64 
^FOREST AND STrEaM. 
(July 26, igoi. 
for the drivers, and they kindly asked us to take dinner 
■with them, an invitation we gladly accepted. They took 
our flour and gave us bread enough to last us the rest of 
the trip, and filled a two-gallon bucket full of crisp, fresh 
cookies. Wherever we met any of the river drivers _we 
found them exceedingly kind, and they did everything 
they could to add to the pleasure of our cruise. If the 
river below this dam is full of logs the three-mile portage 
commences at the dam, but the foreman said we would 
have no trouble with logs, and by making two or three 
short portages we could save a mile of carrying. Bidding 
the drivers good-by, we launched our canoes a short dis- 
tance below the chute. The first portage was rather diffi- 
cult, for the logs had drifted in along the shore, but the 
next one., over an island, was not hard. We were now 
in a A'^ery large eddy, almost a lake, the center filled Avith 
slowly moving logs. Making our way around the logs 
we crossed the eddy and beached om canoes on the left 
bank at the end of a two-mile portage. 
Bennett, who was still angry, had pushed on ahead of 
us and we had not seen him for some time, but when we 
were part way over the portage we saw him with his 
canoe on his head, struggling up the steep bank through a 
dense growth of underbrush. We learned afterward that 
he had attempted to go through the Thirty-Dollar chute, 
but had been compelled to give up, and not being able to 
get back to the portage landing, had carried his canoe 
and dufHe up that steep hill through the bush. It com- 
menced to rain soon after we landed, but we thought it 
would be only a shower, such as we had been having 
all day, and we each took Avhat we could carry and turn- 
ing the canoes over what remained, started over the 
portage, which is a tote road, and I believe, goes to 
Bing Inlet. 
The first part of the way was through the woods, and 
the bushes along the sides of the road poured their share 
of the rain down upon us, while the weeds that grew on 
the pathway added theirs. It was now raining hard, with 
everjr indication that it would continue all day; every- 
thing about us was dripping and we were just about as 
wet as we could be. Nothing turned the water; my hat, 
shoes, even my storm coat leaked. When we reached the 
level plateau a more desolate prospect could not be im- 
agined; there were no trees nor bushes; nothing but a 
gray, desolate waste of bare rocks with here and there 
a charred and blackened stump, and the rain pouring down 
from a leaden sky. If any one had looked on it from a 
distance, they would have seen four little black specks 
creeping, one after the other, slowly across the plateau, all 
of them wet and miserable and one of them miserably 
cross. We had lost sight of the river, but could hear the 
roar from the falls, and walked over to the edge of the 
cliff to see what the river was doing. 
This is a terrific gorge, two miles long, with broken 
Avails varying from eighty to a few feet in height, and is 
a continual series of falls' and rapids throughout its entire 
length. The river drivers call it the Thirty-Dollar Chute. 
On our way liack to the path we saw a bark shelter that 
one of the drivers had put up to protect himself while he 
watched the chute, for there was danger of the logs form- 
ing a jam at the Thirty-Dollar Falls. 
Our tramp was not without interest, wet and disagree- 
able though it was. Looking over this desolate plain to- 
Avard the Avest, the gray fog was more dense and we be- 
gan to realize that v/e were not far from the Georgian 
Bay. On our right was the gorge Avitli the river boiling 
and surging from 100 to 150 feet below the level on 
M'hich we stood, and a similar plain beyond. 
When at last we reached the end of the portage around 
the Thirtj^-Dollar Chute,' Ave found the guides Avith every- 
thing ready to put up our tents. The tote road was some 
distance back from the river along the edge of a dense 
growth of young maple and birch trees that extended 
doAvn to the river bank. Our tent was pitched on the 
lower side of the road in the edge of the bush. The rut 
worn by the sled served as a drain to carry off the water. 
I reached the end of the portage wet through; the 
rain was dripping off my chin and ears and slowly 
trickling down the back of my neck, and with the feel of 
v.'et shoes and stockings, I thought nothing could add to 
my discomfort; but when I saw the guides put our tent 
up OA'er those Avet leaves, the rain dripping off the bushes 
all around, it was too much. It Avas still raining hard; I 
Avas wet, tired and cross; I could not see the river and 
had seen no pine, and the thought of those wet leaves for 
a bed was not cheerful. I looked for some place to sit 
doAvn, but everything, even the logs, Avere sopping Avet. If 
I had found a dry place I would probably haA^e sat down 
and Avept, but there is no comfort in crying if you have 
to stand up. 
