140 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



(Feb, 16, 1893. 



A FLOOD OF GOLDEN MEMORIES. 



"Old Days in Maine"— What a flood of golden memor- 

 ies those words have unlocked as I sit here at my desk 

 with Forest and Stream before me; for be it known, 

 that I am one of the unfortunates ' 'chained to business. " 

 With reports, records and books pushed to one side, I 

 seem to live over again the care-fi'ee days of boyhood. 

 Again I am rambUng among the nut trees on the banks 

 of the Kennebec or the Carribasset; or withfisli pole made 

 from a spruce sapling I ^nsit the fish holes, where the 

 trout and chubs were wont to congrega.te; or with the 

 old long flint lock fowling piece I am huntiug again 

 through the woods for gray aquirrels and partridges. Oh! 

 what joys were crowded into those golden days, before 

 the cares of life began to press upon my shoulders. The 

 memory of them come to me from out the misty past as a 

 pleasant dream, radiant with the haze of Indian smnmer 

 and the golden tint of autumn leaves. 



My first introduction to hard work was on a farm where 

 I spent three years. But the remembrance of the work is 

 nearly crowded out of memory by tlie j)leasures of living 

 alone, as it were, in the fields and woods, and on the 

 banks of a few trout streams in the neighborhood. Even 

 now I remember the joy I felt one rainy day, when, ex- 

 ploring the loft over the carriage house, 1 found two 

 double-springed fox traps. There was no hired man on 

 the place to set them for me; but I resolved then and 

 there to get even with that old gray woodchuck up in the 

 back lot, who had heretofore circumvented all my plans 

 for his capture. Slipping away quietly with one of the 

 traps, I commenced operations at once. Arriving at the 

 woodchuck's hole I attempted to set the trap by putting 

 both feet on the sprmgs, but found that my weight did 

 not afl:ect them much. I next stooped down and taking- 

 hold of the jaws witli both hands I tugged and pulled with 

 all my might. No go. That woodchuck I was bormd to 

 have at all hazards. Taking the trap to the nearest fence 

 I next procured two stakes, then layhig the trap down by 

 the side of the fence I inserted the "stakes tmder the bot- 

 tom rail, having one over each spring, then bringing the 

 outer ends together I sat down on them. My weight on 

 the long ends of the levers forced the springs together, 

 then leaning forward and stretching out my arms to their 

 full extent I wa.s able to set tlie trap. Then inserting one 

 hand between the jaw and bed piece, pressing the back of 

 the hand down and benduig uj) one of the fingei's under 

 the trencher to keep it in place,. I eased up on the levers 

 and had the satisfaction of seeing the trap set. The next 

 move was to insert them in the woodchuck's hole and 

 await events. The next mornmg before the rest of the 

 family were astir I had the pleasure of stretching my first 

 woodchuck skin on the barn door, to be followed by 

 others, also coon and squirrel skins. 



From the farm I went up to the village of Bingham, 

 where I entered a veritable "Uncle Lisha's shop" as an 

 apprentice. It was during my stay here that I first 

 visited the forests and lakes of northern Maine. I can 

 speak of but one of my many fishing excursions, one that 

 I look back on as the red-letter day of all fishing experi- 

 ence. There were three of us m the party.- The place 

 was Moxie Pond, time, first part of June, 1848. My com- 

 panions were Melvin Bailey and Bartlett HoUis. I do not 

 know whether they are living now, it has been many 

 years since I have seen either. We went in by way of 

 Moscow to the head of the bog, guided by a map of the 

 road drawn on a shingle by Dncle Asa Parian, an old 

 trapper, then 70 years old, and who, I remember, was as 

 tall, straight and active as a man of 50. At that time he 

 had a camp at the head of the'lwg, three miles from the 

 head of the pond, where he spent the hunting and trap- 

 ping season alone nine miles from the nearest settlement. 

