128 
multiply and replenish the water, he begins to dream of 
the fresh, soft, silvery waters 'way up in the interior of 
the continent, once shadoAved by great forests, where 
comparatively few natural enemies lurked to destroy — 
'way up, hundreds of feets above the sea level, where he 
dimlj' remembers that he first saw the Uglit when he first 
learned to swim — this is the object of his quest. As a 
devotee lays aside every weight and girds himself for his 
great journey across the desert to the shrine of his wor- 
ship, so this pilgrim to the place of his nativity prepares 
for his mighty journey. Not a particle of food must en- 
ter his stomach to weigh him down during this long and 
toilsome voyage. He leaves his feeding grounds away 
off in Baffin's Bay, where he has fattened and matured, 
and makes his way down the coast of Greenland, among 
the icebergs, watchful lest some enemy pounce upon him 
and thwart him in his cherished purpose. Along the 
coast of Labarador, around Newfoundland, he strikes the 
fresh w^aters of the great St. Lawrence that debouche into 
the ocean, fn all this long journej^ of more than 3.000 
miles he has been beset by determined enemies that were 
seeking his life. Walrus, seal,- shark and a hundred other 
enemies have been watching for him in this nightmare of 
waters. Like Bunyan's Pilgrim to the Celestial City he 
has outgeneraled them all and come oft" victorious. Now 
he is assured that he has not missed his points of compass. 
Up the great Gulf of the St. Lawrence, through the surg- 
ing, plunging torrents of the mighty river into Lake On- 
tario; thence he feels his way among the islands and along 
the sandy coast until he reaches the soft, warm currents 
of Salmon River. Now his journey is draw'ing to a close ; 
he presses his way through the swift currents up through 
the rapids, between shelving banks, through still pools, 
over sandy, pebbly rifts, which his dim memory recalls as 
the very place that years ago he has visited. Yes, here 
are the gravelly, sandy beds; here are the great shelving 
banks on either side; there is the old hemlock, casting his 
shadows, and there is the falls, plunging over a ledge 
70ft. high. Here he rests from his toilsome journe}'. com- 
paratively secure from his enemies in the water, dreaming 
of that prophec}' of replenishing and peopling the great 
deep. In the fall of the year the female here deposits her 
ova in die water upon sandy, gravelly beds, and the male 
fertilizes the eggs and then genth' coA'ers them with the 
sand and gravel, by brushing it with his fins and tail, and 
le£tves the vitalized ova to be warmed into life by the re- 
turning sun and warm spring rains. The salmon fry re- 
main in their native pools until they begin to feed. Dur- 
ing the summer and fall of the second year the smolt 
make their way down the stream and away to the ocean to 
their northern feeding grounds, and will not return to 
these waters again until they have grown to maturitj'. 
"This portion of Oswego county was settled in the early 
years of the present century by people mostly from New 
England, a strong and self-reliant race. Undismayed by 
hardships, privations or dangers, they came into these 
heavily timbered forests for the purpose of making homes 
for themselves and their children. This wonderful fish- 
ery at once attracted the attention of these early settlers 
and was seized npon as a veritable godsend to assist 
them in their hard struggle for existence. 
"They built boats or skiffs, as they were called, about 
i8ft. long and 3ft. beam, sufficient to carry two persons, 
one in the stern with a pike to shoAre the skiff and one in 
the bow with a spear. In the bow of the skiff was placed 
a jack, raised upon a staff, just above the head of the 
spearsman, which was filled with pitch pine that made a 
brilliant light. This framing torch did not frighten the 
salmon, but rather dazed and attracted them. This bri;- 
liant light illuminated the waters for many rods around, 
enabling the fishermen to see this large fish for quite a dis- 
tance, and when they once sighted one of them there was 
an exciting chase until he was landed in the skiff or had 
evaded pursuit. 
"Whenever there came a freshet, and the salmon were 
running freely, it was a magnificent sight to see this 
stream illuminated from end to end by these flaming 
torches, and the fishermen in eager pursuit of this game 
fish. When the skiff was loaded down they would re- 
turn to their camp and unload their fish and replenish 
their torches and return to the pursuit. Thus all night 
long they would keep up this exciting and profitable sport. 
"This fish could not be caught in the daytime with any 
success, neither could they be caught by a baited hook, 
as there was no evidence on examining their stomach 
that they partook of any food while in these fresh waters. 