• About this time some one remarked how much good 
the trip had done me, I was looking better every day. I 
know I just looked ridiculous in my wet and bedraggled 
clothes, but I had not the courage to even smile_. Com- 
pletely out of heart I turned to go doAvn to the river. _ A 
road had been cut through the bush, and the ram falhng 
from the branches that met overhead made a very wet, 
disagreeable walk. At one side of the path, near the 
shore, was a large arbor vitse tree that made an excellent 
shelter, for the rain Avas not coming down throxigh its 
branches. Just at the foot of the tree was a natural 
range Avith a Avall of rock from one to four feet high 
around three sides, leaving an opening for the fire about 
five feet across. I began to feel more hopeful and went to 
the tent for matches. The guides had gone back over the 
portage for the provisions. Our blankets were perfectly 
dry, and the Doctor had found balsam and was niakmg a 
bed' I got the matches and Avent back to the river. By 
pullin<» dry bark off the arbor vitje tree and gathering up 
somelmall twigs, I soon had a fire, and there was an 
abundance of fuel. I took off my storm coat and jacket 
and hung them on the limbs of the tree above the fire, then 
I sat down on the rock Avith my feet in the fireplace. L 
was perfectly happy. I could look out over an eddy m 
which logs were arranged like spokes in the Avheel of a 
wagon and the great wheel was slowly turning round and 
round These eddies were very fascinating; I; could 
v.'atch them by the hour. The great wheel, like some 
huge monster, Avould release its hold on one log to grasp 
another, which would sloAvly adjust itself into place. 
Before long th« Doctor came down, and I thought I 
saw a look of relief on his face when he found there were 
no tears The coffee pot was filled with water and put 
on to boil, and when the guides returned we had hara 
sandwiches, cookies and hot coffee, and how Ave did enjoy 
our supper. It stopped raining about dark, and Avhen 
Ave went to bed our clothes were quite dry, even our shoes 
and stockings. That was one of the most comfortable 
nights we spent on our trip. 
When wc awoke the next morning the sun was shining, 
the sky was a deep intense blue, nature was in her most 
charming mood. The path to the river was a beautiful 
green archway. The sunlight spilled down through the 
leaves and fell in great patdies on the ground and the birds 
were singing in the branches overhead. Oh! the joy, the 
pleasure of living in this beautiful world and breathing the 
pure, clean air. Surely this is God's country where, 
".^way from the toil and strife of our daily life. 
Let lis pause awhile in silence and adore." 
The guides had breakfast ready, and we did it ample 
justice. After breakfast they went for the canoes, Ave 
Avashed the dishes, put beans on to cook for dinner, hung 
our blankets out in the sun and then went back over the 
portage to get a better view of the chute. Following the 
road which ascends gradually to the plateau, we turned to 
our left down a gentle slope to the edge of a cliff' fifty feet 
above the surface of the Avater. Following along the 
cliff Ave came to a more broken place and succeeded in 
getting down to the water Avhere we could get a good vicAV 
of the Thirty-Dollar Falls. The logs were coming down 
and occasionally one Avould come over the falls, plunge 
entirely under water, then slowly rising, end first, it would 
stand straight up, fully two-thirds of it above the water, 
when it would balance for an instant, then fall and con- 
tinue on its way down the gorge. If Bennett had gone 
down the Thirty-Dollar Chute he would have fared worse 
than the man who went through the "Hulling Machine." 
After an hour or more spent watching the logs, we returned 
to camp, ate our dinner, packed up and continued on our 
journey. Shooting some rapids as we followed the 
beaittiful winding of the river, we came to a long stretch 
of straight open water, sometimes called Long Lake. We 
caught a p'ke on a troll here; it was the only one we 
caught on the river. We saAV a porcupine feeding on the 
branches of a yoUng tree about 20 feet high, and a deer on 
the shore. "Reaching what is known as the Fourteenth 
Chute, early in the afternoon, and finding a good camp 
ground, we' put up our tents. There is a dam here and 
quite a fall, from which Ave could see the mist rising when 
wc were still some distance up the river. The river is 
A^ery wild and full of boulders below the falls. The water 
falls over the dam and is dashed into foam, while 
a rainbow suspended in the mist hangs oYer it all day 
long. It is a wild, beautiful place. 
After supper the guides look the canoes and we went up 
the river about two miles, hoping to see some deer. A 
short distance above our camp Ave came upon the most 
perfect and beautiful reflection Ave had ever seen. It was 
a grove of red pine on a slope that rose gradually from 
the shore, and was free from underbrush and fallen trees. 
