844 
FOREST AND STREAM 
[Apml 29, 1905. 
■ — ® — 
Officers of A. C. A,, J 905. 
Commodore — C. F. VVolters, 14 Main St. East, Rochester, N. Y. 
Secretary— H M Stewart, 85 Main St., East Rochester, N. Y. 
Treasurer — F. G. Mather, 164 Fairfield Ave., Stamford, Conn. 
ATLANTIC DIVISION. 
Vice-Commodore — W. A. Furman, 846 Berkeley Ave., Trenton, N. J. 
Rear-Commodore- — F. C. Hoyt, 57 Broadway, New York. 
Purser— C. W. Stark, 118 N. Montgomery St., Trenton, N. J._ 
Executive Committee — L. C. Kretzmer, L. C. Schepp Building, 
New York; E. M. Underhill, Box 262, Yonkers. N. Y. 
Board of Governors— R. J. Wilkin, 211 Clinton St., Brooklyn, N.Y. 
Racing Board — H. L. Quick, Yonkers, N. Y. 
How to Join the A. C. A. 
From Chapter I., Section 1, of the By-Laws of the A. C. A.: 
"Application for membership shall be made to the Treasurer, 
F. G. Mather, 30 Elk St., Albany, N. Y., and shall be accompanied 
by the recommendation of an active member and by the sum of 
two dollars, one dollar as entrance fee and one dollar as dues for 
the current year, to be refunded in case of non-election of the 
applicant" 
Across Nova Scotia in Canoes. 
Early in 1904 some one suggested that we select 
Nova Scotia as the scene for our cruise for that sum- 
mer. This idea was hailed with enthusiasm by the 
members of our party — three from Philadelphia, known 
respectively as Carl, Arthur the Skipper, and H. N. 
T. the Scribe, and one from Boston, named Charles, 
alias Chas. O. We had only two weeks vacation apiece, 
and this meant scarcely ten days for the cruise itself, 
leaving us very little time to take things easy. So in 
February active preparations were begun. It has often 
been said that half the enjoyment of an outing is 
found in the planning of it, and our experience was 
no exception to the rule. Sporting catalogues were 
secured, H. N. T. made a long exhaustive search for 
a chart or survey of Nova Scotia, Cha?rles looked up 
the transportation facilities for getting to and from 
the scene of action and Arthur made deep abstruse 
calculations as to the amount of food likely to be con- 
sumed by four ravenous appetites on a ten-day trip. 
In all our plans, it was necessary to keep a strict watch 
on the quantities, as it was our ambition to "go light" 
and rely largely on our own resources. With this 
idea we were inclined to think that we could dispense 
with the services of a guide, since good maps of the 
country should be sufficient to show us the way— at 
least, so we thought then. 
The outline of our route was as follows: From 
Boston to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, by the Dominion 
Atlantic Railway Company S. S. Boston; thence via 
D. A. Railway around the north shore to Annapolis, 
Nova Scotia, and thence by stage across the water- 
shed to Milford, about 15 miles inland, where we 
would put our boats in the water. The start was to be 
made from Boston on Sunday afternoon; arrive at 
Yarmouth Monday morning; at Annapolis early Mon- 
day afternoon, and at Milford about 5 o'clock that 
evening. From ithere we would cruise down the 
Liverpool River and through the various lakes, fishing 
and taking things easy, so we thought, as far as the 
town of Liverpool, where we would take the steamer 
early Tuesday morning of the week following, around 
the south shore of Nova Scotia to Yarmouth, re- 
turning by the Dominion Atlantic boat to Boston 
Wednesday or Thursday. This plan was followed com- 
pletely with only one or two slight changes, as the rest 
of the narrative will show. 
Carl and H. N. T. were the fishermen of the party, 
the others caring nothing for this delightful sport. We 
carried no fire-arms other than two revolvers, which 
were intended more for signalling than anything else, 
but our fishing tackle was very complete. _ H. N. T. 
arranged to take two cameras, a No. 3 folding pocket 
kodak and a large No. 5 cartridge kodak, using films. 
Both of these cameras were inclosed in waterproof 
sponge bags, and the packages of films were also 
carried in a similar waterproof bag. Our dufifle was 
packed in rubber camping bags, and heavy canvas pack 
bags, the latter proving the best. We carried an A 
wall tent with just enough room inside for four persons 
to lie abreast, and we had four sleeping bags (Phelp's 
make), with heavy quilted inside bags, expecting cold 
weather at night. The party was liberally supplied 
with fly dope, both the pennyroyal and the tar varieties, 
and H. N. T. carried a small bottle of oil of citronella 
as an experiment, which proved very efficacious in 
keeping off what few black flies and mosquitoes we en- 
countered. 
