232 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Amhl S, 1891, 



WHERE THE TROUT LURK IN NORTH 

 CAROLINA. 



AWAY up in the heart of the Blxie Eidge Mountain?, 

 in Macon coDBty, N. C, 4,000Et, above the sea 

 level, in a. little basin of not over 40U acres, and which 

 from its appearance might have been the crater of a 

 fiercely hurnuig volcano, nestles the picturesque village 

 of Highlands. For thirty miles from Walhalla, S. C, 

 the nearest railroad station, the weary tourist and his 

 more weary team have been toiling up the intervening 

 3,000ft. of ascent, and just as body and mind are on the 

 verge of collapse, and the setting sim sending its level 

 rays up the valley of the Cullasagee Eiver to gild the 

 barren tops of Whiteside and Satulah Mountains, the 

 welcome sound rescbes his ear from the kindly hack 

 driver, "There's Highlands!" 



Since 7 o'clock in the morning the eye has been feast- 

 ing almost to satiety on the gi'and old. mountains that 

 rise tier upon tier as one advances toward the main chain 

 of the Blue Ridge. At first in long rolling hills, with an 

 occasional steep ascent, clothed to the top with dense 

 forests of oak, yellow pine, walnut and hickory, then 

 gradually changing to the more rugged and wild moun- 

 tains, with their wealth of white pine, liemlock, chest- 

 nut and cucutnbar, while the gorges between are dark 

 and solemn with their almost impenetrable mass of 

 rhododendron and laurel, these mountains gi-adually 

 assume that wild and barren aspect that characterize the 

 peaks around Highlands, and forcibly remind the tourist 

 that he is now reaching well up toward the limit of 

 vegetation. 



Wliile all this .magnificence of scenery, ever varying as 

 one advances, has helped to sustain the weary body and 

 mind for the last few miles; yet the feeling of relief and 

 pleasure can better be imagined than described when 

 "There's Highlands!" greets the eai'. Looking from the 

 ridge, on which the tired team has been momentarily 

 stopped to "blow,'" we gaze in rapture on one of the pret- 

 tiest little pictures of a rural snuggery that can be found 

 in the mountains of any land. Entirely surrounded by 

 mountains, aave on the western side, the little valley is 

 studded all over with neat and, in some instances, very 

 handsome cottages, each surrounded with the bright 

 greensward of well-kept lawns. Pushing its Norman- 

 looking roof through the foliage of surrounding chestnuts 

 and white pines, the water tower attached to one of the 

 several good hotels here acts as a beacon to the sore- 

 limbed tourist, guiding him to a place of rest after his 

 twelve hours of rumbling and tumbling over what are 

 not the best roads in the world. 



A choicje is afforded of very good hotels and boarding 

 houses, and after making your selection and removing 

 part of tlie soil of the three States you have been travel- 

 ing through all day (South Carolina, Georgia and North 

 Carolina), you find yourself comfort;) bly seated round a 

 roaring lire, which is found far from unpleasant even if 

 the season is midsummer and you are in the midst of the 

 Southern States. 



It is claimed that this is one of, if not the highest, vil- 

 lages east of the Rocky Mountains; it lies about 4,000ft. 

