July i8, 1903.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
47 
life precious to him, and stimulate and form tastes and 
longings that will sway him during his whole life. 
Reaching manhood and toil in the whirligig world, his 
rebellion and longing for escape to the river and a boat 
will dominate and direct him. He plans a long cruising 
trip. He studies designs for his liltle boat, and cons pic- 
tures and notes prices furnished by several canoe dealers, 
talks of the boats which have greatest 'Strength, durability, 
lightness, tightness, speed and easy paddling and storage 
room. Cedar skin and ribs, varnished, canvas covering, 
shellac iinish, all well ironed, with a final coat of water- 
proof green paint or yellow staining! Light planking, 
shapely thwarts and inside gunw^ales of "natural wood," 
copper-tipped paddles, cane seats and well tufted, hair- 
filled lazy-backs — how he talks and dreams of these de- 
tails of his craft. He tells of smooth finish, carvel con- 
struction, blind caulking, inwales, mast, sails, stay-booms 
and anchors, meanwhile consulting railroad time-tables, 
overhauling old clothes, and dodging into shops where 
tiny tents and cooking utensils are sold. Half the en- 
joyment is in these incidents of anticipation and "getting 
ready." He consults with the former miss of the school- 
house, now his wife, about skillets and tiny kettles, tin 
plates and cups, rough knives, forks and spoons. He gets 
one or two water-tight bags to hold "supplies," and fills 
Maker." But occasional visits only to scenes of greatest 
natural beauty will bring these best results most quickly. 
"We should not always be with nature in her redundant, 
ceaseless loveliness, else the faculties will be paralyzed by 
the abundance, and cease to be capable of excitement and 
best perception. Too much and lastitig beauty deadens 
the senses, for we know little except by contrast." And 
we should take advantage of that feeling "natural to the 
human heart, of fixing itself in hope quite as much as in 
present possession; so subtle is the charm which the im- 
agination casts over what is distant or denied." Besides, 
the sportsman finds a great happiness in the longing, soon 
to be satified, as he lists his articles needed for the river 
outing. This is especially true as he handles the paddle 
beside the canoe in his city home. What revelations the 
two will bring to him; what nooks it will make accessi- 
ble, what new meanings his sight will bear to him as all 
spring and summer are abroad in the w^orld, the life of 
sunlight upon it with its woods and pacing brooks, kind 
winds and rains, billows of mountains, and knobs of hills. 
And now the voyage closes. Down through the Bene- 
kill at the Gap for the last time this year, through the 
rapids just below, past the islands and into the deep, still 
water over which tcwer Mounts Minsi and Tammany. 
The bow touches the Pennsylvania shore at the ferry 
a couple of small bottles with matches and corks tlieni 
tightly. Then he overhauls rods, reels, lines, leaders and 
flies, and gets interested in little sleeping mattresses and 
blankets, cigars, a "pocket knife and small hatchet, and a 
camera. Then he "assembles" his purchases in his den or 
bedroom, for they are too precious to be left in the 
kitchen. And he wakes in early morning to find his 
dream they have been destroyed or burned was a drea 11, 
and looks and gloats over them as he counts the slow 
days. He develops interest in personal purchases of 
sugar, bacon, a ham, beans, and a few cans of fruits. And 
he puts all these belongings on the dray under his own 
eye, to make sure nothing is missing. His "women folks" 
.say good-by to him ; or maybe his wife braves the com- 
ing "hardships" and goes with him, to be astonished, as 
she is queen of his river camp, to find herself saying that 
she is having the best time of her life. The two did not 
enjoy_ themselves so well even when they were ofif on that 
wedding trip, ten years ago. What fun it is to pitch the 
little tent, hang up the skillet, fix the crotches for hold- 
ing the suspended kettle and coffee pot over the back log 
of the camp-fire. How charming the island studded with 
solemn pines, and how surprisingly good the shelter of 
the tent. 
Then begins the real nature-study — endless and bewil- 
dering earth-scrolls and sky-scrolls, infinitely varying 
music and color. There are thunder-storms to dodge, 
rapids to shun or brave as they are "shot," fish to catch, 
pictures to take, meals to be cooked and eaten, dishes to 
wash, wood to gather, camp-fires to kindle, replenish, 
watch and love, faces and hands to cover with sunburn 
and then with tan, every square inch of which is prized. 
He has some side trip too difficult or transient for his 
wife to accompany him, and sleeps under the canoe, gets 
wet and dries his clothes "on him" in the warm air. They 
get a personal acquaintance with all manner of native 
wald birds and animals, studjang them through the pair 
of opera glasses ; and storing up a great surplus of health 
and courage. The all too swiftly passing days are 
counted as a miser does his dollars. Finally they live the 
outing over again in town after the "things" are stored 
for next year's outing, and as they develop and show the 
photographs. Blessed days of sport, glad nights of real 
sleep, tired in the body and not in the head. What appe- 
tites they bring back with them ! And often publications 
like FoKEST /\ND Stream will contain attempts to tell 
others of those joys, although the writer, if sincere, will 
always lament the inability to shake ofif self-conscious- 
ness, and its consequent attitude of special knowledge of 
nature, that blighting condition which taints even the 
poems of such men as Wordsworth, that made even 
Wagner say as he pointed to his already dug grave: 
"Even so great a man as I am must die;" and that caused 
a world-famous artist to say before his easel in the heart 
of the Andes : "How fortunate for mankind that I see 
all this beauty and sublimity, else no one would have 
known of it." 
