114r 
J^ily 3 
A FISUERMAA’S FALL. 
Thomas L. Atkins, a gentleman from Xew Jersey, 
visited the Adams, a strpam some two miles this side of 
Dmgman’j, Del., one of the hardest and most' danger- 
ous streams to fish in this country. The creek is about 
eight miles in length, and on either hand rise a perpen- 
dicular and almost unbro'aen wall of rocks, while ia a 
aumber of places the stream pours overfalls from fifty 
to one hundred feet high. Taking an old wood road 
at the foot of the mountain, he bent his steps for a point 
about a mile above the the “High Falls,” with the in- 
tention of “striking in” at that point, and fishing 
through to the Dingman road. Arriving at his destina- 
tion, about two hours’ fishing brought him to the head 
of the falls, where he sat down to rest and eat his lunch. 
At this place there are several falls in close proximity 
to one another, the upper one, the highest on the stream, 
being 150 feet, and the other gradually lessening in 
height until they reach the level creek-bed below. In 
the intervening space between each of these falls there 
is a dark foaming pool worn into the 'solid rock by the 
constantly falling water, and in some places verj- deep. 
After refreshing himself, Mr. AtKins arose with the 
intention of fishing on through the falls, but after look- 
ing about him, he wisely concluded to pass around them 
and find a place where he could decend more easily. 
Gathering up his rod, he proceeded down the creek, be- 
ing very careful to keep back from the face of the 
rocks. He had gone but a short distance down the 
stream when he discovered a little gully or ravine lead- 
ing between high tiers of rocks down towards the creek. 
Thinking that he was below the falls and might not find 
another place where he could descend so easilv, he com- 
menced climbing down, and by clinging to the laurels 
which grow along the sides, succeeded in reaching the 
bottom of the ravine in safety. Here, however, he was 
disappointed, for thinking that he was below the falls, 
he found himself instead upon a level path of solid rock 
about three feet wide, and below him some twentv feet, 
in a great basin-shaped hole worn in the rock, and 
filled with dark, foamy water, was what is called “The 
Devil’s Punch-bowl,” and a little further down the 
stream was another fall. Xot liking to climb back up 
the ravine, he concluded to follow the path in which he 
stood, hoping that it might lead him below the falls and 
out of his present difficulty. In this he was terribly 
mistaken, tor atter following it a short distance, he dis- 
covered, to his horror, that it came to an abrupt termin- 
ation directly over the falls. The rocks all through 
these falls are of course wet and slippeiy by the spray- 
blown against them by the force of the fading water, 
and as Mr. Atkins was in the act of turning (whether 
by d zziness or some other cause) he lo.st his balance, 
and in endeavoring to recover himsrlf he slipi ed ana 
fell. AVith remarkable presence of mind he caught hold 
of the projecting rock upon which he was standing and 
clung to it with the tenacity of a drowning man. AVhile 
clinging to the rock he endeavored to find a foothold, 
and by that metins help himself up or hang until help 
came; but he found none, and, as if to add to his aiiony 
of the moment, his hands kept gradually slipniug from 
their hold. At last his hold rela.ved, and he fell back- 
ward and disappeared, feet first, into the seething wa- 
ters. He soon rose and concentrating all his remaining 
strength, he succeeded in reaching the shore and crawl- 
ing a few feet up the bank, when his strength gave way 
and he fell into a dead swoon. It was some time before 
he came to his senses, aud when he did he was so much 
exhausted that it was some time before he could pro- 
ceed. He finally- succeeded in reaching the Dingman 
road, where he was fortunate enough to secure a ride to 
his hotel. 
Fish .4S Food. — Many- elaborate comparisons have 
been made as to the comparative values of butcher-meat 
and fish, and occasional controversies have arisen on the 
subject, in which the utmost diversity of opinion hits 
been expressed. Some economic writers maintain that 
fish has no food-value worth speaking of; others say 
that fish-food must occupy a middle po-ition between 
vegetables and beef aud mutton. Again a learned 
authority say-s that fish, well cooked, with oil or fat of 
some kind, or served with butter when brought to table 
“is chemically the same as butcher-meat, so far as nutri- 
tion is concerned. xVnother writer siiys that fish as food 
is only fit for children and invalids, and is totally- unfit- 
ted to support the health and vigor of men or women 
engaged in laborious occupations. As usual in such 
disputes, we may hold that the truth lies between the 
tw-o extremes. Alany people following laborious oci u- 
pations, especially >n Scotland, live l.trgely- ujion fish. 
