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ALBERT R. MANN
LIBRARY

New York STATE COLLEGES
OF
AGRICULTURE AND HOME ECONOMICS

AT

CORNELL UNIVERSITY

 

THE GIFT OF

WILLARD A. KIGGINS

 

 

 

 

 
THE

SPORTSMAN'’S (GAZETTEER

GENERAL GUIDE.

THE GAME ANIMALS, BIRDS AND FISHES OF NORTH AMERICA:
THEIR HABITS AND VARIOUS METHODS OF CAPTURE.

COPIOUS INSTRUCTIONS
IN SHOOTING, FISHING, TAXIDERMY, WOODCRAFT, ETC.

TOGETHER WITH

A DIRECTORY TO THE PRINCIPAL GAME RESORTS OF THE
COUNTRY; ILLUSTRATED WITH MAPS.

BY CHARLES HALLOCK,

EDITOR OF ‘* FOREST AND STREAM ;’’ AUTHOR OF THE “FISHING TOURIST,” “‘ CAMP
LIFE IN FLORIDA,” ETC,

NEW YORK:
“FOREST AND STREAM” PUBLISHING COMPANY,
AMERICAN NEWS COMPANY, AGENTS,

1877.
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Copyright, 1877, by Charles Hallock and Fames Woodward.

 

Electrotyped by Printed by
SMITH & McDOUGAL, E. O, JENKINS,
DATE DUE

 

“ria
&
ERRATA.
Page 28 For lip read tip.

us 84 For Negamm read Negaunee.

“208 Not shoveller but shoveler.

“249 Black Hurry, Black Harry, also on page 680; Black Crill, Black Wally

“413 Scimeter read scimitar.

“443 Diamont read Dinmont.

452 Loving read longing, and Sprat’s read Spratt’s.

“455 For ‘It is likely to force an attack of rabies in the wearer as to answer

any sanitary,” read ‘It answers no sanitary.”

“471 Foot note: read say for sing.

“480 For ascarns read ascarus, and for shiny read Slimy.

‘e489 Blue moss read blue mass,

«490 For tincture of wine read tincture, or wine.

«491 For severally read generally, and for COLIC ILLEUS read COLIC or ILLEUS.

«496 For Comp. Sulpt. Oint, read Compound Sulphur Ointment.

«498 For queveene’s iron read Quiveen’s iron,

“517. For Sark read Sauk.

“525 For Confectis read CONFECTIO, and for Tonguin read TONQUIN.

“526 For pustulas read pustules.

“533. For Galacial read Glacial for tenatome read tenotome.

“834 In describing cut read: A, blade of knife entered into the tumor B. B.

The dotted line, ete.

bs 538 For Depuytreus Pomade read Depuytren’s.

ve 650 Substitute aparejo for arrapahoe. .

‘ 669 For Bassett and Matteson read Bisset and Malleson.

fe 674 For Loup cervin read Loup cervier,

“676 ~ Cygnus Americana read Americanus, and Endromias read Eudromias.

a 677. For Heterascelus read Heterosculus, and Hemantopus, Himantopus.

a 678 Recurverostra read Recurvirostra; Strepsula with a final s; Stegairopus
read Steganopus.

as 679 Melanolencus read Melanoleucus, and Subaquata read Subarquate.

“ 680 For Embcatocoide read Embiscatocoidee.

nS 681 For Haploidonasut grunnieus read Haploidonotus grunniens; and or
Lagodom, substitute final n for m.

cg 682 Should be Liostomus, and for Lucea tretta read Lucis trutta, and for
Melasheganay substitute Malasheganay.

as 685 Tentamoneé read Yenotome, and for Diamont read Dinmont.

688 Rocky Mountain ¢ravel, not trout.

DIRECTORY.

Page 1 Substitute piny for piney; and embouchure for emboucher,.
6 Substitute Territory with, for, State which has.

23 Substitute grouse and woodcock for, good snipe shooting.
25 Tolland—for woodcock and snipe read partridge and quail.
29 Substitute galinnules for galannules.

“82 ~For Salinac read Sanilac,

“ 121 Black River not Black Valley R. R.

“190 Anticosti, not final a.

191 Chicoutime, not Chicontimi.
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DEDICATED

TO

© Fux Lovers oF ‘Lecrrimate ‘Sport

 
PREFACE.

BROTHER SPORTSMEN:
S editor of a sportsman’s journal for several years, and
weekly purveyor of information continually asked for
by its readers, I have long felt the need of constant refer-
ence to just such a compendium as the volume in hand;
and hence, judging others’ requirements by my own, I was
prompted to undertake a work which has required much
labor in its preparation and care in its revision. Whatever
may be its estimation by the Fraternity, I am satisfied that
the relief which the collocation will afford myself will prove
an ample compensation, even if I should receive no other.
The book must speak for itself. I am willing to let it stand
on its merits, while conscious that its extended scope ren-
ders it liable to defects, and the more vulnerable to criti-
cism. To anticipate mischances, I have indicated in its
proper place a list of reliable works of reference which will
supply whatever is lacking here,

With regard to the Guide to Game Resorts, which I
know some gentlemen will take me to task for publishing,
I wish to plead that the rapid spread of population and set-
tlement, the multiplication of those who look to the rod and
PREFACE.

gun for sport, and the constant opening of new lines of
communication to all parts of the country, make it certain
that all accessible places will be brought to speedy notice;
while, as for remote and difficult localities—well, if any
sportsman has the pluck and energy to seek them out he
deserves to enjoy the fruits of his perseverance. I regard
concealment a virtue no longer; although I may whisper it
privately that with some latent consideration of the vested
or pre-empted rights and prerogatives of old-time sports-
men, I have purposely refrained from indicating many
places where the woodcock, the snipe, the trout, and the
salmon, have their sequestered haunts. These shall be
held as sacred from intrusion as the penetralia of the
Vestals.

I have only to add that I have been materially assisted
in the preparation of this work by Dr. H. C. Yarrow, of the
Smithsonian, Dr. D. C. Estes, of Minnesota, Dr. G. A.
‘Stockwell, of Port Huron, Michigan, and Geo. Bird Grin-
nell, of the Peabody Museum at Yale College. Mr. J. H.
Batty prepared the chapter on Taxidermy, and Messrs.
Joseph Woodward and Chas. B. Reynolds have given
valuable service in compiling the Guide.

Fraternally yours,

CHARLES HAattocx.
New York, June rst, 1877.
GENERAL CONTENTS.

PART I.

GAME ANIMALS OF NorTH AMERICA.
GamE Birps oF NorTH AMERICA,
GAME FisH oF NorRTH AMERICA:
Eastern Coast Fishes.
Northern Inland Fishes.
Inland Fishes of the West and Northwest.
Pacific Coast Fishes.
Inland Fishes of the South and Southwest.
Southern Coast Fishes.
Docs usED FOR SPORT:
Their Different Varieties; Training and Management, Dis-
eases and Remedies,
Forest, FIELD, AND PRAIRIE:
Guns and Ammunition for Different Kinds of Game ; Hints and
Recipes for Gunners ; Decoys, Blinds, and other Devices.
OcEAN, LAKE, AND RIVER:
Art of Dressing Artificial Flies ; Instruction in Fly Fishing ;
Rods, Lines, and Lures; Hints and Recipes.
SPoRTING BOATS AND CANOES:
Rules for Sailing Boats ; Useful Suggestions in Buying, Repair-
ing, etc.
“WOODCRAFT :
Expedients in Emergencies ; Hints and Recipes for Camp and
Cruise.
INSTRUCTION IN TAXIDERMY.
BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR SPORTSMEN.
DEALERS’ AND OUTFITTERS’ LIST.
INDEX.

PART II.

A SpPoRTSMEN’S DIRECTORY TO THE PRINCIPAL RESORTS FOR GAME
AND FIisH IN NORTH AMERICA,
PART I.

GAME ANIMALS OF NORTH AMERICA.

 

CATS.
Felis concolor.—Linn, Puma, Panther, Cougar, Mountain Lion.

HE Cougar is, with the exception of the Jaguar, Feds onca,
which is scarcely, or not at all, found within the limits of the
United States, the largest of the American cats. Its range is very
extensive, including temperate and tropical America from Canada
to Patagonia. In height it is about equal to a large dog, but the
body is much longer proportionally, and a large animal will weigh
one hundred and fifty pounds. The tail is long and tapering, and
this point will serve to distinguish it, even when young, from either
of the two species to be hereafter mentioned. The color of the
Cougar is a uniform pale brown above and dusky white below ; the
tips of the hairs are blackish brown. Young kittens of this species
are at first spotted on ‘the flanks, but attain the colors of the pa-
rent before reaching their full size.

The Cougar preys upon deer, sheep, colts, calves and small quad-
rupeds generally, and when numerous it proves very troublesome to
the farmer and stock raiser. When, however, its prey is so large
that it cannot all be devoured at one meal, the animal covers it
with leaves or buries it in the earth and leaves it fora time, return-
ing later to finish his repast. This habit is sometimes taken advan-
tage of by his human enemy, who, poisoning the hidden carc asswith
strychnine, often manages to secure the Panther when it comes back
to eat again. The use of poison against carnivorous animals of all
kinds has become so general in the west within the past few years,
that they are rapidly becoming exterminated in all districts within

*
Io GAME ANIMALS OF NORTH AMERICA.

reach of the settlements. All flesh eaters, from the skunk to the
huge grizzly, are taken by this means, and the vultures, ravens and
magpies suffer heavily by eating the remains of animals that have
been kifled in this way. Indeed, were it not for some such means
of defence as this, the sheep raisers of Southern California and New
Mexico, and the cattle growers of Utah, Montana and Wyoming
would be quite powerless to protect their herds from the attacks
of many enemies which could only be driven off by a large force
of dogs and mounted men. As it is, however, each shepherd 2...
herder is provided as a matter of course with a certain amount of
strychnine, and all dead carcasses are poisoned, so that before long
the country is freed from the depredations of animals injurious to
stock. The period of gestation of the Cougar, as observed in the
Gardens of the Zodlogical Society of London, is ninety-seven days.
It brings forth in the spring from two to four young.

* Lynx rufus.—Raf. Bay Lynx, Wildcat, Catamount, etc.

The Bay Lynx is another species of wide range, inhabiting the
whole territory of the United States and extending into the British
Possessions on the north, and Mexico on the south. It is a small
animal, measuring from the nose to the tip of the tail only about
thirty-five inches, of which this latter organ occupies but five. In
color it somewhat resembles the Cougar, but the brown is more
nearly a red as is indicated by the name Bay. The tail is black at
the tip as are the inner surfaces of the ears. The color of the un-
der parts is white with some black spots.

The Bay Lynx is a timid animal, preying chiefly upon grouse,
hare, and still smaller birds and mammals. It scarcely deserves
mention as a game animal. Its young, usually three in number,
are produced in April or May according to the latitude which the
animal inhabits. They are said to be from the first utterly wild
and untamable. Variety maculatus, Aud. and Bach., is found in
Texas, and variety fascéazus, Raf., in Washington Territory and the
extreme Northwest generally.

Lynx canadensis.—Raf. Canada Lynx, Catamount, Loup Cerver, Lucifee.

The Canada Lynx is a more northern species than either of the
preceding, and on the Atlantic coast scarcely enters the United
CATS. Tl

States. On the Mackenzie River it is found as far north as latitude
66° and it-inhabits the mountains of Western America; it occurs
at least as far south as Fort Tejon, California, where specimens
have been taken. Like many other truly northern species, it is
found much farther south among the high mountains of the West,
than on the Eastern side of the continent. The Canada Lynx is
about forty inches in total length. The tail is very short and
stumpy. The animal is wholly of a pale grey color with the excep-
tion of the tip of the tail and the extremities of the ears, which are
black. The feet are enormous and are densely furred. Alto-
gether the animal presents a very savage appearance, but it is
really very timid, and will always avoid an encounter even with a
small dog. In its habits it resembles closely the Bay Lynx. The
Canada Lynx brings forth two or three young in the spring. It
breeds but once a year.

The three species referred to above are not to be regarded as
game animals. They nowhere exist in sufficient numbers to make
it worth while to hunt them systematically, and almost all that are
taken, are secured by means of traps or poison. Occasionally, it
is true, the hunter. may happen on one when seeking for game, or
the angler while following a stream may start one from the brush
or from a tree which overhangs the brook, but in such cases they
are gone almost as soon as seen, and rarely give one time to shoot
at them. Those that are killed with firearms are generally treed by
dogs which are hunting bears, coons, or foxes, and are shot by
the hunters who are following the dogs. There is no danger in
any of these animals unless wounded or cornered ; an enraged cat,
however, is by no means a contemptible antagonist, and the hunter
should keep clear of its claws. Instances are on record of the
death of more than one man who has put himself in the way of
a wild cat, and of course the panther is more dangerous by as
much as he is larger.
WOLVES.

Canis lupus.—Linn. (? var.) Grey, Timber, or Buffalo Wolf.
Canis latrans.—Say. Prairie Wolf, Coyote

‘\ X 7 E have always been taught to regard the Wolf as the type
of all detestable qualities, but he has also been invested
in romance and tradition with a courage and ferocity which is very
foreign to his nature. He is in fact, the most cowardly of all our
animals, possessing some of the intelligence of the dog, but none
of the higher instincts which long association with man has worked
into the being of the latter. The wolves unless pressed terribly by
hunger will never attack any animal larger than themselves, and
then only in packs. A cur dog, as a rule, can drive the largest
wolf on the plains. Lean, gaunt and hungry looking, they are
the essence of meanness, and treachery personified. The two
common species of the plains are the Grey or Buffalo Wolf, Caz's
lupus, and the ever present Coyote or Prairie Wolf, Cands latrans,
who makes night so hideous on the plains to novices unused to
his unearthly serenade. The Buffalo Wolf is almost as tall as a
greyhound, and is proportioned about like a setter dog. It is found
of all colors, from jet black in Florida and red in Texas to snow
white in the arctic regions. In the west the color is generally grey
or grizzled white, sometimes brindled. The ears are erect, and the
tail, long and well haired, is generally carried straight out behind,
but when the animal is frightened is put between his legs like that
of the dog under similar circumstances. The Prairie Wolf is in size
about half way between the red fox and Grey Wolf. Its color is
similar to that of its larger relation of the plains, but is of a more
yellowish cast.
The larger of these two species was once universally distributed
throughout North America, but is now confined to the wildest and
least settled portions of the country. The Prairie Wolf is an inhab-
WOLVES. 13

itant of the plains and mountains west of the Missouri, and is found
from the British Possessions south into Mexico, from the inhab-
itants of which it has derived its common name, Coyote. In the
southern portion of its range it is a miserable cur scarcely larger
than the common fox. These two species, C. /upus and C. latrans,
are plenty generally throughout the west and the southwest, but
are most numerous in a buffalo country. They subsist on any
refuse they can pick up, and are always found on the outskirts
of settlements or forts slinking here and there, eking out what sub-
sistence they may by snatching any stray morsels of food that come
in their way. A band of wolves will follow a party of hunters, and
at any time half an hour after breaking camp in the morning, the
scavengers may be seen prowling around the still smoking fires, and
quarrelling over the debris of the morning meal. Very young buffalo
calves, and decrepid bulls or badly wounded animals are attacked
by these creatures in packs and torn to pieces. They will follow
a wounded bison for miles, waiting and watching for the animal to
lie down, when they will assail it from all quarters. Wolves breed
freely with the dog and in any Indian camp the traveller will see
dogs, so called, that cannot be distinguished from their wild cousins.
The young are brought forth in May and number from five to nine,

As often as the winter season sets in the hunters who make a
business of it start out on a wolfing expedition. The stock in trade
of a party engaged in “ wolfing ’’ consists in flour, bacon and strych-
nine, the first two articles named for their own consumption, the
last for the wolves. The first thing to be done is to procure a bait.
Generally a buffalo is used, but if it happens to be out of a buffalo
range, then an elk, deer, coon, or other animal is made to answer
the purpose. The carcass is then impregnated with the poison
and placed where it will dothe most good. Sometimes as high as
fifty wolves will be found of a morning scattered about at intervals
of a few yards from the carcass that they ate so ravenously of the
night before.

The “ wolfers’’ proceed to gather up animals slain, carry them
to camp, fix up another bait if necessary, and then commences the
labor of skinning and stretching. It is no uncommon thing for a
party of three men to come down in the spring with four thousand
pelts, and as they will average about one dollar and a half apiece
14 GAME ANIMALS OF NORTH AMERICA.

it is a very profitable business, if you are only successful in your
“catch.”

Wolfers form a class by themselves and this is their regular
occupation during the winter season. Spring time finds them in
the towns where in a week’s time they have gambled and drunk
away all their earnings; they then disappear, not to be seen again
until the following spring.

Wolves are sometimes hunted on horseback with hounds, but
the speed they can attain when well scared is something astonish-
ing, and they can easily distance any ordinary dogs. The method
employed is to have among the pack, one or more greyhounds
who will bring the wolf to bay and allow the other dogs to come up.

Some day in the not very remote future, this kind of sport and
coursing hares is destined to become popular and will be a favorite
amusement among the sportsmen of the West.
FOXES.

Vulpes vulgaris.—var. Pennsylvanicus. Coues. Common Red Fox.
Vulpes macrourus,—Baird. Prairie Fox.

Vulpes velox.—Aud, and Bach. Swift Fox, Kit Fox.

Vulpes lagopus —Rich. Arctic Fox.

Urocyon cinereo-argentatus.—Coues. Grey Fox, Virginia Fox.
Urocyon littoratis.—Baird. Little Grey Fox.

()* the species enumerated above it is necessary to speak only
of the Red Fox and the Grey. The others mentioned are
never hunted and are only taken by means of traps or poison ; they
do not therefore come within the scope of this work.

The Red Fox is too well known to require description. He
differs but very little from his celebrated English relative to whose
capture so much time is devoted, on the other side the water, and
like him he proves a terrible pest to the farmer. There are several
permanent colors of this species analogous to the different colors
in our squirrels, young of very different appearance being found in
the same litter. The Cross Fox and the Silver-grey are the best
known of these differently-colored animals.

The Grey Fox is a more southern species than the Red and is
rarely found north of the State of Maine. Indeed it is not common
anywhere in New England. In the Southern States, however, it
wholly replaces the Red Fox and causes quite as much annoyance
to the farmer as does that proverbial animal. The Grey Fox is
somewhat smaller than the Red and differs from him in being
wholly dark grey “ mixed hoary and black.”

The Grey Fox differs from his northern cousin in being able to
climb trees. He is not much of a runner, and when hard pressed
by the dog will often ascend the trunk of a leaning tree by running
up it, or will even climb an erect one, grasping the trunk in his arms
as would a bear. * Still the fox is not at home among the branches,
and he looks and no doubt feels very much out of place while in
this predicament.
16 GAME ANIMALS OF NORTH AMERICA.

In Ohio and in others of the Middle States, foxes are said to be
hunted as follows; On an appointed day the whole population of
the neighborhood turn out and enclose as large a tract of country
as possible, all hands leisurely advancing toward some point near
the centre of the circle; as they advance all the noise possible is
made that the game may be driven before them. When the circle
is quite small and the foxes are seen running about looking for an
opening by which to escape, small boys are turned in with direc-
tions to catch the animals, a task which is not accomplished with-
out a good deal of exertion and perhaps a bite or two. When a
fox is caught it is sold to pay the expenses of the hunt.

Fox hunting as practiced in “ merrie England” was transported
to this country as early as the middle of the eighteenth century.
In the mother country it has attained a most important position
among the national sports. A fox hunt there is one of the great-
est pleasures accorded to the titled gentry, and the scene is often
graced by the presence of some fair equestriennes who will even
take part in the chase. Horses are bred for the purpose and a first-
class hunter commands a large price.

Fox hunting first came generally in vogue in Great Britain some
two hundred years ago, and was introduced into Virginia perhaps
a hundred years later. The old custom has been sustained with
difficulty through many vicissitudes up to the present day.

The topography of our southern country, however, prevents the
use there of the orthodox English fox hound, since the heavy tim-
ber lands and high fences would effectually prevent keeping a pack
of these dogs in view. We need a slower hound, and this the F.
F. V.’s, fond of this branch of sport, have procured by crossbreed-
ing with the old English hunting stock. Fox hunting thus prac-
ticed has been confined almost exclusively to the South, particularly
Virginia. Many planters of leisure and means were accustomed,
avant la guerre, to keep a number of hounds for no other purpose,
and with the best riders of the neighboring county periodically held

- their “ meets,’”” when with horn, whipper-in and all other accom-
paniments, according to true English fox hunting rules, they would
proceed to start Reynard and follow him to the death. Since the
war, however, the demoralized condition of many sections of the
South, and the greatly impaired fortunes of the former participants
FOXES. 17

in this manly sport, have combined to render fox hunting well nigh
impossible, and until horseback riding attains in both North and
South a more national character, there is but little hope of resus-
citating this delightful sport. The fox pursued in the South is the
Grey Fox, Urocyon cinereo-argentatus ; he is in part replaced north
of Maryland by our common red fox, Vulpes vulgards, and in the
west by the Swift Fox, /dpes velox, and other species. With us of
the North, foxing is by some followed during the late fall and win-
ter, for the skins of the animal, which bring a fair price in market.
The hunters stand near the runways while the hounds start the
fox. The latter traverses the country by regular paths and some
one of the hunters, if careful, is generally successful in bagging
Reynard.

Foxes live in holes of their own making, generally in the loamy
soil of a side hill, and the she-fox bears four or five cubs at a litter.
When a fox-hole is discovered by the farmers they assemble and
proceed to dig out the inmates who have lately, very likely, been
making havoc among their hen-roosts. An amusing incident which
came under our immediate observation a few years ago will bear
relating. A farmer discovered the lair of an old dog fox by means
of his hound who trailed the animal to his hole. This fox had been
making large and nightly inroads into the poultry ranks of the
neighborhood, and had acquired great and unenviable notoriety on
that account. The farmer and two companions, armed with spades
and hoes, and accompanied by the faithful hound, started to “dig
out the varmint."” The hole was situated on the sandy slope of a
hill, and after a laborious and continued digging of four hours, Rey-
nard was unearthed and he and “ Bep” were soon engaged in deadly
strife. The excitement had waxed hot, and dog, men and fox were
all struggling in a promiscuous melée. Soon a burly farmer watch-
ing his chance strikes wildly with his hoe-handle for Reynard’s
head, which is scarcely distinguishable in the maze of legs and
bodies. The blow descends, but alas! a sudden movement of the
hairy mass brings the fierce stroke upon the faithful dog, who with
a wild howl relaxes his grasp and rolls with bruised and bleeding
head, faint and powerless on the hillside. ;

Reynard takes advantage of the turn affairs have assumed, and
before the gun, which had been laid aside on the grass some hours
18 GAME ANIMALS OF NORTH AMERICA,

before, can be,reached he disappears over the crest of thehill. An
old she-fox with young, to supply them with food, will soon deplete
the hen-roost and destroy both old and great numbers of very young
chickens. Foxes generally travel by night. As before mentioned
they follow regular runs, but are exceedingly shy of any invention
for their capture, and the use of traps is almost futile. When occa-
sionally they do “ put their foot in it” they will gnaw the captured
pedal extremity entirely through and escape, leaving this member
as amemento. In this respect they fully support their ancient repu-
tation for cunning. They will use most adroit tactics in throwing
dogs off their scent when hotly pursued. The western species is
not hunted in any manner.

Their flesh is probably as good food as dog-meat, but is not gen-
erally classed by epicures as among the good things of this earth.
Their food consists, besides chickens, of geese, ducks and young
turkeys, also grouse and quail when they can be procured without
a great outlay of labor; but the farmyard generally furnishes a cheap
and staple diet to Reynard.

In closing we add a fervent hope that the “ Yoicks”’ and “ Tal-
ly ho” will soon again be heard throughout the South, and the
echoes be borne afar and taken up by the Northern sportsmen who
still love the exciting chase and chivalric deeds, concomitants of
an old-fashioned fox hunt.
GRIZZLY BEAR.
Ursus horribitis.—Ord.

HE well-known Grizzly inhabits the Western portions of the

continent, from the Missouri River to the Pacific coast, but

is foand most abundantly in the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra

Nevadas. It is the largest of the genus found within the limits of

the United States, sometimes weighing from fifteen hundred to two

thousand pounds, and its ferocity makes it by far the most danger-
ous antagonist that the hunter will meet.

A technical description of it would be about the following -—
Size very large; tail shorter than ears; hair coarse, darkest near
base, with light tips; an erect mane between shoulders ; feet large,
fore claws double the length of the hinder; a dark dorsal stripe
from occiput to tail, a lateral one on each side along the flanks,
nearly concealed by the light tips of the hair; intervals between
the stripes lighter; hairs on body brownish yellow, or hoary at
tips; parts around ears dusky; legs approaching black; muzzle
pale. There are some which differ in color from the description
given, but all belong to the same species. This bear is found ex
tensively in California along the foothills of the Coast and Cascade
Ranges, wherever oaks and manzanita are found, for a great por-
tion of their food consists of acorns and the berries of the latter.
The manzanita, which is peculiar to the flora of the Pacific coast,
derives its botanical name (Arctostaphylus glauca) from its associa-
tion with this animal, av£zos signifying bear in Greek. To procure
the fruit of this shrub bruin will travel far and face many dangers.
The Grizzly Bear brings forth from one to three cubs about the
middle of January. At birth the young are said to be very small,
scarcely larger than puppies. They grow rapidly, however, but
remain with the mother all through the summer. It is even said
that they associate with the dam until she is just about to bring
forth again.
20 GAME ANIMALS OF NORTH AMERICA.

In Oregon and California this Bear is said to be found as far
north as the parallel of forty degrees, but to be scarce or not at
all known beyond forty-two degrees. Its principal habitat in Ore-
gon is in the Klamath Basin, in which are situated the now famous
lava beds. It is but little hunted, owing to the sparseness of popu-
lation there and the danger of the amusement. The last attempt
at a chase resulted disastrously to one of the parties, the Grizzly
having overtaken and killed him with one powerful stroke.

On the Pacific Coast the hunting of the Grizzly is generally con-
ducted, where the nature of the ground will permit, on horseback.
A pack of mongrel dogs trained for the purpose, are sent through
the jungle or thickets where the bears are supposed to be feeding.
They soon strike the trail and following it, drive him into open
ground, when the nearest hunter gives the signal to the others of
the party, who soon come up, and a general fusillade is opened and
continued until bruin is killed or disabled. The chase is attended,
if the animal be the dreaded Grizzly, with considerable excitement,
and no little danger, for “‘ Ephraim ”’ is very nimble and active when
aroused, and it takes a mustang of some speed and a rider of skill
to evade his onward rushes. A horse unaccustomed to the sight
of a bear will become unruly, and throw a poor horseman, who is
then at the mercy of the monster. The Grizzly can easily overtake
aman on foot, but as it is, unlike the other varietics, unable to
climb trees, safety is often sought among the branches. Even
then, however, the pursuer keeps the pursued in a state of siege
until night, or the timely arrival of his comrades relieves him from
his uncomfortable and hazardous position.

Greasers, Western vernacular for Mexicans, when they can find
a Grizzly feeding on open ground, will sometimes capture him with
their rzazas, one horseman holding him by the head or a fore-leg,
while another attends to his hind-legs. While stretched in this
way he can easily be bound by others of the party, and is carried in
triumph to the village, there to be pitted, at the next fiesta, against
some savage young bull. The operation, however, is not always so
successful, and sometimes the bear gets off with half-a-dozen ropes
trailing behind him.

We have met several of these animals throughout the Western
States and Territories in a semi-domesticated state, but in no place
GRIZZLY BEAR. 21

did we see them so gentle as to bear too much familiarity. When
the male and female are caged together they are incessantly quarrel-
ling, especially at feeding time. Gallantry seems to be unknown
to the burly male at such times, for he will attack his companion
in the most vicious manner to recover even the smallest morsel of
food. There is a rude but significant word in the Saxon to express
the highest type of selfishness, namely, “ hoggishness,”’ yet bearish-
ness would be more literally correct, for the Swzde are generous in
comparison to the monarch of this continent.

Bears are, in our estimation, contemptible creatures, not fit for
food. Their diet is too varied. In the spring they dig up ants’
nests and devour the eggs and inmates, catch frogs, and eat with
relish any carrion that can be picked up. The’summer is devoted
to the untiring pursuit of mice and beetles, and a huge creature
weighing a thousand pounds gives his whole time and energies to
the capture of such game as this. When the berries and nuts are
ripe the bear’s food is delicate enough ; but, although we have occa-
sionally been obliged to eat bear meat or go hungry, we would
vastly prefer good tough government mule.
BLACK, BROWN, OR CINNAMON BEAR.

Ursus americanus,—Pallas. (? var. cinnamoneus).

NLY two species of the genus Ursus are found within the

limits of the United States. These are the Grizzly, the
largest and most powerful of its family, and the Black Bear, from
which the Cinnamon Bear of authors is by some held to be dis-
tinct. Old hunters however say that they have found both Brown
and Cinnamon cubs in the same litter with Black ones, and no
distinctions except color ‘seem to have been established between
the Black and Cinnamon Bears. We notice an analogous occur-
rence among the squirrel-tribe, the grey and black having been
proved to be identical. The question however need not be dis-
cussed here; an able authority will soon give an opinion on the
subject, and we await his dictum.

The Black Bear is peculiar to no particular section of North
America but is found from Maine to Texas, from Florida to
Washington Territory. It is least abundant or perhaps is not
found at all on the high dry plains of the far west, for it is an ani-
mal of the woods and swamps, while its cousin the Grizzly prefers
the steep mountain side with its covering of rocks and “down
timber,” or wanders through the plains and open river valleys in
his search for roots, mice and beetles. Nowhere is the former
more abundant than in the dense swamps of the Southern States,
and it seems to know right well that among these tangled cane-
brakes it will find safety from pursuit as well as abundance of
food. The Black Bear is but little more than one-quarter the size
of an adult Grizzly, and, as his name implies, is ‘throughout ofa
shining black color. The muzzle, however, is usually tan color
and sometimes specimens are killed which have a white mark on
the throat. The so-called Cinnamon Bear varies in color from a
deep rich brown toa light yellow and is chiefly confined to the
BLACK, BROIVN, OR CINNAMON BEAR. 23

mountain regions of the West; a yellow bear from the Carolinas
is however mentioned by some authors, and may be referred to
this variety.

This species, like the Grizzly, is truly omnivorous and every
eatable thing that comes within reach is eagerly devoured. In
severe winters in the Southern States the Bears are sometimes quite
troublesome to the farmers, devouring large numbers of sheep and
hogs, and occasionally making off with a calf. Such depredations,
however, are quite unusual, and Bruin is usually well contented if
he can be allowed in peace to gather mast, to catch frogs in the
brooks, and to tear up rotten logs and prey upon the ants and
beetles which he may find in them. It is in fall that these animals
live in clover, so to speak. When the nuts and berries are ripe
and the bees are putting up the last of their honey, and the corn
is in the milk tender and delicious, and the wild fruits, grapes and
persimmons and pawpaws are ripe, then truly does the Black Bear
laugh and grow fat, so fat indeed that he can scarcely run.
Then, too, does the hunter collect his dogs, and summoning his
neighbors, a jolly party proceed to the vicinity of the swamp which
harbors the Bear. The dogs are sent in and their cry soon notifies
the horsemen of the direction which the game is taking. All
hands follow as fast as the nature of the ground will permit, and
before long the barking of the dogs conveys the information that
the Bear has sought safety among the branches of a tree. On the
arrival of the hunters the tree is either cut down so that the bear
and dogs-may fight it out on the ground, or, as is most frequently
‘the case, a rifle ball terminates the sport as far as this particular
animal is concerned.

The Black Bear is shy and timid, and avoids a rencontre with
man if possible. When brought to bay, however, he will make a
show of fight, and if wounded may be dangerous. As a rule,
however, the chase of the Black Bear is devoid of excitement and
attractive danger, and it is little hunted except as mentioned above
in the South, The man who has killed his Grizzly has accom-
plished a feat of no small magnitude and may justly feel proud
of his prowess; but the Black Bear is very much smaller
game.

The Black Bear produces in early spring two or three cubs
24 GAME ANIMALS OF NORTH AMERICA.

which she cares for with the greatest affection, and in defence of
which she will sometimes even fight.

In some localities in the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevadas
these animals are enormously abundant. In the berry season
their presence can be detected almost every where in the forests
by the number of berries which they have stripped off the bushes,
and the torn condition of the soil in many places where they have
been digging for roots. In the summer this animal is also a
frequenter of thickets where a species of buckthorn grows, as it
devours the fruit of this tree with great avidity, though to the genus
homo the fruit proves a most violent cathartic. The animal is but
little hunted, notwithstanding its numerical strength, owing un-
doubtedly to the cheapness of its fur, or else to the difficulty of
finding its domicil during the season of hibernation, when its
wardrobe is in the best condition for mercantile purposes.

In the Adirondacks and the woods of Maine, the Black Bear
is abundant, and we have often tracked them to their nooning
places and jumped them out of warm sunny spots by the side of
old logs where they were taking their szesta. The most agreeable
way of hunting this species is, however, that first mentioned, and
it is also by far the most successful. Black Bears are trapped in
large numbers for their hides and are in some localities taken with
set-guns which they discharge in their efforts to secure the bait.
POLAR OR WHITE BEAR.

Ursus maritimus.—Linn,

HE Polar Bear inhabits the extreme northern portions of
both continents. In size it almost equals the Grizzly bear,
attaining a weight of from one thousand to fifteen hundred pounds.
It differs in many respects from other bears, and some naturalists
have regarded these differences as of generic value, and have
formed for it the genus 7halassarctus. A discussion of the points
in which it is unlike its relatives, has however, no place in this
work, and we prefer to retain for it, for the present at least, its
Linnean name.

The head of the Polar Bear is flattened, the profile being almost
a straight line. The neck is twice as long and thicker than the
head ; the contour of the body is elongated, the paws are of huge
proportions, and thickly covered o2 the under s¢de with coarse
hair, doubtless to keep them from slipping on the ice; and the
toes are armed with formidable claws. The hair all over the body
is of a uniform yellowish white or straw color, while the eyes, nose,
and elaws are jet black. The mouth is somewhat small, armed
with large, strong teeth, which seem well calculated to catch, cut
and tear tough seal meat, the White Bear’s natural food.

The Polar Bear has been found in the highest northern lati-
tudes ever reached by navigators. It exists on all Asiatic coasts
of the frozen ocean from the mouth of the Obi eastward, and
much abounds in Nova Zembla and Spitzbergen, though it has not
been observed on any of the islands of Behring’s Strait ; yet it is
found in Greenland and Labrador, as well as along the coasts of
Baffin’s and Hudson Bay.

In confinement the Polar Bear is savage and irritable, and vis-
itors at menageries are generally impressed by the morose and
unsociable temper of these animals. They never play together,
but are continually quarrelling and fighting, and it is but a short

2
26 GAME ANIMALS OF NORTH AMERICA.

time since one of a pair in the Zodlogical Gardens at Cologne killed
his mate after a savage combat which lasted for a long time. _

The young of this species, generally two in number, are brought
forth in December while the mother is snugly ensconced in some
crevice in the rocks beneath a warm blanket of snow. The female
displays the most devoted attachment for her young, and will
suffer herself to be killed in their defence. In confinement, how-
ever, the mother usually devours her cubs shortly after birth, so
that in London at the Zodlogical Gardens the young are removed
immediately after birth and are given to a bitch to rear.

The White Bear is wholly carnivorous in his diet, and preys
upon seals, fish, the carcasses of whales, and sometimes even upon
the huge walrus. As might be inferred from his habitat, he is
not a tree climber. In the water, however, he is at home, almost
as much so as the seal. White Bears have been killed on the
ocean forty or fifty miles from land, and that too at a time when
there was no floating ice upon which they could rest themselves,
The following account of the manner in which these animals
capture seals is given by Capt. Lynn-:—

“The Bear, on seeing his intended prey, gets quietly into the
water, and swims to leeward of him, from whence, by frequent
short dives, he silently makes his approaches, and so arranges his
distances that at the last dive he comes to the spot where the seal
is lying. If the poor animal attempts to escape by rolling into the
water, he falls into the bear’s clutches; if, on the contrary, he lies
still, his destroyer makes a powerful spring, kills him on the ice,
and devours him at leisure.” During the summer these bears
spend much of their time on the ice-floes, swimming from one to
another; they lodge in the large crevices ; and in winter, when it
is always night, when the ice-floe is as stable as land, they bed
themselves deep in the snow, and remain ina state of torpidity
until the welcome sun returns to gladden the scene.

The great size and strength and the ferocity of the Polar Bear
have furnished themes upon which many a writer has dilated at
length, and all accounts of Arctic exploration contain narratives
bearing on the habits of this species. From a great mass of mate-
rial the following anecdote from the pen of Mr. Lamont, is selected.

“The bear was surprised on the shore, where the soft mud
POLAR OR WHITE BEAR. 27

was intersected by numerous little channels and much rough ice
left aground by the tide. This seemed to embarrass her very
much, as the cubs could not jump over the channels. The old
bear became very anxious and uneasy at our approach; but she
showed great patience and forbearance with her cubs, always
waiting, after she had jumped over a channel, until they swam
across, and affectionately assisting them to scramble up the steep
sides of the rocky places. Nevertheless, the mixture of sticky mud
with rough ice and half-frozen water soon reduced the unhappy
cubs toa pitiable state of distress, and we heard them growling
plaintively, as if they were upbraiding their mother for dragging
them through such a disagreeable place. The delay was fatal to
the old bear. After she was dispatched, and the cubs, which were
about the size of colly dogs, bound together by a cord, they began
a furious combat with one another, and rolled about in the mud,
biting, struggling, and roaring until quite exhausted. Here I am
sorry to have to record the most horrid case of filial ingratitude
that ever fell under my observation. Without doubt the mother
had sacrificed her life forher cubs. She could have escaped with-
out difficulty if she had not so magnanimously remained to help
them. When, however, we proceeded to open the carcass of the
old bear for the purpose of skinning her, the two young demons ot
cubs, having by this time settled their differences with each other,
began to devour their unfortunate and too devoted parent, and
actually made a hearty meal off her. When we had finished skin-
ning her, the cubs sat down upon the skin, and resolutely refused
to leave it; so we dragged the skin, with the little animals upon
it, like a sledge, to the boat. After another tussle with them, in
the course of which they severely bit and scratched some of the
men, we got them tied down under the thwarts of the boat, and
conveyed them on board the sloop.”
RACCOON.

Procyon lotor.—Storr.

HE Raccoon is one of the most generally known of Ameri-
can Mammals, and is of frequent occurrence throughout the
United States. Its total length is about three feet, of which the
tail occupies one-third. In color it is pale grey, somewhat mottled
with dusky cloudings. The face is lighter, but there is a black
patch upon the cheeks and another behind the ear. The tail has
five well marked black rings and a black hip, the interspaces
between these markings being pale yellow.

Although as an article of food there is great diversity of opin-
ion concerning the merits of the Raccoon, yet he is hunted consid-
erably for the sport alone, and some, not above it, enjoy also the
pleasure of a palatable coon stew. Unlike the foxes, the raccoon
is at home in a tree, although not possessing the agility of a
squirrel. In fact this is the usual refuge he seeks when danger is
near, and not being very swift of foot, it is well they pessess this
climbing ability. Their abode is generally in a hollow tree, oak or
chestnut, and when the juvenile farmer’s son comes across a coom-
tree, he is not long in making known his discovery to friends and
neighbors, who forthwith assemble at the spot, and proceed to fell
the tree containing his coonship. At this juncture the coon loses
no time in scrambling out of his ruined home, but a half score or
more of mongrel dogs, of terrier, hound and bull extraction, soon
accomplish his destruction. But let it be distinctly understood he
does not yield up his life gracefully and without a struggle, for he
often puts many of his assailants ors de combat for many a day,
his jaws being strong and his claws sharp. The Raccoon breeds
in a hollow tree, and the young are generally from four to eight in
number, pretty little creatures at first, about as large as half-grown
rats. They are as playful as kittens and may be raised to be
RACCOON. 29

docile and tame, but their nomadic proclivities are so strongly
inbred that they will, unless chained, wander off to the woods and
not return. Coons are hunted throughout New England quite ex-
tensively and also down south. They are ranked next in merit to
the opossum by the sable autocrats, who take great delight in fol-
lowing the broad-footed mammal. When the late September days
are on us and the moon is at its fullest quarter, the yellow stalks
with their milky ears of corn still standing—then is the season for
the hunters to assemble, and with their coon dogs, from one to
three in number, to start for the borders of swamps skirting the
corn-fields, in search of this member of the ring-tailed family. He
is emphatically a night animal, and never travels by day; some-
times being caught at morning far from his tree and being unable
to return thither he will spend the hours of daylight snugly coiled
up among the thickest foliage of some lofty tree-top.

The corn is still in the milk and in a condition most attractive
to the Raccoon. If he is not started in this locality, look for him
along the banks of the lily pond near by. He is exceedingly fond
of the bull frogs and catfish which here abound, and will travel
far for these dainties. As soon as the trail is struck, off goes
“Tige” or “Bose” and the only thing left for us is to sit and
wait for the signal. The Coon is somewhat adroit in his attempts
to baffle the dogs, and he will often enter a brook and travel for
some distance in the water, thus puzzling and delaying his pur-
suers not a little. Soon a distant barking reaches our ears, coming
from a direction quite different from where we had anticipated,
showing that the game has made good use of time and tactics,
but is at last treed.

After a tedious tramp o’er hill and dale, we arrive at the foot
of a gigantic pine, among the topmost branches of which our
quarry is concealed. The youngest and most nimble of the party
is appointed to swarm up the tree and shake off our victim. As
the climber nears the object of his pursuit, the latter retreats to
the extremity of a branch, and finally in desperation springs wildly
outward and strikes the earth, rebounding to his feet apparently
unharmed. Upon him then, the dogs vent their rage.

A good sized coon will weigh from fifteen to twenty pounds,
Raccoons are frequently caught in steel traps, and exhibit much
30 GAME ANIMALS OF NORTH AMERICA.

less sly cunning than the fox in evading the gins which man pre-
pares for their capture. They will eat anything, being particularly
fond of eggs, meat and green corn, frequently holding a “ swarry ”
in the hen-house and cornfield the same evening.

Nocturnal coon-hunts frequently result disastrously to other
animals ; and occasionally a party of hunters will return with a
varied bag, without coon perhaps, but including skunk, wood-
chuck, cat, etc. Sometimes, too, the dogs will go off on a fox
trail, and in that case may not be seen again for twenty-four or
thirty-six hours.
MUSK OX.

Ovibos moschatus.—Blainville.

HE Musk Ox is confined to the barren grounds of America,
north of the sixty-fifth parallel of latitude. In spring it wan-

ders over the ice as far as Melville Bay, or even Smith’s Sound, whe
a number of its bones were found by Dr. Kane. In September
it withdraws more to the South, and spends the coldest months
on the verge of the forest region. It subsists chiefly on lichens and
mosses. It runs nimbly, and climbs hills and rocks with ease.
Its fossil remains, or those of a very similar species, have been
discovered in Siberia. At present it is exclusively confined to the
New World. In size it is about equal to a two year old cow,
weighing when fat from six to seven hundred pounds. The horns
are very broad at their origin, cover the whole crown of the head
and the brow, and touch each other for their whole breadth from
before backwards. For a short distance from the base they grow
directly outward, and then becoming rounded and tapering, curve
downward between the eyes and ears until they reach the angle of
the mouth, when they turn outward and upward to about the level
of the eye. The horn is dull white and rough on its basal half but
becomes smooth shining and black toward the point. The general
color of the hair is dark brown, but upon the neck and shoulders
it fades to a grizzled hue, while on the centre of the back is a patch
of soiled white. The muzzle, instead of being naked as in the
genus Jos, is covered with short white hair. The tail is but a few
inches in length and is completely concealed by the long shaggy
hair covering the hips. The legs are clothed with a coat of short
brownish white hair, and, owing to the great length of the coat on
the throat, chest, sides and belly, seem very short in proportion
to the size of the animal. There is an abundance of fine short ash-
colored wool beneath the hair covering the body. The female
32 GAME ANIMALS OF NORTH AMERICA.

Musk Ox is much smaller than the male and has smaller horns
which do not touch at their bases.

The Musk Ox is scarcely to be regarded as a game animal, its
habitat being such as to save it from pursuit by those who hunt
simply for pleasure. It furnishes however much of the fresh meat
which is obtained by arctic explorers, and is hunted as well by the
Esquimaux and the Indians of the far North. These animals are
usually killed by stalking them and it is said that if the hunter keeps
himself concealed the Musk Oxen will not run but will permit him
to shoot until all are killed or until they are alarmed by the sight
or smell of his person. The bulls are somewhat irritable, and it is
@aid that the Esquimaux take advantage of this disposition “ for
an expert hunter, having provoked a bull to attack him, wheels
around it more quickly than it can turn, and by repeated stabs in
the belly, puts an end to its life.”

Remains of the Musk Ox are still rare in collections, and those
who are fortunate enough to meet with this species in its native
haunts should not fail to preserve both the skin and skeleton of those
which they may kill, for the benefit of some of our institutions of
learning. Owing to its arctic habitat but little is known of its mode
of life, and a careful and trustworthy account of its habits and pre-
sent range would be a most valuable contribution to our knowl-
edge of North American mammals.
BUFFALO.

Bos Americanus,—Gmelin.

O much has been written during late years about the Buffalo,

that almost every one is familiar with its history, and it is

well that it is so, for he will very shortly exist only in the annals of
the past.

The American Bison is known by but one name throughout
the continent of America, being rarely spoken of by any other
appellation than that of the Buffalo.

Since the comparatively recent enormous exodus of population
from the eastern portions of our country, and influx of the same
into the formerly sacred and forbidden territories of the red man,
the natural history of that vast territory west of the Missouri has
been made more definite and clear, and its resources developed.
In the acquisition of our knowledge of the former, the Buffalo
has played the most important part.

Fossil remains of a Bison of prehistoric times have been found
in the same country now occupied by the present comparatively
diminutive species. These gigantic animals were probably six to
eight times the size of our present species and must have been fit
contemporaries of the JZastodon, and the enormous sloths which
in Post-Pliocene times inhabited our continent. The prehistoric
man, to hunt an animal of these proportions, should have been as
large as the fabled giants. In former times the Bison occupied
the major part of the North American continent ; their migrations
extending from Mexico on the South, far up into the present British
Possessions, and their eastern and western limits being the States
of California and Oregon, Virginia and the Carolinas respectively.
But our authentic history of the animal dates back only to the
earlier part of the past century when it had been driven west of

the Mississippi. The range of the Buffalo in 1830, had been nar-
*
2
34 GAME ANIMALS OF NORTH AMERICA.

rowed to the following boundaries: the plains of Texas on the
south to beyond the British line, from the Missouri and upper
Mississippi on the east to the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevadas
on the west. Every portion of this immense area was either the
fixed home of the Bison, or might be expected to have each year
one or more visits from the migrating millions.

The latest determination of the range of the few remaining
Bison, 1876, fixes it mainly within the limits of the United States,
and confines it to Texas, Colorado, Kansas, and the Indian Terri-
tory on the south, and Montana and Dakota on the north, The
rapid and appalling diminution in their numbers and range is owing
entirely to their wanton and useless destruction by skin-hunters
and pseudo sportsmen.

The general exseméle of the Bison is so well known to all,
that a description is hardly necessary. Owing to his great size,
shaggy mane and hump, vicious’ eye, and sullen demeanor, he
possesses the appearance of being a formidable adversary, but in
truth, he is the mildest, most inoffensive, stubborn and stupid of
all the western mammals. If not alarmed by sight of the ene-
my, he will stupidly watch his companions fal] one by one, until
the whole herd are killed or wounded. When in their migra-
tions, they select the most easy and available routes, and a well
defined buffalo trail will always be found the best path for the
horseman. In crossing streams they show little instinct and no
intelligence ; the foremost plunge recklessly in and, where quick-
sands exist, or the current is too swift, many perish, but their fate
does not deter those behind from attempting the passage, and
whole herds may be annihilated in this way. Although they fol-
low in migrating the easiest routes, yet they by no means lack the
ability to travel over rough or bad ground, and can descend or
ascend a cliff, which for man to attempt, on a horse or off one,
would be certain destruction. The habits of the Bison are almost
identical with those of domestic stock ; very little fighting, how-
ever, takes place among the bulls, even during the rutting season,
which occurs in July. The young are brought forth in April, and
the female bears one calf; the mother seems to evince little affec-
tion for her offspring, and its protection devolves almost wholly
upon the bulls. At the least fright, she will scamper off, utterly
BUFFALO. a6

unmindful of the helpless young, who would soon fall an easy prey
to wolf or coyote, were it not guarded by the bulls, who fight
fiercely for the safety of their offspring.

The following story is related by an army officer, and bears
upon this point: While riding into camp alone one night, he
observed some six or eight Buffalo bulls on the prairie arranged
in a compact circle with heads facing outward ; all around, and at
a little distance from the ring, sat numbers of grey wolves eying
the Bison. At a loss to account for this singular sight, he drew
up to watch their movements. Soon the Buffalo separated, and
now a young calf, evidently newly born, was seen in centre of the
group. They trotted away some hundred yards, meanwhile pro-
tecting the object of their solicitude, on all sides, the wolves mov-
ing along with them. Soon the young one becoming fatigued, lay
down, when the bulls stopped again, forming the same impassable
barrier against their ferocious enemies. Thus they escorted their
ward back to the main herd.

When feeding, the cows and calves occupy the middle space,
the bulls forming as it were the circumference of an enclosing cir-
cle. When attacked, however, they lose all control of themselves
and dash hither and thither in every direction. If governmental
protection can be obtained at all for the Bisons, it should at least
save them from wicked and indiscriminate slaughter during the
spring and summer, while they are breeding and rearing their
young. But with regard to buffalo protection another and better
method for saving the few remaining herds from utter annihilation
may be suggested ; namely, by forming a buffalo reservation.

In the Yellowstone National Park we have the necessary ter-
ritory, and it is already stocked; but the skin hunter, that ruthless
destroyer of game, must be kept at a distance, if we would hope
to save this species. This section of territory is by law forbidden
ground to the hunter, and could the statute be enforced, the buffalo,
which at present exist in considerable numbers in this region,
would have an opportunity to increase, and might endure there
long after their recent prairie range has become a region of smil-
ing wheat farms and well stocked cattle ranches. The bill setting
aside the Yellowstone Park as a Government reservation says that
the Secretary of the Interior shall “provide against the wanton
26 GAME ANIMALS OF NORTH AMERICA.

destruction of the fish and game found within the park, and
against their capture or destruction for the purpose of mer-
chandtse or profit.”

Then again if the wzZd buffalo must become extinct, why not
make preparations for it. An animal which in all essential respects
agrees so closely with the domestic cattle must surely prove of
vast importance to the farmer and stock raiser, if its domestication
were but systematically attempted. We have at various times
seen in Montana, Nebraska and Kansas young buffaloes running
at large with the herds of domestic cattle, and in their actions
resembling in all respects their tame companions. With the cat-
tle they would wander off for days or weeks to distant parts of the
range, returning from time to time, and being quite as gentle and
docile as the other individuals of the herd. When these calves
approach maturity, what more natural than that the males should
be broken to the yoke? The owner is not slow to avail himself
of their enormous strength, and teams of young bulls are by no
means uncommon in the vicinity of the buffalo range. Their
power and endurance are undoubted, though their temper is not,
perhaps, of the best. In fact it is said that if they desire to go in
any particular direction, or not to go at all, nothing that the
driver can say or do, will have the slightest effect in changing their
determination. Such little eccentricities as these, however, would
no doubt be overcome after a generation or two of domestication,
or might be more immediately modified by a cross of domestic
blood. The old buffalo ranges are filling up with cattle, and by
the importation of blooded bulls the quality of the stock is being
continually improved. From these plains a large portion of the
beef for Eastern and European consumption will ultimately be
derived. Before the buffalo wholly disappears some intelligent
effort should be made for inter-breeding on a large scale, so that
ere the last of the shaggy wild brutes have yielded up his life there
shall have been infused into our western cattle the hardy blood of
their obliterated relatives,

Of the modes of capture practiced in hunting the Bison the two
most in vogue are still hunting, confined for the most part to that
great exterminator, the skin hunter, and hunting on horseback, the
legitimate and only sportsmanlike manner of pursuit. Owing to
BUFFALO, ay

the incredible decimation in the ranks of the buffalo within the past
few years, every cruel and cowardly device is now resorted to, to
accomplish their destruction. Herds are sometimes kept days from
water by the hunters in some sections, notably that south of the
Platte, where the precious and necessary fluid is comparatively
scarce, and the rivers few and far between. The animals at last,
from sheer desperation, rush to the water, and are met by the death-
dealing bullet, preferring an end in this way to the slow pangs of
an all torturing thirst. At night, fires are built along the streams
to keep them off, and the poor beasts are in one way and another
kept from the water and killed off until herd after herd disappear:

The desire to kill seems to blind many men to all other consid-
erations. Animals are shot down and left, with the exception of
the tongue perhaps, entire, to rot unskinned, merely because the
hunter wishes to kill as many as possible before they get off. In
his recent work, Colonel Dodge gives some startling computations
of the appalling and useless slaughter of the Bison within the last
‘six years. He gives it as his opinion that one skin in market rep-
resents from four to six beasts killed, and we think these figures
not too large. Still hunting should be resorted to only when a
camp is in pressing need of fresh meat. Still it is always difficult
to curb the ardor of the young tyro, whose sole desire seems to be to
kill as many buffaloes as possible for no other reason than that he
may relate his stories to admiring friends, on his return to the settle-
ments. The still hunter, if he be an adept and understands the
habits of the game he pursues, may very soon wipe out of exist-
ence a moderately large herd of buffaloes.

He will take into consideration the direction of the wind, the
lay of the land, and other minor points ; he will use creek bottoms,
gulches and ravine approaches in his stalking. When within
shooting distance he commences to kill off the herd one by one at
his ease, meanwhile, keeping himself entirely concealed from view.
The Bison stupidly watch their comrades stagger and fall, but do
not offer to run. They are startled by the rifle report, but are un-
aware in which direction to look for an enemy. The skin hunter
strips the animals of their hides, and leaves the carcasses to decay
or become the food of wolf and jackal. The mortality of the buf-
falo from the slaughter of Indians, but more particularly white
38 GAME ANIMALS OF NORTH AMERICA.

hunters, is simply frightful, and when it is stated by one’who
knows that during the three years of 1872-3-4 over four and a half
millions of these beasts were slaughtered, it can be readily imagined
by the most uninformed that the species will soon cease to exist.

Hunting from horseback is followed in the same manner by
whites as practiced by the Indians. It was our good fortune a
few years ago to accompany the Pawnee Indians on their grand
annual Buffalo Hunt, and a short description of how the hunt was
conducted after the herd was discovered will suffice to give the
reader an idea of a Bison Hunt on horseback.

After the scouts had brought into camp notice of the proximity
of a herd, the men removed the saddles and bridles from their
horses, substituting for the latter a strip of rawhide around the
lower jaw. They also stripped off their own clothing and stood
forth as naked as when they came into the world, save for a breech
clout and a pair of moccasins apiece. Their bows and arrows
they held in their hands. At a given signal they started off, at
first on a slow trot, but gradually increasing their speed until the
trot became a canter, and the canter a swift gallop.

At length we reach the top of the last ridge and see the buffalo
lying down in the creek bottom a mile beyond. The place could
not have been more favorable for a surround had it been chosen
for the purpose.. A plain two miles broad and intersected by a
narrow stream, is encircled by high bluffs, up which the buffalo
must toil slowly, but which the more nimble ponies can ascend
almost as fast as they can run on level ground. As we commence
to descend the face of the bluff, the pace is slightly accelerated.
The Indians at either extremity of the line press forward, and its
contour is now crescent like. Menand horses commence to evince
more excitement, but the five hundred buffaloes reposing below us
do not seem to notice our advance. A few wily old bulls, how-
ever, that occupy the tops of the lower bluffs, take the alarm and
commence to scud off over the hills. At last when we are within
half a mile of the ruminating herd a few of them rise to their feet,
and soon all spring up and stare at us for a few seconds; then
down go their heads and in a dense mass they rush off toward the
bluffs. As they rise to their feet the leaders of our party give the
signal, and each man puts his horse to its utmost speed. The
BUFFALO. 39

fastest horses are soon among the last of the buffalo, but still their
riders push forward to try and turn the leaders of the herd, and
drive them back into the plain, This they in part accomplish,
and soon the bottom is covered with the flying animals. They
dash madly along, and the trained horses keep close to the buffalo
without any guidance, yet watch constantly for any indication of
an intention to charge, and wheel off, if such intention is mani-
fested. The Indians discharging arrow after arrow in quick suc-
cession, ere long bring down the huge beast, and then turn and
ride off after another.

Ourself and comrades having brought down three or four
apiece, come together on a little hill that overlooks the valley and
become spectators of the scene. Soon the chase is ended, and
the plain is dotted with dark objects over each of which bend two
or three Indians busily engaged in securing the meat. Every
ounce of this will be saved, and what is not eaten while fresh
will be jerked and thus preserved for consumption during the
winter. How different would have been the course of a party of
white hunters had they the same opportunity. They would have
‘killed as many animals, but would have left all but enough for one
day’s use to be devoured by the wolves or to rot upon the prairie.

The Mountain Bison differs in various respects from the Bison
of the plain, notably in size. His legs are shorter and stronger,
apparently eminently fitted to his habits, which necessitate consid-
erable climbing.

The animals are not plenty although they are said to have been
so once in those happy past days, which are always the favorite
theme of the “ old residenters,” but he is still to be found in the
Yellowstone region in considerable numbers. They inhabit for
the most part, inaccessible cliffs and the dark defiles of the moun-
tains. They are extremely shy, and possess much more intelli-
gence in avoiding danger, than their lowland brother. They are
incredibly active in scaling or descending precipitous places, and
are much more agile than their bulk and clumsy appearance would
seem to indicate. There seems to be no good reason for re-
garding the Mountain Bison as specifically distinct from the Buf-
falo of the plains. The differences seem to be only those which
are characteristic of an inhabitant of the woods and hills, as dis-
tinguished from a dweller on the plains and lowlands.
THE MOUNTAIN GOAT.

Aplocerus columbtanus.—Coues,

HE White Goat is confined to the loftiest peaks of the Rocky

Mountains: it is not known south of Colorado, and is prob-

ably rare south of Washington Territory, but is found to the north-
ward as far as Alaska.

In size this species about equals the domestic sheep, which it
somewhat resembles in shape, but the long spines of the dorsal
vertebre give it the appearance of having a slight hump just be-
hind the shoulders, and it is thus not particularly graceful in form.
The horns are from six to eight inches long, awl shaped, ringed
at the base and bending slightly backward. In color they, with
the hoofs, are shining black like polished ebony. The hair is long
except on the face and lower legs, and is underlaid by a fine soft
wool, the whole fleece being snow-white in color. The chin is
ornamented with a beard-like tuft of long hair, as in the common
goat.

Notwithstanding its common name, this animal is regarded by
naturalists as an antelope, and nota goat at all. It is almost neves
hunted, and even in those districts where it is most abundant, it is
one of the rarest of mammals. Besides this, it is said to be most
shy and vigilant, and is not to be approached unless some accident
favors the hunter. The true home of this species is among: the
loftiest pinnacles of the snow-covered mountains, above timber
line where no vegetation is to be found save mosses, lichens and a
few Alpine shrubs and grasses. Here the goats livea quiet, peace-
ful life, undisturbed except by an occasional hunter, from whom
they ordinarily escape without difficulty by fleeing to the neighbor-
ing heights. The few that are annually killed are only secured
after the most toilsome pursuit. As their flesh is dry and taste-
less, they are rarely disturbed by the Indians, who can always
obtain better meat at a less expense of time and labor.
THE MOUNTAIN GOAT. 4I

Like the Musk Ox, the Mountain Goat is extremely rare in
collections, and their skins and skeletons are quite valuable and
should always be preserved.

It is reported that several years since, in Montana, five individ-
uals of this species were captured alive. The hunters who were
provided with dogs, are said to have approached as closely as pos-
sible to the herd, and then to have slipped their canine assistants,
remaining concealed themselves. Before the goats took the alarm,
the dogs were so nearly upon them that they took refuge on some
high and broken fragments of rock, where they stood at bay.
Here their attention was so occupied by their immediate assailants,
that the hunters were enabled to. surround them and secure five
with their yza¢as. This account would seem to indicate that the
Mountain Goat is not a particularly fleet creature, and this sup-
position is confirmed by a study of the skeleton ; the animal seems
fitted more for climbing than for running, and to possess great
endurance rather than great speed.

Various absurd stories are told by hunters of the wonderful
power which these animals possess of leaping from great heights
and alighting in safety on their horns. That these tales have no
foundation in fact, any one who has examined the skull of a
Mountain Goat will readily comprehend. The species is also said
to prefer death to capture, a statement which is on a par with the
one just referred to. If one of these animals throws himself over
a precipice, it is not because he wishes to spite the hunter, but
because in his fear of his pursuer he takes an unusually dangerous
leap, or makes an effort to pass over some path where the foothold
is too precarious even for such a sure-footed climber as he.

The females of this species are said to bring forth their young
in June, but the period of gestation is not known. It is said that
in winter, when the tops of the mountains are deeply covered with
snow, and food is inaccessible, these animals descend to the timber
and remain there until the heights become partly bare in spring.
On the whole, but little is known of the habits of this species, but
it is stated, and no doubt truly, that the race is far less numerous
now than in former days.
BIGHORN; MOUNTAIN SHEEP.

Ovis montana.—Cuvier.

HE Bighorn is an inhabitant of the mountains of Western
America, and is found in greater or less abundance in suita-
ble localities from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean. It is
said to be abundant in New Mexico and Arizona, and occurs in
Southern California, but is probably not found in any numbers south
of the United States. Its northern range extends as far as Alaska,
and it is reported to be more abundant north of the 49th parallel
than farther south. Although most numerous in the Rocky Moun-
tains, the Sierra Nevadas and the Coast Range, this species is by
no means confined to the mountains. It occurs also among the
rugged Mauvazses Terres or Bad Lands of the White River, the
Little Missouri, Yellowstone and Upper Missouri, and seems to
delight in these grey, desolate and arid wastes. Indeed, any very
rough country answers all the requirements for the Bighorn, and it
demands only that there shall be steep and difficult heights to
which it may retreat when pursued.

This species has been aptly described as having the head of a
sheep with the body of a deer. In size, however, it exceeds the
largest deer, and a full-grown individual is said to weigh three
hundred and fifty pounds. The following measurements of an old
male are given by Sir John Richardson in his Fauna Boreali Ameri-
cana :—Length to end of tail six feet, height at shoulder three feet
five inches, length of tail two inches, length of horn along curve
two feet ten inches, circumference of horn at base one foot one
inch, distance from tip of one horn to tip of its fellow two feet three
inches. The female is somewhat less in size than the male, the
horns are much smaller and are nearly erect, having but a slight
inclination outward and backward. They somewhat resemble the
horns of a common goat. The general color of the Mountain
BIGHORN,; MOUNTAIN SHEEP. 43

Sheep is a pale wood brown, dark in summer and lighter in win-
terand spring. The posterior portions of the legs and belly, and a
triangular patch upon the buttocks, are white. The coat is soft to
the touch; though the hair resembles that of the Caribou, and in a
less degree that of the Pronghorn Antelope. It is short, fine and
flexible on its first growth in autumn, but becomes longer as the
season advances until in winter the hair is so thick and close-set
that it stands erect. As the winter advances the dark tips of the
hair are rubbed off, so that by spring the old males are quite white.
A fine wool covers the skin under the hair.

The Bighorn is very graceful in all its movements, and the light-
ness and agility with which it scales the steepest bluffs, runs along
the narrowest edge on the face of a precipice, or leaps from rock
to rock in its descent from some mountain-top, are excelled by no
animal with which we are familiar. Like all other wild ruminants,
they feed early in the morning, and they retire during the middle
of the day to points high up on the bluffs or mountains, where they
rest until the sun is low in the heavens, when they proceed again to
their feeding grounds. Except during the rut which takes ‘place
during the month of December, the old rams are found in small
bands by themselves, the females, lambs and young rams associat-
ing together in companies of from five to twenty. Occasionally
much larger herds are seen, but this only in a country where they

_have not been at all disturbed by man.

The successful pursuit of this species requires the exercise on
the part of the hunter of the utmost patience and deliberation : no
animal is more shy and wary than the Bighorn, and if it receives
the slightest hint of the enemy’s presence, it is up and away, not to
be seen again. No tyro in still hunting will succeed in securing
one of these vigilant climbers, and we have seen many a hunter of
experience who had yet to kill his frst mountain sheep. The diffi-
culties which attend the capture of this species, however, only serve
to render its pursuit more attractive to the ardent sportsman, and
when in a country where it abounds, buffalo, deer, antelope and
even elk, are likely to be neglected for Bighorn. The flesh too is
most delicious, and is regarded as far superior to any meat which
the West affords. We know of no more delicate dish than is
afforded by a yearling ewe in good order, seasoned with that won-
44 GAME ANIMALS OF NORTH AMERICA,

derful sauce furnished by the free open air life of the plains and
mountains. The glory of “ fat cow ’ pales, and even elk and black-
tailed deer meat hide their diminished heads before the rare tooth-
someness of a juicy saddle, or the dripping ribs of a young and
tender Bighorn.

To hunt the Mountain Sheep successfully the candidate for
honors should have had some experience with other large game,
should have the patience and endurance possessed only by the most
enthusiastic of sportsmen, and should be a fair shot with the rifle.
In the grey of the morning, before attempting to look for his game,
he should seek the highest ground in his vicinity, whence a wide
view of the surrounding country may be obtained, and from this
point with the good glass that is an indispensable part of a hunter’s
outfit, he should search the little ravines and grassy meadows
running down from the hills. The sheep are always on the watch
for enemies from the lower ground, but rarely turn their glances to
the heights, which, if disturbed, they will seek for safety ; nor is the
danger of being winded nearly so great when the hunter is above
the game.

The chief object to be accomplished is to discover the herd
before it is aware of your presence; after this the task becomes
only a matter of the most careful stalking. All inequalities of the
ground, all rocks and vegetation will be utilized by the skillful
stalker who would approach within shot, and especially will the
wind be regarded, for it is quite certain that if the band catch the
scent of the hunter, his labor will all have been in vain.

The facility with which these animals descend the most abrupt
precipices, and cross cafions of which the sides are apparently ver-
tical, has given rise to the idea, vouched for by many an imagina-
tive hunter, that they can throw themselves from great heights and
striking on their horns can rebound uninjured, and land on their
feet. The vast size of the horns in the male, together with the fact
that these are often battered and splintered, has caused many to re-
ceive this statement as at least possible ; but it is scarcely necessary
to say that even if the animal’s head could stand the shock, its neck
would not. Besides this the story makes no arrangement for the
manner in which the females and young males, whose horns are but
little larger than those of a goat, shall descend the cliffs, yet any one
BIGHORN; MOUNTAIN SHEEP. 45

who is familiar with the species, knows well that these individuals
are no less active and successful climbers than the rams. The
splintered condition of the horns of the old males is due to their
battles during the rutting season, and their play at all times of the
year. The feet of the Mountain Sheep are precisely fitted for their
life among the crags and precipices, and they seem to be able to
cling to any surface which presents the slightest inequality. They
can thus pass over dangerous places which would be certain death
to any other quadruped except perhaps the White Goat.

As has been remarked, the rutting season is in December, and
the young are believed to be brought forth in March, although in
some of the best works on Natural History the time of birth is
variously stated as May or June.
ANTELOPE.

Antilocapra Americana,—Ord.

HE Antelope inhabits the plains of the western portion of
North America. It does not now exist east of the rooth
meridian but occurs in suitable localities to the westward as far as
California. Its northern range is bounded by the fifty-third paral-
lel and it is found even south of the Rio Grande. It is essentially
an animal of the plains, and is never found among timber, though
abundant on many of the elevated plateaus which exist among the
Rocky Mountains, in the great Interior Basin and toward the
Pacific coast.

The horns of the Antelope are black and rise from immediately
above the orbit upward and outward without any inclination forward
or backward. About half way up a flat triangular process rises,
pointing forward and outward, from which the animal has received
the appellation “ Prong Horn.”” The horns within two or three
inches of their extremities curve sharply, either toward each other
almost meeting over the head, or backwards like the horn of the
Chamois. One specimen which has come under the notice of the
writer, had the point of one horn directed inward and the other
backward. There is no regularity in the way in which they point,
but the tips are never directed either forward or outward. The
general color of the upper parts of the body is a clear yellowish
red which deepens on the dorsal line to a brownish black. The
face and a spot below the ear are of the latter color. The under
parts, with the posterior and inner surfaces of the legs, the cheeks,
and ower jaw, two or three patches on the fore neck, the rump
and tail are white. There are no false hoofs or dew-claws as
in the genera Cervus and Bos. The length of the animal is

about four and one half feet, and the height at the shoulders
three feet.
ANTELOPE. 47

On the vast plains which the Antelope inhabits, and which are
often level and always destitute of timber, it might be imagined
that this animal would be secure from the attacks of any enemy.
But the little ravines, by which these prairies are so often inter-
sected, furnish a cover for the still hunter, and in a few localities
the Antelope are hunted with greyhounds. Then too the senti-
ment of curiosity is implanted so strongly in the nature of this
animal, that it often leads him to reconnoitre too closely some object
which he cannot clearly make out, and his investigations are pur-
sued until the dire answer to all inquiries is given by the sharp
“spang “’ of the rifle and the answering “ spat” as the ball strikes
the beautiful creature’s flank.

The Antelope is a very wary animal, and although it will often
permit the hunter to advance within 500 or 600 yards without
manifesting any great alarm, it is a very difficult matter to approach
within easy range after it has once noticed his presence. As soon
as the first suspicion of danger crosses the mind of the game, it
betakes itself to the highest point of the bluffs near at hand, from
which coign of vantage it watches with the utmost intentness
the movements of its pursuer. Let not the latter vainly imagine
that if, by a careful flank movement, he shall succeed in putting a
bluff between himself and the object of his pursuit, he may still
approach within shooting distance. At the instant of his disap-
pearance, the Antelope is off again to the top of another bluff, and
when the hunter cautiously raises his head to shoot, the animal is
still as far off as before.

In hunting the Antelope, and the rule applies to all large game,
the hunter should endeavor to discover his game before it is aware
of his proximity ; if he can accomplish this, his success, if he be a
skillful stalker and the ground is favorable, will be assured; if
however the game has been made suspicious by seeing him, the
chances against him are much increased. Should he discover a
band before it has been disturbed, he will do well to bring his
horse as near as possible to that spot from which he is to shoot,
for an Antelope, though mortally wounded, will often run off for
some distance and will then conceal itself in the nearest ravine
with such care that the hunter will be unable to discover it. Un-
less the animal falls dead, the hunter should lose no time in
48 GAME ANIMALS OF NORTH AMERICA.

springing on his horse and following it. If the wound is a severe
one and the horse fleet, the Antelope may generally be secured by
this means, though often only after a long chase. If however it be
but slightly wounded another herd'should be sought without delay.
Pursuit under these circumstances will in all probability result only
in injury to the steed, while the game will easily escape.

The early morning, when the herds are feeding, is of course the
best time to hunt the Antelope, and the sportsman who starts be-
fore sunrise will get more shots during the first two hours hunt-
ing than during all the rest of the day.

The officers of posts in the Antelope country, often hunt them
with greyhounds, and a most noble and exhilarating sport this is.
To cope successfully in speed with these animals, however, dogs
of unusual fleetness are required. Besides this the Antelope do
not regard cactus at all, while a dog, in running through a thick
bed of these pestiferous plants, may often be absolutely crippled.
The dogs are brought within view, as near the quarry as possible,
the hunters are to follow on their horses as best they may. The
hounds having been slipped the chase begins. The startled herd
stand gazing for an instant as if to determine the character of the
approaching whirlwind, and then wheeling seem to float from
view beyond the bluff. The dogs, fresh and eager, soon narrow
the intervening space, but the Antelope, finding themselves so
hotly pursued, redouble their exertions. In their headlong flight
their hoofs scarce touch the ground. The hunters find difficulty
in keeping the chase in view, but by dint of whip and spur, those
best mounted are able to follow. The aspect of the “field” is
continually changing. Stragglers are left behind, and winded dogs
withdraw, till at the end of fifteen minutes the game has outstrip-
ped men and dogs, or the exhausted quarry is dragged to the
ground, and is soon dispatched by the panting, but exultant rider,
who is first in at the death.

During the Yellowstone expedition of 1873, General Stanley’s
dog Gibbon is said to have captured unaided, no less than twenty-
four unwounded antelopes. There is probably no other dog in
the country that can approach this record.

Where Antelope are numerous, but the prairie is too level to
afford the requisite cover for the stalker, the animals may some-
ANTELOPE. 49

times be brought within shooting distance by playing upon their
curiosity. The hunter approaches his game as closely as possible
without alarming it, and then lying flat on the ground elevates a
flag, handkerchief, arm or leg. This soon attracts the attention
of the animals which proceed toward him, not directly but in cir-
cles, and generally with many pauses and halts. Sometimes they
will turn and run off as if quite satisfied, but before they have gone
far, will circle round and advance again, approaching a little
nearer than before. This continues for some time, and with care,
the game may be brought within three or four hundred yards, but
rarely nearer. The task requires more patience than most hunt-
ers possess, and is only to be recommended to a man who is
very hungry, or very tired of “sow belly’ and anxious for fresh
meat. The Antelope ruts about the Ist of November, and drops
its young, in couplets, about the middle of May.

3
MOOSE.

Alce Americana.—Jardine.

NTIL within the last half century the Moose was almost uni-
versally distributed throughout the swamps and forests of
North America north of the forty-third parallel of latitude. In many
localities throughout the British Possessions it is still abundant, but
in the eastern United States it has almost disappeared. It has been
almost wholly confined within the last quarter of a century, in its
southern range on the Atlantic coast, to the State of Maine, where
there are still a very few living in the northwestern portions of that
State in the vicinity of the upper waters of the St. John River, and
far into the almost inaccessible parts northward of Moose Lake and
adjacent to New Brunswick. The time is not far distant when this
noble animal will not inhabit our country. The process of extermi-
nation is being carried forward with great rapidity. The Moose is
also found in the West among the Rocky Mountains as far south
as the northern boundary of Wyoming, and in the Sierra Nevadas
and Coast Range throughout Idaho, Oregon, Washington Territory
and Northern California. In the more thickly settled portions of
Canada their range is somewhat limited, but in the Province of
Quebec they are still met with about the Coulonge and Black Riv-
ers, and eastward of Quebec down as far as the Saguenay. They
are also more or less abundant in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
The Moose is the largest member of the deer family ; a mature
male standing higher than the average horse, measuring from seven-
teen to eighteen hands, and often weighing over a thousand pounds.
The males are considerably larger than the females. Their color is
quite variable, depending upon season and climate, some being of
an ashy grey, others of a darker grey, and a few in the autumn a
glossy black. The extremities of their hairs are usually brown or
black, and toward the centre and roots, dingy white.
MOOSE. 51

In the wilds of Nova Scotia, Moose have been seen with spark-
ling grizzly coats in September. The young are of a quakerish
brown color, which grows darker with age. The hair is exceed-
ingly coarse and strong, and somewhat brittle. That it breaks
when bent is not true, since the squaws color and use it in their
ornamental work. With the advance of winter the coats assume
a darker hue, and the hairs grow longer and thicker. The necks
of the males are surmounted with a mane of stiff hairs, varying in
length from five to ten inches, which, when the animals are enraged,
bristle up like the mane of a lion. Two fleshy appendages —dew-
laps of loose skins—hang from the throat, and are covered with
long black hairs. The tail is very short, so short that Thoreau, in
an examination of a moose in the Maine woods, overlooked it al-
together. The most striking peculiarities of these animals are
enormous length of legs, head, and ears, short and thick body,
small eyes, immense nostrils, and an elongated, thick, ponderous,
and flexible upper lip. And this lip is so peculiarly and curiously
constructed as to warrant a full and particular description of its
formation and use. Some writer has described it as of a “size
between the lip of the horse and that of a tapir.”” It is square in
shape and furrowed in the middle, appearing divided. The varied
and rapid movements of this heavy protruding muscular develop-
ment are due to four pairs of strong muscles arising from the max-
illaries. The hind hoofs of the moose are perfectly formed, and
so well proportioned as to make a beautiful foot; long, slender,
convex, and tapering. The horny points or spurs, and not the
hoofs, make the clattering sound when the animal is in motion.
The fore feet are flatter, somewhat shorter, and less tapering than
the hind feet. The average length of the hoof in the mature ani-
mal is about seven inches by four in greatest breadth, but they are
sometimes much larger.

The peculiar lip, long legs, and short neck have direct reference
to the mode of life of these animals. They live only in forests, and
subsist alone by browsing, since in the wild state they never graze.
Their long fore legs enable them to reach far up into birch and
maple trees to secure the tender and nutritious branches, and to
feed on the side of deep acclivities where the moosewood and the
willow trees grow in great abundance. By these giraffe-like legs
52 GAME ANIMALS OF NORTH AMERICA,

they are also enabled to obtain foliage out of reach by riding down
young trees. And the lip is used as a hand in seizing, tearing off,
and gathering the twigs and leaves of trees and carrying them to
the mouth.

The horns of the full grown Moose are most striking and im-
pressive, both from their size and peculiarities, and merit somewhat
detailed description. The young bull moose grows two knobs, of
from one to two inches long, the first season. These are not cast
in the fall of the first or second year. When a year old these
knobs are developed into spike horns, varying from five to eight
inches in length, and remain on the head until the following April
or May, when they drop off, and are replaced by long cylindrical
or forked horns; in the fourth year they begin to branch forward
and become palmated ; in the fifth and sixth years they grow in a
triangular form, the palmated portions ending in from five to eight
points or fingers, the whole resembling an expanded hand. The
moose produces the most perfectly developed antlers after the fifth
year, the horns of a mature animal often measuring from the root
to the extremity, following the curve, four and five feet, as much-
across from tip to tip, and the palm on the widest surface sixteen
inches. They cast their horns annually, after the second year, during
the months of December and January, and so prodigious is the
growth that by the following August they are furnished with a new
and complete set. During the summer months these, as is the case
with all deer, are covered with what hunters call velvet. During the
velvet state the horns are so tender as to bleed freely when cut,
and may like vegetables be sliced with a knife. They begin to
harden in the month of August, and animals are sometimes seen in
the latter part of that month with peeled and ripe horns. Usually,
however, it is in the month of September that this velvet peels oft
and leaves the antlers hard. In August the velvet splits into nar-
row pieces, and oftentimes the antlers are secn draped with ribbons.
Only the males have horns, yet we have been told of three cows
killed bearing small antlers. This is not improbable, since female
deer (C. Verginéanus) have been known to bear horns.

These antlers sometimes attain a weight of sixty pounds. The
period of gestation with the moose is about nine months. They
bring forth about the middle of May one calf the first and second
MOOSE. 53

years, and afterwards two at a birth. Very old cows become bar-
ren. With the mother the summer is a season of retirement.
She goes alone to the wildest unfrequented, moss-covered swamps
of the forest, and never leaves them until the month of September,
when she comes forth to select a companion. No doubt but that
she withdraws to these deep recesses near lakes to protect her
young from carnivorous animals, and the bull moose. The calves
continue to follow the mother long after she ceases to feed them.
It is probable that in many cases they keep with her until they are
two or three years old.

The Moose is much annoyed during the warm weather by the
attacks of flies and mosquitoes, and at this season they remain in
the vicinity of lakes, feeding on aquatic plants, standing much of
the time in water, where they will remain for hours immersed with
nothing but their noses above the surface. Here they feed upon
the roots, stalks, and leaves of the yellow lily. Their habit of
reaching under water, so as to feed on the roots of these plants,
gave rise to the Indian belief that the moose possessed the power
of remaining under water the whole day. That they entirely dis-
appear from view when thus feeding is well established, but that they
can live under water for any Jength of time is only credited by In-
dians. They are strong and rapid swimmers, and have been
known to cross a distance of two miles from one shore to
another.

The Moose on the st of September, the beginning of the rut-
ting season, commence to “ travel up,’’as the Indians term it, and
in a few days work out of the bogs and marshes and appear on the
higher lands of the forest. During this period—September and
October—the bull moose drinks and feeds but little for days at a
time. Hestalks the forest a proud, haughty, defiant monarch, con-
scious of his strength and beauty, with horns stripped of the last
ribbon of deciduous skin, and polished by constant rubbing against
the hacmatack, and with immense round powerful neck, and in the
finest bodily vigor and condition. He goes forth to assert his de-
mands among his rivals. He is no longer timorous and shy, but
bold, defiant, and dangerous. His weapons are h’s horns and
hoofs, and few animals can use the latter to hetter advantage. At
this time he loses in a measure his fear of man and if only
54 GAME ANIMALS OF NORTH AMERICA.

wounded will not hesitate to attack the hunter with the utmost
fury.

In this season no animal could present a nobler appearance.
View him as he stands with glossy coat glistening in the early
sun, with wide-spread anilers upward stretched like the hands of
some fable god, and say if you can, that there is nothing in him to
admire. He at times during this period becomes furious with rage,
tearing wildly through the thickets, pawing the earth with his feet,
and making dead branches crack like pistol shots. This is when,
as the Indians say, he is “real mad.’’ This is in reality the bel-
lowing season. The bull roars, and utters his peculiar, short, gut-
tural sounds, and the cow pours forth a wild, prolonged call. The
latter goes forth of a still October night, with the going down of
the sun, to some high barren ridge, surrounded with deep and
heavy forests, and there she bellows forth the wildest of strains
until answered by the bull. We believe the call may be heard on
a still night three miles or more. During this season the bulls
fight many desperate battles. In these conflicts one or both are
sometimes killed.

With the close of the rutting season (November Ist) the bull
Moose appears like another animal. He no longer trails through
the forest bidding defiance to his foes, but mopes along with down-
cast head and dragging limbs, paying little or no attention to pass-
ing events. His coat is now rough and dingy, and his antlers
seem to serve no purpose save as a heavy weight to keep his
head bowed down. He is cadaverous, gaunt, and exceedingly
stupid. Recovering not from his fall campaign, he remains poor
until the next spring when he again rallies. About the rst of
November Moose begin to look about for winter quarters. These
are usually selected with reference to the abundance of white
birch, maples (white, striped, swamp,) poplar, witch hazel, moun-
tain ash, and the different species of firs.

While Moose are not gregarious, several are often found feed-
ing together in what are called moose yards. These yards are
simply their feeding grounds, and are made by the animals’ con-
stant browsing about the pasture grounds, and are not the result
of plan or thought: During the time of the falling of snow they
go around browsing, following each other unconsciously making
MOOSE. 55

paths. Of course, this process is kept up every day, so that when
the snow becomes very deep they have well-beaten roads running
in every direction over quite a large territory. They have a very
delicate way of eating, nibbling only a little ata time. It some
times happens ere the snow lies very deep on the ground that they
change and form new yards. They never venture far, however,
after the first snow falls, in search of new browsing pastures, and
the change is never made unless there be a necessity for it in the
scarcity of food and imperfect shelter, The Moose cannot be
strictly called a migratory animal, since it never leaves its native
ground and forests for strange lands and woods. True, they are
obliged to visit and live in the different neighborhoods of their own
wilds in order that they may obtain sufficient food, but this can
hardly be called migration. The Moose is easily tamed, and can
be broken to the harness without much difficulty. There was one
some years ago, owned by an old man in Nova Scotia, which he
drove to town and drew wood with. The author of “ Camp Life ”
tells us of riding several miles in Maine after one of these animals.
From Pennant we learn that they were formerly used in Sweden
to draw sledges, but the escape of criminals being often facilitated
by their speed, their use for this purpose was prohibited under
heavy penalties.

The Moose is hunted ina variety of ways, but whatever be the
method employed, great care and skill must be exercised to cap-
ture it. Calling, stalking, hounding and running down on snow
shoes are the most common means by which it is captured. The
first of these methods is employed on moonlight nights and only
during the rutting season; and consists in luring the bull to the
spot where the hunter is concealed by imitating the call of the cow.
The Indian guides of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, if not the
only men that can imitate this cry, are at all events by far the most
successful callers, and when this description of hunting is to be
engaged in the services of one or more of these men are essential
requisites to success. The “call” which they use to produce the
deceptive sound is a trumpet of birch bark about eighteen inches
long—the small end an inch in diameter and the large end about
four or five. With this simple instrument, long practice enables
a good hunter to imitate the lowing of the cow moose so perfectly
56 GAME ANIMALS OF NORTH AMERICA.

that the finest ear can scarcely distinguish between the real and
simulated sound.

The sportsman being concealed in the bushes, the caller ascends
to a tree near at hand, and proceeds to sound the note of the cow
which is promptly responded to by any bulls in the vicinity. The
oldest and strongest of these at once advance to secure the favors
of the supposed female, and to do battle with any rival that may
be on the ground. Sometimes when two old males are hastening
to the spot whence the call proceeds, they meet, and a furious com-
bat ensues. If however there is only one male near at hand, by
delicate manipulation of the call, the animal is sometimes drawn to
within a few yards of the hunter, who is usually enabled to shoot
it dead at the first fire.

Of stalking it is unnecessary to speak at length, since the same
directions for this mode of hunting apply to the Moose as to other
animals, with some minor modifications, depending on the nature
of the country.

Hounding is practiced during the winter when the snow covers
the ground. Having found the game or very fresh “sign” the
dogs are slipped, and the Moose is soon brought to bay, especially if
the snow is deep and crusted. Its attention is then so occupied
that the hunter has little difficulty in approaching, and giving the
fatal wound. i

These animals are also run down during the deep snows of
winter by hunters on snow-shoes. This requires great power and
endurance, but very little sportsmanlike skill. Although the legs
of the Moose are long, and it can travel with considerable ease
through drifts of moderate depth, it is easily overtaken when a
crust, hard yet not sufficiently strong to support it, covers the sur-
face of the snow. The poor animal breaks through at every step,
its legsare cut and bleeding, and its enormous powers are before
long exhausted. The hunter coming up, can butcher it at his lei-
sure. By this means in severe winters many of these noble beasts
are slaughtered for their hides alone.

The gradual destruction of the Moose is a matter of history.
Space and time are both too valuable for the discussion of such an
unprofitable subject. The being with the skin and clothes of a
white man, who in one winter butchered seventy-five of them for
MOOSE. 57

their hides alone, leaving their meat to pollute the air, still flourishes
on the upper waters of the Passadumkeag in Maine. His memory
deserves to be execrated more than him who burned the celebrated
temple of antiquity, for destroyed temples can be rebuilt, but ex-

terminated species cannot be recreated.
&

3
BARREN GROUND CARIBOU.

Rangifer grenlandicus.—Baird.

F the Barren Ground Caribou but little is known beyond
what is contained in the very interesting account given of
this animal by Sir John Richardson in his Fauna Boreali Ameri-
cana (London, 1829, Mammalia, p.241). Although the two Ameri-
can species of the genus have been separated by high authorities,
the distinctions between them are not well defined, and would seem
to be of doubtful specific value. The chief differences mentioned
by the various writers who have discussed this matter, are, the
smaller size of the northern form, A. grenlandzcus, and its pro-
protionately larger horns. The following note by Mr. R. Morrow,
published in 1876, is of interest as bearing somewhat on the ques-
tion of their identity :-—

“ Our Caribou (woodland var.) has a peculiar liver, rather small,
ovate, long diameter nine inches, short diameter six inches, (from
an animal supposed to be about eighteen months old,) situated on
the right side, long diameter nearly parallel with the back bone,
divided almost in the centre by a shallow sulcus, and having a
protuberance, or small, somewhat conical lobe, which the butcher.
calls a button, upon the upper part of the concave side, with a
broad base, and another very small one like a flat teat, not inva-
riably present however, in the same line as the large one, one
and a half inches below it, in size about half an inch long, three-
eighths of an inch wide, and about one-eighth of an inch thick;
and it has no gall bladder. It is more than probable that this
form of liver and absence of the gall bladder is common to the
deer tribe: Goldsmith says ‘all the deer tribe want the gall
bladder.’

“T have never seen a Barren Ground Caribou, nor any descrip-
tion of the animal giving the peculiarity in the form of the liver of
BARREN GROUND CARIBOU. 59

this species, so called ; but the structure of the Barren Ground and
woodland varieties of Caribou is most likely the same, and the dif-
ference in size and horns is probably due to climate and food,
while the migrations in contrary directions of the two ‘ varieties
in the barren grounds’ and ‘woodland districts’ of Sir John
Richardson, may be accounted for by the fact that each is taking
its nearest course to the sea coast.

“ Dr. Gilpin, in a paper-read February 11, 1871, says, speaking
of the varieties, ‘Reindeer, Caribou, and Woodland Caribou, are
their local names. In addition to this the extreme north possesses
a deer smaller than any of those, with much larger horns, and
with no gall bladder ; otherwise the same. Sir John Richardson
calls them a permanent variety, naming them Barren Ground
Caribou. The absence of the gall bladder seems a very great di-
vergence; yet can any one tell me has our Caribou one?’ With
regard to the gall bladder I know that Dr. Gilpin has been for some
time aware that our Caribou does not possess one, but he has not
mentioned the peculiar form of the liver, nor do I think that it has
been previously noticed.”

The Barren Ground Caribou inhabits Arctic America, and in
its migrations it is said never to proceed farther south than Fort
Churchill, which is situated near the fifty-ninth parallel of latitude.
It is, when compared with the Woodland variety, quite a small ani-
mal, a buck in fair condition weighing when dressed only about
one hundred pounds. Nor is it as shy and difficult of approach as
the preceding species, no doubt because it is not so much hunted.

At the approach of winter, this species, which has passed the
summer on the shores and islands of the Arctic Sea, retires south-
ward to the wooded districts, where it feeds on the mosses and
lichens which hang from the trees, and on the long grass of the
swamps. In May the females commence their advance northward
and are followed by the males about a month later. Except du-
ring the rutting season, the males and females do not associate to-
gether, but live in separate herds. The females give birth to their
young on reaching the coast, and by the time the return journey is
commenced, which is in September, the fawns are well grown and
strong.

The Barren Ground Caribou is said to constitute almost the
60 GAME ANIMALS OF NORTH AMERICA,

entire means of subsistence of the Indians who inhabit the deso-
late regions of the far.North, and they would be utterly unable to
exist were it not for the immense herds of these deer. This ani-
mal furnishes them with food, clothing, tents, fish-spears, hooks,
nets, and indeed with all the implements which they use or require,
The Esquimaux shoot them, and also take them in traps constructed
of ice or snow, and the Indians capture them in pounds, and kill
them in large numbers while swimming the rivers.

It is remarkable that the horns of the caribou vary more than
those of any other species of deer, in fact no two adult stags have
horns precisely alike. Some very remarkable antlers have been
brought to our notice at various times ; one pair so lofty that when
reversed on the shoulders of a man five feet ten inches in height,
the horns touch the ground. Another pair has thirty-two points,
including those on the brow, one of which is palmated, while the
other is a mere snag. These horns, with just sufficient skull left to
hold them together, weigh thirty-two pounds. Others are perfectly
straight, and have the brow-antlers of similar form. The horns of
the female are probably never palmated, but are slender and.
straight.

A careful investigation into the anatomy of this species will, it
is hoped, before long be made. In this way only can its relations
to the Woodland variety be ascertained, and the affinities of the
North American Caribou with the Reindeer of Europe be deter-
mined.
WOODLAND CARIBOU.

Rangifer caribou.—Aud. and Bach.

HE Woodland Caribou is a near relative of the reindeer of
Northern Europe, and since this genus alone of all the deer
tribe has been domesticated, we may regard it as the most useful,
if not the most comely of its race. The clear, dark eye of the
Caribou has a beautiful expression, but the animal has neither the
grand proportions of the wapiti, nor the grace of the roe buck, and
its thick, square formed body is far from being a model of elegance.
The front hoofs are capable of great lateral expansion, and curve
upwards, while the secondary ones behind, which are but slightly
developed in other members of the family, are considerably pro-
longed, a structure which, by giving the animal a broader base to
stand upon, prevents its sinking too deeply into the snow or morass.
The short legs and broad feet of the Caribou likewise enable
him to swim with great ease, a power of no small importance in a
country abounding in lakes and rapid rivers, and where scarcity
of food renders frequent migrations necessary. When the Caribou
moves a remarkable clattering sound may be heard some distance.
This is produced by the’ long hoofs which separate as they press
the ground and close when raised.
A long mane of dirty white hangs from the neck of this deer.
In summer the body is brown above and white beneath. In winter,
long haired and yellowish white. Its antlers are widely different
from those of the stag or wapiti, having broad, palmated summits,
and branching backward to the length of three or four feet; their
weight is considerable, twenty or twenty-five pounds, and it is re-
markable that both sexes have horns, while in all other genera
of the deer tribe the males alone are in possession of this ornament
or weapon.
The female brings forth in May or June a single calf, rarely two.
This is small and weak, but after a few days follows its mother,
62 GAME ANIMALS OF NORTH AMERICA.

who suckles her young but a short time, as it is soon able to seek
its food.

The only food of the Caribou during the winter, is said to be
the moss known as Lichen rangtferzna, and his instinct and acute-
ness of olfactories in discovering it is surprising. No matter how
deep this lichen is buried, the animal is aware of its presence the
moment he comes to the spot. Having first ascertained by thrust-
ing his muzzle into the'snow whether the moss lies below or not,
he begins making:a hole with his fore feet, and continues working
until at length he uncovers the lichen. When the snow is too
deep, as sometimes happens, he betakes himself to the forests and
feeds upon another lichen which hangs on pine trees. In summer
their food is ofa different nature. They then feed upon green
herbs or the leaves of trees. Judging from appearances of Lichen
vangifer¢na in the hot months, when it is dry and brittle, one
might easily wonder that so large a quadruped as the Caribou
should make it his favorite food and fatten upon it; but toward
the month of September it becomes soft, tender and damp, with a
taste like wheat bean. In this state its luxuriant and flowery
ramifications somewhat resemble the leaves of endive, and are as
white as snow.

Wherever the Caribou abound they are eagerly hunted, for
their flesh, when in season, is most delicious. Then, too, in dis-
tricts where they have been much persecuted, they become very
shy and watchful, so that it requirés no little skill to capture them.
But besides the attacks of its human enemies, the Caribou is sub-
ject to the persecutions of two species of gad fly. The one de-
posits its glutinous eggs upon the animal's back. The larve, on
creeping out, immediately bore into the skin, where they cause
swellings or boils an inch or more in diameter, with an opening
at the top of each, through which the larvae may be seen embed-
ded in the purulent fluid. Aware of the danger, the Caribou runs
wild and furious as soon as he hears the buzzing of this fly, and
seeks refuge in the nearest water.

The other species of fly lays its eggs in the nostrils of the deer,
and the larve boring into the fauces and beneath the tongue of
the poor animal, are a great source of annoyance.

In Newfoundland the Caribou are still quite abundant, though
WOODLAND CARIBOU. 63

the vast number of deer paths which, like a net work, seam the
surface of the interior in all dircctions, show that the number of
deer was formerly enormous. Their great enemies are the wolves,
which are continually chasing them from place to place, especially
during the winter months, when the deer leave the mountains and
come to the plains below to feed on the “ browse ’”’ of the birch.
A few settlers who are in the habit of deer stalking, go into the
hills in pursuit of deer about the middle of September, which is
just prior to the rutting season, and consequently at a time when
the stags are in their best condition.

The migrations of the Newfoundland reindeer are as regular as
the seasons, between the southeastern and northwestern portions
of the island. The winter months are passed in the south, where
“browse” is plentiful, and the snow on the lower grounds is
not so deep as to prevent them from reaching the lichens. In
March, when the sun becomes more powerful, so that the snow is
softened by its rays, permitting them to scrape it off and reach the
herbage beneath, the reindeer turn their faces toward the north-
west, and begin their spring migration. The whole surface of
the country is now alive with the deer, as herd follows herd in
rapid succession, each led by a noble stag as tall as a horse, and
all bending their course, in parallel lines, toward the hills of the
west and northwest. Here they arrive from the middle to the end
of April, and amid the rocky barrens and mountains, where their
favorite moss abounds, they remain until October. Here they
bring forth their young, and here they are in a measure free from
the persecutions of the terrible flies above referred to.

So soon, however, as the frosts of October begin to nip the
vegetation they turn toward the south and east, and repeat their
long march in the same manner, and pursuing the same paths
as when on their northern migration. Thus for countless cen-
turies, it may be, have these innumerable herds been moving along
the same route, unless when interrupted by the Indians or the
irregularities of the seasons. Their movements are generally in
parallel lines, unless where the narrow necks of land, separating
lakes, or the running waters or straits uniting them, or intervening
chains of hills, cause them to concentrate on one point. It was at
such points that the Boeothics, or indigenous Red Indians, were
64 GAME ANIMALS OF NORTH AMERICA.

accustomed to wait for the deer, and slaughter them in great num-
bers. Not content with this, however, they erected deer fences,
the remains of which can still be traced for many miles. Inland
from Notre Dame Bay and far to the northwest of Red Indian
Lake, a double line of strong fence was put up by the Indians,
which at its commencement diverged many miles. The southern
fence ran down to the lake, so that deer should thus come near
their own encampment; and the northern line was to prevent their
escape near the shore. The northern fence ran down to the
river Exploits, along the bank of which another fence was raised,
with openings at particular places for the deer to go to the river
and swim across. These openings were called ‘“ passes.” A
number of men now go within the fence, and from the wider
enclosure they drive them to the narrow part, or to passes of the
river where others were stationed, and thus killed the deer at their
leisure. These deer fences are actually seen to extend thirty miles
on the river Exploits, and how far into the interior no white man
can tell. They are formed by felling trees, and must have cost
immense labor. The tribe which constructed them originally
must have been numerous and powerful, though now without a
single living representative.

The Indians, especially the Mic-Macs, have another method
of capturing the deer, which if it were not well attested, would
seem almost incredible. Some of these Indian hunters will
actually run down a stag. Only when fat is the stag worth such
an arduous pursuit, and then only is he liable to such fatigued
exhaustion. The hunter will commence the chase early in the
day, and follow it up without intermission, and before night will
make the stag his prey without firing a shot. The stag at first
easily outstrips his pursue?, but after a run of four or five miles he
stops, and is by and by overtaken. He lies down fatigued but is
again surprised ; and thus the chase is kept up until the poor stag
plunges into a pool or morass to escape, where he soon meets his
doom, man at length winning the day.

How useful the tamed reindeer might become to the New-
foundlander, may be imagined from what we read of the Lapland
reindeer. It can draw a sledge over the frozen snow at the rate
of twenty miles an hour. To the Laplander the reindeer is every-
WOODLAND CARIBOU. 65

thing ; and in his cold and barren country, covered with snow and
ice nine months of the year, and producing few vegetables, he
would perish were it not for the milk and flesh of the animal.

The country of the Woodland Caribou includes Newfound-
land, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Labrador and Canada, and is
said to extend westward through a narrow strip of well wooded
territory about one hundred miles wide from Lake Superior to
Lake Athabasca. To the northward it is replaced by the Barren
Ground Caribou.

The only method of taking the Woodland Caribou is by stalk-
ing. If there be snow on the ground, the hunters follow the
tracks of the animals, and by great care are often enabled to come
within shot of them. When there is no snow and the deer cannot
be tracked, a tall tree is climbed and the neighboring country is
swept with a glass until a drove of Caribou are seen feeding in one
of the open treeless spots called “Caribou Barrens.” The bear-
ings of their position are taken, and the hunters proceed to stalk
them. Guides, men familiar with the haunts and habits of these
animals, are essential to the successful pursuit of the Caribou in
regions where it is much hunted. The Indians and half breeds
are highly recommended for this work, though no doubt whites of
experience are quite as serviceable.
ELK, WAPITI.

Cervus Canadensis.—Erxleben.

ss HE antlered monarch of the waste.” How applicable is

this term to the stately elk, the giant deer of the forest,
the plains and the mountains of North America. Standing as tall
as a horse, bearing a superb pair of antlers worthy to adorn any
baronial hall, with senses than which no keener can be found
among all our varied examples of animal life, and a form faultless
in the grace and symmetry of its outlines, the Wapiti justly holds
the first place among the game animals of our continent.

It is in the sportsman’s breast that the Elk arouses the greatest
enthusiasm, yet his grace and beauty might well attract the pencil
of the artist, and his great size and wonderful powers of endurance
furnish an exhaustless theme for the pen of poet and romancer.
No more striking and beautiful sight can be imagined than a band
of these animals just started from their feeding ground. Their
swift and swinging trot, as they move off over the rough ground or
through the tangled forest, is the poetry of motion. Each grand
bull carries his head well up and his polished antlers stretch far
back over his flanks. The more dainty and light-footed cows
press to the front and with their calves first disappear, and ina
moment more the last of the bulls vanishes over the top of the
neighboring bluff. Then perhaps, oh reader, you advance from
your place of concealment, and with feelings of indescribable pride
and exultation stand over your first bull elk.

In former times the Wapiti seems to have been distributed
throughout the whole of North America, south of the Great Lakes
on the eastern side of the continent, but extending northward as
far as the fifty-sixth or fifty-seventh parallel of latitude on the
plains and in the mountains. It was abundant in California, and
nowhere more so than on the banks of the San Joaquin, about
which stream all old Californians are so enthusiastic. In Northern
ELK, WAPITI. 67

California it still exists, though not in such numbers as formerly.
East of the Missouri River there are one or two localities where
the Elk still linger, though in sadly diminished numbers. One of
these is in Michigan, in a tract of almost impenetrable forest land.
A few have been reported to inhabit the wildest and most unsettled
portions of the Alleghany Mountains in Pennsylvania, but this is
merely a tradition and it is doubtful whether any exist there at
present. The species is now almost entirely confined to the high
plains of the Missouri region, and the mountains which stretch
away to the westward toward the Pacific Ocean. Here the Elk in
many localities is still to be found, but the onward march of the
settlements, and continual ravages of the skin hunter, or as he is
contemptuously styled by the better class of frontiersmen, the
“Elk Skinner,” are driving them farther and farther back, and are
constantly reducing their numbers.

As has been remarked the Elk stands about as tall as a horse,
but its proportions are those of a deer. Its horns are long and
branching, and are generally very symmetrical. They usually attain
a length of five or six feet and often weigh sixty or seventy pounds.
In color the Elk is, during the summer months, light reddish chest-
nut. At the approach of autumn the coat becomes darker and the
length of the hairs increases until in winter, the longer hairs be-
coming tipped with pale brown, a greyish cast is imparted to the
whole Zelage. A triangular patch of pale yellow is seen on the
rump and includes the tail, which is very short. The bull elk,
except in summer, has a growth of long hair on the neck and
breast which the cow does not possess at any season. The latter
differs from the male in being somewhat smaller, and in lacking
horns.

Elk rut early in September and it is only at this season that the
peculiar “‘ whistling ” of the bulls is to be heard. The rut lasts
but a short time, and at the end of the season the bulls are much
run down and are very thin. They soon recuperate however and
by the last of November are quite fat and in good order. The
females bring forth their young late in May or early in June, and
some time before this important event takes place, withdraw from
the herd and remain in the thickest brush preparing for the duties
of maternity, At this time too, the bulls are having trouble with
68 GAME ANIMALS OF NORTH AMERICA,

their horns. These huge weapons are grown in about four
months, and it will readily be conceived that the drain upon the
animal’s strength is thus enormous. The bulls late in July are
more thin and weak than the cows, which have for two months
been suckling their calves. In a mountain country the males are
now to be found on the highest ridges, feeding above timber line
and passing most of their time in the densest thickets where they
are in a measure protected from the flies. On the plains, they
spend most of their time lying in the thick willow brush which lines
the borders of the streams.

The cow Elk produces usually only one calf, and no instance
of the birth of twins has ever come under our observation. The
calf is a beautiful little creature, spotted like a red deer’s fawn,
which it much resembles in general appearance. As already re-
marked, the “ whistling ’’ of the Elk is heard only for a few days
during the early part of September. It is made up of several
parts, and is so peculiar a cry that it can hardly be described, much
less imitated. The first part consists of a prolonged, shrill whis-
tle, which seems to come to the hearer from a long distance, even
though the animal uttering it be quite near at hand. This is fol-
lowed by a succession of short grunting brays or barks, three or
four in number, and the call is completed by a low, smooth bel-
low. Sometimes the whistle is sounded without the succeeding
parts. Withal, the cry is an odd one, and once heard will always
afterward be recognized.

The whistle is very musical, and no more delightful sound can
come to the sportsman’s ear, as in the grey dawn of the morning
he ascends a mountain side to obtain a good view of the undula-
ting slopes and park like openings, which stretch away toward the
valley beyond. Watch carefully brother, keep yourself well con-
cealed, and be sure that the wind is right. Then when you spy
the herd, slip cautiously down yon little ravine,’and you will ere
long be within easy reach of as fine a bull as hunter ever bagged.

The Elk and Mule Deer differ widely in many of their habits
from the Virginia Deer, and in nothing, more than their intense
fear of man, and their hatred of the ‘march of civilization,’ so-
called. While the White-tail, if shot at or pursued with hounds,
will only run far enough to escape the immediate danger, and
ELK, WAPITI. 69

will in a short time return to his accustomed haunts, the Elk and
Mule Deer will almost immediately desert a country where they
have been much shot at, and the sound of a gun, even though at
a great distance, will alarm all the bands within hearing. For this
reason, hunters, in the mountains where the report of a gun is
taken up, and a thousand times repeated by the echoes, use a rifle
which carries but a small charge of powder, as the Smith and
Wesson rifle or the Winchester ; stating that the needle gun with
its 70 grains of powder makes too much noise, frightening, or at
least rendering suspicious all the game in the neighborhood. Old
hunters have a saying, that a band of Elk when fairly started, will
not stop until they have crossed flowing water; and a plainsman
of experience and reliability, in whose company we have often
hunted, said to us once, as a noble band of Elk disappeared over
the bluffs, on the north bank of the Loup Fork ;. “ those fellows
won't stop until they have crossed the Running Water.” This
stream, perhaps better known in the “States “ as the Niobrara,
was forty miles distant, yet we doubt not that the Elk were able
to keep up their swift trot until they reached that stream.

The usual gait of the Elk, when much alarmed, is the long
swinging trot before referred to, which is a far more rapid gait
than would be imagined by one who has had no experience of the
rate at which these animals move. A very good horse will have
great difficulty in keeping up with a trotting Elk unless the coun-
try is exceptionally favorable. The Elk, however, cares nothing for
the character of the ground which it traverses, or rather seems to
prefer that which is worst fora horse. It apparently moves quite
as fast through the most rugged Bad Lands, or along the side of a
mountain, rough with huge rocks and down timber, as over the
smoothly undulating prairies of the open country. Moreover this
trot does not seem to tire it at all, and it can keep up the gait for
an indefinite length of time. Its run, and it only runs when very
badly frightened, is an awkward clumsy gallop, utterly devoid of
grace, but somewhat swifter than its trot. Running however is
very exhausting to the animal, and an essential 1o success in pur-
suing the Elk on horseback is to get him to break histrot. If that
can be done and the country favors the horse, the hunter may
succeed in getting along side. The writer remembers on one occa-
7O GAME ANIMALS OF NORTH AMERICA.

sion to have followed on an unusually fast pony, a cow Elk whose
hind leg he had broken, for two miles before getting near enough
to shoot from the saddle and kill her. In this case every thing
favored the horse and he was put through at railroad speed. The
Elk was quite thin, and really seemed to run just about as fast
after receiving the wound as she did before.

The most successful method of capturing this royal game is by
stalking, though to succeed in approaching a band of Elk requires
no little care and skill, and is a good test of the sportsman’s capa-
bilities as a still hunter. On the Loup Fork and its branches, in
years gone by, the writer has enjoyed glorious sport with this game,
and it is no doubt still abundant in the section beyond the settle-
ments.

The Loup is a miniature Platte (of which it is a tributary), in
very many respects, and drains with its branches much of north-
western Nebraska. The upper Middle Loup, where much of our
hunting has been done, has the same broad channel and innumer-
able sand-bars. Its low banks and many islands are densely
covered with a thick, tall growth of coarse grass, weeds, and willow
brush. The country lying adjacent to this river, and its main
branch, the Dismal, is, to say the least, very hilly, being composed
of ranges of bluffs lying parallel to the river, and succeeding each
other at intervals of one or more miles as far as the eye can reach.
The intervening valleys are made up of sharp ridges and steep-
sided knolls, usually but a few yards apart. Deep cafions from
the river, wind out into the various ranges, furnishing timber of
several kinds, including cedar, elm, ash, box-elder, and many brush
thickets. The first grows in thick dark clumps along the steep
sides, and is intermixed with the latter varieties along the level
floor-like bottoms of the cafions. Such grasses as are indigenous
to the soil, among which is the famous buffalo or gramme grass
grow sparsely on the up-lands. The lowlands furnish a rank
growth of “ blue-stem,” or “blue-joint,” everywhere common in
the West. This country has long been a favorite feeding ground
of the Elk, and here for centuries it has been hunted by the Sioux
and Pawnees.

The outfit necessary for pleasant and successful hunting in this
country, should be, in addition to the usual covered wagon and
ELK, WAPITT. 71

camping utensils, an extra, steady-going saddle horse, accustomed
to the picket-rope, and not easily frightened by the use of fire-arms.
The clothing should be of heavy woolen material, and of a pale
yellowish-brown. The rifle used should be breech- loading, of small
bore, heavy charge and light express, or an explosive ball. Such
a rifle is found to have the main elements which make up a good
hunting gun. It gives a flat trajectory up to three hundred yards,
outside hunting range, and is deadly enough for the largest elk.
A powerful field glass will be found a most useful accessory.

Sportsmen who intend to bring back with them the heads of Elk
which they may kill, will do well to provide themselves with some
preservative to be applied to the skin, especially about the nose,
lips and eyes. Dry arsenic is as good as anything, and is besides
inexpensive, and easily carried and applied.

Few sportsmen, we imagine, realize that the days of the Elk
as well as of the buffalo are numbered, and that this beautiful and
magnificent game will soon live only in the annals of the past.
This state of things we owe to the presence in the wilder portions
of the country of the skin hunter. What is true of the Elk, is also
true to a greater or less extent of all our game animals.

Good hunting is at present scarcely to be found east of the
Missouri River. West of that stream, however, there is a wide
extent of territory, in many parts of which large game of all de-
scriptions may still be found in considerable abundance by those
who are sufficiently acquainted with the country to know where to
look for it. There remain on the plains and in the mountains
seven species of ruminants that are sufficiently abundant to make
it well worth while that the different State and Territorial Govern-
ments should attempt, before it is too late, to protect their game
by severe laws. Buffalo, elk, white-tailed deer, mule deer, antelope,
mountain sheep and moose are still to be found in considerable
numbers in various portions of the trans-Missouri States and Terri-
tories, but owing to a savage and indiscriminating warfare which
has been inaugurated against them within the past few years, their
numbers are decreasing more rapidly than ever before.

Most of us remember the good service done some years ago by
General Hazen, in bringing before the public the facts in regard
to the wanton destruction of the buffalo along the line of the
72 GAME ANIMALS OF NORTH AMERICA.

Smoky Hill Road in Kansas and Colorado. The discussion at
that time, resulted in the adoption of some measures to protect the
buffalo, though it is to be hoped that ere long still more stringent
laws may be enacted and enforced. But we have just now to
speak of a country distant from the railroads, out of the way of
the average tourist, and far from the haunts even of the gentleman
sportsman; we refer to the territory lying between the Missouri
River and the main divide of the Rocky Mountains, north of the
Union Pacific Railroad. It is in this region that the most abundant
supplies of wild game are to be found, and it is here that these
animais are slaughtered for their hides alone, by the professional
hunter.

Buffalo, elk, mule deer and antelope suffer most, and in the
order in which they are here mentioned. They are destroyed with-
out regard to season ; the hides only are taken and the meat left to
feed the wolves, or to rot when the spring opens. We know directly
of thirty-four cow Elk killed out of a band of forty, about the mid-
dle of April, 1875, by one man. The snows were deep, and the
butcher followed the poor animals until all but six were slain.
Each of these animals, if allowed to live, would have produced a
calf in a little over a month after the time of its slaughter. Here
then were sixty-eight elk killed by one man in a day and a half.
It is estimated from reliable information, that in the winter of
1874-5, during the deep snows, over three thousand elk were killed
for their hides in the valley of the Yellowstone, between the mouth
of Trail Creek and the Hot Springs. For the territories of
Wyoming and Montana, the destruction must have been twenty
times as great. Anelk skin is worth from $2.50 to $4, and to
secure that pitiful sum this beautiful life is taken, and from three
to five hundred pounds of the most delicate meat is left on the
ground.

A buffalo hide is worth $1.50 in September, $2 in October,
and $2.50 in November, and at those prices many men can be
found to do the work of butchery. For, as many of us know by
experience, a man without any pretensions to being a skilful hunt-
er can slaughter a dozen or two buffalo in a day wherever they are
numerous. Mule deer and antelope are more difficult to kill, but
in these days of breech-loading rifles, a fair shot can kill several out
ELK, WAPITI. 73

of a band before the rest can get out of reach. Itisa melancholy
sight to see as we have seen in a morning’s march, half 2 dozen
fresh doe antelope carcasses stripped of their skins, with the milk
still trickling from their udders; and it is sad to think that in ad-
Cition two little kids must starve for each of these.
‘ Mountain sheep and moose do not suffer to any considerable
‘extent from these skin hunters. They are too wary to be success-
fully pursued by these men, many of whom are vagabonds of the
most worthless description. There are some good hunters and
good fellows among them; men who would gladly relinquish the
business could it be wholly stopped, but who think and say that
if the game is to be exterminated, they must make the most of it
while it lasts. Taken as a whole, however, they are a miserable
set, and many of them do not kill more than enough to keep them-
selves in provisions and ammunition from month to month.

This skin hunting is quite a new thing in the territory, having
been initiated, as has been said, only three or four years ago. In
1872 or ‘73 a firm of Fort Benton traders, who have since achieved
an unenviable notoriety by selling arms and ammunition to the
hostile Sioux, conceived the idea of fitting out parties to kill game
for the hides, and the result was so successful that the trade in
wild hides has been increasing ever since.

What now can be done to remedy this state of affairs? Strin-
gent laws should be enacted, and not only enacted but enforced.
Game should not be killed except for food, and then only during
the autumn. In other words, no more game should be killed than
the hunter can use, and indiscriminate hunting at any and all sea-
sons should be prevented. But we know that legislative bodies
move slowly, and that knots in red tape are as difficult to untie as
that of Gordius of old. In the meantime much, very much, may
be done by the officers of the army who are stationed on the fron-
tier. The skin hunters who, of course, violate the laws of all the
territories which have game laws, may be warned off, arrested, and
so annoyed that they will in future sedulously avoid the vicinity of
posts where they have received such treatment. Action to this end
at Camp Baker, by Major H. Freeman, Seventh Infantry, has quite
driven the skin hunters out of the country. The little exertion en-
tailed by this course will be amply repaid by the increase of large

4
74 GAME ANIMALS OF NORTH AMERICA,

game in any section of the country where its wanton and unneces-
sary disturbance is prevented.

As things stand at present, the country where game most
abounds is that which is now, or has lately been, infested by hos-
tile Indians. The red fiends know enough to preserve their game
from excessive and continual persecution, and it is where the white
man dare not go that it is found most abundant and most unsus-
picious. The Indians are the only real preservers of game in the
West.

Will not every officer and every Western man to whom these
lines come think seriously on this matter, and endeavor to do his
part to put down terrible butchery ?
MULE DEER.

Cariacus macrotis.—Gray.

HE Mule Deer, or as it is commonly called in the West the

Black-tailed Deer, is found throughout the Missouri Region

and in the Rocky Mountains. The species is quite abundant in

many localities, and where it has not been too much hunted fur-
nishes good sport to the still hunter,

In size the Mule Deer considerably exceeds the common deer
of the Eastern States, the White-tail of the West, and as an article
of food its flesh is far superior to that of the latter species. The
color of the Mule Deer at certain seasons somewhat resembles that
of the Virginia Deer, but its horns are much larger, and do not bend
so far forward. Its tail is widely different, being for the greater
part of its length, thin and rat-like, naked below with a covering
of short white hair above, and a heavy brush of jet black hairs at
the tip. There is a triangular patch of white at the root of the tail
on the buttocks, which somewhat resembles the same mark on the
Elk and Bighorn.

The true C. #acrofzs is found throughout the Mountains nearly
or quite as far west as the main divide of the Sierra Nevadas. In
Southern California and Arizona, among the mountains of the Coast
Range, it is replaced by a recently described variety called in that
section, the Burro Deer, an appellation about equivalent to the name
of the Eastern variety, dzvre in Spanish signifying jackass. This
variety was described in a recent number of the Amerzcan Nat-
uralzst by the Hon. J. D. Caton. It was first met with by this gen-
tleman near Santa Barbara, Cal. While at this place Judge Caton
made an excursion into the Coast Range at Gaviota Pass, and se-
cured three bucks. These were evidently a variety of the Mule
Deer, and not of the Black-tailed, having all the distinctive peculi-
arities of the former. The variety differs from the type in being
76 GAME ANIMALS OF NORTH AMERICA.

smaller, of a more decidedly reddish shade, in having a lesser patch
of white on the buttocks and, most prominently, in the markings
of the tail. The tail of C. macrotzs is entirely white except a black
tuft at the tip ; in the variety a black to reddish-black line extends
along the upper side of the tail from the root to the tip. The
habitat is not as yet well determined, but Judge Caton thinks it
safe to say that this variety predominates in the Coast Range
south of San Francisco, which seems to be its northern limit.
The Sierras seem to define its eastern limit, east of which it is re-
placed by the true Mule Deer. It ascends to higher altitudes than
any other American deer, being frequently found above timber line.
Those living in the high mountains are the largest. They are not
uncommon, and further information, it is hoped, will soon be ob-
tained of the distribution and peculiarities of this novel variety. A
skin and skeleton are said to have been sent to the Smithsonian
Institute by Judge Caton.

The Mule Deer is always found in a roughcountry. The white
bluffs of the Bad Lands, the sparsely wooded buttes that rise here
and there above the level of the prairies of Dakota and Montana,
and the rockiest timbered ridges of the mountains, are its favorite
haunts: in fact it may be Said to be the deer of the plateaus and
mountains, as the Virginia Deer is of the forest and lowlands. Its
flesh, as has been remarked, is very palatable, and is superior to
that of any of its congeners except the elk. It is somewhat diffi-
cult of approach, as it is very vigilant and a rapid runner ; hence,
one must have a sure eye to kill many during a season. It is said
to be more abundant in the Blue Mountains, which traverse East-
ern Oregon, Washington Territory and Idaho, than in any other
portion of the continent, as it finds there plenty of food and shel-
ter.

The does of the Mule Deer are found throughout the foothills
the whole year, but the bucks retire in the spring to the highest
mountains, to “ grow their horns,”’ where they remain until about
the first of October. While on the mountain tops they collect
generally in small bands of four or five. They are generally found
near timber line, in the heat of the day, but in the morning and
evening they leave the shade of the forest and go further up the
mountains to the grassy tops, to feed on the young rich growth
MULE DEER. a9

which is nourished and fed by the water from the snow banks on
the mountain peaks. When thus feeding, it requires the utmost
skill of the hunter to approach them within shooting distance.
When one deer is killed in a band and is seen to fall by the others,
they often run in a body a short distance from the slain buck, and
halt, looking back at the point of danger, standing as still as a
statue, with their large ears brought forward to catch the slightest
sound. If nothing is seen, in a few moments they wheel about
and gallop away to the nearest timber, when they are soon lost to
view. When shot at in the forest, they retreat at a furious rate, often
falling over prostrate tree trunks, and crashing through thickets,
making the dead sticks crack and fly in every direction. They
sometimes charge directly toward the hunter. The scent of the
Mule Deer is very keen, and it is useless to hunt them to “lee-
ward,” as they will smell the approaching hunter, and bound
away long before he is near enough to sight them. They are re-
markably sharp sighted, and are constantly on the lookout for
danger, particularly the does when they have their young with
them.

When a band is resting, they lie down within a few feet of each
other, doubling their fore legs under the body, and in wet weather
they dry their coat by licking it with the tongue, in the same man-
ner asa dog. The bucks often return to their “beds,” sleeping
in the same place several nights in succession. The Mule Deer
rut during the latter part of October, and the does bring forth
their young, generally two, though sometimes only one, late in May
or early in June. The fawns are prettily spotted with white and
become quite strong and active a few days after their birth. When
a doe first has her fawns, she remains in the thick woods and
underbrush for several weeks, until her offspring are able to keep
up with her when running from danger.

The Mule Deer found on the plains, that is among the Bad
Lands in the vicinity of large streams, are to be looked for just
before sunset and after sunrise when they come down to the water’s
edge to drink. The hunter will find these hours of the day by far
the best for the pursuit of this animal.
BLACK TAILED DEER.

Cariacus Columbianus.

HE Black Tailed Deer is a Pacific Coast species which does
not, apparently, extend its range much east of the Sierra
Nevada Mountains. Its favorite haunts are among the dense
forests of redwoods which clothe the sides of these mountains in
Oregon and California. Further south it frequents the dense
thickets of chapparal and manzanita which cover the hillsides, and
through which it is quite impossible for a man to force his way.
To these thickets the deer betake themselves when wounded, and
in such cases are sure to be lost.

The Black-tail is a somewhat larger animal than the Virginia
Deer, but does not equal the Mule Deer in size. Its ears are pro-
portionally less than those of the last named species, it lacks
the white patch on its rump, and its tail is quite differently haired
and colored, resembling that of the White-tail as to its coat, and
being black above and white beneath. :

The flesh of this animal is very poor eating, and is not to be
compared with that of any other member of its family inhabiting
North America. The animal when hunted affords some sport to
the stalker, but unless the hunter is a dead shot he will lose a large
number of wounded animals, from the habit above mentioned of
taking refuge in the densest thickets. This species is also hunted
with hounds to some extent in Oregon and Washington, the hunt-
ers taking stands by the runways and waiting for the deer to pass,
just as is done in hunting the common deer of the East. But lit-
tle is definitely known of the habits of this species and a careful
biography of it is much to be desired. In some localities this deer
is called Brush Deer and in others Mountain Deer, both names
having reference to the character of the country it prefers.
VIRGINIA DEER.
Cariacus Virginianus.—Gray.

HE Virginia Deer, in one or another of its varieties, is univer-
sally distributed throughout the United States and an east
and west belt of country including the southern portions of the
British Possessions, but probably not extending north of the fifty-
fourth parallel of latitude. It is however a lover of the forests and
of dense cover, and on the high plains of the Missouri region is
confined chiefly to the wooded river bottoms. There are few bet-
ter deer ranges than the willowy banks and islands of the Platte,
the Running Water, the Yellowstone and the Missouri Rivers, and
deer started from the neighborhood of these streams take refuge
for a time on the wide plains above, but return to their cover as
soon as possible. The deer of the Rocky Mountains has been
dignified by the varietal name macrourus, but it seems to us some-
what doubtful whether it deserves to be separated from its more
eastern relative the true Vzrgznzanus. Thereis a very wide range
of size among the deer of some portions of the Mountains, and it
is not unusual for a hunter to kill in the same localities fine bucks
fully equalling in size the largest eastern deer, and others appa-
rently just as old which weigh but half as much.

The true Virginia Deer is an inhabitant of the United States
as far west as the plains, and occurs in more or less abundance in
every State from Maine to Texas. In Florida and in the other
Gulf States these animals following well-known laws of geographi-
cal variation are much smaller than farther to the northward. West
of the plains occurs, as has been said, the variety #acrourus, said
to be somewhat smaller and with a proportionately longer tail,
denominated in frontier parlance the White-tailed Deer, to distin-
guish it from its congeners the Mule Deer and the true Black-tail
of the Sierras, In Arizona a still smaller variety is met with which
80 GAME ANIMALS OF NORTH AMERICA.

is described by Drs, Coues and Yarrow in their recent important
work on the mammals observed by Lieut. Geo. M. Wheeler’s Sur-
vey, published in the Reports of the “ United States Geographical
Surveys West of the One Hundredth Meridian,” Vol. V., Zodlogy.
The largest bucks of this variety do not exceed seventy-pounds in
weight, and the does are of course still smaller, falling under sixty
pounds,

On the Pacific Coast, and especially on Whidby Island, are
found deer, white or mottled, which have been designated as Cer-
vus albus or C. virginianus, var. varzatus, but there can be little
doubt that these are simply cases of albinism, which is not very un-
common with this animal, and that the supposed species or varie-
ties have no zodlogical standing whatever.

The common deer has, for so widely distributed a species, but
few appellations. In the east it is generally called Red or Virginia
deer, in the west it is almost universally called the White-tail.
This species is so well known as scarcely to need any description.
Every one has seen it either alive or dead and many of our readers
have felt the proud delight of standing over their first buck. In
summer its coat is bright red, but on the approach of autumn the
color deepens, becoming more grey until in October the short close
hair is nearly of a mouse color, and the animal is then said to be in
“the blue.” The throat and under surface of the tail are always
white. The horns, which are not large but are usually very sym-
metrical, bend gracefully forward and the points are directed some-
what downward. These weapons are shed in February or March
according to the latitude which the wearer inhabits. ‘The ani
mal at once retires from the herd to hide itself in the thickets and
unfrequented places, venturing abroad for pasture only in the
night. The horns are yearly shed, to be renewed in ampler devel-
opment. In his first year—for it is the male alone that is fur-
nished with horns—he has only a kind of corneous excrescence,
short, and covered with a thin, hairy skin; in the second year
simple straight horns make their appearance. In the third they
have two antlers, in the fourth, three; in the fifth, four; in the
sixth, five; after which the antlers do not always increase in
number, though they do sometimes amount to six or seven on
either side ; but the stag’s age is then estimated rather from the
VIRGINIA DEER, 81

size and thickness of the branch that sustains them, than from
their numbers.” The doe is considerably smaller than the buck,
and may be said never to have horns. It is true that there are
half a dozen instances on record where a female deer has been
found to be provided with short horns, but this state of things is
quite abnormal.

Deer rut in October and November and the doe brings forth
her young, generally two but sometimes three, in May or June,
earlier at the South than at the North. These animals should there-
fore never be shot before October first, or at the earliest Septem-
ber fifteenth. The fawns are not fit to eat before that season, and
if the does are killed before that date, the young will have a hard
time of it during the autumn.

The food of the Red Deer varies according to the season. In
autumn they crop the buds of green shrubs, leaves of small bram-
bles, the tender parts of brakes or ferns, etc.; in winter, when snow
covers the ground, they eat the leaves of laurel, and the bark and
moss of trees; and in summer they find abundance of vegetation,
especially in the rank grass and lily pads that border the margin of
ponds and sloughs.

In districts where they have been much hunted, the deer feed
mostly at night, and during the day they retire to the hills to rest
and bask in the sun. In a level country they resort to thickets
near the water to rest during the day. The best time to still hunt
deer is just before sunset, when they come down from the hills to
drink. They always make straight for the water and quench their
thirst, and then commence feeding. Early in the morning you
will find them on the sunny side of a mountain or hill. Never
hunt below them—that is, at the foot of a hill—for if you do nine
deer out of ten will see or smell you, and bound away without your
knowing of their presence. Get on the top of a mountain and look
below for the deer, Always hunt to windward and move slowly
and do not try to cover too much ground, and you will be success-
ful if in a deer country.

The modes employed in capturing these animals are very nu-
merous, but those most practiced are hounding, z. ¢., running with
dogs either by a runway where the hunter stands, or into the water,
driving, floating or jacking, and still hunting. Of all these methods

4*
82 GAME ANIMALS OF NORTH AMERICA.

the last is the most difficult, though by far the noblest and most
sportsmanlike. Hounding requires that the sportsman should
have the assistance of a guide and dogs. The former must be
familiar with the runways of the deer, and the hounds must have
good noses and considerable endurance. The hunters are sta-
tioned at the various runways, and the dogs put on the track of
the game. The cry of the packs generally notifies the expectant
sportsman of the direction which the deer is taking, and if it is
running toward his stand he usually has time to prepare himself
for its coming. If the animal passes near him it requires but
little skill to bowl it over with his double barrel as it goes by. But
there are a great many right and left snap shots, and capital statu-
ettes on a runway who don’t know much more of the haunts and
habits of their game than they do of crochet work or knitting.
They have an intelligent bush-beater who knows the lay of the
coveys, a dog with a good nose and well broken, a splendid pair
of barrels, and a keen eye and quick trigger. The guide leads up
to the hunting ground, then the dog takes the van and attends to
business, and when his tail gets stiff and a bird rises, the gun drops
him neatly, the attendant marks him down, the dog retrieves, and
the gunner puts him exultingly to bag. Precisely the same ona
runway. The guide who has previously tracked the deer or knows
his habitat, puts out the hound, which runs the deer to water, or
to cover by secluded or well known by-paths, and the sure aim of
the practiced marksman brings the game to grass, Now, so far
as the requirements of this sportsman go, all is well; but his edu-
cation is anything but complete. He has actually begun at the
finishing school instead of the rudiments.

By the other method of hounding practiced chiefly in the Adi-
rondacks, the deer is driven until it takes to the water, and when
so far from the shore that it cannot return, the hunters row after
it, and having approached within a few feet, one of them blows
out its brains. When the deer are thin they sink immediately
after being shot, and 2¢ zs customary for the guide or one of the
hunters, of there be two tn the boat, to hold the struggling brute by
the tail while the other shoots zt, thus saving the carcass. Com-
ment is unnecessary.

Driving deer is a far different kind of sport. It is chiefly em-
VIRGINIA DEER. © 83

ployed in the South and Southwest, and requires not only a quick
hand with the shot gun, but a firm seat in the saddle. The dogs
having started the deer, the hunters follow them on horseback,
striving by their knowledge of the animal's habits, to gain as much
as possible on him by cutting off corners and following short cuts
and thus coming within shot of the fleeing animal. The weapon
used in this description of hunting, is the double barrel, loaded
with buckshot, and in the hands of an experienced hunter it is a
deadly weapon up to one hundred yards.

In jacking or floating the shooter sits in the bow of a canoe
just behind a lantern which throws a powerful light ahead, but is
shaded from the hunter so as not to interfere with his powers of
vision; the deer raising their heads, stare at the light as it ap-
proaches, and when the boat is near enough the hunter shoots.
This method seems to us unfair and unsportsmanlike; it gives the
deer no chance for their lives. Besides it sometimes proves an
expensive pleasure, for horses and cattle are not untrequently shot
instead of deer. The greatest objection to it, however, is, that as
it is only employed during the warm weather, does are killed which
have fawns too young to take care of themselves and which must
perish soon after the death of the mother. The advocates of this
mode of hunting say that in no way can more exciting sport be
had than by this same night hunting. Your guide must under-
stand paddling and the habits of the deer thoroughly, or it is use-
less to hunt, and it requires something more than an ordinary shot
to take a correct aim at a couple of shining specks twenty-five or
thirty yards off in the darkness. Add to this the fact, that the
favorite feeding grounds of deer, particularly in the Adirondacks,
are where the lily-pads are thickest, often making it next to impos-
sible to shoot, and to jack a deer becomes as difficult a feat as to
stalk one. The sensation of sailing over the dark waters of the
lake or river, every nerve strained to catch the faintest sound which
may signal the approach of the game, is delightful, and the intense
stillness which prevails over everything, broken now and then by
the sharp plunge of a muskrat, or the breaking of a twig in the
bush, by the step of some wild animal, or perhaps by strange
sounds, which even the trained ear of your guide cannot recognize,
all combine to make an experience as pleasant as it is novel. All
84. GAME ANIMALS OF NORTH AMERICA.

of which may be very true, but still we do not believe in jacking.
In Wisconsin deer are killed by a method somewhat similar to the
one last mentioned, and which is to be classed under the same
head.

Scaffold shooting is resorted to during the summer and fall
months on the Peninsula. The deer go north from Central and
Northern Wisconsin in the spring, and are then called “spring
poor.” Though the game law prohibits it, they commence float-
ing for deer in July, and also shooting from scaffolds. Scaffolds
are generally built from ten to thirty feet high, with a place on top
for the hunter to sit. The latter generally takes advantage of
small trees close together, and nails slats on them to serve as lad-
ders. They are placed along the deer trails, which here run nearly
due north and south, unless there should be streams or lakes near,
when they diverge to them. For the month of July they place salt
licks early in the spring, and shoot from scaffolds when they come
to the salt licks. From Escanaba to Negamm the Chicago and
Northwestern Railroad runs northwest and southeast. As these
deer trails are, in some places, close together, some are called main
trails, andsome branches. They generally go back from the rail-
road track fifty to one hundred rods, as it is nearly all woods along
the line, and run a deer fence, consisting of small and medium
trees, lapped over in one direction, with the interstices filled with
small branches, etc. As this fence is built parallel with the track,
it cuts across several deer trails in a diagonal direction, so when
deer are travelling south they reach the fence and turn east to find
an opening. ‘This takes the travellers over several trails, all down
the fence, to the lower or southeast end, where the scaffold is
placed. By cutting several small avenues through the brush, the
hunter can get a good range on the deer. They travel mostly from
daybreak to nine o’clock, few crossing from eleven o’clock to dark,
as they then stop to feed. As the road runs in the direction north-
east and southwest, the deer cross the track going south earlier on
the north end than on the south end. From Little Lake south to
Day’s River are good hunting points. They commence crossing
at Little Lake about August 5th; Helena Switch, about August
8th to 10th; McFarland’s Hill (half way between Helena and Cen-
treville,) about 15th to 18th, and so on.
VIRGINIA DEER. 85

There is good deer hunting along the line between Menomonee
and Escanaba, in August and September. Though the law does
not allow it, hunting is done in these months. As the deer leave
the peninsula so much earlier than they go south in Lower Michi-
gan, it is a manifest injustice to sportsmen to be prevented by the
law from shooting them when they are in their best condition,
particularly as deer are abundant in this section. There is a good
winter hunting spot cight to ten miles north of Day’s River, and on
Red Division (twelve miles north of Escanaba) on the Smith River.
On Bay de Nouquet the deer congregate in a section of heavy tim-
ber, and winter there. Splendid hunting may be had here in the
months of October, November, and December. Guides may
be had here at about two dollars per day. Guides make their
headquarters here, and this, without doubt, is the best point to fit
out with everything necessary for the trip, with exception of arms
and accoutrements.

Stalking is by all odds the most difficult method of capturing
the deer, and is one which calls into play all the sportsman’s best
qualities. An eminent Scotch writer and hunter, whose kindred
excel in deer-stalking, designates the qualities requisite for success
in this method of hunting, as follows :

“It may readily be supposed, that for the pursuit of deer-stalk-
ing a hardy frame and plenty of pluck are required. These qualities
are indispensably necessary; but in the other points he may vary
as much as the average of men are seen to do. The model deer-
stalker, however, should be of good proportions, moderately tall,
narrow-hipped to give speed, and with powerful loins and well-de-
veloped chest for giving endurance and wind. No amount of fat
should be allowed ; indeed, the deer-stalker ought to be in as good
training as the race-horse and greyhound. The foot should be sure,
and the eye keen and long-seeing, as the telescope cannot always
be applied to that important organ. He should be practiced in
running and stooping, in crawling on his belly, or on his back, by
means of his elbows or his heels; and should care neither for
business, cold, nor wet. The nerves should be good, for the ex-
citement produced by this sport is such as to render unsteady the
hand of all but those who are of the phlegmatic temperament.
‘Dutch courage’ is not desirable, but ‘Dutch phlegm’ will here
86 GAME ANIMALS OF NORTH AMERICA.

serve in good stead. The bodily powers are not the only ones
which should be well-developed, for the brain should be active and
energetic as the body itself. Great control over the feelings is ab-
solutely essential; for the giving way to exultation and hope, or
depression produced by the fear of losing a shot, will generally
cause that which is most to be feared. Above all, temperance
must be practiced—no shaking hand or flinching eye will serve the
purpose of the still-hunter ; nor will the parched throat or the per-
-spiring skin avail him when rushing up the hillside or through the
winding valley. In fact, strict training, in all its details, is required ;
and the more it is carried out, the more complete will be the suc-
cess of the practicer of its disagreeable duties. The dress of the
deer-stalker should be light and elastic, yet tolerably warm, The
head should be covered with a close-fitting cap or soft hat. The
color of all should be sober and natural; grey or a mixture of black
and white, or brown being as good as any, since it accords well
with the rocks and ground which are so common in the haunts of
the deer.”

The sportsman should never attempt stalking the Virginia Deer
unless he has nerves of steel, is strong, active, and an untiring walk-
er. Not only the greatest walking powers are required in stalking,
but it becomes a tiresome gait, as stooping and not unfrequently
crawling on the ground for a long distance is necessary in order to
reach a particular spot, unseen by the deer. Deer-stalking is sim-
ply man vs. brute; and requires all the strength, craft and coolness
of the man, before he can lay low the deer, who is possessed of a
much keener sense of smell, immense speed, excessive nervous or-
ganization, and is ever on the alert to circumvent its human foe.

The deer has by no means a quick sight, but his hearing and
nose are of the most refined order. The garments of sportsmen
should assimilate as nearly as possible with the autumn foliage of
the forest ; the boots to be worn should be a kind of moccasin with
a not too thick, but flexible sole without nails of any kind as nails
coming in contact with stones and rocks, alarm the animal before
the hunter can get within range. In walking lift the feet well off
the ground, and let the ball of the foot touch the earth first; step
high, and in fact imitate the Indian’s peculiar gait. In shooting
never aim at the head of the deer, unless you are a dead shot, as
VIRGINIA DEER. 87

the heart is as large as the brain, and if the ball misses the brain,
the deer continues on his way, apparently as well as ever, or even
if the ball has lodged in the face or muscles of the neck, you will
still have great difficulty in finding your deer unless accompanied
by a dog. This is where the deerhound is so useful, saving the
sportsman an all day’s tramp after a wounded animal. The Scotch
plan is to keep the dogs in leash until the deer is shot, and if only
wounded, to slip the dogs, and in a short time the deer will be
brought to bay. Many sportsmen and good ones too, take great
exception to still-hunting, and some are “down” on the man who
silently and carefully watches through the forest up wind for hours
and hours, ultimately coming across a deer track, following it up
again for hours and hours, finally creeps up to within 100 or 250
yards of the deer and kills it, and lastly by a short cut finds him-
self fifteen miles away from home or camp, with every likelihood
of having to sleep in the forest all night. Is not this sportsman,
by all the laws laid down, even by the most fastidious of men,
entitled to his game?

It cannot be doubted that sportsmen generally, and especially
novices in still-hunting, make the mistake of hunting too much.
Moving about through the woods has the effect to scare the game
away, and in consequence a man may often cover a large tract of
good ground and see absolutely nothing. The less “hunting’”’
the more game usually. A dozen squirrels can be shot from the
same stand oftentimes, if one will only be content to remain quiet.
In deer stalking, too, it is not necessary for a hunter to run the
animal to earth as he would a fox. Let him but stand still as soon
as he discovers the deer and perceives that he is discovered in turn,
and the deer, if not much frightened, will not run far. After she
breaks cover she will make a few wild leaps and then stop and
turn to ascertain the cause and character of the alarm. She will
not run far if not followed, and will remain in the vicinity until her
curiosity is satisfied. There is a natural inquisitiveness about
animals. They don’t become frightened as much through the
sense of sight as through the senses of smell or hearing—particu-
larly the first.

Naturalists are the most successful hunters, for in their search
for information it becomes necessary to lie perdu for hours, in
88 GAME ANIMALS OF NORTH AMERICA.

order to pursue their investigations of the habits of the animals
and birds they study. That which is to be most guarded against
is giving the animals your scent. It is all important to hunt up
wind.

The first light snow of the season gives the hunter a great ad-
vantage over the game, and in the case of caribou one has only to
dress in white clothes to approach within close range and ensure
his success.

When there is no snow on the ground you cannot follow the
deer’s tracks, but have to move quietly about over ground most
likely to be frequented by them, keeping a sharp lookout and
reviewing the ground at every step, for in the thick woods you are
liable to come on one at any time.

When the ground is covered with soft, light snow, six or eight
inches deep, during the month of November, or the fore part of
December, is the best time for “still hunting.” Then, as you enter
the woods, the first thing to be done is to find a deer’s track in
the snow. The next thing is to ascertain the length of time the
track has been made. This requires much experience. If the
track is just made, the snow in it, where it has been moved, will
look new and bright, but grows dull by age. A good test, when
it is cold weather, is to feel of the track with your finger, and if
just made, it will be soft; if not, quite hard. One of the best ways
to tell if it is a new track is by the manure, if the animal chances
to drop any, as it will soon freeze if cold; at any rate, it soon
changes its appearance. Having found a track and ascertained
that it is new enough, the next thing is to follow it cautiously,
travelling at the same rate as the deer travels. An experienced
hunter can tell about how fast he has to go to overtake the deer.
If the deer is feeding along as he goes and stops to browse at
every fallen tree-top, you must move slowly, looking in every place,
at every step, for he is not far distant. But, then, if the deer is
“travelling,” as it is called, one has to walk much faster and scan
the ground as best hecan. But the chance of getting a shot is
less than when one moves slower and looks the ground thoroughly
over. To still-hunt with success, to tell in what locality to look for
deer in different states of weather, to know when to follow fast
and when slow, to know where a deer will be most likely to stop
VIRGINIA DEER. 89

after he has once started, and to know how to get more than one
where there are two together, is only acquired by long practice
and judgment. But not more than one in fifty, with all the ex-
perience in the world will make a good still hunter. It requires
a special adaptation to it. It is very hard work, as it necessitates
much travelling, But, then, it is the rarest of sports, and is the
most exciting mode of hunting deer.

Minnesota has always been noted for the great numbers of
deer found within its limits, and during the late autumn enormous
numbers of these animals are killed in that State. When the
leaves are falling, the nights cool and the October moon is full, the
lordly bucks begin their nocturnal rambles over their favorite run-
ways and scraping grounds in search of the timid does that hide
away from them in the thickest “ popples ’ and willow swamps.
A little later in the season the deer will be found running in pairs,
and then the still-hunter has but to watch the scraping grounds
in openings in the forest, and the “jack ” oak ridges which are so
common in Minnesota and other States. Early in the autumn
the deer browse in poplar thickets on the outskirts of the prairie
or near the settler’s clearings, and at such times they lie very
close, often jumping from their beds within a few rods of the
hunter. As the season advances and the snow falls, the cold
north winds drive them into the heavy timber where they browse
on hazel bushes and red willow, (kinnikinic,) the inner barks of
which the Chippewa, Sioux, Dakota, Arickaree, and other north-
ern Indians smoke clear, and mixed with tobacco.

When the twigs of the trees become toughened by the cold,
the deer browse on species of the white pines, and visit lumbering
camps regularly at night to feed on the twigs of the fallen trees.
There are several species of fungi that the ‘‘ white tails ” are very
fond of, which grow on the white birch and sugar or rock maple.

The speed of the deer is considerable, and it is often spoken
of as one of the swiftest of animals. Few, indeed, realize that a
good horse in open country can overtake it without very much
exertion. Its powers of leaping are enormous, however, and there
is one instance at least on record, where a buck cleared a board
fence sixteen feet in height. Deer change their feeding grounds
somewhat at the different seasons, but cannot be said to migrate
go GAME ANIMALS OF NORTH AMERICA.

from one district to another. The changes of locality, however,
which are made by the different members of the deer family,
deserve more close attention than has yet been given them.

If we know that we have but one species of deer in North
America that is strictly migratory in its habit—that its members
entirely change their habitat with the changing seasons—we have
reason to believe that several, if not all of the other members of
this family, are more or less migratory in their habits, but to what
extent we may consider at present an undetermined question. We
think we may safely say that the Barren Ground Caribou is the
only American species which is strictly migratory. They occupy
the district of country between the Atlantic coast and the Rocky
Mountains north of the sixtieth parallel of latitude. They move
to the north in the spring, the females in advance, to the shores and
islands of the Arctic Ocean, where they drop their young, and in
the fall return south, and spend the winter in the lower latitudes,
individuals passing sometimes south of the sixtieth parallel.

The Woodland Caribou is undoubtedly migratory, but to a less
extent. Sir John Richardson informs us that contrary to the gen-
eral rule, they migrate north in winter to about the sixtieth degree
of north latitude, and south in the summer, yet we think it certain
that this migration is not usual as with their smaller congeners of
the north, for many individuals at least remain near their southern
limits throughout the winter. The great body of those occupying
the islands of Newfoundland spend their lives upon the island,
though they change their range at different seasons of the year,
while some cross the straits on the ice to Labrador.

If our moose or elk are to any considerable extent migratory,
the evidence to establish the fact is wanting, although it is well
established that the moose seek the elevated ridges in winter,
and the low marshy grounds and water courses in summer. We
lack the data which would enable us to speak with any assurance
of the habits of the mule and the Columbia black-tailed deer in
this regard.

The Virginia Deer originally occupied every portion of the
United States. It has been more carefully observed than any of
the other species. The weight of evidence is, we think, that these
deer are partially migratory, though their migrations are limited in
VIRGINIA DEER. gl

extent and in numbers. They do not entirely desert any district
which they occupy at any season of the year, yet in the northern
portion of their range numbers seem to change their abode from
the north to the south in September and October, for a few hun-
dred miles at least. We shall not stop now to detail the evidence
tending to this conclusion. We have found the testimony of all
our Indians to be in favor of a general migration of the deer. It
is a subject on which little has been written by naturalists or
sportsmen.
HARES.

Lepus témidus. var. arctzcus—Allen. Hadbztat, Arctic Amer-
ica, southward on the Atlantic coast to Labrador and New-
foundland ; in the interior to Fort Churchill, the northern shores
of Great Slave Lake and the valley of the upper Yukon.

Lepus campestris— Bachman. Afadztat, Plains of the Sas-
katchewan southward to middle Kansas, and from Fort Reily
westward to the Coast Range.

Lepus amertcanus.—Erxleben : with several varieties. Hadztat
of var. amertcanus, from the Arctic Barren Grounds, southward
to Nova Scotia, Lake Superior and Northern Canada, and in the
interior throughout the wooded parts of the Hudson’s Bay Terri-
tories, and Alaska ; of var. vzxg¢nzanus, Nova Scotia to Connecticut
on the coast, the Canadas, and northern parts of the northern tier
of States westward to Minnesota, and southward in the Allegha-
nies to Virginia; of var. Washzngtonzz, west of the Rocky Moun-
tains from the mouth of the Columbia northward into British
Columbia; of var. Bazrdzz, the higher parts of the Rocky Mountains
southward to New Mexico.

Lepus sylvaticus.—Bachman, with vars. Nuttallé and Auduboni.
Hfabitat, United States at large except Northern New England
and the more elevated parts of the Appalachian Highlands.

Lepus Trowbridget.—Baird. Hadztat, West of the Sierra
Nevadas from northern California to Cape St. Lucas.

