46S 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
"WcVe All Seen Him* 
Have you seen our Izaak Walton, 
AVith his bamboo posed with grace. 
And his casting-lines and flies around his hat. 
But the quarters to buy fish with 
Kept discreetly out of sight. 
With the pennyroyal to keep away the gnat? 
Have you seeii his natty creel, too— 
A square hole in its lid. 
Showing sandwiches and milk and lemonade. 
But his flask of Four Crown whisky 
Kept discreetly out of sight — 
To prevftlit ifehe influenza, should he wade? 
Have you seen him lug his fish home, 
And heard him spin the yarns 
'Bout his fighting them, and pile up lie on lie, 
But the boy who sold them to him 
Kept discreetly out of sight, 
While he posed "a holy terror" with the fly? 
Why, of course you've often seen him. 
And you've been there, too, yourself, 
And you've done the great prevaricating act. 
But the quarters that you've squandered 
Kept discreetly out of sight. 
As you've passed off whopping lies for solid fact. 
D. G. Smith. 
Chatham, N. B., May 2S. 
In the Adirondacks. 
Old Forge, June 8. — Seven days more and the hostelries, 
large and small, throughout the Adirondacks will be open 
for the season, June 15 being the generally recognized 
opening day. Many of these have for some time past been 
receiving guests, but have done so without much formality. 
The indications everywhere point toward a profitable sea- 
son for the various resorts, and here on the Fulton Chain 
the influx of people is likely to be unusually large. Be- 
cause of the recent construction of the Raquette Lake Rail- 
road, the management of the steamboats on the lakes has 
seen fit to reduce the round trip fare from two dollars to 
one dollar, for the boats no longer monopolize the trans- 
portation service. 
H. E. Annin, superintendent of the State hatchery at 
this place, can verify the statement recently made by J. S. 
Van Cleef as to blacksnakes catching fish and takmg 
them ashore with reversed action. Mr. Annin says he saw 
this done by a snake some 3 feet long at the private 
hatchery at East Randolph, Cattaraugus county. He also 
saw such a snake wound around a tree at a height of 
several feet from the ground. So the fact is well estab- 
lished that water snakes really do unexpected things under 
the very eyes of people who never see any but real snakes. 
And both of these incidents are verified by a young man 
here, who says he has seen similar sights on the Arkansas 
River. 
Superintendent Annin is doing faithful and efficient 
work at this hatchery. During the season he has hatched 
and distributed nearly two millions of lake trout, and^ 
more than half a million brook trout. Two and one-half 
million frost fish have been hatched and turned into the 
lake. He has about one hundred thousand fry of various 
kinds, which he will rear to fingerlings before distributmg 
them. 
Several handsome German and rambow trout have been 
caught hereabouts recently, one specimen of the kmd 
first mentioned weighing 2^ pounds. These fish were 
first planted in these waters three years ago. 
The bloom is just now spoiling the fishmg m the lake, 
which, up to several days ago, was excellent for the 
Adirondacks. But the lakes and streams do not in these 
davs tell the old. old stories, and never will while the 
present number of anglers exist. A male incomer with- 
out a bundle of rods is but seldom seen, and not a few 
women are in these days likewise outfitted. 
Sara Donovan, one of the very few living old-time 
guides, and domiciled on Fourth Lake, very emphatically 
replies to the statement that Governor Seymour killed the 
last moose ; that such is not the fact ; that the aforesaid 
last moose of which anything is. known was caught by 
him in the fall of 1859, and by him led to Utica and sold 
to White Brothers, showmen. The animal was two years 
old. Sam declares that moose tracks were afterward 
seen (in 1863) in the great forest, but none were killed 
after his own exploit. The- question has for some tmie 
past interested Donovan, and he has made much inquiry m 
relation to it. He now asserts with all positiveness that 
he is possessed of the real facts. It is a confirmatory fact 
that in his opinion he is in accord with most, if not all. the 
old guides now living. Alas ! there are but few of these 
old pilgrims left, and very few of those who succeed them 
are worthv of the name of guide. • , , , 
But conditions in this great forest, as well as the char- 
acter of its inhabitants, have changed. There are now 
hosteleries everywhere, with railroads to make almost 
every locality accessible, therefore it is no wonder that 
game and fish are reduced to the minimum, that sports- 
men are going by hundreds to the Canadian forests, to 
various localities where no white face was ever seen until 
in recent years. Time was when these 3,500,000 acres 
were as fruitful of game and fish as any like area m 
Canada, but civilization and the neglect of the State have 
changed all. Nevertheless, it is still full of health, rest 
and invigoration, a place where the weary can find real 
comfort as well as physical benefit. If the State wou d 
only awaken to its duty, and honestly and mtelhgently 
discharge it, this region would wholly become the property, 
of the people and forever be what it should long have 
been. D. H. B. 