Here were two beautiful groA^es, one sloping from the 
.sky down to the water, and the reflected one from the 
water back till it met the reflected sky, the light falling 
through the trees on both, and thrown over all was the 
brilliant color from a gorgeous sunset. 
We thought we had seen wonderful reflections before, 
but this one was a revelation to us, even the guides were 
astonished. In the first place a more beautiful bit of 
nature than that grove is seldom seen, and when we add 
to this the fact that it lay in exactly the right position 
to get the best possible light from the setting sun, which 
was very brilliant, we could account for the unusual beauty 
of the reflection. 
The guides saw two deer and tried to point them out to 
us, but we had not learned to see things at a distance. 
On our way back Ave heard a splash on the shore ahead of 
us, and one of the gttides pulled over in that direction. 
After quite a scramble and splashing in the water, a deer 
struck out across the river. 
The other canoe came up on the other side, and we 
drove the deer doAvn the river between the two canoes, 
almost to the landing, when we held back and let it swim 
a,shore, for if it had been caught in the current it would 
have been carried over the dam and killed. At times Ave 
were so close to it that I could have touched it with my 
hand. 
I was up early the next morning, for I wanted 
to see the falls as the sun came up. and while standing 
on the shore a diick flew over, scarcely ten feet above my 
head. 
We walked up along the shore oi the river a short dis- 
tance, and saAV a little ground squirrel making its winter 
home. It was not the least bit afraid of us, but worked 
away, carrying out dirt and piling it up around the door 
while wc stood but a few feet away. The guides were 
preparing breakfast, and we left the squirrel and went 
back to camp. We Avere standing by the fire when one 
of the guides called us to come and see a deer. We rushed 
along the path, and not fifty yards from where we were 
cooking breakfast Avas a deer drinking at the river. Abotit 
all wc saw was a red streak and a white flag waved as it 
went over the rocks at the top of the hill, but the red 
streak was quite exciting while it lasted. 
We were going to make rice dumplings for dinner, and 
hoping to get some fresh berries, we climbed the steep 
liill back of our camp to the level plateau above. We 
found no berries, but had a delightful tramp, and en- 
joyed the dumplings made with prunes. 
We had expected to get berries whencA^er we wanted 
them, but owing to the dry season, there Avere none on 
the river. After an early dinner we were again on our 
Avay. Shooting a small rapids we came to a portage on 
the right. The landing was very close to the fafls, but 
the carry was short. The next portage was on the left and 
was rather hard. We let the canoes down Avith ropes part 
of the way, but everything else had to be carried, and the 
path Avas narrow and along the side of a hill. The next 
portage is on the right bank around a falls of about two 
feet, and is short. While we Avere making this portage 
two Indians from the reservation near Bing Inlet went 
ever the falls in their heavy fishing boat. After we had 
crossed the portage the baggage was put aboard and Ben- 
nett and the guides, each in his own canoe, paddled out 
itito the rapids. We Avalked along the shore to get a 
picture of the falls. 
The canoes had gone safely through the rapids and Avere 
in quiet waters. Avhen Ave heard a call for help, and look- 
ing around .saw Bennett strtiggii«.g in the water, his canoe 
bottom up and Avell under Avater, and his dufile bag floating 
down stream. No one had seen his canoe capsize, for Ave 
had been watching the Indians shoot the falls, but we 
supposed he had turned around in his canoe to see them, 
and leaning a little to one side the canoe tipped over. 
He was not far from the shore, but was so frightened 
he did not know what to do, and climbed on top of the 
canoe. One of the guides paddling quickly to him, made 
him take hold of the boAV of his canot and took him 
ashore. The other . guide rescued his dufile bag and 
paddle, and the Indians brought back his canoe. 
Learning from the Indians that we were but a short dis- 
tance from Bing Inlet, we decided to push rapidly on 
and take the Wednesday instead of the Friday boat to 
Parfy Sound. We had no more carrying to do, but shot 
scA'eral rapids, and reached Bing Inlet about 3 o'clock, a 
few minutes before the steamer came to the dock. As it 
lays here an hour taking on fuel, we had ample time to 
get everything on board and see the town. 
We had a delightful trip down the bay, arriving at 
Parry Sound about 10 P. M. We spent the night at a 
hotel and reached the Iron City Camp on the Moon River 
on Thursday. A, W. C. 
One Thousand Miles for ]^est. 
Last summer my business was such that I was unable 
to leave town. Later it seemed as if I must have some 
rest for a few days at least. So taking the last day of 
August, that being Saturday, and the first two days iti 
September, the latter being Labor Day, I had three days 
at my disposal. With another weary toiler I discussed 
variotts plans for a canoe trip. At last the course was 
.settled. The chart Avas nearly worn out with the numer- 
ous lines we had drawn Avhile measuring distances. 
