MaY~25, 1898.1 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



4B1 



ON THE NORTH SHORE.-V. 



The Return Trip. — V. 



[Continued from page hSO.} 



Early the next morning we broke camp with the inten- 

 tion of going to Maniaise, but not liking the appearance 

 3f the weather shortly after starting, put into Montreal 

 River, where we had breakfast. We found here on the 

 jraveUy banks at the mouth some large dip-nets, about 

 ift. in diameter, with which the Indians take Mackinac 

 salmon in the faU season. Peter gave us a practical ex- 

 jmijlifioation of netting the fish. The net, which is fast- 

 jned to a pole about 20ft. long, is thrown in the stream, 

 ■tad then dragged down the current so the fish can be 

 iaken head first. As soon as a struggle in the net is felt, 

 it is an immediate race up the bank dragging along the 

 ticking victim. All the Indians and half-breeds at 

 Iguawa station secure their wnter's fish here. To give 

 irou an idea of their plentitude, will state that Mr. Schil- 

 mg last fall caught seven bari-els of them in two or three 

 lays. Here they are cleaned and salted, and then taken 

 lome in their "Mackinacs." 



Th is river is exceedingly picturesque in places and well 

 (Forth ascending. It plunges through gorges, and comes 

 iweeping along with a roar over rapids, and by chasms of 

 urild, dreamy fascination; in fact it is a region of grandeur 

 hat will ever tempt the prophetic soul and yearning 

 ieart of man to deep meditation, and lead him to fer- 

 vently exclaim: 



"But let me often to tliese solitudes 

 Retire, and in Thy presence reassure 

 My feeble virtues." 



Having breakfasted, we ventured again upon the lake, 

 aid after going some five miles, the flying scuds and a 

 teing breeze so filled the soul of the prognosticating Emery 

 Pith frightful adversaries, that we sought the shore, much 

 0 our chagrin. ' 'l^Ie no hke it," was the plea for a retreat, 

 .nd "me no hke it" either, as we were getting very tired 

 it this retreating at every indication. In about an hour, 

 he wind dying out, we proceeded once more, but to the 

 ausic of the dipping oars, as the little breeze then pre- 

 vailing was a head one. The men worked with pipes in 

 lieir mouths and were in no hurry for the advance. At 

 ?oint aux Mines we went in and had dinner. After that, 

 !fed wishing to try for a trout or two, we com-sed along 

 ■he rocks to give him a chance for the red-coat. He 

 ff^hipped the waters for quite a while, and then conclud- 

 ng there were none that desired an interview, reeled up 

 md discontinued his thrashing. Away we go again, over 

 he heave of the lake, to the low murmur of the beating 

 waves and tlie drifting of dingy clouds overhead. 



Just before reaching Mamaise, we met the Hon. Andrew 

 lackson and .Judge J. H. Steere, of Sault Ste. Marie, in a 

 Ma/;kinac with their boatman, off for a ten days' trout- 

 ing trijj, headed direct for the Twin Sisters, our last camp- 

 ing place, and as they liad a favorable wind, which was 

 aow blowing quite fresh, expected to reach it by nine 

 /clock tliat evening. One of their men was a brother to 

 )ur Peter, and is said to be one of the best guides tliat 

 jver went out from the "Soo." We had quite a friendly 

 jhat of some fifteen minutes and then the boats parted 

 ind soon had miles between them. 



Tixe boys were now using the sail, and the breeze, which 

 was freshening every minute, sent our boat plowing 

 ;hrough creamy fields of snow. The shadow of night was 

 ^ast falling, and a sky forming of x>ortentous clouds, 

 jromising any thing but pleasant weather. We were sure 

 rf jwrt, for it would be but a few minutes before reaching 

 md svnnging around the rocky point just ahea^l that led 

 to the channel between the island and shore. 



