700 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Oct. 31, 1908. 
it. The swift water almost carried us off our 
feet, despite our supporting staffs. Still, 
though we had many narrow escapes, nobody 
got a ducking. 
Sometimes the stream would split into two 
or occasionally three channels, leaving in the 
middle low islands, covered with sedge grass 
and bushes. It was on these islands that we 
made the best time, and 
it was not until near 
noon that we came to 
a pool which looked 
promising. We had seen 
occasional salmon and 
grilse in their way up 
stream, but they are not 
likely to take the fly 
when traveling, so we 
hurried along without 
troubling them, but our 
fishing instinct told us 
that in this pool the 
fish were awaiting for 
fish were waiting for us. 
And so they were! 
off for lunch an hour 
later, there were fifteen 
fine salmon lying on 
the beach, and in the 
meantime several more 
had in some manner 
escaped us. All were 
strong, lively fighters, 
and of fighting weights, 
from eight to ten 
pounds. The guide be¬ 
gan splitting them at 
once, and left both the 
dressed fish and the 
entrails near the water 
while we went to lunch. 
On our return we found 
the water’s edge alive 
with large trout, some 
of them actually more 
than their length up 
on the beach, so that 
we picked up trout 
weighing from a pound 
to a pound and a half, 
and held them awhile 
in our hands admiring 
their beautiful spots and 
iridescent colors! 
Do I hear any in¬ 
credulous remarks or 
any groans? All the 
same, it’s the positive 
unadulterated truth! 
From that time on we 
were constantly adding 
to our string. Of good pools there was no lack, 
though we never caught as many in any one pool 
as in the instance above related. 
It became necessary to provide some trans¬ 
portation for the fish, as everybody was carry¬ 
ing all he could manage. We r built a raft and 
loaded the salmon on it, but as the river was 
getting heavier all the while, as it cut through 
a sandstone formation with cliffs on both sides, 
the control of this became a difficult task for 
the men. Suddenly in the afternoon of the 
second da) r we approached a rapid of greater 
volume than any we had yet encountered. The 
roar of a fall reached up in fitful puffs, borne by 
the gusts of wind; but to our surprise the water 
here smoothed out into a slick, heavy current, 
moving with great rapidity over a smooth in¬ 
clined stratum, shot round a curve, and down a 
hill more than a half mile in length. Where it 
dashed up at the foot of the cliff, the depth 
was of five or six feet, whereas on the bank 
which we were following, it was not more than 
an inch or two, but all of it flowing with light¬ 
ning speed on the smooth rock of the ledge. 
Here our raft and its burden of fish came to 
grief, and our guide’s vision of a well filled 
pickle barrel faded into thin air. 
At the foot of the great slide was a fine pool, 
with cliffs on both sides. There were plenty of 
salmon present, and we caught several; but it 
was so full of trout, that the salmon scarcely 
got a chance, and but two salmon were caught 
in this otherwise ideal pool. 
Our camp was made for the night on a high, 
steep bank, an outcrop of shale rock very 
fossiliferous, and rather friable. In the morning 
one of the boys had a plunge or two in this 
cold water, followed by a brisk rub down. 
While he was taking the rub down, I struck an 
eight or nine-pounder, just where he had 
dived not two minutes before. The fish finally 
got away, but it only shows how little they 
care for outside inter¬ 
ferences in this river. 
From this point to the J 
mouth the ground was 1 
more familiar to us; we 
had been here before. 
The banks are higher, 
cliffs of twenty to forty 
feet overhang one or the 
other side of the pools, 
and the height of the 
spring freshets, accom¬ 
panied by the gorging of 
the ice, is demonstrated 
by the trees stripped of 
their bark to the height 
of fifteen or twenty feet 
above the summer level 
of the stream. At this 
point we were about 
eight miles above the 
permanent camp. The 
constant crossings and 
recrossings of the 
stream became ever 
more frequent, and in 
heavier and more pow¬ 
erful currents. Even 
loaded down as we 
were, it was a difficult 
matter to keep from 
being swept away. Pool 
succeeded pool in rapid 
succession, and from 
them all we took con¬ 
tributions. Finally not 
another fish could be 
carried, and after going 
about five miles, we took 
our rods and made our 
best time for camp, ar¬ 
riving about 5 o’clock 
in the afternoon of 
the fifth day of our 
tramp. 
This is a plain narra¬ 
tive of our trip, though 
many details have been 
necessarily omitted. 
Even so, I fear that I 
may have wearied you, 
and I ask your indul¬ 
gence. 
In closing I wish to add, that our excursion 
had covered, in point of distance traveled, a 
very modest number of statute miles. We es¬ 
timate the whole distance at about fifty-two 
miles, but distance, after all, gives but little 
idea of the effort and energy expended. The 
character of the country is more to the point. 
The traveling is the hardest that I have ever 
met during an experience which covers an 
ascent of the Matterhorn in the 70s, before the 
days of the present “aids to climbers,” or 
travel on the glaciers and in the high Alps. 
G. J. R. 
AN EXAMPLE OF THE STRENGTH OF THE RULING PASSION—ANGLING IN THE SEINE WHILE THE 
TUILERIES BURNED. 
From the Woodward Collection. 