Outings like those along the Delaware River charm 
especially on account of their novelty to the city canoeist 
and camper. It is a piquant life, and certainly should ex- 
clude influences for evil, and bring delight' in what is 
noble, refinmg and pure. Tliis is of vital importance. 
"From cultivation of love of nature, not in levity and 
ignorance, but in earnestness and as a duty, will spring 
results of an importance at present inconceivable, and 
lights arise which for the first time in man's history will 
reveal to him the true nature of his life, the true field 
of his energies, and the true relation between him fin<j his 
THE liENEElLL ■ i =! 
Courtesy of Ml-: Joseph H, Gl-aves. 
landing, and this time the tent is not removed to be 
piiched. We leave the oiltflt to be loaded and carted to a 
storage rooni, _ 
"and from the stream we turn aWaV, 
But hear it many an after day." 
L. F. Brown. 
The 
Tame 
Fish of Logan. 
From the IVhidsor Magizine. 
When a friend told me there was a fish pond in 
Scotland holding tame salt water fish that came half 
out of the water to be fed, I pretended to believe him, 
for my tendency is to be courteous to all men. I said 
no word to indicate a doubt, I did not even follow the 
example of the skeptical sacristan in one of the In- 
goldsby Legends. Tame carp I have seen — at Ver- 
sailles, in the grounds of the Penha Castle at Cintra, 
and elsewhere; sea-water fish, I thought, could only 
be _ domesticated in the sense that flying fish and dol- 
phins or sharks may be deemed domesticated, because 
they follow ships. Moreover, travelers' tales are amus- 
ing. I could tell many a strange story of animals I 
have seen in far-off lands. I do not, because thej^ are 
true tales and would not be believed. The fish story 
I set down in the category of travelers' tales, only 
thinking the tame fish should have bqen located in 
some less accessible spot than Galloway, for the sake 
of the story. Some months later than the telling of 
the tale, I was in Wigtonshire with my friend, and on 
a fine afternoon in early autumn, he said: "Shall we go 
to see the tame fish I told you about?" Not liking to 
take advantage of the man, I said that I would not 
press the matter, and then he began to see that I had 
certain doubts. 
We left the village on our left and made our way to 
a small white cottage with outbuildings lying at the 
eastern point of the bay. A burly fisherman, whose 
red beard did not match his blue jersey, came out of 
the cottage and took our measure silentlj'. Then he 
turned to the little door by the side of the cottage and 
briefly remarked: "This way." He had divided two 
words between the pair of us — not without an effort. 
The door opened suddenly on to a flight of stone steps 
leading to what looked like a well hewn out of the solid 
rock, with edges made smooth by the ebb and flow of 
countless tides. There was an opening low down on 
one side, through which the sea came and went, keep- 
ing the waters of the pool fresh and clean. The laconic 
fisherman took up a basket containing many unappe- 
tizing curios, doulatless dear to fish, but reminding me 
of the goods purveyed on barrows at street corners 
in the heart of a London slum on a Saturday night, 
when vendors, whom no careful man would touch with 
the far end of a forty-foot pole, persuade the proletariat 
to buy the dainties in "ha'porths" and "penn'orths," 
and mercifully disguise the flavor with strong pepper 
and vinegar. Our guide reached the low^est step, waved 
his basket, and whistled. ' 
Never came trout to May fly so readily as a score of 
unmistakable sea-fish came from all parts oj the pool, 
scrambling and jostling against one another as though 
they had been playing footbail under association rules. 
They came to the edge of the step, and there they 
rested until their guardian took some of the nasty 
delicacies and offered thern, StraigUtwav certain of the 
codfish put their heads out of the water to within half 
an inch or less of their gills, and took the food with 
a joyful but ill-bred gulp. If the fisherman threw the 
food far out, the race was to the swift; if he handed it 
by the edge, the battle was to the strong. There were 
codfish, haddock and other rovers of the sea, all thriv- 
ing, fat and happy. They took no notice of us, simply 
because we showed no anxiety to handle their food, but 
they were in no way disturbed by our presence or 
scrutiny. The cod were, perhaps, the boldest; the had- 
docks, being smaller and less able to thrive in the 
struggle for existence, swam at the back of their com- 
panions and took their chance when food was thrown 
well beyond the edge. Then they raced, swallowed it, 
and returned to their accustomed place with a melan- 
choly air apparently intended to deceive the codfish^ 
who might be able to make life unpleasant for them 
did they so desire. For half an hour we watched these 
curious fish, until the basket was empty and the fish 
were tired of swimming to the edge of the water, and 
saying, through the medium of the gasping noise I 
have referred to: "We have not had half enough." If 
■ some ichthyologist would do for these fish what Pro- 
fessor Garner has done for apes, I am sure that our 
knowledge would be greatly increased. As no profes- 
sor was at hand, I turned to the laconic fisherman. 
