The Vermont transcript. [volume] (St. Albans, Vt.) 1864-1870, 1867-09-27
The BOhemians or the Woods.

In some OF the districts where game
is yet plentiful, and where the maski-
nonge prince of the pike tribe--reigns
supreme in the woodland lakes, aud
the speckled trout haunts the eddies
Of the clear streams, men who cannot
be called settlers, in the proper sense
of the word, are often to be met with.
They have been attracted thither by
the free, wild romance of the fores-
ter's life, the Bohemianism of which is
kind by itself, although based, like
other phases of that philosophy, upon
impotence of the formalities by which
society is cramped. On one of these
lakes, in a picturesque and not very
remote part of Upper Canada, there
was generally little knot of such
men to be found, men who had fore
sworn the gay world, and come from
beyond the sea TO live among the In
dams and make havoc of the wild
beasts and birds that still abound in
the region. Sometimes they would
come to the cities, and return for
brief time to the usages of civilized
life After their arrival, their affecta-
ton was TO despise such Injuries as
chairs ana beds. OF an evening they
spread blankets on the floor, and sat
there with their pipes and "6re-wa-
ter like gentle savages as they were
| have met with several who,s for the
first few nights, declined TO avail
themselves of either house or bed, re-
sorting, in preference, to some open
shed or garden, where they wrapped
themselves in their inevitable blank
cts, and slept the sleep of wild men
upon the hard ground, with their
knives and rifles at hand, ready to re-
sist any attack that might be made
upon them by hostile tribes during
the night.
Once in the streets of city / re-
marked a couple of Indian straggfers,
such as are common in Canadian
towns. They were dressed in blanket
coats, handsomely ornamented, and
bound at the waist with sashes of gay
colors, in which long knives and to-
bacco pouches of marten fur were
stuck, and then smoked black pipes
as they strolled leisurely along. One
OF them was Chippewa of the half
breed stamp, and rather good speci-
men of his caste. His companion who
wore Scotch bonnet, was far too
light in complexion to be an Indian,
for, though his face was tanned to
healthy brown by exposure to the
weather, his hair, which fell down in
long ringlets to his shoulders, was of
fair, yellowish hue, and 1 observed,
besides, that be did not turn his toes
inward when walking, as the Indians
do. On inquiry l found that this ro-
mantle young man was an English
baronet of moderate fortune who had
been living among the Indians at the
lake for two or three years. He had
been guardsman in his time, and a
man about the clubs, and, having
drained society to the dregs, had ia
ken to Canadian woods and waters as
a change from the comforts and it,
conveniences Of too much civilization.
Sometime afterwards / saw him again,
but in far different guise. He was
once more a swell, and was driving
smart English trap" with hand
some team, in the streets of the same
town. Not long after this he retuxn-
ed to England, l believe, and is none
the worse, probably, for his adven-
lures by the shores of the pleasant
lake of the woods. AHdntic Wonhly
for September.