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Terms, Five Dollars a Year. | 
Ten Cents a Copy. { 
NEW YORK, 
THURSDAY, 
SEPT. 1, 1873. 

Volume I, Number 5, 
103 Fulton Street. 



lor the Forest and Stream. 
EARLY DAYS. 
—_>——_ 
O childish years we love once more to turn 
Ere life’s young light—to its full dawning grew 
To taste the spring that bubbles from youth’s urn, 
As fresh, as sparkling as the early dew; 
We love the purity and grace of youth, 
Its merry langh from careless heart that flows; 
The open brow, all innocence and truth, 
The healthy cheek, as ruddy as the rose, 
That by the way-side hedges all untended grows. 
Dear then the joy to wander far and near, 
To play the truant, reckless of the rod, 
To tease the kine, or goad the browsing steer, 
Or chase the sheep, or sluggish colt unshod, 
Scour the wide plain, or scale the steepy hill, 
With rusty gun borne with no kind design, 
Regardless whether flesh or fowl it kill; 
Or thresh the brook with clumsy rod and line, 
Its hook a crooked pin, attached to vulgar twine. 
Lo! as we muse, full many a slumbering string 
In memory’s harp weird fancy stirs again; 
Round childhood’s rustic roof birds gaily sing, 
And the slant sunbeam peeping thro’ the pane, 
Tnvites us forth to taste the morning air, 
With perfumes laden from the dewy ground. 
Pleas’d then we seem these well-known scenes to share 
To hear once more the fields with voices sound, 
As the old steeple wakes the region round. 
We hear the mower’s whistle in the vale, 
The sheep-bell’s tinkle and the low of herds, 
“?he plow-boy’s call, the thresher’s sounding fiail, 
The hum of insects and the songs of birds; 
The locust’s drone, the whip-poor-will’s lament, 
The swallows chirp and the humming of the bee, 
The squirrels chatter in his leafy tent, 
The house wife’s wheel, the sounds of childhood's glee 
On sunny hills at play, or by the favorite tree. 
Tsaac McLESLLAN. 
AN TICOSTI. 
——4 
THE JOURNAL OF A NAVAL OFFICER. 
sii rs 
[Coneluded from our Last Issue. | 
——— 
Finding it hopeless to do anything in the fishing line, I put 
my rod up in disgust, and De Courcy and self concealing our- 
selves in the wood bordering on the river, awaited the 
incoming of the duck. It was nearly high tide, so we 
were not kept long in suspense. Presently the familiar 
whistling sound made by ducks as they ‘‘swinge ” through 
the air, greets our ears, and the next minute three black duck 
(anas obscura) swooping over the tree tops light with heavy 
plash on the water, not fifteen yards from where we lie. 


- They are swimming close together, and with my first bar- 
rel I succeed in knocking over two, while the third, rising 
to the report, falls to De Courcy’s discharge. The ball is 
now fairly opened, and for the next hour we keep the firing 
up with no lack of spirit. Now a flight of widgeon, (anas 
Americana) or teal, (anas discors) easily distinguishable by 
their smaller size, and the close compact body in which 
they fly, would sweep past our hiding place, and four barrels 
would thin their ranks; anon a flight of sheldrake (mergus 
serrator) circling high above the woods, would seem to seek 
the most inviting creek, or pool, and finally after much de- 
liberation would make for our ambuscade; just as they are 
coming nicely within range De Courcy unintentionally ex- 
poses himself, and off they swerve, too late, however, to 
prevent our bagging three of their number. Hardly has 
the smoke from our ‘guns cleared away when the loud 
‘‘honk” of a wild goose is heard, and before I have time 
to load, six geese (wnser Canadensis) sailing in line abreast, 
settle with much fluttering and noisy cackling upon the 
creek. My friend hastily slips a couple of green cartri- 
ges into his breech-loader, but it is not a bit too soon, for 
pa as Keen ear of the geese have detected some sus- 
; sound, and they are meditating flight. De Courcy 
asly tll they rise, and then as_ they streteh 
their pinions, preparatory to taking wing, offering a lovely 
shot, he let them have the contents of both barrels, and 
drops one stone dead, while another staggers off badly 
wounded. By this time Iam ready, and blaze away af- 
ter the retreating birds, but partly owing to my being 
loaded with duck shot, and partly to my being a good deal 
flurried, I fail to touch a feather, and the geese are soon 
lost behind the wood. Towards dark the black duck come in 
by twos and threes, and we fire with varying: success, now 
picking off a straggler as he spins up the river, now miss- 
ing altogether, occasionally getting half a dozen shots in 
quick succession asa large flight soar in from the reefs, 
and breaking up into little groups settle, some far out in 
mid-stream, others in the reeds close by, and as the woods 
‘e-echo to our shots, the wild fowl rise in all directions, 
and while some wheel out tosea, others, apparently con- 
fused by the rapid reports, head straight for our place 
of concealment, and the sport grows ‘‘fast and furious.” 