"Down with the saO," sang out Peter, a moment after, 

 and down it came, and then into the harbor we swept, 

 ^d that the day's vexatious trip was over. Our astrono- 

 tner and his associate were both happy, as they expected 

 uO have a cabin, a deserted one, to sleep in that night. We 

 ilso concluded to inhabit part of it, taking the upper story 

 and leaving the boys to stand guard below, where their 

 sulinary preparations would not interfere with us. 



We had landed at a small pier which had been built 

 here years ago when the place was used as a fishing sta- 

 ion. It being quite convenient enabled the men to soon 

 save the boat unloaded and the goods under cover in a 

 small ittclosuie adjoining. In making an examination of 

 Jie sleeping room we noticed that it was well ventilated, 

 me of the window frames being without sash, and for- 

 hinately for us, found a couple of beds of balsam at least 

 X foot thick in one corner. It had dried some, but the 

 Era^ance from it was still fresh, filhng the room with an 

 iroma that was pleasant to inhale. The mattresses being 

 placed on these downy boughs, it made a bed fit for prince 

 5r peasant. 



Taking our supper in the cabin was really an unmistak- 

 jible advance to civilization, yet I preferred the fresh air 

 writh the blue canopy — for he who stands often with noth- 

 Bbg between him and the open heavens will gain from 

 Hon both health and morals. "Air is the king of physi- 

 ^^ns," and his great magician, the sun, is ever changing, 

 a wand of gold, the fireless eye and sallow cheeks to 

 Hb brilliant glow of health, A caged bird drotjps and 

 Hes for want of flight, of air, of change, and so with the 

 feve of mammon. Better by far the sports of flei<is, 

 roods and streams, where the huntsman winds his merry 

 »om, and the angler circles his deceptive fli^. 

 "The fall of waters and the song of birdg, 

 And hills that echo to the distant herds, 

 Are J usuries excelling all the glare 

 The world caji boast, and her chief favorite share." 



We were just dropping into the land of forgetfulness 

 tixat night when we heard the tramp, tramp, tramp of 

 ioaany feet, and in monotone the caw, caw, caw of divei-s 

 (STOWS that had taken possession of the roof, 



"I think," said Ned, after listening awhile, "they are 

 nold a caw-cus." 



lid, thafs horrible, they are simply indulging in the 

 jiial ganie." 



.p, flop, fl.op, aad one sailed away, 

 I He is out on a fly,'' said Ned, with a chuckle, 

 f Flop, flop, flop, goes a second. 



: aotlier one umpired out," again cries the efferres- 



:Ned. 



A caw, caw, caw, then a flop, flop, flop, and they all 

 went out on the fly, and I went into dreamland and saw 

 an elephant nine batting with their trunks and sending 

 great cannon balls sky high. 



A daffodil sky and a west wind that shook out [the 

 fragrance of the balsamic forest were the morning salu- 

 tations. The breeze, soon after breakfast, was blowing 

 such great guns that it was simply impossible to venture 

 further on the trip; but as we had had fine sport were 

 perfectly willing for a day or two's rest therefrom, and 

 so possessed our souls with gentle patience. 



The boys, aspiring to be mighty nimrods, took the gun, 

 as soon as they had cleaned the breakfast dishes, and 

 scoured hiUs and dales in eager search for game, but after 

 an absence of four or five hours returned in disgrace 

 without fur or feather for a trophy. Ned in the mean- 

 time had crossed over to the island with his rod, but 

 owing to the heavy "northwester," to which point the 

 wind had now turned, could not cast his flies to advantage 

 against the head wind. He was soon satisfied with his 

 futile efforts, and then went to gathering some goose- 

 berries, with which the island abounded. Being left 

 alone in camp, I strolled along a narrow road that led to 

 Point aux Mines, and feasted on what nature presented 

 in this lonely solitude. There were few birds and those not 

 rare. No gorgeous oriole in rufiiing gold, the princeling 

 of them all, greeted me, nor did a blackcap present himself 

 to proudly display his yellow waLsteoat and velvet hood. 