Lepus callotés—Wagler. Habztat, United States between the
ninety-seventh meridian and the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and
from North Kansas and the Great Salt Lake Basin southward into
Mexico.

Lepus californicus.—Gray. Habdtat, California west of the
Sierra Nevada range, south to Cape St. Lucas, Lower California.

Lepus palustris—Bachman. Haddtat, South Atlantic and
Gulf States,
HARES. 93

Lepus aguat7cus.—Bachman. AHadbztat, Gulf States south
through the lowlands of Mexico to Central America.

The above list of the Hares of North America found north of the
southern boundary of the United States, is drawn from Mr. J. A.
Allen’s recently published study of the genus, and includes all that
the sportsman will be likely to meet with.

Hares are grey, or brown, but their specific distinctions are so
slightly marked, that it requires the eye of a practiced naturalist
to distinguish between two nearly allied species. For this reason
no detailed description is given of the different species and varie-
ties above mentioned. Of all those of which we have spoken, but
three, to be mentioned hereafter, turn white in winter.

Among all the numerous representatives of the Leforda,
which are found in every section of our country, we have no true
rabbit. Hares are common in all parts of the United States and
the British Provinces, but they all differ in essential particulars
from the Rabbit proper, Lepus cunzculus of Europe. Briefly, some
of the distinctive traits are as follows, and may be classed roughly
under two heads :—first, anatomical differences, secondly, differ-
ence in habit. Of the first, itis unnecessary to speak at length,
for its truth is well known to such as have examined the structural
features of both. In habit, there is also a wide difference. Hares
do not live in burrows, as is the case with the rabbit, but lie in
a form, in bush, or thicket, a slight depression in the ground fre-
quently serving for a nest, or occasionally they select a hollow
stump or the under side of a detached ledge of rock as a domicile.
The young when they first make their appearance are covered with
hair, their eyes are open, and they are able almost immediately to
support themselves. On the other hand, the rabbit is born naked,

With closed eyes, and requires the constant attention of the mother
for some time.

The Hares are not so prolific as the Rabbits, the female bring-
ing forth but from three to five leverets at a litter, the Lepus cz-
niculus bearing from five to eight. Hares feed generally at night,
lying in their forms in some bush or copse, during the greater part
of the day. The Rabbit, on the contrary, generally remains en-
sconced in the warmest corner of the burrow during the dark hours.

Of the principal representatives of the genus in this country
94 GAME ANIMALS OF NORTH AMERICA.

may be mentioned the following, ZLefus sy/vatzcus, the ubiquitous
cotton tail found generally distributed throughout almost all sec-
tions of the United States. Z. amerzcanus, the common large
Hare of the east and north-east, which changes its coat in spring
and fall. Z. témzdus var. arcticus, the great northern Hare, LZ.
campestris, the “ Jack Rabbit”’ of the plains, Z. callofzs, the “ Jack
Rabbit of Texas and California, and two southern swamp species,
L. palustris and L. aguatzcus, Of these, the species which change
color on the approach of winter are ZL. amerdcanus, L. campestris,
and L. t2mddus var. arcticus. Pending the complete change from
the summer brown to the snowy white coat of winter, the animal
presents a very singular mottled appearance.

Hares are becoming a very important article of commerce, and
during the winter season tons of them are daily shipped to our
principal markets from all quarters. They are sold at cheap rates,
and are frequently peddled around the streets by the cart load at
astonishingly low figures.

The methods of pursuit and capture of these animals are very
numerous, but of the most common and successful, three may be
mentioned ; viz.: trailing in the snow with dogs, hounding, and
coursing. To trail hares in the winter, one must have dogs with
fair noses, and a light fall of from two to four inches of snow must
have been deposited the night previous to an early morning start.
Two or more hunters start out equipped thus with dogs and guns.
Thickets of elder and blackberry are sought where the game is
known to lie. A hunter skirts each border of a patch and the
dogs are sent in. As soon as the hares are started, the dogs fol-
low the trail and drive them from cover, and on emerging from the
brush they give the gunner the best of chances. We have known
of forty hares having been killed in following in this manner, a mile
of hedge. Where the ground is rocky, they will try to hide by run-
ning into any hole or crevice which may offer an asylum.

Hounding hares is generally carried on in much the same man-
ner as deer driving. The hunters are stationed at various points
on the paths, for hares, like deer and foxes, follow regular beaten
tracks. The hounds start the game from belts of pine, cedar or
hemlock. Each hunter waits for the animals to pass his station,
and in case he is in a lucky place the shot is fired as bunny goes
HARES. 95

by at fullrun. He is bagged and the position taken again. It
might be added ex fassant that this ability to tumble a hare at full
speed with the shot-gun is no mean accomplishment. Bags of
twenty and thirty are sometimes made in this way in the course of
a morning.

Of trapping and snaring there are so many methods and appli-
ances that it is unnecessary to attempt a detailed description of these
various engines of destruction. They are principally employed by
pot-hunters, and many make it their sole business during the win-
ter months. Coursing hares is carried on to some extent in the
West by garrison officers who are the owners of grey or deer-
hounds. .The animal pursued is the “Jack Rabbit,’ whose dis-
proportionally great ear-development has earned him this title, Jack
being jackass in brief. The topographical lay of the land is highly
favorable to this sport, but the legs of the hare frequently discom-
fit both horse and hound.

The two Southern varieties of the hare tribe Z. aguatzcus and
L. palusirzs, are hunted a good deal by the darkies, but every man
has his way of catching the “ varmint,” and owing to their habits
they are not systematically pursued. Of the Great Arctic Hare
not much is known. It inhabits the white wastes and snowy soli-
tudes of the far North. Its companions are the snowy owl, the
Caribou, and the Musk Ox. Unlike the prairie marmot and bur-
rowing owl, however, who are fast friends, the rodent of the North
and the great white owl are not congenial comrades. In short the
bird loves the beast too fondly, and her caresses are generally car-
ried to such an extent that within an hour after the commencement
of one of their little seaces, bunny finds himself in a semi-digested
state in the membranous stomach of WVyctea nzvea.
SQUIRRELS.

Sciurus vulpinus.—Gmelin. The Southern Fox Squirrel.
Sciurus cinereus.—Linn. The Cat Squirrel.

Sciurus ludovicianus.—Custis. The Western Fox Squirrel.
Sciurus carolinensis.—Gmelin, The Grey or Black Squirrel.

HE Southern Fox Squirrel inhabits the Southern States from

North Carolina to Texas. It_is the largest and finest of

our North American Squirrels. The length of the head and body

is twelve inches, and that of the tail fifteen. Its color is oftenest

grey above and white below, but it is also found of all shades of

fulvous, and is sometimes a deep shining black. Its ears and nose
are always white.

The Cat Squirrel is found in New Jersey and Virginia, and west
to the Alleghanies. Itis about the length of the preceding species,
but is more heavily built, and has a somewhat shorter tail. In
color too, it resembles the Southern Fox Squirrel, but its ears and
nose are never white.

The Western Fox Squirrel occurs in the Mississippi Valley.
It is about twelve inches long, with a tail of about the same length.
Its color is rusty grey above and bright ferruginous below. Ears
and nose never white.

The Grey or Black Squirrel is found throughout the wooded
portion of the United States east of the Missouri River. It is
about ten inches long to the root of the tail, which number ex-
ceeds by about an inch the length of the head and body. The
usual color is pale grey above, and white or yellowish white
beneath, but the individuals of the species grade from this color
through all the stages to jet black.

The above mentioned varieties of the Squirrel tribe are the
only ones which are followed for the bag or pot. The Fox and
Cat Squirrel are never met with in the Eastern States, but are the
common species of the Mississippi bottom lands, and the southern
SQUIRRELS. 97

sections of the country. Grey and black squirrels are often found
associating together. They are in every respect alike, in the anat-
omy of their bodies, habits, and in every detail excepting the color,
and by many sportsmen they are regarded as distinct species.
Naturalists, however, at present agree that the two are identical,
and that the black form is merely due to melanism, an anomaly
not uncommon among mammals.

Squirrels feed in the early morning just after sunrise, and dis-
appear soon after eight or nine o’clock, retreating to their holes
or nests, there to remain during the midday hours. They appear
again in the late afternoon to feed, and may be heard and seen
playing and chattering together till twilight. They are very shy
and are not easily approached, but one may seat himself in full
view, and if he remains without motion, the squirrels will reappear,
and take little notice of the intruder; at the slightest movement,
however, they are off. This fact is taken advantage of by the
sportsman, and be he at all familiar with the runways of the squirrels
at any particular locality, he may sit by the path and shoot a goodly
number. We have known of eighteen, both grey and black, hav-
ing been secured at the entrance to a cornfield by two individuals
in this way during the first hours of morning. Grey and black
squirrels generally breed twice during the spring and summer.
They have several young at a litter. The young mature in Au-
gust and September, and the season for shooting is fall and winter,
although a great many are killed during August when young and
very tender.

The migrations of Squirrels have never been satisfactorily ex-
plained. What instinct brings together such immense droves of
these animals from all parts of the country, and causes them to
move with solid phalanx to distant localities, overcoming all
opposing obstacles? A few years since, there was witnessed a
wonderful sight by the inhabitants of Pike County, Pennsylvania.
An immense army of Grey Squirrels arrived at the banks of the
Delaware River late one night, and commenced its passage by
swimming the following morning. The whole population turned
out, and boys and men, equipped with large grain sacks and clubs,
killed them by thousands. They kept coming in a continuous
stream throughout the morning, and passed on to the woods

5
98 GAME ANIMALS OF NORTH AMERICA.

beyond. Nothing could deflect them from their course, and they
were evidently bound for a fixed point. A similar instance occurred
not long ago in the west, where a vast assemblage crossed the
Mississippi and were killed in great numbers in the back yards of
the village houses. Of course, the first and most obvious explana-
tion is, that these migrations are caused by scarcity of food, but
it is probable that this is not the only motive which induces them
to undertake such extensive journeys.

As with the pursuit of Hares, there are numberless devices
for accomplishing the capture of squirrels. Sportsmen who are
fond of this department of La venerze, use either rifle or shot-gun,
as their skill in handling one or the other may warrant, but the
important factor in this animal pursuit is the small cur-dog trained
for the purpose. He will run ahead through bush and wood, tree
a squirrel, and after barking sharply, wait for the master to put
in an appearance. A squirrel thus treed will run up the trunk a
short distance, and curling himself down on a limb, will watch his
canine pursuer, unmindful of the approach of the death dealing
biped. When the squirrels are quite young and inexperienced, a
good bag can sometimes be made without a dog. Seat yourself
near the point where the woods skirt the cornfield or wheat stub-
ble in the earliest morning—or perhaps among the beech trees,
where at this season the mast is tender and succulent, and the
animals will give you plenty of chances. Still they are not very
generally hunted till the later months. When treed by the hunter
they are very skilful in secreting themselves from view, and the
grey species particularly, being so near in color to the bark of
many of our forest trees, is exceedingly difficult to detect, and both
he and his black brother are always careful to keep the tree trunk
between themselves and the intruder. A dog’s presence, how-
ever, seems utterly to upset all calculations of concealment, and
they will sit on a limb and not attempt to hide, knowing the ina-
bility of the cur to do them harm. The cruel method of smoking
out, is often made use of in squirrel hunting by the farmers’ sons
in winter time, when the animals are snugly curled up in their
nests. A squirrel tree is selected which has two or three holes
above, and is partially hollow to the foot. An axe soon makes an
opening below, into which straw, leaves, and grass or green twigs
SQUIRRELS. 99

are introduced. This is then fired, and the hollow trunk acting
as a chimney, creates a draft and the smoke is soon seen curling
lazily from every hole and crevice. The poor inmates, some-
times to the number of six or eight, endure the torture as long as
possible, and are finally forced, singed and smoking, to seek safety
in flight from their wood-locked home. The yelling demons be-
low, armed with guns, sticks, clubs, and all manner of destructive
implements, soon finish the half roasted creatures, who are so
confused on reaching the open air, that they do little more than
drop tothe earth, Sometimes they remain so long in the tree,
that their claws are burned off and being unable to hold to any
thing, they fall helpless to the ground, and the horde of savages
pounce upon the unfortunates. The charge of shot from the old
Queen Ann, or flintlock musket, is saved this time for the next
victim, who may not be quite so much cooked and helpless.
OPOSSUM.

Didelphys virginiana. Shaw.

HE Opossum is the only member of its order, the Marsu-

pialia, which inhabits North America. It is confined to the
southern portion, its range not reaching much north of the Ohio
River on the west or New Jersey on the east. It is probably never
found east of the Hudson River. Other species of the genus in-
habit South and Central America, and one, doubtfully distinct from
that of the Southern States, occurs in California and Arizona.

This animal is about twenty inches long to the root of the tail,
which appendage is fifteen inches in length. The color is pale
greyish, the hair being nearly white with brown tips. The tail is
nearly naked and is prehensile; and the general aspect of the
creature is rat-like.

It is with a certain feeling of sadness that we chronicle the
dying out, one by one, of old customs and habits. Each year old
usages give place to new, and the change certainly in very many
cases is not for the better.

The Opossum can hardly be classed among the game animals
of America, yet its pursuit in the South in old plantation days used
to afford the staple amusement for the dusky toilers of the cotton
States. It was the custom in ante-del/um times, as often as the re-
volving year brought round the late fall days with their ripened
fruit and golden grain, for the dark population of the plantation,
occasionally accompanied by young “massa,” to have a grand
"Possum hunt @ Za mode. This custom, through desuetude and
change of circumstances, has been well-nigh consigned to oblivion,
and we cannot but regret its death. The opossum is not often
found north of Maryland and Virginia, but is rather abundant
south of these States.

Its food, upon which it becomes fat and toothsome to the dusky
OPOSSUM. Iol

palate, is persimmons and wild grapes, together with the various
berries and fruits that abound in the Southern States. After the
first hoar frost has whitened the hills the ‘possum is most eagerly
sought for by Cesar, Pluto, and Mars. At night the darkies start
forth e” masse, armed to the teeth with every available weapon,
and accompanied by a number of nondescript dogs, generally well
trained for "Possum or Coon hunting. These dogs have some
hound blood in their composition, and understand the require-
ments of the occasion perfectly. Some ancient shade of Dis with
snowy hair is selected as leader, and he controls the dogs and
manipulates the horn. The favorite haunts of the “ varmint’’ are
familiar to the negroes, and the “meet” is generally held on the
borders of the swamp where persimmons abound, or, if the moon
shine too brightly for the game to venture far from cover, in the
darker vales where the luscious grapes run wild and plenty.

The dogs range far from the party, and the moment one of
them strikes the “trail ob an ole Possum” he gives the signal
note to the expectant party by a short yelp. This sets the sable
hunters wild with excitement; they listen for the second sound,
sure to come, which will betoken that the varmint is treed. They
are not long kept in suspense, for faint away down in the valley
comes the joyful bay, and at the signal the whole party stampede,
spite of all “ Ole Uncle Cesar’s’”’ attempts to restrain them, and
rush pellmell through bush and brake in the direction of the
sound. They arrive panting and. breathless from the wild race,
in twos and threes, and are soon all assembled at the foot of a
small sapling, in the branches of which the Possum has taken
temporary refuge from his pursuers.

Soon a nimble young buck shins the tree, and the marsupial
is shaken off after some difficulty, for he clings with the utmost
tenacity to the limb, using the tail not the least in this battle for
freedom. The anxious dogs below await his fall, and his death is
compassed in less time than it takes to tell it. This is the only
method employed in the capture of the Opossum, and this is
rapidly becoming traditional,
GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

WILD TURKEY,

Meleagris gallopavo.—Linn,

HE Wild Turkey is by many regarded as the finest game bird
on this continent. Large, with burnished plumage, spurred
and bearded, he is a magnificent fowl. The flesh is tender and
juicy, and as gamey in flavor as a partridge. His endless variety
of food makes it always procurable, and in season he is never found
thin in flesh. To hunt him successfully in regions where he is much
sought after and shot at, requires the utmost skill and tact on the
part of the hunter, and an intimate knowledge of all the habits of
the bird. Exceedingly shy, with a keen eye, an acute sense of
hearing, a quick flight and a fleet foot, he is extremely hard to get
within range of. After many hours spent in calling or stalking him,
just at the moment you think he is safe for a “ bag,” a slight move-
ment or exposure of part of the body of the hunter, the breaking
of a dry twig or the cocking of your gun, is sufficient to alarm him,
and he is off instantly.

In the spring when they “ pair off,’”’ is perhaps the most favora-
ble season for hunting them. Many are often killed in the autumn
before they are fully grown, when they become comparatively an
easy prey to the hunter, who coolly knocks them off from the trees
in which they will alight when frightened. They are occasionally
hunted by parties who, obtaining sight of a flock, watch them care-
fully so as not to disturb or frighten them until they go to roost,
and deliberately pick them off; but this hardly seems to be sport.
The necessary equipments for stalking are a good gun, a turkey
call, clothing as near the color of dead leaves as possible, and
some knowledge of the habits of the game.
104 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

Time was when this most delicious, as it is the largest, of all
our gallinaceous game, might have been taken in almost any State
east of the Rocky Mountains ; but now, the would-be Wild Turkey
hunter must seek his game in the Southern and Western portions
of our Union. In the Southern States, especially Florida, any one,
even the veriest pot-hunter, may secure his bird provided he has
money enough. The sudden appearance of a flock of Wild Tur-
keys upon the banks of the St. Johns, as the steamer rounds some
wooded point, is not of uncommon occurrence.

Their relative abundance in any particular locality depends upon
the supply of their favorite mast—nuts, acorns, etc., and the seed of
the palmetto, wherever found. Their presence is indicated to the
experienced hunter by their “scratching places,” and he can tell
by the freshness of these, and the character of the surrounding
forest, where to look for them. In October, the males have in a
great measure recovered their strength and plumpness, the females
their good condition, and the young are able to take care of them-
selves, and, withal, are tender and juicy. Then according to Au-
dubon, the males and females hunt in separate parties. At this
time the gobblers may be enticed within shot by the hunter lying
concealed and imitating the clucking sound of the hen. Of the
various methods employed, probably this is the most successful,
though even this may be better used in spring. Old hunters are
adepts in the art of calling, and their peculiar inimitable call is
something the gobbler is hardly proof against, provided the hunter
lies close. Sometimes, however, he will answer the call withéut
putting in an appearance, thus depriving the worthy hunter of his
meal. The best call, by the way, is made from the wing-bone of
the turkey itself; though tolerably good ones may be obtained
from dealers in sporting goods.

The old style of trapping the bird in pens, is of course, out of
the question, except to residents in a good turkey country.

Shooting by moonlight, also, is only to be indulged in by the
occupants of turkey-haunted sections ; though those favored be-
ings whose lives are cast in such places, may depopulate an entire
neighborhood in a short time.

Probably the most sportsman-like method of procedure would
be to hunt with dogs, though, even then, the sport savors of pot-
WILD TURKEY. 105

hunting, as it is rarely a wing shot can be procured, for the turkey
soon takes to tree, and must be sought out, like the ruffed grouse
when in similar position. Like the grouse, too, it remains per-
fectly immovable, and is overlooked.

It is in early spring, and early in the morning, when the gob-
blers are saluting each other from the different tree-tops, that a
good hunter may expect sport. Then his success depends upon
his skill in threading the tangled thicket without noise, and in
nearing the wary bird unperceived. If he wishes to bring that bird
to bay, he must move with the rapidity of a deer, when necessary,
and at times stand motionless as a stump; for there is no more
suspicious bird than an old gobbler that knows that he is inform-
ing a whole forest of his presence. It may be unsportsmanlike ;
it may be pot-hunting ; but there is a deal of satisfaction in seeing
a plump fifteen-pounder drop from his airy perch at the report-of
your gun—especially when you need his presence incamp. Frank
Forester says, “that, though he is always delighted to see a well
roasted turkey on the board, especially if well stuffed with truffles
and served up with well dressed bread sauce, he would not give
the least palatable mouthful of him—no, not his ungrilled gizzard
—to pot-hunt a thousand in such a style.’ But then he never
shot one. The weight of the hen turkey, full grown, should be
about ten pounds. Gobblers, from fifteen to twenty; though in-
stances are related of the capture of thirty-five pounders. Though
a full grown bird will carry away a heavy load in the body, a
charge of an ounce and a half of number two shot, backed by
three drachms of good powder, well placed in the neck or head,
will always prove effective. Even number eight shot have proved
too much for young males, though hunters generally prefer
buck-shot.

When full grown, the wild turkey averages probably twenty.
pounds in weight, and he not unfrequently is found weighing a
high as twenty-five or six,

The plumage is very dark, nearly black in many cases, and
glossy; the usual color is a bronze deepening into greenish black.
The hens are duller in color than the gobblers, !

A pair of turkeys raise from ten to twenty young in a season.
So wary and watchful are they that it is: seldom an opportunity

5
106 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA,

can be-obtained in which to.observe them when in their domestic
relations. Their habits are therefore unknown to many. Severe
battles often take place between the gobblers to determine which
shall be the happy spouse of some hen that watches without
seeming interest the struggle going on for her sake. The vic-
torious hero, strutting proudly by the side of the well pleased hen,
becomes so much excited over his victory, that the red and white
of his head and neck assume a deep purple. With tail spread to
its utmost extent, and one wing sweeping the ground, an old gob-
bler presents a fine picture of self-satisfaction and pride.

A spot in the far off mountain is selected under a sheltering
log or jutting rock, the dried leaves and grasses of the last fall are
scooped out, and in the hollow thus formed the eggs are deposited.
These number from ten to twenty, and are most carefully guarded
by the mother. In leaving or approaching the nest, she always
makes use of a circuitous route, and the eggs when left alone are
always covered with dead leaves to protect them from the prying
eyes of prowling opossum or crow, who would make short work
of the clutch if the opportunity offered.

As soon as the young are hatched, a spot easier of access is
sought where the young birds may obtain food more readily.
Botif parents take great interest in the growth and progress of
their young family. The wild turkey is more hardy than its
domestic cousin, and the rains of spring and the early summer
months affect the health of the young brood much less than our
tame and domesticated varieties. A dry season is preferable for
their rapid development. At one month old the real trials and
dangers of the young family begin. At this age there is sufficient
good eating in the young turkey to make the chops of Reynard,
water with delight, and the numerous hawks are not insensible of
their delicious flavor.

The young birds are exposed to the greatest amount of danger
in the latter part of August and the first of September ; they are
then about the size of a common barn-yard hen, and are an easy
prey for the hunter. A flock of half grown turkeys startled by the
approach of any one, will take immediately to the nearest trees,
and can be shot one after another from their perches. This mode
of slaughtering the poor birds is poor fun and a disgrace to a true
WILD TURKEY. 107

sportsman. Five turkeys at that season will about equal one good
one killed during the months of November and December. The
two last named months are the ones in which the turkey ought to
be hunted. ‘

In the morning after the snow has covered the ground to the
depth of an inch or two, is the best time to start upon a hunt for
wild turkeys. They will then be actively searching for food, and
every movement and turn may then be traced in the snow. Great
caution is necessary in approaching them ; their sight is excellent,
and their hearing good. Many a fine gobbler is lost by the crack-
ing of a twig or the movements of the hunter. Every precaution
should be taken to see as far ahead as possible without being seen.
If provided with a turkey caller, it is well every now and then to
see if an answering “keouk ” cannot be obtained. If the hunter
be fortunate enough to get within shooting distance, let him take
deliberate aim at the head (if provided with a rifle). But the pos-
sessor of a shot gun should aim to cover the whole body. After
being mortally wounded, a turkey will frequently run or fly for
half a mile, but in a straight line. And very many turkeys are
thought to have escaped injury, when by a careful search they
might have been found dead a short distance from the place where
they received the fatal shot,

The “ call” which is used to entice the gobbler within shoot-
ing distance is made in a variety of different ways. The small
bone from the wing of the turkey makes a very good caller by put-
ting one end into the mouth and drawing the air through it, but
the best one can be obtained by sawing about two inches from
the end of a cow horn, then cut a piece of a shingle so as to fit
the small end of the piece sawed off, bore a hole in the middle of
the shingle, and insert a stick about the thickness of a ten penny
nail, allowing the end of the stick to come through the piece of
horn and to project a short distance beyond the open end. Put
the end of the stick thus projecting upon a piece of slate and the
sound produced thereby is the best imitation of the “ keouk” of a
turkey known.

October is, all things considered, the best month for “calling”
Wild Turkeys, although some sportsmen prefer the spring. Now,
as all the devices which man employs to allure and ensnare the
108 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

victims he pursues are but imitations of what nature has given
her creatures for specific purposes, it becomes us to inquire and
understand the character of these peculiarities and learn why they
are bestowed ; and by our investigations to determine the periods
when game isin season. For instance, the call of the turkey
may be either the warning note of the mother to her collective
brood, as in the autumn, or the invitation and response of the
wooing as in the spring. At the latter season, all birds are full
grown, and the yearlings are in their prime. In October the
flocks have not yet scattered; the young turkeys, though large
and strong of wing, are not fully grown, and the family circle re-
mainsunbroken. In both cases, it is apparent, the birds are noble
and legitimate game. A turkey-call is easily imitated by using
the hollow of the two hands placed together; but these devices
can only be learned by careful attention and practice. The early
morning is the best time of day for calling, as indeed it is for all
manner of hunting.

Besides the ordinary method of capturing the turkey, detailed
above, there are others only to be employed where the birds are
very abundant. In Texas and the “ Nation,” as the Indian Ter-
ritory is often called, they are shot at night from their roosts in
considerable numbers. They are also trapped in the following
way. A spot must first be found where the Turkeys are accus-
tomed to ‘‘use,’’ This will always be found to be an unfrequented
place and near some swampy or large forest growth, where they
may find high trees to resort to when alarmed by the approach of
huntsmen and to roost in at night. Having found such haunts and
feeding grounds, the baiter scatters peas, wheat, or corn about
in small quantities in different marked places, and occasionally
visits are made to the places to see if the bait has been eaten. If
so, and by turkeys, it is easily determined by the signs of scratch-
ing away of the leaves in all directions in search of more food. If
the bait has been eaten, re-bait at once. They will soon begin to
resort to such places for food. Having once gotten them to do so,
then make a pen of old weather-beaten fence rails, or something
of the sort, using nothing to make the pen of new or fresh cut
stuff, as they are very cautious and will not venture near it. Hav-
ing gotten the rails on the spot, dig a trench eighteen inches deep
WILD TURKEY. 109

and about as wide, and four or five feet long with a slope from
the outer end, deepening to the middle ; then lay across it the rail.
Lay one rail as the width of the pen and two rails as the length
(ordinary fence rails, ten to eleven feet long), building the height
of eight or ten rails, and covering it over with the same sort of
stuff, sufficiently close to prevent the turkeys from getting out
when once in. A few cross rails as weight to keep the top down
is always necessary, for when alarmed at the approach of the
trapper it will take a good amount of weight to keep them in
prison. Now, having completed your pen, take care to remove
and cover up every vestige of the freshness of your operation,
throwing in a light covering of dry leaves in the trench you have
made under the pen. Then scatter more of the same kind of
grain before baited with, under the fence and a larger quantity in
the pen. It may be some days before the turkeys will venture up
—but they will, if not often visited by the huntsmen. When they
have made themselves somewhat familiar with it, and get up
courage and get on the train of bait leading to the mouth of the
trench, with heads down eagerly picking up the grain, they will
thus go under the fence in quest of food, not raising up till inside.
Once inside (perhaps a half dozen), they begin to look up for a
way of escape, never for a moment looking down for a place to
get out. Not seeming to know how they got in, they walk round
and round, and frequently walk or hop over the trench through
which they entered. The trapper then has them at his will and
may take them at his pleasure. Another mode is to get them to
a bait. Build a blind of old brush and cover for the hunter to sit
in, entirely concealed from all quarters ; making a straight line of
bait, and all in a circumscribed distance from the blind, so as when
the turkeys come to feed all will be in a line, which they will do if
the bait is properly laid. When they are picking up the food he
watches his opportunity to get as many heads together as possible
while down, and using No. 6 shot he may get several at a shot.
Yet another mode of hunting is in use, viz: hunting with dogs
—pointers or setters are best, because more easily trained. The
dogs find and flush the turkeys. Taking to the high trees, keeping
an eye on the dogs while they are running around barking at the
turkeys up the tree, they being so much engaged in watching the
IIo GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

dogs, the huntsman can come up in shooting distance and kill
his game. Take it whatever way they may, a good fat Wild Tur-
key is no mean game to take home, whether after patient waiting
or a long tramp.

All of these methods, however, have so strong a flavor of pot-
hunting about them, that the sport of turkey killing, unless the
arm employed be the rifle, or the bird be shot on the wing, would
probably present but few charms to many of our readers. Still,
old turkey hunters, and some of the best and keenest sportsmen
of the South and Southwest come under this head, are wonder-
fully enthusiastic about this sport, and declare that there is no
game bird equal to the Wild Turkey.

It is from the bird of the extreme Southwest, New Mexico,
Arizona, and Mexico, that the domestic Turkey seems to be de-
scended. It differs from the Eastern variety in the coloration of
the tips of the upper and lower tail coverts and tail feathers, these
being white in the former while they are fulvous or chestnut red
in the latter, Dr. Coues has determined the two former to be
merely varieties of the same species, the Eastern race having been
called Meleagris gallopavo var. Americana, and the Western
Meleagris gallopavo var. gallopavo.
GROUSE.

ROUSE are beyond all question the finest game birds of

which we have any knowledge. They are large birds, of
delicate flavor, are swift flyers, often hard to hit, and above all
they give out a strong scent and usually lie well to a dog. The
true grouse are confined to the northern hemisphere, and attain
their greatest development in North America, no less than nine
well-marked species being natives of this country. This family
includes also, half a dozen species of Europe and Asia, the Cock
of the Woods (7etrao urogallus), the analogue of our Sage Grouse
(Centrocercus urophastanus), the Black Cock (TZetrao tetrzx), the
Siberian Pine Grouse (7. falccpennz's) the Bonasa betulina of
Europe and Asia, and several species of Ptarmigan closely related
to those of our own country. The Grouse may be distinguished
from any of their relatives by the more or less dense feathering of
the tarsus and the groove for the nostril, by the presence above
the eye of a strip of naked yellow or red skin, and by the pectinated
margins of the toes. In addition to these peculiarities several
species possess curious tufts of feathers on the side of the neck,
and some have under these feathers, air sacks which are capable
in the breeding season of great distention.

Canace canadensis.—Reich. Canada Grouse, Spruce Partridge.

The Canada Grouse is a northern species nowhere very abun-
dant. Its favorite haunts are the dense swamps of Canada, Northern
Maine and the Adirondack region, where grow the pine, spruce
and tamarack, on the buds and leaves of which it feeds. These
swamps are so wet and soft, and the mud in them is so deep that
it is often impossible for man to traverse them ; the Canada Grouse,
however, runs lightly over the green moss which carpets the ground,
and is here secure from the pursuit of any but winged enemies.
This species is therefore, scarcely or not at all hunted except during
the winter when the extreme cold of the regions which it inhabits
112 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

has frozen the ground, and has furnished a secure footing for the
sportsman. The Spruce Partridge is said to be very much more
gentle and unsuspicious than any of its congeners, and does not
seem to recognize man as an enemy.

The male of this species is about sixteen inches in length. The
prevailing color of the plumage is black or blackish, marked below
with numerous white bars and streaks, and waved above with dark
grey; a broad band of orange brown extends across the extremi-
ties of the tail feathers. The female is somewhat smaller, and her
plumage is waved with black, brown and buff. Variety frankliné
of the northern Rocky Mountains, differs from the Eastern bird in
lacking the broad terminal orange bar on the tail, and in having
the upper tail coverts which are black in caxadenszs spotted with
white. It is but little known,

Canace obscura.—Bon. Dusky Grouse, Blue Grouse, Grey Grouse, Mountain
Grouse, Pine Grouse, Fool-hen.

This species is certainly one of the finest birds of its family.
Its flesh is almost entirely white; as much so as the ruffed grouse
or the quail, and has a peculiar tenderness and flavor. The
breast is remarkably full, and the whole body compact and plump.
The feathering is close and thick, wings and tail short and square,
the latter a beautiful fan when spread, like that of the ruffed grouse.
Its food and habits are nearly the same as those of the latter bird,
consisting of insects and the berries and seeds of the pine cone,
the leaves of the pines, the buds of trees, etc. It has also the same
habits of budding in the trees during deep snows as the ruffed
grouse, which are so often shot while thus engaged on winter
moonlight nights in the orchards of New England. With the
blue grouse, however, this habit of remaining and feeding in the
trees is more decided and constant, and in winter they will fly from
tree to tree, and often be plenty in the pines when not a track can
be found in the snow. If a trail ends it is time to begin to look in
the trees, and look sharp, too, for it takes keen and practiced eyes
to find them in the thick branches of the pines. They donot squat
and lie closely on a limb like the quail, but stand up, perfectly still,
and would readily be mistaken for a knot or a broken limb. If
they move at all it is to take flight, and with a sudden whirr they
GROUSE. 113

are away, and must be looked for in another tree top. One may
sometimes shoot half a dozen times with a rifle at the same bird,
aiming at the head to avoid tearing the flesh, but there will be no
sign of motion unless hit. When there are several upon the same
tree, if the lowest is first shot the others are not disturbed, and may
be picked off one by one; but if an upper one falls past them they
are instantly off. In autumn, when nearly or quite grown, and the
pack are unbroken, if met with in open ground, they lie well before
a dog, and furnish excellent sport. When flushed, their flight is
swift and straight, and they are easily shot, but if timber is near
they are sure to make for it, and when in the trees a sitting shot
is the only sure one. Should they fly, a single glimpse through
the thick pine branches would probably give the only chance.

In common with the ruffed grouse, the packs have a habit of
scattering in winter, two or three, or even a single bird, being often
found with no others in the vicinity, their habit of feeding in the
trees tending to separate them. The size of the blue grouse is
nearly twice that of the ruffed grouse, a full grown bird weighing
from three to four pounds. Its plumage is very beautiful; indeed,
that of the male in winter and spring is perfectly magnificent. The
feathers are very thick, and upon the neck, back, and wings a lus-
trous blue black, glistening like satin. Beneath the color is a dusky
brown, but whitish under the throat, the legs fully clad, and the
feathering extending into the toes. It seems fitly dressed to en-
dure the rigor of its habitat, which is the Rocky Mountain and
Sierra Nevada country only, and in the pine forests from five to
ten thousand feet above the level of the sea. The latter height is
generally about the snow line in these regions, and at this latter
elevation is found the ptarmigan (Lagopus leucurus), rarely seen
because his home is rarely visited. Although the weather in the
mountains is often mild and pleasant in winter, and especially
healthy and agreeable from the dryness and purity of the atmos-
phere, yet the cold is sometimes intense.

The nests of the Dusky Grouse are upon the ground, usually
well hidden in a thicket, and the broods about one-third larger
than those of the sage hen, generally from twelve to fifteen in
number, The eggs are of a creamy white color, speckled all over
with dots of chocolate-brown.
114 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

The females with their young usually pass the night in the
creek-bottoms, and it is insuch places that they must be looked for
early in the morning and late in the afternoon. About nine or
ten o’clock A. M., they proceed on foot to the uplands, where they
remain until about two hours before sunset, when they come down
to the stream to drink, and remain all night. In returning from
the hills, they always fly. The young, when alarmed or uneasy,
have a fashion of erecting the feathers of the sides of the neck
just below the head, which, when seen at a little distance. gives
them a very odd appearance. The female, when the young birds
are nearly approached or captured, makes no attempt to draw
away the enemy by any of the artifices employed by Bonasa um-
bellus, but contents herself with wandering anxiously about at a
short distance, holding the tail quite erect, and clucking after the
manner of the domestic hen under similar circumstances, The
young when well grown are delicious eating, When a brood has
been scattered, the individuals which compose it lie well and fur-
nish fair shooting. Though swift fliers, they are easily killed in the
open. The birds will often allow one to approach within three or
four feet of them before rising, and they are beautiful objects as
they crouch, waiting for the sportsman to take one more step
toward them. The body flattened out on the ground, the head
and neck straight and pressed against the earth, the tail slightly
elevated, and all the while the bright brown eye watching for the
slightest sign that the bird’s presence is discovered, together
make up a most attractive picture.

The Blue Grouse is more or less abundant throughout the
Rocky Mountains, extending northward to Alaska, and south
nearly to Mexico. It is perhaps nowhere more numerous than in
Montana, in which territory one may sometimes see twenty broods
in a day’s travel,

The true Dusky Grouse has a broad terminal band of grey on
the tail, which variety Rzchardsonzz? lacks; the two forms are,
however, very similar, and grade into one another in the Central
Rocky Mountains. The length of the male of this species is about
twenty inches, the female being somewhat smaller, and being
varied above with black and tawny. Mr. Ridgway has recently
described a third variety from Alaska under the name variety
GROUSE. IIS

fuligénosus, This form is much darker than either of the pre-
ceding, but is otherwise similar.

It would be interesting to test the acclimatization of this beau-
tiful bird in the pine forests of the east. Though too wild and
shy to be domesticated, it is not more so than the ruffed grouse,
and if protected, there is no reason why it might not live and thrive
in any pine lands where the latter bird is found. Its present hab-
jtat is so vast, and much of it so inaccessible, that its numbers are
not likely to be materially lessened by sportsmen, and its natural
winged and four footed enemies will be as much or more exposed
to destruction by man, so that we may look upon it as_a per-
manency in its present home, and since the mountain passes are
becoming threaded with railroads, and miners, herders, and other
settlers are scattering through the country, it will be far easier
than it has been to secure and transport live birds or their eggs.
It is to be hoped the experiment will be tried.

Centrocercus urophasianus.—Swainson. Sage Grouse, Cock of the Plains.

This species is the largest of the North American Grouse, and
yields in size only to the giant Cock of the Woods, or Capercaclzce
of Europe. In the early season, that is in August and the first
half of September, it furnishes fine sport, for it lies well, and when
it rises flies so straight and steadily that it is very easily secured.

The male bird is over two and one-half feet long, and weighs
seven pounds or more; indeed specimens are sometimes said to
attain a weight of over ten pounds, The upper parts are varie-
gated with black, brown and yellowish grey ; the sides of the lower
part of the neck are whitish and are furnished with curious stiff
feathers, each of which terminates in along hair or bristle. The
lower part of the breast and the abdomen are black, The females
and young males of the first autumn are smaller and lack the stiff
neck-feathers of the old males. Such in brief are some of the
principal characteristics of this fine Grouse.

The Sage Grouse is an inhabitant of the high dry plains of the
interior, which are covered with a more or less thick growth of
the sage brush (Artemzsda tridentata). On the leaves and buds
of this shrub the Grouse chiefly feed, sometimes varying their diet
with grasshoppers and berries or the buds of the willow and
116 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

greasewood. This peculiar diet is said by some to affect the taste
of the meat, as the pine buds on which the Spruce Grouse feeds
do its flesh. We have never noticed the disagreeable flavor re-
ferred-:to, and it is probable that it will never be noticed if the fol-
lowing course be adopted with the game. Immediately after kill-
ing draw the bird, thoroughly removing the intestines and their
contents, but delaying all other dressing till camp is reached.
Treated in this manner it has no disagreeable taste. This is what
we should expect when it is recollected that in all animals, the
peculiarities of food pass off by secretions through the natural
chanriels. The milk and butter of a cow feeding upon wild garlic,
cabbage, rag-weed, etc., will be tainted with their peculiar quali-
ties but the flesh is not. So when the bird is dead the operations
of the body cease, absorption commences and the contents of the
intestines begin to affect the flesh. The power of life to resist
absorption and decay are wonderful. A live fish in salt water con-
tinues fresh. The rubbing of salt upon a live hog’s back would
hardly cure the meat, but when slaughtered it takes up the salt
through skin and flesh alike. But perhaps too much upon this
familiar principle, unless it serves to redeem this magnificent bird
from its unlucky reputation. The flesh is quite dark and rather
dry, but when the bird is about two-thirds grown, with the bitter
taste prevented in the manner described, it is not easy for a
hungry man to find fault with it, especially in camp.

During the summer and autumn, the Sage Grouse congregate
in packs of from ten to twenty, usually all members of the same
brood. At the approach of winter, however, the packs become
very large, several hundred being sometimes found together. At
this season they are very wild, and will often fly a mile at the first
flushing. They get up rather hurriedly, and when fairly started
fly with great swiftness and for a considerable distance. After
being put up once they prefer running or hiding to flying a second
time, and will lie very close. =

Ordinarily it lies well to a dog and where there is good cover
its conduct in that respect is better than that of the Pinnated
Grouse. But the peculiarities of its habitat do not give the dog a
fair chance to work, or to do himself or the game justice. The
artemisia grows only upon barren prairies from four to ten thou-
GROUSE. 117

sand feet above the level of the ocean, where the soil is composed
of dry sand, alkaline clay, granite rocks, etc., with little other vege-
tation but stunted shrubs, cactus, and an occasional clump of wild
grass; where rains rarely occur and there is little moisture in the
air or upon the ground. It is a tough, sprawling, crooked ever-
green, or rather evergrey shrub, from six inches to six feet high,
partly deciduous, in appearance much like the garden sage, and
when thick very difficult for man, horse or dog to get through. Still
where the plants are low and thick, and advantage can be taken
of the wind, one may have capital sport over pointers and setters.
For this work, however, the setter is preferable, as he suffers less
from the cold and from sore feet and scratched skin.

The Sage Cock is a good skulker and runner, and not easily
flushed if it can hide. It gets up heavily like the Wild Turkey,
laboring hard with the wing's until a proper height is reached and
speed is obtained, when it sails rapidly away, and if alarmed often
goes from half a mile to a mile before dropping. As it rises it ut-
ters a curious cackling note. In sections where it has not been
much persecuted, the Sage Grouse is painfully tame and unsuspi-
cious. The writer has seen a brood of a dozen well-grown birds
walk innocently along before two men who were trying to shoot their
heads off with rifle balls, until half their number had been killed.
At each report, the poor birds would stretch up their necks and
gaze about as if to find out whence the noise proceeded and would
then move on toward the hills. When, however, a ball touched one
of them without killing it, and it rose from the ground or fluttered,
the whole flock became alarmed and took to flight at once.

The broods pass the night on the uplands, coming down to the
water morning and evening, and retiring to the higher ground again
without much delay. The Sage Grouse are said to spend the night
upon the ground, roosting together much after the manner of the
common quail.

Pediacetes phasianellus var. columbianus.—Coues. Sharp-tailed Grouse, Sprig
Tail, Pin Tail, White Belly.

The range of the Sharp-taile'| Grouse is quite extended, for it is

found from Alaska on the north to Kansas on the south, and from

Michigan to the Sierra Nevadas and the Cascade Range. The
118 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

Arctic form of this species, the true P. phascanellus does not ex-
tend south of latitude 49 degrees, but is replaced in the United
States territory by the paler more southern bird, variety colum-
bcanus.

The prevailing colors of the Sharp-tailed Grouse, are a clear
dusky black above, and pure white beneath; upper parts varie-
gated, with transverse, rather zigzag spots of yellowish brown;
wing coverts with large rounded, and outer webs of primaries
with smaller and more quadrate, spots of pure white ; breast thickly
covered with broad V shaped, and the sides with less numerous,
sagittate marks of uniform clear slaty or dusky; legs densely
feathered; throat thickly spotted with dusky; the two middle
feathers of the tail one itich longer than the others.

In size, this species about equals the well known Prairie
Chicken or Pinnated Grouse, and altogether it is one of our finest
game birds. It lies splendidly to a dog, is strong and swift on the
wing, and is surpassed by none of our birds in the delicacy and
excellence of its flesh. ‘

In addition to its table qualities, this bird is hardy and a good
breeder, and we strongly advocate its introduction into localities
from whence the Pinnated Grouse has been exterminated. The
barrens and scrub oaks of Long Island, if the outrageous poaching
which prevails there could be stopped, would be admirably
adapted to the propagation of this bird; so also would certain
portions of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The lowest limit of its
habitat is at present set down as latitude 41°. The time is com-
ing when we shall have to breed our game as they do pheasants
in England, or conserve it as closely as are the grouse of the
British moors. The present indiscriminate netting and slaughter
will soon finish the Pinnated Grouse, but the Sharp-tails have as
yet escaped the pot-hunter, and it is to be hoped that before war
is declared upon them, sufficient numbers can be obtained for
breeding in localities where they can be protected.

In the breeding season this species is said to select some lonely
place, where a covey meets every morning and runs around ina
circle of about twenty feet in diameter, so that the ground is worn
quite bare. If any one approaches this circle, the birds squat
close to the ground, but if not alarmed by a too near approach,
GROUSE. 119

they soon stretch out their necks to survey the intruder, and re-
sume their circular course, some running to the right, and others
to the left, meeting and crossing each other. The males ruffle up
their feathers and circle around each other as if about to commence
a furious battle, while the females make up the audience, Blood,
however, is rarely or never spilled, and after a week or two of this
sort of amusement, the covey separates to commence preparations
for nesting. The nest of the Sharp-tailed Grouse is placed upon
the ground, and consists merely of a slight hollow, lined with a
few blades of grass. The eggs vary in number from ten to fifteen,
and are greenish white in color, with some dots of dark olive.

An interesting fact in the history of this species, is that it seems
to retire before the advance of the settlements, while its place is
taken by the Pinnated Grouse. Thus in Minnesota, where for-
merly the White-bellies abounded, and the Prairie Chicken was
unknown, the former are now becoming each year more scarce,
and the latter more abundant. The Pinnated Grouse seems to
follow the husbandman, and to be far less wild and untamable
than the Sharp-tailed.

It is said that in entering a wheat field, the Sharp-tailed Grouse
always flies, and thus cannot be trailed by a dog, but must be
winded, while the Prairie Chicken always goes to feed on foot, and
may thus be roaded up by a dog.

Cupidonia cupido—Baird. Pinnated Grouse. Prairie Chicken.

No member of the Grouse family is better known than the
Prairie Chicken of the Western States, and none is more numerous
or more eagerly sought for by sportsmen. This species-is from
eighteen to twenty inches in length. Its color is blackish brown,
varied above and below with tawny; the under tail coverts and
vent are white, and the throat buff. The sides of the neck are
ornamented with little wing-like tufts of feathers (whence the
name pinnated), and beneath these are two naked bare spaces,
which in the breeding season during the “ tooting”’ of the male
bird, are distended until they reach the size of an orange. The
“tooting”’ is the call of the male bird, and is only heard during
the early spring. At this season the Grouse are great fighters,
dashing at each other with more display than effect, and with little
120 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

orno damage done on either side. This bird is foundin open
plains on which are few trees, but sometimes takes to the scrub
oak forshelter. The nest is composed of grasses and leaves, built
on the ground under the shelter of a bush. The eggs are brown-
ish white, often somewhat spotted, and from ten to fifteen in num-
ber. The great increase of this description of bird is in a measure
owing to the immense wheat fields which have been sown during
the last ten years in the West, where they assemble in packs, and
are the gleaners of the harvest.

The “ prairie hen,” or Pinnated Grouse, is lawful game in most
of the States between the middle of August and the first of Janu-
ary, but the season closes in reality about the first of November,
because the birds by that time have become so wild, that but few
care to hunt them. But for the sportsman who does not mind
working for his game, and who delights in trying his own skill
and the excellence of his gun on a full-grown bird at long range,
there are occasionally days on which the sport is splendid. You get
up some morning and find it clear and frosty, but you know it will
be warm and still for three hours during the middle of the day;
so by sun up or a little later you are on some knoll on the edge of
the prairie watching ; you see Grouse flying everywhere, from one
alone to perhaps a thousand together ; they alight in the cornfields
mostly, though some come down on the prairie again. Look!
yonder come a dozen; they will fly right over you ; no, they swerve
fifty yards to one side and pass you like bullets, single out your
bird, hold four feet in front of him, and when he is barely oppo-
site, cut loose. Following the crack of the gun you hear a sharp
whack as the shot strike, and you have tumbled an old cock into
the grass. You have, of course, marked down as many of the
birds as possible ; let them feed an hour and then drive them up.
They will rise very wild and the only object in flushing them is to
see them down where they will take their noon-day siesta. Now
you may go to the house—or more likely to your wagon—rest and
get through with your lunch so as to be in the field by twelve
o’clock, sharp. You go direct to where you marked some birds
down in the morning. At about fifty yards ahead up spring the
birds with a terrible clucking and rushing of wings. Quick! no
time for parley now! cover and shoot as quickly as you cari!
GROUSE. 121

There, you have winged one and hurt another one that will fly out
of sight and die.

If you use a muzzle-loader you will get no more shots there,
but you can load a breech-loader before the few that still stick
will rise. When you get these up let the dog hunt the ground for
a hundred yards all around where they rose, and he will probably
get you a half dozen shots at a thirty yards rise ; and if your gun
is good and you are any sort of a shot, you will get every one.
Now go for that pack of five hundred you saw down on yonder
hill-side a mile away. You get half way there when your dog,
which is a hundred yards in advance, flushes one. Serves you
right for not keeping him in; they won’t lie to dogs now. You
go a little further, when up gets one right under your feet. Hold
on! you'll miss entirely or cut him to shreds if you don’t give him
at least twenty yards. At the crack of your gun there is a cloud
of feathers and the bird has disappeared ; but there goes another
crossing you forty yards ahead; aim two feet ahead and you will
bring him. The grass seems to be literally alive with them, and
they get up faster than you can take them, till you have bagged
seven or eight. You can go on till you get within three or four
hundred yards of “ that big pack,”’ when they go off in a body and
don’t give you a shot. It is now nearly two o'clock and the birds
are getting hungry again. However, if you are not too tired you
can find some more scattered ones that will add a few to your bag;
but after three o’clock it is useless to pursue them ; besides you
have now bagged ten or twelve brace and ought to be satisfied.

Iowa is probably the best shooting ground for the Pinnated
Grouse, within easy reach of the East. Here this game is abun-
dant over most of the western half of the State. From Des Moines
northwest, one may stop at Grand Junction or Gowrie, north of
there, or at almost any station west of Grand Junction. Going
west from Des Moines, stop at Stuart, and take stage line to Fon-
tanelle, twelve miles out, where there are excellent shooting con-
veniences. Twelve miles west from Stuart is Casey. Take stage
from there to Fontanelle, twenty-four miles. Almost every foot
of the way abounds with “ Chickens,” and at almost any station
west of Casey good sport can be had. In most cases it will be nec-
essary to go from four to ten miles from the railroad, as the birds are

6
122 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

kept ‘cleaned out ” near the towns, but in most places a mail route,
which carries passengers, extends to some country post-office. On
the route northwest from Des Moines good sport is to be had after
ducks about the numerous ponds, wading in the shallow water and
“jumping them up.” About August 2oth they begin to resort to
the stubble fields morning and evening, and make good shooting
there. Sand hill and white cranes are also there, but very shy,
The other route abounds in high, rolling ground, affording splen-
did views, and is absolutely free from malaria, and in almost every
hollow clear pure water is found. No game there but Grouse—
and rattlesnakes. There are hundreds of other places just as good
as those mentioned above. The best shooting is from August 15th
to September 15th. If you have a good dog by all means bring
him with you. A dog that has only hunted quail and cock will
frequently flush chickens, as they do not lie very well. A good
ruffed grouse dog is just the thing if he will only range far enough,
Breech-loaders should bring full supplies of everything except
powder and shot, say 1,000 rounds for a three weeks’ shoot.
Now, supposing you are snugly quartered at some farm house.
After an early breakfast you take thirty or forty cartridges and
start for a wheat stubble that is bordered by the open prairie.
Walk about thirty yards from the edge and keep your gun ready
for instant action. If the dog is not used to “ Chickens ”’ “ steady”
him as soon as he scents the game. The probability is that a
number of the birds have been running in all directions through
the stubble, and if the dog is a novice he gets confused, and will
put them up. A good chicken dog always stops at the first scent
and waits for the gunner to come up. If the birds are somewhat
scattered they will frequently get up gradually, and by the rapid
use of a breech-loader most of the pack, from six to twenty, may
be bagged. If they all get up at once, try to mark them down on
the open prairie, and when you see them down, be sure you mark
the spot by some bunch of weeds or other object ; for if you do not
the grass is all so near alike that you can never find the spot after
once taking your eyes off it. If there be a slough with grass in it
running through the stubble, you may be almost sure of a find
along its sides particularly in the evening. The birds always seem
to prefer the low ground ina field. By ten o’clock the birds have
GROUSE. 123

mostly filled their crops and gone to the grass and cornfields,
where they remain till three in the afternoon. During the middle
of the day they are hard to find, as they do not move about much.
At this time of day hunt in the grass along the edge of the stubble
not more than eighty rods from the edge, and along the hill-sides
and on windy days always on the leeward slope. Many may be
shot in the cornfields by keeping the dog well in and taking a snap
shot as the bird tops the tall corn. When alarge number go down
in the grass they run off in every direction, and make fine trailing
for the dog. They always try to alight on some spot out of sight
from where they rise. They generally fly over one rise of the
prairie, and stop two-thirds of the way up the next, or fly round one
point and stop on the next. After a little experience one can gen-
erally tell from the lay of the land where they stopped.

No one can have any idea what Grouse shooting is in North-
west Jowa without going there. The prairie is bright and beau-
tiful, and the breeze bracing. Although the thermometer often
shows 140° in the sun, yet on the knolls you always have a de-
licious breeze. In the Northern and Middle States the Pinnated
Grouse is nearly extinct. In 1850 there were a few on Long
Island and in New Jersey. On Jersey plains the last were killed.
The pot hunterfinished the sport and doomed the Grouse through
these regions by killing them before the law allows their being
killed. In Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois and Ohio there
are a few birds left, still, it is a hard day’s work for three guns to
bag forty head during the morning and evening, the middle of the
day being too warm for pleasure. In the cornfields of lowa and Min-
nesota hundreds of Grouse wil] rise in a pack during the months of
November and December; and in August, September and Octo-
ber, when you flush a brood they either go for a cornfield or the
tall grass near the water, and commence running in every direc-
tion. The Grouse is only fit for the table during the latter part of
“August, September, and October.

Old birds should not be shot if the sportsman can make a
choice, as they are tough and stringy, far inferior for culinary pur-
poses, to their juniors. As a general thing this Grouse selects a
dry situation, and shows no disposition to travel like the Ruffed
Grouse or Quail, very seldom drinking from a running stream, but
124 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

generally satisfied with a sip of the morning dew. For this reason
the sportsman will be forced to carry water in a barrel in the wagon
for the dogs. This Grouse, when flushed, rises with a whirring sound,
Their flight is regular and swift, frequently, in October, flying sev-
eral miles, then dropping down in the long grass. They fly less
rapidly than the Ruffed Grouse, but like them, make a cluck just
before starting. They resort to their feeding ground about day-
light, and retire by the cornfields or fresh plowed fields to dust
themselves, and come for their evening meal about four o’clock.
They roost within a few feet of one another all the year, seldom
roosting on trees, but generally taking an open field, and some-
times on the fences. In the early fall their flesh is light, but
after a few frosts the flesh becomes dark, and loses its delicate fla-
vor. Unlike the Ruffed Grouse, they can be domesticated, and will
pair and breed during imprisonment, and do not migrate like the
other varieties. The Grouse in the spring commences about April
to “ toot,” and can be heard nearly a mile.

In the Southwest and especially in Texas is found a paler and
somewhat smaller form of this species, which Mr. Ridgway has
called variety pallzdicenctus.

Bonasa umbellus.—Stephens. RuffedGrouse. Partridge of the East and North,
Pheasant of the South and Southwest.

The Ruffed Grouse is of all our game birds the most difficult
to kill, least domestic in its habits, and most particular as to the
haunts which it frequents. The range of this Grouse extends over
the whole breadth of our Continent, wherever there is wooded
country, northward as far as the fifty-sixth parallel, and southward
to Texas. Audubon says that there are portions of South Carolina
in which it never existed, and it is doubtful if it is found in the ex-
treme southeast at all. Its flesh is white and very tender, It is
said by some that their flesh is poisonous after they have eaten the,
leaves of the laurel (Kadmza latifolia) ; but Audubon appears to
doubt this. It is the only one of the genus that produces the
“drumming ”’ or thunder-like noise, in the localities where it ex-
ists. It is very shy, and takes wing at the slightest intrusion.
Should a sportsman ever be fortunate enough to see one strutting
and drumming, he would ever after remember the sight. It may
GROUSE, 125

be safely said that they are not only the proudest, but the hand-
somest game bird on this Continent.

Doubtless, in point of flavor and delicacy, the Ruffed Grouse may
be awarded the palm above all other birds of the gallinaceous tribe,
but on account of its extreme wariness and the almost impenetra-
ble nature of the grounds it frequents, its pursuit when no other
game is sought is accompanied by extreme labor and fatigue, re-
quiring likewise a thorough knowledge of its habits before even a
passable bag can be made.

The wide extent of country which the Ruffed Grouse, (or, as
they will call it, Pheasant, in Pennsylvania, and Partridge in New
England), inhabits, causes it to be well known in almost every
section of the United States, and there are few sportsmen who
have not toiled and been tantalized in its pursuit. Early in April
the cock grouse begins his wooing, and perched upon some fallen
log, commences his amatory drumming, calling to his side the un-
fortunate mate whose family duties he will soon refuse to share.
Unlike the quail, who assists his partner in hatching and rearing
her young, the Ruffed Grouse deserts his better half after she has
finished her nest and completed her laying, to seek the company
and enjoy the society of just such other lazy and selfish fellows
as himself; thus he leads a life of ease until his progeny have be-
come almost as large as the mother, when the packs of grass wid-
awers are broken up, and all mingle indiscriminately with the
broods of grown birds. By the middle of May the eggs are usa-
ally all deposited. For incubation the most retired situations are
chosen, such as an old stump, beneath an old log, or among
small bushes and very frequently in the angle of the worm fence
between the stakes. The hen lays from ten to fifteen eggs of a
dark yellowish color, often dotted with minute spots of bright red-
dish brown; they are about the size of a bantam’s egg. The nest
is oftentimes robbed by the fox and crow, and other enemies that
are always on the alert for a spring meal. If the eggs are de-
stroyed the hen again seeks the company of the cock; they build
a new nest and the hen lays about the same number of eggs. If
the eggs of ‘the first nest are hatched, she does not lay again until
the following spring.

The young birds leave their nest almost immediately, and will
126 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

keep with the hen during the day, seeking food ; if startled at any
time they hide under the leaves, or in the grass like the young
quail. The mother bird, during this time, is resorting to stratagem
to draw the intruder away from her brood. When the brood is
ten days old they have sufficient strength to fly from twenty to
thirty yards, and as soon as they drop hide instantly among the
dead leaves and grass, The hen is never assisted by the cock in
caring for her young. The cocks club together until the latter
part of August, when they all again join the hen and brood. In
the latter part of March and all through April and May, in the gul-
lies where the hemlocks and pines are the most dense, the cock
grouse can be found standing upon an old moss-grown log, drum-
ming. With this peculiar music he draws the female to his side.
While drumming, his form is erect, and his feathers appear to
stand upon end, grander and more delicate than the turkey cock.
His head is posed over the end of his wing, within four inches of
his tail. The tail is spread like an open fan, making a half-circle,
showing the many beautiful tints. His ruff, which is on each side
of his neck, is raised, showing the beautiful jet it contains. The
delicate curve of the wing lies close to the feet, almost hiding them.
See him now, as he whirls right and left, and struts upon his fa-
vorite log. In ten or fifteen minutes he closes the whole of his
feathers, and of a sudden he stretches himself, beats his wing in
the air close to his sides, after the manner of the dunghill cock, but
more clearly and with lightning rapidity ; these rapid strokes pro-
duce a sound resembling the rumbling of thunder in the distance.
One may often hear it six hundred yards, and in clear weather with
wind favorable it can be heard at a much greater distance. The
cock, if not disturbed, will every morning-drum upon the same log
during the breeding season; the proof is the excrement and fine
feathers that can be found at the spot. In the mating season they
frequently have fierce battles. The cock has generally from two
to six hens under his protection. In some parts of Ohio, Penn-
sylvania, Kentucky and Dakota is the best ruffed grouse shooting
in the States ; but this bird is found in almost every section of our
country. In many places near the banks of the Mississippi and
Missouri Rivers the shooting is very fair, and on the Columbia
Riveralso. All through Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia Ruffed
GROUSE. 127

Grouse were at one time very abundant. The Ruffed Grouse
derives its name from the jetty plumage upon its neck, on either
side a space being left destitute of feathers, but covered over
by an erectile ruff of elongated feathers, of which the upper are
silky, shining, and curved forward at the end, which is very broad
and rounded. His local appellations in the different States are—
in the Western, pheasant ; Eastern, partridge ; Middle, pheasant ;
and Southern, ruffed grouse. In many States no one would
know of what you were speaking, and in fact we have met many
sportsmen that did not recognize the Ruffed Grouse by name.
This species flies with great ease, and never hesitates about cross-
ing a river or valley; like nearly all the gallinaceous order, when
flushed it flies with a whirring noise, generally in a direct course
from one to three hundred yards. They often, however, get up
quite silently, and it is only when alarmed that the peculiar rush
and rattle of their wings is heard. Being a solitary bird naturally,
he is very seldom found in packs, but generally in pairs. The for-
est that is the most secluded and dense is his home. These birds
may often be seen at a very early hour—say at eight o’clock—busy-
ing themselves scratching and dusting in the same manner as the
barnyard fowls. They are very fond of buckwheat, corn, beans,
grapes, strawberries and blackberries, and they often wander half
a mile from the hemlocks for these delicacies. In the winter and
spring they feed upon the buds of apple trees. In the severe win-
ters they are driven to great extremes for food, and will eat chest-
nuts and acorns, and sometimes laurel. In the low spruce by the
side of a log or stump this bird generally roosts. He invariably
makes a long flight and then a short one, previous to settling for
the night. When the snow lies upon the ground he settles in the
lower limbs, or else in the topmost branches, where it is so thick
the hunter cannot see him, and if seen the tree would be so tall
that No. 8 would not disturb him. Many of the small hawks de-
stroy the young. The mink and weasel catch the old birds, while
the fox kills the young.

In winter, however, it is a rare thing for Reynard to make a
meal off a full-grown ruffed grouse. The Grouse seems incapable
of burying itself in the snow, while standing upon it, and invariably
does so by hurling itself into it from a height, and striking it at an
128 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

acute angle, so as to project itself about two feet horizontally and
eight or ten inches vertically from the point of entrance.

No matter how carefully one may approach their holes in the
snow, the Grouse will be off before he is near, even though the
fleecy snow gives forth no sound perceptible to human ears. In
the North, one of the most formidable enemies of this species is the
great horned owl, which, winging its way noiseless, and observant,
on moonlight nights or in the gloaming, snatches many a savory
meal from out of the trees and under the overhanging branches,

A good grouse dog is a rarity ; he should be thoroughly up to
his work, long accustomed to it, staunch, careful, and satisfied
with a point the instant he catches scent. The fast ranging, busy
youngster, no matter how fine he may be on other game, had bet-
ter be left at home, for he will certainly do more damage than good.

Allexperienced sportsmen know how seldom it is that we meet
with a good snipe dog. Those only are good which have been
raised and broken on that game, and thus it is with dogs to be
worked on the Ruffed Grouse. A dog, in order to understand
and work properly on this game, must be broken specially for the
purpose, and such dogs, instead of dashing over the ground with
a regular beat, at a high rate of speed, as soon as they enter the
cover will settle down to slow, cautious work, frequently using
their eyes to spy out the spots where the Grouse generally lie, and
then getting themselves quietly to leeward, will approach very
cautiously with their noses to the wind, stopping the instant they
get the faintest scent of the game; and then, as there is a perfect
urderstanding between the shooter and his dog, the former is
enabled to get in position to shoot in case the bird will not lie to
point, as is often the case. At the first rise, when the bird starts
before the sportsman can get within Shot, or it is missed, its
course should be marked with accuracy by the shooter. In
the East, the Ruffed Grouse are extremely wary, and it is a good
thing that they are so, for if they were not, they would only be
found in private collections and museums. It requires a great
deal of perseverance on the part of the sportsman to make a de-
cent bag. Sometimes when come upon suddenly, they squat and
lie close for the dog, but far more frequently they will not admit
of approach and make off at the first intimation of danger, run-
GROUSE. 129

ning and taking wing to some tree where they remain closely con-
cealed under the branches near the butt, until the sportsman has
passed. When the Ruffed Grouse is young, however, they lie
better, but at all times silence should be observed when the near
proximity of game is suspected, as it will more readily bear the
approach of the dog than the sound of the human voice, or the
noisy foatstep of the shooter. The most favorite resorts of the
Grouse are the sides of hills overgrown with hemlock and cedar,
with undergrowth of laurel. In level countries they frequent
swampy coverts and scrub oak patches, and if such places have a
briery bottom, they will lie all the better, as this impedes their
running.

When a Grouse is put up at the foot of a hill he will most
likely ascend it in his flight, and if not alighting on its side, can
generally be found directly over the summit, and wil] lie hetter
and give a closer shot than when first disturbed. One may usu-
ally have some success when he can find a swamp or thicket at
the base of a mountain to which the birds come in the morning
to feed, and posting yourself between the hill and their feeding
place, while a companion starts the Grouse, may obtain fair shots
as they pass near.

Fully two-thirds of the Ruffed Grouse we see in the markets
are either snared, trapped or killed by professionals, who tree
them by the aid of small dogs trained-for the purpose; and while
the poor bird is gazing at what he most probably takes for a fox
beneath him, the pot-hunter murders him as he sits.

In many localities we may now walk for hours through the
most attractive covers, where Grouse were once abundant, and
see nothing, hear nothing of the noble bird. The familiar drum-
ming, the sudden whirr and flash of wings as he passes swiftly
before us, and is lost in the leafy mazes of the glade, all gone;
nothing remains to tell that this splendid game was once a denizen
of the forest, save the broken brush fence with its deceptive open-
ing. One to whom forest nature is dear, cannot but be painfully
affected by such scenes. It should be made a felony to capture
with snares any of our game birds.

The Ruffed Grouse often takes refuge from the sportsman
amidst the thickest cripples, deepest gullies and densest foliage,

6*
130 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

where it is impossible to get at them, remaining perfectly still
until the danger is over. When the birds are scarce one must be
lively to bring them to bag. When started on a hill they fly for
its base, and then turn usually to the right or left very short, and
very few sportsmen understand their flight.

In the far West they lie much better in the early part of Sep-
tember, but in New England they lie best in December. The
flesh of this bird is tender and delicious, though much of its ex-
cellence depends upon the cooking. Of course, if the cook is not
scientific the delicacy is lost. You can make it tough and dry, or
juicy. If the nets and nooses, traps and pot-hunters were attended
to in the early season, this bird would be very soon abundant in
every State.

The human voice will often cause this species to rise at the
distance of one hundred yards. We have known a single word to
flush a brood. On their feeding grounds they act very like the
woodcock. When preparing for his flight, the bird generally
walks from six to ten feet, very erect and stately, with his tail
spread fan-like, and in an instant he is off with a whirr one
does not forget. Though generally difficult to approach, they will
sometimes lie very close, and then rise almost from under your
feet. Their flight is from one hundred and fifty to two hundred
and fifty yards. One very singular fact is, that you seldom find
the brood two days successively in the same neighborhood, It is
the most difficult of all the game birds to kill, often dropping dead
after an extended flight, and when wounded it is difficult to find,
hiding in holes and hollow tree trunks, and frequently baffling the
best retrievers and the patience of the most persevering sportsman.
None but those who have a steady nerve, quick eye, and good
judgment of distances, will ever be able to make a large bag.
This species is sometimes hunted with Cockers instead of setters,
and we believe with most satisfactory results,

What a pity it is that we have not distinctive popular names of
our native game birds. The Ruffed Grouse is called “ Partridge”
in New England and New York, and “ Pheasant ” in the Middle,
Western and Southern States. Our choice little Bob White, who,
in spite of all his enemies, will remain and increase as cultivation
widens, for he loves the field better than the forest, is called
GROUSE. 131

* Quail” in the northeast and “ Quail” and “ Partridge”’ indis-
criminately in other portions of the country; and yet each are
entirely different from the pheasant, partridge and quail of Europe.
To be understood, we are obliged to describe each with an adzas,
and after all be incorrect, and sure to mislead a foreigner. It is
probably too late to remedy this confusion.

The Rocky Mountain form of the Ruffed Grouse has been dis-
tinguished from the Eastern bird, under the varietal name wazel-
doides ; it is somewhat greyer than the common form, but is other-
wise similar. The bird of the Pacific Coast is redder again, and is
called variety sadznez. The different forms, however, grade into
one another, and the differences are often extremely slight.

Lagopus albus.—Audubon.’ Ptarmigan, Willow Grouse, Partridge of

Newfoundland.
.

The various species of Ptarmigan are all alpine birds, and are
only found in the North, and on the highest mountain ranges.
They are to be distinguished from all our other members of the
Grouse family, by the dense feathering of the tarsus and toes, by
turning white in winter, and by the possession cf only fourteen
rectrices or tail feathers. The bill of this species is very stout ;
the tailis always black. In summer, the foreparts are rich chestnut
or orange brown, variegated with blackish, the upper parts and sides
are barred with black, tawny and white, other parts are mostly white.
Its length is about sixteen inches. This species is contined almost
entirely to the British Possessions, although a few are found in
winter in the northernmost counties of Maine, New Hampshire,
Vermont and New York. The Ptarmigan is quite equal as a game
bird to the Scotch Grouse, and indeed resembles it so closely,
that it is difficult to make out any specific difference between the
red grouse, gorcock, or moorcock of Scotland, and the ptarmigan
of this country. They are a most delicious article of food, whether
roasted, stewed, or in white soups. All visitors to Newfoundland
admit that the flavor of a plump partridge, well cooked, is unsur-
passed in richness and delicacy. They are of respectable propor-
tions, a brace of them in season weighing from three pounds to
three pounds and a half. When the sporting season opens on the
first of September, they are in prime condition, after feeding on
132 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

the wild berries, the partridge berry and cranberry being their
favorite food.

They are to be found in all parts of the island, but the bare
highlands, where they are covered with berry-bearing plants, are
their favorite localities. In clear weather they are found about the
skirts of the woods and in the tucking bushes, and are then very
wild and difficult to reach. When the weather is foggy, however,
they come out on the barrens and marshes, and are then very
tame, merely flying a few yards even when shot at, before they
alight again. It is quite customary there to despatch a box of
partridges in a frozen state to friends in Scotland and England
about Christmas; and a most acceptable present they prove,
Owing to the great number of sportsmen who go in pursuit of the
partridges, they are becoming every year scarcer in the neighbor-
hoad of St. Johns, and to get a thoroughly good day’s shooting it
is necessary to travel many miles.

In certain localities they are very abundant, and to the sports-
man there can be nothing finer than a day’s partridge-shooting
over the breezy “barrens ” of Newfoundland during the fine au-
tumn weather. The air is then cool and exhilarating, and the
bright skies, the weird and charming scenery, varied by countless
lakes ; the low, rounded hills, covered to the summit with the
tapering firs; the lakelets bright with the white and yellow water
lilies ; the woods assuming everywhere the golden tints of autumn,
the wild flowers still abundant, the bold headlands along the coast
through whose summits glimpses of the restless Atlantic are ob-
tained—all these, with the excitement of the sport, combine to fur-
nish to the lover of nature a day of rapturous enjoyment. It is a
thrilling moment to the genuine sportsman when, gun in hand and
dog at foot, he finds himself among the partridge coverts. His
faithful Rover scents the game; every nerve in his frame quivers
as step by step he thoughtfully and cautiously advances toward
the unseen covey : then suddenly pausing, with one fore paw bal-
anced lightly, and every limb and muscle rigid as iron, the beau-
tiful animal is at once transformed into a marble statue. -Pres-
ently a whirr is heard, and with a loud “ca, ca, ca,” a magnificent
old cock rises on the wing. Crack goes the gun and down tumbles
the great bird, the scarlet tips over his eyes glistening like rubies,
GROUSE. 133

as with a thud that gladdens the sportsman’s heart, he strikes the
earth. Or perhaps a whole family—father, mother and children—
rise at once, and the double barrels bang at them right and left,
bringing down two or three brace. At times a late covey is started
the chickens of which are only two or three weeks old, just able
to run smartly along the ground. It is a touching sight then to
see the cock fearlessly exposing himself to save the lives of
his offspring. He tumbles along the ground a few yards in ad-
vance of the dogs, rolling there in order to decoy the sportsman
from the brood which the hen is anxiously calling into the thicket.
No more touching instance of paternal affection could be witnessed ;
no more touching proof among the lower creation of self-sacrifice,
prompted by love. The poor feeble bird would almost attack dogs
and men in his efforts to save his children. No true sportsman
would harm a bird under such circumstances. Only a brute would
fire upon it. The dogs are called off, and father and mother Ptar-
migan are soon rejoicing over their rescued family.

After a day’s sport over the hills a supper of roast ptarmigan,
with wild strawberry tart as an accompaniment, is “a feast fit ‘for
the gods.” When the frost sets in, the brownish grey of the
Ptarmigan’s plumage gradually disappears, as in the Alpine hare,
and.at length when the snow falls it is almost pure white. One
peculiarity, however, in the Newfoundland bird is, that the middle
pair of tail coverts is rarely found entirely white in winter. These
remarkable changes, effected as in the northern hare without loss
of substance, fit it admirably for its situation ; as the sportsman,
if he have not a dog used to the game, may also walk over the bird
without putting it up. It is feathered and haired down the legs
and between the toes, and may be distinguished at a considerable
distance by the red about the eye. These birds are widely diffused
over the island and it is no uncommon thing for a sportsman to bag
in a day from a dozen to twenty brace.

The food of the Ptarmigan consists chiefly of the buds and
tender shoots of birch, alder, black spruce, juniper, etc., but in the
berry season they feast on partridge berries‘and cranberries. They
almost invariably roost on the ground, but are often shot feeding
on the tops of birch and alder trees.

At times, in some districts, they are so tame that they can be
134 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

killed with a stick, and at others so wild that they will not allow
you to approach within gun shot, and such is generally the case in
winter, when the snow is hard and crusty, and the noise made in
approaching them alarms them. They are shot at all times by the
population in the more distant districts, but a close time is now
fixed by law, which will have a good effect where the law can be
enforced.

Lagopus rupestris—Leach. Rock Ptarmigan. Mountain Ptarmigan.

This speciesis still more boreal in its habitat than the preceding
and but little is known concerning it. In size it is somewhat less
than the Willow Grouse and its bill is more slender. The tail is
black. The male has at all seasons a black stripe running through
the eye. The summer plumage is irregular banded with black,
yellow and white. This species is never found within the limits of
the United States. In winter however it is found in Labrador
along the coast on the hills from which the wind has swept the
snow ; here it feeds on maples and lichens, and on the few twigs
and buds that are to be found. In Newfoundland it is quite rare
and is seldom found below the line of stunted black spruce except
in the depths of winter, when they descend to the low lands and
feed on the buds of dwarf trees, sometimes in company with the
Willow Grouse. The settlers here call this the “mountain par-
tridge.”

This species is said to occur in Melville Peninsula and in the
Barren Grounds, rarely going even in winter south of latitude 63°
in the interior though passing much farther to the southward along
the shores of Hudson’s Bay. It is said to breed in the open
country, differing in this respect from the Willow Grouse, which
nests in the wooded land.

Lagopus leucurus.—Swainson. White-tailed Ptarmigan. White Quail.

The White-tailed Ptarmigan may be distinguished from all
others of the genus by having the tail white at all seasons. It is
the smallest of our Ptarmigan, and it is the only one of regular
occurrence within the territory of the United States. In winter
this species is pure white throughout, but the summer plumage is
curiously mottled with dark brown and tawny and white; the eye
GROUSE, 135

is hazel, the superciliary membrane, red; toes, feathered half their
length in summer, and entirely covered with hair-like feathers in
the winter; claws blackish—lighter at their tips, long, broad and
strong, rounded above, concave beneath, arched, edges sharp, and
in some individuals the claws are notched on the sides.

This species is found only on the highest peaks of the Rocky
Mountains. During the summer months they are found in pairs
near the snow banks on the bare tops of the mountains. Their
nests are generally placed in some little cavity among the loose
rocks, and are constructed of dried grasses. Their nests are small
and scantily built, merely a little hollow in the ground lined with a
few blades of grass and perhaps a feather or two from the mother’s
breast. The eggs are probably from eight to twelve in number,
though about this there seems to be some doubt. In all likelihood,
however, this bird does not differ materially from the other mem-
bers of its family in the number of young which it rears. When
with its young, this species makes valiant fight against any enemy
which ventures to attack its family, flying so near as to hit one with
their wings, in their endeavors to protect their chickens. Both male
and female are equally courageous, and will defend their young.
In the summer they are very tame, and when approached will run
among the rocks or in the dwarf willows, a few yards from the
hunter, and squat and will not continue their retreat until the
hunter is upon them. When started they fly in a straight line for
seventy-five or a hundred yards, and alight on some elevated rock,
stretching out the neck its full length to see if they are followed, and
if nothing is seen to excite their suspicion, they walk off from the
rocks and commence to feed as usual. During deep snows in the
winter the Ptarmigan descend from the mountains and feed in the
edges of the timber and on the hill sides.

This species goes through a continued moult which lasts during
the summer months, and the variation in their plumage is so great
that it is almost impossible to find two individuals in the same dress.
During the months from April to September their plumage is very
scant and ragged; but when in their full winter plumage their
feathers are heavy and compact, which gives them a much larger
appearance than when seen in the summer dress, mottled with
biown and greyish white. They are generally known in Colorado
136 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA,

as White and Mountain Quails by the hunters, miners and ranch-
men. The White-tailed Ptarmigan, though the least in size, is one
of the most beautiful of our grouse, but as it nowhere exists in suf-
ficient numbers to repay the sportsman for hunting it systematic-
ally, it will probably continue to be little known to any excepting
the naturalist,
QUAIL.

HE Continent of America is amply provided with gallinaceous
birds, and these are found here, not only in unusual numbers
as regards species, genera and families, but also in the greatest
variety as to size, delicacy of flavor and the game qualities so
highly prized by the sportsman. From the Wild Turkey, weigh-
ing perhaps twenty-five pounds, to the little Quail which turns the
scale at a few ounces, is certainly a long step, and between the two
we have nine species of Grouse and over forty species of the
Odontophorine, the sub-family to which the Quails belong. The
latter, it is true, are by no means all inhabitants of the United
States, having by far their greatest development in Mexico and in
Central and South America. Still, three at least of these South-
em species are found to the north of the Rio Grande, and are
properly to be included within the limits of this chapter. Besides
these, there are the Mountain and the Valley Quail of California,
the former sometimes found at an elevation of over six thousand
feet, and last but by far the most highly esteemed by the brother-
hood of sportsmen, our own little Bob White. This bird is the
only one of all those ahove mentioned which lies well to a dog.
The western and south-western species have not as yet been edu-~
cated up to this point; they all prefer to run, after having once
been: flushed, and as they choose the most impenetrable thickets
of chapparal and mesquite through which to pass, it is often quite
impossible to start them from the ground a second time. The
species belonging to the sub-family Odontophorine which are
found within the limits of the United States are as follows :

Ortyx virginianus.—Bon. Quail (of the North) ; Partridge (of the South) ; Bob
White,

Inhabits the Eastern United States to the high central plains ;
introduced, and doing well in Utah. Description ; feathers of the
138 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

crown somewhat lengthened, and capable of being erected into a
slight crest; forehead, a line over the eye and the throat white
bordered with black; crown, neck and front of breast brownish
red, other under parts white marked with crescentic black bars;
sides streaked with brownish red, upper parts varied with chest-
nut, black, grey and tawny. In the female the forehead, throat
and line over the eye are buff instead of white, and her colors
throughout are somewhat paler than those of the male; she is
also a little smaller than the male. The ordinary Quail of Florida
is regarded by most competent authorities as a variety of the Quail
of the north. It is smaller and its colors are darker, approaching
the Cuban form Ortyx cudaneuszs. Dr. Coues has named it var.
Floridanus. Variety texanus, Lawrence, is about the size of £Vvor-
zdanus but is even paler and greyer than our northern bird. It is
the common Quail of Texas.

Oveortyx pictus.—Baird. Mountain Quail of California,

This is a beautiful species, the largest Quail known to the
United States, being quite a foot long. The wings and tail and
the posterior half of the body above are rich olive brown, some of
the inner quills being edged with white on the inside. The pos-
terior halfof the body below is purplish chestnut barred with
white, black and tawny ; fore part of body a rich slate blue; chin
and throat purplish chestnut. A long crest, consisting of two slen-
der keeled feathers which rise from the crown, sometimes attains
a length of three or fourinches in the male. This beautiful species
inhabits the mountain regions of Oregon and California, and is
never, we believe, found on the low lands. They will usually run’
before a dog, are only flushed with much trouble, and often take
to the trees after being started. :

Lophortyx californica.—Bon. Valley Quail, Meadow Quail,

The Valley Quail, as its name implies, is a lowland species, and
is rarely found high up on the mountain sides. It is smaller than
the preceding, but its plumage is no less beautiful. Its head is
adorned with a fine crest of from six to ten keeled clubbed black
feathers, sometimes an inch in length, and bent forward, giving to
the bird a very jaunty air. Male with a small white line from bill
QUAIL. 139

to eye; forehead whitish with black lines; occiput smoky brown;
nuchal and cervical feathers with very dull edgings and shaft lines,
and fine whitish speckling ; general color of upper parts ashy with
strong olive brown gloss, the edging of the inner quills brownish
orange; fore breast slaty blue; under parts tawny, deepening
centrally into rich golden brown or orange chestnut, all the feath-
ers sharply edged with jet black; sides like the back with sharp
white stripes; vent, flanks and crissum tawny with dark stripes.
Besides lacking the definite head markings, the female wants the
rich sienna color of the under parts which are whitish or tawny,
with black semicircles as in the male ; the breast is olive grey. In
size this species about equals our Bob White.

The California Quail is usually found in large flocks, sometimes
containing hundreds of birds. They frequent hill-sides and
wooded gulches or arrvayos, where such are to be found, and the
dense masses of chapparal which affords them cover. In culti-
vated districts they are to be found near or in vineyards and occa-
sionally in wheat-fields. Unlike their Eastern brethren, who
appear to squat on the ground at night, they roost in the thick and
almost impenetrable cover of a scrub oak or thorn bush. Setting
aside the fact of the birds being so much more numerous, the
shooting, owing to the openness of the ground, is much more dif-
ficult than in the East. California is, comparatively speaking,
destitute of wood except on almost inaccessible mountain sides,
and cafions. The birds, in the fall of the year after the different
broods have packed, are found on the plains, where they feed on
the seeds of the adfd/erza and burr clover. When driven to cover
and scattered they begin almost immediately to call with a whistle
not unlike, though more prolonged, than that of our bird.

Lophortyx gambeli_Nuttall. Gambel’s Partridge, Arizona Quail.

This species, which somewhat resembles the Valley Quail just
referred to, is confined to a portion of our south-western territory,
bounded on the north by the thirty-fifth parallel of latitude, on the
east by the Pecos River, and on the west by the Colorado ; south-
ward, its ranges extend into Mexico. It is most abundant’in
New Mexico and Arizona, and is found in equal numbers on the
parched deserts and the rocky mountain sides,
140 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA,

The male lacks the white basal line of the Valléy Quail: “ fore-
head black with whitish lines ; occiput chestnut ; nuchal and cer-
vical feathers with dark shaft lines, but few dark edging or none,
and no white specklings; general color of upper parts clear ash,
the edging of the inner quills white ; forebreast like the back;
under parts whitish, middle of belly with a large jet black patch ;
sides rich purplish chestnut, with sharp white stripes ; vent, flanks
and crissum white with dusky streaks. Besides lacking the defi-
nite head markings, the female wants the black abdominal area,
where the feathers are whitish with dark lengthwise touches.”

Callipepla squamata.—Gray. Scaled Partridge, Blue Quail.

The Blue Quail, like all the other western and south-western
species with which we have to do, prefers to trust for safety to its
powers of running, rather than those of flight. Indeed there is no
difficulty whatever in getting pot shots at any of these uneducated
birds, the great trouble being to start them from the ground. This
species is about the size of our eastern quail, but differs widely
from it in color. It has a short full crest, is greyish blue above,
paler below, the sides striped with white, and the whole plumage
marked with semicircular black edgings of the feathers, which
give ita scaled appearance; the inner edges of the inner quills,
and the end of the crest are white. The under tail coverts red-
dish brown with dark streaks. The Blue Quail is found very
abundantly in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and to the southward.

Cyrtonyx massena.—Gould. Massena Quail.

This most beautiful species is also by far the most gentle and’
unsuspicious of our Quails, and will permit a very close approach
by man, showing little or no fear of what most animals know so
well to be their most deadly enemy. While feeding, the Massena
Quail keep close together, and constantly utter a soft clucking
note as though talking to one another,

This species is about the size of our Quail of the East. Its
head is ornamented with a. beautifully full soft occipital crest.
The head of the male is singularly striped with black and white;
the upper parts are varied with black, white and tawny, and with
paired black spots on the wings. The under parts are velvety
QUAIL. IAI

black, purplish chestnut along the middle line, and with numerous
circular white spots. The female is smaller, and is quite different
in color, but may be recognized by the generic characters. The
tail is short and full, and the claws very large.

The following remarks apply altogether to the Common Quail,
the typical game bird of North America. The Quail breeds in
almost every State in the Union, and there is a diversity of opinion
among naturalists and sportsmen, whether it regularly hatches
two broods a year. Both sides have strong advocates, but the
matter is probably entirely dependent upon the character of season
and climate. In latitudes where spring and summer are short,
very likely but one is raised as a rule; but in more southern sec-
tions, probably two are often reared. If the parent birds are suc-
cessful in the hatching period, and the nest and young have not
been destroyed, they remain with the brood and do not hatch a
second ; but on the other hand, if any mishap befalls their eggs or
young in early summer, undoubtedly the hen begins another nest
and hatches again. This may account for the great diversity in
the size of Quail in different coveys we so often notice in Maryland,
Delaware and Virginia. As late as the middle of November the
writer has found them too young to be killed, plainly showing that
they were brought forth late in the summer, and it is always to be
observed that a great number of half-grown coveys are seen in
seasons which follow wet and cold springs.

The Quail makes a simple nest on the ground, under the edge
of some old log, or in the thick grass on the prairie, lined with
soft and well dried grass and a few feathers.

The female lays from fifteen to twenty-four eggs, white as
hens’ eggs and shaped much like them, only a little more blunt at
one end, and a little more peaked at the other. She sits three weeks,
and so far as our observation goes, hatches nearly all the eggs,
be they more or less than twenty. The young brood, as soon as
they are fairly out of the shell, leave the nest, and seem abundantly
strong to follow the parent, though they are no bigger than the
end of your thumb—covered with down. They follow as chickens
do, and the moment the old bird sounds an alarm, they instantly
scatter in all directions and hide from observation and remain hidden
till the voice of the parent announces the prudence of coming forth,
142 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA,

When a dog approaches a young family of Quails, the note of
alarm is sounded, and the mother bird feigning to be wounded,
flutters just before the dog, but is careful to keep out of reach, but
she usually succeeds in taking the dog a long way from her brood,
when by a circuitous route she returns and gathers together the
scared fugitives, and proceeds to hunt for food for her growing
family.

They are both grain and insect eating birds, and occasionally
indulge in a dessert of berries. They are very much averse to be-
coming domesticated, yet they come around the house and out-
buildings in search of food. We have seen a statement that some-
times, when ‘hatched out by hens, they would run with her and
winter with the barnyard fowls, but would invariably leave in the
spring, under the irrepressible instincts of their nature, implanted
by its Creator.

Eggs of the hen have been placed under the Quail and hatched
by her, and in one instance, at least, the chickens ran with the
Quail till they were larger than the Quail. They were then lost
sight of—were probably caught by hawks, or some wild animal
whose epicurean tastes were partial to birds. Though they raise
many young, the ravages of the remorseless hunters and the money-
loving trappers, together with hard winters and deep snows long
continued, thin out their ranks continually. They are a remarka-
bly plump bird, and their flesh furnishes delicate morsels to the
fastidious lover of wild game.

In the summer when his mate is sitting, and in the early fall
the Quail sits on the fence or a low tree, and whistles Bob White
for an hour atatime. They have quite a variety of notes, which
they utter when several of them meet, as if in social converse, are
pleasant and agreeable companions, and decidedly the farmers’
friends, for they eat quantities of those dreaded chinch bugs, whose
little suckers lay waste our wheat fields. No sport is more de-
lightful than Quail shooting, and there is only one legitimate
method by which this bird can be taken; that is over dogs. It is,
too, one of the most healthful of all our field sports, as it can only
be indulged in after the heat of the summer has passed, and when
man needs the bracing and life-giving influence of the pure frosty
air for the purpose of recuperating his exhausted system.
QUAIL. 143

Quail, as every sportsman is aware, are formed into coveys, and
in some parts of the country, are large enough to shoot early in
October, but most of the States have, by legislative enactment,
prohibited the shooting of them until the first of November. They
are to be found in almost every State of the Union, but are most
eagerly sought after in the Middle and Southern States, especially
in Delaware, Maryland and Virginia, where immense numbers of
them are killed every year.

Quail are almost everywhere protected by law at certain seasons,
but there is a wide difference in the dates at which the close seasons
begin and end in the various States of the Union. We can have
no better law in regard to the quail than the present one of Penn-
sylvania, which protects them from January 1st until November;
but in Kent county, Delaware, quail shooting is tolerated until Feb-
ruary 15th, and certainly nothing could be more damaging to the
increase and preservation of the bird, especially if deep snows cover
the ground after the first of the year, and shooting continues. All
persecution at this time should cease, and the quail be allowed to
seek what little food there is for them during such periods. In
Maryland October 2oth is given as the opening day for the sports-
man, which is almost two weeks sooner than it should be.

In fair weather, the favorite feeding ground of the Quail is on
the wheat stubble, especially if it be grown up with “rag weed,”
and generally not far from a brook or slough, if there be one in the
field. During the middle of the day he will be found along the
fences of the stubble fields, if there be blackberry or other bushes
for cover ; also on newly cleared land that has never been cultivated.
In rainy weather they take to the bushes and remain there all day,
and if possible elude pursuit by running. Frequently the sports-
man has to follow a covey for a quarter of a mile before he can get
near enough to flush them. Also, in snowy weather they go to the
timber, but in a day or two after the storm come back to the fields
again. After there has been sunshine sufficient to melt the snow
from the northern banks of the brooks, if the weather turn cold and
clear, every covey that rises in that vicinity will be found sunning
themselves on the banks which are bare of snow. We recently
found four large coveys within as many hundred yards along a
small brook, when on ordinary occasions that would be considered
144 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA,

a good half-day’s find. When a covey has been flushed and gone
down, if there be thick weeds or grass, they will hide at once, and
are easily found by the dog. If they come down near piles of
brush they are almost sure to run into them, but a kick or two will
generally get them out. If they fly to thick bushes they will prob-
ably run together, and get away as fast as they can run, and it isa
singular fact that a dog which had no difficulty in trailing them
before they were put up will be totally unable to do it now, and
so it is useless to follow them unless there is snow, and even then
it is doubtful if you get a shot, for they will travel faster through
the brush than you can follow. Possibly it is generally known to
sportsmen that quail will double under such circumstances like a
hare, but this trait has been noted repeatedly. We have also
noticed that a dog can smell but very little when the weather is
cold and the ground covered with fine dry snow. In fact a dog is
at a disadvantage, if not thoroughly broken. If a covey be flushed,
and on coming down one of them gives a call or two, you may look
for them to fly again almost immediately. They occasionally do
this when they happen to come down where the cover does not
suit them. In the early part of the season one can frequently learn
where the scattered ones are by imitating their call, which every
one can do with a little practice. Later in the season this will not
succeed till near sundown. In Florida the quail are very fre-
quently found in gardens or clearings along the borders of pal-
metto scrub. If the garden or field be fenced, let the dog and one
gunner take the field, and another gunner work the outside, taking
the birds as they fly over into the scrub. Once in this cover they
are safe, for neither dog, man, nor double-plated pachydermata
can follow them.

The early days of the season are not so good, for shooting, as
a month later; for, after being shot into a few times, the coveys
become shy and wild and take to the woods, where they find plenty
of food, such as acorns, etc., and resort to the stubble fields only
very early in the morning and late in the afternoon; and during
the intervening part of the day, especially if the weather is warm,
they are generally scattered along the banks of water-courses or
branches of creeks which run through the woods. As the season
advances, towards the first and middle of December, when the
QUAIL. 145

ground is frozen, and food becomes scarce in the woods, they re-
sort more to the open stubble fields in search of grain, and, when
flushed, generally scatter among the high grass, or along some old
ditch-bank overgrown with brier bushes, and will lie well to the
‘dogs, and, in many instances, nearly an entire covey may be picked
up singly by a good shot, if he has a firm, staunch dog, who is not
too eager, but will carefully hunt over the whole ground. When
a covey is first flushed, they should be carefully marked when they
settle, and the shooter need be in no particular hurry to follow them
if they are in good cover, as they have been supposed to have the
faculty of withholding their scent, so that the best dogs are very
often at fault. Dr. Lewis, in his “American Sportsman,” speaks
of this supposed power, and publishes a letter of Dr. Samuel
Smith, of Baltimore, in which the Doctor says that many noble
dogs have been censured for carelessness, when it was manifest
‘that the fault did not lie with them, but that this power was given
to the birds by their Creator to preserve them from their ruthless
destroyers. ‘ sa

Even Wilson, the great ornithologist, never gave this matter
sufficient study, as the Doctor mentions the fact of being in his
company upon one occasion, when a well appointed party of gen-
‘tlemen were shooting “ partridges’’ in a stubble field adjoining a
woods, where. he and Wilson were gathering specimens. He
says: “The stubble field in which this party was shooting, had
small patches of briers and low bushes in several places. From
one of these was flushed a very large covey of partridges, which,
after having been vigorously fired upon, settled nearly in the centre
of the field, in a place slightly depressed, where the stubble was
unusually high, with rank clover underneath. The sportsmen pur-
sued with due caution, giving the proper instructions and ample
time to the dogs. Some of the birds were put up and killed, but
not near as many as had taken refuge there. After consider-
able search the party left the ground. Why so few birds were
roused puzzled me exceedingly, and I, in common with every one,
censured the dogs. On our return from the woods, where Mr.
Wilson had been watching and studying the habits of some small
birds, we crossed the stubble directly past the spot where the par-
tridges had been hunted by the sportsmen. As we approached it

7
146 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA,

a bird flew up, and soon after, another and another, until five
went off. I expressed my surprise to Mr. Wilson, who dismissed
the matter by supposing that the stronger scent from the feet of
so many men had transcended that of the birds, and bewildered
the dogs.”

After starting a covey, and scattering the birds, no doubt every
observant sportsman has noticed the same thing, namely, how
difficult it has been for his dog to find the single quail, although
directly marked to a particular spot. This habit of the bird to lie
until almost trodden upon, and to seemingly baffle the nose of the
finest setter or pointer, has given rise to the question whether it
can voluntarzly withhold its scent, but there is no reason for at-
tributing to it such powers, and it is readily to be explained.
After being flushed and shot at, the covey, in its flight, scatters in
every direction, making all haste to escape from danger, and each
quail pitches into whatever cover offers the best concealment—
crouching into the smallest possible space, with feathers pressed
tightly to its body, permitting little if any scent to pass off for a
time, or at least until they move and suppose danger has passed.
Thus it is not a will power on the part of the bird, but resulting
entirely from the body (from whence their scent issues,) being so
firmly pressed by the quail with its plumage in its endeavors
to hide.

The Quail is most unquestionably to be preferred to any other
bird to break our dogs on; and when once broken to this kind of
shooting, they will seek after and find any other game bird, such.
as woodcock, snipe, pheasant, or grouse, as no bird feeds more
widely nor leaves so long a trail of scent behind them, which,
when the wind is blowing strong, is carried a considerable dis-
tance. We have frequently seen dogs catch the scent of a covey
a hundred yards off, and trail them straight to their hiding place.
They thus learn caution and ease in approaching them, knowing
the punishment they will receive if they flush. How beautifully
Gay has described this in his “ Rural Sports :”

** Against the wind he takes his prudent way,
While the strong gale directs him to the prey ;
Now the warm scent assures the covey near ;
He treads with caution and he points with fear. ’
QUAIL. 147

Old birds are up to all manner of tricks, and are extremely
cautious, and very often will not lie to the dog; they run away as
soon as they observe his approach, and frequently fly up before the
dogs get within fifty or a hundred yards of them, and take imme-
diately to the thick cripples, or disappear over the tops of the
highest trees ; and, often when they are hit hard, will carry off
several pellets of shot, if not struck in some vital part, and, with a
broken wing, will run so fast as to escape the dog and huntsman.

About the beginning of October, Quail frequently abandon the
high ground where they are hatched and reared, and resort in
large numbers to the river banks and other water courses, and
about the first of November return to their old haunts. This is
called their running season, and at this period they will not lie to
the dog, and to follow them is so much lost time, as it is impos-
sible to keep up with them. Hundreds of birds are often found in
these companies, and they very seldom fly, but run as fast asa
dog, and scatter through the brier bushes and thick undergrowth,
where it is impossible for the dogs to follow them. The cause of
these movements has never been satisfactorily explained. Some
attribute it to a scarcity of food, but that cannot be the cause,
as they return again to their old haunts after the lapse of a few
weeks.

In clear, frosty weather Quail will be found in stubble-fields, or
even in corn-fields, if they lie contiguous to a wood, and also in
buckwheat patches, as they are very partial to this kind of grain,
and prefer it to all others. They generally feed until about eleven
o'clock in the morning, and then resort to some quiet nook along
the banks of a stream, or lie under the sunny side of the trunk of
a fallen tree, where they scratch and preen themselves. It is
about as well for the sportsman, during this part of the day, to
rest from his labors, and refresh himself and his dogs. The time
so occupied will not be wasted, as, after a couple of hours of rest,
both himself and his dogs will be in better condition for work;
and even if he retraces his steps over the ground where he hunted
in the morning, he will often find fresh coveys of birds, and those
which he has shot into in the morning will have had time to col-
lect together, and will often be found scattered over the stubble

peacefully feeding.
148 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

Quail invariably roost in the open fields, but not on their feed-
ing grounds, as the treacherous trail which they leave would soon
be discovered, and followed up by the dogs ; but after having fed
until dark, they take a short flight to an adjoining field, and drop
suddenly down—avoid running about, and settle themselves for
the night. To prevent surprise, and, no doubt, for better security,
they roost in a circle, with their heads out, so as to present a
guard on every side, and, when flushed, each is thus enabled to
rise and fly without interfering with the other. If undisturbed,
they will resort to the same field several nights in succession.

Most sportsmen use for Quail shooting No. 8 shot, which we
regard as two sizes too large, unless the birds are very wild. One
ounce or one and an eighth ounces of No. 10, with three drachms
of powder, will, we believe, taking the season through, kill more
birds, and kill them cleaner than any other charge; this for an
ordinary seven or eight pound gun.

Man is not the only enemy the Quail has to fear, as there are
several animals that feast and prey upon these birds, such as wea-
sels, foxes, raccoons and serpents, but none are more destructive
than hawks. They keep them in a constant state of fear, as they
give no warning of their approach, but skim along the top of the
stubble or grass, and pounce upon a covey of these weak, inof-
fensive little creatures, and sinking their sharp talons into their
bodies, bear them off to their haunts in the woods, and devour
them at their leisure. We invariably make it a rule to kill these
pirates whenever and wherever we can come up with them. They
not only destroy the birds, but keep them in such a constant state
of alarm, that they will not lie to the dogs, but run and flush to
the least alarm, and after they are scattered, they are afraid to call
each other together, as the treacherous call-note would betray
them to their enemies.
PLOVER.

HE family of plovers Charadrzzde, includes perhaps six

species familiar to our eastern and central sportsman, and

two peculiarly western varieties. We shall take them in their orni-
thological arrangement. The first we meet is:

Squatarola helvetica.—Brehm. Black-bellied Plover. Bullhead. Ox-eye.
Bottlehead.
This species is not uncommon on our coast and on the plains
of the Western States and indeed is found all over the world. A
cursory description is as follows : Face and under parts black, upper
portions variegated with black, white and ashy, tail barred with
black and white. Young, below white shaded with grey, throat
and breast spotted with dusky, above blackish, speckled with white
and yellowish, the rump white with dark bars, legs dull blue.
Owing to the great difference in plumage at different seasons,
many confound the above with the familiar Golden Plover, the two
being often found in the same localities. They are however, to all
familiar with both, quite distinct and not liable to be confused.

Charadrius fulvus, var. virginicus——Coues. Golden Plover. Whistling
Plover. Frost bird. Bull head.

‘North America, migratory, abundant in the United States, is a
smaller bird than the last but is equally prized for the table. It is
found in Illinois in immense flocks in the fall of the year, where it
feeds on the prairie and sandbars in therivers. This is a fine game
bird, confined neither to the interior nor to the coast alone. Colors
about as follows: Plumage speckled above; in nesting season
black below as in the last, many of the spots bright yellow, hence
the name Golden ; rump and upper tail coverts like the back, fore-
head and line over the eye white, tail greyish brown with imperfect
white or ashy bars, in the fall only similar to Aelvetzca. No bird
i50 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

on our list seems to be more generally known, for it is scattered
apparently over the whole face of the land—from the fur countries
to the gulf, and from ocean to ocean. Though not numerous in
the older States of the East, probably from the greater scarcity
of its principal fare, the grasshopper, throughout the unlimited
tracts of prairie, plain and pasture of the Western States as far as
the Rocky Mountains, it 1s found in countless thousands, more
particularly during its pilgrimages to its breeding grounds in the
north.

In Kansas, Nebraska, and the wide extent of plain west of the
Mississippi, where the grasshopper becomes a scourge to the rest-
less pioneer, these birds are athome. Here they can be found in
all their glory; here, untilthe eye wearies with the monotony, their
well-filled battalions can be seen sweeping over the country in
their journeyings, gathering in a harvest of the pests which have
become such a scourge to the hardy cultivators of this land of
promise. This locality is thus held with the same apparent te-
nacity by the Golden Plover as the great mast region of our heavily
timbered country is held by the common passenger pigeon of
America.

The Golden Plover breeds to the north of the United States.
These birds, though naturally timid, and usually very shy of the
approach of man, are easily reached, provided the proper precau-
tions are used by the hunters, who generally resort to the more
convenient means of a wagon, from which they carry on a whole-
sale slaughter into their weli-stocked ranks ; and from the appar-
ent inattention which is usually paid to their enemies thus equipped,
it would seem that their fear of humanity is limited to man in his
primitive condition only, for after volley upon volley has been poured
into their ranks with deadly effect, each shot leaving its score or
more dead and wounded, they pass along in unbroken line only to
receive another cross fire in their next circuit of flight, as they pass
over a favorite feeding place of newly plowed ground, or in a
grasshopper range.

In the autumn, and more particularly after a protracted drouth
to which the vast tracts of prairie or plain of the West is subject
at this season ; and when the many ponds and sloughs are dry,
these birds, after a day spent upon the newly plowed lands, resort
PLOVER. ISI

regularly to the sand bars of the nearest streams for the purpose
of sanding, washing, and quenching their thirst.

From the regularity of the visits of these birds in former years,
to the sand bars of the upper Illinois and Kankakee, they have
been called by the resident shooters Kankakee Bar Plover, in that
locality. And from the great numbers which sweep over the
prairies in spring and fall they have for years passed under the
common name of Prairie Pigeons among the grangers and those
not up in ornithology.

As the flock comes in sight from the direction of the north or
south prairies, a shrill whistle is usually the first welcome, then the
chorus of a hundred voices chimes in as though rejoicing at the
sight of the liquid element. Such is their apparent ecstasy as they
wheel around over their favorite bar, and such their utter disregard
of the heavy booming of guns that hundreds are dropped upon the
water fluttering in every direction, while the column wheels into
line again right over the spot where its dead and wounded com-
panions lie, only to be thinned again and again, until finally driven
away. Ordinary precautions seem forgotten or abandoned by
these birds when approaching a favorite watering place, and when
met with under such circumstances it is conclusive evidence
that they have not been long from the breeding grounds, and
that most of them are young and inexperienced. The Chicago
markets, in spring and fall, teem with this game bird, and while
their flights last they furnish a cheap article of diet.

4¢gialitis vociferus.—Bon. Killdeer Plover.

_ The Killdeer, so called from its peculiar note, is an abundant
migrating species of North America, found on the plains in great
numbers, breeds anywhere; color, rump tawny, tail white with
orange brown through part of its length with from one to three
transverse black bars, secondaries white, primaries with a white
space, forehead white, black bar across the crown, two broad
black bands on neck and breast, bill black, feet greyish blue.
These birds are found flying swiftly along the borders of streams in
pairs and small wisps or bnches in the East, but are seen in great
numbers on the plains of the west feeding around the borders of
sloughs and ponds associated with others of the genus. They
152 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

become very fat in the fall and are generally very fair eating, but
oftena fishy flavor is present which detracts from their table
merit.

Aegialitis Wilsonius.—Cassin. Wilson’s Plover.

This is a sea coast species common as far north as New Eng-
land, and sometimes further. Color: pale ash brown running into
fulvous on the neck, black bar in the crown, a broad belt across the
throat, no bright ring about the eye, legs flesh color, bill dark, large
and stout. These birds are seen mingling with the numerous va-
rieties of bay birds found along our coasts, and as the tide recedes
they follow it to pick up the shells and insects stranded by the
falling waters.

Ai gialitis semipaimatus.—Bon. Semipalmated Plover. Ring-neck.

North America, common. This bird resembles the Killdeer
closely in color, but in size is about one-third as large as the
former. It also has the bright orange eyelid wanting in voczferus.

The “ Ring-necks”’ abound everywhere in great numbers, and
are found upon sandy beaches and muddy flats, in loose straggling
parties of from five to six to a dozen or more, and frequently with
the Semipalmated and Bonaparte’s Sand-pipers. They scatter
widely apart while searching for food, running swiftly and grace-
fully over the sand with head lowered. They are at such times
usually silent, except when disturbed, when they utter a clear mel-
low whistle on taking“flight. They are tame, and when surprised,
run but a few yards, and then stand perfectly still. The young run
about as soon as hatched. Birds of the year may at all times be
distinguished from the adults by the black of the bands being re-
placed by dull dirty ash.

fi gialitis melodus.—Bon. Piping Plover. Ring Plover.

Eastern and Middle States common, resembles the last, but
paler in color, as hypredominating, also lacking the semipalmation.
They are found associated with various beach birds and sand-pip-
ers; they become exceedingly fat during the latter part of the
summer.
PLOVER, 153

Egialitis cantiana.—Coues. .Snowy Plover.

This species is found west of the Rocky Mountains, and is
common all along the coast of California.

Eudromias montanus,—Harting. Mountain Plover.

The Mountain Plover is common from Kansas to the Pacific
Coast. It feeds on grasshoppers especially, and seems to be en-
tirely independent of water, Here also may be mentioned the re-
markable Surf bird of the Pacific Coast, Aphrzza virgata, appar-
ently a Plover, being a connecting link between the Plover and the
Oyster-catchers.

All the Plover have a singular. habit when alighting on the
ground in the breeding time; they drop their wings, stand with
their legs half.bent, and tremble as if unable to support their
bodies. In this absurd position they will sometimes stand for
several minutes, uttering a curious sound, and then seem to bal-
ance themselves with great difficulty. This singular manceuvre is
no doubt intended to induce a belief that they may be easily caught
and so turn the attention of the egg-gatherer from the pursuit of
the eggs to themselves. Plovers’ eggs are recognized all over
the world as a great delicacy.

As to the methods employed in securing the smaller Plover,
the suggestions in our account of the larger shore birds are of
course applicable to the former, both being frequently found asso-
ciated while feeding. These birds are never hunted with dogs,
owing primarily to the habits which bring them to the open sand
flats, and also to the fact that they have little or no scent. These
remarks are not applicable to the Grass Snipe or Pectoral Sand-
piper, which in some respects resembles the Wilson's Snipe, being
often found in wet meadows and lying well to a dog.

j*
AMERICAN WOODCOCK.

_
Philohela minor.—Gray. Blind Snipe. Bog Sucker. Wood Snipe,
Timber Doodle.

N { IGRATORY, eastern portions of North America. Colors

curiously varied ; above, black, brown, grey and russet pre-
dominate, below warm brown and reddish, differs from the English
bird in being lighter in weight, the latter weighing from nine to
twelve ounces, the American but from five to eight.

The Woodcock begins its yearly migration, from its southern
winter quarters to its more northern breeding grounds, early in the
spring, and makes its appearance with us about the latter part of
February or the first week in March, when the winter has been
open and mild, but in seasons that have been blustery and cold,
their travellings are delayed as late as the first of April. They ap-
pear to choose the progress of a southeasterly storm on which to
make their journeys, and frequently after such rains, are found in
great numbers scattered throughout the country.

Very soon after their arrival they begin laying, and hatch their
young in about the same time as the quail—three weeks being the
period of incubation of the latter bird—and sometimes when sec-
tions of the country in which they breed are visited in early spring
by severe freshets, thousands of the young are destroyed.

As a rule the Woodcock are in the midst of their family cares
about the first of May, and are thus the first of our migratory birds
to commence nesting. They waste no time after their arrival, and
by the first of April on any clear moonlight night, at all hours, the
male may be heard from every quarter, chanting his weird and un-
musical song to the object of his affection. This note so closely
resembles that of the night hawk as to be easily mistaken for it.
If one is ever so fortunate as to approach close to a pair of cock
unobserved during the mating season, he will witness the most re-
AMERICAN IVOODCOCK. 155

markable and grotesque actions; the wooer struts around with
scraping wings and spread tail, an excellent miniature of the barn-
yard turkey gobbler, the female looking coy and willing the while.
The male now and then makes one of his remarkable perpendic-
ular flights twenty yards into the air, dropping immediately again to
her side. When the country north of New Jersey is visited in
backward seasons by one of the not unusual hard frosts, the eggs
or very young birds are destroyed in large numbers. In many in-
stances the old birds begin immediately to rear another brood.
On this account at times scarce fledged nestlings are killed in July.
The nest is placed on the ground, the old birds making very little
preparation for the reception of their eggs. The latter are four in
number, of a muddy white color, splashed and blotched with choco-
late.

That careful observer and naturalist, Mr. Geo. A. Boardman,
lately in Florida, states the remarkable fact that Woodcock breed in
that State, and we have still more recent evidence to the same effect.
In both instances young birds fresh from the shell were secured.
It has been heretofore supposed that they never bred south of
Virginia. The English Woodcock Scolopax rustecola, is accidental
in North America, and stragglers are occasionally secured along the
eastern coast; the last instance on record was in 1870, we believe.

The Woodcock is perhaps the most highly prized of all our
game birds. This is owing in a great measure to his gamey
nature and solitary habits, the difficulty of securing a good bag
without work, and the skill required to kill the bird when flushed.

It is with pleasure that we notice the efforts made by gentle-
men sportsmen of the country at large, in the direction of Wood-
cock protection, and the prohibition of summer shooting. These
efforts have been attended with success in some parts of the
country, but until the law becomes universal, a great deal of its
usefulness is rendered zz7, This subject is so trite, however, that
we need only touch it here in passing.

Granting that Woodcock four years out of five are in condition
to be shot in July, how much better, how much more sportsman-
like, would it be to allow them to remain unmolested until autumn,
when no doubt can exist of their being in full plumage, strong and
vigorous on the wing, and without the cares of a family?
156 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

Summer cock shooting, when the mercury stands among the
nineties, and in swampy thickets where mosquitoes and flies are
swarming in myriads, cannot possibly be compared to autumn
shooting of the same bird. In the former season, we have it
hardly two-thirds grown, often becoming tainted before we reach
home, while in the latter we find it a far more difficult object to
bring down, much more puzzling in its flights, and worthy of the
sportsman’s skill.

About the middle of August, the Woodcock leave their dld
haunts in low wet localities, apparently almost in a mass, to seek
higher and more mountainous sections, where they can pass un-
disturbed their moulting season, and to remain until early frosts
drive them to more sheltered and warmer feeding grounds. It is
believed by many that they take to the corn-fields to moult, but
we think it safe to say they are only attracted thither in wet
seasons for their usual food. We have shot them in such places
quite frequently in July and the first of August, but have always
noticed the ground was moist enough at the time to admit of their
boring in search of worms, the larvee of insects, etc.

As has been noticed, the birds retire to the uplands to moult,
butit is very probable that they descend at evening to their feed-
ing grounds where the earth is soft and can be probed with ease,
and there spend the night, retiring again to the hills at break of
day. Their migrations are performed by night. In this connec-
tion, it may be mentioned that the Woodcock, during their migra-
tions, pursue a direct course, no obstacle seemingly being” able to
deflect them from their line of flight. On three distinct occasions
have we observed them at dusk flying through the streets of New
York in some of the most populous districts, and others have made
like observations. They fly low and swiftly over the country
singly, or in loose twos or threes, and morning always finds them
in their favorite haunts. Whether they fly during the whole night
or not is undetermined, but it is probable that unless a sudden and
severe frost hastens them on beyond their wonted speed, they take
it leisurely, stopping and feeding on the route.

Setter dogs seem to be the favorites for woodcocking. The
nature of the ground where the birds are found, renders the use of
the pointer disagreeable to both the dog and the man, as the tan-
AMERICAN WOODCOCK. 167

gled cat-brier and blackberry thickets, in the midst of which the
summer birds-are often found, lacerate the ill protected body of
the pointer, and the dog, after one day in such cover, will return
home entirely used up, and may refuse thereafter to enter the
brush. The thick coat of the setter can easily withstand this in-
convenience, :

Nineteen out of twenty sportsmen shoot Woodcock over set-
ters and pointers, and although (with dogs that are under perfect
command) they show great sport, we cannot think them fully cal-
culated for this work, and we are glad to see that the sporting
papers are now speaking favorably of the spaniel not only for cock
shooting, but for covert work. The little cockers, almost unknown
to this country, are the best dogs for this covert shooting, as they
are trained to hunt close, and being so small can force themselves
almost anywhere. ,

To insure success in autumn cock shooting, the sportsman
should select a dog that will work carefully and slowly in cover,
and be not too anxious to be close to the bird he is pointing, for
although Woodcock lie well, they differ from the quail in not being
quite so stubborn in their hiding.

In beating for quail in November, we should never neglect
working out the hill sides of second growth timber, or saplings
adjacent to swampy bottoms, which come in our path for Wood-
cock. Black alder margins of streams running through woodlands

-should be visited, for if any flights of birds have come on we will
certainly find them in such places. Were all sportsmen million-
aires, a special gun for this particular shooting would be conve-
nient ; one with short twenty-six to twenty-eight inch barrels to be
easily and rapidly moved in the thick cover. One ounce No. 12
shot or possibly No. ro for the late shooting, two and one half to
three drachms of C. and H. or Dupont’s powder. A Woodcock is
easily dropped when touched with the shot, and it is rare for one
to carry away a load.

When the golden days of October are upon us with their ac-
companying delights of dog and gun, then is the season par excel-
lence for cocking. Ah! Sportsmen, think of the increased satisfac-
tion to be derived from woodcock-shooting if you would but forego
the summer pursuit of this bird. Let them grow strong and
158 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA,

swift of wing, larger in size, more palatable to the taste. Then
will no longer be seen the slow flip flap of the summer bird up
through the leafy glades, but the swift whirr of the Timber Doodle
from the side hill and mellow ground. A keener eye, a quicker
hand will then be needed behind the true and tried Scott or
Greener.

Certainly cock-shooting is fine sport where the birds abound,
and as it possesses peculiar charms for some sportsmen, and as
they are held, by epicures and the sporting fraternity in general,
at the head of the list of our game birds, it is well worth the while
of American sportsmen to see that they are not entirely exter-
minated. i
WILSON’S SNIPE.

Gallinago Wilsonid ; Bonaparte. English Snipe. American Snipe. Jack Snipe.
Shad Spirit.

MIGRATORY species, North America. Crown black with

a pale central stripe, back variegated with black, bright bay
and tawny, the latter forming two lengthwise stripes on the scap-
ular, neck and breast spotted with brown and dusky, tail barred
with black, white and chestnut.

This, the most universally distributed of all our game birds, is
also the only one we believe, excepting some varieties of our ducks,
found on both sides of the Rocky Mountains, That remarkable
range which has separated species more effectually than either
ocean, has yet proved an insufficient barrier against the general
diffusion of this species. There has been a deal of discussion in
regard to the identity of this bird with one of the European repre-
sentatives of the genus, but our bird is now decided to bea distinct
variety although very similar.

The arrival of the Wilson’s Snipe with us in the spring is very
uncertain, and depends entirely upon the state of the season. If,
after a cold and blustering winter, March suddenly opens warm
and genial, which is seldom the case, and the frost is drawn from
the ground by the sun’s rays, we may expect the bird soon to be
on our meadows; but not often does he reach us before the middle
of the month, and then in small numbers, uneasy in its habits, and
scarcely lying to the dog. By the last of March, or the first of
April, the great flight of birds arrives from the Southern States,
and, like the woodcock, the prevalence of a warm rain appears to
be chosen for the migration. The average appearance of the Snipe
from Delaware eastward may, in favorable seasons, be set down as
about April first, but frequently when the spring is late, and winter
has lingered into April, we find it passing hurriedly northward,
160 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA,

scarcely visiting our meadows, and directing its flight to its breed-
ing grounds. We have always thought the Snipe, after tarrying
with us until May, are mated, and leave us in pairs ready to begin
nesting. In fact, we have on several occasions killed and found
in them fully formed eggs as early as the 20th of April, and for
this reason oppose the shooting of Snipe during their spring pas-
sage northward.

On their return from the North with their young, they pay us a
visit before moving South, reaching us in September and October,
the first cool weather having prompted them to seek winter quar-
ters. They make their autumnal migrations southward in stages
in advance of hard freezing, stopping and resting on the route.
This bird is rarely if ever found on salt meadows, confining itself
to the low-lying boggy fields bordering fresh water stréams where
their favorite food, the succulent worm, is abundant. ‘These are
secured by probing with their long bill after the manner of wood-
cock. It is very doubtful whether the sense of smell aids at all in
determining the presence of their food, as some have averred. The
bill is very sensitive, and a bird by probing can /ee/ the worm.

On the meadows of the Eastern and Middle States, a good dog,
thoroughly understanding his business in.this particular, is invalu-
able; but in some portions of the Southern and Western country
the bird is so numerous that a setter or pointer is of very little use
unless he be kept at heel and used as a retriever.

The Snipe lies best to the dog on warm, sunny days, when
gentle winds are blowing, and if feeding in high tussock meadows
will not take flight until almost trodden upon. But during blus-
tery weather, especially if the wind is from the northeast, they are
very loth to allow even the most steady dog to come within thirty
or forty yards of them. This is more noticeable in the spring,
when the birds have first arrived, and are in whisps or bunches,
than in autumn, when they appear to have made up their minds
to stay for awhile previous to moving southward.

Sometimes, particularly on a dark drizzling day, which is the
weather they prefer for their flights, the flushing of one bird will
be the signal for every snipe in the field to rise with a sharp
“skeap” “skeap,” and the air will be filled with their bleating and
their irregular flights. Perhaps they join in a flock and fly beyond
WILSON’S SNIPE. 161

the range of vision, or again individual birds may drop with their
peculiarly rapid descent until all have settled again. There is no
difficulty in marking down a snipe, their quick, dropping motion is
unmistakable,

Beating for Snipe with the wind at one’s back, has been always
advised by experts, as the bird invariably rises against wind,
and flies at an angle towards you, either to the right or left, thus
presenting a more easy shot than when going straightaway in a zig-
zag course. Sometimes, however, on account of the many ditch
drains that interrupt us in our tramps over the meadows, we can-
not find it nearly as convenient to take the wind at our backs, and
are compelled to breast it; but we should bear in mind that far
better chances are given to kill if the above advice is carried out,
and always endeavor to follow it.

Snipe in the spring, not unfrequently take to swampy thickets
of black alder, and what are known as “willow gardens,” with
springy bottoms, for shelter and food, when, after their arrival from
the south, the country is visited with a snow squall and a touch of
the past winter. We have on two occasions found them in such
localities lying like stones, making capital shooting, and fully
as expert in twisting their way through the sprouts and alders as
their Iarger cousin, the woodcock.

Frequently when flushed, a bird will dart away, flying low at
first, but gradually rising will soon seem but a speck in the sky,
and then disappear from view, let the hunter keep for a few
moments his position, however, and quick as flash the bird may
drop down to within a few yards of his former resting place. This
is not always the case, as often the snipe may leave not to return.
The probable explanation of this is, that in the first case the
ground from which the bird was driven afforded good food and
cover, and the snipe was loth to desert so attractive a spot. Of
the common names applied to this bird, that of “shad spirit” is
the most peculiar. dt is given them by the fishermen, who, while
in spring time drawing their seines for shad at night, often start the
snipe from the grassy meadows. Hearing the unknown bird get
up before them, and associating it naturally with their shad fishing,
they apply to it the sobriquet of “shad spirit.” The snipe remains
with us frequently as late as the latter part of November. About the
162 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

breeding of the snipe, little is known, as it takes place for the most
part beyond the limits of the United States. He is, however, a
resident of Washington Territory the year through. In the fall
and winter he inhabits the tide lands about the delta of the Skagit,
and the sedgy flats at the head of Seattle Bay. But as the April
showers approach, and the season of mating begins, we miss the
long-billed gentleman. He has gone to the mountain marshes,
the soft, mucky meadows along the slope of Mounts Rainier and
St. Helens. He flits from one tussock to another, probing the
mud with his delicate bill for grubs and worms to feed his patient
spouse, who has her little nest, with four spotted eggs in it, at the
foot of yonder red willow. Here, in sight of eternal snow, he en-
joys cool weather when the valley below smokes with the glow of
harvest, and a cloud of dust arises from the thresher. Here he
struts about on fallen logs with trailing wings and ruffled neck,
for the admiration of his mate as she sits on her nest and figures
out the probabilities of the next Snipe census. And it is at this
season that the male practices the habit, peculiar also to the ruffed
grouse, called drumming in the air, by which he beats a perfect
reveille with his wings, as he hovers over the nest of his spouse.
The grouse (or as they are called here, “ pheasant,”) does this
while standing upon a log, while the Snipe plays his tune when
poised in the air. His drumming is not so audible at a distance
as that of the ruffed grouse, but it continues longer and the notes
are just as distinct.

In our estimation no sport is comparable to an October day with
the snipe, if they be tolerably plenty, and the additional requisite
of a brace of good dogs is not wanting. Undoubtedly the perfec-
tion of snipe shooting is had in Florida during the winter months.
Among the legions of our summer birds who here find shelter and
protection from the rigors of the north may be seen plentifully dis-
persed this, the Wilson’s Snipe. In some places so thickly do they
rendezvous, that a dog is an impediment rather than a help, but
in many districts good use can be made of setter or pointer, and
the pleasure, we think, is greatly enhanced by one or more canine
companions, fully understanding you and their duties. Than the
Wilson’s Snipe, no more delicious bird can be found, and the
premium if divided at all should be awarded, we think, in equal
parts to the Snipe and Woodcock.
BEACH BIRDS.

Order Limicole. The Shore Birds,

ATURE has been so lavish to us of North America in her
supply of shore birds or Limicola, and they form so im-
portant a portion of our avi-fauna, that it may be well to preface
the general account of this order here given, by a short descriptive
scheme as follows :

Tibia more or less naked below (sometimes very slightly) ; legs,
and usually neck also, elongated; hind toe free and elevated, often
wanting. Head globose, abruptly sloping to the base of the bill,
completely feathered ; gape short; bill weak, flexible, more or less
soft-skinned, and therefore sensitive, blunt at tip, without hard cut-
ting edges—fitted for probing in the mud; nostrils slit-like, sur-
rounded by soft skin, never feathered; body never strongly com-
pressed or depressed ; nature precocial. Birds of medium or small
size, more or less aquatic ; found in most regions; very abundant
in America.

SPECIAL CHARACTERISTICS: I. Toes lobate; tarsus notably
compressed, Phalaropodide. II. Toes not lobate; tarsus not
specially compressed. Legs exceedingly long; tarsus as long as
tail; bill much longer than head, slender, acute, and curved up-
wards ; feet four-toed and palmate, or three-toed and semipalmate ;
Recurvirostride. Bill usually shorter than head, pigeon-like ; the
broad soft base separated by a constriction from the hard tip; head
subglobose, on a short neck ; tarsus reticulate; toes three (except
in Sguatarola); Charadritde. Bill usually longer than head,
mostly grooved, but not constricted, softish to its tip; tarsus
scutellate; toes four in number (except in Calzdrzs); Scolopa-
cide. Not as above; bill hard, either compressed and truncate
or acute; feet four-toed and cleft, or three-toed and semi-
palmate; Haematopodide.
164 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA,

The Charadrzdde having been noticed in a previous chapter,
are not here further discussed.

Very many different species of Shore Birds may often be found
associated, and frequently those whose relationship to one another
is quite distant, as for instance the Willets and Curlews. Many
of the smaller sandpipers so closely resemble each other that one
is quite likely to confuse them, the distinctions being in some cases
very minute and trivial, dependent perhaps on the shape of a foot
or bill. In many species too the color varies with the season, and
a bird that is grey in winter may be red in summer. This
fact has given rise to a habit, among sportsmen and amateur nat-
uralists, of multiplying the species of this order to an almost in-
definite extent. All the species of waders found on our coast from
Florida to Labrador are denominated by most of those who shoot
them, as Bay Birds. Among these are included the Godwits,
Willets, Plovers, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Curlew and the
numerous tribe of Sand-pipers, Taken in ornithological order,
first of our Shore birds, after the plover, comes

Hematopus palliatus.—Temm. Oyster-Catcher.

The name of Oyster-catcher is derived from their habit of pry-
ing open the shells of bivalve mollusks, but it is doubtful whether
an oyster proper was ever cauyhz in this way. The bird is of a
sooty black or brown color above, under parts below the breast
white, as is also the rump and q ring around the eye; bill red or
orange, in shape something compressed and knife-like, legs flesh
color. This bird is found on the shores of both oceans, but is no-
where very plenty. He is not prized for food and is rarely shot or
hunted by sportsmen.

Strepsilas interpres.—llliger. Turnstone. Brant-bird. Calico-back. Chicaric.
Chickling. Sand-runner.

Of these names, that of Turnstone is applied on account of the
curious habit these birds have, by dexterously inserting their bills
beneath stones and pebbles along the shore, of securing what in-
sects, or prey of any kind, may be lurking beneath. The names
Chicaric and Chickling have reference ta their rasping notes, that
of Calico-back, to the curiously variegated plumage of the upper
BEACH BIRDS. 165

parts. In summer the adult is oddly pied above with black, white,

brown and chestnut-red, the latter color wanting in winter and in

young birds, below from the breast (which is black) white, bill

black, feet orange. This is a common bird on both coasts during

migrations.

Recurvirostra americana.—Gmel. American Avocet. Blue Stocking. White
Snipe.

A common species of temperate North America, more abundant
in the interior than on the coast. Color white, back and wings with
much black, head and neck cinnamon-brown in the adult, ashy in
the young, bill black, legs blue, eyes red, well-known by its long
and slender legs and extremely slender bill which has frequently an
upward curve.

Himantopus nigricollis.—Vieillot. Stilt. Long Shanks. Lawyer.

Glossy black above with forehead, sides of head and neck, rump
and under parts white, bill black, legs carmine. A common species
of the United States, found plentifully in Florida during the winter
months, but not very highly prized by sportsmen.

Steganopus Wilsont?.—Coues. Wilson’s Phalarope.

A common North American species found most plentifully in
the West, around small pools and sloughs, where they breed in
numbers. Color of adult, ashy above, under parts white, a black
stripe from the eye down the side of the neck, spreading into rich
chestnut, which also variegates the back and throat. The bill is
easily distinguished from that of any of our other shore birds, be-
ing very slender, acute and awl-shaped.

Lobipes hyperboreus.—-Cuv. Northern Phalarope.

A more northern species and less known to the gunner. The
color is greyish black, back varied with tawny, upper tail coverts
and under parts mostly white, side ®f head and neck with broad
stripe of chestnut, the young lacking the chestnut.

Phalaropus fulicarius—Bon, Red Phalarope.

The best known of our three representatives of the family. It
is in color, above variegated with ashy and tawny, below purplish-
166 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA,

chestnut, white in the young, the bill is comparatively stout, with
lancet-shaped tip. It is a smallish bird noted for its beauty and
elegance of form, its grace and activity of movement. Their lobed
feet make them entirely at home on the water, and they are often
seen a considerable distance from land. They occur like the
Northern Phalarope in the United States only during their migra-
tions, and breed to the north. Classed under the snipes proper
and a very snipe-like bird, we come next to the

Macrorhamphus griseus.—Leach. Red-breasted Snipe. Grey Snipe. Brown-
back. Dowitcher. Driver.

The color is in summer brownish black above, variegated with
bay, below brownish-red, variegated with dusky, a tawny super-
ciliary stripe, and a darker one from the bill to the eye. In winter,
plain grey above and on the breast, with no trace of black and
bay, belly white. This bird differs essentially from the true snipe
in habits, they flying in large compact flocks like the sandpipers,
and for the most part inhabiting the shores of bays and estuaries,
rather than the wet meadows. They are shot on the shores of
Long Island in August in great numbers; they are a migratory
United States species.

Micropalama himantopus.—Baird. Stilt Sandpiper.

Not a common bird, but is found inthe United States in limited
numbers during their migrations. It occurs in the West India
Islands during the winter; in color it much resembles the last
species.

Breunetes pusillus.—Cassin. Semipalmated Sandpiper. Peep. Oxeye.

An exceedingly abundant little bird, too common and well
known to merit a description. In the later summer they throng
our shores, and form staple sport to the youthful and city tyros.
They are quickly distinguished in the hand from mnuédlla by the
semipalmation.

Tringa minutilla,—Vieill. The Least Sandpiper. Peep.

The smallest of the Sandpipers, in color it resembles the last,
but has rather more bay on the upper parts. These two species
are always found associated, and are often confounded.
BEACH BIRDS. 167

Tringa Bairdii—Coues, Baird’s Sandpiper.

This species is almost exactly similar in color to mznutz¢la,
but is larger. It is rare on the Atlantic coast, but is found in both
North and South America,

Tringa maculata.—Vieill.—Pectoral Sandpiper. Marsh Plover. Jack Snipe.
Grass, Snipe.

The color is greyish, variegated with chestnut above, somewhat
resembling the Wilsons or English Snipe, Gaddnago Walsonzz, but
of course instantly distinguished from the latter by the shape of
the bill. The species is seldom if ever seen on open sandy beaches,
as it prefers at all times the low muddy flats laid bare by the tide,
the pools and ditches which intersect them, and the salt marshes
by which they are bordered. They are not restricted to salt water,
but frequent low wet meadows and fields at a great distance from
any large body of water. When they rise from the grass to alight
again at a short distance, they fly slowly and evenly with the wings
deeply incurved. When, however, they are frightened, by being
repeatedly forced up by the sportsman, or when they are suddenly
startled, they spring up vigorously, emitting loud rapidly repeated
notes, and fly in a quick zigzag manner. They are then equally
difficult to shoot with the Wilsons Snipe. Sometimes they mount
with a loud cry very high into the air, and circle overhead for sev-
eral minutes, flying with great rapidity and in perfect silence.
When about to alight, which they often do at the very spot from
which they rose, they barely close their wings and dart suddenly
down in an almost perpendicular direction. This species is found
in pairs or singly, and never in flocks of any great extent. They
are excessively fat in the month of October and delicately flavored,
and afford delicious eating. They are abundant from Washington
to New Hampshire. Very little is known of their breeding places.

Tringa Bonapartei—Schleg. White-rumped Sandpiper. White-tailed Stib.

This bird is very similar in color and size to 7. Bazrdiz, the
upper tail coverts are white however, and hence the name. This
bird is the Schinzes Sandpiper of Audubon. It is common to the
Rocky Mountains, and is abundant along the Atlantic coast.
168 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

Tringa maritima,—Briinn. Purple Sandpiper.

This is a rather common bird on our Atlantic coast. They
confine themselves to the rocky shores and jutting promontories,
and are for this reason not frequently secured by sportsmen.
The color of the upper parts, ashy black with purplish reflections,
line over the eye, and under parts white, breast like the back but
lighter in color; in winter the colors are much duller, being a
dark slaty grey. The young are mottled with dusky below.

Tringa alpina var. americana.—Cassin. American Dunlin. Black-bellied
Sandpiper. Red-backed Sandpiper. Stib.

A North American species. Color of the adult in summer,
above chestnut, each feather with a central black field, and most
of them white tipped, under parts white, belly witha broad black
area, breast streaked with dusky, adult in winter, pale ashy grey.

Tringa subarquata.—Temm. Curlew Sandpiper.

An extremely rare bird in this country, but stragglers have
been picked up along the Atlantic coast.

Tringa canutus.—Linn. Red-breasted Sandpiper. Ash-colored Sandpiper. Red
breast. Grey-back. Robin-snipe. Knot.

An abundant species found along the shores of Long Island
and New Jersey in numbers; colors above, brownish-black, the
feathers tipped with ashy-white, below brownish red, much the
same as in the familiar robin; young, above clear ash with numer-
ous black and white semicircles, below tinged with reddish
speckled on the breast. In winter plain grey.

Calidris arenaria.—llliger. Sanderling. Ruddy Plover. Skinner.

The hind toe of most other shore birds lacking, the color of the
adult in summer is as follows: upper parts varied with black, ashy
and bright reddish, below from the breast pure white ; adult in
winter without the reddish tinge, the upper parts speckled and
marked with white and black, below white. This is an abundant
bird along our coasts. The name of Skinner has reference prob-
ably, to the fact of the bird’s breast bursting open on striking the
BEACH BIRDS. 169

ground or water when shot in the fall. This is the result of
their great fatness, and the bursting is called skinning—the bird a
skinner.

Limosa fedoa.—Ord. Great Marbled Godwit. Marlin. Humility.

Found in the United States, and breeding to the north, although
afew remain with us for that purpose. They are quickly distin-
guished among the thousands of birds that throng the shores of
our Atlantic seaboard by their large size and coloration. General
plumage rufous or cinnamon-brown, above variegated with black,
brown and grey, bill from four to five inches in length, flesh-color-
ed, and tipped with black. This Godwit, commonly called “ Mar-
lin,’ is becoming scarcer every year. It is a very noisy bird, and
has an odd shrill cry that sounds like ‘.g7z¢¢o”’ rapidly repeated ;
they are very strong on the wing, and feed in bogs and marshes
near the sea shore, have four eggs, and are very delicious as a
table bird.

Limosa hudsonica.—Swainson. Hudsonian Godwit. White-tailed Marlin.
Humility.

Colored as follows: Tail black, largely white at the base ; under
parts in the breeding season intense rufous, variegated with dusky,
head, neck, and upper parts brownish black, variegated with grey,
reddish and sometimes whitish speckling, young and winter plum-
age of the adult, grey and pale, with less of the ruddy tinge. This
is a more northerly inhabitant of the continent than the last, and
not so abundant; it is also smaller than the other Godwits.

Totanus semifalmatus.—Temm, Willet. Semipalmated Tattler.

To gunners this is a widely known species, being found in
great plenty along our sea coast and in the marshes. They may
be called residents of the United States. Being a large bird they
are shot extensively, but as a table bird are not highly esteemed.
The bird in summer is grey above with numerous black markings,
below white, throat, breast and sides streaked and marked with
dusky. In winter these markings are lacking, and the bird is of
a general ashy grey color. The legs are large and strong, the
toes semipalmated.
170 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA,

Totanus melanoleucus.—Vieill. Greater Tell-tale. Greater Yellow-shanks. Big
Yellow-legs. Stone Snipe. Tattler. Large Cucu.

This is one of the most familiar of our Bay-birds, his large size,
yellow legs, peculiar cry and usual wariness making him an object
of eager pursuit to the city-bred sportsman. They are, however,
universally disliked by gunners on account of their watchful
and noisy nature. They will stand motionless and in silence,
carefully regarding the sportsman with watchful attention until he
is nearly within shooting distance, when at a single note from one
of the flock, all instantly take flight, emitting loud clear whistles
of rejoicing at his discomfiture. Later in the season, however,
they seem to be less wary, and numbers can be procured without
difficulty. Though found in all situations near the water, their
favorite localities are muddy flats laid bare by the ebbing tide, the
salt marshes adjoining them, and the pools which dot these
marshes. They are generally lean and little valued for the
table.

A description of this bird is superfluous, as he is, next to the
Peep, our most common shore bird among the hordes that popu-
late our coasts, and is unmistakable.

Totanus flavipes.—Vieill. Lesser Yellow-legs. Lesser Tell-tale.

An exact miniature of the last in coloration and its habits are
similar, the two are found associated, sometimes both being
brought down by the same discharge ; what applies to one is true
of the other.

Tringa solitarius. —Aud. Solitary Tattler.

A familiar species to most gunners, It is for the most part a
resident of the wet woods and marshes, rather than the sea shore.
In early fall one or two may invariably be found feeding by any se-
cluded pool or pond, not necessarily near salt water ; when fright-
ened suddenly they are silent in their flights, but at other times
emit a shrill and not unmusical call. The color is dark lustrous
olive-brown above, below white, sides of neck and head streaked
with dusky, the tail is beautifully marked with black and white.
These birds are common to North America in general, A rather
BEACH BIRDS, 171

shy species, breeding in some of the mountainous portions of the
United States and north.

Tringoides macularius.—Gray. Spotted Sand-piper. Tip-up. Teeter. Sand
lark, Peetweet.

This is one of our very common and abundant shore birds,
known to all. They are not found in compact flocks, but in loose
companies of from five to ten. Color of adult, above, olive with a
coppery lustre, below pure white, throat and breast thickly spotted
with distinct black markings, these are wanting in the young,
whose breast is white with perhaps an ashy suffusion; they be-
come enormously fat in the autumn, but are poor eating owing to
the fishy nature of their food. The nest is placed on the ground
often in field or orchard, but always near some body of water, and
is a slight affair, merely a collection of dried grasses; the eggs
are four in number, of a muddy color, blotched with blackish.

Actiturus bartramius—Bon. Bartramian Sandpiper. Upland Plover. Field
Plover. 7
An abundant migratory bird throughout North America. It
is an esteemed game bird, and is seen in flocks, in fields, not ne-
cessarily near the water, their principal food being insects. In
color they are blackish above, variegated with tawny and whitish,
below pale tawny, breast and sides with bars and arrowheads of
blackish, bill and legs pale. This species is far more abundant
on the plains of the Missouri River region than on any other sec-
tion of our country. It is found on the high dry plains any where,
and when fat, as it generally is, from the abundance of its favorite
food, the grasshopper, is one of the most delicious morsels ima-
ginable. They breed everywhere throughout this country, laying
four spotted eggs in a rather deep hollow in the ground, the nest
being composed merely of a few grass blades.

Tryngites rufescens.—Cab. Buff-breasted Sandpiper.

In color much like the Bartramian Sandpiper; it is a smaller
bird however, and will not be confounded with Bartramzus. They
do not seem to be an abundant species, but are found generally
distributed throughout the open country of North America.
172 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

Heteroscelus incanus.—Coues. Wandering Tattler.

Peculiar to the islands and coasts of the Pacific, where they are
known by a dozen names. The plumage is generally a uniform
lead grey above, below white, shaded and barred with grey.

Numenius longirostris.—Wilson. Long-billed Curlew. Sickle-bill, Sabre-bill.

A common resident, distinguishable to gunners from all other
birds by the great length of its bill, which measures from five to
nine inches. The coloration is much like that of the Marlin, the
general tone of the bird being rufous, thickly marked with arrow-
heads and bars of blackish.

Numenius hudsonicus.—Lath. Hudsonian Curlew. Jack Curlew.

Also abundant in the United States and breeds in British
America. The color is like that of the last species, but a shade
paler. It is a much smaller bird and its bill is shorter, being but
three to four inches in length.

Numenius boreadis—Lath. Esquimaux Curlew. Dough Bird.

Like. the former in color but still smaller, the bill measuring
under three inches.

Curlew are generally very abundant and breed in high, hilly, and
sandy grounds. The nest is very slight and usually contains four
eggs, placed with the small ends together. These birds have a
singular way of just keeping out of gun-shot, and rise with a mourn-
ful cry, alarming every bird within hearing, thus spoiling the sport
among the Willets, as at certain seasons they frequently associate
with one another. The best decoy is to tie a dark bandanna hand-
kerchief on the top of a small stick, the gunner lying concealed be-
hind some dry drift-wood, waving the decoy and imitating their
cry from time to time. It is not thought highly of as a table bird,
but when properly cooked with a little lemon, and good cayenne, it
is not to be despised.

An almost endless variety of the Zzmzcole are found on the
shores of Long Island, these localities seemingly being especially
adapted to this family and furnishing to them an inexhaustible sup-
ply of food.
BEACH BIRDS. 173

There are but a few methods employed in the pursuit of these
birds as the habits of most of the species are identical. We have thus
thought best to close the chapter with a few words on this point.

The best feeding grounds are Pelican Bar, South Bay; Egg
Harbor, Montauk Point, Forked River near Barnegat, several
promontories near Stonington, Conn., Currituck Inlet, N. C.,
and Cobb’s Island on the eastern shore of Virginia. At the
two latter named places, shooting commences early in Sep-
tember, and at the former early in August. To one contem-
plating a visit to any of these resorts, with the view of enjoying
Bay bird shooting, we would give the following advice: If
possible, go out very early in the morning on a high flood tide,
taking care to select a long narrow sand-bar that is not covered at
high-water, and one that juts out from the mainland; gather some
dry drift-wood and build a small blind, scooping out the sand. You
can then put out a few stools about twenty-five yards from the
blinds on the edge of high-water, and commence to imitate the
whistle of any bay bird with whose note you have become familiar ;
if the wind should be blowing on shore and the tide likely to be
very high, the sand-bars will be all covered and the birds having
no place to alight, fly backwards and forwards across this point
waiting for the tide to recede. Never pick up the wing-tipped
birds, as they act as decoys; they flutter their wings, uttering shrill
whistles, and bring down hundreds of others to see “ what is the
matter.” As the flocks wheel around over the stools and at the
instant when during one of their circlings, they show their white
bellies, is the time to touch the trigger. You may then secure a
dozen birds at a single discharge. Whistling down certain kinds
of beach birds to decoys is practised successfully by old gunners
who are adepts in this art. Novices had better trust to their de-
coys. Another plan is to sail leisurely down on the birds as they
are feeding on the bars; but if there are any Curlew there, it is
necessary to remain perfectly still and hide yourself. The slight-
est oversight on the part of the sportsman to observe these laws,
will cause the Curlew instantly to give the alarm and your sport is
ad, With everything in your favor, tides, wind, slightly foggy
weather, the shooting of Curlew is generally at long range. Now
and then you may get a shot at them as they fly over at forty yards
174 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

orso. Your clothes should be of a marsh-grass, or sedge color,
Always have the barrels of your gun well “ browned ;”" use a ten-
bore, four and a half drachms of powder, and one and a quarter
ounces of No. 7 shot, a pair of long rubber boots and a light rub-
ber blanket. For the smaller bay snipe you can use No. Io shot
and upwards, according to their size. For Plover, if you have a
fine retrieving spaniel, he will be of service.

By these methods are shot Willets, Large and Small Yellow-
legs, Dowitchers, Killdeer, Robin-snipe, Turnstones and very many
of the smaller Sand-pipers and Plover. The sport is much enjoyed
by many, and with us of the Eastern coasts it has the additional
advantage of being so convenient and accessible from the city, that
many business men can easily and at short notice reach the shoot-
ing ground, where circumstances prohibit a long sojourn from the
city. In our opinion, however, the pleasures of Bay bird shooting
should not be spoken of in the same sentence with cocking or snip-
ing. The birds after being secured are not gamey, and the man-
ner of securing them is tame compared with the inspiriting hunt
of the Quail, Woodcock, Grouse or Snipe, where the accessory of
a brace of good dogs is not wanting.
RAIL AND REED BIRDS.

EW of our birds are as little known to the unscientific, as

the species which are comprised in the family of the Rad/zde.

Migrating altogether by night, and passing their lives among the

wet meadows and marshes, they are rarely disturbed, except by

the ornithological collector, and for perhaps a month in the au-
tumn by the sportsman.

Yet they are very interesting little birds, active, energetic, and
above all inquisitive. At high water they may often be seen in
considerable numbers running rapidly about over the floating
sedge, the head well thrown back and the short, pointed tail erect
and brought as far forward as possible. At such times, if the ob-
server will but remain perfectly motionless the nimble little feeders
will approach within a few feet of him, and he may note each de-
tail of form and coloring. At the least movement, however, all
the birds take the alarm and run back to the shelter of the stand-
ing grass or rushes whence they came. Their swiftness of foot is
surprising, and they splash along over the floating reeds and grass
in a most reckless and noisy race.

That they are not badly frightened, however, is shown by the
fact that if all becomes quiet once more they will emerge from
their hiding-place almost immediately to inspect the object which
alarmed them, and after having satisfied their curiosity, will re-
commence feeding in their former jaunty and unconcerned man-
ner. While thus engaged they do not confine themselves wholly
to satisfying their appetites ; they are not so eager for food that
they cannot find time to stop for a little chatter and gossip with
one another. Indeed they often indulge in quite protracted con-
versations, sometimes in the shrillest and most argumentative
tones, and at others in low whispered chuckles that can hardly be
heard at the distance of a few feet. Often the birds can be called
from their grassy hiding-places by an imitation of their shrill
176 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

cries, and we have sometimes drawn a dozen birds to the edge of
the rushes, where they would stand and peer about until some
slight movement drove them back to their cover.

Ordinarily they seem very much averse to using their wings,
and prefer to trust for safety to their powers of running and hid-
ing. If possible they will always run to the thick grass or “ cat-
tails,” which the sportsman’s boat cannot penetrate. When they
have not time to reach such places of refuge they may usually be
forced to fly, though they will sometimes hide in a bunch of grass,
and permit the boat to be pushed directly over them. Wounded
birds resort to every expedient of diving, swimming under water
and hiding, and unless the situation is exceptionally favorable for
the marker, they are more often lost than secured. We have
known them to cling for several minutes to the grass at the bot-
tom, and it is believed that they sometimes drown in this way,
rather than expose themselves to the chance of being captured.
One of their commonest modes of concealment is to sink in the
water near a clump of grass, leaving only the bill exposed above
water, and this small object partially concealed by the surrounding
grass is easily overlooked.

Rallus longirostris—Bodd. Clapper Rail. Salt-water Marsh-hen. Mud-hen.