Leaving Boston at 4 o'clock on Friday afternoon we 
awoke next morning in Winn, a small town in the north- 
ern part of Maine. Here Ave ate a hearty breakfast at the 
local "hotel," engaged a team to carry the canoe tO' Bottle 
Lake, Avhere our real trip began. Paddling across this 
we encountered a half-mile carry to Lake Dobsis, a pic- 
turesque sheet of water, studded Avith wooded islands of 
Aarious sizes from a few hundred feet to two miles in 
length. Late in the afternoon we arrived at Shaw's Camp, 
situated at the other end of the lake. Here we remained 
all night An early start the next morning carried us 
through a small lake into Grand Lake, and thence to its 
outlet, where we ate dinner. Here we found another 
carry of a quarter of a mile to Princeton Lake, and ar- 
rived at the tOAvn of that name in time for supper. The 
following day Ave went down the stream into the St. Croix 
River, passed Calais and spent the night at St. Andrews. 
It was only a short paddle from here to Eastport, where 
we took the Boston and Halifax boat, arriving home 
Wednesday morning. The round trip by rail, water and 
steamer is about 1,000 miles, and its total cost was only 
$22 apiece. 
It would be useless to attempt to enumerate the benefits 
to be derived from such a trip. Its results are miraculous. 
Any one who has been in the woods even for a day knows 
how much better one feels afterward. Combine with this 
the panorama of ever-changing scenerj', the delightful ex- 
ercise of paddling, the long sea voyage home, and you 
have in a nutshell the remedies for more ills than a year 
of medical treatment. A. L. S. 
Boston, June 22. 
Ftench — ^Montagfnais Dictionafy. 
Thkre has recently been published by Messrs. W. B. 
Cabot and P. Cabot, of Boston, a volume that possesses 
not a little interest for all sportsmen who visit those por- 
tions of northeastern North America inhabited by Indians 
of Algonquin blood. Its title is_ "Dictionaire Franqais- 
Montagnais, by Father G. Lemoine, a priest of the O. 
M. I." The volume is one of considerable size, the 
French-Montagnais portion occupying 261 pages, Avhile 
the A-Iontagnais-English vocabulary has a dozen, a list of 
geographic names 3. and the Montagnais grammar 63. 
The angler or big-game hunter Avho visits Maine or 
Canada can hardly fail to feel a considerable interest in 
the guides of Indian blood whom he meets there; and 
rnany a man, visiting the region year after year, picks up 
from these Indians a good many words of their language. 
"A was precisely in this way that Mr. W. B. Cabot became 
interested in this language and in Father Lemoine's studies 
in it. Mr. Cabot encouraged the father to pursue these 
studies, and at last Avith his brother Avent to the very con- 
siderable expense of publishing the dictionary. In doing 
this Mr. Cabot has performed a genuine service to science, 
and we believe has also done much to stimulate among 
ins brother sportsmen an intelligent interest in these In- 
dians, and in other allied tribes. From Maine all through 
southern Canada and quite to the Rocky Mountains, the 
Indians speak some dialect or other of the Algonquin 
hinguage, though these Montagnais and Naskapis occupy 
only the country lying between the Gulf of St. Lawrence, 
the' Straits of Belle Isle, the North Atlantic Ucean and 
Hudson's Bay. Nevertheless, in all these dialects there is 
much similarity, and a copy of this dictionary might 
profitably form a portion of the luggage of every man 
who expects to employ Canadian Indians as guides. 
Pack-Hotses and Theit Packs. 
AsHEviLLE. N- C, July iQ.— Editor Forest and Stream: 
We read with interest the article in one of your recent 
issues on "Camp-Fire Flickerings from the Miami Valley."^ 
The incident mentioned of one David Petigrew, who in^ 
the early days packed salt from Kentucky to Dayton, O... 
with a pack train, gives one the impression that the men 
or the horses of those days were entirely different from 
Avhat they are noAV. David PetigrcAV must have had won- 
derfully strong horses, or else he must have been a very 
weak man. It hardly seems possible these days that any 
one Avould put tAvo packs, "each of which was so heavy 
that a man could not lift it," upon a horse and not re- 
move the packs for tAvo days and a night. Any packer of 
to-day Avould be considered a very inhuman man who 
Avould turn his pack horse loose at night without remov- 
ing the load. After considerable experience with pack 
trains in the West, I have yet to find a packer who is not 
exceedingly careful of his pack animals, and who does not 