Saranac Lake, N. Y.— Editor Forest and Stream: 
Adirondack "camps" and cottages are being reoaired by 
numerous guides and craftsmen in the expectation that 
their owners, or lessees, will soon occupy them— that is to 
my, m'w& by July j. The camps are gorgeous affairs, 
judged by a spruce bark shelter. They have bay win- 
dows, broad verandas, polished floors and ceiled in- 
teriors, marvelous rustic furniture, mounted heads by the 
dozen (literally), fur rugs gathered from the tropics and 
icebergs, beautiful pictures of woods scenery, and photo- 
graphs of game and forest life; firearms of every de- 
scription, especially light rifles and target pistols fit for the 
ladies to use ; camera racks and buffets, all of which tends 
to reduce camp life to its easiest terms. It is not the 
old-time woodsman's way of camping. His blanket and 
slab of salt pork are not missing from the up-to-date 
camp ; neither are his venison steaks and broiled brook 
trout lacking. His balsam bough bed is elaborated in a 
modern camp to the dignity of fir-bough mattresses. It 
is almost mournful to relate that the modern camp is 
healthier. There is no lying down in rain saturated 
clothes, nor sleeping in cold fireless shelters. Sleep is 
the sounder for the comforts; but sitting up is too com- 
fortable, by the light of bright lamps behind mosquito 
proof doors. Moreover, there are neighboring camps, and 
visiting is frequent. Alas! there are social functions in 
the shadows of Old Whiteface and St. Regis mountains 
such as a panther or a wolf never saw, and which must 
startle even the imported stags. 
The old-time Adirondack woodsman isn't dead yet— 
he hasn't had time. I had a talk with one of them last 
week. We were within splashing distance of a four-story 
hotel, and half a shout from a dozen or so camps. 
"Sorry ?" he said. "Umph! What do ye take me for? 
Did you know I git four dollars a day now where I ust 
to git two an' a half? An' I live better, too — good grub 
and lots of it. We don't have to tote such packs, either, 
'ceptin' to branch camps. A horse does it. An' these 'ere 
private parks with no huntin' 'lowed — did ye know the 
game gits so thick on 'em that they crowds each other 
ofi^ onto State lands, where I can find it?" 
Along the north side of the Adirondacks, where the 
swell camps and hotels are, two-thirds of the guides I 
talked to were glad that hounding had been stopped. The 
hotel keepers mostly aren't, because their season is not so 
long at its zenith when men can't sit on runways and 
kill game in sight of the sleeping quarters. Nevertheless 
all woodsmen agree that deer are more plenty than_ usual 
this spring, now that their signs begin to show in the 
beaver meadows. They don't have stray hounds to con- 
tend with, nor are many killed out of season. The winter 
was a hard one; a few died from its severity, but those 
killed late in the fall were in splendid condition for 
weathering storms and deep snow. 
"You could peel the fat off 'em jest like a blanket," was 
said of those in the heart of the mountains. 
In Herkimer county many deer have been seen in the 
clearings. Within a mile of Northwood six different 
ones (judging by the descriptions) were seen within ten 
days. In the Moose River country they fared well. 
The fishermen did not have a very comfortable time this 
year. The ice did not go out by the lakes till May I or 
thereabouts. The streams were swollen to abnormal 
height till May 22 at least. And now the fish are going in- 
the cold beds. 
The best lake fishing is very seldom enjoyed by the 
tourist sportsmen, because it comes too early. The day 
the ice goes out the big brook trout in the lakes bite. 
They take worms best, or minnows trolled. Sometimes 
flies are used successfully. The woodsmen think the best 
bait for large trout are young mice, or shiners cut into 
slabs. The tails of the minnows are the best. The fishing 
from now on will be in deep pools, where there is a layer 
of cold water on the bottom, or on the cold beds over 
springs, or where small brooks come into large streams or 
lakes. 
