· pdf file“rambler. h is little b ook is “ not written with the idea that it will...
TRANSCRIPT
THE ROUTES
PURSUED BY
TH E E X CURS ION S T E AMERS
UPON THE
S T. LAWRENC E RIVER
GLA Y-
TO
'
N A N D GA N A N OQUE TO WE S TMZN S TER
PA RK A N D ALE X AN D RIA BA V.
W A S H- 4
PUBLI SH ED BY
JN Of A . H A D D OCK A N U J. H. D URHAMCLAYTON A N D A LEX A N D RI A BA Y , N . Y .
PRI N TE D A N D BOUN D BY
WEED—PA RSON S PRIN TIN G COMPA N YA LBA N Y , N . Y .
A ll rig -m s reserved.
“
Ram b ler.
H I S little b ook is“ notwritten with the ideathat it will take the
place of more pretentious guideb ooks, nor as a history of The
Thousand Islands of the S t . Lawrence River ; nor yet is it writtenespecially in the interest of any steamboat company, nor of anyparticular route ; but solely to point out to the visitor such places ofinterest among the islands as are most worthy of attention, and themeans by. which they may be reached. In addition, what may betermed side routes or excursions have been pointed out, which iftaken will add largely to the interest of a summer tour in and
around the S t . Lawrence River region .
Believing , also, that incidents which have occurred so long agoamong and in the vicinity of the Thousand Islands as to have b ecome history, will add much to its interest, a brief sketch of eachis reproduced , and the locality in which it - took place pointed out.The writer claims no originality in these sketches. They have beendrawn from the best attainable sources , re - written and condensedto suit the scope of the work , and the only merit the writer canclaim, is, that he has
‘
~been diligent in his researches , and in couse
ingo oseph
’
s ~ ermi‘
tag e.
A charm ing resort, just c om pleted and open to g uests ,
only one -
quarter of a m ile from the Carthag e and A diron
dack line, from w hence tw o daily trains c onnec t w ith the
R. , W. 0 . system , at Carthag e, seventeenm iles distant .This H otel c om m ands a full View of lovely Lake
Bon aparte and is connec ted w ith w oodland scenery of
inex pressib le charm , once a part of the vast territory ow ned
b y Joseph Bonaparte in N orthern N ew Y ork . The ex - king
had selec ted. this g round as his hunting headquarters, andw as heard to speak of its loveliness and b eauty, and w ith a
view to perpetuateihis interesting and historic al fac t thisresort has b een so nam ed.
Summer g uests at the S t. Law renc e River w ould enjoyas a m atter of diversion a short stay at K ing Joseph
’
s H er
m itag e. Guest w ill receive m ost g enteel treatm ent at fairrates . For inform ation address
JOS E PH PA HUD,Pr0p .
,
H arrisville, N . Y .
TH E RAMBLER.
quenc e has brought to lig ht some interesting events which haveescaped the scrutiny of those w hohave gleaned in the same field.
If,therefore, through _the perusal of this little manual the reader
has added to the enjoyment of a sojourn among, or a visit to, TheThousand Islands , or if it has in _ _
any degree increased the pleasureand satisfaction of an Island Ramble, or augm ented his stock ofknotvledg e, the object of the work is accomplished .
The truth is, that m these Island Ram bles there 1s somethingmorethan sensuous enjoyment. They transport one to a higher plane.They are, in a large sense, refining. They develop a love for thebeautiful '
ln nature. They are,in short
,prom oters of a true aestheti
cism . They educate, they expand, they exalt. Those who lookoften upon these scenes assimilate, unconsciously though it may be,m any of their beauties until reaching a higher standpoint with abroader
‘view theyTake no private road,
But look through N athre up to N ature s God .
Having thus , deal Rambler, set forth the ends and alms of thislittle book
,the write1 leaves it in your hands
,with the earnest hOpe
that it may answer eveiy pm pose for which it w as originally designed
‘
Rom b les
N taking the rambles among the island's the visitor must be gov
erned by his or her ow n convenience as to time . The steam erISLA NDER makes the most interesting trip , and the longest ; its
distance being in fact nearer sixty miles than the usually advertisedfifty-mile ramble . In so doing the ISLA N DER visits some localities ofgreat interest, where other excursion boats are unable to go, owingto a greater draught of water. This is again alluded to underanother head . A ll these facts are set forth in the bills provided
,and
put into the hands of an efficient and gentlemanly corps of advertising agen ts. On every trip among the islands
!
a special agent aocompanies the boat , who will point out every spot of interest,thereby largely increasing the pleasures of the occasion .
If at any time , however, a special route is to be taken , or themanagers have d ecided upon an extra trip having some specialattraction , you may rest assured that it will be duly advertised andset forth ; and when such a trip is proclaimed , don’t fail to examinethis little Manual carefully because it is very likely that if the tripis within the scope of a fifty- mile ramble , it will give you some
O s w e g o, N . Y .
Typew rz'
I
tz'
ng ,
Penm anship ,
Bookkeeping
and Spanish
ByMail orPersonally ,and Secures
GOOD
c a r ie R A F uthe best Typew riter, and for the
N l- M S O G R A F’
H .the b est Duplicator.
S tenog raphers Furnished BusinessMen without charg e for m y S ervices.Correspondence S olicited. Circulars Free.
W . G. CH A F F E E ,
o s w s c o,N . Y .
TH E RAMBLER. 9
interesting information in“
advance. In order . to a clear “ comprehension of the sights and s cenes among the Islands, let us take anafternoon ramble
,and close the day with a g rand S earch Light E x
c ursion at night on th e noble steamer S t. Law rence, as a finishingtouch
,a fitting complement, a rounding out to the ramble of the day.
'
We have all e ither seen or heard of those wonderful dioramicpaintings
,in which is portrayed a lovely landscape with wooded hill s,
turret'
sd tow ers, flowing streams and fal ling cataracts, which; underthe. marvelous light of a spring morning, seem a veritable reality.
Suddenly the scene changes night approaches day - light graduall y .
disappears, and the soft Maymoon lights the landscape every harshand rugged line is smoothed aw ay, while the deep shadow s lurk inleafy coverts ; lights sparkle and gleam from castle and tower ; thestreams become threads of molten silver, and the cataracts draperiesof filmy lace laden with pearls. I have no fitting language in whichto describe the beauty of it all , but far and away above these , a daylight and S earchLight ramble , taken as awhole
,among the Thousand Islands of the
S t. Law rence river, constituteN ature’s GreatDiorama
,elsewhere unequaled on the face
of the globe. Even the writer of the bookof Job, incomparable in poetic descrip
tion,having seen these sights, might have
written :
Who, then , shal l desc ribe the beauties thereofBehold The language of the learned faileth and for
his dream s the poetfindeth no utteranc e.
Where, then , shall the understanding b e found, and
w here is the key of K now ledgeLook thou upon the brightening eye, and the enrap
cured look, and thou m ay’
st understand
That voic eless look is elo
quance itself .
A nd from it learn thou ,that,
like the Music of the
Spheres,”
The language of the soul hathno w ords
l sLAN D S I'
N AMERICAN WATERS , son'rn OF
BA Y IN‘rnn D I STA N CE .
t he t omb“
Ram b le.
F iftyMiles of G or g eou s S c en ery.
theRailw aywhere the
discharges its thousands of eager sightseers, the steamer Islander, of the Thousand Island S teamboat Company, beginsher m agnificent ramble among the tamous island group . We touch -f01 a m o
m ent at the wharf of Round Island Park ,with its m agnificent Hotel F rontenac as apiece for its coastline fringe of elegant cottages . You will probably visit the “ Frontwhen there, if you desire it, the c lerk wil l furnish you with a list of cottage ownersis not necessary to take up our space with the list. “ Round Island Park is one odelightful resorts am ong the islands , and will well repay an extended visit . On
LittleRound Island, and beyond that lies Colborne’3 Island, Bluff , Jefferson,Robbins’ Islands
Ous a n
Cor. of O ntario and Brook S ts . ,
N GSTO N , O N T .
CON . MILLA N , Proprieton
Commod ious, Comfortab le,Reasonab le. in
Price .
Nearest all the Land ing s fOr Steamers , and not
ten rods from R'
. R. D epot .
Fronts the Great C ity Hal l . Open D ay
and. Nig ht .
Inform ation cheerful ly g iven.
the m idst of the“
Hunting and FishingGrotmds l of
“
the Upper St. Law rence.
TH E RAMBLER.
There was a tragedy on Maple Island in 1865, a very mysteriousone ; and it is only within two or three years that any clue to themystery has been found , and even now,
though circ umstances seemto point out a reasonable solution, the evidence is incomplete, and inall probability the real facts in the case will never be brought tolight. I have only space here to give you a brief outline of the mainfacts, referring you to Major “John A. Haddock’s InternationalS ouvenir History of the Thousand Islands,” where you will find fulland complete
Th e Myster y_of Map le I s la n d .
In the summer of 1865,in the early pa1 t of June, a stranger arrived
at the hotel at F isher’s Landing,then kept b y John Keech . He was
from Gananoque,and had been brought over in a skiff by a well
known oarsman of that village,since deceased . For a few days the
stranger contented himself at the hotel , or took short walks intothe c ountry,
'
g oin g at one time as far as Omar, a pleasant ham letabout a mile “ and a half from the Landing , or else, hiring a skiff, hewould take a clay and row about among the islands .Final lv b e one day announced his intention to have a cabin builton one of - the islands, the better to enable him to enjoy the pastimesoffishing and hunting, of
'
which he seemed to be extremely fond.
Acting on this idea, he hired carpenters, procured lumber, bought askiff with all its accessories, and all the n ecessary table furnitureand cooking utensils to enable him to keep house
,
” and movedinto his new domicile, which was built b y the side of a precipice,and so hidden by a thick undergrowth that it could not be seenfrom a passing skiff . He purchased his sup-plies from the farmerson a neighboring island, and having books and a violin, for he issaid to have been quite a musician
,time seemed to slip pleasantly
away, though he adm itted no one to anything like terms of familiarity, nor invited any guests to his cabin . It may be well to say, inpassing, that he was a man seemingly about thirty years of ag e.black hair and eyes and black chin whiskers
,well dressed
,very uh
communicative,dark as a Spaniard, and very restless . He had
plenty of money, and paid his bill s promptly in English gold . The
summer passed quietly away, and but for another occurrence , theHermit, as pe0p1e began to speak of him,
would have been almostforgotten.
TH E RAMBLER. 15
One night a light was seen on Maple Island, and the conclusionwas that the hermit’s cabin had caught fire ; but not thinking of anypersonal danger to him,
no especial attention was paid to it. It wasthought
,of course
,that he would take his boat and go ashore some
w here, either to Clayton ; Grinnell’s , or Fisher’s Landing ; but as he
did not put in an appearance anywhere the next morning, a coupleof fishermen went ashore on Maple Island , and there they found hisdead body. His throat was cut, and on his naked breast therewerethree crosses slashed with a knife, the crosses being disposed in theform of a triangle.For a week before this tragedy, several men who, by their languageand appearance were set do w n as S outherners , were quartered atdifferent hotels in Clayton ; but on that even ing they had settledtheir bills
,and hired some oarsmen to take them to Alexandria Bay,
which they did. It was learned later on that they did not stay atA l exandria Bay that night, but no one seemed to know w hen theyleft
,nor where they went. These facts were brought out on the
inquest which was held,but nothing m ere was discovered at that
time. A brief article in the Clayton paper, On the S t. Law rence,
gave the above facts in substance, and from that slight clue themystery is well nigh - cleared up . As a starting point
,the reader
may understand that the three crosses, cut in the form of a triangle, were a well- known sign of a secret society which flourishedduring the war
,both N orth and S outh
,com m only known as the
Knights of the Golden Circle and hence it is fair to presumethat the assassins were brother Knights of the hermit , who werefulfilling their oaths by murdering him. The next question arose,why shoul d they murder him What was the cause !To make this story short I w ill just say, that certain parties w_ereoffered the sum of in gold to assassinate Lincoln, S ew afd .
Johnson , Grant, Sherman , Sheridan and one or two other membersof
'
the cabinet, and a proportio'nate sum for as many as were assassi
h ated. There was paid to John H . Surratt, in the Queen ’s Hotel inToronto, of this sum in English g old
“
, paid to him by thenotorious Jake Thompson, at that time an agent for the Confederacyin Canada. There was with John H . Surratt, at the time, John A.
Payne, b rother to thep
Payne w ho was hanged for the attemptedassassination of S ecretary S eward and his son . John A. Payne w as
the treasurer of a secret society in Washing ton ; Surratt and Payne
CLA Y TON,N .
HOUSE.
CENTRAL LOCATION .
EVERY CONVEN IENCE.
ERIc-
Es REA SONABLE.
FRONTING THE GREATRIVER.
CUl'
S lNE SUPERIOR.
el.W.CHURGH.
O N TA R IO .
The above Hotel has been new ly fitted and furnished throughoutfor the season of 1895.
_
I ts rooms are large and commodious,w ell furnished, the best of beds, excellent ventilation—in short,ideal rooms The table is kept supplied w ith al l the delicacies of theseason, well cooked, with g ood service. The bar is supplied w ith allthe best brands ofWiifes and Liquors , and the best Imported Cigars .The House is but two m inutes ’ walk from the S teamboatLanding, andone minute’s walk frdin the D epot. Terms very reasonable. S pecialrates on application.
T A K E NOT IC E .
When you leave the S teamer Landing , take the first c rossing tothe right hand side of the street, and the first Hotel is theAMERI CA N .
D on ’t forget it. The best House in every respect in G ananoqueBest Oarsmen and Guides on the river provided.
TH E RAMBLER. 19
left Torontothe very night the money was paid into Surratt’s hands .We all know what became of Surratt, but what of Payne ! A ll theevidences, circumstantial though they be, point to the fact that JohnA . Payne was murdered on Maple Island , in the S t. Lawrence river,by his brother Knights of the Golden Circle, because he failed todivide with them the blood money received for the assassination ofAbraham Lincoln . I have no time nor space here to enter intoall the facts
,but when you have read in the S ouvenir all _the evi
denc es which have been unearthed, you will agree with the abovestatement.We now steam aw ay toward Grinnell ’s Island and the PullmanHouse landing . D o not make the mistake that som e do, and imaginethis to be the celeb rated Pullman Cottag e , because it isn
’t but it isone of the very
'
pleasant summer hotels on the river, and lately enlarg ed one - third in size. Glance along that narrow channel awayto our left . It leads past the “ Palisades,” a huge granite precipice on the head of Wellesley Island , and out into Eel Bay , andthrough it a steamer plies her route every two hours to Grand ViewPark
,a beautiful place next to the Canadian channel. Down yon
der g in the very narrow est part of the strait, between the “ Palisades and Murray Island,” there was quite a spirited naval battlefought once
,the history of which is as follows :
N ava l S kirm ish on th e S t . Law ren c e .
On the 9th of August, 1813, the schooners Julia and Growler , b ecoming separated from the remainder of Commodore Chauncey’sfleet
,set sail down the lake, hotly pursued by several of the English
vessels. The Growler succeeded in m aking the harbor of Oswego,and anchored under the protection of the guns of the fort. The Juliaheld her course don the lake
,with a fair wind , and being a fast
sailer,she soon
‘
outstripped the English vessels, two of which, theS eneca and S imcoe , had been in close pursuit . The Julia was incommand of Mr . Trant, the sailing master , and was armed withone long 32- pounder on a pivot, two long sixes, and forty men . The
Sim coe’
s armament consisted of twelve guns and seventy- six men,
and the S eneca’s, four guns “and forty men . Passing down the riveruntil opposite F rench creek ,Mr . Trant directed his course across theriver through what is now know n as Robbins’ Cut ,” the route takenby the splendid S t . Law rence on her search - light excursions between
CAPT. S IMEON G. OHNSON,
PRO PRl ET O R
earner
A N D OF
The N ig hting ale is a 95- foot Steam Pro
pel ler, m aking six trips each day on w eek
days, and tw c‘
trips on Sunday, b etw een
C layton and Fine View ,stopping each w ay
at Round lsland, Pul lm an
’
s (Grand View Park)
and Thousand Island Park.
AN EXCELLENT BOAT, CAREFULLY
MANAGED.
TH E RAMBLER. 21
Robbins’ and G rindstone islands , and out into Eel bay. Here he layto near the group of barren 1 ocks known as Indian Islands,” justoff Grand View Park . It was not long b efO1 e his pursuers appearedreinforced by another small vessel, whose name is not known . The
S imcoe and the strange vessel entered the bay from the Canadianchannel, while the
.
