50 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
only a slight improvement in the rate at which the water 
came in; the cleaning and drying to winch she had been 
subjected, must have opened all the scums and splits in the 
planks, and washed out the dirt which had noted as caulk- 
ing. The first duty of a boat is to keep out the water, and 
finding my craft so lamentably deficient in this respect, I 
set to work to remedy it sis best I could, by pitching the 
scams, covering the worst splits with copper sheathing, &c. 
After a deal of cobbling^ succeeded in getting her suffi- 
ciently staunch to keep life water below the flooring boards 
alter twelve hours without bailing; having accomplished 
this, I thought she would do. 1 had already spotted a 
hroad carl in one of the engineer's yards as the very thing 
to carry the boat upon, for she had a beam of six feet three 
inches, much too wide for any ordinary cart. I mude ar- 
rangements to borrow this, promising to provide wheels 
for it. Then I proceeded to fit myself out with an equip- 
ment of things that would have almost sufficed for a 
journey into the heart of Africa. As I look back on that 
cruise now, I wonder at the trouble I gave myself, the 
quantity of useless gear I took with me, and how I mis- 
managed things generally; but one lenrns by experience in 
boating cruises as well as in everything else. I look the 
precaution of getting a “perwannah,” or passport from the 
Nizam’s government, a document directing the chief men 
of villages, districts, &c., to aid the Sahib (lord) traveling 
through the country. If he required bullocks, men or sup- 
plies, the seal and official character of this gave it great 
weight iu the eyes of the natives, and I found it very use- 
ful to me. 
All my preparations being complete, I marshalled my 
forces one morning in the beginning of November, just 
■when the rainy season was tcirn mating, and set out. First 
went the large curl carrying my boat, supported on split 
bamboo placed under the bilges to break the jolting from 
the ruts on the road. This was drawn by a team of four 
bullocks; then came" two small bullock carts, one with my 
tent, the oilier with baggage of all sorts, amongst which was 
the small Burmese canoe that I mentioned before. My ser- 
vants followed these, and after I had seen them all start, I 
set off myself, mounted on a broken down Arab that bad 
seen better days, but was good enough for the work I 
wanted him for. I proposed marching to the village of 
Madcopore, on the right bank of the Godaveri, at the junc- 
tion of the Prunhita, with the former, and launching my 
boat here, to cruise down the river with a small boy as ser- 
vant, aud send my tent, horse, &c., back to Secunderabad. 
Madcopore was about 180 miles from the station; there was 
a road to it often used by travelers and said to be tolerably 
good. I was used to traveling in India, having had the ex- 
perience of previous marches to guide me, hut the diffi- 
culties of getting along with a centre-board sailing boat on 
a cart about twice the breadth of au ordinary one, were 
new and varied. The third day after leaving Secundera- 
bad my troubles began; the road lay through cotton soil, 
and it had rained heavily the night before. The conse- 
quence was, that the carl sunk up to the axles, and the 
wretched bullocks could scarcely move it. After working 
hard all day, when I pitched my tent at night I found we 
had accomplished about five miles. Then there were sandy 
beds of water courses to be crossed, where the water had 
not. dried up, and sometimes the track lay through a 
morass of mud and water where a tank had overflowed its 
embankment. Ninety miles from Secunderabad we reached 
a large native town called Wurungul, where there are the 
remains of extensive ami curious old fortifications. After 
leaving this the road degenerated iuio a mere jungle track, 
which hud to be widened by chopping down trees to allow 
my curls to pass. I beguiled the tedium of the march by 
shooting small game, snip.', and duck by the tanks, pigeon, 
jungle fowl aud partridges in the woods, helping to clear 
the road and get the carts along. I made a liberal use of 
tlie “perwannah,” and pressed bullocks and men into my 
service from the village we passed through, and made an 
average day's march of ten or twelve miles. On the track 
between Wurungul aud Madcopore the foot murks of 
tigers were constantly seen; and on one occasion we nearly 
hud an unexpected encounter with one of these brutes 
when marching after nightfall; the jungle was too thick to 
hunt them with any chance of success at that season of the 
year. 