Colors above variegated with dark olive-brown and pale olive-
ash, which edges the feathers ; below, dull ochre-brown whitening
on the throat, often ashy on the breast, flanks, fuscous-grey, with
white bars, eyelids and short superciliary stripe whitish. Young
birds are dirty-white below. The length is about fourteen to six-
teen inches. It inhabits the salt marshes of our Atlantic coast,
as far north as Massachusetts, although comparatively rare north
of Connecticut. They are exceedingly averse to flying, and prefer
to seek safety by their powers of concealment, which are sometimes
marvellously exhibited. When, however, a dog follows the scent,
and there are no convenient holes into which they may creep, they
take to flight, making a very clumsy figure on the wing, dropping
suddenly into the grass, and scampering off as fast as possible.
Their flesh is poor, and the capturing of this, as well as the two
following species, is a matter of chance. The Clapper Rail, how-
ever, is only so difficult to secure in the Middle States. Further
RAIE AND REED BIRDS. 177

south, especially in the Carolinas, they are found and shot in num-
bers. Audubon speaks of fifty to a hundred birds being killed
during a tide.

Raillus elegaus—Aud. King-Rail. Fresh-water Marsh-hen.

In markings, this bird resembles /ongzrostrzs, but the colors
are much brighter. It is alsoa larger bird. It is an inhabitant
of the fresh water marshes of the United States, although they
are occasionally, during migrations, found in salt or brackish-
water marsh-lands; a better table bird than the last, but rarely
seen or shot by gunners, on account of their reluctance to fly ; they
are sometimes flushed by boats, when after Sora, the birds having
ventured too far from their impenetrable cat-tails, while feeding
upon the wild-oats, the special food of the genus.

Rallus Virginianus.—Linn. Virginia Rail. Red Rail. Corn-crake.

Coloration as in elegans of which it is a perfect miniature ;
length eight and one-half to ten and one-half inches; a common
migrating species of the United States, sometimes found beyond
the line. This bird is well known to Sora hunters, being shot in
the same situation and localities ; it is not, however, so peculiarly a
fresh water bird, being in early summer, and sometimes late fall,
found in the great salt meadows ; they are, however, more fond of
thick cover than the Carolina Rail, and seldom venture far from
such places. When the moon is at its full in September or Octo-
ber, and the perigee, or in ‘‘ shover ’ parlance “ Pagy,” tides take
place, the afternoon high-water sometimes almost outtops the
cat-tails, and it is at these times that most of the Virginia Rail are
secured, for the skiff of the gunner may then be pushed through
these ordinarily insurmountable barriers, and the inmates, two or
three Virginia Rail, perhaps a Least Bittern or rarer still a Florida
Gallinule may be thus started. Still for every fifty Sora, not more
than one Virginia Rail is boated,

caer adil

Porzana Carolina.—Cassin. Carolina Rail. Sora: Ortolar.
Olive brown above, varied with black and numerous sharp
white streaks and specks, flanks barred with black and whitish ;
adult, face and central line of throat black, rest of the throat, line

8%
178 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

over the eyes, and especially breast, slaty or bluish grey. This is
the most common and universally known of all the Radide ; later
in this account we shall describe the manner of its pursuit.

Porzana noveboracensis.—Cassin. Yellow-breasted Rail. Little Yellow Rail.

Above varied with blackish and ochre-brown, thickly marked
with narrow white semicircles and transverse bars, below, pale
yellowish-brown fading on the belly, deepest on breast, flanks dark
with numerous white bars, smali, about six inches in length. This
little bird is not supposed to be a common species ; confined to.
Eastern North America. On account of its secluded habits and
extreme dislike to take wing, they are very rarely secured.

We were fortunate enough a year since, during the month of
October, to make some observations on the habits of P. zovebora-
censts which deserve to be briefly noticed. While working a young
puppy on snipe over a wet meadow, we were somewhat annoyed
by the dog’s often making what we supposed false points. We
were unable to start any birds from before him, and several times
called him away, supposing that he was standing on the scent of
a bird that had recently been there. At length, however, the dog
was seen, after standing for a moment, to reach down and grasp
at something in the grass before him, and immediately afterwards
a small Rail rose and flew a short distance. Recognizing it asa
Rail, and-seeing that it was very different from anything which we
are accustomed to see in this vicinity, we shot the specimen, and
when it was retrieved were surprised and pleased to find that it
was a Yellow-breasted Rail.

Subsequent examination of the meadows proved that the
species was quite common, and we did no small injury to our dog's
training by allowing him to hunt the birds after his own method.
The little creatures were astonishingly tame, and would hide
among the bogs on the meadow, or creep into holes in the ground,
from which the dog would draw them forth in his mouth. We
caught one in our hands, and killed another with a dog whip. A
third flew against the legs of one of the party, and then dropped
down into the grass again. In all, about a dozen specimens (of
which nine were preserved) were taken in an hour or two, and no
doubt had more time been at our command, this number might
RAIL AND REED BIRDS. 179

have been materially increased. It was apparent that the species
was migrating in considerable numbers, and that its supposed
rarity isin a great measure due to its retiring habits, and to its
propensity for hiding when it can instead of flying. It is evident
that a collector familiar with these habits would have no difficulty
in securing a goodly number of specimens.

The facts just related would seem to indicate that if collectors
did but know where and at what time to look for them, some of
the migrating birds now considered rare in certain localities might
be found there in considerable numbers; and that as our knowl-
edge of bird life and habits becomes more and more extended, the
so-called rare species will gradually be eliminated from our lists,
until finally the time will come when we shall know just where
and when to look for any given species.

Porzana ¥amaicensis.—Cassin. Black Rail.

Color blackish, head and under parts dark slaty, paler on
throat, above speckled with white, upper portion of back varied
with dark chestnut, flanks white-barred. A very small bird, about
five and a half inches in length—found in South and Central
America and West Indies, rare in the United States, There are
a few instances on record of this bird having been secured in the
Middle States, notably the finding of one in Massachusetts in 1869.
It was during the migrating season, and the bird was found on
the ground beneath the telegraph wires. What was said at the
close of our remarks on the Little Yellow Rail about their sup-
posed rarity, may apply equally well to this species.

Gallinula galeata.—Bon. Florida Gallinule. King Rail.

Head, neck and under parts greyish black, darkest on head,
paler or whitening on the belly, back brownish olive, wings and
tail dusky, edge of wing, stripes on the flanks white, bill and
frontal plate red, the former tipped with yellow, length twelve to
fifteen inches. An inhabitant of the South Atlantic and Gulf
States, occurs occasionally north to Massachusetts.

Porphyria maviinica.—Temm. Purple Gallinule,

Head, neck and under parts purplish blue, above olivaceous-
green, frontal shield blue, bill red with yellow tip, legs yellowish ;
180 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

young with head, neck and lower part of back brownish, under
parts whitish, length ten to twelve inches. South Atlantic and
Gulf States, north rarely to New England.

Fulica americana.—Gmelin. Coot. Sea Crow.

Color, dark slate, paler below, blackening in the head and neck,
tinged with olive on the back, edge of wing and tips of secondaries
white, bill whitish marked with reddish black near the tip, feet
dull green, length fourteen inches. The feet of the Coot are
widely lobed like the Phalaropes, and they are more at home on the
water than on the land. They feed along the shores of fresh
water creeks and rivers, and numbers are yearly, taken by Rail
hunters.

By far the most abundant of the Rail in the Middle States,
especially during the migrations, is the so-called Sora (Porzana
carolina) ; next in abundance come the Salt water Marsh-hen
(Rallus longtrostris), and the Virginia Rail or Corncrake (2. vzr-
ginianus), the latter a bird most unwilling to use its wings, and
ordinarily not to be started from the ground except by the aid of a
dog. The Coot (Fudéca americana) is rather abundant in the
middle districts, and from its size and habits is perhaps more gen-
erally known than the other members of the family. The Florida
gallinule (Gallznula galeata) is rare, but we have occasionally
taken it. This family contains two or three species which are
quite rare, and which are eagerly sought after by ornithological
collectors, The yellow-breasted rail (Porzana noveboracensis) is
one of these and the black rail (P. /amazcens7s ) another, the latter
being regarded as one of the rarest of North American birds. The
European Corncrake (Crex pratenszs) is only found on this conti-
nent as an accidental visitor.

Rail shooting is a sport enjoyed almost exclusively by Philadel-
phians ; certainly in no other city is it followed so regularly, and
with so much zest. The season occurs between times, as it were,
and after the two long summer months of July and August, when
there has been little or no shooting, it is no wonder that September
first is hailed with delight by the sportsman.

The numerous flats and islands in the Delaware Rivcr at this
season of the year are covered with a dense growth of wild oats,
RAIL AND REED BIRDS. 181

or reed, as it is commonly called, shooting up from the oozy bottom,
alternately bare and flooded with water three or four feet at each
succeeding rise and fall of the tide. As the reed begins to ripen
about the middle or latter part of August, the Rail arrive and soon
become very fat, the wild oats imparting to thema delicious flavor
when served for the table. Countless numbers of reed or rice
birds flock to the same feeding ground, and although not proper
game, are much persecuted, more on account of the dainty dish
they offer than the pleasure they afford in shooting.

Several varieties of the Rail are killed on the Delaware ; by far
the most common is the Porzana carolina, or Sora. The Rallus
virginianus, or Red Rail, a few years ago was more frequently met
with than latterly. The Radlus elegans, or King Rail is compara-
tively rare, but at times shot, and the Rad/us longzrostr7s, Clapper
Rail, or Mud-hen, so far leaves his home of the salt meadows as to
sometimes fall a victim to his wanderings. The common Coot,
likewise of the same family of Radizde, or Rail, may be considered
a rare bird here.

At most, rail shooting does not last longer than three hours
during a day, and much depends upon the extent of the tide, and
indeed a great deal on the wind and the moon, for it is well known
that a full moon, occurring during the prevalence of a northeast-
erly or southeasterly wind, will bring on a “ high water,” which is
most favorable for rail shooting. The more tide the most Rail,
always.

And now tothe modus operand? of rail shooting. Fully
equipped, with plenty of ammunition—one hundred and fifty
rounds at least—(it is best to have enough, and not run short as
we did on one occasion, contenting ourself with “ low boat ” while
our companions were knocking the birds right and left around
us.) Your pusher will row you, we will say from the landing at
the Lazaretto, two or three hours before high water, to the upper
end of Tinnicum Island, in the centre of the river, where, if the
tide is to be a high one, the water will allow the boat to be pushed
first on to a flat on the Jersey shore called “ Clemmel,”’ which is
the lowest on the Delaware. Standing a little forward of amid-
ships you brace yourself while your attendant on the decked end
of his clinker-built skiff begins his work ; and it is work, this push-
182 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.
*

ing without cessation, of man and boat through masses of standing
reed for two or three hours. As the skiff is propelled, the rail,
forced to fly by the rising tide and the quick approach of the
shooter, presents an easy and simple mark, the poleman attracting
the sportsman’s attention by a “ mark right ” or “ mark left,” as the
direction may be, the recovering being the most difficult, owing to
the great sameness of the surrounding reed. But such is the skill of
these pushers in marking down with their white wooden blocks, of
which four to six are always at hand, the birds as they fall, that we
have known five birds to have been killed before one was boated,
and all were recovered. Seldom, if ever, is a dead Rail lost by any
of these men.

Shifting to grounds that allow the ingress of the boat at a later
state of the tide the sport is continued, and shot after shot is

-had in quick succession, each pusher striving to outdo his fellows,
until the ebb drives the shooter from the flats to count his head of
birds, and to learn who the lucky “high boat ”’ is, for be it known
a great honor is attached to the gun and to the pusher of the for-
tunate skiff.

Frequently one hundred Rail are killed during a tide. Some-
times one hundred and twenty, and never less than fifty, if there
is any water at all. It is common while being pushed through the
weeds to have shots at teal and larger ducks as they jump from
some ditch or pool on the flats, and it is best always to have a spare
gun with No. 5 or 6 shot for them. As for rail, we use Nos. 10
and 12, A breech-loading gun is invaluable for rail shooting, and
the “high boat” is generally found to be the possessor of one of
these improved arms. Last season Rail were unusually plenty, and
shooting lasted well into the latter part of October, but we had very
few very high tides, one hundred and seven rail being the greatest
number of birds shot in a single day.

Before breech-loaders were adopted it required considerable
care in fixing up all things necessary for the rapid loading of muz-
zle-loaders, such as “ rail boxes,” shot cartridges, loading rods,
etc. But now with a breech-loader, which can be secured from a
friend, or hired at a gun store, and with from one hundred to one
hundred and fifty properly loaded shells, say with two drachms of:
powder and three-quarters of an ounce of No. 12 shot, one is pre-
RAIL AND REED BIRDS. 183

pared to strike out for Chester or the Lazaretto, where good, clean,
tight boats and the most skillful pushers may at any time be ob-
tained. As this kind of shooting is done altogether from a clean,
dry boat the shooter requires no special change of clothing.

To show in what vast numbers this bird is sometimes found on
these reedy flats, we will relate an experience of our own. A few
years ago, while we were living in Philadelphia, we ran down to
Chester, secured a pusher, and started out with about twenty other
boats. As all shooting ceases when the tide begins to fall, the
boats return about the same time. By actual count, we found that
the number of rail killed amounted to fifty per boat, making full
one thousand birds killed at one tide, giving a little over three
hours’ shooting. On that occasion we killed one hundred and
three birds, and one or two other boats did a trifle better.

In order to have the best show for a shoot it will be better to
secure a pusher beforehand, which can always be done by applica-
tion at the gun stores of Mr. John Krider, corner of Second and
Walnut streets, or Mr. Abm. Peterman, in Dock street, above
Walnut, Philadelphia.

There is no law in this State protecting rail. Fair shooting
may be obtained on the Hackensack meadows, especially in what
used to be known as the English Neighborhood.

Dolichonyx orizyvorus.—Swainson. Bobolink, Reed-bird. Rice-bird. Butter-
bird.

Colors in fall, yellowish-brown above, brownish-yellow below ;
crown and back conspicuously streaked with black, rump and sides
less broadly so ; crown with a median and lateral light stripe ; wings
and tail blackish, pale edged ; length about seven inches. This well
known species is found throughout the Eastern sections of our coun-
try in the greatest abundance. In the spring time he is the Bobo-
link of the Middle and Eastern districts and then does he appear
in his most showy dress. He is accounted the champion song-
ster of the meadows. During the month of August the males lose
their song, begin to moult and assume the plumage of the female
as described above. By the first of September they have finished
moulting, and retire to the fields of wild oats in immense numbers
to feed upon the ripening seeds. At this season they are known
184 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

by the name of Reed-bird. Now they are more plenty on the
meadows of the Delaware and Schuylkill than elsewhere, and the
Philadelphia markets teem with the delicious little birds. Sports-
men do not hunt them; perhaps when railing a few shots may be
fired into their dense ranks, as they whirl by, but the markets are
supplied by pot-hunters exclusively. As the cooler weather drives
them further south they find still another name, being known as
Rice-birds and sometimes Ortolan. In the West Indies where
they winter in great numbers they are called Butter-birds. They
can hardly be called a game bird, but are highly prized by epicures
the country through.
SWANS.

UT two species of Swans inhabit North America, and only
one of these is known to the gunners of our Eastern Coast,
Cygnus bucctnator, being found only in the Mississippi Valley and
to the Westward. Swans being the largest and most beautiful of
our wild fowl, are highly esteemed and eagerly sought for by the
sportsman, but owing to their rarity and their extreme wariness,
but few are killed. Notwithstanding their great size, they fly with
wonderful swiftness, and the thick covering of feathers and down
with which they are protected, will turn the largest drop shot.
The sportsman then, who has killed his Swan, has reason to con-
gratulate himself, not only on his skill in bringing the bird to bag,
but on his good fortune in getting a shot at it.

Cygnus buccinator.—Richardson, Trumpeter Swan.

As has been remarked, the Trumpeter Swan is scarcely or not
at all found east of the Mississippi, and it is perhaps most abun-
dant in California, Oregon and Washington Territory, especially
at the mouth of the Columbia River; even here, however, it is not
common, being greatly outnumbered by the Whistling Swan. It
occurs somewhat sparingly during its migrations all over the Mis-
souri River region, and is not uncommon on the waters of the
Mississippi River.

The Trumpeter Swan is pure white in color, with the exception
of the bill and feet, which are black. The tail is composed of
twenty-four feathers, and this character will serve to distinguish it
from the Whistling Swan, which has only twenty. The bill is
longer than the head, and the bird measures in total length, from
four to five feet, and weighs usually about twenty pounds. Audu-
bon mentions one, however, which weighed thirty-eight pounds,
and had a spread of wings of ten feet. The Swan is only able to
186 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

rise from the water against the wind, and even then is obliged to
flap and run along the surface for many yards, before it can gain
way enough to rise into the air. The expert sportsman, if he dis-
covers a flock feeding in a creek, narrow river, or pond, will take
advantage of this fact, and may often thus make a successful shot
at them. This species reaches the interior, from the North, just
before the first hard frosts. During the day, it rests in security
on large bodies of open water, and at night resorts to the shoals,
or to neighboring grassy ponds, for the purpose of feeding. Some
are killed while passing from one feeding ground to another, at
which times, if the wind is strong and against them, they fly low
enough ‘to be within reach of shot. Sometimes, too, they fly
within range of points of land where the hunters are concealed,
and are killed in this way. In shooting at birds of this genus, the
sportsman will do well to aim at the head or neck of the bird that
he has selected, as the body is so admirably protected by its cov-
ering of feathers, that, unless his gun be loaded with very large
shot, the bird, even if hit, may fly far out of reach before falling.
The cygnets of this species are pale grey in color, and are much
smaller than the full grown birds; they are, however, delicious
eating, while the white individuals are, as a rule, tough and
stringy, in fact quite uneatable.

About the breeding habits of this species, little or nothing is
known, save that the young are produced in the far North. It is
not improbable, however, that a few may breed in the high moun-
tains of Montana and Idaho, as the species has been observed
during the summer on the Yellowstone Lake by recent explorers.

Cygnus americanus.—Sharpless. American Swan. Whistling Swan.

This species is much more widely distributed than the pre-
ceding. It is found throughout the whole breadth of the Conti-
nent, as far south as the Carolinas on the eastern seaboard, and
beyond the southern boundaries of the United States on the
western. In northern New England, however, it apparently does
not occur, and it is probable that in its migrations it passes over
the land, instead of following the coast lines, as do most of our
wild fowl.

This species is somewhat smaller than the foregoing, but is
SWANS. 187

similarly colored, except as to the bill, which is usually marked at
the base with a spot of bright yellow. The nostrils, too, are me-
dian, instead of being as in the Trumpeter, in the basal half of the
bill. The young are grey.

This species was found by Mr. Dall, breeding in large numbers
on the great marshes near the mouth of the Yukon in Alaska.
The eggs are generally two in number, yellowish white in color,
and measure from four to four and one half inches in length, and
from two and one half to two and three-quarters in breadth. In
July, when the Swans are moulting and cannot fly, the Indians of
Alaska destroy great numbers of them by spearing them with
their bone tridents. The few Swans that are annually secured on
the Atlantic coast, are for the most part killed on the Chesapeake
Bay or at Currituck. They are not systematically pursued, but are
generally captured by carelessly flying too close to gunners who
are lying in wait for ducks or geese.

Except the Whiteheaded and Golden Eagles, the Swan has no
enemies except man, for it is so large and powerful, and so wary a
bird, as not to fear the attacks of any animal.
WILD GEESE AND BRANT.

ee S silly as a goose,” is an expression which, though entitled
to very great respect on account of its antiquity, has long
gone out of favor with those gunners who have given much time
or attention to the pursuit of these birds, for they are certainly the
shyest and least easily imposed upon of any of our wild fowl.

Yes, Wild Geese, notwithstanding all references to their un-
gainly movement and doltish intellect, still maintain their exalted
position in the sportsman’s estimation, and he, if keen of observe-
tion, will learn from them many things that will materially entitle
them to advancement in the mental grade, and prove the truth of
another very old adage, which specifies that you cannot judge of
things by their outward appearance. A goose, waddling around
the barnyard, may not present a very graceful appearance, nor
seem anything above an idiotically obtuse bird mentally, yet that
ungainly creature, when in its natural state, has an ease of motion
in flight which will compare with any of the feathered tribe, and
evinces a knowledge of the means of defence, and of escaping the
attacks of its enemies that few can excel. There is probably no
bird more cautious, vigilant, and apprehensive of danger than this,
and these qualities alone should entitle it to more respect than
writers unacquainted with its habits have shown when speaking
of it, for few carry the objection as far as the table. A round,
plump Wild Goose makes a delicious morceau for the palate ; and
all the trouble of hunting after it through marshes, morasses, or
‘lakes is amply repaid when its succulent flesh appears upon the
table.

No less than eight well determined species of Geese and Brant
inhabit North America, including the Blue Goose Avzser c@ru-
lescens, long regarded as a doubtful species, and considered by
older writers the young of the Snow Goose, A. hyperboreus. Be-
sides these there are four varieties, so that the list of our geese in
WILD GEESE AND BRANT. 189

all includes about a dozen forms. In addition to the true geese, two
species of Dendrocygna are found occasionally near the southern
boundary of the United States. This genus consists of somewhat
duck-like tree-inhabiting geese of tropical distribution. They serve
to connect the Amserzne with the Anatine,

Besides the other very obvious differences which exist between
them, the Geese are readily distinguishable on the one hand
from the Swans, by having a strip of feathered skin between the
eye and the bill, and on the other from the ducks, by having the
tarsus entirely reticulate.

Auser albifrons var. gambeli.—Coues. White-fronted Goose. Brant,
Speckle-belly.

The White-fronted or Laughing Goose has reddish legs and
bill; feathers at the side of bill and on the forehead, white ; mar-
gined behind with blackish brown; remainder of neck and head
greyish brown, but paler on the jugulum. The back is bluish
grey; the feathers anteriorly tipped with brown; the breast and
belly are greyish white, blotched with black; the anal region,
flanks, under and upper tail coverts, white: greater wing
coverts edged with white. Tail, sixteen feathers, and colored
brown, with white tips; axillars and under surface of wings
ashy plumbeous.

This species is by no means abundant on our Atlantic seaboard,
and the few that are exposed for sale in our markets during the
spring and fall come, for the most part, from the Western States.
The bird is found in considerable numbers on the prairies of the
Mississippi Valley, and is there called Prairie Brant by marketmen
and gunners. It is on the Pacific Slope, however, that the White-
fronted Goose is to be found in greatest abundance. In Oregon
and Northern California the species is very abundant in the autumn,
and some remain all winter; but the greater number go farther
South. At the mouth of the Columbia River, and in the valley of
the Willamette, it can be found in large flocks, but it seems to be
quite scarce along Puget Sound. It appears to prefer the grassy
patches along streams flowing into the ocean, or the tidewater flats
so abundant in several parts of Oregon and Washington Territory.
In this section the Speckle-bellies, as they are there called, feed in
190 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AALERICA.

company with the Snow Goose, and are pursued in the same man-
ner as that species. The White-fronted Goose breeds in great
numbers in the wooded districts north of the sixty-seventh parallel.
It is also abundant in Alaska during the summer, breeding along
the Yukon River in companies. It lays from seven to ten eggs in
a depression in the sand, no nest being formed.

Anser hyperboreus.—Pallas. Snow Goose. White Brant.

Bill and feet pink, the laminz of the former very prominent, so
that the bird looks as though it were showing its teeth ; claws dark.
Color pure white, except the primaries which are black-tipped,
specimens often show a wash of rusty on head and neck. Length
thirty inches, wing seventeen to nineteen inches. Variety albatus
is colored as above, but is somewhat smaller, measuring only
twenty-five inches in length.

Although this species is distributed over the whole continent,
it does not seem to be abundant east of the Missouri River.
Stragglers are occasionally taken on the Atlantic seaboard, but
they are rare. In the Missouri River region this species becomes
more numerous, and when we reach the great Interior Basin they
begin to appear in flocks of enormous numbers. As with the pre-
ceding species, however, the Pacific Slope is the favorite winter
home of the Snow Goose. Here it frequents the sand-bars of the
Columbia and Willamette Rivers in countless numbers in the au-
tumn, especially during the night and dry weather, the plains being
preferred during the cool of the day, or in rainy weather. The
usual mode of hunting it is to lie in ambush behind a fence on the
prairie, and as the waddlers approach to give them both barrels,
heavily laden with No. 1, or buckshot ; this is sure to leave half a
dozen hors de combat, and very often double the number. If the
hunter does not show himself, he is likely to get several volleys at
them, as the noise frightens them only for a few moments. Should
their suspicion be aroused, they rise upward slowly in a dense
cloud of white, and sound their alarum notes; but they may not
go over fifty yards ere they alight again, so that the amusement
may be continued without much toil or inconvenience. Another
mode is to mount a horse and approach them as closely as possi-
ble, then give them the contents of your barrels, and, if they do
WILD GEESE AND BRANT. I9gf

not fly, to draw still nearer, and give them smaller shot at from
forty to sixty yards.

Sometimes they are stalked behind trained cattle, which feed
gradually toward the flock, the hunter keeping himself well con-
cealed behind his ox. In this way great numbers are secured, for
the goose shooters of the West coast use demi-cannons, end load
them with all that they will bear.

In Oregon the sportsmen hunt on the prairies during wet or
lowering weather, but resort to the sand-bars of the rivers during
moonlight nights and sunny days. Some excellent sport can be
enjoyed by shooting the birds on the bars as they return from their
feeding grounds late in the evening, taking them on the wing
as they fly past. A favorite method for hunting them at night is
to light a fire on the river bank, or bar, so that its glow may
illumine the bewildered birds near at hand, and then to pour volley
after volley into them as they rise in the air to escape the unusual
apparition, or to study its meaning and purpose.

No matter in what way the birds are killed, there seems to be
no diminution in their numbers at the return of each season, as
they are reported abundant everywhere, from the Pacific Ocean to
the Missouri River. This species winters in Southern California,
Texas, and Arizona, reaching its grounds about the first of De-
cember, though of course many arrive at their southern home a
couple of months before that time.

Of the breeding habits of the Snow Goose very little is known,
beyond the fact that they nest in the far North. Their eggs are
of a yellowish white color, and are but little larger than those of
the Eider Duck. According to Mr. Dall this species does not breed
on the Yukon River in Alaska, and is only seen there for a few
days in spring on its way to more northern latitudes.

There is no doubt that were a systematic attempt made to do-
mesticate the Snow Goose, it would be in the highest degree suc-
cessful, and when we consider, the excellence of its flesh, it would
seem that it might well repay our California sportsmen to preserve
their wing-tipped or only slightly wounded birds, for the purpose
of trying the experiment. Mr. Ridgway in the Amerzcan Nat-
uralist has given us an interesting account of the voluntary domes-
tication in Illinois of a bird of this species.
192 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

Anser rossit.—Baird. Ross’ Goose. Horned Wavy.

“Bill studded at the base with numerous elevated papille.”
Colored exactly like the Snow Goose, but much smaller ; less than
two feet long, the body being about the size of that of a Mallard
Duck.

This is a long lost species, recently rediscovered, about which
little is known. It is an inhabitant of Arctic America, entering
the United States in winter, but apparently not in very great num-
bers. It has been taken near San Francisco, California, and prob-
ably enters the Missouri River region in winter. Of its habits
nothing is known. It is perhaps more abundant in the fallin the
Red River country than anywhere else, and shooting Wavies on
the little lakes with which this region is dotted, is said to bea
favorite amusement of the sportsmen of that section.

Anser cerulescens.—Vieillot. Blue Goose. Bald-headed Brant.

The Blue Goose was for a long time regarded as simply the
young of the Snow Goose, which species it very closely resembles
in all details of form and structure. At present, however, our
ornithological authorities have decided that it is a perfectly good
species.

The head, upper neck and tail-coverts and most of the under
parts white; remaining plumage ashy grey varied with dark
brown,

The Blue Goose, or as it is called in some parts of the West,
the White or Bald-headed Brant, is distributed during its migra-
tions over the greater portion of the United States. Like its con-
geners, however, it is rare on the Atlantic coast, and is found in
greatest abundance on the Pacific Slope, where it associates with
the Snow Goose and the White-fronted Goose. But little is
known of its habits.

Philacte canagica.—Bonn. Emperor Goose. Painted Goose.

This handsome species is confined to Alaska and the North-
west coast, and is scarcely, or not at all, known to sportsmen. In
size, it about equals the White-fronted Goose. The head, hind-
neck and tail are white, the former often with a wash of rusty
WILD GEESE AND BRANT. 193

yellow ; remaining parts wavy bluish grey, varied with pale lilac,
and sharply marked here and there with crescent-like black spots.
Throat black, speckled with white, quills black and white. This
bird is abundant in Alaska.

Branta leucopsis.—Bonn. Barnacle Goose.

A European species which has, it is believed, been taken in this
country but three times ; Hudson’s Bay, Amerdcan Naturalist, vol.
ii. p. 49. North Carolina, zézd. vol. v. p. 10, and Long Island,
Forest and Stream, vol. vii. pp. 181, 245, 277; also Nuttall Bul-
detin, January, 1877. This species is somewhat less in size than
the Canada Goose, being intermediate between that species and
the common Brant 2. dernzcla. Its length is about twenty-eight
inches, wing seventeen. Tail coverts, sides of rump, forehead,
sides of head and throat white; back scapulars and wing coverts
bluish grey ; under parts greyish white, other parts black. Goose
shooters should be on the constant lookout for this very rare bird.

The genus Branéa, under which this and the remaining species
of North American Geese fall, are always to be distinguished from
the two preceding genera by having the bill and legs black, and
the head and neck black with white spaces. We have but three
species to be placed here, with three more or less well marked
varieties.

Branta bernicla.—Scop. Brant Goose. Black Brant.

The true ZB. dernzcla, is the common bird of the East Coast,
but is “ rare or casual ’’ on the Pacific, where it is replaced by var.
nigricans, the Black Brant, which is not found on the Atlantic.
The Brant is about two feet in length, and is but little larger than
a good-sized Mallard Duck. Its head, neck, body anteriorly,
quills and tail, are black. Upper tail coverts, streaks on sides
of neck, upper eyelid and sometimes touches on throat, white ;
back and under parts brownish grey, the latter fading posteriorly
into white, on the belly and under tail coverts. Black of neck
well defined against the brown of the breast. In variety xzgrzcans
the black of the lower neck extends backward over most of the
lower parts, gradually fading out behind. The white neck
patches, too, are large and generally meet in front. The differen-

9
194 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

ces in size and plumage between the males and females of this
species are very slight. The young birds are a shade paler brown
than the old ones, and have the wing coverts more deeply mar-
gined with white. Brant are exclusive and reserved in their habits,
never consorting with other fowl. They hiss at one approaching
as other geese do, and their “ ruck, ruck,” and “r-r-ronk, r-ronk,”’
when trilled off by an expert, is not altogether unmusical. The
domestic life of the Brant, the order of the family, the food of the
young, their growth and development, are entirely unknown. No
one has at any time, we presume, studied their habits from birth
to maturity, and consequently that great field for studying charac-
ter—the home—is lost to us.

Although at many points on our coast live birds of this species
are kept as decoys, we believe that in no case have they shown
any disposition to breed when confined, in this respect differing
widely from the Canada Goose. While in bondage, they drink
fresh water, but in a normal condition, if they drink at all, it is of
salt water. Their food is almost wholly vegetable, consisting of
eel grass and other marine growths. They are said to feed also
on the “sand worm,” but it is doubtful if they ever partake of fish.
Their excrementary deposits, too, indicate a diet almost entirely
vegetable, and as they never dive except when wounded and pur-
sued, they must feed where the water is less than two feet deep.
Corn alone constitutes the bill of fare of the decoys. At Cape
Cod, in ordinary seasons, Brant begin to arrive and depart early in
March, and they continue coming and going till the end of April.
At times there are immense numbers on the feeding ground.
They are too wise to set out upon a long voyage in the teeth of a
northeasterly storm, but let the wind haul to southwest, and one
will see those nearest shore gobble a quantity of sand—* take in
ballast,” as the natives say—lift up and swing round, often two or
three times to get the proper altitude, then strike out over the
beach in an E. N. E. direction, and with such precision as to pro-
voke the remark that each leader must carry a compass in the top
of his head to steer by. There is no day during the season above
named, when there are not more or less Brant at this point, and
with proper appliances and skillful management, large numbers of
them may be slaughtered, but no sport is more dubious than this
WILD GEESE AND BRANT, 195

Brant shooting. The tides, wind, weather, all have their influ-
ence, and the birds are often very freakish and do not decoy well.
The course they lay in departing is further on, somewhat de-
flected, so as to bring them into the Bay of Fundy, up which they
pass, lifting over the narrow neck of land to Northumberland
Straits, where again they find shoal water and good feeding
ground. Here, and along the shore of Prince Edward’s Island,
they “feed and batten,” till the end of May or fore part of June,
when they push along still further North. Between Cape Cod
and Prince Edward’s Island, they rarely stop except when com-
pelled to do so by hard winds ora storm, nor have they at any
time ventured far inland or out to sea. Here, however, with an
accumulation of strength and adipose matter, they are prepared
for the long, tedious, and possibly somewhat dangerous journey
that is before them. Leaving the Gulf of St. Lawrence, they pro-
ceed along to westward of the Island of Anticosti, and at 65° or
66° west longitude, strike out boldly over the land in a north-
westerly direction to the Arctic Ocean. Navigators on Hudson’s
Bay have not spoken of seeing them in such numbers as to war-
rant the belief that they make any considerable stop there. Their
line of flight from the St. Lawrence to the Arctic is not definitely
known, and yet it is certain they pass north between Boothia and
Victoria Land, and between Melville Island and North Devon.
That they arrive in the vicinity of Melville Island in vast num-
bers, and that they pass along Wellington Channel and other Arc-
tic waters to still more northern feeding and breeding grounds, is
well authenticated. Brant then, take a widely different route from,
and go much further north than the great mass of other migratory
birds. What we know, all we know, in fact, of the birds away up
in this inhospitable region is gathered from the fragmentary narra-
tion of Arctic.explorers, and from the birds themselves. That they
do go north of seventy degrees, or even eighty-two degrees north
latitude, and go in large flocks, is well ascertained. Not, of course,
that all the Brant go north of eighty-two degrees, but that nearly
all that intend to reproduce their young do. Some from weakness
or weariness, caused by the long journey, or possibly from the pres~
sure of the egg for extrusion, or other causes, may drop out of the
flock and hence be seen in summer south of seventy degrees north
196 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

latitude. Again, some may linger with no intention of breeding, as
do the other geese. Sir John Richardson says of geese (vol. I, p.
251:) “ There are a considerable number who do not breed, but
keep in small bands and are called barren geese. Of these we saw
several flocks.”” The voice of the Brant is by no means so sono-
rous as that of the larger geese, and when flocks are flying over at
night one can readily detect this species by its vocal peculiarity.
Another means of distinguishing it in the air is that it does not
often adopt the V shape in flight, and that the flocks, in their mi-
grations, are much smaller in numbers than the other varieties or
species.

The methods of capturing the Brant are precisely similar to
those employed with its more important relative the Canada Goose,
and the reader is referred to the account of that species for infor-
mation on this point.

Branta canadensis,—Gray. Canada Goose. Common Wild Goose. Grey Goose.

In color greyish brown, below paler, whitish grey fading out
posteriorly ; head and neck black, with a broad white patch on the
throat extending behind the eye. Tail black with white coverts.
Length three feet, tail feathers eighteen. North America at large.
Variety eucopareza. Like the preceding, but black of neck bound-
ed. below by a white collar; under parts darker than in B. cana-
denszs, and well defined against the white of the lower neck and
under tail coverts. Chiefly Northwest coast. Var. Hutchénsz, tail
with but sixteen feathers. Colored exactly like the Canada Goose,
but smaller ; only two and one-half feet long. Chiefly West and
North; Pacific Coast in winter. The Canada Goose is by far the
most abundant and universally distributed of our North American
Geese, and in one or other of its varieties is found in all the States
and Territories of our country except perhaps Florida and the Gulf
States. In Texas, however, it is abundant during the winter
months. Although by far the greater portion of the wild geese
which pass the winter with us, go north to breed, still in suitable
localities, young are reared all over the United States from North
Carolina to Canada. They nest in the wilder parts of Maine, and
are especially numerous in Newfoundland near the secluded pools
and streams so abundant throughout that island.
WILD GEESE AND BRANT. 197

There, remote from man, they breed undisturbed on the edges
and islands of the ponds and lakes. The geese moult soon after
their arrival in the spring ; and, owing to the loss of their pinion
feathers, are unable to fly during the summer or breeding seasons ;
but they can then run faster than a man on the marshes, and if
surprised at, or near a pond, they will plunge in and remain under
water with their bills only above the surface to permit of breathing
until the enemy has passed by. They feed on berries—preferring
that of the Emfetrum nigrum, and the seeds of grasses. Both
the old and young become enabled to fly in September; and as
soon after that as the frost affects the berries, and causes the seeds
of the grasses on the marshes and savannas to fall to the earth, or
otherwise when the snow falls and covers the ground, they collect
in flocks, and fly off to the Southern shores of the island, and
from thence to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. They remain there until
December, and then assembled, take flight in immense flocks to
the southern parts of America, to return in the spring.

The Canada Goose also breeds in great numbers on the Mis-
souri River and its tributaries, and in this region often places its
nest 2 zrees, choosing generally a cottonwood stub not more than
thirty feet in height. The young are said to be carried from the
nest to the water in the mother’s bill, as are the young of the
Wood Duck. The writer has seen many broods of young goslings
apparently not more than two or three weeks old, when ascending
the Missouri on a steamboat in July. The eggs of this species are
from seven to eleven in number, and are of a yellowish white color.

The Wild Goose may readily be domesticated, and in many
portions of our country they are bred in considerable numbers.
It seems to be established by recent letters printed in Forest and
Stream, 1877, January to April, that, in confinement at least, the
young do not lay until they are three years old. They then pro-
duce four or five eggs, and the number is said to increase some-
what as the bird grows older.

This Goose is extremely abundant on all high plateaus between
the Missouri River and the Pacific Ocean, and rears its young on
many of the streams which drain this country. It is exceedingly
abundant throughout the West from the first of October to the
middle of December. On the plains of Nebraska flocks number-
198 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

ing thousands are found along the Platte River late in the autumn,
and large numbers of these are killed by both sportsmen and
pot-hunters. The favorite method of hunting here, is to dig a hole
in the stubble fields frequented by the geese, cover it with straw,
and lie in wait until four o’clock in the afternoon, when the birds
return to feed, then shoot into them as they fly over, and in this
way the hunter manages to return home each evening heavily
laden with his spoils. Wounded or dead geese are often used as
decoys, and prove valuable auxiliaries to the sportsman. Shoot-
ing them on the sand bars, as they return to their sleeping grounds,
is also practiced extensively, and generally with excellent success.

When these birds return south at the commencement of winter,
they are generally very thin and poor, being quite worn out by
their long journey. They soon recuperate however, and ere long
become fat and very delicious eating.

The methods employed in capturing the Canada Geese are
very numerous and vary in different sections of the country. In
the west it is sometimes possible for the gunner, having carefully
trimmed his boat with reeds and grass, or, if it be in winter, with
cakes of ice, to scull on to the flock down wind so that in rising
they will give him a fair shot. This plan is never, we think, suc-
cessful here in the East, as the geese are so much persecuted that
they take the alarm at the sight of any large floating object, even
though it may have no resemblance to a boat. In Minnesota,
where the geese gather in enormous flocks in spring, to feed on
the young wheat, they may sometimes be approached on horse-
back so closely that the rider is enabled to charge among the flock,
and before the birds can rise out of reach, several may be secured
by knocking them down with a club. This method is also em-
ployed, and with much greater success owing to their greater
numbers, against the geese in California and further south. These
birds are also shot in considerable numbers as they fly to and
from their feeding grounds, and if they have to contend against a
strong head wind they usually fly low and give the gunner the best
of chances. Brant, and sometimes too, Canada Geese, are shot
from batteries on the South Shore of Long Island and with satis-
factory results.

By far the most successful mode employed for the capture of
WILD GEESE AND BRANT. 199

the Wild Goose is that generally in vogue along the South Shore
and at Currituck, two of the best shooting grounds on our Atlan-
tic seaboard, viz.: over live decoys from sink boxes. Sink boxes
are oblong water-tight boxes about six feet in length by two and
one-balf wide, and eighteen inches deep. These boxes sunk in the
sand until the tops are just flush with the surface of the ground,
constitute the sportsman’s blind. A spot is chosen on the sand-
bars of the bay where the geese are wont to resort- for purposes ot
resting or feeding. Here the boxes are sunk and the live decoys
are fastened to stakes in shoal water. The hunter lies upon his
back in the box, and watches for the approach of the flocks of
geese. It is customary to allow the birds to alight with the decoys
and to give them one barrel on the water, and the other as they
rise. In some parts of the country live decoys are said to be
used with success, on ‘land, calling down their wild brethren
from on high as they pass to and from their feeding grounds. In
such cases a blind of corn stalks is placed near the décoys and
from this place of concealment the sportsman levels his death-
dealing tube.
SHOAL-WATER DUCKS.
Anatine.

F all the birds which during spring and fall traverse our
O country, probably none equal the ducks in point of size,
numbers and economic value. This group is confined neither to
the sea coast, nor to the interior, but is spread out over the whole
breadth of the continent, in summer extending its migrations to
the furthest north, and in winter only proceeding so far south as it
is forced to by the freezing of the waters of its northern home.
The great numbers of ducks with whicl sportsmen are familiar,
may be conveniently classed under two distinct divisions or heads,
the classification being drawn, in the main, from their habits, but
at the same time agreeing with their ornithological arrangement.
The first class may be termed Fresh-water, River or Shoal-water
ducks, and includes those species which are generally found on
rivers, lakes and ponds, and whose food consists mostly of vegeta-
ble matter. Here may be placed Azas, Chaulelasmus, Dafila,
Querquedula, Spatula, Mareca and Azx. Among these are in-
cluded two Old World birds which are merely accidental and very
rare on this side of water. Some of the distinctive traits of the
Anatine are as follows. None of the family are extensively mari-
tune as are the fuliguline ; they are, however, by no means con-
fined to the fresh water, being often found associated with the sea
ducks in large numbers. They feed along the shores of rivers and
creeks, on herbage, seeds and succulent grasses, and do not dive
for their food. The females are also almost always found different
in color from the males. Of the River ducks the first on our list
comes the familiar Wild Drake so well-known throughout the land.

Anas boschas—Linn. Mallard. Green Head.

A bird found throughout the world and everywhere domesti-
cated. It is particularly abundant in the United States in its wild
SHOAL-WATER DUCKS. 201

condition. In color the Mallard resembles almost precisely the
barnyard drake, but the colors are purer, more marked, and the
orange of the feet more brilliant, Length about twenty-four
inches, weight two and one-half to three pounds. The female is
in color dull yellowish-brown streaked and spotted with dusky,
like the female of the domestic duck. Mallards breed in limited
numbers in the various swamps and sloughs of our Western coun-
try, but by far the greater portion continue their flights to the far
North. They appear again in the latter part of August, their
numbers multiplied enormously by the new broods, but the best
of the shooting does not commence until the middle of September,
and continues until the freezing of the waters drives the ducks still
further south to genial climes, Their habits vary in the different
localities they frequent, and a variety of methods are employed in
Mallard-shooting. Common places of resort are the extensive wild
rice marshes which abound in Wisconsin and Illinois. The seed
of this plant is the favorite food of the Mallard, and they, with
thousands of our other fresh water fowl, repair to these localities.
As colder weather approaches and ponds begin to skim over with
ice, the Mallards betake themselves to the rivers where they con-
gregate in vast flocks. At this time they frequently make journeys
morning and evening to neighboring corn-fields and the like, for
food. They feed principally by day; in field shooting the usual
call note should never be imitated as it will merely serve to frighten
the birds; if the hunter is skillful, and can at these times imitate
their low chattering notes he may call some ducks to his stand.
Large bags are sometimes made at ice holes where the ducks come
to roost and drink, also at the mouths of spring-creeks, the bottoms
being covered with gravel, which the ducks seek to aid digestion.
In the spring time when the heavy timbered “bottom lands” are
inundated by the rising of the rivers, Mallard may be found sitting
in large bodies both night and day in the depths of the woods, par-
.ticularly among the maple and willow timber, where they feed on
the insects, buds and vegetable matter floating on the surface of
the water. On being routed, instead of settling in some other
place of greater security, they will-shortly return singly or in small
parties, affording most excellent sport. If the sportsman can but
find some cover—an old log, stump, or clump of bushes in the
202 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

proper location, it should be utilized for concealment. Mr. Long
in his excellent and useful book on wild fowl shooting gives an
exhaustive account of how to shoot the Mallard at all seasons and
at all hours of the day; we cannot do better here than give a few
of his ideas. He divides the shooting into morning shooting among
the wild-rice fields, and feeding grounds, which is carried on in a
boat with or without a retriever, two persons generally cccupying
each craft, one to paddle and the bow man to attend to the shoot-
ing. Secondly, into midday shooting at the sloughs and ponds to
which the ducks resort after being driven from the feeding grounds.
In this shooting a retriever is invaluable, and facility in imitating
the call of the ducks is also essential; perhaps two hunters station
themselves on opposite sides of the slough or pond in the midst of
the woods, and as the ducks, scared from their feeding grounds,
drop into these places for rest and refuge, they instantly obey the
call, The hunter should leave all dead ducks to act as decoys and he
will do well to fix them as naturally in the water as possible. This
is accomplished by running a stick sharpened at both ends into the
bottom of the pond, if shallow enough to allow it, and inserting the
other point into the throat of the duck, or soft part at the base of
the lower mandible; this will keep the head in a natural position,
and if possible another stick with perhaps a fork in the upper side
may also be placed in like manner beneath the tail; these make de-
coys much superior to artificial ones. Thirdly comes evening shoot-
ing which is practiced in two ways, by following the same plan as
in morning shooting in the rice fields, or by standing near some of
the passes where the ducks are known to fly toward their roosting
and feeding grounds. Besides these methods, one quite common is
the shooting during the late fall, perhaps during the prevalence of
a snowstorm, in the corn-fields; blinds should be built of corn-
stalks fixed naturally together, the hunter should dress in white or
some very light-colored garments and here also the dead birds
should be used as stools. As has been mentioned too, the shoot-
ing of Mallard and the various ducks with which they are found
associated, may be successfully practiced on the approach of winter
at the ice holes, which the birds keep open, and scores may some-
times be thus secured. The spring timber shooting is also very
attractive sport.
SHOAI-WATER DUCKS. 203

A squawker or duck call is thus described, and to be used when
one is not proficient with the means nature has provided. “Take
atube of wood or metal, bamboo cane is usually the best, about
three-quarters of an inch in diameter inside, and four to eight
inches in length. A plug about three inches long is fitted to one
end, and after being split in two, one half is grooved to within a
quarter of an inch of its smaller end, the groove being perhaps a
quarter of an inch wide, and of the same depth. The tongue is
simply a thin piece of steel, copper or brass, which should be ham-
mered to increase its elasticity; it should be about two and a half
inches long, and from three-eighths to a half an inch wide, at one
end, which should also be thinner than the other, the corners
should be rounded. The tongue is then placed over the grooved
half, the round end nearly to the extreme smaller end of the plug,
and the tongue completely covering the groove. The other half
of the plug should be shortened about an inch and a half from its
smaller end, and then being placed on the grooved half, thus hold-
ing the tongue fast, both should be pushed firmly into the tube.
By blowing in the other end of the tube the call is produced, the
tone, degree of firmness, etc., of which, is regulated by the shortened
half of the plug, moving it in or out as a finer and sharper or
lower and coarser note is required.” Of course experience and
practice are required to become skilful in the use of this instrument.

Anas obscura.—Gmelin. Black Duck. Dusky Duck. Black Mallard.

The Black Duck is about the size of the Mallard, and resembles
the female of that species excepting that the general tone of the
coloration is much darker, being brownish black in some places,
and lighter below. Bill yellowish green, feet orange red, the webs
dusky, length twenty-four and a half inches, weight about three
pounds. The female resembles the male, but the colors are less
clear, and the bird is smaller.

The Dusky Duck seems to take the place in the East occupied
by the Mallard in the Western States and Territories, although a
few are always found associated with the Mallards, just as a few
Mallards are frequently met with in the east, in resorts common to
the Black Duck. The latter is, however, rare west of the Missis-
sippi, but has been noticed at one point west of the Rocky Moun-
204 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

tains, having been observed by Dr. Yarrow, at Rush Lake, Utah.
See Zool. of Wheeler’s Survey, vol. 5, p. 473. They are peculiar
with respect to their partial migrations, for they have been tound
breeding in Texas and Labrador at the same time, and they are
exceedingly plentiful in New England in winter, where they like-
wise breed.

The Black Duck is a very wary creature, exceedingly difficult
of approach, and stratagem is the only recourse, if we hope to be
successful. They are rarely found in great numbers, except when
congregated on salt water, five to ten being an average flock started
from pond and feeding ground.

During very severe winters, when every sheet of water is bound
in with a thick covering of ice, the Black Duck are driven to warm
spring holes where the water never freezes, and hunters often make
large bags by concealing themselves near such places. The
approach of evening drives the ducks from the bay or sound, where
they have been sitting during the day, and they seek these open inland
spots for food and shelter. Brush houses are also constructed of
sedge, cedar boughs, etc,, at the mouths of fresh water rivers and
creeks, in places where the marsh land is low and intersected by
branches of the main stream, Here the ducks come to feed at night,
and a wholesale fusillade is opened upon them by those concealed.
The brush house is left standing, and the ducks soon avoid entirely
this locality, and feed elsewhere. This brush house building on
feeding grounds cannot be too severely condemned.

Still another method is pass shooting ; that is, standing, on blowy
blustering days of the late fall, when the wind is the southwest,
in belts of woods, over which the birds fly when travelling in their
afternoon flights to the roosting and feeding grounds; the ducks
often fly low and give good chances. Black duck feed at night,
and are off at daybreak. They afford delicious eating in the fall, and
are a great market bird. They are almost universally known in
the west by the name of Black Mallard. The use of decoys in the
pursuit of the Dusky Duck is generally futile. Concealment is the
primary object. The hints and suggestions in our account of the
Mallard, will many of them apply equally well to this bird. This

is also true of all our shoal water ducks, for their habits are very
similar,
SHOAL-WATER DUCKS. 205

Dafila acuta.—Linn. Pin-tail. Sprig-tail. Sharp-tail. Water Pheasant.

Color; head and upper neck dark brown with green and purple
gloss, sides of neck with along white stripe ; lowerneck and under-
parts white, dorsal line of neck black, passing into the grey of the
back, which, like the sides, is vermiculated with black. Tail, when
fully developed with the central feathers much projecting and nearly
equaling the wing in length, bill black, feet greyish-blue.

The Pin-tail Duck is everywhere abundant in the United States,
excepting in the eastern districts where their favorite food is inac-
cessible to them. It is a fresh water species, although occasionally
secured in the creeks and bayous of the coast. They move in very
large flocks, and seem much the most abundant in the spring season,
associating with the Mallard, and often seeming to travel and feed
with the same flock for days. They are exceedingly fond of beech-
mast ; but in spring generally resort to partially submerged corn-
fields where food of various kinds is plenty.

The flight of the Sprig-tail is much more rapid than that of the
Mallard, and resembles in its quick darting and wheeling motions,
that of the ubiquitous Old Squaw or Long-tailed duck of the
eastern coasts, Harelda glactalzs. They are, perhaps, the most
graceful of the whole duck tribe. They are secured in the same
situations and by the same means as those employed in Mallard
shooting. They have a call-note, a low plaintive whistle of one
tone, two or three times repeated, which they will answer readily
upon its being well imitated ; Mallard decoys may be used, and the
Mallard call described heretofore. Sprig-tails are very plenty in
California.

Chaulelasmus streperus.—Gray. Gadwall. Gray Duck.

The color of the Gadwall is black and white, or whitish, the
plumage being barred or half-ringed with these two colors, middle
wing coverts chestnut, greater coverts black, speculum white, feet
orange-yellow, bill bluish black, weight about two pounds.

This large duck is common in the United States, although very
unequally distributed. It is, perhaps, a more common resident
of Tennessee and Missouri, than any other portions of the coun-
try. Gadwalls are classed as a table bird, with the Mallard and
Redhead, and indeed in habit they much resemble the former,
206 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

although perhaps bearing a still nearer affinity to the Widgeon.
They stool well to Mallard decoys, and their note is very similar to
that of the latter. They rarely dive except when wounded, and
they then cling to the roots at the bottom for along time. The
methods of shooting the Gadwall are identical with. those
employed in hunting Mallard or Sprig-tails.

Mareca penelope.—Selby. European Widgeon.

Head and neck reddish-brown, top of head creamy or brown-
ish-white, its sides with mere traces of green, otherwise similar
to the next species. This species is an accidental visitor to our
coasts. Gunners should always be on the lookout for such birds,
and when specimens are secured, should have them preserved.

Maveca anericana,—Steph. American Widgeon. Bald-pate.

Head and neck greyish, dusky speckled, top of head white, its
sides with a broad green patch, upper parts brownish-black and
light brownish-red, breast brownish-red, under parts white ; weight
about one pound fourteen ounces.

The Widgeon is abundant throughout North America, although
much more common in the Western States than along our sea-
board. They are unusual in New England, although occasionally
shot along Long Island coasts. They are plenty in Chesapeake
Bay, where they associate with the canvas-back, and are said to
have a trick of stealing from the latter the wild celery upon which
both feed, They rarely dive themselves, but wait for the canvas-
back to reappear with the succulent roots, when the Widgeon
makes at him and snatches away the morsel.

The call of this bird is a plaintive whistle of two tones and
three notes of nearly equal duration. They stool well to any
shoal-water duck decoys, and answer their call. The Widgeon is
rather more shy than the ducks with which they associate, their
flesh is excellent, and the modes of shooting the same as those al-
ready detailed,

Querquedula crecca.—Steph. English Teal.

No white crescent in front of wing, long scapulars, black ex-
ternally, internally creamy, otherwise like carol/nensts. A Euro-
pean species casual on the Atlantic coast,
SHOAL-WATER DUCKS. 207

Querquedula carolinensis.—Steph. Green-winged Teal.

The Green-winged Teal is colored as follows: Head and
upper neck, chestnut, with a broad glossy green band on each
side, whitish-bordered, uniting and blackening on the nape, under
parts whitish, the foré breast with circular black spots, upper
parts and flanks closely waved with white and blackish, speculum
rich green, hence the name, bordered in front with the buffy tips
of the greater coverts, behind, with the white tips of the seconda-
ries ; weight about ten ounces.

The Green-winged Teal is a more hardy bird than his near rela-
tive the Blue-wing, the former remaining much later in the season
and making his appearance again earlier in the spring. The Green-
wings are perhaps not quite so highly prized for the table as the
others, but there is little choice, as their food and habits are the
same.

In the spring they resort to overflowed grassy prairies and feed
on the seeds of grasses, and so forth, which float on the surface
of the water. Their call can be imitated but perhaps not described.
They will come to stools, and obey an imitation of the call. A breech
loading gun in Teal shooting is invaluable, as in firing intoa dense
flock, many are crippled and unless shot again will escape. Teal
shooting is, however, not followed to any extent in the West, as
when Teal are plenty, the larger and more formidable Mallard,
Gadwall and Sprigtail claim the sportsman’s attention, and the little
Teal go unmolested. This bird is more a maritime species than
the Blue-wing, the former being found in the creeks of the coast,
the latter rarely or never.

Querquedula discors.--Steph. Blue-winged Teal.

Head and neck blackish-plumbeous, darkest on the crown, a
white crescent in front of the eye, back brownish-black glossed
with green, wing coverts of sky blue with metallic lustre, lower
parts pale reddish orange, shaded on the breast with purplish
red and thickly spotted with black. Length about sixteen inches ;
weight twelve ounces.

This Teal so much resembles the last in size, habits, and
other particulars as hardly to warrant a long description. They
208 CAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

are found chiefly in reedy ponds where they are quite unsuspicious.
They seem everywhere abundant east of the Rocky Mountains,
and are replaced west of that great barrier by the Cinnamon or
Red-breasted Teal, Q. cyanoptera.

The flesh of the Blue-wing is one of the greatest delicacies
accorded to the sportsman or epicure. They are among the first
of the ducks to make their appearance in their migrations from
the north, and at this season, early fall, congregate in much larger
flocks than in the spring. Their principal food consists of wild
oats, grass, mosses, and insects found in and along the ponds and
creeks. They may frequently be found at mid-day sitting beneath
the leaves of large aquatic plants, apparently to avoid the fierce
noonday sun. They rarely feed in sandy bottomed ponds, prefer-
ring a muddy and weedy bottomed slough. :

In flight they are swift and graceful, skimming low over the
water, and, as they fly in closely packed masses, a number may be
dropped at a single shot, but the cripples are very skilful in con-
cealing themselves and may escape by sinking their bodies low in
the water and paddling rapidly away among the dense weeds and
brakes. Number six or eight shot is a convenient size for Teal
shooting. They stool readily, and their note, which is a feeble imi-
tation of the Mallard’s, will immediately call them down.

Querquedula cyanoptera.—Cassin. Cinnamon Teal. Red-breasted Teal.

Head, neck and underparts rich purplish chestnut, darkening
on crown and black on belly, rather Jarger than, but otherwise
similar to dzscors.

This bird as already noted, seems to fill the same office west of
the Rocky Mountains, that the green and blue-winged varieties
occupy on the eastern half of the continent. The habits of the
Cinnamon Teal and the methods to be employed in its pursuit are
identical with those already mentioned. For an interesting account
of this species, see Coues’ “ Birds of the North-west,” p. 568.

Spatula clyfeata.—Boie. Shoveller, Spoon-bill.
General coloring as follows: head and neck green, forebreast

white, belly purplish-chestnut, wing coverts blue, speculum green,
bordered with white and black, some scapulars blue, others green
SHOAL-WATER DUCKS. 209

white striped, bill twice as wide at the end as at the base, feet red.
The female in general aspect resembles the female Mallard but
may be known by its size and by the shape of the bill. The
Spoonbills are rather rare in New England, although we have
taken them in Connecticut. They are, however, abundant in the
Middle and Southern States, and are also found in large numbers
on the prairies of Illinois and Missouri, associated with the Mallard,
and generally throughout the west. ‘

They fly thickly together, and are easily killed when hit. Like
the rest of the shoal-water ducks, they are averse to diving and seek
safety when wounded in concealment above the water. They are
never difficult to approach, and stool well.

Aiz sponsa.—Boie. Wood Duck. Summer Duck.

Crested, head iridescent green and purple, with parallel curved
white superciliary and postocular stripes, and a broad forked white
throat patch, upper parts dark reddish-brown with bronze and
purplish reflections, breast and abdomen greyish white, sides of
neck and its lower part reddish purple, each feather with a white
tip, feet dull orange, bill bright red at base, yellowish on the sides,
and black above.

This beautiful and familiar bird is seen in all the fresh waters
of North America, but is rarely met with on the coast, although
occasionally taken. They are much more plenty in some sections
than others. They are rather exclusive in habits, not mingling
freely with others of the duck tribe, but found frequently feeding on
the same ground with the teal. They are peculiar in regard to their
mode of nesting, being the only members of the Anzatzxe that do
not build on the ground. They select as a domicile a hollow tree,
perhaps an old woodpecker’s hole or some natural excavation, and
there hatch out their young, who soon after birth, are carried in the
bill of the parent to the nearest water. It seems marvelous at
times to see the old birds enter or emerge from an aperture
apparently scarce large enough to admit a bird of half their size.
Their resplendent plumage glinting in the sunlight as they dart
to and fro through the forest aisles, is indeed a lovely sight. It
seems a pity at times to murder the innocents, but, looking at it
from an zesthetic point, their flesh is really a donne bouche.
210 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

They seldom dive for their food, which consists of acorns, pond
mosses, wild oats, insects, wheat and other grain. The most suc-
cessful method of hunting the Wood Duck is by “jumping” them
along the creeks and rivers which they frequent. The best season
for this sport is the latter part of August and September; they are
fond of sitting on old logs and rat houses in the middle of the day,
preening and sunning themselves. They are not easily decoyed,
and when hit generally fall, but if wounded, run up the banks of
pond or stream and conceal themselves deftly, it being then neces-
sary to put a dog on the trail in order to discover their retreat.
The Wood Ducks are also prized for their fine plumes and feathers,
which form quite an article of commerce. No better trout or
salmon flies are made than those manufactured from these feathers.
The account of this species found in Audubon’s “ Ornithological
Biography,” is intensely interesting, and gives excellent ideas of
the habits of the bird.
SEA DUCKS.

HE group which we have now to consider, differs widely in
many points of structure and habits from the one discussed
in the preceding chapter. Sea Ducks may always be distinguished
from Fresh-water Ducks, by having the hind toe lobate, that is,
provided with a little flap of skin on its lower side, instead of sim-
ple. The legs of the former group are also placed farther behind
than in the latter, and they are thus better fitted for swimming,
though not so well adapted for progression on land. The feather-
ing too of the Sea Ducks, is much the most dense, and they are all
provided with a large supply of thick down next to the skin, which
in many species is of no small commercial value. Owing to the
foregoing points of diversity in structure, this group is considered
by naturalists as a sub-family of the great family Aza¢zde, and is
called the Fuldzgulcne.

In habits the differences between the Fresh-water and Sea
Ducks are no less striking. The latter dive for their food, which
the former never do; they are chiefly maritime in their distribution,
although all, or nearly all, retire to fresh water lakes to rear their
young. Their food is chiefly animal, though two or three genera
are mixed feeders, devouring indifferently animal or vegetable
matter. As a rule the Fudzgulzne are not highly prized for the
table, owing of course to the peculiarities of their diet, but the
birds of the genus Fudzgula which includes the Canvas-back, the
Red-head, Broadbill, and others, are notable exceptions, being
among the most delicious of our game birds. The excellence of
the bird’s flesh depends entirely upon what it feeds upon, and the
Canvas-back confined to a diet of shell fish alone, would be no
better than a Coot. It was our intention at first to have separated
the Fuliguline into two classes, mixed feeders and animal feeders,
but the two grade into one another so gradually that it is difficult
212 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

to draw the line between them, and on the whole it seems best to
treat the whole group together.

Fuligula marila.—Steph. Greater Scaup Duck. Big Black-head. Broad-bill.
Blue-bill. Raft Duck. Flocking Fowl.

In the male, the head, neck and body anteriorly are black, the
former with a greenish gloss; lower back, rump and tail blackish ;
under parts white with fine wavings of grey or black on belly and
sides. Wings black, a patch on the secondaries (the speculum)
white ; back white finely waved with black. Bill bluish. Length
about twenty inches. The female is somewhat smaller, has the
face white, is dull brown where the male is black, and has the
wavings on the back indistinct or lacking.

This is one of the most common of our Sea Ducks, and during
its migrations enormous numbers are killed in the West. Driven
to the seaboard by the freezing of inland waters, it is shot all
through the winter and spring by gunners along the coast. It is
found in California in great numbers in winter, and there associates
with the Mallards and Canvas-backs. The Broad-bill, as it is usu-
ally called on the Atlantic coast, comes up well to decoys, and it is
by the use of these that they are killed in the greatest numbers.
Sometimes they fly across points and bars during their passage
from the roosting to the feeding grounds and back again, and if
the gunner should find himself at one of these points just before
daylight or sunset, he will be likely to have good shooting for an
hour or two.

Although by far the greater number of the Scaups proceed to
the North to breed, still there are a few which make their summer
home in the upper Missouri region. They are not nearly as nu-
merous here, however, during the summer, as is the next species.

Fuligula affinis—Eyton. Lesser Scaup Duck. Little Broad-bill, etc.

Precisely similar in color to the preceding species, but smaller,
being only about sixteen inches long. In habits also it resembles
the larger Broad-bill with which it is constantly associated.

This species has been regarded as of doubtful validity, but is
now generally accepted as a good one. It seems to be a smaller,
more southern form, and in its migrations proceeds farther south
SEA DUCKS. 2r5

than does marz/a. It breeds in great numbers on the sloughs and
alkaline pools of northern Dakota and Montana.

Fuligula collaris.—Bon. Ring-necked Duck. Tufted Duck.

With a general resemblance to the two preceding ; an orange-
brown ring round the neck; back blackish slightly waved with
whitish. The female resembles that of sarz/a but lacks the white
face of that bird, having the chin, a ring round the eye and the
lores whitish. In height it is about eighteen inches. This species
is not very common along the Atlantic coast, though a few are
killed now and then mingled with the great flocks of Broad-bills
that throng our bays. On the waters of the Western States, how-
ever, they are said to be more abundant and are shot in the same
manner as the preceding species. They breed in small numbers
in the marshes of northeastern Illinois, but the great hody proceed
north to the fur countries to rear their young.

Fuligula ferina var. americana.—Coues. Red-head. Pochard.

Feathers of the head rather long, giving it a puffy appearance.
Bill dull blue with a black belt across the end, broad, depressed,
shorter than the head the nostrils within its basal half. Male with
head and neck chestnut red with bronzy reflections; foreparts of
body, rump, wings and tail black, under parts white, speculum blu-
ish, back, scapulars and sides whitish waved with black, the dark
waved lines unbroken. Iris yellow. Length twenty inches. Fe-
male everywhere duller in color than the male. Always to be dis-
tinguished from other ducks by the shape of the bill.

The Red-head is not common along the coast of New England,
but is found during the winter months in considerable numbers
along the South Shore of Long Island. From this point south it is
extremely abundant, and nowhere more so than in the Chesapeake
Bay and at Currituck, where immense numbers are killed each sea-
son. Its flesh is excellent, and where it is enabled to feed on the
well-known Vadlisnerda it is fully equal in point of flavor to that
of the Canvas-back. In the Western States the Red-head is an
enormously abundant migrant, both in spring and fall. It gene-
rally reaches northern Illinois in its spring passage about the last
of March, remaining until the latter part of April, when it takes
214 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

its departure for its breeding grounds in the far North. It arrives
on its return journey late in October, and remains on the rivers,
lakes and sloughs until the cold weather, by freezing up its feeding
grounds, forces it to go further south. It is altogether probable
that a few of these birds breed in the Rocky Mountain region
within the limits of the United States, though the great body pass
on to more boreal latitudes.

The diet of the Red-head is by preference vegetable, though in
default of a sufficiency of food of this nature, they will, like other
ducks, eat frogs, tadpoles, and various mollusks. In the West
they feed largely on corn and wheat which they glean from the
fields, and on wild oats, the seeds of the water lily, and the roots
and leaves of other aquatic plants. While feeding they mingle
freely with other ducks, but in flight they keep by themselves.
They are good swimmers and divers, though by no means as ex-
pert as the more truly maritime ducks. The Red-heads come up
well to decoys, and in the West they are most successfully pursued
by shooting from a blind near their feeding grounds. The decoys
are anchored on the spot where the ducks feed, and the gunner
from his place of concealment has nothing to do but to load and
fire. On our Atlantic coast this species is shot in the same man-
ner as the Canvas-back and Broad-bill, z. ¢., from a battery, from
points, or by toling. These methods will be referred to more in
detail farther on. This species is quite abundant on the Pacific
coast where it is found, during winter at least, associated with the
flocks of Mallards, Broad-bills, Canvas-backs and other ducks so
abundant there at that season.

Fuligula vallisneria.—Steph. Canvas-back Duck.

The Canvas-back is, without doubt, the most sought after
and widely known of all our ducks, and in localities where it can
obtain the food to which it owes the peculiarly delicate flavor for
which it is so famous, its reputation for excellence is well deserved.
When, however, it is obliged to content itself with a diet chiefly
of animal food, it becomes merely a very ordinary table bird.

The Canvas-back is colored somewhat like the Red-head, but
there is no reason for the confusion which exists in the minds of
so many people between the two species. A careful comparison
SEA DUCKS. 215

of the descriptions of the two birds, will indicate well marked
differences in shape and color, by which they may always be dis-
tinguished. The male of the present species has the head and
neck of a deep chestnut color more or less obscured with dusky ;
colors of other parts like the preceding species but, o2 ¢he back
the white predominates, and the black lines are faint and much
broken up. The iris is red. Bll longer than head, narrow,
high at base, nostrils median. Length about twenty inches. To
any one who compares specimens of the two birds, the differences
will be very apparent, and we venture to say that no one who has
done this will ever again mistake one species for the other.

The Canvas-back is distributed more or less abundantly
throughout the whole of Northern America. In the interior it is
found in winter as far south as New Orleans, but on the Atlantic
coast probably does not proceed much south of Georgia. On the
Pacific Slope itis abundant, extending its migrations in winter,
nearly or quite as far as the southern boundary of the United
States. In Southern California they are especially abundant on
small lakes and pools, seeming to confine themselves entirely to
fresh water, and only when disturbed and driven from such places,
visiting the esteros, where the water is brackish. The summer
home of this bird is in the far North, and it is said to breed in
great numbers in Alaska.

Chesapeake Bay is the most noted ground for Canvas-backs in
the country, and here until recently they were frightfully persecu-
ted by means of sink boxes and swivel guns.

A few years ago, Canvas-backs showed a marked decline in
numbers, and their absolute slaughter from these murderous en-
gines, led to the enactment of stringent laws for their protection.
Although they are but little used at present, a brief description of
the sink-boat may interest the reader.

The sink-boat or battery was a long, narrow box, about large
enough to contain a man and two or three guns. It was loaded
with old iron, so that it could be sunk nearly flush with the water’s
edge. From stem, stern and sides floating wings projected, which,
rising and falling with the waves, prevented the water from rush-
ing into the battery. The unwieldy machine was usually towed to
a place on the flats where the ducks congregated, and the shooter,
216 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

after loading his guns and placing them in the box, with their
muzzles resting on the edge, lay down on his back in the bottom
of the concern. Numerous decoys were anchored in the water
around the battery, and some were even placed on its broad flats.
Here, unseen by the ducks, unless they were immediately over
him, and patiently gazing into the dim sky, the gunner eagerly lis-
tened for the rustling of wings or the splashes that denoted the
settling of the doomed birds. Then, barely elevating his head
above his prison-cell, he blazed away.

The swivel-gun, a huge blunderbuss-looking affair, secured in
the bow ofa boat, brought down whole flocks at a single discharge,
and was another invention of the sportsman’s enemy. Be-
tween this and the sink-box, ducks in the Chesapeake threatened
to become as rare as buffalo will soon be in Kansas; but the good
effects of their partial abolition are already visible in the increasing
numbers of the birds.

Toling is also practiced here to a considerable extent and with
success. A spot is selected where the bottom slopes off some-
what abruptly, for the birds will not approach near to the shore
except by swimming, and when the water is too shoal to permit
them to come within forty or fifty yards, the gunner can get no
good chance to shoot at them.

Those who are not sportsmen are sometimes skeptical in re-
gard to toling ducks, and even some duck shooters scarcely put
credence in this device. Undoubtedly the plan of “toling ducks”
was derived from the Indians, who imitated the fox. “ In Norway
and Sweden,” says Mr. Lioyd, in his exhaustive work on the game
birds and wild fowl of these countries, “ducks collect in large
flocks in the neighboring lakes and rivers, the strands of which
are in general flat. The fowler, on observing the birds, walks as
near to them as he can in safety when, falling on his hands and
knees, he makes his further approaches slowly and cautiously. In
the mean time he causes his well-trained dog, who should be of a
reddish color, to gambol before him, which he effects by every now
and then throwing the animal a crumb of bread that it catches in
its mouth. The ducks, attracted by the antics of the dog, grad-
ually approach the strand, and thus the man is often enabled to get
sufficiently near them to fire with effect.” According to all accounts
SEA DUCKS. 217

it was from seeing the way in which the fox at times secures his
prey that men were induced to adopt the plan spoken of, for that
cunning animal in the autumn resorts to a similar ruse to capture
young ducks. He then promenades near to the water’s edge,
sometimes vaulting high in the air, and at others crawling on his
belly, his brush meanwhile trailing along the ground. These ma-
noeuvres of his so excite the curiosity and tickle the fancy of the
ducklings that they gradually swim towards him, occasionally so
near, it is said, as actually to seize hold of his tail with their bills ;
but they usually pay dear for their temerity, for the wily fellow
seizes his opportunity, and pounces on one or other of them. “To
the devices of the fox,” says a Swedish gentleman, “I have been
an eye witness, and it was only last autumn that my bailiff shot
one of these animals in the very act of beguiling young ducks in
the manner described.’’ On the Chesapeake these birds are also
shot in great numbers, from points or bars, near or over which
they fly.

On the Potomac, when it freezes over, Canvas-backs are shot
in considerable numbers on the open places in the river, spots
where from one cause or another, ice has not formed. The de-
coys are set out in the open water, and the sportsman making a
bed of blankets with a pillow of hay, and covering himself with a
white sheet, waits for the birds. The ducks do not notice him, for
he looks like a hummock of ice. The pillow raises the head so
that the gunner is not obliged to make any movement until he
rises to shoot. ‘Large bags are often made in this way and the
sport may continue all day, as the ducks fly from one open place
to another almost continually.

The legitimate sportsmen upon the Potomac are much annoyed
by pot hunters who, with swivel guns and from batteries, slaughter
great numbers of ducks when they first arrive and render the sur-
vivors so wild that it is quite impossible to get near enough to
shoot at them with a shoulder gun. Since the laws in reference
to these engines of destruction have been so rigidly enforced on
the Chesapeake, many of the market hunters from there have come
to the Potomac, where they make great havoc among the birds.

Although the battery or sink boat has been already referred to,
amore detailed description may not be out of place here. The

10
218 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

sink boat, or more properly box, is about six feet three inches long,
one foot two inches deep, two feet wide at the top, one foot eight
inches at the bottom. To this box is fastened a platform about
twelve feet long and seven feet wide, and to this platform is fas-
tened a frame covered with muslin, as follows: width at head, nine
inches; width at sides, two feet. This box is carried to the shoot-
ing grounds by placing it on a boat, and is then anchored at head
and foot, head towards the wind. The shooter then places his
decoys at both sides and strings them towards the foot, so that the
decoys will form a V shape, anchoring most of his decoys on the
left, so that the ducks will come upon that side, as this is easiest
shooting. After this is done, the shooter gets into the box and
places weights in it, so that it will be sunk even to the water. He
then lies down in the box, with his face to the leeward, so that he
can see every dart made, and thus have an easy shot. When
ducks are plenty this is a most destructive contrivance, as the ducks
can see nothing until they get over the decoys, and then it is too
late, for at this moment the shooter rises up and pours in his deadly
fire. After the bunch of ducks have been shot at under these cir-
cumstances, they fly a long distance and do not alight within sight.

Fortunately the laws in Maryland and Virginia are so stringent
that they are seldom violated except at a few places, and these
places are such that it is impossible to capture the violators, as
they are ever on the lookout. A severe law should be passed by
Congress on this subject, and that speedily.

There are plenty of ducks, and good shooting can always be
had at a very slight expense of time or trouble. This can be
accomplished by the use of blinds. The blinds are made as fol-
lows. Select a place from a hundred to three hundred yards from
shore, at 2 point where the water is from three to ten feet deep,
and at good feeding grounds, if possible, then with a heavy
hammer drive four posts at a distance of from four to six feet apart,
forming a square. At a distance of about a foot above the highest
tides, connect these posts with inch stuff, and upon this lay a floor-
ing; about three feet above this flooring, fasten strips both on the
outside and inside of these posts, and between these openings put
in cedar or pine, so as to conceal completely all the woodwork ;
then at the end of the blind nearest to the shore make a seat, so
SEA DUCKS. 219

that when the shooter is seated his eyes will be just above the
cedar, and he can have a full view in every direction. It is best
to leave the rear end of the blind open, so that-it will be easy to
get in and out of it from a boat. Having your blind made, and
wishing to shoot, your next step is to put out your decoys—a very
simple thing when you understand it, but unless one has seen it
done or had it explained to him, not so easy as it appears. It is
true that no matter how you put them out, you may coax up a stray
duck now and then, but you will soon perceive that there is some
defect, for it will be noticed after a little, that almost all the ducks
when they get within two or three hundred yards of your blind,
either turn aside or keep on the course, and pay no attention to
your decoys. Let us suppose that the wind is blowing from your
right ; in this case all the ducks will come up on your left or to the
leeward, as all ducks when they alight come up against the wind.
To your right, and at a distance of about thirty-five yards, and on
a line parallel to the front of your blind, and at a distance of
thirty-five yards from it, place a leader (decoy,) and from this point
string your decoys on this parallel line, one each side of it towards
your blind so as to form a V; when directly opposite your blind
taper off your decoys, so that the space occupied by them will nearly
resemble a diamond. It is best to have a good show directly
opposite your blind, and it is well to leave several spaces, so that
the ducks will select these points to alight in. If the decoys have
been placed properly, your blind properly constructed, you will get
a dart from every bunch of ducks that may pass up or down the
river in a reasonable distance from you. Never allow the ducks
‘to alight, but shoot them when they are hovering to alight, as at
this time you have the best opportunity and your fire is the most
destructive. If the flock is very large, they may be permitted to
alight; but it is the safer rule never to allow them to do so, for as
soon as they are in water they separate and commence to feed im-
mediately, and shooting under these circumstances you will shoot
some of your decoys, which indicates a bad sportsman, Nothing
looks so badly to our mind as to see a person with his decoys filled
with shot; and you can rely uponit that he seldom gets one-fourth
of the game that heshould. Very often when we place our decoys
out it isadead calm. In this case the water is as smooth asa
220 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

sheet of glass, and the decoys loom up to almost twice their usual
size, as in a fog, and under these circumstances the ducks will
readily discover the deception long before they come near to you,
and will either turn out of their way or will pass by beyond gun
shot. Under these circumstances we can easily change the pros-
pects and have good shooting with but little trouble. To do this,
select two or three of your largest and best decoys as follows :—
say two on the outside and one in the centre of the decoys. Toa
loop in the breast of each decoy run a string, to one end attach a
piece of lead, iron or stone, weighing say two pounds, then carry
your strings to your blind, and as soon as you see a bunch of
ducks pull these strings violently, and by doing this the decoys will
act as if feeding ; and not only this, but they will create waves that
will give motion to all other decoys. By this means one may have
good shooting even when it is quite calm.

The blinds are built in the fall just about the time at which the
ducks arrive, so that the birds are accustomed to them from the
first. Often too, the vicinity of the blind is “ baited.” To “ bait’
a blind, place from twenty-five to forty yards in front of each blind,
two or three bushels of corn or grain, or screenings. Sooner or
later a bunch of ducks will find this out, and will communicate it
somehow or other to every duck for miles around. As soon as
they find it, you can rest assured that the ducks will remain feeding
on this grain until it is all gone, which will take a long time; but
by once every two or three weeks putting out another bushel, you
will have ducks until they leave for their breeding grounds. It is
always best to put out corn at first, as the ducks notice this so
much sooner, and after this bait with rye or wheat, which is more
difficult for them to get. Now this shooting will be all right as
long as the river does not freeze, or the ice is not over an inch or
two thick. In this latter case you must break the ice in front of
the blind, so as to have a space about forty or sixty yards square,
and then by placing the decoys out you will have the best of shoot-
ing, as this will be the only water open in the vicinity, and by plac-
ing decoys in it you cannot fail to draw every bunch that may pass
up ordown. But in case the ice is from four to eight inches thick,
and freezing all the time, you will have to resort to another method.
In all freezes there are air holes open at some place or other
SEA DUCKS. 221

within a mile or two of our blind or of our house, and the question
is how to get our boat there with its load of decoys. It may be
mentioned here that in duck shooting none but a flat boat should
be used, as this is the only one that can go in shallow water, be
hauled on shore or transported without trouble in a wagon. In
order conveniently to transport your boat over the ice, nail two
thin strips (about an inch thick) on the bottom of the boat, as run-
ners, and then thin them from the centre to each end, so as to form
a sort of oval. To these runners fasten iron about an inch wide,
and let this iron be what is termed half oval, (which can be pro-
cured at any hardware store). The runners should be as long as
possible, and placed about three or four inches from the edge of
the boat, and they should not be nearer than four inches to the end
or point of the boat. With a boat fixed in this manner, the least
force exerted will make it slide rapidly over the ice. In going with
a boat on the ice from one place to another, never pull it with a
rope by walking in front of the boat. This is the way that all
novices will act, but it is dangerous, from the following reason,
viz: that no matter how thick the ice may be, there are always
some thin places, and these will give away as soon as one gets on
them with his full weight; in such a case you will get a good
ducking at the best, and run the risk of a more serious disaster.
To avoid all these risks, you should push the boat from behind by
placing your hands at the stern, and have your body thrown well
forward ; inthis case, if the ice gives way, you can easily jump into
the boat without risk, or at the most have only a wet foot.

It is still better to remain in the boat and to be provided with
a short pole armed at the end with a sharp hook, which you can
strike into the ice and by means of which the boat is easily moved
over the surface. By sitting well forward in the boat and using
this hook you can go along rapidly with very little exertion, and if
the ice should give away you are safe in the boat. In case you
break in, it is easy with an ice hook to pull your boat upon strong
ice. On arriving at the place where you wish to shoot, you can
.either build a blind out of ice, or use the boat asa blind. In the
former case, pile up cakes of ice about three feet high, building a
semi-circular wall, and then by placing a few boards on the ice,
or bags of straw, you have a comfortable shooting place. If the
222 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA,

boat is to be used as a blind, then all you have to do is to place it
parallel to the line of decoys and place cakes of ice on the side of
it next to the decoys, so as to make the boat look like a hummock
of ice. But in this case, it is necessary to wear a long white shirt
and have one’s hat white by using a havelock. Then by sitting in
the boat or on the ice, it is almost impossible for the ducks to see
you, provided you keep quiet. A great many persons in shooting
on ice whiten their gun barrels with chalk, as a black barrel is very
apt to be noticed, but this is scarcely necessary, provided the
shooter makes no sudden movement.

It is scarcely necessary to say that the shooting on the Chesa-
peake and adjacent waters is by no means confined entirely to
Canvas-backs. Water fowl exist here not only in vast numbers
but in the greatest variety. Swans, geese of several species, red-
heads, black ducks, broad-bills, widgeons, teal and many other
species less prized by epicures, make these waters their winter
home, and may be shot in quantities from October to April.

In the Western States the Canvas-back makes its appearance
about the middle or last of October, and remains on the water of
these States until freezing weather comes, when they withdraw to
more southern localities or to the sea coast. In the interior they are
chiefly shot over decoys which are placed on their feeding grounds,
the sportsman being concealed in a blind near at hand. As the
birds feed to a great extent on the roots of an aquatic plant, which
does not grow in deep water, they often approach quite near to
the shore and give very easy shots. On rainy days these birds ap-
pear to be uneasy, and fly much more than in pleasant weather,
They come to decoys better, too, and it is on such days that the
best bags are made. The Canvas-back can only be regarded as
a straggler on our New England coast.

Bucephala clangula.—Coues. Golden-eye. Garrot. Whistler.

The Whistler, as it is most commonly called on our coast, is a
bird of very wide distribution, being a European species, and
found also throughout the whole of North America. Unlike
the majority of our ducks, this species never congregates in very
large flocks, and it is not much sought after by sportsmen. It is
a fair table bird, much superior in this respect to the majority of
SEA DUCKS. 223

our sea ducks. It takes its common name from the fact that its
wings when in flight produce a loud whistling noise which can be
heard at a considerable distance.

In the interior and perhaps at some points on the coast, the
Golden-eyes decoy readily, but this is not the case on our southern
New England shore, where they rarely pay the slightest attention
to the stools. This species is said to breed in hollow trees like
the Wood Duck, the mother transporting her young to the water
in her bill.

The male Whistler has the head and upper neck dark glossy
green, a roundish spot of white just in front of the eye, not touch-
ing the bill; lower neck, under parts, sides, scapulars, wing coverts
and secondaries white, other upper parts black or blackish. The
female has the head brown, breast and sides grey. The head in
the male is quite puffy, in the female less so. The bill is high at
the base, shorter than the head, and in color is black, paler at the
tip. Length about eighteen inches.

Bucephala islandica,—Baird. Rocky Mountain Garrot. Barrow’s Golden-eye.

A rather doubtful species which closely resembles the forego-
ing, but has the loral spot triangular or crescentic touching the bill
for the whole length of one of its sides, white on the wing, divided
by a black bar. Somewhat larger than the last. This bird is
everywhere rare, yet it has been taken on the Atlantic coast, in the
Rocky Mountains, and on the Pacific. If a good species it is more
boreal in its habitat than the common Golden-eye. It occurs with
us only in winter.

Bucephala albeola.—Baird. Buffie-head. Dipper. Butter-ball. Spirit Duck.
Devil Diver. Salt-water Teal.

Every one is familiar with the little Buffle-head, for he is
common not only along the coast, but on all ponds and streams
throughout the country, from ocean to ocean. The male is cer-
tainly one of the most beautiful of our ducks. His head is ex-
tremely puffy, and shows on its back the most brilliant iridescence
of purple, green and gold. Colors like those of the Golden-eye,
but without the loral patch of white, and with an auricular patch
of that color which meets its fellow behind. The female has the
224 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

head less puffy, the auricular patch smaller, and is full black.
Length about fourteen inches. This species sometimes comes well
to decoys, but is so small that it is not much shot. Those that
are killed are generally secured while flying over points or bars.

Harelda glacialis.—Leach. Long-tailed Duck. Old-wife. South-southerly. Old
Injun (male). Old Squaw (female). Hound.

An extremely graceful and beautiful duck; one too, most diffi-
cult to shoot on account of its exceedingly rapid and irregular flight,
but for the table almost worthless. Tail of fourteen narrow
pointed feathers, the middle ones in the male very long, sometimes
equaling the wing. Male in summer with back and long narrow
scapulars varied with black and reddish brown, general color
blackish below, from the breast white, no white on wing, sides of
head lead grey. In winter, the head, neck and fore parts of the
body are white, a dark patch on the neck below the grey cheek
patch, narrow scapular feathers pearl grey. Bill short, nail occu-
pying its whole tip. The female is a plain grey duck, white be-
low, and always to be recognized by the absence of white on the
wing, and the peculiarities of the bill. Length fifteen to twenty
inches, depending somewhat on the development of the tail.

Old Squaws are shot in great numbers along the New England
coast, not so much for food, as because from the peculiarities of
their flight, they are one of the most difficult ducks to hit. Under
certain circumstances they come well to decoys, and are easily se-
cured, but they are more often shot while flying over a line.

‘Ducking in line, isa favorite amusement on some parts of our
coast, but it is hardly probable that the reader is familiar with it
and it may therefore be here described.

A number of boats, perhaps twenty, each containing one man,
one or more guns, together with an anchor, thirty feet of rope and
a buoy, start for some pre-determined point of land near which
the birds feed. The boats range themselves off from the shore
about gun shot apart, forming a cordon through which the ducks
are expected to fly. The anchor is attached first to the buoy, and
this in turn is snapped to the painter. When a bird is shot down,
the boat can in this way quickly slip the buoy, and save the time,
and trouble of raising the anchor. The birds at sunrise fly into
SEA DUCKS. 225

the bays and estuaries for food, and in passing over the line
give good shots to the gunners. As many as fifty birds are some-
times secured in this way by an expert, in a morning’s shooting,

Although the Old Squaw is one of our typical sea ducks, it is
not confined to the coast alone, but is found in considerable num-
bers on some of the larger inland waters, being common in winter
on Lake Michigan, and no doubt on others of the Great Lakes.
It occurs also in great numbers on the California coast.

This species breeds on fresh water ponds and lakes in Labra-
dor, and probably throughout the British Possessions, generally,
however, selecting for this purpose a body of water not far from
the sea. It reaches our middle districts in November, and is enor-
mously abundant from that time until April. Most of the common
names of the species are taken from its noisy habits, for ‘it is
almost continually calling. The notes are very musical.

Camptolemus labradorius.—Gray. Labrador Duck. Pied Duck.

Bill enlarged toward the end. The male has the body and
primaries black, as also a black collar and lengthwise coronal
strip, rest of head neck and wing white. Female plain greyish.
Length two feet. This species was in the time of Wilson and Au-
dubon, common along our coast as far south as New York in win-
ter, but it is at present one of the rarest of our ducks. It is a
species of northern distribution, only entering the United States in
winter.

Histrionicus torquatus.—Bon. Harlequin Duck. Lord (male). Lady (female).

This beautiful species is nowhere common. It is a bird of
Europe, and is scattered over the whole of the northern portion
of our country, occurring on the northwest coast in small numbers.
It breeds sparingly in the northern Rocky Mountains, but perhaps
it is as common on the coast of Newfoundland as anywhere else.
Here the male and female of this species are called “lords and
ladies,” and are beautiful birds, and perhaps the most expert of
divers. The sportsman is amazed to find that one of these birds
can escape the shot of his percussion gun by diving, though sitting
quietly on the water at a distance of but twenty yards, Sometimes,

10%
226 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

too, he fires at a flock on the wing, and is delighted to see the whole
flock drop apparently “stone dead”’ into the water; but presently
his astonishment is great when he sees the little harlequins all on
wing unhurt, and just out of the range of his second barrel. The
bill of the Harlequin is very small and short, and tapers rapidly to
tip which is wholly occupied by the nail; the tertiaries are curly.
Male deep lead blue ; sides of head and of body behind chestnut ;
stripe on crown and tail, black; a patch at side of bill, on occiput,
side of breast and tail, two transverse ones on side of neck and
several on wing, and a jugular collar, white. Female brown, paler
Eelow, with a white patch in front of and behind eye. Length
about sixteen inches. Specimens of this beautiful duck are much
in request among ornithological collectors, and those shot should
always, if possible, be preserved.

Somaterta stellerit.—Jard. Steller’s Eider Duck.

“Head white with a tinge of grey with a green occipital band;
a black chin patch and eye ring; collar round neck and the upper
parts lustrous velvety black; the lengthened curly scapulars and
tertiaries silvery white on the inner webs; the lesser and middle
wing coverts white, the greater coverts and secondaries white-
tipped, enclosing the violet speculum, under parts rich reddish
brown, blackening on the belly and crissum, fading through buff
to white on the breast and sides where there are black spots. Fe-
male reddish brown, blackening below, varied with darker on the
head, neck and fore parts, tips of greater coverts and secondaries
alone white, enclosing the speculum. Length about eighteen
inches.” (Comes.)

A bird of the Northwest coast scarcely or not at all known to
sportsmen.

Somateria fischerii.—Coues. Spectacled Eider.

‘Male black or blackish, the throat, most of the neck, fore back,
wing coverts, scapulars, tertials, and flank patch white ; nape and
occiput green, a whitish space around the eye bounded by black.
Female said to be brown varied with darker, the chin and throat
whitish, the eye patch obscurely indicated.” (Coues.) Male in fall
and winter said to be like the female. Inhabits the northwest coast.
SEA DUCKS. 227

Somaterza mollisstma,—Bon, Eider Duck. Sea Duck,

« Bill with long club-shaped frontal processes extending in a
line with the culmen, upon the sides of the forehead divided by a
broad feathered interspace. Male in breeding attire, white, creamy
tinted on breast and washed with green on head ; under parts from
breast, lower back, rump, tail, quills and large forked patch on the
crown black. Female with the bill less developed, general plum-
age an extremely variable shade of reddish-brown or ochry brown,
speckled, mottled and barred with darker. Male in certain stages
resembling the female. Length about two feet.” (Cowes.)

The reputation of this bird is world-wide. And it is not from
any peculiarity that it possesses, but because it ministers (unwill-
ingly, to be sure) to the comfort of man. There are four species
of this genus in the United States, but two of which are found upon
the Atlantic coast. The king eider is the rarer of the two, and
the most northern. Plain eider duck is the one most common, and
the one referred to here. We naturally associate them with ice-
bergs and Icelanders, as they form such prominent features in
tales of Arctic adventure. Tis true vast numbers have their sum-
mer dwelling-place in the Polar regions, but even those who seek
a breeding place in Greenland, Iceland or Labrador, seek a less
rigorous climate as winter approaches. The range of the eider
duck is from the coast of New England to the Arctic regions. It
is only in winter, however, that we are favored with their presence,
and then they keep well aloof from the shore. By the first of May
they leave us, and seek a place to make their nest and rear their
young along the shores of the Bay of Fundy, Newfoundland, and
Labrador, though the first eggs are not laid till the last of that
month.

One of their most southern breeding places is upon one of the
outlying islands of the Grand Manan group, called “ White
Horse,” from a fancied resemblance to that beast. From the
rocks at the water’s edge many tortuous, narrow paths lead to the
grassy thickets, and these paths invariably lead to a nest, some-
times two. Upon the ground they place a few pieces of grass
stalks, with other fine material, in a slight depression of which the
eggs are laid, from three to five. These eggs are about three
228 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

inches long by two wide, of a beautiful olive green, and very
smooth. Sometimes when left by the female for a short time,
they are covered with a mat of dry grass, and the highly prized
eider down, so elastic that a whole nest full may be squeezed in
the fist and then regain its original bulk. This down is dark slate
in color, having been plucked by the female from her breast. The
young are beautiful little creatures, can swim like a fish and tame
easily.

Towards the last of October, the eiders begin to appear along
the Massachusetts coast, forming in large bodies off the rocky
capes. Good sport is had by gunners from Cape Ann in the win-
ter months. A good boat, with a man to sail it, can be hired at
Rockport or Gloucester, and if the day is pleasant, with wind to
westward, and a trifle rough, the sportsman may expect shooting.
These birds are also shot in the same manner as the various
Coots to be mentioned farther on.

Somateria V-nigra.—Gray. Pacific Eider.

Precisely like the last excepting a V shaped black mark on the
chin. Perhaps only a variety. Arctic and North Pacific coast.

Somateria spectabilis.—Boie. King’Duck. King Hider.

“ Bill with broad squarish nearly vertical frontal processes bulg-
ing angularly out of line with culmen. Male in breeding attire
black, including a forked chin patch, a frontal band and small
space, round eye; the neck and fore parts of the body, part of
interscapulars of wing coverts and of lining of wings, and a flush-
patch white, creamy on the jugulum, greenish on the sides of the
head ; crown and nape fine bluish ash. Female resembles the
common Eider in plumage, but the bill is different. Size of
last.” (Coues.)

A more northern species than the preceding, with which how-
ever it is sometimes associated. South in winter on the coast to
New York and occasionally inland waters west to Lake Michigan.

Gdemia americana,—Swain. Black Scoter. Copper-Nose (male). Grey Coot
(female).

Birds of this genus are distinguished by their peculiarly swollen
and brightly colored bills. The males are black with or without
SEA DUCKS. 229

white spaces, the females are sooty black or grey,and lack the
curiously turgid bills of the male.

In the Scoter the bill is scarcely encroached upon by the frontal
feathers, is shorter than head, swollen above at the base, and
orange in colorin the male. Tail of sixteen feathers. Male black.
Female sooty brown, pale grey below. Male about two feet long.
Sea coast and larger inland waters of United States in winter.

Gdemia fusca.—Flem, Velvet Scoter. White-winged Surf-Duck. White-
_ winged Coot. Bell-tongue Cvot.
Bill black orange tipped, shorter than head. Male black with
a white wing-patch and spot under the eye. Iris white. Female
sooty brown, pale grey below, with the white wing-patch and
some white about the head. Length two feet. Distribution same
as last, but more abundant.

Edemia perspicillata.—Steph. Surf Duck. Sea Coot. Skunk-head. Snuff-
taker.

Bill in the male much swollen at sides as well as above, orange
red, white on sides and with a large circular black spot on each
side at the base. Tail of fourteen feathers. Male black with a
triangular white patch on the forehead and another on the occiput.
Female smaller, sooty brown, paler below, white patches on sides
of head before and behind the eye. Size of first. Atlantic coast
in winter. Variety ¢rowdrddges, Pacific Coast.

Our Sound, protected by Long Island from the billows and
fierce breakers of the Atlantic, with its many quiet bays and in-
lets, its gently sloping, sandy shores and shallow waters, abound-
ing in mollusca and small shell fish, is the favorite resort of count-
less numbers of water-fowl, from their first arrival from the
northern breeding grounds, about the middle of September, until
their departure again in April and May. The first species which
arrives here in the early autumn are the Surf Ducks—a beautiful
bird, glossy black, with a white patch on the top of the head and
another on the nape of the neck, from which coloring it has re-
ceived the name of “skunk head” from our gunners. Its mate,
dressed in a sober suit of brown and grey, is called the grey coot,
and is very generally considered an entirely different species. The
ducks of this species which first arrive keep far out on the Sound.
230 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

and are daily joined by large flocks of their companions from the
north. In a few days these flocks become of immense size, con-
sisting of thousands, which are now joined by a few Scoters. The
duck shooters begin to prepare for the sport. The boat ordi-
narily used in this duck-shooting is flat-bottomed, twelve to
thirteen feet long and about thirty inches wide, decked over, and
with a combing around the cockpit, which is just large enough to
accommodate one person. The white-winged coots and loons
soon commence to arrive and mingle with the others, which have
now moved nearer to the shore. Every mornirig these large flocks
scatter, and in small numbers, from two or three to a dozen indi-
viduals, fly up the Sound toward the west. They continue to fly
in the same direction until about ten or eleven o’clock ; all then
settle, and scarcely any birds are flying until two o’clock in the
afternoon, when all commence flying back again, the flocks being
larger than in the morning flight.

Imagine a party of sportsmen just formed for the first shoot of
the season. The boats are all collected on the shore near some
favorite shooting ground, ready to start out the next morning at
the very first streak of daylight.

_The party retire to some neighboring barn and beguile the long
hours of the night with stories and joyous thoughts of to-morrow’s
sport ; or, at home, roll uneasily in bed, longing for the next morn-
ing. No bell is needed to call them at the first signs-of day. Many
eyes have been eagerly watching for it. The boats now start out,
so that all may be ready before it is light and the birds have begun
to fly. Upon reaching the desired location, one man throws out
his anchor, another rows about twenty rods beyond him and an-
chors also, and in this way the boats are all disposed of, reaching
far out into the Sound in a straight line. Golden streaks are fast
springing up from the eastern horizon, lighting up the water, which
is moving in long gentle swells, and the beautiful bluish haze, so
characteristic of the cool autumn morning, with enchanting reflec-
tions. ‘The ducks are now beginning to fly, and the noise of their
wings, brought clearly over the water, sends a thrill through every
gunner’s nerves. The shooting will soon begin. There comes a
pair of white-winged ducks, heading directly for the line. They
must pass between some two boats, and every eye anxiously
SEA DUCKS. 231

watches to see who shall have the first shot of the season.
Nearer and nearer they come; they are almost up to the line, and
now they notice the boats and partly stop, but it is too late for
them to turn out. With swiftly moving wings, and with wonder-
ful speed, one following akout a foot behind the other, they attempt
to pass between two of the boats. A man springs to his knees,
the muzzle of a gun follows their swift course for an instant, a
flash, a report, and a few feathers float in the air as the hindmost
duck throws out its feet, drops its head, and with wings partly
closed, turning slowly over in its swift descent, heavily strikes the
water with a loud splash. The gunner now throws overboard the
buoy to which his anchor line is attached, rows to the spot where
the duck is lying dead on its back, lifts it up by one of its red feet,
places it on the deck, and rows back. This is the first duck. And
now the ducks are flying swiftly through different parts of the line,
and the report of the heavy guns is heard almost every instant.
Now and then some lucky fellow drops two at a shot. Many
which are hit come down apparently dead, dive immediately on
striking the water, and continue diving so vigorously that they
often escape, the gunner not deeming it worth while to pursue
them. Others which dive are never seen again. These are hard
hit, and as a general thing cling to the weeds and rocks at the
bottom with their bills and remain there till dead. If the bottom
offers nothing to cling to they swim off with the body completely
submerged, leaving nothing but the bill above the water. Some-
times after the warmth has all left the body of those which cling
to the bottom, the muscles relax their hold sufficiently to let the
bird float to the top of the water. Very frequently when a pass-
ing duck is shot at, the shot are plainly heard to hit it, but the bird
keeps on as though nothing was the matter. Very soon, however,
it moves its wings more stiffly, and inclines toward the water. This
is a sure sign of a hard hit, and if it alights all right it can be easi-
ly knocked over with the other barrel. If the duck, on reaching
the water, does not seem at all particular whether it alights right
side up or not, it will be found dead, though having flown perhaps
for a quarter of a mile after being hit.

As the season advances, old squaws and sheldrakes arrive.
The former are often allowed to pass through the line without be-
232 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

ing shot at, on account of their small size, swift flight, and extreme
tenacity of life, making it so hard to get them after they are shot.
As a general thing, however, everything is “ game ” which passes
over the line, from a goose to a crow.

y
Erismatura rubida,—Bon. Ruddy Duck.

Male with the neck and upper parts brownish-red, the lower
parts silky white marbled with pale grey, chin and sides of head
white, crown and nape black. This is the most perfect plumage,
and is not often seen. Female and young males brown above,
dotted and waved with darker, below paler. Top of head dark,
brown, under tail coverts white. Bill broad and flat with an over-
hanging nail. Feathers of tail peculiarly stiffened and slender.
Length fifteen inches. North America, abundant.

Erismatura dominica.—Eyt. St. Domingo Duck.

Head in front and chin black. Hind head, neck and breast
deep reddish-brown; above brownish-red blotched with black, be-
low paler, speculum white. Smaller than last. A tropical species
accidental in the United States.

Mergus mergansey.—Linn, Merganser. Goosander. Fish Duck.

The Mergansers are to be distinguished from other Fuliguline
by having the bill round instead of flattened, and strongly toothed.
Their food consists almostly entirely of fish which they pursue
“like the loons and cormorants.” Their flesh is of course very
rank, almost uneatable in fact. These birds are not systematically
pursued, but are occasionally shot by the gunner while in pursuit
of other game.

The male Goosander has the head somewhat puffy, glossy
green, back and wings black and white, under parts salmon
colored. Female with a slight crest, head and neck reddish-

brown, upper parts ashy grey with some white. Length about
two feet. Whole of North America.

Mergus serrator.—Linn, Sheldrake. Red-breasted Merganser.

With a slight crest in both sexes. General coloration like the
last, but the male with the lower fore-neck and breast reddish
SEA DUCKS. 233
brown streaked with black, and the sides waved with black, a
white, black bordered mark in front of the wing ; wing crossed by
two black bars; smaller than *merganser. Distribution same
as last.

Mergus cucullatus.—Linn. Hooded Merganser. Saw-billed Diver.

Male with a thick erect crest. Black including two crescents
in front of wing, and bar across speculum ; under parts, centre of
crest, speculum, stripes on tertials, white; sides chestnut, black-
barred. Length eighteen inches. Female, head and neck brown,
chin whitish; back and sides dark brown; white on wing tip.
North America at large.
MISCELLANEOUS BIRDS.

AME in the sense in which the term is employed by sports-

men, strictly includes only those birds which have already
been discussed ; but besides these there are many other species
at which the gunner will have shots during his wanderings
in search of the true game birds. Among such may be men-
tioned the Wild Pigeon, the Bittern, the Sandhill and Whoop-
ing Cranes, and certain Loons, Grebes and Cormorants. Ex-
cept the last three, the birds are all eaten, though not particularly
delicate food. The Loons and their allies, however, are from
the nature of their food, which consists almost wholly of fish, utterly
rank and uneatable, and no more deserve a place in this work than
does the crow, at which the sportsman sometimes wantonly dis-
charges his gun.

In New England the following recipe is given for cooking one
of these fish-eating birds. Having dressed your Loon or Grebe,
place in it an iron wedge large enough almost to fill the cavity
from which the intestines have been removed ; then bake or boil.
When you can stick a fork into the wedge your bird is ready for
the table.

Ectopistes migratorius—Swains. Wild Pigeon. Passenger Pigeon.

The Wild Pigeon is one of our most widely known birds, and
although not strictly to be classed among our game birds, yet it is
so extensively hunted and shot, and forms so marked a feature in
our markets at certain seasons, that we shall devote a few words
to the species. The color of the adult Passenger Pigeon is above,
dull bluish grey ; below, dull purplish red, whitening on the cris-
sum ; sides of neck golden and reddish reflections; some of the
wing coverts black spotted; middle tail feathers bluish black, the
others white or ashy, tail cuneate, the inner webs of the tail feath-
ers black at base, with a chestnut patch. Length fifteen to seven-
MISCELLANEOUS BIRDS. 235

teen inches. The Passenger Pigeon is eminently a gregarious and
migratory species, known particularly for its great swiftness of
flight, and the immense size of the companies found feeding
together. Their favorite food seems to be beech mast, acorns and
other soft shelled nuts, and where these are plenty, the pigeons
congregate at early morning and feed during the day, retiring to
the pine woods to pass the night. Their roosts when discovered
are resorted to at night by men and boys, armed with guns and
clubs, and the birds who sit packed tightly together are slaughtered
in countless numbers, till all the hunters loaded down with their
grain bags full of the birds, cease their murderous onslaughts from
sheer fatigue,

Until disturbed the birds return nightly to the same roost as
long as the mast in the neighborhood is plenty. Suddenly they
all disappear, and are seen no more until the following fall. The
wild cherries are, while they last, eagerly sought by the pigeons,
and large bags are made by sitting beneath these trees and shoot-
ing at the incoming flocks.

At this season of the year the Alleghany Mountains are literally
alive with them, and from morn to eve, nothing in the best local-
ities can be heard but the sharp crack of rifles and the heavier
sound of shot guns. Every one seems to be impressed with the
idea that he must make the finest bag of the season, and conse-
quently every one who can procure a gun, no matter of what
kind, sallies forth to wage an indiscriminate war upon the
‘poor pigeons that have visited the hills and valleys to feed upon
the acorns and wild cherries which are found in the greatest pro-
fusion on the top of the Alleghanies in a strip of country called the
Glades. These Glades are open spaces devoid of trees in the
midst of unbroken forests covered by tall grass and alder bushes ;
they extend for perhaps fifty miles on top of the mountains, and
are from fifteen to twenty miles in breadth. This section of the
country seems to be the favorite ground for pigeons in the fall of
the year. At early morning to sit in these glades and shoot at the
flocks as one by one they arrive from their nesting places affords
fine sport, and is altogether the most pleasant way of hunting these
birds,

Thousands are caught alive by means of clap-nets, and they
236 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

afford the best trap shooting, being strong and swift of wing. This
is the only use made of them alive, although attempts have been
made in domesticating and cross-breeding, but with, as we believe,
no success. The great mass of Passenger Pigeons breed in com-
panies, twenty to thirty nests being found on one tree; when the
squabs are about to leave the nest they make a delicious table bird.
Scattered pairs are found breeding in our Eastern and Middle sec-
tions. Several other species of pigeons are found in the United
States, but this is the only species which is systematically pursued.

Botaurus minor.—Bon. Bittern. Indian Hen. Stake-driver. Bog-bull.

The Bittern is very nearly, if not quite, a game bird. Its flesh
is very fair eating, it gives out a strong scent, and often lies well
toadog. Frank Forrester included it among the list of his game
birds, and what higher authority can we have than his. We have
shot many of these birds when traversing boggy meadows in search
of snipe, and have seen a very young and unbroken dog stand on
them with the utmost staunchness. They fly slowly and are se-
cured without difficulty by the most ordinary shot. Many are
killed during the Rail shooting, being started from their reedy
feeding grounds by the sportsman’s boat.

The Bittern is above of a dull brown color streaked and
speckled with tawny buff and whitish, neck white becoming pale
yellow on breast and belly, each feather with a streak of brown.
Chin and throat line white; a glossy black patch on each side of
the neck. Bill dark at tip, yellow at base, legs greenish. Length
about twenty-five inches. The Bittern nests on the ground and
not in communities as do most herons. Its eggs are four or five
in number, in color brownish-drab with a shade of grey.

Grus americana.—Temm. White Crane. Whooping Crane.

The Whooping Crane is a bird of the interior, being rarely
found on our Eastern seaboard, and never north of the Middle
States. It is most abundant in the Mississippi Valley and on the
high plains toward the Rocky Mountains.

Birds of this genus have the general aspect of the herons,
though in fact more nearly related to the rails. Adults of our
two species may be distinguished from any of the birds of North
MISCELLANEOUS BIRDS. 237

America by having the top of the head in each naked, somewhat
warty, haired and red in color.

The length of the White Crane is between four and five feet.
The bare part of the head narrows to a point on the occiput, and
extends on each side of the head below the eyes. It is very hairy,
General plumage white; primaries, their coverts and alula black ;
bill very powerful, greenish in color; legs black.

This species is rarely secured with the shot-gun. It is very
wary, and must be stalked with the utmost care; and shot with a
rifle-ball at a distance of one hundred yards or more. The White
Crane breeds sparingly throughout the northern portion of the
interior. The eggs are two in number, of a muddy white color
with spots of dull brown. They are not to be certainly distin-
guished from those of the next species.

Grus canadensis—Temm. Sandhill Crane. Brown Crane.

Somewhat smaller than the foregoing ; the naked patch on the
head forking behind to receive a feathered point, not extending
below to the eyes, and scarcely hairy. General color grey, prima-
ries, their coverts, and alula black.

This species is very abundant from the Mississippi Valley west-
ward, and is equally common on the plains and in the mountains.
Farther east it rarely occurs in any numbers, and is scarcely found
at all on the sea coast north of Floiida. In California it is abund-
ant in the fall, and is often exposed for sale in the markets.

Although scarcely less wary than its congener the Whooping
Crane, it is more often killed 6n account of its greater abundance.
Sometimes they are shot by grouse shooters who come upon them
feeding in sloughs or under cut banks, and thus get within range
before being discovered. But as a rule the securing of these birds
is purely a matter of chance. The young of this species are said
to be tender and well flavored. The Sandhill Crane breeds through-
out the mountains and plains of the West, laying two eggs usually
on the ground, but sometimes building on a tree, as noted by the
writer in the Black Hills of Dakota, in 1874.
 

GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

EASTERN COAST FISHES.

THE PLEURONECTID.

FLounper ; flatfish ; mud dab ; sole.—Pseudopleuronectes americanus.—Gill.

J HIS excellent panfish is the delight of the boys, and is caught

with clams and other baits of shell fish, from wharves. It

is also speared on mud flats among the eel grass at low water. It

often grows to several pounds in weight. Taken from early spring
till late in autumn.

THE GADID.

PoLiock.—Pollachius carbonarius.—Bon.

Pollock, although no more a game fish, technically, than the
common flounder, has been known to take a great gaudy fly of
scarlet and grey feathers with avidity; and much sport is often
enjoyed in the Kenebeccasis River with rod and reel in this way.
The Kenebeccasis is an arm of the St. John River, in the Province
of New Brunswick. Its game qualities are really very fair. Be-
longs to the Gadde or Codfish family. Spawns from last of
October to December, and is taken from the last of April to the
first of June. It resembles the codfish in its prominent charac-
teristics.

The Haddock, another gadus, takes the hook as freely as the cod.

Coprisu.—Gadus morrhua.—Linon.
This well-known fish of commerce affords good sport when
taken in shoal water off the coast of Labrador. It is taken only
a few feet below the surface, and if one wishes to try the experi-
240 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

ment he may be able to take individuals ona clumsy bunch of
grey and scarlet feathers, or red flannel, improvised as a fly.
Sometimes in pursuit of caplin and other small fish, they leap clear
of the water. Bait with caplin, lance or herring. Bank fishing in-
volves more hard labor than sport, yet some persons enjoy a cruise
with the fishermen. Codfish subsist on crabs, shell fish and other
fish. Spawn in November and December. The best fishing sea-
son is in April, May and June.

Tomcop ; frostfish.—Microgadus tomcodus.—-Gill.

This familiar fish is taken in abundance from wharves and in
tide water rivers, with hook and line baited with clams or crabs, a
light rod, and small sinker, with or without a float. In midwinter
it swims near the surface, and can be jigged up with an unbaited
hook fastened to a two-foot No. 8 wire attached to a ten-foot pole.
The bait-fishing season is in the fall. The tomcod is olive-brown
on back shading to dull yellow ; belly white. In shape and many
of its features it resembles the codfish. ‘

LABRIDZ.

BLACKFISH ; tautog.—T7autoga onitis.—Gth'r.

This is a fine fish for the table, broiled or for chowder. Grows
to the weight of twelve pounds. Much fished for in May and
October with hand lines and hooks, and baited with fiddlers
and clams, with sinker below the hooks. Taken near the bottom,
around reefs and old wrecks on the flood tide. Color, black on
back with lead colored belly. Spawn in June.

Cunner; bergall; chogset ; bluefish; blue perch.—Tautogolabrus adspersus.

Cunners are very common on blackfish (tautog) grounds, and
although a fine table fish and a bold biter, are not esteemed by
anglers, who are incessantly annoyed by it while fishing for better
fish. It takes fiddlers or sand crabs, clams, and cut fish bait,
which it will nibble from the hooks as fast as put on. They are
found on reefs and around old wrecks. Generally very small, but
are taken over a pound in weight. They are quite bony, and their
EASTERN COAST FISHES. 241

spines are very sharp, inflicting painful wounds to the hands if
caution is not used. Color, bluish green on back, belly whitish,

THE SCOMBRID.
MackEREL.—Scomber scombrus.—Linn.

This favorite fish of commerce which is taken in such vast
quantities along the northern coast, from Cape Cod to Labrador,
affords most excellent sport to the rod and reel. Bass tackle of
the lightest description, with wire gimp snood is required. Caplin,
porgy, and clams are used for bait. No float is necessary, since,
when the fish are biting sharply, the bait will be taken the instant
it touches the water. We have known mackerel to afford fine sport
tothe large white fly or spinner, known as “ Brook’s silver laurel.”

Fishing is done from boats or the decks of vessels. Those
regularly engaged in the business use a jig or hook loaded with
lead or block tin, and the fish when biting well, take the line with
equal avidity, whether baited or not. They are generally caught at
from five to eight feet below the surface. The mackerel business
commences in the latter part of March, when the mackerel first re-
turn to our coasts from their winter’s absence in more southern
waters, and lasts until the end of November. In December, when the
fish strike Cape Cod on their way south, they take a slant outintothe
deep ocean, and do not continue to follow the coast line; hence
all efforts to take them after the period named have thus far proved
futile. Like all pelagic fish, which make their advent in northern
waters in spring, they are lean and extremely ravenous at that
season. They seem to reverse the peculiarities of anadromous fish,
which come to their fresh water and spawning grounds in fine
condition, and return lean and impoverished, to gather fresh food
and fresh strength for their next period of reproduction; and,
reasoning by analogy, we may infer that these pelagi go to great
depths to spawn, where no food is obtainable, and the minnow and
sprat never go.

Mackerel generally swim in immense schools, sufficient in
number and quantity, if all were caught, to fill a hundred fishing
vessels, and biting generally the best in dull cloudy weather.

It
242 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

There is no species of commercial fishing which brings so much
sport and excitement to the fisherman, and quite likely no vacation
would be more enjoyed by the novice than one passed on a cruise
for mackerel.

The beauty of this fish is widely known. Its body is long and
slender, and its lines are like those of a yacht; tail forked, color
dark greenish blue on the back ; sides steel blue, marked the whole
length by oblique blue-black bars, belly silvery white. The mack-
erel is one of the most beautiful fish that swims, and one of those
most esteemed for the table.

BoniTo or Sxip-Jack.— Sarda pelamys.—Cuv.

This is one of the scombridz or mackerel family, and is often
taken by trolling in deep water outside the bars and inlets. It
spawns about June. It is not highly prized for the table, although
it is a good marketable fish. It has the tail of a mackerel, but is
a much thicker fish in proportion to its length, and is much more
brilliant in its colors, the back being a vivid green that merges
into an equally vivid blue upon the sides. Its upper part is marked
with five decided black longitudinal stripes. Its belly is white.
Average weight, one pound and a half,

SpanisH MACKEREL.—Cybium maculatum.—Cuy.

This fish makes its appearance in northern waters along the
coast in June, and is taken ‘often as late as the first of December.
It is taken by trolling squids in bays, sounds, and estuaries, and.
also in the open ocean. Its weight often reaches twelve pounds.
It is highly esteemed for the table. Few fish are more beautiful.
Its back and sides, down to its lateral line, are dark blue tinged
with purple and gold ; below the line it is pink and gold for a short
distance, shading to white on the belly. Spots of gold of the size
of a gold dollar are scattered over the body to the number of
twenty or thirty. Sometimes it is taken with hook baited with
shedder crabs, while angling for striped bass. The best trolling
squids are made either of Britannia metal, tapering, with a tail of
red ibis feathers, or of brightly polished metal inlaid with pearl, to
represent the sea shiner.
EASTERN COAST FISHES. 243

AvsicorE ; Horse Mackerel. The American Tunny.—Orcynus secundi-

dorsalis. —Gill,

This fish takes the hook freely, and is good for the table, sell-
ing at ten cents a pound from the smacks, but as he weighs from
five hundred to twelve hundred pounds, will not be sought by
anglers.

Cerro.—cerus sierra ; black spotted Spanish mackerel ; kingfish.—Cydium regale.
—Cuv.

This belongs to the family scomérdde (mackerel), and is highly
esteemed for the table. It is white-meated, and ranges in weight
from four to twelve pounds; is a more slender fish than any of his
kindred, an individual three feet in length often weighing no more
than six or eight pounds. They are taken with common Britannia
metal squids while trolling for bluefish, and being at all times a
ravenous biter, may possibly be taken with the rod. It is com-
paratively a new comer on the coast from Virginia to Rhode Island.

The Cero is of dull blue or lead color on the back and sides,
which are plentifully spotted with black dots ; belly white. It has
no perceptible scales. Spawns in the spring.

THE SCLANIDA.

WEAKFISH.—Squeteague, suckermang or squit (New England) ; yellow-fin, she-
cutts, checutts, or chickwick (New York); bluefish, (Beasley’s Point, New
Jersey).—Cyznoscion regalis.—Gill.

This fish is marked by gorgeous spots upon a ground of blue
and silver, and by red and yellow fins, whieh are characteristic of
the fresh water trout, and have undoubtedly given to it the name
of “trout” in some sections. Ordinarily it is caught by hand-
lines fished from a boat. These weakfish come in with the tide in
immense shoals, following the small fry upon which they and their
congeners feed, and are caught by the boat-load at half-flood
within a few feet of the surface. Bait with a shrimp or shedder,
and keep the line constantly in motion, and half the time you
will “jig’’ them in the belly, tail or side, as the finny mass
moves over the hook. Down at the “ Narrows” of New York
Bay, near Fort Richmond, is a favorite place. In New Haven
harbor, and other harbors of the Sound, and especially in the vicin-
244 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

ity of Montauk Point, Long Island, they are taken in great NUM=-.-mw
bers. However, no one but market-fishermen and novices take
weakfish in this way. Anglers prefer to fish with rods and finer"
tackle in deeper water along the edges of channels and tide-races,

where the rock or shifting sands form shelves and ledges to which

the small fry gather for safety, and where bits of organic matter

are drifted by the tide and deposited. A light bluefish squid kept

just clear of the bottom is used. Here the weakfish run singly

and much larger in size—four times the weight of those “ school-

ing ’—coming along under the still water of the ledges where

‘their prey is huddled, and gulping down large masses at a mouth-

ful. These big fellows are designated as “tide-runners.” They

weigh about four pounds, and pull well in a five-knot current.

But there is another mode, still, of taking weakfish, of which,
verily, many an old fisherman wotteth not. Attention, all! Take
a “cat-rigged”’ boat, acraft with a mainsail only and mast stepped
well forward, one that works quickly, for quick work is required,
and go to Fire Island Inlet at half ebb. At half ebb, or when the
tide is running out like a mill-tail, is the only time to take them.
Should you attempt the experiment on the flood, you would lose
your boat and your life. Let there be a stiff quartering breeze, and
now with a steady helm and a good rap full, bear right down on the
beach, mounting the very crest of the waves that in ten seconds
more will break into shivers on the sand. Keep a quick eye, a
steady nerve, and a ready hand. You will take the edge of the
swift current where it pours out of the inlet. Fear not the mount-
ing “‘combers”’ or the breaking foam, the tide will bear you back
and keep you off the shingle. Right here at the mouth of the
inlet the action of the tide is constantly washing out the sand, and
as it is borne down on the current, it presently sinks by its own
specific gravity, and gradually piles up until it forms a little ledge a
foot high or more, just as the driving snow in winter is borne over
the crest of a drift until it forms a counter-scarp, with an apron
hanging over the abrupt and perpendicular verge. Right under
the edge of this ledge the small fry congregate, and the “ tide-
runners” forage for food. Here throw your “squid.” Just now
is the critical instant. In two seconds you will either be pounding
on the beach or surging down on the impetuous current of the
EASTERN COAST FISHES. 243

strong ebb tide. The breeze is blowing fresh. Up mounts your
boat on the glassy billow, whose crest is foaming just two rods in
front. A false move now is ruinous. Ready about, hard down
your helm! Vow / while she shakes, toss in your “squid” into
the deep green brine. There, you have him. Keep her away
and haul in lively. Hurrah! a four-pounder. Lift him over the
rail easy; belay your sheet there—steady! Whish ! away we go,
with wind and tide fair, and a seven knot current, and in a jiffy
are swept many rods off from the land, and ready to repeat the
manceuvre again. Clear away your line, come about, and charge
up to the beach once more. What can be more exciting? Here
we have all the attractions and excitement of yachting and fishing
combined, with every sense on the alert, and every nerve tautened
to fullest tension. Who will dare turn up his nose in contempt of
weakfishing.

The weakfish is also taken with squid in the surf at Montauk,
Newport and elsewhere, and affords the most exciting sport—the
angler, often standing waist deep in the breakers, throwing his
squid to incredible distances by practice, and dragging the fish by
main strength to Zerra firma when he has struck. The best
season for angling is from the middle of June until the first of
September.

LaFAYETTE ; goody (Cape May) ; chub (Norfork) ; roach ( Virginia) ;
Liostomus obigluus.—De Kay. .
This is a fair biter and a tolerably good fish for the table. A
very beautiful fish in form and markings, taken in Hudson River
and all along shore. (See Southern Coast Fishes.)

Kincrisu ; whiting ; hake or barb (New Jersey); Menticirrus nebulosus.—Gill.

Genio C. Scott, whom the writer has accompanied on many
angling excursions, says in his book entitled “ Fishing in American
Waters”:

“By many anglers this fish is regarded the best water-game of
the estuaries. Its small and hard mouth is bordered with a gristly
rim that is peculiarly adapted to holding a small hook. In the
waters about New York the fish are not numerous, nor are the
members of the limited shoals of large size, running only from a
246 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

half to two pounds each off Communipaw, Kill Von Kull, and
Newark Bay; but at the south end of Staten Island, in Amboy
Bay, and where it merges into the lower bay of New York, near
Freeport, and in Jamaica Bay, near Barren Island, they sometimes
run as heavy as five pounds. All along the South Bay and the
New Jersey shore and inlets this delectable fish is taken in greater
or less numbers in fykes, seines, pounds,'and with the hand-line,
while they yield tithe to sportsmen with rod and reel.

The meat of the Kingfish laminates in flakes of very close
texture. It is a very heavy fish for its size. Though eminently a
breakfast fish, yet for a chowder the epicure prefers it to sea bass
or cod, the acknowledged chowder fishes. The color of the fish
is grey, with irregular marks nearly black. It is covered with fine
rigid scales which extend over the head. The first dorsal fin is
spinous, and all of the other fins are soft-rayed. The fish pos-
sesses great propulsive power, as indicated by its fins, so that a
three-pounder at the remote end of a line, with delicate bass rod,
generally induces the novice to believe the strength, speed, and
endurance of the fish under-estimated. ‘Gently, but firmly,”
are the words in playing a kingfish, which some denominate
“barb,” because a short adipose barb shoots out beneath its lower
jaw ; but it bears no resemblance to the barbel family. It spawns
in spring time, as most white-meated fishes do ; and though rather
solitary in its habits, it remains in our estuaries and small bays
along the coast from May until November. August and Septem-
ber are the best months to angle for it.

The rod is the common three-jointed bass rod from eight to ten
feet in length. Pivot, multiplying reel of german silver or brass,
large enough to carry from four to six hundred feet of fine linen
line; a strong small hook, either the Virginia or Sproat’s bend,
made of finely tempered cast steel, and needle-pointed ; a short
bend and low point.is required, because the mouth is very small,
and a hook of large wire in proportion to the size of the bend is
necessary because of the great strength of the fish ; tracing sinker
of size graduated to the strength of the tide ; hence a combination
sinker is best, because its ponderosity may be increased or dimin-
ished without untying the line ; a brass swivel, to one end of which
the line is attached, and to the other the leader, which is three-
LASTERN COAST FISHES. 247

fourths of a yard in length, and the snell to which the hook is fas-
tened is looped to the leader; both leader and snell, (or snood,)
are double silkworm gut.

The play of a kingfish is peculiar, though like the striped bass,
he takes the bait without hesitation and starts away, and when he
feels-the prick of the hook, accelerates his speed, swimming low,
and making a very long and strong run. If you have never taken
one, you will be puzzled with his persistence in keeping down and
running deep, and your surprise will not be diminished when he
finally breaks water a hundred yards from the boat ; and you will
wonder, after landing a fish which has taken you nearly half an
hour to kill, that it weighs scarcely three pounds,

The kingfish shoals on a clean sandy bottom, feeds on crusta-
cea, and prefers shrimp, shedder, and soft shell crabs and lobsters,

Anchor off Barren Island to the north of the edge of the chan-
nel, and expect sport. Anchor east of Cheesequick Creek on the
border of the channel between there and Freeport, and in August
and September you cannot fail of obtaining rapturous sport.
Caving Channel, a sandy bottom tideway from Communipaw to
Jersey City, is said to be a favorite run for small kingfish, where
good sport is often realized on the first of the flood. Kingfish
feed also at numerous places in the South Bay, and all along the
coast of New Jersey.”

THE SPARID.

SurepsHeaD ; Archosargus probatocephalus.—Gill.

This splendid table fish affords the angler much sport. It
makes its first appearance about the bays and estuaries on the
first of June, and remains until the middle of September. Its
average weight is perhaps ten pounds, though its maximum may
be twenty. They are taken in greatest numbers along mussel
shoals and beds where they go to feed, and around old wrecks.
In color it is dusky grey on back and sides, whitening toward the
belly, and is marked by several black or dark brown bands on the
side. The upper part of its mouth is paved with round teeth like
polished cobblestones, while its jaw in front is armed with eight
sharp incisors. This armature is most efficient for cracking clams
248 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

and other shell fish, while it renders the strongest kind of hooks
necessary for the angler. These should be Chestertown or Vir-
ginia hooks bent on a gimp-wire leader with double swivel. A
heavy sinker is required, which will rest on the bottom, and the
leader should be doubled so that one hook will be above the other
and both above the sinker, having free play with the tide, and sen-
sitive to the slightest nibble. Use a heavy nirie feet rod of bamboo
with reel to suit. Fifty yards of line will be sufficient except when
the tide runs furiously, and then one can hardly have too long a
line or too heavy a sinker. The best tide to fish in is during high
and low tides, when the water is slack; and for one hour after it
begins torun. Along the shores of New Jersey they are numerous
from May to October.

Porcy ; scuppaug ; scup (Vineyard Sound); bream (Rhode Island).—Stenotomus
areyrops.—Gill.

A good pan fish; in season from May to October; most abund-
ant in June. Weight, three-fourths of a pound to three pounds.
Taken near the bottom. They are said to prefer deep clear water
with rocky bottom. In angling for porgies use light tackle with
cork float and small sinker; fine line and an eleven feet rod.
Clams and shrimp are good bait, as well as squid and crabs.
Many fish with drop lines from an anchored boat.

The first run of porgies takes place about the beginning of
May, although we have seen them taken a week earlier; and con-
sists of large breeding fish weighing from two to four pounds, and
measuring up to eighteen or more inches in length. The spawn is
quite well-developed at that time, though the precise time or place
of depositing the eggs is not known. It is probable that this oc-
curs early in June, since the schools are said to break up and scat-
ter about the middle of that month. It is thought that the spawn-
ing takes place in the eel grass which covers the shoal waters of
Narraganset Bay and Vineyard Sound. Throughout the snmmer
young fish are seen floating around in the eel grass and over the
sandy bottoms. Two later runs of fish occur after the first run
each about ten days apart, but of smaller fish.
EASTERN COAST FISHES. 249

THE SERRANIDA.

Sga Bass.—Black sea bass, (New York) ; black perch, (Mass.) ; blackfish, (New
Jersey); bluefish, (Newport); black hurry; purmalids, (New York, De
Kay) ; black crill, (eastern shore of Virginia).—Centropristis atrarius.— Barn.
Color bluish black in the males, and dingy brown in the fe-

males. They are found inshore on reefs and mussel-beds, and are
usually caught in company with the blackfish, though at certain
seasons they are quite abundant on shoals and banks along our
northern and eastern coasts. They vary in size from three-fourths
of a pound to twelve, and are considered fine for boiling and for
chowders.

Although the sea bass is a bottom fish, yet once on an outward-
bound voyage to the southward of the Gulf Stream, we made fast
to a ship’s lower mast found adrift on the surface, which was cov-
ered with clam barnacles and surrounded with sea bass. We
caught all that we wanted, and cut loose. They weighed from
five to twelve pounds each, and were all male fish. The mouth
of the sea bass is so large that in hauling them in from a depth
of several fathoms the “sport ” is reduced to a minimum by the
time they reach the surface, the process almost drowning them.
They are caught as far south as Florida, where two species are
found, C. atrarcus, and C. trifurca. The latter is a beautiful fish
of a grey color, bronze head and blue and yellow fins. The fila-
ments of the spines are red.

Twenty miles off Cape May is a comparatively shallow portion
of the sea known as the “ Fishing Banks.” At all times during
the summer and early fall, when weather permits, schooners may be
seen anchored there. These fish are all taken with hook and line,
and average only one pound in weight. Numerous lines contain-
ing two or three hooks each are thrown from every boat, and the
occupants are generally kept busy taking off the fish and baiting
the hooks. They will take almost any kind of bait.

Although these fish have never been regarded as game fish,
and are usually angled for with hand lines, they nevertheless af-
ford good sport when rods are used,

11*
250 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

THE LABRACIDA.
Srripep Bass.—Rock fish.—Roceus lineatus.—Gill.

Body above dusky, sides and belly a dull white ; sides marked
with seven or eight longitudinal lines of a coppery-brown color in
salt water, and a bluish black in fresh water. It is found all along
the coasts from Florida to Cape Cod. They only ascend fresh-
water streams in the spring to breed, or for shelter during the
winter. One ichthyologist states that after heavy rains, or the
sudden melting of snow in great quantities, these fish are forced
from their abodes back again into salt water ; but when the freshet
subsides, they invariably reascend. We have observed this pecu-
liarity in the Hudson River, and this accounts for their apparently
capricious movements—their sudden appearance and disappear-
ance, which puzzles so many fishermen, They spawn in May, and
by August rst, weigh a quarter of a pound. Large fish are seldom
taken in rivers, bays, inlets ‘and small creeks, and we have never
heard of large fish being taken in the spawning season. They
are too busy with their procreative duties, and are not then “ on the
feed.” The largest fish are taken along the coast outside the surf,
from June until October, from Montauk Point to Cape Cod, espe-
cially along the islands that flank the Buzzard’s Bay. For suitable
tackle to capture striped bass, we prefer to take that ancient bass
angler, Genio C. Scott, as authority. He has written :

“The rod should be about eight feet in length, made of two
bamboo joints. The guides should be stationary on each side of
the rod, so that when the rod gets set or bent by fishing one side
up, it may be turned over, and the other side used. The guides
should be a quarter of an inch in diameter, so as to cast a knot in
the line through them if necessary, The edges of the guide should
be so smoothly polished or burnished as to produce no friction
upon the line. Bell metal is the best from which to make guides
and tips; but some prefer settings of agate or other precious
stones for the line to play through. The best line is a linen one
of twelve strands, as small as the usual trout line, but six hundred
feet in length, made without taper like the salmon or trout lines.
The reel is of German silver or brass. The crank should be as
far as convenient from the knuckles of the angler, and not so
long or heavy as to produce a momentum difficult to check with
the thumb. Of course, the wear of thumbstalls is necessary, or a
EASTERN COAST FISHES. 251

slip of leather attached to the reel at a convenient place to turn on
to the reel under the thumb is preferred by many ; but there should
be no drag or check to a bass reel, and it should be made of a
size sufficient to carry two hundred yards of line without being
perfectly full. Van Hoeff is the best reel makey in the city. He
caps the works, so as to protect them from salt water and conse-
quent rust, while they run as regularly, and are as finely balanced
in their running works, as a first class Geneva watch.

«But for bass tackle, to fish the waters about the city of New
York, a reel to carry four hundred feet of fine linen bass line will
answer, and be preferable, except for Hell Gate trolling, to the
large reels used at Cuttyhunk, West Island, and Newport. And
while menhaden is the best bait to angle with in the ocean surf,
shedder crab is the best bait for still fishing from a boat on our
bays and estuaries, and the live squid—cuttle fish—is the best bait
for ounes and a rig for trolling includes a baiting needle and
sinker.”

Many baits, living and dead, natural and artificial, have been
tried for bass with varying success. Of natural baits the living
sand eel is undoubtedly seductive, but it is often difficult to obtain
even when most abundant. The best way of putting it on the
hook is to insert the latter at one corner of one eye and bring it
out at one corner of the other. This, if carefully done, will not
hurt the eye or interfere with the liveliness of the fish. Another
mode is to enter the hook at the mouth and bring it out through
the throat. If living sand eels cannot be procured but dead ones
be obtainable, the latter may be rendered a very good substitute
for the former, by inserting a thin, sharp penknife under the skin,
and cutting the backbone through in three places. Thus treated,
a dead sand eel will move in the water, if skilfully manipulated,
just like a living one. A dead bait is also used as a spinning lure
by entering the hook at the mouth and bringing it out about an
inch above the tail, the mouth being fastened tight by a piece of
thread. Soft and peeled crabs, the viscera of newly caught pil-
chards, fresh squid (cuttle-fish), mud worms, mussels, shrimps,
and “lasks” cut out of mackerel are also used as baits for
bass,

A peculiar and at times a very useful bait is made out of the
skin of the bass itself. ‘‘ Bass skin baits” are made by cutting a
long, wedge-shaped piece of skin off the stomach of the bass with
252 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

a sharp pair of scissors. Properly played this bait has a capital
motion in the water, and will often kill very well. Baits of similar
shape are cut out of sole-skin, parchment, gurnard skin, pork skin
and ray-skin. Of these the pork and ray-skin are the best. The
‘pork baits are cut from the salted pork in wedge-shaped strip
about four inches long. They are kept from six to ten days in salt,
and subsequently about four days in fresh water, and are thus
made to assume a clear white hue. Ray-skin baits are simply
wedge-shaped pieces of the skin of the ray dried upon a board.
Before immersion a ray-skin bait is a dull, dirty white in color ;
but after being a short time in the water it becomes a beautiful
pearly white, and whether for use with the rod, or for trolling on
the surface at the end of a hand line, it is a very useful lure. The
most cleanly, convenient and deadly baits, are Brooks’s “ silver
launce”’ and Captain Tom’s “spinning sand eel.’’ The silver
launce was introduced about four years ago by Messrs. C. & R.
‘Brooks, Plymouth, England. It is a long, narrow, bright spinner,
running around the gut trall immediately above a triangle of
hooks. It is light and spins very freely, and is well adapted for
use with the rod.

With a dexterity which practice can alone assume, the expe-
rienced anglers carefully sway the rod until the squid describes
its slowly moving circle around the head, and then by a quick,
inexplicable movement cause it to dart like an arrow straight out
far over the sea, and the reel whizzes and whirls until it seems to
flash fire, and you wait long and patiently for the cessation of the
hum which indicates that the squid has dropped, full one hundred
feet, perhaps one hundred and fifty feet away. The pleasure and
excitement of capture is intense, and often the struggle lasts for
an hour, when the fish is large.

Another exhilarating method of taking this fish is to back up a
small boat close to the “ combers,” with a good oarsman to keep
her clear, and then throw the squid into the surf, where the fish go
to feed. Striped bass have been taken with the rod, that weighed
seventy-six pounds and have been known to grow to the weight
of one hundred and fifty pounds. [See STRIPED Bass in South-
ern Coast Fishes.]
EASTERN COAST FISHES. 253

White PERcH.—Morone americana.—Gill, -

This salt water fish affords most excellent sport. [See South-
ern Coast Fishes.]

THE POMATOMID.

BLuerisn.—Pomatomus saltatrix.—Gill.

This fish is known as the bluefish in New York, New Jersey,
and New England, except in Rhode Island, where it is recognized
by the name of horse mackerel. On some parts of the New Jersey
coast it is also called the horse mackerel. Form of body oblong,
head rather large, snout rounded, mouth large, armed with long
sharp teeth ; tail deeply forked; color brilliant steel blue and silver
in the young fish, and deep greenish blue in the old fish; fins
yellowish.

The blue fish is a pelagic or wandering fish, passing its winters
in the South, and its summers in the North. In March and April
they are found off the Carolina coast. About the twentieth of May
they make their appearance off the coast of New Jersey. Barne-
gat is a favorite ground for them, where set nets have taken as
many as six thousand in asingle day. Very often vast schools are
driven upon the beach by porpoises and other large feeders, where
they have been gathered up by the cartload with pitchforks, bas-
kets, etc. Other schools have chased the shiners, moss-bunkers,
sardines and anchovies upon which they principally feed, close in
shore, and have been jigged from the surface by the hundreds.
The May fish range from two to twelve pounds in weight, are poor
in flesh, and ravenous as sharks. In June they are found equally
abundant off and in Fire Island Inlet, and in a few days thereafter
are scattered off Montauk Point, the east end of Long Island, Shag-
wauna reef, and other reefs adjacent. By or near the twentieth of
June, depending something upon the forwardness of the season,
they have spread themselves over the reefs of New London and to
the eastward, on to Block Island, and thence through Fisher’s Isl-
and Sound. By the twentieth of August they are in plentiful sup-
ply all through, inside and outside of Vineyard Sound, Nantucket,
etc. They have gained flesh, and become quite palatable. The
254 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

size here described is seldom found to the westward of the Con-
necticut River. On the main of Long Island Sound it is quite
interesting to see them drive the menhaden, or moss-bunkers, in
shoals, causing a “sleek ’ on the water as they spill their oil when
they chop them up with their great sharp teeth.

Early in June a size of about three pounds weight make their
appearance at the same points, though much fatter, and remain in
the vicinity of the same grounds for perhaps a month. In July
they spread out to the eastward, up Long Island Sound to Say-
brook Bar and Faulkner’s Island, and westerly to Stamford, and
remain until October, though occasionally shifting ground for their
food, which, in addition to the moss-bunkers, consists of a small
species of “shiner” (anchovy). On some of the outer reefs they
remain but one or two days at a time.

About the middle of July the small creeks and rivers, from Stam-
ford eastward to the Connecticut River, abound in a size weighing
about a quarter of a pound, which, in a month grow to half a
pound, and these feed on a size still smaller, recently spawned, and
scarcely an inch and a half in length. The surface of the Housa-
tonic River, from the railroad bridge to the mouth of the river, is
annually covered from bank to bank with countless numbers of
this small fry, drifting with the tide as it ebbs and flows, while at
the same time a size larger, say about a half pound in weight, is
feeding upon them from beneath. About the first of September
the small fry are sufficiently large to venture into the Sound, and
then they swarm in the creeks and: harbors, affording great sport
to lads who catch them with a float line, with shrimp for bait. By
the month of October both large and small fish are all well fattened.

The peculiarity of this fish is that, by about the middle of Oc-
tober the large size, that weigh from nine to fourteen pounds, are
generally found from Nantucket to Watch Hill, around Block Isl-
and and outside of Montauk Point; while from Stamford eastward
to New London, on the outer reefs, they are of a uniform size of
about two and half pounds weight, and those in the harbors and
creeks are a mixture of small fish just spawned, and a size that
weighs from one-eighth to one and three-quarter pounds. Anoth-
er singular feature is, that by about the twentieth of October, or
the first freezing weather, these fish, of all sizes, up to two and a
EASTERN COAST FISHES. 255

half pounds, vacate the northern harbors and sounds; and so sud-
den has been their departure in many seasons that a change of tide
has utterly emptied the waters of their teeming fish-life, with the
exception of an occasional pensioner who has been bitten or dis-
abled, and dare not run the gauntlet for southern climes. More
singular still, the great mass of fish, except the newly spawned,
take the coast within one or two miles of shore, part of them stop-
ping, if the weather permits, at the inlets of Fire Island, Egg Har-
bor, Townsend’s, Canarsie Bay, Cape May, and so on along shore,
using up all the feed therein, and by the month of December they
are found in the creeks and rivers of North and South Carolina,
where they remain through the winter, to migrate the next season
to northern waters.

But what becomes of the small, newly spawned fish that dis-
appeared the previous fall? Have they been eaten up by the larger
fish on their journey, or do they remain at the North? They are
not seen in the South, nor do the larger fish spawn there.

Four generations of bluefish make their appearance in our
waters at the same time. It is only about forty-five years since
the bluefish were first seen in our waters. They now seem to be
increasing year by year in size and numbers, individuals having
been caught at times weighing between twenty and thirty pounds,
whereas a twelve pound fish was regarded as something remarkable
twenty years ago. Largeshoals were also uncommon until within
the past dozen years.

On the reefs they are generally trolled for, but will take the
hook with live bait. In October near the close of the season, large
catches are made off Montauk Point, and: from Watch Hill east-
ward through the Vineyard Sound, that weigh from ten to fourteen
pounds, and are fat as seals; so also in Canarsie Bay, in some
years they have been taken from twelve to eighteen pounds in
weight. But it is only in rarely exceptional cases that these great
fish are taken west of Plum Gut.

The bluefish fraternizes with the weakfish, or squeteague, on
inshore grounds, and are of large size, say from five to twelve
pounds. Both of these fine fish are taken with the squid or jig in
the surf at Montauk, Newport and elsewhere, and afford the
most exciting sport—the angler, often standing waist deep in the
256 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

breakers, throwing his squid to incredible distances by practice,
and dragging the fish by main strength to terra firma when he
has struck.

The best trolling is done from a sail boat with a six knot breeze
blowing. If motion is more rapid, fewer fish will be hooked, and
a great number will tear out. If the boat moves slowly, the fish
will discover that the bait is a deception and will refuse it. It is
dirty work, and a suit of worn out clothing should be used for
the purpose—an old felt hat, brown flannel shirt, vest, thick cas-
simer pants, and a pair of stout brogans. To prevent the hands
being lacerated by the friction of the line, rubber finger stalls or
thick woolen mittens should be used. The first can be bought of
dealers in rubber goods for one dollar per dozen. A well ladd
cotton line, which is not liable to kink, can be purchased at any
twine store for fifty cents per pound.

For large fish, in spring and fall, use a line seven-sixteenths of
an inch in circumference. For small lines choose cotton-braided
ones, laid, as they are less apt to tangle than small ones, and are
more pleasant to the fingers ofthe fisherman. If the fish are plenty,
and in a biting humor, from forty to sixty feet will be ample ; but
if scarce and dainty, from eighty to one hundred and thirty feet
will be required. Sometimes bluefish snap at the line between
where it comes in contact with the water and the squid, and occa-
sionally through the struggles of a fish to escape the lines are
fouled, and one of the number is apt to pass into the mouth of the
hooked fish. In either case the line is liable to be stranded, and
unless knotted, may be parted by the next fish. If an expensive
line is used, the fisherman will request the boatman to knot it.
If knotted, the ends unravel, and an attractive bait is presented,
which hungry fish are apt to seize. If a cheap line sustains an
injury, it can be cheaply replaced by a new one.

It is amusing to inspect the various squids purchased by the
uninitiated—spoons and spinners of all kinds, sizes and shapes,
many of them ornamented with paint or feathers, metallic fishes
of various forms and sizes, some with wide spreading tails to pre-
vent the fish from being hooked, and a large proportion cast so as
to represent scales. Bluefish will bite at a spoon or spinner, but
to unhook the snappish customers is the rub ; for if fingers come
ELASTERN COAST FISHES. 257

near their mouths, one or more are apt to suffer. The best device
is a plain, round, white, bone squid for large fish, and for the first
run, when even small fish are ravenous, use a round bone squid
five and a half inches long, and two and a half inches in circum-
ference at the thickest portion. For small or summer fish, favorite
squids are four and a half inches long and one and a half in cir-
cumference at the thickest point. Dr. Kenworthy says:

“Hooks should be strong and reliable. Forlarge fish, use first
quality Virginia hooks, (made by Job Johnson, of Brooklyn,) meas-
uring in width one and three-eighth inches at point; and for small
or summer fish, a Chestertown hook seven-eighths wide at point.

“A difficulty to be encountered in using a bone squid is the
tendency of the hook to slip—at one time leaving the bone in con-
tact with the bend of the hook, and at another the shaft of the
hook slipping entirely out of the squid. To render the hook im-
movable, attach a shoulder of solder to the shaft of the hook at a
point where it comes in contact with end of squid. To prevent the
hook from being moved out of the squid, use several tight-fitting
white pine wedges at side of shaft of hook as well as a long and
tightly-fitting plug where the line passes out of the base of squid.
When wet the pine swells, and generally renders the hook
immovable. ;

«Another and more perfect method is to take a piece of No. 12
iron wire, and bend it so as to form a loop to receive the line.
The wire is passed through the squid and cut off three-quarters of
an inch beyond the end of the same; tin the shaft of the hook as
well as the wire, after which place them in position, and to prevent
movement, bind the end of wire and shaft of hook together with
fine copper or brass wire. Having some melted solder in a ladle,
pour it into the end of the squid so as to fill the entire cavity ;
then apply solder to end of wire and shaft of hook, at end of bone,
so as to make an angular shoulder about three-quarters of an inch
in length—base of angle in contact with bone. The solder is
dressed down by a file, and a useful and reliable squid is the result.
For a trifling charge any tinsmith will tinker the squids as de-
scribed, and the blue-fisher will find them more satisfactory than
the squids as usually sold.”

As a general rule, bluefish merely nip at the end of the squid,
258 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

and as hooks are usually placed in relation to the end of the squid,
the fish are hooked in the edge of the mouth and tear out. To
obviate the superficial hooking and tearing out process, so ar-
range the hooks that the points clear the end of the squid from
one and a quarter to one and ahalf inches. This arrangement
generally hooks the fish deep.

Hooking bluefish requires no tact or piscatorial experience ;
all that is required is to allow the squid to trail behind the boat.
When landed the best mode is to throw the fish into the boat.
Through their flouncing and head-shaking the squid is generally
released. This failing, the fisherman seizes the squid and elevates
the hook and fish, and a few expert twists of the hand with the
struggles of the fish sometimes suffice. This procedure failing,
seize the fish by the back of the neck with the left hand, and if a
large fish, hold his body between the knees, and with the right
hand tightly grasping the squid, wrench the hook from the mouth.

One mistake made by novices is, in having too many fishing in
the same boat. Three lines, one amidships and one on each quar-
ter, can be successfully used, but two are preferable. Sometimes
five and six fish from one boat, and the result is, that a fighting
fish will entangle a portion of ail the lines.