 A white-throated sparrow, however, crossed my path, 

 as also a little warbler, the violet of the air, and then a 

 partridge, in his dull grassy colors, flew u^jon the limb of 

 a maple and looked at me with his stupid eyes as imcon- 

 cerned as if I were of the forest. A butterfly next came 

 in delightful review, and on his delicate hues I feasted 

 as if making it an artistic study, when suddenly a cawing 

 crow in plumage as dark as Erebus— a reminder of the 

 night's prowling of some of his thievish crew — rose on 

 high, sounding his discordant notes as he flew by, and this 

 was aU I saw of the children of the air. 



As I idled along the path I could hear the roar of the 

 great lake, and wishing to see the angry sea once more in 

 the bright sunUght, I picked my way through the forest, 

 and was soon upon a gigantic rock looking at the tower- 

 ing surges as they showed their white teeth. Here I saw 

 great bulwarks of granite that had been bolted with traps 

 of porphyry and quartz, crusted with mica schist, and 

 riveted with spikes of iron, lead and tin, that had been 

 dethroned by the battling storms and lying jjrone upon 

 the ragged shore as evidence of the immense strength of 

 the wave's batter, and the crushing power of the ice. 

 Avalanches of white whirling foam came with a rush and 

 roar over the savage crags that were frightfully appalling, 

 and told impressively why widows and orphans inhabit 

 the cities of the sea. Satisfied with the passion-worn 

 waters, and the wild dismal streteh of coast with its 

 frowning cliffs, its rents, its fissures and its debris of rock, 

 I again sought camp, feeling that my hour in the green 

 woods and by the tumultuous lake had been to me a 

 revelation that 



"All are but parts of one stupendous whole 

 Whose body nature is, and God the soul," 



From the way the heavy surges pounded all day we 

 concluded we were in for a three days' blow, as a north- 

 wester generally lasts that long. This was Emery's 

 prophec-y, but he was doomed to disappointment and a 

 running fire from us, for the next morning the heavens 

 were in cream-colored masses, while the glowing sun 

 turned the waters into a rich and dazzling sapjihire tliat 

 gave promise of a glorious day. 



The word was given, after we had partaken of the 

 matutinal meal, to break camp and sail for Grindstone 

 Point, where we exjjected a day or two's royal sport with 

 the pisces of the rouge and rosy hues. We ha<i had two 

 days' absence from the pursuit of the redfins, and were 

 now becoming quite anxious to hear once more the 

 rhythm of the reel and to feast our eyes upon the rich 

 red hues tliat rivaled the blush of the peach and the pink 

 of the shell. 



Ned was so desirous of feeling the thrill of delight in 

 lianditng one of these claret-painted combatants, that we 

 ferried him to ihe island for tliat purpose, and there left 

 him to Ijc taken up after we liad loaded the boat and were 

 on our winding way over the tossing seas. 



The boys were so eager to be afloat that morning that I 

 took an active part in getting things alx/ard , and it seemed 

 but a few minutes before we were off and haxi jjicked up 

 Ned, who declared there was neither a hungry, gaping or 

 ovai-curioQs, fontirudiis along the island shore. He was 

 content to wait now tliat he had wet his flies and seen 

 their surface-dance, but he would go for gore, with a ven- 

 gance, when he had reached one of their populous districts 

 at or near the point with the gritty grindstone vxjrmn. 



Emery, the prophetic, ever on the Iwkout for cloudy 

 signals, espying a few trifling scuds peeping o'er the far- 

 away b<;lt of the horizon in the west, announced, with 

 serious aspect, "a blow soon." 



"For heaven's sake," says Ned, "let it blow, and blow 

 the old patehed rag to tatters, for I am heartily the'l of 

 this sailing in ziephyr breezijs, and sneaking ashore eveiy 

 lime a httle puff of wind arises." 



