536 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[June 23, 1894. 



ON THE NORTH SHORE OF LAKE SUPERIOR. 



(Continued from Page 516-) 



It now being time to return we commenced the fatigu- 

 ing tramp over the rugged route and were glad when we 

 had reached the "big rocks." Ned had caught two in- 

 differently sized trout during our absence, and being posi- 

 tive no more were to be had there, suggested an immedi- 

 ate move to our quarters. He laughed heartily when I 

 told him, as we were slowly moving along, of my coast- 

 ing down the rock on my back, and said it was a great 

 pity to spoil such an incident without the consummation 

 of the striking tableau so near at hand, the plunge into 

 the lake. Its successful finale was all the tableau I de- 

 sired. I was not hankering for the calcium lights to be 

 turned on for rapturous applause or for the creating of 

 any emotional impression. 



On our return we met several canoes containing Tndian 

 families en route for the Aguawa, to which we g ive the 

 customary salute. It is really surprising how the red- 

 skins manage to employ the limited space in their jimans 

 —so they call their canoes— and how much they stow 

 away in them. We saw one containing man and wife 

 with four children, two boys and two girls, a dog with 

 four pups, divers camp utensils and other plunder, on top 

 of which was a cage with two young eagles. The gun- 

 wale was but a few inches above the water, and with all 

 this they had come all the way from Michipicoten. Their 

 canoes are built exceedingly light and lie on the water 

 "Like a yellow leaf of autumn, 

 Like a yellow water lily." 



They are, too, very handy for crossing dangerous places, 

 and, if you take proper precaution, you need not posi- 

 tively be upset. The Indians have extraordinary command 

 over them, and they seem to fly over the surface of the 

 water. Hence it is not surprising that the poets impart 

 mysterious and magic powers to the bark canoe. 

 "And the forest life was in It, 



All its mystery and magic; 



All the lightness of the birch tree, 



All the toughness of the cedar, 



All the larch's supple sinews." 



Even the Indians honor their own invention greatly, and 

 impart to it a divine origin. They say that Menaboju 

 (their Prometheus or Hercules) invented the canoe. 

 They even point to some half dozen lumps of stone on the 

 shore of one of the islands, and say that Menaboju built 

 his canoe between them and there hung it to dry. 



I was quite tired when we reached camp, for my walk 

 along the ragged shore was very toilsome, being compelled 

 to bend and twist, and turn and stretch in the endeavor to 

 ascend or circumvent the deep chasms and treacherous 

 masses of fallen rocks which ever and anon confronted 

 me. Ned escaped all this fatigue, for he scarcely moved 

 from his first position, and frequently did his casting from 

 a comfortable seat. 



We were now exceedingly eager for our meal, for our 

 appetites were as keen as the edge of a sword blade. Our 

 chef soon had us before smoking platters of broiled trout 

 and other savory dishes which Appicus, the unexampled 

 epicurean of ancient Rome, would have relished as choice 

 examples of culinary skill. 



The delicious repast over, we strolled, as usual, to the 

 front of our quarters, which commanded a magnificent 

 view of the lake and the mountains, and there became 

 deeply entranced with the grand prospect spread before 

 us. The sun was in deep repose in his rosy bed, a charm- 

 ing picture in matchless tints; the air sprang up cool and 

 crisp, the sky became fretted with golden fire, a pale curl 

 of a moon revealed itself, the sea beat in rippling cadences 

 against the gray cliffs, and dark shadows from the moun- 

 tain pines stood out like grim sentinels. 



Night comes, world jeweled, 



The stars rush forth in myriads to wage 

 War with the lines of darkness and the morn, 



Pale ghost of night, comes haunting the cold earth 

 After the sun's red sea death quietless. 



A cheerful camp-fire now being necessary for comfort 

 it was soon made, and around it we all gathered and dis- 

 cussed the probabilities for the departure in the morning 

 to the great trout waters at Point Brule. Peter, who had 

 been drawing much comfort from his clay pipe, at last 

 laid it aside, and then taking up the theme we had just 

 dropped fairly bewildered us with the recital of the most 

 wonderful habitation of trout at the promised land. Sir 

 Jack Falstaff , who related the amusing growth of the 

 men in buckram, was no comparison to our Peter, for he 

 would take a six-inch trout as a starting point and in an 

 incredible short space of time so invest it with a fairy 

 charm as to drop it at 61bs It was infinitely amusin<* to 

 us, and to see to what extent his lively imagination would 

 revel, we innocently, as it were, encouraged him in his 

 romances. No ordinary fish liar could begin to approach 

 him when he once warmed to the subject, and he was 

 now giving us palpable evidence of being red hot He 

 was even dauntless enough to thrown down the "-auntlet 

 to Ananias. Freckled patriarchs of gigantic size were 

 marched before us in rank and file close and deep until 

 they took on such a marvelous growth as to astound us 

 in the construction of the mythical. His trout tales at 

 last reached such enormous proportions that I finally 

 thought he had mistaken the nomenclature and was talk- 

 ing of the ghttering tarpon. 



