102 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
fAuG. s, 1899, 
A Grave by the River. 
^ On the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence a little 
river pours its flood into the greater waters of the gulf. 
Black rocks seamed with white marble protect it on either 
side. At low tide breakers moan at the bar, but at high 
tide shallops can enter and anchor within the bay. The 
stream is known by many names, but chiefly is called La 
Riviere de la Truite. 
We anchored there one day in June for the fishing, and 
camped. Looking up the river a half-mile one could see 
the falls, which formed the only salmon pool on the 
stream, and we could hear at all times the ceaseless voice 
of its waters. The woods were dreary with dea'd ti"ees of 
a recent fire, but back of the burnt limit the interminable 
forest of spruce and birch extended to the Arctic Sea. 
A sea] sunned itself on the rocks, but there was no 
sound of bird sa,ve the flying gulls. No house or human 
being in sight. Scarred nature dwelt alone, facing the 
great waters, visited only at rare times by wandering 
fishermen. 
The camp being pitched we strolled to the hill and 
found a palisade fence inclosing a grave. The fence was 
stronglj' built, and at its four corners some semblance 
of taste was evinced in carved posts. No name was 
attached. The square inclosure had been built some 
years, j^et was solid and in good repair. The interior was 
a mass of the white blossoms of the dwarf cornel, shining 
bright in the four-fold leaves of the plant. They seemed 
as if they had been carefully planted in the inclosure, for 
all outside was covered by the charred remains of the 
form_er forest. 
"Whose grave is this?" we inquired of our boatman. 
"We don't know- — been there a long time." 
"Who built this inclosure?" 
"Don't know — say it was an English woman who came 
here once." 
"Don't you know her name?" 
"No; it was none of us." 
This was all the information gleaned. 
We sailed away at daybreak, leaving the sleeper to his 
forest bed. He needed no fitter monument. He was not 
forgotten. In some distant English home his name doubt- 
less is still spoken, and on some hearts the palisade in- 
closure is engraA-ed. Love endures when tombs are 
broken and graves obliterated. 
''Rose leaves, when the rose is dead, 
Are heaped for the beloved's bed; 
And so thy thoughts, when thou art gone, 
iiove itself shall slmnber on." 
C. E. W. 
By the Beaver Dam. 
• ' "A year has gone, as tlie -tortoise goes, 
Heavy and slow; 
And the same rose blooms and the saiile Sun gidws, 
And the same brook sings of a year ago." 
Where the pines and aspens meet the rolling stretches 
of velvety upland lawn, where the mountain torrent 
pauses in its mad career and cominences to widen in 
graceful curves and run placidly down toward the Snake 
River, the beavers had built their dam. The beavers have 
long since traveled the way of redman and buff^alo, but 
the chiseled trunks remain half-buried in moss and 
clematis, nature's delicate monuments to a forgotten past, 
rising scarcely above the azure beds of columbine, pointing 
to the deeper a^.ure of the firmament. But the stream 
flows on as it did when its banks were first trodden by 
Captain Boimeville and the hardy bands of explorers and 
pioneers who now build camp-fires on the "happy hunting 
grounds" beyond the sunset. The willow grouse still 
brings out her brood in the dense shaded thickets, and 
where devastating fires have been kindled by the hand of 
the intruder, blushing roses veil the ashes and the desola- 
tion. Aye, and the old dam remains, deepening the 
water above into a crystal pool where lurk the largest, 
wariest trout, and where the patriarchal otter rehearses 
to his progeny the traditions of long ago. 
Along the central Wasatch snows were deep and waters 
high when the season opened. The Idaho boundary was 
not far away. There the rivulets were clear, and Mac and 
I longed to revisit the streaiirs on which we had camped 
almost a score of years before, when Hfe was before us 
and we had come West to see what fate had in store. Ah, 
that fate is an inexorable mistress! She will not show us 
the "weird" that lies ahead; but sometimes amid such 
scenes as these she permits us to forget and we lie on 
emerald banks and dream that things are not what they 
seem, while the castles in the clouds are as fair, as 
elusive as those pictured in the halcyon days of a lost 
youth. Time, the great effacer, treads lightly on these 
uplands, and with him we turn back the pages of the 
book of life, 1 
The landscape was familiar, but the wonted faces of 
cattlemen and sheep herders were no longer in evidence, 
and the little log cabin across the creek had smoke com- 
ing from the log chimney— a thing I had never noticed be- 
fore. The corral behind it was fallen, the poles rotting. 
