July 14, .1900.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
28 
cealed by the forest growth. Churchill was armed with 
a three-barrel gun, two shot, and one .4S-70 rifle barrel 
underneath. He had ball cartridges in both shot barrels, 
and as the distance was short, fired at the moose with 
one of these. The ball, which weighed something more 
than an ounce, hit the web of one of the moose's antlers, 
tearing a hole through it large enough to receive a broom- 
stick, and striking with such force that the antler was 
knocked off the moose's head at the burr. 
The hunters followed, and half a mile further on foimd 
the other antler where the moose had dropped it in the 
snow. His head was out of balance, and no doubt the 
antler had come in contact with a tree. The, moose 
escaped, but the sportsman had a fine pair of antlers with 
twenty-three points as a result of his shot, and had it been 
in the old days when all moose were game, it is possible 
a coH- moose scalp might have been made to do dutj- as a 
part of a very interesting trophy, even though the moose 
whose head it was supposed to represent was still roaming 
the forest. Mr. Churchill, it is only fair to add, two 
days later downed an eighteen-point bull, whose head he 
hu> taken out and had mounted. 
Moose Calling Without a Horn. 
A Boston man bj' the name of MacDonald, who ex- 
hibited a fine Nova Scotia moose head of his own killing 
at the Boston Sportsmen's Show, calls moose without the 
aid of a horn, using his hand as a trumpet to carry the 
sound and holding his nose with his thumbs meanwhile. 
-MacDonald has the reputation of being an expert caller 
and a very successful hunter. 
Traveling with a Medicine Man. 
The Hudson Bay Company's employes have had un- 
usual opportunities to study Indian character in the years 
gone by. They judged the red man, as was natural, by 
white men's standards, and sometimes when they thought 
they knew the Indians as a student knows his book they 
were surprised by a demonstration of basic savagery they 
had little expected. 
The following story from the lips of one of the oldest 
factors in the company will serve to illustrate the point : 
Back in the '50's the factor was sent to the St. Maurice 
district, which was then under the stipervision of the 
father-in-law of the present head of the Hudson Bay 
Company, a capable and respected official. Late in the 
fall the factor was invited to spend a month at head- 
quarters, at Weymontachingue House. He traveled by 
canoe, but shortly after his arrival a period of severe 
weather set in and he sent his man back to his post, de- 
termining to wait himself until the lake froze and walking 
on snowshoes was feasible. The A'isit was an extremely 
pleasant break on the monotony of the wilderness life. 
The lady of the officer in charge at Weymontachingue 
was a charming hostess and entertainer, and the fm"- 
lough passed all too quickly. 
When the time came to return considerable difficulty 
Avas experienced in securing guides to accompany the 
factor, as the Indians were all off on their hunting 
grounds. At length, however, an old man and his son 
were found who consented to go. 
The old man had a bad reputation. While visiting 
the house of one of the servants for a pair of moccasins 
ihe night before starting the woman cautioned the factor. 
"T think 3'ou are very foolish to go with this man," she 
.said, "Him man eater." Then she told the story, which 
the factor already knew, of the time when this man, near 
to death from starvation, had killed and eaten his own 
brother. The woman told it in a way that made more of 
an impression, however, than when he had first heard the 
story. The party started at noon, spending the night in 
an Indian camp at no great distance from the post. The 
second day was bitter cold, with the thermometer 40 
below, and traveling was by no means pleasant. About 
4 in the afternoon a very swift stream was reached, which 
had not yet frozen over, though full of floating ice. The 
Indians hesitated on the bank, and when asked how the 
stream was to be crossed shrugged their shoulders and 
said they didn't know, whereupon the white man took 
the initiative. Sitting down and taking off his moccasins 
and metasse, and rolling up his -trousers, after which he 
cut a pole to steadj^ himself, he waded the stream. Ar- 
rived on the opposite bank, he took off his blanket coat 
and with it rubbed his feet dry, and afterward put on his 
nieps and other footgear and set about locating a camp 
iite for the night. Meanwhile the Indians mustered up 
courage to follow his example. Supper was soon dis- 
posed of, and rolling themselves in their blankets the 
men prepared to pass the night. 
The white man was pretty well through the first sleep, 
when he was aroused by an awful unearthly noise. The 
woman's warning flashed upon his mind, and his first 
impression was that the man-eater was about to murder 
him. He sprang to his feet and looked about in the 
spectral light reflected from the stars by the white mantle 
of snow. He was reassured a little by noting that the 
bOA'- was lying to all appearances fast asleep nearby. 
