, 1877-09-23
Roundabout Ramblings to
and on the Brule
River.
The Jolly Good Time OF Some
Chicago Babes in the
Woods,
In Rowing, ReughiIg, Canoeing, Tentlng,
fronting, Shooting, and His
telianeou' So-Ferths.
A Diary Of It All, by John
Lyle King.

rCoftnued.] .-
| land II the angler lake fysshe, surely then
there is man metrierthan he IL in his spyrytc'
! -I'rioress OF SopeNelL 1406.
| MONDAY, o2d.-The:louds that lowered on our
house last night are the deep bosom Of the
ocean buried, for tint morning we woke to
yery resp1cndencc Of sunshine, which cxhlla:
/ rated us into the best spirits. True, We missed
some Of the boistenus fun or chatting with
which We were wont to welcome in the merry
mora, and We wished Pratt aud Denlson were
with us, for their oM longer pleasure in the
/ pastimes Of the Brule When the second order Of
the day breakfast tt first) was reached, the
| business on hand US proceeded with. Paul
pushed us, in the D ikey, up the stiff current
to several of the diaper pools. at each OF
which we held for space Of time, and,
our chief concern ws to find, not where the
! trout were most Duudant, but where the
| largest were. The small Try can be pulled
| pIenteously in almot any run Of the river, but
| the heavy swells haze their haunts, usually
under bauk' where the water runs close up
and deep, OF undo logs, or deep holes. or
iu and below rPids, or in the depths
Of the ,channa: They are coy
ticklcu with cauious, delicate, and dainty
dallia11cc. We happened OIL some OF these lairs
Of the larger fish, aid right galantly did they
show the gamesonr stuff they arc made of-
There was connection in the waters when
they stretched lilr or bent a tip. envicd
High the repeated ,ontcst and final capture Of
one particular trout splendid in his rncttlc. his
proportions, and ulrqualcd beauty. On his first
dash at the 11y le appeared in the clear
water as : If he we1c a flash OF deep
red, duttering flame, SO brilliant in
.11fr 1flr 1,If1 In T1n nj m
the next throw he pitched at the fly soon as it
touched the water, ind we saw him wayering in
shapes OF red, rs he was drawn in, caught on
the nook, but he iloutcd oil, and we feared WAS
gone for good. But lc was fitted. On j third
immediate throw lliga tastentd him firmly, and
how carefully, slowly and skilllully ld be han-
die his rod, SO as to save the prize! When being
played in, tluttering md writtling, he appeared
to us as if reducnol in his own blood, and
gamey did lie struggle to the last, but he was
lin tcndc.ly, to have look and to admire
and wonder at his beauty. lie WAS the sole one
OF the kind We have ever seen taken from the
Brulc The tail, fins, and belly were OF dceucs.
red. The spcckles or spots were unusually de-
fined and hgll-coorea, and the skin most beau.
ti:ully cnamecd and perfect. We all regretted
he could not he kept alive or preserved, TO be
taken home for show. He would bc 4 marvel
Of beauty in a parlor aquarium ur sh-globc.
lie was enough wonder and worthy to be kept
Us pet, as the famous lainprcy was i'll
the pond of Crassus, the orator. But all
That could he done with him was to con-
sign him to the cook for the fryin9-pan.
He was served ut dinner and fell to my piatter,
and youch for it that h. WIS Us good ~ eat rs
he was to look at. Ills meat WIS Of deep red
salmon tiure, His was dish of which it could
ue said Us Vi une ot fish that Walton dcscriocsnnd
says it was y too grod for anybody bur anglers
AMI very honest mtn.'' This mornings catch
was lo7, In the afternoon, a,hl after our usual
lounging, VIZ went ioE another essay with the
lIy. The rain Of last night is in the river now,
and swclled it visibly. Right at our camp thc
trout have come with the river; it now
slips smoothly along, aud We caught
trout there: At some rapids, where
Pratt and struck one Of our lucScst
''leads,n we could not now get single risc,-
probably because thu water is too turbulcut,-
but it shows-wllat, indeed, We knew before
that the fish are fugitive aud wandering, and do
not stay long in place whcn there Is water
enough To swim them generally about. In fact,
the trout are tho wandering Tartars ot lhe
waters. But the feat OF catching one Of these
Tartars is 10 great shakes Of feat almost
anywhere in this river \ trout skipped over Il
log to snatch Highs 1y. and did snatch it,
on or after. the leap, but paid, dearly
captured m and fried. I also saw trout leap
at least two feet, barely above aud
iu linz with the surface. This appeared to NE
rs lu1lerOus rs any nlisceruus antics oil Il
monkey. Catch this afternoon, IS; whole day,
iG5
THURSDAY, 23d.-I got up In the night to close
The flaps OF the tent, and witnessed i pretty
lunar effect. Fog was thick over the river, and
thc moon, directly opposite to or fronting the
lamp, shouc radiantly lustrous, aud seemed to
[orm q narrow pathway Of Illuminated fog or
golden haze stretching from the brink at our
[ect in rising perspective; clear and defined, up
20 the very face Of the moon. Early this
morning, the whole flock Of sawbils that i'll
omenea our Michigami voyage Or some others Of
he nefarious fnmily, appeared in front OF the
.cnt, and began padding their web-foot pro-
ocllers Tor a swim. Some one tn canp fright
med them,-they didn't stay On the order Of
heir going, but squawked and scattered in ter
or. Dcn1son would. possibly, have been willing
o stay over for SO promising broadsidc us
hey offered. We have lodge or settlement
# small red-squiercls, around US. They are
ire noisy with their chirping and chat |
cring. They venture occasionally on the |
recs oycrhanging the tents. Ono Of them, just |
low, was doing some trapeze fantasies On the |
lldcr-busles within twenty feet OF us, bending
lown slender branches, swinging from onc to
mother, swaying Oh twigs, md cutting shines
generally We also saw three chasing one All
'thcr in jumping race OIL logs, lncrrily squeak
ng Us they went. Their caperings are constant.
There are small birds, like sparrows, fitting
nong the bushes in hidc-and-go-sccl1 motions,
nd twittering little trills. A chpmonk some
lines comes aud turns his nose towards us,
axes i look, aud then hunts his hole. Rarely
he croak Of raven, OF moaning Of 4 loon high
ying, the rat-tat Of d sapsuckcr, the jerking
lotcs Of q. jaybird, and some
ther b1rd sounds not familiar to us, are heard,
nd prove that bird-lifc is more varied anu
bundant here than OIL the Micligami. but
ven here. the feathered choristers nre not,
ither in number or variety, what would be ex-
ccteh in these grand groves. High has been
enough ol the better hal, serving tho
ousGhold goods at home, to gather and press for
er Some Of hcchoicest Of the ferns We rugged
'abo with tackle, and he went out with Paul i'll
lc canoe to try what Indian skill was in ::
satch with the trout. They sportcd SO much
. the purpose, III their path Of dalliance with
nc fish, rs to return an invoice Of fitty-three
Iftcr dinner We cruised for trout. BY some
him or caprice We had fancy for passage
round an island, a little chute between it aud
TIC mainland. After We assembled it, some dis
ance IRON the entrance, it SO narrowed and
ne foliage SO oVerslretched 1t, and snags, sunk
u logs, and brush were SO thick as to make it |
sort OF water corduroy way, that 1t was hard to
ush the birch-bark along. though Paul struggled
tan1u!ly to wind through the crooked course,
nd We got in SO far that to return |
ere as tedious as go OH. A lew
k1An 1rt-t,ou L..