Eastern times. [volume] (Bath, Me.) 1846-1857, 1855-01-25
Gge Storpg GelIer.
Written for the Eastern Times.
A TRIP TO MOOSEHEAD.
BY MAI. LENBuRN.

Where, along the whole length of the Ken
nee, is that sportsman, who has not occasion
ally turned his eyes longingly towards the
head waters of his native river, Moose
head Lake !-the land of the wolf and the
black bear. He only who bags his 'shot
tomtit' with a grim satisfaction, which spar
kles up frothingly in spite of his scruples,
can comprehend the seventh heaven of put
ting bars nose out of joint There is above
all, an inexpressible thrill of pleasure in the
reflection that you have just 'sorter onsodered
a WOLF Dear shooting, however, if you hap
pen to carry such thing as a heart about
you, you begin to consider dear shooting in
deed. You are not at all sure YOU can afford
to be haunted in your sleep by that gasping
animal, with the blood gushing from his chest,
and the long pink tongue lying pantingly out
on the grass. But now so beautiful, as he
was, in the litheness and life that God gave
him-so beautiful still, though destroyed
You never thought of this, while you were
crawling up behind that big hemlock, trem-
bling with excitement as you watched the no.
BILE animal coming gracefully on to his destruc-
tion-and even now you are ashamed to tell
Tom, Dick and Harry, as they crowd with
you in at the death, that you are almost who'll
ly distressed, and fully half determined never
to shoot another deer. But alas the most
conscientious sportsman that ever pulled trig-
ger, never peeled his eye on deer within
,.,I l.. IL
we become totally oblivious TO the damping
.shower-bath of regret that comes drippingly
up in the wake of the death-shot, to drizzle
down upon US in our perspiration its icy
'harm not the harmless =
There were five of us. How we got TO
Moosehead does not at present signify, though
somewhat dwelt upon in journal thereof,
which was frightened into some odd corner
by him of Putnam's, who so queerly tells us
about Moosehead and "a perch that had the
toothache once.' We got there Our ultima
thule of yesterday was failure-Moosehra
was a humbug Law it among the cookies
of your heart o DIR. Lobster We were pre-
pared to find some little sign of civilization at
the outbreak of the Kennebec, but to find scat
tered all along the borders of the lake, great
overgrown bipeds, who spoke English and
smelled of brandy, was something we had not
anticipated. Premature Daniel Boons that
we were, nothing but the widest of wilder
nesses would satisfy US. We had not come
two hundred miles in order to be told
Bars1 Lor' bless yer, yissir They
venter down to the lake every spell or two.
And as fer deer, there's torable skrimmage
on 'em out back piece; and one is shot
clust ontcr the lake amost every year or two
We asked if there was in those parts for
est out of eyeshot, earshot and gunshot of
anything that wore cowhide boots.
Wal, rally, youngsters, hain't sartin,
but if there is, it's somewhar thar
And towards 'somewhar thar we dogged-
ly set our noses, needless of advice and reck-
less of the commiserating smiles that marked
in our party the preponderance of smooth bores
and kniveess belts.
After fatiguing tramp of two days and
half, we stumbled upon sort of cavern in the
side of steep hill Just in time to take shell
ter in it from a thunder shower. The cave
was formed by huge fiat stone lying on the
sloping sides of broad cavity or recess in
the solid ledge. The stone in question was
covered with moss and decayed vegetable mat
ter, and had probably lain in that position for
ages, but it had the appearance of having, at
some time or other. slid down from among the
mass of loose rocks above, and stopped here,
strangely enough, at precisely the right in
stant to form one of the neatest of natural
grottos. Had it kept on two feet farther, it
must have completely closed up the cave g
still foot farther, and its edge would have
projected over the brow of precipice As
it was, the roof of the cave presented an in
clined plane, the entrance being in the lowest
side and opening directly upon and within two
or three feet of the precipices brink The
latter overhung, at the altitude of some thirty
odd feet, narrow gap or gully with bottom
of bog stuck over with bush elder and other
swampy attributes. Down over the mass of
piled up rocks at the back of the grotto,
a small torrent tumbled frothily on its way to
the swamp, only prevented from passing over
or invading the grotto itself by the thick up
per edge of the roof and an additional barrier
of dead leaves and other matter, br ought down
and deposited against it by the rill ITSELF
Thus opposed it wound little aside and fell,
in beautiful cascade, over the precipice
We fancied the grotto overmuch; and in spite
of some serious objections, determined to make
it our head quarters. 1t would, at least. save
us the trouble of building a hut.
AS night drew on we found that the shower
was only spirited prelude to dreary after
piece, for a tough rain storm had fairly set
IN Everything began to look and sound dis
NAL enough but as we had determined to
view things in the best light. we tried lamp
light on larger scale. and drew together
what fag ends of comfort we could come at
But-and the idea grew upon US momentarily
there wasn't much comfort anyhow. In ad-
vocating the cave. we had placed some stress
on the lullaby of that brook But circum.