 The first night we slept at his camp, the next day we 

 launched a log driver's batteau that we found covered up 

 in a thicket of young spruces, and paddled down to the 

 pond, running the rapids at the foot of the bog. We 

 fished at the head of the pond the first day, with fair suc- 

 cess, taking some fine trout, running from 1 to 2Hbs. each. 



We camped at the head of the pond the second night, a 

 dreary, desolate place it was, too, surrounded by liigh 

 granite hills, over which the fire had swept a few years 

 before, leaving nothing but blackened stubs and fallen 

 trees in its path. We went down the shore two miles lae- 

 fore we could find live sj)ruce trees from which to peel 

 bark for the roof of our camp. The sides we filled in 

 with brush. Our fish that we did not eat for supper Ave 

 Baited in a trough hewn out of a section of one of the 

 trees we peeled for roofing the camp. When we turned 

 in I lay on the side next the fish trough. How well I re 

 member lying awake most of the night listening to the 

 weird cry of the loons and the hooting of an owl, not far 

 away. Finally, near morning I dropped asleep, only to 

 be awakened by a bear, which was making an early 

 breakfast of our fish. There was no more .sleep for me 

 that night. 



The next day we went down to Sandy Stream, on the 

 west side of the pond, where we found a crew of log 

 drivers waiting for water. Some of them were fishing on 

 the stream and were catching fine strings of trout. We 

 camped at the mouth of the stream, where in a short 

 time we caught fish enough for supper and breakfast. 

 The rest of the day we spent hunting and exploring. 



Early the next morning before my cornpanious were 

 awake I took my rod and started up the stream. Before 

 it was fairly light I could hear the fish running up over 

 the ripples in the stream, their back often out of the 

 water; and a hungrier lot of trout I have never seen, often 

 leaping out of the water after the bait. I fished up the 

 stream three-fourths of a mile, hanging my fish up on the 

 limbs of the trees at the different pools. At a short bend 

 of the stream I climbed on top of a large rock, where I 

 stood spellbound at tlie beautiful sight before me. A fe^v 

 rods above, the stream was pouring through a notch in 

 the top of an almost perxjendicular cliff of rock, some 80ft. 

 high. Midway in its descent it dashed on a shelf of rock, 

 anU spreading out in a wide sheet fell into a deep pool at 

 the bottom of the clitL The morning sun, just rismg over 

 the mountain on the east side of the pond, bathed the 

 scene in a flood of golden Uglit, making a pictm-e which 

 any lover of nature could not soon forget! I was soon 

 aroused from the reverie into which I had fallen, by a 

 splash in the pool, caused by a trout in pursuit of a break- 

 fast. In an instant the instinct of the fisherman was 

 aroused, and letting out my line I ca.Ht my bait far up into 



the pool. Scarcely had it touched the water when there 

 was a swirl, followed by a vicious tug at the line, and 

 soon a 41b. trout lay on the shore below the rock on which 

 I stood. The beauty of the scene was forgotten in the 

 keen enjoyment of the sport I had for the next hour, 

 when the fact somehow got into my head that I was 

 catching more trout than I could get back to camp. Ee- 

 luctantly reeling up my line I started down the stream, 

 gathering up my fish as I went. I laid down before the 

 camp that moi-ning the finest string of trout it was ever 

 my fortune to catch. There were quite a number that 

 would weigh 31bs. each and some even larger than that. 



StiU I was not satisfied, like "Kingfisher," I had left a 

 big one in a deep hole under the roots of a tree, larger 

 than any I had caught. I retiu-ned to the pool after 

 breakfast for the big trout, but try as I would, 1 could not 

 hook him. 



We crossed the pond and fished up Alder Brook, where 

 we caught some fine trout, but finding the stream ob- 

 structed too much with brush we returned to the boat 

 and fished along the east shore to the head of the pond, 

 where we arrived about noon, Finding that we had all 

 the fish we could carry out we started for home, where 

 we arrived at midnight, tired and happy, as successful 

 fishermen usually are. 



