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 Photographic 
 
 Sciences 
 Corporation 
 
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 r%rou(/h and LooaZ St«aM«r«, Ootted reSflbw 
 
 Railroads, aoUd rr4 iint 
 
iANANOQUC 
 
 
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 Volstead' g fc 
 
 THE ONLY ALL-RAIL ROUT 
 
 THE GREAT HIGHWAY AND FATORITE R( 
 
 Solid TMlnB with Elegant Sleeping Cars leave Niagara FallB daily 8.10 p m. 
 with powerful Bteamers of Kichelieu & Ontario Navigaliou Co. for Alexandria ] 
 ■^*™Ji?^°J *" x^® Rapida of the River St. Lawrence by dayUght, the most atl 
 
 White Mountains and Portland Express leaves Niagara Falls daily except S 
 connections at Norwood for Massena Springs ; at Moira for Paul Smith's and 1 
 •md famous Crawford Notch to Portland, with immediate connections for Bar 
 train stopB at all principal resorts in the White Motmtaina. 
 
 Sleeping Cars on Night Trains and Drawing-Boon" Cars on Day Trains ^roB 
 oonneotion Is made by all trains with Palace Steamer "St. Lawrence" for aU Tl 
 
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 SCALE OF MiLeS 
 
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 8 
 
 FISHERS 
 
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 LOCAL DISTANCES. 
 
 1IILS8 
 
 Cspe ViBcent tr> Carlton Island 2 
 
 " •' *• Proepect Park ... 13 
 " Clayton 14 
 
 
 ** Round Island 16 
 
 " Thousand Island 
 
 Park 18 
 
 " FlBher'8 Landing SO 
 
 Cape Vincent te Alexandria Bay 
 
 '^ " " ElngMton 
 
 •• " " Gananoqne 
 
 Alexandria Baj to Westminster 
 
 Park 
 
 " " Rockport 
 
 Central Park... 
 
 Mil 
 
L •TOURISTS •IDCAi.-ROUTE- 
 
 V ALL-RAIL ROUTE TO THE THOUSAND ISLANDS. 
 
 AND FAVORITE ROUTE FOR FASHIONABLE PLEASURE TRATEL. 
 
 fara Falls dally 8.10 p. m. for Thousand lelanda. making immediate oonncctions at Clayton without tranHfcp, 
 Bliou Co. for Alexandria Bay, Montreal, Quebec and the Ilivcr Saguonay, pa8«ing all the ThouBaud Islands 
 by daylight, the moat attractive trip in the world. 
 
 agara Falls daily except Saturday at 8.10 p. m. with through Sleeping Cars Niagara Falls to Portland.making 
 ra for Paul Smith's and Adirondack resortf, and running through the hear' of the Mountains via Fabyan's 
 diate connections for Bar Harbor, Old Orchard, Kennebunkport and all Sea Coast resorts of Maine. This 
 1 tains. 
 
 • Cars on Day Trains from Niagara Falls, Bochester, Syracuse and Utica to Clayton [Thousand Islands], wbeve 
 "St. Lawrence" for all Thousand Island Resorts. 
 
 SCALE OF MILES 
 
 yWe»andrfaB«« 
 
 to 
 
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 caM^oM''^" 
 
 ^ CHIMNEY I. 
 
 ROCfc 
 
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 86 
 
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 iut te Alexandria Bay ... 26 
 
 " Kingston 10 
 
 " Gananoqne 16 
 
 Bay to Westminster 
 
 •.;•;: Roi^k^*. '///, . , t 
 
 •• " Central Park. . . t 
 
 Names of Points indicated by Figures in Red. 
 
 1. Carlton Island 
 
 2. Governor's Island Ex-Lient.-Gov. T. O. Alvord. 
 
 3. Calumet Island Mr. Chas. G Emery, New York. 
 
 4. Rock Island Light-Hoofle, head of AmtTican Channel. 
 
 ► j Occident and Orient E. R. Washburn, New York. 
 
 J Isle of Pines Mrs. E. N. IJobmeon, New York. 
 
 8. Frederick Island C. L. Fredtrickiii, Carthage, N.Y. 
 
 7. Wellsley House. 
 
 ( Rev. Goodrici, Lafargeville, N. Y. 
 R WATintf Rrftnph.« } Arthur Hu^h^M, Stone Mills, N. Y. 
 
 8. Waving Branches < pyederick Sm > h. Watertown, N. Y 
 
 ( L. 8. Ainswoi' i, Watertown, N. Y. 
 
 4 Prof. A. H. Brown, I arthage, N. Y. 
 , } N. D. Fen?uson. 
 '• \ John Norton, •• 
 
 ( Hon. W. W. Butterl.ild, Redwood. N. Y. 
 
 9. JollyOaks. 
 
 Names of Points indicated by Figures In Red. 
 
 10. Island Royal Koy;il E. Deane, New York. 
 
 11. Seven Isles Bradley Winslow, Watertown, N. Y. 
 
 11. Point Vivian; Rezot Tozer, J. J. Kinney, Dr. Jones, 
 
 Geo. Jones, William Cooper, and others. Stone Mills, 
 New York. 
 18. Bella Vista Lodge P. J. Bosworth, Newport, R. I. 
 
 14. Comfort Island A. E. Clark, Chicago. 
 
 15. Warner Island H. H. Warner, Rochester, N. Y. 
 
 16 
 
 17. WauWinet .....C. E. Hill, Chicago. 
 
 18. Nobby Island H. R. He«th, New York. 
 
 ]». Welcome Island 8. G. Pope, OfltLensbars. 
 
 20. Linlithgow Islana R. A. Livingston, New York. 
 
 •^1. Bonnie Castle Holland Estate. 
 
 22. Isle Imperial Mrs. H. Q. Le Conte, Philadelphia. 
 
 , 28. Point M argnerite fi. Anthony, New York. 
 
 24. Sport Island Packer Estate. 
 
 2.5 ) 
 
 2(j' j-Summerland Group. 
 27. Manhattan Group, 
 
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 1000 island Steamboat 
 
 News and.... 
 
 Confectionery 
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 .DEALERS IN... 
 
 River Publications, 
 Magazines, Current 
 Literature and Souvenirs. 
 
 iLlYTOlll, M. t ani ^l^IOH, Op. 
 

 , IS. , 
 
 ^'.fc:5»^1jt< 
 
 ^ 
 
 
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 (ipufptt'a InittfrHttg 
 
 
 iCtbrarg 
 
 
 KINGSTON, ONTARIO 
 
 H^Bjk«£^ 
 
 
 
 '.i*i:>ii^f,'i.»-.' 
 
"!i 
 
 THE ROUTES 
 
 PURSUED BV 
 
 :.J 
 
 THE EXCURSION STEAMERS 
 
 UPON THE 
 
 ST. LAWRENCE RIVER 
 
 
 FROM 
 
 CLAYTON AND GANANOQUE TO WESTMINSTER 
 PARK AND ALEXANDRIA BAY 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 J NO. A. HADDOCK, 
 CLAYTON, N. Y. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 WEED-PARSONS PRINTING CO., 
 Albany, N. Y. 
 
 Copyright, 1895.— All rights reserved. 
 
LP 
 
 F/0S9. i'V US.'R, 
 How to Reach the Thousand Islands. 
 
 » ♦ » 
 
 THE only all-rail route is over the Rome, Watertown and Og- 
 densburg Railroad, which connects with all trains of the New 
 York Central and Hudson River system, tho only four-track 
 railroad in the United States. By taking the Rome, Watertown 
 and Ogdensburg Railroad to Clayton (to which points solid trains are 
 run from Niagara Falls, Suspension Bridge, Buffalo, Rochester, 
 Oswego, Syracuse and TTtioa), from four to twelve hours in time, 
 and from ten to fifty miles in distance, may be saved en route to St. 
 Lawrence river points, the White Mountains and sea coast resorts of 
 Ma,ine and Canada. These solid trains carry elegant vestibuled 
 coaches and Wagner vestibuled buffet drawing-room cars, also ves- 
 tibuled cafe smoking and library cars on day trains, and vestibuled 
 sleeping cars on night trains. They run direct to steamboat dock at 
 Clayton, and make immediate connections with the palace steamers 
 of the Thousand Island Steamboat Companj', known as the " White 
 Squadron." Tli's fleet consists of strong and safe steamboats, the 
 largest of which are the "St. Lawrence," "Empire State" and 
 "A? .erica." These boats make immediate connections for Round 
 Island, Thousand Island Park, Alexandria Bay, Westminster Park, 
 and all resorts among the Thousand Islands. They are equipped 
 with new and powerful electric searchlights of one-million-candle 
 power, which dispel the darkness of night. Ele ;tric light excursions 
 are run every night during tlie summer season. These steamers also 
 make the Thousand Island Ramble, or Fifty Mile Tour of the islands, 
 and an excursion trip to Kingston. First-class meals are furnished 
 at 50 cents each. Coimection is also made at steamboat dock at 
 Clayton, without transfer, with powerful steamers of the Richelieu 
 and Ontario Navigation Company (Royal Mail Line steamers) for 
 Montreal, Quebec, the River Saguenay and lower St. Lawrence, pass- 
 ing all the Thousand Islands and rapids of the River St. Lawrence 
 by daylight. The steamboats running in connection with the Rome, 
 Watertown and Ogdensburg Railroad are staunch, safe boats, built 
 expressly for, and adapted to, the waters they navigate. 
 
 By taking the Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg Railroad to Clay- 
 ton the traveler avoids the unpleasant and monotonous trip over 
 Lake Ontario with its inevitable *'mal de mer" when the lake is 
 rough, and also the liability to delays anu detentions when the lake 
 stsamers haul off from their regular trips and refuse to leave their 
 
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 *i<f»w«, i(»**^'«!»fi,;.:^" 
 
\ 
 
 The Rambler. 3 
 
 moorings at Charlotte or Oswego on account of squalls on the lake 
 or tempestuous weather. The fast trains of the Rome, Watertown 
 and Ogdensburg Railroad run every day, unhindered by squalls or 
 stormy weather, and passengers are always certain of making 
 connections. 
 
 The track has been relaid with steel rails, the road-bed newly bal- 
 lasted with gravel and stone, and the train service has been aug- 
 mented and improved by the introduction of new, heavy and 
 powerful locomotives, especially designed to haul heavy i)assenger 
 trains at a high rate of speed. 
 
 In former years, before the construction of through rail lines to 
 the River St. Lawrence, this business was compelled to go via lake 
 ports; but the Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg Railroad, realiz- 
 ing the great dissatisfaction occasioned by people being obliged to 
 take the lake route, extended its rail line to Clayton, and established 
 
 there the central point of the St. Lawrence River Steamboat System. 
 ( Jiayton at once became the great objective jmint for all travel des- 
 tined to the St. Lawrence river, and the perfect train service, with 
 its steamboat connections, maintained by the Rome, Watertown and 
 Ogdensburg Railroad, meets the exacting requirements of all. 
 
 In a general w^ay it may be said that from seven to ten trains ar- 
 rive at and leave Clayton every week day, and two regular trains on 
 Sunday, for specific information of which the reader is referred to 
 time cards and folders, which are liberally distributed and ahvays 
 obtainable at the ticket office at Clayton and on the steamers. 
 
 There are both daylight and night expresses from New York city 
 to Clayton, composed of trains of the finest cars, both passenger and 
 sleeping, with every convenience known to the best equipment. 
 
 The Celebrated Club Train 
 
 makes daily connection with points west, by way of Syracuse, 
 R'^'chester, Buffalo and Niagara Falls. This very reliable and popu- 
 lar train usually ])egins to run as early as the 15th of June and con- 
 tinues until September 21st. It stops only at Buffalo, Rochester, 
 Syracuse and Watertown. Its route is from Niagara Falls to Clay- 
 ton without a break. 
 
 By the admirable all-rail system indicated above, Chicago may be 
 reached from Clayton in twenty -three hours and New York in eleven 
 hours. What more could be desired ? 
 
 On reaching Clayton for down-the-river points there is no delav. 
 for one of the fine steamers of the White Squadron will always be 
 found right beside the cars, ready to depart as soon as passengers 
 and baggage are transferred. 
 
 [In this connection the reader is referred, for fast railroading, to 
 the article by Mr. H. Walter Webb, third vice-president of the N. Y. 
 C. & H. R. R. R., to be found on page 60.] 
 
 try-^i.>5 
 
The Rambler. 
 
 Haddock's River Books. 
 
 This little book costs you 10 cents. It cost the publisliers 7 cents 
 per copy to make by the ten thousand, l'^ it I beg leave to intro- 
 duce to your notice my other river books, to wit : 
 
 1 , The Pictorial — containing nearly 50 fine half-tone pictures of 
 river scenery, as well as 8 pages of fine descriptive matter. Price 
 50 cents. 
 
 2. The Picturesque St. Lawrence River — 25G pages, full of pic- 
 tures, well bound, price $1.00. I desire especially to call your atten- 
 tion to several of the leading articles, although there is not a dull 
 page in the whole book : 
 
 " The Mystery of Maple Island '" (page 102). This article iden- 
 fies a murdei'ed body found upon that fine island (now worth 
 $12, 00 J), with the band of ruffians who were hired with Rebel gold 
 to assassinate President Lincoln, and who nearly murdered Secretary 
 Seward, in 1865. This article is full of history, and throws light 
 upon a very dark subject, not treated elsewhere. 
 
 The Burning of the Steamer Sir Robert Peel (page 133), and 
 its associate atrocity, The Patriot War (page 142), i;wo episodes 
 that will repay careful perusal, as they are intensely interesting. 
 
 " The Balloon Voyaoe of Haddock and La Mountain (page 
 150), who were lost for l3 days in the great Bosketong Wilderness, 
 near the headwaters of the Gatineau, one of the important streams 
 which reach the St. Lawrence river from Canada. 
 
 " The xV wakening of Henry Backus" (page 160), a very remark- 
 able romance brought to light through the balloon episode, and 
 affecting the fur trader who befriended the voyageurs, and enabled 
 them to depart from the Hudson Bay Company's post. 
 
 " How the Indians Lr vrned the Rapids " (page 76), an intensely 
 interesting article prepared by Cai^)tain Simon G. Johnson. 
 
 With many otlier interesting local historical subjects, all admir- 
 ably handled. JNO. A. HADDOCK. Editor, 
 
 Clayton, N. Y. 
 
 I, 
 
 
 For sale on all the Folger boats — at Clayton, Alexandria Bay and 
 Thousand Island Park, and at the Frontenac, on Round Island, 
 These books are delightful souvenirs to carry home with you, and 
 will be highly appreciated by your friends at home if you forward 
 copies by mail. 
 
Fifty 3Iile.s of Gorgeous Scenery. 
 
 WINGING away from the Railway 
 Wharf, at Clayton, where the 
 great New York Central System 
 discharges its thousands of eager sight- 
 seers, the steamer Islander, of the Thou- 
 sand Island Steamboat Company, begins 
 her magnificent ramble among the fa- 
 mous island group. We touch for a mo- 
 ment at the wharf of Round Island Park, with its magnificent Hotel Frontonac as a fit center- 
 piece for its coastline fringe of elegant cottages. You will probaV>ly visit the " Frontenac," and 
 when there, if you desire it, the clerk will furnish you with a list of cottag*^ '^wners, so that it 
 is not necessary to take up our space with the list. " Round Island Part <ne of the most 
 
 delightful resorts among the islands, and will woll repay an extended -xsic. On our left is 
 *' Little Round Island," and beyond that lies Colborne's Island, Bluff, Jefferson, Maple and 
 Bobbins' Islands 
 
6 
 
 The Rambler. 
 
 N 
 
 There waa a tragedy on Maple Island in 1865, a very mysterious 
 one; and it is only within two or three years that any clue to the 
 mystery has been found, and even now, though circumstances seem 
 to point out a reasonable solution, the evidence is incomplete, and in 
 all probability the real facts in the case will never be brought to 
 light. I have only space here to give you a brief outline of the main 
 facts, referring you to Major John A. Haddock's "International 
 Souvenir History of the Thousand Islands," where you will find full 
 and complete — 
 
 The Mystery of Mtiple I.slaiid. 
 
 In the summer of 1865, in the early part of June, a stranger arrived 
 at the hotel at Fisher's Landing, then kept by 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 into 
 the country, going at one time as far as Omar, a pleasant hamlet 
 about a mile and a half from the Landing, or else, hiring a skiff, he 
 would take a day and row about among the islands. 
 
 Finally he one day announced his intention to have a cabin built 
 on one of the islands, tlie better to enable him to enjoy the pastimes* 
 of llshing and hunting, of which he seemed to be extremely fond. 
 Acting on this idea, he hired carpenters, procured lumber, bought a 
 skiff with all its accessories, and all the necessary table furniture 
 and cooking utensils to enable him to " keep house," and " moved'* 
 into his new domicile, which was built by the side of a precipice, 
 and so hidden by a tliick undergrowth that it could not be seen 
 from a passing skiff. He purchased his supplies from the farmers 
 on a neighboring island, and having books and a violin, for he is 
 said to have been quite a musician, time seemed to slip pleasantly 
 away, though he admitted no one to anything like terms of familiar- 
 ity, nor invited any guests to his cabin. It may be well to say, in 
 passing, that ho was a man seemingly about thirty years of age, 
 black hair and eyes and black chin whiskers, well dressed, very un- 
 communicative, dark as a Spaniard, and very restless. He had 
 plenty of money, and paid his bills promptly in English gold. Tlie 
 summer passed quietly away, and but for another occurrence, the 
 ** Hermit,'' as people began to speak of him, would have been almost 
 forgotten. 
 
 '\ n\jJP it 
 
The Rambler. 
 
 One night a light was seen on Maple Island, and the conclusion 
 was that the hermit's cabin had caught fire; but not thinking of any 
 personal danger to him, no especial attention was paid to it. It was 
 thought, of course, that he would take his boat and go ashore some- 
 where, either to Clayton, Grinnell's, or Fisher's Landing; but as he 
 did not put in an appearance anywhere the next morning, a couple 
 .of fishermen went ashore on Maple Island, an J there they found his 
 dead body. His throat was cut, and on his naked breast there were 
 three crosses slashed with a knife, the crosses being disposed in the 
 form of a triangle. 
 