Through the folds of the man-eater's blanket he couid 
detect a humped up, writhing figure, and from this pro- 
ceeded the sounds which had so wrought upon his nerves. 
.\cting- on the impulse of the moment, the factor 
seized the blanket and swept it aside, his hand coming 
in contact as he did so with the long black hair of the 
man beneath, which was reeking wet, despite the arctic 
severity of the night. The old Indian thus revealed was 
crruching and uttering an inarticulate weird incantation 
and was as a man possessed. He did not notice the inter- 
ruption, but continued swaying his body and making 
night hideous with the bestial noise. The factor had never 
seen anj'thing like it, and he was mad. 
"What's all this?" he said, shaking the man and at- 
tempting to rouse him. "What are you doing?" The 
Indian made no reply at first, but after a while he said in 
Ills native tongue, speaking as though aroused from .^leep ; 
"Too bad!- Too bad!" 
"What's too bad?" asked the white man. 
"You've spoiled ni}' conjuring," said the Indian, 
"What do you mean?" 
"I was conjuring to-morrow you'd have no more rivers 
to cross. You pleased me to-day wading the stream, and 
I wa,s conjuring the evil spirit that he would be favorable 
and save you from the necessity in future." 
"Never you mind me." said the factor ; "turn in and go 
to sleep and don't let me hear any more of your con- 
juring." 
The white man remained awake the rest of the night, 
and at half past three roused the Indians, and they pro- 
ceeded on their journey, arriving at their destination be- 
fore dark. Conjuring has been an important trade arnong 
the Indians in the Hudson Bay territory. The medicine 
men made a good living, earning an important part of 
their income as fees given them to bring harm to the 
enemies of their cHents. Their ability to do this was never 
questioned, and no tangible result was required. It was 
enough that the enemy had been conjured. 
As a result of his experience with the medicine man, the 
factor came to the conclusion that whatever else, the In- 
dian was honest in his belief in his own supernatural 
powers. The man might be a rogue, but he was no charla- 
tan. Incidentally, the factor adds, the streams they en- 
countered the last day of their journey were all spanned 
by ice bridges and no more wading was required. 
J. B. BURNHAM. 
Down the Raisin.— IIL 
Boxing the Compass by Canoe-An Aquatic Journey 
Through Lower Michigan— The Cruise 
of the Little Pilgrim, 
It was not long after the little episode of the summer 
hotel that we came upon a bit of ^^^^^^.f 3-°"^ > 
hoarded as one of the pleasantest recollection of the 
iournev. The river, which was still narrow, had for the 
■first time crept close under a range of wooded hills on 
StTeasterlv side, while the trees stood thick upon the 
opposite bank, which made a part ol the low and leve, 
valley. Overhead the long branches, reachmg toward 
each other in all the luxuriance of then- J""<^ ^f: 
formed an almost perfect arch, and underneath the wild 
grapevines were draped in many a gracetul testopn 
Through this leafy warp the morning stm ]ust cleanng 
the further hilltops, wove the most delightful mosaics of 
light and shade, and flung them lavishly upon shore and 
v^atcv alike. What tltere was over the hills or beyond 
the vallev we did not know, nor did we care to learn, 
for here 'was a charming fragment of unsullied nature 
which had all the requisites of sun and sky, of wood and 
water, needed to make a perfect picture. With what a 
thrill of exultation the Little Pilgrim leaped forward into 
this enchanted glade, the epitome and embodiment of all 
the secluded beauty of our river. Here irideed was ttie 
realization of the dream of the Little Pilgrirn, the tangi- 
ble yet subtle revealing of hidden loveliness that had been 
lying perdu for lo, these many years, waiting only till 
we should come and proclaim ourselves its original dis- 
coverers. Here we might have landed (for there was 
none to prevent) and taken possession of the territory 
in the name of the United Federation of Good Fellows, 
but the river was passing on, and we passed on with it. 
