CHAPTER VI.
Dangers of wandering from Camp.—An experience on Lake Superior.—The Falls of the East Branch.—Stair Falls.—Incidents of Camp life.—An Enchanted Bower.—Hunt’s Farm.—An Artist’s Canoe.—The ascent of Hunt’s Mountain.—A reverie.—Whetstone Falls.—Discovery of Jasper on Ledge Falls.—Dawn of Civilization.—Mattawamkeag.—The East Branch Canvas-ed 117
ILLUSTRATIONS.
1. THE AUTHOR IN HIS SANCTUM Frontispiece.
2. DEDICATION PAGE 3
3. THE ANGLER 5
4. CANOE AND CAMERA 17
4_a_. AN ODD SPECIMEN 18
5. ISAAK WALTON 21
6. KINEO HOUSE 25
7. ANTICIPATION 26
8. PICKING A COURSE 28
9. MAP OF THE TOUR THROUGH THE MAINE FORESTS 30
10. THE GUIDES 33
11. WE DREAM OF GAME 38
12. HOME APPETITE 41
13. CAMP APPETITE 41
14. MORRIS’S—NORTHEAST CARRY 43
15. IN SYMPATHY WITH NATURE 46
16. DISCOURAGEMENTS 48
17. “CHANGING PASTURE” 49
18. PENKNIFE SOUVENIRS 52
19. PINE STREAM FALLS 54
20. MUD POND CARRY 56
21. MUD POND—LOOKING EAST 59
22. “THIS IS THE WAY I LONG HAVE SOUGHT” 62
23. REFLECTIONS 63
24. CHAMBERLIN FARM—LOOKING WEST 65
25. THE ROOM INTO WHICH WE WERE USHERED 66
26. CAMP ON CHAMBERLIN LAKE 67
27. NOT IN THE PATENT OFFICE 70
28. A STUDY IN NATURAL HISTORY 71
29. GREAT NORTHERN DIVER 71
30. TELOS CUT AND LAKE 73
31. PHOTOGRAPHY—THE WET AND DRY PROCESS ILLUSTRATED 77
32. TELOS DAM AND RIVER 79
34. AN APPARITION 83
35. WEBSTER LAKE AND DAM 86
36. FLY CATCHERS VERSUS FLY FISHING 88
37. ALLUREMENTS 90
38. STUDY OF TROUT—BY THE AUTHOR 91
39. RUNNING RAPIDS ON WEBSTER RIVER 95
40. LUNCH TIME 99
41. IT’S NOT ALL POETRY 101
42. GRAND FALLS 103
43. STARTING A BOOM 107
45. A BOOM 109
46. DISCOVERY OF A NEW LAKE 111
47. MATAGAMONSIS LAKE 113
48. OUR SALMON 114
49. MATAGAMON OR GRAND LAKE 115
50. ON THE EAST BRANCH 120
51. DROPPING CANOES OVER FALLS 122
52. ACCEPTING THE SITUATION 123
53. STAIR FALLS 125
54. HULLING MACHINE FALLS 126
55. THE ARCHES—EAST BRANCH OF THE PENOBSCOT 128
56. HUNT’S FARM 130
57. MT. KATAHDIN—STUDY BY F. E. CHURCH 132
58. JUNCTION OF EAST AND WEST BRANCHES OF THE PENOBSCOT 134
59. GLIMPSES OF CIVILIZATION BEGIN TO DAWN 137
60. NET RESULTS 139
INTRODUCTION.
A love for the woods and out-door sports begins early in life. I can hardly remember when the sight of a gun or fish-rod did not awaken within my boyish fancy a feverish desire to follow their lead, be the tramp ever so hard. There never was anything to stop the growth of this passion until I reached the age of ten years, when I nearly destroyed a boy’s eye with an arrow, in my endeavors to excel in archery.
This act slightly dampened my ardor for some months, and retarded that progression in field sports I was then making.
There is also something so free, so stimulating in the woods life, uncontaminated by the gossip, allurements, and exacting dress of the usual watering places, that after one season’s enjoyment, a return to these wildernesses, and repeating its pleasures, is the constant thought of the future.
It also teaches very early self-reliance, and a philosophical endurance of many conditions of life, which add to one’s cheerfulness, while one is surprised how few of the necessities are essential to produce happiness.
“Man’s rich with little, were his judgment true; Nature is frugal, and her wants are few.”