Atlength as it is getting dark, and we have already more 
birds than we well know what to do with, we ‘‘ count out 
the bag,” (which Gamache and Flanigan have collected 
by degrees, and as opportunity offered), and find it to con- 
sist of one goose, twelve black duck, nine teal, seven wid- 
geon, and three sheldrake, a total of thirty-two head, which 
was not so bad, considering all things. 
That evening we feasted sumptuously off goose, anda 
“tit-bit”’ of widgeon to wind up with, and lighting a 
roaring fire, for the nights were growing cold, and throw- 
ing up afew boards to windward, we smoked and talked 
till nearly midnight, and after a few hours sleep were astir 
at daybreak, when the wind and sea had both gone down. 
We re-embarked our traps, and ‘shortly after five o’clock 
started for Jupiter river, which we reached about nine 
o’elock. For some miles to the westward of the river 
perpendicular cliffs from one hundred to one hundred and 
fifty feet in height, bound the coast, which for a distance 
of amile either side is free from reefs, deep water being 
found close inshore. A well defined valley marks the 
course of the stream, low swampy land receding from 
the left bank to gently sloping hills, behind which an 
elevated ridge may be seen trending almost due east and 
west. Beyond this valley the coast again rises gradually, 
and sandy cliffs, varying in height from fifty to one hnn- 
dered feet, extend to Southwest Point. The cliffs to the 
westward are composed of a greenish gray argillaceous 
limestone, which though rapidly becoming hardened on 
exposure to the air, may, when first cut, be easily carved 
into any shape or form with aknife. Trappers have oc- 
casionally made pipes from it, and as many portions of the 
strata have a close texture, and take a high polish, it has 
been suggested that lithographic stones might be obtained 
from some parts of the cliff. A fresh cut block has that 
peculiar unctuous feeling we find in the soap stone. 
Jupiter, er Observation river, as it is laid down upon the 
chart, ig the largest stream in the island, having six or 
seven feet in the entrance, and being navigable for canoes 
for upwards of nine miles. It has a course of some twenty 
miles from the eastward, and abounds in deep quick pools, 
in nearly all of which good trout fishing may be had. The 
first salmon hole is about five miles from the mouth, 
but there are two or three pools four miles further up the 
river which afford better sport. Camping at these upper pools 
in the month of the August, sportsman may enjoy both good 
fishing and shooting, for when he gets tired of the former, 
he can strike into the ‘‘ barrens,” which are close at hand, 
and where he will be tolerably certain of having a shot 
at deer. As many as fifty barrels of salmon have been 
taken in Jupiter river with a seine during the season, but 
latterly it has not been netted at all. Some ideaof the trout 
fishing may be formed from the fact that two hundred is 
no unusual number for asingle rod to kill ina day, and 
though the majority of these run between twelve ounces 
and one and one-half pounds, there is a fair sprinkling of 
still larger ones. Unfortunately we arrived at the river 
on the 3ist of August, the last day of the fishing season, 
and as our leave was drawing to a close we thought 
it better to push on to Southwest Point at once, and 
endeavor to secure a passage in 
we had reason to believe would be cruising over to 
Gaspé about this time. Accordingly after a bathe in the 
river, and breakfast I started with the Indians in the canoe, 
leaving De Courcy to follow with Gamache later on. 
