Again am I in the country, where I shall probably remain until the
even-tide of the year. The main object, as you know, in my contemplated
wanderings, will be to study the “book of nature, opened wide,” with a
view of adding to my stock of materials for future use in my profession.
The first of those letters, which I promised to write you by way of
recreation, I have now commenced, and I wish you to understand, at the
very outset, that, as I have nothing in particular to prove, my themes
will be as variable as my feelings; but I shall confine myself
principally to descriptions of natural scenery and personal adventures.
My present stopping place is at an old Dutch farm-house near Plauterkill
Clove, under the shadow of the Catskill mountains. Since my arrival here
the weather has been rather chilly for the season, so that I have not
had much opportunity to use the pencil, but I have already noted some
noble views, which I shall attempt to portray in their summer garb. The
consequence is—independent of the fact that May is the angler’s favorite
month—I have been practising my hand at trouting, in which art you have
reason to know I am somewhat of an adept. How truly hath it been written
by good old Walton;—
Of recreation, there is none
So free as fishing is alone.
All other pastimes do no less,
Than mind and body both possess;
My _hands_ alone my _work_ can do,
So I can _fish_ and _study_ too.
Never, more deeply than now, have I felt the wisdom of this thought, and
never before have I enjoyed this sport to such perfection, whether you
consider my success or the scenery I have witnessed. My first excursion
was performed along the margin of a stream, which rises about two miles
off, out of a little lake on the mountains. My guide and companion was a
notorious hunter of these parts, named Peter Hummel, whose services I
have engaged for all my future rambles among the mountains. He is,
without exception, the wildest and rarest character I have ever known,
and would be a great acquisition to a menagerie. He was born in a little
hut at the foot of South Peak, is twenty-seven years of age, and has
never been to school a day in his life, or in his travels further away
from home than fifteen miles. He was _educated_ for a bark-gatherer, his
father and several brothers being engaged in the business; but Peter is
averse to commonplace labor, to anything, in fact, that will bring
money. When a mere boy of five years, he had an inkling for the
mountains, and once had wandered so far, that he was found by his father
in the den of an old bear, playing with her cubs. To tramp among the
mountains, with gun and dog, is Peter’s chief and only happiness. He is
probably one of the most perfect specimens of a hunter now living; and
very few, I imagine, could have survived the dangers to which he has
exposed himself. He seems to be one of those iron mortals that cannot
die with age and infirmity,—or be killed by man, rock, or water; he must
be shivered by a stroke of lightning. Although one of the wildest of
God’s creatures, Peter Hummel is as amiable and kind-hearted a man as
ever lived. He is an original wit withal, and shrewd and very laughable
are many of his speeches, and his stories are the cream of romance and
genuine mountain poetry.
But to return. We started on our tramp at an early hour, he with a
trout-basket in his hand, containing our dinner, and I with my
sketch-book and a “pilgrim staff.” After a tiresome ascent of three
hours at the almost perpendicular side of a mountain, over ledges and
through gloomy ravines, we at last reached the wished-for brook. All the
day long were we cheered by its happy song, as we descended, now leaping
from one deep pool to another, and now scrambling over green-coated
rocks, under and around fallen trees, and along the damp, slippery sides
of the mountain, until we reached its mouth on a plain, watered by a
charming river, and sprinkled with the rustic residences of a sturdy
Dutch yeomanry. We were at home by sunset, having walked the distance of
twenty miles, and captured one hundred and fifty trout, the most of
which I distributed among the farm-houses in my way, on my return.
