S62 
LNoT. 6, 1897. 
PACK-feASKET^ RIFLE AND , ROD. 
Part U. 
— "Wouldst thou rest 
Awhile from tumult and the frauds i3f men? 
These old and friendly solitudes invite 
ilaga. But if we did not kill any more deer during our 
stay at Lake McOavanaugh we certainly derived profit 
and enjoyment from our mountain hunts. We explored 
some wild country and saw some things which are not 
always on exhibition; deer-beds on the tops of the moun- 
tains, scarred saplings where the bucks had rubbed the 
velvet from their antlers,- the home of-the eagle among the 
cliffs, and bear signs in abundance. On one occasion 
Martin, who wag out with a shotgun after partridges, saw 
growth of weeds and hushes. There is something almost 
uncanny in this forest of dead and charred t*ees, and--on 
a windy day it is full of strange noises; the creaking of 
dry joints, so to speak, the rattling of loosfeibarH, an^the 
occasional crash of a falling tree that has long bejsn tpter- 
ing on its weakened foundations. But it is a fine f^ing 
ground for deer, and one cannot haunt it* long without 
getting a shot. A faint trail leads part of-the way thTcfegh 
it, and late in the afternoon Martin and I seated ourselves 
Thy rest." 
—Bryant. 
Morning in the. Adii'ondacks! A time which has its own 
peculiar charms, and a place wnere, by contrast, they may 
he most enjoyed. Instead of the steam-whistle, the call of 
the kingfisher by the lakeside; instead of the carpenter's 
hammer, the tapping of the woodpecker on the dead hem- 
lock; instead of the rumble of traffic over granite streets, 
the whimper of the forest brook over its pebbly bed; in- 
stead of an atmosphere of dust and smoke, the exhilarat- 
ing ether of the forest. The balsam bed is sweet, but the 
air outside of camp is sweeter still. It does one good to 
drink it, to bathe in it and to flood his system with it, 
while his mental machinery runs down and cools off. 
L. and Martin were still asleep when I stepped out of 
doors, but the camp squirrel was awake, sitting on a limb 
and embroidering the edge of a piece of flapjack which he 
held in his paws. I took the Bristol rod and went down 
to the lake to see the sun — and the trout — rise. The 
water lay like a black mirror, save where the level border 
of lily-pads covered its surface. I paddled over to the 
west shore, and making fast to a snag, lighted the old briar- 
wood and took an observation. There were other early 
risers besides myself. A big fish hawk rose from a rock 
and flapped lazily away to the upper air. _ A flock of ducks 
got up with a great clatter, and after taking a turn around 
the lake, as if to get their bearings, set out over the top of 
the forest for some other quiet bit of water which they 
knew of by instinct or experience. Among the hemlocks 
6n the bluff above me some partridges left their roost, and 
the persistent screaming of several bluejays in the swamp 
near the inlet suggested that a deer was probably working 
back to the mountain. The rosy fingers of the morning 
touched the pond lilies and received their offering of 
incense; the sun shot his javelins over the top of Blue 
Mountain, and they pierced the shadows of thicket and 
glen. It seemed strange, and not altogether right, that I 
should be the only one to enjoy the things Avhich were 
happening in this wild and beautiful place. 
■ A swirl in the water near the lily-pads sent my thoughts 
flying in another direction and, casting there, I hooked 
and landed a half-pounder. Within a half-hour five other 
beautiful fellows, wearing colors as vivid as an Italian sun- 
set, came into the boat. Then I stopped fishing, not be- 
cause there were no more trout, but because I had enough 
for breakfast, and wanted that in a hurry. I found Martin 
building the fire, and before the last fish caught had been 
dead five minutes the sextette were sizzling in the frying- 
pan. If some of our urban friends, who do not like trout, 
could have breakfasted with us, they would have realized 
the difference between camp trout and the restaurant 
variety. 
That day we had lady visitors, who had walked in four 
miles to pay their respects and bring us our maU. They 
brought a love offering, too, in the shape of some delicious 
mushrooms, great bunches that looked like snow-white 
coral, and which, when separated and fried in butter, 
made a gastronomic dainty that would have tempted an 
anchorite to forswear his faith. I wonder how many 
people have gone hungry in the woods with this tooth- 
some and nutritious food close at hand. Verily the 
wilderness is a land flowing with milk and honey for those 
who know enough to "take the goods the gods provide." 
We spent several days still-hunting in the mountains, 
and, in view of the multitude of signs, it is remarkable 
that we saw so few deer; but this was probably due largely 
to the denseness of the undergrowth, which prevented our 
seeing the deer before they heard or minded us. L. got 
one fair shot, and we had several glimpses of disappearing 
CA.MP SAINT'S REST. 