For successful bluefishing an experienced and industrious boat-
man is a s¢e gua non, The expert angler who can cast a fly
or artificial minnow, and handle a nine ounce rod, may enjoy ex-
cellent sport among the bluefish, provided he uses a long shanked
hook and gimp snoods. Numbers of these fish may be seen
“breaking water ’’ at any time on the banks and shoals ; and by
using a small boat, the rod-fisher may enjoy his sport ad dufinctum.
Within a year or so this has become a favorite method. With
hook and line, gimp snood as already suggested, a nine feet one
and three-quarter pounds striped bass casting-rod, a strong fine
silk line, a heavy reel, and two revolving minnows, (the whole
costing about $20,) the tackle is complete. The snood should be
loaded sufficiently to keep it beneath the surface of the water.
Another excellent lure is made by wrapping a dozen layers of
cotton cloth around the leaded snood, and covering with an eel-
skin.

Bluefish, we all know, must have a moving bait. Now wher-
EASTERN COAST FISHES. 259

ever you have a swift tide, if you anchor your boat and let your
lines out it answers the same purpose as if you were sailing, the
water rushing by the line giving the same effect.

A great deal of sport is enjoyed in catching the summer blue-
fish, or snap mackerel, which fill all our bays and estuaries, using
a natural bamboo rod with common cork float, and hook baited
with shrimp. They are caught from bridges where the current
draws swiftly through, and from wharves when the tide is running
rapidly.

To some fishermen the surf fishing already referred to, is
deemed the most exciting method, and it is certainly very enjoy-
able in hot mid-summer weather. An ordinary pair of overalls, or
a bathing suit is essential to comfort and unrestrained movement.
When a large fish has struck the squid, already thrown well out
beyond the line of breakers, the fisherman heaves the line over his
shoulder, and walks his prize up the beach to dry land by main
strength, which is often taxed to the utmost. No exercise can be
more healthy or less wearing.

The bluefish and striped bass are the game fish, par excellence,
of the brine, just as the salmon and the black bass are of fresh
water.

THE MICROSTOMIDA.
SMELTS.—Osmerus mordax.—Gill.

A fish of silvery brightness, with a lateral stripe of silver run-
ning from shoulder to tail, much prized for the table, and when
fresh having the most perfect cucumber flavor. They afford much
sport to the angler, and are taken in tidal currents from New Jer-
sey to Maine, with a light rod, hook and line, baited with shrimp.
In the creeks of Long Island they are found in perfect condition
from February 20th to March 20th. In Massachusetts and Maine
it is forbidden to take them between the 15th of March and Ist of
June. The yearlings are most prized, those older being tough
and coarse. They grow to a length of twelve inches, although
the average is only five or six inches. They are essentially a win-
ter fish, and are caught by thousands through holes cut in the ice,
and are then greatly prized. In the Gulf of St. Lawrence they are
often taken with a small scarlet fly, while fishing for sea trout. In
260 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

the absence of better game, they afford very satisfactory pastime
to the angler, and by reason of their abundance are not as much
valued as they should be.

THE SALMONIDA,

ATLANTIC SALMON.—Salmo salar.—Linnzus.

This species is the representative salmon of Europe, the New
England coast, the St. Lawrence Basin, and the maritime Provinces
of the Dominion. Form oval, moderately elongated, with a head
and back nearly on the same line, inclining slightly in the middle
third of the body, and the greatest depth a little before the dorsal
fin; head small and well proportioned, and equal to one-sixth
of length; snout rather sharp; jaws in young fish nearly equal,
but in old males the lower one longest and curving upward;
a row of sharp teeth along both sides of each jaw, as well as
on the palatines, but those on the vomer confined to its ante-
rior extremity, and in some fish obsolete; the eye is moderately
large, and is nearly circular, and is contained four times and a
half in the length of the side of the head, and once and a half in
advance of its anterior rim ; the nostrils are moderately large, and
situated toward the upper surface of the head, slightly nearer the
eye thansnout. The opercle is elevated, and narrower above than
below. The pre-opercle on its posterior border is nearly vertical ;
the branchiostegals, or gill rays, usually number twelve, and occa-
sionally fourteen to sixteen ; dorsal, eleven; adipose, rayless; the
caudal, sixteen on each side; anal, ten ; the ventrals ten or eleven,
and pectorals ten or eleven.

Ray formula—Br, 12; P, 11; D, 11; 0; V, 10: A, 10; C, 30.
The color is slaty blue on the back, darkish on the head, duller
and slightly silvery on the sides, and beneath, pearly silvery white.
There are numerous black spots above the lateral line that pass
from the upper convexity of the eye to the centre of the caudal fin.
The dorsal pectorals are dusky, and the anal white, and the ven-
trals white externally and dusky internally. The gill covers are
rounded posteriorly, and the tail is nearly square in the adult, but
furcated in the young; the scales are regular in shape, delicate,
and sunk into the thick and fatty skin—the last feature a wise pro-
EASTERN COAST FISHES. 261

vision against the abrasion of scales, which usually ends fatally.
As viewed upon the market tables the S. saZar adult size is from
two to three feet long, and is the delight of all who have a pen-
chant for gastronomic luxuries in the shape of fish. Spawns in
November and December.

The salmon is the finest game fish in the world, without doubt,
and few are the anglers who will not readily yield him precedence.
The interest taken in him for this reason, has caused much atten-
tion to be paid to his propagation, and stimulated a careful study
of his habits, which were comparatively unknown until within the
present century. The opportunities which the culture of this fish
has afforded for investigation have now made the subject familiar
to everyone interested in ichthyology. The birth and stages of
growth of salmon, and his general habits, are perhaps as succinct-
ly, intelligibly, and correctly stated in Hallock’s “ Fushing Tour-
zs¢,"" as in any other publication, and we copy the annotation
here:

“The salmon’s existence, like man’s, is divided into four peri-
ods—infancy, youth, manhood, and ripe old age, and these several
stages of fish-life are designated by the names of Parr, Smolt,
Grilse, and Salmon. One portion of this existence is passed in
salt water, and the remainder in fresh; in salt water he feeds *
and grows fat, and in the fresh expends his strength and vital
forces. These conditions are the necessary precedent and natural
sequence of procreation. Many of the species die in the attempt
to reach their spawning-grounds, and many in the act of spawn-
ing ; these are the ordinary phenomena of reproduction throughout
the animal creation. It is also evident that salmon must vary in
size and general appearance according to their ages, and that
adults may be as distinctly and variously marked as the kine on
the lea, and still belong to the self-same species. Along the
coast of Nova Scotia old fishermen claim to distinguish the fish
that belong to different rivers—it being a well known fact in the
natural history of the salmon that they almost invariably return to
their native streams to spawn.

* The food of the Salmon, previous to its quitting salt water, consists of the eggs
of Echinodermata and Crustacea, this rich aliment giving the color and flavor

for which its flesh is so highly prized. This is sustained by the observations of
Professor Agassiz.—Aep. U.S. Com. Fist and Fishertes, 1872-3, P. 224.
262 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

“ After they have ascended to their spawning beds it requires ten
or twelve days to fulfill their mission, and then they go back to the
sea. It takes the ova three or four months to hatch, according to
temperature, forty-five degrees being perhaps the most favorable.
In two months after the young fry leave the egg, they have grown
to an inch and a quarter in length; in six months to three inches.
At the end of fourteen months one-half the family have completed
their parr * or infant stage, and go down to the sea as smolts, much
changed in their general appearance. The other half of the family
follow at the end of the second year, though a few will remain until
the fourth year. The smolt, in the nourishing waters of the briny
ocean gains a pound in weight per month, and toward the close
of summer returns to his birth-place in the blue and silver livery
of a grilse, and very like a salmon in appearance. The grilse tar-
ries in the upper river until the following spring, and then returns
again to the sea a full-grown salmon—three years being the time
required to reach his maturity.

“The season of the year at which salmon spawn varies accord-
ing to geographical locality and temperature of water. For instance,
in the Port Medway River, Nova Scotia, salmon are taken with a
fly in February, when the ice is running, while in the lower St.
Lawrence they are not taken until the middle of June. The time
of spawning often varies in the same river, and is determined by
the period at which impregnation has taken place. It is a peculiar
fact that the salmon propagates its kind before it is adult, the males
only, however, attaining sexual maturity. A portion of the “run”
thereupon being riper than others, spawn sooner, and having ful-
filled their mission, return at once to the sea, while their less for-
tunate kindred must continue their pilgrimage, perchance to head-
waters. Where the rivers are short, the salmon return merely
emaciated and reduced in weight; but in the Columbia, which,
with its tributaries extends hundreds of miles, they die by millions,
worn-out and exhausted by their incredible journey.”

The recently conceived impression is that salmon spawn but

* To an unaccustomed eye the parr resemble trout, and are often basketed by
anglers under the impression that they are trout, but they are readily distinguished
by their bright silvery scales which easily rub off when the fish is handled; also

the spots on their sides are intensely carmine, and ranged in a horizontal line.
The body is more elongated, and there arc other distinctive characteristics.
. EASTERN COAST FISHES. 263
once in two years, which, if a fact, accounts for their periodical
scarcity in certain rivers. Tags that have been attached to fish
set loose have never been brought back the next season, although
several have returned on the second season; which facts seem to
verify the opinion as given above.

Salmon do not eat while on their travels ; or if perchance they do
feed at long intervals (as setting hens do when they come off their
nests betimes) they digest so rapidly that nothing has been found
in their stomachs in quantity sufficient to determine what consti-
tutes their favorite bill of fare. It is only when resting in occa-
sional pools that they take the angler’s lure. At the mouths of
rivers, however, on the very threshold of their departure for the
upper waters, they will take bait and red worms with avidity.

Fly fishing for salmon in no wise resembles fly-fishing for
trout. In the first place the fish being heavier the rod is more
ponderous, and the man who is handy with an eleven feet single-
handed trout rod, will assuredly bungle with an eighteen feet two-
handed salmon rod, until practice has made him expert. Salmon
are caught only in those places where they halt to rest, and such
places, called pools, are either at the head or the tail of a rapid.
In long reaches of still water, often a two-miles stretch or more,
salmon may be seen moving slowly up stream in no particular
hurry, as if they enjoyed their elegant comfort for the time being ;
in these places is the spearsman’s golden opportunity, but the fly-
fishermen seldom meet with encouragement. Here they are often
seen frolicking and turning somersaults in the air—the only bit of real
enjoyment they seem to have in their transitory life ; but it is of no
use to cast flies over them ; they will not rise. The best times to
fish for salmon are in the early morning and from four o’clock P.
M. until dark, and the best success is had after the first spring
freshet begins to subside. After a month of good fishing then—
say from the middle of June until the middle of July, the chances
are precarious. There is always a late run of fish in August, and
September, which often brings a full reward, but it is unwise to
trust to it. The sagacious angler goes early in the season.

In fishing for salmon our choice of flies has to be tested by ex-
periment for the time being. Rules go for naught. That which
killed in the one pool last year on the same day of the month may
264 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

be inefficacious now in the same pool, though we are free to say
that there are certain flies which always kill better in certain rivers
than other flies of equal merit. If the fish won’t rise to one pat-
tern, try another—keep trying and be patient. Approach your
fish by gradually lengthening line, as the old gallant coquettes
with the coy maiden, leading him gently up to his work through
his instincts. Instinct teaches the salmon to rush after a trailing
fly, just as a kitten does after a moving string. He doesn’t wish
to cat it. But the fly must be manipulated gingerly and deftly, or
the fish will obstinately refuse to notice it, or quietly move away.
If the fly is thrown nervously or violently, the salmon will run off
affrighted, just as the kitten runs under the table in like circum-
stances. As the salmon line is heavy and takes up much water,
especial care should be used when lifting for a cast, to start it a
little first, and then withdraw it steadily, upwards, aslant, and
backwards. Usea one hundred yards of laid silk waterproof with
a nine feet gut leader. Some use a fly dressed on a double hook,
which is well enough when angling for large scores, as the fish is
more surely hooked ; but for sfor¢, and not nulnbers, a single hook
is preferred. It is achoice between green heart and six-split bam-
boo for rods. The latter, being lighter, fatigues the less; but
some maintain that the green heart delivers the line better, farther
and straighter.

The salmon is a leaper. Leaping is his favorite expedient to
detach the fly from his jaws, so, when he leaps, deferentially lower
the tip of your rod and save your fish. In gaffing, coolness and
dexterity are required; never jerk your gaff violently, but lift it
sharply upward and inward, endeavoring to fix the point abaft the
shoulders. No anathemas will compensate for the loss of a fish
by the clumsy handling of the gaff after a persistent battle of an
hour’s duration.

As the art of fly-fishing can scarcely be imparted ; and as the
conditions of battle and the strategy employed vary greatly with
each salmon captured, it is almost useless to attempt to instruct
except in a general way. Some information, however, may be
gathered in the art of fly-fishing by a perusal of the chapter in
another part of this volume which has been set apart for this pur-
pose. The great point to acquire is to keep your fish well in hand,
EASTERN COAST FISHES. 265

giving him line when you cannot help it, and reeling in all you can
get, as occasion offers. When imperatively necessary to check a
fish, do it at the risk of your tackle, by giving him the but of the
rod so that the power of its yielding arch may be exerted to its
fullest. When your reel is emptied, follow your fish with your
body and soul, regardless of obstructions or the moisture and
temperature of the water. If you have a canoe available it can
often be put to most advantageous use, if your paddler is expert
and up to his work. ;

The natural range of Sa/mo salar extends from middle Labra-
dor to the Connecticut River. It has been widely introduced, how-
ever, into latitudes far south of this river.

SEA Trout.—Salmo immaculatus : S. canadensis.—Hallock and Scott.

Scientific authorities place this fish among the doubtful species.
While in general appearance it resembles the sadmo fontinalzs,
which many ichthyologists claim is identical with it, its traits are
so different that in describing it, we are obliged to speak of it as a
distinct variety, to make our remarks applicable, even if we admit
that it is the same fish.

In the first place the sea trout, known as such, are confined to
Canadian waters exclusively. They are caught only in mid-sum-
mer, and seldom under a quarter of a pound in weight. Their
average of all localities may be said to reach two pounds, while
in the river Nouvelle, (Gaspe) which empties into the Bay Chaleur,
they reach six pounds, an extraordinary weight for samo fon-
zénalés ; though by no means marvelous. The “strawberry run”
of sea trout, as it is called, occurs about the Ist of July on the
southwestern coast of Nova Scotia, the fish moving east as the
season advances, until they reach the north shore of the St. Law-
rence about the 5th of August. Evidently an immense school
strikes in from the sea, detachments dropping off as it progresses,

‘into the rivers along the coast. The fishing season lasts about six

weeks, the fish meanwhile ascending to the headwaters of the

streams, and often surmounting falls of steep ascent. They are

taken in nets in immense quantities, and are salted and barreled

for commerce, the common brook trout taken with them being

invariably rejected by the fishermen as much inferior in quality.
12
266 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

The sea trout are distinguished instantly by their lustrous silvery
color, their broad shoulders, small heads, and general fullness of
condition. When closely examined their scales are found to be
much larger than those of samo fontznal’s which are scarcely
perceptible, and their crimson and blue spots are fainter. Their
flesh, too, is always pink, never adopting that white, cream color,
or deep red of the common trout. When taken on the hook with
fly, they afford much better sport than their congeners of the
brook, which are invariably taken at the same time, in the same
places, with the same flies.

Now, as it is well known that all brook trout go into salt water
to feed, whenever they can get access to it, itis plausibly argued that
these sea trout are merely a clan or detachment of the brook trout
which have temporarily left their fresh water haunts for the sea,
and are now returning, much improved in quality, beauty of color,
strength and activity. But if we must accept this as a postulate,
we must be permitted to ask why the same peculiarities do not at-
tach to the trout of Maine, Cape Cod, and Long Island? Why do
we not discover here this periodical mid-summer advent and “ run”
of six weeks’ duration ; and why are only isolated individuals taken
in the salt water pound nets and fykes of Long Island, e¢ cetera,
instead of thousands, as in Canada? Moreover, the Canadian sea
trout are never taken in the small streams, but only in rivérs of
considerable size, and the same trout uniformly return to the same
river, just as salmon do—at least, we infer so from the fact that
six pounders are invariably found in the Nouvelle, and varying
sizes elsewhere. Besides, we must be able to answer why a
portion only of the trout in a given stream should periodically visit
the sea at a specified time, while an equal or greater number elect
to remain behind in fresh water ; for we may suppose that, having
equal opportunities, all have the same instincts and desires.

On the coast of Labrador, the melting snows upon the rocky
islands that girt the coast form small rivulets that tumble into the
sea after a half mile run, and we have found the sea trout plenty
around their mouths, but no fish life whatever in the fresh water ;
but on the main land where the streams were larger and spring-
fed, the sea trout entered. Again, in many localities, the streams
fall over a perpendicular rock from a plateau above. Into these
EASTERN COAST FISHES, 267

no sea trout can enter, nor do we believe that out of them any
numbers of native fish migrate. There are many streams along
the whole Canadian coast in which sea trout are never found, but
there are big trout in them that weigh a pound apiece, big enough
to go to sea if they like, and as well able to do so as the trout of
other streams.

However, argument will convince nobody who is set in his belief,
and until a comparative study of the structure of the two varieties
is made, we shall have to remain in the dark so far as this inter-
esting question goes. The sea trout has been successfully prop-
agated artificially, and if it is the better fish, fish culturists will
prefer to cultivate it instead of the common trout.

The best places for taking sea trout are the sandy spits that
are uncovered at half tide, where one can run barefooted up and
down a hundred yards or more of soft yielding surface, and play
his fish ad /zbctum with only half the usual length of line or work
of reel. Further up the stream they fill the pools where they
pause to rest on their journey, and can be seen lying on the bottom
in schools. The Micmac Indians, who camp on all the rivers in
summer, eagerly watch the coming of the sea trout, and the angler
who would enjoy the cream of the sport must wait, like them, if
he expects to capture one of the finest fish that swims.

CLUPEID.

Tue SuHav.—A lesa sapidissima,—Gill.

Of late years shad have been included in the list of game fish,
and many anglers have devoted much attention to the sport
of catching them, especially in the Delaware, Housatonic and
Connecticut Rivers. Shad have also been taken with the rod in
the Savannah River, and in the St. John’s River, Florida, at Lake
Monroe. They are taken either with fly or with angle worms,
shrimp or other bait. Shad commence to take the fly as soon as
the water begins to grow warm, and continue to take it as long as
they remain in the rivers, which is some time after July first in the
Connecticut, the latest river.

A most excellent cast of flies is composed of the following:
white miller for leader, with red ibis, snipe and any drab fly with
268 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

lighter body, arranged as you please. All of these flies must be
quite small, as the shad bites rather delicately, so that a large fly
is not taken sufficiently far into the mouth, and the hook fails to
penetrate the hard bony substance which it meets there. Fish
from a boat anchored in a current about fifty or seventy-five feet
above a deep eddy; as the flies float down the stream the current
keeps them on top, and after they have reached the eddy the pole
should be swayed gently back and forth to keep them in motion.

The best time to fish for shad is early in the morning, and
from five until eight in the evening. As soon as it commences to
grow dark they may be taken in still and shallower water by
casting, in the same manner as for trout or bass, and may be taken
in this manner until long after dark. Only the very lightest trout
tackle should be used for shad, as the fish will almost always break
loose if the rod be strong enough to allow him any purchase
whatever.

Fly fishing seems to have been measurably successful only in
the Housatonic and Connecticut Rivers. Little success with fly has
been enjoyed in the Delaware and other rivers of Pennsylvania,
where the fish altogether prefer bait, which they take with avidity
at times. Mr. John P. Motley, of Warren, New Jersey, has related
his experience with bait through an article in the Trenton State
Gazette, in which he says :

“Young shad, from the time they are hatched until they pass
down into the bays or ocean, where they remain until old enough
to return for spawning, feed on small insects occasionally, when
these insects fly near, and almost touch the surface of the water.
We often see them leaping above the surface when the weather is
favorable, and catching gnats that are within their short reach.
But when they get to deep water, where they remain until next
season, their food is infusoria—animalcules that constitute the
greater part of the slimy growths that cover almost all submerged
substances.

«The shad is not intended to leap from the water, or rush after
any bait, when he has attained a size beyond feeding on gnats that
are flitting over the shallow margins he has to travel in going down
the river to the sea. This much I write to account for my failure
altogether with flies. I prepared a bait adapted, as I thought, to
6

EASTERN COAST FISHES, 269

what the fish required. I still had doubt whether the shad would
take it, as he was on his way up the river, not to eat, but for the
purpose of propagation. He had started from his ocean home fat
and vigorous, with accumulated force enough to carry him through,
with the little addition he might perhaps receive from the fresh
water infusoria that he might imbibe by the way. This idea was
strengthened by the fact that shad are fatter caught below Phil-
adelphia than farther up the river. They are not as firm in fibre
and delicately tasted as at Trenton or Easton. Exercise in fresh
water absorbs fat, hardens the muscle, and heightens the flavor.
I prepared a glutinous mass of Irish moss (Chondrus crispus),
gluten from wheat flour, oyster juice, fibrine from bullocks’ blood,
and powdered sulphate of barytes. The last article being taste-
less, insoluble, and heavy, was added to give weight to the com-
pound. All these articles were well mixed and ground together,
sufficient oyster juice being added to soften and discolor the Irish
moss. I rolled the mass into sticks, like macaroni, dried with a
gentle heat, and ground up into fragments as coarse as Dupont’s
ducking powder. My hooks—No. 6 Kirby’s—were whipped on
brownish-green linen snoods of ten inches length; the snoods were
fastened at intervals of a foot on a line of the same color. The
three hooks attached to the line were covered thickly nearly to
their points with the preparation in its moist state, and then dried
until the coating became hard, so that in dissolving slowly it might
adhere for along time. Thus prepared, I tried my first experiment
in deep water below the first island down stream, from the mouth
of the Pohatcong, near the Belvidere Railroad. The night previ-
ously, as a lure, I had sifted a pint or more of the preparation into
the water at the head of the eddy, and anchored a coarse strainer,
cloth bag, containing about the same quantity at the same place.
Owing to the barytes, the powder thrown into the water sank down
and remained on the water to dissolve slowly. In the morning I
drifted gently down the river, and anchored my boat noiselessly
about twenty yards above the pool. With a small gourd for a float,
giving five feet for the depth of the lowest hook, I paid out line
until the float was about four yards below the cloth bag. I had
not long to wait. The float began to bob, and was soon under
water. I tightened the line, and found a fish of peculiar action was
:

270 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

hooked. His whole effort was to sound, to run to the bottom, from
which the slightest pull would bring him back. I thought it must
be a very shy fish, with a tender mouth, and a small caudal fin in
proportion to his size, for he seemed to have but little propelling
force. After some careful handling I was enabled to bring the fish
up to the side of the boat, and land it with a net. To my great
satisfaction, it proved to be a four pound shad, a melter, as fine a
fish as one would wish to see. That morning, in less than an hour,
I caught six others in the same way—two melters and four roe
shad; two of the last weighed five and a half pounds each. During
this hour’s fishing the preparation had hardly all dissolved from
the hooks. I have been out twice since in the early morning and
have had equal success.”

Thaddeus Norris, Esq., says, in Forest and Stream :—* Many
years ago, when I fished with a bow-line dipsy for perch in Au-
gust, I occasionally took young shad six inches long, in water from
fifteen to twenty feet in depth, and have since heard of their being
taken in the same way. These fry were undoubtedly the pro-
duce of shad that spawned in May or June, The smaller fry, those
of two inches, which are so easily taken with a small fly from the
Long Bridge, are from the ova of the late spawners. I have also
known perch-fishers on the ‘‘ Hen and Chickens,” a rocky shoal in
the Delaware, eight or nine miles above Philadelphia, when fishing
for perch in September, to take shad varying from twelve to fifteen
inches inlength. They would come in schools and bite voraciously
at the worm bait and not far below the surface.”

Mr. Theodore Lyman, of the Massachusetts Fish Commission,
has thrown more light on the growth of shad and their migrations
to and from sea, than all other writers on this subject. From in-
formation gained from old net-fishermen, and from his own obser-
vations, as shown in his various reports, he has clearly established
the fact that shad go to sea the autumn of the same summer they
are hatched. That the females remain at sea two years. That
many of the males, perhaps all of them, return to their native riv-
ers when not over a year old, as they are then pubescent and the
reproductive instinct impels them to the rivers. When varying in
length from nine to twelve inches, they are known on the Connec-
ticut as “ Chicken Shad.” In one of the reports alluded to, men-
EASTERN COAST FISHES. 271

tion is made of the great numbers of such young shad that are
taken in herring seines and rated and sold as herrings, or properly
speaking, alewives ; for the herring proper, although called by that
name, do not enter fresh waters. That young shad will rise at an
artificial fly is natural, for flies and larve are their natural food.
Mr. Lyman has detected and given the scientific names of such
flies taken from their stomachs. This naturalist has also discov-
ered that young shad have teeth, while the adults have not. The
male salmon, as well as the male shad, is pubescent a year earlier
than the female. That shad remain in the rivers two years, go to
sea, and the following summer return full-grown fish, is a notion
that is now obsolete with intelligent people who have given the
matter attention and thought. When female shad return from sea
the first time they weigh from two to two and a half pounds, are not
merchantable fish, and hence are not brought to market.

Gaspereau ; herring (Southern States); alewife (New England); gaspereau
(British Provinces) ; spring herring (New England) ; hyack (Nova Scotia) ;
kyack, bluefish, alewife, sawbelly, cat-thresher (Maine.)—Pomolobus pseudo-
harengus.—Gill.

Although this representative of the herring family is in no sense

a game fish, generally speaking, it has been known to afford the

keenest sport to the fly fisherman in Nova Scotia and New Bruns-

wick in the spring when it ascends the rivers to spawn. By the

Indians of Southern Nova Scotia, it is known as the “ hyack,” and

is taken by them in great numbers with dip nets, at the foot of

dams or natural obstructions which they attempt to surmount.

It was the principal food fish of the Acadians a century and a half

ago, and was called the gaspereau by them. Several rivers in the

Maritime Provinces bear this name, and a considerable arm of the

Basin of Minas at the head of the Bay of Fundy, is known as Gas-

pereau Bay. The spring run, during which only can they be taken

with a rod, extends from the first of May to the middle of June.

Flies similar in color to those used for shad, but smaller, are

requisite. The gaspereau is deep blue on the back, shading to

silvery white on the belly. They run from eight to ten inches in
length.
NORTHERN INLAND FISHES.

THE PERCID.

Yeiow Perc ; or Ring Perch.—Perca Jlavescens,—Cuv.

IDES yellow; six to eight dark vertical bands over the back ;
S fins orange.

The yellow perch is one of the most widely distributed of our
fluviatile fishes. They are sometimes caught weighing three or
four pounds, and even more. Take bait freely, and are often
taken with a fly, preferring the red ibis. They swim deep, and
are usually found in company with the sunfish, and freauently with
the black bass.

Tue Buacx Percu.—Labrax nigricans.—De Kay.

Is a deep brownish black fish, with a yellowish tinge, found in vgri-
ous deep fresh water ponds on Long Island, New York, and takes
the fly readily, affording much amusement to the angler. Weighs
one or two pounds, and is esteemed as food. It has the general
form of the yellow perch.

Pix Percu ; wall-eyed pike ; white salmon; glass-eyed pike ; S¢/zostedion
americana,—Girard,

This fish is known in American waters as the white salmon,
Ohio salmon, yellow pike, and western salmon. Color, yellowish
olive above the lateral line, lighter on the sides ; silvery beneath;
head and gill covers mottled with green ; dorsal fin light yellowish,
spotted with brown; pectoral fins yellowish olive. It is a true
Perch, although its form and habits suggest very naturally the
idea of a Pike. Its scales are hard, close and difficult to detach.
The mandibles are wider, and the jaws stronger than those of the
pike, while its teeth are shorter and closer set. It is exceedingly
voracious, and is highly prized as food. It is caught readily with
NORTHERN INLAND FISHES. 273

the hook, baited with minnow or crayfish. The best time for fish-
ing is in the dusk of the evening. The foot of rapids, or beneath
mill dams appear to be its favorite haunts. Inthe heat of summer
it secks the deepest part of lakes, or the coolest part of streams
concealed under weeds or grass. Use regular bass rod and reel,
and fish with a float. Anchor your boat at the side or above a
rapid, and let your bait run down the rapid, for they sometimes
lie behind huge rocks in the rapid. They average perhaps, six or
seven pounds, but are often much larger, and at the Little Falls of
the Mohawk River have been caught weighing as high as twenty
pounds. The meat is hard, and laminates in rich white flakes.
Spawns in April and May. (See Western Fishes.)

Wuite Lake Bass,—Ladrax albidus.—De Kay.

Very common in Lake Erie, where it takes the hook readily,
and is esteemed as food. Color, bluish white above the lateral
line, with a few narrow parallel dusky streaks above and beneath
this line ; sides and belly white. Fins, brownish, tinged with blue.

Rock Bass.—Centrarchus eneus. (Cuy.and Val.)

This fish is found in Lake Champlain, and generally in the lakes
throughout New York State, and also in the canals and the Hud-
son River. It bites freely, and is pretty fair game. It is found in
greatest numbers around islands and in shallows near the shores
contiguous to the entrance of spring streams. A notorious spawn-
eater; it ranges in weight from a quarter of a pound to a pound.
It bites at worms, grubs, grasshoppers or shiners, and may be
taken with a small-sized Buel or McHarg trolling spoon. The
general color of this fish is a dark greenish bronze; top of head
and back a dark bottle green. Its sides below the lateral line are
covered with six or more longitudinal series of subquadrate dark
spots. Pupils of eye dark purple, with a narrow golden ring.

Brack Bass.—Grystes nigricans; Micropterus nigricans.—Gill.

Among the various candidates for popular favor, for introduc-
tion into new waters, the Black Bass has always deservedly occu-
pied a very high place. The excellence of its flesh, its rapid growth,
its endurance and its game qualities, all contribute towards this
appreciation. Little by little this fish has been carried from one

12*
274 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

part of the country to another, until now there is no part of the
United States, east of the Rocky Mountains, where it may not be
found in greater or less abundance. Its great merit in this con-
nection lies in the fact that it requires no care in the way of culture,
since a few pairs transferred bodily, will in time furnish a numerous
progeny. In consequence of its habit of making a nest and guard-
ing it against intruders, the fish is enabled to readily secure the
perpetuation of its race. i

Much uncertainty has existed, until recently, as to the number
of species really entitled to be called Black Bass, many having been
described and supposed to be peculiar to particular waters. Prof.
Gill, of the Smithsonian Institution, has lately made a critical and
exhaustive investigation of this subject, and with the aid of the
large amount of material belonging to the Institution and that of
the Museum of Comparative Zodlogy at Cambridge, he has come
to the conclusion that there are really but two distinguishable
forms; the one the Azcropierus salmozdes, or the small mouthed
bass, and the other, the JZ. 2zgrzcans, or the large mouthed variety.

Both of these species occur naturally over a great part of the
United States, with the exception of New England and the Atlan-
tic seaboard of the Middle States, although only one, the small
mouthed, seems to have been originally an inhabitant of the hy-
drographic basin of the Ohio. It is not to be understood, how-
ever, that there are no variations from the standard type to be ob-
served in the bass of these two groups, in different localities, and
it is not improbable that a careful criticism will reveal certain tri-
fling peculiarities, which may serve to distinguish those belonging
to a particular area. The differences of the two primary forms
are, however, perfectly appreciable, so that even the veriest tyro,
seeing them side by side, must admit their distinction.

These differences, as stated in the paper of Prof. Gill, are as
follows :

CONTRASTED DIFFERENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS,

Scales of Trunk.
SMALL-MOUTHED. LARGE-MOUTHED.
Small (¢. g. dat. line, 72-75; be- Moderate (e. g. dat. line ,65-70;
tween lateral line and back, 11 between lateral line and back, 7
rows). or 8 rows).
NORTHERN INLAND FISHES. 275

Scales on nape and breast.

Much smaller than those of sides. Scarcely (on nape), or not much
(on breast) smaller than those of
sides.

Scales of cheeks,

Minute (¢. g., between orbit and Moderately small (¢. g. between
preoperculum, about 17 rows in an orbit and preoperculum, about 10
oblique line and about g in a hori- rows in an oblique line and about
zontal one). 5-6 in a horizontal one).

Scales of interoperculum untiserial.
Covering only about half the Covering the entire width of the

width of the bone. bone.
Scales of preopercular limb.
None. Developed in an imperfect row

(é. g-, 3-5 in number).
Scales on dorsal.

Developed as a deep sheath (in- Developed as a low (obsolete)
volving last spine) of small scales shallow sheath, and with series
differentiated from those on the ascending comparatively little on
back, and with series advancing membrane behind the rays (none
high up the membrane behind each behind last five or six).
ray (except last two or three).

Scales on anal,
Ascending high behind each ray. None (or very few).

Mouth.
Moderate. Large.
Supramaxillary.
Ending considerably in front of Extending considerably behind
higher margin of orbit (about under the posterior margin of orbit.
hinder border of pupil).

Rays.
Dorsal articulated, 13. Dorsal articulated, 12 (I. 11).
Anal. ITI., 10, 112. Anal. III., 10.
Pectoral, 1, 16-1, 17. Pectoral 1, 14 (I, 13).

Dorsal fin in front of soft portion.

Little depressed, the ninth spine Much depressed, the ninth spine
being only about a half shorter than being only about « fourth as long
the longest (3, 4, 5) and « fourth as the longest and a half as long as
shorter than the tenth. the tenth.
276 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

We have said that there are decided variations from these two
standard types, and these we are certain that Prof. Gill himself
readily concedes. Indeed, there is no genus of known fish that
exhibits such numerous and striking varieties ; just as there is no
family of fishes which is presented in so many forms as that to
which the black bass belongs—namely, the Percéde. These va-
riations puzzled the observant De Kay forty years ago, and are no
less an enigma to superficial students at the present day. They
are most numerous in Northern waters; quite frequent in the
West; and several at the South. The general colors we find to
be as follows: bluish, deep green, almost black, grass green, light
green, greenish white, deep olive, and light olive. Some are spot-
ted, others barred, and some without any lateral markings. Local-
ly they are termed perch, bass, chub and trout, and are severally
known as yellow perch, black perch, Oswego bass, strawberry
bass, white bass, rock bass, black bass, marsh bass, river bass,
spotted bass, speckled hen, green bass, slough bass, etc., etc.
They vary much in their proportions, some having heavy shoulders,
while others are slender; they also vary in their habits of living,
their food, locations, temperature of water, and times of spawning,
characteristics sufficiently diverse to constitute distinct species, if
classification were not absolutely based upon anatomical structure.

In Canada there is great diversity as to weight and shape.
For instance: those caught in ponds and lakes in the counties of
Brant and Oxford, are much larger and thicker than those found,
say, in Grand River. Notwithstanding, where there are long,
deep, still stretches of water formed by mill dams as at Galt or
Paris, bass are often taken averaging in weight those taken in
lakes. In Pine Pond, on the south edge of the township of Bland-
ford and Blenheim, Oxford, the bass are remarkable for their
thickness at the shoulders. So distinct is the figure and general
configuration—especially as regards this latter quality—that we
are inclined to believe that they are identical with the Oswego
bass. The Oswego bass and the bass of the Mohawk and Hudson
Rivers, show dusky bars on their sides after being caught. When
hooked, the first move is into the air, and it is continued, more or
less, principally more, until the struggle ends in the death or es-
cape of the fish, The first fishing for this bass in the spring or
NORTHERN INLAND FISHES. 277

summer is done on the “ riffs ” or rapids ; from thence tney work
down to the foot of rough water, and later, as the weather is
warmer, to the eddies and pools. The Lake George bass almost
always when hooked go deeper, rarely appear above water until
they near the boat or landing net, always excepting when you
troll. In Lake Ontario are two varieties, one at Stony Island
being very thick and light colored, always sounding the minute
they are hooked; another in the Black River Bay, dark colored,
much slimmer than the former, and almost always coming to the
surface the first thing. The strawberry bass is a flat, deep fish,
has a nose well turned up, is thinner than the Oswego bass, and
has black and yellow blotches.

However, in attempting to define differences, nothing is ac-
complished toward identification or separation ; only confusion is
increased. We recognize the simple fact, merely, that owing to
local causes of food, temperature and quality of water, and per-
haps to these only, very apparent differences obtain in stripe, size,
color, superficial markings, action, and periods of spawning.

Most bass undoubtedly hybernate, and are not seen or caught
in winter. But Mr. A. W. Latham, Fish Commissioner of Min-
nesota, has stated that in some waters in that State they are occa-
sionally caught through the ice with hook and bait. They then
lie low in deep water, and seem after a fashion to hybernate.
Samuel Wilmot, of the Government Hatching House in Canada,
states that the fishermen take them with hook and line through
the ice in the Bay of Quinte, near Belleville. Fred. Mather, a well
known fish breeder of New York, says :

“IT kept one nearly all winter in an aquarium, and it did not
eat, and seldom moved anything except its eyes. I have also tried
to catch them from the small but well-stocked pond of Hon. S. H.
Ainsworth, at West Bloomfield, without success. I have, how-
ever, seen those that were taken with a hook in Northern Michi-
gan, in March, while it is still winter in that locality.”

The fish begin to spawn about the middle of May. About a
month previous to the spawning season they pair, and leave the
deep, still water where they have spent the winter, and seek out
some retired spot in shallow water, about eighteen inches or two
feet deep, but near deeper water to which they can fly when
278 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

alarmed. Here they make their nests by scouring from the peb-
bles on the bottom all the mud and slime. The nest is circular,
and about twice the length of the fish in diameter. Here the
female lays her eggs, which at once become glued to the pebbles,
where they remain for eight or ten days, when they hatch, the
female all the time remaining on or near the nest to keep off
predatory intruders.

In two or three days after hatching, the young fry scatter
mostly into deep water, and are not seen again until September,
when they come in shore, having grown about two inches in length.
If well supplied with food, they grow about four inches the first
season. When two years old they reach a pound in weight, and
after that grow about a pound each year, until they weigh six or
eight pounds. While young the fish feed on insects, worms and
larvae, but when larger they appear to rely mainly upon other small
fish, They are not very particular as to their diet, their main care
being to get plenty of food. They are voracious eaters, and when
hard pushed by hunger, do not scruple to devour the smaller and
weaker of their own kind, and in this fact probably exists the
reason why they have multiplied much more rapidly in some
ponds than in others which, to all appearance, are equally as well
adapted to them. Waters which abound in chub, minnows, suck-
ers, insect larvae and crayfish afford plenty of food for the bass,
and in them he multiplies and grows apace, but in waters where
these are wanting, he is reduced to the necessity of eating his own
kindred, and of course his increase is very limited. Black bass
weighing from three to six pounds each, are too large for stocking
open streams, they being liable to wander, while the small ones
are more likely to remain near where placed. These small fish
commence propagating in July, and continue into the month of
August.

Little need be said of the merits of this fish for the table. Few
better pan fish are known to epicures. He is thick, solid and
heavy, has little waste and few bones about him, is sweet, tender
and juicy, and when well cooked makes a dish fit for a king.

The methods of taking black bass are by trolling with minnow
or spoon, casting with artificial fly or live minnow, and by still-fish-
ing with a great variety of baits. Probably, as a rule, live bait is
NORTHERN INLAND FISHES. 279

the best, and from eight to twelve feet of water the best depth;
but some of the finest specimens which have been coaxed from
ponds have been taken with worm bait in fifty feet of water. The
fact is, however, that flies are often most killing at times when
baits of any kind are hardly serviceable. For instance in the Del-
aware and Schuylkill the fish will not rise to the fly where they are
mostly caught with bait, for the fishing is essentially bottom fish-
ing in deep water (say from fifteen to twenty feet), at the foot of
dams or falls, or in still deep pools. In such places those most
successful use a weighted line, and endeavor to keep the bait
from two to three feet from the bottom. Now one would cast
with little effect with small flies, especially in such places, because
of the great depth of the water. The fact of the necessity of
special flies for particular places, from all testimony, seems quite
indispensable. The non-success of flies in bass fishing arises
more from faults in their size and color than in lack of apprecia-
tion in the fish ; most of the bass flies sold by the trade generally
have only a local reputation, not applicable to all conditions aris-
ing from the varied haunts of this fish; and this fault can not be
corrected except by observations of the many conditions that arise,

The most approved patterns for northern waters are the fol-
lowing :

Pace Fiy.—Scarlet wings with scapulas of guinea fowl.

Hovserton Fiy.—Orange body ribbed with gold tinsel; head of peacock’s
herl ; a hackle of peacock’s herl mixed with purple ; tail of wood duck feathers
tipped with scarlet ; under wing coverts of scarlet ibis mixed with mallard feath-
ers dyed yellow, outer wing coverts of wood duck feather, with two long rays of
peacock’s herl, the latter giving the fly a very jaunty and attractive appearance
which even the best educated salmon could not resist.

Turkey Brown and Turkey Green.—The first-named has turkey wings,
brown body ribbed with gold, red hackle and wood duck tail streaked with scar-
let ; the turkey green is similar except that it has a green body.

Fercuson Fiy.—Hook.—Medium No. 2 Sproat, or in Limericks about No. ro.
Tail,—Peacock, yellow and scarlet, a portion each. Sody.—Made full, a bright
yellow tipped and ribbed with gold. Zegs.—A green hackle, quite bushy, tied in
only at the head of the body under the wings. Wixgs.—A portion each of yellow
and scarlet feather with the dark brownish mottled feather from the wing of the
wild or tame turkey.

Patterns of bass flies are various, and can be multiplied ad
—_—Jibitum, gaudy colors being generally combined. Scarlet and
white used to be exclusively used. Now we have:
280 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

1. Scarlet wings and coverts or scapulas of wood duck feathers.

z. Scarlet wings, white scapulas, hackle of purple and orange, and tail of yel-
low, white, scarlet and wood duck mixed. Body orange and green whipped with
silver tinsel.

3. Wings.of rayed mallard feathers dyed yellow, scarlet scapulas, body yel-
low, hackle of peacock’s herl mixed with yellow.

4. Turkey wings, hackle of scarlet and orange, tail red, yellow and black,
body orange whipped with green and gold tinsel.

5. Wings white, scapulas scarlet, body lavender and peacock whipped with
silver tinsel, deep purple hackle and tail of blue, white, scarlet and yellow,

mixed.
6. Parrot feather wing (green), yellow hackle, green body whipped with gold,

tail scarlet and white.

7. Turkey wing, body orange whipped with silver, green hackle, tail yellow
and scarlet. "

8. Turkey wing, brown hackle, peacock body terminating in yellow, with
scarlet tail.

g. Brown cock feather wings, dun body whipped with orange, hackle of grey
rabbit's ‘ur, tail brown.

ro. (ange body and hackle, scarlet wings, scapula and tail of jungle cock

feathers.

11. Blue body whipped with gold, blue hackle, wings of ashes of rose color,
scapulas of jungle cock mixed with black, tail scarlet, black and white, and black
antenne.

12. Scarlet body whipped with silver, wings dyed subhyaline and terminating
in two bars of white and black, coverts scarlet, hackle grey and black, tail black,
white and red.

13. Body solferino color, wings the same, coverts grey, hackle brown, tail
grey, head black—a very killing fly for southern, western or northern waters.

[For southern and western patterns see the appropriate chapters of this book.]

The baits taken by the black bass are as diverse as the styles
of flies. Bass are almost omnivorous, taking red worms, crick-
ets, grasshoppers, fresh water mussels, frogs, shrimp, crayfish,
minnow and dobsons, so called at the north and known as the
Helgramite at the south; the same being the full grown larve
and pupa of several aquatic species in the family Sialina. Their
feeding ground is chiefly in sluggish rivers. They are rare in
mountain streams or head springs. They are both herbivorous
and carnivorous. Ephemeride, small-sized beetles, and water-
fleas, extomostraca, are their principal food, but they have been
reared to maturity in aquaria on an almost exclusively vegetable
diet. The wings of the perfect insect are almost twice the length
of the body, closely reticulated with veins, semi-transparent, and
of a yellow ashen color. An imitation made of newly tanned
NORTHERN INLAND -FISHES. 281
feeds leather was used with wonderful success in the trout streams of
Western Virginia fifty years ago.

In the early season, from June to last of August, the best
success is had in deep pools, or under shadow of dams and falls
where the water is quieted a moment after its plunge, casting the
flies into the tumbling waters and giving the current its own way
with them, simply keeping them on the surface. In the later
season, from middle of September to end of October, the bass
seem to live more in rapid, deep currents well out in the stream
where it is less disturbed by obstructions, lying in the eddies
formed by boulders, etc., but if the water’s surface is disturbed
by winds, as is usual at that season, they are taken about as read-
ily in mid-current, where the water is from two to three or four
feet deep, and running over a pebbly bottom.

In lakes, cast from a boat in-shore, or fish from the banks.
Where lilypads line the shore, if you have no boat or raft, wade
out so that you can cast just beyond the edge of the pads.

If trolling from a canoe or light craft, a two-knot breeze will
drive the canoe with sufficient rapidity to prevent the necessity of
using oars or paddles, and increasing one’s chances of success in
raising the fish, as there is no disturbance of the water, and a
shorter line can beused. Ordinarily one hundred feet are required.
Trolling should be done along shore, and fish are most likely to be
raised when the spoon passes over a reef or bunch of rocks. In
swift running water, or in the quick currents that flow between isl-
ands lying close to each other, as in the St. Lawrence River, one
can fish from boat or shore; and the best method is probably to
anchor the boat in mid current at the head of the race, and grad-
ually drop it down as the ground becomes fished over. In min-
now fishing give the bait plenty of play, but let the running water
do this as much as it will, while the tip of the rod guides it to all
parts of the ground to be fished over.

Valued asthe brook trout is for its game qualities; widely
ve distributed as it is; and much extolled in song as it has been;
the black bass has now a wider range (at least of latitude) and be-
ing common to both cold and warm waters, and to northern and

 
282 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

ishes like the aborigines before civilization and settlements. It
is worthy of much attention therefore ; and during the past two
years its habits have been diligently studied by naturalists and fish
propagators, until they have become pretty well known. [See
Southern and Western Fishes.]

SunrisH ; Pond-fish ; Pumpkin-seed ; Kiver ; Sunny ; Roach ; Bream— Pomotzs
vulgaris.—De Kay,

This beautiful fish is common in all the waters of the north.
Its range extends to Georgia. In color it is a greenish brown on
the back, greenish yellow on the sides. On the posterior prolon-
gation of the opercle is a black spot, terminating behind in bright
scarlet. It is found in still waters in company with perch, swims
low, and takes bait with such persistence as to be an annoyance
to the angler when better fish are sought. He will also take the
fly, or any moving thing. It is an excellent pan fish when it at-
tains the size of a pound, as it occasionally -does. It should be
fished for with light tackle and very small hooks.

SILURID-.

The Catfish or Cat Family comprises a dozen or more varieties,
most of which are not worth mentioning in their relations to the
angler.

The Great Lake Catfish (Pzmoledus nigricans) grows to a great
weight, often reaching eighty pounds. Its general color is olive
brown. It is not generally esteemed as food, although it is much
eaten, and by some persons well recommended. Like most of its
congeners, it prefers the mud.

The Common Cat (Pzmoledus catus), the Bullhead, Horn Pout,
Bull Pout, or Minister, has a wide range, and too great a notoriety
for his worth. Its color is dusky. Is caught from first of April,
throughout the summer, with most any kind of meat or worm bait,
in ponds or lakes where the bottom is muddy. Many people eat
them and like them.

The Channel Catfish is the best of his tribe, and is generally
found in clear pure streams in the Middle and Southern States.
He is of a clean greyish blue color, and makes some sport on the
 

 

NORTHERN INLAND FISHES. 283

hook. A good table fish. Night fishing with a lantern or torch
is the most successful for all kinds of catfish.

THE CYPRINID.,

The family of Cyprinide is a very large one, and includes the
carp, sucker, dace, chub sucker, mullet sucker, and many other
species whigh are found scattered all over the country from New
England to Arizona; being often the only inhabitants of waters
too warm or muddy for the more esteemed varieties of fishes.
Scarcely any of them merit attention as game fish, although some
are quite edible, and a few afford fair sport to the angler.

The Cyprinidz also include the shiners, minnows, killifish, and
other small fry that are much valued as baitfish, and readily com-
mand a cent a-piece in many known angling resorts. Their eco-
nomic value to the fisherman is therefore considerable, and it is well
to know that they may be caught either with gauze or mosquito
nets along the margins of still waters where they congregate in
large numbers, being often found in company with the perch,
roach and bass. They are also caught with minute hooks and
linen thread, with bread dough, and red worms as bait.

Some of the suckers of which there are many varieties, afford
much sport when snared. The snare is a running loop of fine
brass wire attached to the end of a pole, and the method employed
to capture the fish is, to beat the water with long sticks, turning
up logs and large stones, tossing stones into the holes, et cetera,
so as to drive the fish from under the banks and other hiding
places into the mid-stream, where they can be readily seen. They
will lie quietly on the bottom for awhile after being disturbed, and
then the snarer passes the wire loop cautiously over their heads,
and dexterously jerks them out to terra firma. Sometimes the
suckers will take the baited hook, though very seldom. No less
than twelve varieties of suckers are enumerated as belonging to
northern waters, averaging a foot in length; the most prominent
of which the Mullet Sucker, Catostomus aureatus, grows to a
length of eighteen inches. It is very common in Lake Erie, where
it is severally called the Mullet, Golden Mullet, and Red Horse.
There is also a common species in Lake Erie, very black in color,
which is called the Black Sucker and the Shoemaker. The
284 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

Horned Sucker (Catostomus tuberculatus) is common in most of
the fresh water streams of the Middle States and New England,
where it is known under the popular names of barbel, dace, and
horned dace. It takes a hook readily, and begins to bite in April.
Some suckers seem to be peculiar to certain localities, showing
quite distinctive characteristics as to color and size. The Oneida
Lake sucker is a bluish brown fish on the back ; lighter, beneath; a
much lighter colored fish is very abundant around Peekskill on the
Hudson; and others in the Mohawk and Susquehanna Rivers
show like variations in color. The White Dace or Shiner (Leuczscus
nztzdus) is quite common also. It is a large scaled fish, silvery
white, and is taken with hook very often in New England trout
streams.
Tue Common Carp. Cyprinus carfio.—Linn.

The common carp was first introduced into this country from
France in the year 1832, by Captain Henry Robinson, owner of a
Havre packet. They were first placed in a pond near Newburgh,
on the Hudson, and afterward introduced into the Hudson, where
they multiplied very rapidly, and have since been introduced into
the Southern States, over which they have spread quite generally.
They have also been introduced into California from Germany, a
superior variety having been planted there in 1870, and propagated
by Mr. Poppe. They are also propagated artificially at Woodville,
Mississippi, and at Druid Hill Park, in Baltimore.

The German variety is much esteemed as food. Indeed, there
are several varieties scattered throughout the country. They are
taken readily with the hook when baited with bread pills. They
spawn twice a year, first about the middle of May, and again in
June (in New York State), depositing their ova in the grass along
the margins of ponds,

Color golden olive. Length six to twelve inches. [See South-
ern Inland Fishes.]

ESOCIDA.,

Muskettuncg ; mascalonge ; maskinongé.—Zsoxr nobilior.—Thompson. Esox
estor.—Le Sueur.

This fish is known in the laws of Canada as the “ Maskinongé,”

from the Chippewa word maskanonje, meaning long nose ; but in
NORTHERN INLAND FISHES. 285

the States it is called “‘ mascalonge,” from the French masgue and
allonge, (elongated,) longface. The northern pike, first described
by Agassiz, is sometimes confounded with this fish, but may be
easily detected, as it has the lower jaw filled with teeth, whereas
the anterior half of the maskinonge is toothless. Some people
call it an overgrown pickerel, which is a still worse insult to his
nobility. As we contemplate his beautiful proportions, his peculiar
whitish complexion, and his massive and not greatly elongated
head, we wonder how anglers could ever confound him with
the green, alligator-headed pike. Surely those who have ever
compared the two together, or eaten of their flesh, could not
make this error. However, if there is difficulty in classifying the
mascalonge, there is equal confusion among the savans in naming
him, for Agassiz and Lesueur call him esox estor, while Thompson
and Gill insist that he is esox nobzizor. If there be anything in a
name, the latter fits him best, for in beauty of form, in game quali-
ties, and in excellence of flesh, he stands at the head of the family;
besides, he is the Goliath among themall. For some reason unex-
plained, unless it be by reason of his nobility, he is a rare fish. In
the St. Lawrence, at the Thousand Islands, in the Great Lakes,
and in the Upper Mississippi, waters celebrated for the masca-
longe, one will not kill more than one of these to a hundred pick-
erel. Sometimes they grow to an immense size. The largest we
have ever heard of is vouched for by Samuel C. Clarke, who says
that in 1840 he saw one at the mouth of the Calumet River, Mich-
igan, which had just been captured in a seine, that was six feet
long and weighed eighty pounds. The mouth would have ad-
mitted a man’s leg; it showed a perfect chevaux de frise of teeth,
the canines at least an inch long! It is almost black on the back,
greyish-yellow on the sides, and creamy white beneath, while the
whole body is beautiful with a wavy shading together of these
tints. Its weight and size are often colossal for a fresh water
game fish. It is long, slim, strong, and swift, and in every way
formed for the life it leads—that of a fierce and dauntless ma-
rauder.

Mr. Irving L. Beman, in Forest and Stream, gives the follow-
ing sketch of the mascalonge, which is by long odds the best that we
ever saw published :—* It is difficult to imagine a more ferocious
286 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

looking creature than a forty pound pike, (?) with his scaly, snakish
hide, his long, wedge-shaped head, and his nose seemingly fash-
ioned to be thrust into other fishes’ business, his under jaw project-
ing and revealing a fearful equipment of teeth, making his mouth
as dangerous as. a wolf’s, his fins all a-quiver with excitement,
and his eyes glaring like a fiend’s as he lurks in his lair among the
weeds to spring upon his prey.

“As a specimen of the greed of the mascalonge, was one I
caught weighing only five pounds, but from whose maw I took
fourteen small fish of his own kind, some of which were still alive,
besides several of other species. At another time a gentleman and
myself were “ skittering,” as fishermen call it, along the banks of
a deep still pond noted for its pike. Skittering, one of the best
methods for taking mascalonge, is done with a long elastic rod,
reel and line to match the game, and hook of formidable size, upon
which is impaled a minnow of from seven to fifteen inches in
length. The minnow is twitched along through the water near
the surface with a motion suggestive of the word skittering. Upon
my friend’s hook was a minnow eight or nine inches in length,
with which he struck a small pike. As he was about taking the
game from the water another and larger mascalonge made a rush
for it, and taking it in his mouth retired to deep water to gorge it.
After a few minutes the exciting sport of playing this second pike
commenced, and within half an hour my friend landed him safe
and sure. He proved to be a twenty-five pounder; in his throat
was the smaller one, weighing three pounds, and in the throat of
this latter was the minnow. Rapacity incarnate !

“But account has not yet been taken of the amazing strength
of the mascalonge. I have hooked and helped to haul on deck
sharks of various sizes, have had a hand at every variety of mack-
erel, have tusseled with the salmon, but in proportion to size this
pike far surpasses them all in ability to test the fisherman’s mus-
cle, skill, coolness, and fertility of device. A mascalonge of six
pounds weight is equal in gamy qualities to a salmon of twenty.
He can snap a larger hook or part a stronger line and escape
where a salmon would be secure. He can swim faster, whirl
quicker, pull harder, leap higher, and show more fight and more
cunning.
NORTHERN INLAND FISHES. 287

“On one excursion, with a boy of fourteen to row for me, I had
the misfortune to run a very large mascalonge into shallow water
on a mud flat, and when my boat ran aground I expected to lose
him. But while I was desperately working my ingenuity to bag
him, the boy made for him by wading. He took the gaff and
succeeded in hooking the fish securely through the nose. And
then commenced the most amusing squabble between denizens of
land and water that I ever saw. Some of the time it was quite a
question which was game, boy or fish; and had the pike run for
deep water he might have bagged the boy for his dinner. At
length, however, the struggle closed by the water becoming so
muddy as to suffocate the fish. Upon getting him into the boat,
I was not surprised at the fight he had made, for he measured
five feet and two inches in length, and weighed forty pounds.

“Tt is not unusual for this monarch of the streams, when trying
to free himself from a hook, to leap ten or fifteen feet above the
water and shake his head like a mad bull. He always dies game.
To illustrate his courage, I may relate the fate of the only landing
net I ever undertook to use in capturing mascalonge. I was troll-
ing along a channel where the pike resorted to waylay the small
fry running back and forth between two parts of a small lake, a
trick which this fish understands as well as the panther lying in
wait along a path frequented by deer. At length I hooked an old
patriarch, and expected to show him the courtesy of my new net,
but he had no notion of passively surrendering. For nearly an
hour he tried every artifice known to his tribe, but finally became
exhausted, and I reeled him alongside while my man held the net.
But as he saw the fatal circle he sprang forward, caught the net-
ting in his powerful jaws, and began to jerk and shake his head in
such a fury that he instantly tore out his mouthful; then he took
another hold and served it in the same way, until, in less time than
it takes to tell it, my beautiful landing net was a complete wreck.
In the meantime, however, I inserted my gaff in his jaw, and in a
moment his enraged majesty floundered in the boat. This was one
of the trophies of trolling, a most pleasant method of hunting the
mascalonge. The best trolling apparatus consists of three large
hooks, strung one above another about six inches apart on an ex-
ceedingly strong, wire-wound snell. Sixty to seventy-five feet of
288 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

line is generally enough to let out, as the pike is not so chary of
the passing skiff as are more timid fish, and with much greater
length of line no fisherman can capture his game. The oarsman
should pull ahead at a fair rate, ready at the instant of hooking a
fish to double the speed, for such is the only way to get and keep
the advantage of a mascalonge. A large minnow is the most suc-
cessful trolling decoy, as the game seems to detect an ordinary
spoon at a glance. And when the fish is reeled in, let no flourishes
be made with oars or gaff handle, but be cautious, or the pike will
free himself and escape at the last moment. In many parts where
this fish abounds the spear and seine have been illegally used to
capture him, but not very successfully, as he is too cunning and
resolute to be caught thus. I saw a seine drawn five times one
afternoon in a wide pool below a dam, where several large pike
were known to lurk, but nothing was taken. Neither could the
failure be accounted for, as the fish did not, as frequently is the
case, leap over, break through, or run around the net. To solve
the riddle, I entered a small skiff, and tying it to one of the seine
floats was quietly drawn across the pool, lying with my face over
the gunnel in order to look into the water beneath. What was my
surprise to see the pike turn their noses to the seine and plow under
it in the sand, thus defying the effort to capture them.

‘ shooting this noble fish as he seeks the surface to sun himself
is a favorite sport with some, but it requires a peculiar man to suc-
ceed. He must be not only a good rifle shot, but a patient, cunning,
cat-like hunter, for his game is exceedingly wary. Such a man, if
he can find a convenient tree or cliff overlooking the haunts of the
mascalonge, may, after hours of watching, be rewarded by a shot
at one of the giants of the species, for it is generally only the
largest that roll up in the sunshine.

“One morning I filled my lunch basket, and had a man row me
over to a pile that stood some twelve feet above water and about
six rods from shore, the only one left of an ancient dock. Scram-
bling to the top, I drew up by a cord hammer, nails, and four or five
stiff barrel staves, with which I fashioned a support for my back,
as I should sit on top of the pile. Then I drew up lunch and rifle,
and the man left me ‘alone in my glory.” It was a hot day in
June, and before noon, not having had a glimpse of game, I began
NORTHERN INLAND FISHES. 289

to be discouraged. But I had been bantered with the prediction
that I would give up at dinner time, and so for mere pluck’s sake
I stood to, or rather sat upon, my post. At noon I ate my lunch,
and having some bits left cast them lazily down on the water.
Very soon, and unexpectedly, there was a break in the surface, and
an enormous mascalonge showed his full length near a bread crust.
While he was studying the looks of the crust I gave him the com-
pliments of my rifle. Instantly upon his beginning to flurry, there
appeared around him a number of others, all large, and for a mo-
ment they waged a fierce attack upon their wounded fellow; but
when I had loaded and discharged my gun again they disappeared.
By this time my man in the skiff came up, and after picking up the
two fish received me also, and I rested upon my honors the balance
of the day. The first of these two pike was the one alluded to
above, weighing fifty-one pounds. But though I perched on that
pile several times afterward, like a hawk where he once caught a
chicken, I never had another shot from my eyrie.

“«Still-baiting for this fish is not as successful as for the glass-
eyed pike and pickerel. Only the smaller ones are generally
caught thus, the larger requiring more action in the bait in order
to challenge their speed and pugnacity, and induce them to bite.

« Fishing through the ice is an interesting method of taking our
game. But it is like pickerel ice fishing, in which a hook baited
with a small minnow is cast through a hole and the other end of
the line tied to a twig stuck in the snow. Snch a mode would
avail for mascalonge about as a mouse trap for a wolf. A hole
two feet across is cut through the ice, and above it is erected a
close tent or cabin to shut out the light. The fisherman seats him-
self so as to conveniently look and use the gaff through. the hole,
and find the water clear below while he is in the dark above. Both
the gaff and a silver decoy, attached to a wire three feet long, are
lowered into the water. The former is held motionless in the right
hand, while with the other hand the decoy is moved around as if it
were areal minnow. When the pike discovers the decoy, he slowly
and threateningly glides forward to investigate. The fisherman
will discover him when several feet distant, and here is where the
excitement begins. He steals along like an Argus, now straight
on, now sidewise, stopping every few inches to take notes, rapacity

13
290 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

and craftiness evinced in his appearance as clearly as in any other
member of the animal kingdom. At length he is within reach of
the gaff, and the silent and excited man of the tent, with skill and
muscle, snatches the fishy prowler from his native element.

“ Asa food fish there is nothing superior tothis. He ranks with
the salmon and speckled trout, and surpasses the black and striped
bass. The meat is almost as white as snow, fine grained, nicely
laminated, and the flavor is perfect.”

Besides the waters of the basin of the Great Lakes and of
the St. Lawrence, the interior lakes of Ontario, Canada, are abun-
dantly supplied with mascalonge, notably Rice Lake and the lakes
of the Muskoka region. Probably they are more numerous in the
last-named waters than in any others of America.

Tue Pixe.—Zsox ductus.—Linn.

The Northern pike is found in the St. Lawrence River, and in
the larger inland lakes of the Northern and Western States. It is
often caught in the same waters and on the same grounds as the
mascalonge, from which it is readily distinguished by its general
shape, the shape of its head, its teeth, its color, and superficial
markings. Its back and head are of very dark green or greenish
black ; its sides in some waters are of a dull olive green, shading
to white on the belly, and in others of the intensest vivid green
and gold. Fins greenish; those below tinged with red. Its sides
are marked by irregular longitudinal dusky streaks. It is distin-
guished by its alligator head and projecting lower jaw. It grows
to the length of three feet and more, though never attaining to the
gigantic weight and size of the mascalonge, and affords excellent
sport to the angler. It is taken by trolling along the margins of
weeds that border the lakes and rivers, and often in deep water;
by skittering with frog, minnow, or pork bait ; amd by still-fishing.
It is apt to resort to the vicinity of logs and fallen trees, where it
is most certainly taken. Fishing with jugs and ‘‘bobbers”’ is a
rather exciting sport, though hardly sportsmanlike, The method
is as follows :

Being provided with a dozen or so of empty bottles—cham-
pagne or claret the best—cork them tightly and fasten a line of
suitable strength to the neck of each, winding the spare line upon
NORTHERN INLAND FISHES. 291

it, leaving enough free that the hook may clear the weeds and bot-
tom of the lake or pond where used; cork and throw bottles and
bait overboard on the windward side of the proposed fishing
ground. Off go the bottles, “ bobbin’ round,” every ripple keep-
ing things lively. Presently a big pike or bass takes a pull at the
bottle, frees the line from the cork and sets things spinning.
Round and round whirls the bottle till the spare line is paid out ;
then dips, bobs, plunges, now under, now out, and always keeping
a taut line on the “ bottle-holder” below. Of course you go for it
and generally the fish comes up well “ tucker’d out,” as the saying
is. With a dozen or so of these new fangled trimmers afloat, and
plenty of game fish about, this is a lively style of fishing ; and
though it lacks the nice dexterity of the light rod and fine tackle
that makes bass fishing so enticing, it has the merit of spreading
over a good deal of ground and putting the bait a great distance
frem the boat.

Fishing through the ice is a pastime that serves to vary the mo-
notony of a long and dreary winter, and when the ice is smooth
and in good condition for skating, is really enjoyable. With a
large bright fire blazing on the ice near at hand, and the body
glowing delightfully with vigorous and not too violent exercise, it
is exhilarating sport to “tend ” the scattered tilts and tip-ups when
the fish bite freely. With the blood in freest circulation, one
scarcely feels the cold of the freezing water on his hands, and when
he has unhooked his fish and tossed it toward the stiff and rigid
pile already caught, he cheerily gives his arms a thresh to quicken
the warmth, and darts away to obey the signal that another fish
has struck. When the day is calm and without wind, one can get
as much amusement out of this pastime as he ever can with his
salmon rod and reel. The simplest kind of a tilt is a Jath or nar-
row piece of board, with a hole bored through one end, through
which a round stick is run with both ends resting on the sides of
the hole in the ice. The line and bait are attached to the short
end of the tilt, and when the fish is on his weight tips up the
longer end and gives the signal that he is caught. There is an
improved tilt which consists of an upright and an arm, the line
passing over the end of the latter down into the water. When a
fish bites, the line is cast off, the arm falls, and at the same time
292 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

automatically hoists a little signal flag on the upright. Another
contrivance is to plant supple saplings at the sides of the fishing
holes, and when the fish is on he is detected either by the motion
of the sapling or by its being bent low by dead weight.

Spearing pike in winter is an entertaining pastime much in
vogue. By inverting a sugar hogshead over a hole already cut in the
ice, one can see plainly the minutest pebble on the bottom twenty
feet below. An artificial minnow attached to a yard of line made
fast to ashort stick serves as bait, and when lowered into the water
through the hole, and skillfully played, attracts the fish very read-
ily. As the fish approaches the bait, have ready a spear, and
strike. Practice will make one dexterous. The spear-head should
be made to detach itself from the handle when the fish is struck,
the same being held by a line to which it is fast, instead of by
the handle, so that the fish is played or hauled in by the line and
not by the handle, the latter being used merely to effect and give
force to the blow. The line to which the spear-head is fastened,
should also be fast to the handle, and should not be less than
twenty yards in length. The pike should not be confounded with
the pickerel, which is quite a different species, and hardly worth
the attention of the angler. It can readily be distinguished from
the mascalonge by its dental system, its lower jaw being filled with
teeth, while the anterior half of the mascalonge is toothless.
Spawns in spring. Best fishing is in mid-summer.

Ponp Pickerer,—Doree (Canada) 3 Bsox reticulatus.—Lesueur,

The common pond pickerel thrives wherever he can get a foot-
hold, and is found in nearly all the ponds and streams of the north
that have not been jealously guarded against his intrusion. He
seldom attains the weight of a pound, and is caught very readily
with a red ibis fly on a light rod, affording a very fair amount of
sport, but he is so bony and so small that he is hardly worth cook-
ing when caught. His back is of a greenish grey, sides yellowish
green, reticulated with oblong irregular markings, fins of a deep
yellow or red color. Spawns in March and April.

In Lake Champlain is a pickerel that seldom exceeds seven
inches in length, found in schools in great numbers, and known as
&. fasciatus; a very beautiful fish with back of ohve brown,
NORTHERN INLAND FISHES. 293

sides deepening to yellow, with vertical brown stripes on its sides ;
fins light yellow. $

THE SALMONIDA.
Common SrecKLep Trout, or Broox Trout.—Salmo fontinalis.—Mitch.

Symmetrical oblong body ; back broad, with dark markings on
horn-colored ground, with metallic bluish and greenish reflections
in fresh specimens; sides lighter, merging into white on abdomen
which shows reddish in spawning season. Upper part of head dark
greenish brown, with somewhat obscure mottlings ; red vermillion
dots and large yellow spots in vicinity of lateral line. The pec-
toral or breast fins have the first ray yellow or the second black,
the rest orange. The caudal or tail fin is slightly forked in the
adult, more so in the young, is reddish with parallel dark bands.

The range of this well known and much valued fish, is
strictly between the parallels of latitude 50° north and 36° south,
though it has been taken in abundance in Labrador, in latitude
54°, and in the Apalachian mountain ranges as far south as the
northern border of Georgia and South Carolina. Its northwestern
limit is northern Minnesota, and it is not caught west of the Mis-
sissippi River except in a few of its Minnesota tributaries. Speci-
mens have been taken that weighed seventeen pounds. The lar-
gest are found in Maine and in the Nepigon River, on the north
shore of Lake Superior, where the specimen referred to was
caught. It inhabits large lakes and the smallest ponds, the tiniest
brooks and the largest rivers. [ de Nepigon, which has a length
of forty-five miles and a depth, in places, of one hundred and
fifty feet or more.] Although a bold biter, it is a wary fish, and
often requires much skill to capture it. It can be caught with ar-
tificial or natural flies, minnows, crickets, grasshoppers, grubs, the
spawn of other fishes, or even the eyes or cut pieces of other trout.
It spawns in the fall, and its period of spawning ranges from Sep-
tember to late in November. It begins to reproduce its kind when
it is two years old, at which age it measures some six inches in
length. In May and June the trout delight in rapids and swiftly
running water, and in the hot months of mid-summer they resort
to deep, cool and shaded pools. In August and September, on
the approach of the spawning season, they gather around the
294 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

mouth of cool gravelly brooks, whither they resort to make their
beds.

Their habits change with their age. When very young they
play a great deal together, usually choosing the parts of the brook
which have a muddy bottom, and wiil sometimes if startled, sud-
denly bury themselves in the mud. This, however, does not often
occur ; they usually make for the first little projection that juts out
over the water, and there hide until the danger is over. As they
grow older they seem to dissolve partnership in a great measure,
and every one chooses his own particular hiding place, the larger
trout: taking, as if by reason of their superior strength, which to
all appearance is understood among them, the deepest holes and
largest projecting sods, and leaving the smaller ones for their less
officious kin. The older they grow the more wary they become,
and therefore it requires considerable skill to catch a very old
trout. A worm is, generally speaking, the best bait for them,
but in the spring, after the rains that usually prevail at that sea-
son, which wash a great many worms and insects into the water,
very few of which escape their observation, they bite better at the
more tempting bait of a fly. Instruction in trout fishing is not
easily imparted. It must be acquired chiefly by practice and ob-
servation. The knowledge of where to fish is moreover fully as
essential as the knowing how to fish. Some study of entomology
is requisite at the outset. Some acquaintance with the creatures
that live in the water, under the water, and over the water, and
whose habits in great part govern or control the movements of
the fish. We are to know that certain flies deposit their eggs on
the leaves of the plants that overhang the streams ; that such and
such ephemera launch their floating boats of eggs upon the water
itself; that certain larvae are to be found among the weeds at the
bottom. We are to know just at what locality upon the stream
these are to be found, and at what month of the year they will de-
velop into active life, because where the food is there the fish do
congregate. This knowledge is important, for it enables the
angler to select the choice places for his casts, and prevents waste
of time in testing spots where success is improbable. Into this
study of entomology also enters all the minutiz of patterns for
artificial flies, and the selection of such specimens for casts as will
NORTHERN INLAND FISHES. 295

correspond in a great degree with the seasons when the natural
insect is abroad.

If in addition to this acquisition, we can discern the face of the
sky, and study the conditions of the weather, the temperature of
the air and water, the direction of the wind and clouds, the character
of the streams, etc., we can reasonably determine where to fish.

Observation has taught us that warm, sluggish and turbid wa-
ter is not the home of the salmonidz. We know that they are
less liable to be found in a limestone country than amid a granite
formation. We find that fish don’t bite after a thunderstorm, or
after a flood; that after a heavy rain which washes unlimited food
into the stream, trout becomé surfeited and indifferent to the
angler’s lures ; that the fish are sluggish on cold, raw and blustery
days, which are usually accompanied by northerly and easterly
winds ; that it is no time to fish when the streams are filled with
snow water; that trout are most wary when the sky is cloudless ;
that windy weather is unfavorable for casting ; that the fish dwell
chiefly in those parts of the stream where the natural current car-
ries the surface food ; that the biggest fish select and occupy the
best places. We know, moreover, that the conditions which apply
to streams do not apply to lakes and ponds, and the rules that
govern the fishing for speckled trout do not apply to salmon and
other varieties of the salmo family. In ponds we must fish where
we find the coldest water supplied by bottom springs; in deep
channels, which are frequently indicated by the growing lily pads ;
where cold brooks chance to empty themselves into the main body.
We do not fish where there are deposits of mud. The presence of
aquatic plants indicates mud, but if there be a space of clear water
it indicates gravel bottom caused by the flow of a current which
has deposited the silt and vegetable matter on either hand, just as
bottom lands on large rivers are formed. Sometimes, too, we find
patches of a succulent vegetable growth on the bottom swarming
with larvae. Ifwe pull up a handful we find it alive with the food
that will attract the fish to the spot which the experienced angler
will instinctively resort to. Neither do the same conditions apply
alike to all ponds and streams; for which reason experience can
only be gained by fishing over a great number of localities in as
many different sections of country.
296 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

The lesson of entomology as applied to the angler’s purposes
has been most beautifully taught by Miss Sara J. McBride, an
accomplished naturalist of Mumford, New York, in an essay once
published in the Forest and Stream journal, which we take the
liberty to transfer to these pages herewith :

‘There is a large order of insects that live the first stages of
life in water, where for weeks, months, in some instances years,
they hide under stones; carve an abiding place in submerged
driftwood ; feed on decaying vegetation in lazy inert masses ; bur-
row in the earth beneath the current; weave together bits of
wood, gravel, stones, and floating debris, forming retreats that
surround them as they swim or daintily walk; spin of silken
thread individual domiciles that they guard from intruders with
the valor of soldiers, or boldly and singly dash out in the current
swimming with agile rapidity. These are all fish food. But it is
only when they assume the perfect form, when they cast aside
their aquatic nature, and with gossamer wings float in the air, that
they are of interest to the fly-fisher—as he seeks to deceive the
finny tribe with their imitations, made of feathers, tinsel and
mohair. Insects are enfeebled at all changes in their life, and at
each successive moult when the pupa case is broken, too weak to
keep guard, they flutter and rest on the water an instant before
flitting away. At this instant many are seized by the wary fish.
Insects leave the water mornings and evenings, particularly the
latter, rarely at midday, never during rain storms or heavy winds.
It is at these times, when they are leaving the water, their imita-
tions are used to most advantage. It is that insect floating off
into a new element that the fish are watching and waiting to feed
on. At other times you may cast with success your favorite
‘brown hackle’ with its golden ribs and steel backbone—the
bland professor—the modest queen of the water, or the grizzly
king with his grey locks and flaming sword. Things which re-
semble nothing in the heavens above, the earth beneath, or the
waters under the earth: why fish take these, whether from
curiosity, or by way of dessert, no one perhaps will ever know, not
fully understanding the nature of the fish. But there is one thing
we do know, that when the countless myriads of these tiny crea-
tures are entering a new life in untried regions, the favorite flies
NORTHERN INLAND FISHES. 297

will be thrown in vain. The fish will regard with contemplative
indifference every other lure but a close imitation of that particular
insect.

‘One evening we sat on the bank of a creek, bug net in hand,
watching the trout and the birds of the air feeding ona neurop-
terous insect that is constantly repeating the cycle of its life,

* As yet unknown to fame,
And guiltless of a Latin name.’

The stream was in eddying whirls of ripples from the constant ‘ leap-
ing’ of the trout. Now and then one bolder than the rest would
dash out of the water its full length to seize its departing prey,
which sometimes escaped to become a precious morsel in the
mandibles of a watching bird. Many of these insects would float
on with the current, never able to unfold their soft creamy wings,
and become easy victims. On the opposite bank was an angler.
For an hour in patience he whipped the stream, now up, now down,

with ‘red hackles,’ * white hackles,’ ‘ black hackles ;’ he changed
fly after fly in vain. At length he folded his rod and passed away
among the shadows of the night, without so much as a bite, with-
out so much as a chance to tell of the big fish ‘ hooked’ but lost.

“There are many aquatic insects double brooded, or under
favorable circumstances, of a succession of broods. Imitations
of such can be used throughout the summer months. There are
many insects that do not breed in water, yet are successful baits.
As a rule, insects that appear in large numbers, whether they
belong to land or water, are the proper ones for imitation. Soli-
tary specimens, although dear to the heart of an entomologist, are
eyed by the fish with haughty indifference. Water is a great
attraction for all insect tribes. The banks of streams constitute
the favorite hunting ground for insect collectors where they com-
pete with the fish, those practical entomologists, in collecting.
Some insects come to drink, others in search of prey, for insects
are cannibals, while very many are the sport of the winds. It is
probably the bright sheen of the water that draws the fluttering
moths into its depths. All nocturnal insects have a strange infat-
uation for glistening light. What the attraction is for some is
beyond the ken of mortals. A Zvpulid@ bibr¢é marcz, or in pisca-
torial language, the hawthorn fly, an insect, whose life is beneath

13*
298 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

the surface of the earth eleven months of every year, comes crawl-
ing, creeping out of the ground on warm June mornings appareled
in new livery. After resting awhile on low herbage, all, as if
guided by one impulse, fly to the nearest stream. We have kept
these insects for weeks in confinement, and they would neither eat
nor drink. But every morning for hours they congregate over
streams ; keeping time with the ripple of the water, they hold a
May dance; darting hither and thither, occasionally touching the
water to go down with the current, or else down the throat of a
fish. When these bright creatures are holding high carnival
above, the trout positively refuse other enticement. The larvee of
moths is a favorite fish food, and consequently successful bait.
Hibernating larve are drawn from their retreats in warm spring
days, and continue the pilgrimage they commenced the previous
fall. In their wild journeyings on and on before spinning the
pupa shroud, they fall victims in attempting to cross streams.
Hairy caterpillars feeding on the trees are blown off by the winds,
or their silken thread is broken, as they hang under the leaves in
shelter from the rain. Imitations of these known to the Ameri-
can by the familiar term of hackles, and to the accurate inhabitant
of the British Isles by the correct name of palmers, are to be used
after winds or during rain storms ; also that compromise between
larve and image known as the hackle fly. Bristling with feet
its entire length, and graced with a pair of wings, it offers a double
attraction to the fish. No bait has ever been used that has given
the general satisfaction of this anomaly. To look at it with
the eye of a naturalist one doubts the wit or wisdom of the fish
that takes it, and concludes there are comparative degrees of sane-
ness beneath the ripple of the wave. It is a common remark that
fish will not ‘bite’ before rain. Some have accounted for it by
bringing forward that common scapegoat for all unexplainable
phenomena, electricity. I can’t understand why fish should dread
a sprinkling of rain drops. The reason probably is, that their food
is never offered at such times. The natural instinct of the insect
forbids their leaving the water or flying abroad if rain is threaten-
ing. The spiracles or breathing pores are situated on the outside
of the body near the insertion of the wings. They are soon clogged
and closed up by the water, and the down washed from their
NORTHERN INLAND FISHES. 299

bodies ; their wings draggle and become powerless, and they
suffocate flying in mid air. This is the reason winged insects on
touching water drown so easily. Insects do not invariably appear
at the same times. A cold spring will retard their development
for months, while an unusually warm spring or summer will hasten
their appearance. Insects in the water are the most afflicted by
changes of temperature. Any guide for a fly-fisher would be
almost useless unless this important point is remembered. English
works can never become positive authorities for our climate. In-
sects which appear there in vast quantities are rare here, and vzce
versa. Some that are single-brooded there are double-brooded
here. Some that appear there in one month visit us at another,
while we have many alluring baits here that the classic waters of
the British Isles would regard with bewildering amazement.”

In fishing with worm for bait, it is better to choose a still,
cloudy day suggesting rain, as the fish are then on the alert for
insects. Begin at the head of the stream, and fish down stream,
at all times keeping well back from the bank. Do not in baiting
your hook, merely cover the point of your hook with the head of
the worm, but put on the whole worm running the hook through
him in three or four places, and then covering the point of the
hook with the head of the worm. It is considered much more
sportsman-like to fish with a fly, as it requires more tact; but there
are times when fish will not bite at a fly, in which case it is some
sport, although less, to use a worm. As a food Ash, the trout is
unsurpassed almost, the flesh being exceedingly firm and well-
flavored.

Bive-Back Trout.—Salmo oqguassa.—Girard.

This species of trout is peculiar to the Rangeley Lakes of Maine,
so far as is known. It was discovered by Girard in 1852. They
are never seen until the tenth of October, when they swarm the
different streams in countless myriads. They remain for twenty
days, and then leave, returning the following year at almost the
exact day, and always to the same place. The countrymen gather
them by bushels and barrels, smoking and salting them for home
use. They never vary in size from the uniform length of eight
inches. While in general appearance they resemble the Sa/mo
300 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

fontinalzs, an examination discovers their form and markings to
be entirely different. Their backs are like dark blue velvet pile;
sides liberally sprinkled with vermilion spots from gills to caudal
fin. There is no silvery halo around the spots, as in the familiar
brook trout, and the shoulders are very narrow. The flesh has a
yellowish tinge, and is of not as fine flavor as that of the common
trout. The best accepted authorities declare them to be a distinct
species. They never take a fly, and very seldom a bait. Prof.
Milner describes their specific characteristics as follows :

“The type of form in S. oguzassa is much more slender, with a
tendency in its different parts to prolongation not seen in brook
trout. Thus the length of the fish, compared with the thickness,
with the length of the head, the thickness of the head to the length,
the pectoral fin prolonged to a slender point, the two lobes of the
caudal extended in the same way, showing a decided furcation, and
the opercular bones prolonged into a more acute angle.

“On the contrary, the maxillary bone extends much less far back
of the position of the eye, or toward the hinder end or hinge of the
lower jaw in the Oquossac trout.

“The interopercular bone is much larger in .S. ogwassa and the
suboperculum is wider.

“ The tail in Salmo fontinalzs is more truncated than in any
species it is likely to be confounded with. The drawings show a
comparison of the caudal fin when spread and when partially
closed. I think the most of these characters will be found
constant.”

ToGuE ; gray trout; tuladi; lunge.—Sa/mo toma.—Hamlin.

The togue abounds in the great lakes at the sources of the St.
Croix and St. John Rivers, deriving one of its local names from the
Tuladi Lake and river, where it is extremely plentiful. It is found
in all the larger lakes of New Brunswick and in very many of
those in Maine and exceptionally few of those in Nova Scotia. It
inhabits abundantly the Eagle lakes, at the head of Fish River,
the St. Francis lakes, from which flows the river of that name,
the Matapediac Lake at the head of that river, Lake Temiscouata,
Lakes Memphremagog and Brompton, where it is known as the
“Junge,” the Grand lakes, and Cheputneticook lakes of the St.
NORTHERN INLAND FISHES. 301

Croix, Loch Lomond, near St. John, N. B., etc., etc. It grows toa
great size and weight, attaining as high as forty-two pounds. It
is taken by trolling with a spoon, or a “gang” of hooks baited
with minnow, in the months of May and June, and later by deep
trolling at a depth of seventy to one hundred feet. In October it
can also be taken with a troll when it resorts to sandy or pebbly
bars, at the outlets of the lakes to spawn, and is then speared in
great numbers. Seth Green, in a carefully prepared paper ad-
dressed to the “ Forest and Stream,” has given the follow-
ing minute directions for angling for these fish, which methods
apply alike to other (supposed) varieties, to be enumerated here-
after :

“ They are taken with silver and brass spoon hooks, by leading

.the line so that the spoon runs near the bottom. But they are
taken sometimes at the top of the water and sometimes half way
down from the surface, and by trolling with three lines at one
time—one at the surface, one half way down and one near the
bottom. Another way is to anchor a buoy out in deep water and
cut fish in pieces, varying in size from a hickory-nut to a butter-
nut, and scattering the pieces around the buoy for some days ;
then anchor your boat to the buoy, using a piece of the same kind
of bait on your hook that you had been in the habit of scattering
around your buoy; fish near the bottom and give it a little motion
by giving your line short jerks. The buoy should not be baited
the day you go fishing.

* Another way is to have a rod and reel and four or five hundred
feet of fine strong line, and if the water is deep put a lead sinker
weighing three-quarters of a pound on the end of your line, and
tie a single gut leader twelve feet long on the main line twelve
feet above your sinker. For hooks, you should use nine number
six Limerick hooks, tied three together, back to back, so that they
look like a three-pronged grappel. Tie them on a single gut lead-
er, about two and one-half inches apart, and you have a gang of
hooks five inches Jong. Put two very small brass swivels on your
leader. Use the kind of small fish for bait that the trout are
used to eating in your lake. Hook one of the upper hooks through
the under and upper jaw so that his mouth will be.closed. Then
hook one of the lower hooks through the back near the tail in such
302 GAME: FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

a manner that it will give the fish a curve and will turn around
like a trolling-spoon when it is drawn through the water. The
most successful fishermen use three of this same kind of rigs in
one boat ; they fish one rig near the top with a light sinker, say
four ounces, and one about half way down with an eight ounce
sinker and the twelve ounce sinker near the bottom. This is the
most successful rig I have ever used. The boat should be rowed
very slow, so that you can feel the bottom with the heavy sinker
nearly every time you raise it up andlet it down. The bait should
be raised up and down bya gentle motion, set the other two
lines, one on each side of the boat, and they will take care of
themselves. Live fish should be used for bait. Some do not use
but eight hooks, one hook for the upper to hook in the minnow’s
mouth and one to hook through the back near the tail, and twc
sets of three each between the two single hooks tied about one
and a half inches apart. Be careful and keep your minnow look-
ing as natural as possible. Do not rub any more scales off than
you can help. When you let your line out your boat should be in
motion to keep your bait from twisting around the main line.”

Togue are extremely voracious, and will often seize the bait
repeatedly after having been insecurely hooked. The young fish
rise freely to trout flies in rapid water, though few are taken in this
way that exceed three pounds in weight.

When in perfect condition it bears a close resemblance to a
full grown salmon, though it is more chunky ; lacking its symmet-
rical lines. A rich pearly lustre covers the ventral regions, deep-
ening into russet toward the lateral line; above which the color
appears of a deep mottled grey, deepening into blue or purplish
brown on the back. The body is covered with spots and mark-
ings of a lighter sienna color, circular, without being ocellate,
varying according to the seasons and local influences, being bright-
er at the spawning periods than at other times. The fins are of a
yellowish or orange hue below; the dorsal of a dark grey. The
tail is long, broad, and deeply forked; the flesh of a pale yellow.
Its form indicates great strength and swiftness, although it has the
reputation of being slow and sluggish. Its jaws and tongue are
armed with conical and inflected teeth.

It preys extensively on eels and cyprinids, and nothing that it
NORTHERN INLAND FISHES. 303

can swallow seems to come amiss. It is often found gorged with
small fish,

When boiled it is an excellent dish, though lacking in high fla-
vor. The points of difference between it and varieties to be named
subsequently, are such that best authorities are divided in opinion
as to whether there is one or several species. As regards Lake
Memphremagog and the Brompton Lakes, the problem in itself is
sufficiently puzzling. Here the grey trout are locally known as
“lunge,” having been adopted from the St. Francis Indians who
formerly hunted and fished around these lakes. But there is not
only one variety of lunge, but several, and these are known as the
black lunge, the silver lunge and the racer lunge, all of which we have
seen, and are able to vouch for their striking points of difference in
color and. habits. Mr. N. P. Leach, of Montreal, who is familiar
with Canadian waters, wrote us May 9th, 1876, the following note
in reply to ours asking him for specific information on this in-
teresting subject:

“I received to-day a couple of lunge from Mr. Hubbard, of the
Parks House, Magog. They were caught in the lake near his
hotel. One was a fine specimen of the dark copper or black lunge,
the other was a small, five-pound silver lunge. The black lunge
corresponds to the minutest particular with De Kay’s Salmo con-
Jinis, and the silver lunge answers well to the description of the
Salmo naymachus by Richardson. It might be taken for the Sa/-
mo adtrondakus nobzs, of Nortis’ “ American Angler’s Book,’’ but
that the Salmo ad¢rondakus, if described accurately in Norris’ book,
has no teeth on the vomer, while the specimen before me has quite
a number of teeth there. In regard to classifying the different
species or varieties of Salmon¢d@ that are found in the eastern
township waters, I know of no one that has done this, and feel
very diffident about attempting it myself, though I will endeavor
to get specimens from the various waters there, and with the as-
sistance of Mr. J. Whiteaves of the Natural History Society here, I
will prepare an article for you.”

We regret to say that we have waited in vain for the light
which we anticipated Mr. Whiteaves would shed, and our readers
are byso much the losers. We can add nothing more to the above.
In addition to these apparent varieties, there is still another in
304 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

Lake Massiwippi, in the Province of Quebec, some forty miles dis-
tant, called the black salmon. We believe however, that the char-
acteristics of the several varieties named are less positive than
those that distinguish the Salmo fonténalis from the S. zmmacu-
latus.

Satmon Trout; lake trout; red trout; lake salmon.—Salmo confinis.—De Kay.
Salmo adirondakus.—Norris.

This trout undoubtedly possesses characteristics (specific ?)
and habits very different from the togue or grey trout of Maine
and New Brunswick. It does not attain the immense size of the
togue, its average weight being scarcely more than six pounds,
though we have ourselves seen a specimen that weighed sixteen
pounds, and heard of others that would hold several pounds over
this. Its natural habitat is the lakes of New York State and the
adjoining waters of Pennsylvania and Canada, though much re-
stricted in the first-named; and were not found outside thereof
until their comparatively very recent distribution by Fish Commis-
sioners throughout the clear and cold waters of nearly all the
Northern States. Both this fish and the Salmo namaycush or
Mackinaw trout of the Great Lakes are thus employed for propaga-
tion with equal success. The salmon trout is now becoming well-
known, and will doubtless hereafter occupy and thrive in most of
the waters where it has been placed and adopted. It takes the
troll readily in June, and is often caught with fly at the outlets of
the Adirondack lakes, notably at Bartlett’s dam, outlet of the-Lower
Saranac. In Hamilton County it is known as the Red Trout, which
latter, at a period not remote, was supposed to be a distinct variety
of trout, its markings being different in many respects,—its drab
color tinged with pink, and its spots smaller and of a deeper orange.
There are marked peculiarities of the lake trout in other waters of
New York than these; as for instance, in Seneca Lake they will
not take troll or fly, but in Crooked Lake, immediately adjoining it,
they are constantly taken with the hook. In Lakes Winnipissiogee
and Monadnock, in New Hampshire, there is a trout so different
from other recognized species that its individuality is admitted by
scientists. It is known as the Salmo symmetrica. Its form is
slender, symmetrical; that of the cozfinzs is thicker and shorter.
NORTHERN INLAND FISHES. 305

There is a marked difference in the dental systems, and in the
colors of body and fins. The conjinzs, when first caught, is of a
bluish-black on sides and body ; white below; sides of head and
body, base of first dorsal, caudal and anal fins crowded with nu-
merous rounded, irregular grey spots. The symmetrica is light to
dark brown on back and head; sides dark grey above lateral line,
and light salmon below; pectoral and ventrals grey. The whole
fish, including fins, is thickly sprinkled with small circular spots of
a drab color on sides, olive on back approaching to light salmon
below. They are caught in great abundance with the hook in
winter, through the ice, and are highly esteemed for the table. It
is hardly worth while in this work, to educe arguments to convince
the skeptical ; our readers will not care much whether there is one
species or a dozen, if so be that they only bite well.

LanpLockep SaLmon ; wininnish, or ouininnish ; Sebago Trout.—Salmo sebago ;
the young fish g/over7.—Girard.

Much needless speculation has been indulged in during the
past twenty years, and much discussion excited, as to whether this
fish was a true salmon, which having been to the sea, preferred
not to go there ; or that, being a true salmon, and debarred from
the sea, he chose like a sensible fellow to content himself in fresh
water; or that by some mischances, he had become ‘“degene-
rate’ in size, beauty, and succulency, and unworthy of his regal
progenitors ; or whether he was not, after all, truly a variety of
lake trout.. So much speculation, we repeat, has been indulged in,
that it would be a waste of our space to review the pros and cons
of the argument, suffice to say that one most excellent authority,
Dr. A. C. Hamlin, pronounces it identical with the sea salmon,
and exhibiting no radical differences, except in the one peculiarity
that it does not go to salt water. The bony structure and its fin
system are precisely the same as those of sa/mo salar. Therefore
we are at liberty to call it a salmon.

And yet, if we examine its fin system and compare it with that
of the togue, we find that the two formule vary but slightly:
which see:

Landlocked salmon—Br. 12; P. 15; V.9; A. 10; D. 12; C.
19. Togue Br. 12; P. 12-13; V.9; A. 11-12; D. 13;C. 19.
306 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

Now, as greater variations are found in lake trout which are de-
clared to be identical species, we are equally at liberty to call the
Salmo sebago a lake trout, or ‘“sebago trout,” as some name it.
We leave it to those who pay their money, to take their choice,
and herewith dismiss the subject. Either conclusion is favored by
the facts of its biographical history. Within two years we have
taken this fish in Canada where there were no obstructions to
its passage to the sea; and twenty-five years ago we took the
same fish in Maine, where obstructions did not then exist, but now
do. The argument as to its involuntary restriction to fresh water
therefore has no weight. It would not go to the sea if it could;
it will not when it can.

While its localities are strangely circumscribed, its geographi-
cal area or habitat is certainly not very limited. It is found in
Loch Lomond, New Brunswick; in the Grand Lakes of the St.
Croix River, in Union River, and in Sebago Lake, in the southern
part of Maine ; in the Sebec Lake and Reed’s Pond, near Ellsworth,
in Central Maine; in the Stony Lake Chain, Peterborough County,
Ontario, Canada, some eighty miles north of Lake Ontario ; and in
Lake St. John, headwaters of the Saguenay, Province of Quebec,
where it is locally known as the Wininnish or Ouininnish. It will
thus be seen that its range extends over a territory of some three
hundred miles square, in which the conditions of its existence vary
very much. To particularize: In the Maine and New Brunswick
waters its passage to the salt water is obstructed by dams ; in
Ontario, Canada, it has indirect but free access to the sea via Lake
Ontario and the St. Lawrence River; and in the Saguenay’it has
short, easy, and direct access to salt water, without any obstruc-
tion whatever,

As to size, the landlocked salmon vary. In most of the Maine
lakes they run from two to four or five pounds, sometimes, how-
ever, being taken weighing from ten to fifteen pounds. The
Sebago fish, however, is much larger, the mature fish averaging
perhaps six to eight pounds. In the upper Saguenay they run
about four pounds average, and seldom exceed seven pounds,
while in the Stony Lake region, in Ontario, we have seen specimens
as heavy as twenty pounds, a photograph of which is in our pos-
session. They are invariably taken in the swift current below the
NORTHERN INLAND FISHES, 307

dams or rapids, as soon as ever the ice breaks up in spring. We
have seen a Sebec specimen caught April twenty-first. The Stony
Lake and St. Croix fishing is best in May; while in the Saguenay
it is at its prime in the middle of June. In the autumn they again
pass up the rivers and are taken with the fly; remaining in the
clear streams until the spawning season is passed, or until Novem-
ber. While the landlocked salmon is as capricious as others of
the Salmonidz, there are some patterns of artificial flies that seem
to suit it best, viz.; a deep yellow fly, both body and wings ; a fly
with black wings and yellow body ; a grey fly; ared body and grey
hackle; brown wings and black body; these are the best colors,
the yellow and black prevailing.

Asagame fish, it is hardly equalled except by the true salmon.
Its strength and agility are surprising. When hooked it will fre-
quently make a succession of leaps, two or three feet clear of the
water. When the evening is calm and tranquil, after a warm day
or a stormy period, it is the best time to cast the fly. At this hour
the fish emerge from their cool places of concealment, where re-
pose has sharpened their appetites, and they pursue with avidity
the insects that sport near the surface of the stream, or the little
minnows which venture from their safe places on the shallows.

The differences in color between the lake and migratory salmon
are not great, and color is not regarded as of any importance in
relation to specific character. The sea salmon has a more silvery
lustre. Colorings depend upon food and locality, as well as upon
age, season and the purity of the water. The young landlocked
salmon, termed salmo gloverz, have afew small reddish orange
dots in the middle of the black spots, which are wanting in the
adults.

For some time the wininnish was regarded as a distinct variety
of fish. Upon this point the following letter will be considered
conclusive :

Catais, Me., Sept. 8th, 1875.
Chas. Hallock, Esq:

I have compared the wininnish of the Saguenay with the land-
locked salmon of Maine, salmo gloverd, and think them the same.
Some years ago, some of the Saguenay fish were sent to Cam-
bridge. Prof. Agassiz, Mr. Putnam and myself compared them,
and Agassiz thought them the same. I have no doubt that the
308 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

salmo gloverd is quite common in most of the rivers about the Bay
of Fundy, as well as along the State of Maine, and when taken
have been called the young of the sea salmon. Unless you have
both to compare, it is not easy to tell the difference. They have
been examined as to all their measurements so scientifically, their
markings, etc., which I have no doubt you have seen, that it is not
hard to tell the S. eZoverd from the true salmon. The number of
vertebre differ—fifty-nine in the salmon to fifty-seven in S. elover?,
a double row of small teeth in the vomer of the young salmon, a
single row in the smolt of the gZoverz. Some of our English fish-
ermen thought our fish the same as the European 5S. ¢ruzfa and
S.cambricas. Some specimens were sent to Dr. Guenther, F.R.S.,
of England, who pronounced them different, and nothing to do
with the sea salmon. I do not understand how they ever got the
name landlocked salmon, as they always had access to the sea,
and in my boy days 5S. gZoverz was common to the tide waters, and
more often taken as far down as there were fish weirs. They
have been identified in several of our Maine rivers, also in Loch
Lomond and Mespeck, N. B., in Nova Scotia, in St. John’s Lake,
Grand Lake, Salmon River, and Pockwock Lake, and I have no
doubt it will be found in many of the rivers of clear water coming
into the St. Lawrence, and when caught are called young salmon.
Ihave seen specimens of S. gloverz caught on our rivers that
weighed ten to twelve pounds. The large fish s¢ldom take fly or
bait, but keep in the deep water.
GEO. A. BOARDMAN,

Grayuinc ; Spearing.— Thymallus ontariens?s.—Cuv. and Val.

Specimens of this fish have been taken from waters adjacent
to Lake Ontario; in a stream near Quebec, where it has the local
name of “spearing;’’ in Vermont, near the Derby line; and in a
stream at the head-waters of the Penobscot River in Maine. The
identity of this fish, which some have doubted, can be readily au-
thenticated. Its habits are the same as those of the Western
grayling elsewhere described.

Wuirerisx ; Gizzard fish ; Shad.—-Coregonus labradoricus.—Richardson.

This fish is taken in the St. Lawrence River, and much re-
sembles the C. albus. The two species are widely distributed
throughout Canada and the Northern States, varying considerably
in size and shape in different waters, and differing in quality of
their flesh. They are found in Lakes Ontario, Erie and Champlain,
in the Adirondack lakes and the interior lakes of New York; in-
NORTHERN INLAND FISHES. 309

deed, they are said to inhabit all the interior lakes of America from
Lake Erie to the Arctic Sea. The whitefish abounds in all the
Eagle Lakes, at the head of Fish River, in Maine, which is a tribu-
tary of the St. John; in the St. Francis Lakes, at the stream’s head
in Lake Temiscouata, in Canada (P. Q.); and in the Madawaska,
Restigouche and various other rivers, where it is netted and speared
by the Indians. It is known to the Canadian voyageurs as the
“gizzard fish,” its stomach much resembling the gizzard of a fowl.
Charles Lanman, Esq., of Georgetown, D. C., has published an
interesting paper on the whitefish of Maine and New Brunswick,
describing their habits, in which he speaks of having frequently
taken them with rod and line ; as has also the writer of this paper.
They are most abundant in July and the first part of August, and
are then often taken in Lake Champlain with a natural fly, locally
known as the shad-fly, the fish themselves being called shad by
many persons. They spawn in October. In Chateaugay Lake they
have been taken with the red ibis fly, and in Seneca Lake are often
taken on set lines. In other waters they are taken with minnow
in the fall on shoals where they congregate to spawn in company
with the lake herrings.

OtsEco Bass ; Otsego Shad-Salmon.—Coregonus otsego.—De Kay.

Although called a bass, this is a true whitefish. It belongs to
the family salmonide, and not to the family percida. Locally it
is known as the shad-salmon. We append the following descrip-
tion from De Witt Clinton :

“Body elongate, subcylindrical compressed; back arched ;
scales very small ; lateral line distinct, straight. Mouth'small, with
a protuberant bifid upper lip. No teeth in the maxillaries, intermax-
illaries, vomer, palatines or pharyngeals. Dorsal fin with nine (?)
rays, three of which are imperfect, adipose, filamentous at the tip,
caudal forked. Color. Dusky above the lateral line ; silvery be-
neath it. Dusky lateral stripes, as in the Ladrax lzneatus, or
striped bass ; these are about six oreight in number. Pupils black;
irides silvery, opercles silvery, spotted with yellow. It spawns in
autumn.” The small mouthed black bass, (J¢cropterus salmot-
des, Gill) does not fill this bill at all, although there is great liability
to confound it with the Otsego bass, from the fact that it is itself
310 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

locally known as the Oswego bass,—between which two proper
names there is quite a similarity. While the Oswego bass, or
black bass, is a voracious feeder and ravenous biter at the hook,
the Otsego bass scarcely ever takes the hook. It appears to be pe-
culiar to the Otsego Lake, just as the trout of Winnipisseogee Lake
are peculiar to its waters. It has been taken in seines, by several
thousands at a time, but was rapidly decreasing in numbers until
the year 1871, when the Fish Commissioners began their artificial
propagation and the restocking of the lake.

MICROSTOMID:.

SMELTS.—Osmerus mordax.—Gill.

The fresh water Smelts found in Nova Scotia and New Bruns-
wick rivers, in certain portions of Lake Champlain, and in New
Hampshire, Massachusetts, and possibly many other places, are
identical with the sea smelts, having been introduced into fresh wa-
ters and acclimated there. Itis said that Jamaica Pond, in Massa-
chusetts, was stocked with them as long ago as the close of the last
century, They take the hook freely in February and March, and
afford lively play for light tackle. The smelts of the Raritan, Pas-
saic, and Delaware Rivers are believed to be identical with their
more northern congeners, while the Potomac smelts found in the
Washington markets are the Hybognathus regtus.

Recent attempts have been made by the Maryland Fish Com-
missioners to propagate smelts artificially.

CLUPEID:.

Laxe Herrine ; Bowlin or Mudfish.—A ma occidentalis.—De Kay,

The Bowlin or Mudfish, found in the sluggish marshy streams
of Vermont, and identical with the dog-fish, mud-fish or lake
lawyer (amza ocellicauda) of Lake Huron, Lake Pepin, and other
Western waters. The only other known species is the ama calva
of De Kay, found in Lakes Erie and Ontario, It is a worthless,
voracious fish, and is caught in the summer and early fall with
frogs, minnows, alive or dead, and the trolling spoon. He often
attains a weight of twelve pounds, [See Western Inland Fishes.]
NORTHERN INLAND FISHES. 311

Laxe HERRING.—A rgyrosomus clupeiformis (Mitchell,) and A. harengus (Rich).

These fish are very numerous in the shoaler waters of Lake
Erie and the western lakes, and very much resemble the salt water
herring in size, form and color. They seldom attain a weight of
two pounds. They are not especially sought by the angler, although
we have caught them with minnows, when fishing for black bass.
Insects are the best bait, however. They are found in more or less
abundance at all seasons of the year, though they swarm in greatest
numbers about the middle of November, which is their spawning
season. They are not a favorite fish in the market, being rather
deficient in qualities as a fresh or salted fish; but when slightly
pickled in brine, and exposed to the smoke of a hot fire for a short
time, make most delicious food.

Lake SHEEPSHEAD ; white perch of the lakes ; grunter; drum.—Corvina oscula.
—De Kay.—Hafloidonotus grunniens.—Raf.

This fish is found in Lakes Erie and Ontario, in Onondaga
Lake, and other interior lakes of New York. It feeds on many
of the fresh water shell fish, and takes the hook with freedom, but
is a dry and tasteless fish, and not esteemed for the table. It oc-
curs also in Ohio and in southwestern waters. Length a foot to
eighteen inches; weight three to six pounds. Its shape is some-
thing like that of the salt water sheepshead, but it belongs to quite
a different family. Color grey on the back, and greyish white
below.
FISHES OF THE WEST.

PERCIDE.

Biackx Bass.—Micropterus nigricans. Gill

E believe that this is the only variety of black bass in the
western waters, the JZ. salmoddes not appearing. [For
description see Northern Inland Fishes.] This fish is eminently
the game fish far excellence of western waters, and is there angled
for with an ardor and a keen perception of the savodr fazre not
recognized at the east. Not only in knowledge of his habits, in
skillful handling of the fish, but in the use of tackle and methods
of fishing, do the anglers of the west excel. They wade from
shore out upon the sand bars, fishing with fly or bait ; they troll
with the spoon or minnow; they still-fish from boat and bank;
and indeed use every device imaginable to lure the fish and increase
their sport. In the latter part of the season, wading the bars is
much in vogue. Dr. Estes says: “I much prefer to fish with the
fly from the shore or by wading the bars. I make my own flies,
of which I have a great variety. Bass are not as particular in their
selection as trout. I do not remember that I ever tried a fly that
bass would nottake. Ifthe waters are very clear, most any brown
or even very dark fly will answer. If the water is turbid, or the
waves very high, I then prefer a more gaudy fly. I use my trout
bait rod; it is of the very best timber, light, but very springy. I
rig my cast precisely as for trout, except my leader is made of the
largest and strongest gut, always using three flies toa cast. Well
supplied with a good number and variety of flies, with plenty of
other extra tackle, and also a strong cord six or eight feet long, on
which to string my fish, ] commence business by casting right,
left and ahead over the bars. Sometimes these bars are of great
extent, and will give one some wading before he finds his fish.
But the bottom is clean hard packed sand, so that the wading is
FISHES OF THE WEST. 313

neither difficult nor unpleasant. Sometimes you are so far out that to
tow ashore and land every fish, although giving good sport, would
consume too much time. In this case I tie the cord somewhere
to my body, string my fish on this as I catch them, and stand my
ground so long as a fish is to be taken. In this way one will clear
the whole school. Only once did I succeed in securing three at
one cast; these weighed ten and three-quarter pounds. Many
times I have taken two at one time, and if the fish are plenty and
feeding well, this can be done in almost every case by playing well
the first one hooked until another bites. When the second is on I
try to prevent another from striking the third fly. Three black
bass are too much for light tackle, and something will be sure to
give way.”

For trolling, the necessary tackle consists of a strong hand line
of linen or cotton, and from twenty-five to seventy-five yards long;
a medium sized swivel, and a spoon hook, or one of the multitu-
dinous array of spinning baits, trolling spoons, propellers, etc.,
with the usual accompaniments of red and white feathers and
group of hooks so extensively advertised throughout the land.
The ordinary, original tin or brass spoon, with single hook soldered
on with a swivel, will be found to be equal to if not better than any
of the later inventions: the single hook is certainly far superior to
the group of two or three hooks usually found on the so-called im-
proved trolling baits. Early in the season, before the weeds are
fully grown, this style of fishing is very successful. The method
is equally as simple. The angler sits in the stern of the boat, and
while the oarsman propels the boat along and over the feeding
grounds, the angler lets out forty or fifty yards of line, and the
spoon, revolving gracefully beneath the surface of the water, proves
an effective lure. The angler now has nothing to do but to hold
the line and wait, Micawber-like, for something to turn up, when
finally a bass “ hooks himself.” He is Aau/ed zm, hand over hand,
and the deluded victim deposited in the bottom of the boat, and so on
ad infinitum. Small spoons are the best in the absence of a spoon
hook ; the floor of the mouth of the pickerel cut into the semblance
of a fish, is tough, white, and glistening, and is a capital bait; a
similar bait cut from the belly of the dogfish also answers a good
purpose.

14
314 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

Still-fishing is generally done from an anchored boat. It is a
very popular method, and is the one generally practiced by the
average angler of the Northwest. The finer and more delicate the
tackle employed, the greater will be the sport experienced ; but as
a rule still-fishers use clumsy tackle. The angler should provide
himself with a suitable rod and reel, and fifty yards of approved
line, together with hooks, swivels, sinkers, landing net and bait ;
the latter should be minnows or crayfish. Minnows are far the
best, and if shiners, are the very best bait that can be used. Chub
come next, and small yellow perch are also good, especially if the
dorsal fins are clipped off with a strong pair of scissors. If the
minnows are lively and strong, and there is a sufficient depth of
water, a float is not necessary ; but if the ground is weedy, and the
water rather shallow, or if crayfish are used for bait, a cork float
must be used. If the minnows are large, insert the hook through
the lower lip and out at the nostril; if small, hook them under the
dorsal fin.

Our still-fisher being fully equipped proceeds to the fishing
ground, anchors his boat, and prepares for the fray. Having
baited his hook and cast his line, his thumb must be kept upon
the coil of line upon the reel ; as the line slackens he must reel it
in. When a bass takes the bait let him have it for a short time,
say from five to ten seconds, according to the mood of the fish,
whether they are on or off their feed, whether eager or shy; and
by using the thumb as a drag, give him line as he needs it, but not
too freely, always keeping it taut enough to give a slight bend
to the rod, so as to be able to feel every motion of the fish. At
the proper time our angler must check him by pressing the thumb
a little harder upon the reel, and if he gives a succession of short
tugs or slight jerks, let him go for a few moments; but if he seems
to feel the steel, or if he pulls steadily and strongly, hook him by a
slight “twist of the wrist ’—not by jerking or “ yanking” the rod,
for in the latter case there is a stronger probability of breaking the
rod, or at least of tearing out the hook, than of hooking the fish.
When the bass is hooked the angler must never, under any cir-
cumstances, give him slack line. If he breaks water, merely let
the rod straighten as he falls back ; and never, under any circum-
stances, must he grasp ‘his rod above the reel—at most not more
FISHES OF THE WEST, 315

than several inches above—for by so doing he destroys the spring
and balance of the rod, and it is liable to become broken by any
sudden movement of the fish. The bass must be killed “on the
rod,’’ then reeled in and taken into the landing net.

Trolling with the minnow is very popular with expert western
anglers, who regard the method as more ez reg/e than still-fishing.
The same tackle can be used here as in the last mode described,
though almost without exception it will be found to be much
superior, many using trout fly rods. The oarsman rows the boat
quietly and slowly over the fishing grounds, just outside of the
bulrush patches, along the edges of bars and shoals, or, between
deep and shallow water. The angler reels off from thirty to fifty
yards of line, and with his thumb upon the reel and rod slightly
bent, must be ever on the alert; for in this style of fishing with
moving bait the bass bites very “wickedly,” and with forty yards
of line out he must be kept well in hand and not given an inch
more than is necessary ; he must be reeled in at every opportunity
until he is within proper bounds, when the angler can take matters
more easily and kill him at his leisure. A heavy bass breaking
water and leaping three feet into the air at the end of fifty yards
of line and a light rod, is a sensation which once experienced will
not be soon forgotten. And herein lies the advantage of this
method over still-fishing. One can get out more line, even though
indifferent at casting ; for as the boat moves along the line can be
pulled off the reel, yard by yard, with the hand, while the resist-
ance of the minnow in the water takes it from the rod.

Casting with the minnow is another scientific method, and a
grade higher in the school of piscatorial acquirements. It com-
bines all the best features of still-fishing and trolling with the min-
now, besides possessing advantages which those methods do not.
The very best rods, reels, and lines must be used. The angler
proceeds in his boat on the outside, or deep water side, of the fish-
ing grounds, and casts zz toward the feeding grounds, the oarsman
rowing along rapidly or slowly, or holding the boat stationary, as
circumstances demand. The boat being in deep water the fish are
not so apt to see it, which is a great advantage. The angler can
cast in any direction and to any distance, greater or lesser, within
the length of his line as he may desire. He can cast astern and
316 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

proceed as in trolling, or cast to either side, or forward, and by
reeling in the line keep the bait in motion, It can readily be
imagined how expert casting has so great an advantage over any
other method of bass fishing, and when once acquired it will never
be relinquished for any other mode. This is the best method to
follow when fishing from the banks of a stream, where there are
no trees or bushes to interfere; it is also the best method to pur-
sue when wading the stream is practiced.

In trolling or casting with the minnow, when a fish is hooked
let the oarsman pull out at once to deep water, so as to give the
fish better play and more room, and also to prevent his taking to
the weeds.

The angler should never be in too great a hurry to land his fish ;
for if he is well hooked he cannot get away, but if he is hooked in
a thin or weak part of the mouth, there is a greater necessity that
he should be gingerly played and tenderly handled, until he is com-
pletely “ tuckered out,”’ and turns up his belly to the sun. There
is never anything gained by too great a hurry in bass fishing. On
the contrary, “the more haste the less speed,” is a maxim partic-
ularly applicable to this case.

In landing a bass the oarsman should, at the proper time, hold
the net just under the surface of the water, and hold it perfectly still
while the angler brings the fish into or immediately over the net,
when the oarsman should lift it quickly and with one motion. He
should never be suffered to follow the fish with the net, or by sud-
den lunges attempt to secure him; for this only serves to frighten
the fish and put your tackle in jeopardy. Remember that the
largest bass always escapes when nearest the boat, and when
about to land him.

Dr. J. A. Henshall, of Wisconsin, to whom we are indebted for
most of the instructions above given, has decided that the best rod
for bait fishing should assimilate as near as may be to the typical
trout fly rod in their relative qualities of « balance, weight, strength,
and elasticity, with that happy medium of pliancy, between a trout
fly rod and a trout bait rod, which can hardly be expressed in
words.” The Doctor means to say in plain English, that the dazt
rod (for either trout or bass) should be a little “stiffer” than the
Jy rod, in either case. This is quite correct ; but while the trout
FISHES OF THE WEST. 317

bait rod is made into a trout fly rod by tapering it throughout, the
bass fly rod is changed to a bass bait rod by reducing its length;
the weight in each case being considerably diminished, but by dif-
ferent processes. ‘“ The rod that I am now using,” says the Doc-
tor, “is eight feet and three inches long, in three joints; the first
joint or but is composed of white ash, and the second joint and
tip of lancewood ; it weighs just eight ounces ; it is finely balanced,
and has a true bend from but to tip, in the form of a segment of
a circle; with it I have killed hundreds of black bass, weighing
from two to four pounds, and occasionally more, and pickerel from
five to twelve pounds, with an occasional one scaling fifteen pounds.
I have used it three seasons, and do not see where it can be im-
proved; it is as firm and elastic as when first made. I have sev-
eral times cast out my entire line of fifty yards, when casting with
the wind. I feel justly proud of the merits of this rod, for I made it
myself.” “ As for the bass fly rod” (the Doctor again), it “should
be constructed upon the model and of the same material as a single-
handed trout fly rod. It must, however, be longer, slightly stiffer,
and consequently heavier, but should approximate in its general
features, as nearly as possible, the trout fly rod. Assuming a trout
rod to be eleven feet long, and weighing from seven to nine ounces,
according to the material of its construction, a black bass fly rod
should be from twelve to twelve feet and three inches in length,
and if formed of split bamboo, should weigh from-nine to eleven
ounces; or if made of ash and lancewood, should weigh from ten
to twelve ounces. Split bamboo makes the handsomest and light-
est rod, but a combination of ash and lancewood will prove the
most serviceable, and can be furnished for at least one-half the
price of the former. The rod should be made in three joints, the
but of white ash, and the tip and second joint of lancewood ; “it
should have as true a taper and as graceful proportions as the best
trout fly rod; should be very flexible and pliant, but should not be
so withy or willowy as the lightest trout rods.”

Such a rod, let us say, would be found to answer all the emer-
gencies of fly fishing for black bass, and would be just the im-
plement for the largest brook trout of Maine or the Nepigon. J.
C. Welles of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Charles F, Orvis of Man-
chester, Vermont, make such rods warranted to give satisfaction,
318 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

at a moderate price. As for reels, the “ Frankfort reel,’ known
also as the “ Meek reel,”’ and the “ Kentucky reel,” are in highest
esteem. It is made by hand from the finest materials, and as
carefully and correctly in its fittings as the movement of a watch.
The bearings and pivots are of the finest temper, and the entire
reel is as perfect in workmanship, and as finely adjusted as is pos-
sible for skill to render it. Contrary to a current opinion, this reel
is not more complicated than the ordinary multiplying reel, and
contains but the same number of wheels, viz. two; but by a dif-
ferent arrangement of the two wheels, it multiplies four times,
while the ordinary ree] multiplies but twice; and it runs so per-
fectly and smoothly that a smart stroke of the finger upon the
handle will cause it to make about thirty revolutions, and this
without a balance handle.

They are made with or without an alarm click, or a drag or
rubber; and where one or both of these adjuncts are used, it does
not at all complicate the working of the reel, as they are operated
by flat sliding buttons on the side of the reel, and are not in the
way in the least. The reel is, in fact, so simple and perfect in its
details, that it has not been improved upon since it was first in-
vented, twenty years ago. They are made of German silver or
brass, in six sizes, No. 6 being the largest—the best size for black
bass fishing is No. 3.

The best line for black bass fishing is a hard braided silk line,
the smaller sizes being large enough. A braided linen line would
be still better, if it could be procured of a smaller size than is at
present manufactured, as they are more closely braided than the
silk lines, and consequently do not absorb so much water; this
absorption of water interferes somewhat with the free running of
the line in casting. Sproat bend hooks, tied upon wire gimp, as
a protection against the ever annoying pickerel, are the best.

In casting for bass with minnow, having the rod, reel and line
in readiness, tie on a small swivel and the smallest size ringed
sinker, and a Sproat bend hook. Now select a minnow four or
five inches in length, hook it through the lower lip and out at the
nostril, or as some prefer, out at the socket of the eye ; reel up the
line to the sinker, leaving the minnow one or two feet from the
tip of the rod, then grasp the rod immediately below the reel with
FISHES OF THE WEST. 319

the right hand, with the thumb upon the coil of line upon the reel,
to control the running off of the line as in striped bass fishing.
Now make a sweeping cast to the left or right as you desire,
keeping a gentle pressure upon the reel with the thumb, to prevent
its overrunning, and stop it suddenly by a stronger pressure as
the bait strikes the water. It will take some practice to regulate
the reel with the thumb, but with patience and perseverance any-
one will soon overcome all the difficulties and become an expert
bass fisher. This casting of course is to be accomplished entirely
with one hand, for this is the object of the light rod and delicate
tackle.

In fly fishing, flies of moderate size and subdued combinations
give best success; brown hackles tied on No. 6 Limerick, and
brown and yellow flies tied on No. 6 or No. 10 hooks are always
successful lures in low, clear water; for higher turbid water more
gaudy flies are good, made of scarlet or red body, brown tail
and wings, or with double wings, inner scarlet, outer brown, black
hackle, tied on No. 4 hook. A very killing fly is made with red
zephyr body, then first a pair of scarlet or red wings, then over
these a pair of light or dark drake wings. This givesa shade that
is obtained in no other way. Another splendid fly is made by put-
ting on first a pair of clear white wings, and over these a reddish
brown or scarlet. Green is a most desirable color in combina-
tions, as itis the color of the grasshopper ; indeed, red, yellow, and
green may probably be called the ground colors upon which pat-
terns are fabricated. A most excellent fly is made of brilliant
green silk floss, reddish brown hackle, scarlet tail, wings, under
coverts scarlet, over coverts yellowish grey.

Low water affords the best season for fishing. Minnows are
abundant and easily obtained.

Pixe Percy ; wall-eyed pike ; Ohio salmon ; white salmon ; glass-eyed pike ;
western salmon.—Stizostediom americanum. Girard.

This splendid fish is found in great abundance in all the tribu-
taries of the Ohio River, in Lakes Pepin and Huron, in Kentucky
and Tennessee, and indeed throughout the western waters gen-
erally, as far west as the Mississippi. Tons of them are taken
through the ice in Lake Pepin in March, just about the time they
320 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA,

are making their spawning beds. They are not often taken of a
weight exceeding ten pounds, but Dr. Bull is said to have taken
one in the Kentucky River which weighed fifty pounds, and Dr. D.
C. Estes, of Lake City, Minnesota, has the lower jaw of one which
he caught in Lake Pepin that weighed forty pounds. Its largest
teeth were about one inch in length. Dr. Estes, who has studied
the habits of this fish very carefully, writes :

“ The habits of this fish seem to be well known to most writers,
but Iam persuaded that with this as with some others, their habits
differ somewhat in different waters. All agree that they spawn in
April, but I have known them to spawn in this lake as early as the
fifteenth of March; I think, however, this is not always the case.
They choose for their beds clean sandy (not gravelly) bottoms in
shallow water, from two to six feet deep. As soon as the lake
freezes over they commence looking for suitable spawning grounds,
and having once selected, and “pre-empted” them, there they
remain until the spawning season is over. This is a singular and
interesting fact, and one of which I have not the least doubt. The
pickerel is their great enemy, and sometimes succeeds in “ jump-
ing” their claims. The spawning grounds here are as well known
to me and other observers as the position in the heavens of the
north star. These fish are taken very late in autumn, but never
on the spawning grounds until the lake is frozen over. You may
visit these grounds one day and not discover a single fish, but
should the lake freeze over the same night, then the next day, if
the ice is sufficiently strong to hold you, you may pay these grounds
a visit and find plenty of pike-perch. This I have known to be
the case time and again. And I know that they remain right here,
fighting off every other fish, except the pickerel, who is their enemy
and master, until the spawn is deposited in the spring. Hence I
conclude that they select their spawning grounds as early as No-
vember and December. This singular fact has interested me very
much for years. As soon as the young brood is able to take care
of itself, it strikes for deeper water, remaining together as a family
and commingling with others. For weeks they remain so closely
together that a half bushel would easily cover the entire brood. I
have seen thousands of these families so near together that many
would suppose them to be a regular school, yet every brood sep-
FISHES OF THE WEST. 321

arate and distinct from the others. I have seen large fish dart at
them, when they would endeavor to fly away together, no one
leaving his kindred until the affectionate family is scattered. Even
then they will make an effort to re-unite, but no doubt some of the
little fellows have been forever separated from the family circle.
They will thus remain together the whole of the first season, unless
broken up by their enemies. These observations have many times
intensely interested me. I am aware, however, that this is a habit
characteristic of the young broods of some other fish, especially of
the Ladraczns, or basses. The Aadztat of the adult, or if you please,
its accustomed feeding grounds in summer, has been a more
difficult matter to determine. In running water I should look for
them exactly where I would look for trout ; but in lakes they seem
to remain in no one place any length of time. As long as I have
angled for these fish here, I can never determine beforehand
where I am going to find them. The same pickerel and bass
grounds hold good year after year, and we always know what to
expect when we visit these places. Not so with the pike-perch.
One day you will find them near shore, next in deep water, and the
next at the mouths of creeks or sloughs. The most are caught off
the ends of points in ten to twenty feet of water. Sometimes they
are found very near the shore rolling and sporting in the waves. In
this case the bottom is always gravelly and stony. They seem to
abhor an abrupt rocky shore. Once my friend Mr. Gibbs struck a
large school (they seldom are found in schools) sporting in huge
waves so near the shore that his cast could reach them with ease.

The wind was blowing (in shore) a regular gale, and the water,
when still, could not have been more than two feet. They seemed
to be holding a jubilee, but, poor fellows, destruction overtook
many of them, and those that were left must have mourned for
their brethren “for they were not.”

With the brook chub (dZoxostoma oblongum,) for bait, Mr.
Gibbs took, in a little over an hour, so many that he was obliged
to get a wheelbarrow with which to take them home. The load
was so heavy that he was actually obliged to get help before he
could reach his house three-quarters of a mile distant. When I
have heard him mention this trip he would puff and blow as though
he was living the scene over again. Frequent and subsequent

14*
322 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

visits under like circumstances, to the same locality, have failed to
find the fish. Owing to the uncertainty of their feeding grounds,
not a great many of these fish are usually taken in the summer
season. Sometimes we take them with the spoon trolling, but as
they are a bottom-feeding fish, they are more generally taken with
minnow or piece of fish still-fishing. I have taken a number with
the fly ; it must be gaudy, larger than a bass fly and shotted with
a buckshot put on as near the head of the fly as possible. As soon
as the lake freezes over the slaughter of these fish begins right on
the grounds selected for spawning. They are taken through the
ice by the thousand, and the slaughter continues until the ice is
gone ; by this time the breeding season is over, and what were not
taken by the hook have departed to other waters and resumed
their roving habits. Live bait only will answer for winter fishing.
[For description of pike-perch, see Northern Inland Fishes.]

Jack SALmon or SAND Pike.—Lucioperca pepinus. Estes.

A fine food fish weighing trom one-half to three pounds.
Color yellowish brown, and spotted very much like the rattle-
snake, Resembles very much the pike perch; in fact its specific
characteristics are almost identical ; so much so, that one is often
taken for the other by those not fully conversant with both. They
are free biters and are taken with minnow bait. Spawn in April
and May. Dr. D.C. Estes first discovered this fish in Lake Pepin
and because he had never seen him described or named, called
him, years ago, Luczoperca pepinus. He must certainly be
classed with the pike-perch.

Burrato Percy or Gruntine Percu.—Haploidonotus grunniens. Raf, -

A large stout shouldered fish of bluish grey color; scales
large, fins greyish olive, with sucker mouth; snout very thick,
blunt and short; meat very coarse and hard; not fit to be eaten,
but the pot-fishermen sell numbers of them to the uninitiated.
The grunting habit of this fish is well established. It is not,
however, a grunt, but rather a kind of drumming or gurgling
sound. Size from five to fifteen pounds.
FISHES OF THE WEST. 323

YELLow PErcH.—FPerca flavescens. Cuv.

This well known fish is not as abundant as in the Eastern
States, though found to some extent in all those waters, [See
Northern Inland Fishes.]

StrrreD Bass.—Labrax lineatus. Storer.

Identical with Roccus léneatus of the salt water, only much
smaller. Found in all western waters of any considerable size.
It is a splendid game-fish scarcely surpassed for the table. Taken
best in the early and later months. Weighs from two to three
pounds.

Srraw Bass; Rock Bass; Calico Bass; Goggle-eye ; or Croppie.—A mébloplites
rupestris. Gill.

This fish is a good pan-fish, and a free biter, but destitute of
game. They are abundant in Lakes Pepin and St. Croix; also
found in all the rivers and many of the inland lakes. Spawn on
gravelly bottoms, in April. Are taken in great numbers with min-
now bait, early in the season. Weight from one to two and a
half pounds.

Sunrisu.—Pomotis vulgaris. De Kay.

This common sunfish is met with in all western waters, but
is not abundant.

NortuHErn Sunrisu.—Pomotis auritus. Gunth,

This fish is quite abundant. Color greenish brown above,
yellowish below ; sides of head marked with blue and yellow lines ;
fins unicolor, ventral ones greenish olive, the others yellowish ;
opercular or ear-flap black and larger than in Pomotzs vulgaris.
These two species are all that have been observed in the west,
though the family is very numerous, some thirteen or fourteen
species being found indigenous to the Gulf States alone.

CLUPIDZ.

Tue Geneva Cisco.—Argyrosmus clupeiformis sisco, Jordan.

This is the cisco of Lake Ontario, It is found, according to
Jordan, in Lakes Nemahbin, Oconomowoc, La Belle, Troy Lake,
324 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

and the waters that form the sources of the Fox River in Wiscon-
sin, and in Lake Tippecanoe, in Indiana. It is neither a coregonus
nor a lake herring (Clupea harengus,) as was formerly maintained,
though similar in appearance to both those fishes. Nor is it like
them in its habits or edible qualities. The cisco is a very sym-
metrical fish, white in flesh, and fine in flavor; their size remarka-
bly uniform, ranging from six to ten ounces in weight, and averag-
ing about eight. They make their appearance in June, generally
about the tenth, never earlier than the first, and their “run’”’ lasts
only about a week. At this time they take a fly ravenously, and
afford fine sport to thousands of people who annually come from
the surrounding country to catch them. Hundreds of people tent
on the shore of the lake, and scores of camp-fires are seen on all
sides in the calm summer nights. Very light tackle is required by
the angler. Although it is said that they will take bait of any kind,
experiments go to show they can only be taken with the natural
May fly, myriads of which are found on the grass and bushes along
the shore during the cisco run.

Docrisu, Muprisu, or Lake Lawyer.—A mia ocellicauda, Rich.

Found in great numbers in western inland waters, and identical
with Amida occtdentalis, of Vermont. They are very abundant in
Lake Huron, Lake Erie and Lake Pepin. Back greenish black;
top of head, do; gill covers, yellowish green and olive; sides dark
olive, fading to yellowish white on the belly ; dorsal fin (forty-seven
rays, soft) and caudal (twenty rays) dark olive; pectoral, ventral
and anal fins, lighter; a jet black oval spot encircled by a narrow
border of golden yellow at base of upper half of dorsal; branchi-
ostegous rays, eleven ; a range one-half inch wide on upper jaw of
smallish, slightly curved, sharp teeth ; on lower jaw a row of simi-
lar teeth, behind which is a band of very small ones. Grows from
five to twenty pounds in weight. It belongs to the order of Gan-
ozds, and is in scales, fins, and the power of tail allied to the extinct
fishes of an older world, and it is curious that most of these repre-
sentatives of the earlier periods are found only in Western waters
—the garfish, the paddlefish, and the mudfish.

They take frogs, minnows, and sometimes the spoon. Their
habitat is deep water where they drive everything before them.
FISHES OF THE WEST. 325

They are very voracious and savage. Their teeth are so sharp
and their jaws so strong that they have been known to bite a two
pound fish clean in two the very first snap. They are as tenacious
of life as the eel. The young when about six inches long make
a famous bait for pickerel and pike. To use it run the hook into
the mouth right up through the centre of the head, through the
brain, cast a hundred times, catch several fish, and at the end of
three to six hours he will still kick like a mule. Put one hundred
into a rain barrel and you can keep them all summer without
change of water. For the aquarium the young have no equal, and
on account of the spot in the tail are quite attractive; but nothing
else but snails can live in the tank. He will kill a lizard or any
other living thing the instant it touches the water.

Dr. Estes says: ‘I have sent these young dogfish hundreds of
miles for the aquarium. It is only necessary to keep them in water,
a change scarcely being required. The adults are the great
“jumpers ’’ of the lake. On certain days they are to be seen in
all directions jumping clean out of the water, and turning com-
plete somersaults before again striking. They spawn in May and
June among the grass and weeds of the sloughs, if they can reach
them in time. As soon as the spring rise comes, usually in May
and June, and connects the inland sloughs with the lake (Pepin)
they run up and over into these sloughs, deposit their eggs, and
remain near the beds and young just as long as they can and not
be shut in by the receding of the water. The eggs hatch in eight
and ten days, the parent remaining with the brood two or three
weeks if possible, but will leave them much sooner if necessary to
save themselves. The young will not make any effort to escape to
the lake until the next season, when if an opening occurs they come
pouring out in countless numbers. At this time we take them
by stretching the minnow seine across the opening and raising it
when full. They are now from three to six inches long, fat and
chubby. I come now to mention a peculiar habit of this fish, no
account of which I have ever seen. It is this : While the parent still
remains with the young, if the family become suddenly alarmed,
the capacious mouth of the old fish will open, and in rushes the
entire host of little ones; the ugly maw is at once closed, and off
she rushes to a place of security, when again the little captives
326 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

are set at liberty. If others are conversant with the above facts I
shall be very glad, if not shall feel chagrined for not making them
known long ago.”

Moongve; skip jack (Lake Pepin); shiner; herring ; river herring ; toothed
herring.—yodon tergisus. Le Sueur.

This species of the herring family is rather indifferent food. It
is found in parts of New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio, and other
Middle Western States. The color of its back is bluish ; sides sil-
very ; fins tinged with yellow ; scales large ; head small; eyes very
large, and nearly filling the whole space between the angle of the
jaws and the upper part of the head ; conic teeth in a single row
above ; in several rows on the lower jaw ; tongue with several se-
ries of teeth, of which the outer on each side are the largest ; teeth
also on the vomer, and very minute ones on the palatines. Length
nine to twelve inches: Fin rays. D. 15; P.15; V.7; A. 29;
C. 19.

The Lake Mooneye (Ayodon clodalzs,) is not so large a fish,
seldom reaching more than eight inches in length. Its mouth is
larger and its eye not quite so prominent. The under jaw shuts
within the upper. Teeth ina single series on the upper jaw; in
several below. The sides and tips of the tongue are armed with
long acute recurved teeth. Color uniform metallic silvery; bluish
above; fins light colored. This species is common in Lake Erie,
where it is called “shiner,” and lake herring. Fin rays. D.15;
P.14; V.7; A. 30;C. 19.

It is quite possible that there is still another variety in Lake
Pepin, where it is known as “skip jack,” and is thus described
by Dr. D. C. Estes: “Its usual length is twelve inches and width
three inches; caudal, crescent-shaped; dorsal, situate far back
two and one-half inches from tail, and has twelve rays; ventrals,
about mid-way, seven rays ; anal, extending from ventral to cau-
dal (two and one-half inches,) and has twenty-eight rays. The
eye, situated very far forward, is enormously large, hence his com-
mon name ‘“ Mooneye.’”’ Well defined teeth on maxillaries,. vo-
mer, palatines and tongue. Color, pearly white to middle, thence
darker to back. The nose projects over the lower jaw, and the
mouth is small—not as large as the herring’s (Clupca harengus).
FISHES OF THE WEST. 327

Of the habits of this fish no man, as far as I know, speaketh. I
only know that he spawns in April, is known here from April until
September, when he disappears. Where he goes I know not, have
never seen, or heard of one being seen or taken in the winter. In
some seasons they seem to be quite plenty, and at others but very
few are seen. On the whole I have always regarded it as a rare
fish, They are vigorous biters, and take freely the minnow or fly,
and are one of the smartest of fishes. They will come up, taste
of a fly, let go and be gone before the angler has time to strike.
Therefore to be a “ Mooneye”’ fly-fisher, one must be very sharp
and not read a book while casting, as I once knew a man to do.”

The doctor speaks of this fish as being a most excellent food
fish, and quite devoid of troublesome bones. Its avidity for the
fly and minnow is a peculiarity lacking in the varieties above
named. There is no doubt, however, that its specific characteris-
tics are common to both.

Lake HERRING.—A rgyrosomus clupeiformis. Agassiz.

This fish is described elsewhere under the head of Northern
Inland Fishes. It is found in all the western lakes, and is often
taken with hook, or fly or minnow in rivers emptying into the
lakes. In Lake Pepin is a variety found (as elsewhere,) in vast
numbers. It is there called the skip jack, but it is a different fish
from the mooneye, which is also called the skip jack. Dr. Estes
thinks it is a different fish from the true lake herring, (A. cluped-
formds and A. harengus.) It is dark blue on the back and white
beneath, much resembling a shad. They are considered worth-
less as a food fish, though biting so readily at the hook as to cause
much annoyance to the angler. They spawn in May, and are
taken only from the first of May until September.

Gizzarp SHav.—Dorosoma cepedianum. Gill.

Oliver Gibbs jr. was the first to discover this singular fish in
Lake Pepin, and published the description in a Rochester paper.
It resembles the mooneye in general appearance, but is shorter,
thicker and weighs from one to three pounds; is generally eaten,
having a very good flavor, but quite bony. It is a poor biter and
but few are taken—probably not abundant. Dr. Estes says it
has as veritable a gizzard as the hen.
328 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

Prof. C. C. Abbott describes this fish in vol. iv. of the Ameri-

can Naturalist.
ESOCID.

Mascatonce.—£sox nobilior. Thompson.

Common in the lakes, and in the larger tributaries of the Mis-
sissippi. In seasons of low water, mascalonge fishing is as good
in this region as in the Northeastern States. The fish are usually
of large size, from ten to forty pounds in weight. The manner of
taking them does not differ materially from that practiced in other
waters, except, perhaps in the fact that trolling from a boat is not
generally successful. For excitement no angling can compare with
taking mascalonge on rod and line from the shore, or by wading
out on the bars. To killin this manner a thirty pounder and tow
him ten or thirty rods to shore requires nerve and strength, great
skill, and very strong tackle. Many of the very largest are fre-
quently lost by weak tackle and unskillful playing.

Dr. D. C. Estes, an excellent authority on Western fish, says:
“For years I found it very difficult to find rods that would stand
this kind of fishing. At last I set myself up as an amateur rod-
maker for my own benefit. Obtaining some of our best native
timber, I have made rods that have never yet failed me or my
friends. I always supply myself with at least half a dozen large
spoons of different colors and styles, metals, brass and copper, all
dressed with feathers of different colors. When I hook a masca-
longe or pickere] and lose him, I at once rest the pool for a few
minutes, (there is no danger of his leaving) then changing my
spoon to another color, I wade out and commence casting again.
And in nine cases out of ten I will get my fish. Often I have
changed my bait four or five times, and as many times had him on
and off, but finally succeeded in landing him. A piece of the belly
of a fish makes the best of all bait for the mascalonge if properly
cut, so that it will spin nicely. They will often take it when spoons
are no temptation. [See Northern Inland Fishes.}

Pixe.—Zsox lucius estor. Le Sueur,
This is the only species of the Zsoc¢d@ found in the upper Mis-
sissippi. It is very abundant and attains to twenty and twenty-
five pounds in weight, but never to the weight of the mascalonge.
FISHES OF THE WEST. 329

They are considered by many a fine food fish. [See Northern
Inland Fishes.]
STURIONIDA,

Rock SturGEON.—A cifenser rubicundus, Le Sueur.

This is the sturgeon of the great lakes and all the larger West-
ern waters. They are well known. They differ in some respects
from those of the Hudson River and other rivers of the Eastern
States, and do not attain to such immense size. They are a good
fish when properly cooked. The long projecting sucker mouth
situated almost under the centre of the head will sometimes suck
in from the bottom the angler’s baited hook, in which case one
might as well try to snub an old log. It is possible, however, to
coax him to move occasionally, and then you may, and-you may
not, succeed in bringing him to gaff. A friend once had a tussle
with one for over an hour, but finally conquered, concluding that
as a game fish, the sturgeon was not a success.

SHovet-Nosep Srurcron.—Scaphirhynchops platyrhynchus. Cope.

This curious fish is found only in the Mississippi and its larger
tributaries. It is certainly a strange looking fish. Its striking
characteristic is its long, horny, spade-like snout, which is from
eight to eighteen inches in length, and from two to three inches
wide, and its immense toothless mouth. In large specimens the
mouth is sufficiently large to admit of a man’s head. The head
and shoulders are very large, from which the body tapers gradually
to the caudal fin, where it is not more than two inches in diameter.
The tail is forked ; wide and hetrocereal, said to be the only fresh
water species living possessing this paleontological characteristic.

In Lakes Pepin and St. Croix they swarm in countless numbers.
How far towards the Gulf they extend has not been ascertained.
They are eaten by Indians and half-breeds generally. The whites
sometimes corn and smoke them. When thus cured, they are
quite palatable. They weigh from ten to forty pounds.

SALMONID-.

Mackinaw Trout, or Great Lake Trout.—Salmo namaycush. Pennant.

Special characteristics, Head one-quarter total length; muz-
zle pointed ; scales small and oval ; nostrils double; jaws and
330 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

tongue with a single row of teeth on each side; vomer with one
row. Dorsal fin nearly equi-distant.

Color.—Dusky brownish grey; chin and under parts light ash
or cream color. Back and sides speckled with numerous irregu-
larly shaped spots of lighter grey, brown, or soiled white. Lower
fins faint yellow. Resembles szsZowe?, but has more pointed chin
and snout, more deeply forked tail and larger head.

Hlabitat—tLake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, and
probably in all the great lakes which lie between the United States
and the Arctic Sea.

Prof. Milner says that “ this fish may be readily taken with the
hook baited with a piece of fish, but as they are ravenous feeders,
almost any kind of bait will serve the angler’s purpose, who will
however, derive little sport from their capture, as they are exces-
sively dull and sluggish.” Professional fishermen capture them
with lay-out lines and nets. Herbert says, “ A coarse, heavy, stiff
rod ; a long and powerful oiled hempen or flaxen line, on a winch
with a heavy sinker, a cod hook baited with any kind of flesh, fish
or fowl, is the most successful, if not the most orthodox or scien-
tific mode of capturing him. His great size and immense strength
alone give him value as a fish of game; but when hooked, he
pulls strongly and fights hard, though he is a boring, deep fighter,
and seldom, if ever, leaps out of the water like the true salmon
or the brook trout.”

Nevertheless, trolling for trout is a favorite pastime of the resi-
dents and tourists of northern Michigan. It is said that the
Mackinaw trout bites best when he is fullest. Large and solitary
specimens are frequently taken—sometimes with the gaff alone—
while swimming at the surface of the water. These are known as
“racers,” and are always thin. The average weight is about five
pounds, but monsters weighing from sixty to one hundred are
heard of. The largest that ever came under the writer's observa-
tion, weighed fifty-three pounds seven ounces, and was caught
near Elk Rapids, or Traverse Bay. The spawning season begins
in October and ends early in November. But very little seems to be
known of their habits at this season. Rocky bottoms are usually,
but not always, preferred. A clay bottom near St. Joseph, Mich.,
is said to be frequented by trout for this purpose.
FISHES OF THE WEST. 331

Fishermen claim the principal food of the lake trout to be
whitefish, and assert that they are often caught in their nets while
robbing them of these fish ; however, Milner says in every instance
that came under his observation, the supposed whitefish proved to
be ciscoes, yet he does not doubt the fact of their preying upon
whitefish to some extent.

StscowET, or Siskow1Tz.—Salmo siscowet. Agassiz.

Specific characteristics —Head large, nearly one-fourth total
length. Snout obtuse and rounded. Two rows of teeth on the
tongue. Depth of body at first dorsal equal to one-fifth total
length. Scales small, larger on lower region of the body. Color,
Resembles somewhat the sa/mo namayensh from which it may be
recognized by its different opercular apparatus. adztat, Lake
Superior.

The Siscowet spawns in August and September, and always in
deep water ; in fact, the fish is never taken in much less than forty
fathoms. The fattest of all known fish, it has no unpleasant or
oily odor, and for the table is much valued. This fish has been
extensively maligned as unfit for eating in a fresh state; that it
was insufferably oily and rank, though all united in its praise when
salted. With the concurrence of such authority as Agassiz, we
have no hesitancy in pronouncing it food fit for an emperor in
etther state. There is, however, a species of white meated trout
of very indifferent quality, so closely resembling the siscowet, that
it is largely sold under that name, by which means the nobler fish
is undervalued, except where well known. This is known to the
Indians as the “ bear trout,’’ and we presume is the fish that fur-
nished ground for criticism to the detractors of the siscowet. The
siscowet weigh from five to twenty pounds. It is generally taken
in gill nets, but the probability is that it may also be taken by troll-
ing, using as bait the cottoid mentioned by Milner as forming the
principal part of its food.

Common SpeckLep Trout.—Salmo fontinalis. Mitch.
Taken in Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, as well as in

the streams and rivers that empty into Lake Superior. In the
Nepigon River they average three or four pounds each, and an
332 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

authenticated specimen is recorded which weighed seventeen
pounds. [See Northern Inland Fishes.]

Wuiterish.—Coregonus albus. Le Sueur.

Specific characteristics ; Depth of body equals length of head,
which is two-ninths of total length, excluding caudal ; diameter of
eye less than length of snout, which is pointed. Color. Silvery
white, resembling the herring.

Dr. G. A. Stockwell, of Port Huron, Michigan, gives the fol-
lowing most excellent description of the habits of this fish : “ The
whitefish is among the best of lake fish, being second only to the
Siscowet, and by many pronounced superior to the great trout.
The spawning begins in November, terminating in December, and
is indicated by the fish leaving deep water and appearing in im-
mense numbers on rocky shoals. Formerly they frequented the
streams for this purpose, but, at the present time, there are but
few streams emptying into the great lakes that are free from saw
mills and their attendant dust, which are offensive to these fish.
At the first day’s netting on the spawning beds the catch is wholly
males, apparently well stocked with milt; on the second, a few
females appear, plump with spawn. The proportion of females
increases day by day, until after a week or ten days, when there
are two or three and often four times as many females as males,
after which they gradually disappear, until the latter preponder-
ate, as they are the last as well as first upon the beds. The best
opinion seems to be that the males precede the females only to pre-
pare the ground; especially as they at that time assume an extra-
ordinary roughness of scales, and employ themselves constantly in
scraping up gravel, on which the spawn is subsequently deposited.
Some, however, believe that the mere inclination to milt causes
them to seek the proper position without reference to the presence
or absence of the females ; others still are of the opinion that they
precede only to wait for the females, and do not commence milt-
ing until spawning begins. This latter opinion is undoubtedly the
true one, for Mr. Milner has established the fact that the act of
spawning in the female and milting in the male, is carried on at
the same time, and with a slight, though decided orgasm. The
males have been accused of lingering for the purpose of feasting
FISHES OF THE WEST. 333

on the spawn, but this is contrary to nature and undoubtedly a
slander. The most careful of observers assure me that the males
who linger on the beds are employed in covering the spawn.

“Whitefish of Lake Erie ascend the Detroit River and pass
through the lake into the River St. Clair for the purpose of spawn-
ing, but seldom, if ever, go higher than Mooretown—eight miles
from the outlet of Lake Huron. Again, Lake Huron fish ascend
the Ste. Marie River for the same purpose; but it is a well estab-
lished fact that none descend these rivers from the waters above
for a like purpose. Lake Huron whitefish rarely enter the River
St. Clair, except after a heavy and continued northeast storm,
then they are driven into the river in large schools.

«The average whitefish is of two or three pounds weight; a
large one six or seven; rare specimens are caught, however, of
much greater weight, sometimes turning the scales at twenty
pounds. Those of Lake Superior and the Straits are larger, fatter
and finer in flavor than those of the lower lakes. In the rapids of
the Sault Ste. Marie they are taken in large quantities by the Chip-
pewa Indians in dip nets and are of very superior flavor. The
fish of Lake Huron and Upper Lake Michigan are very fair, but
those of Lake Erie are decidedly inferior, which is probably due to
the difference in temperature of these waters. Few travellers ever
taste whitefish in perfection except they have visited the northern
resorts. As eaten upon the hotel tables of Buffalo, Chicago, and
even Detroit, it is comparatively a tasteless fish ; as a meal for an
epicure it must be had fresh from the icy waters at the Straits or
of Lake Superior, and cooked as soon as may be after it is caught.
Then, to our thinking, the whitefish is one of the most toothsome
fishes that swim, superior even to the salmon or brook trout.

“Formerly the capture of whitefish was conducted by means of
seines, but the wholesale destruction on the spawning beds has
caused gill and pound net to supersede them. The food of this
fish was long a matter of conjecture, but is now believed to consist
mainly of the mmute crustaceans and mollusks that inhabit these
lakes. This is rendered probable from the fact that the mouth is
constructed for nibbling along the bottom, being directed nearly
downward. The frequent failure to find food in the stomach of
the whitefish, is doubtless due to their capture in pound nets,
334 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

where they would remain sufficiently long to digest the contents,
but those caught by gilling have generally food partially digested.
It is asserted that whitefish are migratory ; how true this is I do
not know, except it be for spawning purposes ; they do, however,
seek the deeper and cooler waters as summer advances. The
presence of large fishes in numbers at certain localities, of a size
never taken anywhere else, would suggest a local habit, with no
disposition for long voyages.”

