August, 1918 
FORES T AND S T R E A M 
475 
two, and Pard asked plaintively, “What is 
the matter with these fish?” “It does taste 
kinder funny,” I suggested. 
“No salt,” announced Hale. I had for¬ 
gotten the salt! A careful search failed 
to discover any. I had forgotten to pack 
it! My, how they reviled me! The sight 
of smoke around the bend brought relief, 
for Hale made a voyage of discovery, re¬ 
turning with the necessary salt, and we 
finished our meal in peace. By the end 
of the trip with the aid of my cook book 
I became an accomplished cook, making 
would land and climb the bluff, from 
whence we obtained the most glorious 
views imaginable. Here and there a glimpse 
of the river, winding in and out the hills; 
sometimes as far as the eyes could reach, 
nothing but hill after hill could be seen; 
sometimes a pleasant little valley, with corn 
waving high and big, long Tom Watson 
watermelons covering the ground. Three 
hungry savages would then proceed to run 
the gauntlet of children and dogs to the 
farmer’s door and negotiate for roastin’ 
ears and water “millions.” Occasionally 
there 
would be 
a little 
peach or- 
chard, 
from 
whence we 
got fat, 
luscious 
Elbertas. 
Each 
cabin was 
the same, 
however, a 
o g h u t, 
with two 
ucwcy x><nu, a meiaiy 
Mecca 
cornbread to perfection. 
Some day I am going t,o 
attempt biscuits again! 
A FTER supper we 
carefully raised our 
tent over a particu¬ 
larly soft-looking spot of 
gravel on which Hale and 
I prepared our beds, all 
the while envying Pard 
his cot, and carefully ar¬ 
ranged the mosquito net¬ 
ting over us all. I say 
we did this the first night, 
but the following nights, 
with one exception when it looked like 
rain, we slept on the tent, not under 
it, and our mosquito netting was care¬ 
fully stowed in the bottom of the boat, 
for mosquitoes there were none. I under¬ 
stand that this is almost an invariable rule. 
This James River country is practically 
free from the pest that makes life miser¬ 
able in so many northern resorts. 
The next morning after breakfast, Pard 
and I made a trip overland, over a very 
rough and rocky road to Galena, about a 
mile and a half away, to purchase salt, 
bread and other supplies that a careful in¬ 
ventory showed we lacked. 
Back again and a care free trio started 
on their happy journey. Alternate stretches 
of half a mile or so when it was necessary 
to use the paddle, then a roar, a wild rush 
down, bumpety bump, crash, and then to 
float dreamily along, sometimes between 
high bluffs, sometimes only one, with a 
shelving bank opposite, but always in sight 
of these frowning rocky pine and cedar 
clad cliffs. They towered several hundred 
feet high, usually a sheer drop as if cut 
with a knife, but often running in waves 
as if the face of the cliff were cut in 
escallops, with the rolling, green clad hills 
forever in the background. Sometimes we 
floated down to the mill where they were 
sawed up into pencil lengths and shipped 
east to the factory. I have heard that 
some of the finest pencil cedar in this 
country comes from the forests adjacent 
to this same James River. 
O N and on, we floated, and swam, and 
loafed, and fished. And fished ! My, 
what fishing! Never will I forget 
the wonderful bass fishing that the “Jim” 
affords. It was never any trouble at any 
time to land bass weighing two or three 
pounds. We took them on all kinds of 
bait, although as I have said, the red ibis 
fly and pork-bait seemed to have the best 
of it. If I were going to recommend an 
all-around bait for this stream that would 
be my choice. Indeed, the bass were so 
numerous that they actually came in the 
boat after us! This part of my story I 
hesitate to tell, for when related to certain 
of my friends, who were too polite to speak 
their minds, I could tell from the far-away 
look in their eyes, what their lips dared not 
utter. If it were not that I have been told 
that it is not such an uncommon occur¬ 
rence, I would never set it down here. 
We had a sudden rise in the river when 
it happened the first time, 
and, consequently, the 
water was rather muddy. 
Drifting in close to the 
shore we were startled by 
a bass landing in the 
boat! Naturally we stared 
open-mouthed, when i n 
jumped another! They 
came from the shallow 
water that lay between 
the boat and the bank. 
We were at a loss to ac¬ 
count for it. Later in the 
day, as we drew up to a 
shelving bank to camp, in 
jumped a third! These 
three bass all weighed be¬ 
tween one and two pounds. 
or three 
rooms, 
so metimes. 
only a dirt 
floor, al- 
w a y s a 
“passel” of 
c h il dren 
and dogs, 
usually a 
cross-eyed, 
slatternly 
looking 
woman, 
and a to- 
b a c c o - 
spit ting, 
bewhiskered, hopeless-eyed individual, who 
“reckoned ez how he mought” sell us some¬ 
thing, and railed bitterly against the many 
city fellows who came that way, and helped 
themselves without lief or license. I do 
not want to be misunderstood, we have j ust 
as good farms, and just as progressive 
farmers in the “Jim” River country as 
elsewhere, but they are the exception not 
the rule, just as they are elsewhere! 
Sometimes along these bluffs we would 
see the remains of “slides,” where the 
cedar logs were run to the river below and 
Start of the James-White River float at Galena; below, a bend of 
the beautiful White River 
A little study on Hale’s part and he an¬ 
nounced the solution of the mystery. It 
was too late in the day to try it out and 
the next day the water had cleared so much 
that we had no luck whatever in trying it 
again. Later on the White River, after 
a shower, when the water had become 
roiled, we proved Hale’s theory. Paddling 
up to within three or four feet of the 
bank, we sharply watched the water be¬ 
tween us and the bank. Innumerable 
swirls showed where the bass were fran¬ 
tically swimming about. At times one 