"In the morning these fishermen would count and report 
to their fellow fishermen the number caught. Some of 
these reports were quite astonishing, and would increase 
into fabulous numbers. Like all fishermen everywhere, 
they, wanted to make a good showing. But when the fish 
peddlers came around and the fish were counted out accu- 
rately, in many cases the shrinkage would be quite .start- 
ling; but this was not considered as evidence of total de- 
pravity, but simply winked at as a good fish story. Some 
camps would actually count as high as one hundred sal- 
mon caught in a single night, and others one hundred and 
fifty, and some very expert workmen have caught three 
hundred in one night. These represented quite a large 
sum of money, as they would sell at the camp for 10 and 
T2 cents per pound. A single fish would bring from $2 
to $4 each, according to weight. 
"These fish were greatly sought after in the larger towns 
of the State and were considered a great rarity. They 
were usually marketed at Rome, Utica, Syracuse, Albany 
and New York. 
"This fishery brought these early settlers a harvest which 
was four-fold greater than they could reap from their fields 
and enabled them to establish homes of comfort and 
plent}^ As you can well imagine, the competition among 
the fishermen became very sharp, and at times led to 
some very impleasant squabbles; especially between the 
lower river and upper river fishermen the friction was 
acute. When the large school of salmon came up the 
river in a high stage of water, the bulk of them would get 
away from the lower fishermen and press on up to the 
falls. Here the upper river fishermen had decidedly the 
Ijest of it and could take them at leisure. Now this 
aroused the jealousy of the lower river fishermen and they 
sought to retaliate by building dams which the salmon 
could not get through nor over^ — a sort of trocha which 
would preclude all attempts at crossing. Here they 
could take nearly all the salmon that entered the river. 
''This bold attempt to destroy their vested fights in thi? 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
valuable fishery so aroused the upper river men that they 
declared open war and determined to raze every dam 
that had been built for the sole purpose of stopping the 
fish from coming up the river; so the upper river fisher- 
men mustered their entire flotilla of boats, manned by 
stalwart, resolute wariors, armed with pikes, saws, axes 
and crowbars, and sailed down the river early in the 
morning and took the enemy entirely by surprise. They 
at once commenced a vigorous attack upon these dams 
with axes and saws. The enemy soon discovered the as- 
sault upon their trochas and sent out riders and runners 
and blew horns to call in the forces to prevent this clan- 
destine effort to destroy their property. They rallied a 
considerable force, though greatly outnumbered by the 
men of the flotilla. They made a fierce charge upon the 
workers on the dam, hurling stones and rocks at them, 
and succeeded in driving them away from the dam. Then 
the flotilla landed their forces and made a flank move- 
ment, attacking with great energy, hurling stones and 
rocks and clubs upon them until the nemy fled, in utter 
rout and demoralization. This battle was comparatively 
bloodless, no lives having been lost, but it showed mili- 
tarj' tactics that compared favorably with those of Woilter 
V an Twiller. After this rout they returned and completed 
the destruction of the dams. 
"Finally, to cap the climax, they began to fish with nets, 
and stretched them across the mouth of the river, which 
completely barred their entrance to the stream, and the sal- 
mon ceased to come to the river. 
"With proper laws and police regulations, this fishery 
might have been preserved to this day, and nothing but 
the wretched wrangling and greed of these fishermen de- 
stroyed this goose that laid the golden egg. It is true 
that the State of New York made some feeble eft'orts to 
protect this fishery, but the laws passed by the Legislature 
were inadequate, and such as they were, there was no 
police regulations to enforce them. 
"I firmly believe, from what I know to be the habits of 
this fish, that the project of restocking this stream will 
be a success. Should the commissioners decide to make 
the experiment, they need not be disappointed if they do 
not see any evidence of success for several years, for the 
salmon fry that they plant in the upper waters of this 
stream will not return for four years; but, like casting 
bread upon the waters, after many days it will retum. 
Would it not be a fine achicA'cment in the piscatorial line 
if these salmon could be coaxed back to their old-time 
breeding grounds?" 
It is not presumed that Mr. Harmon pretends to con- 
\cy the impression that salmon do not feed from the time 
they begin their "pilgrimage from their feeding grounds 
in Baffin's Bay," for the salmon feed up to the time thej' 
enter fresh Avater. Salmon taken in nets at the mouth 
of the Canadian RiA^er are found to be gorged Avith caplins, 
which they have eaten on their way into the stream. 
