8 5 8 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Dec. i, 1906. 
about a canoe trip into the James Bay basin in 
June and I asked him particularly to look out 
for brook trout, as I believe he would find them 
in both the Missanabie and Abitibi rivers. Here 
is his letter, there are trout in both of the rivers 
just as I predicted, etc.” 
The letter referred to I have already quoted. 
Another letter from Prof. Stevenson-Smith reads 
as follows; it was written to me on Oct. 20: 
_ “I only regret that I have not the requisite 
time to write you a full description of the fish 
and game of that country in so far as I observed 
them. As to trout they are tO' be found there 
in several places to my certain knowledge. They 
are plentiful in the Missanabie just below the 
long portage, which is about half way down the 
river, and some French packers from Revillion 
Brothers assured me that they were found in 
other parts of that river, as of course they must 
be. At Fort Albany I met Mr. Remsen who last 
year was an Indian treaty commissioner and who 
had just come down the Albany river. He as¬ 
sured me that his party had caught as many trout 
as they could eat on nearly every part of the 
river. 
“Mr. Osborn, a gentleman who has for some 
years prospered in the Ungava country, tells me 
that the streams around Whale river are so full 
of trout that one may depend safely on them for 
food. As I wrote Dr. Morris, the Indians of the 
Abitibi sometimes take trout in their nets, and 
lastly Mr. McKenzie, head factor of the Hud¬ 
son’s Bay district, assured me that he had gotten 
trout out of a little pond near Abitibi lake. All 
these fish are, as you see, north of the height of 
land.” 
There is fish I maintain in plenty north of the 
height of land between the St. Lawrence system 
of rivers and Great Lakes and James Bay, while 
I admit that in Ontario at least the fishing and 
shooting are rather better south of the height of 
land. 
In the future a favorite canoe trip will be north 
from the Canadian Pacific main line to the Grand 
Trunk Pacific main line, which would be down 
stream from railway to railway. In the mean¬ 
time the summer fisherman will get all the bass 
fishing he wants in the less known middle and 
western parts of the Georgian Bay, which will 
be made very accessible next year by the open¬ 
ing of new railroads to Point au Baril and Byng 
Inlets on the north shore of Lake Idudson, whence 
new steamers will give frequent service to Sault 
Ste. Marie and Lake Superior with their trout 
fishing. L. O. Armstrong. 
Floating Down the White River. 
At the unseemly hour of 2:30 A. M., Sept. 10. 
a party of Kansas City’s enthusiastic sportsmen 
boarded the train for Branson, Mo.—arriving at 
11 A. M.—to take the White River float. This 
is fast becoming one of the most popular 
pleasure trips within easy reach of this city, 
requiring but nine hours to reach the starting 
point of a very interesting and fascinating trip. 
With good hotel accommodations at either end 
of the float, most excellent guides, good, safe 
boats, a proper camp outfit, good tackle and a 
knowledge of the art of using it, no one willing 
to take chances with the weather need return 
in the least dissatisfied. 
Our party was composed as follows: “Com¬ 
modore” Herman Schmeltzer, because of his be¬ 
ing the organizer, and in command of the party; 
“Dad” J. M. Clark, because of his being the 
“Daddie” of the present style of short-rod bait¬ 
casting, having practiced it twenty-five years; 
“Grand-Pa” Willie Stine, because of his fatherly 
ways; and “Billie” W. L. Rock, because 
William sounds too dignified for one so genial 
and companionable. Three guides—Ed. Barker, 
Jim Hicks and Higdon Milton (no relation of 
the poet, however, though residing in a fisher¬ 
man’s paradise)—each in charge of a boat, one 
used entirely for luggage, all under the command 
of the Commodore, who arranged with Messrs. 
Todd & Haines, of Branson, for the outfit, ex¬ 
cepting the commissary, which was taken from 
Kansas City. 
At 3 P. M. they stepped into the boats ready 
for the fray with any big or little mouth that 
might feel disposed to challenge their right to 
cast adrift their images of the insect world. 
Flowever, they found the water out of con¬ 
dition, owing to recent rains, and concluded to 
float six miles to Bull creek, where there was 
an excellent camp site, with a chance of the 
creek being in better condition, but it proved 
otherwise, and the air was not perfumed with 
the aroma of frying fish for supper. 
An early to bed and early to rise programme 
was suggested, and ere the gloom of darkness 
shrouded the hills, the entire party was asleep. 
We did not take to the boats until about 9 
o’clock next morning, expecting the water to 
clear, which it usually does in twenty-four hours; 
there must have been very heavy rains near the 
heads of the streams, and we learned later on 
what a heavy rain is in this country. We floated 
leisurely along, making an occasional cast in a 
ABITIBA RIVER. 
particularly inviting spot, usually without result, 
talking as we passed with the “Billy Hills,” who 
often wondered if we really ever “kotched any¬ 
thing with them air traps.” We reached For¬ 
sythe (one of the oldest towns in this part of 
Missouri) by noon, landed and took dinner at 
the hotel. 
