CHAPTER VII.
Redeemed from starvation.--The first habitation on the Aroostook.--Mr. Botting’s house.--The tourograph astonishes the natives.--Purchasing supplies at Masardis.--Homeward Bound.--_Au Revoir!_ Page 131
ILLUSTRATIONS.
1. SUNRISE ON ECHO LAKE, Frontispiece.
2. DEDICATION, PAGE 4
3. A BEAVER DAM, 13
4. INITIAL “O,”--LEAVING MOOSEHEAD LAKE, 16
5. OUR GUIDES, 22
6. A SERIO-COMIC, 28
7. THE FIRST CAMP, 31
8. THE BEST MAN TO WIN, 33
9. NIGHT ON THE WEST BRANCH, 35
10. INITIAL “B,” 36
11. CHESUNCOOK LAKE, 37
12. CHESUNCOOK FARM, 38
13. UMBAZOOKUS STREAM, 41
14. PORTAGE, 43
15. OUTLET OF CHAMBERLIN LAKE, 47
16. CHAMBERLIN FARM, 49
17. FACETIÆ, 50
18. HAYMOAK FALLS, 52
19. GOOD SPORT, 56
20. THE DOG, 59
21. INITIAL “E,” 60
22. A COLD WAVE, 63
23. LOW--THE POOR INDIAN, 65
24. DEVELOPING A PLATE, 66
25. “TREES PILED ON TREES,” 68
26. TWILIGHT IN THE WILDS, 72
27. EVACUATION, 73
28. “ON TO THE AROOSTOOK,” 78
29. INITIAL “I,” 79
30. THE PACK-HORSE LEAGUE, 82
31. AT NIGHT BY THE CAMP FIRE, 84
32. “BY DINT O’ PUSHIN’ AN’ HAULIN’”-- 87
33. “FOLLERIN’ HIS SLOAT--HALLOO!” 91
34. “BEAT HIM LIKE AN OLD CARPET,” 93
35. “SAT ALL NIGHT WATCHIN’ IT BURN DOWN,” 94
36. BEAVER DAM--FOUR FEET HIGH--ONE HUNDRED FEET WIDE, 96
37. SLUICING A DAM, 98
38. CHASE BROOK, 101
39. ODDS AND ENDS, 103
40. INITIAL “T,” 104
41. “MOOSE? YOU DON’T SAY SO!” 105
42. “OH, SUCH A PAIR OF HORNS!” 106
43. THE DECOY, 109
44. CALLING THE MOOSE, 112
45. MOONLIGHT ON THE LAKE, 114
46. INITIAL “A,” 115
47. SHOEING CANOES, 117
48. “WOULDN’T TAKE FIFTY DOLLARS FOR IT,” 119
49. MANSUNGUN DEADWATER, 121
50. A SKY PICTURE, 123
51. A TWELVE MILE “DRAG,” 125
52. FROM THE DRY TO THE WET PROCESS, 128
53. CAMP ON THE AROOSTOOK RIVER, 130
54. INITIAL “W,” 131
55. A WAITING BREAKFAST, 132
56. THE FIRST HOUSE ON THE AROOSTOOK RIVER, 134
57. “CAN YOU GET UP A DINNER FOR THE CROWD?” 137
58. BIRD-TRAPPING MADE EASY, 139
59. “SEVENTY SUMMERS,” 140
60. A PEEP AT THE STRANGERS, 141
61. PRESQUE ISLE--CIVILIZATION IN FOCUS-- 144
62. VALEDICTORY, 146
63. FINIS, 148
INTRODUCTION.
On page _31_ of _Canoe and Camera_ I made the following foot-note, in mentioning the fourth tour from Moosehead Lake through the Maine Wilderness: “Still another trip can be made from Churchill Lake through Spider, Echo and Mansungun Lakes to the waters of the Aroostook, leaving the woods at Caribou, Maine. But the scenery is uninteresting, and the difficulties will not compensate one for the labor endured, while woe betide the tourist if the water is low.”
I little imagined, as I penned this paragraph from hearsay, that the following season I should so thoroughly acquaint myself with its “difficulties,” and learn from actual experience the _beauties_ of its scenery.
Yet, in the autumn of 1880, while putting in order my well-worn camp equipage with no definite plan in view, a letter from my friend and fellow traveller, Colonel G., gave this _fortunate_ direction to my fall trip. This letter informed me that the year previous he had discovered a region unknown to the sportsman and tourist, yet accessible by canoe from Moosehead Lake, and was rejoicing in the title of the “Pioneer of the Aroostook.” I could not, therefore, be the first to explore this route, and so, accepting second honors, began immediate preparations for the trip.
The oldest inhabitants of Maine _may_ have known a drier season than that of 1880, but the reader will perceive in the following pages that a cart, rather than a canoe, might have been used in the exploration of the greater portion of this unknown region.
THE AUTHOR.
HARTFORD, CONN., 1881.
PADDLE AND PORTAGE,
FROM
MOOSEHEAD LAKE TO THE AROOSTOOK RIVER, MAINE.
[Illustration]
ILLUSTRATED AT DAY’S STUDIO, NEW YORK,
FROM
PHOTOGRAPHS MADE BY THE AUTHOR.