FOREST STHEAM. 
887 
In the Quebec Moose Country. 
OHj my! we were glad to get that letter. Hop and I, 
were endeavoring to decide where to hunt big game in 
the autumn, and this letter from Mr. F. inviting us to 
spend September upon the preserve of the T. Fish and 
Game Club of Canada was a most welcome surprise 
and gratification. From June till September seemed a 
very long time to wait; but then there was much to do 
and think about during unemployed moments of the in- 
terim; for instance, a new rifle, with its various debatable 
points, was to be considered and decided upon, some new 
tackle purchased and all the possibilities of an invasion of 
the wilderness to be provided for. So our pleasure be- 
gan with the arrival of the kind letter, increased with our 
preparations and was probably at full tide Avhen w^e and 
guides arrived at the first camp, completely equipped 
with all of our vacation yet before us. The ttieinory of 
it all is as the shadow of a friendly tree. 
A ride of thirty-six miles north from Quebec by train 
brought us to Sam R.'s, where we procured provisions 
and conveyances, then fifteen miles over roads and lanes 
tlirough ail interesting country, which became lesf^ and 
less populous though more and more rugged and beauti- 
ful, until we arrived by sunset at Camp Grose, on the 
Little Saguenay. This was a picturesque spot, which an 
artist, now well known, purchased from the Canadian 
Government, and here he resorted to sketch and inhale 
the inspiriting atmosphere of the beautiful encircling hills. 
We had picked up our four guides on the way, three of 
them being French to the backbone and one Irish, with a 
French accent — withal a fine lot of sturdy men. We were 
up and off in the early morning long before the sun 
overtopped the hills, and although the guides were heav- 
ily laden with our full larder, etc. (each one carrying 
about 200 pounds suspended from his forehead and rest- 
ing upon his back), they drove us ahead of them at a 
good pace. We were fresh from our desks and our new 
moccasin boots were evidently a blamed poor fit, for they 
wobbled as they would and as we would that they would 
not; therefore, toward the end of the eight miles of carry 
we \vere weary. It was chis portage that Mr. Fredera 
Remington described in December, 1898. Harpers' as a 
''lung buster." We were diverted, however, by the col- 
lection of some partridges and by seeing the fresh tracks 
-of a caribou; but as Hop said, "The world would revolve 
with less ef¥ort if we only had our boots full of feet." 
I suggested, that he keep an eye on the importunate 
guides, who seemed disposed to walk over our dead bod- 
ies, and if they stopped for breath we would likewise 
throw our machinery out of gear and oil up. Presently 
a tremendous crash in my immediate rear indicated that 
my suggestion had been conscientiously carried out; 
what a confused mass of rifle barrel, fishing rods, boots 
and things he was when we found him; but he was 
w'hole, and asked, "Won't the hills on the golf links be 
easy when we finish this training? We won't need a 
caddj', will we?" Within a few days we were equal to 
any portage; but in the evening of this first day Camp 
Crapaud was a most welcome haven, and the supper, 
prompth" prepared, was an appropriate concomitant 
which aroused our enthusiasm for the Canadian guides, 
whose versatility, activity, good nature and, later on, un- 
fljigging interest in the chase won our warmest com- 
mendation. The fact that they carry no weapon helps to 
concentrate their interest in the hunter's shooting and 
provides against the guide taking a shot before his em- 
ployer, as happened to my knowledge in Maine, 
This camp and the subsequent ones (excepting the 
more pretentious upper and main club bouses) which 
are distributed through tlie tract of 2.000 square miles,' 
were log houses 16 x 18 feet, furnished with four bunks 
(bedded with balsam), stoves, cooking utensils, etc. In 
each were found tents for the guides, who sleep in the 
open air. From camp to camp requires from five to 
ei.ght hours, the time depending upon the division of land 
and navigable water found on the waj-, so that with our 
early start we reached the succeeding camp in time to 
catch trout for supper and the morrow's breakfast. One 
of the guides, Livette, wlio, by the way, guided Mr. Rem- 
ington, had trapped the fur-bearing animals of this coun- 
try for thirty years and knew the size and habits of the 
trout in every lake and river we traversed. A long- 
route of probably 200 miles, requiring about twenty days 
of steady woi-k, had been planned for us in order that 
we might acquire a knowledge of the greater part of the 
reservation, and in consequence we moved from camp to 
camp, sometimes making two in a day, without much 
delay; therefore we took no pains to lure the larger fish 
from their retreat; but it was a rare occurrence when our 
flies, cast in any water, did not find a cordial and inter- 
esting welcome, although the fishing season was over. 