In after years I visited many of the most noted hunting 

 and fishing resorts in the State, but nowhere do I remem- 

 ber having such fine sport as we did on the Moxie. 



It is twenty-seven years since f last visited the old 

 State, but the memory of the happy day spent in the 

 forests and on the lakeiof Maine has often been refreshed 

 by the correspondents of Forest ajvd Stream, and each 

 year, as the fishing season comes round, there is a fever 

 of unrest in my bones, and sometimes I almost think that 

 I cannot die content without visiting the scenes of my 

 boyhood again and catching one more trovxt. ' I often 

 visit the old haunts in my dreams and hope that in the 

 not far distant future I shall be fortunate enough to do so 

 in person. Whether I do so or not, with Whittier I can 

 truly say: 



"Keep who will the city's alleys, 

 Take the smooth-shorn plain- 

 Give to me the cedai- valleys, 

 Rocks and hills of Maine." 

 Erik, Pa. O. L. G. 



ON THE NORTH SHORE.— VI. 



The Trip Up.-VI. 



[Continued f rom page ISO.'] 



As THE sun climbed and the sombre shadows grew less, 

 the wind abated, and then we went to the east shore, 

 where we succeeded in persuading three unsuspicious /o?i- 

 tinalis that oiu- feathers were food, anr so benefitted by 

 the delusion. 



"The fond credulity 

 Of silly fish, which, wordling-like, stiU look 

 Upon the bait, but never on the hook." 



As every j^assing hour was lulling the wind, we con- 

 cluded the trip to Sand River could comfortably be made, 

 and accordingly gave word for the advance to that grittily- 

 named stream. The dismal asf)ect which had greeted us 

 m the morning was fast fading away, for bright flashes 

 from Phoebus were falling upon the moistened earth; the 

 glad waters sparkled, and the loftier heights that towered 

 like sentinels over the great lake were tinged with rosy 

 hues, while the limitless shadows, winch feU upon the 

 slopes, caught and repeated the soft azure of the sky. The 

 Divine Artist was rapidly painting a landscape of inex- 

 pressible beauty. 



On reaching the liver, we at once commenced sending 

 our flies in the big pool of dark water at the mouth, but 

 no monster or e^•en adolescent trout could be coaxed to 

 the surface, no matter what fly was presented or how skill- 

 fully thrown. The trout of the mountain stream or of the 

 icy lake were not there to be feasted or to be fooled. We 

 therefore ascended the purling brook, and with small flies 

 caught about fifteen or twenty that ran from Gin, up to 8 

 or 10, but none that would wake the rhythm of the reel. 



Returning to the mouth of this beautiful little river that 

 comes from mountain heights in a merry ripijle, we there 

 partook of lunch, and then started for the camji, Nearing 

 the Lizards, Ned suggested, as we had almost the entire 

 afternoon before us, to visit them, and endeavor to secure 

 some of the ice which had doubtless been abandoned when 

 the fishing station was removed from here m the spring to 

 Dog River, the object of said removal being to rest the 

 waters for a couple of years, A wise proceeding, and one 

 which wiU assuredly prove profitable in the end. 



Long before we got over our sails began to flap, and it 

 was then a resort to oars. The boys always took up the 

 ashen blades willingly, and pUed them with a vigor that 

 made the water race along the sides of the saihess ci-aft 

 with a musical cadence. Landing at the upi^er end of 

 the island, where there is a good harboi* and small pier, 

 we fastened the boat, and then walked over a short dis- 

 tance to the icehouse, where we fotmd a large quantity of 

 the glacial blocks, which we foraged upon to the extent 

 of a basketful. The frosty blocks being difly stowed aAvay, 

 we took a survey of the deserted quarters, which looked 

 as if a raiding party had just passed through them. The 

 island was weU wooded, and aboimded in rabbits of which 

 I saAV several as tliej^ ambled along the path, while green 

 lizards, so the boatsmen stated, were every wliei-e. Every- 

 thing around indicated desertion and decaj^ — 



"Their scepters broken and theu- swords in rust." 