S eneca had followed the Julia directly throughRobbins’ out. For a few moments all was hurry and bustle on boardthe little schooner . Every sheet that would draw was set, and shesped away forthe narrow passage between Wellesley and Hemlockislands
,and taking up her position just off the Palisades where the
channel begins to widen, she lov”
vered her sails and the crew went toquarters . The enemy came gallantly on with a strong breeze , whichincreased in force as it sucked through the narrow passage, makingit very difficult to retrace their way, and compelling them to followeach . other, the narrowness of the passage preventing them fromcoming alohg side of each other, or even wearing so as to bring theirbroadsides to bear
,T he commander of the Julia Opened fire with
his long 32,and in a Short time the S imcoe, which was in advance ,
was disabled,and her consorts were as rapidly as possible trying to
retrace their course. A lthpug h completely at his mercy, the gallantcommander of theJulia did not deem it prudent ! to attempt to takepossession of the S imcoe, because of her “ greater superiority inmen
,
and, besides, there was always the chance that some of the enemy’svessels might gain his rear ; so, deeming discretion the better partof valor , he gave the S imcoe a parting shot or two, and m ade his escape up the river, joining the fleet on Lake Ontario. FOr this gallant action Mr . Trant was promoted to a lieutenan cy.
Many years ago,where the Pullman House now stands , Mr. Grin
nell kept one of the old time taverns,the like of which 1s seldom
found in these days , and from time to time many distinguished personag es b ec am e his guests for the sake of the hunting and fishing ,not even excepting royaltyitself, in the person of Count Surveiliers ,alias Joseph Bonaparte, ex- king of N aples and of Spain . Thoseg1anite rocks up yonder, o’
ertopped with a row of beautiful cottages,are n amed Jersey Heights. You should land here some day andtake a look at Grinnell ” Island, and also at the new Park on thehead of Murray Island .
Our next stopping place is at the Thousand Island Park landing, in full view of the stately Columbia hotel, and of many of the
MA N N I N G D A VI S ,
D EA LERS IN F INE
WINES , LI UORS AND CIGARS .
A ll Leading Brands of Im ported and D om estic
A les , La g ers a nd Minera lWaters .
MILWAUKEE, ROCHESTERAND ST. LOUIS LIGERS UN TAP.
We m ake a specialty of furnishing Cottag ers send Cam pinn arties
with ‘first class goods at fair '
pric es .
N E A R S T E A M B O A’
I‘
LA N D I N G .
'
w ith'
Thousand IslandMeatMarket,SAM B. MILLER,
Proprietor,
ALEXANDRIA BAY, N. Y .
Caters to theBest I sland Trade.
A lw ays the very“
B E S T
had. At prices cor‘
151stent
QU A . L I T Y .
T H O US A N D I SLA N D H O US E ,
ALEXANDRIA BAY, N . Y.
HEADQUARTERS FORSOUVENIRS or
THOUSAND Isms.
H uy l er’s Candies rec eiv ed d aily from N ew Y ork.
Jap an ese G ood s .
Wh it e - Wood S ouv en irs , View Books an d
Ph otog r ap h s .
In dian Bask et s , Can oes an d Ou riou sities .
Readin g Mat t er of a l l Kin d s . A l l th e Lat est N ovel s .
AGENT FORMAJOR HADDOCK’
S GREAT SOUVENIR OF
THE ST. LAWRENCE RIVER.
E . W . E S TE S
T H E N E W
H O U S E .
In the ~ m ids t of the fa r-
fam ed T housand IslandsOf the renowned River S t . Law rence .
G A N A N O Q U E P O .
O N TA RIO , C A N A D A .
J. D E W IT’
I‘
A,Proprietor .
This Com m odiousfium m er Resort has recently been enlarged andrefitted throughout infirst- class style. The House is situated of am ile from
,and commands a full view of, the old and picturesque
Town of Gananoque, (pop . which m ay b e reached by train orboat. The Royal Mail Line steamers, the N ew Island Wanderer (onher daily trips) and a ll“ other vessels pass closely to and in full view ofthe House
,between which and the Town the main channel passes .
The Island contains about I és acres , there being a beautiful yardand grove adjoining the House . The Main Building is 84x 30 , thesleeping apartments 1 3 x 10—newly plastered—some w ith connectingdoors . The D ining Rooms in a separate building.
The Island is situated in the very m idst of the famous 1000 Islandgroup—over 60 of the sam e b eing in full view. The best fishinggrounds in the River surround the Island . Oarsmen, boats andfishing outfits at reasonable rates . S plendid bathing facilities safe forchildren .
Terms for board and lodging, $6 per week and upwards,accord
in g to room s .F or further particulars apply
”
to the proprietor.
TH E RAMBLER. 27
29th of May, 1838, she touched at Brockville on her w ay to Toronto,having on board a cargo and nineteen passengers . She arrived atMoDonnell’s wharf at midnight to take on wood. It had been hinted
't0'
the captain before leaving Brockvill e that there was dangerahead, but he disregarded the warning . The passengers were asleepin the cabin, and the crew had almost finished their labor of takingon wood, when a party of twenty- two men , disg uised and paintedlike - Indians, and armed with muskets and bayonets , rushed onboard , yelling like savages, and shouting, Remember the Caroline ! ” They drove the passengers and crew ashore
, allowing b utlittle time for the removal of baggage belonging to them, the mostof which was lost. The steamer was fired in several places , and theparty left in two boats , steering for Abel ’s Island , about four m ilesa w ay, which they reached at sunrise . The il l - fated steamer sunk inmid - channel but a short distance below the wharf where she wascaptured
,and there she now lies twenty fathoms deep
,while we
sail to and fro directly over her wreck .
The leader of this party wasWilliam ‘
Johnston . better k nown tofame, or notoriety rather, as “ Bill Johnston ,” a Canadian outlaw,
around whose career, and that of his daughter Kate , the oncefamous novelist , N ed Buntline gE . Z. C . Judson), threw a halo ofmystery‘ and romance . Bill Johnston was born at Three Rivers,Lower Canada, February 1 , 1782. His parents removed to, or near ,Kingston
,in 1784, and at the breaking out of the war of 1812, he was
a grocer in Kingston,and a member of a military company. For
an ac t of insubordination, it is said, though what was its nature isnot now apparent, he w as tried by a court martial , lodged in jail,and his property confiscated . Escaping thence he came to theStates, and “ became the bitterest and most vindictive foe Canadaoever had. He acted as a spy for the Americans d uring the w ar of1812—15, robb ed the British mails , and committed every depredationpossible upon Canada and Canadians . After the b urnin g
'
of the SirRobert Peel, h e was outlawed by both the United S tates and Canadian’ governments
,w ho tried in every way possible to efiec t his cap
ture but his hiding places were so numerous,
’ and so many were hispersonal friends , that. with the aid of his daughter Kate , who kepthim supplied with food, which she took to him in the dead of nightin her skiff alone
,and with news of his enemies
,al so , that they suc
ceeded in capturing him but twice,both of which times he escaped ;
THOUSAND ISLAND S .
This new Summ er Resort is situated in the veryheart of the Thousand I slands, in a b eautiful , sec luded
and picturesque spot near the celeb rated Fiddler’
s Elb ow ,
’
in!
View of the “Lost Channel
”and w ithin speaking
distance of the fam ous Echo Rock.
”Fishing and
S cenery are acknow ledg ed to b e the g randest on the
River S t. Law rence .
Conveyance m eets al l trains at Lansdow ne S tation,G . T . R. only a few m inutes drive and easily ac cessib le
b y b oat from‘
A lex andria Bay , Rockport, K ing ston and
G ananoque.
Those requirin g rest, sec lusion , and hom e com fortsw ill - do w ell to w rite for .
particulars to
O . L. POTTER, Prop rietor,
IVY LE A P . O . , ON T A RIO .
REA S O N A BLE RA TES BY THE WEEK .
Steam er Princes5! Louise ,
” ‘
from K ing ston , c alls at
Echo Lodg e every F riday and S aturday , leaving K ing ston
at P . M.
Thousand I s lands,
S t . La w ren c e Riv er .
JEFFERS O N HOUS E, A lex andria Bey, N . v.
Z . Bignes s , Proprietor . R. H . S ervic e , C lerk .
E n larged and Refurnish ed throu g hou t . F irs t - c la ss B a r w ith Res ta urant
a tta c hed . E verythin g N ew . G ood Ba rn A c c om m oda tions . Ra tes , per
day , 50 c en ts a m ea l .
TH E RAMBLER. 31
though if the“ stories toldo f his hair- breadth escapes, whether tru‘ e
or _ not, were written down, they w ould fill a book . F inally, whenmatters became quiet, he returned to his home in Clayton, and intime was appointed keeper of the Rock Island light, whose raysillumine the very spot overwhich once shone the light of the burningsteamer Sir Robert Peel .On our left
,as we leave Peel Dock , is a lovely little white cottag e
on “ Island Kate ,” the residenc e of the late Mrs . Tom l inson , ofWatertown , N . Y. In a short time we swing out from the m ainchannel and pass, on our left . the miniature Island of S t. Helena ,”with its batteries of Quaker guns . The surface of the island, curiously enough , is almost a fa g simile of S t. Helena itself ; and so thegenial owner
,H . S tillman , E sq . ,
of Oswego,has utilized the idea,
and thus w e' have every prominent point located , even to the tomb
of N apoleon . If there were only a miniature N apoleon on theisland
,with a m iniature Sir Hudson Lowe for his jailer , the illusion.
would be complete . On our right is S t . Lawrence (formerly Central) Park, ” Here is a fine hotel, and a group of beautiful summ erhomes
,owned by Rev. Richmond K . F isk
,Ayers, Mass ; C . W.
Hackett, of Utica , N . Y . ; H on . Charles R. Skinner, of Albany , S tateSuperintendent of Public Instruction ; J. F . Mofi’et
,Hon . B . B . Ta g
gart,W . G . Williams, Judge P. C . Williams, and H . F . I ng lehart,
all of Watertown , N . Y.
w etouch , for a moment , at Point Vivian , a collection of b eautiaful cottages onthe mainland, and then away for Alexandria Bay.
On our left is Hill Crest and S hady Covert,” the property ofB . J. Maycock, of Buffalo . On our right we approach “ Wild RoseI sland
,
” the property of Hon. W . G. Rose, of Cleveland, O . , whichis connected w ith Gypsy,” owned by J. M . Curtis of the same city
,
b y a beautifu l bridge of a single Span, not a “ bridge Of sighs , buta bridge Of joys . Opposite, Gen . Van Patten , of Claverack- on - the
Hudson, has a fine location , and then comes S even Isles ,” theb eautiful summer home of Gen . Bradley Winslow, Of Watertown,N . Y . ; Louisiana Point,” owned by the late Judge Lab atte, of N ewOrleans, and the beautiful cottage, known as Lambie Point,” ownedb y theMessrs . Lambie,‘ of Theresa, N . Y.
We now approach the lower channel group, leaving Bell Vista,
Comfort ” and Greystone Villa ” on our left, passing Wauwinet
,
” Keewaydin and Cuba,” and now the steamer,
K INGSTON .
!CANAD A .
Opens on June l oth to O ctob er 1st for
Summer Tourists .
Spec ial rates for Parties during the Summer
Months .
Ra te s , to
TH O S . CRATE , Prop rietor.
TH E RAMBLER.35
efiorts in the cause of hum anityjaécord to'
her, that which she hasso nobly won, our highest admiration and respec t.Then comes the Summer Camp of Rev . Royal Pullman , a
'nd Hopewell Hall , . the property of W.
_C
_. Browning , of N ew York , Castle
Rest, the minatu1 e of Ehrenbreitstein, one of the old castles on theRhine, and then ,
in succession , come “ Friendly,” E . W. Dewey ,N ew York ; H
.R. Heath, N ew Y ork ; St . Elmo,” N . W.
Hunt, Bl ockly n , N .Y
,Welcome , S . G. Pope , Ogdensburg, N Y . ;
Felseneck'
,Prof . H opkins, Ham il ton Coll ege ; Mrs.
Robert Livingston, N ew York ; F lorence , Chandl er, N ewYork ; “ Isle Imperial, ’ Mr . Rafferty, Pittsburg, Pa . These areamong the Central
,or Bay group , and now we swing to thewharf at
A l exandria Bay,with its elegant hotels - the Metropolis of the
Thousand Islands .g
But _w emust on with our trip . As we swing out into the streamand head away onour course, we leave Bonny Castle,” the propertyof Mrs.
J.G
.Holland . This was the favorite summer home of that
gifted author and editor ,Dr. James G . Holland”
, whose name is ahousehold word and w hose fame is world wide, and whose death
TH E RAMBLER. 37
was a national loss,because he was one of. our most gifted authors.
To the world of letters his loss Was irreparable . On our left is Manhattan,
thought by “
m any to be the most beautiful island in theriver
,owned by Judge J. C . Spencer , of N ew York ; S t. John’s
,
”
Judge Chas . D onahue , of N ew York ,Faiiyland, with its three
beautiful villas , belonging to the Messrs . Hayden , of Columbus , O .,
and the summer home of L. Hasbrouck,of Ogdens
burg,N . Y .
‘
Down the m ain channel, at our right, is Resort Island,” owned by W . J. Lewis, of Pittsburg , Pa .
,and along the m ain
land are : Long Branch ,” owned by Mrs . Clark , of Watertown, N .
Y Point Marguerite, the summer home of the late EdwardAnthony, of N ew York The Ledges , C . J. Hudson, N ew York.
Th e T w eed Rin g .
Close . on our right“ is Deer Island, as it was once called, now
Pine Island,
”Old Picnic Island and “ Lotus Land .
” PineIsland was at one time the summer resort of the famous TweedRing , of N ew York, away back in That was when the nowmagnificent Crossmon House was only a plain country tavern
,
though always a good one . Mrs . Crossmon , the honored mother ofthe present genial proprietor, well 1 em em b ers baking Boston b rownbread ”
fo1 them,and many citizens of Alexandria Bay remember
well the high old jinks held by the gang on their visits to theriver. Who was the gang ! Just glance at the list The three first
,
William M . Tweed,Hank Smith and William R. S tewart
,were the
bosses . They concocted the schemes , and the others carried theminto effect . Here was F oster Dewey , Tw eed
‘s private secretary ;A ndrew J . Garvey, Cornelius Carson , Boss Tw eed’s confidential clerk ;Peter B . Sweeney and Dick Cornell
,and then there was a lot of suh;
lieutenants besides . Up here , they styled themselves the MedicusClub ,” and bad medicine they were too, though judging from thefact that they doctored N ew York city to the amount ofthe name was very appropriate .
We now bear aw ayt o the right , leaving Pine~
I sland,
”Old Pic
nic ” and “ Lotus Land on our right, and enter the F riendly orBoundaryGroup .
”This is one of the loveliest scenes on the whole
river, and we sail through its very midst . Here are Little Lehigh ,Sport
,
” “ Idlewild,
Summerland ” and “ Arcadia ” islands, on
Brig gs, of N ew Yerk, and a group of Rochester families . You willacknowledge that this view alone is worth taking the afternoonramble to see, and it is only one of the Thousand Island S teamboatCompany’s boats , either the Islander or America, that can passthrough this g roup .
On leaving it , we head away toward Rockport, a little hamleton the Canadian mainland, passing on our starboard , or right- handside, the head of Geenadier Island
,with its red - capped Canadian
Light- house, Little Grenadier,
! Doctor and S tar islands .The latter was formerly cal led Tar Island , but the addition of asingle letter has done wonders for it. Gen . Bradley Winsl ow, ofWatertow n, N . Y has a fine farm on S tar Island. His elegant cottage was burned in 1892 . It is one of the -most sightly and romanticspots on the river. At our left is Westminster Park, a beautiful re
sort at the foot of Well esley Island , as the Thousand Island Park isat its head
,and at the foot 0 Hil l ” Island, the charming villa,
with its tasteful surroundings, of D . F . F airchild, of Leavenworth,Kansas
,classically named Fan Johne A ferry plies hourly between
Westminster Park an d Alexandria Bay ,and from this point a narrow
passage leads into Lake Waterloo,its outlet in fact, a trip to which ,
as I have already advised, you shoul d not fail to take .On our rig ht comes the little Canadian hamlet of Rockport, and onour left I S Club Island on which are the beautiful summer homesof Mrs . F . Taylor , of N ew York, and Jacob A. Skinner, Esq . , ofN ewark,
‘
N . J Then comes “ Echo Point,” of which we w ill getauricular demonstration , if the steam holds out. Just opposite us,and about midway of this palisade of granite rock, is an Indianpainting. easily distinguishable from the deck of a smaller boat thatc an run close enough in . It represents a wild animal in the act Ofleaping upon a warrior, though it would requlre a label to tell uswhat species of animal was intended .