This silenced the serious prophet, who, fully realizing 

 that we were for an onward movement without regard to 

 his direful warnings, leaned over the rud'ier handle and 

 riveted his eyt* upon those tiny clouds as if they were to 

 liim a m-atter of life and deathi 



There was a goo<l sailing breeze now, that made the 

 foam beUs fall and tinkle witJi a glad merriment along 

 the sides of the speeding craft. Overhead the sky was 

 luminous, while ufion land and water the sunlight fell in 

 hazy warmth. The ever present scavenger — ^the white- 

 winged gull — ^as if pleased with the 'iazzle, sailed on 

 high, whfle the coast, under the lustre of the advancing 

 sun, gave us picture after picture of grand beauty in 

 silvery tints and quiet shadows, which mingled in pleas- 

 ing harmony with the purple hiiis, the i>eacef ul vales, ttie 

 frowning cliffs, the jutting rocks, the receding bays, the 

 lonely islets, and all that make, under drowsy clouds and 

 the throbbing sound of wavelets, the impressive in nature. 

 Naturally we turned to converse, after s<jene upon scene of 

 shoreland had delighted the eye and pleased the fancy, 

 and nearly every subject handled until we had worn it 

 threadbare. One day in camp Ned asked nije if I had 

 obsei-ved the immense Latitude and longitude that Peter 

 gave to his narrations, "I had," I answered, and then 

 we agreed to give the fairy romancer a pill or two of his 

 own making, as he ha/i just stated, when we were on the 

 topic of humidity, that he had .seen it shower on the lake 



every day for six months. Thinking it a good time to 

 endeavor to balance the account, Ned said: 



"That was a long-continued dropping of the moist 

 beads, but when I was in Washington Territory, some 

 years ago, it was visited by a rainfall that washed twenty- 

 five miles of the Catskill Mountains into the Pacific." 



"What, rocks and aU?" inquired the sui-prised Peter. 



' 'Yes, and rocks bigger than a house were carried by 

 the torrents fifty miles or more to the sea." 



"Gee Whillikins!" 



"Not only that, but it rains so long and hard in that 

 country that the people naturally become web-footed, and 

 are thus enabled to cross a stream like a duck. " 



"What?" 



"Not only that, but the climate was so wet that all 

 their cats and dogs disappeared in the moisture. Then 

 they tried Newfoundland dogs and water spaniels for 

 awhile, but it was entirely too damp for them and so they 

 went. Then a VjrilHant idea came to them, which was 

 the training of fishes to follow them around." 



"Fishes!" 



"Why, certainly. I h;id a fine Columbia River salmon, 

 which accompanied me downtown every day and waited 

 around the office door till I came out and then followed 

 me back home. One of my neighbors was attended by a 

 beautiful trout, which weighed about 61bs., and insisted 

 upon going everywhere he went, swimming, sporting 

 about him aU the while." 



"That takes the bakery, oven and dough," concluded 

 Peter, and then he looked as if he had been ground down 

 to a fine point, and stood before us as a close relative of 

 Ananias, 



We heard no more romancing from that half-breed as 

 we were aware of during the remainder of the trip. The 

 chestnut we thought a good one and apropos. 



Alex. Starbuck. 



fTO BE CONTINUED.] 



THE TARPON IN THE GULF. 



OsPEEY, Fla., May 15. — If there lives a man, who has 

 been through the entire angler's list from the riffle chub to 

 the Silver King, and who still speaks in a depreciatory 

 tone of the pluck of the tarpon, 1 wish to hear from him. 

 The creek chub, the Nipigon brook trout, the black bass 

 of the cold Canada lakes, the fierce salmon of the icy 

 rivers of Norway are all good enough in their way, but 

 compared with the tarjion it is in a small way. 



