"©own the Mc6t tlrip in fIDalne 1890 Gopyiight]^^. COPYRIGHT DEPOSITS 4 T)cywn the West Branch *^> vw eA Canoeing Trip in cMaine 1399 '"k'W Written by Stokes and 'T^ickering 'WTk *,* , «: ■>,•> Press of The Leeds & Biddle Co. 1 1 9-2 J Market Street Philadelphia J900 37916 Copyfight,n900 _ _ TAUG 23 1900 ft'. so Stokes and Biddle joined Doughten, who had had a good nap, despite the cold, and all started to make the descent. It took us two hours or more to climb up, but only one to come down, and in making the descent we used large sticks or alpine- stocks, and leaning back on them were able in some of the gravelly places to slide for a distance of ten feet or more at a time. On our way down we were overtaken b)^ a shower which made us quicken our pace. We reached camp wet and hungry about 4 P. M., having made the trip of be- tween fourteen and fifteen miles in a little over nine hours. Wi During our absence, Pickering and guide had gone back in the woods about five miles to look for deer, and try his luck fishing in a small pond. On their way they started two moose, which they heard crashing through the under- brush, and followed their trail for some distance. They did not see any deer, but caught several fine trout, averaging about one pound each, and returned to camp at one o'clock, where they enjoyed a dinner of part of their morning's catch. Shortly after dinner it began to rain, so Pick donned his high rubber boots and oil skin shooting jacket, for the first time on this trip, and was just starting off after ducks when the others returned. Biddle and Henry wanted to go 33 with him, so the three set out, while the rest of us sat around and rested. They went over to Lily Pond and waited some time in cover, where they saw several flocks * of ducks flying over, but were unable to get a shot at them. It was raining hard all this time, and as Biddle and Henry were both very tired after their hard day's climb, they soon returned to camp for an early supper. Were just about ready to turn in, when Starr and Lippin- cott came over to call. We took a flash light photograph of the group, with the tent and some clothes hanging up to dry, as a background. It seemed quite late before they left, but found it was only half past eight when they bade us good night, and paddled away in the darkness. We were soon lulled to sleep by the patter of the rain on the * tent, and all slept w^ell that night despite the cold and Biddle's snoring. Were up at 6.15 the following morning to find it bright and clear once more, and much warmer than the previous day, with a strong wind blowing from the west. Broke camp at nine o'clock and reached Abol Falls by quarter of ten, made the portage and were soon at the second carry, with only a half mile of paddling between. Started once more on our course at a quarter past eleven, and came down the river with flying colors, having a strong wind at our backs which was of great assistance, as we J rigged up our coats on the paddles, using them as sails and fairly flew along, it only being necessary to steer the canoes. 34 We stopped on "dead water" at 12.25 for lunch, and while the guides were building a fire, all started off in different directions, to see if we could add anything to our larder. Biddle and Stokes walked back to a small lagoon, which they circled, but failed to see any game. Doughten stayed quietly by the fire, superintending the cooking and looking after the lemons, w^hich were getting low, while Pick went off alone to a small pond in another direction, to get some ducks which he felt sure were there. Not finding any, he was making a circuit of the camp, intending to come in from the other side, when he was startled by a deer jumping from some cover about sixty yards away. He said : " I at once dropped on my knee to take aim, but as it ran between the trees, could not get a shot, and was just about to go on again, when I saw a large doe standing behind a tree, sixty-five yards distant, with only her hind quarters exposed to view. She had evidently not seen me. Quick as a flash I threw my gun to my shoulder and fired . As soon as the smoke lifted I walked forward to find I had hit her, and broken her back. The animal was not dead, and struggled furiously to rise when she saw me, and struck at me several times with her front feet. Wishing to put her out of her misery as soon as possible, I stabbed her with my long