On another occasion, I had taken my sketch-book and some fishing tackle,
and gone up a mountain road, when, after having outlined a few giant
trees, whose bare arms were extended upwards, as if they were praying to
be reclothed in their summer garniture, I found myself on the banks of
Schoharie Creek. In the very first hole into which I peered, I
discovered a large trout, lying near the bottom, just above a little bed
of white sand, whence rose the bubbles of a spring. It must have been
some thirty minutes, I think, that I stood there against a tree,
watching him with a “yearning tenderness.” “He is so happy,” thought I,
“I will let him live.” Presently, however, a beautiful fly lighted on
the water, which the greedy hermit swallowed in a minute, and returned
to his cool bed, with his conscience, as I fancied, not one whit
troubled by what he had done. Involuntarily I began to unwind my line,
and having cut a pole, and repeated to myself something about “diamond
cut diamond,” I baited my hook, and threw it in. The rogue of a trout,
however, saw me, and scorned for a while to heed my bait. But I coaxed
and coaxed, until at last he darted for it, apparently out of mere
spite. Something, then, like a miniature water-spout arose, and the
monarch of the brook was in a fair way of sharing the same fate which
had befallen the innocent fly. I learned a salutary lesson from this
incident, and as I had yielded to the temptation of the brook, I
shouldered my sketch-book, and descended the stream. At noon I reached a
farm-house, where I craved something to eat. A first-rate dinner was
given me, which was seasoned by many questions, and some information,
concerning trout. That afternoon, in company with a little boy, I
visited a neighboring stream, called the Roaring Kill, where I caught
one hundred and sixty fish. I then returned to the farm-house, and spent
the evening in conversation with my new acquaintances. After breakfast,
on the following morning, I set out for home, and got there about noon,
having made two additions to my sketches. Long shall I remember the
evening spent with this family, and their hospitality towards an entire
stranger. A good husband, a good wife, and two good daughters, have been
added to my list of friends.
Another of my trouting pilgrimages was to a famous place called Stony
Clove, among the mountains of Shindaken, which are a continuation of the
Catskills, leading westward. It is a deep perpendicular cut or gorge
between two mountains, from twenty to an hundred feet in width, three
thousand in depth, and completely lined from base to summit by the most
luxuriant vegetation. It is watered by a narrow but deep brook, which is
so full of trout, that some seven hundred were captured by myself and
two others in a single day. When I tell you that this spot is only one
hundred miles from New York, you will be surprised to hear that in its
immediate vicinity we saw no less than two bears, a doe with two fawns,
and a host of other less important game. In some parts of it the
sunshine never enters, and cart loads of the purest ice may be found
there throughout the year. It is the loneliest and most awful corner of
the world that I have ever seen,—none other I fancy could make a man
feel more utterly desolate. It is a type of the valley of the shadow of
death; in single file did we have to pass through it, and in single file
must we pass into the grave. To spend one day there, we had to encamp
two nights, and how we generally manage that affair I will tell you
presently. In returning from Stony Clove, we took a circuitous route and
visited the Mountain House. We approached it by the way of the
celebrated Catskill Fall, which I will describe to you in the graphic
language of Cooper, as you may not remember the passage in his Pioneer.
“Why there’s a fall in the hills, where the water of two little ponds,
that lie near each other, breaks out of their bounds, and runs over the
rocks into the valley. The stream is, may be, such a one as would turn a
mill, if so useless a thing was wanted in the wilderness. _But the Hand
that made that ‘Leap’ never made a mill!_ There the water comes croaking
and winding among the rocks, first so slow that a trout might swim in
it, and then starting and running, just like any creature that wanted to
make a fair spring, till it gets to where the mountain divides, like the
cleft foot of a deer, leaving a deep hollow for the brook to tumble
into. The first pitch is nigh two hundred feet, and the water looks like
flakes of snow afore it touches the bottom, and then gathers itself
together again for a new start, and, may be, flutters over fifty feet of
flat rock, before it falls for another hundred, where it jumps from
shelf to shelf, first turning this way and that way, striving to get out
of the hollow, till it finally comes to the plain.”
Our party on this occasion consisted of three,—Peter Hummel, a
bark-gatherer, and myself. I had chosen these fellows for the
expedition, because of their friendship for me and their willingness to
go, and I now resolved to give them a treat at the “Grand Hotel,” which
the wild fellows in their ignorance had ever looked upon as a kind of
paradise. You are aware, I suppose, that the Mountain House is an
establishment vieing in its style of accommodations with the best hotels
of the city. Between it and the Hudson there is, during the summer, an
hourly line of stages, and it is the transient resort of thousands, who
go there for the novelty of the scenery. The edifice itself stands on a
cliff, within a few feet of the edge, and commands a most magnificent
prospect, extending from Long Island Sound to the Green and White
mountains. The first time I was there, I spent half the night at my
bedroom window, watching the fantastic performances of a thunder-storm
far below me, which made the building tremble like a leaf, and reminded
me of Milton’s description of hell; while the sky above was cloudless,
and studded with stars. Between this spot and South Peak, “there’s the
High Peak and the Round Top, which lay back, like a father and mother
among their children, seeing they are far above all the other hills.”