At last, after eighteen days hard work, I reached the vil- 
lage of Madcopore and saw the Godaveri, but could not 
get down to the bank with the carts on account of the 
swamp and jungle. Another day’s march bad to be made, 
then 1 camped on the bank, aud a broad expanse of sand 
met my view, which below me was a shoal, swiftly flowing 
river, about half u mile wide. A mile or so to the left the 
Praohila joined the Godaveri, seeming the larger river of 
the two. On the left bauk of the former river, four miles 
distant, was the small station of Sironclia, where there 
were two or three English residents, the chief magistrates 
and representatives ol the government, for a country ex- 
tending some hundreds of miles north and west. I deter- 
mined to go to this station, have a rest after my long 
march and find out what I could about the river, the 
chances of sport, <fcc. Next morning, therefore, I got the 
boat down to the water's edge, gave her a coating of tar, 
and launched her, in some doubt about how she would be 
have after the jolting she had had on the road. To my great 
delight she did not leak more than usual, and I turned her 
head up stream to row up the Prunhita. Night, came on 
before I had got very far, so I thought 1 would defer my 
visit till next day. 
Next morning very early I launched my little canoe and 
puddled up stream. Soou after entering the Praubita I got 
into a still calm reach with very little current, high laud 
covered with jungle on my right. After paddling about 
three and half miles I came to the ruins of an old fort 
overhanging the river and looking very picturesque in the 
morning suu. This in old days had been the stronghold of 
an independent chief who had levied black mail on the 
couulry round, and even shown fight to the British force 
seu l to reduce him. A little further on there was 
a large “scow” moored alongside the bank, and fasten- 
ing my canoe to Ibis, 1 lauded aud walked up to the 
village. The neat and well ordered look of this contrasted 
favorably with those 1 had passed through iu the Nizam's 
territory. 1 enquired for the Sahib's bouse; the Chief 
Sahib, i was told, was away, but the little Sahib, (or assist- 
ant magistrate,) was at tile station, aud to bis house 1 ac- 
cordingly repaired. A number of moukeys climbed to the 
posts ol the verandah and began chattering as I walked up , 
then a nulivo servant came out, and I sent in my card, aud 
the Sahib came out and greeted me. To my joy and surprise 
1 fouud be was au old friend whom 1 had kuowu iu Eug- 
iaud, whom 1 hud ccrtuiuly no ideu of meeting iu such au 
I out-of-the-way sort of place. lie insisted on my comiug to 
stay with him, and as I had to go back to my camp to get 
my baggage, sent for an elephant for me, thus raising me 
literally and figuratively in the eyes of the populace. 
Having returned to my camp I sent ir.y baggage to Sironclia 
by carl, rowed up myself ir. the centre-board, and found it 
no easy work pulling a boat of that kind against a current 
of from two to four miles an hour. However, I succeeded 
in reaching Sironclia, moored my boat under the old fort 
and rested from my labors. My friend told me all about 
the Godaveri, and that a commissioner was expected iu the 
course of a week or two to examine and report upon the 
engineering works then in progress, the utility of which 
was now being questioned, the cost being so great and the 
advantages rather problematical. Three steamers of light 
draught, of an American model, lmd been imported piece 
meal, put together, and then .plied between the barriers; 
but there was no passengers, aud no freight worth mention- 
ing. 
1 staiil rather more than a fortnight at Sironclia making 
expeditions up the river and into the neighborhood, but 
getting no sport worth mentioning, as it was the wrong 
season of the year for anything but snipe and duck, uud 
there were no swamps or jhecls in that part of the country. 
One morning the chief commissioner arrived from Kumplee 
and there was an unwonted excitement in the little station. 
