Punchinello's Vacation.
When we visit ordinary places of summer resort, we require no particular
outfit, (it being remembered that the "we" alluded to comprehends only
males,) excepting a suitable supply of summer clothes. But when we go to
the Adirondacks,--certainly a most extraordinary place of summer
resort,--we require an outfit which is as remarkable as the region
itself. Thoroughly understanding this necessity, Mr. PUNCHINELLO made
himself entirely ready for a life in the woods before he set out for the
Adirondack Mountains. Witness the completeness of his preparations.
The railroad to the heart of this delightful resort is not yet finished,
and when Mr. P. had completed his long journey, in which the excellence
and abominabitity,--so to speak,--of every American form of conveyance
was exhibited, he was glad enough to see before him those charming wilds
which are gradually being tamed down by the well-to-do citizens of New
York and Boston. He found that it was necessary, in order to enter the
district, to pass through a gate in a high pale-fence, and, to his
surprise, he was informed that he must buy a ticket before being allowed
to proceed. On inquiry, he discovered that the Reverend Mr. MURRAY, of
Boston, claiming the whole Adirondack region by right of discovery, had
fenced it entirely in, and demanded entrance money of all visitors.
This was bad, to be sure, but there was no help for it, and Mr. P.
bought his ticket and passed in.
The Adirondack scenery is peculiar. In the first place, there are no
pavements or gravel walks.
This is a grievous evil, and should be remedied by Mr. MURRAY as soon as
possible. The majority of the paths are laid out in the following
manner.
The scenery, however, would be very fine if the bugs were transparent.
The multitudes of insectivorous carnivora, which arose to greet Mr. P.,
effectually prevented him from seeing anything more than a yard distant.
But if this had been all, Mr. P. would not have uttered a word of
complaint. It was not all, by any means.
These hungry creatures, these black-flies; midges; mosquitoes; yellow
bloodsuckers; poison-bills; corkscrew-stingers; hook-tailed hornets; and
all the rest of them settled down upon him until they covered him like a
suit of clothes. A warmer welcome was never extended to a traveller in a
strange land.
In case his readers should not be familiar with the animal, the
accompanying drawing will give an admirable idea of the celebrated
black-fly of the Adirondacks, which, with the grizzly bear and the
rattlesnake, occupies the front rank among American ferocious animals.
After travelling on foot for a day and a night; drenched by rain;
scorched by the sun; crippled by rocks and roots; frightened by
rattle-snakes and panthers; blistered and swollen by poisonous insects;
nearly starved; tired to death; and presenting the most pitiable
appearance in the world, Mr. P. reached the encampment of Mr. MURRAY,
proprietor and exhibitor of the Adirondacks.
Knowing that there was quite a large company in the camp, Mr. P. was
almost ashamed to show himself in such a doleful plight, but he soon
found that there was no need for any scruples on that account, as they
were all as wretched looking as himself.
Mr. MURRAY welcomed him cordially, and after building a "smudge" around
him to keep off the flies, he gave Mr. P. some Boston brown-bread and a
glass of pure water from a rill.
This, with a sip from Mr. P.'s little flask, revived him considerably,
and after a night's rest on the lee side of a tree, where the rain did
not wet him nearly so much as if he had been on the other side, Mr. P.
felt himself equal to the task of enjoying the Adirondacks.
That morning, Mr. MURRAY conducted a melancholy party of disconsolate
pleasure-seekers to a neighboring stream, where he instructed them to
fish for trout.. He told them they must revel in the delights of the
scene, and should tremble with the wild rapture of drawing from the
rushing waters the bounding trout.
Mr. P. tried very hard to do this. He put his prettiest fly and his
sharpest hook on his longest line, and, for hours, gently whipped the
ripples. At last a speckled representative of the American National
Game-fish took compassion on the patient fisherman and entered into a
contest of skill with him. (A friendly match, and no bets on either
side.) The game lasted some time. The fish made some splendid
"fly-catches;" and Mr. P., slipping on a wet stone at the edge of the
brook, got in once on his base. On this occasion, the line and a
black-berry bush arranged a decided "foul" between them. At last, just
at the most interesting point of the game, the sudden sting of a
steel-bee caused Mr. P. to give a quick bawl, when the fish took a
home-run and came back no more. Time of game, 3h., 50m.
Mr. P. 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0--1.
Trout 6 9 8 7 9 9 9 9 9--75.
That afternoon Mr. MURRAY took the party to Crystal Brook, Shanty Brook,
Mainspring Brook, Tenement Brook, and more little mountain gutters of
the kind than you could count on your fingers and toes. As an
aristocratic residence, this region is certainly superior to New York,
for the Murray Hills are as plenty as blackberries. The next day they
all went up Mount Marcy. When the ascent was completed, everybody lay
down and went to sleep. They were too tired to bother themselves about
the view. At length, after a good nap, Mr. MURRAY got up and wakened the
party, and they all came down.
They came by the way of the "grand slide," but Mr. P. didn't like it.
His tailor, however, will no doubt think very highly of it.
When all was quiet, that evening, on Dangle-worm Creek, near which
they were encamped, Mr. P. found the Reverend MURRAY sitting in the
smoke of his private smudge, enjoying his fragrant pipe. Seating himself
by the veteran pioneer, Mr. P. addressed him thus:
"Tell me, Mr. MURRAY, in confidence, your opinion of the Adirondacks."
"Sir," said Mr. MURRAY, "I have no objection to give a person of your
respectability and knowledge of the world my opinion of this region, but
I do not wish it made public."
"Of course, sir!" said Mr. P. "A man of your station and antecedents
would not wish his private opinions to be made too public. You may rely
upon my discretion."
"Well, then," said the reverend mountaineer, "I think the Adirondacks an
unmitigated humbug, and I wish I had never let the world know that there
was such a place."
"Why then do you come here every season, sir?"
"After all I have written and said about it," said Mr. MURRAY, "I have
to come to keep up appearances. Don't you see? But I hate these
mountains from the bottom of my heart. For every word I have written in
praise of the region I have a black-fly-bite on my legs. For every word
I have said in favor of it I have a scratch or a bruise in some other
part of my corpus. I wish that there was no such a season as
summer-time, or else no such a place as the Adirondacks."
(Readers of this paper are requested to skip the above, as those are Mr.
MURRAY'S private opinions, and not the statements he makes in public,
and his desire to keep them dark should be respected.)
It may be of interest to his patrons to know that Mr. P. arrived home
safely and with whole bones.
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