But to proceed. Coarsely and comically dressed as we were, we made a
very unique appearance as we paraded into the office of the hotel. I met
a few acquaintances there, to whom I introduced my comrades, and in a
short time each one of them was spinning a mountain legend to a crowd of
astonished and delighted listeners. In due time I ushered them into the
dining-room, where was enacted a scene which can be better imagined than
described. A Chinese in Victoria’s drawing-room, would not be more
completely out of his element, or be the cause of heartier laughter,
than were these men among the soup, ice-creams, and silver forks of the
“Yankee Palace,” as the house has been christened by the Dutch under the
mountains.
About the middle of the afternoon we commenced descending the beautiful
mountain road, and a jolly time we had of it, I assure you. A little
while before there had been a heavy shower, and a thousand happy rills
attended us with a song. A delightful nook on this road is pointed out
as the identical spot where Rip Van Winkle slept away a score of his
life. I reached home in time to spend the twilight hour in my room,
musing upon the solemn and much loved mountains. I had but one
companion, and that was a sweet whip-poor-will, which nightly comes to
my window sill, to tell me a tale of its love or of the woods and
solitary wilderness.
But the most unique and interesting of my fishing adventures, remains to
be described. I have heard a great deal about a certain lake among the
mountains, (the same alluded to above,) and I desired to visit it, and
spend a night upon its shore. Having again spoken to Peter Hummel, and
invited a neighbor to accompany us, whom they call White Yankee, the
noon-tide hour of last Thursday found us on our winding way. And such a
grotesque appearance as we made, would have caused you to laugh most
heartily, I am sure. The group was mostly _animated_, when climbing the
steep and rocky ravines which we were compelled to pass through. There
was Peter, “long, lank, and lean,” and wild in his attire and
countenance as an eagle of the wilderness, with an axe in his hand, and
a huge knapsack on his back, containing our provisions and utensils for
cooking. Next to him followed White Yankee, with three blankets lashed
upon his back, a slouched white hat on his head, and a half pound of
tobacco in his mouth. Crooked legged withal, and somewhat sickly was
this individual, and being wholly unaccustomed to this kind of business,
he went along groaning, grunting, and sweating, as if he was “sent for,
and _didn’t want_ to come.” In the rear trotted along your humble
friend, with a gun upon his shoulder, a powder-horn and shot-pouch at
his side, cowhide boots on his feet, and a cap on his head—his beard
half an inch long, and his long hair streaming in the wind.
We reached our place of destination about five o’clock, and halted under
a large impending rock, which was to be our sleeping place. We were
emphatically under the “shadow of a rock, in a weary land.” Our first
business was to build a fire, which we did with about one cord of green
and dry wood. Eighty poles were then cut, to which we fastened our
lines. The old canoe in the lake was bailed out, and, having baited our
hooks with the small fish which we brought with us, we arranged the
poles around the lake, in about seven feet water. We then prepared and
ate our supper, and awaited the coming on of night. During this
interval, I learned from Peter the following particulars concerning the
lake. It was originally discovered by a hunter named Shew, after whom it
has always been called. It was estimated to cover about fifty acres,
and, in some places, to be more than two hundred feet in depth. For my
part, however, I should have said that it did not contain five acres,
but the mountains, which lower above it on every side, are calculated to
deceive the eye; but, as to its depth, I could fancy it to be
bottomless, for the water is apparently as black as ink. To the number
of trout in it there seems to be no end. It is supposed they reach it,
when small, through the brook already mentioned, when they increase in
size, and multiply. Peter says he caught one there once which weighed a
little over five pounds, and a speckled, common trout, too. It also
abounds in green and scarlet lizards, which would be a serious drawback
to the pleasures of the fastidious. I asked Peter many questions
concerning his adventures about this lake, and he told me that the
number of “harmless murders” which he had committed here were two or
three hundred. In one day, he shot three deer; at another time, a dozen
turkeys; at another, twenty ducks; one night, an old bear; and again,
half a dozen coons; and, on one occasion, annihilated a den of
thirty-seven rattlesnakes. This will give you some idea of the stories
which I hear from this man; but you cannot conceive the peculiar
enjoyment they afford me: it is because they are associated with my
“boyhood’s home,”—my wilderness home, in my much-loved Michigan.