There never was a time when there were so many 
cameras in the Adirondacks. I saw four fishermen on the 
West Canada Creek the other day and they all had 
cameras. Three men came to Northwood last week on 
bicycles fishing. Two were ready to take photographs. 
But rift fishing and cameras do not always hitch. The 
number of soaked cameras sent to the hospital for repairs 
must be highly gratifying to manufacturers. The care- 
less fashion in which exposures are made by the amateurs 
results in a very large percentage of failures. A photog- 
rapher told me of a young lady who snapped her camera 
over a hundred times during a visit here, having some 
beautiful views and curious incidents. She secured just 
one clear negative, and that one was cornerwise. Very 
rarely is a good game picture secured. In the fall dead 
deer with men standing over them are got frequently 
enough, but not many live game pictures. 
RayjIond S. Spears. 
In the Heart of the Wild Woods.— II. 
{Continued from page 448.) 
BY PAUL TARBEL. 
I AWOKE about daylight thoroughly rested. 
Allen and the two guides were sleeping soundly, so I 
quietly arose, and with my clothes and gun, quietly slipped 
out of the cabin. 
A clearing in the wild woods — a spacious solitude, sur- 
rounded by the virgin forest. I now saw there were two 
shacks— one intended to house man, the other beasts. 
Tall, ragged weeds struggled against the foundation 
logs, growth which might have proven oats had the 
season been long enough and the sun strong enough to 
have helped it to maturity; empty boxes, tin cans, barrels 
— all in profusion and confusion. The space between the 
shacks, and for a considerable distance from the doors, 
was strewn thick with decaying chips. There lay a 
chopping log, which showed the scars of many a vigorous 
stroke of an axe, gone many a day. A typical deserted 
logging camp. 
But what of nature's work? I looked around, and the 
enchantment of surroundings and atmosphere began its 
subtle spell. The sun was low and would not throw its 
beams above the tree tops for hours; the old logging 
road leading from river to camp ran due east and west, 
permitting the first genial rays of bid Sol to light up the 
clearing like a sanctuary. 
The grand unspeakable peace of it all ! 
Oh, for the soul of a Thoreau and the pen of ail 
Agassiz! 
But even I. untutored and ignorant of the ways of 
nature, much could I see and understand, 
Do you remember that verse from Wordsworth? 
"I have seen 
A curious. child, who dwelt upon a tract 
Of inland ground, applying to his ear 
The convolutions of a smooth-lipped shell. 
To which, in silence hushed, his very soul 
Listened intensely; and his countenance soon 
Brightened with joy; for within were heard 
Murmurings, whereby the monitor expressed 
Mysterious union with its native sea." 
Nature was holding its secret with an open hand, and 
my eyes and ears were filled to overflowing. The follow- 
ing description, written by a naturalist and seer, fits here : 
■'Not indolent, soft, like that which sifts in green 
shadow through the leafage of a summer garden, but 
tense, alertly and mysteriously expectant, was the silence 
of the forest. It was something like a vast bubble of 
glass, blown to a fineness so tenuous that a small sound, 
were it but to strike the one preordained and mystic note, 
might shatter it down in loud ruin, yet it had existed 
there flawless for generations, transmitting into its own 
quality such infrequent and inconsequent disturbance as 
might arise from the far-off cry of the panther, or the thin 
chirp of the clambering nuthatch, the long, solemn calling 
of the taciturn moose, twice or thrice repeated under the 
round October moon, or the noise of some great wind 
roaring in the remote tops of pine and birch and hemlock. 
"The air that washed the endless vistas of brown-green 
shadow was of marvelous clearity, not blurred by any 
stain of dust or vapor. Its magical transparency was con- 
fusing to an eye not born and bred to it, making the far 
branches seem near, and the near twigs unreal, disturbing 
the accustomed perspective, and hinting of some elfish de- 
ception in familiar and apparent things." 
Birds everywhere; squirrels and chipmunks scolding 
worse than Socrates' Xantippe. A stream of fresh water 
flowed within two rods of the camp. I went to it. There 
lay a glass ; I filled it, held it between the sky and my 
eye, and so very transparent was the liquid it could not 
be distinguished. 