The great man was pleased with everything, as he well 
might be, and had an interview with a native chief, who 
had come some 200 miles to pay his respects. There was 
some difficulty to he got over iu the reception of this 
rajah, who was independent, and somewhat averse to the 
payment of sundry rupees as tribute, but this was eveu- 
tually got over, and an entertainment was given him, the 
chief feature of which was a magic lantern exhibition, 
which afforded the chief and his tribe intense gratification. 
When these festivities were nearly over I determined to 
commence my voyage down the river. Accordingly, one. 
morning I collected everything I thought 1 should require, 
took a small native boy with me to act as cook, and make 
himself generally useful; and having stowed my ship 
carefully, set sail and turned her bow down the river, a 
light breeze carrying me down the long reach and into the 
Godaveri. Now the, current became quicker, carried me 
between enormous beds of sand, and occasionally grounded 
me on a shoal. After I bad gone about twenty miles I 
made my boat fast to the bank, rigged up au awning and 
turned iu for the night. Next morning there was a thick 
fog on the river; through the mist I saw canoes carrying 
the Chief Commissioner's baggage, going down the river. 
1 got my boat under weigh and followed. The river con- 
tinued ils course amongst masses of sand, with low forest- 
covered banks on each side. When the sun came out I saw 
huge alligators stretched like logs oil the sand banks, bask- 
ing, who slipt noiselessly into the water as I came near. 
There was no wind, so I had to take my oars and pull to 
keep my craft straight in the way she should go. After 
some miles of rapid stream, we came to a long aud beauti- 
ful reach of still water, overshadowed by luxuriant tropi- 
cal verdure, the cool shade of which was very grateful. 1 
made fast to the bank here, ana set the small boy to work 
to prepare breakfast, and while this was going on, the 
steamer, with the Commissioner on board, passed me. 1 
soon got under weigh aguiu and continued my row. A 
little after noon, when I hud gone about twenty miles, the 
character of the river began to change. Instead of sand 
banks, rocks began to appear; the bed narrowed and the 
shores became steeper. We were entering the second bar- 
rier, aud 1 bad to keep a sharp look out, as the current 
carried me amongst rocks, and was very rapid. At last a 
barrier of rocks interrupted my progress aud 1 landed and 
followed the river a little distance to explore. I found it 
made its way in a cataract pent between two rocks for 
about fifty yards. Below this was a large culm pool, where 
the river ludra Wutty, an affluent of the Godaveri, coining 
from the northeast, joiued the latter on a lower level. 
Here was an obstruction; to run the cataract with the boat 
was impossible, and 1 could Bee no village near where 1 
might gel men to carry her round. Fortunately I saw 
some men who had brought down the Chief Commissioner 
iu canoes from where the steamer had stopped above the 
barrier and were now returning. With many gesticulations 
I shouted to them, aud made arrangements with them to 
carry the “Phantom” round next morning. As it was then 
nearly dark, 1 camped on the river bank for the night, and 
very cold I found it; the land on each side of the river was 
high, and the vapor rising from it was condensed into a 
thick unwholesome fog. Next morning I got up early and 
roused the natives in their camp close to mine. They then 
cut some loug bamboos, and by means of the halliards and 
painter, the boat was slung to these aud carried round to 
the pool below the cataract without much difficulty. The 
mast was then shipped and all my baggage stowed aboard. 
Before starling, however, I engaged one of the men, who 
said lie knew l lie river, to pilot me through the barrier, 
and then shoved off, with the addition to my crew perched 
on the little deck forwards, directing me how to steer. 
The scenery iu the barrier was very tine; bills on each bank, 
long quiet reaches of water with occasionally a rapid. 
