Sept. 29, igoo.] 
FOREST AND STREAM, 
2BB 
- The Ballade of the Bass. 
W'-HEN the dewdrops bright in the dawning gleam, 
And the dimpling waters in beauty shine; 
Wlien the breathings of inorn with odors teem, 
Witli my rod and reel and a silken line, 
And a feathered hook of quaint design, 
J stand on the bank in tlie dewy grass, 
At the foot of a giant Norway pfiie 
And cast the fly for the g:amy bass. 
When sniooth as a mirror are lake and streiiiii, 
And the shady pools hold the quiet kinc, 
With the lilies afloat in a noontide dream, 
I lay down tlic rod and reel and line 
On the shelving shore, and grandly dine 
In the sylvan shades that far outclass 
The dwellings of man; then lie supine, 
And muse on the fly and the gamy basi 
When the setting sun, with his crimson beam, 
Transmutes the waters to ruby wine; 
Again I return to the glowing theme, 
The glory of rod and reel and line; 
And there in the hour of day's decline. 
As the exquisite moments swiftly pass. 
With a joy that no language can define, 
I cast the fly for the gamy bass. 
L'Envoi. 
No joy; dear fellow, can e'er be thine, 
Like the curving rod and the whistling line; 
Then let us pledge in a brimming glass 
The far-cast fly and the gamy bass. 
Zero. 
Fishing at Etretat, France. 
About 150 miles north of Paris and seventeen miles 
northeast of Havre, looking out upon the English Chan- 
nel, is the quaint and interesting fishing town of Etretat. 
True, it is more of a summer resort for Parisians, and the 
Casino is a more pretentious club house and far more 
populous than the "fishermen's club" on the beach, which 
is riierely the group of wooden capstans used to haul out 
their boats, just as they were used by the Gallo-Romans 
many centuries ago. Still fishing is the principal in- 
dustry; and it has brought and is now bringing more than 
a competence to its followers. 
The bay is little more than an open roadstead, limited 
at each end by a high precipice underlaid by sandstone 
profusely mixed with flint. Pinnacle rocks stand sentinel- 
like at the outer points, and irregular arches have been 
formed by the wearing away of the softer rock, causing 
semi-detached portions to take on a form resembling 
flying buttresses. 
The beach is destitute of sand; it is made up of coarse, 
pebbles and small, rounded boulders, chiefly derived from 
the tall cHfl^s. It inclines steeply and forms a shallow 
crescent from north by east to northwest. The bottom 
slopes off very rapidly, and depths of eight or ten fathoms 
are found a few hundred yards from the shore. 
On the crest of the beach are seen the dismantled hulks 
of old unseaworthy boats now roofed virith thatch or 
boards, opened at the side and stern by doors, and serving 
as storage places for nets and other fishing appliances 
temporarily out of commission. A little lower down are 
the active fishing and sailing craft, hauled high out of 
the reach of the great tides. 
On the same level arc located the bath houses and sun 
cabins of the pleasure seekers. Back of the crest the 
Casino, the hotels, the fishermen's dwellings and many 
pretty villas come into view. Trees, g'rass and flowers 
grow luxuriantly close to the sea, and the valleys, extend- 
ing to the east and southeast, are rich in verdure. 
Etretat lies to a great extent below the sea level, and 
imtil within little more than a half-oentury ago it was fre- 
quently submerged by tides or inundated by torrents 
rushing down froin the hills.ides after heavy rains. There 
is now at the northwest edge of the towii a submerged 
river which supplies the fresh water needed by tlie washer- 
women, and makes of that portion of tlie beach a natural 
wash reservoir. Holes are dug in the gravel to the depth 
of two or three feet, and these fill up and remain full of 
water ready for the clothes, although it is not warm. 
The presence of this outflow of fresh water suggested 
the ancient oyster pare (or series of connected ponds) 
still moderately well preserA-ed. although not used at 
persent except ior the storage of oysters from Marennes, 
Arcachon and other celebrated artificial ponds. The 
oysters are kept in long, rectangular boxes pierced with 
holes to allow the entrance and escape of water. Mussels 
are stored here in the same way. The ponds are left with 
only a little water in them between tides. Their excava- 
tion in the solid rock rnust have involved much severe 
labor. 
