106 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Aug. 1891, 



and the writer went down the West Canada Creek to try 

 luck at fishing. Shonk was in the lead, fishing down the 

 stream about 10 rods from the writer, while Steen was 

 the same distance behind mo, when suddenly I heard a 

 loud shout from Shonk. We knew that something im- 

 ortant had happened by the noise he made. Steen and 

 hurried forward and found Shonk had hooked a large 

 trout; he was giving Shonk and his 8oz. fly -rod a severe 

 test. Shonk reeled him up within 10ft. of the shore 

 several times, each time he would make a rush taking 

 the line oil the reel with a vengeance. Steen got so ex- 

 cited that he commenced to undress, and was going into 

 the water to catch the fish with his hands, but Shonk 

 said to let the fish alone, that if he could not sa^e him 

 with the rod he wohld let him get away. Shonk suc- 

 ceeded in landing tlie trout in a few minutes; he weighed 

 3|lbs. live weight. As the fish did not take to the fly wo 

 returned to camp. Our combined catch numbered eigh- 

 teen fish. Zack and Clark retm-ned at 3 P. M. with five 

 game birds tha.t they called woodcock. 



After dinner Clark informed us that we had better 

 make tracks for the camp at Spruce Lake, as we had 

 devoured our supply of sugar, butter and coffee, and all 

 we had for breakfast was half of a loaf of bread, venison 

 and trout. We held a council of war, and concluded that 

 we would stay over night and give Shonk a chance to 

 float for deer (for he had not shot any) that night, and 

 dine on bread, water and vexiison for breakfast. Shonk 

 and Clark floated for deer and scared four out of the 

 water, but did not get a shot. 



Aug. 27. — After breakfast we broke camp, and after a 

 hard walk of two hours we reached our headquarters at 

 Spruce Lake. We found our friends the clergy still at 

 the lake in good health and spirits. We passed the bal- 

 ance of the day in picking berries and reading. In the 

 evening Shonk and Clark started out to float for deer, 

 but found the lake too rough for paddling, so they had to 

 abandon their expedition. 



Aug. 28.— As we were going out of the woods on the 

 morrow, we were very anxious to get a deer to take home 

 with us. Shonk and Zack said that they could follow the 

 trail to West Canada Creek, and they would go and float 

 for deer on the still water, while Clark, Steen and I 

 would go to Ofctar Lake, which was about three miles up 

 in the mountains from Spruce Lake. We all got off at 9 

 A. M. After two hours of hard trampiug we reached 

 Ottar Lake. The trail to this lake is marked by blazed 

 trees, and is very hard one to follow. We found Clark's 

 boat in good shape. Clark and Steen went out and fished 

 with the fly for about an horn*; they returned with 28 fine 

 hrook tront, which Clark cooked by stringing them on a 

 little birch stick and placing it across two crotched sticks 

 before a bed of coals. After they were roasted he spread 

 a little butter on them. 



About 10 P. M. Clark and I went out on the lake and 

 fished with a fly and caught forty-tlu'ee trout, the largest 

 weighiag 2^1bs. , which Clark caught. 



Aug. 29. — After breakfast we broke camp and started 

 for Spruce Lake once more, where we arrived after a hard 

 walk of two hours' duration. 



The boys came in without any deer, but they had nine 

 brook trout that would weigh on an average lib. each. 

 They reported that last night they scared three deer out 

 of the water, but did nob get a sliot at any of them. 



We at once began packing our dufiie to go out of the 

 woods in the afternoon. Just before dinner time our man 

 arrived in camp with his pack-horse to take out our lug- 

 gage, Being very tired after our liard day's walk we 

 retired early at Abraham's. After a very delightful drive 

 the next day we arrived at Northville just in time to 

 catch the train, and 3:80 P. M. found us at home, all very 

 much benefited by the trip. A word about our guide, 

 Ceylon Clark, will not be out of place here. Besides 

 being an intelligent and painstaking guide, Clark is a 

 first-class cook. He was always ready tojilease, and not 

 a lazy hair graces his head. KIa-NSAs. 

 Amsterdam, New York. 



THE UPPER ADIRONDACKS IN '56. 



"/~^ CD bless the old Adirondacks!" spoke Uncle Isaac, 

 vJT as he glanced at Forest and Stream and noted 

 there was to be an "Adirondack Number.'" "Tell them 

 how I spent several weeks out there in tlie woods in '56 

 along the stream and floating on those beautiful lakes, 

 and saw during that time no face of a white man, save 

 that of my guide or perhaps mv own reflected back from 

 the quiet depths of some of the pure waters," he said. 



I arrived at Dannemora on June 21. My old friend 

 seized my baggage and sent it to his house and then 



fave me my choice to follow it or quarrel with him. We 

 ad been friends too long to quai-rel, so I followed my 

 trunk and made my headquarters with him. 