Tins continued for three or four miles, when the rapids be- 
came more frequent. My pilot signalled to me which way 
to steer, aud 1 thought l should soou get through the diffi- 
culties that beset my course, when, in turning a corner, 1 
saw the spray flashing occasionally over something across 
the channel of arapid. My pilot mude no sign, however; the 
current swept us onwards, and in another instant, a rope, 
stretched from bauk to bank, had caught my mast, turned 
the bout broadside and was arrested by the support of the 
boom iu the stern. .She didn't remain long in this situa- 
tion; the pressure of the water forced the gunwale under 
water, and here the cruise of the “Phantom" above water 
ended. I found myself swimming iu the current, and saw 
the boat slowly sinking a few yards from me. The next 
thing that caught my view was the head of my little native 
servant above water. I shouted to him to come with me, 
but he mude for the sinkiug ship. With a few strokes! 
reached the bank, ran down a little way and saw the 
“Phantom” disappear; then the little boy came past, hold- 
ing on to the thwart which had floated out. Au eddy cur- 
ried him close to the bank aud I fished him out ou to dry 
land. My pilot bad made a shift for himself, uud got 
ashore on the other side, so the crew were all saved. 
1 was soon surrounded by a crowd of jabBeriug coolies 
who were employed ou engineering works, and for whose 
benefit the rope which upset me was used to enable a boat 
to cross backwards and forwards. The overseer directed 
me to a bungalow, where I was met by au English engineer, 
who was somewhat astonished at aeeiug a fellow country- 
man in such a plight; he commiserated mv misfortune, aud 
extended the shelter of his roof to me. With the help (J f 
some of .t he workmen I grappled for my boat, (the water 
being some seven fathoms deep, with a very swift current, 
it was impossible to dive for it,) but with no result. I 
never saw anything more of her, or of my outfit. Perhaps 
she continued her trip down the river the uext rainy season, 
and may now be resting on a sand bank near the great dam 
at Itajahmundry in pence after all her travels. I continued 
-my cruise down the river in a steamboat in company with 
the Commissioner, who was inspecting the works when my 
accident occurred, and who very kindly not only gave me 
a passage, but also got me some compensation lor the loss 
of my craft and outfit. Still I much regretted the mull 1 
made of my cruise, though if I attempted Hie Godaveri 
again, it would not be with a centre-board boat. 
Fur Forex I and SI ream. 
SPORT IN CANADA— A TRIP TO HOL- 
LOW LAKE. 
T HURSDAY, the 17th of September, we had an early 
breakfast at C’oboconk. Leaving Toronto the pre- 
vious day, we took a stage and set out l'or a ride of four- 
teen miles to Moore’s Falls. VVe started at seven. The 
stage is such by courtesy only, being merely a wagon with- 
out springs, used for drawing ore from the iron mine. A 
long pole each side of the frame ruuuiug to the driver’s 
sent, with a board laid across, 'served as a resting place, and 
one or two loose boards at the end kept the rest of us in 
position where the road did not pass over the bare granite 
or corduroy. And such corduroy you hardly can imagine. 
The spaces betweeu the logs had never been filled, logs of 
almost every size were laid down without any regard to 
comfort, the timber had rotted, and the horses stumbled at 
every step, and it seemed almost a miracle that they did 
not break their legs. But every movement was sure, aud 
they stepped instinctively, as it were, from one log to the 
next without fear. 
Three hours’ travel brought us to the falls, where wo 
found the boat waiting at the foot of Gull Lake. It was a 
long, fiat bottomed concern, wide enough for two, and 
carried a sail; but the wind having gone down we were 
obliged to paddle or row all the way up to the entrance of 
Gull River, thence to Minden, a distance in all of eleven 
miles, with very hard and slow work. The clouds of the 
morning settled into a steady rain. I got my rubber coat 
from my bag, lighted my pipe and looked happy, the mois- 
ture soaking through my Hat and running in streams down 
my face. We had our dinner at Minden, went to the post, 
and telegraph offices, sent our last dispatches to the outside 
world, and at three o’clock took another stage for old An- 
drew Barnum’s, our gukle’s house, who, with his brother, 
three sons, and a cook, were getting ready to go forward 
with us the next day. As we left Toronto, 1 procured 
fifty old illustrated papers, and at every settler's house, 
where a host of little white heads appeared at the window 
or door to see the travelers go by, we threw out one or 
two. It was pleasant to see the long looks of surprise and 
pleasure they sent after us as they darted out of the door 
to pick them up. 