Through what scenes of nature’s own loveliness we have justpassedi They have been the theme of writers Innumerable, andpoets have exhausted the power of song in their praise. It was herethat
‘
Tom Moore, in 1803, only a year previous to his death , was ihspired by the goddess of song
,which a few days later found vent in
that magnificent poem
POPULAR BA Y A-
N D HOTEL WESTMINSTER.
TH E RAMBLER.
come the m etropo
lis of the ThousandIslands, would at
tract the attentionof large numbers ofvisitors and tourists
,
turn his attention to themeans for gratifying their very laudablecuriosity , and scored a grand success . Andso
,to Capt . Visg ar alone belongs the honor
of having explored the different channels,and
led the way through the most intricate windingsof these delightful archipelagoes of the nobleS t . Lawrence.
On one occasion , while passing through a diflicultchannel below and a little to the right of the Fid
dler’
s Elbow as we go down the river, a correspondentof the N ew York Tribune, w ho was on board , called out :Captain ! what is the name of this channel ! ” Captain
Vn ar , busy at the wheel, and fully occupied in seeingthat his boat passed safely through the difiicult passage, and not c aring to be disturb ed at a critical m oment, ansWered : This, sir, is theLost Channel .
”ThefepOrter took down the answer
,and in due
time the Trib une had a lurid description of the Thousand Islands,and a thrilling account of the passage of the “
Lost Channel. ”Just there w as where Captain Visg ar builded b etter than heknew ; for while the Lost Channel ”b ecame an object of curiosityfar and w ide
,and a trip through it something to be desired, not one
visitor out of a thousand w as'
aw are of the fact that it had a historywhich went back a hundred and thirty-five years
,and yet such is
the case. I will give it as briefly as possible, referring you t oMajor.Haddock’s admirable S ouvenir History of the Thousand Islands for am ere elaborate account .
H istory of the Lost Chann el .
During the F rench and English war , which began in 1755andended in 1760, an expedition was fitted out at Oswego, in Angust ofthe latter year. for the final subjugation of the Canadas . The only
TH E RAMBLER. 43remaining strongholds of the F rench were Montreal
,and a strong
fort On an island in the S t. Lawrence river , about three miles belowthe present city of Ogdensburg , known as F ort Levis , commandedby a distinguished F rench officer Capt . Bouchot . The expeditionconsisted of British regulars and Colonial troops from Massac husetts. Connecticut, N ew Y ork and N ew Jersey . Among the
Massachusetts troops was Israel Putnam , of ”
Revolutionary fame,then a lieutenant - colonel. In addition to
.
these troops, there was aforce of about Indians, under the command of Sir WilliamJohnson. The commander of the expedition was Gen . JeffreyAmherst, the second in command being Gen. Gage
,of Boston fame.
A t that time the English had two arm ed vessels on Lake Ontario ,the Ononda g a and the Mohaw k, commanded by Capt. John Loring,as Admiral of the fleet, which consisted of the two vessels, 177batteaux and 72 whale boats, besides staff boats, hospital boats, andboats for eu -tler
’s use. The first detachment of ‘ troops sailed in the
tw o vessels, on the 7th of August, for the rendezvous at BasinHarbor,” Grenadier Island, a t the head of the S t. Lawrence river .
On the 13th , the entire army were assembled on the island , and earlyon the morning of the 14th the entire expedition s et forth . Capt.Loring , with the two vessels, had gone ahead, and instead of keepingstraight dow n the S outh channel, he crossed just below the foot ofWolfe Island into the Canadian channel. The French had beenexpecting an attack from this direction for a whole year ; and , inc onsequen 'ce, had kept a lookout on Carleton Island, from whichpoint they could readily see when the British forces entered theriver; and with swift war canoes they could easily convey the intellig enc e to the fort below . When Capt. 'Lorin g had fairly enteredthe N avy group
,
“ he was assailed on every hand. The islands seemedto swarm with French and Indians, who were raking his decks withmusketry . To add to his disc omfiture, he knew nothing of th eriver nor
_
of the labyrinth of islands in which he found himself ;b ut, lowering away a boat and crew, he sent them back to preventthe Mohawk from entering the island group ; and manning his guns,he swept the islands around him with grape and cannister, as hedrifted with the current
,he knew not whither. Fortunately
,he got
safely clear of the islands, when , com ing to an anchor, he sent twoother boats to find the first one sent Out, but they returned unsuc
cessful ; nor could they even disting uish which of the channels wasthe One in which the
—
first boat was lowered . They never saw b eat
44 TH E RAMBLER.
nor crew again ; and ever afterward . in speaking of it, they called itthe Place of the Lost Channel . Tw o or three years later, thecrew of a batteau found a broken yawl boat bearing the nameOnondaga,” at the head of one of the channels, which , since thattime
,has been known as the Lost Channel , and which Capt.
Visg ar so happily renamed . The probability is that the crew of theyawl boat were killed and scalped by the Indians , and their boatstove and sunk ; and , after all, we have no absolute certainty thatthis
,more than any other of the numerous channels on every
,hand ,
w as the one in which Capt. Loring first low ered his yawl boat. A l l
that Capt . Loring’s journal says about that part of it is the simplestatement that they called it the place of the lost channel . ”N ext in order is the little island '
c al le'
:l F iddler’s Elbow . Whythis island was so named is accounted for in tw oways . One is, thatit used to be a great camping place for the crews of batteaux longbefore the day of steamers on the river
,and that usually there w as
a fiddler among them w ho furnished music for their rude dances.The other is that a s hrewd old river pilot w ho used to bring his passeng ers to view this group of islands , took care to have a venerableold fiddler, who lived in a shanty near by, always on hand and playing for dear life when the boat passed . Then
,again
,the shape of
the island suggests the c rock“ in afiddler ’
s elbow . You may suityourself as to the hypotheses .Swinging to the left we pass Ash Island on our right and reachLyndock Light .” Away to our left is Boundary Channel ,”whichleads into Lake Waterloo,”
“
or, as it is commonl y known , the Lakeof the Island ,” a place you should not fail to visit . Passing thesewe head away through the Halstead Bay group ; leaving Anderson’sCamp on our right and Smoke Island on our left, we enterHalstead’s
'
Bay,
” and direct our co'urse for Gananoque .
The lower end of Halstead’s Bay term inates in a long arm ,which
extends for some distance inland. Here are the Indian Rocksand H orseb lock Point.” On a precipice which form sa part of thepoint there was clearly visible only a few years ago some aboriginalpaintm g
’
s , representing a hunting scene, but by whom painted noone c ould tell ; even the tribes which
'
were here when the white m an
first came , knew nothing of their origin . To- day b ut little is to beseen of them
,though under a favorable light it is said that the out
lines are vet to be distinguished:
TH E RAMBLER. 45There is another w ay through this labyrinth of islands that is , if
possible, more interesting than this. It takes us nearer to the Canadian shore
, I unm n g close into Ivy’s Mill s , ’ past ! ‘ Champagne
Point and through a beautiful net- work of little is lands, bringingus out again at the head of the Lost Channel. The steamerI slander som etimes makes a special trip through those channels,
ahd‘
if the Opportunity occurs, you should not fail to see that part ofthe group, for the Islander is a superior boat
,well officered .
On our left now is S tone Island, Mc D onal d’
s” and Sugar
islands, and .a beautiful group of small islands near the shore ofG 1indstone Island. But we push on to Ja ckst1 aw light and prepareto step at Gananoque . This is a busy m anufac tuiin g village and willwell repay a visit of some hours . I forgot to tell you that the largegroup of islands
,through which we have j ust passed, is call ed the
N avy group, and that the group through which we are about topass is called the Admiralty‘ ” group , and from the fact that theCanadian islands are known by numbers instead _
of names, it is noteasy to desig nate them clearly ;
'
- but so far as thev have become private property
,they are named , and those, to some extent, we wil l
point out.
A s we s w m g out from the wharf at Gananoque, Tidd’s island
,on
which is a'
lovely summer resort, is at our left , and to Our right isHog island . A t D orsdale,
” R. F orsyth, Esq . , of Montreal,spendshis vacation ; Rev . Prof . Mowat, of Queen ’s College, Kingston,is at “ Riverview ,
” and Prof. Colem an, of Victoria Coll ege, Coburg,Ont. ,
‘
inakes Weidenfeldt his summer home Mr . Camp , ofToronto
,owns Idl ewild , and then com es the cottages of C . E .
Britton , ESq . , and Dr. A .
'
N . K incaid , both prominent citiz ens ofGananoque. On our left, again , J . F indley, E sq . , of Montreal, oc c u e
pies Round Island,” and on the right is the cottage of Rev . J. Allen,of Coburg
,Ont. Then c omes Sylvan Isle,” J. L . Upham, Esq . , bf
Brockville, Ont .
On our -1eft the cottages, in succession , are Camp Iroquois,Mr. Wallace, of Boston ; Roseneath Villa ,” Jas . Richmond, Esqof Kingston; “ Channel View, Jno. Turcotte, Esq .
“ The Cas tle,Prof . N F . D
'upuis , of Queens College ; on our right, “ Burn t Islandlight, and on our left _is BOS S Dick Island .
”The b eautiful group,
through which we have just past, is Bostwick channel, one of thefinest among the island g roups .
TH E RAMBLER. 47
S ta tion I s l an d .
You have, no doubt, read that thrilling tale of Fenimore Cooper’s ,
The Pathfinder .” If so, you will remember the episode of
Station Island ,” its description, how it _was situated , and forwhat purpose it was garrisoned . Cooper, in “ The Pathfinder,”makes no attempt to locate the island. He only relates some historic al facts connected with it, and gives us a minute description ofit . The time described w as
g
during the French and English war of1755- 60. At that time the English held Oswego, while the Frenchhad control of the lakes with a strong fort at Frontenac
,now Kings
ton,and a detachment at Gananoque . The French received their
supplies from Montreal in batteaux which came up the river in detachm ents , numbering ten or more batteaux each . The English keptspies on the lookout for the arrival of these convoys of stores
' andprovisions
_with a view to their capture. To that end “S tation
Island ” had been fixed upon as a suitable place for a rendezvousfrom which to waylay tha expected fleet of batteaux. It was toprotect this fleet that a party of F rench and Indians had been stationed a t Gananoque.N ow what are the historical facts ! F irst, the French posts weresupplied from Montreal by means of batteaux ; second , the Britishtroops attempted to, and did at various times, c apture some of theSeIbatteaux with their stores ; third, that the British had some hidingplace among the islands, from which they sallied forth and madetheir captures, if possible. N ow it is evident that this very groupof islands would b e the one chosen for such a hiding place for severalreasons. First, it was nearer Oswego ; second, the chances of recapture were lessened ; third , the opportunity of watching the approachof a fleet of batteaux unseen . If the hiding place had been chosenin the Lower or N aval group, the chances of a recapture would hat ebeen materially increased . N ow how was S tation Island situated So that a look - out could b e kept on the river below so thatthe French post on the main land could be watched so that theisland
jitself could hardly be distinguished from those by which it
was surrounded . One island in this group fulfils the conditions , andthere is not another among all the Thousand Islands that does ; andhence the presumption that the island is here , and that it borders onBostwick cha’nnel . To one who is fond of exploration it w ill be a
48 TH E RAMBLER.
half day’s pleasure to search it out , and then if you fail to find it, askthe guide on the steamer . During the wai of 1812, Gananoque wasthe scene of a daring assault on the part of a detachment of American tr00ps from Sacket’s Harb01 , the particulars of which are asfollows
E x p edition A g ain st G an an oque .
.On the night of the 2oth of S eptember, 1812, Geri. Brown dispatchedCapt . Benjamin Forsyth with a force of ninety -five men
,from Sack
et’s Harbor, with a view of capturing some ammunition, of whichhis troops stood greatly in need . Capt . Forsyth and his men landedat a point about two miles above the village, and at daylight begantheir march on the place. When ab out half way they were met bytwo horsemen, one of whom was shot, and the other escaped andgave the al arm . A fom e of 110men at once Opposed the advance Ofthe Americans . Halting within a hundred yards of the English lineof battle, Capt. Forsyth ordered his men to fire a volley, and charge.The order was obeyed , and the British were driven back with a lossof several killed and wounded and a dozen p1isoners.
’
The spoilswere ball cartridges, and forty- one muskets . N ot having boatsto take them away
,150barrels of provisions were burned, as also was
the King’s S tore. It “was only the next year that the British hadtheir revenge out of Capt. Forsyth ,
for they whipped him badly a tOgdensburg.
S w inging around tow ard the completion of our grand circle, wereach the group of islands at the head of Grindstone Island . On ourright the largest of the group is Hickory Island . It w as on thisisland that the so- called “ Patriots made a “stand in the winter of1837. They had collected a strong force , and were amply provis ioned,
but without a leader,'
order or discipline, . simply a m ob . On theapproach of a small force from King ston, with a piece of light artillery, they fled without firing a shot, - leaving the most of their storesbehind . It was a perfect stampede ; and to use the lang uage of aneye witness I wouldn’t Wonder if some of them were runningyet.”On the
,
left are Coral and Club islands, on the former ofwhich is the beautiful ”Japanese Villa
,owned by Mr . C . Wolfe . Other
cottages are owned by Thomas Thatcher, E sq . of Boston ; -Mrs. Moore,Harry Morg an and .
’
Bryant Lindley , Esqs . , all of N ew York .
50 TH E RAMBLER.
vance of that ill- fated expedition under Wilkinson,which w as so
badly whipped by the British at Chrvsler ’s farm only a few weeks
later, was attacked by a British force. The following is a b rief history of the affair, which you can read at your leisure
Th e B attl e of F ren ch C reek .
Gen . Jacob Brow n , commanding the advance of Gen .Wilkinson’sexpedition , arrived at F rench Creek on the evening of October 30,1813, and on the next day crossed a part of his command to theOpposite shore, and awaited '
ah ex pec téd‘
attack. By his direction.Capt. McPherson , of the U. S . Light Artillery
,had erected a battery
on Bartlet ’s Point and mounted three long eighteen pounders . Fromhis elevated position, Capt. McPherson could Command the entranceto the bay and pretty effectually shell the entire peninsula on whichthe village of Clayton now stands.On the evening of N ovember l st, the attack was made by a fleetof tw o schooners , two brigs, and several boats loaded with ‘troops.The first attem pt w as made upon Capt. McPherson
’
s battery, b ut the
guns were so well served,and so accurate was their fire
,that the
vessels were soon forced to drop down the river, beyond the ,range
'
of - the battery . The next morning the attack was renewed . The
troops were landedeon t he peninsula, below where the village nowstands
,and marched across to the attack. In the meantime
, For
syth’s riflem en had been deployed in the woods as skirmishers, and
met the advancing troops with a galling fire, which threw them intoConfusion. S imultaneously with the landing of the tr00ps, thevessels again attacked the battery on Bartlet’s Point, but with lesssuccess ! than at first. Three of them were so disabled in a fewminutes that they were glad to drift down the river and out ofrange ; and the fourth , deeming discretion the better part of valor,withdrew. The troops, seeing their vessels ‘ disabled,made a precipitate retreat, and thus ended the battle of French Creek.
And now , dear Rambler , we have completed a circle of nearly ifnot quite sixty miles in circumference , and arrived at our starting_point. The thing now to do is to round out the day by taking theS earch Light ramble to - night, a description '
of which you will findin another place .
TH E RAMBLER.
The S earc h Lig h t .
For'
this trip we board the steamer St. Lawrence, for the reasonthat it has the most powerful S earch Light on the river, and was thefirst to bring these fascinating trips into popular notice , and is b esides the largest steamer on the river that gives these S earch Lightexcursions On so grand a scale. Therea re other considerations, too,which you will note as you go al ong
,not the least of which . .is the
fact that the science of electricity has made these trips a nightly possib ility, because of the element of absolute safety that it has broughtinto play. Before the Search Light c ame , a night trip among theriver archipelagoes was an affair
'
of moonlight. N o pilot, howeverskillful, cared to thread the tortuous channels in a moonless night .N ow , the situation is changed. A cool- headed captain and a carefulmate and skillful wheelsman, with an expert electrician , as thesteamer St. Lawrence always has, and barring accidents which noman can foresee, a trip among the islands on a night of inky blackness is as safe as an easy chair at home . Skill and science unitedhave reduced danger to a mere nothing .
