124 FISHING IN THE OHIO.
and even crocodiles, which we call alligators; but there is enough of food
for them all, and we generally suffer them to creep about, to leap or to
flounder as they please, or in accordance with the habits which have been
given them by the great Conductor of all.
During the month of May, and indeed until .autumn, we found an
abundant supply of toads. Many " fine ladies," no doubt, would have
swooned, or at least screamed and gone into hysterics, had they seen one
of our baskets filled with these animals, all alive and plump. Fortunately
we had no tragedy queen or sentimental spinster at Henderson. Our
Kentucky ladies mind their own affairs, and seldom meddle with those of
others farther than to do all they can for their comfort. The toads, collected
one by one, and brought home in baskets, were deposited in a
barrel for use. And now that night is over, and as it is the first trial we
are going to give our trot-line, just watch our movements from that high
bank beside the stream. There sit down under the large cotton-wood
tree. You are in no danger of catching cold at this season.
My assistant follows me with a gaff hook, while T carry the paddle of
our canoe; a boy bears on his back a hundred toads as good as ever
hopped. Our line—oh, I forgot to inform you that we had set it last
night, but without the small ones you now see on' my arm. Fasteningone
end to yon sycamore, we paddled our canoe, with the rest nicely
coiled in the stern, and soon reached its extremity, when I threw over the
side the heavy stone fastened to it as a sinker. All this was done that it
might be thoroughly soaked, and without kinks or snarls in the morning.
Now, you observe, we launch our light bark, the toads in the basket are
placed next to my feet in the bow ; I have the small lines across my knees
all ready looped at the end. NAT, with the paddle, and assisted by
the current, keeps the stern of our boat directly down stream ; and DAVID
fixes, by the skin of the back and hind parts, the living bait to the hook.
I hold the main line all the while, and now, having fixed one linelet to it,
over goes the latter. Can you see the poor toad kicking and flouncing
in the water ? " No"—well, I do. You observe at length that all the
lines, one after another, have been fixed, baited, and dropped. We now
return swiftly to the shore.
" What a delightful thing is fishing!" have I more than once heard
some knowing angler exclaim, who, with " the patience of Job," stands
or slowly moves along some rivulet twenty feet wide, and three or
four feet deep, with a sham fly to allure a trout, which, when at length
FISHING IN THE OHIO. 125
caught, weighs half a pound. Reader, I never had such patience. Although
I have waited ten years, and yet see only three-fourths of the
Birds of America engraved, although some of the drawings of that work
were patiently made so long ago as 1805, and although I have to wait
with patience two years more before I see the end of it, I never could hold
a line or a rod for many minutes, unless I had—not a " nibble," but a
hearty bite, and could throw the fish at once over my head on the
ground. No, no—If I fish for trout, I must soon give up, or catch, as
I have done in Pennsylvania's Lehigh, or the streams of Maine, fifty or
more in a couple of hours. But the trot-line is in the river, and there
it may patiently wait, until I visit it toward night. Now I take up my
gun and note-book, and, accompanied by my dog, intend to ramble
through the woods until breakfast. Who knows but I may shoot a turkey
or a deer ? It is barely four o'clock; and see what delightful mornings
we have at this season in Kentucky !
Evening has returned. The heavens have already opened their
twinkling eyes, although the orb of day has yet scarcely withdrawn itself
from our viewr. How calm is the air! The nocturnal insects and
quadrupeds are abroad ; the bear is moving through the dark canebrake,
the land crows are flying towards their roosts, their aquatic
brethren towards the interior of the forests, the squirrel is barking his
adieu, and the Barred Owl glides silently and swiftly from his retreat, to
seize upon the gay and noisy animal. The boat is pushed off from the
shore ; the main-line is in my hands; now it shakes ; surely some fish
have been hooked. Hand over hand I proceed to the first hook. Nothing
there ! But now I feel several jerks stronger and more frequent
than before. Several hooks I pass; but see, what a fine Cat-fish is
twisting round and round the little line to which he is fast! NAT,
look to your gaff—hook him close to the tail. Keep it up, my dear fellow
!— there now, we have him. More are on, and we proceed. When
we have reached the end many goodly fishes are lying in the bottom of
our skiff. New bait has been put on, and, as we return, I congratulate myself
and my companions on the success of our efforts; for there lies fish
enough for ourselves and our neighbours.
A trot-line at this period was perfectly safe at Henderson, should I
have allowed it to remain for weeks at a time. The navigation was
mostly performed by flat-bottomed boats, which during calm nights floated