Of the ride itself, a distance of thirteen miles, which 
took four hours, what can I say, but that it. was infinitely 
worse than the first, and the parly arrived soaked and tired 
at about half past seven at the stopping place for the night, 
a house of four rooms, only two of which were bedrooms, 
but which had to accommodate ten souls for that night! 
We hardly expected conventionalisms, and proposed to 
sleep in the barn; but the proposition was set aside, and 
when it finally became necessary to change our wet panta- 
loons for dry ones, they were changed at the slove, where 
the hostess and her daughters were preparing the supper. 
I thought they would be a trifle embarrassed; but they 
moved around the room as if we were of the family. We 
got to bed in due sensou, and after a somewhat broken rest 
prepared to move on. We had finished breakfast at half 
past five, and started for a walk of a mile, carrying our 
traps only, the bulk of our goods— teuts, potatoes, and 
provisions generally— having been sent on t wo days before, 
that the camp might be in readiness for our arrival. The 
day was cloudy, but it did not rain, and was Hie very day 
for hard work. We could have had nothing better. Get- 
ting in the canoes at the lower end of Little Cushog Lake, 
we paddled nine miles to the portage, at which place we 
fouud the last settlei’s cabin. Between us and Hudson’s 
Bay was but a vast uninhabitable area of pine trees. We 
hired a sled and a yoke of oxen to make the portage of 
two miles. The settler had four children, one of whom, 
only eleven years old, guided the team as we walked along, 
and a more delicate bit of simplicity you never met. His 
questions were unceasing, and when lie found Unit three 
of us were from New York he regarded ns with open eyed 
wonder. At the end of the portage we gave him all the 
coppers we had in our pockets (sixteen), and started up 
Raven Luke, portaged into Wren Lake, thence by Brandy 
Rapids through Gun Lake and Long Lake. We found at 
two of the portages letters Hint the preceding party had 
left for us, stuck in the trees, telling us of their progress. 
The portages were very hard and fatiguing; if anything, 
worse than those of Muskoka, and many, many times 1 
was disgusted, tired out, and completely used up; but afier 
making the portage front Long Lake tiiere was a sudden 
turn iu t lie trail, and Hollow Lake burst suddenly on my 
sight, glorious beyond description, and I felt more than 
doubly repaid for all I had undergone. The clouds, which 
bad fuvored us during the day, now broke away, and the 
lake, clear as crystal with its polished, mirror-like surface, 
lay before us in all its perfect beauty. It is eight miles 
long, with fourteen very pretty islands, on one of which 
stands the camp at the northern end. We left at five 
o’clock in three canoes, side by side, for our lust paddle. 
The sun went down in unusual splendor, and Hie hues of 
purple and gold at our left cannot be described. The 
guides sit at the back of the canoes, and Hie passenger in 
front. As my canoe came up by the side of obi gray 
haired, long bearded Andrew Buniuni, be hud taken oft bis 
but to catch Hie evening air, and 1 could think of nothing 
but the dumb servitor of the dead Elaine — 
"Winking Ins eyes, mid twisted all his face," 
as he sat there boll upright, almost immovable, guiding the 
canoe with his paddle. The shores are wooded. Never 
bits the woodman's axe been heard iu its grand old forests, 
and as we wended our way between Hie islands and our 
eyes discovered new beauties, our enthusiasm was wound 
up to the highest pitch. Finally the sun went down, aud 
Hie moon cast its loug line of trembling silver through the 
deepeuiug shadows of the lake. Everything was quiet 