 For a week before this tragedy, several men who, by their language 
 and appearance were set down as Southerners, were quartered at 
 different hotels in Clayton; but on that evening they had settled 
 their bills, and hired some oarsmen to take them to Alexandria Bay, 
 which they did. It was learned later on that they did not stay at 
 Alexandria Bay that night, but no one seemed to know when they 
 left, nor where they went. These facts were brought out on the 
 inquest which was held, but nothing more was discovered at that 
 time. A brief article in t .e Clayton paper. On the St. Laurence, 
 gave the above facts in substance, and from that slight clue the 
 mystery is well nigh cleared up. As a starting point, the reader 
 may understand that the "three crosses," cut in the form of a tri- 
 angle, were a well-known sign of a secret society which fiourished 
 during the war, both North and South, commonly known as the 
 *' Knights of the Golden Circle;" and hence it is fair to presume 
 that the assassins were brother " Knights " of the hermit, who were 
 fulfilling their oaths by murdering him. The next question arose, 
 why should they murder liim? What was the cause? 
 
 To make this story short I will just say, that certain parties were 
 offered the sum of $300,000 in gold to assassinate Lincoln, Seward. 
 Johnson, Grant, Sherman, Sheridan and one or two other members 
 of the cabinet, and a proportionate sum for as many as were assassi- 
 nated. There was paid to John H. Surratt, in the Queen's Hotel in 
 Toronto, $100,000 of this sum in English gold, paid to him by the 
 notorious Jake Thompson, at that time an agent for the Confederacy 
 in Canada. There was with John H. Surratt, at the time, John A. 
 Payne, brother to the Payne who was hanged for the attempted 
 assassination of Secretary Seward and his son. John A. Payne was 
 the treasurer of a secret society in Washington; Surratt and Payne 
 
8 
 
 The Rambler. 
 
 K 
 
 }?mi 
 
 left Toronto the very night tiie money was paid into Surratt's hands. 
 We all know what becam j of Surratt, but what of Payne ? All the 
 "evidences, circumstantial though they be, point to the fact that John 
 A, Payne was murdered on Maple Island, in the St. Lawrence river, 
 by his brother Knights of the Golden Circle, because he failed to 
 divide with them the blood money received for the assassination of 
 Abraham Lincoln, I have no time nor space here to enter into 
 all the facts, but when you have read in the Souvenir all the evi- 
 dences which have been uue-^rthed, you will agree with the above 
 statement. 
 
 We now steam away toward " Grinnell's Island " and the Pullman 
 House landing. Do not make the mistake that some do, and imagine 
 this to be the celebrated Pullman Cottage, because it isn't ; but it is 
 one of the very pleasant summer hotels on the river, and lately en- 
 larged one-third in size. Glance along that narrow channel away 
 to our left. It leads past the " Palisades," a huge granite preci- 
 pice on the head of Wellesley Island, and out into " Eel Bay," and 
 through it a steamer plies her route every two hours to Grand View 
 Park, near which are the wonderful pot-holes. Down jonder, in the 
 very narrowest part of the strait, between the "Palisades" and 
 "Murray Island," there was quite a spirited naval battle fought 
 once, the history of which is af follows: 
 
 Naval Skiriiiish on the St. Lawrence. 
 
 On the 9th of August, 1813, the schooners Julia and Growler, be- 
 coming separated from the remainder of Commodore Chauncey's 
 fleet, set sail down the lake, hotly pursued by several of the English 
 vessels. The Growler succeeded in making the harbor of Oswego, 
 and anchored under the protection of the guns of the fort. The Julia 
 held her course down the lake, with a fair wind, and being a fast 
 sailer, she soon outstripped the English vessels, two of which, the 
 Seneca and Simcoe, had been in close pursuit. The Julia was in 
 command of Mr. Trant, the sailing master, and was armed with 
 one long 33.pounder on a pivot, tw-o long sixes, and forty men. The 
 Simcoe's armament consisted of twelve guns and seventy-six men, 
 and the Seneca's, four guns and forty men. Passing down the river 
 until opposite French creek, Mr. Trant directed his course across the 
 river through what is now known as " Robbins' Cut," the route taken 
 by the splendid St. Lawrence on her search-light excursions between 
 
 
The Rambler. 
 
 9 
 
 Robbins' and Grindstone islands, and out into Eel bay. Here he lay- 
 to near the group of barren rocks known as " Indian Islands," just 
 off Grand View Park. It was not long before his pursuers appeared, 
 reinforced by another small vessel, whose name is not known. The 
 Simcoe and the strange vessel entered the bay from the Canadian 
 channel, while the Seneca had followed the Julia directly through 
 Robbins' cut. For a few moments all was hurry and bustle on board 
 the little schooner. Every sheet that would draw was set, and she 
 sped away for the narrow passage between Wellesley and Hemlock 
 islands, and taking up her position just off the Palisades where the 
 channel begins to widen, she lowered her sails and the crew went to 
 quarters. Tlie enemy came gallantly on with a strong breeze, which 
 increased in force as it sucked through the narrow passage, making 
 it very difficult to retrace their way, and compelling them to follow 
 each other, the narrowness of the passage preventing them from 
 coming alongside of each other, or even wearing so as to bring their 
 broadsides to bear. The commander of the Julia opened fire with 
 his long 33, and in a short time the Simcoe, which was in advance, 
 was disabled, and her consorts were as rapidly as possible trying to 
 retrace their course. Although completely at his mercy, the gallant 
 commander of the Julia did not deem it prudent to attempt to take 
 possession of the Simcoe, because of her greater superiority in men, 
 and, besides, there was always the chance that some of the enemy's 
 vessels might gain his rear ; so, deeming discretion the better part 
 of valor, he gave the Simcoe a parting shot or two, and made his es- 
 cape up the river, joining the fleet on Lake Ontario. For this gal- 
 lant action Mr. Trant was promoted to a lieutenancy. 
 
 Murray Hill, on Hemlock island, is our next stop. This is one of 
 the finest hotels on the river, opened in 1896. 
 
 Many years ago, where the Pullman House now stands, Mr. Grin- 
 nell kept one of the old time " taverns," the like of which is seldom 
 found in these days, and from time to time many distinguished per- 
 sonages became his guests for the sake of the hunting and fishing, 
 not even excepting royalty itself, in the person of Count S"rveiliers, 
 alias Joseph Bonaparte, ex-king of Naples and of Sps i. Those 
 granite rocks up yonder, o'ertopped with a row of beautiful cottages, 
 are named Jersey Heights. 
 
 Our next stopping place is at the Thousand Island Park land- 
 ing, in full view of the stately Columbia hotel, and of many of the 
 
10 
 
 The Rambler. 
 
 
 %'^i 
 
 f^'«. 
 
 
 elegant cottages of this beautiful summer city of the St. Lawrence. 
 Here are all the modern conveniences, electrical lights, water works, 
 telegraph and telephone communication, a steamer for some point 
 almost every hour in the day, excellent bathing, splendid fishing, 
 and, in fact, an ideal summer home. I need not enter into a de- 
 tailed description here, as you will find its history printed in full 
 elsewhere. Directly in front of the landing arc the "Lone Tree" 
 and "Twin " Islands. We next touch at the wharf in front of the 
 " Fine View House'* — one of the many pleasant hotels on the river — 
 and only ten minutes walk to the Thousand Island Park. On the 
 right is the pleasant little hamlet of Fisher's landing, " Occident " 
 and ' Orient " islands, and, a little below them, Fredericks' Islands, 
 owned by a merchant of Carthage, N. Y. 
 
 Along the shore of Wellesley Island, on our left, is a long line of 
 delightful cottages, among which is "Hiawatha," the quaint cottage 
 of Prof. Hoose, an eminent educator, and the grou^) of cottages, 
 "The Jolly Oaks," among which are those of Mr. J. L. Norton, a 
 prominent merchant of Carthage, and Hon. W. W. Eutterfield, of 
 Redwood, N. Y. The next place of any special importance is " Peel 
 Dock," and thereby hangs a tale ; " and here it is.* 
 
 Burning of the Steamer " Sir Robert Peel." 
 
 Those who have kept themselves informed on matters of h -story 
 will remember that, on th" 29th day of December, 1837, the steamer 
 Caroline, an American steamboat, while lying tied to the wharf at 
 Schlosser, a port on the Canadian side of the Niagara river below 
 Buffalo, was boarded by a band of Canadians, robbed, set fire to, cut 
 loose from her moorings, and sent burning over Niagara Falls. This 
 caused great indignation throughout the country, and added much 
 to the excitement consequent on the breaking out of the so called 
 Patriot war, which was, in fact, a weak rebellion on the part of 
 some dissatisfied Canadians, with which a number of United States 
 citizens very foolishly took sides. The steamer Sir Robert Peel was 
 new and staunch, built at Brockville only the year before, and owned 
 by both Canadian and American citizens. She was sailed by Capt. 
 John B. Armstrong. Starting from Pressott on the afternoon of the 
 
 ♦Bear in mind, however, that until the occurrence here related toolc place, this 
 was called " McDonnell's Wharf," and not " Peel Dock," 
 
 I 
 
 
 V-, ~*i**r . 
 
The Rambler. 
 
 11 
 
 29th of May, 1838, she touched at Brockville on lier vay to Toronto, 
 having on board a cargo and nineteen passengers. She arrived at Mc- 
 Donnell's wharf at midnight to take on wood. It had been hinted 
 to the captain before leaving Brockville that there vi^as danger 
 ahead, but he disregarded the warning. The passengers w^ere asleep 
 in the cabin, and the crew had almost finished their labor of taking 
 on wood, when a party of twenty-two men, disguised and painted 
 like Indians, and armed with muskets and bayonets, rushed on 
 board, yelling like savages, and shouting, "Remember the Caro- 
 line!" They drove the passengers and crew ashore, allowing but 
 little time for the removal of baggage belonging to them, the most 
 of which was lost. The steamer was fired in several places, and the 
 party left in two boats, steering for Abel's Island, about four miles 
 away, wliich they reached at sunrise. The ill-fated steamer sunk in 
 mid-channel but a short distance below the wharf where she was 
 captured, and there she now lies twenty fathoms deep, while we 
 sail to and fro directly over her wreck. 
 
 The leader of this party was William Johnston, better known to 
 fame, or notoriety rather, as "Bill Johnston," a Canadian outlaw, 
 around whose career, and that of his daughter Kate, the once 
 famous novelist, " Ned Buntline" (E. Z. C. Judson), threw a halo of 
 mystery 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 1813, he was 
 a grocer in Kingston, and a member of a military company. For 
 an act of insubordination, it is said, though what was its nature is 
 not now apparent, he was tried by a court martial, lodged in jail, 
 and his property confiscated. Escaping thence he came to the 
 States, and became the bitterest and most vindictive foe Canada 
 ever had. He acted as a spy for the Americans during the war of 
 1812-15, robbed the British mails, and committed every depredation 
 possible upon Canada and Canadians. After the burning of the Sir 
 Robert Peel, he was outlawed by both the United States and Cana- 
 dian governments, who tried in every way possible to effect his cap- 
 ture ; but his hiding places were so numerous, and so many were his 
 personal friends, that, with the aid of his daughter Kate, vvho kept, 
 him supplied with food, which she took to him in the dead of night 
 in her skiff alone, and with news of his enemies, also, that they suc- 
 ceeded in capturing him but twice, both of which times he escaped '* 
 
12 
 
 THE RAMBLER. 
 
 K 
 
 though if the stories told of his hair-breadth escapes, whether true 
 or not, were written down, they would till a book. Finally, when 
 matters became quiet, he returned to his home in Clayton, and in 
 time was appointed keeper of the Rock Island light, whose rays 
 illumine the very spot over which once shone the light of the burning 
 steamer Sir RoV)ort Peel. 
 
 On our left, as we leave Peel Dock, is a lovely little wliite cot* 
 tage on "Island Kato," now the summer home of Mr. Lascelle, 
 of Ijvnn, Mass. In a .short time we swing out from the main 
 channel and pass, on our left, the miniature "Island of St. Helena," 
 with its batteries of Quaker guns. The surface of the island, curi- 
 ously enough, is almost a/oc simile of St. Helena itself; and so the 
 genial owner, H. Stillman, Esq., of Oswego, has utilized the idea, 
 and thus we have every prominent point located, even to the tomb 
 of Napoleon. If there were only a miniature Napoleon on the 
 island, with a miniature Sir Hudson Lowe for his jailer, the illusion 
 would be complete. On our right is " St. Lawrence (formerly Cent- 
 ral) Park." Here is a fine hotel, and a group of beautiful summer* 
 homes, owned by Rev. Richmond K. Fisk, Ayers, Mass.; C. W. 
 Hackett, of Utica, N. Y.; Hon. Charles R. Skinner, of Albany, State 
 Superintendent of Public Instruction; J. F. Moffet, Hon. B. B. Tag- 
 gart, W. G. Williams, Judge P. C. Williams, and C. H. Remington, 
 all of Watertown, N. Y. 
 
 We touch, for a moment, at " Point Vivian," a collection of beauti- 
 ful cottages on the mainland, and then away for Alexandria Bay. 
 
 On our left is V Hill Crest" and " Shady Covert," the property of 
 B. J. Maycock, of Buffalo. On our right we approach "Wild Rose 
 Island," the property of Hon. W. G. Rose, of Cleveland, 0., which 
 is connected with "Gypsy," owned by J. M. Curtis of the same city, 
 by a beautiful bridge of a single span, not a "bridge of sighs," but 
 a bridge of joys. Opposite, Gen. Yan Patten, of Claverack-on-the 
 Hudson, has a fine location, and then comes "Seven Isles," the 
 beautiful summer home of Gen. Bradley Winslow, of Watertown, 
 N. Y. ; " Louisiana Point," owned by the late Judge Labatte, of New 
 Orleans, and the beautiiul cottage, known as " Lambie Point," owned 
 by the Messrs. Lambie, of Theresa, N. Y. 
 
 We now approach the lower channel group, leaving " Bell Vista," 
 "Nehmabin," " Comfort" and " Greystone Villa" on our left, pass- 
 ing " W^auwinet," " Keewaydin " and " Cuba," and now the steamer, 
 
 
The Ramiujor. 
 
 13 
 
 with a square turn to the left, runs so close to the "Devils Oven" 
 that you can almost touch it, and then heads toward " Castle Rest." 
 On the left it may be that the visitor will again this season greet 
 the •' Red Cross," the summer home of one of the grandest women 
 of the age, the Florence Nightingale of America, Miss Clara Barton, 
 of Washington, D. C. To the soldier, wounded and dying, she was 
 
 DEVILS OVEN. 
 
 an angel of hope. To the earthquake and tornado-stricken people of 
 the South, she was an angel of relief ; and to the stricken, every- 
 where, whether by war, famine or pestilence, she was an angel of 
 Mercy; she has won the applause of nations and the admiration of 
 the world. In the midst of destitution, disease and death she has 
 borne the sacred emblem to the relief of thousands, and no one has 
 a better right than she to exclaim, " In hoc »igno vinces !^^ Lot us 
 rejoice that she is an American woman, and, because of her grand 
 
I'i 
 
 The Rambler. 
 
 efforts in the cause of humanity, accord to her, that which she has 
 8o nobly won, our highest admiration and respect. 
 
 Then comes tlie summer camp of Rev. Royal Pullman, and " Hope- 
 well Hall," the property of W. C. Browning, of New York; " Castle 
 Rest," the minature of Ehrenbreitstein, one of the old castles on the 
 Rhine, and then, in succession, come: "Friendly," E. W. Dewey, 
 New York; " Nobby," H. R. Heath. New York; "St. Elmo," N. w! 
 Hunt, Brooklyn, N. Y. ; " Welcome," S. G. Pope, Ogdensburg, N. Y.; 
 "Felseneck," Prof. Hopkins, Hamilton College; •' Linlithgow," Mrs. 
 
 N 
 
 NOBBY ISLAND- 
 
 Robert Livingston, New York; " Florence," H. S. Chandler, New 
 York; "Isle Imperial," Mr. Rafferty, Pittsburg. Pa. These are 
 among the Central, or Bay group, and now we swing to the wharf at 
 Alexandria Bay, with its elegant hotels — the Metropolis of the 
 Thousand Islands. 
 
 But we must on with our trip. As we swing out into the stream 
 and head away on our course, we leave " Bonny Castle," the property 
 of Mrs. J. G. Holland. This was the favorite summer home of that 
 gifted author and editor, Dr. James G. Holland, whose name is a 
 household word, and whose fame is world-wide, and whose death 
 
The Rambler. 
 
 15 
 
 was a national loss, l)ecau8e he was one of our most gifted authors. 
 To the world of letters his loss was irreparable. On our left is " Man- 
 hattan," thought by many to be the most beautiful island in the 
 river, owned by Judge J. C. Spencer, of New York; "St. John's," 
 Judge rhas. Donahue, of Now York; " Fairyland," with its three 
 beautiful villas, U-longing to the Messrs. Hayden, of Columbus, O., 
 and "Hugnenot," the summer home of L. Hasbrouck, of Ogdens- 
 burg, N. Y. Down the main channel, at our right, is " Resort Is- 
 land," owned by W. J. Lewis, of Pittsbui-g, Pa., and along the main- 
 land are : " Long Branch," owned by Mrs. Clark, of Watertown, N^ 
 Y. ; "Point Marguerite," the summer home of the late Edward 
 Anthony, of New York ; "The Ledges," C. J. Hudson, New York. 
 
 ream 
 
 )erty 
 
 that 
 
 is a 
 
 leath 
 
 The Tweed Kiiij;^. 
 
 Close on our right is " Deer Island," as it was once called, now 
 "Pine Island," "Old Picnic Island" and "Lotus Land." This 
 re>;ion was at one tiint* the summer resoi't of tlie famous "Tweed 
 Riiig," of New York, away back in 1870. That was when the now 
 magnificent Crossmon House was only a plain country tavern, 
 though always a good one. Mrs. Crossmon, the honored mother of 
 the present genial proprietor, well remembers baking " Boston brown 
 bread " for them, and many citizens of Alexandria Bay remember 
 well the " high Old jinks " held by tiie gang on their visits to the 
 river. Who was the gang ? Just glance at the list : The three first, 
 William M. Tweed, Hank Smith and William R. Stewart, were the 
 "bosses." They concocted the scliemes, and the others carried them 
 into effect. Here was Foster Dewey, Tweed's private secretary; 
 Andrew J, Garvey, Cornelius Carson, Boss Tweed's confidential clerk; 
 Peter B. Sweeney and Dick Cornell, and then there was a lot of sub- 
 lieutenants besides. Up here, they styled themselves the " Medicus 
 Club," and " bad medicine" they were too, though judging from the 
 fact that they doctored New York city to the amount of $37,000,000^ 
 the name was very appropriate. 
 
 We now bear away to the right, leaving "Pine Island," " Old Pic- 
 nic" and " Lotus Land " on our right, and enter the " Friendly " or 
 " Boundary Group." 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 
 
16 
 
 The Rambler. 
 