The study also of natural history in the woods takes one into a realm which has no bounds, constantly enlarging his love and admiration of God’s works. The oft-repeated quotation, “Spare the rod and spoil the child,” has been misconstrued for many a long day, and if I had known early in life its real significance it would hardly have made so doleful an impression.
There is no doubt to-day in my mind that this “rod” meant a _fishing-rod_, and that the timely cherishing of it in youth tends to develop that portion of one’s nature to which the former use was entirely innocent.
“The surest road to health, say what you will, Is never to suppose we shall be ill. Most of those evils we poor mortals know From doctors and imagination flow.”
And now, after spending many of the annual short vacations allotted to an active business life in various parts of this country, from Canada to Florida, in the exhilarating sport of hunting, fishing, and exploring, and deriving great physical good thereby, it would not seem strange that the writer should be desirous of exciting in the hearts of others a taste for like recreations. In placing before my readers this sketch of a late canoe tour through Maine—especially that portion pertaining to the east branch of the Penobscot—I am perfectly aware that no two trips through that region can be made under the same circumstances. All days in the woods are alike, and still they are very unlike. Weather, height of water, companions, canoes, guides, sunshine or shadow, a hundred and one things, go to make a day pleasant or unpleasant to the tourist. During the month occupied in making this trip, the writer experienced but _four_ days of rain. But the first rain-storm could not have been more opportune, as it raised the water of Webster stream to a height that permitted the passage of my four canoes, when otherwise I should have endured a wearisome “carry” of seven miles. Unless there is sufficient water in Webster stream to float a canoe with _ease_, I should not recommend the tour of the east branch, for the numerous portages will hardly compensate for the pleasures of the trip.
The writer distinctly remembers meeting an angler who had followed the recommendation of a guide book on Maine, and attempted the journey from Allagash river to Chamberlin lake. Instead of an abundance of water, the stream was almost dry, and a “carry” of seven miles had to be made to Chamberlin lake. Again, the canvas boat added no little enjoyment to the pleasures of the excursion, and the trip would have lost many of its bright experiences without its companionship.
True, it received many a cut, but was more easily repaired than a birch bark, while its qualities of endurance after such an ordeal permitted it to spend the following winter season under the tropical skies of Florida.
No better companion could have been selected than Mr. H. R. Morley, of the Continental Life Insurance Company, Hartford (the “quartermaster” of the expedition), and to his suggestions and efforts to make the best of all difficulties the writer acknowledges himself indebted. It is surprising how selfishness, egotism, and other like traits of character will develop in the woods when it was never recognized in the individual at home, and one must have the true spirit of patient endurance for the sake of accomplishment in order at times to enjoy the forest life.
Thus the entire trip was made on the “flood tide,” from the state of the weather to the volume of water in the streams, facilitating the taking of photographs, and adding height and power to the many picturesque falls on the route. Until I am corrected by further explorations, I think I am right in the discovery of a new lake (not found on any map), between Matagamonsis and Matagamon lakes.
An enlargement of Hay creek has been suggested as this body of water, but if so, all the larger lakes in this region are but a part of the preceding stream which empties into them. This lake has the same area of square miles as Telosmis lake, and empties its waters in to the sluggish stream which connects the two large bodies of water just mentioned.
The pleasure of canoeing these undiscovered lakes and streams, and living from day to day upon their resources, was an element of indescribable delight. Nowhere do such rich thoughts of God’s bounty, grandeur, and control of nature impress one as in the depths of the forests, and there are reveries forced upon one, for which a city of brick walls and dusty streets have no affinity. The individuality of each tree, the strange and rare plants and flowers scattered along the indistinct path one wanders, all coupled with the weird stillness of the forest, bring one nearer to God and His works than almost any other situation. I do not suggest in this book the various ways of camping out, or the necessary preparations for the same, as there are special works on those subjects; I simply desire to direct the attention of tourists, and more especially artists, to a section of Maine _now but little known_, but which, if once explored, will yield to them a bright harvest of pleasure and studies.
THE AUTHOR.
HARTFORD, CONN.
CANOE AND CAMERA. TWO HUNDRED MILES THROUGH THE MAINE FORESTS.
ILLUSTRATED BY TRUE WILLIAMS, BENJAMIN DAY, AUG. WILL, AND OTHER ARTISTS.