hunting knife, and then put a bullet through her heart with my revolver." He then came rushing back to camp to get one of the guides to help bring her in. From what we could learn from his description of the affair, he must have hit her with 35 a load of buck-shot, at at least two hundred yards away, through three large pine trees directly in line. Then rushed forward, drawn his knife, and hurled himself upon her as she tried to rise in her death struggles. The poor boy was so excited at killing his first deer, he did not know whether he killed her with a shot gun or a " pea-shooter." At all events, here was the fresh meat w^e had been looking for, and, fifteen minutes after the report of the gun, we had the heart and liver in the frying-pan, cooking for dinner. We all ate some, but found it a little too fresh, to be good. Off again at 1.45, and after going a mile and a half, came to another fall, which we had to carry around, making our third portage that day. We tried to reach Joe Francis' camp, which is on Debskneek dead water, about two miles below, to see if he would sell us some flour. We had a good deal of trouble in doing so as the wind had increased, and by this time was blowing a gale, about forty miles an hour. At last we reached his place, only to be told that Joe was away from home, and the man in charge said, "They had none to spare." Leaving there, we again put out into a broad sheet of water, where we felt the full force of the wind, which piled the waves up so high that the canoes were shipping water at every stroke of the paddles, and we were all pretty wet. It was very exciting work, and more than once we thought we would be swamped, but as there was no escaping it, we did the best we could. We were finally compelled to 36 abandon our attempt to reach the lower end of dead water, and were forced to run before the wind, for a sandy beach (literally blown ashore), where we all landed safely, none the worse for our wetting. As we could get no further that day, had to camp there for the night, although it was not a good camping ground. Before supper we had a call from a Mr. Brown and a Mr. Crawley, who were staying at Joe's camp. They said they would try to get us some flour by telling Joe we were old college chums, and went away promising to use their best endeavors, although we had never seen them before. For supper that night we had some of Pick's venison, which was awfully tough, although he insisted it was delicious, but finally had to admit it was not fit to eat. While at table Pick sprang a good joke on Doughten, who for the last two or three days, had produced a lemon at each meal, saying it was the last, and making for himself a cup of hot lemonade. This time it was Pick's turn to bring forth a lemon, for during the afternoon he had discovered the lemon box with five lemons in it, and had quietly taken four good ones, hiding them in his pillow, and leaving one rotten one for manners, and Doughten. In the evening Biddle and Pickering went over to see Joe Francis, who proved to be an Indian about sixty-five years of age, and at one time chief of his tribe. They had a very cold rough walk of about a mile, against a strong wind which blew out their acetylene lamp twice ; but suc- ceeded in getting a promise from Joe to sell us twenty 37 pounds of flour in the morning, thanks to Messrs. Brown and Crawley. Upon their return to camp, about nine o'clock, they gave Doughten and Stokes the following glowing account of the cabin ; they said, " It was constructed of large logs fitted close together, with one big room which formed the dining and main living room; the principal feature of which, was a large open fire-place built of stone, with room on either side of the fire for several persons to sit. Old- fashioned andirons supported the large logs around which the flames licked, casting their reflections on the walls, and lending a coziness to the whole place that they were loath to leave. On the walls and shelves where the heads of moose, caribou, deer, eagles and pheasants mounted in excellent style, while the floor was strewn with the skins of bears and deer, and a beautiful rug made from a white fox skin mounted with the head on, lay just in front of the fire. On the wall to the right of the fire-place a pair of Indian snow-shoes and a small canoe made of birch bark, with paddles, made an effective panel. On the left was a rack