Amateur photo fey A. p. Jllstoen. 
a fair sized bear on the side of the mountain above him, 
and within easy rifle range. I shall not attempt to quote 
Martin's remarks on the relative merits of rifles and shot- 
guns in a country where there is big game. 
We found a big hemlock on which a bear had left the 
marks of his claws, and the amplitude of his reach would 
have furnished the bear correspondent of the New York 
Snn with material for a thrilling tale. 
The tendency of a man to travel in a circle was satisfac- 
torily demonstrated to us. IVlartin had taken L. out hunt- 
ing, and left him posted in a favorable spot half a mile 
from the lake. After sitting some time without seeing 
anything, L. started for camp, and after traveling some 
distance came around to the identical stump on which he 
had been sitting! Fortunately, he had a compass, and 
got back all right, but with very unsettled notions as to 
when the sun would be apt to rise next day. 
Illness in his family called L. home a few days before 
we had intended to leave, and we broke camp with regret, 
but brought away with us enough pleasant recollections to 
carry us through the winter. 
The next day Martin and I turned our attention to the 
Burnt Ground, a 1,200 acre tract over which fire swept a 
few years ago, and which is now. covered with a dense 
CAMP SIXTEEN. 
Amateur photo by A. D. Eisteen,' 
on the further side of this weird hunting ground. No deer 
came my way, but just before dusk 1 heard three quick 
shots from Martin's .30-30. Two deer had come in to- 
gether, and he fired at both, hitting at least one of them, 
as spots of blood on the bushes showed; but it was getting 
too dark to follow the signs, so we started for the hotel, 
realizing that to be caught in the Burnt Ground at night 
was no joke. Nevertheless, that is exactly what hap- 
pened, and I hope I may never repeat the experience. In 
five minutes we were hopelessly off the trail, which is 
none too good in the daytime. - There was nothing to do 
but crash our way out, through bushes and briars, over 
boulders and faUen trees, to the destruction of our clothes 
and the imminent danger of wounding our flesh or put- 
ting our eyes out on the sharp stubs of the dead timber. 
It was the first time I had ever found the starS'of jiractical 
use, but we needed them that night. After an hour or 
more of the toughest scrambling a man is capable of, we 
struck the road, reaching home at 10 o'clock. 
I suppose there are those who would say that this sort 
of thing "doesn't pay," and fail to understand how a man 
can voluntarily undergo such unnecessary hardships. 
One cynic has gone so far as to say that "in war, hunting 
and love, for one pleasure there are a hundred p^ins"; but 
I surmise that he would have made neither a good soldier, 
husband nor camp companion. Is it not true tbat the 
difficulties and misadventures of a forest outing are remem- 
bered with scarcely less pleasure than the successes and 
the hours of ease? Certainly they make a man resource- 
ful and self-reliant, and often give him an insight into 
things which he would not otherwise have gained. For 
instance, if we had not stayed too late in the burnt ground 
that afternoon, I would not have had my first view of a 
flock of partridges going to roost. They came one after 
another at short intervals, to a low hemlock a few yards 
from where I sat, making very little noise in their 'flight 
and arrival, and hopping up from limb to limb like hens.. 
As nearly as I could distinguish, each selected a separate 
perch close to the .body of the tree, and on the side least 
exposed. When I left my stand they boomed oft" into the 
dusk, and I presume when they got together n6xt day 
they held a debate as to the nature of the terrib.e forked 
animal that had so nearly invaded their sleeping apart- 
ments. 
The last days of my vacation were to be spent on the 
St. liegis' Eiver, at the foot of the Sixteen-Mile ' Level. 
Leaving my very good friend Mr. E. and Martin to pilot 
the ladies and little folks to camp three miles away, I 
struck out for the river in the hope of taking trout enough 
for supper, by fishing up stream to camp. It was a perfect 
afternoon, and when I reached the falls and took in the 
wild surroundings, I thought I had never seen a lovelier 
spot. The water tumbled part way down over the ledges, 
and slid the rest of the way over a smooth incline of rock 
iuto aigreat foamy pool below. The wide, boulder-dotted ex- 
panse of the rapids further down glittered and sparkled in 
the sunlight, and here and there was a swirling eddy or a 
quiet pool, in which the sky and the shores were mirrored. 
A pair of little sand-pipers were dipping and running 
along the pebbly beach, and a blue-coiated kingfisher 
"sounded his rattle along the fluvial street." It' was a 
sight to rest the eye and delight the soul, and stir the 
angler's heart. ,. , , 
I had been warned that few trout had been tiaken by 
the party last in camp, and that they were not risiiig to the 
fly; but some one has said that any man can catch fish if 
he puts his heart on the hook. Mine was already there, 
but I also took the precaution to loop on to the leader a 
Montreal, a brown-hackle and a silver-doctor. The first 
. cast at the top of the falls met with a quick response, and 