 N 
 
 Iv 
 
 which are the beautiful cottages of Messrs. W. A., R. H. and E. P. Wil- 
 bur, all of Bethlehem, Pa.; Mrs. R. H. Eggleston, New York; S. A. 
 Briggs, of New York, and a group of Rochester families. You will 
 acknowledge that this view aloue is worth taking the afternoon 
 ramble to see, and it is only one of the Thousand Island Steamboat 
 Company's boats, either the Islander or America, that can pass 
 through this group. 
 
 On leaving it, we head away toward " Rockport," a little hamlet 
 on the Canadian mainland, passing on our stavboard, or right-hand 
 side, the head of " Geenadier " Island, with its red -capped Canadian 
 Light-house, "Little Grenadier,*' "Doctor" and "Star" islands. 
 The latter was formerly called " Tar" Island, but t)ie addition of a 
 single letter has done wonders for it. Gen. Bradley Winslow, of 
 Watertown, N. Y., has a tine farm on Star Island. His elegant cot. 
 tage was burned in 1892. It is one of the most sightly and romantic 
 spots on the river. At our left is Westminster Park, a beautiful re- 
 sort at the foot of Wellesley Island, as the Thousand Island Park is 
 at its head, and at the foot of " Hill" Island, the charming villa, 
 with its tasteful surroundings, of D. F. Fairchild, of Leavenworth, 
 Kansas, classically named Fairjoline. A ferry plies hourly between 
 Westminster Park and 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 should not fail to take. 
 
 On our right comes the little Canadian hamlet of Rockport, and on 
 our left is *' Club Island " on which are the beautiful summer homes 
 of Mrs. F Taylor, of New York, and Jacob A. Skinner, iiisq., of 
 Newark, N. J Then comes "Echo Point," of which we will get 
 auricular demonstration, if the steam holds out. Just opposite us, 
 and about midway of this palisade of granite rock, is an Indian 
 painting, easily distinguishable from the deck of a smaller boat that 
 can run close enough in. It represents a wild animal in the act of 
 leaping upon a warrior, though it would require a label to tell us 
 what species of animal was intended. 
 
 Through what scenes of nature's own loveliness we have just 
 passed ! They have been the theme of writers innumerable, and 
 poets have exhausted the power of song in their praise. It was here 
 that Tom Moore, in 1803, only a year previous to his death, was in- 
 spired by the goddess of song, which a few days later found vent in 
 that magnificent poem : 
 
The Rambler. 
 
 ir 
 
 :. p. wu. 
 
 •k; S. A. 
 You will 
 fternoon 
 earn boat 
 3an pass 
 
 3 hamlet 
 :ht-hand 
 'anadian 
 islands, 
 ion of a 
 slow, of 
 ant cot- 
 Dmantic 
 ;iful re- 
 Park is 
 g villa, 
 1 worth, 
 •etween 
 narrow 
 which, 
 
 and on 
 lomes 
 of 
 ill get 
 ite us, 
 ndian 
 t that 
 act of 
 ell us 
 
 just 
 
 and 
 
 here 
 as in- 
 nt in 
 
 3q 
 
 •• Faintly as tolls the evening chime, 
 Our voices kept tune, and our oars keep time; 
 Boon as the woods on shore look dim 
 We'll sing at St. Ann's our parting hymn. 
 Row, brothers, row; the stream runs fast, 
 The rapids are near, and the daylight is past. 
 
 *• Why should we yet our sail unfurl ? 
 There is not a breath the blue wave to curl I 
 But when the wind blows off the shore, 
 Oil! r?\veetly we'll rest on our weary oar. 
 
 K )w, brothers, row; the stream runs fast, 
 The rapids are near, and the daylight's past, 
 
 "Utawa's tide! This trembling moon 
 Shall see us float o'er thy surges soon. 
 Saint of this green isle! Hear our prayer, 
 Oh! graut us cool heavens and favoring air. 
 Blow, breezes, blow; the stream runs fast, 
 Tbe rapids are near, and t lie daylight is past" 
 
 But the most beautiful tribute to the Thousand Islands ever writ- 
 ten must be awarded to one of Canada's own poets, Joseph Octave 
 Cremazie. His poem was published in " Histoire de la Litterature 
 Canadienne," in 1850, and again in 1860, by M. Larean, Vol. II, page 
 107. I can only find room for a translation of two stanzas : 
 
 *' AVhen Eve plucked Death from the Tree of Life, and brought 
 tears and sorrow upon the Earth, Adam was driven out into the 
 world to mourn with her, and taste of the bitter spring that we drink 
 from to-day. 
 
 ' ' Then Angels on their wings bore the silent Eden to the Eternal 
 Spheres on high, and placed it iu the Heavens — but in passing 
 through space, they dropped along the way, to mark their course, 
 some flowers from the Garden Divine. These flowers of changing 
 hue, falling into the Great River, became the Thousand Islands — 
 the Paradise of the St. Lawrence." 
 
 Next comes tlie widely known " Lost Channel," and in justice to 
 one of the best pilots on the St. Lawrence river, the man who above 
 an others originated these '♦ Island Rambles," Capt. Visgar, of Alex- 
 andria Bay, I must accord a generous meed of praise, because no 
 man better deserves it. 
 
 Early comprehending the fact that this group of islands, situated 
 comparatively near to Alexandria Bay, which was destined to be- 
 
18 
 
 The Rami^ler. 
 
 come the metropo- 
 lis of the Thousand 
 Islands, would at- 
 tract the attention 
 of large numbers of 
 visitors and tourists 
 lie began to turn his attention to tiie 
 means for gratifying their very laudable 
 curiosity, and scoied a grand success. And 
 so, to Capt. Visgar alone belongs the honor 
 of having explored the different channels, and 
 led the wrv through the most intricate windings 
 of these delightful archipelagoes of the noble 
 St. Lawrence. 
 On one occasion, while passing through a difficult 
 channel below and a little to the right of the Fid- 
 dler's Elbow as we go down the jiver, a correspondent 
 of the New York Tribune, who was on board, called out: 
 " Captainl what is the name of this chamiel V" Captain 
 Visgar, busy at the wheel, and fully occupied in seeing^ 
 that his boat passed safely through the difficult passage, and not car- 
 ing to be disturbed at a critical moment, answered: " This, sir, is the 
 Lost Channel " The reporter " took down " the answer, and in due 
 time the Tribune had a lurid description of the Thousand Islands, 
 and a thrilling account of the passage of the " Lost Channel." 
 
 Just there was where Captain Visgar " builded better than he 
 knew; " for while the " Lost Channel " became an object of curiosity 
 far and wide, and a trip through it something to be desired, not one 
 visitor out of a thousand was aware of the fact that it had a history 
 which went back a hundred and thirty-five years, and yet such is 
 the case. I will give it as briefly as possible, referring you to Major 
 Haddock's admirable Souvenir History of the Thou^ ad Islands for a 
 more elaborate account. 
 
 History of the Lost Channel. 
 
 During the French and English war, which began in 1755 and 
 ended in 1760, an expedition was fitted out at Oswego, in August of 
 the latter year, for the final subjugation of the Canadas. The only 
 
The Rambler. 
 
 19 
 
 remaining strongliolds of the French were Montreal, and a strong 
 fort on an island in the St. Lawrence river, about three miles below 
 the present city of Ogdensburg, known as Fort Levis, commanded 
 by a distinguished French officer — Capt. Pouchot. Thie expedition 
 consisted of 10,142 British regulars and Colonial troops from Massa 
 chusetts, Connecticut, New York and New Jersey. Among the 
 Massachusetts troops was Israel Putnam, of Revolutionary fame, 
 then a lieutenant-colonel. In addition to these troops, there was a 
 force of about 1,000 Indians, under the command of Sir William 
 Johnson. The commander of the expedition was Gen. Jeffrey 
 Amherst, the second in command behig Gen. Gage, of Boston fame. 
 At that time the English had two armod vessels on Liike Ontario, 
 the Onondaga and the Mohawk, commanded by Capt. John Loring, 
 as Admiral of the fleet, which consisted of the two vessels, 177 
 batteaux and 73 whale boats, besides staff boats, hospital boats, and 
 boats for sutler's use. The first detachment of troops sailed in the 
 two vessels, on the 7th of August, for the rendezvous at "Basin 
 Harbor," Grenadier Islaml, at the head of the St. Lawrence river. 
 On the 13th, the entire army were assembled on the island, and early 
 on the morning of the 14th the entire expedition set forth. Capt. 
 Loring, with the two vessels, had gone ahead, and instead of keeping 
 straight down the South channel, he crossed just below the foot of 
 Wolfe Island into the Canadian channel. The French had been 
 expecting an attack from this direction for a whole year; and, in 
 consequence, had kept a lookout on Carleton Island, from which 
 point they could readily see when the British forces entered the 
 river;-and with swift war canoes they could easily convey the intel- 
 ligence to the fort below. When Capt. Loring had fairly entered 
 the Navy group, he was assailed on every hand. The islands seemed 
 to swarm with French and Indians, who were raking his decks with 
 musketry. To add to his discomfiture, he knew nothing of the 
 ri^'er nor of the labyrinth of islands in which he found himself; 
 but, lowering away a boat and crew, he sent them back to prevent 
 the Mohawk from entering the island group; and manning his guns, 
 he swept the islands around him with grape and cannister, as he 
 drifted with the current, he knew not whither. Fortunately, he got 
 safely clear of the islands, when, coming to an anchor, he sent two 
 other boats to find the first one sent out, but they returned unsuc- 
 cessful; nor could they even distinguish which of the channels was 
 the one in which the first boat was lowered. They never saw boat 
 
20 
 
 The Rambler. 
 
 nor crew again; and ever afterward, in speaking of it, they called it 
 the "Place of the Lost Channel." Two or three years later, the 
 crew of a batteau found a broken 5'^awl boat bearing the name 
 " Onondaga," at the head of one of the channels, which, since that 
 time, has been known as the " Lost Channel," and which Capt. 
 Visgar so happily lenamed. The probability is that the crew of the 
 yawl boat were killed and scalped by the Indians, and their boat 
 stove and sunk; and, after all, we have no absolute certainty that 
 this, more than any other of the numerous channels on every hand, 
 was the one in which Capt. Loring first lowered his yawl boat. All 
 that Capt. Loring's journal says about that part of it is the simple 
 statement that they " called it the place of the lost channel." 
 
 Next in order is the little island callei " Fiddler's Elbow." Why 
 this island was so named is accounted for in two ways. One is, that 
 it used to be a great campinj^ place for the crews of batteaux long 
 before the day of steamers on the river, and that usually there was 
 a liddlev among them who furnished music for their rude dances. 
 The other is that a shrewd old river pilot who used to bring his pas- 
 sengers to view this group of islands, took care to have a venerable 
 old fiddler, who lived in a shanty near by, always on hand and play- 
 ing for dear life when the boat passed. Then, again, the shape of 
 the island suggests the crook in a fiddler's elbow. You may suit 
 yourself as to the hypotheses. 
 
 Swinging to the left we pass *' Ash Island" on our right and reach 
 ' ' Lyndock Light." Away to our left is " Boundary Channel," which 
 leads into " Lake Waterloo," or, as it is commonly known, the " Lake 
 of the Island," a place you should not fail to visit. Passing these 
 we head away through the Halstead Bay group; leaving " Anderson's 
 Camp " on our right and " Smoke Island " on our loft, we enter 
 • ' Halstead's Bay, " and direct our course for Gananoque. 
 
 The lower end of Halstead's Bay terminates in a long arm, which 
 extends for some distance inland. Here are the "Indian Rocks" 
 and " Horseblock Point." On a precipice which forms a part of the 
 point, there was clearly visible only a few years ago some aboriginal 
 paintings, representing a hunting scene, but by whom painted no 
 one could tell; even the tribes which were here when the white man 
 first came, knew nothing of their origin. To-day but little is to be 
 seen of them, though under a favorable light it is said that the out- 
 lines are yet to be distinguished. 
 
The Rambler. 
 
 21 
 
 There is another way through this labyrinth of islands that is, if 
 possible, more interesting than this. It takes us nearer to the Cana- 
 dian shore, running close into "Ivy's Mills," past "Champagne 
 Point" and through a beautiful net- work of little islands, bringing 
 us out again at the head of the Lost Channel. The steamer 
 " Islander" sometimes makes a special trip through those v'^hannels, 
 and if the opportunity occurs, you should not fail to see that part of 
 tlie group. 
 
 On our left now is " Stone Island," " McDonald's " and "Sugar" 
 islands, and a beautiful group of small islands near the shore of 
 Grindstone Island. But we push on to Jackstraw light and prepare 
 to stop at Gananoque. This is a busy manufacturing village and will 
 well repay a visit of some hours. I forgot to tell you that the large 
 group of islands, through which we have just passed, is called the 
 " Navy" group, and that the group through which we are about to 
 pass is called the " Admiralty " group, and from the fact that the 
 Canadian islands are known by numbers instead of names, it is not 
 easy to designate them clearly; but so far as they have become pri- 
 vate property, they are named, and those, to some extent, we will 
 point out. 
 
 As we swing out from the wliarf at Gananoque, Tidd's island, on 
 which is a lovely summer resort, is at our left, and to our right is 
 "Hog" island. At " Dorsdale," R. Forsyth, Esq., of Montreal, 
 spends his vacation ; Rev. Prof. Mowat, of Queen's College, Kingston, 
 is at "Riverview," and Prof. Coleman, of Victoria College, Coburg, 
 Ont., makes " Weidenfeldt " his summer liome ; Mr. Camp, of 
 Toronto, owns "Idlewild," and then comes the cottages of C. E. 
 Britton, Esq., and Dr. A. N. Kincaid, both prominent citizens of 
 Gananoque. On our left, again, J. Findley, Esq., of Montreal, occu- 
 pies " Round Island," and on the right is the cottage of Rev. J. Allen, 
 of Coburg, Ont. Then comes "Sylvan Isle,'' J. L. Upham, Esq., of 
 Brockville, Ont. 
 
 On our left the cottages, in succession, are: "Camp Iroquois," 
 Mr. Wallace, of Boston; " Roseneath Villa,"" Jas. Richmond, Esq., 
 of Kingston; "Channel View," Jno. Turcotte, Esq.; "The Castlp," 
 Prof. N. F. Dupuis, of Queens College; on our right, " Burnt Island" 
 light, and on our left is " Boss Dick Island." The beautiful group, 
 through which we have just past, is Bostwick channel, one of the 
 finest among the island groups. 
 
'l»sar«»»' 
 
 22 The Ramhlkr. 
 
 Station Island. 
 
 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 for 
 what purpose it was garrisoned. Cooper, in " The Pathfinder," 
 makes no attempt to locate the island. He only relates some his- 
 torical facts connected with it, and gives us a minute description of 
 it. The time described was during the French and English war of 
 1755-60. At that time the English held Oswego, while the French 
 had 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 de- 
 tachments, numbering ten or more batteaux each. The English kept 
 spies on the lookout for the arrival of these convoys of stores and 
 provisions with a view to their capture. To that end ' ' Station 
 Island " had been fixed upon as a suitable place for a rendezvous 
 from which to waylay the expected fleet of batteaux. It was to 
 protect this fleet that a party of French and Indians had been sta- 
 tioned at Gananoque.. 
 
 Now what are the historical facts ? First, the French posts were 
 supplied from Montreal by means of batteaux ; second, the British 
 troops attempted to, and did at various times, capture some of these* 
 batteaux with their stores ; third, that the British had some hiding 
 place among the islands, from which they sallied forth and made 
 their captures, if possible. Now it is evident that this very group 
 of islands would be the one chosen for such a hiding place for several 
 reasons. First, it was nearer Oswego; second, the chances of recap- 
 ture were lessened; third, the opportunity of watching the approach 
 of a fleet of batteaux unseen. If the hiding place had been chosen 
 in the Lower or Naval group, the chances of a recapture would have 
 been materially increased. Now how was "Station Island" situ- 
 ated ? So that a look-out could be kept on the river below ; so that 
 the French post on the main land couM be watched ; so that the 
 island itself could hardly be distinguislu>d from those by which it 
 was surrounded. One island in this group fulfils the conditions, and 
 there is not another among all the Thousand Islands that does; and 
 hence the presumption that the island is here, and that it borders on 
 Bostwick channel. To one who is fond of exploration it will be a 
 
The Rambler. 
 
 23 
 
 half day's pleasure to search it out, and then if you fail to find it, ask 
 the suide on the steamer. During the war of 1812, Gananotjue was 
 the scene of a daring assault on the part of a detachment of Ameri- 
 can troops from Sacket's Harbor, the particulars of which are as 
 follows : 
 
 Expe<litioii Against Gaiiauuqiie. 
 
 On the night of the 20th of September, 1812, Gen. Brown dispatched 
 Capt. Benjamin Forsyth with a force of ninety-five men, from Sack- 
 el s Harbor, with a view of capturing some amnumition, of which 
 hib troops stood greatly in need. Capt. P'orsyth and his men landed 
 at a point about two m s above the village, and at daylight began 
 their march on the place. When about half way they were met by 
 two horsemen, one of whom was shot, and the other escaped and 
 i?ave the alarm. A force of 110 men at once opposed the advance of 
 the Americans. Halting within a hundred yards of the English line 
 of battle, Capt. Forsyth ordered his men to fire a volley, and charge. 
 The order was obeyed, and the British were driven back with a loss 
 of several killed and wounded and a dozen prisoners. The spoils 
 were 3,000 ball cartridges, and forty-one muskets. Not having boats 
 to take them away, 150 barrels of provisions were burned, as also was 
 the King's Store. It was only the next year that the British had 
 their revenge out of Capt. Forsyth, for they whipped him badly at 
 Ogdensburg. 
 
 Swinging around toward the completion of our grand circle, we 
 reach the group of islands at the head of Grindstone Island. On our 
 right the largest of the group is " Hickory Island." It was on this 
 island that the so-called "Patriots" made a stand in the winter of 
 1837. They had collected a strong force, and were amply provisioned, 
 but without a leader, order or discipline, — simply a mob. On the 
 approach of a small force from Kingston, with a piece of light artil- 
 lery, they Hed without firing a shot, leaving the most of their stores 
 behind. It was a perfect stampede ; and to use the language of an 
 ^ye witness: "I wouldn't wonder if some of them were running 
 yet." 
 