In that country, the fishermen themselves eat a consid- 
erable portion, and, as a class, fishermen are strong and 
healthy; and when the wives who undertake a portion 
of the men’s work are still stronger and healthier. In 
Portugal, fish fried in oil forms a very large proportion 
of the food of the population , their fish-diet is supple- 
mented by a little bread and fruit, and although the 
peasantry pf the land never partake of flesh meat, yet 
they are a hardy, vigorous, and brave people. Let it be 
remembered that fish is a necessity of life in France am! 
Spain, and as regards the latter country, a constant 
organization is at work in our own islands to supply it 
with many- kinds of cured fish. A huge proportion of 
the pilchards taken on the coast of Cornwall, as well as 
many hundred hogsheads of cured and smoked lier- 
riogi, ara sent to the Spanish markets. Waler. 
—♦».*-•♦ 
iilahseor Flsfiina: in India. 
Each country seeme to have its own peculiar game fish more or 
numerous. Northem Europe has the lordly salmon. The 
British Isles have in addition the gallant trout and vicious pike: 
,this favored land can boast of salmon and trou*, pickerel in place o 
pike and beyond these it claims sole proprietory of the noble bass 
and luscious shad. 
Courage and activity in fish stfera to he inversely as the tempera- 
ture. The northero s dmon fights a harder battle than his represen- 
tative of warmer latitudes, and in the tropics the lord of Indian 
rivers, the heanteons Mahseer, is a far poorer fighter than his 
weight in salmon or trout. 
Those who love the music of the revolving reel will appreciate a 
brief sketch of a day's fishing on the Pench in the central provinces 
of the East India peninsula. H., my brother, and self bad taken 
three days leave for fishing and shooting aud were camped in true 
Anglo-Indian luxury within quarter of a mile of the best known 
Mahseer reach on the twisting stream. 
Long before the rising of the sun we had had our coffee, eggs and 
toast and gained the river bank just at a sharp bend where the 
stream tumbled some ten feet over jagged rocks into a narrow deep, 
rocky channel through which it raced seeiLingly into the wide, still 
reach beyond. 
We tried every bait, every dodge, every fly, and every nook but 
never a Mahseer above a pound did we catch, and very few of these. 
My brother gave up in de>pair. I lelt ray line in the water aud went 
off to look for birds' nests, but old 11. stuck to fishless labors like a 
stubborn old fellow that be was. The sun giaied down on the black 
rocks and bathed his heating rays in the gushing fall aud glanced 
deep down into the still water beyond, so partly for shelter and 
partly from curiosity I climbetl into a \>ild fig-tree after a crt^lc*d 
crane's nest. But let me dc^eribe the tackle and bait ordinarily 
uted for ^lalisccr: Stout lis^om rofls, strong silk Jnes, and hooks of 
different sizes whipped on ])roved treble gut in order to resi>t the 
first wild rush. The bait maybe varied. We usually took cither 
ordinary dough, artificial fly, grasshopj>er, or chenua. The r/unna 
is somewhat of the size, nature and shu|K: of u pea, and is soaked, 
bored and strung on to the hook, one gram being enuiigh for a bait. 
When this has secured one Mahseer, the fish, hook and 
are removed and replacid by another hook already baited. 
But let us return to the tree into which 1 lia^l climbed for the crane’s 
nest. In descending I kicked >ome of the ripe fruit into the water 
which was instaolly agitated by a dozen monstrous fish who had 
been keeping cool »ud jaQx. 
A wicked thought flashed ihroiigh my brain; a larg.* maggoty fig 
was detached aud let drop. Gulp! it was taken into the stomach of 
a very whale among 31ahseer. 1 *^aid not a word, went for my rod 
and brought my ‘'boy ' back with me to ihe foot of that tree, leav- 
ing him concealed behind the trunk with strict orders to ki^p the 
reel clear and fast hold of the butt. I climbed again into the tree 
with the hook end of the line, passing it clear under a.l the 
branches; a big fig, equally rotten, if not more so, than the last wa^! 