 above the sea level. The mountains which so closely 

 surround it fend off at all seasons the cold blasts that 

 otherwi.se might be expected at such an altitude, hence 

 fruit of a superior quality can be raised here that cannot 

 be grown 1,000 to 1 ,5U0fc. lower down. This temperate 

 climate has inducedpeople suffering: fromthroat and long 

 disease to seek it out, and having found relief, they have 

 remained to make one of the most cosmopolitan popula- 

 tions that can be imagined, f 'r here we find, as perma- 

 nent residents, citizens of nearly every State and Terri- 

 tory. Although arriving here in feeble health, yet they 

 brought their bright and active Northern and Western 

 minds, the exeicise of which has caused this lonely moun- 

 tain valley to blossom into a.s thriving a little town as 

 could be found anywhere even under more favorable cir- 

 cumstances. Excellent gchools, a good public library, 

 scientific and botanical societies, and churches of sev- 

 eral denominations, all epeak for their intelligence and 

 advancement, Minufacturing and milling, in a small 

 but highly improved way, tell of their thrift; and the 

 beauty of thf lr homes and surroundings leaves their taste 

 beyond dispute. Several of the wealthier Southerners, 

 even from as far as the Mississippi Valley, have erected 

 summer houses here, where they enjoy relief from their 

 malarial farms and the much dreaded *'hay fever." Dm-- 

 ing the season commencing with June and extending to 

 the end of October about 300 or 400 visitors arrive from 

 all parts of the Union to breathe the pure air, drink the 

 cold spring water (anything stronger being unattainable), 

 climb the lofty moitntain peaks from whence a view ex- 

 tending into four States is obtained, gaze with wrapt awe 

 on the mighty waterfalls that abound in every direction 

 for five miles; and a few, among them the writer, to kill 

 the beautif til brook trout that are found in such quanti- 

 ties in all the streams for miles around. 



It was at this lovely ntountain retreat that a party of 

 five casually met in the month of July, 1890. Like the 

 inhabitants* of the village, they hailed from far divergent 

 points; Kentucky, Kan=ias, Georgia, South Carolina and 

 Scotland claiming their several birth places. Though 

 strangers to each other till they thus met, they were 

 brothers bound by a well-recognized tie among lovers of 

 the rod and reel— keen fishermen all, willing to face any 

 and all difficulties, and endure endless hardships where 

 trout were to be their reward. 



For several days mysterious caucuses intimated to the 

 other visitors that something important was about to 

 happen with the ''fishing crowd," as we had been dubbed; 

 and when one bright morning it was announced that a 

 week's camp on the Lower Ctillasagee River was our 

 plan, a gay crowd of ladies and gentlemen dismissed us 

 on our way with many a wish for our good luck. 



Our rig consisted of a two-mulo wagon without springs, 

 on which we loaded cur 12 ft. Sibly walled tent, ntimerous 

 boxes and bags of duflfle, all the sundry paraphernalia 

 necessarj' for a week of camp life, and perched wherever 

 a soft place ootild be found, the four unlucky ones who 

 hadn't been quick enough to secure the one spring seat 

 beside our driver and guide. 



The first mile or two of our road lay through one of the 

 most beautiful pieces of mountain woodlands that the 

 most fastidious of woodland critics could desire. Con- 

 Biderable care had been exercised in grading the road 

 along the steep aides of the motiiitain, resulting in a drive 

 that would rival successfully the studied avenues in the 

 parks of more favored localities. As it winds and turns 



the eye is delighted by the magnificent display of forest 

 growth. Giant chestnuts, hemlocks, poplars and cucum- 

 bers entwine their branches over head until the soft light 

 of evening seems to surround you. Beautiful springs of 

 sparkling water gush from the mountain sides, and rush- 

 ing across the road, dance down their rocky beds to join 

 the Cullasagee below, affording sustenance to dense 

 thickets of rhododendrons and mountain laurel, whose 

 gorgeous flowers make the air heavy with their perfume. 

 Under the spreading trees the flaming azalia, with its 

 flowers ranging from pure white through all the shades of 

 j^ellow to a ruddy orange, is handsomply set off by the 

 intense green of matted beds of giant ferns that abound 

 in all varieties from the coarse bracken to the delicate 

 maiden hair. This is part of the property of the "High- 

 lands Park Association," whose lands extend along the 

 banks of the Cullasagee for some miles lower down. The 

 woods on each side of the road for a mile or more have 

 been neatly but substantially fenced in by the Association 

 to protect them from the ravages of roaming cattle, and 

 an object lesson in protecting undergrowth in this way is 

 plainly before us, as nowhere in any mountains can such 

 undergrowth be found over which cattle and fire have 

 exerted their baneful influence. 