The next morning I struck into the woods after having 

 procured a guide who was perfectly familiar with all the 

 wild region which I proposed to visit and who carried a 

 large pack of provisions and other, things necessary for 

 our tramp in the woods. 



We arrived at the Chaxy after about three hours. It is 

 a beautiful sheet of water, five miles in length by one 

 or more in breadth. Above it to the south and east 

 tower lofty mountains covered with gigantic timber, 

 while to the west and north the old forest stretches away 

 in all its primeval grandeur. 



Here first I cast my fly to tempt the silvery denizen of 

 the lake; here I watched him as it skimmed like a living 

 insect along the surface, dart fi-om his hiding place and 

 rush upon the tempting but deceitful morsel, and laugh- 

 ingly observed his astonishment when he found the hook 

 was in his jaw. Then followed break and turn, flash and 

 dive, give and take as the slender rod bent "like a reed 

 shaken by the wind," in his noble efforts to free himself; 

 and then yielding sulkily, at last succumbing to the skill 

 carefully pitted against his strength, he is reeled to the 

 hand net and deposited in the basket, true spoil of the 

 good right arm. 



From Chazy to Bradley's Pond, some five miles deeper 

 in the woods directly in our course to the Upper Chateau- 

 gay, we foimd the well beaten paths of deer, and leaving 

 Bradlej's we followed the outlet, which was very crooked 

 in its course, and trout were to be had for the catching. 



Resting at the Upper Lake that night, I started next 

 morning for Ragged Lake, some ten miles deeper in the 

 wilderness. Ten miles in the forest of a hot June day 

 with a rifle, rod and basket, is a journey which must not 

 be lightly considered. Yet when this most magnificent 

 lake wiis reached I could but fe^l amply repaid for the ' 



weary jaunt. Having rigged my rod and line I stepped 

 carefully to the margin of the lake, overshadowed at this 

 point by a huge jutting boulder, and threw my fly. It 

 had scarcely touched the water when it was seized by a 

 speckled trout weighing perhaps a quarter of a pound, I 

 caught five or six more as fast as I could throw the fly, 

 and could have caught any quantity; but we needed only 

 enough for dinner and I forebore. When skillfully 

 broiled by the guide I found that no keener relish was 

 necessary than the ravenous appetite afforded by the long 

 tramp to their immediate consumption. 



Ragged Lake's waters swarmed with trout, and we 

 rested by its shore for two nights. Here we found the 

 deer, too, more numerous than we had seen them before. 

 Long before the night shadows had gathered around us 

 we saw them stealing out from the thickets that skirted 

 the lake. They would walk stealthily and warily into 

 the water, and after stooping their graceful necks to 

 drink would swim away as if to indulge in a cooling bath 

 to saturate their red coats, then return and feed quietly 

 by the shore, secure alike from the annoyance of insects 

 and the heat of a summer sun. In the night we went out 

 among them with a light in the bow of our canoe, and 

 the number we frightened into fits was not small. But 

 to our credit be it told we left them unharoied, save by 

 the terrors of our transient presence. We returned to 

 our shanty and fell asleep under the lullaby of nature's 

 midnight serenade. 



Next day we coasted the lake to explore its hundred 

 quiet and secluded nooks, and as we lay founder the cool 

 shadow of a huge fir that leaned out from the rocks to 

 rest a while and enjoy the beauty of the scenery around 

 us, we saw a fine deer step into the lake from a point just 

 ahead of us, and after stooping to drink, wade forward 

 and strike out apparently for the opposite shore. We 

 waited until he had got so far from the shore that we 

 could cut him off, and then put out in chase. The lake 

 was calm as a mirror; not a ripple disturbed its glassy 

 surface, save the long wake made by the deer. Hearing 

 the sound of our paddles, he turned his head and dis- 

 covered us. For a brief moment he appeared to hesitate 

 as to what course to take. He looked first in one direction, 

 then in another, as if to ascertain the surest point of 

 escape. We were now between him and the shore, and 

 with energy born of despair he struck boldly forward. 

 Our craft was as clumsy as frail, and we gained on him 

 but slowly — stni we did gain on him. it Avas no boy's 

 play to overtake that deer. In the excitement of the race, 

 however, we forgot the labor and burning heat of the 

 sun. Yet we had no thought of taking his life, that we 

 might have easily done, for my loaded rifle lay in the 

 bottom of our little craft. Our object was a trial of speed. 

 A stern chase is said to be a long one, but when about 

 two-thirds of the way across the lake our canoe was at 

 his tail. Had we been less excited it would have seemed 

 cruel to us to witness his fright. He would plunge for- 

 ward with extraordinary efforts, raising his sleek body 

 half out of the water, and then settle down again desper- 

 ately to his work. With a look of genuine wildness, and 

 distended nostrils, he struggled forward. Once we 

 shouted a wild hello! as our canoe touched him, and the 

 poor animal, regarding himself as lost, bleated out in the 

 extremity of his terror. Still he pressed nobly forward 

 until his hoofs touched the bottom, then the chase was up. 