We set our tent early in the afternoon, and before casting 
a fly made two drags of dry quaking asp and went half a 
mile for pitch pine for a camp-fire. Everything was made 
snug, and then to obtain supper was the order of the day. 
While we were soaking our leaders there came from the 
cabin opposite an old, old man. We did not notice his 
age until he commenced a chase for grasshoppers, which 
suddenljr ceased their chirping and jumping with the 
lengthening shadows. The man put his bait into a tobacco 
sack and strolled down to the brook, carrying Just such a 
birch pole as we had cut in boyhood days from hills 2,000 
miles away. We watched him fish as we were wont to fish 
before Ave heard of 40Z. rods, silk lines, flies and feather- 
weight reels. Evidently he knew the stream intimate- 
ly, for he wasted no time in exploration. Boy- fashion, he 
.strung his catch on a willow twig, and on his countenance 
with each successful yank showed that, in one respect at 
Jlpast, hi§ ypix|:}i ha4 w\ l^iX birn, Sq hg ^pprp^ched 
within a couple of rods of where we stood. Noticing us 
for the first time, he shouted: 
"Be you uns camping for fish, or be vou huntin' 
cattle?" 
"After fish," replied Mac. "Thought we'd put in a week 
on Raft River." 
"Well, you uns had better come over after supper. 
Thar's a foot log jest above yer tent, an' I'm powerful 
lonesome." 
The invitation was accepted, and at the appointed time 
we called on the hermit. He was braiding a silk line and 
gave us to understand that he made his . livelihood by 
supplying the wants of summer campers like ourselves. 
In winter he furnished the nearest settlements with 
venison. Concerning his past he was reticent, and when 
he became duly satisfied that we had peaceful intent, he 
became taciturn. This was especially manifest when he 
learned that we carried none of the aqua vita which 
is imagined to be indispensable in all well-equipped out- 
fits. From subsequent glimpses into his life we sized his 
place up as a "fence" for one of the numerous gangs of 
outlaws that infest the borders of the adjacent States, 
However this may be, he proved a good neighbor, and as 
such we give him full credit. 
The waning stars looked on a radiant picture as the 
dew-decked grass and flowers hailed another day. The 
cliill of the outer air, after its first cool caress, becomes 
the breath of life, and the sparkling, snow-fed waters 
give inspiration such as flows from no other morning 
tonic. Evening camp-fires, with their cheerful circle of 
incense-bearing pipes, with their merry round of anecdote 
and song, have from time immemorial had their bards 
and chroniclers, but the poetic beauty of the morning who 
dare portray? 
The Great Bear majestically commences to pace his last 
' quarter. We lie half dreaming, perfectly contented, await- 
ing the advent of the dawn. The trickle of the brook is 
so distarit, so silvery, that we wonder if we do not catch 
the singing of the stars. Into our reverie comes a soft 
chirp from the bough o'erhead — not a carol, not even a note, 
but a low, faint sigh, as though from the Hps of a happily 
resting child. There is no answering call. Five, ten min- 
utes pass; we keep no reckoning of the lapse of time. 
By and by the chirp changes into a strain of liquid sweet- 
ness. This time it is heard all through the grove and 
glade, and glad responses swell, echoing loud and clear 
from mountain side and from the vale below. The 
Hunter, Pleiads and their starry host take this as token 
that their nightly duty has been well performed. One by 
one, as the birds aAvake, they sink to sleep. The snowy 
crest to north and west begins to glow, though it is still 
night under the trees. Quivering with the exultant thrill 
of youth, we step forth. The birds are not affrighted. 
Rejoicing Avith their audience, they pour forth yet 
stronger, more harmonious carols. From the ashes of the 
night before rises a feeble, flickering flame. Then a white 
cloud of smoke climbs toward the deep blue of the zenith, 
in strong contrast at first, but gradually, as day breaks 
upon us and the skies grow violet, becoming more thin and 
gauzy until it blends with the paling lines of heaven. The 
plain is now veiled in melting mists, and anon a splash 
from the pool, a gleam from the brook, gives evidence 
that all creatures have commenced again their daily meed 
of toil and pleasure. Minghng with the fragrance' of the 
forest comes the aroma of the coffee, and ere sunlight 
falls upon us our feathered lures are lightly dropped across 
the laughing Avaters. 