At nine o’clock, we lighted a torch and went to examine our lines; and
it was my peculiarly good fortune to haul out not less than forty-one
trout, weighing from one to two pounds a-piece. Now, if this wasn’t
sport, I should like to know what is? These we put into a spring of the
coldest water I ever tasted, and then “laid down in our loneliness,” as
Coleridge would have said on the occasion. Branches of hemlock
constituted our couch, and my station was between Peter and White
Yankee. Little did I dream, when I first saw these two bipeds, that I
should ever have them for my bedfellows. But who, alas! can always have
the bedfellow he desires? Think you that we could not sleep soundly in
that lap of the forest, between the sheltering rock and the roaring
fire? Yea, my friends were in the land of Nod in less than a dozen
minutes; but it was hard for me to go to sleep, tired as I was, in the
midst of such a scene. There I lay, flat upon my back, a stone and my
cap for a pillow, wrapt up in my blanket, with nothing but my nose and
eyes exposed to the chilly night air. Oh! what pictures did my fancy
conjure up, as I looked upon the army of trunks around me, glistening in
the fire-light. One moment they were a troop of Indians from the
spirit-land, come to revisit again the hunting-grounds of their fathers,
and weeping that the white man had desecrated their soil; and again, I
fancied them to be a congress of wild animals, assembled together to
try, execute, and devour us, for the depredations our fellows had
committed upon their kind for the last one hundred years. By and by, a
star peered upon me from between the branches of a tree, and my thoughts
ascended heavenward. And now, my eyes twinkled and blinked in sympathy
with the star, and I was a dreamer.
An hour after the witching time of night, I was startled from my sleep
by a bellowing halloo from Peter, who said it was time to examine the
lines again. Had you heard the echoes which were then awakened, far and
near, you would have thought yourself in enchanted land. But there were
_living_ answers to that shout, for a frightened fox began to bark; an
owl commenced its horrible hootings; a partridge its drumming; and a
wolf its howl. There was not a breeze stirring, and
“Nought was seen, in the vault on high,
But the moon, and the stars, and a cloudless sky,
And a river of white in the welkin blue.”
Peter and Yankee went out to haul in the trout, but I remained on shore,
to attempt a drawing, by moonlight, of the lake before me. The opposite
side of the mountain, with its dark tangled forest, was perfectly
mirrored in the waters below, the whole seeming as solid and variegated
as a tablet of Egyptian marble. The canoe with its inmates noiselessly
pursued its way, making the stillness more profound. In the water at my
feet I distinctly saw lizards sporting about, and I could not but wonder
why such creatures were created. I thought, with the Ancient Mariner,
“A thousand slimy things lived on,
And so did I.”
Again we retired to rest, and slept till day-break. We visited our hooks
once more, and took them up, and found that we had one hundred and two
trout, averaging more than a pound a-piece. We then partook of a
substantial breakfast of this delicious fish, which were cooked by me as
well as anybody could do it, and, having gathered up our plunder,
started for home.
The accidents we met with during the night were harmless, though they
might have proved serious. A paper of Locofoco matches, which Peter
carried in his breeches pocket, took fire, and gave him such a scorching
that he bellowed lustily. White Yankee, in his restless slumber, rolled
so near our watch-fire, that he barely escaped with one corner of his
blanket, the remainder having been consumed. As for me, I only got
pitched into the water up to my middle, while endeavoring to reach the
end of a log which extended into the lake. In descending the mountain, I
shot three partridges, and confoundedly frightened a fox, and by noon
was in my snug studio, commencing a picture from one of my last
sketches.
But lo! my candle is flickering in the socket, and I must say, Good
night!