 A few desperate leaps brought him to the beach, and he 

 plunged triumphantly into his native wilds. We heard 

 his long bounds and the crashing of the dry brush grow- 

 ing fainter and fainter, untU they were lost in the dis- 

 tance and all was still again. 



Another night in camp and at early dawn we were off 

 for Indian Lake, another beautiful sheet of water, about 

 eight miles deeper in the forest. Here we constructed a 

 raft, and remained for two days fishing for the lake trout 

 which were to be caught in abundance; in fact, neither 

 here nor at Ragged Lake was I able to discover any other 

 species of fish than trout. On the morning of the second 

 day we started almost directly west, designing to reach 

 Meacham's Lake and the Saranacs later. Our dinner was 

 composed of some beautiful brook trout and two part- 

 ridges shot by the guide about noon, interspersed with 

 sundry provisions from the pack of the guide. 



A weary jaunt, indeed, yet one to be long remembered 

 from the many new ejects of interest observed on every 

 hand. The day had been exceedingly sultry, and a bank 

 of dense dark clouds rested on the western horizon, be- 

 hind which the sun was fast sinking. My guide soon 

 peeled from the trees around us a quantity of bark suffi- 

 cient to completely cover the roof of the shanty, and we 

 procured an elegant bed of green boughs. 



After our supper of trout, rabbit and partridge, we 

 stretched ourselves before the fire in the full enjoyment 

 of our. pipes, listening to those sounds peculiar to the 

 deep, primeval forest, in the still night air, just before the 

 storm. Here an owl solemnly hooted in answer to a 

 neighbor across the lake, the tree toad piped his mourn- 

 ful trill, and the darkness became profound. About 10 

 o'clock the bank of clouds from the west had overspread 

 the heavens. The lightning began to play most vividly, 

 illuminating both forest and lake for an instant with per- 

 fect distinctness, and then leaving all in obscurity, im- 

 penetrable as Egyptian darkness. The deep voice of the 

 thunder growled and rumbled like an earthquake in the 

 distance. A low, mysterious moaning was heard in the 

 forest around us, such as always precedes a storm, as if 

 the old forest tress were whispering of the danger that 

 was approaching. 



Louder and louder grew the voice of the thunder. The 

 lightning flashed and played along the surface of the 

 lake, almost in a continuous blaze. Anon the pattering 

 of the big drops of rain upon the forest leaves and upon 

 the surface of the water was heard, and in a few minutes 

 the storm was upon us. The rain poured in torrents, the 

 lightning flashed around us, while the booming thunder 

 echoed and reverberated through the mountains, sublime 

 yet awful in its detonations. We were securely sheltered, 

 and there was indeed a sublimity in the warring elements 

 around us. In an hour the storm moved on. Its roar 

 receded into silence. The stars peeked out again in their 

 brightness and the night voices were again lifted up, as 

 if rejoicing that the tempest had passed away. That 

 following morning was the most beautiful that I ever 

 witnessed — so clear, so cool and blight, and such fresh- 

 ness upon all things around us. The trees wore a brighter, 

 greener mantle, the little forest flowers a richer hue. The 

 birds sang more joyously, and the deep voice of the frog 

 had a note of gaiety in it that it did not possess before. 

 The lake was perfectly calm, not a ripple disturbed its ' 



waters, save where a trout leaped above the surface. It 

 was a glorious sight, the rising of the sun that morning; 

 to see him gilding with his beams the tops of the moun- 

 tains, while in the valley, where that lake lav sleeping, 

 the grayness of twilight still lingered; to see the light 

 chasing the shadows down the sides of the mountains; 

 the rays, first resting on the tops of the tall forest trees, 

 and then peering through the opening among the foliage, 

 throwing bright spots upon the surface of the water, and 

 then, as he rose above the grand old pines, giving his 

 beams wantonly on the still bosom of the lake. 



Many were the happy hours I spent while taking that 

 trip, listening to the yarns of my old guide, who had. 

 since early childhood, been a frequenter of these scenes. 

 He was a man in every tissue and fiber of his brawny frame. 



Byron. 



ADIRONDACK HOSPITALITY OF THE 

 OLDEN TIME. 



TWENTY-THREE years ago this summer, when I was 

 a boy of seventeen, with three companions and no 

 guide I essayed to "do" the Adirondacks for the period of 

 three weeks. 