made of moose feet containing an assortment of old and new rifles and fishing rods. Among this collection was an old flint-lock musket which Joe said had been used by his grandfather sixty-five years ago." This was all " made up out of the whole cloth," for in reality, it was nothing but a large room with bare walls, no fire place or ornaments of any kind, a stove (with the pipe stuck through a piece of tin in the window), three chairs, 38 and a board desk in one corner, was all it contained. They certainly scored one on Dough ten, as he got up at an un- earthly hour the following morning to go with the guide on purpose to see this " magnificent " camp. « CHAPTER VL Nearing the End. EPTEMBER 7th. Morning bright and clear. The wind, which had been blowing with unabated fury- all night, stopped very suddenly about half past five, just as if someone had turned it off. About eight o'clock, each man taking his guide, we all set out in different directions in quest of a set of horns, as we were now drawing near the end of our trip, and were anxious each to secure a head to bring home. At dinner time we found, upon comparing notes, that altogether we had seen fifteen deer that morning, but as all but two were does, and we had plenty of fresh meat in the larder, did not shoot any. Biddle told us, that after he and his guide had tramped about three miles inland they came to a large swamp ; circling which, and going a short distance they came suddenly to within thirty yards of a doe and fawn lying down. The wind being from her towards them she had not discovered their presence. As soon as they saw her they stood perfectly still, and a very pretty example of deer curiosity was then exhibited. Not being able to decide what they were, she got up and walked slowly towards them, the little 40 fawn running by her side, making a ver}^ pretty picture. She came within ten feet of where they stood and then stopped to take a good look. After looking at her for a few minutes, Biddle threw up his arm, and away she went, with the fawn close upon her heels, and in a moment they were lost to sight in the brush. Shortly after this as they were walking quietly along Henry grabbed Biddle's arm and excitedly exclaimed, "Look ! lyook ! " and at the same time pointing at a large bush about eighty yards away ; he looked carefully and soon saw the head and antlers of a large buck just over the top of the bush. He said Henry told him that if he shot it in the head he would spoil it for mounting, so he tried to guess where its heart would be, and fired. All we know is, that he did not bring home a head, and so we concluded that the "big hunter" must have been nearer than four hundred and fifty yards to h\s Jirst deer. During the afternoon we saw three more deer, making eighteen in all, the largest number seen in any one day on the trip. We sat around the fire after supper listening to the guides' stories until 8.45, when we turned in. Broke camp the next morning at 8.30, and had a beauti- ful ride down the river over long stretches of * * dead water," with now and then a short rapid which enlivened the run. The trees on either side of the stream had already begun to take on their autumnal tints and it seemed quite fall like to see the bright red and yellow leaves nestled in 41 among the different shades of green of the pines and hem- locks. We carried over Debskneek and Ambajejus carries, and stopped for lunch a few miles below the latter at the Amba- jejus House, which will accommodate one hundred persons (one at a time). It was an old log hut used by the lumber- men during the * * spring drive, ' ' and was very dilapidated and overgrown with weeds and vines. While sitting around after lunch, Henry's sharp eyes discovered an apple tree, and shouting, "There's an apple tree," made a break for it, but Ed. was there before him. One shake of the tree and the apple was on the ground with both men tumbling over and over each other in their efforts to get it. Stokes thought he had seen several fall, and while the guides were scrambling for one, he quietly picked up three, which he divided with the rest of us. It seemed strange to find an apple tree growing in such a wilderness, but we were very glad we had found it, as the apples were delicious. Before going any further Doughten insisted upon having his photograph taken, lying in his sleeping bag, and just as the shutter snapped he