Whitefish do not take the hook readily; and the opinion has
obtained that they could not be caught in this fashion, Never-
theless they have afforded good sport to the angler with a fly-rod
baited with the May-fly, (Ephemera) ; and worms have also been
used with success. The whitefish of the Rocky Mountains take
flies as readily as trout, and so do some of the eastern whitefish
at certain seasons of the year.

GrayLinc.— Thymallus tricolor. Cope.

Specific characterist¢cs—Depth of body is contained four times
and two-thirds in total length without caudal. Head enters about
five times ; length of snout equals diameter of eye; lower jaw pro-
jects slightly. Origin of dorsal fin corresponds to the middle of
the distance between operculum and ventrals. Color, Purplish-
grey ; silvery white on belly; small bluish black irregular spots on
sides. Dorsal fin which is greatly developed has along its insertion
a black line, next one of rosy pink, then a dark one, and one of
rose hue just above, beginning at sixth ray; a row of spots of dull
green; a row of very small fifty-six ray spots; finally a broad
dusky area. Prof. Milner says: “There is no species sought for
by anglers that surpasses the grayling in beauty. They are more
elegantly formed than the trout, and their great dorsal fin is a su-
perb mark of beauty. When the well-lids were lifted, and the sun-
rays admitted, lighting up the delicate olive-brown tints of the back
and sides, the bluish white of the abdomen, and the mingling of
tints of rose, pale blue, and purplish pink on the fins, it displayed
a combination of living colors that is equalled by no fish outside
of the tropics.”

And Mr. Fred. Mather adds: “The grayling has all the fins of
a trout; his pectorals are olive-brown, with a bluish cast at the
FISHES OF THE WEST. 335

end (I'am describing him in the water as I saw him in my ponds
an hour ago,) the ventrals are large and beautifully striped with
alternate streaks of brown and pink, the anal is plain brown, the
caudal is very forked and plain, while the crowning glory is its
immense dorsal; this fin rises forward of the middle of its back,
and in a fish a foot long it will be nearly three inches in length by
two high, having a graceful curved outline, and from eighteen to
twenty rays dotted with large red or bluish purple spots, which in
life are brilliant, and are surrounded with a splendid emerald green,
which fades after death; it does not seem as if this green could be
represented by the painter’s art; it is that changeable shade seen
in the tail of the peacock.

“In shapt the fish is like a trout, a trifle slimmer, perhaps, and
not so thick near the tail, but the fin on the back of a trout looks
so small and square, so deficient in outline and color, after behold-
ing the graceful curve of a grayling’s dorsal. The scale is large,
silvery, with sometimes a copper tinge; near the shoulders there
are black spots, sometimes triangular, and at others V shaped; in
some fish these extend nearly to the tail near the back; they are in
lines which gradually shorten towards the belly ; the mouth is small
(nearly square when opened), and the teeth are merely a slight
roughness on the lips, none on the tongue. But you want to see
him come in on a line, with his fins all standing, and your eye will
then give you a better idea than all the cold-blooded descriptions
could ever do.”

The generic name ¢hymallus is derived from Thumadllos, the
Greek term for thyme, from the impression the Greeks had that
the fish possessed the odor of this herb. Hence the Thymalli
must have attracted attention from a very early period.

This tribe of fishes bears marked relationship in many respects
to the salmoncde. They inhabit the cold streams of many portions
of the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia: It isa game fish
of the first quality, takes the fly with avidity, and carries on a brave
and spirited contest with its captor. Its flesh is white, or faintly
straw color, and excellent in flavor. The artificial breeding of the
grayling was successfully carried on in Bavaria twenty years ago
by Mr. Kauffer Royal, fisherman in the Garden of the Royal Vet-
erinary School. Fred. Mather and Seth Green, our eminent pisci-
336 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

culturists, have both bred the grayling successfully by the artificial
process. .

Its habitat is the centre of the lower peninsula of Michigan, a
wide, elevated plateau, a sand region, with a soil containing a
very small per cent. of organic matter, and covered with a forest
of pines, generally the Norway pine. From this plateau rise sev-
eral large streams and rivers, flowing each way, into Lakes Huron
and Michigan. Among these are three rivers of note, the Muske-
gon, the Manistee, emptying into Lake Michigan, and the Ausable,
emptying into Lake Huron. Among the minor streams are the
Cheboygan, Thunder Bay, and Rifle, tributary to Lake Huron, and
the Jordan, emptying through Pine Lake into the Traverse Bays
of Lake Michigan. A few branches and streams, spring fed, are
formed, in which the water has a uniform degree of coldness
throughout the summer, seldom rising above fifty-two degrees.
The rivers Rifle, Ausable, Jordan, Hersey, branch of the Muske-
gon, and the headwaters of the Manistee, all have this character,
and in all of these, and only in this limited locality, is found the
Michigan Grayling.

The grayling is a spring spawner—spawns in April, and is in
best condition and fighting trim in September. His food is the
fresh-water shrimp, caddis, larvae, snails, and the larvae of the
chzronomus fly. They take the artificial fly as greedily as trout
do, are angled for in precisely the same spots where trout would
be sought. As Sir Humphrey Davy says of the English species,
‘He rises rapidly from the bottom or middle of the water, darting
upwards, and having seized his fly returns to his station.’’ He cer-
tainly affords as much sport as the trout, and his tender mouth re-
quires more careful handling. Prof. Milner says that “hooking a
large one, he had good evidences of his plucky qualities ; the pliant
rod bent as he struggled against the line, curling his body around
columns of water that failed to sustain his grasp, and setting his
great dorsal fin like an oar backing water, while we cautiously
worked him in, his tender mouth requiring rather more careful
handling than would be necessary for a trout; making a spurt up
stream, he requires a yielding line, but after a time he submits to
be brought in, rallying for a dart under the boat, or beneath a
log, as an attempt is made to place the landing net under him.
FISHES OF THE WEST. 337

Finally brought on board, exhausted, he is easily removed from
the hook.”

They are free, strong biters, and cannot be considered very
shy, as they will rise repeatedly to a fly if a failure is made in hook-
ing them, Often two, and occasionally three, are landed at once.
Nevertheless, experience proves that it sometimes requires all the
ingenuity of an experienced fly-fisherman to induce an occasional
rise, even when grayling are seen to be plentiful in the river.
Very many styles of flies are used. The favorite grayling fly is
made with a stone wing and yellow body; brown and grey hackles,
the white and lead wing coachman, the silver widow, the Jewel fly,
and the professor, with light yellow dyed hackle, mostly used. In
fact any fly tied on No. 6 and 8 O’Shauglinessy hooks will kill, if
not too gaudy.

The history of the discovery of the species is as follows: It
has been known for years to the people in adjacent counties, and
among the lumbermen, and generally called trout, distinguishing
it from the ordinary species by applying the local name of the
stream, as the “ Hersey trout,” or the “ Jordan,” or “ Ausable’
trout.

_In the winter of 1864 and 1865, Prof. Edward D. Cope, of the
Philadelphia Academy of Sciences, worked up a large collection of
fishes, sent by Mr. M. Miles, of Lansing, belonging to educational
institutions of the State of Michigan. Among these he found this
species, readily detecting its relation to the genus Thymadlus, and
giving it the name of ¢rzcolor. In the winter of 1872, Mr. D. Fitz-
hugh procured specimens and forwarded them to Professor Baird
of the Smithsonian Institution, and to Professor Agassiz, as well as
to prominent- authorities of the hook and line profession. These
were the first specimens obtained by the museums, and were
regarded with a great deal of interest. Two obtained for the U.
S. Commission of Fisheries in 1871, from the Jordan River, were
lost in the great fire at Chicago. Mr. Fitzhugh subsequently
went before the legislature of his State and induced the passage of
a law protecting the grayling from a too rapid destruction. He
was also the first to communicate with reference to their habits
and qualities #s a game fish,

15
338 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

CYPRINID-.

Rep Horse or LaKE SucKeR.—Catostomus cepedianum,

A large red-finned sucker weighing from one to six pounds.
Often eaten fresh, but much better corned ; very bony, They are
quite a handsome fish, like many of the family. It is taken only
with spear, seine and snare—the latter method the best. In very
hot, sultry days they swarm by the acre, playing, jumping and
tumbling on or so near the surface as to be plainly seen. In Lake
Pepin they are described as so numerous that not a foot of water
for acres in extent is undisturbed. They spawn early in spring.
The young are much valued for bait, and are well adapted for the
aquarium,

BurraLo.—Bubalichthys bubalus. Agassiz.

One of the largest of the suckers (catostomzda) found in the
Ohio River, and in many Western waters. An excellent food fish,

SCIENIDZ.

Matasuecanay ; sheepshead.—Corvina richardsonii,—Cuv. and Val.

This species is common in Lake Huron where it is highly
prized as food, and also occurs in Lake Erie. It is taken with
crayfish, on which it principally feeds. Length from one to two
feet. Color, grey with dark transverse bands above ; sides silvery ;
abdomen yellowish. The sheepshead of Lake Pepin is not valued
as food.

SILURIDA,

There are but two species of catfish found in the west—the
Mud Cat and the Lake or Channel Cat. The former is worthless,
but the latter, which is common in the waters of the Upper
Mississippi, is universally regarded as a fine and healthy food
fish, and is much sought for by many. It is of a dark brown
color, sometimes nearly black; attains a large size, occasionally
weighing as much as a hundred pounds, taken with hook and line,
with any kind of bait from a piece of wheat dough to any piece of
meat. Beef’s liver isa favorite bait. On the hook theyare strong and
most obstinate, and will often carry away the very strongest tackle.
FISHES OF THE NORTHWEST. .

OR the abundance and variety of its edible and game fishes,

the Northwest far surpasses all other regions of North
America, not only in its Salmonidz, but in other classes or families.
Referring only superficially to the ichthyc fresh water fauna of
Alaska, which have not been thoroughly investigated by scientists,
we enumerate the following, irrespective of order or classification :
A sucker found there, which is called cvaskee by the Russians,
(Catostomus teres) is quite common, and for its Northern habitat,
quite large, averaging from four to seven pounds. A species of
the cottide, called udu by the Tinnehs, frequents the shallow
streams and ponds, and is caught in large numbers by the abo-
rigines who scoop them out with their hands, paddles and grass
baskets. The flesh is insipid but sweet, and for this flavor a few
tribes like it. If one were to give it an English cognomen he
would be apt to call it a black bullhead or sculpin. A small dace,
also found with this, bites readily at a baited hook. The pike
(Esox estor,) is very abundant in the ponds and lakes of the almost
Arctic regions of Alaska. It resembles its eastern congener, is of
little use as an article of food or sport, and it is, therefore, let
severely alone, except the comparatively limited numbers caught
in seines for the purpose of feeding the sledge dogs. The burhot,
eel pout, or losh, (Lota maculata,) swarms in the lakes and rivers,
and being quite edible, and weighing from thirty to fifty pounds,
it forms quite an extensive article of food, for when broiled, it is
quite delicate, the flesh being hard and compact. The liver is
considered the best portion, as it is permeated by a sweet, rich oil,
which is often extracted for the purpose of the cuzséwe. The skin,
which is translucent when prepared, is used quite frequently for
window glass. The male, which is smaller than the female, often
carries two gall bladders, while the female has but one. The latter
will compare with any of her order in fecundity, for she is full of
340 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

roe in the spawning season, from October to January. These she
bears in two sacs near the vent, which are connected by an open-
ing with the cloaca. Though slow in movement and apparently
dull, this species destroys large numbers of whitefish, and others
of less importance. The grayling, (Thymalus signifer) is very
abundant. Of the whitefish, there are several varieties or species,
the larger portion being allied to the southern prototypes, the
greater difference being in their numbers. There are the nulato
—nulatoski of the Russians—a small bony and comparatively use-
less fish ; the sorshoz, or whitefish of the Russians, a highly edible
variety, which weighs between two and four pounds, and has firm,
succulent flesh. Itis readily recognized by its small head and fins.
The hump-backed species, the corabatz of the Russians and
Ko-lak-ah of the Yukons, is quite abundant, but bony and insipid,
the coregonus nasus, or round fish—the Russian £rug, and Yukon
hutuen—with its long subfusiform body and lean muzzle, is a denizen
of several streams, and is often caught for food ; the Coregonus
muksun, or broad whitefish, the ze/-zh-yuh of the Yukons, with its
large scales, broad body, short head and weight of thirty pounds,
is readily distinguished from the others, and as it is excellent for
the table, large numbers are caught at all seasons by the Indians.
The largest of this genus is the great whitefish, (Luczotrutta
leucichthys,) which excels its congeners not only in size but flavor.
It is very abundant in the Stikine and Yukon Rivers—and is
found in all the streams throughout the year. It measures between
two and four feet in length, and its weight ranges from twenty to
forty or fifty pounds. It is full of eggs from October to the first
of January, so is in the best of condition from May to August. It
has a fine outline, being slender and long; and its color is bright
silvery above, somewhat darker beneath. Despite the abundance
of this fish and its excellent edible qualities, it is not used as an
article of commerce. It certainly seems plausible to suppose that
its size and numerical strength would render its capture and ex-
portation a successful enterprise if the limited fishing-grounds of
Lake Superior can be worked with profit.

The profusion of salmon and whitefish in Alaska should make
that region the supply depot of the world, for they are certainly
abundant enough to feed the people who use fish as a portion of
FISHES OF THE NORTHWEST. 341

their diet. All required to prosecute the business is a compara-
tively small capital, and whoever is first in the field has the best
chance, for ere long this great wealth will be utilized by those
whose means will be ample enough to enable them to monopolize
the largest share.

The species enumerated, and the brook trout, (S. s¢e//azws), are
the only fishes frequenting the fresh waters of Alaska, that have
much interest for mankind in general.

Passing now to the more immediate and better known regions
of the great Northwest, in which we include all that country which
lies beyond the Upper Mississippi River, and especially that be-
yond the eastern foot hills of the Rocky Mountains, we shall
attempt to particularize all the recognized varieties except the.sea
salmon, which we prefer to class among the fishes of the Pacific
Coast, under which head they will be found. The following list is
given by D. S. Jordan and Herbert E. Copeland in their paper en-
titled “Check List of the Fishes of the Fresh Waters of North
America,” (Budlletin of the Buffalo Academy of Natural Sciences,
p. 144, December, 1876.)

Salmo trtdea.—Gibbons. Salmo warrenz.—Suckley. d. s.
“ masonz.—Suckley. d, Ss. “ kennerly¢.—Suckley.
“ pleurcticus.—Cope. “ batrdzt.—Suckley.
“ virginalis.—Suckley. “ parkit.—Suckley.
“ carinatus—Cope. @. 5. “ hoodiz.—Richardson.
“ lewtst.—Suckley. “ newberryt—Girard. d.s.
“ stoméas.—Cope. “« alipes.—Richardson. d.s.
“ shilurus-—Cope. “« nitédus.—Richardson. d. Ss.
“ brevicauda,—Suckley. “ campbelli.—Richardson. d. s

“ gtbbsez.—Suckley.
Of these, the names marked with “ d. s.’’ in italics may be con-
sidered as doubtful species requiring revision. They may prove
only synonyms of at present well known species.

SALMONIDE.

Paciric Brook Trout.—Mountain Trout.—Saimo iridea. Gibbons.

Special characteristics—Head one-fourth the total length ; di-
ameter of eye enters length of head five times, dorsal fin half-way
342 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

between end of muzzle and insertion of caudal fin ; muzzle pointed.
Branchie, x, xi. Color, olive-brown on back with silvery reflec-
tions, fins red or orange. Head and gill covers spotted profusely
with black; back and sides also spotted irregularly, numerous near
the tail. Dorsal, adipose and caudal fins also spotted.

Suckley states it may be distinguished from S. /ew¢sz by its
large head and more slender form, larger scales, more numerous
spots and more forked tail. From S. wzrgznalis by its strongly
forked tail and spotted head. Aadztat, California and Pacific
States. It has been taken in nearly all the waters of the Pacific,
notably at San Mateo Creek, Cal., San Francisco, Chico Creek,
Cal., Humboldt Bay, Dallas, Oregon, Fort Steilacoom, Nisqually
Creek, Cape Flattery, Puget Sound, Kern River, Cal., etc.

This species may be taken with almost any kind of bait. It
will rise readily and greedily to the fly or the grasshopper; raw
meat is good, the eye of a fish excellent; grubs, larva, and worms,
all seem to be eagerly desired. Suckley has taken them by troll-
ing with a “belly fin of a fresh killed fish.” There is a peculiarity
of this fish and its western congeners regarding location, which is
worthy of mention. Unlike the eastern trout it seems rather to
prefer moderate currents of water, or indeed pools which are ab-
solutely still, and this fact should be remembered by those who
fish. This specimen attains a weight of from four to six pounds,
and is in good condition for the table from spring until near Christ-
mas, at which time they begin to spawn.

Mr. Henshaw, the ornithologist of the Expedition for Explora-
tions West of the one hundredth Meridian, who has had consider-
able experience, states that “in the rapids of the mountain streams
artificial flies can be used with excellent effect, the smaller individuals
striking freely. In the pools of such streams, however, they are
of less service, grasshoppers or the white larve found in rotten
pine stumps being there the most killing bait. Dr. H. C. Yarrow
states that he has taken seventeen fine trout out of one pool not
more than ¢hree feet in diameter, in quick succession with grass-
hoppers. In the large mountain streams of Kern River, California,
where the trout reach a weight of seven pounds, a spoon bait often
proves very taking. Early in the season any or all baits suffice,
but later, when the trout get thinned out, they are very shy, and
FISHES OF THE NORTHWEST. 343

difficult to tempt with anything. Mice and squirrels cut into strips
have succeeded where other lures have previously failed. In Lake
Tahoe, where S. zrzdea abound as well as another species, be-
lieved to be new, the former are said to reach a weight of thirty
pounds. The miethods of capture are various, trolling being gen-
erally employed, the hook'being similar to the one used in the east
for catching bluefish ; but on the hook a minnow is placed as bait,
and the boat is slowly rowed along the line of shallow and deep
water which varies in depth from thirty to seventy-five feet. The
fishermen maintain the existence of two distinct species of trout,
which they call «Silver Trout,”’ and the “ Black or Salmon Trout,”
and the difference of color is distinctly appreciable. There is also
a marked difference in the size of the adipose fin.

Mason’s Trout.—Salmo masoni. Suckley.

This species may prove to be only a variety of the preceding.
Girard calls it Farzo clarkz¢. It is found in Oregon and Washing-
ton Territory. As it is marked as a doubtful species, no descrip-
tion is here given of it.

Rocky Mountain Trout ; Yellowstone Trout.—Salmo pleuriticus. Cope.

Specific characteristtcs.—Head rather smaller than its Western
congeners; enters four times in length to notch of caudal, which
is well emarginated ; muzzle obtuse; diameter of eye enters four
‘times in length of head; depth of body four and five-tenths in
length to end of caudal scales ; dorsal fin midway between latter
and end of muzzle; scales small; Branchi# xi. Color, Bluish
silvery lead on back, yellowish-white beneath; sides with short,
broad, longitudinal bars of crimson; a band of the same color
occupies the fissure within each ramus of the jaw and skin on the
median side of it. Fins crimsoned, none black bordered. ‘This
species is well spotted with black, the spots being mostly above
the lateral line, on the caudal peduncle, dorsal and caudal fins. It
should be mentioned that Prof. Cope and Dr. Yarrow have de-
scribed four different varieties of this species in which the mark-
ings vary greatly from the type, for description of which the reader
is referred to Vol. V., Zodlogy of ‘Expedition for Explorations
West of one hundredth Meridian,’’ Fishes, 1876, p. 694.
344 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

Habitat, Colorado to Arizona, This is by far the most abundant
species of the head-waters of the Green, Platte, and Yellowstone
Rivers, but is found in Medicine Lodge Creek, Idaho ; in Montana
and Nevada, near Fort Garland, Colorado ; San Juan River, Pagosa,
Colorado, Rio Grande River, Colorado; Costilla, New Mexico; Rio
Taos, New Mexico; Chama River, New Mexico; and the streams
of the White Mountains of Arizona. This species may be consid-
ered one of the gamiest of its family. Great sport can be had by
its capture, especially in the San Juan River, near the Pagosa Hot
Springs of Western Colorado. It takes the fly greedily at times,
more especially at evening, seeming to prefer a grasshopper in the
morning; but it will bite at minnows and small grubs or worms.
Mr. Charles E. Aiken took one evening from a pool in the San
Juan River just at sunset, not less than twenty-five pounds of this
fish with an old worn-out brown hackle fly. The tourist or sports-
man will find Colorado one of the best regions known for the cap-
ture of this fish.

Urau Trout ; Southern Rocky Mountain Trout ; Speckled Trout.—-Salmo
virginalis. Girard.

Special characteristics—Head medium, much like S. pleurd=
tzcus. Depth of body enters length 5.75, diameter of eye enters
side of head 4.5 times, muzzle obtuse; caudal fin scarcely emar-
ginate. Branchia, ix, ix.

Color.—Greyish brown above, with purplish reflections, varying
much in shade and subcircular black spots; beneath olivaceous,
unicolor. Spots on back frequently run into the conjunctiva of
the eye, a fact that has not been noticed regarding other species.
Habitat—Southern Rocky Mountains, Utah, Colorado, and New
“Mexico.

This species may be distinguished from S. zy¢dea, which it re-
sembles somewhat, by its smaller head, absence of dark spots on
top of head, and absence of caudal forking.

These fish are taken in the Provo or Timpanagos River, near
.Provo City, fifty miles from Salt Lake City, in Utah Lake, a mag-
nificent body of water near Provo, and at Pang-witch Lake, not
far from the town of Pang-witch, which lies in the valley of the
Sevier, southeast of Parowan, Utah. Any angler who should visit
FISHES OF THE NORTHWEST. 345

Utah ought not to miss visiting one or the other of these localities,
The Webber River near Ogden, Utah, is also a good place to fish.

This fish is (as in fact all the western trout are), exceedingly
capricious regarding food. At times they will rise beautifully to
flies, dark ones being generally preferred, and at others will take
nothing but grasshoppers or minnows. In Provo River they are
not known to rise to a fly, but grasshoppers answer well; in the
Beaver River nothing can be done with flies, and at Pang-witch
Lake fat pork and fishes’ eyes succeed admirably.

At Utah Lake enormous numbers are taken by nets, frequently
five hundred pounds at a single haul, and formerly as much as
three thousand seven hundred pounds have been taken, As may
be supposed, at this place fishing will not be good much longer.
Two hours’ ride from Salt Lake City will bring the sportsman to
Provo and when there he should visit Mr. Madsen’s’ place, near
the Lake, if he desires good fishing.

YELLOWSTONE TrRoutT.—Salmo carinatus. Cope.

Specific characters——Head sharp, well keeled above, 4.66 times
in length to notch of caudal, which is well marked; diam-
eter of eye enters length of side of head five times; dorsal fin
nearer muzzle than end of caudal scales, which are large; 33 be-
low the first ray of the dorsal; spots large and distinct, far apart.
Color. Light rosy, marked with round black spots sparsely
distributed over the entire body. The dorsal and caudal fins are
spotted. Fins and sides of head crimson. Hadztat, Rocky
Mountains. Prof. Cope considers this species distinct, but possibly
future study of specimens will show it to be identical with the pre-
ceding species. The bait taken by the others of its family will also
serve for it.

Lewis Trout ; Missouri Trout.—Salmo dewisi. Suckley.

Spectfic characters.—Body somewhat thick ; back well arched ;
head rather small, entering about five times in length of fish;
tail somewhat notched ; first dorsal ray nearer point of snout than
base of caudal.

Color.—Above bluish grey.; lower, orange or yellow. The

iliback, peduncle, dorsal, adipose and caudal fins spotted with black,

15*
346 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

Belly and lower fins unicolor, a deep orange hue existing along the
rays. This species may be distinguished from S. vzrgznalds by its
much smaller head and more deeply matched tail and larger scales ;
from S. zrzdea by larger scales, smaller head, fewer spots and less
forked tail.

Habitat,—Both slopes of the Rocky Mountains north of the
South Pass ; head waters of the Missouri; southern tributaries of
the Yellowstone; Black Hills of Nebraska; Clark’s Fork of the
Columbia; Kootenay River; Bitter Root River, Washington
Territory.

Of this fish, Dr. Girard says, this is the trout alluded to in
“‘ Lewis’ and Clarke’s Travels,” who speak of it as follows :

“Being at the falls of the Missouri they caught half a dozen
trout, from sixteen to twenty-three inches long, precisely resem-
bling in form and the position of the fins, the mountain or speckled
trout of the United States, except that the specks of the former are
of a deep black, while those of the latter are of a red or golden
color. They have long, sharp teeth on the palate and tongue, and
generally a small speck of red on each side behind the front
ventral (pectoral) fins; the flesh is of a pale yellowish red, or,
when in good order, of a rose-colored red.’’ London edztzon, p.
192, quarto, 1814.

Of the manner of taking this fish, Dr. Suckley in his mono-
graph of salmonide, speaks with much pride of having captured
some with artificial flies below the Great Falls of the Missouri.
It is presumed they will take other baits as well as this.

Pratre River Trout.—Salmo stomias. Cope.

(U.S. Geol. Surv. of Wyoming, p. 433, 1872.)

Specific characters —Head large, broad, flat, not keeled, 4.2 5
times in total length of body; muzzle obtuse; diameter of eye
enters length of side of head nearly five times; forty-two scales
below first dorsal ray ; dorsal fin midway between snout and cau-
dal, which is not notched. Scales small; mouth large.

Color. ——Indistinct brownish blotches on sides, and many black
spots on posterior dorsal'region, the caudal peduncle and the dor-
sal and caudal fins; anal unspotted; spots few in front of dorsal.
Prof. Cope considers this species an ally of S. dewds¢, virginalis,
and zrzdea,
FISHES OF THE NORTHWEST. 347

Hfabitat—Platte River, Kansas. Will probably take any of
the baits already mentioned. ;

SHORT-TAILED TrouT.—Salmo brevicauda. Suckley.

This trout resembles the Salmo zrzdea, but has larger and
more slender head and body, and short narrow tail. It inhabits
the fresh water streams entering Puget’s Sound. It is generally
captured in nets or by spearing, but will take the fly.

Cotumsra Satmon Trout, or Gibb’s salmon.—Sadmo gibbsii. Suckley.

Resembles S. ¢rumcatus and S. gatrdnert, but the head is
much larger.

Color.—Above, dark olive green well dotted with round black
spots ; reddish blush on sides. Aadztat, Columbia River and its
affluents. May be taken with net or hook.

Kennertey’s Trout; Red Salmon Trout.—Salmo kennerlyi. Suckley.

This species may be recognized by its small head, one-seventh
of its length; narrow deep body; red color; back spotted with
black, and sharply forked tail. It inhabits Fraser’s River, and is
generally taken with net, but will readily bite at hook.

Warren’s Trout.—Salmo warrenii. Suckley.

This is a doubtful species, said to be found in Fraser's River,
It somewhat resembles S. zrzdea.

Barrp’s River Trout ; Red Spotted Rocky Mountain Trout.—Salmo bairdit.
Suckley.

This fish resembles S. par#zz, but lacks pale green spots on
the back and has a smaller head; it has also many characteristics
common with S. fontznalzs. Habitat, Clarke’s Fork of the Co-
lumbia. Takes the hook readily.

Parxr’s River Trout.—Salmo parkit. Suckley.
Resembles S. dazrdzz, but has a larger head, more deeply
notched tail, and many pale greenish spots on the back. Hadztai,
Kootenay River, Rocky Mountains. Will take the hook.
348 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

Hoop’s Satmon.—Salmo hoodii?, Richardson.

This species properly belongs to the Atlantic coast fauna, and
is found from Canada northward. A good description is given by
Richardson in Fauna Bor. Amer, tit., p. 173.

Newserry’s Trout.—Salmo newberry?. Girard.

This is a doubtful species found in Klamath River, and may be
the S. zrzdea.
REpFISH.

This fish is found in Payette Lake, Idaho, and in the Wallowa
and Isabel Lakes, in the Wallowa Valley, eastern Oregon. Very
little appears to be known of it. They are common enough in
Alaska, where they run up the rivers from August to October, to
spawn. It is barely possible that they are not identical with the
Idaho and Oregon fish, though their habits are similar and their
period of spawning about the same. They evidently belong to the
family of Salmonzd@, and we so classify them. The fullest infor-
mation yet published about them was furnished by the Idaho
World, a paper published at Silver City, from which we quote :

About a hundred miles to the northward of Idaho City is
“ Payette Lake,” as beautiful a sheet of water as can be found.
This lake is the largest of a cluster of four or five situated in its
immediate vicinity, and is about twelve miles in length by three
miles (average) in width. It is both fed and drained by the North
fork of the Payette River, which passes directly through it. Its
waters are said to be hundreds of feet deep, and are as clear as
the most finely polished mirror. The country around the lake is
mountainous, and the scenery varied, but picturesque and beauti-
ful, In itis found a species of fish known here by the name of
“redfish,” an appellation derived by their color, which is a beau-
tiful vermilion, with the exception of the head and fins, which are
of a dark earthy green color. The habits are similar to those of
the salmon, and like the salmon they spawn and then die. The
male and female are easily distinguishable, the colors of the male
being much brighter than those of the female. They live in the
deep water in the lake, and we have no account of one ever hav-
ing been seen in the lake only when coming up out of the water
FISHES OF THE NORTHWEST. 349

at the mouth of the river, when going up the river to spawn,
which they do from about the last of July until nearly the last of
October. When ascending the river, they travel in schools num-
bering from one to two or three hundred, and fishermen land
them in large quantities by means of drag nets andseines. When
fresh, or when properly cured, they are esteemed a greater deli-
cacy for table use than even the mountain trout; but great skill
and care, and, above all, great cleanliness, is required for their
preservation in a manner for the table. Dried, they are preferred
to either herring or codfish, but the best way to preserve them is
in brine. Put up in this way—care being observed to have them
perfectly fresh and perfectly clean—they are probably not excelled
by any fish in the world. The writer has seen them late in the
fall moving down the river as if returning to the lake, but such
multitudes of them die along the stream that it is believed to be
impossible that any get back alive. In size the “ redfish” vary but
little, being generally about twenty inches long, and weighing
from three and a half to five pounds. Being unknown to both
British and American fishermen, they are coming to be looked
upon as confined solely to Idaho and Lake Payette, and the object
of this article is to call attention to the fact of their existence, and
to draw out an expression of opinion from persons capable of
judging as to their place among the “finny tribe.” Besides, they
are a great delicacy, and it may yet be found practicable to stock
the lakes of California, Oregon, and Nevada, and perhaps of all
the Northern and Northwestern States and Territories, with them ;
the only apparent requisites necessary to their propagation being
depth of pure, cold water, and a gravelly stream for their spawn.
Paciric Rep Spotrep Satmon Trout; the Dolly Varden.—Salmo campbelli.
: Suckley.

This species inhabits chiefly glacial waters; is found in the
northern streams of California and as far north as Alaska. They
have whitish yellow spots just below the back, and red spots
above the belly. Tail forked. It takes the bait greedily and rises
readily to the fly.

Bacx’s Gray.inc ; Lesser grayling.—Thy mallus signifer.— Cuv. and Val,

Specific characters,—Head about one-sixth total length, ex-
cluding caudal, Depth of body greater than length of head,
350 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

anterior ray of dorsal fin is in front of a point midway between the
pectorals and ventrals. Branchie, 9; fin formula as follows: D.
24; A. 3-11; C. 8-18-7; P. 15; V. 10.

Color —Ashy grey with small bluish spots. Dorsal fin spotted.
Habitat, British America. Dall speaks of this species as being
abundant in the small rapid rivers of Alaska, and states moreover
that it is the only Yukon fish that will take the hook ; is abundant
in the spring. It is thought that almost any fly resembling the
natural ones of the locality will answer as bait; for a showy lure a
piece of grayling fin will answer.

Mountain Grayiinc.—Thymallus montanus. Milner.

Specific characters:-—Form stouter than preceding species,
Depth of body greater than length of the head; region of dorsal
fin anterior to a point midway between the pectorals and the ven-
trals. The body is deeper than in the other American species, the
length of the head is greater than that of 7. séguzfer. The fork-
ing of the tail is less than in 7. ¢recolor.

Color.—Resembles somewhat preceding species, but the red
spots on the dorsal are semicircled by a thin border of emerald
green. The ventrals also show a shade of green, and the caudal
is plain in color. Madz¢at, Missouri River, Montana.

The same methods of capture as advised for preceding species
may be employed for this.

Wirtiamson’s Wuirterisu ; Mountain Herring.—Coregonus williamson?. Girard.

Specific characters.—Head enters total length five and a half
times; mouth small and herring like; diameter of eye enters
length of side of head five times; anterior margin of dorsal fin
nearer the posterior edge of the base of the adipose than the ex-
tremity of the snout. Scales well developed, somewhat larger on
dorsal than ventral region. Color, Bluish neutral tint above,
silvery white beneath. Hadzfat, Utah to Washington Territory.
Abundant in Provo and Sevier Rivers, Utah. They are taken in
November in great numbers with hook and line, and a certain min-
now for bait, (Cinostomus tanza) called “leatherside’’ by the
Mormon settlers. They bite well and freely, affording excellent
sport. A few are taken in Utah Lake by net, though seldom. In
FISHES OF THE NORTHWEST. 351

the Sevier River they have been taken in August with grass-
hoppers. These were very much smaller than those from
Provo. The largest specimen seen measured eighteen inches
in length.

Another species of Coregonus is the C. guadrzlatezrals, from
the upper great lakes of British America; and there are still two
others that have been recently taken, the first from Chief Mountain
Lake, and other waters on both sides of the Rocky Mountains,
called by Prof. Milner C. coueszz, the other caught by Mr. Henshaw
at Lake Tahoe, which Prof. Gill calls C. montanus. As it did not
take the hook at the time of Mr. Henshaw’s visit, we can give no
information as to the bait. The Indians, however, take large
numbers in nets.

Cougs’ WuitgFisH.—Rocky Mountain Whitefish.—C. couesi7. Milner.

This fish is very common in the Yellowstone, Montana, and
Little Blackfoot Rivers, on the west side of the Rocky Mountains,
where they exceed four pounds in weight, and afford much sport
to the angler. They are very often taken with the fly, while fish-
ing for trout. They are also taken in Chief Mountain Lake, on
the eastern edge of the mountains.

The most marked feature is the extensive prolongation of the
snout which protrudes far beyond the opening of the mouth. The
head narrows regularly toward the anterior of the frontals, where
two strong angles are found narrowing the head abruptly at the
point where the short supraorbitals join, and the frontals and
nasals continue forward in a narrow blade-like extension. The
adipose fin is large, attached to the body almost to the posterior
extremity, and is ensheathed in scales for a considerable distance
from the dorsal line. The greatest height of body is equal to the
length of the snout.

CYPRINID.

Suckers.—Catostomida.

These fish, although not taking the hook readily, can be se-
cured with nets, spears, and such net-baskets as the Indians make
use of.
352 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

Sucker, of the Mormons.—Pantosteus platyrhynchus. Cope.

Specific characters.—Body elongate; head short and wide,
entering total length five and three-quarter times ; scales larger in
caudal than near head ; dorsal fin nearer muzzle than base of cau-
dal. Color. Blackish above, yellowish below. Hadztat. Provo
River, Utah. Taken with bait of pork ; also in net.

Varrow’s Sucker.—Pantosteus arrovit. Cope.

Specific characters.—Body not so elongate as preceding ; head
enters total length about five times. Dorsal fin intermediate.
Color. Above, light brown with narrow dusky spots and clouds ;
a narrow light abdominal band. Chin and fins red. Hadztat.
Colorado, New Mexico. This specimen is the prevalent catos-
tomoid of the Rio Grande Basin. I do not know if it will take
the hook.

Utau Lake SuckER.—Catostomus fecundus. Cope and Yarrow.

Specific characters.—Body thick ; head enters total length five
times ; diameter of eye enters length of side of head six times;
dorsal fin nearer end of muzzle than insertia of caudal, scales
largest near caudal. Color. Brownish black above, yellowish
beneath. Hadztat, Lake Utah, Utah. Is generally fished for
with nets but will occasionally take the hook.

Catostomus guzmaniensi. Girard.

Has also been taken in Utah Lake, but it is not well known,

Hornep Cuus. Jerker.—Ceratichthys biguttatus. Kirt.

Specific characters—Head enters length four times; depth
about the same. Scales large. Fin formule: D. 1, 8; A. 1, 7.
Color. Bluish olive ; fins light orange. Bites readily at any bait.
This fish was discovered in 1872 by Dr. Yarrow and Mr. Hen-
shaw in a small creek near Harmony, Utah. It is the common
eastern horned chub, which is widely distributed from Pennsyl-
vania to Utah. It may be found elsewhere further westward.

A species of chub is found in Lake Utah of which the scien-
tific name is in doubt, consequently it fs passed over with the re-
FISHES OF THE NORTHWEST. 353

mark that it bites well at grasshopper, pork and worms, and is
good eating.

With regard to the fishes to be had in the vicinity of Provo,
Utah, it may be stated that it is the only place west of the Rocky
Mountains where an abundance of angle worms may be had, the
species having been introduced by an enterprising physician
from the east.

Hatr Scatep Cuus.—Gila seminuda. Cope and Yarrow.

Specific characters——General appearance similar to others of
the genus. Head enters total length five times. Diameter of
eye enters length of side of head four times. Scales small and
subcircular.

Color.—Purplish brown above, silvery beneath. Fins yellowish
to pink. Madztat.—Rio Virgen River, Utah.

This species is very abundant in the river named, near Wash-
ington, Utah, and hundreds are taken by hook and line. Bait
used, grasshoppers.

MUGILID.

Muttet of the Mormons.—Szboma atraria, Girard.

Specific characters Body elongated ; head enters total length
a little less than four times; mouth small; eye enters length
of side of head five and a half times. Anterior margin of dorsal
fin nearer the insertion of caudal than end of snout.

Color.—Brownish black above ; greyish white below. Hadzta/.
—Utah, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, in short, is one of the
most abundant species in the Rocky Mountain Basin. Is not gen-
erally fished for, as.the flesh is poor and insipid during the warm
months. Will not generally take the hook except it be baited
with grubs or larve of which they appear to be very fond. Are
sometimes taken in the trout nets at Lake Utah weighing from
five to seven pounds.

LonG HEADED MuULLET.—Stboma atraria, var. longiceps. Cope.

Is a fish greatly resembling the preceding, which is found in Ne-
vada, Utah and New Mexico; bites freely at grasshoppers.
PACIFIC COAST FISHES.

PERCIDA.

San Francisco Percu.—A mbloplites interruptus. Girard.

This is one of the most common fish on the Pacific Coast. It
is known as the sea perch, porgy, or surf fish. They are the same
fish that are known at the east as the cunner, nipper, bergall,
chogset, blue perch, etc. The general color is black, mixed with
brown, with faint transverse bars of an uncertain dusky hue. The
largest exhibit a light orange tint throughout the whole body, with
the head and gill-covers of a chocolate color, mixed with light blue,
and with blue fins and general bronze coloring in some lights.
Like all the perch tribe, on the back is a stiff fin with spines. They
are caught most plentifully near rocky shores ; they take almost
any bait. It is a tolerably good and sweet pan fish, but they
should be eaten as fresh as possible, as their flesh is very soft.

The perch, which inhabit chiefly the rivers, abound much also,
in some parts of the bays; they are white with blotches of a dirty
black on their sides. The quality of their flesh is much better than
that of the sea perch. They are found but in small numbers on
the ocean coast; they run about two pounds in weight.

Rocxrisn.—Paralabrax clathratus. Girard. Dusky Rockfish.—Paralabrax
nebulifer, Girard.

There is a numerous variety of these rockfish of several colors,
brown, black, and bright red, of which those mentioned are the
most prominent. They are taken in plenty wherever the bottom
is rocky. They weigh from half a pound to twenty or thirty pounds.
You fish as deeply as possible for them, and they are almost om-
nivorous in their appetites, taking all sorts of worms, flesh and
small fish. Their meat is white, and good in flavor and firme.
ness.
PACIFIC COAST FISHES. 395

TRACHINIDA,

Of this family the Hederostichus rostratus is very common.

SPHYRAENID.

The barracouta, or barracuda, (Sphyrena argentea, Girard) is
very common, a voracious and very active fish, taken by trolling
just outside of the kelp.

SCORPAENIDAE,

Rock Fisu; rock cod.—Scorfena guttata. Girard.

Bites best at “lobster,” (so called,) or at the flesh of Halzotus
splendens, the “ ear-shell.””

Rocx Cop ; red fish Sebastes rosaceus. Girard.

Is quite common, frequenting thé vicinity of islands, and as it
bites readily at a baited hook, furnishes excellent sport. It varies
from sixteen to twenty-two inches in length. The upper regions
and sides are of a light purplish brown, the latter being mottled a
shade darker. The superior surface of the head is spineless. Sev-
eral other varieties, or species, are found south of Astoria, Oregon,
namely, the pauczspznzs, aurzculatus, melanops, and fasciatus,
which differ only in minor details.

SCLENIDA.
Litt.e Bass. Lzostomus lineatus.—Ayers. Common Kingfish. Umbrina undu-
fata. Girard.
Not abundant.
ATHERINID.

Smevt.—A therinopsis californiensis. Girard.

This beautiful silvery fish, with its silver lateral line extending
from its shoulders to its tail, is common along the Pacific coast,
and are taken in great quantities from February Ist to October.
They average nine inches in length, and individuals have been
taken’ that weighed two pounds. A fish of the latter size affords
fine play for the angler. They are taken in the bays, especially in
356 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

San Francisco Bay, with a cane, bamboo, or other rod from fif-
teen to eighteen feet in length, made either with or without joints,
and a light but strong line, either fastened to the top of the pole,
or connected with a good large four-fold multiplying reel, at the
end of which line there is rather a heavy lead or sinker, above
which are tied three or four small hooks about a foot apart, baited
with pieces of worms, found among the mussels which attach
themselves to the piles of a wharf or bridge. The smelts come up
and return with each tide to cast their spawn or melt on those
shores and flats of the bay which are either sandy or muddy. In
the full season, which is in April, they come up from the ocean
through the Golden Gate in enormous quantities, and bite gen-
erally so ravenously at the bait offered them that it often happens
that the angler hooks and lands three, or even four of them at one
time, and when three or four of them weigh each over half or three-
quarters of a pound, the angler has his hands full to secure them
all on Zerra firma, In the height of the ‘ take,’’ when there are
a hundred rods plying at once, the scene is a very lively and inter-
esting one. They are taken about three feet below the surface,
and the bait is kept actively in motion. A float may be used, or
not, at pleasure.
1

BATRACHID-.

ToaprFisu ; Porous Catfish.—Porichthys notatus. Girard.

A good edible fish ; bites very freely at the hook, and is abund-
ant, but repulsive in appearance,

GADID.

Tomcop. Morrhua proxima. Girard.

This nice, delicate little fish for the table, even to those ot
epicurean tastes, is very plentiful in bays, and in some of the
creeks, and affords much amusement. if not great sport for anglers,
It frequents near the bottom for its food, and is readily caught
with a rather stout hand line and a tolerably heavy sinker and
small hooks, say two or three, and No 4 or 5 in sizes, fastened on
near the sinker about nine inches apart from each other. The line
should be about sixty to eighty feet in length, to be thrown out
PACIFIC COAST FISHES. 357

from the wharf as far as it will go. The best baits are mussels or
sand worms, to be purchased near the fishing grounds, and which
are obtained from the piles under the wharves, or in the swamp
sands near the shores of some parts of the bay. Or this much
sought after-inhabitant of Pacific waters and its bays and inlets,
may be angled for successfully with a common rod of a medium
length, furnished with a small sized line and common multiplying
reel, with a much lighter sinker than the one recommended for
hand line fishing. This can be thrown out as far as convenience
will admit of, and to any one used to manipulating skillfully a rod,
reel and line, is a mode much preferable to the hand line process,
and much pleasanter, because it enables you to sit at ease on the
wharf without having to get up every time a fish is hooked and
cast out again, as with the hand line, and you can wind the fish
quickly up by means of your reel while in a sitting posture.

The Tomcods run in the largest schools when the tide water
is flowing only moderately fast and rather muddy, but not too
.much so. They bite best in those parts of-the water on which the
sun is shining. There is the same remarkable difference in this
fish’s biting as in others. Generally the catch is good, but there
are a few days that are nearly or entirely blank. They feed
against the running tide, both on the ebb and flow. Their roe,
both hard and soft, is considered a great delicacy with some
persons. They spawn in early spring.

PLEURONECTID.

FLATFISH OR FLOUNDERS.

The Platichthys rugosus, or rough flatfish, is the representative
type of the pleuronectdds, and is quite abundant at the mouth of
the Columbia, but especially in Puget Sound. The eyes are on the
left side, the inter-ocular space being of moderate width ; the right
is a dark yellow, and the left a reddish brown hue; the fins are
olivaceous, dorsal and anal having alternate bands of black, merg-
ing into longitudinal on tail, the ventrals and pectorals being uni-
color. The scales are rugose. The length varies from seven to
twelve inches. It is captured in nets, but can also be speared or
taken with the hand after the recession of the tide, as it lies high
358 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

and dry on some of the flats. The Indians slaughter large num-
bers along Shoalwater Bay and Gray’s Harbor, where they crowd
in immense throngs. When started, this fish will dive right into
a mud bank, stir it up, and escape under this cloak of concealment.
There are a number of other varieties, namely P/atessa dilineatus,
Platichthys rugosus ; P. umbrosus ; Paralichthys maculosus, Or
spotted flounders, and many others.

THE HALIBUT, (Alippoglossus vulgards), ranges from Oregon
to the Aleutian Isles, and up to the ice line of Behring Sea, and
westward to the Ochotsk. The specimens caught weigh from
one to four hundred pounds, and some are said to exceed even the
latter weight. The Russians paid a slight attention to this fish
formerly, but they do nothing with it at present, if we exclude the
few caught for the table. The Alaska variety is deemed superior
to its eastern kindred in firmness and delicacy of flesh, and as will
be seen excels it also in ponderosity.

LABRID.

Sea Bass.—Labrus pulcher. Ayres.

This fish is nearly as silvery as the salmon, which it much re-
sembles. At Fort Point, near the Golden Gate, where I sometimes
fish, there is a large sea wall, at the end of which the rolling waves
from the Pacific break with great force. In the eddy formed by
these billows, the bottom of which is very rocky, these fish are
often caught in company with the sea trout. They are also taken
by trolling just outside of the kelp.

SALMONIDA.

Of the Salmon of the Pacific coast, Doctor Suckley has given in
his monograph a list of no less than twenty-two anadromous spe-
cies—that is, species running up from the salt water to spawn;
the young remaining there for a greater or less time, then return-
ing to the sea, in which they abide, except during the period of
reproduction. Of these twenty-two, however, six feed freely in
fresh water, and can hardly be called marine species. The remain-
ing sixteen are enumerated as follows :

Salmo scoulert. Hook-nosed salmon ; fall salmon.
PACIFIC COAST FISHES. 359

S. proteus. Hump-backed salmon. (Alaska).

S. cooperz, Cooper’s salmon, (Columbia River.)

S. dermatinus. Behring’s Sea salmon.

S. consuetus. Yukon River.

S. canzs. Dog salmon; spotted salmon. (Puget Sound.)

S. guznnat, (California salmon.)

S. confluentus. 7

S, aurora, Red char. (Columbia River.)

S. argyrtus.

S. paucidens, Weak-toothed salmon. (Fraser River.)

S. ésuppitch. White salmon. (Columbia River.)

S. clarkzé, Clark’s salmon. (Columbia River.)

S. gatrdnert. Gairdner’s salmon. (Columbia River.)

S. vichardi. Richards’ salmon. (Fraser River.)

The S. guznnat of the Pacific Slope is a type of the salmon of
that coast, and is possessed of similar anatomical characteristics,
differing but slightly in form, color, and markings from the S. sa/-
ar of the Atlantic Slope, and of the tributaries of the Great St.
Lawrence Basin. Description by Richardson, see his “Fauna
Boreali Americana.”

“General tint of back, bluish-grey, changing after a few hours’
removal from the water, to mountain green ; sides, ash-grey, with
silvery lustre ; belly, white ; back above lateral line studded with
irregular rhomboidal or star like spots, some of them ocellated, re-
sembling an eye; dorsal fin and gill cover, slightly reddish ; tips
of the anal and pectorals, blackish-grey; the dorsal and caudal
thickly studded with round and rhomboidal spots ; back of the
head sparingly marked with the same; whole body below the lat-
eral line, together with the under fins, destitute of spots.

“ Ray formula: Br, 20, 20; D, 13; C, 30; A, 16; V, 10, P,
14, Spe. Char. Adult—Body fusiform in profile ; compressed ;
head forming a little more than one-fourth of the total length from
snout to the end of scales on the caudal. Maxillary bone curved,
extending beyond the orbit; anterior margin of the dorsal equi-
distant between the extremity of the snout and the insertion of
caudal ; dorsal region olivaceous, flecked with irregular black spots ;
dorsal and caudal fins similarly spotted. Region beneath the lat-
eral line unicolor, silvery along the middle of the flanks, and yel-
360 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

lowish on the belly; inferior fins unicolor; head above, bluish-
grey; sides, bluish-grey.’—Girard. See U. S, Fish Commis-
sioners’ Report on Fresh Water Fishes, 1872 and 1873. Page 105,
et seq.

The scales are of moderate development and conspicuously
larger on the area constituting the flanks, and which is traversed
by the lateral line. They are sub-ovoid in shape, slightly narrower
anteriorly than posteriorly, upon which margin the concentric
stria, or channel-like lines are obliterated. Those of the lateral
line are more irregular in their outline, and proportionally much
larger than those on the abdominal region, where they are slightly
larger than on the dorsal region.

This species inhabits “the Pacific coast from San Francisco
northward, probably to Behring Straits, entering the larger rivers
of the coast annually in vast shoals. We are told that in the Sa-
cramento and San Joaquin Rivers, they are most abundant, ascend-
ing the latter in July and August to spawn, when they travel a
hundred and fifty miles through the hottest valley in California to
reach their breeding grounds, where the temperature of the air and
water reach astonishing figures—where often at noon it is rarely
less than 80° Fahrenheit, and where the average temperature of
the water at the bottom of the rivers is 79°, and at the surface 80°.”
These facts we learn from the Report of the California Fish Com-
missioners, for the years of 1874 and 1875. They aver that those
salmon which ascend the San Joaquin appear to be of the same
variety as those of the Sacramento, but average smaller in size.
That they ascend this river when the temperature is so high, ex-
plodes entirely the theory formed by naturalists, that salmon can
not live below the 43d parallelin the streams of our country. This
fact renders it probable, as the California Commissioners affirm,
that the Pacific salmon will yet be planted in all the waters of the
Southern States that take their rise in the mountainous regions of
that portion of the Union. The enterprising and intelligent Commis-
sioners of Fisheries of California, are exploding each year anti-
quated notions regarding the salmon. If the salmon of the San
Joaquin ascend to the sources of that river to spawn, they go be-
low the 37th parallel, many degrees below where naturalists have
declared it to be impossible for them to exist.
PACIFIC COASY FISHES. 361

The S. guzunat spawns, according to the observations of Mr.
“Livingston Stone, Deputy U. S. Comimissioner of Fisheries at the
sources of the Sacramento, in July ; in the little Sacramento and Mc-
Cloud Rivers in August; at the mouth of the McCloud in Septem-
ber; and in the smaller tributaries of the main river, at and below
Tehama, in October and November. The flesh of the S. guzzzatz, in
its best estate, is juicy, rich, and delicious. The heaviest fish weigh
ixty pounds, while the average weight, according to some authori-
‘ties, is twenty-five pounds. In shape, this salmon is more stocky than

the Penobscot salmon. Much has been said regarding the compar-
ative merits of the S. salar, and S. guzunat, gastronomically. Both
salmon are full-flavored, and possess every requisite for a high eco-
nomical value ; and the fact of the superiority of one over the other
will soon be settled, as they are being cultivated together in both
extremes of our country, and their gastronomic qualities will soon
be settled by gustatory trials, and judgment rendered accordingly.

Although we have said that .S. guzznat is the type of his con-
geners of the Pacific, it is important to know that the habits of the
many supposed varieties of salmon differ very greatly, especially as
to their periods of spawning, the times of running up into the rivers,
extending all through the year from first of April to first of January ;
January, February and March being the only months in which they
are either wholly out of the rivers, or in the act of descending to
salt water. Some spawn every year, and some (like the humpback)
only in alternate years. Speaking generally, without regard to dis-
tinction of varieties, we may quote from a private letter from Hor-
ace D. Dunn, of San Francisco, who is identified with the natural
history and culture of the salmon. The writer says:

“The first run of salmon is found in the mouths of the numerous
small rivers and creeks that flow into the Pacific Ocean from the
coast range of mountains from Carmel River, near Monterey, north
to the boundarjes of Oregon. The grilse make their appearance
about the middle of October, followed in November by the adult
fish. These remain at tide water, waiting for the rise caused by
the heavy rains of December, which enables them to reach their
spawning beds at the heads of the streams. The coast salmon are
said to be a distinct variety from those spawning in the Sacramento
River and its tributaries, and return to the ocean in March and

16

 

 

 

 

  

 
362 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

April. ‘With these salmon comes a large species of trout, known
here as salmon trout, which have similar habits, and return to the
sea about the same time. This last fish is long, round, and com-
paratively slender, with a small head, and ranging as high as seven-
teen pounds in weight. One of these weighing only eight pounds,
caught in good condition last spring, measured thirty-two and a
quarter inches in length. Any salmon of the same length would
weigh from twenty to thirty pounds. Iam thus particular, as some
parties here claim the fish for a variety of salmon instead of a trout.

“The first run of Sacramento salmon arrive in San Francisco
about the first of January. They remain within the influences of
tide water until April and May, when the waters of the river hav-
ing cleared, from the ending of the rains, they proceed to the Up-
per Sacramento and its tributaries to spawn. A second run of
salmon comes in from sea in May, and goes up the Sacramento
without remaining in the bay. These fish ascending the river are
found in July and August in the vicinity of Mount Shasta in pools,
awaiting their time to spawn, and can then be caught with hook
and line. During the months of January, February, March, and a
portion of April, salmon are caught in the bay and rivers in un-
usual numbers, the cause of which I will explain further on. In
these months at least ten thousand were caught by hook and line
from the railroad pier at Oakland, three miles from this city. An
unknown number, but probably half as many more, were taken at
other points around the bay. These fish ranged from one to fifteen
pounds each, The sport being a new one, and prosecuted mostly
by novices with insufficient tackle and from a pier fifteen feet above
the water, the largest fish were almost always lost after being
hooked. When you consider that the hooks were on single and
generally inferior gut, on lines attached to stiff bamboo rods without
reels, scores of fishermen, almost elbowing each other, with open
piling beneath them coated with mussels, you will readily under-
stand that only the smaller fish were likely to be taken.

-‘As before stated, the number of salmon in the bay has be-
come unusually large. This comes from the close season in 1873
(the first we ever had) from August first to November first, and the
putting into the McCloud River the same year of four hundred
thousand young salmon, artificially hatched out by United States
PACIFIC COAST FISHES, 363

Fish Commissioner Livingston Stone, under an arrangement made
with our Fish Commissioners, Messrs. Redding, Throckmorton and
Farwell. The spring run of adult salmon in the Sacramento also
was the largest known for many years to professional fishermen,
fish weighing from fifteen to twenty-five pounds, at times in the
city market selling from a quarter to half a dollar each.”

The question whether salmon die after spawning, and before
returning to the sea, seems to have been satisfactorily determined
by the experiments of Livingston Stone, Esq., of the United States
Fisheries Commission, who built a dam over one of the rivers, im-
passable to salmon, which, he says, ‘settled the question finally,
and proved beyond a shadow of doubt, that of all the thousands of
Sacramento salmon that spawned in the McCloud, not one in a
hundred returned to the sea alive.” In the Columbia and larger
rivers, where the fish have hundreds of miles of journey to perform
it is not remarkable that in their tremendous efforts to fulfill the
callings of nature in the way of procreation, not only that few
should ever survive to return to the sea, but that as many as do
reach the headquarters should be able to get there at all. Of
those that succeed a very large proportion arrive with their heads
battered out of shape by their persistent efforts to surmount the
obstructions of the ascent.

As to what salmon feed on: This mystery has also been
solved to satisfaction, so far as the Pacific fish are concerned.
While in salt water they eat, and eat ravenously, their food being
smelts and other small fish, with some crustaceans. After they
enter fresh water they lose their appetite and eat nothing, a good
evidence of this being found in the fact furnished by J. W. & Vin-
cent Cook, proprietors of the Oregon Packing Co., on the Colum-
bia River, who have stated that out of ninety-eight thousand
salmon examined by them in 1874, only three had anything in
their stomachs, and these three had the appearance of having just
left salt water.

It used to be denied, too, that the salmon of the Pacific coast
would take a fly, but the ignorance on this subject arose principally
from the fact that strangers did not try them at the proper sea-
sons and places, while the resident anglers, who were in the habit
of taking them with flies, were altogether reticent on the subject.
364 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

The salmon of the Sacramento, McCloud and Pitt Rivers are said
to take the fly pretty well either early or late in the season, but
about the middle of the season, or the months of June or July,
they take nothing well but salmon roe, and this is rather a troub-
lesome bait to keep on the hooks, owing chiefly to the swiftness of
the current, (running about ten miles an hour,) and the somewhat
shyness of the fish in seizing the bait, although there is no lack at
all in their numerous attempts to grasp it. The fish keep well in
shore to avoid the force of the current when ascending the streams,
and, as in the east, are best taken during the hours of twilight.
While in tide water, the salmon will bite freely at bait, spoon,
and frequently flies, a peculiarity that would give the Pacific fish
precedence as a game fish, over his Atlantic cousin, which seldom
takes bait in tide water, and never spoon, to our knowledge.
Absence of black flies and mosquitoes is another advantage which
California possesses over the East; besides, the climate has no
greater severity than white frosts at night, with generally sunny
days. In the coast ranges in autumn, and on the Sacramento in
summer, fishing can be had with all of the comforts of the older
agricultural States. The close season for salmon extends from
August Ist to November Ist. The Indians not being subject to
the prohibition of the game laws, are allowed to take game at any
season of the year, and they take the salmon when they are in the
river to spawn, at which time they come in in immense numbers.
The Indians take them by means of spears, with handles often
twenty-five feet in length, and the modus oferand:? is as follows:
The Sacramento near its head is very swift, and in its passage
across different ledges of various degrees of softness it excavates
large pools or holes in its bed, each having a small fall at its head
and a rapid beyond. The water in these holes, which are often
very large, is comparatively still, and they make welcome resting
places for the tired salmon, before they attempt the passage of
the rapid above ; they collect in them in great numbers, the water
is beautifully cold and clear, and the fish can be seen crowded to-
gether on the bottom. The Indians repair to one of these holes
to the number of twenty or more, and a fine picture they make as
they stand in position to strike when the word is given, nearly
naked, with their brown skin shining, and eyes glittering in antici-
PACIFIC COAST FISHES. 365

pation of the sport. Some station themselves at the rapids above
and below the hole : others wade out to an isolated rock, or a log
projecting into the stream. All hold their spears in readiness,
and at a grunt from the leader they commence business. At the
first onslaught all generally manage to secure a fish, which is de-
tached from the spear and thrown on the bank, the spears, by-the-
way, having barbs of steel, which become detached from the stock
when they enter the fish, and being attached to the shaft by cords,
turn flat against the fish’s side, and make escape impossible when
the salmon is pierced through. The Indians proceed silently with
their work, and secure a great many fish before they escape from
the hole. Sometimes three or four hundred are thus speared out
of one pool. They are very cautious about making their prepa-
rations so as not to frighten the fish till all are ready, and then to
confuse them bya sudden onslaught. The fish are split open and
dried in the sun on the bushes, which present a curious appear-
ance all hung with the bright red flesh; they are then slightly
smoked and reduced to small flakes, and laid away for future use.
The roes also of the “ mahalies,” as they call the females, are
carefully saved and dried, and considered a great delicacy by the
Indians. :

To give in detail the habits and specific characteristics of Dr.
Suckley’s eighteen species of salmon, would require a considerable
volume in itself, which we trust some competent person will pre-
pare at no distant day. Their range is from the Sacramento
northward to the boreal regions of Alaska, where the salmon have
been known to attain a weight, on authentic report, of ninety-five
pounds. The government agent at Fort Nicholas, near the head
of Cook’s Inlet, has asserted that the average weight of sixty-three
salmon he had taken was fifty-two and a quarter pounds (!) which
quite “ takes the rag off”’ anything known on this Continent or in
Europe. The best information at present attainable bearing on
this whole subject, is contained in Dr. Suckley’s Pacific Railroad
Reports, as we have heretofore stated.

EMBIOTOCOIDA,

Viviparous or Sapphire Perch are very abundant all along the
coast, and will bite at hook baited with anything. The Z. Fack-
366 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

sonz (Agassiz), is perhaps best known, a fish from eight to eleven
inches in length. Its body is compressed, oval and covered with
scales of medium size, which are peculiar in being cycloid. An-
other peculiar, and, indeed unique feature, is that at the base of
the long dorsal fin are two or three rows of scales separated from
those of the body by a rather broad and deep scaleless furrow.
The anterior part of this fin can be folded back and concealed.
The female genital apparatus in a state of pregnancy consists of a
large violet bag, so transparent that one can distinguish through
it the shape, color and formation of the small fish with which it is
filled. The fish when ready to escape are miniatures of their
mother in shape and color, and fitted to seek their own livelihood.
This genital sack seems to be nothing but the widened lower end
of the ovary, and the pouches into which it is divided within are
merely a part of the ovary itself. In each of these pouches a young
one is wrapped up as in a sheet, and all are packed in tightly. It
is, therefore, a normal ovarian gestation. The external genital
opening is situated behind the anus. As many as nineteen young
have been found in one fish. The males are not quite as large as
the females, either in length or circumference.

There is a great variety of these fishes, differing much in size
and color. The following are the species generally met with :

LE, webbi. Girard. £. cassidit. Girard.
E. lineata. e £. ornata. f
£. argyrosoma, L. perspicabilis, ee
Phanerodon furcatus, s Damalichthys vacca. os
Rhacochilus toxotes. Agassiz,  Adbeona trowbridgit. Hf
Holconotus rhodoterus. < LLysterocarpus trashit. Gibbons.
Ennichthys megalops. Girard. Amphisticus argenteus. Agassiz.
£, heermanni. % Amphisticus similis, Girard.

The silvery perch (Damalicthys vacca), never takes bait. Itis
of a greyish olive color; scales have a silvery and golden reflect ;
fins unicolor. The male carries the sac on the anterior third of
the anal.

The golden barred perch (olconotus rhodoterus), is the most
abundant species of the family. It has a small mouth, sub-conical
head, large eyes, and the colors vary from a bluish grey above to
a silvery white, with three tranverse bars of golden on the belly
PACIFIC COAST FISHES. 367

and sides. Itarrives in immense schools as early as May, keeping
close to the surface, so it is caught quite readily. It bites freely
at a hook baited with salmon roe; but the mode of taking it
adopted by the Indians is to push their canoes among a school,
and as it has a habit of leaping out of the water, the canoes are
filled in a short time, especially when the fish are crowded towards
the shore. It leaps to its death quite frequently, without any other
motive than sportive playfulness. It has rather good edible qual-~
ities, but this does not induce fishermen to seek it. There are
quite a number of other varieties ; all are good pan fishes.

When scientific attention was first attracted to them, four and
twenty years ago, it was generally supposed that the discovery
was a new one, but that was a mistake. In 1769, a transit of
Venus was to take place on the third of June. The event was of
such importance that an expedition was sent from Paris to observe
the transit at Cape St. Lucas, at the extreme southern end of
Lower California. After the astronomical observations were finished
the party went up the coast some distance. On their return to
Paris, the naturalist of the expedition reported that on the coast of
California were found sea perch which had their young alive, and
when the small fish were squeezed out of the parent they would
swim with great celerity.

CLUPEID.

A few of the Clupea are occasionally met with on the California
coast. In Alaska the family is well represented, there being some
four or five species, which are allied to their Atlantic congeners,
though different in color and minor anatomical outlines. The
interior salt water basins contain myriads of them in June and
July ; and they extend in apparently the same density from the
Ochotsk and Behring Seas to the southern coast of Oregon. The
natives fish for them by placing their canoes among a school and
hurling them in with paddles containing rows of nails. While the
season lasts it is a busy one, for great are its results. This fish
could be used to excellent advantage as bait in fishing for cod; or
if cured, it would meet a ready sale in the markets of California.
Myriads can be trapped in weirs or hauled with seines; more
368 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

indeed than could receive the attention deserved to render them
equal to the best smoked or salted varieties of Scotch herring.

Nearly all the marine species of the west and northwest Pacific,
except the salmon, will bite freely at the flesh either of the large
crayfish (called lobster by the natives), or at the shell fish known
as Haltotus splendens.

Besides the species enumerated there are many others, of more
or less commercial or local value. Of the Heterolepids, the best is
Chiropszs pictus, which is known as sea trout and rockfish in Cali-
fornia. The Indians of Fuca Straits capture another, the Op/opoma
pantherina, but for this there is no vernacular. The dorsal and
lateral region is spotted black ; beneath it is a reddish-brown, and
above a blackish brown. The Chzropszs nebulosus is black on the
upper region, olivaceous beneath, and the caudal is sub-concave
posteriorly. It seems to prefer the brackish mouths of rivers sub-
ject to tide-water.

There is another so-called sea trout of a dark greenish black
color, spotted on its sides with red. Its form is rather long, like
the trout family. They are very game and lively, and are a good
fish for the table. The sculpins are very numerous, and bite freely
at a hook, but they are not used at the table, owing to the insipid
character of their flesh. Some of the sturgeon, known there as sea
bass, weigh from forty to one hundred pounds. In the spawning
season they run as far as the Shoshone Falls, a distance of several
hundred miles from the ocean.

The anchovy (£xgraulzs mordax) frequents Shoalwater Bay
in countless myriads; they are so dense, in fact, that they can be
taken with the hand in large numbers on the flats at any time dur-
ing the summer. This is equal to the best French sardine, and if
canned like it, could be worked into a prominent industry. The
body is subfusiform; deep bluish brown above, silvery beneath.

Among the non-recognized fishes of California is a species taken
in the salt marshes in Marin county, which lives in a hole in the
ground, like an animal. The Academy of Sciences has a speci-
men, It looks like an ordinary “ bull-head,” and the skin is eel-
like. They seem to have the habits of an eel more than ordinary
fish, and the flavor of their flesh is also similar to an eel’s. The
holes are similar to those made by swallows, and: are in such a
PACIFIC COAST FISHES. 369

position that the entrance is under water about half the time. The
tide rises here about six feet, and the mouths of the holes are about
three feet below high-water mark. They go straight into the bank
a short distance and then turn down, so that when the tide falls
below them they are still filled with water, although the entrance
may be two or three feet above the water at low tide. The Chinese
laborers gather great quantities of them at low tide, by slicing off
a section of the bank with shovels. Fishing with a shovel is a
method not laid down in the books.
16*
SOUTHERN INLAND FISHES.

HEN we attempt to distribute our fishes geographically,

we cannot justly include Virginia and Maryland within
the limit of Southern States, because so many of their fishes are com-
mon to those of more northern waters. Indeed it is difficult to de-
fine boundary lines anywhere, as large numbers of the ichthyc fauna
of one region overlap or blend with those of the region next con-
tiguous. In the Southern States, strictly speaking, that is, in the
country lying south of a certain line of latitude (say thirty-eight
degrees) very few of the inland fishes afford superlative sport to
the angler. The waters are warm, sluggish, and muddy through-
out three-fourths of the entire area, and not adapted to the finer
grades of fish; those that are found in them belonging principally
to the families of Perczde (Perch), Cyprinzd@ (suckers, chubs,
etc.), and Sz/ur¢de@ (catfish). The mountain trout, (Salmo fon-
zznalzs) is, however, found in the mountain streams of their ex-
treme northern boundary, where altitude compensates for latitude,
and supplies all the conditions and requisites of their natural habitat
in colder climes. In treating our subject, however, we shall de-
signate all those edible fishes which take the hook that are found
anywhere within the area of what are geographically known as the
Southern States, including both Virginia and Maryland.

a

From the characteristics and habitat of the fishes enumerated, ’

as well as because of the warmth and muddy condition of a large
proportion of the southern waters, especially in the extreme south,
it will be readily perceived why the gentlemen of the south are not
anglers, With the exception of the black bass, or trout, there is
really no fish beyond tide-water that offers any inducement what-
ever. The range of the “ trout” fortunately is large, and there are
many clear waters where he thrives. Gentlemen are beginning to
learn that a new source of enjoyment is offered by his capture, and
are really becoming interested in the subject. Practice at home,
SOUTHERN INLAND FISHES. 371

with their limited opportunities, will enable them to better enjoy
their excursions to the north and east, where the field is wider
and the varieties of fish more gamy, if not more numerous. The
fishes of the south, however, afford a valuakle contribution to the
larder ; and yielding some sport as well as food, attract the atten-
tion of fishermen of the poorer classes, who may be found at all
times angling in their primitive methods. Still-fishing with bait is
perhaps their.most scientific method ; nevertheless they have con-
siderable knowledge of the habits of the finny tribe, and manage
to lure or oust them from their hiding places by all manner of
contrivances.

In the extreme south, and indeed, in Missouri and Tennessee,
as well, the low swamp lands are interspersed with lakes and tra-
versed by bayous which are inhabited by innumerable fishes of
low degree, beavers, otters, turtles, alligators, and the like. The
swamps are frequently inundated during the winter and spring, be-
coming vast seas of water, obliterating all landmarks, and render-
ing it impossible to locate the lakes and bayous. When the water
recedes, there is left a deposit of mud which takes some time to
dry. The principal growth is cypress and gum, both sweet and
black, the other trees being killed by the deposit. As soon as the
swamp dries the fishing begins, and continues good as long as it
isin that condition. As soon as the heat of summer has thoroughly
warmed the waters of these lakes, and has somewhat reduced their
volume, the season for “ muddying”’ begins. The appliances for
this sport are very few and simple. They consist of several cotton
hoes, gigs, a dip net or two, or, in default of that article, a basket
attached to a light staff, and some splunges. The last-name
articles are made by inserting a hoe-handle into a hole bored it
the centre of a piece of pine plank, eight or ten inches long, and
five or six inches broad.

After reaching the lake, the negroes, who do the muddying,
enter it with their hoes and splunges and wade along, stirring up
the muddy bottom as they advance. In avery few moments the
perch commence to jump out of the water, and a large and game
fish, styled in this section a trout, makes its appearance at the sur-
face. Now is the time for the gigs to come into play. Many use
the three-pronged gig, resembling the representations of the tri-
372 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

dent, as seen in the pictures of Neptune in the Mythologies ; but
those who pride themselves on their skill, will use nothing except
the small, single-pronged gig, attached to a bamboo cane, eight or
ten feet in length. It is by no means an easy thing to gig a trout,
for they move with great rapidity, and even when struck, often
break away. As the water becomes muddier the perch cease
jumping, and appear at the top of the water gasping for breath,
The bream soon follow them, and are easily captured with the net
or basket, and even with the hand. The sucker is the next to ap-
pear, and his curiously shaped mouth is the only part of him to be
seen, which at a little distance can, with difficulty, be distinguished
from an air bubble. <A well aimed blow with the gig, directed a
few inches below the seeming bubble, will almost certainly result
in his capture. And thus the work goes on until at last the most
sluggish of the colony are unearthed, brought to the surface and
captured,

Every bayou has its colony of beavers, and it is frequently
necessary to cut their dams, so as to let off the superfluous water,
and force the fish into a smaller compass, reducing their feeding
grounds, whereby they are more easily taken. The beaver are pre-
vented from repairing their dams by hanging up at the breach some
article of clothing, or a newspaper. They are a great nuisance,
and almost worthless. A short time ago a gentleman in Missis-
sippi shipped to St. Louis a pack of seventy-five or a hundred
beaver pelts, to a firm who advertised for them. They did not
fetch enough to defray expenses (cost of traps and freight). They
keep hundreds of acres of land overflowed the entire year, and
when their dams are located on bayous that run through fields,
they cut down the corn or cotton to keep their dams in repair. The
alligators rank next to the beavers as nuisances, being valueless
except for their hides and oil, though their flesh is fed to dogs. The
female alligator lays her eggs in July. She gathers together all the
bushes, sticks, trash, etc., on a spot that does not overflow in sum-
mer. She piles it up like a brush heap or hay rick. She then
crawls under and deposits her eggs on the ground. She stays
about the nest on guard until the young come out, when they go
immediately to water, and never return to the nest. They remain
with the mother until fall; then disperse to hibernate. We have
SOUTHERN INLAND FISHES. 373

never seen more than one old one about a nest, yet we have fre-
quently found from forty to eighty eggs in a nest, and believe they
were deposited by the one female on guard. In an extensive low
swamp, where high land is scarce, one sometimes finds the ground
occupied by several nests within a few yards of each other. These
nests are all taken off in the winter by the overflow. When first
hatched the youngster is about four inches long, and will give bat-
tle upon the least provocation, and die game. Alligators are never
known to attack a person. When they are approached on land
they will blow themselves up as if their lungs extended to their
toes, and emit a most disagreeable odor; but if opportunity offers,
will retreat to the water.

The soft shell turtle is indigenous to only the waters of the
South. Usual weight about ten pounds, though sometimes caught
that will weigh twenty. It is unsurpassed by any of its congeners,
and is the equal of the diamond-back terrapin of Maryland. It is
taken with line or cut bait.

But as beavers, alligators, and turtles, are not fish, although
denizens of the waters, we will proceed to our enumeration :

PERCIDA.

Trout ; lake trout ; chub ; black bass ; green perch.—Micropterus salmoides.

This is the best and most common fish throughout the south,
and possesses all the game qualities of its cousin german, the
black bass proper, (1%. zégrzcans) which is also found in many of
its more northern waters, and which, having been referred to ex-
tensively elsewhere, needs no further mention here. Grystes saé-
mozdes, or the southern chub, is the most abundant fish in mill
ponds, and also frequents canals and quiet stretches of water in
rivers. It greatly abounds in the lakes, and is called the lake trout
—a gross misnomer, even greater than the name of chub. Itisa
bass and very closely allied to the black bass of the Ohio, which
has been introduced into the Potomac. There are some slight but
very distinct organic differences, which while showing that both
are of the same genus, they differ in species. They bite and watch
their young alike; but the chub likes still water, and is not averse
to mud, while the black bass prefers running water and rocky
374 GAME KISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

bottoms. It chooses for its abode deep holes, and the shelter of
logs and trees that may have fallen into the water.

Color.—Head and body dusky above, often with a greenish or
bronzed tint ; lower jaw and belly white; opercle with a bluish-
green spot atitsangle. Along the flanks runsa dusky band which
is more or less apparent according to the age of the fish. It is most
remarked in the young. Fins yellowish. This fish grows to two
feet in length, and has been taken weighing twelve pounds. [For
specific characteristics, see Black Bass, in Northern Inland Fishes.]

Bass fishing is habitually practiced in the Potomac in April,
and from April to June, at which time the fish run up the river to
spawn, We are not sure but that the first of May is about the
very best time for bass fishing in the Potomac. Black bass is
essentially a summer fish. They are taken up to November on
Southern waters, and in Florida all through the winter. But the
close season, as defined by the law of Virginia, extends from the
15th May until rst July. The laws of different States vary a fort-
night or so from this date., To find the most killing bait in your
locality you will have to experiment. Try the artificial fly of vari-
ous patterns, live minnows, a troll with spoon or spinning bait.
If your waters are large enough, use a sail or row boat anda
spoon on two hundred feet of line, with eight-foot rod and reel, or
if small ponds throw the spoon near the weeds with astiff rod, and
draw it sideways from the bow of the boat, or skitter with artificial
minnow. For still-fishing use the tail of crayfish, or hellgramites,
trogs, grasshoppers, beetles, worms, larva, and the like. Professor
Williamson, of Leesburgh Academy, Virginia, has written the fol-
lowing interesting treatise on the habits of the bass of the Potomac.

He says: “ Considerable numbers are taken near the mouths of the
branches flowing into Goose Creek, in the creek itself, and in the
Potomac River, with live bait and with the fly. The largest have
been caught in the river; those of the creek are smaller as a rule,
but not despicable in size, while those in the branches are the
smallest of the three. The largest bass captured in the river
weighed six pounds and over. The largest in the creek about
four pounds; and one of a pound in a branch would be a “big
fish.” I have no doubt from observations of ova taken from bass
of different sizes and at different times, that bass here spawn
throughout spring and early summer, prolonging their labors ac-
cording to the depth of water, etc., in their several sub-districts,
SOUTHERN INLAND FISHES. 375

so as to give instances of spawning as early as March and as late
as the 15th of June. I have examined the ova of five or six differ-
ent sizes of bass ranging from six to eighteen or twenty inches,
and found in November, the eggs separately discernible and
equally developed in all, though the sacs were of course of various
sizes. The ova mentioned above were about as large as blunt
pin points, and, I think, would be ready to flow in the last part of
February, certainly by the 1st March. The earliest caught last
season were taken in May; the latest in the latter part of No-
vember. Anglers stop fishing here in December, but I believe bass
could be taken even in that month if trial were made. The earli-
est.taken with the fly were taken on rst of June; the latest, by
that means, in November. They can be taken with the fly from
June rst till December, whenever the water is clear enough for
the fish to see the fly, and not so clear as to make apparent the
angler. They retire to deeper waters as the weather gets cool,
and are often taken thence with live bait, hellgramites, etc. They
may be captured with the fly even in cool weather on the edges of
deep pools long after they have deserted the shallows proper.
Bass weighing over three pounds have been killed with the fly,
and bass of over six pounds with the live minnows. To sum up,
the bass spend the winter in the deepest waters—begin to ascend
the streams in early spring—spawn in spring and summer, and
are in their best condition in autumn. The main army have
finished the labor by the middle of June. The open season ought
to be, in this locality, from 15th June to 1st December until
more accurate data may be gathered of their habits. Their food
consists of worms, larvae, flies, beetles, grasshoppers, crickets and
small fish of all sorts. They are very voracious, fierce, and strong.
In a:good pool they can leap vertically several feet. They have
been found above dams four or five feet high after being put in
below such structures. The artificial flies most taking with these
scaly citizens are the Academy and Ferguson flies, the latter
red, brown and ginger hackles, and hackles brown and black
together. Of the winged flies, the coachman with white wings, flies:
with peacock herl body, ginger hackle and yellowish white wings
with red streaks and red antenne have been most killing. Most
of the ‘‘bass flies,” sent from the tackle stores are entirely too
large, and ordinary trout flies tied on Aberdeen and on Sproat
hooks of small size are much more effective than the so-called
bass flies of the stores. The commonest caterpillar here in No-
vember is black and reddish brown; hackles like it are quite
taking.” .
For Florida waters the following has proved a most successful fly:
Hook.—Large, No.3-0, Limerick. Ta#/.—Scarlet and blue feather, a portion

ofeach. Body.—Scarlet silk or mohair tipped and ribbed with gold twist, a scarlet
hackle wound in at the same time, the hackle being wound close at head to form
376 es GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

the legs. Wings.—Under coverts, a portion each of bright yellow and blue
feathers ; over coverts the yellowish grey mottled feather from the jungle cock
particularly, or a similar feather taken from the wild or tame turkey.

One native method of fishing at the south is with a bob, which
is a bunch of gay colored feathers, with two or three large hooks
concealed in it. This 1s fastened to a yard or two of strong line,
and this to a stout reed pole. The fisherman sits in the bow of a
canoe, which is paddled by one in the stern, and kept at such a
distance from the weedy shore that the bob may be skittered
along the margin. Out rushes the bass, and cannot well escape
being hooked; he is either hauled in by main force, or breaks
away.

The trolling spoon is also very successfully used as at the north.
Indeed the methods of taking the bass are as numerous as many
of them are unscientific. Angling has never been a southern pas-
time, the gentlemen preferring the more manly practices of the
chase, leaving mere fishing to the negroes and lazy whites. Within
five years, however, very considerable interest has been manifested
in angling in its higher branches, and choice tackle is now in con-
stant request from the Potomac to the Rio Grande. In Texas,
where there are many clear streams, considerable fly fishing for
bass is done; while in Florida, whose winter visitors are chiefly
northern people, angling in all its parts and details may be said to
have attained a standard of excellence not found elsewhere in
North America, taking into consideration the great variety of salt
and fresh water fish in request, and the vast scope offered for
study and practice.

Many writers have maintained that black bass will in time de-
stroy all other fishes which may be found in the waters into which
they are introduced. We have never supported this theory.
Careful observation disproves the charge. Pro’ M. G. Ellzey,
one of the Fish Commissioners of Virginia, says :

“T have repeatedly fished in the upper waters of the Roanoke
for two years past, where bass have been plenty for many years,
and find the usual varieties. of catfish, suckers, sunfish, chubs,
minnows, etc., existing in great abundance in the same pools in
which I have been in the habit of catching the bass. I have re-
cently observed the same thing with regard to Goose Creek, a
SOUTHERN INLAND FISHES. 377

large tributary falling into the Potomac near Leesburg, in which
Ihave fished ever since I was four years old, having been born
upon its banks. Notwithstanding the presence of great quanti-
ties of bass, the white chub, sunfish, stone-roller, etc., have never
been more abundant in that stream than now. Notwithstanding
what has been said and supposed, the bass fishing on the Poto-
mac has never been better, nor have the smaller varieties of fish
appreciably diminished in that river. In almost all the streams
tributary to the Obio these fish exist, along with great abundance
of other sorts, and here they have existed ever since the discovery
of that country. It is, therefore, plain that as a general thing
these fish are incapable of exterminating other sorts in the open
waters of running streams.”

Moreover, small fish do not constitute the natural food of
the bass, capricious as they may be respecting their diet. They
subsist chiefly upon crustaceans, (crayfish, dobsons, and the like,)
devouring almost everything edible. In confined ponds where the
supply of food is restricted, and where there are very few rocks,
weeds, and other shelter affording protection to the small fry,
the case may be different, and probably is. The bass must sub-
sist, and when they have devoured everything eatable, they will
devour themselves,

We have covered considerable ground in this volume in the
study of this fish, yet the half has not been said that might be.
While he continues to be the chief game fish of the south, no op-
portunity should be lost for investigating his habits, and enlight-
ening those who look to his active qualities for superlative sport.

Ye.iow Percu; ring perch ; red-finned perch.—Perca flavescens. Cuv.

This well-known fish is common to rivers and ponds in all parts
of the country, except in the extreme North and the Flonda Penin-
sula. The back is more or less dusky, tinted with greenish-yellow,
sides golden yellow, and belly of a paler tint. Six or eight dusky
bars on the sides. The fins are of an orange color, and often of a
brilliant red. Dorsal fin double. It is a spring spawner, and is in
best season in July and August, when it is found near the surface,
and can be taken with a fly. Flies that will kill the black bass are
also suitable for the perch. Ordinarily it swims deep and is angled
378 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

for with worms, grasshoppers and other baits. Flesh white, firm,
delicate, and much esteemed. It is indifferent to temperature.

GoccLe-zyepD Prrcu; Strawberry perch; chub (South Carolina); croppie (St.
Louis) ; grass bass (Ohio) ; chinkapin perch (Louisiana) ; sac-a-lac (New
Orleans Creoles.) Pomoxys hexacanthus.—Agassiz: P. rhomboides.—Linn.
This fish of many names and extended habitat has a dusky

bluish-green back ; sides and belly silvery, and marked with irreg-
ular oblong greenish-black blotches that resemble “ chinkapins.”
Fins yellowish; length twelve inches, and weighs up to three
pounds. Inhabits ponds and streams of running water, though
it prefers the former. It ranges from Lakes Huron and Erie to
the Southwestern States. It feeds on insects, and takes bait freely,
and also minnow, going at it with a rush. It is a pretty fish, and
much esteemed. The varieties of perch are numerous, and we
can but briefly designate them. The most prominent are:

The Red-Bellied Perch ; called also Red-eye and Red-Bellied
Bream and Red Breast, (Jchthelis rubicunda); not found in any
waters as far north as the Appomattox. Very common in Florida.
Body dusky above ; sides and belly red ; appendix to opercle very
long with black extremity. Takes bait freely.

Blue Bream, Bream, or Copper-nose Bream.—Jehthelz's ¢enczsor.
This belongs to the sunfish family and is found in rivers and ponds
in the Southern States, from North Carolina to Louisiana. Varies
in color in different waters, and is sometimes marked with dusky
bars. It has a black spot on the lower edge of the dorsal fin.
Grows to eight inches in length, and takes bait freely.

Maw Mouth ; or Goggle-eye, of Louisiana, and the Southwest.
They stay in pairs about logs, stumps, or trees, and the angler, in
fishing for them, always gets both, if he takes one. They look like
a hybrid, or cross between the black bass and black perch, the
head about one-third their length, greatest weight about two
pounds, They are very numerous, taking any kind of bait, and
chasing the leaves that fall upon the water.

Silver Perch, or Speckled Perch; called also Strawberry Bass
and Calico Bass. [See Northern Inland Fishes.]

Sand Perch, or Bachelor Perch; called also “ Tin-mouth.”
Taken from Virginia to the Mississippi. Apparently a cross
between the yellow belly and silver perch. It is a very broad fish,
 

 

SOUTHERN INLAND FISHES. 379

almost as round as a plate, somewhat spotted, the spots even ex-
tending into the fins; long tinny mouth. They are found only in
clear ponds in tide-water districts, in deep water and on sandy
bottoms, and go in schools. They are sluggish biters, make but
feeble resistance when hooked, show ail the colors of the rainbow
in the sun when first taken out of the water. They rarely exceed
two and one-half pounds in weight; an excellent fish to eat, with
white meat. :

The Black Perch, sometimes called “tobacco-box’’; found in
ponds.

Sun Perch, or Yellow-belly, found both in ponds and rivers,
and called “ bream ”’ in some localities.

The White Perch (Jorone americana) a tide-water fish de-
scribed elsewhere at length; and the White Bags.

Sun-fish, — Roccus chrysops (Pomotzs vulgarzs). Common
everywhere, and known to every school-boy from Maine to Texas.
A very beautiful fish, olive brown back with a slight shade of
green, marked with irregular spots of reddish-brown ; sides and
belly yellow with brazen spots. Fins yellow. The opercle or gill
cover has a bright vermilion spot like sealing-wax on its edge.
Inhabits still, clear waters, regardless of temperature, spawns in
spring, fashions her nest in the sand or gravel, in shallow water
near the margin of ponds, and jealously guards it from every
intruder. It takes bait, and sometimes a fly or troll, though
seldom. It sometimes reaches a pound in weight, and is then
very good for the table. In Florida there is a variety of Pomotis
known as Centrarchus tr¢deus, found in company with the above,
with same habits. Color greenish-yellow, darker on back.

Striped Bass.—Roccus lineatus. Identical with the striped. bass
of the coast. Itis found in many tributaries of the Mississippi,
and remains long in fresh water where it affords much sport to the
angler,

ESOCID:.

Pixe.—£sox lucius.—E. affinis, Holbrook.

Body dusky on top; sides reticulated with yellow and olive
brown, belly white. It abounds in all ponds and rivers of fresh
‘water, and has the habits common to its family. Holbrook claims
380 GAME FISH OF NORTH ASAERICA.

that it is a distinct variety from the northern pike. It grows to
the length of two feet and more.

PICKEREL.—E£sox reticulatus ; E. ravenelii. Holbrook.

Body above olive brown, often with a greenish tint; belly
silvery; sides pale silver grey with dusky bars more or less ob-
lique; fins red. In some waters its general color is quite dark.
It is found in small streams of fresh water, and in canals about
rice fields; seldom in larger or more rapid waters. Seldom grows
to the length of a foot, and is found in small streams of fresh water,
ponds, and in canals or about rice fields. It is a great nuisance
everywhere, as it is an inveterate eater of spawn and small fry.
This fish is everywhere confounded with the pike, which, although
of the same origin, is of a far nobler race.

HYODONTIDA.

River Moon-eve ; mud shad.—/yodon tergisus. Le Sueur.

Similar to the Western species. Body compressed, back very
slightly arched. Scales large. Head small; eyes very large,
nearly filling up the whole space between the angle of the jaws
and the upper part of the head. Back bluish; sides silvery; fins
tinged with yellow. Length nine inches. It seems to be little
esteemed for food, being considered bony and unsavory. It is
frequently confounded with the Hickory Shad.

CLUPEID.

Suav.—A losa sapidisstma. Storer.—A. prestabilis. De Kay.

The shad season in the St. John River is from December first
until about the 8th of April. They appear in that and other rivers
on their way to the upper lakes and creeks tospawn. When they
come in they are fat and go into all parts of the rivers, returning
poor and lean in June, keeping the channels. The shad are found
in the Mississippi fourteen hundred miles above its mouth, and in
many of its tributaries. In the Washita River, Arkansas, they
begin to appear about April 5th, and run until May 12th. In
China they are known to ascend the Yang-tse-kiang more than
four thousand miles.
SOUTHERN INLAND FISHES. 381

Hickory SHav.—Pomolobus mediocris. Gill.

Hickory shad and gizzard shad are easily distinguished from
the white shad, in size, flavor,and shape. The true shad’s mouth
shuts together evenly and is white. They are thicker and broader,
have a dark streak on each side of the backbone after cutting open,
and have a different flavor from any other fish ; while the hickory
shad’s under lip is larger than the upper. It is black and ex-
tremely bony, and insipid in flavor. The hickory shad makes its
appearance in the St. John River the first or second week in No-
vember. The fishing is best about the first of January. The sea-
son ends about the middle of April. The shad are found in great
abundance in the lakes of Central Florida, where the fishermen
believe that most of them deposit their ova.

Herrinc ; glut herring ; branch herring.—Pomolobus pseudoharengus. Gill.

Color of back steel-bluish or greenish ; head above and tip of
lower jaw of same color; sides and belly silvery, the former with
from four to six dusky iines. Length eight to teninches. This is
called the ‘‘ glut herring ” of the Potomac River, so called from
the vast schools which crowd that river during the spawning season
in May. It deposits its eggs on the bottom of the river, seeking
localities where the water is fresh, and apparently preferring the
hard beds where the myrzophyllum grows, and no doubt the water
is well aerated. Some of these fish deposit-their eggs in the small
streams in the same region, and thence take the name of “ branch
herring.”

CYPRINIDA.

Tue Common Carr. ; called also whitefish, roundfish, and large-scaled sucker.—
Cyprinus carpio. Linn.

Carp are very abundant throughout the Southern States, where

there are several varieties propagated from stock originally im-

ported from Southern Europe. In Virginia they are highly es-
teemed for food, and during their run in midwinter constitute for

many persons their entire supply of fresh fish. An intelligent
—— observer in that State speaks of their being very abundant in the
Mettaponi and Pamunky Rivers. They come up the rivers early

in January, generally after the first spell of very cold weather.

’
382 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

They do not ascend to the extreme headwaters to spawn, but
leave the deeper parts of the stream whenever the humor takes
them, and deposit their spawn along the edges. After spawning,
most of them return toward salt water. Some are found during
the summer. They thrive freely in ponds, and are thought to be
not destructive to the spawn of other fish. They vary in length
from one to two feet, and weigh from one-half a pound to five
pounds. Shape long and flattened; fins arranged something like
the fresh water mullets; heads and mouths almost precisely like
the mullet’s, the mouth being a sucker and extremely small. They
run very near the bottom, and only take food lying on the bottom.
They bite at hooks baited with crumbs of bread or red worms, in
taking which they assume a perpendicular position, standing on
their heads, as it were. They are vegetable feeders.
Carp are said to have been first observed in Virginia from fifty-
five to sixty years ago, though it is hardly probable that their in-
_ troduction antedates the year 1832, when a lot were brought over
from France by the captain of a Havre packet. The Virginia
carp are said never to go below brackish water. A gentleman in
Woodville, Mississippi, who is engaged in the artificial propagation
of carp, says that the eggs hatch in twenty-four hours after being
deposited, they being always attached to brush or sticks floating
in the pond.

Rep Horse ; Pittsburgh sucker.—Mo-xostoma duguesniz. Jordan.

A large-scaled, red-finned sucker, with dusky olive back, cop-
pery sides, and whitish abdomen, attaining a weight of six pounds
and a length of twenty inches,

Jack Mutter; black sucker.—Catostomus maculosus. Le Sueur,

A reddish fish marked with irregular black blotches ; fins red-
dish, dashed with black; dorsal bluish. This beautiful sucker
lives in stony and rocky creeks, in places where the current ripples.
Specimens may be seen resting motionless on flat rocks at the
bottom, and darting away like a flash at the approach of man.
The larger ones take shelter beneath rocks, with cavities under-
neath, where they remain except when tempted away by want of
food.
 

SOUTHERN INLAND FISHES. 383

Common Mup Sucxer.—C. feves. Le Sueur.

Dark green head, nearly black; cheeks bronze and golden,
body purplish above, with pink and metallic tints on the sides, and
white beneath. Not a good fish to eat, flavor rank. Length
sixteen inches.

Brack Mup Sucker.—C. xigricans. Le Sueur.

Head large and square, black above; reddish yellow on the
sides, with black 'plotches ; white beneath. Dorsal fin black; the
others reddish. Length ten to thirteen inches.

LonG-FInNED Cuuck SuCKER. Carpiodes cyprinus. Agassiz.

Scales variegated with blue, yellow and green ; all the fins are
grey-blue. Length twenty inches. A good edible fish.

Hornep Sucker.—£rintyzon oblongus. Jordan.

A small fish reaching nine or ten inches in length. Head dark
olive green; back and sides of body green; sides tinged with
yellow ; anal fin blackish brown, caudal lighter, and the remaining
fins light olive green. Sometimes called Mullet.

Go.pFisH ; GOLDEN CarP.—Carassius auratus. Bleeker.

A well known species much fancied for globes and aquaria,
often growing to the length of a foot. Body generally brilliant red
or orange above and silvery beneath, although they are found
grey, silvery, golden, mottled with black, olive, or almost black
even. Their colors vary as much as those of litters of cats or dogs.

Cuus Sucker.—LZ£xoglossum maxtllingua. Haldeman.

Color olivaceous ; smoky above ; a blackish band from pectoral
to superior extremity of gill opening. Length eightinches. Lives
in the rocky parts of running streams, and feeds on physalzs and
other small fish.

Gasper-Govu ; Buffalo.

Weight from one to eight pounds ; has the general conforma-

tion of the perch family, with the exception of its mouth, which
s formed like a sucker’s. Its color is a bright silvery white, with a
384 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

sheen of purple. It is a fair table fish, but spoils very soon after it
is killed. Found in Louisiana and Mississippi.

Fart Fisu; shiner; shining dace. Semmotilus rhotheus. Leuciscus nitidus.
De Kay.

Colors very brilliant, having as ground a very pure silvery
white; back is often steel blue, and sides of head bright rose
color. In spring and summer the adult males have rosy shades,
and the dorsal and pectoral fins are crimson. Length twelve
inches. Specimens have been caught weighing five pounds.
Much esteemed as food, and affords good sport for the angler.

Another variety is the Little Fall Fish, or Corporaalen, S. cor-
poraizs, similar in shape to the above, but distinguished by its nar-
rower scales, and by a dark spot at the base of the dorsal fin, and
darker colors above, cream colored below. Length twelve inches.

Stony Heav.—Ceraticthys biguttatus. Kirt.

A brownish cream colored dun, shaded with slate above the
lateral line, where the scales are tipped and margined with the
same. Length six inches. Much esteemed as food.

The Report of the Maryland Fish Commissioners for 1876, to
which we are indebted for descriptions of several varieties of the
families Cyprinide and Percidz, describes no less than twenty-five
varieties of Cyprinidze found in the State of Maryland alone,
but they are generally small, and not in request by anglers.

SALMONID.

Mountain Trout.—Common Speckled Trout or Brook Trout.—Sa/mo fontinalis.
Mitch.

The only localities in the Southern States in which this fish is
caught are the headwaters of streams that have their sources in
the Apalachian Mountain ranges, these constituting the tributaries
or feeders of rivers in Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South
Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama. Nearly all of them contain
trout. [See Northern Inland Fishes.]

ACIPENSERIDA.
Suarp-nosep Srurceon ; Jack Sturgeon.—Acipenser oxyrhynchus. Mitch.

Elongated, pentagonal body; entire surface granulated, ex-
cepting that occupied by five longitudinal rows of flattened plates,
SOUTHERN INLAND FISHES. 385

of the same structure as the covering of the head, but of a lighter
color. The largest plates form the dorsal ridge. Head flattened ;
eyes small; lips fleshy, bilobed mouth on under side of head ; be-
tween the snout and mouth are four barbels. Color, greyish-
brown above, silvery upon the inferior body of sides. Upper lobe
of caudal fin twice as long as the lower. Length two to eight feet.
Inhabits the James, Potomac, Rappahannock and Susquehanna
Rivers. Much esteemed as food in Virginia.

SHORT-NOSED STURGEON.—A brevirostris. Le Sueur.

Head broad and convex; short snout; four flat barbels under
the snout. Dorsal series of tubercles nine to twelve ; lateral series
twenty-three to twenty-nine ; abdominal series five to seven. Tail
covered with lozenge-shaped plates. Dusky above, with faint
traces of oblique bands: whitish beneath. Length two to five
feet. Inhabits Potomac River.

SILURIDA.

The family of Catfish is represented by the Channel Cat or
Blue Cat, the Yellow Cat, the White Cat, and the Mud Cat, all
described elsewhere, and the Shovel-billed Cat of Louisiana and
Mississippi. All the cats are much angled for by the negroes, and
eagerly eaten by the poorer classes, but the Channel Cat is really
an estimable food fish, and affords good sport for the angler.

The salt water catfish, Avdopszs mulbertz, of Gill’s catalogue,
carries its peculiar eggs and its young in its gills. The Halifax
River in Florida, swarms with this species in warm weather, so
that they become a nuisance, taking the bait intended for better
fish. They grow to the weight of ten pounds or more, and fight
vigorously when hooked, but they are seldom eaten, and are cov-
ered with a disgusting slime, which makes the handling of them
very unpleasant ; besides which the long bony rays of the pec-
torals are armed with a serrated bone, exactly like that of the
stingray’s tail, which inflicts very painful wounds.

The eggs are as large as marbles, and occur in bunches re-
sembling grapes in form and color. We have never been in
Florida at the season when these catfish carry their young in the

17
386 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

throat and gills, but are assured by the fishermen of that coast
that such is their habit.

MUGILIDA.

Of the mullet family there are many varieties, of which little
need be said, as they afford no sport to the angler. In the James
River, Virginia, there is a very edible and toothsome mullet, much
valued for the table. The common mullet of the inland muddy
rivers is a loathsome fish scarcely filling the wants of the impover-
ished negroes and white trash. The “stone toter,” or ‘stone
roller,” is a far better variety, which is found in clear running
streams with pebbly bottoms. Mullets are much utilized for baits
for other fish.
FISHES OF THE SOUTHWEST

SALMONID.

Rio GranvE Trout.—Salmo spilurus. Cope.

Specific characters, Head small, entering length of body
four times ; muzzle acute; diameter of eye enters length of side of
head five times ; scales large, cranium not keeled above ; dorsal fin
nearer muzzle than end of caudal scales; caudal scarcely emar-
ginate. Br. ix, ix. Color, lighter than S. pleurctzcus which it re-
sembles; yellowish-brown above, with small spots composed of
decussating lines. A red band on each side of the chin.

Haéitat, Head-waters of Rio Grande, New Mexico; Sangre
de Christo Pass, Colorado ; and Brazos and Chama Rivers, New
Mexico. This species may eventually prove on further examina~
tion to be a well-marked variety of S. pleurdtécus, this latter being
found in the same streams with it.

As a game and food fish it cannot be surpassed ; biting readily
at either fly, grasshopper, grub, minnow or worm, it affords ex-
cellent sport. The Indians of New Mexico capture them in bas-
kets of wicker-work, nets, and by a running noose of horse hair at
the end of a stick. The noose opened wide is gently passed be-
neath the belly of the fish and gradually tightened ; a sudden jerk
captures the fish. By this method fish no longer than one’s finger
are taken by Indian boys.

CYPRINID,

Rosust Cuus.—Gila robusta. Baird and Girard.

Specific characters.—Body sub-fusiform, anteriorly stout, pos-
teriorly tapering. Head one-fourth total length. Eye small,
entering length of side of head eight times. Anterior margin of
dorsal fin nearer extremity of caudal than end of snout. On the
end of the snout is a small knot or tubercle. Color, greyish brown
above; yellowish beneath. Hadztaz, Rivers of Arizona and New
Mexico,
388 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

Will bite at anything, grasshoppers, grubs, flies, artificial and
natural, pork, fishes’ fins or eye. Are quite gamy.

ExLecant Cuus.—Gila elegans. Baird and Girard.

Specific characters——Body slenderer than preceding, tail at-
tenuated; head one-fifth total length, eye small, entering length
of head seven times. Margin of dorsal fin nearer snout than base
of caudal; scales larger than in G. robusta. Color, reddish-
brown above; metallic yellow or white beneath; fins dull olive.
Habitat, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Fort Bridger, Green
River, Wyoming. Remarks as to capture of the preceding species
will apply to this, in fact to all of this genus.

Cuus.—Gila gracilis. Baird and Girard.

This species is intermediate between G. robusta and G. elegans
but the scales are smaller than in either. Color, same as preced-
ing. Aadztat, Arizona, Green River, Wyoming. Is exceedingly
abundant, especially in the White River, Arizona, frequenting the
deep pools; will bite at anything. The fish is firm and sweet, but
full of bones. Where this species resorts few, if any, other fish
will be found except its congeners.

Granam’s Cuus.—Gila grahami. Baird and Girard.

Specific characters: Body sub-fusiform, compressed ; head
enters four and one half in total length. Margin of dorsal fin
nearer insertion of caudal than snout. Caudal deeply forked.
Color. Similar to preceding. Hadztat. Fort Bridger, Wyo-
ming, New Mexico, Arizona.

Is abundant, especially in Arizona; takes any bait.

PEscaDIT0o.—Gila pandora. Cope.

Specific characters: Head one-fifth total length; eye enters
length of side of head six times; dorsal fin nearer base of
caudal than end of muzzle. Color. Silvery above. Hadztat. San
Juan River, Colorado, Rio Grande, and affluents, New Mexico.

This species is the most abundant in New Mexico, and is
readily taken with any bait.

Gita Cuus.—Gila gula. Cope.
This chub resembles the preceding, but has larger head which
FISHES OF THE SOUTHWEST. 389

enters lengih exclusive of caudal fin three and one half times.
First ray of dorsal midway between base of caudal and posterior
rim of orbit. Color, dusky olive above ; silvery white beneath,
axils of fins crimson. A’adztat, New Mexico. A beautiful speci-
men and easily taken.

Luack Cxu8.~—Gilu nigra. Cope.

Specific characters.— Body fusiform; head enters length
minus caudal three and one half times. Scales more numerous
than in G. andorea ; upper lip slightly overhanging lower. Color,
black above, olive beneath, adztaz, rivers andcreeks of Arizona.
Will take any bait.

Barrp’s Cuus.—Gila emoriz. Baird and Girard.

Specific characters. Body elongated and compressed; head
enters total length five times, greatly resembles G. grahamz.
Color, greyish silver. Hadztat, Gila. River, Arizona. Will take
any bait.

There are a number of other species of this fish commonly
called chub, or escadzto in the southwest, such as Ceradzchthys
physignathus of the Arkansas River, Colorado; C. sterletus of the
Rio Grande River, New Mexico; C. sguamdzlentus of Green River,
Wyoming; and Gzla semznuda, of which little is known. Those
indicated afford tolerable sport, and answer well for the table
when better cannot be had.

SucKERS.

Of suckers there are several varieties, including Pavzfosteus
Pplatyrhynchus (Cope); P. jarrovid (Cope) ; Catostomus fecundus
(Cope and Yarrow) ; and C. gusmanzenszs (Girard).

There is also a species of “Red horse,’ Ptychostomus con-
gestus (Girard), met with in the streams of Arizona and Texas.

SILURIDZ AND ANGUILLIDA.

In the Rio Grande are taken many varieties of catfish, the best
of which is known as the Amcurus nebulosus (Le Sueur). It will
take any kind of bait. Of eels, of which there are also many va-
rieties, the best is the Angudl/a tyrannus, which is very much

like the ordinary eel.
SOUTHERN COAST FISHES.

SOLEIDA.

American Sots ; calico ; hog choker ; coverlip ; spotted sole.—A chirus lineatus,
(Linn.) Cuvier.

Head, body and fins greenish brown, with numerous black
blotches. There are two patterns of markings on this fish, one
with zigzag bands, and the other spotted. Very abundant in the
lower Potomac and its tributaries.

PLEURONECTID&.

FLounper ; flatfish ; sole.

Many varieties of flounders are found in Northern waters which
are not known south of Cape Hatteras, and wzce versa. The
Most common Southern varieties, found from New Jersey to Hat-
teras, are the Lophopsetta maculata, called spotted turbot, win-
dow-pane, and sand flounder; length, twelve to eighteen inches.
Citharichthys microstomus ; the Pomatopsetta dentata, or sum-
mer flounder; and Chenopsetta ocellarzs, or common flounder,
length twelve to eighteen inches. From Hatteras to Florida there
are Chenopsetia dentata, or southern flounder, and C. oblonga, or
four-spotted flounder, which grows to two feet inlength. All take
bait at the bottom, and are excellent food fish. Color greenish
brown, brown, and olive brown.

LABRIDZ.

Brack Fisu ; tautog.—7axtoga onitis.—Giinther.

Color deep black, or bluish black. Length six to eighteen
inches. Feeds on mud crabs or fiddlers and shell fish. Found in
Chesapeake Bay.
SOUTHERN COAST FISHES. 391

EPHIPPIIDA.

ANGEL Fisu.—Zphippus gigas. Gill.

The form of this fish is sub-round, the dorsal outline much
arched. The back is dark, tinged with green ; sides and belly of
clouded silver ; length eighteen inches. Is taken with hook in
deep water in July. It feeds on small marine animals and fish.
Another variety (£. faber), has a body of lightest silver grey,
marked with six transverse bars. It is found on the coast in May
and June. Length nine inches. Esteemed as food. A good
food fish.

SCOMBRID.

Common MackEREL.—Scomber scombrus. Linn.

Found as far south as Cape Hatteras.

Cuus MackereL.—S. coléas. Linn.

Light green on back with numerous undulating green lines
passing down the sides, just crossing the lateral line; dull bluish
beneath, with large round or oval blotches distributed irregularly
on the sides. Length one to two feet. Ranges as far south as
Hatteras.

Bonito ; skipjack.—Sarda pelamys. Cuvier.

Range extends to Florida.

SpanisH MACKEREL.—Cybium maculatum. Cuvier.

Body sub-cylindrical elongated; silvery above, clouded with
bluish green; sides and belly white with purple tints; several
bright copper colored spots about a half inch in diameter, both
above and below the lateral line. Teeth long and sharp. Tail
bi-lobed-~each lobe long, slender, and painted; fins yellowish.
It appears on the coast of the Carolinas in April and May, but is
rarely seen in the summer months. It feeds on a variety of small
fish and runs in schools. Taken often with a trolling line anda
bluefish rig, though it is a very capricious fish, and will frequently
take no notice of the lure, although there may be thousands of fish
in sight,
392 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA,

Czro ; black spotted Spanish mackerel ; kingfish.—Cydzum regale. Cuvier.
Range extends to Florida.

Avsicore ; American tunny ; horse mackerel.—Orcynus secundi-dorsalis. Gill.

Range extends to Florida,
[See descriptions of all the above in Eastern Coast Fishes. ]

JacKFisH.—Seriola carolinens7s. Holbrook.

Head olive brown, body bluish slate color ; sides yellow ; belly
white ; a yellow band from the opercle to the tail, which is widely
forked ; ‘fins bluish yellow. Length: two feet four inches. Lives
in deep water and is taken with bait and line at all seasons of the
year, but is never abundant.

BANDED MACKEREL.—Seriola zonata, Holbrook.

Body pale bluish slate color, marked by vertical dusky bands.
A yellow horizontal band extends from the opercle to the tail, and
a second band of same color, less distinct, is often found below it ;
fins yellowish ; tail deeply forked. It ranges from Massachusetts
to Florida.

GREEN MackEREL.—Serdola chloris, Holbrook,

Upper half of body palest green ; lower half silvery, iridescent,
with purple reflections, fins yellow ; tail widely forked with a black
spot at the base. Seen along the coast during July and August;
feeds on small fish.

CARANGID.

CAvALLt of CREVALLE.—Trachynotus carolinus, Gill.

This fish very much resembles the pompano, belongs to the
same family, and is often confounded with it, even by naturalists,
but its habits are very different. The cavalli has a more pointed
head and snout, with moderately large conical and pointed teeth.
The mouth is larger than in the pompano, the body not as deep
in proportion to the length, the eye is larger, it has two dorsal
fins, and at the junction of the tail with the body it is smaller than
the pompano, The principal structural differences are these: In
SOUTHERN COAST FISHES. 393

the pompano the first dorsal is represented by six spines, the snout
is truncated, the mouth rather small and toothless. The cavalli
has two dorsal fins, a sharper snout and a larger mouth, with con-
ical pointed teeth. In color, both are changeable, the prevailing
colors of the pompano being blue and silver, those of the cavalli
green and gold. Both are very brilliant fishes. In color it is
olive green, and silvery above and yellow beneath. It goes in
schools, swims near the surface, and takes readily a troll, either
bait or red rag or fly. It is an active sporting fish, but of indif-
ferent quality on the table, being dry and tasteless. Itis found far
up rivers (where the water remains brackish). It grows in Florida
to the weight of ten or twelve pounds. Spawns in May, in the
ocean, and is taken in South Carolina waters until October; in
Florida all through the winter, It feeds on mollusks, and crus-
taceous animals.

Pampano.—Botholemus pampaaus.

The pampano has a truncated snout, rather a small mouth
without teeth, jaws strong and massive, eye of moderate size,
body much compressed and deep, about one-third the length:
first dorsal fin represented by six spines ; second dorsal soft, and
extending to the tail; anal fin extending to the tail also. The
pampano is a bottom fish, and is found singly. Rarely takes the
hook, but when he does fights vigorously, running in circles,
darting in all directions, and making a great fuss generally. His
colors when first out of the water, are as brilliant as those of a
fresh salmon,—like a bar of frosted silver. After death they
change to dark blue above and lemon beneath. Most delicious
for the table. Spawns in March. Its range extends to Massa-
chusetts. Holbrook mentions four species of Caranx.

BERYCID.

SquirReEL Fisu.—Difplectrum fasciculare. Holbrook.

Body fawn color or bronze, marked with seven or eight lines
of ultramarine blue; fins blue and yellow. Length fourteen
inches. Is occasionally taken on the hook, on blackfish grounds.
The Carolinas are its extreme northern limit.

17*
394 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

SCLENIDA.
ReprisH, or Channel Bass.—Scienofs ocellatus. Gill.

This is a very common and numerous species on the Florida
coasts, and is a fish much resembling in habits its congener, the
striped bass of more northern waters. It is taken with similar
baits, such as shrimp, crab, or a piece of mullet; it fights long
and hard on the hook, and in the proper season is an excellent
table fish, boiled, cut in steaks, and broiled, or even fried. In the
fall and winter the redfish is lean and without flavor, but improves
in March, and in January it is the best of the coast fishes, as well
as the most abundant. At that season it swarms in the river
mouths and sounds, and can be taken with almost any bait. It is
also found of large size in the surf on the sea-beaches, and can be
readily taken by casting a baited hook with a hand line from the
shore.

Specimens under seven or eight pounds weight have the back
of a steel blue, sides golden, and belly white—the larger fish are
of a brilliant golden red on back and sides. All have the black
spot near the tail, from which the specific name is derived. Some-
times there are two or more spots.

It comes into the rivers with the tide, and is best taken in the
channels near the shore at half flood. Asin sheepshead fishing, most
persons use the hand line, with the bait on the bottom, but better
sport can be had with a bass rod and reel to hold sixty or seventy
yards of line, using a float to keep the bait within three feet of the
bottom. The same hook as for striped bass; this fish has a tough
but not very bony mouth, and is easily hooked. It is also taken fre-
quently with a fly and trolling spoon. In March and April in the
rivers and inlets they run from five to ten pounds weight ; later
in the season of larger size, say from fifteen to thirty pounds.

It makes its appearance in Carolina waters in November. It
spawns in August and September in the shallow bays and inlets.
In November and December the largest fish are caught. Its range
extends to New York.

Trout ; Salt water trout, or grey trout.—Cynoscion regalis. Gill.

This fish is known as the weakfish and by other names on the
northern coast. Ground color of body silvery. Black above the
SOUTHERN COAST FISHES, 395

lateral line, marked with numerous irregular dusky blotches.
Length twelve inches. Taken with rod and reel, with mullet bait,
fly or troll, in Florida and other southern States chiefly with bait.
Its range extends to Massachusetts. It belongs to the same genus
as the C. carolinenszs (called salmon trout, spotted sea trout, and
spotted silver sides), but differs considerably in color and markings.
Both fish are caught together with the same bait. It lives always
in salt water, never ascending fresh streams, and feeds on smaller
fish and shrimp. Shrimp is an excellent bait. It is most abun-
dant and of the largest size in. the autumn months. Spawns in
July and August in rivers at tide water. Holbrook mentions two
other varieties known in South Carolina waters, one, C. ¢halass-
mus, body dusky, with a greenish tint above. Sides and belly yel-
low. Known as the deep sea trout—found only in the ocean at a
depth of twenty fathoms and never approaching land ; the other
C. nothus, or Bastard Trout. Head and body silvery white or but
slightly shaded above; length twelve inches; an uncommon va-
riety. [See Weakfish in Northern Coast Fishes.]

Kinerisu ; whiting.—MMenticirrus nebulosus. Gill.

Body silvery, marked by several oblique dusky bars. Length
sixteen inches. The whiting remains all the year round. It
spawns in May in the ocean. In spring and summer very abun-
dant, and are taken near the bottom in the mouths of rivers and
bays with hook baited with shrimp, clam, crab, or mullet. They
prefer deep and running waters, and afford excellent sport to the
angler. This fish is peculiar to southern waters, and is a different
fish from the northern variety. [See Eastern Coast Fishes.]

Drum.—Pogonias chromis. Lacep.

The drumfish is very common all along the Atlantic coast,
from New Jersey to Florida, and is much esteemed. In the spawn-
ing season in March and April, it is taken very abundantly with
prawns for bait, which appear at that period. Body is of a dull
silvery or lead color, often with a coppery tint. It lives on mollus-
cous and crustaceous animals, which it crushes easily with its
immense round teeth. In the spawning season it enters the bays
and salt water inlets, and is constantly heard drumming. This
396 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

noise is made in the air bladder, and can be heard at long dis-
tances, sounding like the tap of a drum. It emits this sound only
in spawning season. Spawns in the bays and inlets.
LaFayette; spot ; pigfish ; bezuga; chub; croaker ; goody.—Liostomus
obliquus, De Kay.

This is a yellowish fish, marked by fourteen dusky bars de-
scending obliquely forward from the back, and always recognized
by a dark spot behind the gill-cover. Fins yellowish. Its range
extends from Florida to Rhode Island. It is taken with hook and
bait from April until December. It is highly esteemed. Spawns in
November and December in the bays and inlets.

Ye tiow Tair.—Liostomus xanthurus. Lacep.

Habitat and habits same as the Lafayette, and taken with the
same bait. Color golden brown above ; silvery below ; tail yellow.

Brack Percu.—Lobotes surinamensis. Cuvier.

General appearance olive black ; yellowish fins. Is taken with
hook baited with clams or shrimp from June to September. Range
from New York to Florida.

Younc Drum.—Pogonias fasciatus. Lacep.

This variety of the drum has a silvery body with dusky vertical
bars, and measures two and a half feet in length. It is taken with
the hook at nearly all seasons of the year, but the largest are taken
in November and December. Its range extends from Florida to
Rhode Island.

SurF-wHITING ; shore whiting ; barb.--Menticirrus dittoralis. Gill.

Scientists note specific differences between this fish and the
alburnus, although their general features are very similar. This
species is only found in shoal water where the bottom is hard or
sandy. Its favorite resort is the surf along shore where it finds
abundant food rolled in from the ocean, It is seldom taken with
hook. Makes its appearance in April, and remains all summer.

Croker.—Micropogon undulatus. Cuy. and Val.

A good panfish, seldom exceeding a foot in length, and taken
in great numbers in the bays and estuaries. It winters in Florida
SOUTHERN COAST FISHES. 397

and makes its appearance on the Carolina coast in May, but it
only becomes common in shallow water in June and July, and is
most abundant and of largest size in October and November. It
is of a dusky silvery color above ; belly white; fins yellowish.

BuLiyHEeaD.—Lavrimus fasciatus. Holbrook.

This fish resembles the Lafayette fisn at first sight. The body
is of a pale silver grey, the sides marked with seven vertical dusky
bars ; fins yellowish. Though a rare fish, it is sometimes found in
company with the weakfish, or sea trout, and is caught with the
same bait. From Hatteras to South Carolina,

SPARID.

SHEEPSHEAD.—Archosargus probatocephalus. Gill.

This fish is of a semi-oval form, head large, body a silver grey
color, marked by seven transverse bluish-black bars. The old fish
become more dusky. They weigh as high as seventeen pounds
(that weight taken at Homosassa, Florida) and are found in all
Florida waters, and as far north as Massachusetts. It is taken in
Florida throughout the winter. The best fishing is usually in the
channels which run along the banks, upon which is a thick grove
of mangrove bushes; ihe roots of these are in the water, and are
covered with barnacles, which attract the sheepshead. From half-
flood to high water they usually bite most eagerly, though here, as
elsewhere, there sometimes comes a day on which fish do not feed
—affected probably by the wind or weather.

In April they become heavy with spawn, and lose their fine
flavor. They spawn in May. They are often taken quite small,
only a few ounces in weight. Most fishermen use a hand line, with
two hooks resting on the bottom, but anglers find more sport in the
use of rod and reel. A four pound sheepshead will make a strong
fight, and a pair of them will try the angler’s skill to save both.
Owing to the hard pavement of enamelled teeth in the mouth, it is
difficult to hook this fish, and when hooked his jaws are so strong
that few hooks can resist their power. The best hooks are those
known as the Virginia and Chestertown hooks. The barb has a
sharp cutting edge, which penetrates better. The baits generally
398 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

used are clams (better boiled, being tougher), crabs, fiddlers, and
conchs. The latter bait is very tough, well resists the strong teeth
of the sheepshead. Sinkers of different weights are required to
suit the force of the tide at different times, the sheepshead being a
bottom fish. Two, four, and six ounces will be found sufficient.

The sheepshead appears in the neighborhood of Charleston in
April, and continues until November. It enters shallow inlets anc
mouths of rivers, which it ascends so far as the water remains
brackish. It prefers rocky bottoms or sheltered places ; old wrecks
are favorite resorts, because they collect barnacles and other shells.
They can be easily tolled to a place by sinking old logs or timbers
on which barnacles will collect. If these are removed, the fish at
once disappear.

Porey ; fairmaid.—Stenotomus argyrops. Gill.

A well-known fish, of an iridescent silvery color, tinged with
blue, purple and green, and takes the hook freely baited with clams
or other shell fish. Ranges from Florida to Cape Cod. Most
abundant in June and July. Prefers deep waters with rocky bot-
toms, but is often found in waters of an altogether different
character,

RuomporpaL Porcy ; bream.—Lagodou rhomboides. Holbrook.

Nearly oval in shape. Head above pale brown with small
golden spots; sides of head marked with several alternate pale
blue and golden lines ; the body above the lateral line marked with
similar lines of the same color, but more clouded ; slightly arched
and concentric. Below the lateral line these are horizontal and
parallel to the belly, where the blue lines disappear, and are re-
placed with alternate white and golden lines; belly white; a dusky
spot above the root of the pectoral fin. Lengthten inches. Feeds
on crustaceous animals and smaller fish. It is abundant in May
and June. Takes bait freely. Flesh palatable.

PRISTIPOMATID&,

Rep Moutu Grunt.--Hemulon chrysopteron, Cuvier.

Back arched, pale umber grey; belly silvery; fins yellowish;
length twelve inches; taken in Carolina waters at all seasons of
SOUTHERN COAST FISHES. 399

the year, though never abundant ; not esteemed as food. Spawns
in April, in bays and inlets.

Brack Grunt.—Hemulon arcuatum. Cuv. and Val.

Body umber brown above, paler on the sides; head dusky,
marked with horizontal lines of ultramarine blue; length ten
inches. Lives in deepest waters, and feeds on shell fish and
smaller fish. Spawns in April.

Hoerisu ; speckled red mouth; sailor’s choice.—Orthopristis fulvomaculatus,
Gill.

One of the best Southern food fishes, and is angled for from
boats by still baiting with shedder or soft-shell crab. It is excel-
lent when boiled or stuffed and baked. It should be skinned with
a sharp knife, as its scales are very tenacious. Body above pale
brown, belly silvery ; sides marked with numerous orange-colored
spots—those above the lateral line in oblique rows, those below it
in horizontal rows ; fins yellowish marked in same way; sides of
the head pale blue, with yellow spots. This fish appears in April,
and continues until November. It is very common in Bermuda and
is caught as far north as Chesapeake Bay. There are four other
varieties of Grunts: the Hemulon formosum , the Hl. guadriline-
atum, or striped grunt; Azzsotremus virginicus ; and Lutjanus
canzs, the yelting, or glass-eyed snapper.

SERRANIDA.

Brack Fisu, or Sea Bass, Black will.—Cextropristes atrarius. Barn, (Eastern
shore of Virginia.)

The males of this fish are bluish-black on the upper part of the
body, and lighter below ; females a dingy brown. Their fins are
very large. They grow to several pounds in weight. Takes bait
voraciously. It abounds in shallow as well as deep waters. Taken
from the wharves by rod and hand line. with clams, crabs, shrimp,
etc. [See “Sea Bass,” in Northern Coast Fishes.]

Brack Grouper.—LZfpinephelus nigritus. Gill.

Commonly known on the Florida coast as the “‘ grouper ; ” it is
a perch also, and is of the very best quality on the table, being
400 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

rich and well flavored. It is shaped something like the black bass
of fresh water, the color an olive brown, with dark mottled lines,
resembling tortoise shell. At Mosquito Inlet it is taken from two
to eight pounds in weight with mullet bait on the bottom. The
grouper has a stronghold under the mangrove bushes, or in a hole
in the bank, to which it retreats when hooked, and being a vigor-
ous fish often succeeds in reaching its fortress, from which it can
with difficulty be dislodged, and the loss of fish and tackle is the
result. More hooks are lost by the grouper than by any other fish,
but as it affords good sport and excellent food, it is a favorite ob-
ject of the angler’s pursuit. A bass rod and reel, with a strong
line and Virginia hook, with lead enough to keep the bait on the
bottom, is the best rig for the grouper, and, after all, the prospect
of getting him is uncertain. He fights so hard that you have to
give him line, and if you give him too much he is sure to escape
into his hold. Spawns in May and June in bays and inlets.

Rep Snapper ; red grouper.—Serranus erythogaster.—Cuvier. LEpinephelus
morzo, Gill.

This fish seems to be called by both names in different local-
ities. In east Florida it goes by the name of “snapper,” and is
known by the large canine teeth and by its rapacious habits ; when
put with other fish alive ina car it proceeds to devour those small-
er than itself. It has large scales, with spines in the dorsal fin,
and has been placed by Cuvier among the perches. At Mosquito
Inlet they are small—from one to three pounds, but in the Indian
River ten or twelve pounds weight, and in the Gulf of double that
size. The snapper seems to be a wary fish, and requires finer
tackle and more careful fishing than most of the coast species. 4
rather small hook, fine line, with mullet bait cast from a reel,
using a float so as to let the line run off down the current thirty or
forty yards trom the boat, is the most successful way to delude the
snapper. It bites sharply, fights hard, and is good eating, either
boiled or fried. Color, reddish brown on back and sides, growing
darker after death ; belly silvery. Spawnsin May and June in bays
and inlets. Twelve varieties of Groupers are enumerated.
SOUTHERN COAST FISHES. 401

LABRACID:.

Srripep Bass, or RocxrisH.—Reccus lineatus. Gill,

Body above dusky ; sides and belly silvery white ; sides marked
with seven or eight longitudinal lines of a bluish color. Grow to
a large size, but not so large as those taken off the coast of Massa-
chusetts. Taken in both salt and fresh water, although it is
reallya marine species. Its habits in southern waters differ some-
what from its habits in northern waters. It is seldom taken in
salt water, but is constantly seen in rivers of fresh water at great
distances from the ocean, even as far up the Mississippi as St.
Louis. It is common in White River, Arkansas, and in the rivers
of all the Southern States. It feeds on various small fish, and on
crustaceous animals, and never destroys its own kind, like the
bluefish. Taken with rod and reel. [See Striped Bass in North-
ern Coast Fishes.]

WuitE PEercH.—Morone americana, Gill.

Back and sides pale silver grey ; belly silver white ; two dorsal
fins; length twelve inches, rarely exceeding two and one-half
pounds in weight. Found in both salt and fresh water from Massa-
chusetts to South Carolina. It is really a marine species. Takes
minnow, the soft or “ peeler’”’ crayfish, soft or hard crab, or pieces
of perch. In early spring there is excellent fishing at the Little
Falls of the Potomac. The perch, with the herring and shad,
ascend the river to spawn, and remain in this locality two or three
weeks before returning to salt water. During the season it is a
very common thing to take them weighing from three-quarters of
a pound toa pound and a quarter each, and measuring from six
to twelve inches in length, and when of this size they make a de-
lightful pan fish. But before speaking of the habits of the perch,
a brief description of their favorite haunts will not be out of place.
Their spawning grounds extend all the way from Ead’s Mill to
the foot of the Little Falls, a distance of about a mile. The river
between these points varies in width from seventy-five to one hun-
dred and fifty yards, and in depth trom four to fifty feet. The
bottom is rocky, and at low tide numerous rocks are visible above
the surface of the water. The shores on both sides are almost a
402 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

solid mass of rock, and many fine perch are taken at high tide
from the eddies formed by the rapid current behind some of the
larger rocks,

Many persons, in fishing for perch, do so from the rocks along
the river bank instead of from a boat. At high tide they often
have good sport, but never take as many large fish as the more
experienced fishermen, who have their boats anchored over the
deep holes, and above eddies, where they take out the larger
ones, oftentimes as fast as they can bait their hooks. On many
occasions two or three of us have captured over two hundred
perch in less than three hours by fishing from a boat.

The tackle used for catching perch is very light, a fourteen
foot rod, braided linen line, and reel; the latter is a matter of con-
venience. The perch is not a game fish, and therefore the reel is
not necessary to give him line, as in fishing for rock bass, and
other game fish. Perch bite rapidly and swallow the hook, but
offer no resistance, and are easily taken from the water. Two or
three small hooks (Limerick, Aberdeen, or Kirby) are attached to
the line above the sinker, and the best fish are caught near the
bottom.

After spawning the perch start down the river early in May.
They breed and spend the early summer months in the fresh trib-
utaries, but by the first of August drop down to water slightly
brackish where they remain in large schools until October. In
August it seems that the bottom is covered for acres with them.
The cream of the perch season is from the ist of September until
the middle of October, and the best time to select is those days
when it is high water from six to nine o’clock. Then you can get
the benefit of both tides in one day. In the tributaries of Chesa-
peake Bay, the best fishing is enjoyed. There are known resorts
of the fish, and an hour or two before high or low water, until the
same time after the turn of the tide, is the time for taking them.
As soon as the boat is anchored the rod is extended from sides or
stern; the sinker with the baits runs the line from the reel and
finds the bottom. There is a pull downward by the perch, a pull
upward by the angler, and the tip of the rod is lowered; then
another pull, and another perch hooked, and then a third in the
same manner, when the angler reels up and lifts his fish on board.
SOUTHERN COAST FISHES. 403

On a good day it is not uncommon for three or four fishers to kill
from fifty to eighty dozen.

POMATOMID.

Buuerisu or Sxip-JacK; greenfish (Virginia) ; tailor (Maryland and Virginia).—
Pomatomus saltatrizx. Gill.

The form of this fish is oblong, head rather large, snout
rounded, mouth large, armed with bony sharp teeth ; tail deeply
forked, color brilliant steel blue and silver in young fish, and deep
greenish blue in old fish; finsyellowish. These fish are generally
small and not esteemed. Taken by trolling and by rod, bait and
float from the wharves. Shrimp are preferred for bait. At some
seasons they will take a light colored fly of whitish yellow hue, and
are often so caught on the Gulf coast of Florida. The young fish
are known in southern waters as whitefish and snap mackerel.
[See “ Bluefish” in Northern Coast Fishes.]

ELACATID.

CRaAB-EATER ; Cobia; sergeant fish.—Z/acate canadus. Gill.

This fish resembles the pickerel of fresh water in form, size,
and habits, particularly in the long under jaw which distinguishes
the pike family. Body long and narrow, sub-cylindrical, marked
with alternate dark and light olive horizontal stripes that extend
from the gills to the tail; belly white; tail deeply crescentic, the
upper lobe being the longest. It has moreover a black stripe along
its sides which gives rise to its local name of “sergeant fish.”’
Length three to five feet. It is common on the east coast of
Florida, particularly on the Indian River, though its range extends
to Massachusetts. It prefers clear water, and subsists on smaller
fish and crabs, lurking under roots and sea weed, from which it
darts upon its prey. Takes the hook freely.

ECHINEID#.

Sucx-Fisu.—Echeneis lineata, Holbrook.

The body of this fish is similar in form to the cobia, except
that its tail is nearly square. It is banded like the cobia too, but
404 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

the stripes are clouded yellow and sulphur color. The belly is
white and the tail bluish margined with white. It has a large
broad head which is concave on top, where it is occupied by an
oval adhesive disk bordered by a fleshy thick movable substance,
and divided in the mesial line, on each side of which are twenty-
one transverse plates, their free margins divided backward and
serrated. By this disk it attaches itself to any object, and is found
adhering to the bottoms of boats, and to the bodies of large fish.
It is frequently taken with blackfish, (sea bass) and is attracted by
the same bait.

ESOCIDA.

Pixs.—Esox lucius, or reticulatus.

In the salt waters of Chesapeake Bay is found a true pike whose
habitat, it has been ascertained, is confined almost exclusively to
salt water. Some who have been cognizant of this fish have main-
tained that it was a distinct variety, but there seems to be no doubt
of its identity with the inland pike, and we find it referred to as
Lsox reticulatus (Le Sueur, e¢ ad,) and £. duczus (Mitchell), in the
Reports of the Maryland Fish Commissioners, the most valuable
work of the kind that has yet been issued. Our extended investi-
gations show that these fish spawn in the Patapsco, Magoty,
Chester, Sassafras, Choptank and Annapolis Roads. There are
few caught below the Choptank, and scarcely any above the Sas-
safras River. They are taken every day in the year, the largest
quantity in extreme cold weather, when they are brought to mar-
ket by wagon loads. At Norfolk they are not common. Prof.
Ellzey, of Bladesburg, Virginia, says that they were very numer-
ous six or seven years ago at West River, Maryland, where they
were caught in seines in February and March, but during the past
few seasons only occasional specimens have been taken. He vol-
unteers the opinion that they might be taken with the fly. Prof.
Beal, of the Gown Agricultural College, says he has known of
their being taken through the ice in winter with a hook.

“While residing at Annapolis, 1 had several opportunities for
examining this fish when fresh from the water, and should pro-
nounce it identical with the common fresh-water pickerel (Zsox
SOUTHERN COAST FISHES. 403

veticulatus) of the Eastern States. The color and markings upon
the sides are the same, and their habits of lying in shallow water
near the shore and in bunches of weeds are also similar. It is pos-
sible that a specialist in ichthyology might discover differences, but
they are not apparent to the eyes of an ordinary student of nature.
The water of the creeks and inlets about Chesapeake Bay are but
slightly salt, and but little affected by tides, and are lined about the
shores with patches of weeds and rushes, forming just the sort of
places that the pickerel loves to inhabit. I see no reason for sup-
posing that the pickerel should not live in salt water if the other
conditions were suited to its habits, as they so evidently are here.
The only way that I ever knew of these salt water pike being taken
was by the seine and by fishing through the ice in winter, precisely
as is done for pickerel at the North.”

Mr. S. R. Scoggins, a veteran marketman of Baltimore, claims
these pike are essentially a salt water fish, and will not go into
fresh water. He says, “I have been among them for thirty years,
and never knew one to be caught in fresh water unless it had
strayed away from the school and was in a sickly condition.
Possibly they go into fresh water to spawn.

A careful examination of five specimens of these fish, that av-
eraged some twenty-two inches in length, and a comparison of the
same with the fresh-water pike, discovered but very slight variations
as to fin-rays, color, markings, and general structure, as between
each other and the inland fish. We give the formula for two
specimens which showed the greatest variation :

Length of body twenty-two and one-half inches; head six
inches. Fin system: D. 18; P. 14; V. 1c; A. 15; C. 20.

Length of body twenty-one inches; head five and one-half
inches. Fin system: D. 18; P. 12; V.9; A. 15; C. 20.

Color: Back, deep green; sides, olive yellow; belly, white ;
under fins and throat, deep red; upper fins, green; irides blue
with yellow rim; numerous dark streaks on body producing a
reticulated appearance.

The fin-ray formula for the inland pike, as given by De Kay
and other authorities, is as follows:

D. 18; P. 16; V. 10; A. 14; C. 19.

Color and description nearly as given above.
406 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

Sxrryack ; skipper ; saury ; bone-fish ; lady-fish.—Scomberesox scutellatus.
Le Sueur.

This fish belongs to the genus scomberesocidz, and as the
name implies, this fish combines the characteristics of the mack-
erel and the pike. He is a beautiful fish, growing to several
pounds in weight, is shaped like a pike, with fins similarly located,
Jarge mouth well armed with teeth ; dark blue on the back, silvery
on the sides, and white on the belly; fins white. He is as vora-
cious as either the pike or mackerel, and takes bait, spoon, or flies
freely. He is often hooked when not wanted while angling for
other better fish. Very common in southern waters, especially in
Florida. Tastes well enough, but is bony. Plays havoc with light
tackle, and affords good sport.

MUGILID-.
Mutuet.—Mugil lineatus. Mitch.

There are several species of the mullet. They are found every-
where in the bays and sounds in immense shoals, and are taken in
seines and cast nets in size from half a pound to six pounds. It
is a very valuable fish to the inhabitants, since it takes salt better
than any other southern species, being equal to the mackerel in
that respect. It also furnishes a valuable food in its spawn, which
is salted and smoked. It is also used extensively as bait for most
other fishes. The mullet appears to subsist upon the minute
animals found in the mud, with which substance its stomach and
intestines are usually found to be filled. Eaten fresh, the mullet
affords a rich and savory food. Spawns in January and February
in strong currents on the surface.

ELOPIDA:.
JACKMARIDDLE ; pounder ; big-eyed herring.—Zofs saurus. Linn.

Color pale green on upper part, and white with roseate tints
at the sides; fins yellowish. Length thirty inches. Taken with
hook and bait from June to October. Not esteemed as food.

JuwrisH ; tarpum.—MMegalops thrissoides. Giinther.

An immense fish, with bony white silvery scales two inches in
diameter, covering the whole body, weighing often five hundred
SOUTHERN COAST FISHES. 407

pounds and upwards. Will take a hook, but not a convenient fish
to handle. Very common in Galveston Bay and on the Florida
coast.

SILURIDZ.

SaLt WaTeER CatrisH.~Ariopsis milberti?. Gill.

Much resembles the fresh water catfish, but is a handsomei
fish, both in form and color. It has the barbels dependent from
the mouth, and strong spines in the pectoral and dorsal fins, capa-
ble of inflicting painful wounds upon careless hands. They are
numerous, and greedy biters, but are generally thrown away, or
left for the coons and buzzards. Size in the Indian River, Florida,
tenor twelve pounds. At Mosquito Inlet, from two five to pounds.
A SHORT LECTURE ON FISHES.

F all the animals composing that great branch of the animal
C) kingdom called vertebrates, the fishes are the simplest in
structure and intelligence, and are the oldest in the history of the
globe, as shown by the remains in the rocks. Fishes being des-
tined to an active life under water, have all their organs adapted
to this purpose—gills instead of lungs, limbs shaped as fins, and so
forth. They differ in form, but all have the simple outline of a
large head, no neck, and the body tapering gradually to the end
of the tail, Some have no fins, but generally they are present, and
arranged in pairs symmetrically, or singly on the back or abdomen.
Behind the head are large openings leading to the gills. The
water entering the mouth in breathing, is driven across the gills
and escapes by these openings. The scales greatly vary, their
shape forming one of the characters by which a fish is classified.
They are horny plates similar to our finger-nails, containing min-
ute, polished plates of color, giving certain fishes a dazzling bril-
liancy of tinting that reminds us of gold and silver.

The skeleton of fishes is either horny or made of cartilage,
which is a tough, elastic substance, better known as “gristle.”
It is composed of a head, trunk and limbs. The head is made up
of a large number of bones intricately put together, particularly
those supporting the arches of the gills and gill-covers (opercula),
the tongue and neighboring parts, which has been termed the
Ayotd apparatus. Next behind the skull comes a chain of bones
called vertebra, extending the whole length of the body. Each
vertebra is shaped like an hour-glass, and is armed with spines
and projections termed frocesses, some of which, by interlocking,
hold the vertebrae more firmly together, while others give a strong
attachment to muscles. This chain is the backbone or vertebral
column, which, by its presence in every fish, bird, reptile, and mam-
mal, unites them into a single group—the Vertebrata. Above the
A SHORT LECTURE ON FISHES. 409

backbone runs the sfza/ cord, that is the great nerve, which is
a continuation backward of the brain, protected by a bony tube,
and underneath it the great artery from the heart that supplies the
body with blood. To the sides of the backbone the ribs are all
attached, when present, and upon the spiny processes which pro-
ject upward is carried the framework of the fins of the back and the
tail. The side fins are supported upon the end of some flat bones
hinged to the backbone, which answer to the fore-limbs in higher
animals, but the ventral or belly fins are fixed more simply. The
skeleton in fishes like the sharks and skates is very different, not
being bony at all, but composed entirely of cartilage ; hence they
have been named cartz/agénous fishes.

Most fishes swim with great rapidity, using their tail alone to
get ahead with, balancing and steering somewhat with their fins.
Many possess a very peculiar organ, called the sw2:mzng-bladder,
situated in the abdomen, this is a sac filled with air, and so ar-
ranged that the fish can increase or decrease his weight with
respect to the water (z. ¢., his specific gravity), and so sink or float
as he desires.

The life of a fish is occupied wholly in providing its food and
escaping its enemies ; its senses are dull, and it seems to be with-
out any remarkable instinct. Yet it has a brain, abundant nerves,
and all the organs of sense. Fishes are great eaters, and nearly
all live upon flesh. Some have no teeth, but generally there are
large numbers in different parts of the mouth and throat, which
vary widely in form, number and position. The horrid set which
the shark carries is regularly shed and replaced by new. The
blood of fishes is red and cold, but it seems to circulate slower
than in warm-blooded animals, and the heart is more simple.
Some fishes, like the electric eel, have the remarkable power of
producing electricity. Fishes multiply by means of eggs, some
species producing hundreds of thousands at a single spawning—
as the dropping of the egg is called; yet perhaps not more than
one in a thousand of these eggs ever results in a full grown fish.

Certain fishes change their residence with the seasons, or ac-
cording to their habits, especially their habit of spawning. This
migration in some is from north to south ; in others from deep to
shallow water and back again; and many from the sea up rivers

18
410 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA,

and down again to the sea. One of the best known examples of
this latter class is the salmon, and I will give you a description of
their habits in the words of Milne-Edwards, an eminent French
naturalist :

«Each spring it enters the rivers in vast troops to ascend them,
even to their sources. In these migrations the salmon follow a
regular order, forming two long files, united in front, conducted
by the largest female, who precedes, while the small males form
the rear guard. These troops swim in general with much noise
in the middle of rivers, and near the surface of the water if the
temperature be mild, but nearer the bottom if the heat be great.
In general, salmon advance slowly, sporting as they proceed ; but
if danger appears to threaten them, the rapidity of their course
becomes such that the eye can scarcely follow them. Ifa dyke or
cascade opposes their progress, they make the greatest efforts to
overcome it. Resting on some rock, and. extending the body sud-
denly and with violence after being curved, they spring out of the
water, leaping occasionally to the height of fifteen feet in the air,
so as to fall beyond the obstacle which stops them. Salmon as-
cend rivers even to their source, and search in the small streams
and tranquil places a bottom of sand and gravel adapted to the
deposition of their eggs. The eggs are deposited in a trough dug
by the female in the sand; they are afterward fecundated by the
male. The young salmon grow very rapidly ; and when they are
about a foot long they leave the rivers to repair to the sea, which
they quit in its turn to again enter the river * * * toward the
middle of the summer that follows their birth,”

These periodical visits are taken advantage of by fishermen,
and it is then that all the salmon, herring, mackerel, cod, and other
fishes we use, are caught and cured,

I have no doubt you will be satisfied if I only mention the
classification, and I have little time to do more. It is a very large
class and contains four sub-classes—The Ayzondes, the true Fish,
the Ganozds, and the Sedachzans or cartilaginous fishes. The
myzontes are so low and shapeless that they were at one time
classified with worms. Many of them live as parasites on other
fishes ; some holding on by means of a round sucker-mouth, like
the lamprey eel. The true /7s4 belong to two orders, separated
A SHORT LECTURE ON FISHES. 4Il

by the shape of their scales, which in such fishes as the perch and
most of our fresh water species, are jagged and comb-like along
the posterior edge, while in the case of our friend the salmon, the
scales are rouud and smooth at the edges. The: sub-class in-
cludes about two-thirds of all the fishes, and are the easiest
examples for you to study.

(A) Ganodd fishes are well represented by the gar-pike or bill-
fish of the western rivers and the common sturgeon. The main
part of this group, though, consists of fossil fishes, which are found
in the same rocks from which we get our soft coal. Many of these
odd fishes who perished so Jong ago looked very much like small
alligators, and others were like our bill-fishes and fikes,

To the fourth and highest.sub-class belong those fishes like
the sharks and rays or skates, that, instead of a bony skeleton like
the true fishes, have one of cartilage. The sharks are noted for
their ferocity and their insatiable appetite. They abound especially
among the coral islands of the Pacific Ocean, where the people
spend about as much time in the water as on land. But so ac-
customed do they become to them and so fearless, that it is said
an Islander does not wait for the shark to rush upon him, but
attacks him instead, with only a knife or sharp stick for a weapon,
and generally conquers. The sharks are obliged to turn over to
seize anything, their mouth being a good ways back from the end
of the snout, which gives the swimmer an opportunity to plunge
in his knife. All sharks, however, are not so large. The rays or
skates, or their cousin the torpedo, are also flesh eaters, but not so
fierce as the sharks. They are easy to recognize by their nearly
square shape, with the head at one corner and the long tail at the
other. The two remaining corners are made by the very large
side fins. The many slender bones spreading out like rays from
the shoulder to the edge of this fin gives them their first name,

but why they are called “skates” I cannot tell.
ERNEST INGERSOLL.
DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

THE ORIGIN OF THE DOMESTIC DOG.

HERE appears to be a wide difference of opinion among

naturalists as to the stock from which our dogs of the
present day came. Some have it the wolf, others the jackal, or
fox, while not a few claim that the dhole, or wild dog of India, is
the source from which sprang all the varieties. In our opinion it
cannot be declared with any degree of certainty what the parent
stock was. Certain it is that to no one animal can the paternity
of these useful races be credited, as they are so widely different in
form, color and other characteristics, and man could never have
developed and brought together such vast differences, opposite
natures and shapes as can daily be seen in domestic dogs, unless
the original species were in possession of the rudiments. Neither
could food, climate, or any contrivance whatever so completely
alter the nature, decrease the scenting powers, render the coat
short, long, or curly, lengthen or shorten the limbs, unless sepa-
rate types had furnished the material.

Ancient bas-relief and monumental delineations picture the
dog as distinct in its characteristics thousands of years ago as at
the present day, and fossil remains have been repeatedly discov-
ered so little resembling either the wolf, jackal, or fox, and so dif-
ferent in type, as to be classified with the spaniel, terrier, hound,
bull dog, turnspit, pointer and pug; and as these, or a part of
them, we know to be made dogs, or in other words hybrids, the
species must have been fully as numerous then as at the present
time.

There are numerous species of wild dogs differing from one
another almost as much as our own domestic animals of to-day.
Granting that the spaniel, grey-hound, and terrier, sprung ongin-
THE NATIVE OR ENGLISH SETTER. 413

ally from the wolf as some argue, why not point out first why the
male dogs are so dissimilar ? and again, why the wolves of differ-
ent countries are unlike, and which species of wolf is the true and
only one? Without wishing to conflict with the opinions of those
so much more learned on the subject than ourselves, we would
ask, would it not be much more reasonable to suppose, without
positive proof, that the origin of the domestic dog can be referred
to numerous aboriginal species, crossing with the wild varieties,
as we know our dogs will frequently do, including the wolf, jackal,
and the fox if we like; climate assisting, and man aiding by ju-
dicious intermixing and breeding, until the present high ‘standard
of this useful animal has been reached ?

The Indian dogs may be traced to the prairie wolf, and in Asia
the native domesticated dog to the jungle dog. Whatever may
have been the originals of the partly tamed canines of the aborigi-
nes of the different sections of the globe, it is probable that the
primitive dog, like other animals, was very different from any of
the present races.

THE NATIVE OR ENGLISH SETTER.

We do hardly more than attempt to give our readers a general
idea of the various kinds of dogs used by sportsmen ; not entering
into minute descriptions of their specific characteristics. There is
a wide diversity of opinions respecting the points and sporting
qualities of the various species of dogs, which will probably never
be harmonized.