The bronzed and ever-silent Kenosh, who had some re- 

 gard for the truth, looked with wondering eyes at his 

 associate during his enthusiastic recitals, until finally he 

 had reached the giddy heights and was throwing out the 

 Titanic trout and then he arose and beat a hasty retreat 

 into the darkness where he could blush unseen at the 

 fables of has illusive associate, who evidently believed 

 that imaginative construction was simply "the truth in 

 masquerade. 



Ned, thinking it high time to drop the curtain ere 

 Peter s trout outclassed the spouting whale, arose, and in 

 the most artless manner asked the gilt-edged romancer: 



' 'Can you use the lariat?" 



"Yes, a little; why?" answered the unsuspicious Peter 

 that's all 3 " m WaUt SOme ° ne t0 laSS ° your bi S trou ' t . 



And then Ned strode away, leaving the demoralise 

 Peter all in a liinp, who had 'suddenly realized that he 

 was not only a "cheerful idiot," but that he sLod 

 branded as the champion bar of the North Shore This 

 is the second time this tawny half-breed had been knocked 

 out by us, and we do not suppose that he will ever again 



have the hardihood to enter the arena for another contest 

 while lie sails under our colors. 



Early the next morning, Ned, our peep o' day boy, who 

 was the first to see dawn, announced a beam wind, and 

 then the entire camp arose and hurriedly prepared for 

 the advance to Point Brule. While the cook was prepar- 

 ing breakfast the tents w ere taken down and everything 

 not in immediate use carried to the beach ready for load- 

 ing. 



Peter was not in his usual high spirits, now that we 

 were to penetrate into his elaborately advertised domain 

 where the monarchs of the spotted robes were supposed 

 to sport in countless numbers. He well knew we had 

 him down to a very fine point and that he now had no 

 standing in court. Not a word did he murmur about 

 trout; not a delight express in our departure; not a hope- 

 ful smile for our prospective success. He had been so 

 completely stripped, so deftly exposed, so emphatically 

 relegated to the rear, and so crestfallen, that he became 

 an object of pity. He hung his head in very shame, and 

 had lie have been paid for his services would doubtless 

 have deserted at the first opportune moment. 



The meal over, the dishes washed, and the pots and 

 pans thoroughly cleaned, we were soon loaded and off 

 with a brisk wind that made the white swirl from the bow 

 hiss and frolic in curving lines of glistening beauty. 

 We were making fine headway and figured to reach our 

 destins^ion by noon. Blind River, with its ribbon-like 

 wandering from dizzy heights, was soon reaohed and left 

 in the distance. Swinging l>y a noble headland of pre- 

 cipitous cliffs we had Gravel River in view, and then we 

 saw our friendly Kentuckian and one of his boatmen fish- 

 ing along a shore of savage crags that were as sharp as a 

 sabre's edge. We had supposed that he was on his way 

 to Michipicoten, and wishing to make some inquiries held 

 our boat to the shore till we were within talking distance 

 of the twain. The angler doffed his hat to us, and as we 

 bawled the interrogations he expressed by pantomime 

 that he was unable to hear on account of the howling 

 wind and the beating sea. The boys, however, made his 

 tawny attendant understand, and the information came 

 that there was no fishing at either Point Brule or Gar- 

 gantua. 



This was a deep disappointment to us, and after an 

 immediate conference of a few minutes concluded to 

 return, stopping at Aguawa en route. Peter gathering 

 renewed courage at this development, at once took a new 

 and sudden tack, remarking: 



"The infernal Indians have netted 'em all out; that's 

 what's the matter. Three years ago when I was there, 

 they were in acres." 



"And every one a 6-pounder," put in Ned. 



"Well, they were big ones, you bet." 



"Very like a whale, Peter," I added. 



"Monsters, every one of them," he came back un- 

 abashed. 



It was no use to down this monumental liar unless we 

 took a club to him, and that not then being conveniently 

 at hand the Point Brule romance was relegated to ob- 

 livion. 



Our boat, having swung around, was headed to the 

 deep water until she caught the full force of the wind, 

 which was now blowing very brisk. Her speed was 

 therefore doubly increased and a lovely sight it was to see 

 her "walk the water like a thing of life" with the pearl- 

 like foam rising in rolls from her round bow and stream- 

 ing from her smooth sides until the frothy seas devoured 

 them. 