murmured, " I do wish mother could see me at this moment." At 1.30 we resumed our battle with the elements. The wind having stiffened into a regular gale, and with the waves running about two feet high we had some difficulty in keeping our frail crafts from being swamped. Stopped once, after about two hours hard paddling, to look for a good camping ground and Ed. went back into the woods to 42 see if he could find a suitable place. In climbing over some rocks on his way back to the boats, he fell, hurting his knee and dulling the edge of his axe, then we heard another of his " sermons," in good earnest. As he ap- proached us he was making the air blue by swearing, and all at once without a word of warning he swung his axe around his head and let it go. It seemed to us as if he had tried to throw it all the way across the lake but it fell about fifteen yards from shore and with a big splash sank out of sight. We found a good ground and went into camp about a mile further down on the opposite shore of Pemadumcook Lake. As soon as Biddle reached shore and felt terra-firma under his feet again, he was so overjoyed that he burst forth into his one and only song, and caroled it to the sky : " Can she make a cherry pie? Billy boy, Billy boy, Can she make a cherry pie ? charming Billy. She can make a cherry pie that'll beat you in the eye, For she's a young thing and cannot leave her mother," While the guides were pitching the tents and getting supper, we did some rifle and revolver shooting, and in the midst of our sport we noticed a black duck winging its way about fifty yards from shore, against the strong wind, and considering how hard the wind was blowing, it was certainly making remarkable headway. Doughten turned and fired as soon as he saw it, followed almost immediately by Biddle, but the duck kept on and by this time it was at 43 least seventy yards from us ; Stokes then fired, and much to our surprise as well as his, down it came, tumbling over and over. Doughten, and Henry who had been watching him, at once manned a canoe and put out to get it, but here another surprise awaited us, for no sooner had his " duckship " struck the water than he bobbed up serenely and started swimming ; the boys gave chase but as soon as it saw them it dived, and owing to the wind and big seas was seen no more. Davenport, who had been watching us, here burst out laughing, and said, " None of us could shoot a little bit ; " but Pick protested, saying, " He had not fired at the duck, and dared him to throw up his hat." He did so, and then Pick had the laugh on him, for it came down more like a sieve than anything else. It was the only hat Davenport had to wear back to Kineo, and as he was a great dude, we all said it served him jolly right. That evening we sat out on a rocky shore watching the shooting stars, and waiting for two of the guides, whom we had sent down to Norcross to get our letters. They re- turned about half past eight, bringing with them quite a large budget of mail, which we spent the rest of the eve- ning reading. We were all very glad to hear from our dear ones at home, and it made us feel as if our trip was nearly at an end, to be again within the reach of a post ofiice. This was our last night in camp and we wanted to make 44 the most of it, so sat up until quarter past ten, very late. September 9th. Morning bright and clear, with a strong wind blowing from the north. We spent the early part of the day in cleaning guns, rifles and revolvers, and packing up our things. Gave what clothes we had no further use for to the guides who seemed as much pleased to get them as we were to get rid of them. Just before dinner, decided to take one more swim before getting back to civilization ; the water was the nearest thing to liquid ice we had ever been in and the keen wind cut us like a knife, but with Doughten's encouragement, who stoutly maintained with chattering teeth, that it was "all imagination," about the water being cold, we managed to get a plunge. After a good rub down and a run along the beach, felt much refreshed and did full justice to an early dinner of stewed deer meat, hot biscuit, flap jacks and the last of the maple syrup, and a steaming cup of coffee. By this time all our things had been packed, tents rolled up, cooking utensils cleaned, and everything in the canoes. We bid good-by to the woods and pushed off at 12.45 ^^r Norcross where we arrived an hour later, after paddling through North and South Twin Lakes. On our way. Pick entertained us with his favorite song, " Old Mother Hubbard," etc., accompanying himself by banging on the sides of the canoe with his fists. 