The boats are short, broad, deep, with little sharpness 
of bow, a small stern and a strong, iron-shod keel. They 
carry a square mainsail, a sinall "dandy" at the stern and 
a little jib, supported above a short bowsprit, which 
steps into an iron collar at the left side of the stern. The 
mainmast is well forward in the bow. The lower rudder 
iron is very long, so that the rudder can easily be hung 
even Ln rough weather. The Etret'at fishing boat is a 
rather clumsy looking craft, but it lives in severe storms, 
and brings back its cargo and crew, which are the main 
desiderata after all. 
When a boat lands on the beach, It is quickly hauled 
high up from the water line out of the reach of the 
flood tide, which sometimes reaches 15 feet or even more. 
The stem is pierced, low down near the keel, with two 
holes, one above the other. A rope is fastened in one of 
these and the other end is passed round the drum of a 
wmdlass on the shore. The levers of the capstan are 
pushed or pulled by men, women and children who happen 
to be at hand. 
The fish are sold at public auction alongside the boat 
by which they were taken. At the present time all kinds 
are dear except sharks, dogfish, small skates and conger 
eels. The good fish include soles, turbot, dorade, rouget, 
dory, bream, bass and mackerel. The dorade looks like 
a scup, and resembles it in taste. . The rouget ig very much 
like 9ur common sea robm— ife i» «weet aQ<i firw, but so is 
our sea robin to those who know its good qualities. The 
bass resembles the American striped bass rather closely, 
although its stripes are not well defined. It is not so 
good for the table. I am informed that it reaches the 
weight of 10 or 12 pounds here, and I have seen bass of 
that size in Paris. 
The best and dearest fish here is the sole, and it is 
high priced because of its scarcity at this season. In June 
the sole is plentiful and cheap. The lobster is another 
costly luxury at present, and perhaps at all times. 
Speaking of lobsters reminds me of the fact that the giant 
specimen which weighed 33 pounds and was at one time 
living in the New York Aquarium is now on exhibition 
at the Paris Exposition. I regret to say that the Euro- 
peans almost without exception regard it as a stupendous 
fake, notwithstanding the printed assurance on the label 
of its genuineness. 
It seems scarcely probable that the liking frr a French 
oyster is anything btit an acquired taste. The shell, to 
be sure, is symmetrical and the' meat looks plump and 
appetizing, but at the first trial the effect is much like 
that produced by a green persimmon. There are people, 
however, who like, or profess to like, the European oyster 
better than the American, and to all such the writer will 
gladly contribute his share. The little black mussel that 
grows on the rocks near at hand is a different article, and 
it is distinctly good for the table. It is usually boiled or 
.steamed in the shell and served in that condition with 
. butter sauce. The flavor is excellent. 
Shrimp of fair size are very abundant, and may be 
bought on the beach either fresh or boiled. The rock 
crabs of the tide pools and the deeper waters near shore 
are known as tourtou. They resemble the common rock 
crab of New York waters very closely, but grow to a 
much greater size. Specimens weighing 2 potinds have 
been seen by the writer, and fishermen say they some- 
times attain to a weight of 4 pounds. The nearest coun- 
terpart of this tourtou is perhaps the giant crab of the 
San Francisco markets. 
The shore appears to be barren at first sight, but if one 
searches among the sea weeds and rocks at low water he 
will find an abundance of snails, periwinkles, limpets and 
small crabs. Dotibtless a systematic search with proper 
appliances would reveal many other marine fonns of ani- 
mal life closely similar to those found on the New Eng- 
land coast. In looking over the debris shaken out of the 
trammel nets used in fishing, a small blenny, several sea 
urchins. ■ some starfish and a ntunber of finger sponges 
were discovered. 
Aquatic birds have been very scarce. Occasionally one 
sees a moderate sized flock of ducks far off shore, flying 
always to the westward. Gulls make their appearance 
only rarely. In former years the tall cliffs were fre- 
quented by guillemots and other sea birds for nesting 
purposes, but their persistent and senseless persecution 
by armed fools drove them away forever. 