We were not novices at camping, but woods life in the 

 wilderness we found to differ decidedly from what it was 

 within reach of some farmer friend's house, and after two 

 weeks' experience we were reduced to a fare of hard tack 

 and coffee, the latter with sugar but without cream or 

 milk of any kind, and such fish or game as we were able 

 to capture. 



While the deer were thick about us and the larger 

 game was present by "sign," often near our camp, we, 

 having no knowledge whatever of hunting in the timber, 

 were able to add fish only to our bill of fare, and the 

 monotony of the table was beginning to pall upon our 

 young palates, when one day, for the first time in a week 

 that we had seen a strange face, we enjoyed a call from 

 Jack Sheppard, then and now a noted guide in the Ful- 

 ton Chain region, who came to ask for his camp, situated 

 some distance from us on Lake No. 4, the loan of some 

 coffee, offering to exchange tea for it or in fact anything 

 else in the way of edibles. 



We were well supplied with coffee, having more than 

 enough to serve three times a day should we have re- 

 mained for two weeks more, and, therefore, were able to 

 accommodate hico; but we did not care for tea in return, 

 and told him so, at the same time setting forth our empty 

 larder in all its bareness, and asking if we could get any- 

 thing in the way of meat or vegetables at his camp, which 

 we stood greatly in need of. 



Sheppard was unable to tell us what his party could 

 do, but promised to return during the day and let us 

 know. 



And he was as good as his word, for a little before 

 night he appeared with both meat and potatoes, and 

 better still, an invitation from his party to dine with 

 them next day. 



Time was of little account to us the next morning, and 

 long before the hour named we appeared at the hospit- 

 able camp of the gentlemen whom Sheppard was with, 

 who proved to be two Ithaca men, whose names I have 

 unfortunately forgotten in the lapse of years. We were 

 as pleasantly received as if old friends, and shortly asked 

 to the table. 



And such a table! Remember that we had been living 

 alone for more than two weeks, more than half of the 

 time upon hard tack and coffee, with occasional fish as 

 our diet, and that none of us were cooks or had had 

 much experience in that line, then you will understand 

 what this dinner was to us. It ran as follows, and I re- 

 member it as if it were served me but yesterday: Soup- 

 Frog's legs with potatoes as the vegetables. Meats — Ven- 

 ison, roast, with apple jelly and sherry. Fish— Lake 

 trout, stuffed and baked, with butter dressing. Sweet 

 and Irish potatoes, baked; fresh biscuit, pickles and 

 olives, canned green corn, tomatoes and peas, with as 

 good butter as I ever ate. Fresh huckleberry pie, and 

 then coffee, crackers and Rochefort cheese, and lastly, 

 Havana cigars and a bottle of port. 



Perhaps the wine was not the best after dinner wine, 

 but I promise you that we did it justice just the same, 

 and that was the dinner in the heart of the "big woods" 

 that we enjoyed almost a quarter of a century ago at the 

 hands of gentlemen who were to us, as we to them, per- 

 fect strangers, 



I have visited the Adirondacks many times since then, 

 and have been ' 'used white" by scores of campers, but I 

 doubt if I ever received such open-handed hospitality as 

 on that August day three and twenty years ago, H, 



THE MANTIS SHRIMP. 



WE note in a recent issue of the Waterbury (Conn,) 

 American that "T. Fitzpatrick caught a peculiar 

 'fish' in Little Brook, back of his place, some time ago. 

 It is now on exhibition and attracts a great deal of atten- 

 tion. The fish has a back shell, eyes, tail and two claws 

 like a lobster, only that the shell is softer; its color is 

 white: it is about 6in. in length and Hin. thick; it has 

 three legs on each side of its body about in the center; 

 three-quarters of the under side of the creature is covered 

 with a thick growth which looks Hke feathers, and, in 

 fact, it is a curiosity. Hundreds of people have seen it 

 and hundreds will see it, but no one has told Mr. Fitz- 

 patrick what kind of a fish he has caught, and he is of 

 the opinion that no one will do so." 



If Mr. Fitzpatrick and the hundreds of visitors who 

 have seen his "fish" will examine plate 274 of the 

 "Fisheries and Fishery Industries," U. S., Section L, they 

 will probably agree with us that the curious animal above 

 described is a mantis shrimp, or sea shrimp, a burrowing 

 crustacean about whose habits little is known. A related 

 species in Europe is highly prized for food and the Ameri- 

 can forms might be utilized in the same way. The 

 growths on the belly resembling feathers ai-e merely the 

 swimmerets similar to those found on the lobster. 



Poisoning raoM Shark's Tooth.— Mr. S. F, Benton, 

 the well-known artist, who is making the flexible casts ,of 

 fishps, reptiles, etc., for the Fish Commission exhibit at 

 the World's Fair, pricked his thumb and finger with t'-^e 

 teeth of a shark which he was preparing and was obliged 

 to suspend work eijtirely for several days.— B, 