3 CHAPTER VIL Homeward Bound. ►OUND our city clothes waiting for us, and using the freight house as a dressing room, with the aid of a tin basin and a piece of broken looking-glass, were once more in citizens garb and prepared to enter civilization. It took us some time to get used to high collars and stiff straw hats, after two weeks of flannel shirts and old slouches, and they made our tanned and bearded faces stand out in marked contrast. As we had all we could well manage with our guns, rifles, fishing rods and the remains of the camera, we secured a large wooden box in which Doughten packed our blankets, etc., etc., to be shipped home by freight. Having deposited a sufficient sum with the Mt. Kineo House to pay our guides, thus avoiding taking the money with us through the woods, Biddle now settled with them by giving each an order on the house for the amount due him. Pickering and Stokes took a last few photographs and purchased some Indian moccasins while waiting for the train. At 4.41 it rolled into the station and we boarded it for our long ride home. 46 Then began one of the most interesting rides we had ever taken, as Henry, our boy guide, never having been on a railway train before in his life, got very much excited as the speed increased, and we told him he would have to S *' snub her " if it got to going too fast. At one place the whistle blew a shrill blast and the brakes being put on suddenly, the train came to a full stop. We told him the train must have run over a man and we were stopping to pick up the pieces, and as a man came running up the track at that moment from a small flag station we had nearly run by, we assured him this was the man but that he had fallen off the engine instead of being run over. All this, with the occasional firing of revolvers from the rear platform when he was not looking, we had the boy so rattled that he must have been glad when he reached Milo • Junction, where the guides left us, taking another train back to Greenville and from there returned to Kineo. We stopped forty minutes at Bangor, where we had supper, and reached Boston at 6 A. M. Sunday morning, after a very comfortable night in the sleeper. Took the 10.30 train from the new Union Station, which was opened that day for the first time, and reached New York City at four o'clock that afternoon. Here we said good-by to Biddle — the rest of us going on to Philadelphia where we arrived safe and sound at 7.23 Sunday evening, September loth, after two of the most g delightful weeks we had ever spent. ^ 47 Camping List t899 Kineo, Me., Aug. 26th, '99. 5 Loaves of Bread, J .75 5 %\hs. Cheese, 79 2 ^bu. Potatoes, 2.50 7 lbs. Pork, 63 5 Strips of Bacon, 3.04 I Small Ham, 1.60 23 lbs. Butter, 6.84 % lb. Pepper, 10 20 lbs. Salt, 25 I qt. Vinegar, 10 30 lbs. Sugar, 2.00 12 Packages of Hecker's Flour, 4.47 2) 30 lbs. Corn Meal, , i.oo 1 Package of Quaker Oats, 13 6 doz. Onions, 30 15 doz. Eggs, 4.15 13 lbs. Lard, 1.30 % doz. Candles, 10 2 qts. Kerosene Oil (can) , 33 5 bars Soap, 37 74 gross Matches, 20 2% lbs. Tea, 1.40 8 lbs. Coffee, 2.80 5 lbs. Evaporated Peaches, 75 5 lbs. Prunes, 60 2 lbs. Rice, 20 J 3 doz. Cans of Condensed Milk, 6.00 I doz. Cans of Evaporated Cream, 2.16 1% Cans of Baking Powder, 45 AUG 231900 48 3 Cans of Baked Beans, 50 6 qts. Maple Syrup 2.35 2 Cans of Preserved Peaches, 1.20 4 Cans of Preserved Pears, i.oo 2 Cans of Preserved Pineapples, 50 I doz. Cans of Tomatoes, 1.75 I doz. Cans of Corn, 1.33 I doz. Cans of Peas, 1.75 5 Cans of Corned Beef, 1.25 5 lbs. Beefsteak, 2.00 5 lbs. Lamb Chops, 1.25 I doz. Boxes Large Sardines, ) I doz. Boxes 5?;2«// Sardines, j 3-9 1 Box Lunch Tongue, 35 2 Bottles of Pickles, 40 3 Bottles of Olives, 1.05 2 Bottles of Chow Chow, 1.38 2 lbs. Cocoa, 60 2 Jars of Currant Jelly, 45 2 Jars of Raspberry Jelly, 35 4 Jars of Strawberry Jelly, i . 10 6 doz. Lemons, 2.00 y% bu. Potatoes, 12 $71.89 For four men and five guides, making nine in the party, fourteen days in the woods. Left Kineo, Sunday morning, August 27th, and came out at Norcross, Saturday afternoon, September 9th, 1899. Guides Ed. Leiney (Capt.), JoE Launder, Lonzo Davenport, John G. Caulder, Henry Pease.