Etretat is not without means of gratifying those who 
are fond of sailing and fishing. Parties go out every 
fine day and find plenty of amusement. The mackerel is 
taken not far off shore, and the bream and bass live near 
the rocks. Some of our friends tell us that the excite- 
inent is not so fast and furious as in the black bass waters 
of Wasconsin,' but we are going a-fishing soon to deter- 
Triine just how far an angler 4,000 miles away from his 
favorite fishing grounds can be relied upon to give the 
English Channel its due. Tarleton H. Bean. 
ETRErAT, France Aug. ,S0. 
Stocking Lakes with Fish. 
A WiNSTED dispatch announces the placing of a quan- 
tity of large-mouthed black bass in Highland Lake; also 
in Lake Waramattg and in Twin Lakes. The work was 
not done by the State Fish Commission, but by private 
persons, who obtained the fish from the National Fish 
Commissioin. 
There is nothing wdiatever to be said against the dis- 
position of private individuals to take the trouble of 
stocking public waters with good fish, but it may possi- 
bly be well to stiggest to all who have this in mind that 
they take advice from the State Commission before act- 
ing, because it often happens that some particular piece 
of water offers special opportunities for a certain kind of 
fish that will not thrive everywhere. At Twin Lakes, 
for instance, there is already a fair supply of bass, but 
the lakes are adapted to supply lake trout, landlocked- 
salmon and one or two other fish that will not live in 
smaller or shallower ponds. The Fish Commission has 
done something toward stocking with these fish, but 
much more should be done, and this work should take 
precedence of further stocking with black bass, especially 
the large-mouthed variety. It is probable that these fish 
could have been obtained from the Government instead 
of the bass. 
Besides this there are sometimes good reasons against 
stocking with certain fish. If at any place there has 
been much trouble in enforcing the law against using 
nets it can hardly be good policy to stock with fish that 
can be taken only with nets, because the use of nets to 
take them will make it practically impossible to prevent 
netting other fish. Cases of this kind have occurred. 
It would not be good policy to allow any indifferent per- 
son to place such fish in such a lake. A trout pond may 
be ruined by the introduction of pickerel- Thus for many 
reasons it is desirable that stocking should be under the 
advice, if not the direct control, of the Commission, which 
is expected to be familiar with all such conditions. — Hart- 
ford (Conn,) Times. 
The Maine Waters. 
Sept. 24.— Smelting along the Massachusetts bays and 
inlets is already good and promises soon to be better. 
Cool, frosty nights will increase the sport. Mr. Geo. 
Higgins, of Cohasset, came up the other day with a good 
story of how the smelt are running. He made an early 
start last Monday morning and caught forty dozen smelt 
in three hours' fishing. He says that the sport was 
great. The next day he went again and caught seven 
dozen, not caring to fish very long. He somewhat in- 
terested his friends here and they are planning smelting 
parties. 
Both tro«t s,nA salwQn ?^r? rising to the fly at the 
Rangelcys and Moosehead. Salmon of from 3 pounds to 
o pounds are reported bejng taken at Haines Landing, 
Mooselucmaguntic Lake. Messrs. Parrott and Maynard, 
of Boston, and Mr. Hobbs, of Bridgeport, Conn., have 
been on a shooting trip to the Upper Cupsuptic waters. 
They went up almost to the Canada line, camping at 
night, with bears about their camp and the cry of the 
Canada lynx to be heard almost every hour. Deer were 
very plenty. They talk of visiting that section again for 
deer hunting. From Kineo come great reports of big 
game in the Moosehead region and the great "back 
country" of which Moosehead is the gateway. 
Richardson Lake, Me., is being drawn down at the rate 
of about 6 inches a day to sitpply the mills on the An- 
droscoggin below. Mooselucmaguntic and Rangeley are 
still full of water. This drawing down of the water in 
fall is bad for the fish. The trout and salmon go up into 
the shoal water, at the mouth of the streams, to spawn. 