We had not gone many miles before the sun came out 

 and flooded the earth with fervent rays; clouds ever in 

 harmony with the ardent aurora appeared in prismatic 

 radiance, while the cool wind bowing to the same in- 

 fluence rapidly relaxed to a gentle cadence. The cliffs in 

 jeweled splendor take up the paeans of rejoicing and the 

 woods in crimson burn, while the fast dying billows with 

 silvery sparkle on every snowy crest rubbed the Aladdin 

 lamp, for it was a morn of unalloyed delight, a romance 

 from the sky that thrilled and gladdened the heart with 

 overflowing joy : 



"Ferny pastures, beetling rock, 

 Slopes half-islanded by streams 

 Glisten in the amber gleams 

 Of the sunshine— gleams that mock 

 Shadowed field and cool gray rock." 



Our greyhound dash had very materially slackened in 

 this golden dazzlement, but the enjoyment was doubly 

 enhanced by the blending of the azure sky and glittering 

 sun, of mountain pinnacle and rugged crag, of shadowy 

 wood and silvery sea. 



Our boatmen were fully under the inspiration of this 

 delightful weather, for they chattered like magpies in 

 French and Chippewa and laughed so heartily as to lead 

 us to believe they were having a regular circus at some- 

 body's expense. Ned thought their battery of humor was 

 aimed at us, but it mattered not, as we were willing to 

 stand as targets as long as their facetious arms were con- 

 cealed, as it developed a condition of cheerfulness they 

 seldom displayed. 



We sail along in dreamy indolence, the wind being just 

 strong enough to fill out sails, while the air, like cham- 

 pagne, fills the senses with exhilarating delight. At 

 twelve meridian we round into Aguawa Harbor taking 

 the inner channel between the islands, and as the last is 

 reached we turn at right angles, going along a bold and 

 frowning fortification of nature with a fast expiring breeze 

 and a sea panting as if in sleep. An horn- more of very 

 slow sailing brings us to Aguawa River, where we land 

 and make camp. 



After we had taken a wholesome meal, Mr. Schelin°- 

 the Hudson Bay agent stationed here, who had arrived 

 from Michipicoten the day before, paid us a visit for a 

 grand pow-wow, as was his usual custom whenever we 

 stopped here. He stated during the conversation that the 

 great storm which occurred while we were at Jackson's 

 Cove, mention of which I have made in previous pages 

 was one of the fiercest he ever witnessed, and that a thun- 

 derbolt struck with appalling violence in the lake at Pilot 

 Harbor, and as a result thousands of fish were killed 

 Among them were all varieties, embracing many fine 

 brook trout, whitefish, pike, herring and other edible fish. 



« n f reat i^u 6 ? S athered f rom all quarters 

 around the floating fish, but, strange to say, would not 

 touch one of them, while a fish taken in a *ill net and 

 thrown to them would be snatched up instantly, a dozen 

 or more making for it at the same time. This subtle dis 

 crimination was a mystery we were unable to solve, unless 



it were that the lightning so poisoned the fUh as to make 

 them decidedly unpalatable to these scavengers of the I 

 lake. 



About three o'clock, after everything had been made 

 snug around camp, and an Indian boy engaged to keep 

 away from our provisions the prowling dogs of which 

 there were many here now, we took the boat and went 

 up to the first rapids on the river. Here we landed, and 

 walking along the shore fished the pools for a mile or 

 more, resulting in our capturing a lot of small trout that 

 ran from six to ten inches. They are really more tooth- 

 some than the larger ones, but the fighting sport, which 

 so delights an angler, is not from this class of juveniles. 



The sun had been exceedingly hot all the afternoon, 

 and when we reached our tent were received by dense 

 clouds of vampirish insects singing their direful war 

 songs, that at once prompted a resort to the fly repellent. 

 After liberally laving with it we had some comfort, for it 

 was an unimpenetrable wall to the insectivorous brigades 

 and a perfume to us the very opposite of fragrant musca- 

 dine. Ned's cuticle was easily assai able, and when the 

 brulots had him at a disadvantage, he was a howling 

 dervish. Lumps as big as acorns would appear on him 

 from these attacks and they were also exceedingly painful. 