As before, we board the steamer at Alexandria Bay, and start upthe river. F irst on one shore and then on the other
,the S earch
Light sends a flood of radiance that illum ines every spot it touches,
as with the glare of a noonday sun ; camp and cottage, leafy covertand rocky glen , all stand revealed. Here a flood of light revealshappy groups on porch and balcony of hotel and cottag efand. therea leafy covert becomes a bower of brilliancy
,while eerie shadows
dark as Erebus flee away into inky depths . It is a succession oftransformation scenes never equaled elsew here ;Touching -
at all points on our w ay up the river, w e stop for ashort time at Clayton and then head away across the river for thepassage . between Grindstone Island on our left, and Robbins’Island on - our right, known as Robbins’ Cut .
” All the way up theriver we have been greeted with rockets and red fire
,and even now
they have not ceased . Passing “ Calumet Island,
” on our left, w e
approach a jolly camp on Grindstone Island , w here‘
cheers and fireworks seem to spring forth spontaneously ; and then on we gothrough the long narrow channel , lighted alternately from side toside, and out into the broad waters of Eel Bay,
” passing “ PointA ngier,” Elephant Rock,” “ Picnic ” and “ S quaw ” Points on our
52 TH E RAMBLER.
left, and then swinging off toward the lights m the “ Grand ViewPark ” Hotel . A place, by the w ay,
w ell worth a
'
visit. 011 ourright as we speed along is a group of but little more than bare rocks
,
known as Robinson ’s ” or Indian Islands . Should we besignaled, we will stop a moment at Grand View Park , but if not wehead aw ay for
“ Lyndock” Light at the entrance to the “ N avy ”
group and so down past the F iddler’s Elbow,
” on through thegroup past Echo Point, past Rockport/and across through the BayGroup and home to A l exandria Bay, in good time for bed, or for thehop ” at the hotel ; just as w e feel inclined . Reader, our regularrambles are ended and now with your kind permission I will suggest , without enterm g into any Special description , a few
O th er T rip s .
I have already hinted that a trip to Ivy’sM ills,” and among thebeautiful islands bordering that part of the mainland, is a very desirable one . It is true that , as yet, no regular trip has b een established through this part of the N avy Group, but the time is not fardistant when
“
the demands of sightseers will b e complied with and
new ramble routes opened,and, among them all, this divergence
from the present route will be very popular because of its beauty .
The trip through Boundary Channel ,” and to “ Waterloo Lake ,should not 'b e forgotten , especially the latter . Until the steamboatcompanies provide for a regular trip to these places, you can alwayscharter a small steam yacht
,with a competent pilot, to explore
them. The better plan is to make up a , party ; and in this way theCost of the trip is not great
,and if a fine day be chosen, it cannot
fail to be one of great pleasureA nother pleasant side trip is to “ Goose Bay, and the beautifulisland group D inkelspiel at its entrance. Cranberry Creek,”which was the scene of quite a sharp skirmish during the war of1812 , flows into Goose Bay . I give you a brief sketch of the affair,hoping that it may not be entirely devoid of interest.
B attle of Cran b erry C reek .
’
This was one of,
the m ost_stirring affairs that took place among the
Thousand Islands during the war of 1812—14; and seems to be theonly case on record ' where a deputy collector of a port exerc isedthe authority to grant letters of marque ; but such is the fact in this
TH E RAMBLER. 53
case, and whether there are other instances of a like natureremains
to be seen .
Be that as it may, on the i4th of July, 1813, two armed boats , theFox and N eptune , the latter a private craft, armed with one 6 pounderand a swivel, the form er a government b oat, left Sacket’s Harborunder letters of marque , issued by the deputy collector of the distric t. The N eptune was manned by twenty- four volunteers
,under
the command of Capt . Samuel D ixon , and the Fox ,commanded b y
Capt . Dimm ock, by twenty one m en of the Twenty first Infantry ,under Lieutenants Bu1 b ank and Perry, and a detachment of theForsyth Rifles, under Lieut . Hawkins and So1gt. James .The e x pedition was fitted out !by Marinus W . Gilbert
, ofWatertow n , w ith i the
‘object of cutting off a detachm ent of the enemy’sboats , which were expected to arrive up the river' about this time
,
laden with stores . The two boats touched a t Cape Vincent on theirway
'
down the river, and made a short halt at F rench Creek, nowClayton
,and then pushed on to Cranberry Creek
,where they held a
review , put their boats ih c omplete order , ex am lned and cleanedtheir arms, and then sent forward an express to Ogdensburg for intellig enc e. At five o’clock in the afternoon of the second day thelooked - for intelligence came , and at nine o’clock that night the twoboats left the creek and pulled across the riverin to the Canadianchannel , and at four o’clock in the morning they discovered a brigade of the enemy’s batteaux lying at S immon ’s Landing , .underthe protection of His Majesty’s gunboat Spitfire
,just ready to pro
oecd to Kingston .
Pushing rapidly to the show , Lieutenant Pe1 ry‘with S ergeant
James and tw enty seven men landed to cut off their retreat, whileCaptain Dixon , w ith Lieutenant Burbank and therem ainde1 of the
men took possession of the batteaux and gunboat. So complete wasthe surprise
,that the fifteen batteaux and the gunboat w ith their
crews,
‘were captured without a single shot being fired on eitherside . and by nine o’clock in the morning they wel e safe l n Cranberry“
Creek again,and Lieutenant m ank staited at once fo1 S acket ’s
Harbor,with a detachment of fifteen men and sixty - nine prisoners .
Insthe meantime news had reached Kingston and a force w as sentto recapture the gunboat and batteaux, consisting of four gunboats,and the Earl of Moira, an eighteen - gun - brig ; and on the morningof the21st , just as the rising sun tipped with gold - the island sum
54 TH E RAMBLER.
mits, the four g unboats manned with 250 men were discoveredentering Goose Bay and making their way to the mouth of the creek .
Thirty men met them and gallantly disputed their landing, whiletwenty more took up a position from which they could successfullydispute their further advance ; and in the meantime the six- pounderOpened a rapid and galling fire which seriously disabled two of theBritish gunboats, the crews turning their attention to plugging theshot - holes in them . In a short time the enemy retired to the boatsand after pulling beyond gunshot, sent in a flag of truce demandinga surrender to stop the efifusion of blood ,” which was answered byan advance of our men , and reopening the fire on the gunboats ,when they hurriedly retreated, and the battle of Cranberry Creekwas over. The casualties on our side were two men killed and one‘wounded, While the British loss is , by their own authorities admittedto have been twelve kill ed and several wounded , besides the loss ofCaptain Milnes, a gallant officer, and aid- de- camp to the Commanderof the Forces .
”
The capture w as of great value, but owing to the fact that some ofthe batteaux were hurriedly sunk without orders , it proved to be anunprofitable expedition to its promoters . The lading of the batteauxconsisted of 270 barrels of pork and 270 bags of hard bread , mostof which were scattered and wasted in some way ; at all events theyfailed to reach Sacket’S rHarbor, although the expedition returnedsafely, meeting its only mishap when rounding Tibbett’s Point ; itwas fired upon by the Earl of Moira, and though som e
‘of the boats
were struck by her shot, they all escaped .
There is another pleasant trip to be taken , which leads us downalong the American shore and through a fine group of islands in“ Chippewa Bay,
” the largest of which is Oak” Island , form erlv
known as Indian Hut ” Island. As long ago as when Count F rontouao was the commander of the F rench forces in Canada
,an Indian,
familiarly known as the Quaker,because of his peaceful proclivities
,
obtained,a grant from the count, of this island ; and w ith a number
of families of his tribe, made a considerable settlement upon it. Hehad b een much among the F rench and w as extremely fond of imitating their courtly manners
,though his efforts to do so were, at
times,extremely ludicrous . He affected all the airs and graces “
of
Count F rontenac himself, and regarded the Indian settlers on his islandin the light of subjects over whom he exercised a mild sovereignty.
TH E RAMBLER.
His ab o1ig inal lordship w as too fond of the _ fi1 e- water, however,and so he sold his domain one day for a jug of rum ,
b ut b e re taineda life lease , and continued to play the sove1 eig n until King Deathpreferred his claim and ended thelease . The1e are beautiful cottages on some of these islands, and more will be erected in the nearfuture. The little hamlet of Chippewa Bay was visited by a Britishforce from Canada during the war of 1812,but it retired without doin’g any great damage . This part of the Thousand Islands is wellworth seeing
,and though as yet none of the steamboat managers
have made any special provision for visitors to travel this i onte , it isone that ere long the traveling public will demand to see, and thenit will not be long before the means are provided.
From Chippewa Bay,we steam directly across the river
,passing
over the scene of a naval engagement in 1813, between the Americanschooner Julia, and the British schooner Earl
,in w hich the
Julia got the worst of it and fled to Ogdensburg . It was on thesam e spot, also , that the British , under G eneral Amherst, in 1760,
captured a F rench brig . On our way, we pass Ceda1 , D ark andCorn Islands, and a beautiful g roup named 1 espec tively, Pearl,Cherry
,N arrow Little
, Suma , and Tent Islands . Close to theCanadian shore 1s Chimney Island, on which at one time there werefortifications ; probably during the War of 1812 . Turning up stream.We pass inside of Grenadier ' Island , andfind hidden away thereanother beautiful cluster of islands, the prin cipal ones of '
w hich arePooles
, S enecals, and , O’
N eils . It is along this shore that a writerhas laid .the scene of an interesting tale, entitled the “ Witch of
Plum Hollow,
” founded on an old legend of the vicinity. Passingout
_into the main channel at the head of Grenadier Island, we steam
away for Alex andria Bay, having had one of the most enjoyabletrips on the river .
F ort H a ldim an d .
The rulns of this very elaborate fortification are situated on a bluffat the head of Carleton Island , ab out eleven miles above Clayton.and m the middle of the American Channel . This fort was erectedb y the British . It w as begun in 1778, the next year. after - the surrender of Burg oyne at S aratoga. _For som e years it was .the mostimportant military and naval station on the St . Lawrence river, oron the lakes ev‘ en , above Montreal . There are some of the old b ar
56 TH E RAMBLER.
rack chim nies yet standing , and the earth- works are very distinct,
w hile the ditch,which w as cut in the limestone rock, is the same as
ever . The outer parapet and glacis have been much damaged bythe removal of the stone of which they were built. The places of thegarrison well
,the magazines, the bastions and salients are distinct and
easily located . This island played an important part in the war ofthe Revolution . Here was the home of the noted Thayendaneg ea,
alias Joseph Brandt , the chief of the Six N ations . It was from thisisland that the expeditions against Wyom ing , Cherry Valley, and ,
Fort Edward , bloody massacres all, were sent out . The f ort was'
built after the plans of Lieut. Twiss , Burgoyne’s chief engineer,w ho afterward became Lieutenant- General Twiss, the greatest military engineer Great Britain ever had ; and b y_him the fortificationwas named Fort H aldim and, in honor of Gen
'
. Sir Frederick Haldimand , under whose orders the fort was built! and w ho at that timewas commander -in - chief of His Majesty’s forces in Canada. A t thesame time, the name of the island was changed from Deer ” Islandto Carleton Island , in honor of Sir Guy Carleton, afterward LordDorchester . Under the cliff on which the ruins of the old fort aresituated is a beautiful peninsula with a lovely bay on either hand.
D uring the British occupation this was called Government Point ;and was given up to the use exclusively of the naval officers andartificers .
’There was a ' large shipyard on the Point, and many ves
sels of war and gunboats were built there .
N ow , the .
“ Government Point ” of those days is - occupied by theg rounds of theUtica Club
-
and“ several private cottages, one of Wh ich,
Capt. Wyckoff’s , of the firm of Wyckoff, S eaman‘
s Benedict, ofN ew York, is one of the finest and costliest on the river . It is uphere, too, where the best black - bass fishing in the world is to be had.
K in g ston .
Of course you will not fail to board that most magnificent of riversteamers the Empire S tate,” for a visit to Kingston , the F ortFrontenac of the F rench . There are m any places of interest inKingston well worth a visit . To an American , unacquainted withCanadian cities
,Kingston has a series of surprises in sto1 e , and a day
or two may be profitab ly spent there. Fol t Henry, the Military College, the Artillery Barracks, on the site of Old Fort F rontenac, theCathedral, the Dominion Penitentiary, the Insane Asylum and a
58 TH E RAMBLER.
Pic ton , and the “ Lak e on th e Moun tain .
This is another special trip afforded by the Thousand Island S teamboat Company several times during the season . N ot. only does thetourist, on this trip, experience the pleasure of viewing the delightfully romantic scenery of the “ Bay of Quinte, and a visit to one
'
of
its pleasantest villages, but he will have t he pleasure of inspectingone of the greatest natural phenomena known to this or any other .
country. The Lake on the Mountain ” has attracted the attentionof scientists from every part of the civilize d world . It is a hugeS pring , widening out to the dimensions of a pond, situated upon thesummit of a ridg e w hich lies between Lake Ontario and “ Bay:r deQuinte, and m ore than a hundred feet above either. I have notthe exact figures w ithin reach, but my impression is that the Lake ”
is over 150feet higher than the level of Be that as itm ay, it furnishes a constant supply of w ater sufficient to propel alarge amount of machinery, and never fails . It is really worth avisit for itself alone, w ithout the other pleasant features of the tripas an accompaniment .I might suggest o ther spec 1al_trips to you , but they Would take me
b eyond the original scope of this booklet . In describing to you thetrips among the I slands , it is very probable that I have made somee1 rors
,either of omission or c om m 1ss10n ; and if it b e so, it is really
not to b e w ondered at , b ecause I have written a lmost entirely frommemory . Then
,too,
.
new places are springing “up ; new cottagesa1e in process of erection every summer, and new names areadopted ; so that w hat may be correct this season, may be Wrongthe next .
‘ However, what is wrong in this edition will be gladlyset right in the next
,for we expect to keep pace with the times
and seasons .L
’E n v0 1 .
And now , dear Rambler, we have spent somepleasant hours in ourexcursions together, and I hope we m ay spend many more ; andwhen toward life’s close we look back to the m any enjoymentsexperienced among the beautiful scenery of the Thousand Islands,let us hope that not a single regret will cast its shadow across thebright retrospect . To me , these rambles are always. pleasant, andif I have added a
_
mite to the‘ sum total of your enjoyment,I am . c on
tent . Au revoir l
TH E RAMBLER.
I slan d D irec tory.
The follow ingis a late rev1sed list of islands and points, with theirowners’ names
,from Clayton to Goose Bay,
‘
on the American sideCement Point
,h ead of Grindstone Island , owned by W. F . Ford
and others .Goose Island
,two acres, owned by E . S . Brooks
, BrooklynHen Island
,one- half acre, owned by W. F . Morgan, N ew York.
D avitts’ Island
,one - quarter acre, owned by H . G. D avitts, N ew
York .
Carroll Island, two acres, owned by Jas . A. Cheney, Syracuse.Boscobel Island, one- half acre
,Ow ned by G . S .
,H opkins,Kansas .
Bluff Island, twenty acres, owned by E . B . Washburn , N ew York .
Clinton Island, N o. 1, fifteen acres, owned by N . S . S eely, N ew York.
Clinton Island, N o . 2, three acres, owned by N . S . S eely, N ew Y ork.
Governor’s Island owned by Chas . G . Emery, N ew YorkCalumet, owned by Chas . G . Emery, N ew York.
Etheridge,_head of Round Island, owned by Dr. Geo . D x Whalen ,
Syracuse .
Shady Ledge, foot of Round Island, owned by F rank R. Taylor,Philadelphia, Pa ;Brooklyn Heights, foot of Round Island , ow ned by C. S . Johnson,
Brooklyn .
Long Rock, one acre, owned by W. F . Wilsbn , Watertown .
Hemlock Island, twenty acres, owned by W. F . Porter and W. F .
Wilson , Watertown .
S tewart, or Jefiers, Island, ten acres, owned by E . P. Gardiner andtwelve. others, Syracuse, and otherTw o in Eel Bay, two acres, owned by Dr . E . L . Sargent,Watertown .
Twin Islands, one acre, owned by J . L. Huntington , Theresa .
Watch Island, one acre, owned by S . F . Skinner, N ew York .
Occident and Orient,‘
three acres, Owned by E . N . Robinson , N ew
York .
Isle of Pines, two acres , owned by Mrs. E . N . Robinson ,N ew Y ork “
.
F rederick Island two acres , owned by C . L . Frederick, Carthage.Bay S ide , one acre, owned by H . F . Mosher , Watertown .
Riverside, mainland , one acre , owned by J . C . Lee, Gou verneur.K illain Point, mainland , one acre , owned by Mr . Killian , Lockport,
N . Y.