On we dash, and soon we pass the mill of Mr. Henry 

 Stewart, President of the Park Association, who lives 

 here for his health, though his home is in New Jersey. 

 Mr. Stewart carries on an experimental farm around his 

 mill, and as he is on the editorial staff of the agricultural 

 department of the New York Times, the public gets the 

 benefit of his intalligent researches into nature. Through 

 about seven miles of his estate the Cullasagee River rolls 

 and tumbles, and some years ago he planted in that 

 stream large quantities of California (rainbow) trout fry, 

 which, with careful protection, have gradually stocked 

 the stream for ten miles with these gamiest of all trout. 



Past the mill, the roar and almost the spray of the Neiad 

 Fall are around us as the foaming waters dash down 

 some seventy feet into a pool that would make a trout 

 fisher's mouth water. Soon we ford the waters of Big 

 Creek, a tributary of the Cullasagee, and rising a steep and 

 extremely rough road reach a point where there bursts on 

 our delighted eyes a panorama far beyond my feeble pen 

 to describe. Imagine an immense gulch hundreds of feet 

 below you, where the roaring of a series of cataracts, the 

 Long Falls, extending for over a mile, churns the waters 

 of the river into a mass of foam, and finally dashes them 

 into a narrow cafion through a crevice in the rocks not 

 over two feet in width. On the opposite side of the 

 gulch, and rising almost precipitously from the water's 

 edge, is the main chain of the Blue Ridge, its rugged 

 face frowning with many a precipice and seared by count- 

 less fissures. Lower down the dense foliage of the hem- 

 lock and chestnut, relieved by the broad green leaves of 

 the cucumber, are fringed, as the water is approached, 

 by the glossy-leaved and bright-flowered rhododendrons. 

 Here and there a glimpse of the rushing stream adds 

 finish to the picture. Creeping up the mountain side to 

 mingle with the clouds that rest upon their tops, gauzy 

 flecks of gray mist are stealing, for though the morning 

 is well advanced, the depth of the gorge and the density 

 of the foliage keep the rays of the sun long at bay. 



A bend in the road hides this beautiful landscape from 

 view only to open another as enchanting; and so on from 

 mile to mile, until with a sudden jerk our guide puUs up 

 his team and announces, "Now ye'il hev to fut it." And 

 such a "futting" it was! Soon the contents of the wagon 

 are deposited on the ground by willing hands all anxious 

 to get to the camping ground. Each one seized a gener- 

 ous share of the loads and away we start. One of the 

 mules was pressed into si^rvice to act as a carrier for the 

 tent canvas and other heavy articles. For a short dis- 

 tance the trail lay up the almost precipitous side of a 

 short mountain, wtiich cut our "wind" sadly and made 

 us each regret we had been so free-handed in supplying 

 ourselves with loads However, this soon came to an 

 end, and down the hill we went. 



As the camp ground on the banks of the stream was 

 neared ttie trail disappeared entirely, and our course 

 carried us into a pnrfect labyrinth of enormous boulder.--, 

 varying from the tize of a trunk to that of a church. In 

 every direction these masses of rock lay scattered propped 

 up against each other, forming oave like crevasses, or 

 standing solitary, like Mexican bouses with their square 

 box like walls. The whole place looked more like a 

 ruined city than anything else. 



While on the way down one of our party nari-owly 

 escaped being bitten by a huge black rattlesnake. The 

 first intimation we had was a perfect volley of "Queen's 

 English" and the rapid rise and fall of the heavy tent 

 pole which he was carrying. By the time we reached 

 nim little of that snake remained to tell the tale.' I don't 

 think I ever saw a riding switch used with so nuich free- 

 dom as that tent pole. 3in. in diameter and 10ft. long. 

 This piece of excitement carried us to the camp ground. 



The spot selected, and in fact the only available one, 

 was picturesque and convenient to the stream and a 

 beautiful spring of ice cold water; bnt as to comfort- 

 well, we didn't come there to hunt comfort. The sides 

 of the gorge were so steep that nowhere could enough 

 level grotuid be found on which to pitch our tent 

 decently. Hemlock twigs furniahed good bedding, and 

 though there was a lively chance of rolling out of doors 

 in our sleep, yet many a camper has been worse oft' than we. 