In a very little while the acidulous emollient lost its 

 power over this savage horde and then they were at us 

 again as viciously as ever. Ned once more went for the 

 insect preventive, but it was nowhere to be found. It had 

 either been misplaced by him or by one of the half-breeds 

 who occasionally used it. He was now in a perfect rage, 

 for he could neither find the boatmen, who had doubtless 

 gone to the beach or the woods, nor the desired liquid. As 

 a dernier ressort he gathered some branches from the 

 thickets and commenced a vigorous flaggellation of the 

 air, sweeping them down in brigades at every blow, but 

 they were so thick everywhere that when he attacked them 

 in front they took him in the rear, and when on one side 

 they took him on the other. One minute he was scratch- 

 ing the back of his head and the next the front; then he 

 would stoop down to scratch at a sand fly that was 

 perforating his stocking, and then as suddenly straighten 

 up to rub his caput, and thus stormed at every available ' 

 point he became perfectly frantic. At last he rushed into 

 the tent and then rushed out with blood in his eye and a 

 gun in his hand. Is he resorting to shot and shell to deci- 

 mate their ranks, or has he gone daft and is about to look 

 down the barrel of his gun for relief? I was really at a 

 loss to comprehend his strange actions and at once began 

 to move toward him to ascertain what it all meant, when 

 with a gentle motion of his hand he waved me to stop. 

 This puzzled me more than ever, but when I saw him de- 

 liberately raise the gun to his shoulder and aim at the top 

 of an adjacent tree, the enigma was at once solved. It 

 was game he was after, as an offset, doubtless, to the game 

 that had been made of him. In a moment the report of i 

 the discharged gun rang out, and then a rapacious hawk 

 came tumbling down from his lofty perch, much to the 

 delight of Ned, who expressed himself a. bitter foe to this 

 sanguinary bandit of the fields. On replacing his gun hei 

 stumbled over the repellent, which was under an old straw 

 hat of mine, and where he had placed it for security. He 

 was once more serenely happy after he had anointed his 

 face with the powerful preventive. 



"Really, Ned," I said, as he emerged front the tent: 

 bottle in hand, "I thought you were about to escape 

 from your tormentors by taking the direct route to cloud- 

 land." 



"I had pretty near reached that climax; but this," hei 

 smilingly continued, holding aloft the magic mixture, 

 "saved me." 



Supper was soon announced after this little episode and 

 as the table was near the fire and smoke, where the tor- 

 mentors never came, we ate in perfect peace, and as soon 

 as we were through went down to the gravelly beach 

 where the evening breeze from the lake kept the pirat-' 

 ical pests away. 



Here we were under the shadow of the Aguawa moun- 

 tains, with the cool air rustling the leaves, the sea ini 

 delicious rhythm, and a sunset in a mantling sea of color 

 and fire, with every ripple and wave in unsullied crimson, 

 and purple. The picture would not be complete without 

 the silver-faced moon, but it duly came and lit up the 

 towers and bastions of the ragged faced cliffs, filled the 

 lake with shimmering spangles and made the forests andi 

 thickets, as their tops waved to the night breeze, a play 

 ground of dancing shadows. It was an enchanting scene" 

 and only required the goblins, owls and elfish sprites to: 

 make it a fairy land complete. 



Under all this spell of bewitching beauty we sat and 

 planned for our return home, satisfied that the trouting 

 along the coast and rivers en route was about "played I 

 out," and that to further seek the enticement of thel 

 golden fins would be without reward. 



Alex. Starbuck. 



[TO BE CONTINUED.] 



NEWS FROM THE FISHING WATERS.! 



Upper Chateaugay Lake.— Mr. R. M. Shults, of the! 

 Indian Point House at Merrill, N. Y., reports under date! 

 June 13: "I went fishing yesterday afternoon and caught 

 nine speckled trout, four of which weighed 3lbs. 2oz , the 

 largest one weighing lib. 6oz. I fished two hours this 

 afternoon; caught 32 trout with fly; the largest weighed 

 31bs. Trout fishing has been very good this season. D. 

 W. Curtis, of Syracuse, carried away 301bs. Saturday ; he 

 caught about 501bs. while here." 



Thousand Island Park, N. Y., June 11.— Mr. H. W., 

 Berlin, of New York, stopping at the Westminster Hotel, 

 Alexandria Bay, caught in the bay opposite a 22^-pound 

 muscallonge on a 10-ounce rod and silk line, with small 

 hook and light leader. He was just one hour and twenty- 

 five minutes landing him. On the same day Messrs. H. 

 H. Arthur, J. W. Arthur and B. F. DosPassoi, of New 

 York, caught 54 large black bass. The fish were expressed 

 to New York to be distributed among their friends. This 

 whole party are stopping at the Hotel Westminster. West- 

 minster Park, Thousand Islands. 



Kearneyville, W. Va., June 15,— The black bass fish- 

 ing in the Potomac at this point is just now very good,, 

 and many fine strings have been taken. W. H. K. 



Clayton, Thousand Islands, N. Y., June 13.— The bass 

 season here has opened well. The indications are that fish 

 are .very plentiful. The good work performed by the 