 On the left are "Coral" and "Club" islands, on the former of 
 which is the beautiful Japanese Villa, owned by Mr. C. Wolfe. Other 
 K^ottages are owned by Thomas Thatcher, Esq. . of Boston: Mrs. Moore, 
 Harry Morgan and Bryant Lindley, Esqs., all of New York. 
 
24 
 
 The Rambler. 
 
 We now head away for Clayton, passing through the Blanket 
 shoals, and leaving Bartlet's Point on our right, and "Governor" 
 and "Calumet" islands to our left, on the latter of which is the 
 elegant palace-cottage belonging to Chas. G. Emory, Esq., of New 
 York. Bartlet's Point is now called " Prospect Park." It was first 
 named Bartlet's Point, because a man of that name settled there in 
 1801 and ran a ferry to Gananoque. It is said of him that he set his 
 house on fire and ran away by the light of it. Away yonder to 
 our right you see that a bridge spans the outlet of French creek, a con- 
 
 ONE OF THE FOLGER STEAMERS. 
 
 siderable stream that flows into the bay here; just above that bridge 
 once stood an Iroquois fort, or rather a Huron fort, which was cap- 
 tured from them by one of the Iroquois tribes — tlie Oneidas. That 
 must have been fully 200 years ago. The creek was called by tbe 
 Indians Weteringhea Guentere. But there was quite a skirmish tliere 
 in 1813, when the American troops under Gen. Brown, being the ad- 
 
The Rambler. 
 
 25 
 
 vance of that ill-fated expedition under Wilkinson, which was so 
 badly whipped by the British at Chrysler's farm only a few weeks 
 later, was attacked by a British force. The following is a brief his- 
 tory of the affair, which you can read at your leisure: 
 
 
 The Battle of French Creek. 
 
 Gen. Jacob Brown, commanding the advance of Gen. Wilkinson's 
 expedition, arrived at French Creek on the evening of October 30, 
 1813, and on the next day crossed a part of his command to the 
 opposite shore, and awaited an expected 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 poimders. From 
 his elevated position, Capt. McPherson could command the entrance 
 to the bay and pretty effectually shell the entire peninsula on which 
 the village of Clayton now stands. 
 
 On the evening of Noveml)er 1st, the attack was made by a fleet 
 of two schooners, two brigs, and several boats loaded with troops. 
 The first attempt was made upon Capt. McPherson's battery, but 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 rango 
 of the battery. The next morning the attack was renewed. The 
 troops were landed on the peninsula, below where the village now 
 stands, and marched across to the attack. In the meantime, For- 
 syth's riflemen had been deployed in the woods as skirmishers, and 
 met the advancing troops with a galling fire, which threw them into 
 confusion. Simultaneously with the landing of the troops, the 
 vessels again attacked the battery on Bartlet's Point, but with less 
 success than at first. Three of them were so disabled in a few 
 minutes that they were glad to drift down the river and out of 
 range; and the fourth, deeming discretion the better part of valor, 
 withdrew. The troops, seeing their vessels disabled, made a pre- 
 cipitate retreat, and thus ended the battle of French Creek. 
 
 And now, dear Rambler, we have completed a circle of nearly if 
 not quite sixty miles in circumference, and arrived at our starting 
 point. The thing now to do is to round out the day by taking the 
 Search Light ramble to-night, a description of which you will find 
 in another place. 
 
26 
 
 The Rambler. 
 
 The Search Light. 
 
 For this trip we board the steamer St. Lawrence, for the reason 
 that it lias the most powerful Search Light on the river, and was the 
 first to bring tliese fascinating trips into ijopular notice, and is be- 
 sides the largest steamer on the river that gives these Search Light 
 excursions on so grand a scale. There are other considerations, too, 
 which you will note as you go along, not the least of which is the 
 fact that the science of electricity has made these trips a nightly pos- 
 sibility, because of the element of absolute safety that it has brought 
 into play. Before the Search Light came, a night trip among the 
 river archipelagoes w.is an affair of moonlight. No pilot, however 
 skillful, cared to thread the tortuous channels in a moonless night. 
 Now, the situation is changed. A cool-headed captain and a careful 
 mate and skillful wheelsman, with an expert electrician, as the 
 steamer St. Lawrence always has, and barring accidents which no 
 man can foresee, a trip among the islands on a night of inky black- 
 ness is as safe as an easy chair at home. Skill and science united 
 have reduced danger to a mere nothing. 
 
 As before, we board the steamer at Alexandria Bay, and start up 
 the river. First on one shore and then on the other, the Search 
 Light sends a flood of radiance that illumines every spot it touches, 
 as with the glare of a noonday sun; camp and cottage, leafy covert 
 and rocky glen, all stand revealed. Here a flood of light reveals 
 liappy groups on porch and balcony of hotel and cottage, and there 
 a leafy covert becomes a bower of brilliancy, while eerie shadows 
 dark as Erebus flee away into inky depths. It is a succession of 
 transformation scenes never equaled elsewhere. 
 
 Touching at all points on our way up the river, we stop for a 
 short time at Clayton and then head away across the river for the 
 passage between Grindstone Island on our left, and "Robbins"' 
 Island on our right, known as " Robbins' Cut." All the way up the 
 river we have been greeted with rockets and red fire, and ever, now 
 they have not ceased. Passing "Calumet Island," on our loft, we 
 approach a jolly camp on Grindstone Island, where cheers and fire- 
 , works seem to spring forth spontaneously; and then on we go 
 through the long narrow channel, lighted alternately from side to 
 side, and out into the broad waters of " Eel Bay," passing "Point 
 Angier," "Elephant Rock," "Picnic" and "Squaw" Points on our 
 
 I 
 
Thk Rambler. 
 
 27 
 
 e reason 
 was the 
 nd is be- 
 lli Light 
 ons, too, 
 ;h is the 
 litly pos- 
 brought 
 long the 
 liowever 
 8 night. 
 I careful 
 , as the 
 'hich no 
 y black- 
 ; united 
 
 5tart up 
 Search 
 ouches, 
 covert 
 reveals 
 d there 
 ladows 
 sion of 
 
 for a 
 
 or the 
 
 )bin8' " 
 
 up the 
 
 r. now 
 
 ft, we 
 
 J fire- 
 
 we go 
 
 ide to 
 
 Point 
 
 ■on our 
 
 left, and then swinging otT toward the lights in the "(Irand View 
 Park" Hotel, near which are celebrated pot-holes. On our right 
 as we speed along is a group of but little more than bare rocks, 
 known as "Robinson's" or "Indian" Islands. Should we be 
 signaled, we will stop a moment at Grand View Park, but if not we 
 head away for " Lyndock " Light at the entrance to the "Navy" 
 group and so down past the "Fiddler's Elbow," on through the 
 group past Echo Point, past Rockport, and across through the Bay 
 Group and home to Alexandria Bay, in good time for bed, or for the 
 "hop" at the hotel; just as we feel inclined. Reader, our regular 
 rambles are ended, and now with your kind permission I will sug- 
 gest, without entering into any special description, a few 
 
 Other Trip.s. 
 
 I have already hinted that a trip to " Ivy's Mills," and among the 
 beautiful islands bordering that part of the mainland, is a very de- 
 sirable one. It is true that, as yet, no regular trip has been estab- 
 lished through this part of the Navy Group, but the time is not far 
 distant when the demands of sightseers will be 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 be forgotten, especially the latter. Until the steamboat 
 companies provide for a regular trip to these places, you can always 
 charter a small steam yacht, with a competent pilot, to explore 
 them. The better plan is to make up a party; and in this way the 
 cost of the trip is not great, and if a fine day be chosen, it cannot 
 fail to be one of great pleasure. 
 
 Another pleasant side trip is to " Goose Bay," and the beautiful 
 island group — " Dinkelspiel" — at its entrance. " Cranberry Creek," 
 which was the scene of quite a sharp skirmish during the war of 
 1812, flows into Goose Bay. I give you a brief sketch of the affair, 
 hoping that it may not be entirely devoid of interest. 
 
 Battle of Cranberry Creek. 
 
 This was one of the most stirring affairs that took place among the 
 Thousand Islands during the war of 1812-14; and seems to be the 
 only case on record where a deputy collector of a port exercised 
 the authority to grant letters of marque; but such is the fact in this 
 
28 
 
 The Rambler. 
 
 case, and whether there are other instances of a like nature remains 
 to be seen. 
 
 Be that as it may, on the 14th of July, 1813, two armed boats, the 
 Fox and Neptune, the latter a private craft, armed with one 6-pounder 
 and a swivel, the former a government boat, left Sacket's Harbor 
 under letters of marque, issued by the deputy collector of the dis- 
 trict. The Neptune was manned by twenty-four volunteers, under 
 the command of Capt. Samuel Dixon, and tlie Fox, commanded by 
 Capt. Dimmock, by twenty-one men Of the Twenty-fii t Infantry, 
 under Lieutenants Burbank and Perry, and a detachment of the 
 Forsyth Rifles, under Lieut. Hawkins and Sergt. James. 
 
 The expedition was litted out by Marinus W. Gilbert, of Water- 
 town, with the object of cutting off a detachment of the enemy's 
 boats, which were expected to arrive up the river about this time, 
 laden with stores. The two boats touched at Cape Vincent on their 
 way down the river, and made a short halt at French ^'reek, now 
 Clayton, and t\. n pushed en to Cranberry Creek, wl liey held a 
 
 review, put their boats in complete order, examined and cleaned 
 their arms, and then sent forward an express to Ogdensburg for in- 
 telligence. At five o'clock in the afternoon of the second day the 
 looked-for intelligence came, and at nine o'clock that night the two 
 boats left the creek and pulled across the river into the Canadian 
 channel, and at four o'clock in the morning they discovered a brig- 
 ade of the enemy's batteaux lying at "Simmon's Landing," under 
 the protection of His Majesty's gunboat Spitfire, just ready to pro- 
 ceed to Kingston. 
 
 Pushing rapidly to the shore, Lieutenant Perry with Sergeant 
 James and twenty-seven men landed to cut off their retreat, while 
 Captain Dixon, with Lieutenant Burbank and the remainder of the 
 men took possession of the batteaux and gunboat. So complete was 
 the surprise, that the fifteen batteaux and the gunboat with their 
 crews, were captured without a single shot being fired on either 
 side, and by nine o'clock in the morning they were safe in Cranberry 
 Creek again, and Lieutenant Burbank started at once for Sacket's 
 Harbor, with a detachment of fifteen men and sixty-nine prisoners. 
 
 In the meantime news had reached Kingston and a force was sent 
 to recapture the gunboat and batteaux, consisting of four gunboats, 
 and the Earl of Moira, an eigh teen-gun brig; and on the morning 
 of the 21st, just as the rising sun tipped with gold the island sum- 
 
Lire remains 
 
 i boats, the 
 e 6-pounder 
 et's Harbor 
 of the dis- 
 eers, under 
 uianded by 
 t Infantry, 
 tent of the 
 
 , of Water- 
 lie enemy's 
 t ♦^his time, 
 nt on their 
 ■reek, now 
 liey held a 
 id cleaned 
 irg for in- 
 id day the 
 lit tiie two 
 Canadian 
 •ed a brig. 
 " under 
 dy to pro- 
 
 Sergeant 
 at, while 
 er of the 
 plete was 
 ith their 
 on either 
 ran berry 
 Sacket's 
 (risoners. 
 was sent 
 unboats, 
 morning 
 tid sum. 
 
 Tup: Ramblkk. 
 
 29 
 
 mits, tlie four gunboats manned with 250 men were discovered 
 entering Goose Bay and making their way to the mouth of the creek. 
 
 Thirty men met them and gallantly disputed their landing, while 
 twenty more took up a position from which they Jould successfully 
 dispute their further advance; and in the meantime the six-pounder 
 opened a rapid and galling fire which seriously disabled two of the 
 British gunboats, the crews turning their attention to plugging the 
 shot-holes in them. In a short time the enemy retired to the boats 
 and after pulling beyond gunshot, sent in a flag of truce demanding 
 a surrender to " stop the effusion of blood," which was answered by 
 an advance of our men, and reopening the fire on the gunboats, 
 when they hurriedly retreated, and the battle of Cranberry Creek 
 was over. The casualties on our side were two men killed and one 
 woundtd, while the British loss is, by their own authorities admitted 
 to have been twelve killed and several wounded, l>eside8 the loss of 
 Captain Milnes, a gallant officer, and aid-de-camp to the " Commander 
 of the Forces." 
 
 The capture was of great value, but owing to the fact that some of 
 the batteaux were hurriedly sunk without orders, it proved to be an 
 unprofitable expedition to its i)romoters. The lading of the batteaux 
 consisted of 270 barrels of pork and 270 bags of hard bread, most 
 of which were scattered and wasted in some way; at all events they 
 failed to reach Sacket's Harbor, although the expedition returned 
 safely, meeting its only mis' <p when rounding Tibbett's Point; it 
 was fired upon by the Earl < • Toira, and though some of the boats 
 were struck by her shot, they all escaped. 
 
 There is another pleasant trip to be taken, which loads us down 
 along the American shore and through a hne group of islands in 
 "Chippewa Bay," the largest of which is "Oak" Island, formerly 
 known as " Indian Hut " Island. As long ago as when Count Fron- 
 tenac was the commander of the French 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 with a numlier 
 of families of his tribe, made a considerable settlement upon it. He 
 had been much among the French and was extremely fond of imi- 
 tating their courtly manners, though his efforts to do so were, at 
 times, extremely ludicrous. He affected all the airs and graces of 
 Count Frontenac himself, and regarded the Indian settlers on his island 
 in the light of subjects over whom he exercised a mild sovereignty. 
 
30 
 
 The Rambler. 
 
 His aboriginal lordship was too fond of the " fire-water, " however, 
 and so he sold his domain one day for a jug of rum, but he retained 
 a lifo lease, and continued to play the sovereign until King Death 
 preferred his claim and ended the lease. There are beautiful cot- 
 tages on some of these islands, and more will be erected in the near 
 future. The little hamlet of Chippewa Bay was visited by a British 
 force from Canada during the war of 1812, but it retired without do- 
 ing any great damage. This part of the Thousand Islands i'^^ well 
 worth seeing, and though as yet none oi the steamboat managers 
 have made any special provision for visitors to travel this route, it is 
 one that ere long the traveling public will demand to see, and then 
 it 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, betueen the American 
 schooner Julia, and the British scliooner Earl, in which the 
 Julia got the worst of it and fled to Ogdensburg. It was on the 
 same spot, also, that the British, under General Amherst, in 1760, 
 captured a Frenel^ brig. On our way, we pass Cedar, Dark and 
 Corn Islands, and a beautiful group named respectively. Pearl, 
 Cherry, Narrow, Little, Suma, and Tent Islands. Close to the 
 Canadian shore is Chimney Island, on which at one time there were 
 fortifications; probably during the War of 1812. Turning up stream 
 we pass inside of "Grenadier" Island, and find hidden away there 
 another beautiful cluster of islands, the principal ones of which are 
 Pooles, Senec.ils, and O'Neils. It is along this shore that a writer 
 has laid the scene of an interesting tale, entitled the "Witch of 
 Plum Hollow," founded on an old legend of the vicinity. Passing 
 out into the main channel at the jiead of Grenadier Island, we steam 
 away for Alexandria Bay, having had one of the most enjoyable 
 trips on the river. 
 
 Fort Halclininnd. 
 
 The ruins of this very elaborate fortification are situated on a bluff 
 at the head of Carleton Island, about eleven miles above Clayton, 
 and in the middle of the American Channel. This fort was erected 
 by the British. It was begun in 1778, the next year after the sur- 
 render ot Burgoyne at Saratoga. For some years, it was the most 
 important military and naval station on the St. Lawrence river, or 
 on the lakes even, above Montreal. There are some of the old bar- 
 
The Rambler. 
 
 31 
 
 " however, 
 he retained 
 ^ing Death 
 autiful cot- 
 n the near 
 ►y a British 
 ivithout do- 
 tids is well 
 managers 
 route, it is 
 , and then 
 
 er, passing 
 '■ American 
 tvhich the 
 vas on the 
 it, in 1760, 
 Dark and 
 ly, Pearl, 
 >se to the 
 here were 
 up stream 
 w'ay tliere 
 which are 
 
 a writer 
 Witch of 
 
 Passing 
 tve steam 
 njoyable 
 
 n a bluff 
 Clayton, 
 Greeted 
 the sur- 
 he most 
 river, or 
 old bar- 
 
 rack chimnies yet standing, and the earth- works are very distinct, 
 while the ditch, whif ii was cut in the limestone rock, is the same as 
 ever. The outer parapet and glacis have been much damaged by 
 the removal of the stone of which they were built. The places of the 
 garrison well, the magazines, the bastions and salients are distinct and 
 easily located. This island played an important part in the war of 
 the Revolution. Here was the home of the noted Thayendanegea, 
 alias Joseph Brandt, the chief of the Six Nations. It was from this 
 island that the expeditions against Wyoming, Cherry Valley, and 
 Fort Edward, bloody massacres all, were sent out. The fort was 
 built after the plans of Lieut. Twiss, Burgoyne's chief engineer, 
 who afterward became Lieutenant-General Twiss, the greatest mili- 
 tary engineer Great Britain ever had; and by him the fortification 
 was named Fort Haldimand, in honor o^ Gen. Sir Frederick Haldi- 
 mand, under whose orders the fort was built, and who at that time 
 was commander-in-chief of His Ilajesty's forces in Canada. At the 
 same time, the name of the island was changed from " Deer" Island 
 to "Carleton" Island, in honor of Sir Guy Carleton, afterward Lord 
 Dorchester. Under the cliff on which the ruins of the old fort are 
 situated is a beautiful peninsula wiCi a lovely bay on either hand. 
 During the Britisli occupation this was called ** Government Point;" 
 and was given up to the use exclusively of the naval officers and 
 artificers. There was a large shipyard on the Point, and many ves- 
 sels of war and gunboats were built there. 
 
 Now, the "Government Point" of those days is occupied by the 
 grounds of the Utica Club and several private cottages, one of which, 
 Capt. Wyckoff's, of the firm of "Wyckoff, Seamans & Benedict, of 
 New York, is one of the finest and costliest on the river. It is up 
 here, too, where the best black-bass fishing in the world is to be ha<l. 
 
 Kingston. 
 