I drank again and again, and each time raising my 
eyes toward the blue vault of heaven, I thanked God I was 
alive and permitted to enjoy what was so generously 
spread before me. 
Performing my ablutions, I felt as if I could Hck my 
weight in wildcats. Remembering the episode of last 
night, I laughed. Walking toward the door of the cabin, I 
found the body of the cat, and looking within, noticed all 
my companions were still sleeping soundly. 
About ten rods from the cabin door, in line with the 
road, stood a large pine stump. It was a good spot to 
plant my dead wildcat upon. Taking the body, I propped 
it into as natural a position as possible. I laid the body 
sidewaj's and turned the round, furry head with the 
pointed tufted ears toward the cabin. Returning to the 
door to note the effect of my efforts at natural taxidermy. 
I was surprised at the result. Old Bobs looked natural as 
life, and by intently gazing I imagined I could see the 
glint of the pale yellow eyes, with fine black slits for 
pupils. 
Satisfied, I waUced along the road toward the river. 
Watching intently, about fifty rods in advance I saw three 
or four partridges playing where the sunbeams could 
strike them. 
Instantly Mr. Nimrod appeared and Master Goodboy 
went a-vaulting. I walked slowly and carefully, taking- 
out the shells from my rifle and replaced them Avith 
n»iniatures. Following the brush closely I easily got to 
within lOO yards, and then turning slightly out to see my 
feathered friends, I counted eight fat, full-grown birds. 
A pot shot with two No. 8 shells and 50 yards closer 
would have given me, perhaps, all of them, but with a 
rifle at 100 yards range was quite another problem. 
I wanted four of them for breakfast. Aiming carefully 
at a fat old hen in the middle of the road, I fired. The 
hen collapsed, and the seven flew with a noise like 
thunder. I spotted them as well as I could, and walking 
thrpugh the woods in about five minutes came to a bunch 
of cedars where I hunted for my birds. 
The partridge has the power to efface himself till his 
brown, mottled feathers are fairly one with the mottled- 
brown bark of his perch. And it takes the eye of an ex- 
pert to detect them. The foolish birds will not fly even 
after you see them, but it took me a long time to locate 
them, and then to know that I had passed the tree that 
held them sereral times. 
It reminded me of a stereoscope. When you do get the 
focus, the picture stands out as plain as life, but until 
then everything is unseeming blurr. 
Now that I had the focus, I could count seven birds, but 
not one move of a feather. The black, liquid eyes watched 
me closer than a brother. Walking away until I was 
within 100 feet of the tree, I aimed at the lowest bird and 
got him. Then the next I missed, and still the six re- 
main. Again I shot and got another, but that evidently 
taxed the patience of the remainder, for they flew with 
that tumultous whirring which is a warning to all in- 
habitants of the forest. 
Picking up my birds, I now noticed the sudden and 
absolute silence vvhich my shooting had effected. But 
by the time I reached the road and picked up my third 
bird, the citizens of the forest had aeain resumed their 
sang froid. "Gracious! What's that?" Six shots, and 
apparently from three rifles ! And that close to camp ! I 
walked as quickly as possible, and a? I pass the stump 
with Old Bobs upon it, I notice he has lost his proud 
no^itinn of defiance and lies an inert mass, fairly riddled 
with bullets. 
"Hullo!" I shouted; "breakfast ready?" "No. she 
ain't ready, but soon will be. Fired to let you know 
it." This from Joe Lavigne. Pete and Allen say nothing. 
Neither do I. Am satisfied to know that I fooled even the 
experienced eves of the guides. 
Pete is building the fire; the birds are cleaned, and a 
breakfast of fried partridge, bacon, potatoes. cofTce and 
bread and butter is ready in less than forty-five minutes. 
Delmonico has no cook like Joe Lavigne in the Avilder- 
ness. Why? Because the surroundings furnish a natural 
sauce that is more piquant and tempting than anything 
that art can prepare. 
While eating we decide to spend the day reconnoiteruig. 
locating the runwavs and forming plans. 
Tt is agreed all shall be in camp by d o'clock, so after the 
ri'shes are cleaned Joe and Allen ga in QUO direction and 
Pete and myself in another. 