The boys being of a decidedly inquisitive character went 

 through many of the shanties, overhauling and looking 

 into every corner and cranny, and in fact were so much 

 taken up with their tour of inspection that we had to call 

 them to the boat. As we left a light breeze Avrinkle the 

 glittering water, and the setting sun around it was gather- 

 ing fleecy folds of roseate clouds, radiant in opal and 

 violet, amber and crimson. 



"Dipp"d in the lines of sunset, wreath'd in zones, 



The clouds are resting in then- uionarci-thi-oues, 



One peak alone exalts its glacier crest, 



A golden parachse, above the rest; 



Hither the day with lingering steps retires, 



And in its own blue element exishes." 



Oh neai'ing our quarters a dandy Uttle yacht, having on 

 board a gay fishing party of both sexes, was seen st^jam- 

 ing with the speed of an antelope toward the wrecked 

 pier at the southern extremity of the island we had but 



recently left. She very suddenly brought up on the 

 rocky bottom a Httle this side of the delusive pier, and it 

 took fully two hom-s of hard steaming and sparring to 

 release the staunch and handsome craft. Peter foretold 

 the accident, as he was quite famfliar with the locahty 

 and condition of the pier, which had been shorn of some 

 30 or 40ft. of its front during a terrible northwester last 

 fall. The onslaught of the lofty waves wliich attacked it' 

 was so sudden that several loaded fish-cars thereon were, 

 lost before they could be rolled to a place of safety. It' 

 takes a heavy northwester on this lake to create conster- 

 nation, for it comes sweeping its entire length, and with 

 a violence that carries destruction on its heaving plains. 

 It is really the only wind on this great lake that I dread tO 

 encounter in a small boat. 



Om- foraged ice was truly a blessing, for with it our 

 trout were kept in fine condition. It saved the boys so 

 much trouble that they proposed another raid on the 

 abandoned stock as soon as our present supply gave out. 

 It was a matter for consideration, we told them, when 

 the ice had aU dissolved, as well as a serious question of 

 commercial honor to settle with our conscience. 



The evening being warm and a camp-fire not necessary 

 for comfort, we went to the rocks in our immediate front, 

 and thei-e sat watching the golden stars bespangle the 

 fight waves; the drifting clouds as they kissed the crescent 

 moon; the dark shadows as they spread like tracery along 

 the I'agged shore, and the nocturnal whippoorwfils as 

 they sought theu- vesperian meal in the air. Night, the > 

 sable goddess, was displaying the splendors of her royal 

 kingdom with a generous hand. 



"All was so still, so soft, on earth and air. 

 You scarce would start to see a spirit there, 

 Secure that nought of evil could delight 

 To walk in such a scene, on such a night I" 



Having drank to repletion of the beauties of the night, 

 we sought otu- tent, and as we lay snugly wrapj)ed in our 

 blankets, inhahng the odor of the balsam, planned for 

 the prospective trip; but as the unruly wind was an ele- 

 ment of consideration, we had the significant, if as a 

 prominent, factor for all the plans under discussion. 



Alex Starbuck. 



ODD DAYS WITH THE TROUT. 



Trials of the Trout Fisher. 



There is no vocation in this world wherein the truth of 

 that homely but true old adage (there's many a slip, etc.). 

 is often realized than in the life of the trout fisher, as is' 

 fully illustratee in the following sketch: ( 



Freezy and I were restless again; after a week's inactiv-' 

 ity we longed for the murmur of the brook and the music 

 of the reel, At last the longing became unendurable, and 

 one evening Freezy settled the matter to our mutual sat- f 

 isf action. "Well, old man, all things being favorable ini 

 the morning, what do you say to a day's sport with the^ 

 troutV" I did not need any urging, oh, no; so arrange-, 

 ments were made for an early start on the morrow, I 

 Boarding a freight train next morning we landed in Plain-: 

 field at an early hour and soon sought the banks of ourt 

 old favorite, MiU Brook, The weather was not very favor- 1' 

 able, but as we were not at the head of the weather de^ 

 partment we made the best of it. 