 Of course you will not fail to board that most magnificent of river 
 steamerp the "Empire State," for a visit to Kingston, the Fort 
 Frontenac of the French. There are many places of interest in 
 Kingston well worth a visit. To an American, unacquainted witli 
 Canadian cities, Kingston has a series of surprises in store, and a day 
 or two may be profitably spent there. Fort Henry, me Military Col- 
 lege, the Artillery Barracks, on the site of Old Fort Frontenac. the 
 Cathedral, the Dominion Penitentiary, the Insane Asylum, an! a 
 
32 
 
 The Rambler. 
 
 round trip on the Electric Railway — which last enables you to see the 
 most in the least time — are among the interesting points to be visited, 
 rnd if your stay is limited, take the Electric Railway trip by all 
 means ; because it describes a complete circle through all the best 
 portions of the city 
 
 Special Trips. 
 
 Several times, during the season, one or another of the elegant 
 steamers of the Thousand Island Steamboat Company, will make a 
 special excursion to Morrisburg, a quaint but pleasant Canadian 
 
 
 THE DITCH AT FORT HALDIMAND. 
 
 town, about twenty miles below Ogdensburg. During this trip the 
 steamer runs the " Galloup Rapid " and the " Rapide du Plat." Be- 
 low Ogdensburg, and on the opposite side of the river, is the Old 
 Windmill, made famous during the so-called Patriot war of '37, 
 though why called " Patriot " does not appear so clearly, and still 
 lower down is " Chimney Island," on which are the remains of Fort 
 Levis, the last stronghold of the French on the St. Lawrence, and 
 taken by Gen. Jeffrey Lord Amherst in 1760. You will find this a 
 Tery interesting excursion and one you cannot afford to miss. 
 
""ou to see the 
 
 to be visited, 
 
 ^ trip by all 
 
 all the best 
 
 the elegant 
 will make a 
 it Canadian 
 
 s trip the 
 lat." Be- 
 s the Old 
 ar of '37, 
 and still 
 IS of Fort 
 3nce, and 
 nd this a 
 
 88. 
 
 The Rambler. 
 
 " Pictoii, " and the '• Lake on the Mountain." 
 
 33 
 
 This is another special trip afforded by the Tliousand Island Steam- 
 boat Com[)any every week during the season. Not only does the 
 tourist, on this trip, experience the pleasure of viewing the delight- 
 fully romantic scenery of the " Bay of Quinte," and a visit to one of 
 its pleasantest villages, but he will have the pleasure of inspecting 
 one of the greatest natural phenomena known to this or any other 
 country. The " Lake on the Mountain '" has attracted the attention 
 of scientists from every part of the civilized world. It is a huge 
 spring, widening out to the dimensions of a pond, situated upon the 
 summit of a ridge which lies between Lake Ontario and "Bay de 
 Quinte," and tnore than a hundred feet above either. I have not 
 the exact figures within reach, but my impression is that the ' ' Lake " 
 is over 150 feet higher than the level of Lake Ontario. Be that as it 
 may, it furnishes a constant supply of water sufficient to propel a 
 large amount of machinery, and never fails. It is really worth a 
 visit for itself alone, without the other pleasant features of the trip 
 as an accompaniment. 
 
 I might suggest other special trips to you, but they would take me 
 
 beyond the original scope of this booklet. In describing to you the 
 
 trips among the Islands, it is very probable that I have made some 
 
 errors, either of omission or commission ; and if it be so, it is really 
 
 not to be wondered at, because I have written almost entirely from 
 
 memory. Then, too, new places are springing up; new cottages 
 
 are in process of erection every summer, and new names are 
 
 adopted ; so that what may be correct this season, may be wrong 
 
 the next. However, what is wrong in this edition will be gladly 
 
 set right in the next, for we expect to keep pace with the times 
 
 and seasons. 
 
 L.'Envoi. 
 
 And now, dear Rambler, we have spent some pleasant hours in our 
 excursions together, and I hope we may spend many more ; and 
 when toward life's close we look back to the many enjoyments 
 experienced among the beautiful scenery of the Thousand Islands, 
 let us hope that not a single regret will cast its shadow across the 
 bright retrospect. To me, these rambles are always pleasant, and 
 if I have added a mite to the sum total of your enjoyment, I am con- 
 tent. Au revoir ! 
 
34 
 
 The Rambler. 
 
 Island Directory. 
 
 The following is a late revised list of islands and points, with their 
 owners' names, from Clayton to Goose Bay, on the American side: 
 
 Cement Point, head of Grindstone Island, owned by W. F. Ford 
 and others. 
 
 Goose Island, two acres, owned by E. S. Brooks, Brooklyn. 
 
 Hon Island, one-half acre, owned by W. F. Morgan, New York. 
 
 L tvitts' Island, one-quarter acre, owned by H. G. Davitts, New 
 York. 
 
 Carroll Island, two acres, owned by Jas. A. Cheney, Syracuse. 
 
 Boscobel Island, one-half acre, owned by G. S. Hopkins, Kansas. 
 
 Bluff Island, twenty acres, owned by E. B. Washburn, New York* 
 
 Clinton Island, No. 1, fifteen acres, owned by N. S. Seely, New York. 
 
 Clinton Island, No. 2, three acres, owned by N. S. Seely, New York. 
 
 Governor's Island, owned by Chas. G. Emery, New York. 
 
 Calumet, owned by Chas. G. Emery, New York. 
 
 Etheridge, head of Round Island, owned by Dr. Geo. D. Whalen, 
 Syracuse. 
 
 Shady Ledge, foot of Round Island, owned by Frank R. Taylor, 
 Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
 Brooklyn Heights, foot of Round Island, owned by C. S. Johnson, 
 Brooklyn. 
 
 Long Rock, one acre, owned by VV. F. Wilson, Watertown. 
 
 Hemlock Island, twenty acres, owned by W. F. Porter and W. F. 
 Wilson, Watertown. 
 
 Stewart, or Jeffers, Island, ten acres, owned by E. P. Gardiner and 
 twelve others, Syracuse, and other places. 
 
 Two 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, New York. 
 
 Occident and Orient, three acres, owned by E. N. Robinson, New 
 York. 
 
 Isle of Pines, two acres, owned by Mrs. E. N. Robinson, New York. 
 
 Frederick Island, two acres, owned by C. L. Frederick, Cartnage. 
 
 Bay Side, one acre, owned by H. F. Mosher, Watertown. 
 
 Riverside, mainland, one acre, owned by J. C. Lee, Gouverneur. 
 
 Killain Point, mainland, one acre, owned by Mr. Killian, Lockport, 
 N. Y. 
 
 
 
The Rambler. 
 
 35 
 
 with their 
 ican side: 
 
 W. F. Ford 
 
 yn. 
 
 !w York. 
 
 i^itts, New 
 
 •acuse. 
 Kansas, 
 few York* 
 ^evvYork, 
 few York. 
 k. 
 
 Whalen, 
 a. Taylor, 
 Johnson, 
 
 n. 
 
 nd W. F. 
 
 liner and 
 
 itertown. 
 
 esa. 
 
 'rk. 
 
 on, New 
 
 ^w York, 
 artnage. 
 
 rneur. 
 Dckport, 
 
 Holloway Point, mainland, one acre, owned by N. Holloway, 
 Omar, N. Y. 
 
 Fisher'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. 
 
 Harmony, one-quarter acre, owned by Mrs. Burger, Syracuse. 
 
 Waving Branches, on Wells' Island, owned by D. C. Graham and 
 nine others. 
 
 Bonnie Eyrie, on Wells' Island, owned bv Mrs. Peck, Boonville, 
 N. Y. 
 
 Throop's Dock, on Wells' Island, owned by Drs. C. E. and D. S. J. 
 Latimer, New York. 
 
 Jolly Oaks, on Wells' Island, twenty acres, owned by Prof. A. H. 
 Brown and four others. 
 
 Blanch Island, ten acres, owned by Mrs. A. M. Kenyon, Water- 
 town. 
 
 Josephine, twenty acres, owned by Mrs. A. M. Kenyon, Water- 
 town. 
 
 Craig Side, Wells' Island, owned byH. A. Laughlin, Pittsburg, Pa. 
 
 Covert Point, Wells' Island, owned by B. J. Maycock, Buffalo. 
 
 Calumet Island, one-half acre, owned by Oliver H. Green, Boston. 
 
 Van Patten, one acre, owned by Gen. J. B. Van Patten, Claverack, 
 N. Y. 
 
 Point Vivian, mainland, ten acres, owned by R. Toyer and ten others. 
 
 Lindress, one acre, owned by John Lindress, Jersey City. 
 
 Isle Royal, one acre, owned by R. E. Deane, New York. 
 
 Cedar Island, one acre, owned by J. M. Curtis, Cleveland, O. 
 
 Wild Rose, one acre, owned by Hon. W. G. Rose, Cleveland, O. 
 
 Alleghany Point, mainland, one acre, owned by J. S. Laney, Pa. 
 
 Plato, two acres, owi\ed by H. R. Heath, Brooklyn. 
 
 Seven Isles, five acres, owned by Gen. Bradley Winslow, Water- 
 tcwn. 
 
 Louisiana Point, Well's Island, three acres, owned by Hon. D. C. 
 Labatt, New Orleans. 
 
 Bella Vista Lodge, mainland, five acres, Wm. Chisholm, Cleve- 
 land , O. 
 
 Neh Mahbin Island, two acres, owned by James H. Oliphant, 
 Brooklyn. 
 
3G 
 
 The Rambler. 
 
 Comfort Island, two acres, owned by A. E. Clark, Chicago. 
 
 Warner's Island, one acre, owned by Mrs. H. H. Warner, Rochester. 
 
 Wanwinet Island, one-half acre, owned by C. E. Hill, Chicago. 
 
 Kewaydin, owned by J. W. Jackson, Plainfield, N. J. 
 
 Cuba, one acre, owned by M. Chauncey, Brooklyn. 
 
 Devil's Oven, one acre, owned by H. R. Heath, Brooklyn. 
 
 Sunny side, Cherry Island, live acres, Rev. George Rockwell, Tarry- 
 town. 
 
 Melrose Lodge, Cherry Island, owned by A. B. Pullman estate, 
 Chicago. 
 
 Ingleside, Cherry Island, owned by Mrs. G. B. Marsh, Chicago. 
 
 Stujvesant Lodge, Cherry Island, owned by J. T. Easton, Brooklyn. 
 
 Safe Point, Wells' Island, four acres, Rev. R. H. Pullman, Balti- 
 more. 
 
 Pullman Island, three acres, owned by Geo. M. Pullman, Chicago. 
 
 Nobby Island, three acres, owned by H. R. Heath, Brooklyn. 
 
 Little Angel, one-quarter acre, owned by W. A. Angell, Chicago. 
 
 E<lgewood Park, thirty acres, owned by S. W. Sessions, Cleve- 
 land, O. 
 
 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, New York. 
 
 Linlithgow, one-half acre, owned by Mrs. R. A. Livingston, New 
 York. 
 
 Florence, two acres, owned by H. S. Chandler, New York. 
 
 St. Elmo, three acres, owned by N. W. Hunt, Brooklyn. 
 
 Felseneck, owned by Prof. A. G. Hopkins, Clinton, N. Y. 
 
 Point Lookout, one acre, owned by Miss S. J. Bullock, Adams. 
 
 Vilula Point, one-half acre, owned by Capt. F. Dana. 
 
 Isle Imperial, one acre, owned by G. T. Rafferty, 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. 
 
 Desliler, fifteen acres, owned by W. G. Deshler, Columbus, O. 
 
 Netts, one acre, owned by Wm. B. Hayden, Columbus, O. 
 
 Bonny Castle, fifteen acres, owned by Mrs. J. G. Holland, New 
 York. 
 
 Crescent Cottage, ten acres, owned by B. Van Wagoner, New York. 
 
 I 
 
:ago. 
 
 , Rochester. 
 
 Chicago. 
 
 The Rambler. 
 
 87 
 
 ^ell, Tarry- 
 
 lan estate, 
 
 hicago. 
 Brooklyn, 
 an, Balti- 
 
 , Chicago, 
 flyn. 
 
 I^hicago. 
 IS, Cleve- 
 
 >rtown. 
 
 ?w York, 
 ton, New 
 
 ams. 
 
 g. 
 
 Albion, 
 , O. 
 
 d, New 
 V York. 
 
 Point Marguerite, thirty acres, owned by Mrs. E. Anthony, New 
 York. 
 
 The Ledges, owned by Mrs. C. J. Hudson, New York. 
 
 Long Branch, ten acres, owned by Mrs. C. E. Clark, Watertown. 
 
 Manhattan Island, five acres, owned by Hon. J. C. Silencer, New 
 York. 
 
 Maple Island, six acres, owned by John L. Hasbrouck, New York. 
 
 St. John Island, six acres, owned by Hon. Charles O'Donohue, 
 New York. 
 
 Fairyland Island, twenty acres, owned by Charles and William B. 
 Hayden, Columbus, O. 
 
 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, New York. 
 
 Island Mary, two acres, owned by Geo. A. Lance, Watertown. 
 
 Walton Island, seven acres, owned by N. J. Robinson, New York. 
 
 Idle wild, four acres, owned by Mrs. R. A. Packer, Sayre, Pa. 
 
 Sport Island, four acres, owned by E. P. Wilbur, Mauch Chunk, Pa. 
 
 Little Lehigh, one acre, owned by R. H. Wilbur, Bethlehem, Pa. 
 
 Summer Side, two acres, owned by W. Stevenson, Sayre, Pa. 
 
 Summerland, ten acres, owned by Summerland Association, Roch- 
 ester. 
 
 Arcadia and Ina Islands, five acres, owned by S. A. Briggs, New 
 York. 
 
 Spuyten Duyvel, one acre, owned by Alice P. Sargent, New York. 
 
 Douglass, five acres, owned by Douglas Miller, New York. 
 
 Kit Grafton, one-half acre, owned by Mrs. S. L. George, Watertown. 
 
 Lookout, two acres, owned by Thos. H. Bordin, New^ 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 by C. S. Goodwin, New York. 
 
 Sylvan and Moss Islands, three acres, owned by S. T. Woolworth, 
 Watertown. 
 
 Elephant Rock, one-quarter acre, owned by T. C. Chittenden, 
 Watertown. • 
 
38 
 
 The Rambler. 
 
 Sunbeam Group, one acre, owned l)y A. B. Plielan. 
 Alice, two acres, owned by Col. A. J. Casse, New York. 
 Schooner, six acres, owned by J. N. Whitehouse, New York. 
 
 List of Post-offices Among the Thousand Islands, dur- 
 ing the Season. 
 
 Thurso; Grindstone Island. 
 
 Clayton. 
 
 Round Island (summer only). 
 
 Grinnell's (summer only). 
 
 Thousand Island Park. 
 
 Fisher's Landing. 
 
 St. Lawrence Park (summer only). 
 
 Point Vivian (summer only). 
 
 Westminster Park (summer only). 
 
 Alexandria Bay. 
 
 Grand View Park (summer only). 
 
 I 
 
 Table of dii 
 
 To Montreal 
 
 stances f 
 
 148 miles 
 36 " 
 24 " 
 24 " 
 12 " 
 
 2 " 
 
 3 " 
 
 6 " 
 
 7 " 
 7 " 
 
 12 " 
 10 " 
 12 " 
 12 " 
 
 rom Alexandria 
 
 To Riverview 
 
 Bay. 
 
 20 r"il*'« 
 
 To Ogdensburg 
 
 To Morristown 
 
 To Brockville 
 
 To Chippewa Bay 
 
 To Point Vivian 
 
 To Carleton Island 
 To Cape Vincent.. 
 To Gananoque . . . 
 
 To Kingston 
 
 To New York 
 
 ... 23 
 28 
 ... 19 
 ... 34 
 ... 356 
 
 (( 
 <( 
 << 
 
 To St. Lawrence Park 
 
 To Fine View 
 
 ToT. I. Park 
 
 To Fishers' Landing . . 
 To Pullman House . . . 
 To Grand View Park 
 
 To Boston . . . 
 
 To Philadelphia . . . 
 
 To Saratoga 
 
 To Chicaero 
 
 ... 339 
 ... 447 
 ... 239 
 ... 812 
 
 
 To Niagara Falls . . 
 To Toronto 
 
 . . . 298 
 ... 185 
 
 <( 
 (< 
 
 To Round Island .... 
 
 To Clayton 
 
 To Prospect Park .... 
 
 To Syracuse 
 
 To Utica 
 
 ... 122 
 ... 119 
 
 • ( 
 << 
 
 To Rochester 
 
 ... 213 
 
 <( 
 
 ■ 
 
The Rambler. 
 
 39 
 
 York. 
 
 »ds, dur- 
 
 20 
 
 miles 
 
 23 
 
 (< 
 
 28 
 
 <( 
 
 19 
 
 (( 
 
 34 
 
 (( 
 
 156 
 
 (( 
 
 39 
 
 (( 
 
 47 
 
 <( 
 
 39 
 
 <{ 
 
 12 
 
 <• 
 
 98 
 
 (< 
 
 35 
 
 ft 
 
 12 
 
 •( 
 
 [9 
 
 f« 
 
 3 
 
 «« 
 
 A few "Dou'ts" for Excursionists. 
 
 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 are 
 off, and then you can get on board without rushing. 
 
 Don't push, and jam, and crowd, either in going ashore or aboard ; 
 you only hinder and delay. 
 
 Don't stop to gossip on the gang-plank, it blocks the passage and 
 delays others. 
 
 Don't act as though you thought that other people had no rights 
 which ycu were bound to respect. 
 
 Don't act as though you belong to the genus Sua, lest people 
 believe it. 
 
 Don't crowd to the forward part of the boat ; the after part passes 
 the same objects of interest. 
 
 Don't stand up, so that those back of you can see nothing — it is 
 extremely ill mannered. 
 
 Don't try to gather in all the easy chairs 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- 
 bility, those who have charge of it are as well informed in regard to 
 their business as you are. 
 
 Don't berate an employe, because of some fault you think the 
 <;oinpany has committed — it is inconsistent. 
 
 Don't fail to treat others with that consideration with which you 
 would 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 gentle- 
 man, if he chose ; " you may rest assured that if any one can be a 
 gentleman (or lady) he or she is pretty certain to he one; so, when on 
 an excursion don't be anything else, lest people thinking that you 
 4ian be but will not ; attribute your actions to pure and unadulterated 
 * ' cussedness, " and treat you accordingly. 
 
40 
 
 The Rambler. 
 
 Ml*. John A. Haddock's Great Balloon Voyage Witli 
 
 Professor LaMouiitaiii. 
 