It was a cardinal principle with us to catch no more 
th an we needed for immediate use. In the early morning' 
we could ha\^e filled and refilled our creels. For Avhat pur- 
pose? Simply that we might paralyze our incredulous 
friends with tales of unsportsmanlike achievement. When 
I had caught my stipulated dozen I sat down to enjoy my 
existence. Some men hunt and fish as though their very 
lives depend upon making a big score. Deservedly they 
return to the desk more wearj^ than when they left it. 
From ray meditation I was aroused by : "Come, old manj 
let's clean our trout and then Avander up the caiion. 
" 'There will we sit upon the rocks 
And see the shepherds feed their flocks, 
By shallow rivers to whose falls 
Melodious birds sing madrigals.' " 
"I don't know about it, Mac. When a fellow of forty 
and more summers is sentimental enough to quote Mar- 
loAve I shall have to pass the deal." 
But I went, nevertheless, and carried neither gtm nor 
rifle, though both lay in the tent. Sometimes it is advisa- 
ble to leave temptations at home, and this is ahvays the. 
case during the season of fawns and half-fledged broods. 
That sensible portion of the animal kingdom Avhich nat- 
uralists are wont to term the "brute creation" has a won- 
derful faculty for distinguishing between friend and foe; 
also a no less wonderful aptitude for encouraging a close 
acquaintance with those whom it trusts. Were it not for 
terror, inherited through generations of abused confidence 
and malicious cruelty, the timid thrush wrould proudly lead 
us to the sylvan paradise where she has hidden her bird- 
lings, and the coy doe would bring to us her trembling 
offspring, that we might stroke its spotted side. 
_ At the pool our attention was attracted by a comical 
picture made by an old muskrat trying to teach her babes to 
SAvim. It struck us as strange that she should go to such 
trouble; the little rats should have knoAvn in~stinctiA^ely 
how to navigate, but they clung to the bank and to shal- 
low Avater, above which arose their fltiffy backs, bright 
eyes and sharp noses. The mother set them the exam- 
ple by swimming across and back. She endeavored to 
coax, and finally she pushed them over their depth and let 
them make their OAvn way to the shore, though, vou mav 
be sure, she stayed close by. When Ave AA'ere seen the old 
lady shrieked. "Tramps!" in characteristic muskrat lan- 
guage and fled to her sub-aquatic vestibule , I suppose to 
call the police. The little ones did not attempt to escape. 
Ostrich-like, they hid their heads among the roots, and 
left their naked tails waving above the Avater like a ncAV 
species of juncos Avaiting to be examined. The madam 
could not quite ignore the maternal instinct, as she re- 
turned and conducted her happy family to the nursery, 
where they received their first lesson in misanthropy. 
Further on, a pair of hurnming' birds Avere of interest. 
Of all the birds of the woodland these show the least fear 
of man. For a fcAv moments we amused ourselves with 
"skittering" twigs through the air near them. They 
seemed to realize that we were merely inviting them to 
play, and they would pursue each missile and swoop down 
upon it as does the kingbird upon the over-inquistive hawk 
that loiters too npar the nest. On we rambled, leaving the 
stream for moss-grown terraces, where each step brought 
some new delight to our senses. We saw the blacktailed 
deer leave its breakfast ground and seek the arbor 
where it passed the heat of the day. We saw a little 
black bear take her tAvin cubs to the service-berry bush, 
and, because the berries were far from ripe, pull down 
the tender branches, the growth of scarce a month, within 
the reach of her ungainly infants. We imagined that she 
Avas trying to wean them. It is strange hoAv men try to 
exterminate this diminutive species of the genus Ursus 
Avith a rifle that would bring down an elephant. Killing 
hogs and branding mavericks is attended with far more 
excitement and danger. 
It was in such walks we communed with nature, and 
each day she would 
"Sing us another verse 
Or tell a more wonderful tale." 
We lived on trout Avith the exception of one meal of 
young mountain hare. We killed two full-grown hares, 
but as they had not taken the proper doses of santonica, 
pink-root and senna and other reliable vermifuges we 
could not bring ourselves to eat them and killed no more. 