,__ A proper setter dog, as judged at the show bench, should be
neither overgrown nor diminutive. He should stand square upon
his legs, which should be neither too long nor too short, but in pro-
portion with the size of his body, and by all means standing a shade
higher before than behind. Tail should come out well up, and be
straight or scimeter-shaped, and should be carried on a level, or
rather above the level of the back, and by no means too long. A
tail reaching to the gambrel joint, or an inch below, is about right.
A cut tail is not excluded from our bench shows unless so cut
as to disfigure the dog. The chest should be deep and somewhat
rounded; loins, muscular. Feet should be rounded and somewhat
feathered between the toes, A short, thick neck never looks well,
414 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

Ears should be long and somewhat rounded at the points, but not
so long as to give a spaniel look, and they should be well coated,
fringe hanging below the rim. A thick ear would indicate ill breed-
ing, Head should be broad at the top, and nearly square to the
eyes, and the latter should be full, bright, of gentle expression.
Muzzle should be well squared out, and lips slightly pendulent.
Coat should not be curly, but long and wavy. Many persons pre-
fer that the feather on the hind legs should extend below the gam-
brel joint, and many of the best bred dogs have it, but we do not
consider it either ornamental or useful. Black nose and eyes are
distinguishing marks of high breeding, besides adding much to the
beauty of the dog.

In regard to the best colors for a dog for field purposes, a great
diversity of opinions prevails. In shooting over an open country—
the prairies, for instance—it does not matter so much about colors ;
but in shooting in dense coverts it is important, we think, that a
dog should be of such colors as can readily be seen—such as
orange and white, lemon and white, black and white, or black,
white and tan.

Setters of various strains are the preferred dogs of the country
for general service, their thick coat of hair protecting them from
brush and briars in tangled cover, and from wet and cold; while
thick tufts of hair about their toes saye them from injury by sharp
stones and close cut stubble, One objection to setters is, that they
cannot stand the summer heats, and another that their coat catches
burrs and other trash, which often put them to great inconvenience
and discomfort; they in some instances refusing to work at all in
burrs.

With regard to the much discussed question whether a setter
ought to he taught to retrieve, we reply; “Certainly ; we want a
dog that will save us the trouble of picking up our dead birds and
walking long distances after them.” Retrieving is one of the chief
characteristics of the setter, The ancestors of this animal were
retrieving spaniels, and it was their first propensity to fetch and
carry. In England most of the gentlemen who patronize field
trials state that the birds should not come in too close contact
with the dog’s nose as it injures the scent, Suppose it does, which
we are inclined ta disbelieve. To talk plainly, the majority of our
THE IRISH SETTER. 415

sportsmen do not wish to be bothered, nor have they the time, in-
clination or estate to keep a large kennel of dogs. What is re-
quired in our country for the field sportsman is a good all round
dog, an animal that will be staunch on ruffed grouse, woodcock,
quail and ‘snipe ; not that he would be particularly grand on either
game, but his action, ranging and nose should be fair, and give
help, amusement, and a medium bag to the shooter. When gen-
tlemen talk of pedigree, blood, performance, grand high-headed
action in the field, it is a very different kind of animal to the ordi-
nary sportsman’s dog (we should all wish to own this style of setter,
but how few there are). This dog on account of his rarity and great
value, is only to be found in the hands of the careful breeder, and
is usually kept wholly and solely as a stud dog or brood bitch. We
should advise the breeder not to handle his dveeders to retrieve,
but when the progeny have been sold, it is the business of the field
sportsman to train, break, and develop his retrieving qualities.
The yearling of the above description should be ¢horoughly broken
in one long season’s shooting. How many setters could be sold
to-day, however well trained and broken, if they were deficient in
retrieving ?

Certain schedules of points have been adopted for each kind
of dog, by which judges are governed ; and as these are sufficiently
specific to afford a proper idea of what a dog should be, we are
content to print them here without further comment. We choose
to adopt the formula, as given by the London Fazczer’s Gazette,
in each variety. For the English Setter we quote :

POINTS IN “JUDGING.

 

THE IRISH SETTER.

Of this breed of Dogs, “ Idstone’”’ says in London Fed -

This breed has long been known to sportsmen throughout
Great Britain as a good one, especially in point of stamina, and a
class was set apart fer it at Birmingham in 1860, a year before the
416 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

black and tans were similarly favored. In 1873 Dr. Stone came
out with his Dash, who was admitted to be almost perfect in shape,
and of the true type. He took every prize until age compelled his
retirement in favor of Mr. Hilliard’s Palmerston, who may now be
considered the best public representative of the breed. Dash is of
Dr. Stone’s own strain, which he has kept to himself for twenty-
five years, in color blood-red, showing white on his head and toes,
and also on his neck, with great quality, and a faultless frame.

After a great deal of discussion, a separate class has been made
in Dublin and elsewhere for reds and white and reds, it being
shown that there are two distinct strains of the Irish setter of
these colors respectively. The white and reds stand no chance in
the open classes, and yet it was considered hard to debar them
from all prizes, especially as by some good judges they are thought
to possess better noses than the reds. According to my judgment
the rich red, or blood-red color as it is described, is made a little
too much of, and I should strongly object to the passing over of
excellence in shape because the color is too pale, a marked in-
stance of which happened at the Brighton show of 1876.

The old breeds of this dog most celebrated are the O’Connor
(generally known as La Touche), Lord Dillon’s, Lord Clancarty’s,
Lord Lismore’s, Lord de Fresne’s, (usually called the French
Park), the Mount Hedges, Lord Rossmore’s, and the Marquis of
Waterford’s. In modern days Dr. Stone, Major Hutchinson,
Capt. Cooper, Capt. French, Mr. H. B. Knox, Hon. D. Plunket,
Capt. W. Allaway, Mr. Hilliard, Mr. Lipscombe, Mr. C. Brien, and
Miss Warburton have been most successful on the show bench ;
but, with the exception of Plunket, none of them have proved the
excellence of their strains at any field trial.

In points the Irish setter only differs from the English in the
following :

1. The skull is somewhat longer and narrower, the eyebrows
being well raised, and the occipital prominence as marked in the
pointer.

2. The nose is a trifle longer, with good width, and square at
the end; nostrils wide and open, with the nose itself of a deep
mahogany or very dark flesh-color, not pink or black.

3. Eyes, ears, and lips—The eyes should bea rich brown or
THE [RISH SETTER, 417

mahogany color, well set, and full of intelligence ; a pale or goose-
berry eye is to be avoided. Ears long enough to reach within
half an inch or an inch of the end of the nose, and, though more
tapering than in the English dog, never coming to a point ; they
should be set low and close, but well back, and not approaching
to the hound’s in setting and leather. Whiskers red ; lips deep,
but not pendulous.

5 and 6. In frame the Irish dog is higher on the leg than ei-
ther the English or black and tan, but his elbows are well let down
nevertheless ; his shoulders are long and sloping; brisket deep,
but never wide; and his back ribs are somewhat shorter than
those of his English brethren. Loin good, slightly arched, and
well coupled to his hips, but not very wide ; quarters slightly slop-
ing, and flag set on rather low, but straight, fine in bone, and
beautifully carried. Breeders are, however, going for straight
backs like that of Palmerston, with flags set on as high as in the
English setter.

7. Legs very straight, with good hocks, well-bent stifles, and
muscular but not heavy haunches.

8. The feet are hare-like, and moderately hairy between the
toes.

9. The flag is clothed with a long, straight comb of hair, never
bushy or curly, and this is beautifully displayed on the point.

11. The coat should be somewhat coarser than that of the
English setter, being midway between that and the black and
tan, wavy but not curly, and by no means long. Both hind and
fore-legs are well feathered, but not profusely, and the ears are
furnished with feather to the same extent, with a slight wave, but
no curl.

12, The color should be a rich blood red, without any trace of
black on the ears or along the back ; in many of the best strains,
however, a pale color or occasional tinge of black is shown. A
little white on the neck, breast, or toes is by no means objectiona-
ble, and there is no doubt that the. preponderance of white, so as
to constitute what is called “ white and red,” is met with in some
good strains,

In his wor&, the Irish setter is fast and enduring ; his nose is
quite up to the average of fast dogs in delicacy, and to those who

18*
418 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

are limited to a small kennel, he is an invaluable aid to the gun.
His style of going is very beautiful, with head well up and feeling
for the body scent; he has a free action of the shoulders, hind-legs
brought well under him, and a merry lashing of the flag on the
slightest indication of scent—often, indeed, without it. His advo-
cates contend that he is as steady as any other setter when once
broken, but, as far as my experience goes, I scarcely think this
position can be maintained. Neither Plunket nor any that I have
seen of Mr, Purcell Llewellyn’s breeding, nor indeed any of those
which I have had out in private, have been always reliable, and I
fear that, like almost all other setters of such high courage, it
must be admitted that he requires work to keep him in a state of
control fit for immediate use with the gun. In this respect, and
indeed in delicacy of nose, both the English and Irish setter must
yield to the black and tan of the best strains; but to do the same
amount of work, at least a double team of the last mentioned
must be kept.

POINTS IN JUDGING,

 

THE BLACK AND TAN (OR GORDON) SETTER.

The general opinion is that the Gordon setter owes its origin to
Irish blood, which in a measure is substantiated by the fact that
red pups often make their appearance, even when bred from the
most reliable strains, and there is no doubt that setters in general
were originally manufactured from the spaniel; but whether the
color of the Gordon is derived from the black spaniel or the Scotch
colley, is a query that cannot now be easily answered. The curl
in his coat could not have resulted from his taking the water. A
curly coat is a great fault in the setter of any breed, and would be
dead against one on the show bench. Of this strain of dogs, Mr.
Walsh says, in London “ fveld"’:

The black-tan setter, until the institution of shows, was com-
THE BLACK AND TAN, OR GORDON SETTER. 419

monly called “Gordon,” from the fact that the Dukes of Gordon
had long possessed a strain of setters of that color, which had ob-
tained a high reputation. * * * But, in spite of successes, it
cannot be denied that the general opinion of good sportsmen has
not been in favor of the breed since the institution of field trials,
in which it has been brought into competition with the English
and Irish setter. * * * Among the numberless specimens of
the breed (black-tan) which I have seen at work, not one has
shown the solicitude to catch the eye of the shooter which is so
essential to the perfect correspondence of man and dog which en-
sures sport. The pointer or setter ought always to know where
his master is, and if put into high covert, such as beans, should
raise his head at short intervals above them to ascertain his where-
abouts. Now, as far as my experience goes, black-tan setters, and
notably the Kents, never do this, and cannot be taken off a scent,
without very great severity, till they have satisfied themselves of its
fallacy. Most of those tried in the field have been dead slow. On
the whole it may be said that the verdict has gone against the
breed in England, and as far as I know, no breeder of experience
in the south adheres to it, with the exception of Mr, J. H. Salter;
nor is it much more approved of on the moors by the general
public.

The foznis of the black-tan setter are very nearly the same as
those of the English dog, the only deviations heing as follows:

t. The sudd is usually a little heavier than that of the English
setter, but in other respects it resembles it.

2. The zose, also, is like the English setter; but it is usually a
trifle wider.

9 The fag is usually a trifle shorter than that of the English
setter, which it otherwise resembles in shape.

11, The coad is generally harder and coarser than that of the
English or Irish setter, occasionally with a strong disposition to
curl, as in the celebrated champions, Reuben and Regent.

12, The color is much insisted on. The black should be rich,
without mixture with the tan, and the latter should be a deep ma-
hogany red without any tendency to fawn. It is admitted that the
original Gordons were often black, tan, and white; but, as in all
our shows the classes are limited to black-tan, the long arguments
420 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

which have been adduced on that score are now obsolete. A little
white on the chest and a white toe or two are not objected to; but
a decided frill is considered by most judges to be a blemish. The
red tan should be shown on lips, cheeks, throat, spot over the eyes,
fore legs nearly to the elbows, hind legs up to stifles, and on the
under side of the flag, but not running into its long hair.

POINTS IN JUDGING,

Head .
Mt eck..

egs..
Feet ..
Coat weseseces ri
Shoulders cis cesiserywrie sales os
Back, loins and hind-quarters..
Steril secevunesea gees wees. oy ons Sacis a
COlof in teasnsesossma sais cans sese xen BOSS Riia as PEMA aSMinie Siertiae ice serait erase 15

   
 
 
 
 
  

THE POINTER.

It is noticeable that we have in America far more well bred
setters than pointers, and greater attention seems to have been
paid in the last two years in procuring the former blood than the
latter. This arises from the fact that the setter is the greater fa-
vorite of the two, and justly the choice of the sportsman when he
desires a dog that will unflinchingly stand the rough and tumble
nature of our shooting. Still, we are sorry to see the balance so
much weighed down by the setter, for fear the staunch pointer may
be finally crowded out entirely. Of the two, the point of the
shorter haired animal is far the most marked when on game, and
the training once received by him is always retained, and on each
returning shooting season he enters the field to be depended upon
while the setter oftener has to be partially rebroken each year ;
and if not owned by a sportsman who shoots continually, becomes
headstrong and unreliable.

For the person whose business will not allow him to take his
gun in hand but two or three times in the autumn, we advise by all
means that his dog should be the pointer ; but for the one who takes
advantage of the open season for different game from its beginning
to its close, we recommend the setter as best able to bear con-
tinued work in all descriptions of cover.

The short hair of the pointer enables him to do work on the
THE POINTER. 421

prairies, where water is seldom found while “chicken™” shooting,
and he can do without that necessity for a much longer time than
the setter; but the latter is frequently used with advantage for the
same purpose when a supply for his benefit is taken to the field.
In New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland, and in countries where
the game invariably takes to briery thickets on being started, the
pointer is at a disadvantage, for we have seen but few that were
not intimidated by these thorny coverts, refusing entirely to enter.
Moreover, the pointer is more liable to take cold when hunting in
wet land than the setter is.

Far more birds are accidentally flushed by the setter than the
pointer, who is generally more cautious, notwithstanding he may
be fully as fast. Certainly we cannot condemn those that write
in favor of the pointer as having the best nose, for they are given
strong proofs of its truth.

The pointer originally is a cross of the Spanish dog with the
grey-hound or fox-hound, by which the delicacy of the nerves of
the nose, to some extent, is diminished, and the body rendered
more light and elegant. No dog has a higher sense of smell, or
shows greater intelligence or docility. The principal reason that
he becomes rigid, or points, by the scent of game is from the ex-
traordinary condition of his nervous system, acquired hundreds of
years ago and handed down to him in a fair unbroken line by his
ancestors. A thoroughly broken pair of high-bred pointers are so
obedient to the voice and gesture of their master and so well
trained to act with each other, that a wave of the hand will sep-
arate them, one going to the right and the other to the left, so that
they hunt the entire ground, crossing each other regularly in front
of the sportsman as he walks forward. There is one matter that
is generally overlooked in ranging with the pointer. If in early
life you have taught him to retrieve, and a case occurs in the field
where he has to cross a stream, as the dog returns with the bird,
never tell him “down charge.” His coat is so thin, and as we
said before, his organization so delicate, that he is sure to catch
cold; therefore by all means allow him to run around a little, tak-
ing care not to disturb other game. The color, size, etc., of the
pointer have so often been described, we will leave that to the dis-
cretion of the sportsman, and remark that they ought, if possible,
422 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

to be light colored, so that the animal may be readily distinguished
from the grass, herbage, etc., as no doubt the dark colored dog is
very attractive to the eye in the house, but cannot be seen so easily
in the field, thereby causing much annoyance to the sportsman.

The pointer we should never teach to retrieve as a rule.
Pointers are, or ought to be, used for open field shooting only, as
their delicate organization, thin skin, slight coat, and having no
hair between their toes, prevents them retrieving successfully
through scrub oaks, thick cover, swamps and water. Nine times
out of ten a shooter will tell his pointer to charge after he has just
fetched a snipe or cock out of a heavy watery swamp, Zo ¢he con-
trary notwithstanding , the dog having comparatively little cloth-
ing will take cold. It is true that a high-blooded pointer will gc
anywhere, but not without ill effects to his person, such as draw-
ing blood and otherwise injuring his physique. We think it is
quite sufficient for the pointer to stand his dead bird. Pointers do
not make as good retrievers as setters for the reasons stated above,
and moreover if most of the celebrated retrieving pointers be
traced back one or two generations, it will very likely be found
that the grand dam or grand sire was a setter, which will account
for this inherent retrieving propensity.

We consider the split nose a decided objection in either setter
or pointer, but particularly in the latter as indicating impurity of
breed. It probably originated with the old Spanish breed of pointer,
and now crops out occasionally where there is mixed blood. If it
were merely a freak of nature, as some contend, it could not be
transmitted or reproduced asit undoubtedly is when dogs possess-
ing it are bred from. The word “dropper’’ is used to designate the
cross between setter and pointer only, and a very good word it is.

Points for the Show Bench, as given by the Fanczer’s Gazette
are:

Head should be moderately long, narrowing from the skull ; the
skull not too prominent above the eyes, as this gives a heavy ap-
pearance ; rather deep in the lip, but not any flaw, or very slight ;
nostrils open, with level jaw; eyes moderately bold; ears thin, set
in to the head, just where the skull begins to recede at the sides
of the head, hanging flat on the cheek ; throwing the ears back so

as to show the insides has a bad appearance, and too often indi-
cates a cross ; neck medium in proportion to head, and body rather
CHESAPEAKE BAY DOG. 423

inclined to be long, but not much so, thickening from the head to
the set in of the shoulders ; no looseness of the throat skin ; shoul-
ders narrow at the meeting of the blade bones, with a great amount
of muscle, long in the blades, set slanting, with arm of the leg
strong and coming away straight, and elbow neither out nor in;
the legs not great heavy boned, but with a great amount of mus-
cle; leg pressed straight to the foot, well rounded and symmet-
rical, with foot well rounded, this is the fore legs and feet; chest
moderately deep, not over wide, but sufficiently wide and deep to
give plenty of breathing room; back level, wide in loins, deeply
ribbed, and with ribs carried well back; hips wide and full of
muscle, not straight in the hock, but moderately bent ; stifles full
and well developed; the stern nearly straight, going off tapering to
the point, set in level with the back, carried straight, not above the
level of back; symmetry and general appearance racy, and much
beauty of form appears to the eye of a real pointer breeder and
fancier. The weights we consider best for different purposes are
from fifty pounds to about sixty-five pounds. Coat short and
glossy, but a deal here depends on condition.

POINTS IN JUDGING.

 

Color and Coat.—The coat ought to be very short and soft, and fine, and the
skin thin and flexible. Most people in England prefer the lemon-and-white to
liver and white, or black-and-white.

CHESAPEAKE BAY DOG.

This is the dog par excellence for ducking in those waters
where great courage and endurance is required ; not simply a re-
triever but a dog who will face the heaviest seas or surf; a dog
that will scramble over, or, if needs be, dive under the heaviest
ice. That his ancestors came from the Irish coast appears to
be generally conceded, yet, with the exception of color, we can
find no trace of any similar breed of dogs, omitting of course those
specimens which, being crossed at a later day, possess some
marked characteristics of the waterspaniel. He is smooth-haired,
which is a great point, as the Newfoundland suffers terribly from
424 DOGS USED FOR SPORT,

the freezing of his shaggy coat; his color is either black, with
white breast and grey nose, or tawny yellow, the latter preferred.
Generally he is fierce, and the best of watch-dogs, deep-mouthed
and powerful. A writer in Appleton’s Fournal says :

“T have seen one—a mere puppy—-sit for hours in the summer
watching the fish hawks as they pursued their craft. Whenever
the hawk would make his plunge, Leo would rush through the
“jumping water” and swim for the spot. He never brought out
a hawk that I know of, but never seemed to be discouraged at his
failures. One used to be famous for his thieving propensities.
He would sneak off and seize every duck he could lay his teeth on
and deposit it on his master’s pile. Another would never touch
a whiffer or southerly unless ordered by his master to do so, but
would swim a half-mile through floating ice to secure a canvas-
back or red-head.””

The Maryland Fanciers’ Association has divided the Chesa-
peake Bay Dogs into three classes, as follows: First, the otter
dog, second, the curly-haired dog, third, the straight-haired dog.
The color of the first class is a tawny sedge, with very short hair.
The color of the second class is a red brown. The color of the
third class is a red brown. The bitches must show the color, and
approximate tothe general points of the class to which they belong.
In the three classes a white spot on the breast is not unusual.
Measurements as follows: From fore toe to top of back, twenty-
five inches ; from tip of nose to base of head, ten inches ; breast,
nine inches ; around fore feet, six inches; around fore arm below
shoulder, seven inches ; between eyes, two and one-fourth inches ;
length of ears, five inches ; from base of head to root of tail, thir-
ty-five inches ; tail, sixteen inches in length ; around muzzle, below
eyes, ten inches.

POINTS IN JUDGING,

 

THE IRISH WATER SPANIEL.

Throughout Ireland the brown water spaniel is found quite
generally, but the best breed is somewhat scarce and is confined
THE IRISH WATER SPANIEL. 425

to the kennels of a few gentlemen. This strain is readily known
by its marked peculiarities. The larger the dog is the better it is
appreciated among fanciers. The body is round and strongly
made, the legs are rather short, the feet broad, the hind quarters
or stern should be short, broad and tapering to a fine string, and
covered with short hair like a pointer. Some have short, crisp
curls, and in this case there should be no.straight hair or fringe.

The head should not be broad or coarse; the nose should be
long and free from wave ; the ears should be long and so broad in
the leather that they will meet across the nose, and be covered
with the long ringlets which give the animal such a striking ap-
pearance. A moustache is considered a sign of bad blood or im-
purity; so this is an important point to be considered by pur-
chasers or breeders.

On the forehead, between the ears, there is a long ringlet which
-hangs down between the eyes, This is one of the most important
signs of the thoroughbred, and should be carefully noted, as some
are inclined to wear a ‘‘ wig,” instead, and in this case such a
peculiarity is most objectionable.

The legs of the pure blood are heavily feathered with ringlets,
while the remainder of the body is covered with short, crisp curls
of arich, dark liver color, entirely free from white. A breed in
the North of Ireland, known as the ‘ Lough Neagh,”’ differs some-
what from this description, and though all are splendid retrievers,
yet they are not considered as good as the type described. They
are readily recognized by their “ feathered ’’ tail.

As a retriever, the Irish spaniel cannot be surpassed. The
perseverance and intelligence used in the retrieving of ducks from
the soft and miry marsh, the heaviest billows or the tall and
heavy rice with which many of our Western lakes abound, con-
vinces us that there is not the equal of this breed from which to
produce just such dogs as the sportsmen of this country desire for
duck shooting. He is an admirable diver, swift swimmer, and is
greatly assisted in these arts by the breadth of its paws. Much of
these qualities in the dog is owing to the abundant supply of nat-
ural oil with which his coat is supplied, and which prevents it
from really becoming wet. A real water spaniel gives himself a
good shake as soon as he leaves the lake, and is dry in a very
426 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

short time. This oil, although useful to the dog, gives forth an
unpleasant odor, and therefore debars him from becoming an in-
mate of the house ; so much the better. Some people fancy that
the water spaniel possesses web feet, and that his aquatic prowess
is due to this formation. Such is not the case. All dogs have their
toes connected with each other by a strong membrane, and when
the foot is wide, and the membrane rather loosely hung, as is the
case with the water spaniel, a large surface is presented to the
water. This dog is of moderate size, measuring about twenty-two
inches. in height at the shoulders, middling stout, ears very long,
measuring from point to point about the animal’s own height.
The pure bred ones are acknowledged not excelled in beauty or
intelligence by any breed. I might enumerate many instances
where they have seemed to evince almost the intellect of the human
race.

The points of the Irish Water Spaniel, as given in the Fanczer’s
Gazette, are;

POINTS IN JUDGING.

Head..
Ears.
Feet.
Legs
Back ..
Loins
Hind-quarters..
Coat

 

THE FIELD SPANIEL.

The field spaniel is remarkable for the intense love which it
bears for hunting game, and the nervous manner in which it car-
ries out the wishes of its master. There are two breeds, the one
termed the “Springer” being used among the thick scrub oak
and brambles, and the other employed principally on woodcock,
and therefore called the ‘Cocker.’ Some of these dogs contin-
ually give tongue while engaged in pursuit of game, and utter dif-
ferent sounds, according to the description of game which they
have reached, while others are perfectly mute. Each of these
qualities is useful in its way—it should not be too noisy, and the
RETRIEVERS, 427

note should be musical. While hunting the spaniel sweeps his
well feathered tail from side to side, never carrying it as high as
the back, and is a very pretty object to any one who has an eye
for beauty. A spaniel must possess a thick coat, as it is subject
to continual wetting from the drippings of the scrub oaks, etc.,
through which he has to force his way ; he should weigh not less
than fourteen pounds, and may with advantage weigh thirty
pounds, as do the breed known by the name of “ Clumber ;” these
animals work silently. The Cocker is a much smaller animal:
his average weight is about fifteen pounds. He is an active and -
lively dog, dashing about his work with an air of gay pleasure that
assists materially in adding to the spirits of his master, and will
be found the most useful animal for woodcock in the fall.

RETRIEVERS.

There are two species, the water and the land retriever. The
water retriever is, or ought to be, a cross between the smaller kind
of Newfoundland dog, sometimes called. the Labrador dog, and
the setter. This dog is especially useful to the sportsman when
shooting wild fowl, through creeks, bayous, etc., and saves him an
infinite deal of trouble, and is by no means in the way. Many
sportsmen imagine that this dog will scare wild fowl, but his
actions teach us just the contrary, as his careful training, natural
instinct, and color, act as a decoy rather than otherwise. A good
water retriever is, however, seldom to be met with, and should be
taught when quite young. Nothing answers this purpose better
than shooting divers or any young duck, then sending the retriever
in the water, and, after he has got his bird, call him to you, take
the bird gently out of his mouth, caress and pat him. In three or
-four lessons, if the water be not too cold, you will find there will
be no necessity of “even telling him to fetch, as instinct and his
natural fondness for the water will be all that is necessary to make
a thorough retriever of him. The great drawback, however, is
that he must be kept in almost constant practice, and should be
carefully broken from rats, which abound on the banks of rivers
and lakes.

The best cross for land is a setter with a springer or cocker
428 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

spaniel. If your setter has never been taught to retrieve, a more
valuable dog than the land retriever it is hardly possible to possess,
especially when shooting woodcock and English snipe in the fall
of the year. The head of the race of retrievers, we refer to the
large and handsome animal, the Newfoundland. The pure breed
of this animal is very scarce, and is not of that gigantic size which
it is generally supposed to be.

“ Caractacus,” in discussing in the Fanczer’s Gazette the ques-
tion as to whether the Newfoundland dog was indigenous to the
island from which he takes his name, says :

“My own opinion is that European settlers, finding dogs of
draught an absolute necessity, and thinking they might improve
on the native breeds, imported large dogs of various kinds, as, for
instance, the mastiff, the colley, the Alpine spaniel, and the Matin-
dog of France, and that the present breed sprang from many
roots, and has acquired, from change of climate and other causes,
certain peculiarities of its-own, and that by careful selection a fixed
variety has become established. * * * JI think the probabili-
ties are that it owes its origin to several types, and that time,
selection, and climatic influences have at last worked it into a dis-
tinct variety. I have never been able to hit on any record which
would tend to prove that such a dog existed when the island was
discovered by Europeans; and if any one can point to any that
will throw a light on the darkness, I shall be delighted beyond
measure,”

THE FOX-HOUND.

The fox-hound, of all dogs used in the field, is by far the most
numerous. It is generally supposed that the modern fox-hound
derives its origin from the old English hound, and its various points
of perfection from judicious crosses with other breeds. There are
various breeds of dogs which are remarkable for the great devel-
opment of some peculiar faculty—such as speed in the grey-hound,
courage in the bull-dog, delicacy of scent in the bloodhound, saga-
city in the poodle, etc., so when a breed of dogs begins to fail in
any of these points the fault is amended by the introduction of a
dog belonging to the breed which exhibits the needful quality in
greatest perfection, The fox-hound has not only the greatest
THE FOX-HOUND. ‘429

sagacity and the most refined powers of scrutiny, but is far supe-
rior in bottom and stoutness to any other breed of the hound race.
Only consider the immense distance a hound travels over during
the many hours that he is frequently absent from home. The
country he travels over is generally. of the very roughest descrip-
tion, such as sharp rocks, scrub oak, brambles, etc., and he fre-
quently takes to the water.

The best breed for fox-shooting is the English fox-hound,
crossed with the American hound. The English-bred hound is
too delicate. The ground you ride over and the ground you shoot
over are totally different. The English dog is too finely bred to
suit our rocky ground; its pace is too fast, as, unless it runs in
the open, it is apt to overrun the scent. A dog running at thirty
miles an hour cannot be expected to hold the scent as strongly as
one running at fifteen miles an hour. The speed which can be at-
tained by fox-hounds may be estimated from the well known match
which took place upon the Beacon course at Newmarket, England.
The length of the course is four miles and 352 yards, and this
distance was run by the winning dog, Bluecap, in eight minutes
and a few seconds: The famous racehorse Flying Childers, in
running over the same ground, was little more than half a minute
ahead of the hound. Now, if we compare the dimensions of the
horse and the hound we shall form a tolerably accurate idea of the
extraordinary speed to which the latter animal can attain. In the
match no less than sixty horses started, together with the compet-
itors, but of the sixty only twelve were with the dogs at the end
of this short run. The English hound is of the utmost import-
ance to our fox-shooting friends, as what they require in a hound
is a good nose, hard feet, padded with a thick sole, strong pro-
pelling powers behind, and more endurance than excessive speed,
not forgetting a musical tongue, which can only be attained by the
cross of the American hound with the English. As there has been
so much breeding “ in-and-in,” and very little fresh stock imported,
the fox-hound is sadly deteriorating, as we only hear of a few in-
stances of fresh blood. The first fox-hounds ever brought to
Florida, were from a celebrated “pack ’’ owned on the estate of
the “ Marquis of Berresford,” in England. Sir Reginald, (subse-
quently Marquis) of Berresford came to America and opened ex-
430 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

tensive indigo plantations, on the bank of the St. Johns river in
East Florida, at a place still known as Lake Berresford, in the be-
ginning of the last century.

Unfortunately for the fox-hound of England, the ‘iescaits soon
discovered that the fox of Florida wouldn’t run half a mile before
he climbed a tree, and fox-hunting was abandoned reluctantly. The
dog remained, however, and through neglect they rapidly mixed
with the cur of the country, and the blood has become extinct. In
the South they have some splendid new blood, which they have
crossed with the southern fox-hound, and have produced the per-
fection of a hound for their purposes.

There are at least five thousand fairly bred fox-hounds in Geor-
gia, and at least twenty thousand if you include Maryland as one
of the Southern States. A small, or rather medium size, with
bushy tail, and color white and red. The best dogs we have now
is a cross of the English fox-hound and a native dog of Maryland.
These Maryland dogs are a cross with the long-haired Scotch
hound and the old English fox dog imported into Maryland many
years since. They combine speed, endurance, and nose, and are
only found in Hancock county, Georgia. The hounds most in use
in the State of Georgia are a cross of the English fox-hound with
a small hound called the beagle, which gives nose to the English
dog, but takes away his speed. Excessive speed is not required ;
a speed of about a mile in two and three-quarter minutes, capable
under a hot scent of being increased for a short time to two min-
utes and ten seconds, is all that is wanted. A fox is killed in an
hour at an average speed of three and a quarter minutes to the
mile. A medium sized dog is much the best, is often more fleet,
and being of light weight his feet do not become sore after a run.
Feed greasy mush once a day, when the dogs are not expected to
run, and bread once a day. Twicea week give them meat stewed
with corn meal, when you do not run them. If you wish to run
them in the morning, give them the night before as much hard
bread as they will eat, and in the morning, before starting, give
each dog a small piece of hard bread to keep him from nausea.
Train the pups with the old dogs at one year old, often practicing
with a drag, and we find it the only method to train and break cross
bred fox-hounds successfully. The best breeds of fox-hounds in
HARRIERS. 431

‘the North are owned in Buffalo; Guernsey county, Ohio; Mr.
Taylor’s Connecticut farm ; the Leatherstocking Club, of Oswego.
The points of a fox-hound given in the Fanczer’s Gazette are:

Head expressive, muscular; ears pendent; head a little wrin-
kled in chap ; face rather long, with strong jaw; neck inclined to
be long, set into shoulders strongly ; the shoulders of great depth
and strength, sloping back well, but not so fine and close at point
of shoulder blades as a greyhound, as speed is not required so
much as in the greyhound, but rather endurance. A model of a
stud fox-hound should measure round behind his shoulders thirty-
one to thirty-two inches; the elbows should be straight, and
neither bowed out nor pressed into the chest; fore leg to continue
straight to the foot, as if one bone, but of great substance, full of
muscle; from the pasterns the foot must not turn out, but appear
straight and round like; the back ought to be straight, wide all
through ; rigid-backed dogs considered not so pleasant to the eye ;
it should be well loined up, not short of ribs, but short in the flank ;
body an average depth; hind quarters, where set into loin, power-
ful; thighs full of muscle; stern carried well up, but not as a
squirrel’s ; not feathered; coat thick and smooth. There are dif-
ferent colors, the pie, black and tan, tan and white, and blue
grizzles.

POINTS IN JUDGING.

Hind-quarters...

 

HARRIERS.

The Harrier, as its name implies, is used for hunting the hare,
and is nothing more or less than a small fox-hound and would be
found a very useful animal for tracking rabbits. The American
rabbit is a somewhat different animal from its English cousin ; the
latter in a wild state live together in warrens in immense numbers.
The warren is a series of burrows or holes in the ground, of ex-
tremely irregular construction, and often communicate with each
other to a remarkable extent. The American rabbit, so called, on
the contrary live together in couples, bring forth their young on
432 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

the surface, and when their offspring are able to take care of them-
selves they quit the parental roof and forage on their own account.
The scent of the American rabbit is much stronger and holds
to the ground as it were, for a longer time, and in this respect
bears a marked similarity to the English hare. The points of a
good harrier are similar to those of the fox-hound. There are
necessary points in the shape of a hound which ought always
be attended to by a sportsman, for if he be not of a perfect sym-
metry he will neither run fast nor bear much work. Keepin mind
that the hound has much tedious labor to undergo, and should
have strength proportioned to it. Let his legs be straight as ar-
rows, his feet round and not too large, his shoulders well back,
his breast rather wide than narrow, his chest deep, his back broad,
his head small, his neck thin, his tail thick and bushy, and if he
carry it well so much the better. Many of our friends will say it is
impossible to procure such a dog, so perfect in all his points.
Get one as nearly like the description as possible, and such
hounds as are weak from the knees to the foot—mongrel breeds
of pointers and setters—shoot them at once. Attention to the
proper weeding out of bad stock is the only way in which good
staunch strains can be bred.

The following are the judging points of the Harrier, as given
in the Fanczer’s Gazette :

The harrier’s head is something of the stamp of the fox-
hound’s head, only a little lighter; rather a long neck, deep in
shoulder ; chest deep ; fore-legs straight and muscular, with a cat-
like formation of foot; back straight, well ribbed up, with short
flank, strong across the loin ; stiff and well-bent stifles ; stern car-
ried well up. The usual colors are blended pies, black, tan, and
white and blue mottles. There are several heights admissible,

from eighteen inches up to the height of a fox-hound, judged by
the best combination of the essential characteristics.

POINTS IN JUDGING.

Head.
Neck.

 
 
  
     
 

Back ......--
Loin .........
Hind-quarters .
BEAGLES, 433

BEAGLES,

Imagine an ordinary fox-hound with his legs cut down about
half their natural length and bowed like those of a bull terrier,
with nose even elongated beyond that of the hound, and ears of
equal flaptitude, and body rounder and chunkier ; give him the
same tremendous power of yelping and howling—on every and
too often on unsuitable occasions—and you have a faint idea of the
beagle.

The beagle is a very useful little dog for our junior friends, and
is generally used to track rabbits. There are two kinds, the rough
and the rabbit beagle ; the former is supposed to have been crossed
by the terrier, and his bark is rather that of the terrier than the
musical intonation of the beagle. The nose of this variety is fur-
nished with the stiff whisker-hairs which are found on the muzzle
of the rough terrier, and the fur is nearly as stiff as the terrier’s.
The dwarf or rabbit beagle, as it is sometimes called, is the small-
est of the breed, delicate in form and aspect, but of good nose, and
swift of foot. So small are these little creatures, that a whole
pack of them have been conveyed to and from the field in baskets
slung over the back of a horse, and on one occasion three gentle-
men placed thirteen of these little dogs in their shooting jackets,
walked to the woods, hunted all day with them, killing eight rab-
bits, and then returning them to their pockets, thus saving the
dogs the fatiguing walk to the woods and back again. These lit-
tle dogs are chiefly employed by the rabbit shooter, and are not
sufficiently swift of foot to hunt the larger rabbit or hare.

Beagles do not trust to their speed entirely for killing game,
but to their exquisiteness of nose, tracing it through all its wind-
ings with the greatest accuracy. The beagle will puzzle an hour
on one spot rather than leave the scent; the slower he goes the
less likely he will be to overrun the scent, and will kill the game
sooner. The hare or rabbit generally describes a circle as he runs,
large or small, according to his strength, and the openness of the
country. Among enclosures where there is much cover and sheep-
stains, it is a constant puzzle to fox-hounds. Yet the beagle being
able to endure great fatigue, will invariably kill his game, if the day
be long enough. There are several good strains in this country

19
434 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

at Morristown, New Jersey; Milford, Pike Co., Pa.; and in Guern-
sey Co., Ohio. Some members of the Dean Richmond Club, of
Batavia, have the purest breeds.

No amusement would afford our college students in the coun-
try a more health-giving recreation, or a pleasanter afternoon sport
than a little dvag Aunt in this lovely autumnal weather. Take, for
instance, the best and longest winded runner in the college or
school, trailing after him a rabbit skin well saturated with turpen-
tine or aniseed, put the beagle on the scent, and let the boys fol-
low. If the scent be good, and the course lie tolerably straight,
the endurance of the boys will be tested, and the miniature hounds
often come to a check at a small pool, etc., when the little beauties
will start off again in an instant, uttering their flute-like bark, and
any one of average strength and speed can easily be in at the
finish. Try it, and see if it is not good fun. You ask where are
we toget the dogs? A male and female will cost about twenty-
five dollars, and in one year’s time you will have all the dogs neces-
sary, and be able to supply other friends and schools as they
require them. The cost of keeping them is very small, any farm-
er’s son would be glad to keep them for a trifle, say twenty-five
cents a week per head.

Beagle points, as given by Fanczer’s Gazette, are:

Head intelligent, eyes most expressive and ladylike, the head
much finer in all proportions than that of the harrier which it
somewhat resembles ; sharp-nosed ; body very compact and mus-
cular; short legs; height from twelve to fifteen: inches; color
same as harrier’s. This class is judged almost similarly to the
harrier, but so few come under the eyes of the judges, that the
breed has not been taken so much notice of as some others ; and
to define all the separate points required is very difficult. The
above will give an idea of what is really wanted for the show yard
in the beagle class.

POINTS IN JUDGING.

Feetices: ox
Shoulders

  

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DACHSHUNDS. 435

DACHSHUNDS.

In Germany there are two kinds of dachshunds—one with long
hairs and bushy tails; these are very rare, but far the best; the
other with short hairs. Of these there are only two. First, the
regular black with spots over the eyes and on the legs, of a brown
color resembling the rust of iron (white throat). Second, the
quite brown ones. Other colors are not correct. Of both dachs-
hunds—with long, and those with short hair—there are again
some with straight and some with bended legs. The dogs with
straight legs are said to be better.

Herr F. Van Ivernor’s edition of Der Waidmann, Bavaria, says:

“What they cafl in Bavaria “ dachshunds”’ are the most @7s-
gusting dogs 1 know of. Since the first of January I have killed
two and wounded three, and I pay to every one of my game-
keepers, two thalers for the tail, which he must bring as a token
that he shot him.

Every peasant here has one or two of these abominable curs,
which follow them when plowing and driving, and which, as soon
as they get on the track of a roebuck, deer or hare, chase him,
‘pif paf! pif paf!’ all through the wood, and so disturbing the
game. These beasts! (the noble name dog is too good for them)
spoil the shooting grounds so much that I, for instance, have on
my five different xevzers (shooting grounds) not more than about
seven or eight coveys of partridge, and altogether I have the hunt-
ing on over 46,000 Prussian chargen—deer, roebucks, and chamois
are abundant, nevertheless. What they call here dachshunds are
as far distant from a good dachshund as a donkey from a Gladi-
ateur, or any pretty good thoroughbred horse. They are too large
and high, show marks from all kinds of dogs, butcher-dogs, poodles,
rat-catchers, etc., with which their mothers have been in love; do
not go in the burrow of a fox (the only thing for which one ought
to use a dachshund), have no obedience, and are only fit for dis-
turbing the game, and making ‘pif paf!’ behind a roebuck, and
to hunt him until he is almost dead.”

In the London F7e/d we find a long treatise on this dog, from
which we quote the following: ~

This dog is generally considered in Germany to be a pure and
independent breed, for a long time confined to the mountain chain
and high forests of Southern and Central Europe, extending
through Germany and into France, where he is probably the orig-
inal of the dasse¢ a jambes torses. The old English turnspit some-
436 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

what resembled him, but differed in his ears, which were more
terrier-like, and also in his nose, which had even less of the hound
character than that of the dachshund.

During the last ten or fifteen years this breed has been largely
imported into England for badger dogs, as well as for hare hunt-
ing. Opinions differ as to their merits in these capacities, some
declaring that they are inferior to our own beagles and terriers ;
while others maintain that a good one will face any badger with
as much pluck as our gamiest terrier... The balance of evidence in
my possession is, however, strongly against this last opinion, and
I think it may be alleged that any of our terriers will beat him in
going to ground to fox or badger. As to nose, I am induced to
believe that it is on the average better than that of our modern
beagles.

Dr. L. J. Fitzinger, in his book on dogs, mentions twelve vari-
eties of the dachshund, but it is generally believed that all but one
of them are cross-bred. The one pure strain is that described by
him as der Krummebetnige, or crooked-legged, which is known in
this country as the dachshund, par excellence, and will be alluded
to here only. This dog, in proportion to his height and weight,
possesses great strength; but his muscular power can be better
displayed in digging than in running, wherein his remarkably short
and crooked forelegs render his gait ungainly and rolling toa
degree amounting to the ridiculous, hence his use in Germany is
to mark the badger or fox to his earth, for which also his keen
nose is well suited, and as the entrance to the sleeping-chamber
of the former is kept as small as is consistent with his size, the
dachshund is able to dig away the earth so as to reach the exact
spot, which his tongue at the same time serves to show his master,
and thus enable him to dig down to it. The dachshund is also
used for driving deer to the gun; but for this purpose the straight-
legged cross geradbetnige dachshund is most in demand, which
variety is generally also larger in size and more hound-like in
character. In constitution the dog is hardy, but in temper some-
what wild and headstrong, so that he is often difficult to get under
command when once on the scent. He is alsosnappish in kennel,
and inclined to fight on the slightest provocation, or often without
it. His tongue is loud and shrill, without the deep bell-note of the
old-fashioned hound. The best breeds are met with in the vicinity
of Scharzwald, Stuttgard, Lonberg, and Eberstein, near Baden-
Baden. The points of the dachshund are as follows in numerical
value and description :

1. The skud/, value 10, is long and slightly arched, the occiput
being wide, and its protuberance well developed ; eyebrows raised,
but without any marked ‘stop.’

2, The jaw, v. 10, is long and tapering gradually from the eyes ;
but, nevertheless, it should not be “ pig-jawed ”—the end, though
DACHSHUNDS, 437

narrow, being cut off square, with the teeth level and very
strong.

3. The ears, eyes and dps, v. 10.—The ears are long enough
to reach the tip of the nose when brought over the jaw without
force. They are broad, rounded at the ends, and soft in “leather’’
and coat, hanging in graceful folds ; but when excited, brought
forward so as to lie close tothe cheeks. yes rather small, pierc-
ing, and deeply set. In the black and tan variety they should be
dark brown, or almost black; but in the red or chocolate, deep
hazel. Dr. Fitzinger has often observed the two eyes vary in
color, and even in size. The sare short, but with some little flew
towards the angles; not at all approaching, however, to that of
the blood-hound. The skin is quite tight over the cheeks, and
indeed over the whole head, showing no blood-hound wrinkle.

4. Length of body, v. t5.—In taking this into consideration the
neck is included; this part, however, is somewhat short, thick,
and rather throaty. The chest is long, round, and roomy, but not
so as to be unwieldy. It gradually narrows toward the back ribs,
which are rather short. The brisket should only be two and a
half to three inches from the ground, and the breast bone should
project considerably. The loin is elegantly arched, and the flanks
drawn up so as to make the waist look slim, the dog measuring
higher behind than before. The quarters are strong in muscle as
well as the shoulders, the latter being especially powerful.

5. Legs, v. 15.—The fore legs should be very short, strong in
bone, and well clothed with muscle. The elbows should not turn
out or in, the latter being a great defect. The knees should be
close together, never being more than two and a half inches apart,
causing a considerable bend from the elbows inwards, so as to
make the leg crooked, and then again turning outwards to the
foot. In order that the brisket should approach the ground as
above described, the fore legs must be very short. On the hind
legs there is often a dew claw, but this is not essential either way.

6. The feet, v. 74, should be of full size, but very strong and
cat-like, with hard, horny soles to the pads. The fore feet are
generally turned out, thus increasing the appearance of crooked-
ness in the legs. This formation gives assistance to the outthrow
of the earth in digging.

7, The stern, v. 10, is somewhat short and thick at the root,
tapering gradually to the point, with a slight curve upwards, and
clothed with hair of a moderate length on its under surface, when
excited, as in hunting, it is carried in a hound-like attitude over
the back. Its shape and carriage indicate high breeding and are
valued accordingly. ;

8. The coat, v. 5, is short and smooth, but coarse in texture,
and by no means silky, except on the ears, where it should be very
soft and shiny.
438 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

g. The color, v. 9. —The best colors are red, and black and tan,
which last should be deep and rich, and this variety should always
have a black nose. The red strain may have flesh-colored nose,
and some good judges in England maintain that it is indispens-
able, but in Germany it is not considered of any importance. In
the black and tans, the tan should extend to the lips, cheeks, a
spot over each eye, the belly and flank, underside of the tail, and
a spot on each side of the breast bone; also to the lower part of
both fore and hind legs and feet. Thumb marks and pencilling of
the toes are not approved of in this country; but they are often
met with in Germany. Whole chocolate dogs are often well bred,
but they are not liked in England, even with tan markings, which
are, however, an improvement. Whole blacks and whites are un-
known out of Germany, where they are rare. In England white
on toes or breast is objected to, but not in Germany.

10. Size, symmetry and quality, v. 10.—In szze the dachshund
should be in an average specimen from thirty-nine to forty-two
inches long, from tip to tip, and in, height ten to eleven inches at
the shoulder ; the weight should be from eleven to eighteen pounds,
the bitches being considerably smaller than the dogs.

GREY-HOUNDS.

The grey-hound is the beau ideal of an animal formed for speed
and endurance. There are several species. The English dog has
long legs, with muscles like whip-cord which denote extreme length
of stride, and rapidity of movement. His chief use is in coursing
the hare, and in actual speed he far surpasses the hare ; the latter,
however, has the advantage of stopping short, and turning quick-
ly, while the grey-hound, owing to his immense stride, which gives
him excessive impetus, carries him far beyond his prey. Coursing,
as practiced in England as an amusement, is of very ancient date.
Two grey-hounds are sent after each hare, and matched against
each other, for the purpose of trying their comparative strength
and speed. Some hares are so crafty and agile, that they baffle
the best hounds and get away fairly into covers from whence the
grey-hound, working only by sight (he has no scent) is unable to
drive them.

The coursing of the Western hare, or what is called the jackass
rabbit, by grey-hounds, is fast becoming a favorite amusement with
our army officers located at frontier posts, especially in Texas,
where ground well adapted to the sport is convenient,
GRE Y-HOUNDS. 439

The Irish grey-hound is a remarkably fine animal, being four
feet in length and stoutly built. His hair is of a pale fawn color,
and much rougher than that of the smooth English grey-hound.

The Scotch grey-hound is still rougher in its coat than its Irish
relative, but not so large a dog in make and is chiefly used in
coursing the hare. There is only one breed of this animal.

The Persian grey-hound derives its origin from a source which
is hidden in the mists of antiquity. It is chiefly used to cope with
that swift and daring animal, the wild ass, the milder antelope,
and the more dangerous wild-boars. This dog crossed with the
Scotch deer-hound is used by many officers on our frontiers to run
down the antelope and black-tailed deer, and where could there
be a more magnificent coursing country than the vast plains of
the West ?

The Italian grey-hound is a little creature whose merit consists
in its diminutive proportions, and slender limbs. It is useless for
all purposes of sport.

Judging points of the grey-hound, as given in the Fanczer’s
Gazette :

Head -long and narrow; ears pendulous, or partly so, small,
and fine in substance; eyes bright and full of fire; jaw long and
muscular, lean in appearance, with a set of good teeth; neck long,
muscular, with a slight inclination to arch, just sufficient to be per-
ceptible to an observer of symmetry, which gives to the head and
neck that graceful appearance hardly to be described. No throat-
iness or loose skin to appear ; shoulders should be oblique, slanting
back, with elbow straight from the shoulder; fore-arm straight
and full of muscle; lower leg round and strong, with nice moder-
ately round foot, slightly in-arched toes; chest deep, with a pro-
portionate width ; back broad, deeply ribbed ; loin wide and full
of muscle ; hip full of muscle, and wide where loin and hip are set
together, with enormous well developed stifles ; well-bent strong
hock ; good round muscular lower leg, with good strong roundish
feet; stern nicely set on, long and tapering, free from feathering ;
colors, many.

  

Hind-quarters .
Back...
Loins ..
Tail....

  
 
440 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

THE DEER-HOUND.

The deer-hound isa noble specimen of his race, his proportions
being quite as good as those of the grey-hound, in which he resem-
bles the rough variety of that beautiful dog. He is possessed of
better powers of scent than the grey-hound, and in chasing game
depends as much on his nose as on his eyes. It is curious that,
although he makes use of his nose when running, he holds his
head higher from the ground than the grey-hound, which only uses
his eyes. The purity of the breed is judged a good deal by the
coat, which should be very wiry, long, without being woolly. The
old deer-hound is becoming scarcer every year, and a cross of the
fox-hound with the deer-hound makes the most useful dog to hunt
the stag. The object is to obtain a fine nose, so as to hunt a cold
scent, but united with such speed that he may be able to keep the
deer in sight. Judging points as given in Fancéer’s Gazette :

Head somewhat of the grey-hound shape, only more massive
and muscular in all points, with a narrow, long, ‘‘tear-away’”’ ap-
pearance; ears narrow, somewhat pendent—rather rat-like—not
too long, and just sufficient leather in them to well cover the ori-
fice ; very prominent eye, looking sharp and far-seeing ; jaw long
and powerful, with a set of good teeth; no pendulous lip; neck
long and muscular, free from throatiness, but set deep into chest ;
shoulders sloping, with a racing appearance ; chest deep, with a
fair and symmetrical width ; back flat and wide, with good deep
ribs ; loins wide and muscular ; hips powerful where set on to the
loin, with very muscular stifles, well-bent hocks, and with a good
substance from the hock to the foot; fore-legs must be strong,
straight, and full of muscle, with a nice in-arched foot, slightly
rounded ; stern long, and tapered off to a point, nicely set into
back ; coat harsh and wiry.

POINTS IN JUDGING,

  

» Hind-quarters.......- es +15

THE BLOOD-HOUND.

Head large, slightly conical ; forehead long, inclined to be nar-
row ; eyes brown and sunk in the head, but expressive, showing
THE OTTER-HOUND. 44t

haw very plainly, which causes it to have an appearance of red-
ness; the ears very long, well spread out, and nicely turned, and
not puckered, fine in texture, in excitement they ought not to be
carried up, but to hang tolerably near to the face; upper jaw and
face inclined to be narrow; flews thin and pendulous, almost so
that they could meet under the chin. The neck proportionately
long; the skin on the throat loose, slightly wrinkly ; shoulders
powerful, not upright, but blades slightly slanting ; what we mean
is, not straight from the foot to front of shoulder; deep chest;
fore-legs muscular and straight ; feet round and cat-like; back
not too long, thick, powerful and well ribbed up, short in loin ;
hind-quarters well set on, well furnished with good muscle; stifles
not too long, but plenty of substance; stern set in level with the
back-bone, pliant and tapering to the point, feathering or coarse-
ness a great fault. Color reddish tan, darkening into black as it
reaches the back. Some breeds show the body white flecked,
which many old breeders very much admire. The coat should be
short, glossy, and lie as close as a thoroughbred race-horse’s ;
patches of white on chest or eet are objectionable; height in
bitches twenty-seven inches, dogs twenty-nine inches, but two
inches over those heights, if proportionate, would rather be an ad-
vantage. Judging is not tied only to these points, as there is a
something in sight you cannot define, but can act on; but, asa
whole, this we consider a pretty fair description of the. main items

of a good animal.
POINTS IN JUDGING.

s.
Hind-quarters

 

THE OTTER-HOUND.

There is something so dignified and noble about an otter-hound,
that if you once see a good one you will not soon forget him.
They are large dogs, and very muscular, as they well need be, and
good ones are rather scarce owing to various crosses. The head
is very grand in shape, “something between a fox-hound and

19*
442 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

blood-hound,” but more hard. Ears long and sweeping, but not
feathered down to the tips; eyes large, deeply set, and have a
peculiarly thoughtful appearance, they show the “haw;” nose
large and well developed ; muzzle well covered with wiry feather ;
nostrils expanding ; neck strong and muscular, but rather long;
the flews are well developed; dew-lap also loose and in folds;
chest, deep, and not too wide; back, strong, wide, and arched ;
shoulders ought to be sloping, but we seldom find them so; arms
and thighs well developed as to muscle ; stern like that of a rough
Welsh harrier, and moderately well coated; coat, wiry-haired,
hard, long and close at the roots ; color, grey, or buff, or yellowish,
or black, or rufous red, mixed with black and grey.

POINTS IN JUDGING.

 

THE BOAR-HOUND.

This strain of hound will be found useful in hunting wild pigs
in Louisiana, and is derived from a mingling of the mastiff with
the grey-hound, crossed afterwards with the largest sized English
terrier. Our friends who own and breed dogs will at once see the
necessity of .using these three animals, in order to get at the best
strain to hunt the wild boar or the less ferocious wild pig. The
grey-hound element is required in order to give the dog sufficient
speed for overtaking the boar, which is a much swifter animal
than is generally supposed from his unwieldy piggy form. The
mastiff is needed to give it the requisite muscular power and di-
mensions of body, and the terrier is introduced for the sake of
obtaining a sensitive nose and a quick spirited action. To train
this dog properly is a matter of some difficulty, because a mistake
is generally fatal, and puts an end to further instruction by the
death cf the pupil. It is comparatively easy to train a pointer or
setter, because if he fails through eagerness or slowness, the worst
consequence is that the shooter loses his next shot or two, and
the dog is easily corrected. But if a boar-hound rushes too ea-
gerly at the bristly quarry, he will in all probability be laid bleeding
TERRIERS. 443

on the ground by a rapid stroke from the boar’s tusks, and if he
should hang back he would be just as likely to be struck by the in-
furiated beast. The limbs are long and exceedingly powerful, and
the head possesses the square muzzle of the mastiff, together with
the sharp and somewhat pert air of the terrier. It is a very large
animal, measuring thirty inches to the shoulder. Wild boar hunt-
ing, next to lion and tiger shooting, is a dangerous sport, and the
most destructive to hounds that the travelled sportsman will en-
counter. The boar is a most fierce and savage animal, and when
irritated or disturbed by hounds will rush at any man or animal
and attack them with his tusks. In fact, a boar has been known
to turn with such terrific effect upon a pack containing fifty dogs,
that only ten escaped scatheless, and six or seven were ripped up
and killed on the spot. The speed of this beast is no less re-
markable, as when fully aroused he puts the mettle of the swiftest
and staunchest horse fairly to the test. Even on ground where the
horse would have the advantage, he frequently gets away from the
sportsman to regain his haunt, which is usually in a cane-brake.
Another cross or breed of the boar-hound which would suit our
southern friends (as thoroughbred mastiffs and terriers are a
rarity), may be derived from the mingling of the Southern hound
and grey-hound, which would answer every purpose for wild pig-
shooting in Texas and Louisiana,

TERRIERS.

The Terrier, although not used to any great extent in the field
as a sporting dog, is death on vermin, and being very intelligent,
apt at learning, delicate of nose, and quick of eye and scent, will
be found the best dog for raccoon hunting. There are several va-
rieties of the Terrier—the English, the Bull, the Fox, the Scotch,
the Skye, and the Dandie Diamont, so called, in honor of the char-
acter of that name in Walter Scott’s “Guy Mannering.” The
English terrier possesses a smooth coat, a tapering muzzle, eye
small and bright, and has a habitual custom of digging the ground
with his fore feet and dragging away the stones and other substan-
ces in his mouth. The Scotch terrier is a quaint-looking animal
broken or wire-haired, always ready for work or play, good to hunt
444 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

rats, and in fact will dig a fox out of his hole when he fancies him-
self in safety. The color of the Scotch terrier is generally the
same as that of the English dog, he has so long been kept as a
pet that unless a pure breed is obtained from his native country,
he will be found valueless as a sporting dog. All these dogs
would be of the greatest value for successful raccoon hunting.

KANGAROO DOG.

This dog, which is much used in Australia for hunting the
kangaroo, is a cross of the grey-hound and blood-hound, stands
thirty-four inches, and from tip of nose to stern post, fifty-four
inches. In form he resembles the grey-hound, but in muscle
and power is equal to half a dozen. His limbs are symmetrical—
amass of muscles—ears small and pointed; nose long; mouth
deep ; eyes large, lustrous, and soft as a woman’s; color, a de-
cided brindle, with bars of black across his back and loins ; weight,
eighty-five pounds. In body and limbs he seems all muscle, lithe,
wiry, and as elastic as rubber. In disposition, as affectionate as a
setter, playful and good natured.

They are tremendous leapers, as well as runners, and have
been known to clear atwelve foot fence with apparent ease at a
jump. They are fine deer dogs as well. A pair is worth $600.

COLLEYS.

Although the colleys are not sporting dogs, they have sense
enough to be taught anything, and ought to be cultivated, espe-
cially with the rapid growth of sheep raising in this country, more
particularly in Colorado, California, and New Mexico. In Great
Britain regular field trials are held in which the shepherd’s friend
and assistant displays the most wonderful intelligence in penning
and driving sheep, and by the publicity of their trials and the
prizes awarded, great encouragement is given to breeding and
training. An Englishman, Mr. W. Fothergill, has lately pub-
lished a little book of twenty pages on the management and train-
ing of colleys, which gives some useful hints. The first lesson, he
says, is to teach the whelp to lie down at command; then come
this way or that, always behind you. Ina short time he will leap
COLLEYS. 445

over a hedge at your bidding, stand still at command, or even walk
backwards or forwards as you wish. All this may be done before
even it sees a sheep, and indeed many whelps have been thor-
oughly trained before they have been called upon to work. The
more general practice, however, is to take the young dog alone,
when quite strong enough to keep a few sheep up in the corner
of a field, and teach him to bring them after you short distances,
and so make him handy at working to the right or left. He should
never be allowed to run between his trainer and the sheep, for the
great object ought to be to throw the dog well off so that he may
run wide. There isa great boldness or dash in a colley so taught,
and he does not harass the sheep nearly so much as one in the
habit of running at or close after them. You may teach him to
obey signs, or words, or a whistle, and for far distances on the
mountain the last is best. A dog so taught will gather miles of
mountain, bringing all the sheep to the shepherd’s feet, and then
by an alteration in the note will take them right back again. It
should always be borne in mind that the sagacity, or sense if you
will, of the colley develops with his years; and therefore, if
you are quiet and patient, and have plenty of work for him, he
will teach himself rapidly without your worrying yourself. very
much about him. It would be hard indeed for an intelligent man
who has been working steadily upon the mountain with sheep
dogs for a whole season, and witnessed day by day their shrewd
cleverness, to declare that they do not reason.

In this country in the States and Territory we have mentioned,
the colley has another duty to perform. He is not only guide and
herdsman, but protector as well; for the sneaking coyote is to be
kept away, and if need be, fought ; and sometimes a hungry bear
with a taste for mutton, as well.

The Fanczer’s Gazette gives the judging points of the colley
as follows:

The head has a great resemblance to a wolf’s—being rather
conical, and going off gradually sharp to the nose, with along jaw
—only longer, aud with a more foxy and intelligent look and wider
and longer ears, which are a little feathered and pendent; eyes
have a sort of flashing and “ miss-nothing ” look, always on the
alert ; jaw long; nose sharp ; neck long, and well furnished with
-

440 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

apron and ruffle ; shoulders fine and deep ; chest well let down;
legs straight and full of muscle, with cat-like feet. A good broad
back and thick over the loins, with well-bent hocks ; stifles well
developed ; tail feathered, not carried over the back; coat long
and straight, wiry to the touch, with a pily coat underneath the
“over-coat.”’ Color various ; but that most in vogue, black-and-
tan, the tan to be pale, not rich. This is the present fashionable
show-dog.

POINTS IN JUDGING.

 
THE CARE, TRAINING AND MANAGE-
MENT OF DOGS.

S the taste for field sports increases, we hear from every
quarter the inquiry: “ How shall I obtain a good dog?”

This is a question that must be answered largely by the common
sense of the propounder. While believing that every one in need
of an animal should take the same pains to inform himself as to
the characteristics and points of the race, in the same manner as
he would if a horse were desired, we are aware that many have
not. the time, or lack the inclination for such study. Such we
would advise to put themselves in communication with some dealer
of known character and reliability, with the determination to abide
by the result. Some men never are, and never can be satisfied ;
for the reason that few have the honesty to acknowledge that they
do not know how to break or handle a dog, and such usually ruin
the animals that they purchase. Hence from overweening self-
sufficiency and superficial information on the one hand, opposed to
practical knowledge on the other, arise most of the difficulties
between the purchaser and the dealer. We are convinced that if
the most skilful of breakers should sell twenty of the best dogs
ever whelped to the same number of purchasers, allowing them
the privilege of trying them and then returning if they failed to
suit, at least one-half the animals would be thrown back upon the
breaker’s hands, and he himself slandered. And this difficulty
will continue, for the reason that almost every man who shoots
well believes that he must necessarily be fully competent to under-
take the management of dogs. To be able to shoot well is to be
desired ; though there is no great difficulty in acquiring the art ;
there are plenty of men with but a mere modicum of intellect who
are proficients ; but to be able to handle a dog skilfully is a very
rare and much to be desired accomplishment—one well worthy the
close attention of every sportsman, particularly if compelled to
448 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

purchase dogs broken by other hands. A skilful handler has no
difficulty in purchasing a good animal, because he knows what to
expect from a strange dog, and how to work to gain his confidence ;
on the other hand, there are many purchasers who never give an
animal a chance to show his education, and saddle their own
ignorance upon the dog and his breaker.

While it is frequently argued that: each one should break his
own dog, and while allowing that there is much to be said in favor
of so doing; it can not be denied that the number of those who
are capable of the complete self-government necessary to the suc-
cessful education of the animal is extremely limited. As proof
of this, look at the numbers of children, and the training zZey re-
ceive! If we cannot successfully control ¢#em, how much less can
we hope to succeed with an animal to whom speech is denied, and
in which the power of understanding is but limited.

It is not within our province to point out the choice of breeds,
distinctions of color, etc.; these being matters in which the pur-
chaser must please himself. But a few hints of a general char-
acter may not be amiss.

CHOOSING A DOG.

First satisfy yourself as to the antecedents of the animal in
question. Purchase no dog whose pedigree is entirely unknown,
at the same time avoiding all suspicious taint whether of form,
character, or disease. See him in the field (if broken,) and under
the gun; note well his mode of ranging, and that he does not
rake. See that he possesses a good nose, is staunch on point and
charge, heels properly, is not gun shy, is a tender-mouthed re-
triever, and quick to respond to command. Study his trainer’s
mode of delivering his commands, and if he be a foul-mouthed,
loud shouting individual, shun both him and his dogs; for you
may be assured that he who uses expletives in abundance, and
bellows at his dogs at the top of his voice, is not possessed of the
temperament requisite for their proper training. Even if they
appear well broken, it is not seemly to purchase animals, in the
working of which it becomes necessary to transform yourself into
an animated fog-horn, alarming both the neighborhood and the
CHOOSING A DOG. 449

game. Better than all is the dog who works by the silent method,
obeying the movements of the hand.

Not only see the dog in the field, and note the breaker’s
method of working, but try your hand urfder his supervision.
Nothing is more detrimental than to attempt to work a dog whose
ways you do not know, and who likewise does not understand
yours ; the result is always disastrous ; you lose yourself, command
of the animal, and the animal his respect for you, and in sheer
self-defence he becomes sulky; the crack of the whip with an
accompaniment of oaths does not mend the matter, but probably
irretrievably ruins the animal.

Having satisfied yourself as to physical attributes, and obtained
your dog, do not at once turn him over to another to feed and care
for, but let this duty devolve upon yourself alone. When a dog
changes masters, he will attach himself to the first person who
treats him kindly ; consequently it is important that you be the
one to whom the affections of the animal are transferred. Take
full charge of him then, and feed with your own hand, until he has
learned to know your person, your voice, and to look with pleasure
for your coming. As soon as safe, let him loose from the chain,
take him to walk, and attempt to gain his confidence by gentle
coercion and kindness, showing him meantime that you are his
master, and that he must obey. A few days’ attention, with the
exercise of reasonable skill and patience, will accomplish all this,
when he may be taken to the field.

Let it be remembered, that no dog can be so perfectly broken,
that when he goes into the hands of a stranger he will at once
work and obey him with the same readiness that he exhibited to-
wards his former breaker and master. Also take him out alone,
as no dog will or can work well in a new place and among stran-
gers; to demand such, would be to ask more of the animal than
could be expected of yourself. Working a dog alone for a single
day, or even half a day, will have the effect to start him aright, and
save trouble and vexation afterwards. You may have to use the
whip, but in such a case apply it judiciously, without anger, point-
ing out to the animal his fault. By no means lose your self-con-
trol, for the result will inevitably be disastrous both to the animal

and yourself.
450 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

As before, if gentlemen who purchase broken dogs to shoot
over could be impressed with the necessity of exercising good
judgment in their management, there would be no difficulty in
purchasing good, staunch, well broken dogs. In consequence of
mismanagement, many breakers will not sell a dog to any one, un-
less they know to a certainty that the purchasers possess skill,
and will exercise it. One trainer utterly refuses to break dogs for
strangers at any price, for fear the animals will pass into the
hands of bunglers, and thus be condemned.

THE KENNEL.

It is important that your animal be provided with a proper
habitation. It is true a dog can be kept in a barn or stable, but
those who keep them there can best inform you whether their
dogs are capable of answering the purposes designated. The
sense of smell is acute in the dog, and as every odor that salutes
the nostrils owes its flavor to the mote-like particles held in sus-
pension in the air coming in contact with the sensitive membrane
with which the olfactories are lined, we cannot but suppose that
the stench of the effete material, decaying vegetable matter, and
ammoniacal gases, which constantly originate in and around
such buildings, are more or less detrimental to the nose of the
animal.

“The merciful man is merciful to his beast.’’ Exercise that
mercy, and build your dog a house in the open air, away from the
barnyard, and so far distant from other buildings that they may
not interfere with either the sunlight, or circulation of pure fresh
air. Give him a large yard to run in, and plenty of grass under
foot ; above all see that quitch or dog-grass (7rztzcum répens), is
planted therein, for it will not only be eagerly sought and eaten by
the animal, but goes far towards preserving his health. If more
than one dog is kept, a building of two rooms may be erected,
each opening into separate yards, that one may be occupied while
the other is cleaned, or for convenience of separating the sexes.
Doors and windows are essential to admit of free entrance; anda
free circulation of air. The bench on which they lie should be
fronted that the dogs may not crawl underneath, and provided
with plenty of bedding in the shape of straw, shavings or beach
THE KENNEL. 451

sand; if none of these are available, spruce cuttings may be sub-
stituted with advantage. An excellent plan is to have the bench
movable on rollers, that it may be trundled about freely, and even
run out doors. Let the bedding be shaken up and aired in the
sun each day, and at least once a week replaced by fresh material,
the benches and room having first undergone a thorough scrub-
bing. The yards also should be cleaned and raked frequently,
every attention being paid to neatness and cleanliness, as dogs
are liable to many diseases to which poverty and nastiness will
very much contribute. Turpentine or strong whitewash will be
found to aid in the preventign, or eradication of vermin. If the
floor be of wood, see that it is thoroughly wiped and dried after
cleaning, and before the dogs are allowed to enter the house, as
damp is prejudicial to canine health.

House your dogs every night, but turn them out on going to
feed them in themorning. At such times a little attention to their
coats will not be amiss, such as combing and brushing ; when the
hide is very greasy, a little chalk rubbed in before brushing is ad-
vantageous. Water should be supplied in abundance, that the
animals may drink when thirsty. If a pure stream be led through
the yard, all the better; but if this be impossible, supply them
freely with queensware drinking pans, which must be kept in the
shade, and emptied and replenished twice each day, being thor-
oughly washed at each alternate refilling. If a piece of roll brim-
stone is kept in the water pan, it will aid materially in keeping the
dogs in condition. Iron dishes, even when porcelain lined, are not
to be used, the metal itself oxidizing, and its porcelain lining
containing lead and arsenic in dangerous quantities.

If but one animal is possessed, a small dog house will suffice ;
but let the roof be not only water tight, but see that it projects
sufficiently beyond the ends and sides to protect them from the
driving rain. The top may be made movable for convenience in
shaking up the bedding, and sunning and airing the interior. The
house should moreover be raised sufficiently to avoid the damp-
ness of the ground underneath, and provided with a door hung
from above in such a manner as to easily swing in or out. Avoid
the general fault of too small a kennel, many of them not allowing
sufficient room for the occupant to turn round comfortably, and
452 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

see that no projecting and unclinched nails remain which may
injure the eyes,

The Toronto (Canada) Hunt Club has a model kennel house,
a very pretty gothic lodge for the huntsmen and spacious kennels
for the pack. A house for cooking the canine diet, a stable for
one or two horses and a large rangy shed for the horses of mem-
bers of the club, the whole enclosed with a close eight-foot fence.

FEEDING.

In feeding, an anatomical and physiological view cannot fail to
be a safe index to the system to bé pursued. By these aids we
are led to conclude that dogs are not wholly carnivorous, but are
so formed as to derive nutriment from either vegetable or animal
matter. We see them voluntarily seeking vegetable substances at
certain seasons, which they devour with avidity; probably as a
necessary corrective of the tendency to putridity which a diet en-
tirely confined to animal food begets.

Carrion is to be avoided, it being universally admitted that it
works to the injury of the animal’s sense of smell; at all events it
tends to give an unhealthy and disagreeable odor to the animal.
Healthy animal food when properly administered, forms the most
nutritious of diets, and is better adapted for sustaining the sport-
ing powers of dogs than any other. Sprat’s biscuits are for this
reason highly recommended ; but we would suggest they be fre-
quently broken up and made into broth instead of feeding them
continuously in adry state. Barley and oat meals, the dross of
wheat flour, or any mixture of these same, with broth or skimmed
milk, is very proper food, varying it twice or thrice a week with

‘greaves, from which the tallow has been pressed. mixed with flour ;
or sheep’s feet and heads, well baked, or boiled, form a very good
diet. Good scraps from the table undoubtedly answer as well;
the greatest objection to their use being the natural tendency to
dispose of all such at once, without reference to quantity, by giving
to the dog, whereby he becomes over-fed.

Puppies demand more food in proportion than adult dogs; and
there is also greater danger of surfeiting with certain foods. Never
allow your dogs to loaf around the kitchen ; in spite of all you may
say or do, servants cannot, and will not, resist the beseeching and
FEEDING PUPPIES. 453

wise loving looks of the animals, and will surreptitiously supply
them with food.

Bones are not to be withheld, except such as are so small as
to be swallowed ; they contain phosphate of lime which is essen-
tial to the proper nourishment, especially of young dogs, and like-
wise answer all the sanitary purposes of a tooth brush.

Feed your dogs but once, or at most twice each day, selecting
the same hours for each meal, and observe punctuality so far as
lies in your power. Your temper is not sweetened by your meals
being delayed: do not ask more of your dogs than of yourself. In
the hunting season, feed the evening before, giving nothing the
morning you take them out except it be a little milk. In the mid-
dle of the day when resting for your own refreshment, remember
him who has worked so faithfully for you. A few of Sprat’s bis-
cuit may be carried for the purpose in your pocket ; though if at a
farm house, a little bread and milk will be more wholesome.
When the day’s labor is over, a full meal of the biscuit or meal and
scraps may be allowed.

Avoid Indian meal, very salt food and raw meat, as tending to
vitiate the secretions ; not but that a little raw meat may be good;
but it is to be avoided as a steady article of diet. A judicious
mixture of. green vegetable food, boiled, and even raw potatoes
(where the animal will eat them) will be found advantageous to
the well-keeping of dogs.

FEEDING PUPPIES.

No animal can be expected to attain its full size and form
except it receive a full supply of wholesome food. Only those
breeders who have given the matter close attention can realize how
much a healthy growing puppy will consume, consequently very
many young animals are injured through want of sufficient and
proper nourishment.

Some bitches will supply nourishment for nine or ten puppies
until they are four or five weeks old. Others have but a small se-
cretion of milk, and can sustain no more than four or five, but for
a short time; hence it is necessary to watch closely to know what
the bitch is doing for her progeny, and supply any deficiency ac-
cordingly. Even when the maternal supply is ample to keep the
454 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

offspring in good condition, it is decidedly better to commence feed-
ing the litter with other food when they are four or five weeks old,
in order to avoid too sudden change of diet when they are taken
from the mother. About the best food at such time, is good sweet
cow’s milk with the addition of a little scalding hot water, to which
may be added after a few days, well-cooked corn or oat meal, the
latter being preferable. When seven or eight weeks of age, give
them beef or mutton soup with mush and milk; substituting in turn
wholly or in part, scraps from the table as this age is doubled.
Meat, bones, bread, vegetables, gravy, etc., form an excellent diet
for growing puppies of this age, as well as for adult animals, when
given in quantities sufficient to keep them in proper condition. One
of the most important matters in the rearing of young animals is,
that they be kept in proper form, consequently they should be /re-
quently fed, and receive as much food as they will eat cleanly. If
‘feeding is allowed but twice a day, they become almost famished,
and eat so ravenously when supplied as to become “ potbellied,”
and misshapen, and frequently out of health; consequently from
the time they are weaned until they are two or three months old,
they should be supplied with food at least five times per day, the
two extreme meals being given at corresponding early and late
hours of the day. After three months thrice daily will be found
sufficient.

In regard to the rearing of pups solely upon animal food, we may
say, that so far as personal experimental knowledge reveals, it is by
no means the proper course to pursue. Youngsters thus fed will, if
not overtaken by disease, grow to an unreasonable and undesirable
size, and having become habituated to meat only, it will be found
difficult to induce them to accept of sufficient vegetable food to keep
them in anything like proper condition for work. Besides they are
more apt to maul or mouth the game they retrieve, All growing
pups and adult hunting dogs require more or less meat with their
food, but in the case of the former, it is better for the animals, if it
be in the form of broth mixed with their mush.

AGE.

‘To tell the age of a dog approximately, examine the upper front
teeth. Until eighteen months old, these are rounded on the edge ;
DOCKING TAIL. 455

at the end of two years they begin to square off, and gradually wear
down and shorten, until, when the animal has entered the sixth
year they are nearly even with the gums. The lower teeth usually
wear out earlier. The appearance of the eye is also an indication
of age, and all dark-colored dogs show their years by the growth
of white hairs about the muzzle.

MUZZLING DOGS.

The muzzle is an instrument properly belonging to the Dark
Ages, and should be classed with the vise, thumbscrew, and rack.
It is as likely to force an attack of rabies in the wearer as to answer
any sanitary purpose, and incalculably injures the animal, prevent-
ing free respiration, and denying to him the privilege of drinking
at that season of the year when water is most sought and needed.
For four years the writer has collected statistics of the cases of
rabies reported through the papers and medical journals, which
show that at least three out of every five cases that have occurred
during that time occurred in the months of December, January
and February, and ot a single authenticated case has occurred in
the months of July and August. Two in August, first designated
as hydrophobia, but later proven to be hysteria, are reported.
September shows three cases of doubtful character, one of which
is traceable only to a cut, probably developing tetanus, simulating
hydrophobia ; of another no definite information could be obtained ;
and the third had been bitten fifteen months previously. With this
result before us, we can but consider the muzzle as a mechanical
contrivance desirable for vicious dogs, or useful only to prevent
dogs from eating or destroying articles with which they may be
placed in contact, and to be used at no other time. It also proves
to be an excellent shuttle-cock for the Solons who constitute the
law-givers of our cities.

DOCKING TAIL.

There is a great diversity of opinion among sportsmen and
breeders in regard to the docking of dogs’ tails. Many consider
it altogether wrong to alter the caudal appendage in any respect,
and in England such are excluded from all bench shows. Idstone
456 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

suggests that those sportsmen who desire short tailed animals,
had best breed them from short tailed sires, and stigmatizes the act
of docking asa piece of cruelty. Such is undoubtedly true in part,
but there is nothing, in our opinion, that detracts so much from
the beauty of a setter or pointer as a very long crooked tail. If
we could not have a good dog without such a deformity, we would,
of course, endure it. But there is a remedy for it, and consequently
we resort to it when we can, and by docking improve the appear-
ance of the dog; neither need it be an act of cruelty, if skilfully
and properly performed. How often do we meet with pointers
who have the skin whipped off from their very long tails, for two
or three inches! To work a dog thus is not only cruelty, but the
animal, being in constant pain, does not work nearly so well as he
would with a good sound tail of proper dimensions. Therefore,
it is better to take off a small piece of the tail of most pointer
pups, unless the appendage appears of the proper length. If this
is done when the pup is but three or four weeks old, he will not
show a docked tail when he arrives at adult age. Some setters,
too, have tails entirely out of keeping in length; and what can be
more currish in appearance than a very long tail turned up over
the stern, or as is sometimes the case, turned to one side or the
other? Most sportsmen would consider the animal improved if
he were tailless.

The operation is simple, consisting merely of laying the tail on
a block, and turning back the hair at the point where it is desired
to be shortened, and with a chisel cutting it off between the joints.
The bleeding usually ceases of itself in due time, but if not, the
application of a little muriate tincture of iron, or the persulphate
(Monsel’s salt), will control it. If the operation be skilfully per-
formed no deformity will result, the hair falling over the end and
hiding the alteration. As may be surmised, it is better to wait
until the setter is full grown before docking, otherwise you are as
likely to detract as toadd to his appearance. Many animals, both
setters and pointers, have been marred by unskilful docking, hence
the operation should never be attempted except by those who are
skilled in its performance.

A good rule to follow, to get the tail in proportion to the length
of the dog’s back, is to stand the dog square upon his legs, take
BREAKING DOGS. 457

the tail, and measure down to the hock, and remove all over and
above what will reach to the middle of the joint of the hock.

SPAYING.

The question is frequently propounded : “ Does the operation
of spaying impair the usefulness of a bitch ?”

If the operation is performed at an adult age, it usually ener-
vates the animal, when of course their usefulness is impaired.
But if the animal is spayed while still in puppy-hood—the sooner
after it is four weeks old the better—no harm results, and such is
a very desirable animal to possess, except when one is required
for stock purposes.

The operation is performed in two ways. In both an opening
in the flank is made; and in one the uterus and appendages are
removed entire; in the other the ovaries alone are extirpated.
This should never be undertaken but by a skilful operator, one
well acquainted with the anatomy of the animal. It is at best an
uncertain operation in its results, so far as the life of the animal is
concerned ; though the fatality is less than would be supposed by
any one acquainted with the anatomical situation and relation of
the organs removed.

BREAKING DOGS.

All that is really necessary in the breaking of dogs, is a thor-
ough knowledge of what constitutes a good dog and the manner
in which it should work in the field, added to such judgment as
will enable a man to determine between the different dispositions
and characters he has to encounter. Few can be handled pre-
cisely alike; some are timid and need encouragement, others are
headstrong and demand strict, and at times, even severe treatment.
An absolute command of temper must be observed by the in-
structor during his teachings so that not an unnecessary blow may
be given; for work done cheerfully and with a desire to serve and
benefit the master, is one hundred fold better than service per-
formed grudgingly or only through compulsion.

A puppy should have but one teacher, no matter how close
the methods of two trainers may agree; he must learn your voice,
your manner, your very look ; therefore, if you determine to break

20
458 DOGS USED FOR SPORT,

your dog, do it entirely yourself; do not break down in the midst
of your labor and leave it to be finished by another ; the result will
never be favorable.

From the beginning attend to the feeding of your youngster
yourself, and if possible, let all food be taken from your hands.
This is advised that the puppy may the sooner attach himself to
you alone and look upon you as his master, for no dog, either
setter or pointer should ever be loaned, or hunted by others than
his trainer ; therefore the breaking of all field dogs is better done
by the sportsman himself, provided he possesses the requisite
patience, and can devote to it the necessary time.

The check cord will be found of far greater assistance than the
whip, the most unruly and headstrong animals being readily
brought under subjection by it, while at the same time it can be so
applied as not to intimidate. Always bear in mind that a dog
should not be corrected, except it is certain he understands the
fault for which he is rated. Punishment becomes absolutely ne-
cessary at times with some dispositions, and that too of the most
severe character; but you must be satisfied that the act which de-
mands it was committed with full consciousness of its wrong.
Where you see a dog responding to command in a cringing and
supplicating manner, you may know that his master possesses an
ungovernable temper, unfitting him for training or managing any
animal possessing consciousness. Such a dog has been unmerci-
fully flogged, perhaps kicked, before he has been taught and made
to understand his line of duty, and fearful of a repetition of the
lash, for what he knows not, obeys the summons crouching and
creeping, an object of sympathy to the beholder, while his master
is viewed with disgust.

From the moment you come into possession of your puppy,
say at three or four months of age, lessons of obedience may be
given at feeding time, before you undertake the more difficult part
of yard or in-door breaking; in fact, whenever you may choose to
offer him food, by placing it before him and not allowing it to be
touched until ordered, slightly tapping him when greediness or a
non-regard of your command is observed, persisting until you feel
he understands nothing can be gained by disobedience.

- The first important lesson to be given is that the puppy shall
BREAKING DOGS. 459

charge or drop at command, retaining this position until permitted
to rise by the order “hold up.” Very few dogs in this country
are trained to absolutely go down at the report of the gun, or as
it is called, drop to shot ; most sportsmen are satisfied if their dogs
do not break shot, and rush for the game the moment it is killed,
and charge at the word, remaining until commanded to fetch, or
keep the upright position until the gun is reloaded and they are
ordered to move on again.

Notwithstanding so few dogs are broken to drop to shot with
us, it should be done in every instance, as it undoubtedly tends to
give steadiness in every active point, and acts as a check on any
desire the animal may have to break in and mouth game when
fallen ; for, in the excitement of the moment, the sportsman may
neglect to give the order to drop or charge when he has brought
down his bird, and the dog being left to act as he chooses, nat-
urally moves toward it also, which, if too often repeated, will cer-
tainly unsteady him ; hence the necessity of teaching to drop to
shot, which, with very little trouble, may be accomplished by the
following method :

Fasten to your dog’s collar a strong cord thirty or forty feet
long, and take him into a yard or lot where no one will be pres-
ent; secure the loose end to a short stake firmly driven in the
ground; place him in acrouching:position in front of you and keep
him there, meantime exclaiming, “down!’’ or “charge!” The
moment you remove your hand, he will, of course, attempt to rise,
but foil him immediately with a sharp jerk of the cord, and an
imperative “charge!’’ until he obeys, after which encourage and
caress, allowing him to rise, using the words “hold up!’ You
may now make use of the cord in a more forcible manner, as a
reminder that your command must be obeyed. Take the dog to
the stake and make him charge there, not allowing him to move
while you slowly walk from him. Goa few steps beyond the dis-
tance to which the rope will allow him to come, and tell him to
hold up. He will naturally run towards you, when, just as he
reaches the end of his tether and receives the jerk, cry “charge.”
This teaches quick and prompt obedience to the order.

It is time now, supposing that you have thoroughly inculcated
this lesson, to have the dog learn that the holding of the hand aloft
460 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

is equivalent to the verbal order to drop, and from the start it
would be decidedly better to always uplift the hand when the
command is given, practicing him until the signal only is required
to cause him to charge promptly.

In the same manner can dropping to shot be taught by firing
off a pistol and instantly jerking the cord and saying “charge ;”’
but it is best to commence with the cap only, advancing to very
small loads, and gradually increasing to full charges. The dog
must fully understand—to be perfectly broken in this particular—
that the uplifted hand means he should charge, no matter how far
he may be from you in the field; and likewise that the report of
the gun has a similar signification.

In these lessons patience must be studied, and the dog forcibly
impressed with the necessity of obedience, without being cruelly
treated ; on the contrary, praise and caress him when he does
well, but then only.

BACKING.

In order the more readily to teach your pupil to back another’s
point when in the field and hunting, he should understand that
“Toho ” is the command to stop or halt ; this is taught him af-
ter he has become prompt in charging, using the check cord as in
the first lessons. Provide yourself with some morsels of food;
take the dog when hungry (having fastened the cord to his collar
as before), into an apartment or yard where there is nothing to
distract his attention, and throw a portion of food where he can
see it fall. He will naturally run for it; as he does so, and when
on the point of seizing it pull the cord sharply and cry out “ Zo-
ho!” He will probably drop or charge, remembering the lesson
you first taught him. This is what is desired, so long as he stops.
Continue this until the cord is no longer required, and he will halt
at the verbal command, at the same time keeping him perfectly
familiar with the down charge by signal, and dropping to shot as
well, if you have determined to, and have already begun to teach it.

In order to encourage a young dog to quick movement, and to
cultivate in him a free and speedy gait, take him with you in your
walks as often as possible, extending your rambles to the suburbs
where there are open fields and plenty of room. For a time keep
BACKING. 461

the cord attached to his collar, allowing it to trail after him as he
moves about ; it will impede him but little, especially if you select
a strong one, about the diameter of an ordinary lead pencil, and
point the end with thread to keep it from fraying. You will find
it will greatly add to the control you may have to exercise over
him, and have the effect of impressing him while at liberty, that
you are still master. During these walks, accustom the animal to
the sound of the whistle, summoning’ him from time to time that
he may become perfectly familiar with it. Practice him, while you
are out, in the same lessons you began at home, until each and
every one is obeyed promptly; when at the down charge walk
away from him, each time extending the distance, meantime, in-
sisting that this posture be retained until ordered to hold up.

No doubt he will notice, and perhaps show an eagerness to hunt
sparrows and other small birds you may meet in your walks, and
his natural instinct will probably lead him to point, when he
scents them. This need not be checked, but rather encouraged
for a short time, as it will give’a greater desire for the chase,
and when his education is sufficiently complete to work him on
game, and it is once shown, he will readily distinguish between
the two, and choose the latter.

These walks should be more frequent as the shooting season
approaches, when you will desire to enter the field, to confirm and
put to practical use the lessons taught.

On taking the field with the beginner, it is desirable for the first
day or two, that you have the companionship of a fellow sports-
man with a thoroughly broken and-experienced animal. Attach
the cord as before to the collar of the youngster, allowing it to trail
after him. He will naturally watch the movements of the old dog,
and when the game is scented wiil be eager, and perhaps head-
strong. When the old:dog draws on the birds and points, the
youngster may of his own accord back at once; if he does not,
endeavor to be near enough to have command of the cord, and
check him with a sharp jerk and an emphatic “to ho!” holding
him firmly. Have your companion flush the birds, and as they
rise at the report of the gun, check him down smartly, saying
charge! and see that he obeys. If the bird is killed, and the
youngster has previously been taught to retrieve in-doors, com-
462 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

mand him to fetch, after zszs¢zng upon his keeping the down
charge for a sufficient time to entail steadiness. He may not be
successful in finding the bird for a time, when you may assist him,
repeating occasionally the word “fetch.” If you are the first to
discover it, call him and have him lift it from the ground, when,
as you remove it from his mouth, reward him with notice and a
caress. By repeating this method a few times, you gradually and
surely impress upon the youngster the utility of that which was
taught him before entering the field.

During the day, you will no doubt have many opportunities of
confirming the puppy in the backing of another dog, using “Zoho”
always as the command to stop, punishing with the cord for diso-
bedience and non-observance of the order. The young animal
that has the example set him of ranging, is wonderfully improved
in speed thereby, but it must be remembered that puppies are fre-
quently ruined by working them too freely with old dogs. They:
soon discover that the oldster understands fully how to find the
game, and instead of finding, they are content to watch and back
the older. Great care must be taken that your animal does not
fall into such a habit. As soon as a young dog begins to watch
the older, depending upon him to find the birds, he should be at
once withdrawn and worked entirely alone until habits of self-
reliance are fully imbued, and he depends upon his own individual
efforts in the search for game; when this object has been fully
attained, he may again be worked in company with older and well
broken animals in order to confirm him in the habit of backing.

At different times while ranging in the field move in the direc-
tion you wish your puppy to take, waving your hand toward it also ;
then suddenly taking an opposite course, wave that way also. In
this manner you can soon teach that he must go to whichever por-
tion of the field you desire, by the motion of the hand.

Quail are undoubtedly the best birds on which to break a young
dog, and you cannot be too particular, the first season, in demand-
ing absolute obedience. Allow the least infraction of the neces-
sary rules, and he will always be on the look-out for an opportu-
nity to exercise his own will. Never allow him to flush for you,
even once, as the habit will grow upon him, and he will repeat it
with every opportunity that offers when out from under your eye.
RETRIEVING. 463

RETRIEVING.

One of the most important items that demand the considera-
tion of those who raise and break dogs to shoot over is that they
are properly taught to retrieve. There is nothing more vexatious
while shooting than when, having made a good clear shot, you dis-
cover your bird has fallen across a stream, a deep muddy ditch,
or in some dense briery covert from whence if your dog does not
retrieve it, you are obliged to turn your back upon, and leave it,
and this must frequently happen with those who shoot over dogs
not broken to this accomplishment. Who would not rather miss
a half dozen shots than leave a dead bird? For this reason, if
none other, invariably make it a point to have your dogs thor-
oughly broken in the art of retrieving.

A few years since, the idea was generally entertained at home,
as it is now abroad, that a pointer or setter broken to retrieve
could not be well controlled, and that through the holding of
birds in the mouth, immediate injury resulted, by blunting their
powers of scent. This doctrine is not only erroneous, but abso-
lutely silly, and to-day, many of the best sportsmen of Great
Britain and Ireland have abandoned the views which have been so
‘widely disseminated and thoroughly inculcated, and are having
their young dogs broken to retrieve. A friend in Scotland writes ;
“Having tried your Yankee plan, I am delighted with it. I find
the setter when perfectly broken, is as good a retriever as any in
the world. He is by far the most useful dog, and I now consider
that for him to be a retriever is a szme gua non. What we have so
long seen to admire in the big heavy looking dog we call a re-
triever, Ido not know. I am satisfied that any pointer and setter,
who possesses industry, perseverance, courage and activity, is par-
ticularly suited for retrieving purposes ; in fact if he is good for
anything, he may be taught to retrieve not only without detriment
to any of his good qualities, but to their positive advantage. We
have not tried the Irish breed yet, but are having a puppy broken.
We fear for him because he is too impulsive. He is Irish all over
and if he had a coat, he would always be wanting some one to
tread on the tail of it. When game is in view he is positively
464 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

irrepressible, and is inclined too to hunt by the eye rather than
the nose.”

There are two modes of breaking a dog to retrieve, one of
which is to take a puppy of five or six months of age in a room or
yard where escape is impossible, and by rolling a ball or some such
object from him, he will soon become fond of running after it, and
will pounce upon it, bringing it back when called. After he does
this well the wing of a bird should be attached to the ball, when
after a few lessons, he will as readily bring a bird when thrown for
him. Almost any one with a little skill and patience can in this way
inculcate in his puppy a fondness for retrieving. This is known as
“teaching a dog to retrieve in A/ay,” but by many is not considered
the best method, for the reason that if the animal thus broken
should mouth a bird, and not fetch properly, and be punished for
the fault, the chances are, that he would thenceforth cease to re-
trieve altogether. The other method is to break the animal under
compulsion, which is to first let him know what is required in the
matter, and then to make him do it. It is better perhaps, before a
dog is thus broken to retrieve, that he be partially or fully field
broken, and that he be not less than eight or ten months old when
takenin hand. The very first thing, if he has a propensity to rush
in, pounce upon, and bring in things voluntarily, is to break up all
such nonsense at once, giving him to understand that there is to
be no play in the matter, but dszzess from the very start; and be-
fore giving him the first lesson a good strong check-cord and force
collar should be provided, for the lesson will be a disagreeable one,
and much care must be exercised that the dog does not escape
from it: should he escape once, irretrievable harm is done, as he
will ever after be on the lookout for an opportunity to avoid instead
of heeding, your instruction.

In breaking a dog to retrieve, nothing answers the purpose
better than a corn cob, or a newspaper compactly wrapped with
twine, and he is first to be taught to sit down, hold up the head,
and take the object from the hand. In order to do this, his mouth
must be opened and the cob inserted as the bit is placed in the
mouth of a horse, at the same time commanding him to “ ¢akhe 27.”
If he is stubborn and refuses, twitch him with the check-cord, or
rub his gums with it until he is forced to open his mouth, and takes
RETRIEVING. 465

it, and will hold until he is ordered to “det go.” When this lesson
is fairly learned, compel him to walk around the room with it in his
mouth. The chances are that he will drop it with the first move,
and if so, box his ears, replace the cob, and force him to walk
round with it until he is ordered to “let go.’’ There is very little
trouble in teaching any dog to do this, the greatest difficulty being
to make him pick up from the floor, which should not be attempted
until he is thoroughly confirmed in the above. Then the cob must
be held a few inches below his mouth, and he h« made to take it,
which being done, it may be held a few inches lower, gradually
dropping it nearer and nearer the ground until the object is taken
from the hand while resting upon the ground; when by the exer-
cise of a little force he will pick it up when ordered. After he has
been thoroughly educated, the object may be thrown to increasing
distances, and the animal will thus be taught to “go fetch” “ come
in,” “set down,” and “hold zt,” until he is ordered to “det go.”
When proficient in all this, then, and then only may he be taken to
the field, where having been brought to a “ down charge,” his eyes
are covered with the hand, and the cob is thrown that he will be
compelled to find it with his nose, when he is ordered to “‘ fecch zt.”
It frequently happens after a dog has been perfectly broken to re-
trieve a cob, ball, package, etc., that he will not at first touch a
bird; but by placing it in his mouth, and compelling him to carry
it a short distance, he will readily be confirmed in the habit.

Much care should be taken not to confuse the dog by attempt-
ing to teach too much at one time; and also that his disposition
be steadied, and that no more punishment is given than is abso-
lutely necessary. A skilful breaker will teach almost any dog, of
whatever age, to retrieve properly, and that too, in a short space
of time, finding it necessary to occupy but ten or fifteen days in
perfecting their instruction. But there is a “knack” in thus
training, which very few people possess, and fewer still ever attain.
In a recent publication on this subject, the aphorism is laid down,
« That any man may attempt to break a dog with certainty of suc-
cess, provided,” (ah! there’s the rub!) “provided he will ever
keep in mind the watchwords of this science: observation, patience
and perseverance.’ To this we would add, complete self control,
without which all else is useless.

20*
466 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

FLUSHING.

No dog will break shot after having been thoroughly broken,
and ever after skilfully handled. The trouble is usually traceable
to his master, who by rushing for the bird the instant it falls, sets
an example which the dog very naturally follows. When you
have “plucked the beam,” the “ mote” may be eradicated in the
following manner: Hunt your dog with a short check cord, and if
more than usually headstrong, a force collar. When he comes to
a point, let your companion do the shooting, while you hold the
cord, and the instant he starts, bring him up with a sharp jerk,
forcing him to down charge until the gun is reloaded, and until he
is ordered to seek dead. Repeat the treatment. If this proves
insufficient, the whip must be resorted to; after which, these fail-
ing, nothing remains but to dispose of the animal.

For those who may not understand what is meant by the word
“force collar,” we add that it consists merely of a strap of leather
on which is inserted a number of carpet tacks, sewed with the
heads downward to the inner side of a common collar, thus pre-
venting the heads from dropping out, while the points are directly
applied to the neck. Such should be loose enough not to irritate
except when the cord is used.

RAKING.

All young dogs are apt to rake; that is, to hunt with their
noses close to the ground, following their birds by the track rather
than by the wind. Birds lie much better to dogs that wzzd them,
than those that follow by track. The animal that winds the scent
approaches the birds by degrees and without disturbing them ;
but they are at once alarmed when they see a dog tracing their
footsteps. When you perceive that your dog is committing this
fault, call to him in an angry tone to “hold up;” he will then
grow uneasy and agitated, going first to the one side and then to
the other, until the wind brings him the scent of the birds. After
finding the game four or five times in this way, he will take the
wind of himself, and hunt with his nose high. If it be difficult to
correct this fault, it will be necessary to put the puzzle peg upon
him. This is of very simple construction, consisting only of a
APPARENT WANT OF NOSE, 467

piece of inch board, one foot in length, and an inch and a half in
breadth, tapering a little to one end; at the broader end are two
holes running longitudinally, through which the collar of the dog
is put, and the whole is buckled round his neck; the piece of
wood projecting beyond his nose is then fastened with a leather
strap or thong to his under jaw, passing between the canine teeth
and the molars. By this means the peg advancing five or six
inches beyond his muzzle, the dog is prevented from putting his
nose to the ground.

APPARENT WANT OF NOSE.

Although it sometimes happens that young dogs lack those
olfactory powers for which they are so valuable to the sportsman,
they should not be condemned without a fair trial. It often hap-
pens that this defect is remedied as the animal advances toward
adult age. With dogs that have but just recovered from distem-
per, this defect is frequently noticeable, but is seldom if ever per-
manent. During along drought, when the herbage is in a very
dry state, it happens that the keenest nosed animals are frequently
unable to find game. In such case let a second trial be given
when the state of the weather and moisture of the fields will be
more advantageous to the animal, We are confident such will
prove satisfactory.

A beautiful setter pup presented to the writer a few years
since, seemed to be absolutely without the faculty of scenting
game. Being shut in the office one night, in his “high jinks,”’ he
overturned a jar of leeches, and probably nosed them, as in the
morning he was found bleeding profusely from the nostrils, and
had evidently been suffering from hemorrhage the greater part of
the night, as he was badly ensanguined. An examination into
the state of affairs showed the leech jar broken, whereupon it was
conjectured that some of the reptiles had found lodgment in the
nose or throat. The result confirmed the diagnosis, two being
found attached to the posterior fauces, and three were washed out
of the nostrils, four remaining to be accounted for, after those on
the floor were picked up. They were probably swallowed. The
animal recovered, and with the recovery his infirmity disappeared.
Such active treatment is not however recommended.
468 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

GUN-SHYNESS.

It is sorely discouraging to the sportsman, after purchasing a
setter or pointer puppy, apparently well bred and of good points,
and successfully bringing him through the many ills the young
dog is heir to, to find the pupil gun-shy, when that portion of his
education where the gun is used, is reached. No definite cause
can be assigned for this weakness, and we are fain to believe it to
be inherent, or due to heredity. To enter upon a full discussion
of this subject and the various causes assigned, would demand a
volume. :

Another not improbable cause is breeding from either broken
down or worn out animals, or from those whose extreme youth
renders it impossible for them to beget perfect offspring. Too
close in breeding is also objectionable for thesame reasons. Many
fine bred puppies are, however, too high strung, having an ex-
tremely sensitive nerve organization, and to the carelessness with
which such are handled may be largely attributed their gun-shy-
ness. This is especially the case with setters, who are much more
liable to cerebral or brain affections than is generally supposed.
If the causes of these attacks were known, we could the better sug=
gestacure. A friend, an army surgeon and a thorough patholo-
gist, desiring further light upon this subject, obtained a notoriously
gun-shy animal for anatomical purposes. He was unable to prose-
cute his researches as thoroughly as desired, but discovered suffi-
cient disorganization of nerve material to lead him to believe gun-
shyness to be but a symptom of disease. If the animal is gun-shy
merely as the result of alarm or some transient impression, it may
be corrected with care, and the exercise of patience. The treat-
ment must accord with the peculiar temperament of the animal,
and will depend largely upon the astuteness of the owner. Mod-
erately gun-shy animals have been cured by discharging fire-arms
slightly loaded, or but capped to begin with, in their presence, be-
fore feeding, causing the dogs to associate the report with the
pleasure of satisfying their hunger. This may be used to advan-
tage, ofttimes, even with old dogs, by bringing them to the verge of
starvation. But as before remarked, this is a problem the solution
of which, each must work out to his own satisfaction. As ‘an
THE WHIP; ITS USE AND ABUSE, 469

ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” so too you will find
that the earlier you indoctrinate your puppies with a love for the
gun in some such method as stated, the less frequently will
you have to complain of gun-shy animals in your kennel. At
all events, if you are so unfortunate as to have such an animal,
do not give it up as incurable without an earnest attempt at eradi-
cating the habit. Moreover, we pay some respect to the theory
that dogs become gun-shy after a certain age, those periods vary-
ing with the different species of dogs. Just as with old people, so
do the nerves of old dogs become weak and sensitive. Setters
and pointers become gun-shy after reaching their fourth to sixth
year.
WIDE RANGING.

To use a Hibernianism the cure is best accomplished by its
prevention. Break’your puppy to obey the whistle, and turn at the
first sound of it. Some young dogs are so fleet and rash as to re-
quire a stout check cord, sufficiently heavy to moderate their speed
and tire them down. Few dogs are, however, too fast if they have
good noses and are staunch on game. Many persons judge of the
speed of their dogs before they have time to run off the wire edge;
but take the field with these runaway fellows and it will be found
that not one of ten will keep up the gait for more than three or
four hours.

In general, wide ranging may be overcome entirely without
punishment or speaking a word to the animal. The dog which is
continually disappearing from sight and hearing, will continue to
do so.as long as you indulge yourself in shouting after him. Cease
this, and he will soon tire of your lack of attention, particularly if
you make it in your way to lose him once or twice, and will there-
after work as well as could be wished. s

THE WHIP; ITS USE AND ABUSE.

It is a great mistake to suppose that the whip is essential to
the government and regulation of a kennel. To castigate a puppy
ten minutes after he has committed a gross error, would be ab-
surd, as his latent natural instinct is almost lost for the time being ;
but if he is punished the instant the fault is committed, he at once
470 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

recognizes the cause of his chastisement. On no account whip
him more than once a day, for if you continue to lash him for every
mistake committed, his dumb instinct becomes mixed, and the
animal remains the same as when you began his schooling, except
that you have cowed and injured him. Accustom the puppy to
the sound of your voice; he will soon learn to distinguish the pe-
culiar tones, and understand their meaning; by this means you
arouse the dormant instinct of the animal.

Every animal which possesses an average quantity of good sense
and temper, is so eager for his master’s approbation that he will
exert himself to the utmost to obtain it; and if this fact were con-
stantly kept in mind there would seldom arise a demand for cor-
poral punishment. We have no hesitancy in saying that at least
five out of every six dogs may be completely broken without a
blow of the whip, quiet, patient reasoning being all that is requi-
site to secure obedience and attention. We know this is quite con-
trary to the opinion of most breakers, who depend mainly upon the
whip and loud rating ; which, however, are generally but escape
valves to the temper, which blows off at high pressure in full force
upon the poor animals. The oath and the whip are inseparable ;
he who uses one demands the other to give the first pungency.
We object to the whip for this very reason ; it is too handy, and
in a moment of passion the puppy is so severely lashed that in-
stead of understanding that he has done wrong, and writhing with
pain, and frightened at the violent manner of his master, he seeks
only to escape, and once successful in so doing he is ever after
a confirmed runaway. Moreover it effects nothing that the check
cord will not do as well, even better, and that too without danger.
Many naturally fine dogs have been utterly ruined by a single in-
judicious thrashing ; but we have yet to note the first instance in
which the cord has produced ill results even in the hands of a
novice.

After a dog has been thoroughly broken, we grant you the whip
may be used to advantage in certain cases. And when you do
punish, flog soundly ; but only when you catch him “red handed”
zn flagrante delictu. He cannot then mistake the cause; but at
the same time watch the animal critically, never allowing castiga-
tion to go beyond reasonable punishment, lest you awaken an
THE WHIP; ITS USE AND ABUSE, 471

angry obstinate resistance that either induces sullenness or devel-
ops sly cunning with which the dog attempts to circumvent you
the moment he is at liberty. Before allowing him to go, talk to
him, but with more of warning than reproof, and finally send him
off with a gravely spoken caution; when it becomes evident that
an attempt is being made to atone for the fault with good work,
encourage him with pleasant cheerful words, which materially as-
sist in a natural and sympathetic understanding.

Never enter the field without the whip, for circumstances may
arise where its use is absolutely necessary ; yet with the exercise
of proper vigilance its use may be avoided, ofttimes throughout
the entire season. By this we mean watching the animal at all
times ; never removing your eye from him when it can be avoided,
that you may know the moment he strikes a trail, when, if he
appear in the slightest degree careless or ,excited, you may check
and thus prevent the commission of a graver fault which would
demand the lash. This gives the most perfect control since the
dog learns that he is constantly under your eye, and that the
slightest fault will be detected ; nor is such supervision difficult, as
by practice it will become so habitual as to be involuntary, and
besides the advantage in handling the dog, it keeps you constantly
on the alert, and prevents your being surprised by birds rising wild
and unexpectedly, and thus escaping unshot. ,

You will be amply repaid by treating your dogs as reasoning
and reasonable beings. We are constantly surprised at the depth
of their perception and their appreciative faculties.* With many

* Dr. E. D. Rogers, U. S. Army, is the owner of a brace of setters which pos-
sess a depth of understanding and degree of intelligence rarely witnessed. Al-
most any command given in an ordinary tone of voice seems to be comprehended,
even when the face of the speaker is turned from them, or he is in another apart-
ment. When reading or writing the Doctor will sing in a low tone of voice, and
without looking up, “one of you dogs shut that door,” when both rush to
perform his bidding; hut if he specifies either by name, the other does not
moves =

“Flora, bring me my gloves,” ora “ glove,” the animal distinguishing between
the singular and the plural ; ‘‘ Jack, find my gauntlets ;” ‘‘ bring me the shears ;””
* carry in that stool; ” ‘“‘ Take this note to 3” “ Jack bring Flora here” and
vice versa ; these are a few of the commands given and obeyed by these dogs.
Calling up either he introduces by saying ‘‘ Jack,” or “‘ Flora,” as the case may be,
“this is Mr. and the dogs seem ever after to recognize the person by
name. If either one is told that they are to work for another during the day, he

 

 
472 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

animals an appeal to them by exhibitions of feeling is far more
effectual than severity; hence, you cannot study your dogs too
closely ; always believe them to be endowed with a fair amount
of reason and allow them full opportunity to exercise it. Never
punish a dog for a mere blunder; he is no more infallible than
yourself; do not then, demand more of him than of his master.
The best of dogs will commit mistakes ; but he will recognize his
error as quickly as his master, when a simple reproof or warning
given quietly and gravely, as you would speak to a person, will be
all sufficient, causing him to go off with an air of mortification
which is not lost until the fault is fully atoned for; now give him
that look of approval, and the word of commendation which he so
manifestly expects and desires; for the dog is a physiognomist in
his way, and responds .to the expressions of his master’s counte-
nance, showing thereby a mental condition working more effectu-
ally in your interest than if stimulated by the application of the
lash.
BREEDING.

The following principles should be observed for the proper
breeding and rearing of the canine race :

1. A perfect development, and sound vigorous health constitu-
tionally, especially in the generative organs, are conditions of
fertility.

2. In the maintenance and improvement of a breed the truth
that “ sémeléa stmilébus generantur,’’—that the reproductive germ
will stamp upon the animal developed from it the characters of the
parent organism, is the backbone of success.

3. We can, in a great degree, at will, produce variations and
improvements in breeds, as by care, a mild and salubrious climate,
moderate use, education, stimulation, or selection of desirable
qualities ; by disuse or rejection of undesirable characters and
properties; by soliciting the weight of imagination in our favor,—
as Jacob piously swindled his too confiding father-in-law ; by allow-
ing the breeding animals to mix only with those of the stamp de-
or she, as the case may be, takes position at the heels of the person indicated and
works properly and conscientiously until dismissed.

Dr. Rogers uses no bluster, no whip, no signs. He addresses his dogs as intel-
ligent beings, and in the same manner as he would a servant,
BREEDING. 473

sired ; by crossing less improved breeds systematically with males
of a better race ; and by crossing animals faulty or deficient in some
particular point with others in which this point is developed in excess.

4. The kenneling of pregnant high-class animals with low bred
ones, and the resulting attachments ‘between the two races, are to
be especially avoided, as occasionally affecting the progeny injuri-
ously ;* strong impressions from a new or unusual condition of
surrounding objects are to be equally guarded against.

5. If a valuable bitch be allowed to breed to an inferior male,
she cannot be relied upon to produce pure bred animals, for several
succeeding pregnancies, at least. Through a strong and retained
impression ; through the absorption into the system of living par-
ticles (germinal matter) from the foetus ; or through some influence
during pregnancy on the ova, then being most actively developed,
the good or bad features of the first sire are perpetuated in the
progeny of succeeding ones.

6. All breeds have a tendency to “ throw back,” that is, to pro-
duce offspring bearing the marks of their less improved and com-
paratively valueless ancestors; hence individuals of this kind must
be rejected from the best breeds, if we would maintain their ex-
cellence.

7. Certain bloods and individuals have their characters more
fixed, and will transmit and perpetuate them in greater proportion
than others with which they may be crossed. If their qualities are
desirable, they prove highly valuable in raising other stock of
greater excellence; if undesirable, they will depreciate the value
of any stock crossed for many generations. That fixedness of type,
however, is above all, a characteristic of those bloods which have
been carefully selected and bred up to a certain standard for many
generations, so that in the best, longest established, and most es-
teemed breeds we have a most valuable legacy left us by the suc-
cessful breeders of the past, with which we may mould our inferior
bloods at will.

* The following will serve as an example: A young setter bitch belonging to
the writer conceived a violent attachment for an emasculated bull dog with which
she was constantly associated. The first time she was served it was by a male of
her own species, and was thereafter carefully secured, all possibility of an illicit
liaison being prevented. At birth four out of five of the puppies littered were
marked like the bull, even partaking in many respects of his features.
474 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

8. While breeding continuously from the nearest relations tends
to a weakened constitution, the aggravation of any taint in the
blood, and to sterility, these may be avoided by infusing at inter-
vals fresh blood of the same family, but which has been bred apart
from this branch for several generations. Moreover the highest
excellence is sometimes attainable only by breeding very closely
for a time.

g. Diseased or mutilated animals are generally to be discarded
from breeding. Mutilations resulting from disease, disease exist-
ing during pregnancy, and disease with a constitutional morbid
taint, are above all, to be dreaded as transmissible.

10. There is some foundation for the opinion that the dog tends
to contribute more to the locomotion and external organs, nerve
and vigor, and the bitch to the size and internal organs, so that if
we cannot obtain the greatest excellence in both, we should at
least seek to have each unexceptionable in the parts and qualities
attributed to it.

11. Judicious breeding in-and-in, improves the animal in the
points desired, only when possessed by both male and female; but
the mixing of two utterly distinct races, with the view of uniting
the valuable properties of both, is to be condemned.

12. While early maturity may be attained, animals that grow
rapidly are less firm in tissue, and break down sooner than those
of slow growth; hence, while the breeder may be benefited by
pursuing the forcing process, the purchasers, especially of those
animals intended for active field work, will be more or less the
sufferers. The terms czltzvatéon and improvement, as used by
breeders, too frequently are but imposing synonyms for the arti-
ficial induction of disease, premature development, and systematic
degeneration.

SHOULD DOGS BE ALLOWED TO BREED AT PUBERTY ?

The process of reproduction is the most characteristic, and in
many respects the most interesting of all the phenomena presented
by organized bodies. It includes the whole history of the changes
taking place in the organs and functions of the individual at suc-
cessive periods of life, as well as the production, growth, and
DOGS BREEDING AT PUBERTY. 475

development of the new genus which make their appearance by
generation.

Life is but a continuation of that development which began
with the impregnation of the ova within the maternal body pass-
ing through progressive stages, until a certain period or acme is
reached, where it is marked by a corresponding retrocession, end-
ing eventually in decay and death.

During the early life of the young dog, the skeleton is incom-
plete, the nervous system imperfect, and the muscular and ali-
mentary organization lacking in many of the attributes necessary
to a gerfect animal. At the age of puberty, these have to a great
extent assumed the outlines, but lack the necessary development,
which is assured only at adult age. Ossification is never complete
in the canine race until after the twentieth month, and seldom
before the twenty-fourth. The relative development according to
sex is twenty-four months in the female, and thirty-four in the male.

The signs of puberty in the bitch are not an indication that she
is prepared to undergo the pangs of maternity, or that she is im-
bued with the necessary qualities for the successful propagation
of her species. It is merely proof that the organs of reproduction
have entered upon the preparatory stage which is to result in per-
fect development. It indicates that the period of infancy has
expired and adolescence supervened.

Under the forcing system so prevalent with the mania for im-
ported dogs, the constant demand for dlood is fulfilled to the
sacrifice—in a great extent—of the physical attributes so essential
to perfect animals. Many puppies are found to have reached
puberty at the age of ten or twelve months when the period
should not develop itself, at the very earliest calculation, before the
sixty-fourth week. This may be attributed in part to improper,
perhaps, to put it fairly, over care. Confinement in illy ven-
tilated kennels, hot stifling atmosphere, constant inhalation of the
heated and noxious vapors of the stable, association with young
animals who have already reached or just past the climactic period,
high feeding or highly seasoned food, and nursing the parent when
again in heat, as sometimes happens ; all these have more or less
influence in forcing the es¢rum upon the young bitch prematurely.*

* We are aware that the argument will be used, that dogs 7” /er@ nature
476 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

Nutritive changes are constantly taking place in the young
animal, and correspond in rapidity with the activity of other vital
phenomena. Up to the age of two years then, the demand is fully
equal, even in excess of the supply, nothing being in reserve, as the
osseous, muscular, circulatory and other systems are undergoing
a process of development, and are withal so interwoven with each
other, that nothing may be taken from one without detracting from
the whole, and consequently rendering that which is now incomplete
still more imperfect, taking away a balance which cannot be re-
stored. Hence, to breed a young animal while undergoing the
process of development is not only to withdraw a portion of the
vital force necessary to its existence, but induces a strain which
cannot be borne without detriment, and forces into action organs
which are as yet insufficiently matured for the proper performance
of the functions for which they are intended. Worst of all is the
strain upon the circulatory and nervous systems ; the mainspring
and compensation-balance, so to speak, of existence.

The vital forces having been thus injured, weakened, it can
but be expected that the impress will be stamped upon the off-
spring; and this is more particularly the case in physical and
mental attributes. The father’s impress being psychological rather
than real, hence the age of the paternal parent cannot be expected
to make up for the lack of development possessed by the mother.
Then, to demand perfect offspring we must needs have perfect
parents, and this we do not have when the parents are yet adoles-
cent. Lack of mental attributes in parents entails a correspond-
ing lack in the offspring, and hence we find gun-shyness, timidity
and idiocy. Mating adolescent dogs is like marrying adolescent
children. :

With regard to the use of the male, we can but add that it is
likewise detrimental for reasons physiological. It would afford us
pleasure to go into the physiology and zetiology of the subject, but

have no supervision in the matter of the exercise of their sexual appetites. While
this is true, it must be remembered that the education of the wild animal, and its
treatment in early life, has stamped it as an entirely different animal from the
more delicate and carefully nurtured dogs of which we are writing, and to a great
extent, an artificial production. Most wild animals mature earlier than domestic
ones, but reach adolescence later. There are few true cazid@ in the wild state,
that breed much before two years of age.
DOGS BREEDING AT PUBERTY. 477

it is beyond the limits of this work. To breeders we would say ;
if you desire full and comprehensible information on the subject of
reproduction, purchase a work known as “ Acton on the Repro-
ductive Organs,’ published by Lindsay and Blackiston, of Phila-
delphia.

The argument that gun-shy.and otherwise nervous and defec-
tive animals are produced by adult parents does not militate against
our statement. It must be remembered likewise, that any animal
in excess of six years of age is unfit for breeding purposes, having
passed the prime of life, and is consequently in the descending
scale where there is no provision of nature for other acts than that
of nourishment ; waste now even exceeding repair. Bitches are
better constituted to bear young at six years of age than males are
to procreate. Consequently a dog is truly valuable for stock pur-
poses for two and one-half or three years ; or more correctly, five
seasons, allowing the bitches to be in heat twice each year. The
bitch on the contrary is capable of giving fullimpress of the parent
for four years or more; approximately, nine heats. The reason
of this difference is solely due to the reflex action upon the nervous
system, which takes place in the male in consequence of sexual
indulgence. This becomes more marked in stock dogs, which line
several bitches in a season. But the female does not meet with
the same proportionate shock through sexual congress, hence the
disorganization of nerve material is less rapid than in the opposite
Sex.

Like all good rules the above may have exceptions, yet the fact
remains the same. Therefore the safe rules to be observed are:

First.* Use no bitches for breeding purposes except between
the ages of two and six and one-half years if the fullest and best
features of the stock are to be transmitted.

Second, Use no dog for stock purposes who is under the age
of three years, or over five and one-half with expectation that the
best qualities—particularly the intellectual—of the animal will be
reproduced in his offspring.

* It has been argued that young mothers, as among Jersey cattle, raise the
best offspring. Dogs and cattle do not admit of like comparison, as their anatomi-
cal, and more particularly their physiological peculiarities are widely different.
However, bitches between two and three years of age do make the best mothers;
but not younger.
478 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

Third. tis desirable that all bitches, to be successful breeders
and parents, be impregnated previous to reaching the age of three
years. The reason for this is, that the reproductive organs are at
their best during that season; whereas, at or during the third
year, certain anatomical and physiological changes are liable to
take place, owing to non-use of the organs, which render the last
stage of gestation, parturition, extremely difficult.

BREEDING FOR KIND.

Periodically some French enthusiast announces a plan for re-
ducing that great process of nature, reproduction, to a level where
it may be governed by scientifically applied rules. And, as fre-
quently the German physiologist steps to the front, and with pro-
found and thoroughly inductive logic, backed by the most careful
experimentation and thorough physiological researches, proves its
falsity. While the physiologists of both countries have long at-
tempted the solution of the problem, one is continually jumping at
conclusions, while the other toils patiently for the goal, conning
carefully as he goes the facts, and proving each new deduction
pro and con.. The great Virchow, the most celebrated as well as
the greatest physiologist and pathologist of the age, has decided
that the production of the sex at willis an utter impossibility, ex-
cept so far as may be regulated by the psychical condition of the
parents at the time of the sexual act.

PLURALITY OF SIRES,

The admission of a bitch when in heat to the embraces of two
different males, even when of the same breed, is highly reprehen-
sible and prejudicial to good offspring, and more likely to perpetu-
ate the bad qualities of both, than the good of either. Even when
the lining of the bitch by each takes place at intervals so widely
apart as to induce superfcetation, the result is liable to be the
same. The effect is much the same as when two dogs are
matched for their widely different attributes, as when a bitch who
is imperfect in her hind-quarters is lined by a dog who is imperfect
in the shoulders; the result being a worthless animal, as imper-
fections are much more easily transmitted than perfections.
DISEASES OF DOGS—WORMS. 479

Where imperfection does not appear either mentally or other-
wise as the result of a plurality of sires, it must be looked upon as
the result of an accident, which will not readily bear repetition.

Ls more than one copulation necessary to successful tmpregna-
zzon ?—-More than one sexual congress is not necessary to impreg-
nation, though it is sometimes advisable for the following reasons.

Young bitches, when desiring the male, eject a viscous fluid
from the glands of the vagina, the mouth of uterus, and the neigh-
boring parts. In some respects it appears to be the analogue of
the periodical discharges of those of the same sex among animals
that assume the erect posture. These discharges are always proof
that the female has arrrived at the age of puberty ; that her ovary
is now performing its office, and that she is disposed to propagate
her kind. Whatever be the cause of this orgasmus, it is often so
strong as to counteract the natural effects of the seminal fluid, and
prevent impregnation. For this reason many young and lasccvious
bitches do not conceive immediately upon the first coition. It is
sometimes a practice to beat the female, plunge her in water, weary
her with running, and to use other means after copulation to pre-
vent the return of sexual desire, and its resultant secretions.

DISEASES OF DOGS.—WORMS.

Of the number of ills canine flesh is heir to, intestinal parasites
_is one of the most common. Of these there are three varieties,
viz., the ascarus mystax, or round worm—the analogue of a. Zam-
brico¢des in man, oxyurds vermicularzs, or thread worm, and three
species of ¢enza, or tape worm. Besides these a fourth variety
known as ¢rzcocephalus dispar, is said to be sometimes met with.
The fasctola hepatzca inhabits the liver. These last two, how-
ever, we have nothing to do with, as too rare to merit notice.

The first, a. wystax, or round worm, is the animal most com
monly met with, and the one that usually demands the interfer
ence of medicine, and serves to amuse the man who delights ia
prescribing for his animals, and upon whose backs all ills are
placed, which should ofttimes be borne by the master of the ani-
mal whose interior is inhabited. It is much smaller than the cor-
responding parasite in the human race, attaining a length of but
480 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

six centimetres* in the male against twelve in the female, and is
distinguished by two wing-like appendages, which extend from
the head on each side for a distance from two to four millimetres.t
The eggs develop in about four weeks, and have great power to
resist external influences ; their development not being arrested in
strong spirits of wine, chromic acid, or turpentine.

The method of transmission is up to the present time, (1877)
unknown. Leuckhart found young round worms in the stomachs
of dogs which resembled embryos, both in size and shape. Be-
sides these, he found in the stomach and small intestine, worms
in every stage between this and the full matured ascarus mystax.t
He failed, however, to produce such forms by feeding animals on
eggs containing embryos, as they either passed through the ani-
mals unchanged, or were thoroughly digested. The proper habi-
tation of this worm is the small intestine, and from a clinical
standpoint is distinguished by its great activity, it frequently mak-
ing its way into the stomach. One may often see dogs get rid of
whole coils of them by vomiting.

Although the cause of these parasites is unknown, it would
seem that climate and habits had much to do with their incep-
tion. A damp climate, or damp kennel, with corresponding un-
cleanliness, and unhealthy diet, seem to be predisposing causes.

The przmary sympioms of invermination are griping pains—
which may be noted by the inflection of the voice ; the presence of
worms eliminated with or without faeces ; acrid eructations; shiny
stools ; and inflammation of the bowels.

The secondary symptoms are, occasional sickness and vomit-
ing, variable and voracious appetite, wasting away of the body, a
short hacking cough, heat and itching about the anus, and a vast
number of sympathetic affections, such as dizziness, disturbed
dreams, grinding of the teeth when napping, or champing of the
jaws, etc.; and also the formation of a regular disease, as vermin-
ous colic, convulsions, chorea Sancti Viti, pneumonia, and even
hemorrhage.

The treatment of verminous symptoms and disease, consists
of getting rid of the worms by destroying them, or driving them

* A centimetre is .39371 in. t A millimetre .03937.
$ Leuckhart, Vol. II. p. 258.
DISEASES OF DOGS—WORMS. 481

from the body, and by strengthening the system generally, par-
ticularly the alvine canal. In every case the bowels should be
kept freely open, or the vermifuges will not act successfully.

The list of vermifuges is almost interminable. They may be
conveniently divided into two classes :

1. Those that dislodge and drive away intestinal worms by
some mechanical or other external action; as all drastic purges,
all oleaginous vermifuges as oil of beech nuts, castor, sulphur, pe-
troleum, sea salt, tin filings, powdered glass, pomegranate root,
kamela, areca nut, koosso, and the down of the pods of cowhage.
The last four more particularly act by setting up an inflammatory
condition of the bowels, which are remedies the effects of which
are frequently more to be deplored than the disease.

2. Those that destroy them by killing before they are expelled;
as the male fern, hellebore, fetid hellebore, cevadilla, Chabert’s oil
(obsolete), tansy, savine, rue, dittany, tobacco, wormseed and its
active principle santonine, oil of turpentine, the bark of the bulge-
water tree and of the cabbage tree, the spigelias, and Indian scab-
iosa. Many of these are hardly worth noticing; while others are
most effectual in the elimination of tape worms ; savine, rue, tansy
and tobacco must be avoided in pregnant animals, and at best are
very uncertain in action. Of the prescriptions at the end of the
section, I represents the best of the first ; and 2 and 3 of the second.

Thread Worm.—This a small, white round worm, which is
tapered off at both ends. They vary in length from three to twelve
millimetres*. The embryos are hatched in the rectum, and ap-
pear to betake themselves almost immediately to the upper por-
tion of the small intestine, where they rapidly increase in size,
obtaining their nourishment from the chyme and the intestinal
mucus. As soon as they attain a certain size, some of the young
worms have sexual intercourse while here residing; others how-
ever, descend into the caecum for this purpose. In favorable cases
one finds large numbers of females in every stage of development,
in the small intestine, and in the czcum, with a like number of
males. The.young fructified females gradually collect in the ca-
cum, and live there for considerable time,—until they are full-

* I use the French measurement-as the English is not sufficiently fine for the
purpose.

21
482 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

grown, and filled to bursting with eggs. They then commence
slowly to descend the large intestine, and finally deposit the chief
part of their eggs in the rectum; they occasionally even leave the
latter and creep about on the moist skin around the anus, By this
it will be seen that the generally prevalent idea, and that which is
upheld in all the books, that the oxyuris inhabits the rectum, is en-
tirely false. The untenability of this view should have long ‘since
been deduced from the fact that it is impossible to get rid of the
worms by most thorough local treatment applied to the rectum.

The symptoms of the presence of these worms are rather vague,
except where they descend to the rectum to- lay their eggs, and
cause, by their active boring movements, and unbearable tickling
and painful itching just within and in the folds of the anus, which
frequently become so unbearable as to cause the poor dog to en-
deavor by every change of posture, by dragging his rump upon the
ground, by biting, and by walking about, to cause the troublesome
sensations to cease. As a rule, however, they last for considerable
time, and only go away, sooner or later to again appear. Some-
times emptying the rectum brings ease by removing mechanically
the worms that were buried there.

Bitches are further inconvenienced by worms that have escaped
from the rectum, creeping into the vulva and vagina, and there giv-
ing rise, from their serpentine and boring movements, to very great
irritation of the sexual organs.

Except as local irritants, these parasites exercise no prejudicial
effect upon the animal. The diagnosis of the disorder’ is usually
easy, as if very many worms are present, we can usually find one
or two on the skin in the neighborhood of the anus, especially
directly after the feeces have been voided, which also usually
contain them. =

So long as the rectum was looked upon as the chief seat of
these worms, there could be no hope of thoroughly getting rid of
them. Since this worm inhabits the caecum, all internal medicines
which are absorbed in the small intestine are without effect. We
are forced to re-echo the complaints of Bremser, who says: “ Their
number is legion, and if, after we have slaughtered thousands, we
lay our weapons aside for a moment, imagining ourselves safe from
a fresh attack, new cohorts again advance with increased reinforce-
TAPE WORM. 483

ments. The feeces and intestinal mucus contained in the large
intestine, behind which they hide themselves, serve them for a
breastwork anda parapet. If one attacks them from in front with
vermifuges, these become so weakened by the long march through
the small intestine that the worms only laugh at them. If we
attack them in the rear with heavy artillery, the foreposts stationed
in the rectum must certainly succumb ; but the heaviest bombard-
ment cannot reach those encamped in the cecum; and so long as
ever so few remain behind, in some hiding place, they, from the
amazing rapidity with which they are reproduced, soon again
become a large army.”

For the temporary relief of the animal, we make use of an
injection as per prescription No. 4. This will also effect a cure if
used repeatedly, and the injection be carried high up by means of
a gutta-percha rectum tube; but this should be left to the experi-
enced practitioner. Also physic should be given occasionally,
especially aloes, which increases the fetid secretions peculiar to the
rectum of the dog, and thereby becomes in a measure fatal to the
worms that have found lodgment in that portion of the alimentary
tract.

TAPE WORM.

Tenia elliptica: This is a delicate tape worm common to the
canine race, and is said to be propagated by means of the dog
louse, (Trichodectes canis) which the embryo inhabits. It meas-
ures from one hundred to three hundred millimeters in length, and
the head is furnished with a rostellum, which the animal has the
power of projecting forwards, on which are placed about sixty
hooks, arranged irregularly in three or four rows. The anterior
portion of the body is like a thread, and the segments are very
short ; more posteriorly they become somewhat longer. As they
become ripe, the divisions between the segments become more and
more marked, so that the worm presents a chain-like appearance.
The ripest segments have a reddish white color, and very readily
become detached. They creep about actively in the intestine, and
are either expelled with the feeces or escape of themselves. In
each segment there is a double set of sexual organs, and there is
a genital pore situated on the margin of the segment. This
484 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

worm inhabits the small intestine, and is frequently found therein
in considerable numbers.

Bothriocephalus cordatus: This tape worm is found only in
dogs which inhabit arctic countries, hence does not demand our
consideration,

Bothriocephalus latus: This species will be found in only im-
ported animals, and is by far the most serious parasite we have
to deal with, besides being the largest. It attains a length of
from five to eight metres, sixteen to twenty-four feet, and is neces-
sarily oftentimes repeatedly doubled upon itself. The head is
almond shaped, and about two millimetres long, and one broad.
The flat surfaces of the head correspond to those of the body.
Along each side of the head runs a fissure-like pit in which its
suction apparatus is placed. When fresh the worm has a dull
bluish grey color.

The mode of development is unknown. It is supposed that 2.
Zatus exists during its immediate stage of development in some
aquatic animal, which acts as its temporary host. This is but a
mere deduction drawn from the experiments of Abildgard, who
proved that a kindred species, B. solzdus, which occurs in the ab-
domen of fishes, only becomes developed into a tape worm after
its host has been devoured by some animal, in the intestines of
which it becomes developed. Zenza solum and TI. saginata so
common to the human race, are unknown to canines, except as
artificially propagated in them for the purpose of experiment.

No anatomical change has ever been found that could be said
to be caused by tapeworm, except that 7. el/iptica (cucumerina)
lies in tunnel-like spaces in the intestine, formed by the flattening
out and adhesion of the villi. Dogs are frequently inhabited for
years by tape worm without their ever giving rise to the slightest
unpleasant feeling; and we sometimes have our attention acci-
dentally drawn to their presence in animals which are thriving
most satisfactorily, by the expulsion of segments of the worm.

In general, however, the animal that plays the host to one of
these parasites, presents symptoms of more or less disturbance of
digestion and nutrition; and even abnormal phenomena in the
nervous system, occur without our being in the least able to local-
ize the trouble. The sufferer gives evidence of various unpleasant
TAPE WORM. 485

sensations in the lower part of the abdomen, which take on all the
appearance of colic; these sensations are most marked when the
animal has for some time been deprived of food, or after the use
of particular articles of diet, while, on the other hand, they are miti-
gated by eating, and especially by the use of certain articles of
food, as mush and milk, oatmeal, etc. Ravenous hunger is of
frequent occurrence, and when we see a well fed dog eating vora-
ciously throughout his meal, and simulating a half starved animal,
it behooves us to suspect, and to be on the look out for, these in-
testinal parasites, particularly if he suffers from distension of the
abdomen, disturbance of the digestive_canal, especially diarrhoea
alternating with constipation. Cramps, blindness, deafness, chorea,
salivation without appreciable cause, vomiting, and marked unre-
liability of the olfactory organs are likewise symptomatic.

Unless the diagnosis is certain, it is scarcely allowable to make
such an attack on the economy of the intestinal canal as a tape-
worm cure always must be. And the diagnosis can only be cer-
tain when it is known that segments of a worm have been expelled.

The cure can only be said to be complete if the head is found, or
if several worms are present, a head for each. There zs no such
thing as a partzal cure. It is judicious, before commencing the
actual cure, to give the dog some preparatory treatment, by which
we empty the intestinal tract, so that the worm when detached
may pass more quickly, and the cure therefore be sooner ended.
With this object, however, only the very mildest purgatives should
be given. For strong purgatives readily cause parts of the worm
to be torn off and expelled, and as a consequence our efforts to
dislodge the part that remains may fail. Of the many medicines
that are more or less effectual, koosso and male fern are most
to be recommended. Where the former is used, two hours after
it is swallowed, the animal should be given a dose of castor oil.
See prescriptions 5, 6, 7, and 8. The last may be used as prepar-
atory.

Once the cure is over, we must take compassion on the diges-
tive tract that has suffered such rough usage, and the animal should
therefore get some mucilaginous soup, or an emulsion with, in some
cases, a few drops of laudanum. (No, 9.) Bark of pomegranate
root has been recommended, but it is too powerful for canine con-
486 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

stitutions, causing violent pains in the abdomen, nausea and vom-
iting of severe character, and a number of other troublesome and
indirect effects.

To prevent tapeworm in the dog, it is essential that care be
taken in his diet, that he be not allowed to feed on carrion or ex-
crementitious matters, and that the meal with which he is fed
is choroughly cooked. We may say, as a general rule, that no
meat should be used which still retains a red color, still less such
that contains blood; and no reddish, still less red, fluid should
escape. The use of raw meat, or of swine flesh in any form,
should be entirely condemned. I will here say too, not only in
behalf of the canine, but the human race, that the presence of a
tapeworm is not only a source of danger to the health of the indi-
vidual, but to every one else in the same house with him, and to
every domestic animal attached thereto; and a person afflicted
with these parasites is more to be shunned than one suffering from
small pox or the itch ; the ways by which the parasite may be con-
veyed being both numerous and insidious. It is hardly necessary
to say that a tapeworm that has been expelled should not be
thrown aside. It should first be rendered harmless, which is best
done by pouring boiling water over it.

ENTERITIS. INFLAMMATION OF THE BOWELS. _IN-
TESTINAL CATARRH.

In order to understand the frequency of intestinal inflamma-
tions, it is necessary to recall some of the anatomical peculiarities
of the mucous membrane of the intestines. Those who are famil-
iar with anatomy will remember that the network of minute blood-
vessels in the villi of the small intestine is situated immediately
under the epithelium,* and for this reason the vessels are directly
exposed to the influence of irritating substances. Furthermore the
venous twigs in the mucous membrane of the large intestine are
exactly the same as in the corresponding membrane of the stomach
(they form a capillary network, each twig of which returns upon
itself in a loop at the extremity of the projection, communicating
freely with the adjacent vessels, forming a close plexus around the

* Epithelium.—Mucous membrane,
ENTERITIS. 487

areolar tissue which binds together the small glandular epithelium
cells,) so that the return of blood from the capillaries meets with a
certain degree of resistance. A similar effect is produced, also by
another anatomical peculiarity of the intestinal circulation, viz., that
while the arteries in their passage through the muscularis * of the
intestine are surrounded by quite a strong sheath of connective tis-
sue, the venous twigs, on the contrary, pierce the muscular coat in
an exposed condition, so that every muscular contraction produces
more or less interference with the return flow of blood. Finally,
from the fact that during the process of digestion the chyle t-ves-
sels of the mesentery always contain red blood-corpuscles, it may
probably be inferred that the intestinal mucous membrane is one
of the regions of the body where the passage of blood cells through
the walls of the vessels takes place with special facility, It is not
surprising, therefore, that the zz¢testznal mucous membrane should
be particularly liable to nflammadtzon, and that even slight irrita-
tions may suffice to excite the same.

The exciting causes of enteritis are therefore extremely numer-
ous, as the following enumeration will abundantly show.

Not to speak of the inflammations which are produced by the
extension to the intestinal mucous membrane of an inflammation
in a neighboring organ, the occurrence of such always presupposes
one of two causes: either the irritations are of abzormal character,
the mucous membrane being normal, or for some cause, the
intestinal mucous membrane has lost tts normal character, so
that even normal irritations are sufficient to excite an inflam-
mation.

Under the first of these classes of causes are included all articles
of food which produce severe mechanical or chemical irritation, as
indigestible or fermenting food, foreign bodies, Bodsons and power-
ful purgative medicines. Intestinal inflammation is sometimes
produced also by a massive accumulation of worms, Another not
unfrequent cause is the presence of intestinal concretions, or in-
durated faeces, especially above places where the intestine has been
narrowed by a bend of the bowels, adhesions, etc. The latter of
these causes—feecal impaction—not merely acts mechanically upon

* Muscularis, Belonging to the muscles.
+ Chyle. The milk-like substance from which blood is formed.
488 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

the intestinal mucous membrane, but also chemically by means of
the putrefactive changes which take place in the retained faces.

Another very common cause of intestinal inflammation is the
znfluence of cold, which. probably acts by driving the suddenly
cooled blood upon the surface of the body into the intestines
where the irritation excites increased peristaltis * and inflamma-
tion. Finally abdominal injuries may produce enteritis even of a
chronic character.

In the second category of causes, are included all abnormal
conditions which induce a morbid hyperemiat of the intestinal
mucous membrane. Chief among these are the passive conges-
tions in the portal circulation { produced by affections of the liver,
or of the portal vein itself, or by tumors compressing the mesen-
teric veins ; also the general congestions which occur in connection
with the diseases of the circulating system and of the air passages.

According as the exciting cause of enteritis is of temporary,
frequently recurring, or permanent character, the affection runs an
acute or a chronic course.

The disease is a very frequent one, and spares noage. Young
animals are particularly apt to be attacked, chiefly on account of
the sensitiveness of the intestinal mucous membrane in puppy-
hood, and the facility with which their food becomes decomposed.
Meteorological conditions are well known to influence the fre-
quency of the disease. The hottest months are regarded as having
especial influence, particularly when there is a rapid alteration of
day and night temperatures.

The symptoms of this disorder are usually not very character-
istic, at least they vary considerably in their degrees of develop-
ment in different cases, and are very irregular in their occurrence.
Furthermore, the differences in the anatomical structure and the
functions of the various divisions of the intestine must modify the
symptoms to such a degree, according as the inflammation is differ-
ently situated, that it will be impossible to give a general descrip-
tion which is applicable to all cases of enteritis. I will therefore

* The vermicular or worm-like motion of the intestines.

+ The name given to congestion of blood in a part, from whatever cause.

+ The circulation of venous blood derived fram the abdominal organs through
the liver.
ENTERITIS. 489

point out only the most common forms of this disease and give
their distinctive characteristics and general treatment.

Mucous enteritis is attended with a diffuse soreness over the
whole abdomen, rather than with pain. This is sometimes in-
creased on pressure, but never to the extent that prevails in serous
enterttzs, There is no considerable tension in the belly. The
pulse is quiek, with thirst, Jamguor, the tongue whitish and pap-
pillated, and considerable febrile oppression, the temperature of
the body being 80° to 84°, rarely 90°. Vomiting is frequently
noticed, with loss of appetite, indigestion, and irregularity in the
alvine evacuations. Diarrhcea is almost uniformly present, often
attended with straining and perhaps tinged with blood. Zhzs zs
the only diarrhea of canines worthy of especial attention, and must
not be treatedas adtarrhea, Remove the cause and the diarrhea
wll take care of ztself. This disease is not itself fatal, but may
give rise to peritoneal inflammation ; it may advance to ulceration
of the mucous coat with softening and perforation. Gentle pur-
gatives, as sweet oil and aloine only, are admissible. (No. 8).
Demulcents and anodynes are afterwards used to allay the irrita-
tion of the bowels, (No. 9) and tonics may be used when this has
been accomplished. Blue moss and extract of hyoscyamus con-
stitute a very serviceable medicine in allaying irritation, but must
be used with caution. Aconite is also serviceable particularly
when the disease remains unnoticed until it has assumed its
severer forms. The diet must be milk and soups, and change of
air with gentle exercise are necessary.

Sec. No. 8.9. 10.and 11. Particular symptoms as vomiting and
tenesimus,* must be met as occasion demands. Sec. 12. 13. 14.

The second form of inflammation of the bowels, in which the
serous and muscular coats of the intestine are involved, is known
as perztonitzs.

The symptoms of this disease are much like the former, but
are more intensified. The eyes are dull, and there is a general
appearance of languor; loss of appetite; the animal lying on the
belly with outstretched legs ; high temperature, reaching 100° and
over; tongue dry and rough; nose dry and hot; ears and legs
cold ; pulse small, hard and wiry, about 45, marked thirst; respi-

*' Frequent straining accompanied by a desire to void fecal matter, etc.
*
21
490 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

ration difficult or long drawn ; and general symptoms of uneasi-
ness and inquietude.

The bowels are usually constipated, and the urine very high
colored and scanty. The animal is constanty licking or attempt-
ing to swallow stones and other cold articles, and during the first
stages scratches his bed up into a heap, and presses the belly upon
it, and darkness is preferable to light. The tailis also drawn firmly
downwards, and in many cases, not always, the pupil is dilated.

When vomiting is absent, the disease is generally more trouble-
some. As the trouble progresses, the symptoms are more aggra-
vated, and in the second stage the flanks are drawn in, the mus-
cles of the abdomen hard and tense, the dog continually giving
expression to low moans with occasional sharp cries of pain. Con-
stipation is frequently present from first to last, though diarrhoea
often supervenes in the last stage enhancing the prostration, already
excessive, of the poor animal.

Great care must be taken at the outset not to confound this
disease with colic. The moment that peritonitis is diagnosed
beyond doubt, remove the animal to cool dry quarters, and ad-
minister at once a full dose of calomel and opium (No. 15). You
will doubtless be told that the bowels are already inflamed and
demand rest, and they should not move. Pay no attention to such
advice. Nine times in ten the impaction of faecal matter is aggra-
vating the inflammation, and safety demands its removal. If this
does not operate, follow with a saline cathartic as Rochelle salts,
which will not only remove the difficulty, but prove very grateful
to the patient. Except the first dose, do not again give opium in
full dose. The cathartic having operated the pulse will be found
to have diminished. Now administer one drop of tincture of
aconite with three grains of bromide of potash (No. 11) every
two hours, watching the pulse carefully, resorting to opium in the
form of tincture of wine in case the bromide is not sufficiently
sedative; as six drops of tincture repeated every half hour will be
sufficient, and answer the purpose better than larger doses given
less frequently. Should the stomach be too irritable to retain the
medicine,* pursue just the same, giving with each dose three grains

* Should vomiting occur within six hours after calomel is given, pay no atten-
tion toit. It will pass off of itself with the action of the medicine.
COLIC ILLEUS. 491

of Squibb’s sab carbonate of bismuth, (14) or one grain of the oxa-
late of cerium. If the opium does not control the pulse, resort to
the aconite again after the stomach is quieted. Six or eight hours
subsequent to the operation of the cathartic, the animal will be
entirely relieved if your medicines have taken effect; but by no
means consider him out of danger. If the pulse has become as it
should be by this time, soft and full, suspend the aconite, continu-
ing the bromide, but give one-quarter grain of quinine, and one-
quarter grain of leptandrin every two hours, (No. 17) alternating
with the bromide, and continue the treatment for several days,
giving a moderate dose of opium at night, or a pill of hyoscyamus
(solid extract) one-quarter grain. The animal may be nourished
meantime by beef tea, bland soups, arrow root, etc. Bread and
meat to be avoided. Every care must be taken of the animal for
at least a month thereafter, and it will be advantageous to continue
the quinine and leptandrin for two or three weeks at meal times,
it answering all the purposes of other tonic.

DIARRHGA AND DYSENTERY.

Both of these disorders are dependent upon, and usually the
seguele of other diseases. The free use of opium as severally
recommended and astringents is to be deplored. Nature, already
poisoned, is attempting to rid herself of the cause, and hence. we
have diarrhoea and dysentery. Astringents only are demanded
when the discharge is so free as to endanger the life of the animal
by the drainage of the fluids of the body. Opium is used only to
relieve pain and tenesimus, and may be administered both by the
mouth and as an enema. When given by the mouth it may be
given with leptandrin, quinine and tannin. By the rectum with
starch. (See 20.) The combination of tannic acid and quinine is
particularly happy, it forming the tannate of quinine which in these
disorders is often invaluable.

Besides the foregoing, general tonics will be found of value, as
the mineral acids, etc. (See Tonics.)

COLIC ILLEUS,

This complaint is largely confounded with both forms of
enteritis, The distinction is best made by watching the animal.

t
492 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

If he appear perfectly well just previous and subsequent to the
spasm, with cool and moist nose, in fact no more symptoms than
constipation, and the frequently recurring attacks of pain, we may
fairly conclude that he is suffering with colic. In such case ad-
minister 12 and 13, with the addition of five grains of bromide of
potassium, every half hour until relief is obtained. You may with
advantage use No 21 either alone or in combination with the
above prescription. As soon as comfort is obtained, give full dose
of 22,

AFFECTIONS OF THE EYE.

Simple Inflammation or Irritatéon.—When the eyes of a dog
are inflamed from contact with minute particles of dust, grass seeds,
pollen, etc.; or have received some slight superficial injury, the
organ should be gently sponged with tepid rain water, until all
extraneous matters are removed. Now bathe the eye with eye
water, as per prescription No 23 or 24. For external bruises or
cuts, apply 25 or 26.

This is all sufficient for minor troubles, though if the cornea or
iris be scratched, or cut, No 24 must be used in preference to 23,
as the deposit of lead will make a white opaque scar. See Scars
No 27,

Ophthalmztzs.—Miscalled ophthalmia. This is a term applied
to an inflammation of the membranes of the eye, or of the whole
bulb of the eye, The form of disease that is common to young
puppies may be relieved by cleanliness, and the free use of No 23
or 24. Ophthalmitis conjunctive is sometimes met with in the
immature animal, though it is commonly a disease of adult age,
and is produced by cold wind, dust, or other external irritation.
It generally begins with the appearance of a net work of blood-
vessels on some part of the conjunctiva, the mucous membrane
covering the exposed surface of the eyeball and lining the internal
surface of the lid, of the eyeball or eyelids. The eyelids become
swollen and tender, and the redness soon covers the whole con-
junction ; there is an increased discharge of tears, and intolerance
of light. A glutinous. matter is now secreted, which frequently
causes the eyelids to stick very firmly together. It is no unusual
thing for the disease to commence in one eye, and in a day or two
DISEASES OF THE SKIN. 493

seize the other. Mild cases of conjunctival ophthalmitis are re-
moved by some mild astringent application. The eye should be
well cleansed from the glutinous matter with warm milk and water,
when the eyelids may be everted and gently touched upon their
inner surface with a crayon of alum or sulphate of copper. The
crayons are made by whittling out a pencil from a lump of crude
alum or blue vitriol—the former is best—which must be afterwards
carefully smoothed and rounded. Nitrate of silver or lunar caus-
tic had best be avoided, as it is seldom necessary to resort to
its use, and is moreover a dangerous remedy in the hands of un-
professionals.

There is an acute form of this disorder which demands active
constitutional treatment. It as well as the other diseases of the
visual organ should be treated only by professional gentlemen.

Cataract.—Prescription No. 29 is used in Europe to promote the
absorption of cataract. It may be used without fear, and ina lim-
ited percentage answers all the purposes of an operation; but it
cannot be applied with absolute certainty of success, and is more-
over utterly useless in cataracts of long standing. These must be
operated upon by a skillful oculist; and be certain that he is
skillful,

DISEASES OF THE SKIN.