We used two canvas-covered canoes, one a i6ft. 
Carleton make, dark red color, and the other an i8ft. 
E. M. White, dark green finish. Louis, our half-breed 
Indian guide, used a small white birch bark. 
We decided upon the early summer, partly on ac- 
count of the fishing, and partly because Chas. O. would 
not take his vacation after July i. This suited the 
fishermen of the party first-rate, since the latter part 
of May and early June is the best time for trout fish- 
ing in Nova Scotia. We counted on striking the first 
run of grilse, or young salmon, somewhere below the 
Indian Gardens, as they are due there about the mid- 
dle of June. 
: 'The second Monday in that month saw us en route 
by boat, train and team for the little settlement of 
Milford, at the head of the Liverpool chain of lakes. 
The drive across country from the coast led us 
through mountainous country, over a series of steep 
ridges, heavily wooded, with _ deep gorges and valleys 
lying l3etween. At 5 o'clock in the afternoon we drew 
up at Thomas' place covered with dust; and after a 
wholesome repast, shacked our entire outfit over to the 
shore of the lake. We quickly loaded all the duffle 
aboard, and started the cruise at 7:05 P. M., followed 
by the farewells of the Thomas family. The lake was 
simply a maze of islands and bays, with low woods 
along the shores, and the party got lost promptly with- 
in a quarter of a mile of the start, being unable to find 
the exit to the main body of the lake. Fortunately, we 
met a man going across the lake in a birch bark canoe, 
■who pointed out the way to us. This lake was like 
nearly all the others we passed on the cruise, very ir- 
regular" and full of islands, with any number of ap- 
parent exits, which would take probably a day or more 
■to_ explore, before hitting upon the right one. We ran 
leisurely into the second lake, and saw several likely 
spots for a camp, finally deciding upon one, where there 
was a huge shelving rock sloping up from the water, 
with a broad flat space at the top, and the woods be- 
hind. We hauled the canoes out of the water, and got 
busy pitching camp about sunset. The days seemed 
much longer here, since our watches were set an hour 
earlier, but this difference was not an actual difference 
in time between Nova Scotia, and say, Boston,, so that 
frequently at 9 o'clock it would be broad daylight. This 
first night at camp might as well be described as typical 
of our procedure each evening on making camp. 
After the canoes were pulled up safely on shore, all 
hands would prospect around for a smooth level spot 
on which to pitch the tent. After this was settled upon, 
the tent would be unrolled and put up by two of the 
party, and in the mean time, the cook would unpack 
the utensils and get things ready for supper. Then the 
various pack bags would have to be distributed to the 
proper places— the four sleeping bags to the tent, and 
the "tin rubber bag" and the "dope" bags to the camp- 
fire. One or two of the party would then rustle a suppily 
of fire-wood; the others would go into the woods for 
hemlock, spruce, or balsam boughs for the beds. By 
this time the two cooks, generally Chas. O. and Arthur, 
would be busy with the cooking, and H. N. T. or some- 
body else would thatch the floor of the tent with the 
boughs, after smoothing all irregularities in the sur- 
face as well as possible with an ax. The rubber blanket 
would be spread over the spruce boughs, and the four 
bags unrolled side by side on that; after this the per- 
sonal kit bags would be unpacked and laid out on each 
sleeping bag. 