 When the writer was in school at the Sulphur Springs in Hounds- 
 field, under Professor Morsman, there were two kinds of English 
 Readers then published by the firm of Knowlton & Rice, one con- 
 taining Jaius Rich's story of his fight with the panther on Blulf Rock, 
 belov/ Theresa, the other edition failing to contain that narrativ«». 
 The book witli the panther story was eagerly sought and devoured 
 by all the children who could read, while the other edition was not 
 by any means regarded with affection. The intense impression 
 made by that panther story upon my own mind and upon that of the 
 other scholars, has been a matter of recollection through the sixty 
 years which have elapsed. For that reason the author of this His- 
 tory has yielded to urgent solicitation, and presents below the story 
 of his great aerial voyage in 1859 with John LaMountain, one of the 
 longest voyages ever made in a balloon. The writer appears to be 
 best remembered by that perilous episode, especially among those 
 who are now the business men of Jefferson county, but who were 
 then eager, pushing lads, nearly crazy over the balloon fever, which 
 was at that time violent in Northern New York. Perhaps the most 
 important result attained by that dismal balloon experience may be 
 found in the article following this account, whicli relates to the 
 '* Awakening of Henry Backus. " 
 
 The interest aroused by this balloon trip was surprising and 
 almost phenomenal, my account being published at length in nearly 
 every English newspaper. Perhaps the story illustrates fortitude 
 under trying circumstances and under the agonizing strain experi- 
 enced in the uncertainty which surrounded LaMountain and myself 
 when toiling in that wildernes. In that light it may be regarded as 
 an object lesson, not altogether to be lost upon those who are to 
 come after us. 
 
 THE ACCOUNT. 
 
 It is now about thirty-five years since the undersigned made the 
 memorable balloon voyage with Professor LaMountain — a voyage 
 intended to be short and pleasant, but which resulted in a long and 
 most disastrous one, entailing the loss of the valuable balloon, and 
 seriously endangering the lives of the travellers. Since then, La- 
 
The Rambler. 
 
 41 
 
 With 
 
 e tlie 
 )yage 
 and 
 , and 
 , La- 
 
 Mountain, after serving through the great rebellion, has made his 
 last " voyage, " and has entered upon that existence where all the 
 secrets of the skies are as well defined and understootl as are the 
 course 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 in 
 the public mind upon the subject of ballooning. In August of that 
 year I returned from Labrador, and found that the balloon Atlantic, 
 with Wise, Hyde, Gaeger and LaMountain, had been driven across 
 a part of Lake Ontario, while on their great trip from St Louis to 
 New York city, an.l had landed and been wrecked in Jefferson 
 county, N. Y., and the people of that whole section were conse- 
 quently in a state of considerable excitement upon the subject of 
 navigating the air.* 
 
 2. I had heard of other newspaper editors making trips in balloons; 
 had read their glowing accounts, and it seemed to me like a very 
 cunning thing. Desiring to enjoy *•' all that was a-going," I natu- 
 rally wanted a balloon ride too, and therefore concluded to go, ex- 
 pecting to be absent from home not more than ten or twelve hours 
 at the longest, and to have a good time. Being a newspaper man, 
 and always on the alert for news, I had also a natural desire to do 
 all in my power to add to the local interest of my journal, and for 
 
 * The Wise named above was the celebrated aei'onaut. Professor 
 John Wise, of Lancaster, Pa.; and I may here remark that the trip 
 made by him and his associates is by far the longest on recorcf. 
 Leaving St. Louis at about 4 P. M. they passed the whole night in the 
 air, were carried across tlie States of Illinois, Indiana, a portion of 
 Ohio and Michigan, over the whole northwestern breadth of Pennsyl- 
 vania and New York, and were at last wrecked in a huge tree-top 
 near the shore of Lake Ontario, at about 3 P. M. the next day. escap- 
 ing with severe bruises but without broken bones, after a journey of 
 eleven hundred miles. These adventurers did not trav€»l a.s fast, nor 
 encounter the perils that awaited us, but they made a longer voyage. 
 It was with this same balloon Atlantic that LaMountain and myself 
 made our trip, but it had been reduced one third in size, and was as 
 good as new. John Wise afterwards lost his life in a balloon, but 
 just where he perished was never known. Gaeger was a manufacturer 
 of crockery, and he died in Massachusetts Hyde is publishing a 
 newspaper in one of the western States. LaMountain died in his bed 
 at Lansmgburgh. N. Y., about 1884. 
 
42 
 
 The Rambler. 
 
 that reason felt a willingness to go through with more fatigue and 
 hazard than men are expected to endure in ordinary business 
 pursuits, 
 
 8. I felt safe iu going, as I knew tliat LaMountain was an intrepid 
 and su{;oes3ful aeronaut, aiul I tiiought his jiidguieiit was to be 
 depended upon. How he was misled as to distance, anJ how little 
 he knew, or any man can know, of air navigation, the narrative will 
 readily demonstrate. 
 
 With these explanations, I will proceed with my original narra- 
 tive, nearly as written out at the time. 
 
 Nearly every one in Watertown is aware tliat the second ascension 
 of the baloon Atlantic was advertised for the 20th of September, 
 1859. The storni of that and the following day obliged the postpone- 
 ment of the ascension until the 22d. Every arrangement had been 
 made for a successful inflation, and at twenty-seven minutes before 
 6 P. M. the glad words, "all aboard," were heard from LaMountain, 
 and that distinguished aeronaut and myself stepped into the car. 
 Many were the friendly hands wo shook— many a fervent "God bless 
 you," and " happy voyage," were uttered — and many hankerchiefs 
 waved their mute adieus. " Let go all," and aw.iy we soared; in an 
 instant all minor sounds of earth had ceased, and we were lifted 
 into a silent sphere, whose shores were without an echo, their silence 
 equaled only by that of the grave. No feeling of trepidation was 
 experienced: an extraordinary elation took possession of us, and fear 
 was as far removed as though we had been sitting in our own rooms 
 at home. 
 
 Two or three things struck me as peculiar in looking down from 
 an altitude of half a mile: the small appearance of our village from 
 such a height and the beautiful mechanical look which the straight 
 fences and oblong square fields of the farmers present. As we rose 
 into the light, fleecy clouds, they looked between us and the earth 
 like patches of snow we see lying upon the landscape in spring-time; 
 but when we rose a little higher the clouds completely shut out the 
 earth, and the cold, white masses below us had precisely the same 
 look that a mountainous snow-covered country does, as you look 
 down upon it from a higher mountain. Those who have crossed the 
 Alps — or have stood upon one of the lofty ftumm its of the Sierra 
 Nevada, and gazed down upon the eternal snows below and around 
 them, will be able to catch the idea. In six minutes we were far 
 
 I 
 
The Rambler. 
 
 48 
 
 ;igue and 
 busiiiess 
 
 1 intrepid 
 as to be 
 low little 
 itive will 
 
 al narra- 
 
 iscension 
 pteniber, 
 jostpone- 
 tiad been 
 B8 before 
 [ountain, 
 
 the car. 
 jrod bless 
 kerchiefs 
 }d; in an 
 3re lifted 
 
 r silence 
 tion was 
 
 and fear 
 
 u rooms 
 
 11 from 
 
 ce from 
 
 raight 
 
 Iwe rose 
 
 lie earth 
 
 |g-time; 
 
 )ut the 
 
 same 
 
 )u look 
 
 Ised the 
 
 Sierra 
 
 u'ound 
 
 lere far 
 
 above all the clouds, and the sun and we were face to face. We saw 
 the time after that when his face would have been very welcome to 
 us. In eight minutes after leaving the earth, the thermometer 
 showed a fall of 24 degrees. It stood at 84 when we left. The bal- 
 loon rotated a good deal, proving that were ascending with great 
 rapidity. At 5:48 thermometer stood at 42, and falling very fast. 
 At 5:50 we were at least two miles high — thermometer 34. 
 
 An unpleasant ringing sensation had now become painful, and I 
 filled both ears with cotton. At 5:52 we put on our gloves and 
 shawls — thermometer 32. The wet sandbags now became stiff with 
 cold — they were frozen. Ascending very rajHdly. At 5:54 ther- 
 mometer 28, and falling. Here we caught our la.st sight of the earth 
 by daylight, I recognized the St. Lawrence to the south-west of us, 
 which showed we were drifting nearly north. At 6 o'clock we 
 thought we were descending a little, and LaMountain directed me 
 to throw out about 20 pounds of ballast. This shot us up again — 
 thermometer 2(>, and falling very slowly. At 6:05 thermometer 22 — 
 my feet were very cold. The Atlantic was now full, and presented 
 a mo.st splendid sight. The gas began to discharge itself at the 
 mouth, and its abominable smell, as it came down upon us, made 
 me sick. A moment's vomiting helped my case materially. La- 
 Mountain was suffering a good deal with cold. I i)asHed my thick 
 shawl around his slioulders, and put the blanket over our knees and 
 feet. At 6:10 thermometer 18. We drifted along until the sun left 
 us, and in a short time thereafter the balloon began to descend. We 
 must have been, l)efore we began to descend from this height, 3^ 
 miles liigli. At 6 : 22 thermometer 23 ; rising. We were now about 
 stationary, and thought we were sailing north of east. We could, 
 we thought, distinguish water below us, but were unable to recog- 
 nize it. At G :38 we threw over a bag of sand, making 80 pounds 
 of ballast discharged, and leaving about 120 pounds on hand. We 
 distintly heard a dog bark. Thermometer 28 — and rising rapidly. 
 At 6 : 4") the thermometer stood at 33. 
 
 At : 50 it was dark, and I could make no more memoranda. I 
 put up my note book, pencil and watch, and settled down in the bas- 
 ket, feeling quiet contented. From this point until next mornin£- 1 
 give my experiences from memory only. The figures given were 
 made at the times indicated, and the thermometric variations can be 
 depended on as quite accurate. 
 
44 
 
 The Rambler. 
 
 We heard, soon after dark, a locomotive whistle, and occasionally 
 could hear wagons rumbling over the ground or a bridge, while the 
 farmers' dogs kept up a continual baying, as if conscious there was 
 something unusual in the sky. We sailed along, contented and 
 chatty, until about half -past eight o'clock, when we distinctly saw 
 lights below us, and heard the roaring of a mighty water- fall. We 
 descended into a valley near a very high mountain, but as the place 
 appeared rather forbidding, we concluded to go up again. Over 
 with 30 pounds of ballast, and sky-ward we sailed. In about 20 
 minutes we again descended, but this time no friendly light greeted 
 us. We seemed to be over a dense wilderness, and the balloon was 
 settling down into a small lake. We had our life-preservers ready 
 for use. but got up again by throwing out all our ballast, except 
 perhaps 20 pounds. LaMountain now declared it was folly to stay 
 up any longer, that we were over a great wilderness, and the sooner 
 we descended tlie better. We concluded to settle down by the side 
 of some tall tree, tie up, and wait until morning. In a moment we 
 were near the earth, and as we gently descended I grasped the ex- 
 treme top of a high spruce, which stopped the balloo.i's momentum, 
 and we were soon lashed to tlie tree by our large drag-rope. 
 
 We I'olled ourselves up in our blankets, patiently waiting for the 
 morning. The cold rain spouted down upon us in rivulets from the 
 great balloon that lazily rolled from side to side over our heads, and 
 we were soon drenched and uncomfortable as men could be. After 
 a night passed in great apprenh.ension and unrest, we were right 
 glad to see the first faint rays of coming light. Cold and rainy the 
 morning at last broke, the typical precursor of other dismal morn- 
 ings to be spent in that uninhabited wilderness. We waited until 6 
 o'clock in hopes the rain would cease, and that the rays of the sun, 
 by warming and thereby expanding the gas in the balloon, would 
 give us ascending power sufficient to get up again, for the purpose 
 of 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-preserv- 
 ers, the anchor and the compass. Overboard, then, they went 
 — good shawls and blankets, bottles of ale and a flask of cor- 
 dial, 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. It was an unbroken wilderness of lakes and spruce 
 
 
The Rambler. 
 
 45 
 
 — and I began to fully realize that we had indeed gone too far, 
 through a miscalculation of the velocity of the balloon. As tlie cur- 
 rent was still driving us towards the north, we dare not stay up, as 
 we were drifting still farther and farther into trouble. LaMoiin- 
 tain seized the valve-cord and discharged gas, and we descended in 
 safety 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 the 
 wet ground, were distant we knew not how far from any habita- 
 tion, were hungry to start with, had no possible expectation of 
 making a fire, and no definite or satifactory idea as to where we 
 were. We had not even a respectable pocket knife, nor a pin to 
 make a fish liook of —indeed we were about as well equipped for for- 
 est life as were the babes in the woods. 
 
 After a protracted discussion, in which all our ingenuity was 
 brought to bear upon the question of our whereabouts, we settled in 
 our minds (mainly from the character of the timber around us), that 
 we were either in John Brown's tract, or in that wilderness lying be- 
 tween Ottawa City and Prescott, Canada. If tliis were so, then we 
 knew that a course south by east would take us out if wo had 
 strength enough to travel the distance. 
 
 TRAMPING IN THE WOODS. 
 
 Acting upon our conclusion, we started through the woods toward 
 the south-east. After traveling about a mile we catue to the l)ank 
 of a small stream flowing frotn the west, and were agreeably sur- 
 prised to find that some human being had been there before us, 
 for we found the stumps of several small trees and the head of a 
 half-barrel, which -contained pork. I eagerly examined the inspec- 
 tion stamp ; it read : 
 
 "MESS PORK," 
 
 "P. M." 
 
 "Montreal." 
 
 This settled the question that we were in Canada, as I well knew 
 that no Montreal inspection of pork ever found its way into the 
 State of New York. Although the course wo had adopted was to be 
 a south-easterly one, we yet concluded to follow this creek to the 
 westward, and all day Friday we travelled up its banks — crossing it 
 
46 
 
 The Rambler. 
 
 about noon on a floating log, and striking on the southern shore a 
 "blazed" path, which led to a deserted lumber road, and it in turn 
 bring us to a log shanty on the opposite bank. We had hoped this 
 lumber road would lead out into a clearing or a settlement, but a 
 careful examination satisfied us that the road ended here, its objec- 
 tive point evidently being the shanty on the other bank. We con- 
 cluded to cross tho creek to the shanty, and stay there all night. 
 Collecting some small timbers for a raft, LaMountain crossed over 
 safely, shoving the raft back to me. But my weight was greater 
 than my companion's, and the frail structure sank under me, pre- 
 cipitating 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 I 
 found myself so chilled as scarcely to be able to stand. I took off 
 all my clothes and wrung them as dry as I could. We then pro- 
 ceeded 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 heads 
 and faces, in the hope that our breath might aid in warming our 
 chilled bodies. I ihink the most revengeful, stony heart would have 
 pitied our condition then. I will not attempt to describe our 
 thoughts as we lay there ; home, children, wife, parents, friends, 
 with their sad and anxious faces, rose up reproachfully before us as 
 we tried to sleep. But the weary hours of night 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 " tlieir logs in the spring freshets. If, then, we followed it to its 
 confluence with the Ottawa or some stream whioh emptied into the 
 Ottawa, we would eventually get out the same way the timber went 
 out. The roof of the shanty was covered with the halves of hollow 
 logs, scooped out in a manner familiar to all vvoodsmen. These 
 were dry and light, and would make us an excellent raft. Why not, 
 then, take four of these, tie them to cross-pieces by vvythes and such 
 odd things as we could find around the shanty, and pole the craft 
 down stream to that civilization which even a saw-log appeared able 
 to reach Such, then, was the plan adopted, although it involved 
 the retracing of all the steps hitherto taken, and an apparent depart- 
 ure frojn the course we had concluded would lead us out. 
 
 Without delay, then, we dragged the hollow logs down to the 
 creek, and LaMountain proceeded to tie them together, as he was 
 more of a sailor than myself. We at last got under way, and as we 
 
The Rambli:r. 
 
 pushed off, a miserable crow set up a dismal cawing — an inauspici- 
 ous sign We poled down the stream about a mile, when we came 
 abruptly upon a large pine tree whicli had fallen across the current, 
 completely blocking the passage of the raft. No other course was 
 left us but to untie the raft, and push the pieces through under the 
 log. This was at last accomplished, when we tied our craft together 
 again, 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. Yet 
 there was no complaining — our talk was of the hopeful future, 
 and of the home and civilization we yet expected to reach. Down 
 the creek we went, into a lake some four miles long, and into 
 which we of course supposed tlie stream to pass, witli its outlet at 
 the lower end. We followed down the northern bank, keeping 
 always near the shore and in shallow water, so that our poles could 
 touch the bottom, until we reached the lower extremity of tlie lake, 
 where we found no outlet, and so turned back upon the southern 
 shore in quest of one. On reaching the head of the lake, and examin- 
 ing the stream attentively, we found that the current of the creek 
 turned abrujjtly to the right, whicli was the reason of our losing it. 
 We felt happy to have foimd our current again, and plied our poles 
 like heroes W<^ passed, late in the afternoon, the spot where we 
 had at first struck the creek, and where we stuck up some dead 
 branches as a landmark which might aid us in case we should at a 
 future tune attempt to save the Atlantic. 
 
 When night came on we did not stop, but kept the raft going 
 down through the sliades of awful forests, whose solemn stillness 
 seemed to hide from us the unrevealed mystery of our darkening 
 future. During the morning the rain had ceased, but about 10 
 o'clock at night it conmienced again. We stopped the " vessel " and 
 crawled in under some '' tag" alders on the bank, where our extreme 
 weariness enabled us to get perhaps half an hour's sleep. Rising 
 again (for it was easier to pole the raft at night in the rain down 
 vn unknown stream amidst the shadows of that awful forest, 
 than to lie on the ground and freeze), we pressed on until per- 
 haps three in the morning, when pure extiaustion compelled 
 us to stop again. This time we found a spot where the clayey bank 
 lacked a little of coming down to the water. On the mud we threw 
 our little bundle of straw, and sat down with our feet drawn un 
 under us, so as to present as little surface to the rain as possible. 
 
48 
 
 The Rambler. 
 
 r3ut we could not stand such an uncomfortable position long, and as 
 the daylight of the Sabbath broke upon us, we were poling down the 
 stream in a drizzling rain. At 8 o'clock we reached a spot at which 
 the stream narrowed, rushing over large boulders, and between 
 rocky shores. This was trouble indeed. To get our raft down this 
 l^lace we regarded as well-nigh hopeless. We tied up and examined 
 the shore. Here, again, we found unmistakable marks left by the 
 lumbermen, they having evidently camped at tliis point, to be liandy 
 by in the labor of getting the timber over this bad spot in the stream. 
 The rapids were about a third of a mile long, and very turbulent. 
 After a protracted survey we descended tlie bank, and thought it 
 best to abandon our raft, and try our luck on foot again. After 
 travelling about a mile, we found the bank so tangled and rugged, 
 and ourselves so much exhausted, that satisfactory progress was 
 impossible. So we concluded to go back, and if we could get the 
 raft down, even one piece at a time, we would go on with her — if 
 not, we would build as good a place as possible to shield us from the 
 9old and wet, and there await with fortitude tliat deatli from starva- 
 tion which was beginning to be regarded as a probability. This was 
 our third day of earnest labor and distressing fatigue, and in all 
 that time we had not ate an ounce of food, nor had dry clothing 
 upon us. 
 