Leisure to look around, while dinner was in course of 

 preparation, revealed the fact that we had pitched our 

 tent on a narrow atrip of slanting gmund which lay at 

 the foot of an enormous precipice^ that loomed almost 

 over our heads, ending in a sharp rocky peak, hundreds 

 of feet above the camp. Immediately in front of the tent 

 door, and level with same, lay one of these enormous 

 blocks of rocks, the faca of whose smooth surface rested 

 in the stream 30ft. below. All around us, like the ruins 

 of Pompei or an Aztec village, lay hundreds of these mas- 

 sive blocks, the squareness of whose sides certainly left 

 little to the imagination to make one feel that he was 

 gazing on some ruined city of by-gone ages. Immedi- 

 ately below the camp an enormotis slab, at least 30 x 40ft. 

 and 10ft. thick, stood on edge and extending out from 

 the mountain side far into the middle of the river bed 

 formed an eddy that raised visions of lusty trout. This 

 point of vantage we dubbed the "Pulpit," as a reverend 

 gentleman from Charleston, who formed one of our 

 party, was so carried away by the awftil grandem- of the 

 view obtained from its outer point that his actions 

 strongly resembled the necessary adjunct to one of his 

 eloquent sermons. Immediately across the stream from 



the camp another precipice, corresponding to that which 

 towered above us, frowned on the chaos below with its 

 rugged and shattered face. Without doubt, in the dim 

 past, these two frowningwalls had been fiimly joined by 

 a mighty wall whose fragments lay scattered in such pro- 

 fusion around us and for more than a mile below. 



Standing on the "Pulpit" the view up stream is nothing 

 but a chaotic succession of these bouldens, around, under 

 and over which the stream boils and churns, forming 

 deep black pools, which would delight the heart of any 

 angler. Below the top of one of three falls of from .50 to 

 75ft. each is in view, and far below where the stream 

 gradually assumes a more level and placid condition, the 

 sun lights into golden tints the fields of a beautiful little 

 farm that smiles as complacently as if far removed from 

 the ruins of nature whicii surround us. Nothing could 

 be grander than these three falls after you have clam- 

 bered at risk of life or limb to a point where a view can 

 be obtained. The broken and scattered boulders not 

 allowing the free passage of the water give them a look 

 of wildness seldom seen. At some points on the stream 

 the blockade is so complete that the stream has forced 

 its way into the mountain side, emerging lower down to 

 its natural bed in many a swirl and eddv. This whole 

 stream from the time it takes its rise at Highlands till it 

 reaches a point about nine miles below there, has more 

 or less this wild and grand aspect, having descended at 

 least 3,000ft, in its rugged course. 



Well, of course, in the angler all this description of 

 falls, rapids and pools must have prepared the mind for 

 trout, and we foiwid them, both many and large. I 

 question if a fly had ever been cast on these waters till 

 we arrived, so some idea of the sport that was in store 

 for us can be imagined. 



The choice fishing grounds where good wading could 

 be had were in the more level stream below the third falls, 

 and thither I wended my way with my chum on the 

 morning after our arrival. On the way l managed to 

 hang my landing net, which I had stuck through the 

 strap of my basket, on a bush, and though I discovered 

 my loss in a few minutes the closest search failed to find 

 it. and there it remained till the last day we were in camp, 

 when I accidentally stumbled on it. This, of course, was 

 a very serious loss if the fish proved very large, so I at- 

 tempted to improvise one by stretching a handkerchief 

 on a willow hoop and then ctttting holes all over it. 



Arrived at the fishing grounds T put on a whip consist- 

 ing of & gi'een-drake, coachman and brown-lrackle, and 

 made a few casts and captured as many fair fish. 