No other fish than trout are found and fishing is from 
Kinoes entirely, owing to the dense wood on the shores. 
Ducks w^ere spasmodic and usually came along when 
we were armed with rifles and not ready for them; but 
we managed to sample both the black and wood varieties. 
Partridges frequently arose from the trail, and by per- 
mitting themselves to be decapitated by rifle balls formed 
a delightful addition to our bills of fare. 
On the second day out Hop, while fishing, heard the 
cracking of timber near by and presently a large bull 
caribou, accompanied by a smaller one, passed an open- 
ing some 75 yards away. A hasty shot failed to interest 
ilu-m and they passed from view. 
When ,five days out we entered a neighborhood which 
was popular with these animals and had been hunted 
over by club members for only three seasons. Unfor- 
tunately, the equinoctial storm now arrived and asserted 
itself vigorously. Nevertheless, Livette and I vi.sited ari 
obscure lake some miles away after a most arduous ef- 
loTt, for these woods have never been cut or burnt, and 
when trees fall they so remain till decay consumes them. 
Beautiful mos.s soon covers them, as it does everytliing, 
and this, when wet. offers a treacherous footing. There 
was no trail in this instance, and I had the satisfaction 
of seeing a primeval forest, even though under unfavora- 
ble circumstances. Approaching the lake were caribou 
paths and tracks so numerous as to suggest a cow pas- 
ture, and as we reached the shore we saws some 400 yards 
away, a spike bull m the act of swimming across. As a 
result of shooting in the Maine woods my rifle and ex- 
pectations Mere gauged at 100 yards, .ind T hesitated long 
enough to decide that our wet and bedraggled condition 
forbade a long wait for another shot, and then, guessing 
the distance, banged away at the protruding head. The 
youngster ascctided the bank. on the other side and waved 
his white flag as a sign of his perfect health! 
On the following day we traveled, mostly by water, 
seventeen miles. After midday luncheon we sent two. 
guides ahead with the cumbersome baggage, while Hop 
and 1 with the other guides remained behind to draw 
some trout from a lake of good reputation. We had fair 
success and toward evening pursued our way toward the 
next camp, with a sharp lookout for ducks, which Livette 
expected to find ior us. T bad sent my rifle (now prop- 
erly adjusted to 300 yards) on before us and had luy 
shotgUTt cleared for action, when, while traversing and 
admiring a most beautiful lake, I saw two bull moose 
emerge from the timber and walk along the shore in the 
shallow water. They were about 300 yards awajr, and 
my shotgun was about as much use as a canoe paddle, 
so Hop loaded his rifle urul when ready opened fire and 
l)a.gged the leader, a five-year-old animal with a good 
head and delicious steaks. 
Rain now fell by night and \'y day, and though vve vis- 
ited a mnuber of. caribou lakes, always returning wet 
through, and saw many tracks and signs around them, 
ihe animals were absent and evidently seeking shelter in 
the bush. We continued to get troiU and partridges 
throughout our travels, and through mist and rain^ saAv 
nnich impressive scenery ; but our movements were ham- 
pered by the floods, and at limes the guides had to fell 
trees in order that we could cross some of the torrential 
streaius. .\t one camp we. met friends who had slain two 
bears, and by dovetailing our larders we got up a dinner 
that successfully distracted our attention .front the raging 
storm without. These friends will forgive lue, I am_ sure, 
101- claiming that the meat of the moose was sti|>efior ,tp 
that of the bear. .- 
Now, as to the .30-30 rifle, which is often discussed in 
the Forest and Stkeam, Accuracy is not an issue, I 
know, but I take pleasure in saying — since I feel an at- 
tachment for this weapon — that we frequently shot the 
heads oiT partridges at 30 and 40 paces, and in one in- 
stance I decapitated a dttck (which was slowdy swim- 
ming straight away) froiu a caiioe at 75 yards. Hop 
broke the hind leg bone of his moose square off at 300 
yards, and after approaching to short range put two balls 
straight through its body. What more than this is a 
rifle expected to do? S. W. L. 
Baltimoire, Oct. 20. 
Metalluc Pond. 
The summer suu dropped behind the mountain, ap- 
parently received into the very depths of the forest, and 
left behind a fading v/ake of gold and crimson. Metalluc 
Pond, even with its carpet of lilypads and its muddy, 
slimy shores, never looked so wild and beautiful. The 
mountain tops to the east were brightly tinted by the 
last rays of the dying day, and the deep forests to the west 
looked black again,st the ruddy sky. 