As the Little Pilgrim continued on her way we became 
aware that there were other barriers to the passage of 
the stream beside those which had been thrown up by 
nature. The artificial ones were those marking the 
boundaries between the possession of adjoining neigh- 
bors, and these intersected the waterway as a hint to the 
herds grazing in the vallevs that they should not trespass 
in forbidden pastures. The new barriers were notable, 
not so much for their beauty and picturesque appearance 
as for their utilitv. and they seemed to answer ' excellent 
well" the purpose for which they were constructed. One 
in particular I had occasion to remember. It was a long 
and slender log, moored with chains at either end to the 
bank, and floating sufficiently high to make it impossible 
to force the canoe across it. The action of the water had 
long since removed all the bark from its surface and left 
it with a clean, smooth exterior which afforded a foot- 
ing none the more secure because it was constantly kept 
wet. In crossing this primitive water gate it was neces- 
sary to lay the canoe alongside it and disembark upon the 
small portion of its surface which stood above the water, 
next to swing the boat upstream till she stood bow on 
so that she could be slid lengthwise over the obstruction 
and finally to lay her alongside again, this time below it, 
and put the crew aboard once more, all of which was 
dulv accomplished without shipping any water or the loss 
of anybody's equilibrium. No doubt all this sounds .very 
easy dearly beloved reader, but how would you like to 
try it? 
By this our river and the Little Pilgrim were on such 
a footing of friendly regard and mutual understanding 
that they traveled on quite delightfully in each other's 
society. Each had come to a knowledge of the peculiar- 
ities and eccentricities of the other and each deferred to 
these qualities of his associate which individualized the 
river and the Pilgrim and made them what they were. 
And as for the crew and the captain, (who was captain 
only by courtesy) they adapted themselves' to the general 
plan with what grace they might. They were compelled 
to do so, or be incontinently spilled overboard. 
As the summer sun rose higher in the heavens the idea 
of distributing drinking fountains (properly iced) at con- 
venient intervals along the river suggested itself forcibly 
lo our boat's crew. Yet these provisions for our comfort 
had by no means been overlooked, and they were to be 
foimd by looking for them, irregularly and capriciously 
placed oftentimes, but always refreshingly acceptable, with 
their abundant supply of cool, sweet water gushing out 
from some hidden vein. Indeed, the quest for these nat- 
ural fountains became one of the serious duties of the 
daj' during the expedition, and whether thirsty or not it 
was always a pleasure to discover them and to sample 
their sparkling contents, comparing them Avith those that 
had been quaffed before. Frequently the only indication 
of their Avhereabouts was giA^en by the sound of their 
trickling waters as they issued from some leafy bank, 
falling from a slight elevation into the greater current 
below. Some of them were remote from the river's edge 
and were piquantly hedged about with spearmint and 
Avatercresses, so that it was quite possible for our cook to 
add a salad to the noonday repast or to enrich the after 
dinner beverage with the chief ingredient of a julep. 
Unfortunately Ave visited these places only in the garish 
day, and their quiet was undisturbed save by the pinions 
of some passing bird. Perhaps if we had gone to them in 
the shadowy hours between the dusk and the dawn we 
might have surprised upon their borders some of the 
nymphs and dryads that are wont to frequent such spots 
Avhen they are unvexed by mortals of a coarser mould. 
As may be imagined, the shores of our river had been 
undergoing a gradual change, the banks rising higher 
and higher and approaching more closely to the water's 
edge. The wide valley had now been left behind, and in 
many places our river was closely hemmed in by the 
encroaching land till it seemed to shrink many feet below 
the surface. One would" think that such stern restrictions 
would have had a tendency to curb its reprehensible habit 
of Avandering, but in truth it was always watching fof 
some inadvertent lapse on the part of its guardians, sonae 
open space m their ranks through which it might slip 
unchecked and sweep outward and onward in its sinuous 
journey to the sea. Yet it was none the less picturesque, 
none the less enjoyable because of the changes which it 
underwent, and there was a constant though quiet pleas- 
ure in the placid anticipation of the new scenes and fresh 
experiences to be developed Avith each phase of the ever 
shifting landscape. Almost imperceptibly as we pro- 
gressed the channel had broadened, the volume of its 
waters had increased and the facilities tor a complete and 
thorough baptism in case of a capsize were greatly im- 
proved. 
