sure our fish must certainly be very much exhausted, but 

 a look at Bob's protruding eyes and anxious face was 

 enough to convince us that tbe end was not yet. 



A few minutes more of rushing and tugging on the part 

 of the captive and of labored breathing and irregular' ex- 

 ertion on the part of our resolute fisherman, when sud- 

 denly, within twenty feet of the boat, the water com- 

 menced to boil, and in the midst of the spray we caught 

 another glimpse of the wide-open mouth with its awe-in- 

 spiring display of needle-like teeth. "Shoot him, H.I' 1 

 cried Bob, in desperation as a broad, finny back, propelled 

 by an enormously wide tail, disappeared bottomward, 

 leaving in its wake a rapidly widening circle of dancing- 

 waves. I had with me a Winchester repeater, .SSeal,, 

 that I had brought along for just such an emergency, and 

 the next time the muskallonge came to the surface for 

 another brief look at his inexperienced but determined 

 foes, I intended to try the soothing effects of a small lump 

 of lead upon his fierce, fiery nature. An interval of one 

 minute, during which, no doubt, our prey, away down in 

 the depths, was cogitating over the increasing serious- 

 ness of his position— and then, a little nearer than before, 

 the glistening head and staring eyes again appeared to 

 view. A quick sight over the white bead, a sharp report, 

 a mass of spray, another plunge, and the braided silk line 

 went out yard after yard over the boat's edge, while our 

 friend sat down on what was left of it to get his second 

 wind and straighten out his stiffened, aching fingers. A 

 downward motion of the lever, and another little dose was 

 in readiness for the big fish. The line, which at first went 

 straight down, was seen to move slowly outward, and this 

 gave us an idea as to about where the next rise would bp. 



This time he rose more gently, as though his ardor and 

 interest in the fight had abated considerably, but at the 

 next shot away he went with apparently undiminished 

 resources of strength. Sully urged us to bring him up 

 close enough to enable him to use the gaff, but as we had 

 a curiosity to know just how much lead Mr. Musky could 

 carry and still appear as lively as ever, we determined to 

 try one more shot. The small line was creating sad 

 havoc with Bob's hands, and he advised us, between 

 breaths, to get him this time some way or other or he 

 would not be responsible for the consequences, He took 

 another turn around it as it gradually assumed a hori- 

 zontal position, and our eyes following it down at length 

 rested upon the weary and all but exhausted fish. He had 

 evidently made his last struggle, for he was lying quite 

 still, with stiffened fin and the top of his pointed nose 

 just out of the water. This time more deliberate aim 

 was taken at its eye, and as the little rifle cracked sharply 

 it could be seen to give a convulsive shudder and roll 

 slowly over on its side. The tiny bullet had done its 

 work and it was an easy matter to "haul in and deposit 

 the dripping form in the bottom of the boat. It was a 

 splendid specimen, a plump twenty-pounder, and was so 

 beautiful to look at as it lay stretched out at our feet that 

 we could hardly take our eyes from it. The "wolf" had 

 made a noble fight, but superior power and intelligence 

 had won and the victory was ours. 



All three shots had taken effect, one going through the 

 fleshy part of the back near the head, which the second 

 shot creased along the top, leaving a broad white mark, 

 while the third went true, to its aim and pierced the right 

 eye. When the difficulty of shooting and of aiming 

 steadily from a badly rocking boat is considered, none of 

 these shots will seem so bad. As we had surmised, the 

 hook was very firmly fastened in the Bides of the horny 

 mouth, otherwise in the wild struggles it would have 

 been ejected during Bob's eccentric maneuvering with 

 his rod and reel. 



We had been just twenty minutes landing our prize, 

 and during this time tbe wind had risen so rapidly and 

 was sweeping across the lake with such violence that 

 the guide advised making for the shore until the squall 

 was over. We reached our landing place with much 

 difficulty, for it was hard rowing against the combined 

 forces of wind and waves, and it required all tbe skill of 

 an experienced oarsman to prevent the boat from being 

 capsized. These small northern lakes seem to be pecu- 

 liarly sensitive to any changes in weather conditions, as 

 their waters are lashed by the capricious wind into dan- 

 gerous white-capped waves in a remarkably short time, 

 and one hardly knows at what moment he will be com- 

 pelled to fight his way ashore. Oftentimes these squalls 

 came up so quickly that, even while fishing but a few 

 hundred feet out, we could not reach shelter in time to 

 avoid them entirely. 



We dried our damp clothes by the side of a roaring fire, 

 and after the gale had abated somewhat we retraced our 

 steps over the trail to where we had left the boat on Plum 

 Lake and were soon back at camp and busy preparing 

 supper. We remained here a week, enjoying such fish- 

 ing as we little dreamed would fall to our lot in the ear- 

 lier part of the trip. On the days that we did not go over 

 to Star Lake we would leisurely troll around near camp 

 and it was seldom, indeed, that we returned empty 

 handed. 



The greediness and voracity of muskallonge are pro- 

 verbial, and his confidence in his prowess and capacity 

 for digestion seems unlimited. They will seize and swal- 

 low other fish fully half their own weight, and it would 

 be interesting to know the different varieties of animals 

 and fish they prey upon or to what extreme they would 

 go in cases where they had been for some time without a 

 sufficient supply of food . The little red squirrels that 

 abound in these woods barely make a bite, and one could 

 be hidden from sight in a corner of their huge, cavern- 

 like mouths. 



One day, while idly rowing around in a small bay near 

 camp, our attention was attracted by a white-looking ob- 

 ject floating on top of the water a short distance away 

 and in near the shore. Further investigation disclosed 

 the fact that it was a huge muskallonge that had evi- 

 dently been dead for some time, as its body was shrunken 

 and thin. We towed it ashore and were surprised to find 

 a large, black-looking object protruding from its enor- 

 mous jaws. A hard pull and a strong pull and out popped 

 the body of a full-grown muskrat that had been firmly 

 fastened in the fish's throat. This incident puzzled us a 

 great deal. We were in doubt as to whether it had. 

 choked to death through simple inability to swallow tbi^ 



