Creek, that drains northern Brown and Monroe counties and is forty-five miles long, and Richland Creek, which drains northeastern Greene county and is probably twenty-five miles long. These are all clear, beautiful streams that afford much good fishing except during dry seasons.

EAST WHITE RIVER.

Hardly too much can be said in praise of East White River as a stream for fishermen and nature lovers. It has no large cities along its course to contaminate it, as has its brother, West White. And the scenery along its course through the hill country southwest of Indianapolis is most picturesque and beautiful. It abounds in catfish, small-mouthed bass, wall-eyed pike and many other varieties of fish.

The area drained by the East White is but a trifle smaller than that drained by the west branch, being about one-sixth of the State. It really rises in the northeast part of Henry County. That part of it which flows through Shelby County and into Bartholomew, to the point where it is joined by the Flat Rock, is erroneously called Blue River. From this point its course is southeast through Bartholomew County, thence southwest through Jackson, west through Lawrence south of Bedford, southwest and south through Martin, thence west on the line between Daviess, Dubois and Pike counties to its confluence with the west branch.

The total length of East White River is about 325 miles, and its fall in this distance is something like 850 feet, most of it in the upper one-third, where the fall averages about five feet to the mile. In the lower 125 miles of the stream the fall is less than one foot to the mile; yet there are several rapids in which the fall is several feet to the mile, while at Hindostan there is an abrupt fall of about five feet. And this, by the way, is a most beautiful spot, and a favorite resort of campers and fishermen. Here the bluffs rise 200 to 300 feet above the valley of the river.

Tradition has it that in early days, nearly a hundred years ago, a thriving German village existed at Hindostan, the people of which were engaged in working valuable quarries there, and that

Weight 31 pounds.

the river was navigable to that point. But few signs of the village are left. Navigation of the river would be difficult except in times. of high water, and present railway facilities make it no longer necessary to attempt it.

FLATROCK RIVER.

One of the principal tributaries of the East White River is Flatrock, that rises also in Henry County, near the source of the East White, or "Blue River," as it is called there, and flows almost parallel with that stream, but south of it, through Rush and Shelby counties, to where the two join near Columbus, in Bartholomew County. It is 100 miles long and has a fall of five feet to the mile. Its bed is mostly rock, its water is clear and cool, and it is a splendid stream for small-mouthed black bass, as well as many other varieties of game fish. It were hard to conceive of a more ideal stream in which to cast a line than is Flatrock River through Shelby County.

THE MUSCATATUCK.

Another of the State's best bass streams is the Muscatatuck River. It rises in Ripley County, flows southwest through the south part of Jennings into Jackson counties, where it is joined by the Vernon Fork, which rises in Decatur and flows southwest diagonally across Jennings County. From this point the river flows west and empties into the White below the city of Seymour. Of all the splendid fishing streams of Indiana not any one, neither the Tippecanoe, the White nor Flatrock excels the Muscatatuck.

SALT CREEK.

A tributary of the East White River of considerable importance is Salt Creek. It is about sixty miles long and drains the greater part of the hill section of Brown, Jackson, Monroe and Lawrence counties. It is a clear, cool stream where I saw it in Lawrence county, fed largely by springs, and it furnishes good bass fishing. There is no doubt that rainbow trout would do well in Salt Creek, and I am convinced that brook trout would thrive there also. The

drainage of the country through which it flows being almost wholly subterranean, its water must be always cool as that of a mountain stream.

LOST RIVER.

Lost River, another tributary of the East White, is about fifty miles long. It rises in Washington County, flows west through Orange and joins the White in Martin County. Its drainage basin is narrow, and in a dry season it has little or no water.

THE PATOKA RIVER.

Rising in Orange County, the Patoka River flows west through Orange, Dubois, Pike and Gibson counties, and empties into the Wabash just below the mouth of the White. Its course is almost parallel with the White. Its drainage basin is not more than twenty miles wide. In its lower course, through Gibson County, it is rather sluggish, having little fall.

It has a considerable depth throughout most of its length and is a splendid fishing stream.

THE WHITEWATER RIVER.

Several small streams that rise near the north line of Wayne County unite between Cambridge City and Connersville and form the West Branch of the Whitewater River. Over in Darke County, Ohio, rises the East Branch, that enters Wayne County, flows south through Union, and joins the West Branch at Brookville, in Franklin County. Thence the stream flows southeast through Franklin county, across the corner of Dearborn back into Ohio and empties into the Miami just east of the State line, a mile or two above where the latter river joins the Ohio.

A beautiful deep stream is the Whitewater, and it flows through one of the most beautiful valleys in the Central West. Along both sides of it through Franklin County the hills rise to a height of 200 to 300 feet. Its bed lies in coarse, washed gravel, and its water is pure and clear. It abounds in catfish and bass and other game fish. There are many summer cottages in the valley, belonging to