60 TH E RAMBLER.
Holloway Point, mainland , one acre, owned - b y N . H olloway,Omar, N . Y .
F isher's Landing , mainland , two acres , owned by Mrs . R. Gunn,
Omar, N . Y.
Island Home , one acre, owned by Mrs . S . D . Hungerford,Adams
,
N . Y .
H armony,one - quarter acre, owned by Mrs . Burger , Syracuse .
Waving Branches , on Wells’ Island, owned by D . C. Graham andnine others .Bonnie Eyrie, on Wells’ Island , owned by Mrs . Peck, Boonville,
Throop’s Dock , on Wells ’ Island, ow ned by Drs . C. E . and D, S . J.
Latimer,N ew York .
Jolly Oaks , on‘ Wells’ Island, twenty acres, owned by P1o .f A . H .
Brown and four others.Blanch Island, ten acres , owned b y Mrs . A . M .
“ Kenyon,Water
town .
Josephine,twenty acres
,owned by Mrs . A. M. Kenyon
,Water
town .
Craig S ide, Wells’ Island , owned by H . A . Laughlin , Pittsburg, Pa .
Cover‘t Point,Wells’ Island , owned by
’
B,J. Maycock , Buffalo .
Calumet Island, one - half acre,owned b y Oliver _
H_
. Green,Boston .
Van Patten,one acre,owned b y Gen . J . B . Van Patten
,Claverack
,
N . Y.
Point Vivian, mainland , ten acres , owned byR Toyer'
and ten others.Lind_ ,ress one acre, owned by John Lindress , Jsisey City.
Isle Royal , one acre, owned by R. E . Deane , N ew Y ol k.
Cedar Island,one acre
,owned by J. M . Cu1 tis, Cleveland, 0.
Wild Rose, one acre , owned by Hon . W. G . Rose , Cleveland , 0 .
Alleghany Pom t, mainland, one acre , owned by J . S . Laney, Pa .
Plato, two acres, owned by H . R. Heath , Brooklyn .
S even Isles, five acres,owned by Gen . Bradley Winslow, Water
town .
Louisiana Point,Well’s Island , three
'
acres , owned by H on . D . C .
Labatt , N ew Orleans .Bella Vista Lodge , mainland , five acres, Wm . Chisholm, Cleve !land , 0 .
N eh Mahb in Island , two acres, owned by James .H . Oliphant,Brooklyn .
TH E RAMBLER. 61
Comfort Island, two acres, owned by A . E . Clark,Chicago .
Warner’s Island , one acre , owned by Mrs . H . H . Warner,Rochester.Wanw inet Island, one - half acre , Owned by C . E . Hill , Chicago .
K ew aydin , owned by J . W. Jackson, Plainfield ,N . J.
Cuba, one acre, owned by M . Chauncey , Brooklyn .
D evil’s Oven , one acre, owned by H . R. Heath, Brooklyn .
Sunnyside,Cherry Island, five ac res, Rev . G eorge Rockwell , Tarry
town .
Melrose Lodge, Cherry Island, owned by A. B . Pullman estate,Chicago .
Ingleside, Cherry Island, owned by Mrs . G . B . Marsh , Chicago .
S tuyvesant Lodge,Cherry I slandfow ned by J. T. Easton
,Brooklyn .
Safe Point, Wells’ Island , four acres, R'
ev . R. H . Pullman , Baltimore .
Pul lman Island,three acres, owned by Geo . M . Pullman ,
Chicago .
N b y I sland, three ac res ,'
ow ned by H . R. Heath , Brookly n .
Little Angel , one- quarter acre, owned by W . A. Angel! , Chicago .
Edgewood Park, thirty acres, owned by S . W. S essions, Cleveland , 0 .
Edgewood Point, one acre, owned by G . C . Martin , Watertown .
West View , one acre, owned by S . G . Pope , Ogdensburg.
Welcome . One acre, owned by S . G . Pope , Ogdensburg .
Friendly Island , three acres , owned by E . W . Dewey,N ew York .
Linlithgow ,one- half acre, owned by Mrs . R. A . Livingston, N ew
York .
Fl orence, two acres, owned by H . S . Chandler, N ew York .
S t. Elmo, three acres, owned by N . W. Hunt,Brooklyn .
Felseneck , owned by Prof . A . G . Hopkins, Clinton , N . Y.
Point Lookout, one acre , owned b y'
Miss S . J . Bullock, Adams.Vilula Point, one - half acre
,owned by Capt . F . Dana .
Isle Imperial, one acre, Ow ned by G . T . Rafierty , Pittsburg .
Fern Island, one acre , owned by J . Winslow, Watertown .
Hart’s Island, five acres , owned by E . K . Hart’s estate, Albion,N . Y.
Deshler, fifteen acres, owned by W . G . Deshler , Columbus, 0 .
N etts, one acre, ow ned byWm . B . Hayden,Columbus , 0 .
Bonny Castle, fifteen acres, owned by Mrs . J . G . Holland, N ewYork .
C rescent Cottage, ten acres , owned by B. Van Wagoner, N ew York.
62 TH E RAMBLER.
Point Marguerite,thirty acres , owned by Mrs . E . Anthony
, N ew
York.
The Ledges. owned by Mrs “. C . J . Hudson,N ew York .
Long Branch , ten acres, owned by Mrs . C. E . Clark, Watertown.
Manhattan Island , five acres, owned by Hon . J . C . Spencer, N ewYork .
Maple Island, six ac res, owned by John L . Hasbrouck, N ew York.
S t. John Island, six acres, owned by Hon . Charles O ’D onohue,
N ew York .
Fairyland Island,tw enty acres, owned by Charles and ‘William B.
H ayden , Columbus, 0 .
Little Fraud Island, one - half acre, owned by R. H . Pease, New
York .
Huguenot Island, two acres , owned by L . Hasbrouck, Ogdensburg.
Resort Island , three acres, owned by W. J‘
. Lewis , Pittsburg .
Deer Island, twenty acres, owned by Geo. D. Miller,N ew York .
Island Mary,two acres
,owned by Geo. A . Lance, Watertown .
Walton Island,seven acres
,owned by N . J. Robinson
,N ew York .
Idlewild, four acres, owned byMrs . R. A. Packer, Sayre , Pa “
.
Sport Island,four acres , owned by E '
. P. Wilbur,Mauch Chunk, Pa .
Little Lehigh , one acre, owned b yR. H. Wilbur, Bethlehem, Pa .
Summer S ide, two acres, owned by W. S tevenson , Sayre , Pa.
Summ erland, ten acres, owned by Summerland Association , Rochester.Arcadia and Ina Islands, five acres, owned by S . A. Briggs, N ewYork.
Spuyten Bayvel, one acre, owned b y Alice P. Sargent N ew York.
Douglass,fiveac res, own ed by Douglas Miller, N ew York .
Kit Grafton , one- half acre, owned b y Mrs . S . L. G eorg e,Watertow n
Lookout, two acres, owned by Thos. H . Bordin , N ew York.
Ella, one
- half acre,owned by R. E . Hungerford
,Watertown.
Little Charm,one -quarter acre, owned by Mrs .
“
F . W. Barker,
Alexandria Bay.
Frost, two acres , owned by Mrs . S . L . Frost, Watertown .
Excelsior Group,five acres
,owned b y - C . S . Goodwin , N ew York .
Sylvan and Moss Islands , three acres, owned by S . T. Woolworth,Watertown .
Elephant Rock, one- quarter acre , owned by T. C . Chittenden ,
Watertow n .
THE RAMBLER. 63
Sunbeam Group, one acre, owned by A . B . Phelan .
Alice, two acres, owned by Col . A . J . Casse , N ew York .
S chooner, six acres, owned by J. N . Whitehouse, N ew York .
List of P ost - offic es A m on g th e Th ou san d I slands , dur
in g th e S eason .
Thurs o ; Grindstone Island.
Clayton .
Round Island (summer only).Grinnell’s (summer only).Thousand Island Park .
F isher’s Landing .
S t. Law rence Park (summer only).Point Vivian (summer only).Westminster Park (summer only).Alexandria Bay.
Grand View Park (summer only).
Tab l e of distan c es from A lex an dria B ay.
ToMontreal 148miles To RiverviewTo Og densburg 36 To Carleton IslandTo Morristown 24 To Cape VincentTo Brockville To GananoqueTo Chippewa Bay . 12 To Kingston
,
To Point Vivian 2 To N ew YorkTo S t. Lawrence Park 3 T0 BostonTo F ine View 6 To PhiladelphiaTo T. I . Park . . 7 To Saratoga .
To F ishers’ _Landing . 7 To ChicagoTo Pullman House 79r To N iagara F allsTo Grand View Park 12 To TorontoTo Round Island 10 To SyracuseTo Clayton 12 To UticaTo Prospect Park 12 To Rochester .
TH E RAMBLER.
A few“ D on
’ts for E x c u rsionists .
DON ’
T be in too great a hurry, you will get along easier .DON’
T rush to get on board the steamer until the passengers areoff, and then you can get on board without rushing .
DON’T push ,
and jam , and crowd, either in going ashore or aboardyou only hinder and delay .
DON ’
T stop to gossip on the gang - plank, it blocks the passage anddelays others .DON’
T act as though you thought that other people had no rightsw hich you were bound to respect .DON’
T act as though you belong to the genus S us, lest peoplebelieve it.D ON’
T crowd to the forward part of the boat the after part passesthe same objects of interest .DON’
T stand up ,so that those back of you can see nothing— it is
extremely ill mannered .
D ON'
T try to gather 1n all the easy cha1rs just for your party— it
looks selfish .
DON’T be continually grumbling, you annoy others and do yourself
no good .
DON’T be too critical about the running of the boat ; in all proba
b ility ,those w ho have charge of it a1 e as well informed in regard to
their business as you are .
DON’
T berate an employé , because of some fault you think thecom pany has committed— it is inconsistent.D ON’
T fail to treat others with that consideration with which youwould like to have them treat you , and then all will go well.You have Often heard it said that such a one could be a g entleman , if he chose ; you may 1 est assured that if any one can b e agentlem an (or lady) he 01 she 1s pretty certain to b e one ; so, w hen onan excursion DON’
T b e_
anything else, lest people thinking that youcan b e b ut w ill not attrib uteyour actions to pure andunadulteratedcussedness,” and treat you accordingly.
TH E RAMBLER.
river and a small inlet of the S t . Lawrence called N avy Bay. At thisdockyard Sir James Yeo built his fleet for Lake Ontario . After thewar the dockyard was dismantled , but a large three- story stonebuilding remained , known as the S tone F rigate, which had. b een oc c u
pied by the marines . This , . w ith a large blacksmith shOp close by,was utiliz ed for the college . !See buildings at left center of picture !In 1876. the first classes were opened, eighteen cadets being admitted . The staff consisted of a commandant, a captain and three professors. As the classes grew, more accommodation was required,and “ a large building , of the grey limestone for which Kingston isfamous
,was added . It contains offices , reading and mess - rooms,
library , class - rooms , laboratory , hospital , and kitchen . The S toneF rigate b ecame a. dormitory, and the blacksmith shop was convertedinto a well- equipped gymnasium .
The main building faces a spacious parade g round ,with tennis
lawn and cricket ground,and Opposite
,on the point , is F ort F reder
ick , a b atterv which guards the entrance to the harbor, with a martello tower at its apex .
Though modeled after Wool 'wi'ch , the college is intended to givethe cadets a training which will fit them for civil as well as militarylife . The course, which is four years, though provision is made fora tw o years’ course-
“
in hertain subjects,embraces English, F rench ,
drawing, mathematics and m echanics, engineering , surveying , fortific ation’
,architecture, astronomy, chemistry, geology , mineralogy,
physics,electricity, tactics and strategy. signaling , military law and
administration ,military drill
,gymnastics, fencing, swimming and
riding ; A few of these subjects are voluntary, but mest of themare obligatory. A rigorous examination has to be passed by candidates for entrance, and if more reach theminimum than can be adm itted two from each of the twelve military districts into whichCanada is divided these who make the highest number of .marksare given the preference . The age of admission is from fifteen tonineteen .
The military staff consists of a commandant, staff adjutant andseven professors and instructors , four of w hom are graduates of thecollege , and two of the latter hold com m issions in the reg ular
‘
arm y .
F ive of the staff are ofiic ers of .the active list of‘ the imperial army ,lent to the c ollege for a five years’ term , at the close of
_
~which theyare required to rejoin their command . Tw o are officers of the re
TH E RAMBLER.
tired list. There is a civil staff of five,holding permanent appoint
m ents from the government. The presence of im perial officers givesa standing to the institution which it would not otherwisepossess,and helps the proper training of those of the cadets who are destinedfor commissions in the regular army. The government was fortunatein the choice of the first commandant, Col. Hewitt of the Royal Eng ineers , w ho, in addition to being an accomplished scholar - and agood soldier, was possessed of great tact and energy,
“and knew Canada from form er service: To his skill is due, in larg e measure, thesuccess which attended the colleg e from its very outset , and hisguiding hand directed it“ through the difficulties which invariablyattend the early career of a new institution, which ,
“
in this case; wasto a large extent an experiment . Having completed his term he res
turned in 1886 to Plymouth , and was succeeded by Col. Oliver of theRoyal Artill ery, who had been professor of surveying and astronomyfrom {the beginning, and who proved himself to be a worthy successor . The present head of the institutionis Maj . -Gen . Cameron,late of the Royal Ar tillery .
‘
Sir Frederick Middleton , now retired from the command of theCanadian forces, took a deep interest, officially and personally ,
inthe college, and during its early - days helped it with counsel and advic '
e, which his ex pen en ce at Sandhurst well qualified him to give .The
“general officer commanding the militia is ex - ojficio president ofthe college:The entrance examinations are held in June at the headquartersof each military district , and the twenty - four successful candidatesreport themselves at the opening of the term the following S eptember . The first week is spent in b eing uniformed and drilled intosome kind of form . The second w eek the old cadets return, and theg arrison settles down to hard work . The daily routine embracesdrill and c lass parades , study and other duties . F rom reveille totattoo, w ith x the exception of tw o hours from four to six“
, duringwhich he is free the cadet is under theeyeof authority in the classor lecture - IQOm or on parade . There is none of that loitering which!so often takes place at civil colleges, none of that, individual libertywhich often m eans license. The cadet has, however, two half holidays, on Wednesday and S aturday, when he m ay go out on pas s til!eleven o’clock, or, w ith extra leave, till one. Balls and parties inKingston are timed for these days
,for the cadet, With his gay sc ara
TH E RAMBLER.
let uniform, is an important factor in the social world. While attending the college the cadets are
,of course, subject to the Queen’s
Regulations, the ArmyAct, the Militia Act , and such other rules andregulations as Her Majesty’s troops are subject to.
The physical training is excellent. S ergt . -Major Morgan_of the
S cots’ Guards presides over this department, and well qualified he isto fill the position. Cadets w ho pass four years under his instructioncome out with deep chests and erect figures
,and show w hat a thor
ough physical training can accom plish .
One of the rewards of good conduct is promotion to the rank ofnon - commissioned officer, the commandant having authority to appoint such from among those “ best qualified . Proud is he who is invested with the chevrons , or given the right to wear the sergeant’ssash .
But while subject to strict discipline the cadets have opportunitiesto cul tivate their social qualities . One of the events of the season isthe annual sports , which take place in S eptember. The campus is .
alive with carriages and pedestrians,while pretty girls
,with their
chaperons, form the center of groups engaged in animated conversation, or watching with interest the various competitions of speed andskill . Races , jumping competitions and steeplechases follow ' eachother
_in quick succession , while the tug of war between the right
and left wings c reate- s almost as much interest as the struggle on theIsis b etw een
'
the c ollege eights . The gam es over, all adjourn to theg ymnasium , where the. prizes , more substantial than the crown ofivy at the Olympic games, are distributed to the victors .
‘
Tea andan impromptu dance follow in the college halls.A ball is given at Christmas b y the staff and cadets , and a yetmore elaborate entertainment of similar character at the close of thecollege year in June . On closing day a series of field manoeuverstakes place, with blowing up of imaginary fortifications and fleets
,
and an ex hib ition of drill and bayonetex erc ise, after which the resultsof the examinations are announced, the prizes distributed , andthe session brought to a t ermination. The governor- general , theminister of militia, or some one else high in authority, is secured;if possible , to distribute the prizes and make a speech . Four commissions, one each in the engineers , artillery, cavalry, and infantrybranches of the imperial service, are available, the cadets w ho stand
”
highest on the honor roll, if otherwise eligible, being entitled to them
TH E RAMBLER. 69
in the 01 der named . The first two are eagerly sought, the thi1 dgenerally goes a - beg ging , as there are few Canadian youths with sufficient means to keep up a positlon 1n such an expensive branch ofthe service
,in which case an additional commission in the infantry
is generally substituted . All who have taken the full four years’c'
ourse, and qualified in all the obligatory subjects, are entitled to rec eive a diploma of graduation, thesewho have specially distinguishedthemselves also receiving honors . Those who leave at the end oftw o years, and pass the subjects required , receive a certificate ofm ilitary quahfication only.
