The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1869-07-24
THE AD1RoNpAoKs.
"FrOm the BneReye TO the BaIsAm."
A Pew Days In the wilderness.
Correspondence OF the Intslllsencen
AnIRnNnArv WITDpprpsu !

July 10, 1860. J
One OF our American authors has
, given 10 the reading public little work
OF travel styled "From the Oak 10 the
Olive" Illustrative OF q Journey ffonl
old England 10 Greece; and now may
not |, with humber aspirations and yet
N strong alllteratlve force, give few
notes or Joltings from the journal Of
one who has travelled Ia the past few
weeks from the Buckeye 10 the Balsam?
II you Will excuse q few lead pettcttin0S
written 10 4 hurry and wild fervor Of
camp'liie, l shall be pleased to detail
10 those Of your readers who are, as l
was some time ago, Ignorant Of this
part OF our country, lis sporting facilI.
ties, It's exceeding beauty oTland aud
water, the people with their customs,
the manners OF sporting, &C., &C. In
extent, this wilderness embraces about
10000 square miles beginning Ia the
neighborhood Of Lakes George and
Champlain, on the south and east rang.
Ing as far west as Bonneville and cul-
minRting with the waters OF the 81,
Lawrence on the north and the whole
OF II is "forest primevAl." II Ia alto.
gether uninhablted, save here and there,
IN places easy OF access, there 10 a back.
woods FendE1vOps--We can't say either
hotel or tAvern-where resort those
sportsmen who do not wish to I'camp
out" The whole dlstrIct Ia traVaraed
by an iuterinlnAble network Cf lakes,
rivers, brooks, bogs, and ponds, wAshS
Ing with their waves the sides OF these
giant mountains and rIpplIng along
their bases In melody that adds VarI-
ETY. 10 the low muTmur Of the pines, You
have often read OF "the low murmur Of
the pines and the music OF the babbling
brook" Here's where you actually hear
item. Those who sport In this region
are obliged 10 take into the woods with
them their guides, men who, brought
up In these solltudes and accustomed
to range the woods from earliest inian.
cy, know every crag that beetles from
the mountain side and every brook that
pours its silver waters into these 70.
mantle lakes, as a proprietor knows
bis lands. As class they are unedu-
Gated, honest 10 fault, moral In every
sense, fully conscious OF their humble
calling, yet prIdIng themselves upon
the superiority with which a long con-
tact with nature In her outward iorais
invests them, symbOliZing In all their
handicrait that necessity Is the moth.
er OF invention" in very truth. Their
wisdom is one that never was evolved
from printing press.
The route taken by our party was by
rail- from Boston 10 Burlington, Ver-
mont, thence across the beautiful wat.
erS OF Champlain 10 the old town OF
Plattsburgh, New York, so replete with
Its historic memories. From this point
a new railway, partly completed, brings
us thirty miles further TO Ausable
Forks, on the Saranao river. Here en-
gaging private conveyance we trundIed
of on wild stage ride Of forty miles,
through country abounding In rugged
mountains and leapiDg cascades; and
finally our Jehu hauls In his reIns at
the foot OF the Lower Sarauac lake,
which can be seen.on my good map OF
New York State. Here drawn up on
the landing are the long, sharp pointed
boats that skim these waters like things
Of life. Before entering the wilderness
we provide ourselves on the border
with flour, pork, sugar, common and
maple, tea, coffee, condensed milk and
whatever dellcaCies one may wish for
the time he intends TO stay. These
are all carefully slowed Hway in
the light cedar-shell boat, together
with necessary baggage which consists
OF nothing but two heavy blankets,
rifle and ply-rod, with sRtchel con-
tanning a change OF heavy uudercloth>
ing and small items OF one kind and
another. With these we get into the
light boat and 60 shooting up the lake
to enter upon a voyage the like Of
which IL no where else found. All
hunting and fishing are done from the
boats which are propelled by the guides
who az u class are boatmen unmatched
by any. They pull at the oars from
morn Till night with uutirlng energy,
and exhibit the most consummate
skill iu running the wild rapids of
these rivers avoiding the underlying
rocks and shifting the light shell lrom
the foGnly surge 10 where the shooting
current carries 1t headlonH down
wards. Oh, 1t IL exciting in the ex-
treme to run rapids under the guild.
ance OF these unrivalled oRrsmen when
you know th.ir skill and strength put
danger In the background. lfyou will
consult the map Of New York State In
its northeast section you will lind the
Racket river, (the proper spelling Is
Racquette as the French and Indians
have ny. This stream Is at once the
feeder and the drRiner Of the majority
of the lakes and water courses OF the
north woods. Leaving the Lower Sar.
anac after scudding over its full length
we shot across the lower end Of Upper
Saranao into this river and creeping
along It's wild current for about 80
miles down toward the st. Lawrence,
built our first camp on the only knoll
In wild dell. Here we hunted and
fished for four or five days until driven
out by the ravages OF the black files,
mosquitoes aud "midgets" rs they call
them here. The late wet weather has
prevented the insects from disappearing
ut the proper season OF their departure,
viz: the last OF June. 0neNWho has
never seen It has no idea what a grand
river the RacqueLle is. The water
looks TO be as black AZ ink and yet 10
as clear as crystal. In some places II
Is as broad as the Ohio, though general
~ not SO wide. II IL wonderfully deep,
averaging about twenty feet the year
round, only shallow on the rapids, md
| In distance Of one hundred miles itS
current runs In the widest fury over
many rocky gorges and burles itself In
thunder and foam ut the feet OF tower
Ing rocks sixty or seventy feet high.
l have seen Niagara, GtneseS and Other
falls and yet after these can look with
wonder and amazement at the cataracts
OF the Racquette. Along the banks OF
this stream grow the cedar, the bal.
sam, the pine, the spruce, the tama.
rack, the elm and the birch. and Its
waters are so lympid that at 10 o'clock
at night / have seen each particular
leaf repeat itself in the CLASSY surface.
Here ihe deer and the wolf, the bear
and wild cat, the beaver Glih the otter,
the mink aud the sable make their
home.
| should like 10 give you some ade.
uuate idea OF the excitement and wlerd
character ofdeer hunting by night. or
.iack shooting" as It is styled up here
how one goes coastiuY, as silent Rs
death Itself, along the dark lined shores
OF this wild stream, far away from any
civilized abode, with no noise but the
ill-omened music OF the scrsech owl, or
the piercing cry OF loonwhich you have
to hear once 10 remember always-here
the guide with his noiseless paddle
shoves tue boat along among the lily
pads where the deer feed while the
huntsmau sits In the bow just under
the lighted Lantern, made OF bent birch
| haFR RlHa In raaItV In hia