AND AMERICAN RURAL SPORTS. 
21 
but the cracking of brush, and heavy jumps, until the yell 
of Mitchell Louis proclaimed victory. On coming up, we 
found he had seized the dying animal, and had received 
some tolerably severe wounds in the scuffle, before he could 
use his knife. It turned out one of the largest bucks ever 
killed in this part of the country, and withal, exceedingly 
fat. We estimated his weight at near three hundred 
pounds, and as we were now overstocked with provision, 
the Indians availing themselves of my intention to remain 
encamped on Sunday, asked leave to travel all night to 
take the meat to their friends, on the river below, promis- 
ing to be back on Sunday night, which, of course, was 
granted, and they started, leaving us one of the canoes. 
H. and myself were now left many miles from any 
human being, surrounded by a gloomy hemlock swamp. 
He began collecting fuel and building a camp, while I 
played the part of cook. A plentiful supper, a social pipe 
of esquepomgole, * and a quantity of hemlock branches for 
a bed, closed the proceedings of the day. 
But Sunday did not end so comfortably; we were visited 
in the morning by six canoe loads of Indians, they had 
been up the river hunting, but were not very successful: 
with them they had the skins of sable and moose ; of the 
latter they had killed four, but how, was to me a mystery; 
as their guns were among the worst I had ever seen. On 
asking them what was the greatest distance at which they 
could kill a moose, they pointed to a spot about thirty yards 
distant. On receiving a present from us of fresh venison, 
pork, and biscuit, they departed. After which we were 
visited by two white trappers, in a “ birch;” they were in 
search principally of musquash (Muskrat, Fiber zibet hi- 
cus. ) In the afternoon it began to rain, with a strong 
S. E. wind; fixed our tent in the best manner we could; 
the deficiency of a tent was again supplied by a blanket 
spread on two poles, and as we did not expect it to keep us 
dry, we were not disappointed, though it saved us in a 
great measure; our baggage and provisions were stowed 
under the canoe, turned bottom up, among the bushes. 
October 1 2th. Our Indian friends returned about dark, 
having travelled all last night and to day, with the excep- 
tion of about two hours, spent at breakfast with their wives 
and sisters. I took a short ramble in thewoods back of us, 
in the afternoon, through the intervals of rain, but could 
not penetrate far, for mats of dead and falling timber cover- 
ed with moss, in such a manner, that it was like groping 
among huge masses of sponge, with a very uncertain foun- 
dation. Red squirrels ( Sciurus Hudsonius ) were the 
* Esquepomgole is the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy name for the mixture 
of tobacco and inner bark of red willow, ( Cornus alba,) it is smoked by almost 
all the different bands of North American Indians, but, of course, in different 
languages, is known under other names. 
F 
only living creatures to be seen; they were numerous, and 
form the principle food of the sable, which abound on the 
higher grounds; they pursue the squirrel from tree to tree, 
with as much activity as Mr. Audibon describes the rattle- 
snakes; (which, by the bye, is about as great a humbug as 
ever John Bull was gulled with.) 
Heavy rain all night, but having brought with me an oil 
cloth coverlid, six feet square, we were kept tolerably 
dry under it, the only inconvenience was, that we had col- 
lected scarcely hemlock branches sufficient to keep us out 
of the puddles beneath; and as it was impossible to keep 
our fire, or to light it in the morning, we laid in bed until 
ten o’clock, when the rain ceasing, we cooked our break- 
fasts, loaded the canoes, and took leave of the great buck 
camp; poled up some very difficult rapids, where the fall 
was more than five feet in twenty yards. 
We went eight miles, and about three o’clock arrived at 
a saw mill and settlement of whites; had our dinners 
cooked at one of the houses, whilst the Indians mended 
the canoes, which had received some damage; an operation 
that is performed by covering the cracks with a composi- 
tion of resin and tallow, while a coal held over and blown 
melts it, at the particular places required. 
The old lady who cooked our dinners, had several fine 
daughters, who said they were all heartily sick of the 
woods, having resided here five years without any chances 
for husbands, which may fairly be considered a hard case. 
Made a portage across the mill dam, and left the last set- 
tlement on the Passedunky, where we left all our superfluous 
baggage. After proceeding some distance, came to an 
Indian camp of three fires (at each a family); as it was near 
evening, and they being relatives of our guides, we con- 
cluded to stop for the night; the camp was on a low flat 
point, covered with huge hemlocks, the dark shade of 
which heightened the romantic effect of a beautiful moon- 
light night, whilst the fires and dark moving figures 
enlivened the whole. One of the men was quite commu- 
nicative, and they dubbed him lawyer ; he was very 
anxious to hear all the news from me — said he had heard 
of an account in one of the Canada papers, of an adjust- 
ment of the boundary line of Maine, and wanted to know 
if we had heard of it, observing that all boundaries were 
bad that did not follow the courses of the streams: the 
three men are Passamaquoddys, and are married to Penob- 
scot squaws, who are now on their way to see their rela- 
tives at Old Town. 
Tuesday , 13th. Passed several rapids, rips, and shoots, 
schutes as they are called by the whites. Hills rise here 
directly from the river, leaving no bottoms, but are of 
slight elevation, and covered with heavy timber; larch, 
hemlock, &c. predominating. Proceeding a few miles 