detached aud stuck ou the treble hook, then dropped plumb into 
the water. Gulf)! 1 scrambled down to the ground in a iw inkling, 
but before 1 handled the butt of my rod fiity yaiUs of line had vpun 
out from the reel; rinht across the stream weut thefi.'-h 1 had only 
sixty yards of line so I gave him the butt; over a yard of gleaming 
silver flashed clear into the air and plunged back into the w ater to 
flash up agaiu and again. Then oil be dashed but luckUy right back 
ten times faster ihanl could reel in, leaching the near bank 
and still finding tnc cruel barbs in his jaw, he fiashed 
out again* aud made another rush up the stream. By this time the 
boy had reached the “dug out" and bad brouglii it down, so 1 got 
in and followed him right up to the narrows where old H. was 
standing in wild excitement. “Give him the butt. young one!" he 
shouu-d, “give him ihe butt and keep him out of these rocks.’* llis 
response to this “butt'* was another throw up but it was a weak 
one. lu seventeen miuuP'S from that lime we coaxed him into a 
shallow nook and tw o negroes waded in behind and pulling a net 
under him, landed the finest fish I ever saw caught, lie weighed 
just a shade under forty-two pounds, aud measured a shade over 
forty-two inches, fl. and I lo«>k ninety-five pounds weight of fi.<h 
out of that leach within two hours using uothiiig but the rii>e fruit 
of the /ndie /.v, II. taking one fellow that put down twenty- 
three pounds. I need not describe the -rate of mind thatiiiy 
brother got into when he siw our "bag.'* The l;trgesr. fi-h that I 
know of as having la-eii eunght in those waters weighed eighty- 
seven pounds, though the capture of a monster of one hundred and 
four pounds in the fur northwest has been recorded.— Xo;«/ion Fidd. 

How A Wuii*e£n an E.\gls:.— A gentleman gives an inter- 
esting account of a recent attempt by an eagle to carrj’ off a cat, 
which occurred at a farm on the bay -hore of Kent Co., 3Iaryland. 
A young medium sized cat was treading leisurely along in a potato 
patch, when a large full-grown eagle swooped down, aud catching 
her in his talons, Imre her up. J’ns?y wriggled and uicwed piteously 
for some moments, but suddenly imhited with courage, she 
began a determined effort to obtain a bold tin loTopprc-sor. JSo 
grteit were her struggles that Ihe eagle was unable to ily longer, and 
kept np a continuous flapping of its wings to k»*ej» aloft. After 
much exertion the cat sucece<led in it.s object, and obtained a firm 
grasp with her claw s on the bre.ist of the eagle, which made every 
possible endeavor to free itself in vain. It flapped its w ings, shook 
its body, and appeared U) he<irlily regret having meddled w ith piis.-y 
in her peaceful ways. Kmaliy .as if in despair and cxhaustion.it 
spread its broad wings and fell slowly tt» the bay, over which the 
struggle had been going ou. Immediately upon touching the w ater 
the cat loosed her hold and swam boldly ashore, while the eagle, 
upon being freed of its troublesome burden, shot upward and sped 
rapidly A»itiican, 
On The Kankakee. 
Br A MEMBEK OF TUB CXIOX CLCB. 
It was one of our usual balmy soring days of this noted year, 
1S75, when it struck me that it was about time to take a duck hunt. 
I was e.-pecially impelled to go now as the good shooting was over 
and I couldn't miss getting my accustomed number of goose eggs. 
I looked around for a companion whose general average would not 
surpass mine. It did not take long to decide npon the proper party, 
i dle is one who never lets hnsiness stand in the way of a hunt. I 
persuaded him to become the owner of an undivided one half of a 
wail tent and a camp stove— for which, by the way, be hasn't settled 
yet. 
Having each made a list of the necessary articles for a two days’ 
sojonin in the wilds, we appointed an evening to meet and pack our 
baggage in my boat. Bat to pa.^^s over the packing process and the 
fullness of the boat wc got started bright and early one morning. 
The roads were still frozen and so rot gh, and onr buggy springs 
suspiciou.'ly weak, that my companion (I'll call him Dead Shot) 
concluded to walk awhile; but that in the course of an hoar got mo- 
notonous and he concluded to get in and ride. So we went slowly 
along for a time, forge. tiug our danger, and communing with nature 
when we were siartjed by an ominous crack. We concluded to stop 
and examine. Alas! the spring was broken. He iusisiing by rea- 
son of the over-weight of the looking-glass I had taken along, but I 
argued that it was caused oy his tooth brush and the large amount 
of sliced bacon he had brought. 
“Hang the bacon,” said I; “who wants to eat fat meat, and salted 
at that!' We will cook game at every meal.” 
1 tied up the spring with a string and started on. He said he 
would walk because his feet were cold, but I noticed as we jonr- 
nejed swiftly on at the rate of two miles an hoar, he would fre- 
quently run np and bang gently on the hind end of the boat, just to 
sec whether that spring had frozen stiff or not. However, he soon 
got reckless and jumped in with the original expression, “Let her 
rip.” 