 Acting upon our resolution we at once commenced to get the raft 
 down the rapids, and I freely confess that this was the most trying 
 and laborous work of a whole life of labor. The pieces would not 
 float over a rod at a time, before they would stick on some stone 
 which the low water left above the surface; and then you must pry 
 the stick over in some way, and pass it along to the next obstruction. 
 We were obliged to get into the stream, often up to the middle, with 
 slippery boulders beneath our feet. Several times I fell headlong 
 — completely using up our comi)ass, which now frantically pointed 
 in an}^ direction its addled head took a fancy to. The water had un- 
 glued the case, and it was ruined. After long hours of such labor 
 we got the raft down and LaMountain again tied it together. Pass- 
 ing on, in about an hour we came to a large lake, about ten miles 
 long by six broad. Artmnd it we must of course pass, until we 
 should find the desired outlet. So we turned up to the right, and 
 pressed on with as much resolution as we could muster. To-day 
 we found one clam, which I insisted LaMountain should eat, as he 
 
The Rambler. 
 
 49 
 
 was much weaker than m/self, and had eaten nothing on the day 
 we we* it up. 
 
 Part of this day LaMountain slept upon tlie raft, and I was " boss 
 and all hands. " As the poor fellow lay there, completely used up, 
 I saw that he could not be of much more assistance in getting out. 
 Erysipelas, from which he had previously suffered, had attacked his 
 right eye; his face was shriveled so that he looked like an old man, 
 and his clothes wcie nearly torn from his body. A few tears could 
 not be restrained, and my prayer was for speedy deliverance or 
 speedy death. While my companion was asleep, and I busily pol- 
 ing the raft along, I was forced to the conclusion, after deliberately 
 canvassing all the chances, that we were pretty sure to perish there 
 miserably at last. But I could not cease my efforts while I had 
 strength, and so around the lake we went, into all the indentations of 
 the shore, keeping always in the shallow water. The day at last 
 wore away, and we stopped at night at a place we thought least ex- 
 posed to the wind. We dragged the end of our raft out of the water 
 and laid down upon the cold ground. We were cold when we laid 
 down, and both of us trembled by the hour, like men suffering from 
 a severe attack of the ague. The wind had risen just at night, and 
 the dismal surging of the waves upon the shore formed, I thought, a 
 fitting lullaby to our disturbed and dismal slumbers. 
 
 By this time our cloth.es were nearly torn off. My pantaloons 
 were split up both legs, and the waistbands nearly gone. My boots 
 were mere wrecks, and our mighty wrestlings in the rapids had torn 
 the skin from ankles and hands. LaMountain's hat had disappeared; 
 the first day out he had thrown away his wollen drawers and stock- 
 ings, as they dragged him down by the weight of water they ab- 
 sorbed. And so we could sleep but little; it really seemed as though 
 during 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 vve entered 
 it with joy, believing it would take us to our long sought Ottawa. 
 Shortly after entering this stream it widened out and began to ap- 
 pear like a mere lake. We poled up the western shore for about 
 seven miles, but found ourselves again deceived as t< the outlet — 
 
50 
 
 The Rambler. 
 
 the water we were upon proving to be another lake or bayou. We 
 li;id gone into this lake with the higliest hopes, but when we found 
 that all the weary miles of our morning travel had been in vain, and 
 had ' o be retraced, my resolution failed me for a moment. Yet we 
 felt that our duty, as Christian men, was to press forward as long as 
 we could stand, and leave the issue with a higher Power. 
 
 It had now been four full days since we ate a meal. All we had 
 eaten in the meantime was a frog apiece, four clams and a few wild 
 berries, whose acid propeitios and bitter taste had probably done us 
 more harm than good. Our strength was beginning to fail very 
 fast, and our systems were evidently undergoing an extraordinary 
 change. I did not permit myself to think of food — the thought of 
 a well-filled table would have been too much. My mind continually 
 dwelt upon poor Strain's sufferings on the Isthmus of Daricn (then 
 lately published in Harper's Magazine). He, too, was paddling a 
 raft down an unknown stream, half starved, and filled witli dread- 
 ful forebodings. But I did not l)elieve we could hold out half as 
 long as he had. Besides, he was lost in a tropical country, where 
 all nature is kind to man; he had fire-arms and other weapons with 
 which to kill game. We were in a cold, inhospitable land, without 
 arms and utterly unable to build a fire. Strain was upon a stream 
 which he knew would eventually bear him to the sea and to safety; 
 while we were upon waters whose flow we positively knew nothing 
 about, and vveie as much lost as tliough in the mountains of the 
 moon. Yet we could not give it up so, and tried to summon up 
 fresh courage as troubles appeared to thicken around us. So we 
 turned the raft around and poled it in silence back toward the place 
 where we had entered this last lake. We had gone about a mile 
 when we heard the sound of a gun, quickly followed by a second re- 
 port. 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 kept 
 our poles going quite lively, and had gone about half a mile when I 
 called LaMoun tain's attention to what I thought was smoke curling 
 up among the trees by the side of a hill. My own eyesight had be- 
 gun to fail very much, and I felt afraid to trust my dulled senses in a 
 matter so vitally important. LaMountain scrutinized the shore very 
 closely, and said he thought it was smoke, and that he believed there 
 was also a birch canoe on the shore below. In a few moments the 
 blue smoke rolled unmistakably above the tree tops, and we felt that 
 
The Rambler. 
 
 51 
 
 WE WERE SAVED 1 
 
 Such a revulaion of feeling was almost too mach. We fould 
 hardly credit our good fortune, for our many bitter disappointments 
 had taught us not to be very sanguine. With the ends of our ^wles 
 we paddled the raft across the arm of the lake, here perhaps three- 
 (piarters of a mile wide, steering for the canoe. It proved to be a 
 large one, evidently an Indian's. Leaving LaMountain to guard and 
 retain the canoe, in case the Indian proved timid and desired to 
 escape from us, I pressed hurriedly up the bank, following the foot- 
 prints I saw in the damp soil, and soon came upon the temporary 
 shanty of a lumbering wood, from the rude chimney of which a 
 broad volume of smoke was rising. I halloed — a noise was heard 
 uiside, and a noble-looking Indian came to the door. I eagerly 
 asked him if he could speak French, as I grasped his outstretched 
 hand. "Yes," he rei)lied, "and English, too!" He drew me into 
 the cabin, and there I saw tiie leader of the party, a noble-hearted 
 Scotchman named Angus Cameron. I immediately told my story ; 
 that we had conae in there with a balloon, were lost, and had been 
 over four days without food — eagerly demanding to know where 
 we were. Imagine my surprise when he said we were one hundred 
 and eighty miles due north of Ottawa, near 300 miles from Water- 
 town, to reach which would require more than 500 miles of travel, 
 following the streams and roads. We were in a wilderness as large 
 as three States like New York, extending from Lake Superior on the 
 west, to the St. Lawrence on the east, and from Ottawa on the 
 south, to the Arctic circle. 
 
 The party consisted of four persons — Cameron and his assistant, 
 and a half-breed Indian (LaMab McDougal) and his son. Their 
 savory dinner was ready. I immediately dispatched the young 
 Indian for LaMountain, who soon came in, the absolute picture of 
 wretchedness. All that the cabin contained was freely offered us, 
 and we began to eat. Language is inadequate to express our feel- 
 ings. Within one little hour the clouds had lifted from our sombre 
 future, and we felt ourselves to be men once more — no longer 
 houseless wanderers amid primeval forests, driven by chance from 
 side to side, but inspired by the near certainty of seeing home again 
 and mingling with our fellows once more in the busy scenes of 
 life. 
 
52 
 
 The Rambler. 
 
 We soon learned from Cameron that the stream we had traversed 
 with our raft was called Filliraan's creek — the large lake we were 
 then near was called the Bos-ke-tong, and drains into the Bos-ke- 
 tong river, which in turn drains into the Gatineau. The Gatineau 
 joins the Ottawa opposite the city of that name, the seat of govern- 
 ment of Canada. Cameron assured us that the Bos ke-tong and 
 Gatineau were so rapid and broken that no set of men could get a 
 raft down, no matter how well they knew the country, nor how 
 much provisions they might have. He regarded our deliverance as 
 purely providential, and many times remarked that we would cer- 
 tainly have perished but for seeing the smoke from his fire. He was 
 hunting timber for his employers, Gilmour & Co., of Ottawa, and 
 was to start in two days down the Gatineau for his headquaiters at 
 Desert. If we would stay there until he started we were welcome, 
 he said, to food and accommodations, and he would take us down to 
 Desert in his canoe, and at that point we could get Indians to take 
 us farther on. He also said that he had intended to look for timber 
 on Filliman's creek, near where the balloon would be found, as near 
 as 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 and 
 tedious operation, as the portages are very numerous betvveen tlie 
 creek and Desert — something over twenty — one of them three 
 miles long. Over these portages, of coure, the silk must be carried 
 on the backs of Indians. 
 
 After eating all I dared to, and duly cautioning LaMountain not to 
 hurt himself by over-indulgence, I laid down to sleep. Before doing 
 80, I had one of the men remove my boots, an 1 when they came otT, 
 nearly the whole outer skin peeled off with the stockings. My feet 
 had become parboiled by the continual soakings of four days and 
 nights, and it was fully three months before they were cured. 
 
 After finishing up his business in the vicinity were we found him, 
 on Friday morning (our ninth day from home), Cameron started on 
 his return. We stopped, on our way up the creek, at the spot where 
 we had erected our landmark by which to find the balloon. We 
 struck back for the place, and in about twenty minutes found her, 
 impaled on the tops of four smallish spruce trees, and very much 
 torn. LaMountain concluded to abandon her. He took the valve as 
 a memento, and I cut the letters "TIC," which had formed part of 
 her name, and brouglit the strip of silk home with me. We reached 
 
The Rambler. 
 
 63 
 
 what is known as the "New Farm" on Friday night, and there 
 ended 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 g«^)od deal troubled to obtain Indians to take 
 us further on. LaMab McDougal 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 tlevil." As 
 we had travelled in this flying devil, it did not require much of a 
 stretch of Indian credulity to believe that if we were not the Devil's 
 children, we must at least be closely related. In this extremity we 
 appealed to Mr. Backus,* a kind-hearted American trader, who 
 agreed to procure us a complement of redskins, who would take us. 
 to Alexis le Beau's place (60 miles down the river), where it was 
 tliought we could obtain horses. Sunday morning (our eleventh day 
 from home), we started from Desert, and reached Alexis le Beau's 
 just at night. The scenery upon this part of the route was sublime 
 and imposing. The primeval forest stood as grand and silent as 
 when 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 these 
 places, 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 dog trot as unconcernedly as though bearing no 
 burthen. Arriving at the foot of the portage, they would toss the 
 canoe into the stream, steady it until we were seated, then spring in 
 and paddle away, gliding down the stream like an arrow. In the 
 
 * Something (|uite curious grew out of m> naming Mr. Henry 
 Backus as having assisted us at the mouth of the Desert river. My 
 account was generally published throughout the country, and some 
 ten days after our return I received a letter from a lady in Massachu- 
 setts asking me to describe to her the man Backus, as that was the 
 name of her long-absent son, who, twent}' years before, had disap- 
 peared from home, and liad never afterwards been heard from. I 
 answered the letter immediately, and soon after learned that the man 
 proved 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 im- 
 pulses might have been an oiiiament to society, and a blessing to his 
 friends. [This note was written the next week after we escaped 
 from the wilderness. The article following this treats of Backus' 
 experience quite exhaustively.] 
 
54 
 
 The Rambler. 
 
 morning we traveled fifteen miles and made seven portages in one 
 hour and forty minutes. 
 
 At Alexis le Beau's we first beheld a vehicle denominated a '* buck- 
 board " — a wide, thick plank rpa(;hin^ froni one bolster of the 
 wagon to the other, and upon tho midtilc 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. 
 Starting off as soon as we could get someting to eat, we travelled all 
 night through the forest, over one of the worst roads ever left unfin- 
 ished, and reached Brooks' farm, a sort of frontier tavern, in the 
 early morning, where we slept a couple of liours, and after breakfast 
 .pressed on by the rough frontier stage towards Ottawa. 
 
 While the stage was stopping to-day to change horses, I picked up 
 a newspaper at Her Brittanic Majesty's colonial frontier post-office, 
 and in it read an account of our ascension and positive loss, with a 
 rather flattering obituary notice of myself. And then, for the first 
 time, I began to compreliend the degree of concern of our protracted 
 absence had aroused in the public mind. And if the public felt this 
 concern, what would be the degree of pain experiencetl by wife, 
 children, parents, friends? These reflections spurred us forward — 
 or rather, our money induced the drivers to hurry up their horses — 
 and at last, on the twelfth day of our absence, at about five o'clock 
 in the afternoon, we jumped off the stage in front of the telegraph 
 office in the good city of Ottawa, whence, in less than five minutes, 
 the swift lightning was speeding a message to home and friends. 
 That was a happy moment — the hap])iest of all my life — when I 
 knew that within thirty minutes my family would know of my 
 safety. 
 
 I do not know how the people of Ottawa so soon found out who 
 we were — but suppose the telegraph operator perhaps told some one, 
 and that " some one " uuist have told the whole town, for in less than 
 half an hour there was a tearing, excited, happy, inquisitive mass of 
 people in front of the grand hotel there — the clerk of which, when 
 he looked at our ragged clothes and bearded faces, at first thought 
 he " hadn't a single room left," but, wJio, when he found out that 
 we were the lost balloon men, wanted us to have the whole hotel, 
 free and above board, and had tea and supper and lunch, and "just 
 a little private supper, you know ! " following each other in rapid, 
 yet most acceptable succession. The happy crowd in the hotel and 
 
 M 
 
The Rambler. 
 
 55 
 
 
 U|)()n the street were detennineJ to shake hands with us every one, 
 and near'.y all wanted to give or loan uh money. Pretty soon the 
 newspaper men and some i)ersonal acMiuaintances began to press 
 through the crowd, and some cried while others laughed and Imz- 
 ziihhed. Indeed, every one acted as if they had just " found some- 
 thing." And such is human nature always, when its noble sympa- 
 thies are aroused for the suffering or distressed. 
 
 Although the president of the Ottawa and Prescott Railroad (Rob- 
 ert Bell, Esq.), volunteered to send us on by a special engine that 
 night, we thought it best (inasmuch as our friends had been informed 
 of our safety), to stay at C>ttavva until morning. It did seem as 
 though the generous people of that city could not do enough for us, 
 and their kind attention and disintersted enthusiasm will never be 
 forgotten. 
 
 Well, the next morning we left Ottawa, and were quickly carried 
 to Prescott; thence across the St. Lawrence River to Ogdensburg. 
 Here a repetition of the same friendly greetings took place; and at 
 last, after a hearty dinner, we left for home, now distant only 
 seventy-five miles by rail. All along the line of the road we found 
 enthusiastic crowds awaiting our coming, and all seemed to exhibit 
 unmistakeable evidence of the deep interest felt in our fate. At 
 Watertown, which had been my home from boyhood, the enthusi- 
 asm had reached fever heat, and the whole town was out to greet 
 the returning aeronauts. They had out the old cannon on the Public 
 Square, and it belched forth the loudest kind of a welcome. My 
 family had, of course, suffered deeply by my absence. Everybody 
 had given us up for dead^ except my wife. I felt very cheap about 
 the whole thing, and was quite certain that I had done a very foolish 
 act. Not so the people — they thought it a big thing to have gone 
 through with so much, and yet come out alive. 
 
 Several general conclusions and remarks shall terminate this nar- 
 rative, already too long. " Why did you permit yourselves to go so 
 far?" will naturall}"^ be asked. To this inquiry I reply, that the 
 wind was exceedingly light when we ascended; that we were very 
 soon among the clouds, and consequently unable to take cognizanco 
 of our course, or to judge how fast we were travelling. It should 
 
56 
 
 The Rambler. 
 
 l>e distinctly understood that when you are sailing in a balloon, yoy 
 are unconsious of motion and progress, unless you can see the earth. 
 
 Even when you first leave the earth, you seem to be stationary, 
 while the earth appears to drop away from you . Nor can you, when 
 out of sight of the earth, although you may have a compass, judge 
 of the direction you are travelling, i^ travelling at all. In a few 
 words, unless yon can see the earth, you cannot tell hoiv fast nor 
 in what direction you are travelling. This, perhaps, better than any- 
 tiiing else, will explain why we unconsciously drifted off to lati- 
 tudes so remote. When we arose above the thick mass of clouds, 
 before sundown, we undoubtedly struck a rapid current that carried 
 us north-east, and after we had travelled in this current about an 
 hour, we probably struck another current, from the variation of our 
 altitude, which bore us off to the north-west, for the place where we 
 landed is about thirty miles west of due north from where we as- 
 cended. 
 
 When we first descended near the earth, and saw lights and heard 
 dogs barking, we should have landed. But we were unwilling to 
 land at night in a deep wood, even though we knew that inliabitants 
 were near by, and we thought it best to pick out a better place. 
 This was our error: and it came near being a fatal one to us — it 
 was certainly so to the balloon. In trying to find our " better place " 
 to land, we were up longer than we supposed, and as we were travel- 
 ling in a current that bore us off to the northward at the rate of 100 
 miles an hour, we soon reached a point beyond the confines of civili- 
 zation. 
 
 Among the very few older residents of the Thousand Islands who 
 yet survive, we recall Mr. Samuel Grenell, of Grenell Island. He is 
 a dignified, large, impressive man, with gray hair, and though well 
 along in years, bears himself like a man of 40. He was driven to a 
 residence among these islands by actual i)overty, all his sclitmes for 
 money-making having failed. Having been a hotel keeper on the 
 mainland, noted for giving a 35-cent meal for a quarter of a dollar, 
 he naturally drifted into that vocation when he came to Grenell 
 Island. Gradually his fame spread until his hotel became the gen- 
 eral resort for ilmq^ who came to hunt and fish. Having bargained 
 for several of the islands near his own place, good fortune enabled 
 him to pay for them, and he is now an independent man, out of debt, 
 and with money and lands far beyond his early expectations. He 
 is a wholesome man to know. His portrait and a full biographical 
 sketch mav be found in Haddock's " Souvenir of the St. Lawrence 
 River," page 64 G. He is in evidence almost any day on his dock, 
 aiding the steamer men in making a landing. 
 