Last week I coquetted with a Megalops for fourteen 

 minutes, and in this short space of time he cleared the 

 water for an airing no less than eleven times — ran under 

 the boat, twice and ste»od on his head with tail out of water 

 over an oyster reef once in a vain endeavor to rub the 

 snood away. The violent efforts of this acrobat, however, 

 quite exhausted him, and inside of a quarter of an hour 

 he was gaffed and amusing himself by trying to hammer 

 out the bottom of ray boat with his powerful tail. Fol- 

 lowing the rules of prudence my companion and I retired 

 to the extreme ends of our small flat bottom craft, resign- 

 ing amidships to his majesty. This was a small flsh 

 measuring 5ft. Tin., but he was a very frisky httle fellow. 



Little Sarasota Bay, better known for ite fine oysters 

 than for its fishing, is connected with the Gulf of Mexico 

 by a narrow and deep cliannel which looks like a river 

 and runs like a mill race. Through this nai-row inlet, 

 water pours in and out at each turn of the tide with a 

 speed far from comfortable when it is going the wrong 

 way. This passage is the only rehef for a series of bays 

 almost ten miles in length, Fi-om my winter shanty to 

 the Gulf by way of the Pass is about three and a half 

 miles, while in a direct course across the bay and over 

 the key, to the beach is not lialf a mile. (While 1 am on 

 this subject of land and water it may be well to assure 

 the gentle reader that I liave no I'eal estate or lots for 

 sale, nor do I know of any of the neighbors who either 

 wish to sell or desire to see strangers. There is no hotel 

 within twelve miles and boarders are not wanted and are 

 detested. There is no school, no church, no society, no 

 railroad, no beef, no butter, no comfort, but when it 

 comes to climate, tarpon, otlier gulf fish, oysters, then 1 

 can have a word with you.) 



The tarpon cares nothing for railroads or churches, so he is 

 satisfied to headquarter around here and may be taken with 

 prop<ir bait and outfit off and on from October to June, 

 Through the summer he is a drug in the market. Some- 

 times in fall and spiing I have hooked him within a few 

 yards of my front door (no lots for sale and no near neigh- 

 bors wanted). 



The impression prevails that the tarpon is a bay fish; 

 tliat he noses around in the mud and among the weeds, 

 picking up a nice piece of fresh mullet on general princi- 

 ples just as a man might pick up a half dollar lying on the 

 pavement. The notion is correct as far .as it goes. Your 

 swell New York society man also grovels; he slips around 

 on Wall street, he frequents dark, ill-flavored offices. But 

 down town we do not see him at his best; he must be seen 

 over champagne among the Four Hundred before we can 

 size him up. The king may degrade himself sometimf^s, 

 he may pjke around among weeds and allow his bur- 

 nished sides to come in contact with the foul mud of the 

 inner bays; he may frequent the home of the weaiisonje 

 catfish. The average angler finds him inside and waits, 

 seated in his boat anchored near the flats and oyster bars, 

 for the coil to run out. 



Yesterday, however, I saw the king amid royal sur- 

 roundings. At the mouth of the Pass I viewed a gi-eat 

 school of these magnificent fish playing and feeding in the 

 breakers. They dashed around and came to the surface 

 exposing their backs, fins and tails. At times as many 

 as five or six would be on the surface at the same mo- 

 ment. By wading in among the rocks I managed to get 

 within casting distance, but could not get them to take 

 bait, which was a large chunk of rovallia, I next 

 tried to get to them with the (x>at, but the Gulf was so 

 rough that we almost swamped. I have an idea that 

 the silver king may be taken in the Gulf at the mouth 

 of tJie Pass without waiting for a coil to run out, so we 

 may have a sensation ahead, 



Tlie tai-pon which I saw yesterday were occupied in 

 the midst of a lot of stnall fry, acres, in fact, of small 

 fish about two inches long and no thicker than a small 

 quiU toothpick. Thousands of the fry were being de- 

 voured by Spanish mackerel, bony flsh, groupers, man- 



frove snappers, rovaUi, ete. Whether the tarpon were 

 evouring the small fry or picking up larger fish I am 

 unable to report, as the millions of small fry kept near 

 the am-tam, giving the water an inky appearance. 



No»B Sdch, 