Cue: would have supposed that in an out of the way 
Island like Anticosti the rivers would not have been closely 
watched, and that one might, if one felt so inclined, have 
fished on the ‘‘Sabbath,” or infringed the limits of the 
‘‘close” season with impunity. The following fact will 
prove the contrary: When about four miles from Jupiter 
river, we observed a large boat bearing out of the cove at 
Southwest Point, and at first thinking it some fisherman 
changing his ground in pursuit of cod, we took no notice 
of it. Presently, however, as the boat stood well out 
from the land the Indians ‘‘smelt a rat,” and informed us 
that it was ‘‘de spectre!” ‘The spectre! !” ‘‘of whom?” 
perchance of one of the unhappy habitants of Dead 
Man’s Point, who growing tired of his narrow beat had 
sought anew and larger ‘‘base of operations.” ‘De fish- 
in spectre,” again repeated the Indian as the boat bore 
down upon us, and a faint dawning of his meaning flashed 
across me. It was the Inspector, or Overseer for the dis- 
trict, who, I afterwards found out, had from the light- 
house perceived a strange sail entering Jupiter river this 
morning, and was now off toascertain what our little game 
might be. He was a big burly Frenchman, a disagreea- 
ble bumptious fellow, and as soon as I saw that he wanted 
to intercept the canoe, I could not resist the temptation to 
give some bother, so telling the Indians to paddle hard in- 
one of the schooners 
shore, we watched what effect our conduct would 
have. Sure enough he altered his course, and stood after 
us, and as we swerved in and out, as if trying to dodge 
him he followed suit, and at last overhauled us. ‘‘D’ou 
venez-vous?” sang out the ‘“‘spectre” ina tone of voice 
that showed he was not-over pleased at the chase we had 
led him, and when after a little consultation, and much 
shaking of heads, I replied, ‘‘no understand,” he fairly 
boiled over, and his deep ‘‘saere” came rolling over the 
water. ‘‘ Whose ehaloupe at Jupiter?” ‘‘Shallop? oh, 
that’s ours.” ‘Hah! c’est bon; I thought as moch; vat 
you doing there?” ‘‘ Doing? nothing I assure you.” Pouf! 
Allez-vous en, I vill see for myself.” ‘As you please my 
dear sir, but Pll swear they’re not fishing.” As I had in- 
ended, this last reply introducing the fishing question, 
had the desired effect of confirming his suspicions that 
‘our ways were dark and our tricks were mean” at Jupi- 
ter, and disdaining further parley, and with an audible 
chuckle as he thought of the discomfiture that would soon 
follow, the ‘‘spectre” let his sail down, and we were soon 
far apart. He arrived at the river safely enough, but 
only to find Gamache on the point of starting, and as he 
was most unmercifully ‘‘ quizzed” by the latter on having 
“caught a tarter,” he speedily beat a retreat, and turned 
his boat’s head for home. The wind fell light, and died 
away altogether towards evcning, and the unhappy ‘‘spectre”’ 
did not fetch back till nearly midnight. Gamache’s boat being 
smaller and pretty light, they were enabled to pull, but 
even then it was ten o’clock before they arrived at the 
lighthouse. 
On my arrival at the Southwest Point I learnt thata 
schooner would most probably be crossing to Gaspé in two 
or three day’s ‘time, and that Captain Setter’s schooner 
would be leaving in about a week with her last cargo of 
cod. The schooner it appeared had been chartered by a 
Frenchman, by name Geffrard, (of which more anon) who 
with a gang of men, all French Canadians from Quebec, 
had been employed during the summer working on the 
wreck of a large iron clipper ship, lost early in the spring, 
and now lying in some ten fathoms of water. It had not 
been a successful venture of Geffrard’s; his first trip had 
paid fairly well, but this second one, what with gales of 
wind, which puta stop to all diving, and lazy workmen, he 
was returning considerably out of pocket, with but two 
iron yards and a chain cable. 
During our two day’s stay at Southwest Point, 
most hospitably entertained by Mr, 
we were 
Pope the keeper, wh 