 While standing on a rock at the foot of a small, still 

 l^ool I chance to see a- good-sized fis'a rise to a fly between 

 two large rocks lower down, where the stream, contracted 

 to one-tenth of its natural width, made its escape from 

 the pool. At once I dropprd a fly to Ihe spot. With a 

 suddenness, that forced my heart into my mouth and 

 caused my reel fairly to scream, I felt a pull. Though, 

 little looking for such a recepiion to my fly, I at first felt 

 a little excited, the old instincts of a fly-fisher soon 

 brought me to my senses. As I immediatfly pr^rceived 

 that I had no common fish to handle, T braced myself 

 more firmly on my narrow foot space and prppared for 

 the fight. Had his lordship concluded to continue the 

 down-stream course he started on all would soon have 

 been ended, as once through the narrow ppace between 

 the rocks no leader in the world woiild hitve stood the 

 chafing. Luckily for me. he concluded that up sti-eam 

 was where he belonged, so at me he came with such speed 

 that the most rapid reeling and .''killful manipulation of 

 my rod failed to dispose of the slack. Again I feared he 

 was gone, but soon the sudden tightening of the line 

 announced he was still with me. As soon as he felt 

 the line tighten he rushed madly to the top, and as 

 he leaped high in air I recognized from the biilliant 

 scarlet of his side that he was a California rainbow trout 

 of no mean size. As the pool was of the smallest and 

 the sharp-edged rocks above and below portended danger 

 to my tackle I determined to keep him as near me as 

 possible, even at the risk of a tip. For several minutes, 

 with tip and butt almost meeting, the tierce struggle 

 went on. Sometimes leaping in the an- and vainly trying 

 to knock the hook out of his mouth with his tail, then to 

 the bottom, where he would sulk till I almost feared he 

 had got under some rock and was lost to me. But my 

 trusty little rod (a Toz. lancewood) did me good service, 

 and after a battle of several minutes he giMduiUy turned 

 on his side and I reeled in carefully. Feeling for my 

 landing net I remembered for the first time what kind of 

 one I had, but hating to ask aid I went for him with that. 

 At sight of my flag of truce the gentleman from Cali- 

 fornia concluded that he wasn't so far gone as he thought, 

 and away he went braced for another tussle. This was 

 a short one, however, as he soon came to hand again. I 

 attempted the white rag again, but he bhowed such an 

 antipathy to it that I was forced to call for aid from my 

 chum, who was enjoying the sport from a rock below. 

 Soon the prize was on the grass with the sun reflected 

 back from his beautifully rainbow-tinted sides. He was 

 "a beauty without paint." While the fight was in course 

 I could have sworn he was 34in. long and weighed at 

 least 5lbs., but a calmer examination of him on the grass 

 reduced him to about 16in. and Iflbs. Those who have 

 tackled this gamiest of the salmon tribe can readily ex- 

 cuse my rough guess. 



During the time we staid on this stream we caught sev- 

 eral of these fish, and one in particular was by one of 

 our party who was new to the sport, who yanked him out 

 before the trout knew what was the trimble. 



After a fine day's sport we returned to camp to find 

 that good baskets had fallen to the luck of all of the 

 party. Such cooking and frying and eating and lying as 

 was done that day can be easily understood. 



Good weather and necessarily good water furnished us 

 for the rest of our stay with many fine baskets, and it 

 was with regret that we saw our old friend the pack mule 

 wending his way down the momitain to conduct us back 

 to civilization. 



Not one of the party but hope to meet another time in 

 this beautiful spot, and assist at the killing of more of 

 these California trout, which an additional year's growth 

 will make worthy of any angler's rod and reel. 



Within twenty miles of Highlands there are many fine 

 trout streams, some jtistly due the name of rivers. The 

 roads are remarkably good for the mountains, and the 

 accommodations for those who don't care to go into camp 

 are fair from an angler's point of view. Highlands is 

 reached by rail to Walhalla, S. C„ or Silver, N. C. thence 

 across the mountains in hacks for thirty miles. 