We started in at the meadow close to the big grape vine. : 

 No^v, in rigging up, Freezy is visually first to get there, 

 and I was yet tying on the leader Asiieii lie made Ms first 

 cast with the remark, "Now, sonny, I will show yoti how.' 

 to land a big trout," and he did land a trout of about 5in. 

 in length, which chum, with a sniff of disgust, dropped 

 back into the stream. Leaving him at the head of the 

 pool I worked in through the alders and came out at thn 

 side of the pool imder the low spreading branches of an 

 old maple, a good spot for a large trout, but a mighty j 

 poor place to land him. Making a short side cast down i 

 toward the debris at the extreme lower end of tlie pool, 

 a trout of ilh. weight darted out and seized the tail fly. I ■' 

 soon hooked him and drew him forth. There was not ' 

 much science in that; I just reeled him in and lifted him 

 around and out on the bank. Freezy soon hooked an- 

 other and brought him safely to creel. 



Just below I took a fine fish of fib. weight from under 

 a clumj) of willows at a bend of the stream. I now fol- ( 

 lowed chum, who had gone on down stream. Now, down 

 at the edge of the woods I have a lucky spot, a beautiful ' 

 little pool, where I am always sure of at least one good 

 trout. I have ahtfost come to regard this pool as my own, 

 so attached have I become to it, and chum knows it. 

 Stepping carefully up to the pool, there was chum with a 

 provoking grin upon his face and two fine trout upon the^ 

 grass fresh from the pool. "Never mind, old man, my! 

 turn to laugh next," said I, and indeed my turn came 

 much sooner than expected. 



We fished across the meadow, taking now and then a 

 fair fish, and soon reached the old wall which separates 

 the meadow and swamp. Here is a deep hole, perhax)s • 

 the deepest on the stream. Freezy stopjjed here to try 

 conclusions with a resident of that same pool (in fact, ' 

 Fi-eezy has an old grudge to settle with him). Quietly .set- , 

 tling to business at a charming little eddy just below, 1 

 was soon startled by a wild whoop and a "heavy splash in 

 the stream, and springing up, saw chum's head bobbing 

 around on the water hke a huge cork. Now, you can 

 safely bet there was some churiung and splashing to 

 reach shore, and he soon stood on ten-a firriia, the most 

 thoroughly disgusted looking sportsman I ever beheld 

 (tebleau), myself upon the go-ass, rofiing and choking 

 Afith laughter, Freezy with arms and legs widespread and 

 water streaming from every thread. Glaring at me with 

 a wild fight m his eyes, at last his injured feelings f oimd 

 vent in these words: "Oh, laugh, you blamed idiot, 

 laugh! Funny, ain't it?" "Pays you for jjoaching in my 

 private pool above," said I, but really I wa.s soon sorry for 

 the poor fellow, for his teeth began to chatter with cold. 

 I soon had him in undress uniform, and as I wrung the 

 wet clothing I was entertained by a series of gymnastics 

 indulged in by chum to bring warmth to his numbed 

 body. Now, the fun was all on my side, as this aU tran- 

 spired in a cool west wind in the rather scant costume of 

 socks and undershirt. It seems in making a long cast 

 he had overbalanced and taken a header into the pool, 

 thereby scoring another failure to capture the big trout. 

 At last we started, chum as comfortable as Ifiswet clothes 

 would pei-mit, but it seems the end was not yet for poor 

 chum. This must have been his unlticky day, for in 

 clambering over the old wall he tripped on a mat of 