A fter the official proceedings are over on the closing day the cadcts have a parade of their ow n , when the m em b eis of the g raduating class have to unde1go an 01deal of handshaking and leavetakingin true college f01m . A valedictory dinner in the evening follows,and then steamer . and cm bea1 the cadets off, and the halls are deserted for three m dn ths .
Some of the passed cadets of the college have already won famefor themselves . The
‘ name ~ of S tairs, w ho accompanied S tanley inhis march through darkest Africa , is well known the world ove1 .
Lieut. Hewitt served in the S oudan and bears a medal won on thebanks of the N ile, and Lieut. Dobell has distinguished himself forbravery in Burmah .
Occasion has not yet arisen to call into full play the energies of therapidly growing members of the graduates of the Royal MilitaryCollege, and it is, therefore, too early to judge of its full benefit toCanada . But the opinion of Lord Landsdowne , expressed whengovernor general
,is worth quoting. These are his words
There 1s no Canadian institution of which Canada should beprouder or which w ill do better service to the country and to theemp ire. It forms an interesting and distinctive feature in the miiitary system of the Dominion . That system , as I understand it, isbased upon the 1 ec og nition of the fact that Canada cannot afford
'inher own inte1 ests , or in those of the empire , to disregard those precautions which every civilized community takes in order to ensureits ow n safety from inte1nal commotion o1 ex teinal attack . Uponthe other hand
,it is a system entirely opposed to the establishment
of a nume1 ous standing aimy, or to the w ithdrawal of a laig e bodyof citizens from the peaceful pursuits which ai e essential to the progress and development of the country.
That being so , it is clear that, in case of a national emergency,the Dominion w ould h ave to trust largely to the spontaneous efforts
TH E RAMBLER.
of its own peo le, to the expansion of its existing organization , andthe rapid deve opm ent of the resources already at our command .
But,gentlemen , it is needless for me to point out to you that
there is one thing which it is impossi b le to produce on the spur ofthe moment , and that is a body of trained officers, competent to takecharge of new levies or to supervise Operations necessary for the defense of the national territory , and, therefore, it appears to me thatwe cannot overrate the value of an institution which year by yearis turning out men
_who have received within its walls a soldier’s
education in the best sense of the word and who, whatever their primary destination , will, I do not doubt, be found available whenevertheir services are required by the country .
The cost of education at the Military College is not unreasonable .Each cadet is required to deposit annually $200 to cover the cost ofmessing and quarters, and in addition $200 the first year, and $ 150each year afterwards for uniform, books and instruments . The messman receives forty- six c ents per day for each cadet present. Extrasare obtainable at fixed prices. N o cadet is allowed to spend morethan two dollars
.per'
month, non - commissioned ofi‘ic ers more thanfour dollars, for extras , which they pay out of their pocket money.
.
In addition to the full course of fouryears and the military courseof two years
,provision has been made at the college for officers of
the militia,w ho require higher instruction than
.the military schools
afford , to take a three months’ course , one class being instructedeach year. By this means a number of officers have been enabled toqualify for important positions in the service . 0
Taken all in all, Canada’s West .Point has been an unqualified success.
TH E RAMBLER. 71
A m er ic a .”
The new steamer America has just been launched by the S t.
Law rence River S teamboat Company . She is one of the most luxurious of the fleet under the management of that corporation . Theirtrio of Empire S tate, ” S t . Law rence ant America, ” not tomen tion the other smaller boats , a1 e unsurpassed by any s-tea
'
m eis ofthei1 type l n the world . .The A m e1ic a is the same size as the S t.
Law 1 enc e,her frame - w 01k and hull being of steel to correspond
with that steamer . She has been planned in such a way that everydemand of an exac ting public will be gratified . Upon her m ain deck,aft is located a large dining- room, equipped with individual tables,comfortable chairs
,and the finest linen, crockery and glass -ware .
Th is room is a model of taste and completeness ; the heavy Englishbrussels carpet
,a delicate shade of olive green and gold, harmonizes
with the rich velour curtains and wilton upholstery. Heavy , polished plate - glass windows ex tend from s tem to stern on all decks,and every panel is filled with a beveled plate -glass mirror .The range, tea and c ofiee urns
,carving table and other culinary
attributes have been s pecially manufactured to order by one of thebest known makers on the continent . A v isit to this departm entalon e is extremely interesting and instructive, andwill account forthe excellent meals for which the Folger line is famous .A large saloon cabin is b uilt upon the promenade deck, and furn
ished in the same manner as the dining“ room upon the main deck,below . The stateioom s, with which this steamer is well supplied,
connect with the saloon cabin , and are equipped m a style consistentwith the other tasteful and substantial furnishings .The electric lighting 1s upon a most gorgeous scale, there being 250incandescent lam ps, whose radiant beauty is enhanced by artisticoxidized fixtures.The search . lig ht 1s an exact duplicate in size, construction andpow er of the far - famed lam p of '
the S teamer S t. Lawrence .
” It 1sthe largest ever seen on a passen g e1 steamer , and 111 fact the extremefull size possible for such a purpose.Owing to the stanchness of this beautiful boat, passengers have aocess to the hu1 ricane deck
,a privilege which everyone fam iliar with
steam boats will appreciate. The interior decorative wood work,
TH E RAMBLER.
arches,etc . , in cabins is all carefully selected red oak, with stairs to
match ; the carving being executed by Wainright.Among other unique features, introduced for the first time on thissteamer, is one that deserves spec ial mention her wheels are of themost improved pattern of feathering bucket, so , instead of havingthem entirely concealed , and thebeauty of their mechanism wasted ,thick plate glass is inserted, through which one may observe the revolutions . Incandescent electric lights of various colors, w ith powerful reflectors are placed within the paddle boxes, and at night theirridescent rays illuminate the flying spray and produce a most weirdand fasc inating scene .This new steamer is certainly a creditable addition to the WHITE
SQUA DRON ,
”w hich plys among the Thousand Islands in direc t
connection with “the Vanderbilt system .
A PPRoa-c m ivé CLA YT O N ( TH O US A N D
TH E RA MBLER.
Mountain , after serving through the great rebellion , ha s made hislast “ voyage , ” and has entered upon that existence where all theSecrets of the sk ies are as well defined and understood as are thecourse of rivers here on earth .
To fully understand my reasons for making the trip,some leading
facts should be presented :1 . There had been
,
!all through the year 1859 , much excitement inthe public mind upon the subject of ballooning . In August of thatyear I returned from Labrador
,and found that the balloon Atlantic
,
withWise , Hyde , Gaeg er and LaMountain , had been driven acrossa part of Lake Ontario , while on their great trip from S t Louis toN ew York city, and had landed and been wrecked in Jeffersoncounty, N . Y and the people of that whole section were c onse
quently in a state of considerable excitement upon the subject ofnavigating the air.*2. I had heard of other newspaper editors niakin g trips in balloons ;
had read their g low 1n g accounts , and it seemed to me like a verycunning thing . Desiring to enjoy all that was a - going
,
” I naturally wanted a balloon ride too, and therefore concluded to go, expec tin g to be absent from home not more than ten or twelve hoursat the longest, and to have a good time Being a newspaper m an,
and alw ays on the alert for news , I had also a natural desire '
to doall in my power to add to the local interest of my journal
,and for
-TheWise named ab ove was the celebrated aeronaut,Professor
John Wise,of Lancaster, Pa ; and I may here remark that the trip
made by him and his associates is b y far the longest on record .
Leaving S t. Louis at about4P .
'
M. they passed the whole night in theair, w ere carried across the S tates, of Illinois , Indiana, a portion ofOhio and Michigan, over the .
whole northwestern breadth of PennsylVania and N ew York , and were at last wrecked in a huge tree - topnear the shore of Lake Ontario , at a bout 3 P. M. the n ext day,
escaping with severe b ruises but without broken bones , after a journey ofeleven hundred miles . These adventurers did not travel as fast
,nor
encounter the perils that awaited us, but they made a longer voyage.It was w ith this same balloon Atlantic that LaMountain and myselfmade our trip, b ut it had been reduced one third in size, and was asgood as new . John Wise afterwards lost his life in a balloon , butjust where he perished was never known . Gaeg er was a manufacturerof “ crockery , and he died in Massachusetts . Hyde is ~
pu b lishin g anewspaper in one of the western S tates . LaMountain died in his bedat Lansingburgh , N . Y . , about 1884.
TH E RAMBLER. 75
that reason felt a willingness to go through with more fatigue andhazard than men ’are expected to endure in ordinary businesspursuits .3. I felt safe in going, as I knew that LaMountain was an intrepidand successful aeronaut, and I thought his judgment was to bedepended upon . How he was misled as to distance, and how littlehe, knew , or any man can know ,
of an navigation , the narrative willreadily demonstrate.
With these explanations,I will proceed with my original narra
tive, nearly as written out at the time.N early every one in Watertown is aware that the second ascensionof the b aloon Atlantic was advertised for the 20th of S eptember,1859 . The storm of that and the following day obliged the postponement of the ascension until the 22d.
~Every arrangement had beenm ade for a successful inflation, and at tw enty - seven minutes before6 P . M. the glad words, “ all ab oa l d
,were heard from LaMountain ,
and that distinguished aeronaut and myself stepped_ _into the car.Many were thef1 iendly hands we shook many a fervent “ God blessyou , and “ happy voyage,
’
! were uttered and many hankerchiefswaved their mute adieus . Let go all
,
” and away we soared ; m an1nstant all minor sounds of earth had ceased, and we were liftedinto a silent sphere
,whose shores were without an echo, their silence
equaled only by that of the grave. N o feeling of trepidation wasexperienced : an extraordinary elation took possession of us, and fearwas as far removed as though we had been sitting in our ow n roomsat home .
Tw o or three things struck m e as peculiar in looking down fromanaltitude of half a mile : the small appearance of our village fromsuch a height and the beautiful mechanical look which the straightfences and oblong square fields of the farmers present. As we roseinto the light . fleecy clouds, they looked between us and the earthlike patches of snow we see lying upon the landscape in spring - time ;but when we rose a little higher the clouds completely shut out theearth, and the cold , white masses below us had precisely the samelook that a mountainous snow - covered country does, as you lookdown upon it f1 oma higher mountain.
- Those who have crossed theAlps— or have stood upon one of the lofty summits of the SieriaNevada , and gaz ed down upon the eternal snows below and aroundthem, will be able to catch the idea . I n six minutes we were far
TH E RAMBLER.
above all the clouds , and the sun and we were face to face . We sawthe time after that when his face would have been very welcome tous . In eight minutes after leaving the earth, the thermometershowed a fall of 24degrees . It stood at 84when we left. The balloon rotated a good deal, proving that were ascending w ith greatrapidity.
“ At thermometer stood at42, and fal ling _very fast
.
At we w ere at least two miles high thermometer 34.An unpleasant ringing sensation had now become painful
,and I
filled both ears with ! cotton . At we put on our gloves andshawls therm ometer 32. The w et sandbags now b ecame stiff withcold— they were froz en . Ascending very rapidly . A t therm om eter 28, and falling. Here we caug ht our last sight of the earthby daylight, I recognized the S t. Lawrence to the south- west of us ,which showed we were - drifting nearly north . At 6 o’clock w e
thought w e were descending a little, and L“ aMountain directed meto throw out about 20 pounds of ballast. This shot us up againtherm ometer 26 , and falling very slowl y .
'
. A t thermometer 22m y
'
feet were very cold. The Atlantic was now full , and presenteda most splendid sight. The g as began to!
discharge itself at themouth, and its abominable smell, as it came d own upon us, mademe sick. A moment’s vomit
-
ing helped my case materially. LaMountain w as suiferin g a good deal with cold . I passe
'
d my thickshawl around his shoulders , and put the blanket over our knees andfeet. A t
'
therm om eten 18. We drifted along until the sun leftus
,and in a short time thereafter theballoon began to descend . We
must have been , before we began to descend from this height, 315miles high . At 6 522 thermometer 23 °
r1sm g . We w ere now aboutstationary
,and thought we w ere saihn g north of “east . We could
,
we thought,distinguish water below us, but were unable to recog
nize it. At 6 : 38we threw over a ‘
b a g of sand , making 80poundsof ballast discharged, and leaving about 120 pounds on hand.
Wedistintly heard a dog bark . Thermometer 28 and rising rapidly.
At 6 45the thermometer stood at 33.
At 6 :50 it was dark, and I could make no more memoranda. Iput up my note b ook,
'
pencil and watch, and settled down in the batsket, feeling quiet contented. From this point “ until next morning Igive my experiences from memory only
‘
. The figures given Weremade at the times indicated , and the thermometric variations c an bedepended on as quite accurate .
THE RAMBLER. 77
We heard, soon after dark ,a locomotive whistle, and oc casm nally
could hear wagons rumbling over the ground or a bridge, while thefarmers’ dogs kept up a continual baying, as if conscious there wassomething unusual in the sky . We sailed along ,
contented andchatty
,until a bout half - past eight o’clock , w hen we distinctly saw
lights below us , and heard the roaring of a mighty water- fal l. Wedescended into a valley near a very high mountain, but as ‘the placeappeared rather forb idding, we concluded to go up again .
_
Overwith 30 pounds of ballast, and sky
- ward we sailed. I n ab out 20minutes we again descended, but this time no friendly light greetedus. We seemed to be over a dense wilderness, and the balloon wassettling down into a small lake . We had our life- preservers readyfor use
,but got up again by throwing out all our ballast
,except
perhaps 20 pounds . LaMountain now declared it was fol ly __to Stay
up any longer,that we were over a great wilderness
,and the sooner
we descended the better. We !c oncluded to settle down by the sideof some tall tree, tie up, and wait until morning . In a m oment wewere near the earth, and as w e gently descended I grasped the extreme top of a high spruce, which stopped the balloon ’s momentum
,
and we were soon lashed to the tree by our large drag - rope.We rolled ourselves up‘
in our b lankets, patiently waiting for themorning. The cold rain spouted down upon us' in rivulets from thegreat balloon that lazily rolled from side to side over our heads
,and
we were soon drenched and uncomfortab le as men could b e. Aftera night passed in great apprenhension and unrest, we w ere rightglad to see the first faint rays of coming light . Cold and rainy themorning at last broke, the typical precursor of other dismal mornings to be spent in that uninhabited wilderness . We waited until 6o’clock in hopes the rain would cease, and that the rays of the sun,by warming and thereby expanding the gas in the ball oon, would,give us ascending po w er sufficient to get up again , for the purposeof obtaining a view of the country into which we had ‘descended .
The rain did not cease, and we concluded to throw over all
we had in the balloon , except a coat for each the life - preservers
,the anchor and the compass. Overboard
, then , they went—good shawls and blankets, bottles of ale and a flask of “cordial
,ropes and traps of all kinds . -The Atlantic
,relieved of this wet
load,“
rose majestically with us,!
and we were able to behold the
country below . I t was an unbroken wilderness of lakes and spruce
TH E RAMBLER.
—and I began to fully realize that we had indeed gone too far,
through a miscalculation of the velocity of the balloon . As the current was still driving us towards the north , we dare not stay up, aswe were drifting still farther and farther into trouble. LaMountain seiz ed the valve - cord and discharged gas , and we descended insafety to the solid earth . Making the Atlantic fast by her anchor
,
we considered what was to be done.We had not a mouthful to eat , no protection at night from thewet ground, were distant we knew ,
not how far from any habitation, were hungry to start w ith, had no possible expectation ofmaking a fire, and no definite or satifac tory idea
' as to where wewere. We had not even a respectable pocket knife
,nor a pin to
make a fish hook of— indeed we were ab outgas well equipped for for
est life as were the babes in the woods .After a protracted discussion , in 'which all our ingenuity w asbrought to bear upon the question of our whereab outs , we settled inour m inds (mainly from the character of the timber around us), thatwe were either in John Brown’s tract, or in that wilderness lying b etween Ottawa”; City and Prescott, Canada . If this were so, then weknew that a course south by east
.
would take us out if We hadstrength enoug h to travel the distance.
TRAMPING I N TH E WOODS .