We made our second camp at Beaver creek 
(26 miles from Branson), where we had ex¬ 
pected some good fishing, but found the stream 
high and the water cloudy. As a consequence 
we did no more than enough to satisfy seven 
large healthy appetites. We awoke next morn¬ 
ing to find it raining gently, and did not break 
camp until noon, but made sixteen miles to 
Moore’s Landing, taking fourteen bass our 
last hour out. 
As catches up to this time had been some¬ 
what scarce, the Commodore had become a little 
over anxious. Upon getting a strike, it was 
noticed he was yanking them in in a very un¬ 
sportsmanlike manner, and he was advised to 
“play ’em,” and as a result of a very nice long 
cast just below a large rock near the shore, he 
was rewarded with a vicious strike. He thought 
to follow the sage advice of Dad and undertook 
to play him. It was evident the fish was a 
“lunkah,” to use the river expression, as it beat 
the water into foam in its struggle for freedom, 
darting here and there, and at last coming clear 
of the water at least a foot, and with a double 
somersault, made off down stream at a terrific 
pace, making the line whistle through the water. 
But the Commodore had staying qualities also, 
and succeeded in checking him gracefully. Then 
he took a whirl up stream, and as just then the 
boat was going with the current at a rapid rate, 
they met, and parted. We did not understand 
what it was the Commodore said, but the ex¬ 
pression of his face as he watched that four- 
pounder as it bade him adieu was a study. 
Dad had a very bad accident in this camp, 
but owing to the delicacy of the subject and 
the chilliness of the water, I refrain from men¬ 
tioning it. During the night one of those rain 
storms, which make one think some one had 
turned the water wagon over on you came up. 
We remained in camp all of the next day, and 
resumed our journey on the sixth day, passing 
many old fish traps, which since the passage of 
more effective game laws, have been abandoned; 
and if a few convictions for dynamiting in 
Missouri could be secured it, would improve 
matters wonderfully. We passed in and out of 
Arkansas twice during the day, and ran a pretty 
stiff rapid just below in Missouri in which Billie 
hooked another “lunkah” and was promptly 
commanded by the Commodore to play him, 
which he as promptly did. and after an excellent 
play, landed him in Arkansas, weight 3% 
pounds, the largest of the entire catch. By this 
time the water had become excellent, and no 
trouble to land all the fish we could use or give 
away. On the seventh and eighth days out we 
had simply floated out of civilization, and were 
communing with nature in all her iridescent 
beauty, enjoying to the fullest the ozone of the 
Ozarks. We had not seen any mosquitoes and 
very few snakes. 
We covered about thirty miles on our ninth 
day, were about 160 miles by river from Bran¬ 
son, and only twenty miles from our destination, 
Cotter, Ark. We took thirty-two bass and re¬ 
turned the most of them to the water. On this 
day we shot the Wildcat rapids. We arrived at 
Cotter at 3 P. M. next day in time to take a good 
rest before train time for home, having landed 
167 bass on the trip. 
That this beautiful and picturesque stream is 
so little known is due, perhaps, to its having 
been almost inaccessible—one having to ride 
over rough and hilly roads 75 to 100 miles— 
until last year, when the White River Branch 
railway was built. It can now be reached at 
several points, and any one wishing an inter¬ 
esting outing, where the sycamore and elm 
shade and overhang the crystal water, where 
the oak spreads its broad branches over the 
hillside, where the rocks glare in the sunshine 
on the mountain top. where the fishes are ‘ 
abundant, song birds in the bushes, and squirrels 
frisking in the treetops; where, as you float 
over the rapids, there is an ever-changing 
panorama of scenic beauty; where, in fact, 
nature is supreme in all her simple grandeur— 
take the White River float. You will be satis¬ 
fied if you do not land a fish. W. H. S. 
Kansas City. 
National Archery Association. 
In a circular letter to the members of the Na¬ 
tional Archery Association of the United States, 
Edward B. Weston, of Chicago, its secretary and 
treasurer, congratulates them on the advancement 
the pastime has made during the past season, 
and says archery is growing stronger and better 
until to-day there are more archers in the coun¬ 
try than there have been in twenty years. He 
urges every member to pay his dues and assist 
in every way to make the next annual tournament, 
to be held in Chicago next August, a success. 
The officers of the association are the following: 
President, Homer S. Taylor, Chicago; Vice- 
President, Tacitus Hussey, Des Moines; Secre¬ 
tary-Treasurer, E. B. Weston, Chicago. 
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