During the few minutes before the meal was ready, 
ibf're was generally a chance to change into dry shoes 
aiid socks, and hang up the wet ones to dry by the 
fire; after this all hands would pitch in and feed 
heartily. Promptly after supper, two of the party 
would take their turn at "pot wrassling," one man wash- 
ing the dishes in hot water and pearline in the tin oven, 
and the other man drying them off. The oven proved 
a great success, not only for cooking, but for use as a 
dish pan afterward for cleaning up. The other two' 
would generally fish or amuse themselves in some other 
way around the camp, and two or three times on the 
trip, the party gathered around the camp-fire for a few 
minutes, smoking and talking. As a rule, however, 
everyone was ready to turn .into bed as soon as the 
ordinary duties were finished around the camp, and 
sleep like logs until the following morning. There was 
barely room inside the tent for Louis, but this made 
very little difference, as we could not persuade him to 
sleep under cover. He had a small square of sheep- 
skin about 4ft. long, and he would stretch out on this 
close up to the fire, so close that it was a wonder his 
clothes did not scorch, and roll his head and shoulders 
up in a blanket. Along toward morning, the fire would 
naturally die down to nothing but ashes, and he would 
then be awakened by the cold, and would get up and 
pile on some more logs, again lying down to sleep 
until daybreak. We found the sleeping bags a great 
success, and carried very pleasant memories of each 
night's camp, with the springy beds of boughs and the 
strong fragrance of the balsam. This was practically 
our procedure each evening of the trip, although of 
course the first night out we were by ourselves, as Louis 
did not join us until Tuesday morning. 
We named our first camp in honor of the commo- 
dore for the day, and the crew of the big canoe went 
out about twilight for a paddle around the lake, after 
taking everything out of the boat. The, distant view of 
the camp-fire, the dark forest behind, and the reflec- 
tion on the water made a very beautiful scene. A little 
later before turning in, the Scribe tried a flashlight 
picture of the party around the camp-fire. This was one 
of the camps where we did sit around after supper, and 
smoked beside the fire. All hands turned in early, about 
half past nine, with great expectations for the morrow. 
Some little sleep was lost finding the proper thickness 
of sleeping bags to sleep under, and as the tent was 
pitched on solid rock, which made it necessary for us 
to fasten the guy ropes to stones, the party complained 
somewhat the following morning of the hardness of 
the beds, since we had gathered scarcely enough balsam 
to serve as a mattress. The night was clear and cold, 
and the shelter of the tent was very grateful. 
Tuesday, June 14. 
The Scribe awoke early, and turned out about 5 A. 
M., finding it quite foggy and cool. Following the true 
instincts of the fisherman, he very quickly had his 
tackle rigged up, and proceeded to try a few casts off 
the rock, directly in front of the camp. The water was 
very still and clear, and after a few feeble rises, he man- 
aged to hook a small perch about 3in. long. For- 
tunately, none of the others but Arthur were up yet. 
After the camp-fire had been replenished with several 
huge logs, the others were awakened and they turned 
out with various remarks about the hardness of the 
ground, and the fogginess of the morning. Chas. O. 
had an insane idea, which, however, had sounded very 
attractive the night before, to take a swim in the lake, 
which he proceeded to do, although the water must 
have been little above freezing point. The others stood 
around and looked on silently, somewhat awe-stricken 
by his energy, and he tried to put on a bluff that he was 
enjoying it. We noticed, however, that he was very 
willing to pay close attention to the cooking around the 
camp-fire for some little time afterward. 
Breakfast proved a great success. The coffee was 
made by our special process, which consisted of sus- 
pending a small cheesecloth bag filled with ground cof- 
fee in the boiling water until the desired strength was 
secured. Enough of these bags were prepared and 
filled before leaving home, and we were always sure of 
having first rate coffee without grounds, with no trouble 
whatever. Th,e corn bread baked in the Dutch oven 
was the most popular item on the menu. 
The morning was cold enough to make the camp-fire 
very popular, and about the time breakfast was ready, 
the fog commenced to blow off the lake in long 
streamers, making a very strange effect By 6:30 it was 
perfectly clear with the sun up over the horizon. Curious- 
ly enough, a few minutes later, a cloud of, fog was seen 
coming through the trees behind us, and very shortly en- 
veloped everything, so that it was difficult to see more 
than a few yards in any direction. We were rather 
anxious about this, as Louis, our guide, was to meet 
us at 7 o'clock, and we had not set on any definite 
place, but simply expected him, to look for us, some- 
where down the lake. Luckily, however, the second 
fog, which must have come from one of the other lakes 
in the neighborhood, drifted suddenly off, and the sun 
came out bright and warm again. After we had cleaned 
up and taken several pictures, Louis turned up about 
7:30 in a srnall white Indian birch bark canoe, with 
his duffle bag, and we packed the canoes, rigged up our 
rods and tackle and paddled off promptly. 
Before working down through the series of wide 
stretches and . narrow channels, forming Lake Milford, 
we stopped for a few minutes a short distance below 
our camp and tried some casts at the mouth of a small 
stream, hoping to find some trout, but without success. 