"They are a remarkable family," I said encouragingly. 
"Ah!" he replied, in the tone of a man who has heard 
a remark before; and then added: "I'm told Barnum's 
got tame seals." In a moment I realized why the 
worthy fisherman looked so sad. Barnum and Bailey 
had been at Stranraer on the previous day, and all the 
countryside for miles round had been to the greatest 
noise — I mean, greatest show — on earth. When the 
quiet lives of the country folk suffer from such an ex- 
citement as a circu.s, there is a violent upheaval of the 
regular mode of life, and for days it is difficult to settle 
down into the old routine. The custodian of the tame 
lish had seen clowns and elephants, and bearded ladies 
and riders of the haute ecole, and other strange animals 
after their kind; he had heard more noise in an hour 
than he is accustomed to hear in a year; and now all 
the pageantry had passed, his life, so flamboyant for a 
lew brief hours, had resumed its drab monotony. 
Carefully restraining my own feelings about Bar- 
num and Bailey in particular, and all circuses in gen- 
eral, I led the fisherman to talk of the performing seals, 
and punctuated his discourse with notes of exclamation 
and admiration, until he came out of his shell and 
readily told me the history of the pool and its in- 
habitants. 
He pointed out some writing on the stone wall facing 
the steps. It was the record of a bygone Laird of 
Logan, who had the pool hollowed in the rock one 
hundred years ago. There was a natural depression in 
those days, of which the builder took advantage, and a 
long period of hard work had made the place as it is 
to-day. On one side, as I have said, there is access 
for the rising tide, and as the outlet is cross- 
barred, the fish cannot escape with the ebb of the 
waters. There is no need to suppose they would escape 
if they could. If several generations of the family have 
passed, the fish have not survived them; the present 
inhabitants have only been in the pool for a few^ years. 
Now and again, at long intervals, the tide does not 
reach the pool, and the fish mope and die; in seasons 
of storm it rises far above the ordinary level; the 
steps have been submerged, and the water has come 
within a short distance of the cottage level, and then 
the fish suffer; but the weather that affects the fish 
pond comes rarely, and the captives live long;. The 
fisherman told me that to the best of his knowledge 
there have always been one or two tame fish in the 
water, and they have helped to tame the newcomers. 
In addition to being an attraction, the pond serves as 
a store at times, w^hen fish is desirable and the storms 
forbid fishermen to leave the shore. When it needs 
replenishing, the fishermen go out and cast their nets. 
A tank in one of the boats serves to bring the newly 
caught fish safely to shore, and they are carried to the 
pool. The taming is not an easy matter. For more 
than a year the captives are wild and sullen; some do 
not thrive at all. However, time works wonders; and 
as visitors must be few and far between, it is hardly 
surprising to learn that the example of the tame fish 
is slowly followed, and the wnld ones learn to respond 
to the whistle of the fisherman when he comes down 
the stone steps carrying provisions. The most curious 
and incredible action is the rising from the water. 
That the fish should come to the edge of the pool is 
not surprising; but until one has seen them, it is hard 
to believe that they raise themselves right out of the 
water and snap at the food like half-trained dogs. 
From what the fisherman said, I am disposed to be- 
lieve that only the thick-gilled fish can thrive there, 
and only these would try to get out of the water to 
reach their food. The angler knows that a carp taken 
from the water will live much longer than a trout, that 
herrings and mackerel die quickly after leaving the 
water, while eels and cod remain alive for some time. 
It is likely that these gilled and gregarious fish would 
not live in the fish pond; while the sturdy species, that 
travel singly and can remain out of water for some 
little time, would live and be tamed. 
The fisherman's duties are not quite in the nature of 
a sinecure. To be sure, the ebb and flow of the tide 
make cleaning operations unnecessary; but the food 
supply must be constant, and entails a long search over 
the rocks for mussels, limpets, whelks and other things 
whose apparent justification for existence is to be 
found in the favor w-ith which fish regard them. If, as 
is likely, the extremely cold weather freezes the pool, 
and the fisherman in charge has to serve it as a decoy- 
man serves his pipes and pond, then the winter at the 
fish pond must make up in hard labor for what it lacks 
in variety. 
In. the summer the fish pond attracts a large ntim- 
ber of visitors, considering the extreme remoteness of 
the place from all large towns, while winter and sum- 
mer alike it may be seen without fee. The fish do not 
appear to quarrel, though the newcomers keep as far 
away as they can from the oldest inhabitants: the big 
ones do not prey upon the rest, ^ facS t-tiait the regular 