Once I opened a salmon that had been netted in Canada, 
shipped to Boston and from there to my home, 250 miles 
inland from Boston, and it was filled with caplins, 
many not in the least digested. Another thing, 
recent iuA'^estigation goes to show that salmon do 
not go far from the mouths of the rivers in Avhich 
they are born Avhen they go doAvn to the sea after spawn- 
ing. Formerly it Avas "the belief that salmon made long 
journeys at sea aAvay from their home river, and some- 
times a salmon has been found many miles from the 
stream in Avhich it AA'as bom; but it is generally belicA-ed 
now that salmon go out to sea only a sufficient distance to 
find suitable pasturage and there remain until thej^ return 
to the rivers to spaAvn. Caplins, belonging to the family 
of smelts, are found in the ocean from Cape Cod north- 
Avard. and probably furnish a large part of the food of the 
adult salmon. 
The great obstacle to restocking any stream Avith sal- 
mon is that the desire is just as strong to-day in man- 
kind to spear and net salmon as it was in the days Avhen 
they were exterminated in Salmon RiA'er. The Hudson, 
Avhich never contained salmon originally, has been planted 
with salmon, and the fish have returned from the sea to 
spaAvn ; but dams shut them off from natural spaAvning 
grounds in the headAvaters, and the netters in the latter 
river will not let one escape, once the fish enters a net, 
even though the penalty be $100 for netting a salmon 
and failing to return it to the Avater. The salmon ques- 
tion, in one form or another, seems to be in the air this 
week, for I have received a letter on the subject of sal- 
mon taking the fly, Avhich is of more than ordinary inter- 
est, and I quote it in full, onl}' regretting that the Avriter 
objects to the use of his name. He has had a great many 
years' experience as a salmon fisherman — more than is 
allotted to most men — and speaks from his rich experi- 
ence, and his idea is to me novel in explaining Avhy salmon 
Avill not rise to the fly in some waters. 
Salmon and the Salmon Fly. 
This is the letter: "I have noticed at various times state- 
ments made about Pacific salmon taking the fly. I have 
an objectioii to appearing in print, having refused all my 
life to write for sporting papers. My sole object is to set 
you right on the subject of salmon taking the fly, and 
therefore ask you not to quote my name. You may be 
willing to believe me, as a mutual friend has written you 
about me. AnyAvay, any old salmon man Avill indorse 
any statement I make. 
"Salmon Avill take the fly on any guarded stream in the 
world, and will not in any netted, speared or fire-hunted 
ones, t could give you any number of proofs of this^ 
but one will suffice, as it is so well knoAvn. You have 
fished on the Ristigouche and know what a fly river it is. 
"Lord Gilmore and two other English expert fly fish- 
ers portaged over from Fredericton, N. B., to the head- 
waters of the Ristigouche and tried that river for over 100 
miles and printed in England that it Avas no fly river. I 
have fished half a century ago, Avhen all streams Avere 
open to Indians, fire and spearing, at which time no 
salmon Avould rise at a fly. Only a iew years ago the 
Tobique was Avorthless tifl I advised the New BrunsAvick 
Government to guard it, and now it is a great fly river. 
But in addition to this. I have a friend Avho has killed 
hundreds of salmon Avith a fly on the Pacific Coast riA^ers 
for several years, after he fouud why he failed Avhen he 
first tried." 
I have said that this was to me an entirely new reason 
for salmon not rising to the fly on some rjv-ers, upon the 
[Aug. 12, 1899. 
supposition that my correspondent means us to under- . 
stand spearing, netting and fire-hunting create a condi- 
tion that causes the fish to be more alert to their own 
safety than when unmolested, and so have no" desire to , 
take any moving object on or near the surface in a spirit ! 
of play or out of curiosity, as has been assigned as a , 
reason for a fasting fish taking the fly at all. If, on the • 
other hand, the methods of destruction mentioned cause j 
such a decrease in the number of salmon in a stream that • 
none are left Avith a desire to rise (for I have an idea that 
not all of even fresh-run fish have the rising habit), it 
would seem to be good reasoning. However it may be, 
my correspondent speaks from experience as to the result, 
and that is all that need be considered here. No one can. 
convince me that salmon are not curious — curious as any 
man — and that their curiosity is easily satisfied. I have 
labored under this belief since one day when I , 
was casting with a short line and the largest 
salmon I ever saAv, with one exception, pushed 
his monstrous shoulders up through the surface of 1 
the water behind my flj', and away behind the - 
shoulders was the upper lobe of his caudal fin, like a fin- 
keel yacht upside doAvn, and the giant simpl3f examined 
the fly in the coolest possible manner, and Avithout touch- 
ing hook or feather quietly sank his great length beneath 
the surface again. There was no rush, no commotion of 
the water; his majesty merely parted the Avater with his 
huge bulk, exposing his full elngth, and finding the thing 
in motion to be a creation of feathers and tinsel coA^ering a 
barbed hook, he quietly returned to his throne room at 
the bottom of the pool. I rested here until I was tired 
and tried various flies of diA^ers patterns and cast with all 
the skill that was in me; but having shoAvn me how big 
salmon do groAV on occasion and satisfied his curiosity,' 
his serene highness could not be tempted from his strong- 
hold. From that day to this I haAf^e been of the opinion 
that salmon are possessed of curiosity and desire to know 
Avhat disturbs the surface of their domain, without becom- 
ing over-curious to the degree that results in their oavu 
undoing. 
