April 15, 1905.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
808 
THE REVERSIBLE FALL AT ST. JOHN^ N. B.— THE EBB TIDE. 
BURNT ISLAND LIGHT^ BOOTHBAY^ ME. 
A Voyage to the Golden Cape. 
Jaly J9 to Sept. t3, 1904. 
BY BROOKS H. WELLS. 
(Concluded from j>age 280 ) 
Shortly before our visit, a small fishing boat with two 
men from the town of Advocate attempted to enter at 
night before the tide was high enough, and missing the 
shifting channel was overwhelmed by the surf. Next 
morning the boat, broken and battered, and one body, cut 
and bruised, were found on the sand in the harbor. The 
other body never was found.. There are now at Advo- 
cate only one or twO' little boats for use about the harbor. 
Throughout this whole region the small sailing craft is 
conspicuous by its entire absence. 
On the strip of level meadow back of Advocate, Mr. 
McClellan's father, hale and hearty at eighty, was hurry- 
ing in the last of his crop of hay. Four eager pairs of 
hands turned to and helped for a time, and were cor- 
dially invited to stay to supper. Were we hungry? 
. Never was there a more enjoyable meal. Several kinds 
of bread and biscuit, butter fresh from a cool spring, 
tea, and delicious wild strawberry preserve, disappeared 
in a manner that must have made our hosts fear a famine. 
About 7 :30 we said good-by, and started at a four-mile 
clip over the neck of land between us and Spencer's Island 
anchorage. As we finally came over the last rise in the 
road and looked down at the riding lights of the three 
vessels at anchor, there was no red glow from the light 
tower. The keeper had impressively told the oldest of 
the children not to forget to light the lamp at sunset, 
but in the excitement of driving a couple of young bears 
away from the sheep and then poking out a porcupine 
from under a neighbor's porch, the light did not shine 
out before about 9 :30. The bears had wisely retired, but 
the poor porcupine was caught and killed while we were 
' there. 
Quite a number of moose are found about here, and a 
few deer. Bears and bobcats are quite common, and kill 
a number of sheep and lambs every season. Hares are 
plentiful, and they tell some remarkable tales -jof their 
resourcefulness and fighting capacity. 
McClellan and Dr. Fillmore some years ago undertook 
to stock Glooscap's Kettle (Spencer's Island) with rab- 
bits. They caught a large number on the mainland and 
kept them in wooden cages until a convenient time should 
come to visit the island. In one cage nearly every day 
a dead and more or less mutilated buck rabit would be 
found. Finally only one big buck was left, and it be- 
came evident that he had in some way killed the others. 
He was placed in a cage by himself. One day a small 
McClellan boy put in his cage a half-grown tomcat and 
waited to see the fun. The rabbit sat motionless, his back 
to the cat, apparently not at all concerned, but in reality 
keenly watching his antagonist with big, widely-spaced 
eyes that could see perfectly well over his back. The 
cat pretty soon woke up to the possibilities of the situa- 
tion and prepared for a rabbit supper. With gleaming 
eyes and slightly twitching tail, it crouched and slowly 
crawled toward Br'er Rabbit. Br'er Rabbit sat as if 
carved in ice. The cat's muscles tightened, there was a 
lightning-like spring, and — slam went Tom against the 
side of the cage ! Br'er Rabbit's powerful hindlegs had 
lashed out and caught the cat under the point of his 
chin as he leaped, and had broken its neck. 
This remarkable instance of fighting ability was told by 
McClellan the next evening after the walk around Cape 
D'Or, when all of Istar's crew and the Yankee skipper of 
the wind-bound barkentine in the roads were sitting 
about the stove in his office. We all expressed our deep 
.interest in the incident, so McClellan went on to say that 
jfiijally the island was stocked, and for a time the rabbits 
increased rapidly and ate up nearly every green thing in 
; sight. Then they began to disappear, and suspecting 
poachers, he hid one evening in the bushes and watched. 
For a long time everything was quiet and still, but by 
and by the big buck rabbit that had killed the cat (he 
knew him because oi a white spot on his port hind- 
quarter) came out on the beach, cocked his ears care- 
fully so as to feel the direction of the wind, looked about 
for a while, went back into- the woods, and soon reap- 
peared with his whole family. He jumped intO' the water, 
arranged his right ear carefully so as to catch the wind 
like a mainsail, and when he got steerage way on put up 
the other ear for a balloon jib, and sailed straight for the 
main shore, followed by all the others. 
At this point the solemn-faced Yankee skipper stopped 
whittling, took his feet off the table, brushed the chips 
carefully from his lap, and, as he was putting his knife 
in his pocket, said : "You are the d- — -est liar that I 
have ever listened to." 
August 12, homeward bound. Got under way at 2 :45 
A. M. ; night dark and cloudy, no wind. Drifted from 
Spencer's Island anchorage nearly to Isle Haut, going 
sometimes bow first and sometimes sideways or stern on, 
as we were twisted about by the fierce, eddying seven- 
knot current of the ebb. Off Cape Spencer a sudden 
swirl drove us in rapidly toward an isolated pinnacle rock. 
We dropped over the anchor some ten fathoms, but it hung 
straight down. We were in the grip of the current, and 
absolutely helpless. Just as we expected to strike the 
rock, the water boiled up about us and another swirl 
swept us back into the fairway. In ten minutes we were 
nearly a mile off shore, and once more felt able to 
breathe. 