The Rambler. 
 
 67 
 
 La Kiie'8 Treaspire». 
 
 (The gold seekers of the St. Lawrence. A tala of the Thousand Islands. ) 
 About four mileu west of the Mallorytown lianding, on tlie north 
 shore of the St. Ijawrence, at the spot where the original Maliorya 
 first landed, a settler named William La Rue, but commonly known 
 ' as " Billy" Larue, received a gmnt of lots 15 and 19, in all, 550 
 acres of land, in the year of our Lord, 1802. " Billy " was, although 
 . eccentric, a man of great energy and endurance. As a proof of the 
 latter quality, it is related of him that ho once walked barefooted 
 the whole distance to Cornwall, that being the nearest point at 
 which he could procure sufficient leather for a pair of shoes. At 
 the point where La Rue settled, a deep ravine o[)ened to the river. 
 Across this he managed to construct a dam, thus furnishing him- 
 self with a most excellent water power, on which he built a mill, 
 and, in consequence, grew in wealth. During the war of 1813 his 
 mill was taken possession of by the British troops, who utilized it 
 as a means of providing subsistence for the troops. 
 
 Although his lands presented almost insuperable barrier.^ to agri- 
 cultural improvements, Billy persevered in clearing away the 
 original forest, and, in its stead, planted apple, chestnut and walnut 
 trees, so that even now, at a distance of almost a century of time, 
 mingled amongst pines of a second growth, may now and then be 
 found an apple tree, planted by the hand of the original owner of 
 the soil, " Billy " La Rue. But time speed away and Billy toiled on, 
 and as he was never known to be at all profuse in his expenditures, 
 it was surmised that at his death, which was at a good old age, he 
 was possessed of a large amount of gold and silver, which, by con- 
 stant accretions in the imagination of his acquaintances, grew into 
 fabulous sums which were, of course, buried somewhere on his es- 
 tate; and thougli 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 claim to his possessions, the lands, in 
 time, reverted to the State, the mill and dam rotted away, the once 
 cleared lands became covered with a second growth, but the belief 
 in Billy La Rue's buried treasures remained and grew and multiplied 
 more rapidly than did the little groves of second-growth pines 
 which to-day dot the premises, and many have been the excavations 
 made, and many the midnight searches at all points around the 
 house, but so far in vain. While Billy was on his death bed, it was 
 
m 
 
 The Rambler. 
 
 noticed that his fast glazing eyes turned oftenest in a particular di- 
 rection, and it was along that line of view that the most persistent 
 effort was niadj; and of one of those midnight searches a record is 
 left by one of the participators, which is given as nearly as possible 
 in his own language. 
 
 The Treasure-Seeker's Narrative. 
 
 Cn a bright raoonliglit night, in company with three other men, I 
 left the village of Mallorytown and proceeded to a spot in the 
 vicinity of the old La Rue mill near the upper dam. We were pro- 
 vided with a divining rod of witcli-hazel, and a goodly supply of 
 picks and shovels, and in fact everything that was necessary to the 
 prosecution of an enterprise of that cliaracter. We were in the best 
 of spirits, and as it was a charming night, every way suitable for a 
 successful issue to such an enterprise, we determined, if possible, to 
 unearth Billy's treasures, or at all events to probe the secret to the 
 very bottom. 
 
 Our guide was an elderly gentleman who claimed to be an expert 
 in the matter of uneai'thing buried treasures, and he had carefully 
 instructed in every particular relating to etiquette to be observed on 
 like delicate adventures. One imperative command, I remember 
 well, and that was, that from the moment the divining rod began to 
 indicate the sought for spot, not a word should be spoken, happen 
 what might. We proceeded first to the house and then to the ceme- 
 tery, at which point we proposed to begin our operations. It was a 
 night of beauty. The moon shone clear and bright through the 
 pines on the overhanging cliff, and yet a feeling something like awe 
 crept over us. Suddenly our leader paused and presented his wand. 
 Slowly the witch-hazel turned toward its mother earth. Moving a 
 few paces to the left, our leader re-adjusted the wand, and again it 
 drooped earthward. Again and again was the mysterious divining 
 roil tested, and always with the same result. That we had solved 
 the secret, and were about to become the happy possessors of the 
 long buried gold, there was no manner of doubt. 
 
 Striking a circle of about twelve feet radius, we began to dig, and 
 so intent were we upon the welcome task that I took no note of the 
 passing time. Whether we dug one hour or six, I cannot tell. 
 Gradually che sky became overcast and one by one the stars dis- 
 appeared. The moon sank from sight beneath the horizon, while 
 the wind, as it rose in gusts and fell again into a gentle breeze, sighed 
 
The Rambler. 
 
 59 
 
 a mournful requiem among the swaying pines. It grew weird and 
 gloomy, and like a pall darkness came down upon us as we dug, 
 transforming us into spectres in each other's eyes. But we labored 
 on and not a word was spoken. 
 
 Next can^ a blast of icy coldness which chilled the very marrow 
 in our bone.., though from our severe exertion we were bathed in 
 perspiration. In the distance we heard a tramping, as of many feet. 
 It seemed as though the guardian spirit of Billy La Rue's treasure 
 was marshalling a force to destroy the desecrators of the last resting 
 placjof the dead. 
 
 But we were nearing the completion of our labors. Our excava- 
 tion was cone-like in form, the deepest part being in the center 
 Suddenly a pick struck a metallic substance and the sound rang out 
 clear and distinct on the night air. A few shovelfuls of earth more 
 taken off and we felt tlie object with our hands ; because of its ring- 
 ing sound when struck I will always believe it was metal. We re- 
 doubled our exertions and rapidly removed tlu) earth from one side 
 and thrust down a crowbar. The coveted treasure was our own. 
 With our united strength we slowly raised the iron covering, when 
 in an instant we were surrounded by creatures innumerable, crowd- 
 ing up to the very edge of our excavation. In the darkness their 
 forms were indistinct, but to judge from the noise of their tramping 
 there must have been thousands of them. They reminded me of a 
 vast drove of black cattle. A great fear which I cannot describe 
 came upon us, and witli one impulse we dropped the crowbar and 
 ran for life. Coming out of the ravine near the new mill, we paused. 
 The moon was sailing majestically through a clear sky, though to 
 our belief it had a short time before gone down in gloom. After a 
 brief consultation, we came to the conclusion that we were victims 
 of imagination. We returned to our work. We found our tools 
 and garments, but not a sign of any metallic covering nor even a 
 flat stone at the bottom of our excavation. Our leader sorrowfully 
 shook liis head, and declared that the "treasure had moved," and so 
 we departed for Mallorytown, determined to let the treasures of Billy 
 La Rue rest forevermore. 
 
 Note. — The above story, or the substance of it, was found by the 
 author of this book in an old pamphlet, in which the name of its 
 writer does not appear, else due credit would have been given It is 
 inserted mainly because its location is among the Thousand Islands. 
 
60 
 
 The Rambler. 
 
 A Practical Experiment. 
 
 By H. Walter Webb. 
 
 On September 14, 1891, a train, consisting of a locomotive and 
 three large private cars, made a run over the New York Central & 
 Hudson River Railroad from New York to Buffalo, on a schedule the 
 most extraordinary on record, and vvhicli is destined to exert an 
 important influence on railroad travel during the next few years. 
 
 The engine was of a new class, especially designed for fast passen- 
 ger service by Mr. William Buchanan, the Superintendent of Motive 
 Power of the road, and built by the Schenectady Locomotive 
 Works, it s total weight in working order being 100 tons. The aggre- 
 gate weight of the cars when empty was over 130 tons. 
 
 The journey from New York to East Buffalo, a distance of 436.38 
 miles, was made in 439.45 minutes. Allowing for time lost in 
 changing engines at Albany and Syracuse, and for cooling a hot 
 journal at Fairport, the run of 436.32 miles was made in 426 minutes, 
 or at the rate of 61.44 miles per hour. 
 
 Previous to this run there were scores of records of fast time made 
 bv pjissenger trains, sjiecial and regular, both in this country and in 
 England. Records of fast runs of 10, 15 or 20 miles were exceedingly 
 plentiful, but there were few records of long-distance runs that had 
 attracted any special attention. The most remarkable on record, 
 and the ones that until last September were unequalled in railroad 
 history, were those made between London and Edinburgh, in the 
 summer of 1888, when the "race to Edinburgh" was in progress 
 between the London & Northwestern and the Great Northern 
 Railways of England. The distance over the former is 400 miles, 
 and the run was made daily on a schedule calling for a speed of 53| 
 miles per hour. On the Great Northern the distarce is 393 miles, 
 and tlie schedule in this case called for a speed of 54 miles per hour. 
 
 On August 13, 1888, the Northwestern train covered the distance 
 of 400 miles in 427 minutes, or at a rate of 56| miles per hour, and on 
 August 3lst the Great Northern train made the run of 393 miles in 412 
 minutes, or at the rate of 57^ miles per hour. These individual run.s 
 were both remarkable, but the daily running of the trains on their 
 published schedules were regarded by railroad men as still more 
 extraordinary, and at that time there were no schedule trains in 
 this country that approached them in point of speed. 
 
 Three years previous to these English records a special train 
 
The Ramuler. 
 
 61 
 
 weighing 64 ions made a run on the West Shore Road from Buffalo 
 to Weehawken in 9 hours and 23 minutes. In the pubHshed 
 accounts different allowances for stops were made, making the 
 average rate per mile /ary fi'om 51 to 54 miles per hour : either rate, 
 however, making it the best long-distance run on record in the 
 United States, until the run from New York to Buffalo, over the New 
 York Central & Hudson River Railroad, described in the beginning 
 of this article. 
 
 That remarkable run eclipsed and left far behind all records for 
 long-distance runs formerly made in this country or England. And 
 to fully appreciate the importance of what was demonstrated by it, 
 we must remember tliat within six weeks after it was made a pas- 
 senger train was running between tliose cities on a schedule two 
 hours shorter tlian had at any time previously been made by the 
 fastest limited or mail train, and the air is even now full of rumors 
 of shorter time to be made on important lines between great cities 
 during the coming spring and summer, so that it is not at all improb- 
 able, in view of the power now to be obtained and the public 
 demand for faster service, that in the near futui'c we shall see trains 
 from New York to Buffalo in 7^ hours, from New York to Boston in 
 less than 4 hours, and from New York to Washington in the sanie 
 time. 
 
 But to railroad men and to those familiar with the characteristics 
 of the New York Central Railroad, between New York and Buffalo, 
 the record of the trip referred to was far more significant than was 
 indicated by the m re statement that the run had been at a speed 
 averaging 61.44 rnile^ per hour. 
 
 They appreciated the fact tliat the journey out of the Grand Cen- 
 tral Depot, through the Fourth avenue tunnel, over the Harlem 
 drawbridge, following the winding (curves along the Harlem river to 
 Spuyten Duyvil, along the banks of the Hudson, through Yonkers, 
 Peekskill, and Poughkeepsie, rounding the curves of the Highlands, 
 and taking water twice from tanks between the tracks, meant fre- 
 quent reductions of 8}»eod in order to make the run in comfort and 
 ease ; and from Albany, west, the long and heavy grade over the 
 hill, the tlu'iving and prosperous towns of the Mohawk valley, the 
 slow tedious run through the streets of Syracuse, the viaduct at 
 Rochester, and the 11-mile grade at Batavia, all furnished reminders 
 that the train must have at times attained a high degree of speed to 
 liave made the average mile at a rate of over 60 miles an hour. 
 
62 
 
 The Rambler. 
 
 A careful schedule of the running time of each mile was kept, an 
 analysis of which shows the following : 
 
 Four hundred and thirty-six miles were run in 426 minutes. 
 
 One hundred and thirty miles were run at a rate of less than sixty 
 miles per hour. 
 
 One hundred and eighteen miles were run at a rate varying from 
 60 to 65 miles per hour. 
 
 One hundred and fifty-one miles were run at a rate varying fiom 
 sixty-five to seventy miles per hour. 
 
 TJiirty seven miles were run at a rate varying from seventy to 
 seventy-eight miles per iiour. 
 
 That the speed of passenger trains in this country is destined to 
 rapidly increase in the near future seems certain. There is nothing 
 in railroading that renders such large and quick returns to the man- 
 agement as catering to the wants and desires of the traveling public. 
 Nothing so fully exemplifies this as the immense change that has 
 taken place in the past five years in the equipment of through 
 express trains from the seaboard to the West and Soutliwest. 
 
 The luxury and comfort that can to-day be obtained on one of the 
 many limited trains passing over any of the great trunk lines, is in 
 strong contrast to what was furnished five or six years ago, and it 
 would seem that there was not nnich room for further improvement 
 in tliat direction. What the public are now seeking, and what will 
 certainly be furnished, is fast time ; and that this is appreciated by 
 railroad managers is well evidenced by the large sums that are now 
 being spent to perfect the roadways of the more important lines. 
 
 One word, in closing, in regard to the alleged danger of the fast 
 train. It is most emphaticall}' untrue that it is more dangerous 
 than other trains. Those familiar with the subject will agree that 
 the very reverse is the case. As an eminent English authority 
 writes, 'i With picked engineers, trainmen, and firemen, with the 
 best and newest rolling stock and the most perfect engines the com- 
 pany possesses, with every signalman and flagman all down the line 
 on the qui vive, it is difficult to see where there comes in any special 
 source of danger.'* And in addition to this, it must be remembered 
 that fast trains such as are now being run on many roads in this 
 country would be simply impossible without the vigorous discipline, 
 the constant energy, the keenest exactitude, and the care and atten- 
 tion to the details of the service that is the surest and most effective 
 guard against accidents. 
 
The RaxMbler. 
 
 6'd 
 
 
 River aud Pot-Holes ou a Mouutaiu near Thoiisaud 
 
 Island Park. 
 
 At the southern end of Wellsley Island, two miles west of Thou- 
 sand Island Park on the St. Lawrence river, two pot-holes are found 
 just at the brow of tlie precipice, some 30 feet above the water of tlie 
 river, one immediately above the other; tlie smaller and lower one 
 is six or more feet deep and abo'it two feet across; the upper and 
 larger one over as much again in depth and near four feet across. 
 The rock in which they are worn is called *' Granitoid Gneiss," which 
 comes to the surface just above Thousand Island Park, the park 
 being underlaid by the lowest member of the Potsdam sandstone. 
 Between the park and the upper end of the island, and before the 
 Potsdam was deposited, there was a rupture of the gneiss, an uplift 
 on the side of the island and a downthrow on the river side. The 
 crest of the uplift is a long ridge called " the Palisades, " with a sharp 
 descent upon the land side and a precipice along the river side; the 
 height of the crest is quite uniform, with a gradually-descending 
 slope towards the southerly end of the island. The comb of the 
 crest is about 100 feet above the water, and lies in nearly a north 
 and south direction, a naked I'ock without vegetation. 
 
 Now we mur^ nause in wonder and astonishment here, for we have 
 come upon a dilemma. It is utterly impossible to account for tliese 
 pot-holes in the position where we find them, 80 feet above the water 
 of the river and upon a steep declivity where water is never seen 
 except in the form of rain from heaven. Pot holes aio always foimd 
 in the currents of rapid streams, made by boulders turned round 
 and round in some cavity of the rock. The problem cannot be 
 solved by any causes now in action; the phenomena is inexplicable. 
 We must go backwards perhaps 10,000 years, no one knows exactly 
 how long, to find the causes and conditions to account for these pot- 
 holes in the position where they are found. We will select the 
 Glacial period or ice age of the world, and see if we cannot find 
 an explanation, while the whole of Canada and all the north-eastern 
 portion of the United States were covered and encased in ice thou- 
 sands of feet thick in places. Canada was then some 200 feet above 
 its present level. The St. Lawrence had been turned back upon 
 itself by the ice dam, and had to find other outlets westward in the 
 Ohio and Mississippi rivers. The length of the Glacial period no 
 one knows; it may have been 10,000 years, it may have been more; 
 it could hardly have been less. Now, if we select a point of time 
 
64 
 
 The Rambler. 
 
 I ■ 
 
 towards the closing scenes of the Glacial era, when the ice cap had 
 melted down to the crest of the Palisades, we may find the condi- 
 tions under which the pot-holes are worn in the hard rock. For as 
 soon as the crest rose above tlie surrounding ice the rock would be- 
 come warmed by the rays of the sun, and the ice would be melted 
 much faster all along the sides of the ridge tlian away from it, and 
 the water being held and turned back along tlie sides of the ridge by 
 its ice shores, a current or brook and then a short river down along 
 tlie slopes of the ridge would necessarilj' be formed, and the rapid 
 descent towards the end of the island would represent exactly the 
 conditions required to wear the pot holes in the rock found there 
 now. If the trend of the Palisades had been from east to west there 
 Mould have been no pot-holes, for the crest would have been eroded 
 to the base level; but, lying as it does in the same direction as the 
 trend of the glaciers, the resistance of tlie ridge split the glacier and 
 neutralized its power of erosion along the summit of the Palisades. 
 The depth of the pot-holes evidences the long continuance of the 
 glacial activity. During the winters the river would become frozen 
 and the ice accumulate, to be thawed again in vhe spring; the pro- 
 cesses repeating themselves year after year, century after century. 
 We look upon the scenery here now as imposing, but if we could 
 have seen it during the Glacial era there would have been glimpses 
 of the sublime of which we have now but the faintest conception. 
 In the minds of those who have not studied glacial phenomena 
 there might arise objections as to the ice climbing the summit of the 
 Palisades, but there was no such thing as damming its energy or stay- 
 ing the force of the general southerly trend of the ice sheet. If a 
 mountain was interposed as an obstacle, the ice piled up behind it 
 initil its summit was eroded and enveloped, and then the flow went 
 onward with irresistible energy. 
 
 Visitors to the Thousand Islands seem to be neglecting their oppor- 
 tunities; the pathway from the shore leading up to the pot-holes is 
 little worn. And one object of my article is to call attention to this, 
 one of the greatest attractions of this whole section, for places where 
 rivers have run on mountain tops are but seldom found. The boat- 
 men all know the way, and Eel bay, where the pot-holes are seen, 
 certainly presents scenery and attractions of its own aside from 
 this, its greatest and most unique wonder. 
 
 D. S. MARVIN, 
 
 Otologist, Secreiary Jefferson County Historical Society. 
 
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