Acting upon our conclusion,we started through the woods toward
the south - east . After traveling about a mile we came to the b ank'
of a small stream flowing from the west, and were agreeably surprised to find that some human being had been there before us,for we found the stumps of several small trees and the head of ahalf - barrel
,which contained pork . I eagerly examined the inspec
tion stamp it read
This settled the question that we were in Canada, as I well knewthat no Montreal inspection of pork ever found its way into theS tate of N ew York . Although the course we had adopted was to bea south - easterly one, we yet concluded to follow this creek to thewestw ard
,and all day Friday we travelled up its banks crossing it
TH E RAMBLER. 79
about noon on a floating log , and striking on the southern shore ablazed path
,which led to a deserted lumber road, and it in turn
bring us to a log shanty 011 the Opposite bank . We had hoped thislumber road would lead out into a clearing or a settlement, b ut a.careful examination satisfied us that the road ended here, its objective point evidently being the shanty on the other bank . We concluded to cross the creek to the shanty, and stay there all night .Collecting some small tim bers for a raft , ,LaMoun tain crossed oversafely
,shoving the raft back to me .
' But my weight was greaterthan my companion’s
,and the frail structure sank under me , pre
cipitatin g me into the water . I went in all over , but swam out,though it took all my strength to do so.
_
On reaching the bank Ifound myself so chilled as scarcely to be able to stand. I took offall my clothes and wrung them as dry as I could . We then proc eeded to the shanty
,where we found some refuse straw
,but -it was
dry, and under'
a pile of it we crawled pulling it over our headsand faces
,inthe hope
‘
that our breath might aid in warming ourchilled bodies: I think the most revengeful, stony heart would havepitied our condition then . I will not attempt to describe ourthoughts as we lay there ; home , children ,
wife,parents, friends,
w ith their sad and anxious faces,rose up reproachfully before us as
we tried to sleep . But the weary hours of nigh-t at last wore away,and at daylight we held a new council . It was evident, we argued,that the creek we were upon was used by the lumbermen for driv
ing their logs in the spring freshets . If , then , we followed it to itsconfluence with the Ottawa or some stream w hich emptied into theOttawa , we would eventually get out the same way the tim ber wentout. The roof of the “shanty was covered with the halves of hollowl‘ogs , S cooped out in a manner familiar to all woodsmen . Thesew ere dry and light , and would make us an excellen t raft . Why not,then , take four of these, tie them to cross - pieces by w ythes and suchodd things as we could find around the shanty
,and pole the craft
down stream to that civiliz ation which even a saw - log appeared ableto reach . Such
,then
,was the plan adopted
,although it involved
the retracing of all the steps hitherto taken , and an apparé nt depart
ure from the course we had concluded would lead us out .Without delay, then, we dragged the . hollow logs down to thecreek
,and LaMountain proceeded to tie them together, as he w as
more of a sail or than’
m yself. We at last got under way , and as we
TH E RAMBLER.
pushed off, a miserable crow set up a dismal cawing an inauspicious sign
‘
We poled down the stream about a mile,when we came
abruptly upon a large pine tree which had fallen ac ross the current;completely blocking the passage of the raft . N o other course wasleft us but to untie the raft, and push the pieces through under thelog . This was at last accomplished , when we tied our craft tog etheragam, and poled down the stream . To- day each of us ate a raw frog(all we could find), and began to realize that we were hungry. Yetthere was no complaining our talk was of the hopeful future.and of the home and civilization we yet expected to reach . Downthe creek we went, into a lake some four miles long , and intowhich we of course supposed the stream to pass , with its outlet atthe lower end . We followed down the northern bank , keepingalways near the shore and in
'
shallow water,so that our poles Could
touch the bottom, until we reached the low erl
ex trem ity of the lake,where we found no outlet, and so turned back upon the southernshore in quest of one. On reaching the head of the lake, and ex am ining the stream attentively , we found that the current of the creekturned abruptly to the right, which was the reason of our losing it.w e
,felt happy to have found our current again, and plied our poles
like heroes . We passed, late in the afternoon , the spot where wehad at first struck the creek, and where we stuck up some deadbranches as a landmark—=which might aid us in case we should at afuture time attempt to save the Atlantic.When night came on we did not st0p, b ut kept the raft goingdown through the shades of awful forests, whose solemn stillnessSeemed to hide from us the unrevealed mystery of our darkeningfuture. D uring the mow ing the rain had ceased, but about 10o’ clock at night it commenced again . We stopped the vessel ” andcrawled in under some “ tag ” alders on the bank , w heie our extremew eaiin ess enabled us to get perhaps half an hour’s sleep . Risingagam (for _
it was easier to pole the raft at night in the rain downan . unknown stream amidst the shadows of that awful forest .
than to lie on the g 1 c und and f1 eez e), we pressed on until perhaps three in the_ morning , when pure exhaustion compelledus tostop again . This time we found a spot where the clayey banklacked a little of coming down to the water. 0 11 the mud we threwour l ittle bundle of straw ,
and sat dow n with our feet drawn upunderus
,so as to present as little surface to the rain as possible
TH E RAMBLER.
was much weaker than myself, and had eaten nothing on the daywe went up.
Part of this day LaMountain slept upon the raft, and I was bossand all hands. As the poor fellow l ay there, completely used up , ’
I saw that he could not be of much more assistance in getting out.Er'ysipelas, from which he had previously suffered , had attacked hisright eye ; his face was shriveled so that he looked like an old man ,and his clothes were nearly torn from his body . A few tears couldnot be restrained, and my prayer w as for speedy deliverance orspeedy death . While my companion was asleep , and I busily poling the raft along, I was forced to the conclusion, after deliberatelycanvassing all the chances , that we were pretty sure to perish theremiserably at last . But I Could not cease my efforts while I hadstrength, and so around the lake we went, into a ll the indentations ofthe shore, keeping always in the shallow water . -The day at lastwore away
,and we stopped at night a t a place w e thoug ht least ex
‘
posed to the wind . We dragged the end of our raft out.
of theWaterand laid down upon the cold ground . We were cold when we laiddown
,and both of us trembled by the hour, like men suffering from
a severe attack -
of the ague . The w ind had risen just at night, andthe dismal surging of the waves upon the shore formed
,I thought, a
fitting lullaby to our disturbed and dismal slumbers .By this time our
“ clothes were nearly torn off . My pantaloonswere spl it up both legs,and the waistbands nearly gone. My bootsw ere mere wrecks , and our mighty wrestlings in the rapids had tornthe skin from ankles and hands . ‘
LalMou'
ntain’s hat haddisappeared ;
the first day out he had thrown away his wollen drawers and stockings, as theydragged ‘him down by .the weight of water they ah
sorbed . And so we could sleep but little ; it- really seemed as thoughduring this
.
night we passed through the horrors of death. But at
daylight we got .up by degrees , first on one knee and then on the other,So stiff and weak that we could hardly stand. Again upon the silent,monotonous lake we went— following around its shore for an out
let. About 10 o’clock we come to quite a broad northern stream,
which we thought was the outlet we were seeking , and we enteredit with joy, believing it would take us to our long sought Ottawa .
Shortly after entering this‘
stream it widened out and began to appear like a mere lake . We poled up thewestern shore for aboutseven miles
, b ut found ourselves again deceived as to the outlet
TH E RAMBLER. 83
the water we were upon proving to be another lake or bayou . Wehad gone into this lake
'
w ith the highest hopes,but when we found
that all the weary miles of our “morning travel had been in vain , andhad to b eretraced, my resolution failed me for a moment . Y et wefelt that our duty
,as Christian men
,was to press forward as long as
'
.w e could stand,and leave the issue .with a higher Power .
It had now been four full days S ince we ate a meal. All we hadeaten in the meantime was a frog apiece
,four clams and a few wild
berries,w hose acid propert ies and bitter taste had probably done us
more harm than g ood . Our strength was beginning to fail veryfast
,and our systems were evidently underg oing an extraordinary
change . I did not pe1 m it myself to think of food thethought ofa well-filled table would have been too much . Mymind continuallydwelt upon poor! S ti'ain ’
s snflerin g s on the Isthmus of Darien (thenlately published in Harper’s Magazine). He, too, was paddling araft down an unknown stream,
half starved,and filledwith dread
ful forebodings . But I did not believe we could hold out half aslong as he had . Besides
,hewas lost in a tropical country, where
all nature is kind to man ; he hadfire- arms and other weapons with'
which to kill game. ‘ We were in a cold , inhospitab le land , withoutarms . and utterly unable to build a fire . S train was upon a“ streamwhich he' knew would eventually bear him to the sea and to safety ;while we were upon waters whose flow we positively knew nothingabout, and were as much lost as though in the mountain s of themoon . Yet we could not give it up so, and tried to summon upfresh courage as troubles appeared to thicken around us . So w eturned the raft around and poled it in silence back toward the placewhere we had entered this last lake . We had gone about a milewhen we heard the sound of a g un , quickly followed by a second repoit. No sound was ever
_so sweet as that . We halloed as loud as
we could a good many times , but could get no response . We keptour poles going quite lively
,and
'
had gone about half a mile when Icalled LaMoun tain ’
s attention to what I thought was smoke curlingup among the trees by the side of a hill. “ My own eyesight had b egun to fail very much , and I felt afraid to trust my dulled senses in amatter so vitally important. LaMountain scrutinized the shore veryclosely , and said he thought it was smoke , and that he believed therewas also a birch canoe on the shore below . In a few moments theblue smoke rolled unmistakably above the tree tops, and we felt that
THE RAMBLER.
WE WERE S AVED 1Such a revulsion of feeling was almost too much . We could
hardly credit our good fortune, for our m any bitter disappointmentshad taught us not to be very sanguine . With the ends of our poleswe paddled the raft across the arm of the lake
,here perhaps three
quarters of a mile wide, steering for the canoe. It proved to be alarge one . evidentlyan Indian’s . Leaving LaMountain to guard andretain the canoe , in case the Indian proved timid and desired toescape from us
,I pressed hurriedly up the bank, following the foot
prints I saw in the damp soil, and soon came upon the temporaryshanty of a lumbering wood , from the rude chim ney of which abroad volume of smoke was rising! I halloed— a noise was
,heard
inside, and a noble- looking Indian came to'
the door. I eagerlyasked him if he could speak F rench
,as I g 1iasped his outstretched
hand. .
“ Yes, he replied, “ and English, too !” He drew me intothe cabin, and there I saw the leader of the party, a noble- heartedS cotchman named Angus Cameron . I immediately told my storythat we. had come in there with a balloon, were lost , and had beenover four days w ithout food— eagerly demanding to .know wherew ewere . Imagine my surprise when he said we were one hundredand eighty miles due north of Ottawa,
_near 300miles from Watertown
,to reach which would require more than 500miles of travel
,
following the streams and roads . We were in a wilderness as largeas three S tates like N ew York , ex tending from Lake Superior on thewest, to the S t. Lawrence on the east
,and from Otta'wa on the
south, to the Arctic circleThe party consisted of four persons Cameron and his assistant
,
and a half- breed Indian (LaMa b Mc D oug alf and his son . Theirsavory dinner was ready. I immediately dispatched the youngIndian for LaMountain , who soon came in, the ab solute
‘
pic ture ofwretchedness . All that the cabin contained was freely offered us,and we beg an to eat. Language is inadequate to express our feelings . Within one little hour the clouds had lifted f1 om oul sombrefuture, and we felt ourselves to be men once more— no longerhouseless w andere1 s amid primeval forests , driven by chance fromside to side, but inspired by the near ceitainty of seeing home againand mingling with our fellows once more in the busy scenes oflife .
TH E RAMBLER.
We soon learned from Cameron that the stream we had traversedwith our raft was call ed Fillim an
’
s creek the large lake we werethen near was called the Bos - ke- tong, and drains into the Bos - ke
tong river,which in turn diains into the Gatineau . The Gatineau
joins the Ottawa opposite the city of that name, the seat of government of Canada. Cameron assured us that the Bos ke - tong andGatineau were so rapid and broken that no set of men could get araft do w n
,no matter how well they knew the country
, nor howmuch provisions they might have. H e regarded our deliverance aspurely providential , and many times remarked that we would certain ly have perished but for seeing the smoke from his fire. He washunting timber for his employers , Gilmour Co.
, of Ottawa, andwas to start in two days down the Gatineau for his headquaiters atDesert. If we would stay there until he started we were welcome ,he said
,
“ to food and accom modations, and he would take us down toDesert in his canoe, and at that point we could get Indians to takeus farther on . He also said that he had intended to look for timberon Fillim an
’
s creek, near w here the balloon would be found , as nearas we could describe the locality to him
,and would try to look it up
and make the attempt to get it to Ottawa . This would be a long andtedious operation , as the portages are very numerous between thecreek and D esert something over twenty one of them threemiles long. Over these portages , of coure, the silk must be carriedon the backs of Indians .After eating all I dared to, and duly cautioning LaMoun tain not tohurt himself by over- indulgence, I laid down to sleep . Before doingso
,I had one of the men remove my boots , an d when they came off,
nearly the whole outer skin peeled off with the stockings . My feethad become parboiled by the continual soakings of four days andnights, and it was fully three months before they were .cured .
After finishing up his business in the vicinity, were we found him ,
on F riday morning (our ninth day from home), Cameron started onhis return. We stopped, on our way up the creek, at the spot wherewe had ' erected our landmark by which to find the balloon . Westruck back for the place , and in about twenty minutes found her ,impaled on the tops of four smallish spruce trees, and very muchtorn. LaMountain concluded to abandon her .
‘
He took the valve asa memento
,and I cut the
_
letters“ TIC ,
” which had formed part ofher name , and brought the strip of silk home with me. We reached
TH E RAMBLER.
what is known as the “ N ew Farm on F riday night. and thereended our sleeping on the ground . Up by early dawn, and on again ,through the drenching rain , reaching Desert on Saturday evening.
At Desert we were a good deal troubled to obtain Indians to takeus further on . LaMab McD oug al had told his wife about the balloon ;and she
,being superstitious and ignorant , had gossipped with the
other squaws,and told them the balloon was a flying devil .
!
Aswe had travelled in this flying devil , it did not require much of astretch of Indian credulity to believe that if we were not the Devil’schildren
,w em ust a t least be closely related . In this extremity w e
appealed to Mr . Backus ,*a kind - hearted American trader, whoagreed to procure us a complement of redskins, who would take usto Alexis le Beau’s place (60 miles down the river), where it Wasthought we could obtain horses. Sunday morning (our eleventh dayfrom home), we started from D esert
,and reac hed Alex is le Bean ’
s
just a t night. The scenery upon this part of“
the route was sublimeand imposing . The primeval forest stood . as grand and silent aswhen created. Our Indians , too, surpassed anything I ever beheld,in physical vigor and endurance . In the day’s run of sixty miles
,
there were sixteen portages to be made. On reaching one of theseplaces, they would seize the canoe as quick as we stepped out of it,jerk it out of the water and on to their shoulders in half a minute
,
and start upon a 919 g :trot as unconcernedly as though bearing noburthen . Arriving at the foot of
'the portage, they would toss thecanoe into the stream , steady it until w e were seated, then spring inand paddle away, g liding down the stream like an arrow. In the
S omething quite curious grew out of my naming Mr . HenryBackus as having assisted us at the mouth of the Desert river. Myaccount was generally pu b lished throughout the country, and someten days after our return I received a letter from a ladyin.Massachusetts asking me to describe to
“
her the man Backus , as that was thename of her long - absent son , w ho,
twenty years before , had disappeared from home, and had never afterwards been heard from . Ianswered the letter immediately, and soon after learned that the manproved to be her son, and that he had promised to come home .
What had driven him away from civilization to live among the In.dians, was best known to himself . But a man of his generous impulses might have been an ornament to society
,and a blessing to his
friends . !This note was written the next week after we escapedfrom the wilderness . The article following this treats of
'
Backus’experience quite exhaustively !
TH E RAMBLER. 87
morning w e traveled fifteen miles and made seven portages in onehour and forty minutes.
_A tAlexis le Beau ’s we first beheld a vehicle denominated a buckboard a wide, thick plank reaching from one bolster of thewagon to the other
,and upon the middle of which plank the seat
was placed . This sort of conveyance is often used in new countries,being very cheap
,and within the reach of ordinary mechanical skill .
S tarting off as soon as we could get som etin g to eat, We tray elled allnight through the forest, over one of theworst roads ever left unfinished, and reached Brooks’ farm , a sort of frontier tavern , in theearly morning, where w e slept a couple
_
of hourshand after breakfast
pressed on by the rough frontier stage tow ards Ottawa.