One afternoon we enjoyed a shoAver. From the shelter 
of a snug tent a summer shower is one of the most 
pleasurable episodes of camp life. Dinner was always 
followed by a brief siesta, and on this particular occasion 
we noticed as we lay doAvn the fleecy, golden clouds were 
beginning to marshal themseh^es in leaden ranks upon the 
western hills. We were awaked by a muttering of thun- 
der and a strident wailing from the treetops. Once in a 
Avhile a bird in some dense thicket, mistaking the gath- 
ering gloom for early twilight, would attempt to sing. 
Then the wind died doAvn. The entire heavens were 
overcast, save for a belt of blue low on the eastern hori- 
zon. Everything was made secure and shipshape. A few 
drops patter on the roof. An instant later the wind 
swoops down; lightning flashes; thunder peals; the 
mighty branches groan, and the tent staggers under the 
attack. But the roots are held by granite anchorages and 
the guy ropes are stout. The onset is for naught. It is 
not repeated. Steadily, gently, the rain is falling. We 
throw back the flap and look forth. Let it keep on. It is 
a rain of music, of rest, of perfect peace. To the west, 
where showers have their birth, there is a rift in the 
clouds. The drops are fewer now and larger. The leaden 
pall brightens and the storm has gone as quickly as it 
came. And noAv the sun peers out, not upon the parched 
field that Avas hidden from his sight two hours before, 
but upon a plain sprinkled with the very stars of heaven 
Avashed doAvn in liquid pearls, sparkling, ravishing and 
reappearing beneath his rays. To the east, from hill to hill, 
is spanned the glittering bow of promise, and throHgh this 
celestial portal the dark clouds recede, only to be softened 
and tinted by distance and the divine hues of sunset. 
After the shower the songs of the birds were redoubled, 
and among other sounds I caught the note of a finch, 
Avhose species I was unable to determine. It was the 
most heavenly strain that I have heard on this side of the 
Continental Divide. Intuitively we both recalled the "Ode 
to a Skylark" : 
"Sound of vernal showers 
On the twinkling grass; 
Kain-awakened flowers, j 
All that ever was, ^ ' 
Joyous and clear and fresh. 
Thy music doth surpass." 
At noon the next day a caravan of white-topped wag- 
ons came up the valley and halted near the dam. The 
travelers claimed to be a party of college students spend- 
ing their A^acation in quest of health, pleasure and scientific 
research and collecting. They were armed with every 
conceivable device for the destruction of Hfe in the 
heavens aboA^e, the earth beneath, and the waters under 
the earth; also with a document signed by some fish and 
game Avarden giving them full permission "to catch, kill 
and have in possession for scientific purposes." "For 
scientific purposes" covers a multitude of sins, from which 
"Good Lord deliver us." 
No sooner were the tents pitched than the sound of 
firearms and shouts of triumph reminded one of Coney 
Island on the glorious Fourth. Songsters and humming 
birds — the few that survived the onslaught — fled for their 
lives. It. was not sufficient to catch trout galore with 
hook and line. About 5 o'clock the brook commenced to 
decrease in size, and soon a ruthless horde in wading 
boots and carrying butterfly nets were pitching the 
fish by the dozen from the shallow pools and riffles where 
they had been stranded. The creek had been turned. 
When morning came there Avas no song to awaken us. 
The water that had floAved so peacefully by our tent was 
yellow and thick with mud and rubbish. Our time was 
not up, but this place Avas no longer our mountain home. 
With maledictions on mankind in general, Ave struck camp 
and bade good-by forever to the old beaver dam. 
Shoshone. 
Friedland boasts the most singular mutual protective 
society in the civilized world. In Assen recentlv a union 
was organized by seventeen game poachers, a' cornpre- 
hensive set of rules being adopted. None but a recognized 
game thief is eligible to membership. The convention 
decided that in the future the members of the union 
shall sell only to regular game dealers, and then only at 
current market prices. The dealers Avill be required to 
contribitte a certain amount of money each year to the 
union's treasury. The principal object of the union is 
to support the families of such poachers as may be ar- 
rested and sent to prison. A cast-iron resolution fofbids 
all members from killing game in the closed seasons, the 
argument being that the game laws must be enforced 
The Netherlands code provides a fine of 100 florins and a 
term of imprisonment for K-illing game out pf s^gson-^; 
Patent inside exchfinge, - v . . , 