As we three pushed out from the mouth of the creek 
Metallttc Pond, in all its glory, burst upon our view. 
From far into the forest came the weird, solemn hoot 
of the barred owl. with now and then the chatte)-ing of 
the moosebirds among the spruces. Occasionally ;i 
solitary black duck, "darkly seen against the crimson 
sky," whistled down and joitied his comrades, splashing 
and quacking at the lower end of the pond. Silently we 
watched and listened. The wildness and beauty of the 
Maine woods, especially at this secluded pond, seerned 
singttlarly imi^ressive. We were gazing at and listening 
to nature in her wildest form, undisturbed and rarely 
visited by man. 
Suddenly the guide perceived on the left hand shore 
two deer feeding on the lilypads and grasses. With the 
skill of an Indian our faithful guide paddled us silently 
toward the unconscious deer. As we approached, one 
proved to be a large buck with enormous antlers and the 
other a timid doc of a peculiar reddish color. Not until 
W'C were within 50 yards did the beautiful creatures with 
troubled aspect walk nervously up and down the shore 
and finally bound off into the dark, mossy forest. 
LTntil far into the night we sat around the caittp-fire, 
and gazing into its dreamj^ depths listened to the wild 
rales of the guide. The occasional hoot of the owl 
constanth- reminded its that we were at Metalluc Pon^, 
where once dwelt the old Indian chief whose name the 
pond still bears. After his tribe had scattered, as the 
legend goes, he lived alone with his wife and daughter 
by this lonely pond. Long before game laws and game 
wardens were ever thoitght of Metalluc roamed the 
forests, hunting and trapping at will. Many a noble 
moose, the "king of the forest," and graceful deer fell 
m its tracks before the famous httuter. It was here that 
Met.'illuc fought with and overcame a moose, but in 
ihe battle he lost his right eye. Some years after he was 
stalking in the woods not far from his httt, a twig 
chanced to snap in his left eye and put it out. By his 
wonderful knowledge of the region he managed to crawl 
to camp. Thus the mighty hunter spent his later days 
in total blindness. 
As the first gray streaks of dawn appeared in the east 
we arose from our beds of fir boughs, and after a hearty 
breakfast and a few necessary preparations and a fare- 
well look at old Metalluc, we penetrated the forests to 
the west of the pond. For ten miles we tramped, and 
with the aid of compass, logging roads and deer rtin- 
vvays, we struck, soqn after noon, the Lake road, which 
connects Andover with Lower Richardson Lake About 
o'clock we arrived at our log camp, a mile from the 
.r^^rm of the Lake. 
Some time after tl'iis memorable visit to Metalluc 
in the open season we again penetrated the forests; 
this time with rifles and equipments for deer hunting, 
and again, as before, we pushed out of the slimy creek 
at sunset and beheld again the majestic mountains tinted 
by the siakmg auturvrn sun. The owl still iiooted in the 
forest, the ducks still quacked at the loAver end of the 
pond, and to make the scene complete, two deer were 
leisurely feeding in the Avater on the left-hand shore. 
This time we paddled on to the deer with a deadly pur- 
pose, and I took aim with the rifle, not with the field 
glass, and we paddled away with one of the noble crea- 
tures lying in the canoe. 
My one ambition was realized! I had shot a deer! 
And what is more, it occurred at Metalluc Pond, the 
most ideal, the most fitting spot for such sport. 
Several weeks have elapsed since those memorable vis- 
its to Metalluc Pond, but the memory of those deep 
primeval forests, the autumnal sunsets, the tinted moun- 
tain peaks, the sotmds of bird and beast at twilight, the 
little hut of logs and bark, the cracking camp-fire, and 
finally the gentle deer on the margin of the pond — all 
these, together with the feeling within of freedom and 
happiness, will always abide with me. 
J. S. Seabuky. 
The Essex County Protector. 