If the water is drawn down the spawn is lost. At the 
Upper Dam some of the big trout are in the pool and are 
being taken. Mr. .Seth Chandler, of Lewiston, Me., took 
a trout of 6 pounds there Monday and Mr. G. B. Bearce 
took one of about the same size the same day. Cobbos- 
seecontee hunters and fishermen are having good sport 
at that lake. The Belgrade hotels and fishing camps are 
still reported full. But at the Rangeleys the fishermen 
are gradually winding up their lines and saying farewell 
to one of the best fishing seasons ever known. 
Special. 
CeleWating: a Bifthday. 
On a certain day in the latter part of August the fish- 
ing fever seized me, and it being also my father's seventy- 
foitrth birthday I quit the grindstone at 3 P. M. and 
caught the 3:03 car for a small station on the Suburban 
road. After leaving the car I had a short walk across 
the fields to the beach where my father had preceded 
me, having driven over with his horse. 
He had a skiff in waiting, and after catching several 
'.'mummies" with a baited net we pulled away for the 
buoy, reaching it in fifteen minutes, the wind and tide 
being m our favor this time. We anchored away from 
the other boats and close to the buoy, where we have 
had good luck before on an incoming tide. Biting was 
slow, but after awhile I felt a fish (1 was not using a 
float) and struck, and we soon had a fine squeteague in 
the bag over the side. We picked up a straggler occa- 
sionally until just as the sun went down in a purple haze 
that tinted sky and water we had five heavy fish in the 
bag. 
About this time the other boats began to pull up an- 
chor and head for shore, and as they went by us reported 
their luck, varying from nothing to five— the latter boat 
had five people in it, two of them ladies. As they left 
us alone in the dusk the fish began to bite good, my 
father taking four in succession, making our score ten 
with honors even. It was now a race to see who would 
take the odd fish. It fell to my lot and I played and 
landed a good fish and then took my rod apart and let 
my father fish what time was left to see if he could not 
tie me again, but the fish had stopped biting. 
We had had fine sport, hut the best of all was to see 
my father, with white hair and bronzed face, fight his 
fish, sometimes standing and sometimes sitting, with 
light rod and r«el, giving and taking line until the net 
was passed under the victim and one more fish was put 
m the bag. As it grew dark and a fish was landed h- 
would ask: "Had I best throw over again?" I put on a 
fresh bait for answer and soon the whir of the reel told 
that another 3-pound squeateague was making his first 
rushes, and as I look back upon it I see one fishing trio 
that wjs not a failure. S S B 
The Fisherman's Story. 
He sat at the door of his shanty, ^ ■ 
And gave his whiskers a wipe} ' 
And scanned the sea for a moment, 
And then began to pipe: 
■' 'Twas a cold, raw day last winter, 
And the wind, with an angry roar, 
Kipped everything into ribbons, 
And pounded the dreary shore. 
"And we was out in a dory 
Achin' with hunger and cold, 
Till we all seemed shrunk to nothm". 
And, gosh! how the mad sea rolled I 
■'We couldn't land in the billers 
Without bein' battered to death. 
We gasped like wolves with hunger, 
As the nor' wind froze our breath. 
"Then suddenly out on the water 
There bobbed up somethin' black. 
While all on us looked in wonder— 
For it warn't no big fish back, 
"Because it frizzled and sizzled. 
And smoked right out of the 'wave; 
VV e rowed for it, all on us frightened— 
Our hunger made us brave. 
"We soon hauled it into the dory. 
And what do you think, by Jove? 
It warn't no big sea monster, 
' But a fine little kitchen stove. 
"The pipe was a-stickin' upward. 
And the lids was on in line; 
And we warmed ourselves around il, 
For the fire was goin' fine. 
"Then stillness fell on the waters, . ■ 
^And the big storm all went down; 
And we ate from the pan in the dven, 
The turkey nice and brown." 
-And then he said in conclusion,- 
With an awe-inspired "alas!" 
"It simply beats all thunder 
Some things what comes to pass." 
Overcome by his great emotion, 
He gave his whiskers a wipe, 
And lapsed into awful silence 
While he pulled away on his pipe. 
—New York Sun. 
The Forest and Stream is put to press each week on Tuesday. 
Correspondence intended for publication should reach, us at the 
If^est by Monday ?R«<?h ewl.iw as pfagticafe^, 