Alopecia, Falling out of the Hairy —The causes for the falling
of the hair are defective development of, and defective circulation
in the formative organs. The remote causes are, hereditary pe-
culiarity, age, termination of acute diseases, excess of venery in
the dog, ill nourishment, and certain diseases of the skin.

Except in the latter case, or where senility is the cause, we may
remedy by giving proper nourishment, and the application of 20 or
31, as directed.

Mange.—This is a term applied promiscuously to all diseases
which affect the integument of the dog. It is, however, properly
used only when applied to the first of the following.

Scabies Canina, Scab Mange, Canine Itch.—This, like the
“old Scotch fiddle” that affects the human race, is dependent upon
a minute insect, which finds its way beneath the surface of the
cuticle and there breeds and disseminates itself to the other parts.
404 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

For reasons obvious, the back is most seriously affected; the dis-
ease being milder and less marked toward the extremities. The
canine acarus is not identical with the human parasite, and cannot
live in the integuments frequented by the latter.

The treatment as usually laid down, is as nauseous to the owner
of the animal as the disease itself. There is no reason for this
whatever. Wash your dog thoroughly with warm water, and Cas-
well, Hazard and Co.'s“ Funiper Tar Soap”; none other, and
administer an occasional cathartic. Saponaceous compounds as
32, 33 may be used to advantage, the animal being easily cleaned
thereafter, and possess the advantage of not soiling the habiliments
of the person who applies them.

If the above fail, 34 thoroughly rubbed in and allowed to dry
will prove infallible.

This disease is readily diagnosed from the fact that while the
skin is partially denuded of hair, that which remains is coarse and
unnatural to the touch, and looks all awry and unthrifty. The
skin too, if not absolutely red and inflamed, is dry and scaly.

Trichoses Furfuracea Canina. Ring Worm of Dogs.—This
too, is known as mange. | give it the above title as most applica-
ble, it most resembling Trichoses furfuracea as exhibited in the
human subject, and apparently depending upon the same causes.

My attention was first called to the similarity some years since
when a medical student, by the late Prof. Howard Townsend, of
Albany, New York.

The hair partially falls off, and the disorder is well marked by
bare patches of small dimensions appearing upon the most promi-
nent angles of the body, so as to lead one to suppose that they
were the result of chafing, And so they are, but there is a cause
for the rubbing.

In the early stages of the attack, the only appearance of dis-
order that can be detected is a thin layer of scurf, either in sepa-
rate scales around single hairs, or in patches, including several, or
amore considerable number. This formation is accompanied by
a slight degree of itching, which is relieved as soon as the scurf is
torn away by rubbing against some convenient post. At a later
period the skin upon which the furfuraceous scales are dusted ap-
pears reddish and slightly raised ; the papilla next make their ap-
DISEASES OF THE SKIN. 495

pearance on the slightly reddened patches, and subsequently the
peculiar alteration of the hair.

The hairs in the neighborhood of this disease are remarkable
for their bent and twisted shape, and resemble the fibres of hemp
in appearance as well as texture; they are irregular in thickness,
and are broken off at variable and various distances from the in-
tegument, giving rise to the moth-eaten appearance so character-
istic of the disease.

The crusts which form the morbid patches when the disease is
neglected, are composed of furfuraceous scales and diseased hairs
agglutinated together by the moisture which rises from the skin;
they are greyish in color, and when of large size are apt to break
up, in consequence of the movements of the integument, into sec-
tions. On the surface of the crust, which is dry and harsh, the
tow-like fibres of the diseased hairs may generally be per-
ceived. ,

In the early part of its course, this disease is unattended with
discharge of any kind, and often the absence of secretion is con-
spicuous throughout its entire existence. At other times, and
especially ‘when neglected, the crusts give rise to considerable itch-
ing, and the attempts made to relieve the annoyance aggravate the
inflammation of the skin, and occasion discharges of ichor and pus.
Occasionally too, as a complication of disease dependent upon in-

‘creased inflammation, pus forms around the apertures of the fol-
licles and a small crop of pustules is the result. These pustules,
when they exist, are observed in the most active part of the
patches, namely, along the edge, and in this situation I have some-
times seen them forming a double or triple row.

This is a disease of deranged nutrition, the cause being debility
of the organization, originating probably in defective innervation ;
this must be attributed in turn to ill care, and general lack of at-
tention to cleanliness. It is a disorder to which poverty and filth
greatly contributes.

Lt ts not contagious.

The indications in the treatment are:

first.—To restore the defective power of the constitution.

Second.—To restore the local power of the skin.

These objects are to be fulfilled by similar means; the first in-

4 ,
496 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

dication calling for improved hygienic conditions, and tonic-alter-
ative medicines ; the second requiring stimulating applications.

The important hygienic principles as air, exercise, and cleanli-
ness, cannot be too strongly urged in this disorder. Cases may
sometimes be cured by placing the kennel in an airy place, where
sunshine is abundant throughout the day, seconded by a better
assorted diet, and by a local application of the simplest kind.
Washing with Funzper Tar Soap answers the latter purpose; to
which we may add a good strong diet of animal food. Many cases
may be traced directly to aittoo exclusive vegetable and milk diet ;
as for instance, this disease was caused in a young dog of my own
by an exclusive diet of corn meal. Raw or cooked potato diet, the
use of apples of which many animals are fond, will be found valu-
able adjuncts of animal food in the eradication of this disease.

The medicines which are best adapted to this disease are, the
Liquor Arsenicalis et Hydrargit Iodii, as being both tonic and
alterative (35), the citrate acetate, or hydrochlorate of iron ; iodide
of iron; iron with quinine; nitro-muriatic acid (made with egual
parts of each acid) either alone or with the tincture of cinchona or
gentian. (See Tonics.)

The general functions of the body are to be regulated in the
usual way ; but aperients and purgatives are to be used sparingly,
and with care. Asa laxative, there is none better than the confec-
tion of senna with sulphur and cream tartar. (36.)

If there be any swelling of the glands of the neck, as is often
the case, use the iodinized cod-liver oil of Caswell & Co., or of
Fougera; and in animals that lack in solidity of bone, lime water.

When the disease is severe, the crusts should be pencilled
with glaczal acetic acid, and then anointed with No. 26. With
milder cases the black wash No. 37 and Juniper Tar Soap will
be found sufficient. From an ointment of sulphate of zinc, or the
comp. sulpt, oint., good results are often obtained. It must be re-
membered, however, that the eradication of this disorder is slow
and perseverance and patience are essential to its proper treat-
ment.

Osmidrosis,; alteration of secretions (Mange ?)—This is a
disease of the perspiratory glands. Those who believe that dogs
perspire only through the torigue or mouth, may as well abandon
DISEASES OF THE SKIN. 497

the idea first as last; for the skin of the animal is provided with
true glands of this character.

This disorder, which is also miscalled mange, may be at once
known by the enormously thickened hide of the animal, largely
devoid of sensation, and the odor which exhales from his body ; the
latter is peculiarly acid and rank. The animal passes the entire
day in apathy, showing activity at meal time alone or when licking,
biting or scratching his body. The hair is more or less removed
from the back, and the thickest portion of the skin is just above
the neck, or just before the tail.

This is in a great measure the direct opposite of the preceding
disorder, being caused by too exclusive an animal diet, and attacks
only very fat and over-fed animals; uncleanliness contributes
much to the disorder also.

Undoubtedly the best remedy is that said to be practiced by
dog fanciers upon the disgustingly obese and ill-tempered animals
that enjoy the life peculiar to lap-dogs, viz.: the brute is tied toa
crow bar or post in the middle of a yard, kicked that he may wail,
and left to ‘exhaust himself with cries, and starved until he looks
upon the most dirty and thoroughly picked bone as an especial
dainty. This is followed by starvation diet for a few weeks. The
treatment is undoubtedly effective, particularly for the class of
dogs indicated.

Low vegetable diet is to be given. Ifthe animal refuse it, let
it be at once removed, and not offered again until the following
day. If he choose to starve for a week, all the better. Wash the
animal with juniper tar soap once every day in the morning if
possible, and at night, sponge with a weak solution of chloride of
lime. An emetic of ipecac or tartarized antimony may be given at
the outset followed by a laxative, (36.) Each day the animal to be
exercised thoroughly, and when he begins to accept the food
offered he should be given the liquor arsenicalis et hydrargii iodidii,
increasing the dose as per prescription 35. Now apply to the back
No. 26, 25, or 37.

Purpura canina, (Mange ?)—This is usually either a disorder
of senility or puppyhood, dependent upon imperfect nutrition. It
is much the same as scurvy in the human subject, and makes its
appearance in an efflorescence of purple and livid spots on the
498 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

skin, interspersed here and there with pustules. The hair falls
off; young animals more especially, being frequently rendered
almost void of covering.

With puppies, the cause must be looked for in the milk which
the parent provides for their nourishment, and the food of the
bitch must be carefully looked to, and an entire vegetable diet sub-
stituted. We must also restore power, and remove the cause,
which is sometimes difficult to determine.

The cause must be looked for either in the food or in the sur-
roundings of the animals themselves. If there is defective ventila-
tion, or the kennel is placed in a damp situation, exposed to noxious
malarious vapors, or noisome odors from the sewers or stables, we
may with tolerable safety assign these as the cause. Insufficient
food is another, as is neglect of exercise and habits of cleanliness ;
or, again, it may be the consequence of some organic disease, of
local weakening of the tissues, as in dropsy, or of general and loval
weakening, as in old age.

The treatment opens with saline laxatives as Rochelle salts (16
or 36), or a cathartic and alterative dose of calomel may be advis-
able, to remove any irritant matters or secretions that may be
present in the alimentary canal, or in the ducts of the liver and
kidneys ; sometimes we may conjoin a tonic with an aperient as
the citrate of potash in solution with quinine, from which after
sufficient action has been obtained, we change to the citrate of iron
and quinine, Iodide of potassium for nursing bitches, combined
with columba (38) will probably be the most serviceable, alternat-
ing with quinine and queveenes iron, (39) avoiding acids; but in
other cases great benefit will be found from elixir of vitriol and
tincture or fluid extract of cinchona, (40) or nitro-muriatic acid and
fluid extract of gentian or cinchona (41). Puppies when nursing
need little or no medicine, that which is administered to the parent
being all sufficient.

For external applications, the muriate of ammonia pomade
(No. 30) or a moderate solution of borax (47) applied to the skin
will be all sufficient.

Having used vegetable diet for a few days, beef or mutton
soup strained, may be mixed with the rice—rice and palgiies being
the best diet,
DISEASES OF THE RESPIRATORY ORGANS. 499

This disorder may be prevented, by providing your dogs with
plenty of quitch grass. A fluid extract made from this grass,
(Tritzcum repens 48), will be all the medicine puppies will need.

DISEASES OF THE RESPIRATORY ORGANS.

Pneumonia; Simple Inflammation of the Lungs; Lung Fe-
ver.—With the canines, pneumonia and pleuro-pneumonia are
each more strongly marked than in the human race. Of the for-
mer, nothing need be said, the treatment, etc., as laid down in the
succeeding subject being ample. i

Distemper Proper.—True canine distemper is of extremely
rare occurrence, if indeed it ever makes its appearance in the U. S.
and Canadas. As laid down by that eminent pathologist, Kolli-
ger, itis a disease attended by a catarrh, consisting essentially in
an irritation of the brain and spinal marrow, and characterized by
frequent convulsions tetanic in character; its fatality being en-
hanced by the supervention of inflammation of the lungs.

The disease is wondrously fatal, only about ten per cent
making recoveries.

The disease, gexerally known throughout the world as distem-
per, is commonly pleuro-pueumonza, though many other disor-
ders are ofttimes included under the same title.

Distemper ; Pleuro-pneumonta,; Lung Fever.—There appears
to be two forms of pleuro-pneumonia to which the dog is sub-
jected: one of which seems to be somewhat efzzoo¢zc in charac-
ter. This is then, perhaps, entitled to be called distemper.

It may be that pleuro-pneumonia as exhibited in the dog only
takes this form. Or it may be that it assumes two forms: the
one due to irritation and inflammation resultant upon the use of
a morbific poison; and the other, from more natural causes. At
all events, the disease, though not contagious, would seem to be
infectious in one of its forms; this may, however, be due to the
fact, that gangrene of the lung is commonly attendant upon the
disorder, though not usually virulent in character. I am drawn
to this belief, not only from the deductions of pathologists, but
from the results of personal observation, verified by an autopsy of
an animal which died from an unusually severe attack of so-called
500 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

distemper but a few days previous to the writing of this article.
The result of the examination will be found farther on.

It is very difficult to point out the diagnostic symptoms of pneu-
monia to the non-professional observer, as we ascertain its extent,
its situation, and every step of its progress, by means of the ear.
All the symptoms that give us the most sure information respect-
ing the nature of the disease, the event to which it tends, and the
remedial treatment which it requires, spring out of the actual
changes wrought in the pulmonary substance itself; and these
changes are disclosed to us by the method of auscultation. It is
necessary, therefore, in order to treat this disease understandingly
and properly, you should know first of all, what those changes are
which are produced by inflammation of the substance of the lungs:
that you should know the morbid anatomy of pneumonia, as an
indispensable groundwork for the knowledge of its pathology.
For this reason, if none other, the account of the autopsy given
would be valuable in order to grasp more fully the rationale of
treatment.

The majority of cases of sz7fle pneumonia in dogs, is allowed
usually to run its course unnoticed, no symptoms being observed
other than a slight cough, or comparative dull condition of the
animal ; or it passes for a very slight attack of distemper, and runs
its usual course terminating favorably, thanks to the constitution
of the animal, and not the so-called distemper remedies. But if
the simple imflammation of the lungs involves the surrounding
tissues, as may be the case from the outset, or as a result of pneu-
monia proper, it becomes an entirely different affair. The pleura,
(the serous membrane that lines the interior of the thorax,) is
most likely to be involved, and the disease becomes pleuro-pneu-
monia.

Autopsy of a Newfoundland bitch, aged thirteen months.
Examination six hours after death :

The internal changes were confined almost entirely to the
chest. On opening this, the animal being placed on the back, we
found layers of yellowish, friable, false membrane, varying in tena-~
city, stretched across and around the sack containing the heart.
Adhesions of this character existed on both sides of the chest, and
were bathed in a yellowish grumous fluid or serum, which proved
DISEASES OF THE RESPIRATORY ORGANS. 501

to be highly albuminous, and charged with shreds of solid deposit.
Both lungs were found adhering firmly to the pleura, and in at-
tempting to pass the hands round the large posterior lobes, we
found it extremely difficult to detach the diseased portions from
the ribs. .

The false membranes were found adhering closely to the pleura
covering the lung, and to the pulmonary substance itself; and the
former—the pleura—mottled in color, with more or less marked
papillary or warty looking eminences. ;

This development showed that the disease had been one of
unusual virulence. ,

There was considerable fluid around the lungs, the quantity of
which we could not estimate, as it was found impossible to sepa-
rate it from the shreds of lymph and false membrane in which it
was held. Examination revealed a large quantity of pus cells,
and a portion of the fluid placed ina tumbler partially gelatinized
on prolonged exposure to the air. The lower portion of the right
lung was gangrenous and abscesses were found therein, which
gave out a highly offensive odor on opening. The left lung had a
small gangrenous spot upon the inner posterior portion of the apex.

On removing the lungs, both were found to present a badly
diseased appearance, the right being the worst. The collapsed
portions with the normal pink color, denoting healthy tissue, were
extremely small, showing the animal possessed more than ordinary
vitality to have existed with so little means of zration of blood, as
long as circumstances indicated she did. On cutting into the hard
and mottled diseased portions, a very peculiar marbled appearance
was presented: the substance of the lobules being solid and of a
darkened color, while the tissue between the lobes was yellowish,
more or less dotted with red points. The gradation from healthy
to diseased tissue was very marked, showing first, lobules slightly
infiltrated with semi-liquid serum, followed by those more thick-
ened, and of a lighter red color showing the more recent deposits,
and lastly the thoroughly consolidated portions. Now we find
the lung substance entirely broken down, the more solid portions
detached and imbedded in the cavities of the diseased tissue, acting
as foreign bodies, and hastening gangrene. The adimssion of air
through the air passages into the cavities by dissolution of lung
502 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

tissue, accounts for the cavernous sounds that may be sometimes
detected in these diseases, and also for the intolerable fetor of the
breath so often present, and for the discharges from the nose,
matter being forced by coughing into the posterior portions of the
throat, and there lodged, finding its way out through the nostrils
by the attempts of the animal to expel it ; besides the nasal passa-
ges become diseased through sympathy, and contact with the
morbific matter thrown off during exhalation.

The air passages were found coated with patches of false mem-
brane, and bathed in purulent matter throughout their entire
length.

The heart was contracted and pale, containing a little very
dark semifluid blood in both the left auricle and ventricle. The
pericardium (heart’s sack) was slightly thickened by deposits
around it, and contained a slight excess of serum.

The brain presented no abnormal characteristics. There was
marked and diffused redness of the stomach, and the large intes-
tine contained a little dark fetid, slightly blood-stained excrement.
No other pathological changes were found in the digestive appa-
ratus. The tissues generally were bloodless.

I know not whether I have made this intelligible to the general
reader or not: at all events it may be of some value to my profes-
sional brethren, no small number of whom are ardent sportsmen.

Although difficult to instruct the uninitiated in the manner of
making a diagnosis, it must be attempted. We first inquire
what signals of its existence inflammation holds out ; and how far
we, not having the power of seeing what is going on within the
cavity of the chest, may nevertheless ascertain the important pro-
cesses which are there transacted.

If the ear be applied to the chest, and the portion of lung adja-
cent to that surface happen to be in the first stage of inflammation,
you hear a peculiar crackling sound ; the smallest and finest pos-
sible kind of crepitation, which has been happily illustrated by
saying that it resembles the multitudinous little crackling explosions
made by salt when it is scattered over red hot coals; another re-
semblance is, like the rumpling of a very fine piece of parchment,
or like the sound produced by rubbing a lock of your hair between
your thumb and finger close to the ear. This is the crepitation or
DISEASES OF THE RESPIRATORY ORGANS. 503

crackling of pneumonia, and may be heard only in a very limited
spot in the beginning. We cannot too ‘highly value this simple
symptom, as it gives the earliest and surest intimation that the
disease has begun.

When you catch the inflammation in its earliest stage the mi-
nute crepitation which announces the commencing engorgement of
the part is heard mingled with the ordinary sounds of respiration.
This obscures the material sound, though it does not yet entirely
cover it—but as the inflammation advances, the crackling becomes
more pronounced, until at length it totally supersedes it. So long
as the natural sounds of respiration prevail over the crackling, we
may conclude the inflammation is slight. But the crackling does not
remain long in any part. As the case proceeds, the sound is less
and less hard, and at length not heard at all in that spot; and it
may be succeeded by one of two very different sounds. Its place
may be taken by the respiratory murmur again, in which case it
denotes the termination of the inflammation. But the crackling
may cease, and either no sound at all be heard in its stead, or a
new morbid sound which I will presently describe ; and this teaches
us with absolute certainty, that the disease is growing more severe
and serious ; that the lung is becoming or has become hefaizzed,
that is, solidified, liver-like.

The zew sound is audible as a whiffing, like air blown through
a quill. Little gusts of air are puffed in and out; often most dis-
tinct at the termination of a slight cough. The hepatized lung
allows the air to pass in the larger bronchial tubes, but has closed
up the smaller ones and the lung vesicles, wherefore the whiffing,
blowing, gusty sound of the breath as it enters and departs from
the large bronchi, which still remain open, and dronchzal respt-
ration, as the new sound is called, is heard. By means of these
three sounds, and a knowledge of the position of the lungs, you
may easily master their condition by the sounds heard as you
apply your ear to different portions of the chest.

In the majority of cases, the commencement of inflammation of
the lungs is marked by the animal’s shivering, or having a chill,
followed by an increase of temperature of the body, and increased
frequency of pulse. A little later difficulty of breathing is appa-
rent, and the animal begins coughing. At first the cough may be
504 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

dry, but it is attended with a very characteristic expectoration.
The difficulty of breathing is sometimes slight in the outset ; some-
times severe.

Apart therefore, from the physical signs, we may say that the
usual symptoms of this disease are pain, more or less severe, dif-
ficulty of breathing; cough; a peculiar expectoration ; loss of
appetite ; and fever, alternated with shiverings ; though the latter
are usually nervous in character, rather than the result of cold.

As the disorder progresses we have discharges of thick tena-
cious mucus, which becomes encrusted upon the lips and nose;
the eyes become rheumy and blood-shot, the lids being frequently
agglutinated, especially in the morning ; and the animal seeks re-
pose, and is disinclined to move. Farther on we find the cough
becomes less frequent, or it may cease entirely. It has no particular
character at any time, and affords little information, though it is
usually dry at the outset ; but in a few hours is accompanied by
expectoration of a yellowish frothy mucus which, later, becomes
streaked with tawny rust-colored spots, which evidently constitute
the greater portion of the expectoration. The discharge from the
nostrils undergoes the same changes. Ulcers appear upon the lips
in this stage, and the animal utters cries of pain, particularly after
pressure upon the chest. Emaciation supervenes, the sufferer
grows thinner and weaker, until, no longer able to rise, it remains
lying upon the side. The breath now has a highly offensive odor,
which might have been remarked ina less degree at an earlier
stage of the disease; diarrhoea supervenes, and the fecal dischar-
ges have the peculiar fetid smell before noticed, in speaking of
post-mortem appearances, This is the last stage, which closes
with death.

Having thus given a crude outline, I will explain some of the
points further :

At the outset, the expectoration and nasal discharges consist
of clear mucus, or else there is no secretion; but the second or
third day generally, they assume the characteristic appearance:
i. e., they come to be composed of mucus intimately united and
combined with blood, though it may be streaked with blood at
first, it generally is blood and mucus at the outset, and is always
at the expiration of twenty-four hours. Even when this trans-
DISEASES OF THE RESPIRATORY ORGANS. 505

parent mucus is ye//ow, the color is due to blood, and the dis-
charges are not as the vets. claim, from the stomach, but the lungs,
If to water rendered viscid by dissolving a certain quantity of
gum in it, sufficient to give it the consistency of mucus, you add
blood, drop by drop, you will obtain, in succession, all the shades
of color that are presented in the discharges from the mouth and
nasal passages in this disease: first a yellow tinge; then a tawny
yellow which loses itself in red, and comes to represent the color
of the rust of iron, and lastly intensely red. A part of the dis-
charges from the rose, however, the clearest portions, may come
from the mucous membrane of the nostrils and fauces, induced by
the irritation of the lung matter. If a little of this discharge be
taken up ona stick, and it runs readily, or even slowly, we may
hope that the disease has not passed the first stage. But if it be
thick, viscid, or jelly like, and hard to get rid of when so taken,
we may fear that the second stage is reached.

Although these rust or orange-colored discharges are com-
monly present during the more active period of this disease, you
ought to be aware that they do not constantly accompany it.
Sometimes they are like those of a catarrh; and sometimes there
is scarcely any at all.

Having given you an idea of the symptoms individually, I must
now hastily glance over them collectively, as they must be studied
together ; and some will be found to, confirm or correct the indi-
cations that might be drawn from others.

The first symptom is usually a slight difficulty in breathing, the
animal moving gingerly, as with pain, or humoring one side more
than another in lying down. Make a movement as though to grasp
his sides, and he will likely follow the motion of your hand, with
his muzzle close to it, fearing he may be hurt; the eye also shows
suffering ; this may, or may not have been preceded by shivering,—
rigors ; and he coughs slightly, but without expectorating. At this
period the ear applied to his chest and back may generally detect
the slight crepitating sound before mentioned, and some fever will
be noticed withal. The second or third day new symptoms appear.
The expectoration and nasal discharge, heretofore absent, or ca-
tarrhal in character become characteristic ; being at first moderately
viscid, and having @piegree of color proportionate to the variable

22
506 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

quantity of blood it contains. The minute crepitation increases
and drowns or supersedes the respiratory murmur, and less symp-
toms of pain are noticed, but he prefers to lie flat on his belly to
his side, or lies upon one side only, resisting all attempts at being
turned over and made to lie on the other.

In this condition of pneumonia, though the disease may be
severe, the inflammation is yet in its primary stage. It often re-
mains stationary for a while, then recedes, and terminates by
resolution.

As soon as this stage is diagnosed, administer a full dose of
calomel, and eight or ten grains, with half as much quinine, and
five grains of jalap. See that this operates thoroughly, following
with sweet oil (8a) if necessary. .Also administer one or two drops
of Norwood’s tincture of veratrum viride, one-half drachm to a
drachm of nitre, and four or five grains of muriate of ammonia at
a dose (492) in water; let this be given every hour, watching the
pulse and the fever. As soonas the pulse becomes steady even if
it be not quite normal, and the fever is allayed, give the doses only
once in four hours. This carefully followed, the animal being kept
in a moderately warm, dry, and azry room, will usually cut the dis-
ease short at once. If it does not, begin the use of carbonate of
ammonia in six grain doses, (50) with enemas containing small
doses of spirits, six grains every four hours; use on chest liniment
as per prescription No. 52.

_ Second Stage.—If the inflammatory engorgement does not cease
by resolution, and the symptoms that announce it are exasperated,
we must expect the second stage to be established. And we may
be certain that it exists when we observe the following phenomena:
the breathing becomes more and more constrained, short, acceler-
ated ; if the animal cries out with pain, he does it in a short, pant-
ing manner, in a series of short, quick yags between the inspira-
tions. The discharges acquire such a degree of viscidity that they
can no longer be detached from the stick, even by shaking it vio-
lently ; the sound afforded by tapping the diseased side with the
fingers is decidedly dull,—no resonance as in health; at first we
hear a little of the minute crepitation, without the admixture of the
natural sounds of respiration ; then that little crepitation ceases, and
either no sound at all is perceived by the ear/ir in the part where
DISEASES OF THE RESPIRATORV ORGANS. 507

there is dullness on tapping with the finger, bronchial respiration
is heard. The animal continues to lie on the belly or support him-
self with his fore-legs. In this degree of the disease the prognosis
is always uncertain. The animal often sinks rapidly and dies of
asphyxia. We now begin a still more stimulant treatment, using
the veratrum as before but in larger doses and adding tincture of
aconite root, one drop to each dose (494). Enemas of brandy,
and beef tea must be given, as well as by the mouth, in order to
sustain the sufferer. We also give the turpentine and egg mixture
by the mouth (54), and bark tea and the fresh solution of acetate
of ammonia (No. §5), quinine, leptandrin and powdered iron too,
in large doses with sub-carbonate of bismuth if there is vomiting.
Small doses of quinine do not answer the purpose, exerting an in-
fluence upon the heart that we do not desire. A blister too will be
of value applied over the affected side, though the liniment will per-
haps do. If there is delirium, look out for trouble, for the animal
will not only be difficult to manage, but the disease may be looked
upon as fatal. Now no opium must be given, but full doses of
hyoscyamus, cannabis indica, and similar sedatives may be used
‘instead.

When resolution begins to take place, we hear afresh the small
crepitation, at first alone, then mixed with the natural respiratory
murmur, which in its turn becomes alone audible. The discharges
return to their catarrhal character. In the meantime the dysp-
noea and fever diminish, and then cease entirely.

It would doubtless be very interesting to determine, in a given

case, whether the lung of the sufferer was in the second or third
stage of inflammation. But there are no certain means for mak-
ing this distinction. We may guess that such is the fact when the
discharges assume a prune juice color. The appearance of diar-
rhoea is not to be depended on, as it appears frequently, with the
‘inception of the second stage. However, the discharges will not
help us much ; for sometimes the lung may be in a state of suppura-
tion on the fifth day ; and again it may be found in a state of red
hepitization as late as the twentieth or twenty-second day.

When pneumonia passes into gangrene, which is much oft-
ener the case with dogs than is supposed, the discharges become
of a gréenish, or reddish, or dirty grey color, and exhale a pecu-
508 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

liar fetid smell. We can little hope to save the life of the animal
in case this becomes marked.

Before leaving this subject, let me apologize for its length.
But the disease has never before been properly written up, so far as
known to me, or its pathological characters noticed. I have made
this brief, too brief considering the subject. The popular writers
on diseases of canines are, unfortunately, all in the dark, which is
to be regretted. Mayhew, who is perhaps as much read by sports-
men as any author, gives no rationale of the disease, but deals in
generalities, which show he was entirely at sea, and that he knew
nothing of its pathology ; or indeed of hardly any other disease he
attempts to treat of. The symptoms he gives, however, will be
noticed as almost identical with those of pleuro-pneumonia.

Splenic Fever.—This is another disease which in its various
stages is either called distemper, or mistaken for inflammation of
the bowels. There is the same characteristic discharge from the
nose, and diarrhoea is often present. The mucous membranes of
the mouth are pallid, the flanks drawn in, the animal nervous,
and finally paralysis of the hind quarters supervenes.

I can give nothing of value concerning the pathology of the
disease, except that the spleen and kidneys are enormously en-
larged, and the grey matter of the upper portions of the spinal
cord takes on ulceration and suppuration. I am indebted to two
medical gentlemen of the U.S. Army for the little knowledge I
possess on this subject, and that little cannot well be given here.
The disease is called splenic fever, because that organ shows
greater changes than any other. From the symptomsas given me,
I should think this might be the ¢rue dzstemper. Thus far cases
have been noticed only in New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona.

The indications would seem to be a tonic treatment. Opcum
aggravates the disease, tt inevitably proving fatal where this drug
zs administered. The pathology of these two diseases proves that
vaccination is useless as a preventive.

DISEASES OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM.

Epilepsy ; Convulsions. Epilepsy, Convulsions, or Fets may
arise from a variety of causes, the most common of which are
intestinal worms,rage habit, defective nutrition ; under which may
DISEASES OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. 509

be classed bad food and under feeding, or over feeding and conse-
quent want of assimilation ; rickets, obstructions of the bowels,
malformation of one side of the head, improper treatment of skin
diseases, prolonged retention of urine, disease of the brain or
spinal column, as the result of mechanical injury, or as a sequel to
splenic fever, excess of venery, heredity, etc., etc.

With this array of causes, to which much’ might be added, it
would appear as though all attempts to treat this disease would
necessarily be futile.

The leading symptoms of this disease are, a temporary suspen-
sion of consciousness, with clonic spasms, recurring at intervals.

The dog, in apparent enjoyment of perfect health, may some-
times give notice of an attack by a peculiar short yelp, when he
falls instantly to the ground, senseless and convulsed ; again the
seizure is only known by finding the animal prostrate, he having
fallen suddenly, dropping in his tracks as though fatally shot. He
strains and struggles violently, his breathing is embarrassed or
suspended ; he foams at the mouth; a choking sound is heard in
his windpipe; and he appears to be at the point of death from
asphyxia—and indeed so dies sometimes. But presently, and by
degrees these alarming phenomena diminish, and at length cease ;
the animal is left exhausted, heavy, stupid and comatose: but his
life is no longer threatened. And in a short time, he is once more
to all appearances perfectly well. The same train of morbid phe-
nomena recur, however, again and again, at different, and mostly
at irregular intervals. This is a brief description of the most ordi-
nary forms of epilepsy. i

The suddenness of the attack is remarkable: in an instant,
when least expected by the animal or his master, in the midst of a
point, or a movement perhaps, the change takes place; and the

-poor animal is stretched foaming, struggling, and insensible upon
the earth. The muscular convulsions are strong, irregular, and
often universal ; and one side of the body is usually more agitated
than the other, The integument of the forehead above the eyes is
usually puckered into folds; the eyes sometimes quiver and roll
about, sometimes are fixed and staring, sometimes are turned up
beneath the lids, so that the whites alone are visible; the tongue
is thrust through the sides of the jaws, perhaps bitten, often
510 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

severely ; and the foam which issues from the mouth is reddened
by blood. It often happens too, that the urine and excrement are
expelled during the violence of the spasm.

When the convulsive paroxysm is over, the animal appears
buried in deep sleep, and it might be supposed that this was the
result of exhaustion; but there is something more than this; the
animal passes into a state of incomplete coma, or rather the insen-
sibility continues. When he wakes, he appears dizzy and con-
fused; by degrees, however, he resumes his ordinary appearance
and condition,

As may be supposed, so much irregular contraction of the
muscles of voluntary motion is not likely to occur without some
derangement or modification of the functions of the circulation.
The breathing is irregular, gasping, or arrested. The heart pal-
pitates violently; the pulse becomes frequent and feeble; and
sometimes ceases to be tangible during the height of the fit, and
is to be felt again as the spasms subside. The inside of the lips
becomes blue and pallid, and the eyes blood-shot, the veins being
visibly distended.

This is one form, the most severe and the most common, as
well as the best marked, in which an epileptic attack occurs.

But there is a large class of cases in which the symptoms are
much more mild. There is very slight and transient, or even no
convulsion at all ; no signs of turgescence about the organs of the
face ; no foaming at the mouth; no quivering of the eyes; but a
sudden suspension of consciousness, a short period of insensibility,
a fixed gaze, 2 totter perhaps, a look of confusion or wonderment
but the animal does not fall. This is momentary ; consciousness
quickly returns; the dog resumes the action in which he has been
previously engaged, and is ofttimes not aware that he has been
interrupted. This constitutes the mildest form of the disease.

Between the two extremes there are many links of
but they are all epilepsy. ; i

On discovering this disease in your animal, no matter how
slight the attack, if not at home take him there ; and at once cast
about for the cause. If you are convinced it arises from any of
the ordinary diseases, treat them. Whatever you do, at once
evacuate the bowels, and keep them slightly lax, and begin a bland

 
DISEASES OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. SII

and nutritious diet. If no cause can be assigned, the best treat-
ment consists of tonics, as iron, the barks, quinine, mineral acids,
etc. ; with these may be combined small doses of musk, assafcetida,
camphor, or other anti-spasmodics. Muriate of ammonia, oft-
times seems to be a specific, as does the fluid extract of the Aus-
tralian fever-tree—Eucalyptus. No definite treatment can be as-
signed; you must work out the problem for yourself. See ar,
42, 43, 56, 59.

Opium, bleeding, etc., are not to be thought of under any con-
sideration. Do not put stones in the ear of the sufferer with ex-
pectation of-a cure ; it not unfrequently happens that some foreign
body in the ear is the cause of the attack. Where the disease is
the result of softening of the spinal cord or brain, it becomes
hopeless ; but it is more commonly the result of reflex irritation.

All forms of so-called fits, as they occur in dogs, may be re-
ferred to this disorder. I may remark, too, that tape worm is the
most frequent cause of the disease.

_ Chorea Sancté Vzt2—Another disease of a spasmodic kind,
and essentially belonging to the nervous system, is Chorea—St.
Vitus’ dance. This is far less serious in some respects than the
disease we have just had under consideration ; but it is very un-
pleasant to possess an animal suffering from this disorder.

The pathology of this disease is obscure. None of the ana-
tomical researches hitherto made upon the subject, nor any study
of its symptoms, give us any positive information as to the real
point whence the morbid irritation of the motor nerves proceeds.
The result of the somewhat rare autopsies which have been either
negative, or else so discordant than any lesion discovered in the
central organs of the nervous system could not be referred to the
chorea, but rather to some accidental complication, or to the dis-
ease of which the patient died. The general implication of nearly
all the cerebro-spinal motor nerves altogether contradicts the sup-
position that the origin of the disease lies in the peripheral nerves,
as has been claimed. The complete integrity of the other cere-
bral functions makes it improbable that the movements of the
chorea originate in the brain. On the other hand, certain pauses
in the muscular restlessness which occur, particularly during
sleep, would imply that the motor influence is derived from the
512 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

brain rather than the spinal marrow. There is no good ground
for the hypothesis’ that chorea is dependent upon a disproportion
in size between the spinal canal and the spinal marrow, or upon
inflammation of the vertebrz, or upon spinal irritation, for we do
not even know that the seat of the malady really lies in the spinal
marrow.

The prominent symptom of this disorder is, an irregular and
involuntary clonic contraction of some of the voluntary muscles,
which, however, are not wholly or constantly withdrawn from the
government of the will. In epilepsy with convulsive spasm, we
find suspension of mental functions ; a temporary interruption of
consciousness, and therefore of volition. But in chorea there is
no loss of consciousness ; no defect of volition. The ordinary
movements of the body can be performed in some degree, under
the direction of the will; but it would seem as if some other power
wantonly interfered to excite them where they are not needed, to
render them unsteady and imperfect, and to arrest natural action.
The symptoms then, are involuntary movements and twitching of
the muscles, which may vary more or less according to circum-
stances.

The cause of the disease being unknown, we are largely in the
dark as to treatment. As it so frequently results as a sequel to
distemper (?) and inflammation of the bowels, we may look upon
it as due in part to defective nutrition; we therefore prescribe
tonics and nervines. Of those drugs which combine both prop-
erties, the following are the best ; valerianate of quinine, of iron
and zinc ; erythroxylon coca ; iodoform, bromide of ammonium, etc.
These may each be tried as occasion demands. The happiest
results are frequently had from the use of Hubbel’s elixir of valeri-
anate of ammonia, and the mineral acids, combined with the tonic
barks.

N. B. Both chorea and epilepsy may be frequently traced to
the breeding of the parent or parents at an immature age,

Rabies Canina, Lyssa; Hydrophobia.—tit is much to be re-
gretted that dogs suspected of rabies are usually quickly destroyed.
When a person has been bitten by a dog or any other animal sus-
pected to be rabid, the beast ought by no means to be killed, but
to be secured, and kept under surveillance, and suffered, if it shall
DISEASES OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. §13

so happen, to die of the disease. If he does not die, in other
words, if he is not rabid, that will soon appear; and the mind of
the person bitten will then be relieved from a very painful state of
suspense and uncertainty, which might otherwise have haunted
him for months or years. Again, it would reduce the number of
deaths from hydrophobia, though not rabies, as fewer persons
would die of fear, brought on by ino contagion, and no disease,
except as caused by their own overwrought fancies. If the dog
dies mad, the injured person will be no worse off than if the ani-
mal had been killed in the first instance. ‘Give a dog a bad
name,” says the proverb, “and hang him;” and it is literally so
with the imputation of madness. A poor wretch of a dog is per-
haps ill, or weary, or cross, or he may have been worried already
by mischievous boys; the cry of mad dog is raised ; and then he
can expect no mercy. There are gross errors prevalent with re-
gard to the signs of rabies in the dog. Ifa dog be seen in a fit in
the street, some person charitably offers a conjecture that perhaps
he may be mad; the next person has no doubt of it; and then
woe to that dog! Nowa rabid animal never has convulsions:
the existence of epilepsy-is.a clear proof that there is no rabies.
Again, it is a very common belief, that a rabid dog, like a hydro-
phobic man, will shun water ; and if he takes toa river, it is thought
to be conclusive evidence that he is not mad. But the truth is,
that the disease, in the quadruped, cannot be called hydrophobca :
there is no dread of water, but an unquenchable thirst ; no spasm
attending the effort to swallow, but sometimes an inability to per-
form the act from paralysis of the muscles about the jaws and
throat. They will stand lapping, without getting any of the liquid
down.

There is another superstitious opinion not at all uncommon, viz.,
that healthy dogs recognize one that is mad, and fear him, and run
away from his presence, in consequence of some mysterious and
wonderful instinct, warning them of danger. This is quite un-
founded. Equally mistaken are the notions that the mad dog
exhales a peculiar and offensive smell, and that he may be known
by his running with his tail between his legs ; except as Mr. Youatt
says, when weary and exhausted, he is seeking his home.

“ The earliest symptoms of rabies in the dog, are sullenness,

22*
514 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

fidgetiness, continual shifting of the posture, a steadfast gaze ex-
pressive of suspicion, an earnest licking of some part on which a
scar may generally be found. If the ear be the affected part, the
animal is incessantly and violently scratching it. If it be the foot
he gnaws it till the integuments are destroyed.

“Occasional vomiting and a deepened appetite are very early
noticeable. The dog will pick up and swallow most anything that
comes in his way, even his own excrement. Then the animal be-
comes irascible ; flies fiercely at strangers ; is impatient of correc-
tion; seizes the whip or stick ; quarrels with his own companions ;
demolishes his bed; and if chained up, makes violent efforts to
escape, tearing his kennel to pieces with his teeth. If he be at
large, he usually attacks only those dogs that come in his way ;
but if he be naturally ferocious, he will diligently and persever-
ingly seek his enemy.”

According to Mr. Youatt, the disease is principally propagated
by the fighting dogs in towns ; and by the curs in the country; by
those dogs, therefore, which minister to the vices of the lower classes
in town and country respectively. He maintains that if a well
enforced quarantine could be established, and every dog in the
kingdom confined separately for seven months, the disease might
be extirpated in Great Britain. This opinion is founded of course
on the belief that rabies never originates, any more than’ small-
pox does, spontaneously, but is always propagated by the specific
virus. As corroborative of this, authors have cited the statements
that rabies and hydrophobia are unknown in some countries. The
most common statements so urged are that South America is, or
was a stranger to this disease. Thatit was imported into Jamaica
after that island had enjoyed an immunity from the disease for at
least fifty years previously ; that the most wretched curs abound in
the island of Madeira, that are afflicted with almost every disease,
tormented by flies, and heat, and thirst, and famine, yet no rabid
dogs had ever been seen there; and that, on the contrary, the loss
of human life from hydrophobia in Prussia, between the years
1826 and '36, reached the number of 1666. With regard to the
geographical limits of: this disease, I shall have occasion to speak
further on.

Very early in the disease, the expression of: the animal’s coun-
DISEASES OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. 515

tenance is remarkably changed ; the eyes glisten, there is slight
strabismus,* and twitchings of the face come on. About the
second day a considerable discharge of saliva commences ; but this
does not continue more than ten or twelve hours, and is succeeded
by insatiable thirst ; the dog is incessantly drinking, or attempting
to drink, plunging his muzzle into the water. When the flow of
saliva has ceased, he appears to be annoyed by some viscid matter
in his fauces ; and in the most eager and extraordinary manner he
works with his paws at the corners of his mouth, to get rid of it; and
while thus employed he frequently loses his balance and rolls over.
A loss of power over the voluntary muscles is next observed.
It begins with the lower jaw, which hangs down, and the mouth is
partially open ; but by a sudden effort the dog can sometimes close
it, though occasionally the paralysis is complete. The tongue is
affected in a less degree. The dog is able to raise it in the act of
lapping; but the mouth is not sufficiently closed to retain the
water. Therefore, while he hangs over the fluid, eagerly lapping
for several minutes, it is very little or not at all diminished. The
paralysis often attacks the loins and extremities also. The animal
staggers about, and frequently falls. Previously to this he is in
almost incessant action. Mr. Youatt fancies that the dog is sub-
ject to what we call spectral illusions. He says “he starts up and
gazes eagerly at some real or imaginary object. He appears to be
tracing the path of something floating around him, or he fixes his
eye intently upon some spot in the wall, and suddenly plunges at
it; then his eyes clase, and his head droops.” :
Frequently, with his head erect, the dog utters a short and very
peculiar howl; or if he barks, it is a hoarse, inward sound, alto-
gether dissimilar from his usual tone, and generally terminating
with this characteristic howl. Respiration is always affected ; often
the breathing is very laborious; and the zzspzratzon is attended
with a very singular grating, choking noise. On the fourth, fifth,
or sixth day of the disease, usually, he dies: occasionally in slight
convulsions, but oftener without a struggle. 3
Mr. Youatt gives a detailed account of the appearances met
with after death in the carcasses of rabid dogs. They are not
very constant or distinctive. The most curious and uniform con-

* Strabismus—cross-eyed.
516 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

‘sist in the presence of unnatural ingesta in the stomach: straw,
hay, hair, horse-dung, earth. Sometimes the stomach is perfectly
distended with these substances; and when it contains none of
them, there is a fluid of the deepest chocolate color mixed with
olive ; or still darker, like coffee ; and when neither the unnatural
ingesta nor the dark fluid appear, it will be found, says Mr. Y.,
upon careful inquiry.

I believe that Mr. Youatt’s opinion, already mentioned, of the
cause of rabies in dogs, and in all creatures—viz., that it always
results from the introduction of a specific virus into the system—
I believe this opinion is not commonly entertained. Most people
think that the disease is generated de zovo, in the dog at least ;
and causes have been assigned for it which certainly are not the
true nor the sole causes. Thus hydrophobia in the dog has been
ascribed to extreme heat of the weather. It is thought by many
to be particularly likely to occur in the dog-days; and to be as
Mr. Mayo observes, “a sort of dog-lunacy having the same rela-
tion to Sirius that insanity has to the moon; which, indeed, in an-
other sense is probably true.’”’ Many cautions are annually put
forth, about that period, for muzzling dogs, and so on; very good
and proper advice, but if those who have noted the statistics of
the disease may be depended upon, it would seem as appropriate
at one period of the year as at another. Rabies occurs as often, if
not oftener, in the spring, in the autumn, and even in the winter,
as it does in summer. M. Trolliet, who wrote an interesting essay
on rabies, states that in January, which is the coldest, and August,
which is the hottest month in the year, are the very months which
furnish the fewest examples of the disease. The disorder has often
been ascribed to want of water in hot weather, and sometimes to
want of food. But MM. Dupuytren, Breschet and Magendie,
have caused both dogs and cats to perish with hunger and thirst,
without producing the smallest approach to a state of rabies.* At
the Veterinary School at Alfort, three dogs were subjected to some
very cruel but decisive experiments. It was during the heat of

* Attempts to produce hydrophobia artificially by starving dogs have been in-
effectually made by Radi, Bourgelat, and Ménécier also. Pillnax observed during
one of the severer epizootics in Vienna, that the greater number of affected dogs

belonged to owners in good circumstances in life, enjoying therefore, for the most
part, good care and food.
DISEASES OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. 517

summer, and they were all chained in the full blaze of the sun. To
one salted meat was given; to the second, water only; and to the
third neither food nor drink. They all died; but none of them
became rabid. Nor does the supposition that the disorder has
some connection with the period of sexual heat in these animals
appear to have any better foundation. For, the island of Sark in
the English Channel has never had a case of hydrophobia, although
it has a large canine population, which is entirely made up of the
masculine gender: the opposite sex are forbidden by law.

My own opinion on this matter is, that Mr. Youatt’s doctrine is
by far the most probable one ; that rabies never occurs except from
inoculation of the specific virus. It has never been proved, and
indeed it would scarcely be susceptible of proof, that the disease
ever breaks out spontaneously ; for in nineteen cases out of twenty,
perhaps, we trace the bite or the fray in which the inoculation has
been effected.

oy

With regard to the geographical distribution of the disease, 70
land or climate ts free from hydrophobta. The malady prevails
just the same in countries-where dogs live in perfect freedom, for
instance in the East, in Algiers, Central Africa, China, Cochin
China, South America, and the Arctic Regions—as in every part
of Europe and America, where dogs, being domesticated, are de-
prived more or less of their freedom. In Europe hydrophobia is
said to prevail most extensively in Germany, France, Holland, the
north of Italy, and in England.

On the other hand, as must appear evident, the greatest discre-
tion should be exercised in crediting any report of the occurrence
of hydrophobia in uncivilized and imperfectly known lands.

Virchow has stated, with a certain degree of reserve, it is true,
that among the countries reported to be least frequently visited are
Kamtschatka, Greenland, portions of Sweden and Denmark, the
southern coast of the Mediterranean, the whole of Africa, and the
southern portions of Asia and America. Boudin appears to con-
firm the view that hydrophobia, although of such frequent occur-
rence in Europe, is much more rare in the tropics and the polar
regions.

As opposed to these, may be given a few more recent observa-
tions.
518 ‘DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

In February, 1860, hydrophobia broke out as an epizootic in
Upernavik, the northernmost settlement in Greenland (72° N. lati-
tude). The thermometer stood then for some time at 25° F. be-
low zero, and the favorable condition of the sledge roads con-
tributed greatly to the spread of the disorder. In like manner, in
1863, hydrophobia prevailed in epizootic form in the northern por-
tions of Greenland, completely destroying all the dogs in certain
districts.

In Missouri and Ohio, hydrophobia prevailed so extensively in
1860, that cattle owners solicited reimbursement from the national
treasury on account of their great loss in cattle.

In Constantinople, hydrophobia rages in some years—é. g.
1839, 1868—very widely, and is not unfrequent, though statements
have been promulgated to the contrary. In Athens it prevailed
in epizootic form in 1866. The occurrence of hydrophobia in Asia
Minor and Crete has been recounted by Czlius Aurelianus; and
the disease was well known to the ancient Hebrews. Notwith
standing former reports, it is now known that hydrophobia fre-
quently occurs in Algiers, and its appearance in Egypt has been
repeatedly verified.

The disease is found moreover in Bolivia, Paraguay, Brazil,
British Guiana, Cape of Good Hope, Japan, and in the East and
West Indies.

It will be seen that the study of the geographical distribution
of the disease leads us to deny zz Zoto the theory of its spontane-
ous origin.

A great deal of nonsensical trash, purporting to emanate from
authority, has appeared in the non-medical press of late years.
Perhaps among the most notable, is one purporting to describe
two forms of “ madness ” which are designated as “ hydrophobia”
and “distemper ’’ madness, “ which closely resemble each other.”
The fallacy of the article will be noticed from the fact that the dog
when suffering from rabies is stated to be “ violently insane only
on the approximation of water,” and that post-mortem reveals
“intense mflammation of the brain extending to the throat and
lungs.” The whole article is drawn from an old work of the 18th
century entitled “ A SPoRTsMaNn’s DICTIONARyY,’* and is taken

* This work treats entirely of hounds and horses,
DISEASES OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. S19

from an article entitled “THE SEVEN KINDS OF MADNESS,”
This same article recommends the inoculation with the “matter
of the cow pock to prevent distemper and distemper madness.”
As the date of publication of the work is 1769, it will be ob-
served that the virus was thought of in this connection long
before the days of Jenner, and vaccination as a prophylactic of
small-pox.

The latest researches on hydrophobia in the human subject,
are given by the eminent pathologist, Dr. Felix von Niemeyer, as
follows :

‘Most cases of lyssa that have been well observed and described
closely resemble each other. As it is universally assumed that
morbid processes due to the action of a specific poison run their
course with symptoms which only vary through personal idiosyn-
crasy and the variable intensity with which the poison has acted,
those reports of lyssa humana differing from our description, in
which the characteristic symptoms and their peculiar sequence are
not mentioned or really did not occur, must arouse the suspicion
that they were badly observed, or that there was an error of diag-
nosis.

“Opinions differ as to the length of the period of incubation.
The statement that hydrophobia has made its appearance twenty
or thirty years after the bite of a rabid animal, as well as those
.according to which the disease has broken out as early as the
second or third day, are probably dependent upon imperfect ob-
servation. The shortest term of incubation appears to be about
eight er ten days ; the longest twelve or thirteen months. In the
Majority of instances, the malady breaks out in about forty days
after the reception of the bite. The reasons for this inequality of
period are obscure. There are numerous instances in which,
towards the end of the stage of incubation, and a day or two before
the onset of the malady, peculiar alterations have been observed
in the wound or its scar, for the wound has generally healed by
this time. The bite assumes a livid color, grows painful, and dis-
charges a yellow ichor. Thescar which has generally soon formed
without remarkable symptoms, grows bluish red, swells, and some-
times breaks out afresh. The patient also complains of painful
sensations, shooting centripetally from the wound or scar, or of a
520 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

sense of numbness in the bitten member. These disturbances at
the point of entry of the virus are very often wanting.

“The first or prodromic stage of the disease is marked by a
peculiar depression of the patient’s spirits, amounting to an acute
melancholy. The patient seeks solitude, is timid and apprehensive,
and either sits motionless and plunged in deep abstraction, or else
is unable to rest at all. Some complain of an indefinite feeling
of dread and oppression, and sigh repeatedly without any reason
for so doing. Some are preoccupied with sad forebodings, or, if
aware of their perilous condition, are incessantly tormented by
dread of the onset of the malady. Sleep is restless and broken by
frightful dreams. The precursory signs of the spasmodic disturb-
ance of respiration, afterwards to attain so terrible an intensity,
soon supervene. The patient complains of pressure in the peri-
cardium,—before the heart, fore part of the region of the thorax—
draws profound, sighing inspirations, the diaphragm is depressed,
the epigastrium bulges, and the shoulders are drawn upward.
This spasmodic breathing is the first token of the tonic spasm of
the muscles of inspiration which cause such frightful torments in
the second stage of the disease.

“The prodromic term having lasted two or three days, the
second or furious stage begins. Its onset is marked by a fit of
choking, suddenly induced by an attempt to drink, which renders
the patient incapable of swallowing a drop.

‘The moment the fluid enters the mouth and the motion of
swallowing is made, spasmodic inspiratory motions begin; the
thorax rises interruptedly, and remains in the position of deepest
inspiration for ten or twenty seconds. During this time the fea-
tures betray anxiety and terror, the eyes protrude, head and shoul-
ders are thrown back, then comes an expiration, with which the
attack passes off. I have satisfied myself that the inspiratory
muscles, as well as those of the pharynx, are implicated in these
seizures. This combination of spasmodic contractions in both of
these sets of muscles, is a frequent symptom; it always appears
in the straining preceding vomiting, as well as in the retching fol-
lowing irritation of the pharynx by the finger, etc. Retching is
always accompanied by a feeling of suffocation, from the contrac-
tion of the inspiratory muscles complicating the spasm of the
DISEASES OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. 521

pharynx ; and we are justified in giving the name of retching-fits
to these spasms, which form the pathognomonic—characteristic—
symptom of lyssa, and are given in every well-recorded case.’

“The dread of water is entirely due to the dreadful experience
of the patient on trying to drink. Reports of cases where hydro-
phobia is given as a primary symptom are worthy of no credence.
It is a curious fact that, at first, the act of swallowing solid food is
not attended by spasms. Even a draught of air on the skin, or
touching anything cold, sudden irritation of the eye by dazzling,
even sudden mental excitement or surprises, may induce attacks.
According to my observation, the pharyngeal muscles do not par-
ticipate in the reflex spasms induced by irritating other parts, as
the mouth or palate. At the height of the disease, it appears as
if attacks occurred from time to time without cause; but I think
that these apparently spontaneous attacks must be regarded as
reflex spasms, and be referred to the collections of tough mucus
in the pharynx, or to the trickling into it of saliva. This supposi-
tion is based on the haste, and aéandon with which the patient
ejects saliva and mucus, and the attempts to introduce the
finger far into the throat, for the purpose of removing mucus and
sputa.

“Various authors name tetanic or epileptiform spasms among
the symptoms of lyssa; but on careful examination, I have not
been able to discover a case where the detailed description of the
spasms fully convinced me that they were tetanic or eclamptic.
It is nowhere stated that the muscles of the back were tense, ex-
cept during the attacks, or that consciousness was lost during the
general convulsions. In one of my patients there was opisthot-
onos *—he threw his hands and feet about, and pitched around,
so that he frequently fell on the floor. But these symptoms re-
minded one far more of hysterical spasms, or of the actions of a
tortured, despairing man.

“The above symptoms are soon accompanied by attacks of
boundless rage, in which the patients are hard to manage, destroy
all that comes in their way, strike, kick, scratch, and bite, if held
fast, and not unfrequently kill themselves, if they are carelessly
watched.

* Opisthotonos ; bending of the body backwards.
§22 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

« The biting, inarticulate howling, and barking sounds, are not
made more frequently by a hydrophobic patient than by another
madman in the maniacal stage of chronic cerebral disease.* The
patient often warns his attendants between the fits, which seldom
last longer than a quarter or half an hour, and begs pardon for his
misbehavior towards them, and sets his worldly affairs in order, in
perfect consciousness of the near approach of his end. The
paroxysms of madness and convulsions, having steadily grown more
frequent for two or three days, now begin to diminish in violence
as the patient loses strength. Rarely, it happens that death occurs
at the height of the malady, during a severe and long continued
choking fit: The exhaustion and collapse usually augment from
hour to hour ; the voice grows hoarse and feeble, the respiration
shallow, the pulse small, irregular, and very frequent, and death
ensues with the signs of a general paralysis, which is sometimes
preceded by a deceptive amelioration of the symptoms.

“It might be supposed that the attacks of madness occurring
in lyssa were simply a result of the despair that would affect even
a person not having this disease, if he suffered from retching at
short intervals for a day or two. I once attended a patient suffer-
ing from severe pharyngitis, who, when I asked him to try and
drink, hurled the giass from him, and acted like a madman.

“We find something like this too, in patients with croup or
cedema glottidis. The fact, also, that sometimes patients of very
temperate and resigned natures do not become maniacal would
also favor this view. But there are some objections to it, es-
pecially the fact that, even in persons the most resigned, the
absence of mania is one of the rarest exceptions, as well as the
excessive height that the madness usually reaches in lyssa patients.
It is certainly more probable that the madness in lyssa is not due
to moral grounds, but is caused by a propagation of the exces-
sively increased morbid excitability of the motor-central apparatus
of the pharyngeal and respiratory nerves to the central organs
of the psychical functions. The symptoms of the mania have

* Romberg says, that a great inclination to bite, along with the absence of char-
acteristic reflex spasms, in one of the diagnostic points between true lyssa and

those hypochondriacal and maniacal conditions that the fear of the disease not un-

frequently develops in persons that have been bitten. This state might be termed
lyssaphobia,
DISEASES OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. 523

many analogies to reflex spasms. Trifling mental excitement
causes severe outbreaks, violent motions, and excited actions in
maniacal patients, just as slight irritation of the skin causes reflex
spasms in patients with tetanus.

“No lesions characteristic of the disease are found:in the bod-
ies of those who have died of hydrophobia. The most common
conditions consist in intense rigor mortis,!’ extensive post-mortem
hypostasis,’ early putrefaction, intense staining of the endo-cardium?
and walls of the vessels, hyperamia* and serous exudation in
the brain and its membranes, in the spinal marrow, in some of
the sympathetic ganglia and nerves ; hyperemia and swelling of
the mouth and fauces, both of which contain a collection of tena-
cious mucus ; hypostasis® and cedema® of the posterior part of the
lungs ; engorgement of the walls of the stomach, and great abdom-
inal glands. All these lesions, especially the injection of the
nervous centres and nerves, upon which at times great stress has
been laid as explanatory of the nature of the disease, are not con-
stant, and, for the most part, seem to arise just prior to dissolu-
tion, in consequence of the disturbance suffered by the functions
of respiration and circulation during the attacks described. In
the cases which I have seen, autopsy? showed a decided swelling
of the tonsils and follicular glands at the root of the tongue and
the posterior wall of the pharynx, exactly corresponding with
Virchow’s observations.”

I know not what I can say of the treatment of this terrible
disease.’ There is no well authenticated case on record, that I am
aware of, in which a hydrophobic person has recovered. As it
has been, so it is still, “ Iarpag farat Oavaroc.” The physician that
heals is death, There can be no ground, therefore, for the re-

1 Rigor mortis:—The muscular rigidity which takes place a few hours after
death. ;

2 Hypostasis :—Sediment. In this connection means a sediment or deposit in
the urine occurring after death.

3 Endo-cardium :—The serous membrane lining the interior of the heart.

4 Hyperemia :—Congestion of blood in a part. ,

5 Hyfostasis :—In this connection has reference to the sediment deposited
from the serous fluid in the lungs.

8 Edema :—A minor degree of dropsical swelling.

1 Autopsy :—Post-mortem: or aS is generally applied, a thorough examination
of a body after death. Post-mortem is oftener applied to a partial examination,
524 DOGS USED FOR SPORT. ‘

commendation of any especial drug, or form of medicine, nor even
for any general plan of treatment, after the peculiar symptoms
of the disease have once set in.

Of course those powerful remedial agencies that are in com-
mon use among medical men, have been fairly tried ; copious
blood letting, mercury, opium, arsenic, sugar of lead, oil of turpen-
tine, the cold affusion even; and not only those, but the stronger
poisons, as belladonna, stramonium, prussic acid, white hellebore,
strychnia, cantharides, chloroform, ether, and nitrous oxide gas;
and a no less end of less gigantic remedies ; such as alkalies, es-
pecially ammonia, preparations of lead, zinc, copper and iron;
electricity and galvanism, tobacco juice, lobelia, guaco, the mineral
acids, violent exercise ; and if we take into account the substances
administered to the brute also, we may increase the list by the
alisma plantago, sentellaria, box, and rue, all of which at one
time or another, have been vaunted as successful remedies, vera-
trum, sabadilla, vicunas and rattlesnake poison.

The difficulty of swallowing fluids, and ofttimes of swallowing
at all, is a serious obstacle to the use of internal remedies. The
injection of medicines into the rectum, under the skin, and in the
veins has been tried. Magendie hoped that he had discovered a
cure, in first largely bleeding the patient, and then injecting his
patient with a corresponding quantity of warm water; but it has
always happened with this, and with other promising experiments,
that just as the patient seemed about to recover, he has died.
The nervous irritability has in rare cases been relieved by the hy-
podermic injection of morphia; curare has also been tried with
more favorable results, and would seem to indicate that it pos-
sesses the greatest power of any drug over this disease. If I
were the patient, I should urge large injections of curare, as noth-
ing can be lost by it, even if this poison be given far more boldly
than it has ever been.

Tracheotomy has been recommended by Mr. Mayo, and nu-
merous other physicians. But I should not expect the smallest
advantage from the operation. Leaving out the question of spasm
of the glottis, the patients do not die of sufocatzon, but debility.

As almost every drug that has ever been included in any phar-
macopceia has been administered with the hope of checking the
DISEASES OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. 525

disease, so a great number of medicines and measures have been
praised as preventives. People have had great faith in sea bath-
ing, and went to the sea coast to be ducked and half drowned
every day for six weeks. Some of the specifics, as you may sup-
pose, are secrets; and they who possess them, whether they be-
lieve in them or not is another matter, sell them at no cheap rate
to those who, having been bitten by the dog, are weak ‘enough to
be bitten again bythe quack. The composition of several of them
has transpired ; and they are found to consist either of ingredients
the most insignificant or worthless, or of poisons of which the in-
efficacy has already been ascertained. Among those of the early
days of medicine were burnt crabs, hyena’s skin, liver of the
rabid animal, tin and mithridate, the latter being the same. as the
confectis damocratzs, which includes some eighty ingredients,
among others, the bellies of lizards. The celebrated pulues antz-
dyssus which was introduced by Dr. Mead into the London phar-
macopeeia was a mixture of ash colored liverwort and black pep-
per ; it was the brilliant discovery of one Dampier. Next came
the famous “ Zast India medicine,” consisting of equal portions
of native and factitious cinnabar made into a powder with musk, to
be dissolved in arrack: this was also known as the “ Tonguzn
Remedy.” Another celebrated remedy was “ Palmarzus’s Pow-
der,’ composed of the leaves of rue, vervain, sage, poly pody, worm-
wood, mint, mugwort, balm, betony, St. John’s-wort and lesser
centaury: each herb to be gathered only in its prime, and dried
separately in the shade and powdered. There was the “ Ormskirk
medicine,” long famous, and even now scarcely obsolete in some
parts of Great Britain: it was made up of bole armeniac, alum,
chalk, elecampane, and oil of anise seed. Then there were the
“ Tanjore Pills,’ whose ingredients were mercury and arsenic; “S27
George Cobb's Remedy ,;” * My Lady Bountiful’s Infallible Remedy.”
In*1806 the New York Legislature bought a “ preventative ”’ for
hydrophobia which was given to the public, It was as follows:
Once ounce of jaw bone of a dog burnt and pulverized. The
false tongue of-a newly foaled colt dried and pulverized ; and one
scruple of verdigris raised from the surface of a copper of George
I, or George IJ, by laying it in moist earth. These to be mixed,
dose a teaspoonful. The filings of half a copper of the above
526 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

kind to be taken in water, increase the quantity if any other copper
is used. If symptoms have already appeared, take three drachms
of the verdigris with Zalf ax ounce of calomel followed by four
grains opium.

The false tongue of the colt is borrowed directly from the black
art and forms the ingredient of many an incantation and charm.
The burnt jaw bone of a dog, if the jaw bone of the dog that bit,
is introduced on the homeopathic principle of “like curing like.”
The copper, verdigris, calomel, opium, belong to the “ heroic treat-
ment.” In France they put the bitten person in the river Seine
with his back to the sea,and many cures are recorded. ‘A re-
turned missionary” advocates a kind of “vaccination” against it,
by producing artificial madness by large doses of stramonium.
Another recipe by a French family is as follows :

One handful of rue; one handful of inner bark of eglantine;
one handful of powdered daisies (whole plant) ; ten cloves of gar-
lic; ten white droppings of hens; ten white onions. Bruise in a
stone mortar, add two ounces of white wine vinegar, bottle tight ;
—dose a teaspoonful. The patient is to run about for a while
directly after taking it until he induces perspiration.

Soon after these the “ Cherry Valley Cure”’ came in for its share
of public patronage, followed by Dr. Spaulding’s wonderful discov-
ery (in 1826) of a specific in sentellurta latertfol’a, The next
humbug of any note originated in Michigan, and was, perhaps, a
clearer case of fraud than any of the foregoing. The remedy was
tincture of castoreum, and the wonderful case of hydrophobia
cured proved to have no origin but in the brain of the Doctor.

A Russian physician, Marochetti by name, pretended to find
pustulas under the tongue which were the seat of the disease.
His cure consisted in evacuating these, and administering to the
patient a decoction of broom tops. This was in 1813; and now
another Muscovite fraud, known as Dr. Grzymala, has brought
himself into notice, by declaring the Xanthéum Spinosum an in-
fallible remedy, and preventative of hydrophobia. Like other
wonderful discoveries, it has proved a thorough and complete
failure.

The treatment followed by the Chinese when bitten by a dog,
is to catch the animal, take some of its hair, mix it with lime, and
DISEASES OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. $27

apply it to the affected part. Among other methods an empty
walnut shell is to be filled with human faces, placed on the wound
and the moxa applied ; then for several days a compound of vari-
ous herbs with saliva is applied. A mixture of cantharides, yellow
earth, etc., is administered internally until micturation becomes
painful. On the top of the head a red hair will be found, which is
to be extracted ; all believe in this. They all believe too, that a
man bitten by a*rabid dog has three chances of dying, to one of
living, and insist on perfect quiet during the progress of the disease.

Prevention is the most important part in practice. Where dogs
are kept, every new animal should be quarantined for at least
thirty days, that there may be no chance for infection.

When a person is bitten, the early and complete excision of the
bitten part is the only measure in which we can put any confidence ;
and even here we are met with a source of fallacy. In the major-
ity of cases no hydrophobia would ensue, only about seven per
cent. of those bitten by rabid dogs are afflicted by the disease,*
though nothing at all were done to the wound. How can we know
then that the disease is ever prevented by excision? No doubt
many persons go through the pain of the operation needlessly.
But in no given case can we be sure of this. They get at any rate
relief from the most harassing suspense, with which they would
probably have been tortured for months. Some put their trust in
caustic, but I would advise you to trust nothing but the knife, to
which you may supplement fuming nitric acid, actual cautery, etc.
If the injury be so deep or extensive, or so situated that you can-
not remove the whole surface of the wound,-cut away what you
can; then wash the wound thoroughly, and for some hours
together, by means of a stream of warm water, and place an ex-
hausted cupping glass from time to time over the exposed wound ;
and finally apply to every part of it some liquid escharotic ; fum-
ing nitric acid, acid nitrate of mercury, a strong solution of chromic
acid, for example ; the chromic acid is preferable on some accounts ;
it penetrates deeper, and gives little or no pain.

With regard to the proper way of cutting out, the directions

* Braithwaite. Proceedings of Academy of Medicine, Paris. Statistics of the

Society for the Promulgation of Science, St. Petersburg. American Journal
of Medical Science, etc.
528 DOGS USED FOR SPORT,

laid down by Mr. Abernethy seem applicable. “The cell,” he
says, ‘“‘into which a penetrating tooth has gone, must be cut out.
Let a skewer be shaped, as nearly as may be into the form of the
tooth ; and next let the skewer and the whole cell containing it,
be removed by an elliptical incision. We may examine the re-
moved cell, to see if every portion with which the tooth might have
come in contact has been taken away; the cell may even be filled
with quicksilver, to see if a globule will escape. The efficient per-
formance of the excision does not depend upon the extent, but
upon the accuracy of the operation.”” To this Mr. A. tised to add,
that as bleeding had been much extolled, had he hydrophobia he
would allow a surgeon to bleed him, even to death. Like Seneca,
he would be willing to have his veins opened, though his disease
might not permit him to indulge at the same time,.like Seneca, in
the luxury of a warm bath.

It has been recommended, in all suspicious cases, if excision
has been omitted in the first instance, to cut out the wound, or
cicatrix, within the first two months, or at any time before the
symptoms of recrudescence have appeared. One would do it,
though with less hope, as soon as possible after they had ap-
peared ; but we can hardly expect that excision will be successful
then, in stopping the disease. Dr. Bright has recorded a case in
which the arm was amputated upon the supervention of tingling,
and other symptoms, in the hand, in which the patient had been
bitten some time before ; but the amputation did not save him.

Although in excision, local anesthesia may be applied, it is
perhaps better that the operation be performed without it. The
acid should be applied for two days in succession, and suppie-
mented by the use of fermenting poultices to encourage the
throwing off of the slough.

Dr. Yarrow, U.S. army, followed this treatment with his own
son, who was bitten in six or eight places, with excellent results,

Lunar caustic, or nitrate of silver, decomposes too rapidly in
contact with animal tissue to be certain or thorough in its action.

Before closing this article, I desire to call the attention of
sportsmen and medical men to the following, from the pen of the
eminent Prof. Bollinger, of Munich, regarding false rabies in the
dog.
DISEASES OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. 529

“Symptoms resembling those of rabies are observed in para-
sitic enterctzs, caused by tape worms ; in gastro-enterztis, produced
by pozson, (arsenic, corrosive sublimate, benzoic acid,) or by the
presence of forezgn bodies in the intestine (bones and pieces of
coin that have been swallowed); in intestinal obstructions (in-
vagination), caused by the collection of zxdigestzble substances in
the intestine (fragments of bone) ; in the case of forezgn bodies tn
the ear, (heads of wheat, for instance, with the beard attached,)
in the case of parasites in the nasal cavity, (pentastoma), in the
kidneys, (ldtge palisade worm), or sh, (mange) ; in wremza in-
duced by long-continued wznatural alementatzon, (starving, feed-
ing with substances containing no salt). In poisoning by means
of metallic preparations, (the salts of copper and zinc,) there
are likewise produced appearances similar to those of rabies:
—constrictions of the pharynx, vomiting, and acute gastro-ente-
ritzs.

«Symptoms szzlar to those of hydrophobia may furthermore
be occasioned by severe pazm, (toothache), by severe mental dzs-
turbance, (deprivation of their young, extreme stimulation and
non-gratification of the sexual appetite) ; also by various functional
and anatomical changes of the central nervous system,

“In this connection should be mentioned numerous cases of
meningitis, encephalitis, hydrochephalus, blood poisoning (pyemia,
secpticzemia) ; furthermore, the whole class of mental dzseases in
dogs, which have hitherto been completely overlooked, their exist-
ence not having even been suspected by most observers. The dog,
which as an intellectual and sensual being stands so high in the
scale, and whose domesticated in-door life, as the companion of
man, is in certain respects directly contrary to his nature as a wild
animal, possesses a highly excitable nervous system, and is ex-
tremely liable to contract nervous diseases. This fact is shown by
the frequent occurrence of the disorders falling under that head
(for instance, epilepsy, chorea, epileptiform spasms, and spasms of
reflex origin), and equally certain is the prevalence among dogs of
pure psychosis, such as mania and melancholia, unaccompanied by
any material post-mortem changes that can be detected ; and these
very forms of illness—having in part also a reflex origin through
the causes above mentioned—are frequently confounded with hy-

23
530 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

drophobia, and quoted in support of the theory of the spontaneous
origin of the disease, although they are in no respect infectious.
¥ * * * * *

“In view of the unfavorable prognosis in hydrophobia, and the
complete inefficacy of all the therapeutic agents when the disease
is once established, it naturally follows that in all rational efforts to
control the malady prophylactic measures must always form our
chief weapons of offense.

“Of chief importance in this connection are the general Zro-
phylactic measures to be enforced by the Staté against hydropho-
bia in animals, and we will therefore endeavor to indicate what
sanitary regulations are best adapted to confine the spread of this
malady within the narrowest possible limits.

« The first important point to be insisted upon is the reduction
of the number of dogs. The comparative danger to be apprehended
from hydrophobia diminishes as the total number of dogs becomes
reduced, and the most effective method of reducing the number of
dogs consists in /ayzng the highest posstble tax upon them. This
tax should be the same for all dogs, without regard to sex, and any
remission of the same should be strictly limited to such dogs as are
positively necessary for the performance of certain kinds of work.

«The State should also provide for a general vregzstratzon of all
dogs. Every dog should be provided with some distinguishing
mark ; all stray dogs should be pursued by the police and destroyed.

«When cases of hydrophobia occur, directions should be issued
to cause all dogs to be muzzled for a considerable length of time;
they should either be led by means of a cord, or else kept penned
up. The failure to notify the authorities of the existence of a case
of hydrophobia should be made a punishable offense. The regula-
tions just mentioned ought always to be applicable to as large a
district as possible.

“ Rabid dogs should be destroyed, and likewise dogs that have
been bitten by them, although no human being may have been
bitten. If human beings have been bitten by rabid or suspected
dogs, these should be destroyed as soon as the existence of rabies
in them has been determined.

“Dogs suspected of being rabid, and also the dogs bitten by
them, should be carefully confined at the owner’s expense, and in
DISEASES OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. $31

consideration of the long period of incubation, they should be kept
secured for at least six months. The ordinary term of confine-
ment from six weeks to three months is manifestly too short.

“The obligatory muzzling of dogs at times when hydrophobia
prevails as an epidemic has always in all localities been attended

_ by favorable results, On the other hand, it is pretended by some
especially those who favor the theory of the spontaneous origin of
hydrophobia, that the wearing of muzzles favors the development
of the disease, an assertion which is unsupported by proof, and
which is afso completely refuted by what is known respecting the
mode of origin of rabies and by various observations. In Berlin,
dogs were required for a period of nine years to wear muzzles,
during which time no instance of hydrophobia occurred. It is
moreover, fallaciously urged by the opponents of the muzzle, that
in localities where dogs roam about in large numbers perfectly
unrestrained, and subject to no inspection, hydrophobia is an un-
known evil.* :

“ It may be mentioned as a matter of curiosity, that the artificial
blunting of the front teeth of all dogs has been recommended by
some, as a prophylactic measure against the malady, and it has
even been suggested that small flattened metallic*caps be fastened
by a screw to the corner teeth for the purpose of rendering the bite
innocuous.”

Canker.—Under this head we have all the diseases to which
the external and internal ears of the dog are subject. The mean-
ing of the word cazker is simply cancer : which I need not remark,
is an extremely rare disease in dogs.

The so called external canker, is usually a simple ulcer result-
ing from a wound or scratch, which by neglect, uncleanliness, etc.,
has taken on unhealthy action. In such case, cleanse with castile
soap and warm water, then touch it lightly with caustic. When
the silver has formed a white film over the raw edges, brush the
ulcer thoroughly with a moderately strong solution of carbolic, or
Salicylic acid, or thymol. Dry the outer edges and draw together,

“* Inthe description of the geographical distribution of hydrophobia, I have
already demonstrated how unfounded this nétion is, and have taken pains to show
that in such localities (Constantinople, Egypt, Algiers, Asia Minor, etc.,) hydro-
phobia does occur. Author.
532 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

covering with a thin piece of lint soaked in the carbolic solution,
over which place a second and dry piece. Confine all to the ear
by means of collodion, sealing it to the ear around the edges.
Remove at the end of twenty-four hours; when, if the ulcer have
a healthy appearance, wash well with carbolic acid solution, and
apply lint as before ; but let the collodion cover the whole of the
material as well as the edges, so as to shut out all air; let remain
for four or five days, when it may be redressed in the same man-
ner.

If this proves inefficient, the ulcer remaining unhealthy and
spreading, the ear also becoming hard and indurated for some dis-
tance around the ulcer, we may fear that the trouble is malignant.
Apply a solution of chromic acid, ten grains to the ounce of water
daily until the foul portions of the ulcer are eaten away, and it has
a healthy appearance, when bring the edges as closely together as
possible, and dress as before. Strong glacial acetic acid will an-
swer the purpose where the chromic cannot be obtained. Where
‘the swelling is great, a hypodermic syringe should be used, and five
drops of common acetic acid injected into the hardened substance
upon one, two, or three occasions as may be required to thoroughly
permeate the tumor. This should only be used when it is certain
the disease is malignant. Such treatment, if properly carried on,
will usually dispose of malignant growths. ~

A cap should be worn by the dog, to confine the ears, and to
avoid dressings being displaced while under treatment.

For troubles of the inner ear, let it be carefully washed out with
tepid water and castile soap by means of a small syringe. Now
look carefully for any foreign substance, as insects, dirt, stones,
beards of wheat, or bits of grasses, that may be causing the trouble.
If you can procure a silvered ear speculum, and learn to use it, all
the better. 1f you find no cause, you may very properly conclude
that it is a case of simple abscess, when you may pour a few drops
of glycerine, in which a little sulphate of zinc and morphine have
been dissolved, into the ear, afterwards plugging the orifice with
cotton. Change the dressing every twenty-four hours, washing
out the ear with warm water,and castile soap. Be careful not to
force too powerful a stream of water into the ear, or you may do
injury. During these washings you may be surprised by a sudden
DISEASES OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. 533

gush of thick, grumous matter ; if so all the better, and the animal
speedily recovers.

Let the animal wear the cap constantly while under treatment.
Foreign substances in the ear may be removed with a loop of fine
silver wire, or a noose of horse-hair. If you cannot succeed take
your dog to a surgeon.

Coughs.—For a cough without appreciable cause, any antispas-
modic remedy may be used; as the compound syrup of squills.

#Dover’s powder, 43, will answer well with the addition of a little
powdered licorice. Also 58 and 61.

flernia.—Umbilical hernia occurs usually in young puppies
alone. As it is very difficult to adjust a bandage and compress so
as to restrain the hernia, we can only look to an operation for a
radical cure. Any good surgeon can do this without serious
danger. The operation consists in cutting down upon the sac, re-
ducing the hernia, removing the sac of peritoneum, and closing the
wound and opening by means of silver wire sutures. The sooner
the operation is performed after the discovery of the hernia, the
better; all things being equal. The knife should be used under
carbolic spray where it is possible.

Tumors and Warts.—Whether in the mouth or externally, all
warts may be removed when not of too great size, by the applica-
tion of a solution of chromic acid dissolved to saturation in water :
equal parts by weight will do (59). Apply a little sweet oil to the
parts around the wart to prevent the acid injuring them. A few
applications will be all sufficient. Galacial acetic acid will ofttimes
answer even better than chromic for warts in the mouth. If warts
are too large to remove in this way, they must be dissected out.

Tumors.—Tumors in the region of the neck and lower jaw are
best let alone until a surgeon has passed his opinion on them ; par-
ticularly if they seem to throb and beat. If they fluctuate they may
be lanced, which is best done with an instrument known as a Zexa-
zome. This should be thrust in as per the cut, carried in the direc-
tion of the dotted line and drawn out; it should all be done with
one movement, and as quick as a flash, When lanced in this way
moderate abscesses heal much kindlier than when butchered with
a scalpel, thumb lancet, or bistoury.

Fatty tumors must be dissected out entire, Tumors containing
534 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

clear fluid may be injected with iodine to destroy the sac. The
insertion of a seton, which is moved every day, is better.

Dress these wounds with 26 spread on a soft cloth.

Bronchocele-—This is an enlargement of the thyroid gland,
and is usually of but little moment in old animals. With puppies
it demands attention, or it will be likely to interfere with the res-
piratory apparatus.

Use Donivan’s solution, No. 35 as directed.

Apply externally night and morning No. 60.

Vermin.—Vermin are easily eradicated by the use of the

 

Use of tenatome in lancing an abscess, A, blade of knife entered into the tu-
mor. BB, the dotted line shows the sweep that should be made in withdrawing it.

“ Persian’ and other insect powders when fresh, Those that are
valuable owe their efficacy to the Pyrethrum roseum, or flowering
pyrethrum, which they contain.

You may also use soft soap with the addition of a few drops
of liquefied thymol. Be sure all parts are touched.

Tender Feet —Bathe with any mild astringent lotion. Look
out for thorns and for sinuses in the claws. See 62 or 63.
Brine will also answer the purpose.

Gnaweng the Feet——Anoint the toes with No. 25 or 26, tar
ointment, or mixture of tar and zinc ointment. If he still per-
sists, and the whip will not cure him of the habit, put him in
boots and muzzle.

Emetics.—Both salt and ipecac are excellent emetics for dogs.
When you desire a speedy action, as in a case of poisoning, ad-
DISEASES OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. 535

minister three grains of the yellow sulphuret of mercury, (Turpeth
mineral) ; if it does not act in five minutes, give a second dose,
Its action is both speedy, and certain, as well as safe; the vom-
iting, moreover, is easy, and not attended with retching.

Desinfectants.—Solution of permanganate of potash, carbolic
or salycilic acid, etc., etc. See 64, 65, 66. Most of the disinfec-
tant powders are but carbolic acid mixed with some of the earths.

Chloride of lime in solution is very good about a kennel.
Brome chloralum is of no value.

PRESCRIPTIONS AND FORMULA,
DOSES FOR ADULT DOGS,

(See scale of doses at end of section Anthelmintics.)

No. x. R. Areca Nut powdered, sixty grains.
: Quinine Sulphate, six grains.

Mix. Divide into three powders. A powder to be taken three times a day on
three alternated days; the morning of the day no powders are given, the dog is to
hates dose Sa or 86. It is wellto use a dose of the same previous to giving the
powders.

No. 2. B. Santonine, fifteen to twenty grains,
Quinine Sulphate, six grains,
Aloin (active principle of Aloes) one grain.
Powder and mix intimately, divide into three powders and administer in the
same manner as No. one.

No. 3. ER. Wormseed powdered, thirty grains,
Tanacetum seed powdered, thirty grains,
Jalap powdered, six grains,
Sugar powdered, forty grains.

Make three powders. Use as above.

No. 4. BR. White Castile Soap powdered, thirty grains,
Tepid rain water, one quart.
Use as directed.

No. 5. BR. Koosin (active principle of Koosso), ten to twenty grains,
Give after a light meal; follow with No. seven.

No. 6. HR. 1, Bark of pomegranate root, one drachm,
2, Pumpkin seeds, eight grains,
-3, Etherial ext. male fern, fifteen grains,
4, Powdered Ergot, eight grains, .
5, Croton oil, one drop.

Boil 1, 2, and 4 in water fifteen minutes and strain. Let it cool. Take two
drachms of powdered Gum Arabic and rub up the Croton oil with it and the male
fern, form an emulsion with the decoction. Give at one dose. The worm will be
expelled in the course of two or three hours. Follow with a dose of 9.

No. 6. ER. Piconitrate of potassa, seven grains,
Jalap powdered, one drachm. .
Extract of licorice sufficient to make thirty pills. Dose 1, three times a day.
A dose of No. 8@ to be taken previously.
536 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

No. 7. Laxatives.

&. Castor oil, two ounces,
Oil of turpentine, one drachm,
Glycerine, four drachms,
Syrup of oil of orange, two ounces.
Mix. Shake well before using. Dose one to two tablespoonsful.

No. 8a. BR. Best salad oil, two ounces,
Oil of turpentine, two drachms,
Oil of cinnamon, five drops,
Dose three-quarters to one and one-half tablespoonsful.

No. 80. BR. Aloin, one grain,
Leptandrin, two grains, Z
Podophyllin, one and one-eighth grains.
Grain musk, one grain.
Mix. Take atone dose, An excellent laxative or condition powder. When
used for the latter purpose, add quinine one grain. Promotes healthy action of
liver and digestion.

No. 9. Demuticents.

BR. Mucilage gum acacia, two ounces,
Laudanum, one drachm.
Mix. Dose, one tablespoonful or less. Arrow root gruel, barley water, rice
gruel and elm tea all are excellent demulcents.

No. 10. Alteratives.

R. Blue mass, ten grains,
Ext. of hyoscyamus, one-quarter grain,
Quinine, two grains.
Mix. Make one pill. No. 15 is an alterative sedative.
The following may be substituted with advantage for the above.
Calomel, six grains,
This to be mixed { Rhubarb, six grains,
before added to the } Powdered castile soap, two grains,
powder. Leptandrin, one grain.
Cubebs, one grain.
Podophyllin, one-quarter grain.
Powdered Jamaica ginger, five to ten grains.
Mix. Take at one dose, follow with No.8. This alone is an excellent con-
dition powder. :

No. 11. Sedative Sudorific Diuretic.

BR. Tr. aconite root, eight to ten drops,
Bromide of potassa, twenty grains,
Sguzbds’ sweet spirits nitre, one-half ounce.
Water sufficient to make four ounces. Dose, tablespoonful. Where muriate
of ammonia is desired, substitute three-fourth drachm of it for the bromide.

No. 12. Anti-Emetic Mixture and Sedative

BR. Fluid extract of valerian,
Hoffman’s anodyne, each one dram,
Squibbs’ sweet epinits of nitre, eight drachms,
+ Acetate of morphine, one and one-half grains,
Spirits de mendereris (fresh) four drachms,
Paregoric, one-half drachm,
Mix. Dose, one to two teaspoonsful.

No. 13. Sedative Enema.
R. Thin starch, mucilage or gruel, two ounces,
Tincture of opium, ten to fifteen drops.

Mix. Use as injection as demanded, making fresh each time and using while
lukewarm.
PRESCRIPTIONS AND FORMULA, 537

No. 14. Anti- Emetic.

B. Squibbs’ sub-carbonate of bismuth, two to five grains.

Take at one dose. ‘Iwo grains of musk or one-quarter grain of soapnia may be
added with advantage. N. B. Bismuth should not be used when calomel has
been given, until it has operated thoroughly or exhaustively, except in severe
pneumonias The effect then will do no harm, but be rather beneficial than
otherwise.

No. 15. Sedative Alterative.
:e BH. Calomel, six grains,

: Powdered opium, one-half grain,

Mix. Ata dose.

No. 16. Saline Aperient.

Rochelle salts, twenty gtains,
Water, one ounce, :
7 Essence lemon, two drops.

Mix. Atadose. Sugar may be added if desired, The essence of lemon cor-
rects the tendency to vomit the salts that occurs more frequently in dogs than
men.

No. 17. Alterative Tonic.

BR. Quinine, one to two grains,
Leptandrin, one to two grains.
Mix, a single powder and dose.
17a. Sedative Alterative Astringent.
RH. Opium powdered, five grains,
Leptandrin, ten grains,
Quinine, fifteen to twenty grains,
Tannic acid, thirty grains.

Mix. Divide into ten powders. Dose,‘one every 3, 4 or 6 hours as required.

174. Same as 17a only substituting five to eight grains of sugar of lead for
Tannin.

No. 18 <Alterative Anti-Diarrhea and Dysenteric.

Bael or Bela. (Bengal Quince.)

When pure this will control the most severe form of dysentery. It will also
overcome constipation. Usein infusion, or as marmalade. If Fluid Extract is
used, the dose must be in accordance with that given by the manufacturer, reduced
one-quarter for the dog. ‘his is the most satisfactory remedy in Materia Medica,
when properly prepared, and is harmless.

No. 19. Chronic Dysentery ;-or Dysentery arising from

Ulceration of the Bowels.
B. Iodine, one grain,
Tannic acid, ten grains,
Water, four ounces,
Mucilage acacia, one ounce.

Mix. Dose, one-half to three-quarters teaspoonful every three or four hours,
Severe Diarrhea of young puppies when teething or suffering
from indigestion.

RB. Calomel, thirty-six grains,
Ipecac, thirty-six grains,
Prepared chalk, six drachms,
Sugar lead, one and one-half drachms.

Mix. Make powder. Dose, two grains to animal of ten months and under.

No. 20. Same as 13.

No, 21, Anti- Colic.

BR. Fluid extract of wild yam. .
Dose, five to fifteen drops in thin syrup.

No, 22. Alterative Cathartic.

RR. Calomel six grains,
Jalap, five grains,
Leptandrin, two grains,
Musk grained or powdered, three grains,
Jamaica ginger, ten grains.
538 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

No. 23. Eye Water.
R. Sugar of lead, five to ten grains.
Solve in rose or distilled water, one and one-half ounce
Wine of opium, one drachm,
Filter until clear. 2 .
No. 24. Same as 23. Substituting ten to fifteen grains of sulphate of zinc.

No. 25. Camphor Ointment.

B. Camphor, powdered,

Spermaceti,

White wax,

Salad oil, of each equal parts. . nee
Mix by aid of gentle heat; the camphor to be first dissolved in oil.
No. 26. Simple cerate, two ounces,

Mercurial chalk, one drachm, 4

Powdered dry white lead, twenty grains,

Powdered willow charcoal, twenty grains.
Mix on a slab, and thoroughly incorporate. In warm weather add sufficient

white wax to cerate to make it hard enough to spread on cloth.

No. 25 may be used instead of simple cerate if desired.

No. 27. To remove opacity of Cornea from the deposit
of salts of lead.

Use a weak solution of acetate of soda, when from salts of silver.
Use solution of hyposulphite of soda.

No. 28. Metallic Particles in the Eye.
Remove with a knife (scalpel) if possible. If so impacted as to be impossible
use the following colyria. :
Iodine, one grain,
Iodide potassa, ten grains,
Rose water, three ounces. Mix.

No. 29. Phosphuretted Colyrium for cure of Cataract.
Gradually restores transparency of crystalline lens,
Ri. Phosphorus, ten centigrammes,
Oil of sweet almonds, thirty grammes,
Dissolve in water bath at eighty degrees Centaur in a closed and full vessel.

Four grammes to be instilled between the eyelids three or four times a day.
Takes a month or six weeks to cure.

No. 30. To Restore Growth of Hair.
E. Powdered muriate of ammonia, ten grains,
Camphor powdered, two grains,
Whipped lard perfumed to suit, one ounce. Mix,
Another &. Bi-sulphide of mercury, one grain,
Cocoa butter, ten grains,
f Whipped lard, thirty grains,
Mix. Perfume to suit.
No. 31. R. Muriate of ammonia,
Corrosive sublimate, each one ain,
Water, five hundred grains. Mix.

Depuytreus Pomade.
Another H. Powdered cantharides, one drachm,
Alcohol, one ounce.

Let digest for twelve days, shaking well and often;
parts of this to ninety of whipped lard Sonne Te Geena cane

Another i. Tincture cantharides, one ounce,
Distilled vinegar, one and one-half ounce,
Glycerine, one and one-half ounce,
Spirits rosemary, one and one-half ounce,
Rose water, eight ounces. Mix,

To be well sponged in twice each day.
PRESCRIPTIONS AND FORMULA: 539

No. 32. Skin Diseases.
BR. Sub-carbonate of potassa, two drachms,
Water, one ounce,
Olive oil, one-half ounce,
Camphor gum, two drachms,
Sublimed sulphur, five ounces.
Mix, Rub in well.

No. 33. White Soap or Diluted Soft Soap.
Sublimed sulphur, equal parts. If white soap is used it should be melted and
the sulphur stirred in while hot.
Another &. Sulphuret of lime, one-half drachm,
Sweet oil, two ounces. Mix.

No. 34. When all others fail, use
I Sulphuret of potassa, two ounces,
Water, one pint. Make solution.
3 : .
ER. Muriatic acid, two ounces,
as Water, one pint,

Mix when ready to apply.
Mix equal parts of Nos. x and 2, and sponge the animal thoroughly.

No. 35. %. Donovan’s solution, one and one-half drachms,

Syrup (simple), one-half ounce, e
ater to make four ounces.

Color pink, and mark poison. Dose, a teaspoonful three times a day for three
days; then a teaspoonful and one-fourth (fifteen drops) for three days. Increase
every third day one-fourth teaspoonful until four teaspoonsful (a large tablespoon-
ful) is taken three times per day. If the animal loses appetite, vomits, or shows
marked congestion of the eyes, reduce the dose and increase again slowly. If the
medicine has to be given any length of time, omit it for every fifth or sixth week,
commencing the new series of weeks with the second or third dose of the previous
series. Given in this way it acts beautifully as both tonic and alterative. N. B
Do not give at any time on an empty stomach.

No. 36. Laxative. Aperient Alterative.
BR. Confection of senna,

Confection of sulphur, equal parts.
Dose, teaspoonful or two as desired.

37. Black Wash.
BR. Calomel, one-half drachm,
Fluid ext. conium, two and one-half drachms,
Glycerine, one drachm,
Powdered gum Arabic, one drachm.
Mix together in a mortar, and stir in one-half pint of lime water. Shake well
before using. Apply with soft sponge.

No. 38. Alterative.

BR. Iodide of potasisum, twenty-four grains,
Tincture columba, two ounces,
Fluid extract tanaxicun, one-half ounce,
Water and syrup to make four ounces.
Dose, a tablespoonful three or four times a day.

No. 39. Tonics.

BR. Sulphate of quinine, twenty grains,
Queveenes iron, twenty to thirty grains,
Leptandrin, ten to twenty grains.
Mix. Make ten powders. One three or four times a day.

No. 40. R. Aromatic sulphuric acid, one and one-half drachms,
Fluid ext. cinchona (red) Squibbs’, one-half ounce,
Syrup one-half ounce,
Water sufficient to make four ounces. _

Dose, one-half table or a dessert spoonful three or four times a day.
540 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

No. 41. Muriatic acid dilute, forty minims,
Nitric acid dilute, forty minims,
Fluid extract of genitan, three drachms,
Water to make four ounces.

Dose, tablespoonful three or four times a day.

Warner’s pills
ee lodoforn id iron, one hundred and ninety-two each.
Dose, one pill three times a day. “
No. 4% Nervines. Anti-Spasmodie.

R. Valerianate of iron, twenty grains,

Monobromate of camphor, ten grains,

Grained musk, fifteen grains.
Mix. Divide into ten powders. Dose, one four times a day.

No. 44. Valerianate of quinine, five grains, _

Monobromate of camphor, ten grains,
. Phosphide of zinc, five grains.

Mix. Divide into five powders, and give as 43.

No. 45. Valerianate of zinc, ten to twenty grains,
Quinine, five grains,

Make ten powders. Use as before.

No. 46. Hubbel’s elixir of valerianate of ammonia. Dose, one-half to a tea-

Soonful as required.

No. 47. Lotion.
Powdered borax, one drachm,
Glycerine, four drachms,
Chloroform, one drachm,
Rose water, eight ounces.

Mix. Apply frequently with soft sponge. Rub in well,

No. 48. Alterative Tonic.
Fluid extract triticum repens.
Dose, fifteen drops to drachm for adult; for puppies see scale of doses.

No. 494. Sedative. Febrifuge Alterative.
R. Norwood’s tincture veratrum viride, ten to fifteen drops,
Muriate of ammonia, one and one-half drachms,
Sweet spirits of nitre (Squibb,) one ounce,
Water to make two ounces.
No. 494. Same as 49a, adding fifteen drops tr. aconite root.

No. 50. R. Muriate of ammonia, ten grains,
(or sesqui-carbonate, eight grains),
Musk, four grains,
(or Dover’s powders, six grains),
Aloin, one-half grain.
Make one powder. Use every 2, 3, 4 or 6 hours as demanded.
No. 51. . Brandy or whisky, one ounce,
Sugar sufficient quantity,
Warm water, two ounces.
Mix. Use as enema.
No. 52. Liniment.
Turpentine oil, two drachms,
Croton oil, two drachms,
a ‘i ewer oil one ounce.
ub in well over chest. ill cause an eruption which ma: i
Nos. 25 or 26. Keep clear of your hands as much as possible. Pe ashen Wish
No. 53. %. Camphor liniment, two ounces,
c Chloroform, two ounces,
Mix. Use as No. 52.

No. 54. Turpentine, thirty drops,
Whipped egg, one drop,
Sugar, one-half teaspoonful.

Whip together. May be used in dos i
ae eS nee ie ed in doses of half teaspoonful by mouth or diluted
MISCELLANEOUS FORMULA. 541

No. 55. Bark Tea.
BR. Red Peruvian bark bruised, one ounce,
Senega bruised, one-half ounce.
Steep in one pint of water down to one-half pint, add one ounce of Squibb’s
sweet spirits of nitre and two ounces of /resh spirits of mendereris (with an ex-
cess of ammonia). Dose, one-half to tablespoonful every two to four hours.

No. 56. Alterative.
&. Muriate of ammonia, one drachm,
Fluid extract conium, ten minims,
Fluid extract eucalyptus, one and one-half drachms,
Syrup, one-half ounce,
Water to make one ounce.
Dose, teaspoonful three or four times a day or oftener.
No. 57. For Ear.
R. Sulphate of zinc, twenty grains,
Acetate of morphine, five grains,
Water, onechalf ounce:
Dissolve thoroughly and filter; then add glycerine one-half ounce.

No. 58. Cough Mixtures.
x. RB. Paregoric,
Comp. syrup of squills,
Wine of ipecac, each equal parts.
Dose, one-half teaspoonful to teaspoonful.
a. R. Fluid extract licorice, one ounce,
Fluid extract cubebs, twenty drops,
Muriate of ammonia, forty grains,
Syrup acacia to make two ounces.
Dose, tablespoonful.
No. 61. 3. RB. Nitro muriatic acid diluted, twenty-five minims,
Fluid extract hyoscyamus, thirty minims,
Syrup ipecac, two drachms,
Tr. musk, two drachms,
Water to make two ounces,
Dose, tablespoonful.
No. 59. Warts.
Chromic acid, ten grains,
Distilled water, ten to twenty grains,
No. 60. ~ For Tumors.
BR. Iodide of cadmium, one-half drachm,
Simple cerate, two ounces.
Mix. Apply once or twice each day to the bronchocele, rubbing in thoroughly.
No. 62. Solution of alum, one drachm to the pint.
No, 63. Solution of salt with the addition of a few drops (five or ten to
the pint) of oil of vitriol (commercial sulphuric acid),

MISCELLANEOUS FORMULA.

Liniment for Sprains, Bruises, ete.

Oil of origanum (pure) two to four drachms,

Oil of camphor, two drachms,

Liquor ammonia, one ounce,

Salad oil, two ounces. Mix.

Liniment for Colic and Obstinate Constipation.
B. Soap liniment, one ounce,

Tincture of aloes, one-half ounce. r

Apply with friction over abdomen, Half an hour later apply tincture of
digitalis.
So-called Canker of the Ear dependent upon diseased bone.

No, x. Acetic acid, one hundred parts,

Blue vitriol, ten parts,
542 DOGS USED FOR SPORT.

Sulphate of zinc, ten parts,
Sugar of lead, five parts.
Dilute one-half with water. M. Nelaton.
No. 2. Liquor of sub-acetate of lead, two parts,
Sulphate of zinc, one part,
Sulphate of copper, one part,
White wine vinegar, thirteen parts. . ; .
Let nothing be substituted for the vinegar. Druggists are in the habit of using
pyroligneous acid in which the solution becomes a powerful caustic; then the so-
lution when settled has a blue color, It should be green.

Rheumatic Liniment.
Chloral,
Camphor, each one drachm,
Tincture aconite root, one ounce,
Cajeput oil, three drachms,
Alcohol to make four ounces.
Apply with camel’s hair pencil over seat of pain.
Spasmodic Asthma in Dogs.
Chloral hydrate, five drachms,
Bromide of potassa, two and one-half drachms,
Syrup of orange flowers,
Distilled water, each one ounce.
Dose, one-half teaspoonful in two ounces of water every two hours.
Fleas.
A plentiful use of powder containing musk will usually eradicate fleas.

Scale of Doses for Dogs. Setters and Pointers.

2 years of age full dose,
18months ‘ two-thirds,

12 #¢ “one-half,
7 ba ‘one-third,
% 3 oe “one-fourth,
a Ae “one-eighth,

I e “ one-twelfth.

A full dose will average two-thirds of the dose for human beings. Of some
drugs, as opium, calomel, aloes, jalap, etc., the dog will bear larger doses than
the human subject. Of emetics such as tartarized antimony, the dose must be
but half of that used for man. “ BOLLINGER.”

Sweet Spirits of Nitre.

We wish to call attention to the giving of sweet spirits of nitre. The drug
usually sold under that name will certainly promote the action of the kidneys, but
is after all not only unfit to give to dogs, much less human beings, being strongly
acid, and farther, not being sweet spirits of nitre at all. We knowof but one make
worthy of physician’s use, whether for man or beast. Thisis manufactured by Dr.
E, R. Squibb, of Brooklyn, New York. If you will procure a sample of this and
one of any other American manufacture and simply taste, you will be convinced.
You will find this preparation of a pale straw color, and furthermore is put up in
brown glass bottles. Any army or navy surgeon will tell you the same, as will any
educated pharmacist, unless he have pecuniary reason for otherwise stating.

- Disinfectant for Kennels.
R. Tincture of camphor, three ounces,
Tincture of myrrh, three ounces,
Soap liniment, two ounces,
Galacial acetic acid, one hundred and sixty minims,
; Be 2 Oil of tar, one ounce. x
Mix, adding in the above order and agitate thoroughly. Two tablespoonsful
agitated with a bucket of warm water and sprinkled about kennel or stable will
not only disinfect but assist in the extermination of vermin; a teaspoonful added
to a pint of warm water, forms an excellent tar water, as well as deodorant, and
if such is used as an enema in a sick room—that of a typhoid fever patient for in-
stance—will completely deodorize stools previous to their extra intestinal exist-
ence, This dilution will be found particularly valuable as an enema for dogs suf-
fering with diarrhea or dysentery. Asa general disinfectant it is unsurpassed. -
FOREST, FIELD, AND PRAIRIE.

GUNS AND AMMUNITION; AND THEIR USES.

N laying down specific instructions for the selection of guns
and rifles, with their appropriate charges and various kinds of
ammunition adapted to different localities, seasons, and varieties
of game, we do so with the positive conviction that our views and
opinions will be controverted at the outset by hundreds who may
differ with us and with each other; just as they would be, if we
took a position diametrically opposite from that which we now take.
With this special plea, we will proceed; simply premising that
what we print here has received the sanction of gentlemen of ven-
erable experience in the use of old time and modern implements
in all parts of America, on both sides of the Rocky Mountains, and
who are recognized by the sporting fraternity as reliable and
sufficient authority.

THE RIFLE.

All rifles divide themselves into two great classes, long range
and short range. Long range rifles are used as military weapons
for arming infantry, and as sporting weapons for hunting cariboo,
deer, antelopes, and other such timid game as will not allow of
near approach. Short range rifles are used as military weapons
for arming cavalry, and for general sporting purposes. ‘The divis-
ion between the two may be taken at two hundred yards. Rifles
for match shooting may be used.at both ranges; but, from the
natural desire of all of us to accomplish the most difficult feats,
they are generally held to mean long range weapons.

The first rule we shall lay down is this: It is necessary to de-
cide whether you want a rifle for long or for short range. You can
select either, or both, but not both in the same rifle. One will not
544 FOREST, FIELD, AND PRAILRIE.

do the work of the other. A knowledge of this will save much
annoyance and some money. The first requisite of a short range
rifle is, that you shall be able to hit any mark small enough to be
seen over what are technically called ‘hunting sights,” with an
off-hand shot from the shoulder. Greater accuracy than this is not
needed. Such a rifle ought to shoot close enough to place a major-
ity of any number of shots within the following sized targets: 2-
inch ring up to fifty yards distance; 4 in. do. 100 yards ; 6 inch
do. 150 yards, and 8 inch do. 200 yards. A good off-hand shot
can do this and fire very quickly, and his gun ought to be able to
shoot as close as he can hold it. Major H. W. Merrill, a grey old
army officer who has passed half his life in Florida and Texas, in
and out of the saddle, has laid down the following rules:

rst. To avoid shooting over, a finer sight is always required at and about two-
thirds of the range, than at any other point of the range, (say within fifty to
eighty yards).

2d. The same uniform sight throughout the whole range will give no greater
error than the greatest standing error of the rifle.

3d. Hence knowing this, the same uniform sight throughout may always -be
used, unless one requires a different sight in order to accomplish his purpose.

4th. In hunting, use the same fine or standard sight, within about the first
fifty and the last twenty-five yards of thisrange. And why? because the standing
error of the rifle is so small within these limits, that it may be disregarded en-
tirely, At the greatest, it is only about one inch, and from thence to nothing at
the two point blanks. So much for sighting within the range.

5th. But, for different distances beyond the range, as 125, 180, etc., yards, use
a sight “ coarser” and coarser, ‘‘ the further off your game is.”

To summarize, the formula for sighting seems to stand thus:
Coarse very near the piece, with a less coarse to fine at twenty yards,
(centre, p. b.,) thence finer to extra fine at sixty-six yards (there-
abouts and greatest error), thence less fine to fine at one hundred
yards (centre p. b.), thence coarser and coarser (beyond the range).
Of course different rifles, and the same rifle with different charges,
etc., produce different curves, or errors. Hence in general, learn
well by practice and study the deviations of your rifle along the
whole distance, and then (for close shooting) seek to so aim as to
correct them.

Good shooting, however, cannot be done without good ammu-
nition. Mr. E. A. Palmer recites in Forest and Stream: « My
method of loading cartridges is to fill the shell, leaving only space
enough to put in a thin cut wad of paste board, and not over one-
THE RIFLE, 545

eighth of an inch in which to seat the bullet; that leaves nearly
the whole length of the bullet in the rifling of the barrel when the
cartridge is in the chamber ; and if the bullet is the ~zg¢A¢ szze and
properly patched, the patch will not be torn in putting the cartridge
into the chamber (or in the passage of the bullet from the shell into
the barrel when fired), if the gun is properly made and clean ; and
it will also straighten the bullet in the shell if it is a little loose,
owing to the short distance it goes into the shell.

“The pasteboard wad over the powder has its advantages and
its disadvantages. If the bullets fit the shells loosely, it prevents
the powder spilling out in carrying, if the bullet comes out, and it
also serves in a measure as a gas check and prevents in a measure
fire cut. But if the bullet is concaved much in the base, the wad
is liable to be forced into the hollow base of the bullet and go with
it. I have found the pasteboard wad, lubricator, and part of the
patch at eight hundred yards from the firing place, lying beside or
sticking to the bullet, and in one instance, part of a dry pasteboard
wad, when no lubricator was used, was found sticking to the bul-
let ; the bullet was shot into snow at five hundred yards. I never
use lubricator of any kind when I want to do fine shooting, but use
a dry paper patch and wipe the gun clean and dry after every shot.

« Another very important item is the composition of the bullet,
which must be of a hardness in proportion to the amount and
strength of the powder used. A bullet that would be hard enough
to use with seventy grains of powder and shoot well, would be good
for nothing to use with a charge of one hundred or one hundred
and ten grains. It would be upset so it would take the rifling be-
yond the patch, unless the bullet was patched the whole length.
Fix upon some particular brand of powder that you can always
get, and the quantity to be used for your charge, then make some
bullets, weighing the lead and tin (if tin is used to harden),* mak-

* Hardened Balls—The composition generally used to make a hard ball, is one-
half tin to four of lead. Some authorities state that a fractional portion of anti-
mony is useful, but we should think, that any projectile similar in composition to
type metal would be too brittle. Quite a leading writer on this subject states
that balls will harden by dropping them while hot in fat, buffalo-tallow being
preferred, but we regard this as empirical, and resting on no sound chemical or
physical basis. Some English elephant-hunters have used projectiles of lead

with a steel point, but these have fallen into disuse from the want of accuracy in
their flight.
546 FOREST, FIELD, AND PRAIRIE.

\

ing a note of the proportions ; load some shells with your standard
charge of powder; patch the bullets carefully, wetting the patch

The use of hardened balls and the advantages to be derived from them, is a
much more complex subject than would seem apparent at first sight. A promi-
nent English writer states, ‘‘ that a hardened ball in striking a bone, when prop-
erly made, should flatten against the bone (of the animal) without boring through
it, while at the same time it must retain enough of its round form to obviate any
chance of the increasing distance offered to the larger surface stopping its way,
and therefore preventing its penetrating far enough.” Here then are two difficul-
ties, which apparently militate against one another, the ball must crush the bone,
and still have power sufficient to seek a vital point further on. We think this
most intelligent writer overlooks somewhat the important subjects of range and
velocity, which we think are vital to the subject. If it be smashing of the bones
which is required, we should suppose that a hardened ball, shot at close range,
with its high velocity, would least accomplish the purpose desired, for it is at a
close range only that elephants, lions and tigers are shot. The advantage to be
derived from a hard ball in breaking bones, or stunning the animals which it
strikes, would then we suppose be best effected at a slow velocity.

A curious question entering here, is that of the vitality of animals, or the
lasting powers they possess to resist when seriously wounded, The Cervi readily
succumb, while the difficulty of killing a member of the feline race has passed
into a proverb. This distinction of the staying power may even be found in
man, for it is a well known fact that an Anglo-Saxon is twice as hard to kill asa
Chinese. Hard balls are useful in the two extreme cases, where the bony portion
of the animal isin large proportion to the fleshy case of the animal, as in the
moose and eastern buffalo, and of course, where the bones are covered witha huge
mass of flesh, as in the elephant. For lions and tigers, hardened bullets are not
as useful as the ordinary ball.

Certainly the great object in using any projectile is to have the animal struck
by it to die as quickly as possible. Perhaps the most unsatisfactory thing we
know of, is to shoot a moose, and certain that he is wounded mortally, to be
forced to follow him a whole day before finding him dead. In shooting lions and
tigers, of course the preservation of the hunter's own life is to be thought of.

Explosive Shells.—The question of hard balls is likely to be silenced shortly
and forever by the use of explosive shells, an instrument first introduced by
Colonel Jacob, of the East India service, thirty years ago. To-day, sportsmen in
the East are using them against the large game,and with notable success. We
should think our friends in California might use explosive shells most advanta-
geously in their combats with the grizzly bear. This explosive bullet, which is a
combination of a rim-fire metallic cartridge, with a hollow bullet, was invented
independently by General M. C. Meigs, U.S. A., and L. H. Mead, jr., U.S. A.,
now deceased. L, H. Mead says:

“We carried the shells in Colorado, California, and Central America, and
finding them a sure thing for ordinary game, had them manufactured by the
Union Metallic Cartridge Company, at Bridgeport. Lieutenant Carpenter, of
the Hayden exploring expedition, while in Sierra Madre, fired a .so calibre, sev-
enty grain United States Government cartridge at a thousand pound grizzly, ina
Remington rifle, at one hundred and forty yards range. The four hundred and
fifty grain bullet containing a .22 calibre long pistel cartridge with seven grains
THE RIFLE. 547

quite wet in the mouth, and draw it on as tight as you can without
tearing, and stick the edge down with mucilage, using as little gum
as possible. Do not attempt to seat the bullets until they are per-
fectly dry, then shoot them into a szow bank, they will penetrate
it from three to six feet, according to its density, when they can be
readily dug out, and if they do not hit anything harder than snow,
they will be found as perfect as when they left the gun. If they
are upset so as to show the groove one-half or five-eighths of an
inch they are about the right temper; but if they are upset more
they are too soft, and if not as much they are too hard, and more
or less tin should be used; when casting bullets stir the metal
often.

“Then the size of the bullet is another point to be attended to.
If it is too large it is apt to bind in the grooves of the gun in in-
serting the cartridge, and tear the patch; and if too small and is
loose in the shell, it is liable to slide a little toward the muzzle if
the gun is held muzzle downward, and also to be drdven forward
a little by the blow of the firtng-bolt upon the cap before the charge
zs ignited. All these little things make a difference in the shoot-
ing and help to produce unaccountable misses. The same care
and nicety should be observed in loading each and every cartridge
as would be required in loading the most elaborate muzzle loader.”

Another important requisite to successful shooting, as may be
gathered from what has been already said, is that the ball should
have sufficient impinging surface to give a severe shock to and stun
the game fired at. This requires a large calibre for small game.

of powder, exploded in the brain and tore off the top of the skull, killing him
instantly.’ They can be carried in the pockets with safety. We would not
advise their use in a Winchester rifle.

Point Blank. —‘ The point blank is the point at which the line of sight inter-
sects the trajectory. Strictly speaking, the line of sight intersects the trajectory
at two points; but in practice the second intersection is only considered. This
distance is called the point blank distance, The natural point blank corresponds
to the natural line of sight; all other point blanks are called artificial point
blanks, In speaking of the point blank of a piece, the natural line of sight is sup-
posed to be horizontal. Inthe British service the point blank distance is the dis-
tance at which the projectile strikes the level ground on which the carriage
stands, the axle of the piece being horizontal.”

Thus we see that the natural point blank is at a distance which is constant and
fixed for any piece of ordnance, the charge remaining the same, and is a measure
of the power of the piece,
548 FOREST, FIELD, AND PRAIRIE.

The sportsman will have no difficulty in finding a number of
different rifles in the market, which will answer the requisite of
accuracy within the conditions above laid down. To get a rifle that
does not require the use of an elevating back sight above one hun-
dred and fifty, or even one hundred yards, we shall not find easy.
The reason of this is, that military rifles, which are long range, are
so fashionable that makers of so-called sporting rifles follow the
proportions of powder and projectile, and the rate of twist best
suited for long range, but quite unsuitable for short range. For
long range we want as small a bore as possible, as long a projec-
tile as possible, and a very quick twist, to give enough velocity of
rotation to keep the elongated projectile end foremost, and as much
powder as the small bore will burn. The result is a moderate ini-
tial velocity ; but owing to the small surface exposed to the resist-
ance of the air, the momentum of the heavy projectile, a very long
range.

Now, for a short range rifle we require the very opposite of all
this. We want as large a calibre as possible, so as to make a big
hole in our game; as large a charge of powder as possible, to give
a high velocity, without which we cannot have a low trajectory.
This also requires a short projectile, to diminish the friction on the
grooves, and a short projectile requires a slow twist. The length
of the rifle barrel must be shorter, which also diminishes friction.
To reduce these proportions to practice, we find that the Creed-
moor long range rifle and its ammunition have the following pro-
portions: Weight of rifle, ro pounds; weight of projectile, 550
grains (ratio 1-6), weight of powder, 90 grains; twist, 1 in 20
inches; calibre, 44-100; length of ball, 1.6-10 inches, length of
barrel, 30 inches. A short range rifle, suited for deer, bears,
buffalo, etc., should have the following: Weight of rifle, 9 pounds;
weight of projectile, 320 grains (ratio 4); weight of powder, 80;
twist, I in 48 inches; calibre, 55-100; length of projectile, 8 inch;
length of barrel, 24 inches. For smaller game, such as turkeys, a
calibre of 35-100 will answer, and the length or weight of ball,
charge of powder, etc., will be reduced in proportion.

The difference in the practical operation of the two rifles will be
this: With the long range weapon, if you have your range within

a very few yards, and elevate your back sight accordingly, you can
rg
THE RIFLE. 549

make accurate shooting at all ranges. But if you misjudge your
distance at all, or even if you know it and have not time to elevate
your back sight to its proper height, you will certainly either shoot
over or under your game. With a short range ‘rifle proportioned
as we have described, the drop of the ball, owing to its great veloci-
ty, is so little, there is absolutely no judging of distance required.
Whether you are at twenty-five, fifty, seventy-five or one hundred
yards, all you have to do is to draw a little coarser bead the farther
off your game is. Practice will soon show you how much. Your
ball should not deviate more than a couple of inches above or be-
low, and this does not exceed the limit of accuracy heretofore laid
down.

The faults of modern American breech-loading rifles intended
for sporting use are: 1—not large or heavy enough projectile to
make a disabling wound on an animal as large as an old buck deer.
2—not enough velocity of ball, owing to too little powder being
used, and too great friction resulting from an unnecessarily quick
twist. The muzzle-loading hunting rifles that were made twenty
or thirty years since avoided the second of these faults. Their
calibre was smailer than we should now use; but the reason was,
that in those days a hunter had to prepare his own ammunition,
and he liked to make it go as far as possible. There is one other
point that deserves mention. Shall we choose a single loading
rifle, or a repeater, that carries a magazine of cartridges? Now,
it is very clear that there are many advantages in a repeater, like
the Winchester or the new Evans rifle, and the only question ‘is,
whether there are any disadvantages, due to the greater compli-
cation of the weapon, sufficient to counterbalance the admitted
advantages.

Mr. Omohundro, of Virginia, better known as ‘“‘ Texas Jack,”
has strongly recommended the last edition of the Winchester
rifle. The earlier ones were very apt to get out of order at criti-
cal moments, their pet vice being the tilting of the ball just as it
entered the breech, whence arose jammings andrammings. Apart
from this, they were most pleasant and handy tools. The ease
with which this arm is loaded and fired, almost takes it out of the
category of “arms of precision,” and reduces it to that of the slug-
carrying “scatter gun.” It is.a very good deer gun, but for griz-

\
550 FOREST, FIELD, AND PRAIRIE.

zlies and animals that kill Zard, the charge of powder is very small,
and consequently the driving power not very great. Like the
“feather weight’ of the prize ring, it puts in its “ taps ”’ rapidly
and often; but we think the animal has the least chance with the
ponderous bone smasher, with its heavy charge of powder and ball,
whose first blow ¢e//s. An old expert says :

In hunting on the plains and in the Rocky Mountain country—
and the best big game hunting for the rifle, is west of the Missouri,
and not east of the Alleghanies—I have found that one hundred
yards was a short range compared to most of the distances at
which game is killed. I have hunted deer from the Wind River
Mountains in northwestern Wyoming Territory to the extreme
southwestern part of New Mexico, and my experience has been, that
most of the deer I have shot myself, or seen shot by others, were
killed over one hundred yards, and many over two hundred yards
(measured, for always when I can, I pace off the distance). I re-
fer more particularly to black-tail deer, as the white-tail deer keep
more in the timber, or in the thickets along the stream bottoms,
and are therefore shot generally at shorter distances. I mean the
black-tail of the hunters in the Rocky Mountain country (Cerves
Macrovzs) called by naturalists the mule deer, and not Cervés
Columbanus, the black-tail of the naturalists, which is found
farther west than the Rocky Mountains. (By the way, what im-
pertinence and presumption on the part of eastern naturalists to
try and dictate to us about the names of these deer, and to call the
black-tail the mule deer, and the Columbia River deer the only
true black-tail.) One of.my rifles, which I used for hunting in
the Far West, a Springfield, fifty calibre resighted, restocked, etc.,
by a western gunsmith, is so sighted that its point blank range is
over one hundred and fifty yards, as most of the game at which I
used it, especially antelope, were shot from one hundred and fifty
to three hundred yards. The farthest I ever killed an elk dead,
was four hundred yards (which I paced), 1 have seen many
hunters on the plains have their rifles so sighted as to have a point
blank of nearly two hundred yards, thus making a very good rifle
for antelope or elk. Elevating sights are an abomination and a
delusion, on a hunting rifle.

Guns to carry Ball,—In the timber, where game is shot at
SHOT GUNS. 551

short distances, a strong double gun is a formidable arm when
loaded with one ball and one buck shot cartridge. The ball may
be relied upon for ten rods, and at a still longer range with slight
elevation, and for snap shots at running’ game, will do fatal work
about as often as arifle. The round ball is considered as more
immediately destructive than any other. The blow is very power-
ful, and the “‘ shock ” to the animal consequently great, while the
flesh and skin will hardly close over the wound to retard bleeding.
It is claimed that large game will succumb more rapidly to the
ragged crush of such a large ball, and save many a mile of trailing
or the loss of game. There are many long arduous tramps taken
after large game, when every ounce is to be well considered in
arranging packs, and when but one gun can be carried, the use of
ball in double guns may enable a hunter to decide upon taking a
gun that will bring ducks, spruce grouse, etc., tothe larder. Round
ball cartridges may be prepared in the same way as shot cartridges,
with a wad over the powder, but none on the ball, simply creasing
the shell deeply over it, to keep it firm. é

Shot Guns—While the muzzle-loading rifle may be said to still
hold its own with the breech-loader, as proved by the long range
tests at Creedmoor and elsewhere, as well as in the field, the muz-
zle-loading shot gun has had to defer to the breech-loader. The
advantages are so much with the latter, especially in wing shoot-
ing, that we shall confine our few remarks to it exclusively. There
are so many makers of excellent guns both English and American,
(which are chiefly in use in this country,) that in attempting a
selection of the best, comparisons as to their merits become invid-
ious and fruitless of satisfactory conclusions.

By the way, we may remark, in passing, that those who are
endeavoring to fix a date from facts, for the period of perfection, in
the use of firearms for sporting purposes, will be greatly assisted
by a small Italian work, entitled “ Eccellenza della Caocta de
Cesare Solatto Romana,” printed at Rome, in 1669. The author
states, that at the time he wrote, the art of shooting on the wing
had been known in Rome about eighty years, so that it may be
taken for granted that in Italy sportsmen began to shoot on the
wing about 1589. It istherefore natural to suppose that about the
same period that practice became tolerably general on the conti-
552 FOREST, FIELD, AND PRAIRIE.

nent of Europe. It is a remarkable fact, which can be verified by
reference to the collection of arms in the Tower of London, that
the periods of excellence in the manufacture of arms have been in-
termittent, and that modern superiority seems to have been merely
the revival in great part, of what at sundry previous times would
appear to have been almost a lost art.

In the purchase of guns sportsmen must be governed by their
pecuniary resources; and as all cannot afford to purchase the
highest priced English guns which cost at least two hundred and
fifty dollars in our markets, including their fixtures, they naturally
inquire if an American gun equally good cannot be bought at a
price much less. Undoubtedly, we have as competent gunsmiths
here as any abroad, and inasmuch as most of the materials used
by them are of foreign production, imported ina crude state, it is
reasonable to suppose that they can be and are perfected and em-
bodied in the completed gun at a much less expense than the
imported gun would cost. Such a gun, when obtained, is a treas-
ure. But it happens that a great many inferior low priced guns
are placed upon the market under the pretentious titles of ‘ Stub-
twist,” “laminated steel,” ‘‘Damas¢us,”’ and the like,* retailing
at from thirty to seventy dollars; so that one is liable to be de-
ceived unless he is a good judge. The only safety in purchasing,
therefore, is to obtain reliable counsel, and to deal with honest and
responsible parties.

Inasmuch as good muzzle loaders can be bought at very low
prices, there is a prevalent disposition to have them altered to
breech-loaders, for the sake of convenience and safety; but we
would not advise this change except in special cases, as the expense
of altering will nearly equal the additional cost of a new breech-
loader. Choice of guns depends upon the habits and quests of the
shooter. For a man who shoots but little, and seldom on the wing
a muzzle-loader is as good as need be required. For a man who
wants a general service gun, for field, cover and trap shooting,
a breech-loading gun of eight and a half pounds weight, thirty
inch barrels, and ten gauge is the proper tool. It will answer

* In the twist barrel the lines run with perfect regularity ; the laminated bar-
rel being hammered, the surface presents an irregular appearance. In a stub
twist barrel the material is rolled as in Damascus or laminated, but less twisted
The common twist is made of inferior metal and scraps, but is also twisted.
GUNS. 553

for snipe, grouse, hares, turkeys and ducks, and for deer, when
loaded with buck-shot. However, a No. 12 gauge is serviceable
enough, the odds against it being merely that it will not stand so
heavy acharge as a ten gauge, and of course will not bag the
game shot at, as often or as easily as the other. For wild fowl
shooting, use a gun from nine anda half to ten pounds weight,
thirty-two inch barrels, andten gauge. For “ point shooting,” on
the Chesapeake Bay and similar places, a fourteen pound, five to
eight bore, single gun, is the most effective.

Guns for natural history specimens should be sixteen bore, and
twenty-six inch barrel; load with mustard shot and a half drachm
of powder. No gun will do itself justice or give proper execution
unless it is properly loaded. Correct loading used to be acquired by
careful observation and practice; but now we have a table of pro-
portionate charges for different gauges, which has been prepared
by Major H. W. Merrill, United States Army, to whom all inexpe-
rienced sportsmen owe a large debt of obligation. The table,
which is herewith given, is based upon the rule that “ The propor-
tzonate charges of shot guns of different bores are to each other in
the ratio of the area of thetr bores.”

TABLE OF PROPORTIONATE CHARGES OF SHOT-GUNS OF DIFFERENT
GAUGES FROM NO. 4 TO 16 INCLUSIVE.

 

 

 

 

QX a a
= o& nef ag | BS Sb S$
sO Sse SY jes a 8 eo
38 ws Ys [yh 8 oe . & gS
a8 os asp [ss 8 8 4 8
Req yS 2G 1883 Ry 8 Sh&
s* | 88 si"e] ss x & SR
2 a8 S/S] ss g SS
4 1.08 9137 | 2-45 | 7 1-3d | 2 7-16 oz. 534
5 99 7693 | 2.06] 6 1-5d | 2 1-16 OZ. 449
6 93 6782 | 1.82] sid 1% OZ. 397
7 89. 6277 | 1.67] 5d I 13-16 OZ. 364
8 85 5052 | 1.51 | 4d 1} .0Z. 329
9 82 5275 | 1-41 | 4d I 7-16 OZ. 307
x0 +79 4398 | 1.31 | 4d I 5-16 Oz. 286
Il 76 4521 | 1.20) 3 a-3d I 3-16 Oz. 264
12 +73 | 4176 | 1.12 | 3 1-3d | 134 O72. 244
13 Aah 3956 | 1.06} 3 x-sd | 1x 31-1602. 231
Unit of | 14 69 | 3736] 1. | 3d I oz. 218 }Tatham’s
measure. 15° 67 3516 | 0.94 | 2 4-sd «15-16 OZ. 203 |standard
2 4-5 drs. 16 65 3228 | 0.86 | 2 3-sd «14-16 OZ, 188 |shot No. 6.

 

Nore.—The unit of measure is three drachms of powder and one ounce of shot
for a No, 14 gun.

The charges given are not too light for small game within forty-
five or fifty yards; for young boys they are too heavy, and may be
reduced one-fourth. The Major advises that beyond fifty yards,

24
554 FOREST, FIELD, AND PRAIRIE.

for large game, ducks, turkeys, geese, deer, etc., the charges be in-
creased according to the powers of the gun and the ends to be ac-
complished. Some persons will say, and quite truly, that all guns
of the same bore do not call for the same amount of ammunition.
They are exceptions to the general rule; load them to suit their
peculiarities. Very light guns, with large bores, may not shoot
pleasantly, from too much recoil; load them less, but at the ex-
pense of penetration and wounded game. Cheap guns with rough
barrels, and rusty or dirty guns, may kick too much with these
loads. These, with all other nondescript and unduly proportioned
guns, are excepted from the general rule. This presupposes fair»
guns only. Very diverse results with good guns may be brought
about by having the powder disproportionate to the shot and con-
versely ; using very coarse and very fine powder, also very coarse
and very fine shot; by employing more or less wads varying in di-
ameter and thickness, and setting them home upon the charge with
different pressure or ramming; by holding the gun, when dis-
charged, firmly to the shoulder or otherwise, etc. Now, if all these
items control the shooting, does it not follow that to load a gun ac-
curately for all purposes requires many experiments, good judg-
ment, and even great skill?

Choke-Boring.—There have been many crucial tests of choke-
bored guns against smooth-bores, both in this country and England,
but the advocates of one and the other do not seem wholly satis-
fied with the exhibit as deciding their respective merits. The ad-
vantages of choke-boring under certain conditions of field shooting
are certainly conceded. The effect of choke-boring is to increase |
the effectiveness of the gun at long range. If we did a// of our
shooting at very long range, we would be induced to use a choke-
bored gun, or at all events, to have the barrel choke-bored; but
for our own customary service we prefer a gun not choked, for the
reason that we have found that the Kay concentrating cartridges
produce the effect that is claimed for the choke-bores. Thus we
have the choice, at all times, between the straight and the choke,
which gives us an advantage in shooting which we should not have
if restricted to the one or the other. Mr. A. G. Dole, a veteran
sportsman of fifty years’ practice, says very truly, in a letter to the
“Rod and Gun” journal:
GUNS. $35

“There are but very few choice guns made in this age, either
in this or foreign countries, which may not be called choke-bores,
.for the calibers of the barrels are smaller at the muzzle than they
are at the breech. If any person doubts this statement, let him
apply the calipers to the Parker, Remington, Schaefer, Tonks, Scott,
Greener and other guns. I am inclined to think that there are many
persons who have guns of recent make and good shooters, and who
call their guns straight-bores, would find them to be, on close in-
spection, choke-bores. The true principle of choking, I think, is to
have the taper as long, as gradual and in as perfect a circle as pos-
sible, and terminating some half-inch from the extreme end of the
barrels, being careful to avoid all abruptness in the beginning and
end of the choke, and leaving a perfect surface. I regard 1-16 of
an inch as the extreme choke for any gun; I prefer 1-32 of an inch.
As I almost uniformly discharge the right barrel first, I have this
barrel choked a trifle less than the left.’’

The Use of Ftrearms.—We enjoin upon all sportsmen a care-
ful observance of the following rules in handling guns, which are
given by a prominent member of the New York State Sportsmen’s
Association :

ist—Never in excitement nor in fun point it towards any human being.

ad—Never carry it so that if accidentally discharged it would endanger the life
of a dog even.

3d—Always think, when walking, which way your gun is pointed, and if a com-
panion is in the field with you, no matter how near and how temptingly the game
appears, do not shoot until you know just where he is, and that a stray shot may
not possibly strike him, for one little pellet is sufficient to destroy an eye forever.

4th—Never get into a wagon without taking the cartridges from the gun.

sth—Never get over a fence without either taking the cartridges out, or placing
the gun through the fence on the ground, so that if you fall or the fence breaks it
cannot be discharged.

6th—Always carry the gun at half-cock.

7th—Never let the hammers rest on the “ plungers,” or pieces which strike the
cap.

8th—Never try to close it when the hammers are down. 7

gth—Never get in front of it yourself. If you see you are about to fall, drop the
gun so the muzzle will be from you. Occasionally a cartridge will stick after it has
been fired. A stout thin blade of knife will generally extract it, if not remove the
other cartridge, and then cut astraight stick and poke it out from the muzzle, but
even then don’t place your body in front of it, but content yourself with using the
hand.

roth—After firing one barrel, take the cartridge from the other and examine the
wad over the shot to see that it is not loosened by the concussion as it very fre-
556 FOREST, FIELD, AND PRAIRIE.

quently is, which would produce a heavy recoil, and if it gets up the barrel, will

burst the gun and likely take a hand off besides.
1rth—Never take hold of the muzzle to draw it toward you, nor set it up, when,

if falling its muzzle would be toward you.
Finally, follow all these suggestions and be self-possessed, and the fields will

afford you sport without danger, and I hope without temptation.

HINTS FOR SOUTHERN SHOOTING, |

For all but boat shooting, guns to be used under the hot.sun
that, even in winter, falls on the Southern fields with a fierce heat,
should be light, and of not too large bore, to economize weight of
ammunition.

A rifle should be short, and one chosen that will in opening be
free from long levers that may catch in bridle reins, will avoid an-
noyance. For alligators and panthers, the Mead explosive ball is
unequalled, and its use increases very materially the chances of so
shocking and stunning those tenacious animals as to recover them
atonce. All the talk of a ball glancing harmlessly from their scales
may have been true years ago, but the modern rifle carries its mis-
sile through the scales and skull, and penetrates any part of the
animal, even at long range.

For all but the “ gator,” the shot gun is the convenient arm.
Deer are usually “jumped” and shot bounding through the large
leaves of low palmetto, and at all times one load of fine shot is
needed for quail, snipe and plumage birds, that are constantly flut-
tering up. For this reason, on account of the miscellaneous char-
acter of the game, where one is liable at any time to meet deer,
quail, panthers, snipe, bears, ducks, or wild-cattle, which are more
dangerous than any other animal, as they are likely to charge a
foot-man at sight (a horseman is safe), we have always been per-
sistent in recommending the Baker three-barrel gun, notwith-
standing the prejudice against combination arms. It is very light
and handy, and always prepared for the exigencies of the chase.
The rifle barrel occupies the place taken up by a ramrod in the
ordinary muzzle-loader. The gun has two shot barrels 12-gauge,
and one rifle barrel 44 calibre. Central fire, one extractor with-
drawing all three shells. Weight of gun eight and three-quarter
pounds. The rifle is apt to shoot truer than the ordinary sporting
rifle, because it lies under the shot barrels, the tendency of all rifle-
HINTS FOR SOUTHERN SHOOTING. 557

men being to over shoot. Wild turkeys are hard to kill, but often
an expert caller will bring them so near that missing them is
needless, and the use of a wire cartridge of large shot in one barrel
will do all that can be to insure success in getting this superb bird,
which is a far finer trophy, and more difficult to obtain than any
that tempts the sportsman from his camp while the day has not
dawned.

In following a wounded deer on the trail, remember that as a
general rule all wounded animals will travel the easiest paths and
those requiring the least exertion. Always let a wounded deer lie
down and “ get sick ” before following in the trail. The time con-
sumed will not be wasted. The quality of the blood, whether it be
bright red or dark, and the way it lies upon the trail, will indicate
whether the animal is hit ina vital part. The tracks will also help
often in this, and should inform you whether the animal is fat or in
poor order. If following a wounded bear and you have reason to
know where he is, do not approach on the trail, for he is watchful
that way, but circle and approach from another direction, and if
possible against the wind.

In still hunting or trail following, remember that you can not
go too watchfully, carefully or slow. Go slow, sit down often,
don’t shoot if by yourself until you get a dead shot; don’t be
afraid to let a deer run away without shooting at him. Never
shoot at the bulk of anything ; always shoot at some particular
place on a deer, the smaller the better, so it be not his head; but
even the head is better than to just get a sight full, and pull with-
out knowing where you are going to hit him. Of course, some-
times you will have to-shoot quick, but don’t mistake “ quick”’ for
a “hurry and flurry.” These last two words in hunting and rifle
shooting mean nearly the same thing. When you kill game so big
that you can’t take it to camp and have to return for it, always
mark it down by some prominent object so as to find it easily.

In Florida, Mississippi, and Louisiana, which are much inter-
sected and traversed by bayous and water courses, for short trips
from the settlements, nothing will be more convenient, and render
the sportsman more independent, than a flat-bottomed boat, with
small sail, centre board, and a water tight end with tight trap to
carry dry clothing, tea, sugar, etc., to protect from the frequent
558 FOREST, FIELD, AND PRAIRIE.

showers. Floating quietly with the current or tide, a patient
hunter may surprise almost all the game birds and animals, and he
will see more of interest in the little streams than in miles of the
frequented channels. For exploration and travel a boat. eighteen
to twenty-two feet long, four and a half or five feet beam, with the
full width carried to the stern, built with a flat keel, and broad
bearings to insure light draft, fitted with centre board and sail, the
latter on sliding topmast for compactness, will be found the best.
When anchored the bow will point to the wind. A tent open aft
may be hung under the boom, spread with stretchers, and furled
sail; and with light boards a bed for three or four may be arranged,
and cooking by spirit lamp be done at the wide stern. With such
a boat, and two good negroes, boatmen, (cooks they generally are,)
more interesting. trips can be made than with a yacht, and more
unfrequented points be reached. If cruising in the wide waters is
intended, some considerable shear to the bow lines will make a
drier and safer boat, and a canvas bow deck will do good service,
Air cushions will be found very comfortable, and in mishaps they
are invaluable as life preservers.

Often for miles no hard ground is to be found, and some heat-
ing apparatus is indispensable. No one should brave the night air
of the everglades without warm and stimulating food and drinks,
and a little quinine will dono harm. Light wines are of great ser-
vice, and the water flowing from the swamps will not be harmed
by a “wee drop,” and for the rattlesnake or moccasin bite that
never comes, the same is needful. Prudent ones usually do not
wait for a bite, but show unbounded confidence in preventive
measures. [For additional instructions see chapter on Woodcraft,
hereafter. ] .

fiints on Prairie Shooting. —The 15th of August is the opening
day of the season for pinnated grouse—or “ chickens,” as they are
usually called out west, and during the remainder of that month
and the first two weeks of September, much larger bags can be
made than later in the season; but to us there is very little pleas-
ure in shooting a large number of this splendid game when the
weather is so extremely warm, using up both the hunter and his
dogs, and when it is almost impossible to prevent the game from
spoiling on our hands. Moreover, in making the trip thus early in
HINTS FOR SOUTHERN SHOOTING. 559

the season, the only kind of game to be found is the pinnated
grouse, but by deferring the time until the latter part of September,
we can have, say, a week’s shooting for grouse, and at the end of
that time the snipe and ducks will begin to visit the lakes and
marshes which abound in the west and northwest, and afford most
excellent sport. In order to have the best sport, it is important
that each shooter should take with him at least one good, steady,
well-broken dog, and in condition to work day after day, and by
all means one that is a good retriever. If a dog is a strong, well-
formed fellow, and in proper condition for work, is properly fed
and has a comfortable place to sleep after his day’s work is over,
he will do all the work required of him on such a trip; yet it is far
better to have one or a brace of extra dogs along, in case of lame-
ness or some other casualty. There are, no doubt, many places
in Illinois where fair grouse shooting could be found, but during
the past seven or eight years we have considered it best to cross
the Mississippi River into Iowa or Missouri, or to shoot in Wiscon-
sin. In making such shooting trips we have frequently availed
ourselves of trustworthy information from the different conductors
of the trains over the prairies as to the best places to stop. Many
of these gentlemen are sportsmen, and we have found all to be
courteous and anxious to give strangers valuable information as to
where comfortable quarters and game may be found. In such
shooting, it is absolutely necessary to have a team and driver, as
the game is too heavy to carry any length of time; but a good
team and careful driver can always be found at moderate rates.

Early in the season, use No. 8 shot ; later, No. 6.

How to Load for Game.—A ten-bore will chamber about five
buckshot ; put in about four layers and four drachms of powder.
Pinnated grouse, three and a half drachms powder and one and
one-eighth ounces No. 8 shot. Ruffed grouse (partridge) three
and a half drachms powder and one and one-fourth ounces No. 8
shot. Woodcock and snipe, three drachms powder and one and
one-eighth ounces No. Io shot. Powder, No. 6 Laflin & Rand’s,
Some years ago fine grain powder was generally used; the coarse
grain gives better penetration and less recoil, Either the brown
or blue shells’can be loaded again, provided they are intact and
not injured anywhere,
560 FOREST, FIELD, AND PRAIRIE.

BLINDS; DECOYS; CALLS; AND OTHER DEVICES.

Blinds for Wild Fowl.—If the blind is built of small branches
or bushes, they should be stuck up in the ground close together,
smaller twigs entwined among them, and bunches of grass, weeds,
rice, or flags scattered judiciously over and amongst them, to close
all open or thin places. If very large bushy branches are used,
they may be laid down crossing each other, with the tops turned
outwards. The blind should never be built higher than the shoul-
ders of the shooter when in an erect position.

In blue-bill shooting upon the edges of ploughed prairies and
cornfields, a good blind may be made by turning your boat upon
its edge, and bracing it in that position by a stake or oar.

In the winter when the ground is covered with snow, a blind
made of bleached cotton cloth fastened to stakes stuck in the
ground, affords a good concealment, and cannot be easily distin-
guished from the surrounding snow. A white covering should
be worn over the cap or hat.

The Sneak Box.—The box in which the shooter lies should be
made of pine, sides and bottom one inch, and ends two inches thick,
and of proportions adapted to the size of the person to occupy it,
six feet long, two feet wide, and thirteen inches deep, being proper
for an ordinary sized man. Along each side and across the ends,
one inch below the top edge of the box, two-by-four-inch pine
timbers are fastened, framed together at equal heights, and extend-
ing on all sides, two and a half feet from the box. This frame
should be slanted off on top fully an inch towards the ends to give
a pitch to the deck, and on the under side should also be reduced
in the same manner to make it as light as possible for handling:
The frame is next covered with a pine platform a half inch thick,
which is further strengthened by the addition of a brace reaching
from the centre of the box on each side. This platform is bounded
on three sides by hinged wings of.cotton cloth, which are two feet
wide, fastened to a pine frame work, and so constructed as to ad-
mit of being folded back upon the platform when not in use; at
the fourth side or head of the sneak, the wing, instead of being
made of cloth, is partly composed of two half-inch pine boards,
eight inches wide, hinged together and extending the width of the
BLINDS AND OTHER DEVICES. S61

platform, to which the inner board is fastened by strong hinges ;
the rest of the wing, which is equal in width to the others, is of
cloth, and all the -wings are joined together by angle-pieces of the
same material. A border of sheet lead three inches in height is
to be tacked completely around the outside edge of the box, and
inclined outwards like the flare of a boat, to throw off any little
ripple that might otherwise wash in the box. Across the head,
and about half way around the sides, where the tendency of the
waves to wash in is always the greatest, a second circular rim of
lead, four inches high, as a double precaution, should also be fast-
ened and flared like the other. This outside rim should be placed
about fifteen inches from the end of the box. Short pieces of rope
about six feet in length are fastened at each end about three feet
apart, to the cross timbers at the head of the box, to the middle
of which rope the anchor line is attached. A second anchor is
also sometimes used, which should be fastened to the foot of the
platform. This, however, except in very shallow water, is needless.
The whole is now to be painted as near the color of the water as
possible. From the position of the shooter in the box, it is evident
he can shoot only within very limited directions. The decoys must
be so arranged that ducks coming to them will approach in such a
manner as shall be most favorable for shooting. Not less than
one hundred decoys should be used, placed square to the right
fifteen yards, and to the left twenty-five yards, from this line nar-
rowing gradually to a point about ten yards to the left of a direct
line leeward, and at a distance of thirty-five vards from the sink ;
from this point three or four tolers ten to fifteen yards apart to
leeward, and inclined towards the direction the ducks mainly
approach from or pass by. Near the centre of this triangle, which
is the figure the flock now represents, the decoys should be scat-
tered a trifle more than at other places, and the ducks will en-
deavor to alight there. A few ducks should be fastened to the
platform of the sink, This manner of placing the decoys is the one
most favorable for sneak-box shooting. No matter on which side
ducks may be when they observe the decoys, they almost invari-
ably approach to alight against the wind. More decoys are set to
the left of the sneak, because it is much easier for the shooter to
swing his gun on that side. The shooter should be careful not to
562 FOREST, FIELD, AND PRAIRIE.

rise up too soon when ducks aré approaching. Wait until they are
over the “ tail” decoys, and if there is a large flock and they choose
to alight, let them do so, and when they bunch rise and fire quickly,

Decoys.—Never use any but wood decoys—as all others are
open to many objections. White cedar and soft pine are the best
on account of their extreme lightness and ease in cutting. Pine is
better for heads, being less easily broken, while cedar is the most
durable. The timber should be well seasoned and free from knots
and sap. For ducks two by six inches is the proper size. The
timber being planed and sawed to proper lengths, is next cut
around on its edge according to a pattern representing a horizon-
tal section of the decoy. Two pieces are needed for each decoy,
which must be hollowed out to the proper thickness. The head
after being shaped is fitted to the top part by a screw underneath,
and the two parts being roughly carved into shape as desired,
must be nicely fitted together, glued or cemented firmly, and the
decoy rounded and finished smooth. After being thoroughly
sand-papered, it should be dampened ail over so as to raise the
grain of the wood, and when dry should be again sand-papered.
Give the decoy a thin coat of shellac varnish, and it will prevent
the absorption of water. After this, a heavy coat of some neutral
tint, which should be mixed with raw oil without any drier. This
must be allowed to dry thoroughly before the colors are put on.
Artists tube colors should be used, being more lively and durable
than common paint. A small brass wire staple or piece of Jeather
should be fastened to the lower part of the breast, to attach the
line to; a piece of lead about four ounces in weight should be se-
cured on the bottom lengthwise, like a keel, and the decoy is
finished. Each decoy should have a separate line and anchor, a
piece of lead is best for the last.

Dead Ducks as Decoys.—Having killed the duck and secured
him, take a stick, a reed or the stalk of a strong weed that is stout
and strong, sharpen one end to a point, which insert under the
skin of the duck’s breast and along up the neck just beneath the
skin, into the head. Do this sv that the head will hold a natural
position to the body and the neck is not awry. Then wade out
and plant the other end of the stick in the mud over which there
is a foot of water or a little more. The body of the duck must
BLINDS AND OTHEK DEVICES. 563

then rest on the water as that of a live duck does, and after hav-
ing smoothed the feathers nicely. It is best to keep on setting
these decoys until you have seven or eight, and if you increase
the number it will be all the better.

Stools for Snipe, etc.—Stools are made of wood in imitation of
the birds to be decoyed; or dead birds may be used as above.
They should be placed at a proper shooting distance from the
blind where the shooter is concealed.

Live Geese Decoys.—In bar shooting they should not be staked
out, for the following reasons: Very few Canada geese or brant
used for decoys become properly reconciled to their captivity.
They remain more or less wild, and when fettered, are apt to lose
their footing, on account of sudden frights, etc., and fall forwards
allin a sprawl. There they remain prone, tagging and straining
for hours until relieved. If wild geese are in the vicinity where
this occurs, good-bye to the game; it will not be deceived. More-
over, the gunner should retain control of his decoys, in order to be
able to get them away, when necessary, from the spot towards
which the wild birds are heading. No one wishes to shoot his
own birds, and many a time have I seen my decoy brant completely
surrounded by the wild ones. In such emergencies, a strong line
running into the box or blind is the only means of extricating the
decoys from the line of fire, and with me it was always successful.
To prevent twisting up and other entanglements, put a strong
swivel at the junction of the two leather fetters. Tothe other end
of the swivel attach a piece of cord, say six feet long. Fasten
your geese in pairs to a third swivel, to which attach your decoy
line, which must be large and strong in proportion to the size of
the decoys. In bar shooting always locate your sunken box, the
only admissible kind of ambush, within easy range of some tongue
or spit of sand extending into the water, and forming a natural
landing-place for the fowl to get their footing. Then give your
decoys just scope enough to keep them well short of the spot where
you are morally certain the quarries will land. If two pairs are
worked, which are quite enough, place one pair to the right and
the other to the left, when practicable, and keep them there. The
fettered geese, as a rule, prefer to stand just at the edge of the
water, and get as far away from the shooter’s position as the line
564 FOREST, FIELD, AND PRAIRIE.

will allow them to go. They soon learn not to throw themselves
down by vain struggles, and when this by chance occurs a little
slacking up of the coy line enables them to recover their feet.
Where two pairs of geese are to be placed out in the same direc-
tion, keep one materially shorter than the other, to avoid tan-
gling. The decoy geese may be advantageously accustomed to
the restraint of the fetters at home weeks before using on
the bar.

Sguawker for Duck Shooting.—Take a tube of bamboo cane,
about three-fourths of an inch inside diameter and from four to
eight inches long; a plug about three inches long is fitted to one
end, and after being split in two, one-half is grooved to within a
quarter of an inch of its smaller end, the groove being perhaps a
quarter of an inch wide and of the same depth. The tongue is a
very thin piece of sheet brass, which should be hammered to in-
crease its elasticity ; it should be about two and a half inches long
and from three-eighths to half an inch wide. At one end, which
should be thinner than the other, the corners should be rounded.
The tongue is then placed over the grooved half, the round end
nearly to the extreme smaller end of the plug, and the tongue
completely covering the groove. The other half of the plug
should be shortened about an inch and a half from its smaller end
and then being placed on the grooved part, thus holding the tongue
fast, both should be pushed firmly in the tube. By blowing in the
other end of the tube the call is produced ; some little practice
andsexperience is necessary to use correctly. You should pay par-
ticular attention to the different notes of wild fowl as well as the
occasions of them being made, whether asa call, anote of welcome
or a note of suspicion.