In our issue of Oct. ^.'8 we printed a communication 
from Mr. J. B. Burnham respecting the ofificial record of 
District Game and Fish Protector Fletcher Beede, of 
Esseex county, in the Adirondacks; and in our comments 
on the statements therein ntade we said that Protector 
Beede was incflicicnt and deserved to be removed. 
in reply to this we have received a communication 
from a correspondent, who tells us that he is assured that 
the criticisms upon iVIr. Beede are not sustained by the 
facts, inasmuch as the protector is honestly and faithfully 
and sttccessfully doing his duty. Our correspondent 
writes, after an interview with the protector: 
"He doubts Burnham's information about the Sharpe 
place being correct, but says if Burnham will catch one- 
quarter of the men he thinks a protector with sand ought 
to catch in one day, and will do it in two months, he will 
donate hiiti his year's salary. He says he has been there 
himself, and has had a man whom he has hired and paid 
out of his own pocket on the branch for nearly two 
weeks. Moreover, that Cogswell, a special State pro- 
tector, has been at Dan Lehman's camp on Black Brook, 
not an hour's drive from the Sharpe place, and has been 
^.herc since August, w^atching the neighborhood. Cogs- 
well has now, and has had for some time, twenty-eight 
specials in the district, but they haven't convicted any 
one. Beede says Pond told him to be sure of his cases 
before acting, and he has lost only one case this year, 
and that a deer case, although in some he had to have a 
second trial, because of the jury's disagreeing. 
"He has arrested and convicted seven men for illegal 
fishing, and has had several deer cases. One man, Kelly, 
being fined, paid $133.45 for a deer killed out of season; 
another, O'Neil, he arrested for same cause, but was 
beaten in by tlie jury. Fred Smith, of North Elba, he 
arrested, but the case has not come to trial yet; this also 
is a deer case. Last Tuesdajr he arrested Barney Fields 
for hounding; trial comes oft" to-morrow. He came from 
Mttd Pond to-day from serving papers on H. B. Jones ■ 
and party, who were hounding there. He lay out in the 
woods four nights before getting evidence against them 
all suRiciently strong to convict. I asked him about 
Sunday, the 8th, and he says he was at Boreas River, 
where he lay ottt three nights in the woods watching a 
party there before he was convinced that they were not 
using muzzled hounds, but were driving the deer with 
men. He claims he has lain out night after night this 
sutiimer and fall, and has averaged three nights a week 
since June, driving from one suspected locality to an 
other. He has a lot of cases that he is still Avorking on, 
but in which his evidence is not strong enough to suit 
him to bring to trial. Pond told him some time since that 
lie had had more cases and fcAver defeats than any pro- 
tector in the State, except one. This speaks pretty 
well, seems to me, for his vigilance. 
"He bewailed the fact that he was getting to be the 
most cordially hated man in the county by the hunters 
and their friends ; but try as he would he couldn't entirely 
stop hounding; nor could any one man cover the 1,800 
square miles svith eighteen towns, each tOAvn having deer 
and hunter.'-, in them, and stop illegal killing. 
•'He says he has done his best and checked it to a great 
extent, and that the rumors of hounds being used are 
greatly exaggerated. When asked about the deputy at 
keene who wanted to hound for an outsider, as reported 
by Mr. Burnham, he says he has no deputy there, that 
lie has hired and paid himself a man who runs a meat 
market there to assist him sometimes, but he is quite 
positive that that man not only wouldn't hound, but also 
that, until the past week, he hasn't been away from his 
business a day. Beede says he will take great pleasure 
the first chance he has in serving a stibpcena on Mr. 
Burnham and find out under oath just what information 
he has, and he may get some cases out of it, although 
he doubts his having anything niore than rumors and 
hearsay, 
"After listening to Beede I am convinced thkt the reports 
about hounding are greatly exaggerated, and I know 
there is less dynamiting and illegal fishing and bird 
shooting and selling than for years." 
Tficks. 
Wet rubber boots are a hard thing to dry out unless you 
know how. 
Suspend the boot upside down by a string stretched 
from two points, clothesline fashion, hanging the boot on 
it by another string about the foot and heel. Make a 
frame of stiff paper big enough to fill the leg and keep it 
open. Open the frame wide at the bottom, which will 
reach up well in the boot leg. Set a lamp under the 
boot and the hot air will go up mto the boot and dry It as 
dry as a cork leg in about thirty minutes. Set two lamps 
if you want to. You will not bum the boot, and you 
cannot beat the plan. Pink Edge. 
Qoail by the Clothes Line. 
A HAM curing establishment in Trenton, N. J., issues as 
.ju advertisernetit a card showing 489 quail strung on a 
clothes-line, the result of ten days' shooting in North 
Carolina. The correspondent who sends us the placard 
says: "By this mail goes a picture of slaughter^ which 
might be used for educational purposes. Doesn't it seem 
appropriate that the donors are in the pork businese?^ 
1, 