While the stage was stopping to- day to change horses, I picked upa newspaper at Her Brittanic Majesty’s colonial frontier post—offic e,and in it read an account of our ascension and positive loss, with a1 ather flattering obituary notice of myself . And then, for the firsttime, I began to comprehend the degreeof concern of our protractedabsence had aroused in the public mind . And if the public felt thisconcern
,what would be the degree of pain experienced by wife ,
children , parents, friends ! These reflections spurred us forwardor rather, our money induced the drivers to ‘hurry up their horsesand at last, on the twelfth day of our absence, at about five o’clockin the afternoon, we jumped off the stage in front of the telegraphoffice in the good city of Ottawa
,when ce, in less than five minutes ,
the swift lightning was speeding a message to home and friends .That was a _happy moment the happiest of all my life when Iknew that within thirty minutes my family would know of mysafety .
I do not know,how the people of Ottawa “ so soon found out who
we were but suppose the telegraph operator perhaps told someene,and that some one ”must have told the whole town
,for in less than
half an hour there w as a tearing,excited happy, inquisitive mass of
people in front of the grand hotel there the clerk of which , whenhe looked at our ragged clothes and bearded faces , at first thoughthe “ hadn ’t a sm g le room left,” but, who , when he found
“
out thatwe were the lost balloon men , wanted us to have the w hole hotel,free and above board , and had tea and supper and lunch , and justa little private suppe1
,you know ! ” fol lowing each other in 1 apid ,
yet most acceptable succession . The happy oiow d m the hotel and
TH E RAMBLER.
upon the street were determined to shake hands with us every- one,
and nearly all wanted to give or loan us money. Pretty soon then ewspaper men and some p ersonal acquaintances began to pressthrough the crowd , and some cried while others laughed and huzzahhed. Indeed, every one acted .as if they had just found something .
” And such is human! nature always,w hen its noble sympa
thies are aroused for the suffering ord istressed .
Although the president of the Ottawa and Prescott Railroad (Robert Bell, volunteered to send us on by a special engine thatnight, we thought it best (inasmuch as our friends had been informedof our safety), to stay at Ottawa until m orning. It did seem asthough the generous people of that city could not do enough for us
,
and their kind attention and disintersted enthusiasm will never beforgotten .
Well, the next.morning w e left Ottawa , and were quickly carriedto Prescott ; thence across the _
S t. Lawrence River to Ogdensburg.
Here a repetition of the same friendly greetings took place ; and atlast , after a hearty dinner , we left for home, now distant onlyseventy -five miles b y rail. A ll along the l ine of the ‘road we foundenthusiastic crowds awaiting our coming , and all seemed to exhibitunmistakeable evidence of the deep
'
interest felt in our fate. AtWatertown, w hich had been my home from b oyhood , the enthusi
asm had reached fever -h eat , and the whole town was out to greetthe returning aeronauts, They had out the old cannon on the PublicS quare, and it belched forth the loudest kind of a welcome. My “
family had, of course , suffered deeply by m y ab sence . Everybody.
had given us up for dead,except m y wife . I felt very c heap about
thewhole thing, and w as quite certain that I had done a very foolishact. N ot so the people they thought it a big thing to have gonethrough’ with Somuch, and yet come out alive .
S everal general c onclusions and rem arks'shall terminate this nar
rative, already too long . Why did you p‘ ermit yourselves to go sofar ! ” w ill naturally be asked . To this inquiry I reply , that the
'
w ind was exceedingly light when we ascended : t hat‘w e w ere very
soon among the clouds, and consequently unable to take cognizanceof our course, or to judge how fast we were travelling. It should
TH E RAMBLER.
La Rue’s T rea su res .
(The gold seekers of the S t. Law rence. A'
tale of the Thousandislands . )
About four miles west of the Mallorytow n Landing,_on the north
shore of the S t. Lawrence, at the spot where the original Mallorysfirst landed
,a settler named William LaRue, but commonly known
as Billy ” Larue,received a g rant of lots 15 and 19 , in all, 550
acres of land,in the year of our Lord, 1802. Billy was, a lthough
ec centric , a man ‘ of great energy and endurance . As a proof of thelatter quality, it is related of him that he once walked barefootedthe whole distance to . Cornwall , that being the nearest point at
which he coul d procure sufficient leather for a pa ir of shoes . Atthe‘ point where. La
'
Rue settl ed, a deep ravine opened to the. river.Across this he managed to construct a dam thus furnishing himself with a most excellent water power, on w hich he built a mill ,and
,in consequence
,grew in - wealth . D uring the w ar of 1812 his
mill was taken possession of by the British tr00ps, who utilized itas a means of providing subsistence for the troops .Although his lands presented almost insuperable barriers to agricultural improvements, Billy p ersevered in clearing away theoriginal forest, a nd, in its stead , planted apple , chestnut and walnuttrees
,so that even now, at a distance of almost a century of time,
mingled among st pines of a second g 1 ow th ,may now and then be
found an apple tree, planted by the hand of the on g m al owner ofthe soil, “ Billy ” La Rue . But time speed away and Billy toiled on,and as he w as never known to b e at all profuse in his expenditures ,it was surm ised that at his death, which was at a good old age, hewas possessed of a la1ge amount of gold and silver , which , by constant accretions in the imagination of _his acquaintanCes, g 1 ew intofabulous sums which were, of course . b uried som ew h ere On his es
tate ; and though hardly pressed at the time of his death to do so,’
he died and made no sign .
”Having no
'
family,and no heir nor
heirs having ever presented a c laim to his possessions , the lands , intime
,reverted to the S tate, the mill and dam rotted away , the once
cleared lands becam e covered with a second grow th, but the beliefin Billy La Rue’s buried treasures remained and grew and multipliedm ore rapidly ,
than did the little g roves of sec onde
g row th pineswhich tod ayd ot the premises , and many have been the excavationsmade, and many“ the m idnight searches at all points around thehouse, but so far in vain . Wh ile Billy was on his death b ed,
it Was
TH E RAMBLER. 9 1
noticed that his fast glaz ing eyes turned oftenest in a particular direction
,and it w as along that line of view that the most persistent
efi‘
ort Was made ; and of one of those midnight searches a record isleft by one of the participators, which is given as nearly as possiblein his own language .
THE TREA SURE - SEE K ER’
S N ARRA TIVE .
On a bright moo nlight night, 1n company with three other men , Ileft the village of Mal lorytow n and p1 oceeded to a spot in thevicinity of the old La Rue mill near theupper dam . We were provided with a divining rod of witch hazel
, and a goodly Supply ofpicks and shovels, and in fact everything that w as necessary to theprosecution of an enterprise of that character . We werein the bestof spirits, and as it was a charming night, every way suitable for asuccessful issue to such an enterprise, we determined, if possible, tounearth Billy’s treasures , or . at all events to probe the secret to thevery ‘bottom'
.
Our guide was an elderly gentleman who claimed to be an expert,
in the matter of unearthing bu1 ied treasures, and he had carefullyinst1 uc ted in every particular relating to etiquette to be observed onlike delicate adventures. One imperative command, I rememberwell
,and that was, that from the m oment the divining rod began to
indicate the sought for spot, not a w ord shoul d be Spoken, happenwhat might . We proceeded first to the house and then to the ceme~tery,
at w hich point we proposed to begin our Operations, It was anight of beauty. The moon shone clear and bright through thepines on the overhanging cliff
,and yet a feeling something like awe
crept over us . Suddenly our leader paused and presented his wand .
S lowly the witch - hazel turned toward its m other earth . Moving afew paces to the left, our leader re- adjusted the wand , and again itdrooped earthward . Again and again was the mysterious diviningrod tested, and always with the same result . That we had solvedthe secret
,and were about to become the happy possessors of the
long - buried gold, there was no manner of doubt.S triking a circle of about twelve feet radius
,we began to
‘
dig, andso intent were we upon the welcome task that I took no note of thepassing time . Whether we dug one hour
.
or six, I cannot tell.Gradually the sky became overcast and one by one the stars disappeared. The moon , sank from sight beneath the horizon
,while
the w ind, as it rose in= gusts and fell again into a g entle breez e, sighed
TH E RAMBLER.
a mournful requiem among the swaying pines. It grew ‘ weird andgloomy, and like a pall darkness came down upon us as we dug,transforming us into spectres in each other’s eyes . But we laboredon and not a word was spoken.
N ext came a blast of icy coldness which chilled the very marrowin our b ones, though from our severe exertion we were bathed inperspiration . In the distance we heard a tramping
,as of many feet.
It seemed as though the guardian spirit of Billy La Rue’s treasurew asmarshalling a force to destroy the desecrators of the last restingplace '
of the dead .
But we were nearing the completion of our labors . Our excavation was cone - like in form, the deepest part being in the centerS uddenly a pick struck a metallic substance and the sound rang outc lear and distinct on the night air . A few shovelfuls of earth moretaken off and we felt the o b ject with our hands ; ’ because of its ringing sound when struck I will always believe it was metal . We redoubled our exertions and rapidly removed the earth from one sideand thrust down a crowbar. The coveted treasure was our own .
With our united strength we slowly raised the iron covering, whenin an instant w e were surrounded by creatures innumerable
, c rowding up to the very edge of our excavation . In the darkness theirforms were indistinct, but to judge from the noise of their trampingthere must have been thousands of them . They reminded me of avast drove of black cattle . A ‘great fear which I cannot describecame upon us, and with one impulse we dropped the crowbar andran for life . Coming out of the
!
ravine near the new mill, we paused .
The moon _was sailing majestically through a clear sky, though toour belief it had a short time b efore gone down in gloom . After abrief consultation, we cam e
'
to the conc lusion that we were victimsof im agination . We returned to our work . We found our toolsand garments, but not a sign ofany metallic covering nor even aflat stone at the bottom of our excavation . Our leader sorrowfullyshook his head , and declared that the treasure had moved ,” and sowe departed for Mallorytow n , determined to let the treasures of BillyLa Rue rest foreverm‘ore .
N OTE —The above story, or the substance of it , was found by theauthor of this book in an old pamphlet , in which the name of itsw riter
'
does not appear, else due credit would have been given . It isinserted mainly because its location is among the Thousand Islands .
TH E RAMBLER.
O n H istoric G round .
F rom the Cong regationalist, S ept. 2 7,
Should an American Walter S cott ever ar1se he would'
find amplematerial for a new series of Waverly novels in the historic associations of' the River S t. Lawrence and its northern and southern shores.He would find here m ighty fortiesses built by no human hands,castles made more secure by natural bulwarks than moat
_
01 barhioan could make them , hidden bays in which a fleet might hide,channels three hundred feet deep
_winding between wooded islandsand secluded water ways . Ellen’s Isle, made famous b y the Wizardof the N orth , is reproduced here in a hundred forms, and LochKatrine has scores of rivals at our. very door .We “ have our legends of battle and carnage, of valiant deeds bysouls as heroic as those who wol e the tartan and the p laid . We Canpoint out a cavern hidden aw ay beneath precipitous rock on asecluded island, which has its romance of a maiden ’!s devotion to herfather hiding from bitter enem ies seeking his life . She,
dartingthrough the waters in a little canoe, avoiding the watchful enemy,provided for his needs‘ till the danger had passed . To - day thisDevil’s Oven , if not as famous as the little island among the Trossachs , is visited by thousands and the heroism of the maidenrecalled.
Connected with this act of bravery is the_story of her father, Wil
liam Johnston, as told b y one of his old neighbors . About the year1837 our American steamer Caroline was se1zed for transportingpatriots to Canada and “ sent over N iagara Falls . In revenge for thisact , coupled with real or fancied personal wrongs, Johnston organized a company of frontiersmen and on Wellesley7 Island, then al
most uninhabited , lay ln wait for the new and elegant side wheelCanadian passeng er steamer Peel _as it passed down the 1 iver t_o O gdensb urg . It landed for wood at what is now called Peel ’s D ock.
Our informan t, then a lad living on a lonelyfarm, was at the pier tosee the great ship A strang er warned him away, but n ot faroff hesaw a little b and creeping out from behind huge woodpiles and at
tack the steam er.,The F rehch crew fled into the woods . A few
jumped overboard intheir night - clothes . The braye engineer soughtto scuttle the steamer, but it was fired , drifted out a little way andsank in forty. feet of water, .where it rests “ unto this day .
”
TH E RAMBLER.
The night attack on D eerfield, Mass ,. in 1704, for the rescue of the
Bell,and the terrible massacre ofWyoming, were planned on one of
these islands . Many of them have their tales of terror connected,with the F rench and English and Indian wars . N o securer placecould be found for sudden attacks from hidden enemies in theselabyrinthian channels, secluded bays and wooded rocky islands.The name of Bonaparte is perpetuated by a charming lake not faraw ay . The story of Joseph , the brother of the great N apoleon, andhis career in N orthern N ew York is as romantic as any in its history.
His coming here to secure an American home for the emperor, aftera ' planned escape
”
from S t. Helena, his great domain and elegantchateau, the bringing hither a Venetian gondola to sail on theseWestern waters, the baronial estab lishment of retainers and servitors, chariots and outriders , and the royal style in which he livedconstitute one of the strange episodes of history . Prior to that timeJoseph had been to America
,won the heart of one of its brightest
maidens,married her some say a fictitious marriage carried her
to F rance and placed her in a convent . He promised to take her tocourt when the Opportune time came. That never appeared , asN apoleon had other plans for his brother. At last, with her child,the mock marriage having been made known to her, she fled toN orthern N ew York . A friend saw ,
’
in early girlhood, this daughter,in a . home where they were both guests . She recalls a stately
,
queenly woman,bearing a resemblance
.
in face to the noted - family.
N ot far away , too, is the childhood home of the famous singerAntoinette S terling, the beauty of whose Christian character has notbeen exaggerated Her home is now in London . Many a wildlegend do we hear as we glide oVer these historic waters and listento enthusiastic informants . As to a cluster of some three hundredislands of specia l historic interest , a charming poem was a while agoissued in a French newspaper in Quebec , in which this pretty conc eit is -expressed “ After Adam and E ve had been expelled fromParadise the Garden of Eden was taken back to heaven . On its waythither flowers were thrown back to earth
,and these three hundred
islands are created from those blossoms of God. S . E . B .
TH E RAMBLER. 9 5
The H appy I sl and s .
From proof sheets of H addock’s Souvenir of the S t. Law rence.
”
There, where a Thousand Islands sleep,Come pulsing from N iagara’s leapThe blended lakes with tireless sweepVast lakes
,which float the grain and oi'e
Of mighty S tates from shore to shoreA thousand billowy “miles and more .’Tis there the centering waters meetIn rush sublime and beauty sweet
,
Which we with happy thrills shall greetWe who l I l fevered towns have sighedFor green and watery spaces wide .And N ature’s murmuring love beside.Ah , here they are ! The river here ,S w ift , slow, tumultuous . crystal- clear,Lapping the islands which uprearTheir rocky heads, with crests of treesHas sure enchantments to releaseThe heart and change its pain to peace.Hail River of the Thousand Isles,Which so enchants and so beguilesWith countless charm s and countless wiles ;F low on unpent, forever freeAnd “pauseless , to the ocean seaWhich belts the globe’s imm ensity.
N ot there our goal . Here, here we stayAmong the islands green and gray ,N or strive, but idly float and playAlong the river’s glints and gleams
,
And yield to reveries and d1 eam s
With wh ich the quickened fancy teems.Here
,where the airs are always pure,
And wave and earth and sky allure ,And whisper, Let the best endure,The wiser thoughts and instincts grow
,
Hearts truer feel and surer know ,
And kindle to a tenderer glow.
S t . Law 1en c eRiver . here we rest,And here we end ou1 w andering questTo 1 each the Islands of the Blest
,
Where N ature s sweetest sweets abound,
Are sacred waters , sacred groundThe Earthlv Paradise is found
GEORGE C . BRA GDON .
GRA N D'
VI EW H OUS EA N D
*A N N E X C OT T A GE S ,
GRAND VIEW PARK,Thousand Islands
, N . Y .
Hourly communication by S teamer. In the center of the FamousF ishing G rounds of the S t . Lawrence . Take the G rand V iew ParkFerry - boat at Thousand Island Park D ock . R. ,
W. 8L 0 . R . R. trainsconnect - at Clayton with S teamers landing at T. I . Park . LakeS teamers also land at T I . Park .
P. O . A D DRESS - GRAND VIEW PARK , STHOUSAN D | SLA ND S ,) N . Y .
Transient Rates, to per day . Weekly Rates g 1ven onapplication . S pecial Rates in June and S eptember . Boat Liveryconnected . Best Bathing Beach among the Islands . Tob oggan S lideand Laundry. Address
HAMILTON ca , Supt. of Park.