The ground being damp at this time of the year, it was decided 
that wc must have hay or straw to sleep on, so at the first bouse 
after our decision, we procured a bundle of hay which he held in 
position in front of Jiim, quite nicely aud comfortably, I thought, 
but he frequently exclaimed in mul&ed tones that he was entirely 
ent off from a irout view of the country and that, thereby, the pa-.s- 
ing bushes scrape-d his hat off too many times in a minute for any 
laughing matter. Before we had traveled another mile I took occa- 
sion to inform him that I thought the horse would need the hay to 
eat. Although he insisted that, from the looks of things, the horse 
would never eat again by the time we got to camp. We finally de- 
cided we wanted a bundle of straw, which we soon got. The far- 
mer declined any remuneration for it; but we gc-nt.'y pressed a two- 
cent piece into his unwilling hands and passed on. I say "we” al- 
though 1 conld neither hear nor see “Dead Shot" nniil we arrived at 
Fiee bridge, where he appeared, sweating profusely, and haring an 
injured look upon his countenance. M’c must have water for cook- 
ing purposes, and as the river was some distance from camp what 
was easier than to take a pail of water wiih us from the bridge. Of 
course, I had to drive aud couldn't carry it so he sat on the rear 
part of the boat, pressed his hack firmly against the two bundles 
and held the pail over the rear end to keep it irom striking the end 
of the boat, t-wish-sqush-fiap-bang— the backet went, as we passed 
over tile corduroy toad, the pail getting heavner (he said) and the 
«au-r shallower, until a feeble cry in the rear caused a halt. We 
then lied the bucket under the boat and continued on until the 
strijg broke and tiie handles tumbled off three or four times, when 
we dumped that water overboaid with some hard words and pro- 
cec-ded onward. We were only eight hours going seventeen miles 
and had at la-st got to the camp ground. Although some lime was 
lost in picking a spot, as the first one we struck, a nice high point, 
oitr dogs isersuaded us was objectionable — they were rolling vigor- 
ously on a mass of skinned muskrats whose odor stock to them for 
twenty-four hours. 
At last the tent was pitehed— wood gathered— stove set up and a 
fire started, and it fell ui>on me to cook the first meal. What shall 
it be — we have no game yet, so wc will have liam and eggs. Golly! 
don't the stove draw like asteam engine. Chew! chew! chew! — We 
set on the coffee pot, the frying pan, and the boiling pan with the 
potatoes. Tnc coffee soon boils, the frying pan sizzles, but blame 
those pot itocs, the waicr aiut warm yet. We soon discovered that 
the top of tiie stove had assumed a rounding surface so that but a 
small part of tlie pan touched the stove. >'ever mind; we 11 have 
the potatoes for breakfast. Spread your table. Where is a plate 
for the meat! By Joseph! we only brought one apiece. We will 
eat out of the pan. The eggs are done to a turn. Put in the sail. 
Where's your pepper. Sprinkle it on quick. Hello! what makes it 
look that color? eayeime-peppcr, maybe— taste it. O Jerusalem! 
give us some water— it tastes like fire- it's ginger! The eggs are 
spoiled— no they arc not — scrape it off. I pass over onr feelings and 
make no note of our emphatic reniaiks. We filled onr stomachs, 
smoked our Iragraut 15 centers (10 off; and grasping our $300 (more 
or less) breech-loaders, went forth to the evtuing shoot. There was 
no flight to speak of, though we bad quite a number of shots, which 
did not seem to take effect for some re.ison or other. However, 
“Dead Shot” brought down a snipe which he had ready for the fry- 
ing-pan when I came in. That snipe made ns a good meal. There 
was plenty for both taken with a little ham. But those potatoes — 
well, hang those poUitocs! they wouldn't .“often worth a cent, but 
we aflerwards sliced them up .and fried them; still they remained 
hard— hut then yon know they were very filling. Ou this hunt 
most of tile shooting was what is called point-shooting, when the 
ducks generally singly, sometimes in hunehes, pass during the day 
to and from their feeding grounds. 'Twas one dewy mom. in this 
trip, that I was sitting concealed among the tall canes which bor- 
dered Ihe Kankakee river, with • shivering body and feet like ice, 
when 1 heard the honk! honk! of ye wild goose. I paid bnt little 
attention to this, as 1 had never seen nor never expected to see a 
a goose nearer to me than a half a mile. Still I looked around once 
in a while, kind of inquisitive like, and then back to where I ex- 
pected ducks t<» come to pa.ss. I'he noise came nearer aud nearer, 
nntil suddenly he appeared in easy range. Bat I had only No. 6 in 
my gnn, and here comes a duck, and bang goes my gnn at the dnek, 
bnt nothing, need I add, drops. 
J 
