CHAPTER I.
PAGE
An Angler’s Soliloquy.—Isaak Walton’s ideas.—A fishing minister.—The route to the woods.—Moosehead Lake and vicinity[19]
CHAPTER II.
The different routes through Maine.—The Party, Guides,Baggage, Provisions, Canoes, Arms.—Camp appetite.—StudyingGeography.—The start.—Bid adieu to MooseheadLake.—North East Carry.—West Branch of thePenobscot.—First Camp on Moosehorn stream[27]
CHAPTER III.
Our first Camp at mouth of Moosehorn stream.—Accommodating one’sself to circumstances.—The “Rips” of the West Branch.—Runningthe Rapids.—Pine Stream Falls.—Chesuncook Lake.—UmbazooksusRiver.—A “Bear” welcome.—Mud Pond and “Carry.”—A Picturedifficult to photograph.—Third Camp at Chamberlin Lake[51]
CHAPTER IV.
Chamberlin Farm and Lake.—A novel fly-trap.—A lesson in NaturalHistory.—Telosmis Lake.—The “Cut.”—A three days’ rain-storm.—WebsterLake and Dam.—An Apparition.—The weird stillness ofthe primeval forests.—An accommodating fly-catcher[64]
CHAPTER V.
Passage of Webster Stream.—An exciting day’s sport.—The damagedcanoes.—The canvas boat triumphant.—Grand Falls.—Photographingalong the route.—Indian “Carry.”—East Branch of the Penobscot.—MatagamonsisLake.—The discovery of a new Lake.—Trout Brook Farm.—Grand, or Matagamon Lake.—A capturedsalmon[93]
CHAPTER VI.
Dangers of wandering from Camp.—An experience on Lake Superior.—TheFalls of the East Branch.—Stair Falls.—Incidents of Camplife.—An Enchanted Bower.—Hunt’s Farm.—An Artist’s Canoe.—Theascent of Hunt’s Mountain.—A reverie.—Whetstone Falls.—Discoveryof Jasper on Ledge Falls.—Dawn of Civilization.—Mattawamkeag.—TheEast Branch Canvas-ed[117]

Illustrations.

1.THE AUTHOR IN HIS SANCTUM[Frontispiece.]
2.DEDICATION[Page 3]
3.THE ANGLER[5]
4.CANOE AND CAMERA[17]
4a.AN ODD SPECIMEN[18]
5.ISAAK WALTON[21]
6.KINEO HOUSE[25]
7.ANTICIPATION[26]
8.PICKING A COURSE[28]
9.MAP OF THE TOUR THROUGH THE MAINE FORESTS[30]
10.THE GUIDES[33]
11.WE DREAM OF GAME[38]
12.HOME APPETITE[41]
13.CAMP APPETITE[41]
14.MORRIS’S—NORTHEAST CARRY[43]
15.IN SYMPATHY WITH NATURE[46]
16.DISCOURAGEMENTS[48]
17.“CHANGING PASTURE”[49]
18.PENKNIFE SOUVENIRS[52]
19.PINE STREAM FALLS[54]
20.MUD POND CARRY[56]
21.MUD POND—LOOKING EAST[59]
22.“THIS IS THE WAY I LONG HAVE SOUGHT”[62]
23.REFLECTIONS[63]
24.CHAMBERLIN FARM—LOOKING WEST[65]
25.THE ROOM INTO WHICH WE WERE USHERED[66]
26.CAMP ON CHAMBERLIN LAKE[67]
27. NOT IN THE PATENT OFFICE[70]
28.A STUDY IN NATURAL HISTORY[71]
29.GREAT NORTHERN DIVER[71]
30.TELOS CUT AND LAKE[73]
31.PHOTOGRAPHY—THE WET AND DRY PROCESS ILLUSTRATED[77]
32.TELOS DAM AND RIVER[79]
34.AN APPARITION[83]
35.WEBSTER LAKE AND DAM[86]
36.FLY CATCHERS VERSUS FLY FISHING[88]
37. ALLUREMENTS[90]
38. STUDY OF TROUT—BY THE AUTHOR[91]
39.RUNNING RAPIDS ON WEBSTER RIVER[95]
40.LUNCH TIME[99]
41.IT’S NOT ALL POETRY[101]
42.GRAND FALLS[103]
43.STARTING A BOOM[107]
45.A BOOM[109]
46.DISCOVERY OF A NEW LAKE[111]
47.MATAGAMONSIS LAKE[113]
48.OUR SALMON[114]
49.MATAGAMON OR GRAND LAKE[115]
50. ON THE EAST BRANCH[120]
51.DROPPING CANOES OVER FALLS[122]
52.ACCEPTING THE SITUATION[123]
53.STAIR FALLS[125]
54.HULLING MACHINE FALLS[126]
55.THE ARCHES—EAST BRANCH OF THE PENOBSCOT[128]
56.HUNT’S FARM[130]
57.MT. KATAHDIN—STUDY BY F. E. CHURCH[132]
58.JUNCTION OF EAST AND WEST BRANCHES OF THE PENOBSCOT[134]
59.GLIMPSES OF CIVILIZATION BEGIN TO DAWN[137]
60.NET RESULTS[139]

Introduction.

love for the woods and out-door sports begins early in life. I can hardly remember when the sight of a gun or fish-rod did not awaken within my boyish fancy a feverish desire to follow their lead, be the tramp ever so hard. There never was anything to stop the growth of this passion until I reached the age of ten years, when I nearly destroyed a boy’s eye with an arrow, in my endeavors to excel in archery.

This act slightly dampened my ardor for some months, and retarded that progression in field sports I was then making.

There is also something so free, so stimulating in the woods life, uncontaminated by the gossip, allurements, and exacting dress of the usual watering places, that after one season’s enjoyment, a return to these wildernesses, and repeating its pleasures, is the constant thought of the future.