As the banks grew higher, the natives appeared to be- 
come bolder and some of them ventured to biuld theif 
dwellings in sight of the river. Encountering^ one of 
these in our quest for watercress, we queried him inci- 
dentally as to the distance to Palmyra, and more directly 
and vitally as to the fish that frequented the stream. He 
aclcnowledged that there Avere bass (a matter evidently of 
small moment from his standpoint), but laid much stress 
upon the assertion that in the spring season many good 
pickerel were to be taken from the water. And by "pick- 
erel" he meant wall-eyed pike, as I had previous occasion 
of knowing, and his thought was on the relation of the 
fish to the frying pan rather than to the fly. His testi- 
mony was corroborated at various points along the rivef 
by others who seemed to think that the only "truly good" 
fish were those Avhic.h did not create too much trouble in 
the catching. The small-mouth black bass is found in 
fair numbers in the Raisin, but he is not always to be had 
for the asking, as the writer knows to his satisfaction. 
It was not long after this interview with the native that 
we passed the mouth of the Adrian branch of the Raisin, 
tb-'t tributary coming up in a northeasterly direction to 
' i the ma'in stream. There was little that our river 
4 med to gain by the accession of its ne\v associate, 
I' ich had already grown swollen and conceited by the 
i-jturring June showers, but the banks good naturedly 
raade way for the added volume of its waters. Further 
JoAvn our expedition encountered what was at first reck- 
(jned as a rare bit of good fortune, but which afterward 
proved to be the root of all our later woes. (Things re- 
sult that way sometimes in other places in life than cur 
canoeing voyages.) In making a sharp turn around a 
sandy point the Little Pilgrim came suddenly and un- 
expectedly betAveen the river and a fine specimen of the 
soft-shell turtle that frequents the stream, and before our 
amphibious acquaintance could make up his mind to try 
a dash for cover he was captured and transferred to the 
"ship's stores." Thence, with savory anticipations of a 
turtle dinner, we floated on contentedly toward Lake 
Erie. 
And so without further incident the morning melted 
into the afternoon, and when the time was ripe for the 
inevitable shoAver the crew Avent ashore and tented under 
the canoe while the cook prepared a dinner which was 
none the less enjoyable because the "piece de resistance," 
the morning's capture, was of necessity held in reserve 
for another day. It was not too wet to build a fire — it 
never is if you knoAV how it is done — and the tea bucket, 
as usual, did excellent service in freshening "and restor- 
ing our Avasted energies. No one who has not tried it 
can understand Avhat tea is to the voyager, the hunter 
or the fisherman, nor how much superior it is for an 
outdoor beverage to coffee and all the other artificial 
stimulants which are associated Avith our latter day civ- 
ilization. ■ 
At an appropriate lime in the waning of the day the 
Little Pilgrim drifted into a reach of slack water, and 
then we knew that Palmyra was not far away. When the 
dam was reached the obliging miller told us that we 
might portage the canoe across the narrow tongue of land 
on which the mill Avas located, and in this way save a 
mile of further journeying to reach Palmvra, which stood 
just across the bridge. But this seemed Hke taking an 
unfair advantage of the river, and so we thanked him 
and went on our way around the great loop. Coming 
back again to Palmyra, we registered at the leading 
hotel (a dollar a day) and became an object for the pity- 
ing curiosity of the villagers. There Avas really no good 
excuse for this lapse into luxury and conventionalism 
save that Palmyra stood in the way, and Ave had fondly 
hoped that Ave might still discover within herb orders 
traces of the learning and culture which had made her 
fMious so many centuries ago. The nearest we came to 
this was m the reply of the man whom we asked as to 
the character, direction and distances of the river below 
us, Avhen he answered that "it was all Greek to him." 
But the sojourn here enabled us to add to our stores a 
supply of the luscious Michigan strawberries, then in 
their very prime; and this Ave did after an early breakfast 
the next morning had left us eager for the start, lest by 
some mischance dinner time should come upon us before 
Ave could get aAvay. Such berries! Still wet with the dew 
ot the morning, through which the deep rich color glowed 
and burned like carbuncles, fragrant as a clover meadow 
large as the hopes of a fisherman on the opening day of 
the season, with all the flavors of glorious June subtly 
blended through their delicious substance, and all for 10 
cents a quart. With fresh turtle and fresh strawberries 
m the hold, what cared the crew of the Little Pilgrim for 
the envious fates that .seemed so far off and Avithal so 
futue. 
From Palmyra to Blissfield is four miles as the crow 
hies and the Lake Shore road runs in its course between 
Chicago and Toledo. Our river traverses an additional 
ten miles of country (fourteen in all) between the two 
points, in an effort to deceive the public as to its destina- 
tion. A few miles below Palmyra the Little Pilgrim en- 
countered the last formidable barrier to the passage of 