At 5 A. M. a light air struck in 'from north. At 7 :30 
this freshened to a good breeze, and with all sail set we 
went along at a ripping pace, but now against the in- 
coming flood, to nearly opposite QuacO' Head. As usual, 
the north wind failed, and we drifted back five miles be- 
fore the southwest breeze came in. At 12 :40 Quaco Head 
was again close oft' our starboard beam, and the tide 
slack. Wind light, west; clear, beautiful day. Aided by 
the tide, we beat rapidly down the coast. At 5 P. M. 
passed Black Point whistle, off St. John, and later drifted 
in with the last of the breeze to Musquash. 
August 13. — With a light air from southeast, pushed 
our way slowly along against the flood, overhauling and 
passing a fishing boat on our way. At 2 P. M., when be- 
tween Cape Lepreau and Beaver Harbor, the fisherman, 
a half mile behind us, got a wind that carried him by and 
out of sight over the horizon, while until 11 P. M. we 
were wallowing in the sea kicked up by the breeze, but 
still in an absolute calm. A little after 11 a bit of a squall 
with rain brought down the topsail, and carried Istar into 
Beaver Harbor, where midnight found us just tucking in 
the blankets. 
There was constant fog and calm until noon of August 
15. A little after noon the barometer, which had fallen 
to 29.56, began to rise, and expecting a shift of wind we 
sailed at 2 P. M. in dense fog and a moderate southeast 
breeze. At 3 :30 the fog cleared during a sharp squall 
from northwest. Later we ran into Head Harbor, a little 
picturesque slit with deep water and good anchorage in 
the extreme north end of Campobello Island. The next 
day we worked down via Lubee to Cutler's, and the fol- 
lowing afternoon smelled our way through fog of ex- 
treme density by Libby Island and into Machias Bay to 
an anchorage between Stone's and Starboard islands. We 
had expected to make Starboard Cove, and would have 
done so had our nerve held out, but getting into a strange 
rocky harbor through black darkness, impenetrable fog, 
and with a tidal current of unlcnown velocity against you, 
is not exactly pleasure. With the lead going constantly, 
we crept over the last mile until, finding smooth water 
and good holding ground in four fathoms, we dropped 
the anchor, knowing that at least we were out oi the path 
of any stray steamer. When the fog cleared in the morn- 
ing, found Istar's stern not more than two hundred feet 
from the beach. Had a glorious sail from here to Winter 
Harbor. 
When we said good-by to Doctor M. and Vincent at 
Bar Harbor on August 19, it was a beautiful clear after- 
noon, and as Istar raced over to Sorrento, John and the 
skipper planned to paint and varnish the next day, so as 
to be in fine order when the skipper's twO' daughters 
should come aboard from the Bar Harbor train. But 
alas ! for varnish, the day opened v^et and cold. The 
barometer at noon was 30.28, and beginning to fall. At 
4, when we dropped our snug mooring in Sor- 
rento, and ran around under staysail intO' Sullivan Har- 
bor to an anchorage behind Ingall's Island, so as to be 
sure not to miss the girls on the morning train, it was 
down to 30.12. At 7 P. M. it was 29.85, and it was blow- 
ing a heavj^ gale. Our first anchor got a good bite, but 
soon began to drag, and the second barely held her with 
cables out 30 fathoms in a depth of 20 feet. We had 
dragged somewhat out from the island and rolled badly 
in the swell that came in around its edge. At 8 P. M. 
the barometer was 29.72. With 45 fathoms to the first 
anchor and 40 fathoms to the second the cables stood like 
steel bars. ■ Our small boat, towing close astern, had long 
ago been swamped. At 9 P. M., barometer 29.59 and still 
falling, with furious wind and rain. Wind shifting by 
5. to S.W. Every sea broke clear over us, and it was im- 
possible to stand on deck without holding on to keep from 
being blown away. 10 P. M., barometer 29.48, wind west 
and furious; heavy rain; anchors holding well; chafing 
gear in good condition. If the cables do not part we will 
ride it out safely. If they do— well, we can do nothing 
more. So John and the skipper each took a drink — a 
good stiff one — of spiritus frumenti, the first horn that 
either one had had on that cruise, and turned in. 
August 21, 4:30 A. M. — Turned out after a rather rest- 
less sleep. Barometer 29.72; wind fresh, north, clearing. 
II A. M., clear; barometer 30.06, wind fresh, north. The 
two girls came safely on the 7 A. M. train from Boston, 
and after breakfast we had a glorious sail over the great 
swells raised by the storm. Near Crabtree light was an 
impressive witness of the stonn's fury. Driven high on 
the shingle a fine schooner yacht lay on her beam ends, 
her masts almost hidden by the dark branches 
of the beach cedars. When Istar was safely 
anchored in Winter Harbor, the girls took the skipper in 
the dinghy to Turtle Island and walked to its outermost 
point to see the magnificent surf which lifted itself a full 
twelve feet as it came crashing in on the rock. 
From this time until Istar went into the basin at Green- 
port, three weeks later, the weather was almost ideal for 
sailing. Clear skies and brisk winds prevailed, with only 
a few hours of calm and no' fog. As we jogged along 
down the coast by easy stages, exploring rivers, bays and 
HEAD HAKBOR LIGHT, CAMPO BELLO ISLAND, BAY OF FUNDY.. 
OLD FORT NEAR WISCASSKT, MAINS, 