The exit to Lake Milford was a small creek with scarce- 
ly any current, and certainly not a spot which one would 
hit upon as the exit except by accident; here again 
we realized the value of having Louis with us. Further 
on we found the stream quite narrow and small, with 
steep, rocky rapids, and our canoes were frequently 
hung up and badly scraped, as they were heavily loaded. 
The greater part of the going during the first morning 
was simple, since none of the rapids were too large 
or deep to wade through easily. Finally we stopped 
to fish at a steep falls, too rough to get the boats 
through, and with an old log dam at the head. Here 
we pulled the boats ashore, and tried the fishing in the 
rapids below, promptly catching a small string of small 
lively trout, none over a half pound in weight This 
was a very beautiful little stretch of river, very rocky, 
and almost shut in by trees on either side. It was 
necessary to carry the canoe about 400 yards through 
the woods, around the worst of the rapids, and Carl 
and the Scribe spent some time in working down along 
the shores, fishing with considerable success, while the 
others cooked lunch at the end of the carry. Here we 
had broiled trout for the first time, and named the lunch 
camp, "Portage Camp." This camp was at the end of 
the carry, and was shut in by high trees and under- 
brush, making rather cramped quarters. We passed a 
srnall log cabin on the carry, which was used in the 
winter time by lumbermen, and in the summer by 
fishermen. After leaving this camp, we ran down 
through a few small lakes, taking- things easily, except 
in the numerous rapids between the lakes, where we 
pounded through, fishing continuously, whenever there 
was a chance to use the rod. The result was a fine 
mess of speckled trout by evening. The crew of the 
big canoe invented a way to shoot these rapids, both 
parties sitting out on the opposite ends of the boat 
with their feet in the water, and using both feet and 
paddles to keep the boat away from the rocks, and to 
ease it over the steep shallow ledges. Notwithstanding 
careful treatment of the new boat it was pretty well 
scraped by evening, not a particle of paint remaining 
on the wooden keel, which had saved a grfeat many hard 
bumps from doing damage. 
The traveling was very interesting through these 
upper reaches of the river, as the stream was small and 
winding, with lots of quick work and exciterrient in the 
rifts, although, of course, no danger. We were con- 
tinually impressed with the wildness of the scenery, 
and the roughness of the country. The trees along the 
river banks were irregular and gnarled, and the under- 
brush below thick and almost impenetrable, giving a 
forbidding_ aspect to the country. The rocks were" 
covered with heavy, rough moss, and the woods were 
mostly evergreens, with great numbers of dead trees 
sticking out in every direction. The stream was ob- 
structed everywhere by rocks of all sizes, and this made 
a very irregular bottom. In one place we would be 
wading with the boats through a series of shallow 
ledges, the water rushing down over them in miniature 
falls, and directly at the foot we would step off possibly 
into loft. of water. At other places .the stream would 
wind around many great rocks, some just below the 
surface, and the canoes were continually being hung up 
or bumped heavily by these hidden obstructions, which 
were so numerous it was almost impossible to avoid 
them. Louis generally kept ahead, striking his paddle 
on hidden rocks to warn us. All hands .voted it great 
sport and the first boat to get through -a particularly 
stiff proposition would wait in the eddy at the foot to 
watch the others come through, with roars of laughter 
at any mishaps. The canoes would gain great velocity 
in a short stretch of even ten yards, where it was im- 
possible to reach bottom with the paddles, or to back 
water against the current, and this would generally re- 
sult after frantic efforts in a tremendous bump on the 
rocks at the foot of the slope, much to the amusement 
of the rest of the party, and to the disgust of the 
victims. 
Before this day's work was over, all hands were get- 
ting pretty expert at picking channels, and snubbing the 
boats away from danger. About 4 o'clock in the after- 
noon, we stopped off at a small trail, and went some 
distance back into the woods to a spring which Louis 
knew about. This we found was right on the road 
which ran from Milford to Maitland, and we filled up 
our canteens, and returned to the boats. The river 
water was not very good to drink, as the lakes are so 
large and shallow, and the incoming supply so small, 
that the water was not very fresh. 
Along toward evening, we stopped at the head of a 
rift about 200yds. long, and started to fish, as usual. It 
was getting rather late, so we decided that we better 
look around for our second night's camp. We had 
some trouble finding a good place, and hunted around 
in a wood of young birch trees for a likely spot, but 
without success. H. N. T. then crossed the stream, ai;4 