"Satoiday/* a Salmon Fly. 
There is^already so much of salmon and salmon fishing 
in my notes this Aveek that they may as well all relate to ' 
salmon. The writer Avho tells of bull trout, above quoted, 
has something to say about a famous salmon fl}'-; 
"In the olden days the favorite fly was one called the 
Saturday, made by a Scotch tier. Its body was red, blue, 
green, black or dun color, with a tAvist of red at the 
shoulders. The wings Avere double, one pair (golden, 
pheasant) topping the other, having one side of mallard' 
and the other of teal or woodduck. A very small golden 
pheasant neck feather was laid OA^er the Avings, to which 
Avas added a pair of antennae of blue and yelloAv macaAv. 
More salmon and larger Avere taken Avith that lure than 
with any other. Fashions change in flies as in all other 
things; but at this day the genuine Saturday, of modi- 
fications of it, are the most valuable of a large collection." 
This fljf is new to me under the name Saturday, aiid I 
cannot recall that I have ever seen a salmon fly that Avill 
answer to the description, and I have looked through thcj 
list of Hardy Brothers and other Enghsh and Scotch fly 
dressers, and find no mention of such a fly. To be sure, 
the description, is not as specific as it might be, but I 
looked through the two series of salmon flies in color 
prepared by George Nelson, and I cannot find anything 
Avhich resembles the printed description of this fly. The 
literature of salmon flies is also silent, so far as I can find,' 
concerning a fly bearing the name of the last day of the 
week; but if it has been and is such a killer, perhaps some 
reader of Forest and Stre.\m will give us a fuller de- 
scription of the fly. A. N. Cheney. 
Memories of Aransas Pass. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
I Avish one of the residents about Aransas Pass, Tex.y 
Avould give us, through your paper, some ideas as to the 
appearance of things about the aboA'C neighborhood, ita 
fishing, hunting and other attractions, if there arc any. I 
have a kind of irresistible longing to go there once more. 
Have not been there for thirty-five years, and would like 
to knoAv how things look after so long a time. 
About so many years ago a large hunting party — near a 
thousand- — landed on the lower end of Mustang Island one 
evening, and trailing up the sandy beach all night, puUing 
by hand two 6-poundcrs with neceasary ammunition, 
next morning found the game Ave were after — a garrison 
of Johnny rebs on the upper end of the island. We tooli 
them all in, including one dead man, a sentry on post, 
who raised the token of surrender, but Avas shot by a 
Maine soldier who didn't know enough to respect a white 
flag. How we W^estern soldiers did dislike the Eastern 
regiments. They Avere too fancy for us, with their Avhitc 
gloves and paper collars. 
Next morning part of the hunting party crossed Aran- 
sas Pass and continued on up the coast further, making 
a large bag at Galveston. Our regiment Avas left at the 
Pass, where we continued for about eight months, pass- 
ing a somewhat lonely existence, except Avhen occa-i 
sionally making raids over to the mainland, calling upor,' 
the people of Corpus Christi, Indianola and other point; 
along the lagoons. Everything didn't come our way on 
these social calls, as when some of our men who were 
making requisitions for rations not furnished by the 
commissary department Avere bagged by bushAvhacking 
Johnnies and Avere obliged to pass scA^eral months in th« 
Confederate stockade at Tyler, Tex. We captured a 
schooner somcAvhere up the bay. and with lumber drawn 
without as much as by leave of the owners, made quite 
comfortable quarters among the sand heaps. 
We Avere not equipped for hunting small game then, 
but a good shot Avith an Enfield musket Avould often 
bring in a Avild goose or brant. Ducks Ave^e plenty, bul' 
Ave had no small shot for them. A few deer on the Ioavci 
end of the island afforded sport for those of us Avho go! 
near enough for a shot at them, Our friends the John- 
nies had kindly left a droA^e of Texas steers on the island 
and these, driven up near to camp and slaughtered, gayj 
us plenty of fresh beef at somebody else's expense. _ | 
Oysters Avere plenty nearby to be had for the getting; 
I recollect once of sitting down on the beach at low tidi^ 
and eating eight dozen before getting up. They w^T^ 