Turkey Calls —Make a little box of Spanish cedar two and one-
half inches long ; three-fourths to seven-eightns deep, and one
inch wide. Cut a piece of smooth slate so that it will lie nicely in
the bottom of the box; have the top smooth and even, and no
rosin will be needed, Make the box of the same material through-
out, and put together with drass pzus. Brads or glue spoil the
sound, not giving sufficient vibration.. If made from pieces of
cigar box, be sure that no paper remains on the box, and use the
thinnest portions. Another call consists of a short piece of Span-
ADDITIONAL HINTS. 565

ish cedar, with a good sized nail driven half through it; draw a
piece of slate across the head of the nail.

To operate either of these calls, hold the slate between the
thumb and middle finger of the right hand, while the call is held
by the thumb and middle finger of the left. Above all things, do
not make over five strokes for a single call—oftener four. If you
exceed this number you will get no turkey, for a turkey can count.

Still another call is made in this wise: Take a piece of dry
cedar two inches long and one and a half inches wide and a quarter
inch thick, and with a narrow chisel hollow this out so that the
sides are about as thin as a piece of tin or it may be a little thicker,
so that it is not too delicate. It should be hollowed out within a
quarter of an inch of the bottom and end, and your call is complete.
Take both ends between your thumb and fingers and rub it cross-
wise against the but plate of your gun, or rub it on your gun bar-
rels. You require no rosin or anything else; simply the naked
wood as made. In one hour’s practice you can perfectly imitate a
gobbler or a hen at your pleasure. One beauty about this is, you
never make a mis-call or screech ; it is perfect every time. Many
hunters, however, prefer the old-time hollow bone of the turkey’s
wing.

Whistle for calling Bay Snipe—Carefully dry the leg of a
curlew, push out the marrow with a red hot knitting needle, plug
up one end and then practice.

A Plover Whestle.—Take a round miniature tin box three-
quarters of an inch in diameter and a quarter of an inch thick, or
less, and a small hole exactly through the centre. If it does not
answer fully on trial, ream out the hole a trifle. We have seen
these whistles on sale at toy stores. A little practice will enable
you to call any whistling bird.

ADDITIONAL HINTS, RECIPES, TABLES AND
MEASURES.

Gunpowder—The following table shows the composition of
the different gunpowders :

Mills, Nitre. Charcoal, Sulphur.
Royal Waltham Abbey.. as 15.00 10.00
France, National Mills.. ace 12.50 12.50
French Sporting........ssseeeee0s x 12,00 10.00

 
566

FOREST, FIELD, AND PRAIRIE.

   

 

Mills. Nitre
French Mining........ Pes 65.00
United States of America. = +75.00
Prussia cecccesaseseeenses +675 .00
Russia....seeee ee -73-78
Austria (musket). +72,00
Spain..... canes = +7647
Sweden...... SoBe ei Noeinapesisictats + 76.00
Switzerland (Round Powder) + +76,00
Chinese....-:.cscceceeeeenecenecee 75.00

Theoretical proportions as above.75.

Charcoal.
15.00
12.50
13.50
13.50
17.00
10.78
15.00
14.00
14.40
13.23

Sulph
20.00
12.50
11.50
12.63
16.00
12.75

9.00
10,00
9-99
11.77

ur,

Powder Measure.—The following is a table showing the dif-
ference in drachms:

1 Ib. avoirdupois weight is 7,000 grains.
1 lb, apothecary 5,760 grains.
1 lb. Tro «@ 5,760 grains.
102. avoirdupois es. "4376 grains,
1 oz. apothecary 480 grains.
1 oz. Troy re 480 grains.

1 drachm avoirdupois is 1-16 of 437% grains, a little less than 273 grains,
1 drachm apothecary is ¥¢ of 480 grains, or 60 grains.
2734 grains of powder in a drachm and 480 grains of lead in an ounce.

fumber of Shot 2x a Charge.—Sportsmen will find the fol-
lowing table useful when trying new guns ata target, as it will
show the number of shots a charge contains against the number
the gun puts in the target—z. ¢. presuming that no one fires
more than one and one-half ounces of shot in a charge:

NUMBER OF PELLETS EACH SIZE IN I OZ,

 

 

Leys Edgar Tatham &| Chicago Shot English

Co. Bros. T Shot.

No. t0.....45 848 No. 1,700
9. 568 1,000
8. 399 606
7. 2g o
6. 218 S
5. 168 220
4. 133 180
3. 106 130
2. 86 110
I. 71 $0
Bieseees 88 59 —
BB..... 49 56 Cal

 

To find the proportion in one and a quarter or one and a half

ounces, of course it is only necessary to add the proper pro-
portion.

The Dittmar Wood Powder.—As this powder has come into
considerable use, the following published directions for using it
are important to print here:

‘* This powder has to be used in about the same manner as black powder ; care
only has to be taken not to press it into too small a space, as it is more elastic
than the black. The new powder makes very little smoke, causes no recoil, does
ADDITIONAL HINTS. 567
e

not soil the gun, does not heat the barrel, sends a ball further than the old
powder, keeps shot well together, can be kept wet for any length of time, and be
transported or stowed in that state without danger from fire. It is three times
stronger than black sporting powder, and three times as bulky. There are two
distinct and different kinds of shot gun powder, marked—

S. A., coarse grain.

S. B., medium grain, te |
= roa fine geain: All alike in strength.
ff,, very fine grain.

The shot gun powder may be used in all the larger bores, from No. 6 to No.
14. For bores above 14 the rifle powder should be used, as this variety dues not
give good results unless well confined, as it is much slower than shot gun powder.
At present three sizes of rifle powder are made.

R. A., coarse.
R. B., medium. } All the same strength.
R.C., fine. -

When using rifle powder fill the cartridge shell to the top, give it a few taps on
the table so that the powder may settle duwn even, and load the bullet as usual.
Do not press powder into a shell with a stick. There is no need of using a wad
and lubricating material on top, as the powder does not foul the gun like black
powder. For muzzle loading rifles press the powder down with the bullet, as you
would when using black powder, till you feel the bullet is on the powder. Use a
good fitting bullet. If you use the powder in pistols or revolvers, without shells,
do not ram or force the bullet with a lever into the chamber, as in this case you
will confine the powder too closely.’ Simply use force enough to permit the bullet
to rest upon the powder, having top of bullet level with top of chamber. The
rifle powder is the proper kind for small arms.”

Directions for Loading Shot Guns—Use about the same
measured quantity as you would of black powder. Jf ¢hzs does
not give satisfaction use a little more, up to half adrachm meas-
ure. This will give you the same bulk as black powder after the
wad ts pressed down. Give a few taps to the charge to settle
the powder evenly, and you will always have the same weight
(that fs, about one-third) as you would have by using an equal du/é
of black powder. In brass or metal shells use a wad two sizes
larger than bore, and in paper shells use ove szze larger.

By carefully following the above detailed directions for shot
guns and rifles, effectcveness and safety are secured.

If the powder becomes wet, spread it on paper and it will dry
quickly without injury to its power. If desirable to store it in an
exposed situation, it can be kept wet in a cask and afterwards
dried in the air or in a room. The most delicate tests thus far
made have not exhibited the slightest trace of injury to the finest

barrels by the products of combustion.
568 FOREST, FIELD, AND PRAIRIE.

Concentrators and Wire Cartrtdges,—Concentrators are sec-
tions of cartridges or shells inserted in the shell to produce close
shooting. Wire cartridges are woven wire receptacles in which
shot are mixed with bone dust, the object being to cause the shot
to hold together or “ball”’ for a certain distance, thus carrying
closer and farther.

Flannel Shot Cartridges. —A cheap long range shot cartridge
is made of small bags of flannel or cheviot eloth about two inches
long, filled with, say one and one-eighth ounce No. 5 shot, loaded
into brass shells containing three and one-half drachms Hazard
ducking powder. They are good for seventy-five yards,

To Load Paper Shells—Use one card wad and two Ely’s pink
edge, or one card wad and one Ely’s thick felt on powder and one
Baldwin wad on shot. All wads should be the size of the gun,
although many persons use a size larger.

When loading, first see that the caps or primers are pressed
well in their places, and do not project above the heads of the
shells ; then place the shell on a block with a hole under the cap,
so deep that a stray shot or other small article will not give some-
thing for the cap to rest on, There will be no danger of an acci-
dental discharge with any reasonable usage in loading or ramming
home the charge.

To Load a Choke Bore.—Charge with three and a quarter
drachms of C. & H. No 6, and one and an eighth ounces of No. 6
shot, and use over the powder a thick, soft felt Ely’s wad, and over
the shot half of a similar wad, cut even and level with a sharp knife.
The paper shell should not be turned down more than will suffice
to just hold the wad in place. Buckshot can be used in a choke-
bored gun, provided they chamber in the muzzle.

A Shell Holder. —Take a dry pine board two inches thick, eight
inches wide and long enough to hold the required number of shells.
Mark it in one and a quarter inch squares for ten-gauge shells, or
a little less for twelve-gauge. Bore a hole of the right size for the
shell to fit snugly through the centre of each square. Fita thinner
board on one side of this, and hinge it there so it can be thrown
back to put the shells through. Bore half inch holes through this
just opposite those in the thick board. Now supposing the shells
are empty, with the old caps on, throw back the light board or lid,
ADDITIONAL HINTS. 569

put the shells through from that side, close it, lay it lid side down
on the table, and each shell stands ready to have the cap punched
out. Turn it, open the lid and re-cap. Close the lid and turn
again and they stand muzzles up ready to be charged. Of course
this contrivance is not intended to be carried while in the field, but
it is a great convenience in loading, and is just the thing for
carrying them in a wagon. If desired a neat box can be made to
inclose the whole. '

To Clean Brass Shells —t. Vinegar, or a weak solution of ox-
alic acid will brighten the shells: but for cleaning the inside of the
shells, use Ronall’s metal shell cleaner.

2. Rub the shells with a mixture of two parts sulphuric acid,
two parts water, and one part pulverized bi-chromate potash, and
then wash them in hot water. This will render a green and cor-
roded shell as bright as new without injuring it in the least ; but
this recipe is of no use to those who like a verde antique appear-
ance inside and out of their shells,

3. One ounce cyanuret potassum, one pint of soft water,
“dissolve ;”’ put this into a quart preserve jar with a glass cover.
Set it down by the fire where it will get warm, put the shells into
it, as many as it will hold, for twenty minutes or half an hour;
take out with astick and souse with warm water two or three times ;
then dry the shells before a hot fire ; they will come out perfectly
clean. Set this mixture away for future use and mark it “ poison.”

Fulminate for Caps and Cartridges—Dissolve by a gentle
heat 100 parts, by weight, of mercury in 100 parts, by weight,
of nitric acid of a specific gravity 1.4, and- when the solution has
acquired a temperature of 130° F., slowly pour it through a glass
funnel tube into 830 parts, weight, of alcohol, of the specific grav-
ity of .830. When effervescence is over, and white fumes cease to
rise, filter through paper wet with cold water, dry (the residue) by
steam heat not exceeding 212°.

The percussion composition used by the United States Govern-
ment consists of fulminate of mercury, 35 parts ; pulverized chlo-
rate of potash, 16; glass dust (sifted between 40 and 140 meshes
per inch), 45; gum arabic solution 2; gum tragacanth solution, 2;
total 100, Mixed and pressed moist into a shell or cap and al-
lowed to dry before loading. See Ordnance Mem, No. VIII.
570 FOREST, FIELD, AND PRAIRIE.

To Brown Gun Barrels,—Tinct. of muriate of iron ; one ounce,
nitric ether, one ounce; sulphate of copper, four scruples, rain
water, one pint. First, securely plug up both ends of barrels,
leaving one plug in each end of sufficient length to be used as
handles ; then thoroughly clean with soap and water, after which
cover with a thick coat of lime, slacked in water, and when
that has become dry remove it with an iron wire scratch brush;
this is to remove all dirt and grease from the barrels. Then apply
a coat of the fluid with a rag, and let it stand for twenty-four hours,
when a slight rust will have appeared ; then take barrels and im-
merse them in a trough containing boiling hot water, after which
scratch them well with the scratch brush. Repeat this until the
color suits, which will be after three or four applications. When
completed, let the barrels remain in lime water a short time to
neutralize any acid which may have penetrated. Take great care
not to handle the barrels during the operation, for the least particle
of grease will make bad spots.

To Darken Gun Stocks.—Get a few crystals of permanganate
of potash, dissolve them in water and rub the stuff well into the
wood. It will cause the stock to assume a rich brown hue, and
can be oiled over with raw linseed. This is a very good black
walnut stain for any hard wood.

Cleaning Guns.—Cotton waste is the handiest material for
cleaning either muzzle or breech loading guns, and can be bought
for about twenty-five cents per pound anywhere, a little bit going a
great way. The best cheap pocket cleaner for breech loading
guns is a piece of copper wire, about No. 17, with a loop twisted
in both ends, through one of which a piece of waste can be pushed.
This can be rolled up in a small coil and carried in any pocket
without inconvenience.

ust in Gun Barrels—Use Riggs’ Belmontyle oil. Also a
thin coating of shellac dissolved in alcohol is excellent; also a
coating of best copal varnish, first heating the barrels to the tem-
perature of boiling water, not any hotter, or they may be injured;
let them remain hot for half an hour, and then rub them with a soft
rag. The barrels will show no sign of the varnish, Common tal-
low is also very serviceable ; rub it on with a piece of flannel, and
wipe the inside of the barrels with it also. Blue ointment is the
ADDITIONAL HINTS. 571

best preventive of rust, and is cheap and easily applied by mixing
it in sperm oil, and passing it through the barrels a few times with
arag. Sperm oilis best for gun locks ; wipe it on with a scrap of
chamois. The rust which is sometimes found on the bright part
of locks is easily removed with a slip of oilstone, and the gummed
oil and dirt with an old tooth brush dipped in benzine or naphtha
which evaporates and cannot hurt the metal.

Lo Preserve Iron and Steel from Rust.—Take rosin 120 parts;
sandarac, 180 parts; gum lac 50 parts. Heat gradually, and add
120 parts of turpentine. Heat again and add 180 parts of alcohol.
Filter and cork tightly.

To Soften a Leather Gun Case—Soak it in’ water until it is
wetted through, hang it up mouth downwards for two or three
hours; then by stretching it over a “hay fork handle or round,
straight stick,” whip it into shape ; next pour into the case as much
castor oil as is necessary to thoroughly cover or grease the inside
of the case, and apply the oil to the outside as often and as long
as the leather will absorb it ; dry in the sun, or a warm room, oc~
casionally rubbing and bending the case with the hands. After
this treatment it will be more soft and pliable than when first
made.

Lacquer for Guns.—To prevent guns rusting in sea air, lac-
quer them on the outside with a very thin varnish of shellac and
alcohol. This should be laid on quickly with a brush, and will be
almost imperceptible. A dose of the same will not hurt the
mountings, but will effectually prevent their rusting, even if the gun
is dipped in salt water ; and remember that no matter how care-
fully you clean the inside of the barrels after a day’s shooting on
the coast, you will do well to watch your gun for a day or two
and remove the rust which is found to form, which, if neglected
will eat in and leave an ugly mark.

Pad for Target——The best substitute for a Pettit pad (not
made in this country), is stiff hardware paper; of this thirty sheets
would be good penetration, and have them large enough to admit
of a thirty-inch circle being drawn from the centre.
OCEAN, LAKE, AND RIVER.

THE ART OF FLY FISHING.

Rods, Reels, Lines and Lures——While verbal instruction is
useful to a certain extent, the art of angling cannot be wholly
imparted to the student ; it must be acquired by assiduous practice,
and a careful study not only of the implements of the craft and
their use, but of the structure and habits of the fish and the local-
ities which they inhabit. In a word, the complete angler must be
a naturalist, just asa physician must be acquainted with the origin,
nature, and properties of the drugs he administers.

As to implements, we maintain that there are strictly but two
distinct classes of fishing rods, the long, slender, tapering, tough,
and elastic fly rod, and the shorter and stiffer trolling rod, just as
there are but two classes of guns, the rifled and the smooth
bore. The bait rod is a compromise between the fly rod and the
trolling rod. It is stiff like the latter, but much longer, (in reality
has an additional joint,) and is carefully tapered, so as to secure
uniform elasticity and action from but to tip, qualities requisite in
the fly rod, but not so carefully developed in the bait rod, be-
cause the work required of it is quite different, the methods of
casting the bait and the fly being quite as diverse as may be
imagined.

[For full description of bait rods, and instruction in angling with
all kinds of baits, which might properly be included in this divis-
ion of the Gazetteer, see section on Black Bass fishing in Western
Waters, page 3.]

Difference in the material of which rods are made really con-
stitutes variety in rods ; and in the selection and manufacture of
this material, excellence consists. A rod of hickory, ash, lance-
THE ART OF FLY FISHING. 573

wood, greenheart, iron wood, cane, or mahoe wood,* may be in-
trinsically better than a rod of split bamboo, but the dest made
split bamboo is the superior of the best made rods of the other
material, in our private opinion either for bait or fly fishing, for the
reason that it combines the -qualities of all the rest, with lightness
added, affording the angler the most sport for his efforts.

This quality of lightness is a most appreciable desideratum, es-
pecially in a salmon rod, and a not,trifling advantage to the angler
who has a whole day’s work before him. As every veteran knows,
each additional ounce tells painfully in the long run on arms, back,
and shoulders. Abstractly, there is no better rod than the West
India cane in its crude native state ; but as this is inconvenient to
carry, on account of its great length, ingenuity has contrived a
jointed rod which occupies a comparatively small space. Besides,
in any given entire cane there are liable to be flaws, which impair
its strength and effectiveness ; but by using its choicest parts, which
are sawed out and fitted together and firmly whipped with silk, the
manufacturer is enabled to produce an implement as perfect as it is
possible to make. In trout rods this quality of lightness is really
not so essential, and it is not unusual to find professional experts
who prefer a rod made of some other material than bamboo.

As we have said, rods are made in joints or sections simply for
convenience ; but as the metal ferrules, being stiff and unyielding,
impair the uniform elasticity and play of the rod, there is a growing
tendency in salmon fishers to have as few joints and as few ferrules
as possible. Hence we find some eighteen feet rods made of only
two pieces, and united by a splice, the parts that join being bevelled
and firmly lashed together when in use by a waxed end, the ferrule

* The best bamboo used for rods comes from Calcutta. The bamboo usually
sold at country stores is a reed, or else the Chinese or Japanese variety. The
Calcutta cane is clouded ; the others are yellow. Greenheart and lancewood are
imported chiefly from Demerara and the West Indies generally. The former is
heavy and very tough; the latter lighter and possibly more brittle. Mahoe wood
is indigenous to Cuba, and is used for the springs of volantes. Sometimes, though
seldom, angling rods are made wholly of greenheart, or even of lancewood,
though the latter is generally preferred for tips; ash, basswood, and greenheart -
are used for first and second joints. Split bamboo rods frequently have lance-
wood tips. hese woods are imported in log by Terhune, of Canal street, this
city, and one or two other dealers. It is difficult to find a stick or cane fit to make
rods of. (See article elsewhere.)
574 OCEAN, LAKE, AND RIVER.

being dispensed with altogether. Other rods of three joints have
the first and middle one connected by a ferrule, and the middle and
tip by a splice. Some makers use a screw ferrule, a device which
renders loop ties unnecessary, and prevents the rods from becom-
ing shaky at the joints by wear. We prefer a salmon rod of not
more than eighteen feet in length, though rods of twenty-one feet
are used; but they are ponderous affairs. An expert can make a
sufficiently long cast and do all necessary execution with the for-
mer, while the only advantage of extra length is, when a fish is Zors
du combat, to lift the line more easily over rocks and boulders that
may interfere with a clean run.

Trolling rods are usually made of undressed bamboo, and are
about nine feet in length. They are stiff, but have elasticity enough
to enable the angler to feel his fish readily when it bites, and to
hook him with much more certainty than with a hand line. In se-
curing a fish after it has been hooked, the trolling rod is all import-
ant, for it permits a delicate manipulation and handling of the fish ;
whereas, if a hand line were used the hook would very often tear
out and let the fish escape.

The selection of a rod requires a certain keen, acquired sense of
sight and touch, which adepts only possess—sight to detect any va-
riation from a perfect arch, and a touch that instinctively determines
the nice balance of the rod, and any sag or unequal distribution of
elasticity throughout its entire length when it is swayed backward
and forward by the hand and wrist. We would advise all novices
to let a professional select their rods for them. Discard all rods
with patent attachments of spikes, and the like, to “hold”’ the rod.
Taboo those monstrosities ingeniously contrived “ for convenience,”
called “trunk rods ’—rods stiffened with a multiplicity of ferrules,
and suited to all kinds of fishing, from a minnow to a mascalonge.
They are fit only for those who wish to still-fish with a worm and
a pin, We would prefer to put a fine delicate implement even into
the hands of a novice, rather than a ponderous stiff affair—that is,
if the novice can afford to break a half-dozen per season until he
has learned his art. One thing is certain, no one can become an
expert fly fisher by practice with a bean pole or wattle, no more
than he can play at battledore with a two pound weight. Also re-
ject any rods that have the but squared off where the hand grasps
THE ART OF FLY FISHING. 575

‘it, where the rod proper joins the handle, so to speak. The object
of the maker of this kind of rod is to secure lightness, but he does
it at the expense of strength and every other requisite. A proper
rod should have a suitable bulge of the but to fit the hand, and
from it taper gradually and uniformly to the tip. The rings should
not be too large, and yet large enough to permit the line to render
freely through them.

As to reels, there are many varieties, made of nickel, brass, or
rubber, some of entirely new designs, and aiming by their construc-
tion to obviate serious faults that pertain to the original patterns,
now passing into disuse. Strictly speaking, there are but three dis-
tinct classes of reels, the salmon reel, holding two hundred yards
of line, the trout reel, holding twenty-five yards, both of large diam-
eter in proportion to their width, and the trolling reel, that should
hold at least fifty yards. The width of the latter is nearly equal to
its diameter, say three inches. The salmon reel is about four inches
in diameter, and the trout reel two inches. In reels, as in rods, the
requisites are strength combined with lightness, and a construction
that prevents the line from fouling around the crank when in play.
In angling, the reel performs a most important part, and its use and
action should be in perfect accord or correspondence with the play
of the rod and line. ‘To render or retrieve, rapidly or slowly, ac-
cording to the exigencies of the case, giving or taking inch by inch
of line when the fish has the but, delivering freely when he runs,
or gathering in promptly when ,he makes his rushes toward you,
these are the objects of the intelligent angler, and the reel should
perform its duty promptly, or else the captive will either shake off
the hook or tear it out. To meet these requirements, clicks and
multipliers are employed. The click checks the line from render-
ing too freely, and the multiplier of course gathers in the slack with
multiplied speed at each revolution of the crank. Some recent in-
ventions have the click contrived so as to graduate the strain upon
_the line, checking it almost entirely, or permitting it to run without
any check at all; and there are those known as balance reels ; but
both are open to objections which need not be explained here. The
most serviceable for trout and salmon are the simple click reels.
Balance reels are more frequently used for trolling. The reel
should be invariably shipped behind where the hand grasps the
576 OCEAN, LAKE, AND RIVER.*

rod. We prefer the nickel reel, as brass is apt to tarnish; though
for salmon the lightness of the rubber reel is a very important de-
sideratum.

For lines that are used on reels, we prefer linen waterproof laid
lines, though some choose silk, or a tapered braid of silk and hair.
The objection to the latter is that the minute ends of hair fray
by wear, and prevent the line rendering freely through the rings
of the rod. Silk does not render as freely as a linen line that has
been used two or three times. For trolling, however, a cotton line
braided, so that it will not kink, will answer well enough, besides
being vastly cheaper. Waterproof linen trout lines cannot be
bought for less than five cents a foot. A good salmon line will
cost from fifteen to twenty dollars.

With regard to the durability of tackle, very much depends upon
the care taken of it. The neglect of a single winter will cost hun-
dreds of dollars, if a man’s stock be as large as that of most pro-
fessional anglers. Rods to be laid aside for the winter should first
be carefully examined, all defects and damages repaired, the ferrules
and bands thoroughly cleaned, new plugs fitted to the joints, and
rings supplied where missing. Where a joint has been fractured
or broken entirely, the parts should not be patched or spliced, but
a new one obtained. Negligence in this matter will be found a
poor winter’s investment when the rod comes to be used again in
the spring. Take the rod apart, wipe the joints dry and lay them
away in their case in some apartment where the temperature will
be uniformly as near to fifty degrees as possible. By no means
let the rod stand near a chimney or furnace flue; and the other ex-
treme of cold in a garret or outbuilding should be avoided. Changes
of temperature destroy the pliancy and stiffness of the rod. Where
the rod has no leather-case, but is kept in a bag, never tie the parts
together, tightly, as it subjects some portion to an extra strain,
thereby impairing the equal distribution of strength throughout its
entire length. For the same reason a rod should be laid flat on a
shelf if possible, instead of being stood on end in a corner, and
under no circumstances, either when in use or in ordinary, should
it be left jointed and hung on pegs. Really, the best way to keep
rods perfect is to put them in a shallow box, wide enough to hold
them when laid side by side, and two or three inches longer than
THE ART OF FLY FISHING. 577

the longest. There is always some spare room in the house where
this case could be laid along the surbase and not be in the way or
seem unsightly. As regards tackle, all lines should be reeled off
and stretched from one end of the garden to another on some
bright and sunny morning, and left an hour in the air to dry. They
should then be overrun lightly with a bit of woolen cloth or cham-
ois, to remove any taint of mildew, sand, sea salt, or other extrane-
ous matter, and then be wound upon the reel not too tightly and
put away with the reel nicely cleaned. If frayed portions are dis-
covered they should be condemned, and the good parts kept for
miscellaneous uses, which will be found frequent enough. With
respect to leaders, flies, ground tackle, etc., it is admissible to de-
fer immediate attention until some fine evening when a cheerful
blaze and indoor comforts are heightened by the blustering weath-
er without, and then with his stock spread out upon the sitting-
room table, one can summon the aid of the little folks to assort the
several varieties. As in the case of lines, all worn and imperfect
flies, all frayed leaders, and half-broken gut lengths, should be re-
jécted as past service, for the great desideratum with a careful
angler is to keep his gear in as perfect condition as possible, that
at no time he may be aggravated. through negligence by an unto-
ward loss. Bait boxes and creels should be thoroughly cleansed
with warm soda water, and when dried it is well to sprinkle them
with a little carbolic acid, or a wash of carbolic soap can be used.
Never keep your fishing and shooting gear in the same drawer or
chest. Above all else, guard against the ravages of moths.

When the spring comes round, look again to your tackle with
careful inspection, and see that all are in perfect order. Test your
line foot by foot for frays and weak spots. See that the ferrules,
rings and eyes of your rods are tight, and no fractures in the joints.
Above all, look well to your flies ; reject all specimens that have
been injured by use, and all frayed gut lengths. It is better to
throw away a handful now, than to lose flies and heavy fish to-
gether the first time you fasten toarise. If your outfit is not
complete, nor your assortment of flies full, replenish at the tackle
shops.

The angler being now prepared with rod, line, reel, etc., we
will presume, is ready to experiment in fly casting. The methods

25
578 OCEAN, LAKE, AND RIVER.

of casting a fly vary according to the character of the water to be
fished—whether it be lake, river, or stream, or whether the angler
is to wade, or fish from a boat, or the bank. There are a few
general rules that govern, however ; and the first'to be observed
is to Aeep out of sight. To enable the angler to do this a long
cast is frequently indispensable. If fish were not shy, the angler
might dispense with flies, and walk up boldly to the water and dip
them out with his hands. But to cast along line without bun-
gling, requires studious practice. For a proper cast, the line should
not only be delivered straight and evenly, without kinks, coils, or
bights, but the flies should be laid lightly on the water, as the nat-
ural flies settle. Hence the line, and the casting line, must be deli-
cate in size and texture, and the flies must be small, soas to make
no splash when they fall. It is because such fine tackle is required,
that the handling of a heavy fish becomes difficult ; for it is appa-
rent that to lift its weight on the line would part it. To relieve
the strain a flexible rod is required ; and the rod has its very im-
portant part to play throughout in killing the fish. The fish must
be killed on the rod, and not on the line. To exact full service
from a rod, a perfect arch (longer or shorter,) must be maintained
from the moment a fish is hooked until he islanded. The manage-
ment of this arch in motion is the science of angling. The rod has
of course, its proper functions to perform in making the cast. The
essential qualities of a rod are elasticity and stiffness ; first, a uni-
form elasticity that is evenly distributed and maintained through-
out its length from but to tip ; and second, that peculiar quality of
stiffness which acts with a yzedding resistance, preventing the fish
from exerting its “full strength on the hook, the leader, or the line
just as elastic traces would prevent a horse from exerting his full
strength-in drawing. No rod will throw a line deftly unless it pos-
sesses these requisites, and in the selection of a rod its weight,
length, and suppleness, must be gauged by the physical properties
of the purchaser, because the same rod, like the same gun, will not
serve all sportsmen alike. The angler ought to be able to tell
when a rod feels well balanced in his hand, just as he does a bil-
liard cue, an oar, a gun, or a croquet mallet. Given the rod and
line, we need such a reel as will deliver the line freely, yet not so
rapidly as to permit it to overrun, and we accordingly secure a
THE ART OF FLY FISHING. 579

light pressure or check by the “‘click.”” The click also telegraphs
to the ear what the fish is doing, and in this way renders a service
greater than is generally supposed.

The importance of using small flies, even in discolored water,
should impress itself upon the angler. Lightness and neatness of
form are characteristics of river insects, and therefore a serious
objection to the flies in common use, and at the tackle shops, is
that they are much too bushy, thereby not only exposing their de-
ception more quickly, but preventing by masses of feathers the
trout from hooking themselves when they rise.

A second rule in angling is, to tread lightly along the streams,
and when in boat, to avoid noises that cause vibrations. It seems
to be settled by scientific tests that fish do not hear, but their per-
ception through the nerves of feeling is very keen, and sounds are
easily communicated through the water by sudden jars, the care-
less dropping of an oar, or deep bass tones of the voice. It is
well known that a deaf person can hear sounds of a voice or in-
strument, if a hard wood stick be placed i in his teeth, connecting
with the object emitting the sounds.

The angler about to whip a water should first straighten his
snoods and leaders by soaking them in a basin of water; after
which he can keep them tolerably straight by winding the cast
around his hat. Ata proper distance from the angling place, let
him put his rod together, first adjusting the reel to its place, then
the tip and second joints, and the second joint and but last, keep-
ing the hands close to the ferrules and as near together as possible.
Next reeve the line through the rings and draw it off from the reel
until its length is equal to a little more than half the length of the
rod ; then, with the rod held perpendicularly, unless adjacent ob-
jects prevent, bend on the casting line, hook the tail-fly or stretcher
into.one of the bars of the reel, and wind up until the line is taut.
Put the ferrule plugs in your pocket so as not to lose them. You
are then ready to proceed to business.

The casting line should be not less than seven feet in length,
nor more than nine, of best selected gut. The tail fly should have
simply a loop, and the bobbers gut lengths; that of the top one,
or hand fly, somewhat longer than that of the middle fly, so that
when the line is raised, and the rod in motion, both will touch the
580 OCEAN, LAKE, AND RIVER.

water gently alike. Two flies, four feet apart, are enough at any
time, and where there are weeds, bushes or snags, or the trout
heavy, it is wise to use only a single fly. The chance of hooking
your fish is increased when two flies are on, but the chances of
landing them are much diminished. It is unpleasant to catch a
weed with one hook and a fish with the other, or to have two heavy
fish run contrariwise and carry off your line. Three flies are ad-
missible only when the camp is out of provisions, or the trout
weigh no more than ninety to the quart. The landing net
should be deep and baggy. The most convenient are made upon
a brass frame with hinges, so as to fold into a very small compass.
In fishing a stream, it is sometimes necessary to pass through
thick brush. This can be done with dexterity, if the angler hold
his rod horizontally, pushing it through, but or tip foremost, accord-
ing to circumstances, the former being preferable. Having ap-
proached the bank, select your casting place with judgment; we
mean the spot which you propose to test for a rise. A previous
knowledge of a stream gives one a great advantage everyway, by
enabling him to approach so as not to disturb the fish, and also to
waste no time in testing inauspicious or improbable places.
Choose also where you will land your fish, and determine how to
provide for any emergency that may arise. Having calculated the
length of the line you propose to cast, see that you have room
enough for your back line, so that you may avoid being hung up
in trees or caught in a rock or stump. Note the sun, and observe
that your shadow does not fall on the water. If it be a bright
calm, don’t be in a hurry to cast, but wait for a ripple on the water,
or for the sun to go under a cloud, as your chances for a rise are
thas increased ten-fold ; always remembering that in trout-fishing
nothing is gained by being ina hurry. If the wind blows briskly
in your face, don’t attempt to cast against it, as your flies will only
get into the trees, but select a bend in the river, or wait for a more
favorable opportunity. If you wish to cross a stream to change
position, walk to the nearest shoal and wade to the opposite side.
When everything is auspicious and you are ready to cast,
grasp your rod in the right hand above the reel, and hold the
stretcher fly lightly between the thumb and fore-finger of the left.
Then throw up the tip of the rod gently, at the same time letting
THE ART OF FLY FISHING. 581

go the fly, and when the line is at its full length drop the tip and
you will be surprised to see how gracefully the fly will light on-the
water twenty feet distant. If you discover that you are to fall
short, or go too far, recover the line before it touches the water
and try again. If the fly should touch the water and fail to pro-
voke a rise, trail it lightly and briskly along the stream in a semi-
circle until you are obliged to take up the slack, and then cast
again. After casting from one stand three times over a spot, in-
cluding the width of the stream, and failing of a rise, give the fish
a yard more line, by drawing it off the reel with the left hand ;
then raising the rod smartly, take up the slack, throw the rod
back of the shoulder, and when the line has passed behind to its
full length, project the tip forward as if you were going to strike
the water, observing to never let the rod drop below a position
horizontal and parallel with the water. The movement we have
described is technically known as casting. We will make it still
plainer, as it must be practiced by one desiring to become profi-
cient. We will suppose the angler standing up to his knees in
mid-stream with his line trailing down with the current to its full
length in front of him. Draw off enough line from the reel to
lengthen the cast as much as is required ; keep the elbow of the
right arm at ease, but well toward the body, and the wrist flexible.
Raise the: rod evenly and without jerking, with force sufficient to
lift the line from the water; throw the tip upward and backward
until it takes a position over the shoulder at an angle of forty-five
degrees and no more, keeping the tip a trifle outward, away from
the body; calculate the length of time required to straighten the
line out behind to its full length, and then bring the rod forward
with vigor, striking down squarely and directly in front of you, al-
ways remembering on no account to let the tip drop as low as the
surface. It will be perceived that in the upward motion the thumb
points outward, and with the downward motion it turns inward,
This is the infallible key to the whole situation. By practicing
this combination of movements one will learn not only to lay out
his cast on the water in good form, but by increasing the force to
cast great distances. At no time should the efforts be jerky. The
body should be well poised, and the arm move with the evenness
and method of a pendulum. With a long line a sudden upward
582 OCEAN, LAKE, AND RIVER.

jerk is liable to break the rod either at the first or second ferrule, or
to throw the line out of its natural parabolic orbit ; while a too
sudden or premature projection of the rod forward will snap off
the flies, tangle the line, or catch the seat of one’s corduroys with
the hook, insufficient time haying been given for the line to
straighten itself behind. Inexperienced anglers are annoyed by
the snoods chafing and breaking off at the heads of the flies; the
cause is imperfect casting. The fly being heavier than the deli-
cate line, moves faster through the air by the impetus given it,
and when a quick jerky motion is made in casting, or a too much
up-and-down motion is given to the rod, the fly has to drag the
line along like a shot taking a life-line toa wreck, and lights on the
water with a thud that sends it back at right angles with the link
or loop. The friction is more than the strongest gut can stand.

In lifting very long lines from the water, it is desirable to start
them first, and then withdraw them wholly, otherwise the weight
and sag is liable to part the tackle, and break or strain the rod ;
also before making the forward cast, count the time it has taken
to withdraw the line from the water and bring the rod to its posi-
tion over the shoulder, The flies will then have time to traverse
the entire arc which a well-made cast requires.

When about to change position on the stream, reel up and
take your line out of the water, unless you are wading, when it
may sometimes be preferable to let the line drift down ahead of
the angler, if the current be swift. Wading possesses several
advantages over fishing from the bank, for it enables the angler to
fish every part of the stream which the other method does not,
and gives him more casting room; the fish are not so easily
frightened, and when hooked are more easily landed. Fish can
see in clear water with great acuteyess, but the refraction seems
to impair their vision. Fish have a habit of backing slowly down
stream as the angler advances, not seeming greatly disturbed ;
but the moment they do take fright they scoot up stream like
lightning. Streams may be fished up or down at option, though
down stream is the best. The chief advantage of fishing up
stream is that while you are playing your fish, you do not alarm
others above you, as you are supposed always to lead your captive
down stream,
THE ART OF FLY FISHING. 583

Let us observe that fish always lie with their heads up stream.
Even when they dart down stream affrighted, as they sometimes
do, they invariably stop very soon and round to, as a yacht does
when she luffs into the wind. Salmon and shad when descending
to the sea, do not make for it in a bee line, but drop down stream
gradually, keeping their heads always up. Moreover, as for trout,
the biggest always lie in the wider and deeper stream, so that, in
fishing #, the angler is constantly fishing away from the big fel-
lows and up toward the smaller ones. In casting, too, it is im-
portant, as has been said, to have your line kept straight; and in

~fishing down stream the current does this for you, while in most
of the casts made in fishing up stream, the line runs back on itself,
and is constantly getting into slack turns and bights. Again, it
is less tiresome to fish down stream when wading, than against
the current which is sometimes so strong as to make progress
against it difficult. More than all, the angler can see his fish be-
fore him, when he is moving down, but never when he is moving
up. We are aware that some proficient anglers take decidedly
opposite ground, but they must refute what we have presented as
postulates, (not arguments,) before we shall yield our position.
Circumstances, however, alter cases. A good rule to observe
would be to fish down stream if the current be swift, and up stream
if it be sluggish; always supposing the wind to be favorable. As
between worm fishing up stream and fly fishing up stream, the
former is preferable.

It is useless to waste time in whipping every foot of a stream.
Trout lie where cool bottom springs bubble, or lateral brooks
come in, or food gathers, the depth of water favors, or shade and
protection serve. The strongest and-biggest fish preémpt the
choicest places and deepest pools, but good fish are often taken in
swift water flowing about six inches deep over pebbly bottoms
where the conferva attaches itself to stones and sways in the cur-
rent, affording both food and lurking places. In large rivers it is
useless to fish except at rapids, or where a lateral stream flows in.
Casts may be taken when wading, or from the bank, according to
depth of water and other circumstances, Where the river makes
short turns there is a deep hole on one side and a corresponding
sand-bar or flat on the other. Trout are likely to be found in all
584 OCEAN, LAKE, AND RIVER.

these deep holes, because the current carries the food there; and
for the same reason they are also to be found under the bank op-
posite to the wind. Where a river is divided by an island or patch
of weeds, a cast willbe rewarded at the foot of the island at the
edge of the ripples. In spring the fish are much scattered, and
can be taken almost anywhere, as they are foraging for food, the
insects not yet having been hatched out. Later in the season the
trout’s food is swept in plenty and variety to their dining-rooms in
the holes under the bank. And in autumn nature teaches them to
resort to the springheads and smaller tributaries for the purpose
of spawning. Trout feed chiefly at night, and hence are more
readily taken on dark and cloudy days, and between sunset ande
dark.

In using the fly the object is to imitate the movements of the
natural insect as nearly as possible, and the angler often exercises
great ingenuity in so doing. To drop the line naturally on the
water, and then to keep it endued with life, is the stratagem.
From the moment the fly touches the water the angler should
keep his eye on it. Trout often feed a little under the surface;
they do not always break when they rise, but quietly suck in the
fly. The angler can frequently detect a quick movement of a dark
object beneath the surface, or a sudden flash of light, which he
knows to be a fish making for the hook, and he instinctively raises
the tip of his rod and hooks it. A novice might have let a dozen
of these opportunities pass. Often the whereabouts of a trout is
betrayed by a break or a leap from the surface, and the wide-awake
angler will make it his business to toss his fly over the spot sooner
or later. Sometimes the trout rush at the lure like a flash, leaping
clear over it in their eagerness. They are difficult to hook then.
A fish will Zook hzmself only in cases where the fly first touches
the water at the end of a straight line, or when the line is being
withdrawn smartly for a new cast. In all other cases the skill of
the angler must be employed. If this ‘strike’ be made with vigor
or desperately, either the trout will be jerked high in the air, the
tackle will be broken, the hook will tear out, or, what is more proba-
ble, the hook will miss altogether. Then the awkward effort will
scare the fish away, and the angler must proceed to another place.
How to hook a fish cannot be told; but if the angler will school
THE ART OF FLY FISHING. 585
himself never to raise the arm, but simply to use the wrist, lifting
the thumb slightly when a fish rises, his lesson will be nearly
learned. He must remember that his wrist is the fulcrum of a
long lever, and that a slight movement there will produce an as-
tounding demonstration at the other end. It is apparent that the
offer of an undesirable fish can often be declined. If fish in a
pool be frightened, give the pool a half hour’s rest.

Having hooked the fish the next thing is to handle him. If
well hooked, he will go to the bottom, and if slightly hooked he
will flounder about on the surface. Upon this showing the angler
determines his mode of procedure. In Any case put him into the
basket as soon as possible. Do not work him against the current
more than can be helped. If you see the strength of your rod
tested too much, give him line; when he yields, reel up. The
point is always to keep him well in hand, as you would a horse—
always to feel him. When necessary to lead him out of weeds or
dangerous places, advance the but of the rod. It will stand an
enormous strait. Keep the line always under your thumb, with
the thumb on the rod. If ihe fish leaps, lower the tip of the rod
so as to give the line slack, otherwise he will tear the hook loose.
Having at last.taken the mettle from him, reel in short, throw the
rod back over your shoulder, and slip the landing net under him.
If you have no net, lead him to the bank and draw him out, if he
be a large one. Small ones can be lifted by the line.

When you unjoint your rod take hold of the ferrules with your
hands as nearly together as possible, and when you draw upon

‘them give the parts a slight turn in opposite directions, and the
rod will usually separate without difficulty. Many good rods are
wrenched or broken through ignorance in this single particular.
Should the ferrules resist all ordinary efforts, heat them gently.
[For instructions relating especially to Salmon fishing, see Eastern
Coast Fishes, pages 263-5.]

Table of Approximate Weights of Fish according to their
Lengths.—In the absence of a spring balance, the following table
will be found useful :

25*
586 OCEAN, LAKE, AND RIVER.

A TABLE OF APPROXIMATE WEIGHTS OF FISH ACCORDING TO
THEIR LENGTHS.

 

 

 

 
 

Length. Weight.
Salmon. Trout. Grayling. Pike.
Inches. lbs, Oz lbs. oz Ibs. OZ.

9 ° 45% °

10 ° 634 °

Ir ° 9 °

12 ° uy °

13 ° 144 °

14 z 1% 1

15 I 6 I

16 I 106 I

17 I 153% I

18 2 6 a

19 2 12} 2

20 3 4 3

2 3 12% 3

22 4 534 4

23 4 1534 4

24 5 1074 5

25 6 54 a

26 7 alg

27 8 °

28 8 18

29 9 1494

30 10 15

31 + oe

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

40

4t

42

43

44

45

46

 

 

 

 

  

 

Varnish for Fly Rods.—Take as much shellac as the alcohol used will dissolve.
Spread evenly, dry thoroughly, put on three or four coats, and rub down with
rotten stone,

2, Take three ounces best gum shellac, one and an eighth ounce gum benzoin,
half an ounce gum sandarach, half an ounce gum mastic, one quart alcohol go per
cent. proof; pulverize separately and add the alcohol, Putin a black bottle and
set in the sun, shake often, then pour off. If too thick, add alcohol ; if too thin,
take out the cork, Apply with linen rag.

Yo Waterproof Fish Lines.—Dissalve paraffine in naphtha or benzine ; also, boil
THE ART OF FLY FISHING. 587

linseed oil by a process that will neutralize or destroy the gelatine which all oil
contains a small portion of, and which unless removed will leave the lines stiff and
hard, which is of course to be avoided. J. Babcock, 21 Magazine street, Cam-
bridgeport, Mass., prepares lines in this way. C. Tappan, of Greenwood, Mass.,
uses the first process. es

Yo Color Fish Lines.—Soak them in green tea, coffee or a solution of indigo.
Warm fluids preferred.

To Keep Trout Fresh.—Trout carefully dressed may be preserved several days
fresh and sweet without ice or salt, by wrapping them in the long white moss found.
in the swamps in the vicinity of lakes and streams where trout are caught, and
placing them in a cool shady place ; a hole in the ground covered over with a foot
‘or more of earth is a good place.

To Preserve Fish.—Take your fish and split it open (if large, say three pounds
and upwards, on the back) ; wipe it clean, but don’t wash it; lay it in your keg or
barrel, skin down, then sprinkle over each layer of fish a mixture composed of one-
half salt and one-half Muscovado sugar, putting on about one-half the quantity
usually used in salting fish. On arrival home repack, using a very small quantity
ofthe same mixture. They do not get so salt as to require freshening before cook-
ing, merely requiring rinsing in fresh water ; neither do they lose their flavor, nor
become dry, as trout always do when salted in the usual way, They can be kept
for three months.

Lotions and Preventives for Mosquito Bites.—Olive oil, two ounces ; camphor
two drachms ; carbolic acid, one drachm ; acetic, one-half drachm ; oil cedar one
drachm ; oil pennyroyal, one drachm. Mix.

2. Oil of pennyroyal, four ounces ; olive oil, eight ounces; tar, two ounces.

3. Camphor dissolved in sweet oil, adding one-eighth part of glycerine oil to the
mixture is as good a protection against flies as the tar and oil, and much more
cleanly. me

4. Essence oil verbena, one drachm ; cologne spirits, not cologne water, ninety-
five per cent., one pint ; mix and agitate for twenty-four hours, then add distilled
water four ounces, and filter. Bathe the face, neck and hands well.

5. Use carbolic acid soap.

Glue.—Glue is prepared for use by a gentle heat in a water bath ; when thus
prepared it may be kept in a Jiquid state by the addition of a fluid ounce of strong
nitric acid for every pound of dry glue. Or take the dry glue and add threc times
as much commercial acid: this will dissolve the glue without the hot bath. The
ordinary ‘“‘ prepared glue” which is kept in an imputrescible liquid state, is com-
posed of six parts glue, sixteen parts water, one part hydrochloric acid, and one-
half part of sulphate of zinc.

THE ART OF FLY-MAKING.

BY THADDEUS NORRIS, ESQ.

If the learner’s fingers are delicate and he has good use of them,
it is better to dispense with some of the mechanical appliances
used ; but for one whose digits are clumsy or who lacks a free use
of them, I would recommend a vise for holding the hook, and a
588 OCEAN, LAKE, AND RIVER.

spring plier, or as some term it a pair of pliers, for holding the end
of a thread or hackle, and conveniently used for wrapping the lat-
ter on the hook. As to the materials, I will enumerate nearly all
that I use myself, and in the order in which they are applied to the
hooks.

Wrapping Siik.—The finer, if strong, the better ; and although
the color should in some degree correspond to the other material
used, this is not of much consequence, as it is only seen in the few
slight wrappings at the head of the fly.

Wax.—Do not use “ cobbler’s ’’ wax. Take one ounce of the
clearest and lightest rosin you can procure, one drachm of gutta
percha, and one teaspoonful of linseed oil—the crude, not the boiled
—put them in a teacup (I use the lower part ofa discarded tin
blacking box), heat them, stirring with a little stick the meanwhile
to have them thoroughly amalgamated, and then pour the hot com-
pound into a bowl of cold water. As soon as it has cooled suff-
ciently, work and pull it, much as girls pull “taffy ;“" this makes it
light colored and tough. If the gutta percha cannot be easily ob-
tained it may be omitted, but it adds to the toughness. To make
the wax softer for cold weather, add a few drops of oil. To make
it harder for warm weather, add, as you require, a little more
rosin.

Hooks.—There is much’difference of opinion as to their proper
shape for flies. Conroy declares for the O’Shaughnessy ; z. ¢., the
improved Limerick. I coincide with Conroy. The point of the
barb of the O’Shaughnessy has an outward projection. It is what
is called a hollow point, and the chances of hooking the fish are
thereby increased. The Kirby, the hooking quality of which is
superior to all others, if short shanked, may be used for palmers
and hackles, but for winged flies the sideward inclination of the
point would give the wings of the fly “a list ” to one side, and pre-
vent its floating on an “even keel.”

Gut—Should be fine for stretcher, and stout for drop flies ; for
the latter using a half length. If the droppers are intended to be
looped to the leader, the loops should be tied in each end of the
length after soaking the gut, the projecting end pulled tight and
cut off close, and then the length divided into two. For my own
use, and for my customers, I prefer gut dyed a neutral tint, which
THE ART OF FLY-MAKING. 589

is between a blue and lead color. It is done as follows :—Throw
your hank of gut into a basin of cold water, and while it is soaking
put into a small vessel—tin will answer—a pint and a half of
water with one drachm of ground logwood and six grains of cop-
peras. After it has commenced boiling let it bubble for ten min-
utes longer; then, dashing the water from the gut, throw it in and
-press it down with a small stick. In thirty seconds or so lift it to
see the depth of tint, and continue to examine and immerse it
until it suits your fancy. A light tint I consider preferable. Some
persons think that the dye affects the strength ofthe gut. Thisis
not the case, unless there is too much copperas ; much more than
I have prescribed.

Tensel—Gold or silver, as it is called, but really ‘ Dutch
metal,’ whether round or flat, is kept by variety or military stores,
or the country reader can obtain the flat from some dealer in Irish
linens, as itis frequently used, ornamentally in putting them up.

Dubbing.—The materials, and they are many, of which the
bodies of flies are wrapped are, first, and most important, peacock
herl, or “‘ harl,”’"as some persons call it—the little plumelets or fibres
growing on each side of the tail feathers of the peacock, The cop-~
per colored for nine flies out of ten is preferable; the green is
used for fancy flies. The next is mohair, or the ravellings of a fabric
called “moreen,” or pig’s wool, growing on certain parts of the
animal beneath the bristles, or seal’s wool, the most brilliant of all
—all of which can be dyed of many colors ; or the fur of a rabbit,
squirrel, monkey, or other animal. Add to these wrapping floss
silk, and the list, I believe, is complete.

Hackles.—The hackle is intended to represent the legs of a
winged fly, or without the wings some imaginary caterpillar insect,
which trout take fora reality. There are saddle and neck hackles.
The former are the long streamers growing on each side of a
cock’s rump, the latter are plucked from the back of the neck—
the closer to the head the shorter the hackles and stiffer the fibres.
Having stouter stems than the saddle hackles, they are less apt to
break in winding on. The older the cock the stiffer the fibres ;
but as old cocks are not always obtainable, I avail myself of the
good terms I am on with several poultry dealers to pluck the heads
and necks of their capons. Natural hackles are more generally

 
590 OCEAN, LAKE, AND RIVER.

used in tying trout flies than others. Then there are those, the
fibres of which are red at the stem, or say at the roots, and black
on the outer edges of the feather, and frequently black at the stem
and red at the outer edges ; both of which are called furnace hackles.
There are also light yellowish red, termed “ginger hackles.”
Black hackles are essential in tying dark flies. Grey are used in
tying dun colored flies when dun hackles, which are very scarce,
are not to be had. Add to these the ginger barred and black
barred on a white ground, and we have most of the natural or un-
dyed colors. But hold, there are a few more, the feathers from
the wren’s tail, from the ruff of the grouse, from the partridge and
snipe, and the short spotted feathers of the guinea fowl are occa-
sionally used, but they are soft of fibre and poor substitutes for
cocks’ hackles.

Wings.—The feathers of which the wings of flies‘are made,
are numerous. Those of the mallard, teal, red-neck, sheldrake,
wood-duck, and other wild fowl correspond in position to the sad-
dle hackles of the cock, and are, I think, what ornithologists term
“tail coverts.”” Few others, except the secondary wing feathers
of the red-neck, canvas-back and teal, are used. The tail coverts
of ducks are difficult of manipulation on account of their extreme
delicacy and lightness. Of all feathers from the wings of birds or
domestic fowls the secondary only are good; the pinions are
worthless. If a man’s arms were wings the pinions would be
found growing from the wrist to the tips of the feathers, the sec-
ondaries from the elbow to the wrist. I ‘hope this will explain
their true position, for if one asks his friend in the “ rural districts”
to get him the feathers of a certain fowl, in nine cases out of ten
he will be presented with any other than the right ones. The
great variety of plumage in domestic fowls, produced by crossing
and interbreeding, has furnished some feathers invaluable to the
fly-maker, especially to the beginner; these are in nearly every
case the secondaries of hens. They are much easier of manipu-
lation than the tail coverts of wild ducks or the short fibred wing
feathers of birds, and in all cases should be used instead by the
tyro when he can get them near the shade or markings of any
duck’s feathers he may admire. The Earl Derby, the dark brah-
mas, and most of the various crossings producing so many shades
THE ART OF FLY-MAKING. 591

of brown and mixed colors furnish them. White secondaries are
used for the wings of the moth fly or white miller, as also for the
coachman. Dun feathers are almost as difficult to procure as dun
hackles. Whenone is fortunate enough, therefore, to obtain them
in excess of his own wants he should garner them up for the
needy ; for fly-makers are great beggars. Red ibis of course will
be seized on, as well as the crest, ruff, back and breast feathers of
the golden pheasant. Turkey, the secondary and tertiary, as well
as the tail feathers, also come into play; so also do some of the
wing feathers of the wild goose. English blue jay, guinea fowl,
macaw and parrot, and golden pleasant are used almost entirely
in tying salmon flies.

Let me imagine, my reader, that you have taken a seat by my
side at the table where I tie my flies. Before us are two paper
boxes, each about sixteen inches long, four deep, and five wide.
On removing the top the sides towards us fall by little muslin
hinges, on the table. The boxes are divided by little pasteboard
uprights, each into five apartments of equal width. In the first
apartment of the box on our left, are bits of feather used for the
tails of flies, viz., the tail coverts of the mallard, teal, sheldrake,
and wood-duck; feathers from the crest, ruff, back, and breast of
the golden pheasant; red ibis, parrot, macaw, and a few dyed
feathers. The second, third, and fourth apartments are for the
feathers for wings, described in my frst cast, and the fifth con-
tains my hackles. These feathers are neatly folded in slips of
paper and placed in large sized envelopes, which have the names
written at the top of the back. They sit edgewise in the box,
with the inscriptions all facing the same way, so that by passing
my fingers over them, I can easily find the feathers I am about to
use. The box to my right contains, each in its proper apartment,
hooks in little boxes, the size marked on top and bottom, hand
vise, spring pliers, picker, wax, a pair of sharp scissors, three and
a quarter inches long, with blades an inch long and one-quarter
inch wide, a small flat piece of India rubber for straightening gut,
wrapping silk of various colors and degrees of fineness, floss silk,
peacock and ostrich herl, and the different kinds of dubbing as
enumerated previously. I do not imply by the foregoing that so
methodical an arrangement is necessary for an amateur, but
something of the kind would prevent confusion.
592 OCEAN, LAKE, AND RIVER.

Suppose first, we tie the simplest hackle, say a ginger on a
No. 6 hook. If you use the vise, fasten the hook between the
jaws, then take a piece of wrapping silk of the required length, say
a foot or fourteen inches, and rolling a mite of wax as large as a
BB shot between the fore-finger and thumb, draw the silk through

 

 

twice. With the hook in the position shown on the annexed illus-
tration, whether held by vise or between the thumb and fore-finger
of the left hand, take five or six turns around the shank of the
hook, as shown in figure 1. Then, laying on the gut, commence
quite close to the head and wrap down to A, figure 2. Here,
with three turns of your wrapping silk, fasten in the floss, A B,

*
THE ART OF FLY-MAKING. 593

and laying the wrapping silk along the shank, tuck it in between
the gut and the head of the hook, and throw a few loose coils
around the gut to keep it out of the way. Now wind on your ‘loss
as far as C, figure 3, increasing the bulk of the body somewhat as
you proceed ; then throw the loose coils of wrapping silk free from
the gut, and take three turns over the floss and clip off the end.
You next take your ginger hackle, about the length figured, and
stroking back a few fibres at the point and clipping off the end,
lay it against the hook and fasten in with four or five turns and
wrapping up to within a sixteenth of an inch or so of the head,
throw a few loose coils around the gut as before. Now wrap on
your hackle closely, pressing back the fibres as you go to avoid
overlapping them. On getting as near the head of the hook as
shown in the illustration, fasten the hackle with two or three
turns, clip off the ends and throwing the wrapping into coil D F
D, seize it at F and take as many turns as will come to the very
end of the shank. Nowreversing the turns, with the gut through
the coil, you draw on the-end D until the wrapping forming the
coil is drawn tight. Your fly now, after clipping off the surplus,
is complete, needing only a touch of copal varnish, with a small
camel’s hair brush, at the head to make it secure.

“Let me tell you, scholar,’’ as Father Izaac so frequently re-
marked to his pupil Venator, the tying of this simple hackle is the
all-important rudiment of the art. If you learn to make it neatly
all else will become “just as natural as falling off a log.” But let
us tie another hackle and beautify the lower part of the body with
a little tinsel. So we go back to figure 2 and suppose A B a strip
of flat gold tinsel which we have fastened with three turns of the
wrapping and thrown the latter in a few loose coils around the
gut. We take three turns of the tinsel, perhaps four, or even five
if the hook is large, down the shank closely, so as to hide the hook,
and then as many turns back, and after fastening with two or
three turns of the wrapping cut off the end of the tinsel. We will
vary the body of this hackle by having it of peacock’s herl. We
accordingly take four or five-herls between the thumb and finger
of the left hand and clipping them off evenly, lay them, on where
you have just clipped off-the tinsel, and take two or three turns over
the ends which project toward the head of the hook. Now laying
504 OCEAN, LAKE, AND RIVER.

your wrapping silk along the herls you twist both herls and wrap-
ping silk slightly, winding in the meanwhile as far up the shank
of the hook as you intend the body to extend, then fastening in
your hackle you proceed as already described.

Fur, mohair, pig’s wool and seal’s wool are spun on in the same
way. A ravelling of any fabric, for instance, moreen, may be fas-
tened and wound on as floss silk. In making a very large body
to -a fly it isa matter of economy when using floss silk, to wrap
first with darning cotton, or similar material. It matters but little
as to the color, as the floss covers it.

To make a palmer hackle proceed as instructed as far as A,
figure 2; and after putting on the tinsel, if it is required, fasten in
the tip end of the hackle, then the material of which the body is
composed. Now you have tinsel, hackle, and dubbing tied in, and
the rule is that the material fastened in last is wound on first, so
you wind on your dubbing, fasten it a little below the head of the
hook, and then taking three, four or five turns of the tinsel in the
same direction, you fasten it also. Now you wind on your hackle
just behind and close to the tinsel, and as you get near the head
of the hook disregard the tinsel and take a few close turns of the
hackle, fastening it, clipping it off and finishing as already directed.
In a palmer the fibres of the hackle should stand out much thicker
at the shoulders and head of the fly than along the body.

I hope the reader will understand the directions I have given
for tying hackles and palmers, for they are pertinent, as far as they
go, to making winged flies.

The most celebrated fly makers use only their fingers, but a
small hand, or as some call it a pin vise, is exceedingly convenient
when one wishes to lay down his work for a while. By twirling it
with the left hand and holding the material with the right you can
wind on the most delicate floss without soiling it with wax, which
it is almost impossible to have your fingers entirely free from. In
fact it is necessary sometimes to dissolve whatever of it adheres to
the fingers with a little oil and then wash your hands with soap
and water to get rid of the oil.

A certain school of fly-makers tie on the wings, or more prop-
erly the wing, last of all, and in making an elaborate fly it is the
proper way, but in ordinary trout flies, as I shall presently show,
THE ART OF FLY-MAKING. 595

the wing should be put on immediately after wrapping on the gut.
Some old-fashioned makers maintain that a Jazr of wéngs should
be put on, each one separately. This is certainly unnecessary, for
most of the natural flies we observe on the water, if alive, have
their wings folded together, appearing as one. Especially is this
the case with the Ephemeride, which are most numerous.

 

Let me ask the reader to cast his eye on the plate above. He
will observe that the fibres incline towards the top end of the
feather. Now each of these, on the sides where they come in con-
tact, if examined with a microscope, will be found to contain a
regular series of little hooks, if I may so call them, forming a con-
596 OCEAN, LAKE, AND RIVER.

nection or interlocking with a similar series on the adjoining fibre.
On this interlocking of the fibres, with the arrangement of the
feathers, and the oiling which the bird gives them, depends its
ability to shed water as from the roof of a house, and a duck to
swim and dive and still remain dry. If you cut out a section (fig-
ure 2), and, doubling it, form figure 3, the fibres at the outer end
of your wing will be of an unequal length and require pinching or
clipping off of the ends after itis tied on. You will therefore,
holding the stem of the feather in your left hand, stroke back the
fibres gently and gradually, forcing the little hooks to lose the
original connection with their fellows on the adjoining fibres and
form others until you get them to stand out at right angles with
the stem. After forcing as many back as will form your wing,
clip them off with your scissors and double them with the under
side of the feather inward, your oe wing, representing a pazr of
wzngs, is ready to tie on.

Holding the smoothly folded mass of fibres together between
the thumb and fore-finger of your right hand, lay it on the back of
the hook, the ends of the fibres extending as far back as you pro-
pose to have the length of the wing, pressing it down firmly;
then bring the fore-finger and thumb of your left hand into action,
and releasing the hold with your right take two or three turns of
your wrapping silk; look to see if it sits right, and then with one
or two more wrappings, close and neat, you fasten off with the
invisible knot, as described in finishing a hackle; and so your fly
is complete.

The foregoing is the English mode; but let me describe
another, and, I think, more secure way of putting on the wings of
trout flies. I think it originated in Ireland. It is now generally
adopted in this country. Holding the hook as already described,
take four or five turns of the wrapping silk, about two-thirds of
the way up from the bend to the head, then laying on the gut con-
tinue wrapping, but closely, leaving just enough of the hook to
fasten and finish off; lay on the wing, the convex edge beneath,
and the end in the reverse direction, 2. ¢. outward along the bare
gut, then, holding the wing firmly in position, take two or three
turns of the wrapping, being careful that the wing does not turn
over towards the opposite side of the hook, look at it to see that it
THE ART OF FLY-MAKING. 597

sits properly; continue down the shank with a half dozen or more
turns, and then clip off the root ends of the fibres, which of course
are pointing towards the bend of the hook. Your wing is now
secure, with the point or end reversed. Continue wrapping over
gut and hook until you come opposite the point of the latter ; then
put on your tinsel, clipping off the surplus end, then your dubbing,
extending it well up towards the head, and leaving the space to be
occupied by the hackle about half as much as that so occupied
when tying a fly without wings. Here you fasten in the hackle
firmly, winding it on up to the point where you commenced tying
on the wing ; secure the end of the hackle with three turns of your
wrapping, clipping off the surplus end, then double back the wing
into its intended position, take two or three turns over the head or
but end, and finish off with the invisible knot, as previously
described.

A quicker way of putting on the wings is, after stroking back
the fibres, and bringing them at right angles to the stem of the
feather, to double them into the shape of the wing, and then, with
a quick jerk, pluck it by the roots from the-stem. The wing is
then laid on, and the fly proceeded with as just described. The
wing should extend backward just so far that the tip of it comes
immediately over the bend of the hook. The-.fibres of the hackle
should hardly be long enough to reach the same place, and the
hackle itself should not be more than two-thirds the length of stem
required for a hackle or palmer fly.

One would suppose, before he tried it, that the wing cut or
torn from the stem, as described, would be square at the tip end
when tied on. A trial will prove that the end will be oval or
elliptical, resembling the wings of a natural fly. The learner, of
course, will find that in tying back the wing, if the turns of the
wrapping silk are too near the but end of the head, the wing will
sit too perpendicularly, and that if the turns of the wrapping are
too far back it will sit too close to the body. The body in a well
proportioned fly extends rather beyond, opposite the point of the
hook. If the wing is too long it should be shortened by a vigor-
ows pinch of the thumb nail and fore-finger.

I had forgotten to mention that in making a body of mohair,.fur,
or pig’s wool, the requisite quaitity, after a little pulling, is placed
598 OCEAN, LAKE, AND RIVER.

in the palm of the left hand and rolled into the shape of an oblong
cone. The smaller end is then applied to the lower end of the
body, and twisting or spinning it in with the wrapping silk it is
wound up the body, which is to be increased in bulk as you near
the space intended for the hackle. The wild hairs of the dubbing
should be clipped off, so also should awry fibres of the hackle after
winding on. The picker (a darning needle, stuck head in into a
small cork will answer for this little implement), when required, is
brought into requisition in arranging and straightening the irregular
fibres after winding on the hackle. :

The mode of clipping off the but ends of the wing as close up to
the head of the fly as I have described, answers in most cases, for
instance for a herl, or mohair, or fur body, but when we intend to
make a floss body the surplus part of the wing should be clipped
off in a direction slanting towards the bend of the hook ; .so that in
wrapping over it with the floss the body will taper, handsomely in-
creasing in bulk as it nears the place where you intend to fasten in
the hackle. In tying flies one becomes appreciative of the minute-
ness of spaces, and in putting on tinsel, or in the length of the
body, or in finishing off at the head as much as may be occupied
by one or two turns of the finest wrapping silk, is easily judged of.

Taz/s.—In putting on this little ‘caudal appendage,” as Mr.
Sparrowgrass would have termed it, much nicety is to be observed.
Of course it is placed precisely on top of the hook, the fibres of
feathers of which it is composed should curve upward and sit
gracefully. If it be a plain body, as in the fly, called the hare’s
ear, it is tied in on completing the wrapping on of the gut. If tin-
sel ornaments the end of the body, it should be put on first, and
then the tail. If the body is intended to be wrapped with tinsel, it
should hang loose while putting on the tail and then wound spi-
rally over the dubbing with two, three, four, or five turns, as the
case may be.

Repeating in part the directions already given for the bodies
of the flies, let me remind the learner that the material fastened in
last is wrapped on first. Suppose for instance you wish to make a
winged fly with a palmer body: After the tail is on, tie in the end
of the hackle, and then—jérst/y, wrap on the dubbing; secondly, the
tinsel; ¢Azrdly, the hackle, following close behind the turns of the
THE ART OF FLY-MAKING. 599

tinsel ; and it makes a better looking fly to wrap the hackle much
more closely on getting up under the wings; making it a: little
more “buz”’ as it is frequently termed. A fly is said to be buz
when the hackle is wrapped on thick and it looks “bushy” as
we Americans would term it.

Some makers use two or three half-hitches in finishing off at
the head. The invisible knot.is as easily tied and much more
secure.

Let me describe as*briefly and as plainly as I' can the proper
mode of using a pair of scissors. They should be such as I have
described. Do not put your finger and thumb into the bows or
oval openings, but lay that part of the implement in the palm of
your hand and with the thumb and fingers work the blades. A
little practice in this way will enable one to pick out and clip off a
single fibre of the hackle or wing with great nicety.

I now introduce a plate of four salmon flies, (three of them
copied from Blacker’s “Book of the Salmon,”) in order to show
what are “ feclers,” and “toppings,” and “loops,” and “heads and
shoulders,” and “tags” and so on. We scarcely ever use a more
elaborate salmon fly than the second, for the waters of the Domin-:
ion, and a Shannon fly or one of Whitney’s flies tied for the Maine
waters, the “ Toodlebug,” for instance, or one of my own mixed
wings made for the same waters, unless the river was very high,
would scare all the Nipisiquit or Cascapediac or Restigouche sal-
mon out of a pool. A knowledge of the technical names of the
minor appurtenances of a salmon fly is not essential to one who
plies his seventeen foot withe, or scarcely to one who makes his
own flies for American rivers, but to be thorough we must name
all the little adjuncts and accessories.

I will therefore call the reader’s close attention to the third fig-
ure. The tail/is what is usually called a “topping,” 2 ¢. feather
from the crest of the golden pheasant. The body is wrapped with
floss silk, ribbed with gold twist, z. ¢. stout gold thread, which is
followed by a hackle almost to the head where, as will be observed,
another feather is tied on, a blue jay, for what is termed a “ shoul-
der.” There is a mixed wing of golden pheasant neck, teal, guinea
hen, and light brown turkey, with a topping much longer than the
tail surmounting the wing. . The head is of black ostrich herl,
600 OCEAN, LAKE, AND RIVER.

wound on closely, both for ornament and to hide the but end of
the wing where it is clipped off. Referring to the fourth figure, a

 

“tag’’ just at the but of the tail, A tag may be of ostrich herl,
or pig’s or seal’s wool, or floss. The “ feelers”’ which by a great
stretch of imagination are supposed to represent the antennz of a
THE ART OF FLY-MAKING. 601

natural fly—are the two long fibres of macaw tail feather tied in on
each side of the head and extending back over the wings; and an-
other stretch of imagination is to suppose that a natural fly carries
them thus. The third or fourth fly figured is much too large for
the rivers of Canada at an ordinary stage of water. The third
might do on very high water after it has gone down just enough
for the fish to commence noticing a fly.

The second figure is a very plain fly, the “blue and brown,” or
“Nicholson,” named after an old salmon fisher, “a broth of a boy,”
of St. Johns, New Brunswick. There are a few turns of flat gold
tinsel, or gold twist, then a tail of mallard and golden pheasant’s
ruff; the body of reddish brown seal’s or pig’s wool, wrapped with
a blue and reddish brown hackle; the wings are of mallard, and,
according to Mr. Nicholson’s style of tying, stand well up. The
size of the hook given is for high water, when the dubbing and
hackles are of lighter shades. As the water falls the hackles and
dubbing should be darker. On low water and bright weather dark
brown and purplish blue are best; the hook decreasing in size as
the water falls. In fact, trout hooks numbers 3 and 4 (Conroy’s
O’Shaughnessy’s numbers) are as a general rule large enough for
the rivers of Canada; numbers 1 and 2 are full size for high water.

One who has become somewhat proficient in tying trout flies,
can easily make one for salmon. But at the risk of repeating to
some extent the directions given for the former, let me describe the
tying of a plain salmon fly, and leave the ambitious amateur to his
own ingenuity in making an elaborate one. The blue and brown,
as described, has two hackles, one of each color. We will take a
fly with one: say the fiery brown.

Lay all the materials before you—a short topping for tail, a bit
of gold twist (three inches or so), fiery brown dubbing of mohair,
or pig’s or seal’s wool, a hackle of redder shade than the dubbing,
the wing ready folded, a plumelet of ostrich herl, a bit of blue and
yellow macaw tail feather, and a gut loop. The latter is so cut
that when doubled it will be long enough to come about where the
tail is tied on, the ends to be beveled, and, bending it over a coarse
needle or an awl, an eye should be formed, as is not represented in
the illustration. The wings of a salmon fly, as a genéral rule, should
be double, or say two-ply, for mallard, of which most wings are

26
602 OCEAN, LAKE, AND RIVER.

made, is very light, and requires delicate handling. In preparing
it, stroke back the fibres gently and firmly until all their ends are
square, clip off with your scissors, and lay it on the table; prepare
another in the same way, and lay it on top of the first, placing it
where it is not apt to be disturbed.

Now, if allowed, we will use the small vise figured in our first
paper. /zrstly—Secure the hook well between its jaws. Secondly
—Wax your silk, and commencing near the bend, wrap up to the
head with a dozen or so turns. Zhzrdly—Lay on the gut loop
warp down opposite the bend, perhaps a few turns below. Fourth-
Zy—Lay on the gold twist, secure the end and winding it three or
four turns back, opposite the point of the hook, fasten it, allowing
the surplus to stand outward towards the head. 7z/f¢AZy—Put on
the topping for tail so that it curves handsomely upward and secure
it with two turns of the wrapping silk. S¢xt#/y—Fasten in the tip
end of the hackle, the back uppermost. Seventhly—Having pulled
and picked your dubbing and rolled it in the palm of your hand into
a conical shape, (very little is required,) twist in the small end with
your wrapping silk, and spinning both silk and dubbing almost up
to the head, fasten it with a half-hitch. Z£zghthly—Twirling your
vise, follow with four turns of the gold twist, fasten and then follow
close behind with the hackle, the underside next to the dubbing.
You are now ready to put on the wing. There are two ways—one
is, after doubling it to tie it on as described ; another (as taught me
by Mr. Harry Venning,) is not to double but to lay it flat on the top
of the hook with the fore-finger and thumb of the right and com-
press it with the corresponding fingers of the left hand ; bending
the two edges of the wing so that an equal proportion will enfold
the hook on both sides. Now with your wrapping silk take two
turns; look to see that the wing is put on evenly and sits properly,
and taking a half-dozen more turns, make it ‘secure with a half-
hitch, Putting on the feelers to have them sit uniformly is a nice
job. The pair should be taken from opposite sides of the blue and
yellow macaw tail-feather ; that on the far side to be fastened in
with two turns of the wrapping, then that on the near side. In
making the head observe that the black ostrich herl has a convex
and a concave side, and is to be wrapped on very closely with the
convex side outward towards the eye of the loop. Clip off the sur-
ARTIFICIAL FLIES. 603

plus but-end of the herl and fasten with the invisible knot. With
a small sharp stick dipped into copal, varnish the last wrapping of
thé silk, being careful not to let it touch the herl.

When mallard is scarce the under ply of the wing may be of
turkey, making it more solid than if it was all mallard. Asa rule
salmon flies are wrapped palmer fashion, that is, the hackle over
the whole length of the body. The bodies, as will be observed,
are very slender in proportion to the size of the fly.

ARTIFICIAL FLIES,

Constant inquiries are made for works on Angling. Such
works (exclusively as such), have never been published in Amer-
ica. Proficient anglers well know how difficult it is to utter
opinions and instructions which the fraternity will unanimously
accept as ex cathedra, and are ever chary of the captious criticisms
of those who keep silent and assume to be the only Solons. To
prepare a work upon patterns for flies, and to determine precisely
what flies are suitable for different waters, at the same or at
different seasons, is even more difficult still. There are a number
of excellent English books of this character, but they are of little
service on this side of the Atlantic, because the water and the
larve that inhabit the waters there are widely different from ours.
The same flies that obtain in England will not serve us here,
where they are not known either to entomologists, or to the fishes
themselves. To write intelligently on this subject, one has to
begin at the egg. Nothing but a correct knowledge of the insects
that inhabit the waters, or places contiguous, will enable the
student to make an intelligent selection of subjects for artificial
flies for specified times and places. To enable us to impart this
information correctly and properly, we have taken by permission
the following article from the columns of Forest and Stream.
It was prepared by Miss Sara J. McBride, of Mumford, N. Y., and
constitutes a valuable contribution to the angling literature of
America.

“Insects are the scavengers of nature. They seek fetid, un-
wholesome matter, the germ cells are left, and the corrupt mass Is

the birth place, home and sepulchre of myriads of animate life.
Noxious miasmatic gases are consumed, purity takes the place of
604 OCEAN, LAKE, AND RIVER.

foulness, and the whole, cleaned at the appointed time, has the
appearance of a miniature resurrection. Not only is the earth
cleansed, but the water is purified. The flora that spread out
their arms expands and grows in rich luxuriance beneath the
water without fear of drought or a sigh for rain, all kept clean and
pure by the infinite hosts of species that sport in the water, whose
nourishment is decaying vegetation and disagreeable substances
formed by the decomposing action of the water. The majority of
aquatic species, and those species that appear in the greatest
numbers are these indirect vegetarians. I am aware that this is
a strong statement, and one never before advanced. It is the
result of years of patient watching and studying. Of the class of
insects whose larve feed in this manner there are, in the section
Neuroptera, the Ephemera, all of the Phryganzna that live in
cases, several species of lialina. Many species, but divided among
different families in the section diptera. One of these, Pzsces stmu-
diner, received its fishy name in honor of the commotion it created
among pisciculturists, a few years since. It figuredin Fish Com-
missioners’ reports, etc., as a “ web worm ” and “ destroyer of young
trout.” Larvae are ravenous feeders. A stream must be rich in
conferve to have a large insect fauna. It would be well sometimes
before stocking streams with fish to stock them first with insect
food. Not that insects are the only fish food, but directly and
indirectly they form the main supply at all seasons, and almost the
exclusive food when the Gammarus and other crustacea are pass-
ing through the first stages of life. Insects are liable to be exter-
minated in streams, or new species take the place of the old ones;
floods and freshets sweep the flora away. Mineral matter is ob-
noxious ; or their parasites and enemies may gain the ascendancy.
New species may supplant the old inhabitants, not always “ the
survival of the fittest,” but the survival of those whose ene-
mies and parasites are held in check from a combination of
circumstances. :

“In an insect’s life there are three familiar forms, larvee, pupa,
and imago. Larve are frequently used as bait, pushed squirming,
wriggling, protesting on the bare hook. Of these so martyred,
there are Phryganzd@ larve barbarously drawn from their castles,
known as caddis bait to the destroyer, grubs, larve of beetles,
maggots, or gintles, larve of the diptera, caterpillars, larve of
moths. The only pupa so sacrificed belongs to the family of Li-
alis, known by the suggestive appellation of helgramite. Of the
adult insects or imagines, the Locustar¢@, or grasshoppers, are a
common bait. The imitations used are of four forms. The fly
proper, with clear, smooth body, feet, wings with or without caudal
seta. Palmers, body covered with hairs bristling in all directions
{rom one extremity to the other. The hackled tly, body like the
palmer with wings and sometimes caudal seta. The hackle, body
ARTIFICIAL FLIES, 605

smooth with hackle closely wound at the head, the upper part of
the hackle representing the wings, the lower the feet. This is what
the old authors call a “ fly-made buzz,” a fly with its wings in rapid
motion. It imitates some small flies with heavy drooping wings as
they flutter over the surface of the water.

“In imitating insects the size of the fly must correspond with
the size of the insect, that the fly, when made, will be of the same
size as the insect imitated. All nondescript flies should be of the
same size as the natural inhabitants of that particular stream they
are thrown on.

“It is a strange but peculiar fact in insect economy, that the
small streams have a small sized insect fauna and the larger streams
a correspondingly larger. They are not the same identical insects,
but sometimes closely allied species, I will here state for the
benefit of the uninitiated in bug lore, that insects, when they have
assumed the perfect or winged form, no matter how long the term
of life is afterward, never change, never grow.

“The waters of the United States and Canadas, homes of the
Salmonid@ family, may be classed in three or more general divis-
ions, each with its own well-defined insect fauna. The first of
these we will consider are Head Springs. In these the water is
of a uniform temperature; their even flow the least disturbed
from rains, snow water, and freshets; the birthplace of the trout,
and the richest in insect life. The water is at all times swarming
with animalcule, the wonderful reproduction of these diminutive
orders supplying food for the larger, and they in turn for the fish.
Insects leave these waters about a month earlier than they do other
streams. The first that present themselves are of the family C4z-
ronomide, belonging to the order Dzptera. The chief distinguish-
ing characteristic of this order is their having but two wings—all
other orders have four. The larvz are long, slim, worm-like, some
a blood red color. They are aquatic, or rather they live in that soft
mixture of mud and water, with its slimy growth of vegetation
offering a treacherous foothold to the investigator, where sinking
lower and lower they feel as if they would soon be exploring that
region no one wishes to know of. When ready to change to pupe,
they bury themselves deeper in the mud. The outer skin hardens,
and to all appearance, they are at rest, but really preparing for a
most wonderful metamorphose, From its changes the body con-
tracts in its case, leaving a sort of vacuum, so that when it finally
wriggles itself out of the mud into the water it floats to the surface.
The case slits open above the thorax and the fly comes out. Of
these there are five that appear in such quantities that they may be
preéminently distinguished as fish food. They are piscatorially
named black, dark claret, bright claret, grey, and olive gnats,
These insects are double brooded, that is, the cycle of their life is
repeated twice every year, Their first exodus, if the weather is
606 OCEAN, LAKE, AND RIVER.

favorable, is from the last of March to the first of May. Their
second, through August and September. They may be farther
distinguished as morning flies, as the majority leave the water
during the hours of seven and eleven A, M.

« Another genus, immense in numbers, but small in size, that
metamorphose at this season, belongs to the family Zphemerzde,
order Neuroptera. The pupa is active and closely resembles the
larve. They are brisk, rapid swimmers, live an independent, un-
social life, keeping close to the bottom of the creek, where their
murky muddy color protects them from the vigilant eyes of their
pursuers. When disturbed they unhesitatingly risk an open flight,
fifst up to the surface, skim along a little way and then down again.
These are their tactics on the defensive. It will be almost need-
less to write that these are favorite game for trout, and where one
is you are sure to find the other. It is impossible to rear them in
aquaria. If the water becomes a degree or two warmer than that
in the bed of the creek, both larvae and pupe perish almost in-
stantly. When ready to take wing they rise to the surface under
some protecting shade, avoiding the uneven temperature of the
banks. With a heaving motion of the body the thorax slits open,
two upright wings flash out and are held aloof until the feet and seta
are drawn out ; for an instant it rests on its old coat, and then flies
off a sub-imago to await its last metamorphose, which takes place
in from ten to twenty-four hours after leaving the water. A deli-
cate parchment-like coating is thrown off the entire body, head, feet
wings and sete, leaving the insect with paler colors—transparent
wings and translucent body. The familiar nomenclature for this
family is dark fox, poor man’s fly, red fox and bright fox. These
begin to make their appearance the middle of April. There are
a succession of broods throughout the summer months. They
leave the water in the evenings, some very early in the mornings.
The black hackled fly has no natural history, only a history of long
experience, a captivating fly for all streams. Its most wonderful
exploits as a lure are when the water is discolored with rain. The ibis
is probably taken for a flower or animalcule. Many forest trees have
at this season a blossom whose petals are of this scarlet color.
The palmers or caterpillars are to be used wherever fish are to be
caught ad ézbctum. The grizzly king, queen of the water, and pro-
fessor, have a classical history. The two first are the invention of
Prof. John Wilson—Christopher North of the “Moctes Amébro-
stan@.” The last the invention of James Wilson, the eminent nat-
uralist. They are general flies for all streams, and all seasons.
Like the black hackled fly and ibis, these should be held in reserve
Ni ie days and hours where the six-footed race are lying in am-

ush,

“The dragon flies (Odonata), take the front rank among water
insects. In described species they exceed in number all the re-
_ ARTIFICIAL FLIES. 607

maining families in the section Meuroptera whose birth-place is
the water. The majority are in the warmer latitudes. They have
a preference for the waters where the temperature increases du-
ring the summer months. In springs and mountain streams the
larve will be found hugging the bank and in shallow inlets. They
hibernate in the egg form, at least in the northern latitudes ; are
voracious predaceous feeders ; are sporting characters, whose life
at all times depends on their agility in pursuing and capturing
game. Their large size,.as well as their habits in flying in pursuit
of food, keeping high over the water, will always prevent their
imitations being used successfully as bait on small streams. They
are rapid in their movements, but easily tire, and where there is a
large expanse of water their imitations can be used with good stic-
cess. In such waters there is always a larger sized class of fish,
making strong, heavy tackle essential.

“ The next family the section predominant in species, and each
species predominant in numbers, is the Phryganzua—meaning a
fagot. Forvarious reasons this family should claim the particular
attention of the fly-fisher. It belongs almost.exclusively to the
northern latitudes, and particularly to that class Of waters where
the trout and grayling delight to sport. From the numbers of
species, and their diversity of habits, they make their appearance
at all seasons. The imagines have a moth-like habitus, and are
called “stone flies,”’ on account of their colors resembling stones.
The wings are black-brown, black shading through the browns,
the brick colors, the luteous, until a creamy white is reached. The
eggs are inclosed in gelatinous capsules which swell in the water
and attach themselves to stones, sticks orvegetation. In this mass
the young live for some time after being excluded from the egg.
On leaving it they fasten around their body leaves, grass, or any
soft substance forming a padding, and then at their leisure build a
regular case around the whole, some spirally, others longitudinally,
of pieces of wood, grass, roots or branches of plants, gravels, stones,
shells, or any small and available substance found in the water,
adding on as they increase in growth or stature. Theappearance
of these cases is as various as the species. Some take possession
of hollow reeds or straws; others spin a case of silk exclusively.
These cases protect the abdomen, but are so large that they can
retreat entirely within when disturbed. They cling to them with
hooks at the extremity of the abdomen, Learned in hydrostatics
as they naturally should be, these cases are built with specific
gravity, such that it does not discommode them as they walk, or
buoy them to the surface. The few species in this family that are
predaceous do not live in cases, but take shelter under stones and
sticks, or spin a small web under some protection that they aban-
don at pleasure. When fully fed and ready to change to pupa,
they close their case with a grating, first fastening it securely to
608 OCEAN, LAKE, AND RIVER.

some substance in the bed of the water. Those that do not live in
cases make a pupa ‘covering of decayed wood, or small stones.
When this metamorphose is completed, and they are ready to leave
the water, they make with their mandibles a semicircular incision
in their covering, the head and the two first pair of feet are thrust
out, the rest of the body is partly drawn and partly wriggled out.
Now, as in the larvee form, they swim by using their feet, and make
their way with dexterity to the shore. In doing so! have seen
them swim across the stream, a strong-current tending to carry
them down. In their struggles they would be part of the time on
the surface and part of the time under the water. When they se-
cure a landing place their appearance is somewhat peculiar. The
mouth parts, or a portion of them, and the two first pair of feet
are free, while the posterior feet and antennee are pressed to the
sternal surface, and over them the wings are folded, crossing at
the points. In ten or fifteen minutes after leaving the water they
cast off a thin parchment like covering, thus releasing all parts of
the body. They leave the water just before twilight, but will be
seen fluttering over the water at all hours. In the evening some
fly in dense sWarms over streams and ponds. Many are noctur-
nal, flying only at night. They leave the water in June, July,
August, and September. A few species in the late fall; a few on
warm days through the winter; and some in the early spring, but
not in sufficient quantities to warrant their use as bait. The
forms that have been imitated the most, are named familiarly:
Stone, dark stone, grey stone, black June, general hooker, hod,
wren fly, raven, kingdom, preceptor, and governor.

“Thecow dung fly, (Scatophago stercorarza), so named on ac-
count of the larve feeding in the ordure of cows, belongs to the
section Diptera. It hybernates as pupz, buried in the earth. It
bursts open the chrysalis and comes forth the first warm days of
May. All the authors advise the use of this fly as bait on windy
days, thinking it was the wind that brought it to the water. It
might be, if the wind always blew towards each individual stream.
It was, I know, a successful and popular bait for all streams, but
why, it was for a long time a puzzle to me. I was at length so
fortunate as to solve it. The females are short lived and seldom
leave the vicinity of the food for the young; their imitations. are
seldom used as bait. The males live until they are chilled by the
cold winds of the fall. They are greedy feeders, epicurean canni-
bals, feeding on their smaller sized cousins, fresh and juicy, catch-
ing them just as they are leaving the water. They hold them
with their anterior feet, fly to the bank, and sitting under the
shade of a leaf, suck the body dry. One evening I watched one
of these flies supping on six simuliums; not being satisfied he
made a trip to the water for another, but there was a trout in wait-
ing and he sank to rise no more. The flies can be used success-
ARTIFICIAL FLIES. 609

fully as bait at all hours. They have a double advantage, their
colors approximating so closely to several species of Phryganzna
that they may be considered as representing three or four different
insects.

_ “The black May is one of the favorite forms in the same section
as the preceding. There are species having these colors at all
hours and all seasons on the water. In some the ventral surface
is clothed with a shaggy grey hair. These walk or glide over the
surface of the water with remarkable rapidity, and have a decided
dislike to leave it.

“The Ephemexina named for April will appear in May on
mountain and tributary streams, on all the streams that remain
open during the winter. They hybernate as active larve and
pupz, and if ice were formed, or partly formed, they would perish.

“In addition to this section, there is the great dun (Baetis.
longicauda), and its image, the red spinner. The latter in form
and color approximates so closely to several different species that
it has been used successfully throughout the summer. The yel-
low May (Clo strzata), appears usually about the middle of
May and continues through June.

“To continue the list of general summer flies, forms that have
made for themselves a name and history, but without prototypes
in nature, there is coachman, king of the water, gold spinner,
captain, soldier, kingdom, and the black, brown, red, and grey
palmers.’”

SUITABLE TROUT FLIES FOR APRIL.

Black Gnat, or Midge, No. 13.—Body and feet, black ; wings subhyaline.
Dark Claret Gnat, No. 13.--Body, dark claret ; feet, black ; wings, subhyaline.
Bright Claret Gnat, No. 13.—Body, bright claret, mixed with red fox face ; feet
singer ; wings of one sex, hyaline, the other, ocherous. =
vey Gnat, No. 13.—Body, dark fox, mixed with dark claret; feet, grey;
wings, hyaline.
Dark Fox, No. 10 or 11.—Body and feet, dark fox, mixed with lemon colored
mohair ; wings, subhyaline ; tail, three fibres of dark grey hackle. 3
Poor Man's Fly, Nos. 9 and 10.—Body and feet, hare’s ear and yellow mixed ;
wings, slightly mottled grey ; tail the mottle of the wood duck. :
live Gnat, No. 13.—Body, dark olive, mixed with bright claret ; feet, ginger ;
wings, hyaline. - ,
Red Fox, Nos. 10 and 11.—Body, fox cub face, mixed with yellow ; feet, red
(chicken red) ; wings, pale grey or subhyaline ; tail, mottled feather wood duck.
Bright Fox, Nos. 10 and 11.—Body and feet, brightest part of the fox, mixed
with yellow ; wings, brightest hyaline ; tail, pale yellow. . :
Black Hackled Fly, Nos. 6 and 8.—Body, orange, ribbed with gold tinsel ;
hackle black wings ; tail, of the American partridge.

TROUT FLIES FOR MAY.

.
Black May, No. 10.—Body, black ; feet, black ; wings, greyish hyaline.
Cow Dung, Nos. xo and 11.—Body and feet, brownish yellow ; wings, yellow-
grey. : ; 7
Great Dun, Nos. 9 and 8. Body, purple brown; feet, grey brown ; wings, dark
grey hyaline ; setze, dark brown annulated with grey.
610 OCEAN, LAKE, AND RIVER.

Red Spinner, Nos. 10 and 9. Body, bright claret, ribbed with gold tinsel ;
feet, brick color ; wings, grey hyaline ; setze, pale brick color,

Yellow May, No. so.—Body and feet, pale yellow ; wings, pale yellow, mot-
tled with brown ; setze, yellow. d .

Coachman.—Body, peacock herl; feet, dark red hackle ; wings white.

King of the Water.—Same as queen of the water, with scarlet body instead of
orange. .

Gold Spinner.—Body, orange, ribbed with gold tinsel ; feet, pale red hackle;
wings, bright grey. i .

Captain hody, posterior half, peacock herl, anterior half, grey ; white feet ;
red hackle; wings, grey ; sete, scarlet, green and wood duck feathers mixed.

Soldier.—Body, crimson ; feet, red hackle ; wings, grey.

Kingdom.—Body, white, ringed with green; feet, peacock herl, and red
hackle ; wings, grey, mottled with brown.

Black Palmer, Brown Palmer, Red Palmer and Grey Palmer, are made
respectively of the different colored hackles that distinguish them.

TROUT FLIES FOR JUNE.

Hawthorn, No. 11.—Body, shining black ; feet and head, black ; wings bright

hyaline. i
PC paewidiber: No. 10.—Body, ringed alternately with light grey and salmon ;

feet, dark ginger ; wings, the mottled grey of the mallard, and the mottled of the
woodcock mixed ; setae, mottled woodcock.

Black Fune, No. 10.—Body, peacock’s herl ; feet and wings black. :
; Dark Stone, Nos, 8 and 9.—Body, dark brown; feet, yellow brown ; wings,
uteous.

Governor, No. 10.—Body, peacock’s herl; feet, dark red hackle ; wings made
of the darkest part of the bittern’s wing, or brown hen.

Green Drake, No. 7.—Body, white posterior, half ribbed with black, green-
yellow mottled with brown ; setz, dark brown.

Brown Drake, No. 7.—Body, feet and wings, a golden yellow brown ; setz,
dark brown.

Raven, No, 11.—Body, feet and wings, black.

Wren Fly, No. 9.--Body, clay-yellow ; feet, made from the scapular feathers of
the English wren or quail ; wings and setz, mottled widgeon.

TROUT FLIES FOR JULY.

Little Egg, No. 12.—Body and feet of orange and yellow, mohair and hare’s
ear mixed ; wings, bright hyaline, slightly mottled 3. Setze, Same as wings.

i Lightning Bug, No 1o.—Body of equal parts, of dark brown, and black mixed,
tipped with yellow ; feet, of feathers from the English grouse ; wings, double, the
inner wing black, the outer wing a yellow brown.

General Hooker, No. 9.—Body made of bright yellow and green, ringed alter-
nately ; feet, red hackle . wings of the tail feathers of the ruffed grouse.

Little Claret, No. 11.—Body and feet, dark claret mohair, slightly tinged with
blue ; wings, of the bittern gr brown hen ; Sete, dark brown.

Claret fly, No, 9.—Body, dark claret ; feet, black ; wings of the brown hen.

fetid Green, No. 10.— Body, feet, and wings, a pale blue green.

TROUT FLIES FOR AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER.

 Crey Coftin, Nos. to and 11.—Body, silver-grey mohair, tipped with orange

silk ; feet, light grey hackle wound over peacock’s herl ; Wings and setz, hyaline.

Brown Coflin, Nos. 10 andi1. Body, grey and bright claret mohair mixed ;
feet, dark grey hackle wound over peacock’s herl 5 Wings and setae, grey hyaline.

The Guats, named for April,

Quaker, Nos. 7 and 8; for evening and moonlight.—Body, grey wound with
honey-yellow hackles ; wings, made of feather from an oriole’s wing.

White Moth, Nos. 6 and 7; tor dark nights.— Body, feet and wings, pure white.

The Stone /lies continue on the water until the close of the season,

(a At this season use the small flies for day fishing, and the large flies for

evening and night.
ARTIFICIAL FLIES. 611

GENERAL FLIES, GOOD AT ANY TIME.

Jbis, No. 8.~A hackle fly, ribbed with silver tinsel ; body, hackle, wings and
tail, scarlet.
Peacock Paimer, No, 8.—Body, peacock herls ; hackle black, and red mixed.
Grey Palmer, No. 8.—Body, peacock herl ; dark grey hackle.
Prafessor, Nos, 8. and 9.—Body, bright yellow ; feet, golden brown ; wings,
wood duck and mallard, dyed yellow, mixed ; tail, scarlet ibis.
Queen of the Water, Nos. 8 and 9.—A hackled fly ; body, orange, ribbed with
gold tinsel; hackle, chicken red ; wings, bright mottle of the mallard.
Grizaly King, Nos. 8 and 9.—A_ hackly fly ; body, green ; hackle, dark grey ;
tail, scarlet ibis ; wings, mottled feather of the pin-tail.
Besides the above, the following are favorite flies.
Adéey, Golden pheasant and red tail, brown hackle, dark grey wing.
_March Brown, Brown body, ribbed with yellow silk, brown hackle, turkey
wing.
Srown Hen, Peacock body, brown hackle, wild turkey wing.
_Sélver Black, Black hackle, light black body, ribbed with silver tinsel, dark
wing.
Oak, Orange body, ribbed with black silk, brown hackle, turkey wing.
Blue Mole, Dark grey body, grey hackle, slate-colored wing.
Stlver Grey, Silver body, grey hackle, grey wing.
Orange Black, Orange body, black hackle, dark wing.
Afay, Yellow body, yellow hackle, yellow wing.
Red Ant, Brown body, brown hackle, light wing.
Montreal, Red body, red hackle, grey wing.
‘Blue Professor, Red tail, blue body, brown hackle, grey wing.
Cinnamon, Light brown body, brown hackle, brown wing.
Alder, Claret body, black hackle, slate-colored wing.
Blue Bottle, Blue body, black hackle, slate-colored wing.
Allerton, Body, yellow, ribbed with gold ; hackle, blue and yellow; tail of
wood duck feather.
Also the Blue Dun, Pale Green Dun, yellow spinner, jenny spinner, yellow
sally, and, it is said, eight hundred patterns in all. The above will suffice for an
assortment ; the less used the better, in our opinion.

“OTHER BAITS.

Helgramite or Dobson,—What are known as Helgramites in the South and
Dobsons in the North, are the fully grown larvae and pone of several aquatic
species in the family Sialina. Their feeding ground is chiefly in sluggish rivers.

hey are rare in mountain streams or head springs. They will be found in the
shallow parts of the stream, under stones or submerged driftwood, or buried in
the soft mud along its banks.

Fish Roe.—Tiea quantity, the bulk of a marble, in a bit of mosquito netting, or
secure it to the hook with woolen threads. It can be preserved for a year in equal
parts of salt and saltpetre. Cork tight in a bottle, and keep in acool place, Fresh
roe is the best.

Frogs.—Izaak Walton says: ‘‘ Put your hook through the mouth, and out of
his gills, and then with a fine needle and silk sew the upper part of his leg. with
only one stitch, to the arming wire of the hook, and in so doing, use him as
though you loved him.” | c

To Scour Angle Worms.—Place them in sand, and they will clean themselves
of earth, and become fresh and red. Raw beef is a good substitute, when worms
cannot be got. , .

To keep dead Minnows Fresh.—Pack in wet saw-dust and salt or brine, add-
ing a little saltpetre. Coarse straw dampened is also a good packing. .

Live Minnows.—Have made a large bucket, holding say four gallons, with
inside‘ bucket small enough to have plenty of play and thoroughly perforated.
Place a large piece of ice an top of the inside bucket every ten or fifteen minutes ;
churn the inside bucket up and down to aerate the water. If the inside bucket is
oval on the bottom, it is much better than ifit has a flat bottom, as the car or boac
will keep the bucket in motion. In this bucket minnows have been transported
two hundred miles.
612 OCEAN, LAKE, AND RIVER.

To Keep Shrimp.—Put them clean and solid into_a box or basket, the latter
preferred, and place it on the ice in a refrigerator. We have tried covering with
seaweed, mixing with sawdust, meal, etc., but for a handy home method nothing
works better for keeping shrimp alive twenty-four hours—a week in fact—than
the ice chest. If you are going to carry them some distance before using, it is
well to pack the box or basket in ice. If you are located near the water, the best
way of allis to have a tight covered basket or a box, full of small holes, so as to
allow a free circulation of water, and with the live shrimp therein, anchor it off
shore. The Guilford Club, during the smelting season, have always adopted the
latter method at Black Rock with perfect success, with the simple difference that
the shrimp basket was secured ‘nside a large floating lobster car, and they never
were troubled with dead bait, but always found them alive and kicking when
wanted.

Artificial Angle Worms.—A St. Louis firm has patented an imitation earth-
worm, made of India rubber or other flexible material, to be substituted for the
live angle-worm. It exactly resembles the natural squirmer in color, and cer-
tainly possesses the advantages of cleanliness for use. It cannot be taken off the
hook by nibbles, and needs no preparatory ** scouring.”

ADDITIONAL USEFUL HINTS.

The following information will be found to be of the utmost practical value,
on occasion: =.

Weather Indications.—The color of the sky at particular times affords good
guidance. Not only does a very rosy sunset presage good weather, and a ruddy
sunrise bad weather, but there are other tints which speak with equal clearness
and accuracy. A bright yellow sky in the evening indicates wind ; a pale yellow,
wet; a neutral grey color constitutes a favorable sign in the evening, and an
unfavorable one in the morning. The clouds are again full of meaning in them-
selves, If their forms are soft, undefined, and feathery, the weather will be fine;
if their edges are hard, sharp and definite, it will be foul. Generally speaking,
any deep, unusual hues betoken wind or rain; while the more quiet and delicate
tints bespeak fair weather. These are simple maxims ; and yet the British Board
of Trade has thought fit to publish them for the use of seafaring men.

In Kentucky and elsewhere much reliance is placed upon the ‘** goose bone.”
It has been handed down among the early traditions of the State, and may be
called the Kentucky weather prophet. It is to be found in nearly every Ken-
tucky country home, and in many parts of the State the farmers consult it, and
prepare for handling their crops in accordance with its readings. The prophecy
of the goose-bone does not extend beyond the year in which the goose was
hatched, and the prediction is for the three winter months only. Take the breast-
bone of a last spring’s goose and divide it into three equal parts, and the different
divisions will represent December, January and February. The breast-bone of
a goose is translucent, and if clear when held up to the light, the weather will be
mild and pleasant; but if covered with cloud-like blots, it will be gloomy and
cold ; the heavier the blots, the colder will be the weather.

A Good Barometer.—Take a common glass pickle bottle, wide-mouthed ; fill
it within three inches of the top with water, then take a common Florence oil
flask, removing the straw covering and cleansing the flask thoroughly, plunge the
neck of the flask as far as it will go into the bottle, and the barometer is com plete.
In fine weather the water will rise in the neck of the flask even higher than the
mouth of the pickle bottle, and in wet, windy weathér, it will fall within an inch
of the flask. Before a heavy gale of wind, the water has been seen to leave the
flask altogether at least eight hours before the gale came to its height.
ADDITIONAL USEFUL HINTS. 613

Swimming a Horse.—When swimming a horse never touch the bridle, as a
horse is easily drowned when checked up or otherwise interfered with about the
head, Sit well back and guide the horse with the hand, gently slapping him on
either side as required thus a horse will swim a mile or more with a full-grown
man on his back, and suffer but little. Or better still, throw yourself from the
horse on the down stream side, and with the right hand grasping the mane at
the witgers, aid the progress of the horse with the other and feet as in swim-
ming.

To Subdue a Horse —Take a cord about the size of a common bed-cord, put it
in the mouth of the horse like a bit, and tie it tightly on the animal’s head, pass
his left ear under the string, not painfully tight, but tight enough to keep the ear
down and the cord in its place. This done, pat the horse gently on the side of the
head and command him to follow. He will be found perfectly subdued and
obedient, the more submissive if he has not been habitually treated cruelly or
outrageously. This plan is practiced in Mexico and South America.

To Tell a Horse’s Age.—The colt is born with twelve grinders; when four
front teeth have made their appearance, the colt is twelve days old, and when the
next four come forth, it is four weeks old. When the corner teeth appear, the
colt is eight months old ; when the latter have attained to the height of the front
teeth, it is one year old. The two year old colt has the kernel (the substance in
the middle of the tooth’s crown) ground out in all the front teeth. In the third
year the middle front teeth are being shifted, and when three years old these are
substituted bythe horse teeth. The next four teeth are shifted in the fourth year,
and the corner teeth in the fifth. At six years the kernel is worn out of the lower
middle front teeth, and the bridle teeth have not attained to their full growth. At
seven years, a hook has been formed in the corner teeth of the upper jaw, the
kernel of the next at the middle is worn out, and the bridle teeth begin to wear
off. At eight years, the kernel is worn out of the lower front teeth, and begins to
decrease in the middle upper front. In the ninth year the kernel has wholly dis-
appeared from the upper middle front teeth ; the hook on the corner has increased
in size, and the bridle teeth lose their points. Inthe tenth year, the kernel is
worn out of the teeth next to the middle front of the upper jaw, and inthe eleventh
year the kernel has entirely vanished from the corner teeth of the same jaw. At
twelve years old, the crown of all the front teeth in the lower jaw has become
triangular, and the bridle teeth are much worn down. As the horse advances in
age the gums shrink away from the teeth, which consequently receive a long
narrow appearance, and the kernels become darkish points. Grey increases in
the forehead and over the eyes, and the chin assumes the form of an angle.

Shedding Mane.—The shedding of hair froma horse’s mane and tail can be
prevented by washing the parts affected a few times in carbolic soapsuds. Ora
wash made of lard oil one pint, and aqua ammonia one gill, well mixed and
rubbed in, will prevent the falling of the hair.

Saddle Marks.—White marks caused by the friction of the saddle may some-
times be removed from a-horse by applying, morning and night, an ointment
made of lard and tincture of cantharides or Spanish fly, made in the proportion of
a few drops of the latter to an ounce of the former.

Ticks on Horses.—Any kind of oil will make the tick let go of its own accord,
if well rubbed into the hair of the animal. The theory is, that the oil tills the
pores of the skin and deprives the tick of air to breathe.

Fleas and Vermin.—Nothing better to keep them off than Persian insect pow-
614 ADDITIONAL HINTS AND RECIPES.

der (pyrethrume roseunt) recommended by British Medical Gazette and for sale at
druggists’ and rat poison stores. A’ solution can also be made.

New Food for Horses.—This is composed of two quarts of oats, one of bran,
and half a pint of flax seed. The oats are first placed in the stable bucket, over
which is placed the linseed ; add boiling water, then the bran, covering the mix-
ture. with an old rug and allowing it thus to rest for five hours ; then stir the mass
well up. The bran absorbs while retaining the vapor, and the linseed Binds the
oats and bran together ; a greater quantity of flax seed would make the prepara-
tion too oily and less relished. One feed per day is sufficient: it is easily di-
gested, and is especially adapted to young animals.

To Extricate a Mired Animai.—The usual method is to fasten a rope around
the animal's horns or neck, and while this is pulled by some of. the assistants,
others place rails beneath the body of the animal for the purpose of lifting it out
of the hole. This plan is sometimes effective, but it often is not, and at best it is
aslow, clumsy, and laborious method. The materials needed for the method
here referred to are all that are required for a much better one. This is very sim-
ple, and two men can operate it, and at a pinch, even one man may succeed with
it. A strong stake or an iron bar is driven into the solid ground at a distance of
twenty-five feet or more from the mired animal. Two short rails, about nine feet
long, are tied together near the ends, so that they can be spread apart in the form
of a pair of shears, for hoisting. A long rope is fastened around the horns or neck
of the animal, with such a knot that the loop cannot be drawn tight enough to do
any injury. The rope is cast over the ends of the rails as they are set up upon the
edge of the solid ground, and carried to the stake or crow-bar beyond. The end
of the rope is fastened to a stout handspike, leaving about a foot of the end of
it free. This end is laid against the bar or stake, and the other end is moved
around it so that the rope is wound upon it, drawing it up and with it drawing the
animal out of the mire. The rope being held up to the tied rails, tends to lift the
animal and make its extrication very easy.—A merican Agriculturist.

Rawhide Straps and Halters.—Take the skin of cow, calf, colt, horse, or
other animal, cut it into narrow strips, and shave off the hair with a sharp knife
before the kitchen fire, or in your workshop on stormy days and evenings. You
may make them soft by rubbing, A rawhide halter strap an inch wide will holda
horse better and last longer than an inch rope. It is stronger than hoop-iron and
more durable, and may be used to hoop dry casks and boxes, and for hinges.
Try it on a broken thill, or any wood work that has been split. Put it on wet and
nail fast. Thin skins make the best to use it in its natural state. For other pur-
poses it may be dressed.

Rawhide Lariat or Lasso.—Take a green bull hide, lay it flat on a smooth
floor, cut off the legs and irregular pieces with a sharp knife until you bring it to
an oblong or oval shape, then commence at the outer edge and cut a strip an inch
wide or more, following the circular form until you have secured the required
length,.which should be fifty feet, then wind it on two posts, trees, or stakes,
drawing it as tight as possible so as to stretch it. Then roll it foot by foot be-
tween two small boards to make it pliable, and then boil it in oil to keep it so,
otherwise it will become very hard and dry when it gets wet. Then make a slip-
noose at the end, and your lariat is complete. To ensure a good, free running
noose, bend the end on over an eye or iron ring three-fourths of an inch in di-
ameter. A lariat made of strips of buckskin braided and oiled is very serviceable.

To Tote, Pack, or Carry a Deer.—1. In dragging the carcass of a deer to
ADDITIONAL USEFUL HINTS. 615

camp, never draw if by the hind legs. This is against the grain of the hair
making the load heavy and damaging the meat. If a sapling is handy, sling the
deer to it with its feet tied in pairs, and the nose secured to the pole, so that it
will not swing and sling blood all over.

2, Cut off the deer’s head, skin his legs down to his knees and hams, cut off the
feet and shin-bones, tie the skin of each fore-leg to that of a hind-leg on the op-
posite side, put your arms through, and pack him knapsack-fashion.

3. First, see that the deer is well bled ; next, cut entirely around the arms,
working your knife carefully well inward until the intestines are clear of all con-
nection with the flesh through the hams. Cut slits in the hind legs for the gam-
brel; then cut three poles about twelve feet long and four inches in diameter at
large end, leaving a crotch at the end of two, and an inch or so of a small limb
about a foot from the top end of the third ; thrust the end up to limb through the
cut in the legs, and place the foot of this pole against some firm object to keep it
from slipping back, and then place the crotched end of the two poles over the leg,
and under the pole at the gambrel, setting the poles so that you can lift on the
bottom of each toward the centre, crowding downward on the foot of each pole
till your deer swings clear of the ground. Commence at a point on the belly
about eight inches below where the hams press together ; cut only through the
skin downward through the brisket and neck to under jaw, also from the hock of
each fore-leg on the inside to the brisket, meeting the downward cut; skin the
fore-legs, neck and body to the fifth rib, but no farther, and then open and take
out intestines, cutting brisket Well open to allow all to fall out clear from body,
and then divide the body at the fifth rib, detaching the fore-quarters entirely ; cut
the large strips of meat from the shoulder blades, ribs and back of the fore-quarters,
discarding the remainder. You have now hanging the hind-quarters with the
skin attached ; tie the skin closely with a cord just where it leaves the meat, and
stow away the pieces from the fore-quarters on the inside the ribs of the hind-
quarters. Now, 1f weather permits, leave hanging till the blood drains out and
body is cold, and as much longer as may be convenient, only taking the precau-
tion to hang over the whole a few branches of some evergreen to keep off the
storms. Provide yourselt with a packing strap and bag, take down the quarters,
pull the neck end of skin back between the legs, draw down the tail and with a
cord tie together, while the skin from the fore-legs should be brought around the
body and tied at the small of the back, unjoint the legs just below the gambrel,
and you have a compact, clean bundle that includes nearly all there is of value,
and in such shape tbat the meat is entirely covered with the skin, and witha
packing strap can be carried quite handily. If found too heavy with the meat in-
side, put this in your packing bag and make another journey. The hind-quarters
are now in shape to stand quite a change in weather, and can be transported
without injury, while the choice pieces of the fore-quarters not used in camp can
be stowed away inside and kept clean and palatable. A deer cannot be nicely
dressed without being hung up a sufficient time to allow the blood to drain out,
and with the three-poles mentioned a man that can carry seventy-five pounds can
raise three hundred, although with a very large animal it may be necessary to use
two sets of the poles with the crotches, the first set shorter, to get the body
partly up before setting those long enough for the last raise.

To Waterproof Tents and Garments.—Dissolve paraffine in naphtha or ben-

zine, and soak thoroughly.
2. Take half a pound of sugar or sugar of lead and half a pound of powdered
616 ADDITIONAL USEFUL HINTS. «-

alum, dissolve them in a bucket of rain water and pour off into another vessel and
steep your tent in it, letting it soak thoroughly. Ifthe quantity is not sufficient
increase ia same proportion. Hang the article up to dry, but do not wring it.

Waterproof for Boots.—Six ounces mutton suet, six ounces beeswax, four
ounces rosin, and a pint of linseed oil; melt the three first ingredients together
and add the last. Apply on uppers and soles of boots.

2. Six parts tallow, two parts beeswax, one part rosin, one pint castor oil, and
two parts caoutchouc. When melted together, apply aS warm as the leather will
permit, with a brush.

3. Nantucket fishermen, when they want to make their boots waterproof, just
pour half a gallon of boiled linseed oil into them, and let it stay there for a week.

4. Take one-half pound of shoemaker’s dubbing, one-half linseed oil, one-half
pint strong solution of India rubber. Dissolve the whole witha gentle heat (it is
very inflammable), and apply with an ordinary blacking brush. One application
will insure dry feet for several months.

5. Melt together one pound tallow, halfan ounce neatsfoot oil, one ounce rosin,
one-half ounce lamp-black, « table-spoonful of linseed oil. Should be rubbed in
repeatedly, the boots or other articles to be warmed. It is said to be perfectly
waterproof and not injurious to the leather.

6. Ina pint of best winter-strained lard oil, dissolve a Piece of paraffine the size
of a hickory nut, aiding the solution with a gentle heat, say 100 or 140° F. The
readiest way to get pure paraffine is to take a piece of paraffine candle. Rub this
solution on your boots about once a month; they can be blackened in the mean-
time. If the oil should make the leather too stiff, decrease the proportion of par-
affine, and wice versa.

7. Take neatsfoot oil, one and one-half pints ; beeswax, one ounce; spirits of
turpentine, four ounces; and stir until cold. Spread and rub this composition
over the leather while it is damp; leather will absorb oil and grease better when
damp than when dry. For the soles, take pine tar and rub it in before the fire
until the soles will absorb no more. Three or four applications will be needed.
The durability of the soles will be much increased.

8. Take one pint of drying oil, two ounces yellow wax, two ounces spirits
of turpentine, and one ounce of Burgundy pitch—the hard materials melted over
a slow fire, and the others added and well mixed. Rub this mixture on the boots
at a distance from the fire, repeatedly, until the leather is saturated. Common
black pitch was found equal to the Burgundy, and rather better. It is probable
that other variations might be made without detriment, provided a proper consist-
ency is maintained in the mixture of the oils, wax and pitch. The boots do better
to dry three or four weeks after being treated with the composition, than to use
them while it is fresh.

g. Take a quarter of a pound of beef and mutton suet, a teaspoonful of Jard, half
pint of neatsfoot oil, one ounce of beeswax, half an ounce of Burgundy pitch, and
a half ounce of turpentine. Melt up the suct, the lard, the pitch and the beeswax
in a pot, stir in the oil, and when off the fire, and cooling a little, put in the tur-
pentine. If you want to be elegant, add a half box of blacking to give it a color.
Warm the compound and paint the boots, upper and soles. It makes a boot quite
water tight, and salt water cannot faze it.

ro. India rubber cut fine, one ounce put in a pint of petroleum (raw) or Seneca
oil, Let stand a week, and then apply with brush until the leather is saturated.

Rubber Cement.—One-half pound bi-sulphate of carbon; three handsful of
ADDITIONAL USEFUL HINTS, 617

gutta percha ; put in a wide-mouthed bottle ; shake frequently ; at the end of two
weeks strain through a cloth, return to bottle and cork tightly, for reasons that
will be obvious. To apply, first dry the article, then smear the cement on and
allow it to evaporate, before bringing edges together. After it has become light-
colored in spots, warm and bring edges perfectly together ; stand away for awhile
and the job is complete.

2, Four ounces of pure India rubber, one-eighth of an ounce powdered asphalt-
um, put together in a tin can, thenadd about six times the quantity of benzine, let
it stand three or four days, then take a stick and work it over, then add benzine and
stir it well until you have it about the consistency of honey ; then it is ready for
use. It should be covered as tight as possible while dissolving, and afterward.
To use it, scrape the polish from the rubber, then apply the cement to the place to
be mended, and also to a piece of rubber to be used as a patch. Dry half an hour,
and apply another coat, then, after another half hour, press the patch into the
place over the break. Like all other preparations containing benzine, it must
be kept away from fires, as it is as explosive as burning fluid.

3. Cut virgin or native India rubber with a wet knife into the thinnest possible
slices, and with shears divide these into threads as fine as fine yarn. Put a small
quantity of the shreds (say one-tenth or less of the capacity of the bottle) into a
wide-mouthed bottle, and fill it three-quarters full of benzine of good quality,
perfectly free from oil. The rubber will swell up almost immediately, and ina
few days, especially if often shaken, assumes the consistency of honey. If it in-
clineg to remain in undissolved masses, more benzine must be added ; but if too
thin and watery, it needs more rubber. A piece of solid rubber the size of a wal-
nut will make a pint of the cement. This cement dries in a few minutes, and by
using three coats in the usual manner, will unite leather straps, patches, rubber
soles, backs of boots, etc., with exceeding firmness. The India rubber, unvul-
canized, can be obtained at most large stores where rubber goods are sold, and at
some drug stores.

Sleeping in a Cold Room,—People who come in from a long period of out-door
camping are almost certain to catch cold ina house when they return, because,
having been accustomed to sleeping in the open air, they almost invariably leave
their windows ‘open, Many persons who went to bed well, are surprised to wake
up in the morning with inflammation of the lungs, solely because they have
hoisted the windows for ventilation. Hall’s Yournal of Health says that robust
persons may safely sleep in a temperature of forty or under, but the old, the
infant, and the frail should never sleep in a room where the atmosphere is much
under fifty degrees Fahrenheit.

If there is some fire in the room all night the window may be opened an inch.
It is safer to sleep in bad air all night, with a temperature over fifty, than in a pure
air with the temperature under forty. The bad air may sicken you, but cannot
‘Kill you ; the cold air can and does kill very often.

Colds and Headaches —Take of Norwood’s tincture veratrum one drop ona
small lump of sugar every two hours, and a three-quarter quinine pill every three
hours. This prescription is recommended by Dr. N. Rowe, of the Chicago Field.

2. Dissolve fifteen or twenty grains of chloral in very little water, and with the
tip of a finger rub it upon the seat of pain until you can sensibly fee} the burning,
and the skin is reddened.

Fever Diet.—When a patient will not take beef tea in the ordinary form, freeze
it, and administer in small lumps. In this way it forms a most palatable article

of diet. i
618 ADDITIONAL USEFUL HINTS.

Diarrhea and Dysentery.—An old army prescription used in the Mexican
War, is, a mixture of equal parts of capsicum (red pepper), Hoffman’s anodyne
camphor, and peppermint, with one-half the proportion of laudanum. Take
twenty drops in a tablespoonful of water every hour until cured.

Croup.—Croup can be cured in one minute, and the remedy is simply alum
and sugar. The way to accomplish this is to take a knife or grater and shave off
jn small particles about a teaspoonful of alum ; then mix it with twice its quantity
of sugar, to make it palatable, and administer it as quickly as possible. Almost
instantaneous relief will follow.

Burns.—Charcoal has been discovered to be acure for burns. By laying a
piece of cold charcoal upon the burn the pain subsides immediately. By leaving
the charcoal on one hour the wound is healed, as has been demonstrated on sev-
eral occasions.

Cure for Wounds.—As soon as a punctured wound is inflicted, get a light
stick (a knife or file handle will do), and commence to tap gently on the wound.
Do not stop for the hurt, but continue until it bleeds freely and becomes perfectly
numb. When this point 1s reached, you are safe; and all that is then necessary
is to protect it from dirt. Do not stop short of the bleeding and the numbness,
and do not on any account close the opening with plaster. Nothing more thana
little simple cerate on a clean cloth is necessary.

Fish Bone in Throat.—If you get a fish bone in your throat, fast there, swal-
low an egg, raw ; it will be sure to carry down a bone easily and certainly,

Chilblains.—Cut up two white turnips, without paring, into thin slices; put
the slices into a tin cup ‘with three large spoonfuls of best lard; let it simmer
slowly for two hours, then mash this through a sieve ; when cold, spread it ona
soft linen cloth, and apply to the chilblain at night.

Snake Bites.—Apply raw sliced onions to the wounded parts.

For rattlesnake bite, make the patient swallow large and repeated doses of
olive oil, until a quart is swallowed ; rub mercurial ointment into the affected
part freely.

Rattlesnake Bites.—The following is used by soldiers on the plains, and is
said to be efficacious: Iodide of potassium, four grains ; corrosive, sublimate, two
grains ; bromine, five drachms. Ten drops, diluted with a tablespoonful or two
of brandy, wine, or whisky, is the dose, to be repeated if necessary. Keep ina
well-stoppered phial.

Bites of Rabid Animals.—Mix thoroughly two taplespoonfuls chloride of lime
with a half pint of fresh water and bathe the wound almost without cessation
until the physician arrives, or until the poison is neutralized.

Poisons,—An antidote for corrosive sublimate is the white of two eggs: it will
neutralize the poison and change the effect to that of a dose of calomel.

Ifa person swallows any poison whatever, or has fallen into convulsions from
having overloaded the stomach, an instantaneous remedy, more efficient and
applicable in a larger number of cases than half a dozen medicines we can now
think of, is a heaping teaspoon of common salt, and as much ground mustard,
stirred rapidly in a teacup of water, warm or cold, and swallowed instantly. It
is scarcely down before it begins to come up, bringing with it the remaining con-
tents of the stomach ; and lest there be any remnant of a poison, however small,
let the white of an egg, or a teacup of strong coffee, be swallowed as soon as the
stomach is quiet ; because these very common articles nullify a larger number of
virulent poisons than any medicines in the shops,
~

ADDITIONAL USEFUL HINTS. 619

Poison Ivy or Sumac.—Sometimes wet salt or pork brine bound on the poison
spots and kept wet, will soon dry them up. Very strong ammonia applied fre-
quently as soon as the poison appears is an excellent remedy. This remedy is
sometimes severe in its effects, acting as a caustic on the poison spots after the
poison is killed. When ammonia fails, powdered gum myrrh, shaken up in sweet
oil and used three times a day as a wash, will be found an almost unfailing remedy.
When obtainable, it is the best to apply at first.

a. The last remedy has been used successfully as a preventive, by liberally
anointing the skin before going into the woods, always allowing the remedy to
dry on the skin.

3. Tincture lobelia, (equal parts water) or sugar of lead, or Pond’s extract
(Hammalis). Think the ‘‘ Hammalis’’ the best ; very cooling and allays the itch-
ing, etc. Ivy poison has a‘‘run”’ of about one week, no matter what you apply.

4. Carbolic acid and glycerine, in the proportion of about one part of the acid
to three of glycerine, which is also good for all kinds of insect bites, burns,
cuts, bruises, etc. :

s. Apply water as hot as can be borne to the part affected.

Disinfectants.—If onions are sliced and kept in a sick room they will absorb
all the atmospheric poison. They should be changed every hour. In the room
of a small-pox patient they blister and decompose very rapidly, but will prevent
the spread of the disease.

2. One pound of green copperas, costing seven cents, dissolved in one quart of
water, and poured down a water-closet, will effectually concentrate and destroy
the foulest smells. On board ships and steamboats, about hotels and other pub-
lic places, there is nothing so nice to purify the air. Simply green copperas dis-
solved in anything, will render a hospital or other places for the sick, free from
unpleasant smells. :

To Cook Mushrooms,—Peel both tops and stems, put in a stew-pan, with an
ounce of butter and a pinch or two of salt to each pound, and serve up hot. This
will answer to eat with fish, flesh, and fowl. Zo fry ¢hem—peel, dip in egg, and
roll in cracker dust, season, and fry with oysters. :

To Roast a Wild Turkey.—Having picked and cleaned a turkey, put up two
short forked stakes pretty close to the fire; cut a thin straight stick with’which
spit the turkey ; lay the ends of the stick in the crotches of the uprights, turn
the bird slowly before the fire. A pan should be placed underneath to catch the
gravy and dripping, with which baste the turkey from time to time. Make the
basting of a little butter or lard, flour, salt and water.

To Bake Small Birds.—Quail, woodcock, pigeon, snipe, prairie fowl, etc.,
should be neither picked nor drawn. Wet the feathers thoroughly ; make a hole
in the coals, and put in the wet bird. Cover well with coals and hot ashes, to
exclude air and prevent burning. When cooked, the skin and feathers will peel
off bodily, leaving the well-cooked meat unmarred.

To Bake a Fish.—Cover the fish undrawn, with clay two inches thick, and
throw it into the hottest of the fire. The clay hardens almost instantly, and the
fish in its rough oven bakes through and through, retaining also its juices. The
clay is then poked out of the fire, cooled with a dash of water, and a sharp stroke
withg stick separates it from the fish. The fish’s skin peels off with the clay and
the &: is ready. 7

Having cleaned, split, and seasoned the fish, pin it to a board by wooden
pegs; then prop the whole up before a smart hot fire of hot coals. The fish is
very quickly baked brown,
620 ADDITIONAL USEFUL HINTS.

Wrap the fish evenly in thin buttered tissue paper, and bury this in some wet
brown wrapping paper, and then bake as in No. r.

Venison Steak.—Cut your meat down the grain, an inch thick, place it on the
fork of a stick, and turn it smartly over a hot fire of coals,

Venison Stew.—A venison stew, or a miscellaneous stew is made by cutting
the breasts of fowl and the flesh of the animal into chunks; take sliced potatoes,
slices of bread or crackers, sliced onions, and salt pork and place them in alter-
nate layers, seasoning with salt and pepper between each. Fill up even to the
top of the mess with water and boil till the potatoes are done,

To Cook a Head with the Hair on.—The head of a deer, or any large animal,
with the hide on, is put into a hole in the ground sufficiently large to hold the head
and a lot of smooth stones weighing twe or three pounds apiece, and deep enough
to sink them a foot below the surface. Make a hot fire in the hole, and another
near by ; heat the rocks as hot as they can be heated without cracking. Then,
when both the earth oven and stones are hot, clean the fire out of the hole, put in
a layer of stones, then the head neck down, and then the rest of the stones around
and over the head ; throw in a lot of mint, sweet weed, (grass or leaves will do),
cover all with earth well packed down ; let it remain all night, and in the morning
eat it. Any portion of the carcass wrapped in a raw hide, can be cooked in the
same way.

Baked Beans.—Put well-soaked beans into the pot and the pot in the earth as
above, surrounded either with hot coals or heated stones, and leave twenty-four
hours. Cover the beans with water, one quart of water to a pint of beans; add
two teaspoonfuls of molasses and sufficient salt.

Clam Bake.—Heat stones and lay them close together in circular shape. Have
your material ready—clams, oysters, lobsters, fish, green corn, etc., and having
placed them on the hot stones, cover with sea-weed, and the whole heap with a
tarpaulin. :

Mountain Hotch-Potch.—Take the best part of a neck of venison, or moun-
tain sheep is better, cut it small, bones and all, and boil it until thoroughly weil
done, or until the meat separates from the bones. Then remove the bones and
put in a quantity of green peas and broad beans at discretion not to make the
hotch-potch too thick; adda flavor of onions and parsley, together with a fair
proportion of carrots, turnips, and kale or other cabbage, taking care to make the
combination thick enough, but not so thick as to deprive it of the character of a
soup and convert it into a pottage and boil the whole for eight or nine hours. If
you boil it for twelve, or even twenty hours, it will be none the worse, but all the
better. If there be any left, boil it up again on the next day and it will be better
than on the first. You can get some vegetables at the ranches.
SPORTING BOATS AND CANOES.

BOATS FOR SPORTING USES.

THERE are so many different services required of boats, and so
many different kinds of boats made to meet those requirements,
that the purchaser should be able to determine just what he wants
a boat for, before he proceeds to buy, and then endeavor to ob-
tain as nearly as possible what kind of a boat he requires. It is
unwise to be in a hurry when purchasing. The first thing to find
out about a boat is her age. Five years is about as old as is de-
sirable under ordinary circumstances, as boats, as they are built
now-a-days, begin to get old when they pass this age. However,
if a boat is very strongly built and has been well used, she may be
some years older before showing signs of decay. But it is not
best to buy a very old boat, as the repairs wil] cost almost as much
as it would to build a new one. The timbers should be examined
closely and the planks all sounded and the condition of the buts
carefully noted. The planks near the garboard should be particu-
larly observed, as there will be a leak there if they are not pretty
sound, which cannot be stopped without putting in new planks.
If the boat has a centre-board the case should be examined round
the bottom, as it is a great place for leaks.

The kind of fastening used is also an important item to look
to. Copper is undoubtedly the best, as there is no rust from it.
The great objection to it is the high price. Builders seem to favor
galvanized iron, as it is much cheaper than copper and dees not
rust to any extent. But a boat fastened with common iran is
to be avoided, as the rust eats right into the wood, A boat
painted white cannot be kept looking decent after she is a few
years old if fastened in this way.

Lapstreaks are not near so good as smooth seamed boats.
622 SPORTING BOATS AND CANOES.

“They are not so strong and are much more easily strained. If
they once begin to leak it is almost impossible to stop them.
They can be built over so much cheaper than the others, and al-
ways sell a good deal lower, but they are growing more unpopular
every day, and there are not many of them built except small
ones. So long asa boat’s hull is in good condition, the state of
the rigging and spars is of minor importance, as the expense of
putting these in shape is not very great.

All the running gear of a yacht should be composed of three
sizes only of cordage, as it can then be all utilized, and as the
blocks will also be of only three sizes, the halliards, sheets, etc.,
will be certain to render easily. Four stranded rope is the best,
as it is neater to the eye, renders better through the blocks, and is
pleasanter to handle than ordinary three strand rope is. Always
keep the end neatly whipped. :

To Whiten Decks.—Dilute muriatic acid with four times its
bulk of water and wash the deck with the solution. Swill well
afterward with clean water.

To Waterproof Paper Boats—Take sixteen pounds orange
shellac, and four and one-half gallons alcohol. Let the shellac
dissolve in the alcohol and apply with a brush.

Calking Boats——After calking with cotton prepared for the
purpose, and sold by ship chandlers, Jz¢ty the seams of your
boat. When first put in the water the swelling of the planks will
force some of the putty from the seams; haul your boat out and
rub smooth with sand paper.

Rules for Sailing. —The following admirable rules were origi-
nally published in Forest and Stream, a leading New: York
sportsmen’s journal, but have since been copied and passed to
the credit of other journals in both England and America :—A
close observance of them will prevent accident and add much to
the comfort of sailing.

1. Know, before you leave your anchorage, or wharf, that everything is in
order, especially your tack and pennant for reefing.

z. Always carry a compass. A whaleboat’s compass answers nicely in «
small sailboat.

3. Boats of any considerable draft—one and a half feet and more—-should carry
a lead line, the first fathom marked off legibly in feet. ‘This will prove to be very
valuable in finding channels in the night, and fogs.

4. Never make your halliards nor sheets fast by hitching or knotting. They
BOATS FOR SPORTING USES. 623

should be made fast either by sufficient turns around the cleat, or bya simple
draw-knot, which any boatman can show you.

5. When the wind is very strong and puffy, pass the sheet once around the
cleat and hold the end in your hand.

6. Always keep the halliards and sheets in order, by carefully coiling them so
that they will render from the top of the coil.

7. Never sit to the leeward of your helm, nor allow any one else to sit where
their position will interfere with the free play of your tiller.

8. Never jibe a sail when the wind is blowing freshly, unless it be a necessity.
If you must jibe, do so with your peak settled.

g- Never jibe the sail with a sheet wide off. Trim in your sheet rapidly as
you press up your helm, take a turn around the cleat, and ease the strain when
the sail passes over, by letting go your sheet as your direction from the wind may
require. Asa rule, it is better to go about.

ro. When, from a heavy sea,a boat refuses to mind her helm, and misses
Stays, to get her-on the other tack you must perform what is called wearing.
This is done by settling the peak of your sail, and following the directions above
for jibing. Once jibed, haul up your peak, trim in your sheet, and bring her on
her course.

ir. In heavy winds and high waves a boat will sail better, and be safer with
the sheet started a little. Very few boats sail well at any time, when the sheet is
trimmed down flat.

12. Never luff a small boat in rough water and high wind, so as to stop her
way. When a puff of wind is too strong for your safety, hold the boat on her
course and ease off the sheet. The danger of stopping a boat under the above
circumstances is, that they are liable to upset when you put up your helm and
keep away to fill the sail again. If your boat has lost way, slack off your sheet,
put down your helm, and let her fall off. When she has fallen off sufficiently to
get a good full on the sail, up helm and trim in rapidly.

' 13. Always keep an eye to windward, watching the surface of the water for
the approach of puffs of wind.

14. Being overtaken by a squall, settle your sail, and tie up snugly, waiting to
make sail, until you have felt the weight of the squall, and know how much
sailto make. If the squall promises to be very severe you had better come to an
anchor.

15. In reefing, take in all sail; trim in your sheet perfectly flat and make
secure. Then haul out your clew with your pennant and make fast. Next tie
down your tack, then tie in your nettles or reef points with square knots, com-
mencing at either end. In shaking outa reef, the sail being down, reverse this
process, commencing to untie your reef points at the middle and working to the
end. Keep to the windward of your sail.

-16. In running off dead before the wind be careful not to jibe. If the wind is
heavy it is safer to run with peak settled. In rough water, running off, look out
that your boom, striking in the crest of a sea, does not trail aft and jibe your
sail. This is called tripping. To prevent this bring her more on the wind by
putting your helm down. If seas are liable to comb over on your quarter or
stern they can be broken by trailing a buoy or basket, or two oars lashed to-
gether, about five fathoms astern. This drag will also steady the motion of
your boat.

17. Never carry sail for the sake of carrying it.
624 SPORTING BOATS AND CANOES.

18. Never sail strange waters without a chart, or what is better, without a

pilot. ;
1g. Asa stranger to them, avoid tide-rips and whirls. :
20, Be coolin emergencies. If sailing with company, do not let them distract

your attention from the management of your boat.
21. Remember that on the wind the starboard tack has the right of way over
the port ; and that a vessel sailing on the wind has the right of way over one that

has her sheet off. :
These rules apply to cat rigged boats especially. In the main they apply to

sloop rigged boats also.
SUGGESTIONS.
x. If alone it is convenient to have the peak halliard led aft.
2. The average of boats sail in moderate winds and smooth waters within four

points of the wind.
3. A boat on the wind sails better with the gaff to the leeward of the top-

ping-lift.
4. Keep your boom well set up.
5. The upper and outer half of your sail gives the most of your speed when

you are on the wind.

6. If your boat carries a lee helm, watch her.

7. In keeping your boat off from the wind, where your room is limited, pull up
your board and flat your sheet. Settling the peak also helps this movement.

8, Learn to work your boat while sitting down.

9. Finally, if you don’t know that you know how to manage a boat in every
particular, hire a competent man to go with you and teach you.

The Al Fresco Boat.—This is a boat invented by Dr. Chas. J.
Kenworthy of Jacksonville, Florida, for use in that State. Length,
fifteen feet ; beam, four feet eight inches ; depth between deck and
ceiling, seventeen inches; almost wall-sided, and flat in floor at
point of greatest beam ; good entrance and exit, or, in other words,
fine lines forward and aft; deck same as sneak-box, dipping five
inches from centre of cock-pit to each side, and to stem and stern;
cock-pit four feet long by two feet two inches wide; hatches ten
by fourteen inches abaft the mast and cock-pit to stow provisions
and general ‘plunder ; centre-board, three feet long ; cat-rigged,
with gaff or spreets and sliding gunter; canvas apron as in sneak
box, to be used when beating to windward; bulkhead at after part
of cock-pit. In such a boat provisions and plunder can be pro-
tected from the weather, two persons can be comfortably accom-
modated and lodged; she can be easily transported ; provided
with hatch from cock-pit she can be converted into a Saratoga
trunk; she works well under sail, rows easily, and proves com-
fortable and sea-worthy in a sea way. Owing to the shape of her
deck and protected cock-pit, she would weather a severe storm.
BOATS FOR SPORTING USES. 625

The Newport Boat.—This differs from the ordinary cat-boat,
only in having a bowsprit, and setting a jib running free. It can
not be carried to windward, as it would alter the hang of the boat,
the mast being stepped cat-boat fashion in the “eyes of her.”

The Fair Haven Sharpie.—General construction the same,
though the length varies greatly and the lines are different. Most
of them have two masts (some only one) with leg-of-mutton sails.
A sixteen feet boat should be four feet four inches wide on the top
and three feet eight inches on the bottom, this having a place of
four inches. Depth amidships fifteen inches; at the bow nineteen
inches. Decked over four feet on the bows and two on the stern,
with a washboard of four inches and combing of two inches.
Centre board four feet long, the forward end being against the
mast.’ Mast four inches in diameter in the largest place. Sail
made of thirteen yards of best twilled cotton. Boat well provided
with seats, and steered with a rudder. A twenty feet boat will
cost seventy-five dollars. They are exceedingly fast, very stiff and
can be easily steered by trimming.

The Quit Vive Canoe.—Manufactured by J. F. West, East
Orange, New Jersey. The frame is made of ash. The main
stringers are nine in number, and all outside of the ribs, so that
everything that touches the skin runs fore and aft. This, and the
style of building, also putting the canvas on without a seam below
the gunwales, Mr. West claims to be the inventor of. The six
other stringers are then added, at proper distances, and firmly
secured. The canoe is then turned over, and solid braces put in
close to bow and stern. Fifteen cross ribs are then put in at
proper distances and riveted with two copper tacks at each inter-
section with the stringers. While doing this the lines must be
trued, as these ribs determine the shape of the canoe. The mast
step is then put in, and fastened to the keelson and two ribs, also
a piece of three-quarter inch pine board, from gunwale to gunwale,
with a mast hole in it. Next the peaked carlines, or deck-supports
are putin. The form is then removed, after which the well frame
and combings are placed in position, and firmly screwed to the
gunwales. The deck has a slope of two inches from well to bow
and stern. When all the wood work is complete give it a coat of
paint, after which the skin, No. 10 cotton duck, is put on without
626 SPORTING BOATS AND CANOES.

aseam. Next paint bowand stern, also along the keelson. While
the paint is yet fresh put on false bows of sheet iron and an inch
pine keel, which latter is bolted through the skin to the keelson.
Next the deck is put on, of lighter canvas, and then a coat of
boiled linseed oil is given. Over the oil apply paint, and finally
varnish. The dimensions are, length, fourteen feet, beam twenty-
six inches, depth amidships, from ridge of deck to bottom of one
inch keel, one foot. She is decked over at bow and stern, with a
well amidships four feet long by twenty inches wide, surrounded
by an inch combing. Over the well is fitted a white rubber apron,
which buttons tight around the paddles, and effectually keeps all
spray and rain from getting below. Her means of propulsion are
a double bladed paddle and sails. The sails are a standing lug
main and a jib foresail. The mast is four feet six inches above
deck, but the peak of mainsail when hoisted is over six feet. The
sails are so arranged that they may be set or taken in without the
canoeist leaving his seat. The painter is rove througha brass eye
at bow and stern, and runs entirely around the canoe, being used
as jib outhaul, and to keep the apron close to the deck ina sea.
The “ Qui Vive,” complete with mast, sails, apron, seatback, pad-
dle, stretcher, flag and flagstaff, weighs fifty pounds. The seat-
back is “‘ Rob Roy ” style, two strips of wood to rest along the back
without touching the spine, and is hinged to the after combings.

With the paddle and a rubber sheet a water tight cabin can be
rigged at night, and there is ample space below deck to allow the
knees of the sleeper to pass, so that he may turn over, which is
necessary for a comfortable sleep. The sailing qualities of these
canoes are astonishing, they will beat to windward, and require
very little steering. The paddle is straight bladed, seven feet six
inches long, and weighs two and a half pounds, it is used in steer-
ing when under sail.

The cost complete is only fifty dollars.

The Chaloupe.—This is the principal fishing craft of the St.
Lawrence, an eight-ton lighter-built craft of three feet draught,
one-masted slcop, rigged, with jigger sail astern, and stub bowsprit.
Amidships is a hold for ballast and cargo, forward a diminutive
cabin with berths, a seat and a table, and astern a clear space for
handling sheets and helm. A seaworthy craft.
BOATS FOR SPORTING USES. 627

The Mackinaw Boat——These are probably the best small
boats made for heavy weather. A Mackinaw boat only twenty-
two feet in length has been known to ride into the severest storms
of Lake Michigan. As surf boats they are unequalled, for with
proper handling they may be beached at any time without serious
danger. , They have a good deai of sheer, with greatest beam for-
ward of amidships, and sharp at the stern, which prevents the
shipping of ‘water aft while running with the sea. These and the
square sterned dories are in general use by the fishermen.

The Chesapeake Canoe.—The hull is constructed from three
pine logs in most cases, which are brought into shape by the axe
and adze, with the assistance of the plane and other tools, the said
logs being reduced to a thickness of about three inches on the
bottom of the canoe, thinning out to an inch and a half at the gun-
wale. The three sections forming the boat are put together with
treenails. The boats are of various lengths, varying from twenty
up to forty-five feet, but boats of from twenty-five up to thirty-one
feet long are in most common use, those of the latter length hav-
ing about six feet beam, being, as you perceive, very long for their
beam. Their lines, of course, from being so narrow, are beauti-
fully fine, and the boats being sharp at both ends, causes them to
‘leave the water as easily as they enter it. The rapidity withwhich
they sail with “sheets lifted ’’ is wonderful, and they are also very
good on a wind, especially those with centre-boards. (They are
built both centre-board and keel, but the centre-board, as with
small craft of all descriptions, has the advantage.) As to rig, they
carry two sharp, or ‘‘ goose wing ”’ sails, with a jib. The larger
sail of the two is the foresail. The sails are bent on the masts and
set by means of spreets, reaching from mast to clew of sail. For
racing they carry in addition to the above sails a large balloon jib
and a stay sail, or else have an extra step between the fore and
mainmasts and set an extra ‘goose wing”’ there, this of course
being only used with wind abeam. Off the wind, large water sails
are set under the fore and main sails. Now, to shorten sail you
cast the becket rope off the spreet of your mainsail, rolling the
spreet up in the sail, which is furled round it, and the becket rope
makes a gasket to lash it in place to the mast; then take the
“chock block” out of the upper step of your foremast, which step
628 SPORTING BOATS AND CANOES.

is cut longer to enable a block to be set in forward and aft of the
mast, as may be desired, for going on or off the wind, and you
have your sail reduced without any naked spars to hold the wind
and list the boat without being of any service. To drive her, if the
wind increases, you next-take in your jib and go under your fore-
sail; if the gale increases, and it must be a gale indeed to render
it necessary, take in your foresail and substitute your mainsail
for it, which is quickly done, as the after part of the zpfer step of
the foremast is in a hinge, and the lower one on a #zvod, so that
the mast can be lowered fore and aft without taking it out of the
step. Now you have your boat under sail that you can go with,
when large “ pungies ’’ have to make a harbor, and the boat steers
well under any or all of the above sails, owing to changing the
rake of her masts, and holds on well. These boats are in uni-
versal use on the Chesapeake from the capes to the headof the bay.

Yarmouth Fishing Canoe.—To a gunwale of desired length
and strength, attach ribs of pine, about two inches wide by an
eighth thick, bent in the form desired. Longitudinal strips of the
same are then tacked as closely as possible to the ribs outside, and
over all, a covering of canvas is tightly stretched. A keel of pine
an inch wide and one-half inch thick (tapering at the sides) is then
screwed on, and whole outside coated with shellac varnish, in
which a little boiled linseed oil has been mixed. This makes a
perfectly waterproof canoe capable of standing hard knocks. Such
a one, fourteen feet long, will weigh about fifty pounds. Address
W. A. Lawson, Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.

The Rob Roy.—Dimensztons, Length, fourteen feet; beam,
twenty-six inches; depth, eight and a half inches; rise of deck,
two inches; bulkheads, three feet from each end; cock-pit, three
feet four inches by eighteen. inches ; combing, two inches high ;
mast, one and three-quarter inches in diameter at deck ; siding and
decks, one-quarter inch thick; ribbed between bulkheads—ribs,
one and a half inches apart.

Matertal. Keel and stems, oak; ribs, elm; sidings, decks,
deck-timbers, back-board, stretcher and combing, cedar; gun-
wales, mast and spars, spruce ; paddle, spruce or ash.

Weight Complete. (This one) fifty-six pounds ; might be built
down to fifty pounds safely. Price, from seventy-five to one
BOATS FOR SPORTING USES. 629

hundred dollars. Built by J. H. Rushton, Canton, St. Lawrence
County, N. Y.; Waters & Balch, Troy, N. Y., or Mr. Jarvis, Wat-
kins, N. Y.

Barnegat Sneak Boat.—This is a craft originating at Barnegat,
New Jersey, and much used for duck shooting :

Length, twelve feet; with midships, four feet ; width of stern,
two feet nine inches; depth of stern, seven inches. Sprung tim-
bers all of one pattern, nine-sixteenths by thirteen-sixteenth inches ;
distance apart, eight inches; deck timbers natural bend, one inch
by seven-eighths. Cock-pit, inside measurement, length, three
feet four inches; width at bow and stern, eighteen and a half
inches ; midships, nineteen inches. Combing, height of inside at
bow and stern, two and three-quarter inches; midships, two
inches; from bottom of combing to top ceiling, thirteen inches.
Trunk on port side, set slanting to take a fifteen inch board trunk
placed alongside and abaft of forward corner of combing. Row-
locks, height, six inches; from combing, nine inches; middle of
to stern, four feet seven inches, made to fold down inboard and to
fasten up with a hook. Stool rack runs from rowlocks to stern,
notched at ends into fastening of rowlocks, also notched at corners
and hooked together, rest against a cleat on deck outside, and are
hooked to the deck inside. Ina heavy sea the apron is used. It
is held up bya stick from peak to combing. Thus rigged the
boat has the reputation of being able to live as long as oars can
be pulled. The apron is tacked to the deck about two-thirds its
length. ‘The wings are fastened to the top and bottom of the row-
locks. Mast hole, two and five-eighth inches; two inches from
combing. Drop of sides’from top to deck, five and seven-eighth
inches, dead rise, eight inches. Over cock-pit a hatch is placed.
Everything connected with the boat is placed inside, gunners often
leaving their guns, etc., locking the hatch fast. The boats sail
well, and covered with sedge are used to shoot from. With the
hatch on, a person can be protected from rain, and with blankets,
can be accommodated with a night’s lodging, Boards for boats,
white cedar, five-eighths of an inch thick; deck, narrow strips
tongued and ‘grooved. -

_ A Common Gunning Boat.—Dimensions for a boat large
enough to hold two persons, with guns anda dog. The dimen-
630 SPORTING BOATS AND CANOES.

sions of a boat should be about fifteen feet long and four feet wide.
Built lap-streak fashion, with streaks and knees of cedar, and
the laps fastened to the frame by being riveted with copper boat
nails. The seams of the laps between the knees should be riveted
together with smaller copper nails. A piece of white oak will
make a good keel, and should the boat be used where there is a
stony bottom, cover the bottom of the keel with a strip of sheet
copper or brass to keep it from getting worn and ragged. Have
the boat partially decked over forward, and make the dog a bed
under said deck. In that position he will be out of the way, and
his weight will help “trim” the boat. The less “belly ’’ the boat
has the stiffer it will be. If you use your boat on flats where there
is not much water, make it broad on the bottom or not much
rounded, and with a shallow keel. Deck over the sides of the
boat for six inches, and put a cleat one inch high on the inside
edge of it, to keep out the water from the boat. Fasten gun racks
to the knees on each side of the boat. When finished, all knots
in the cedar should be bored out and the holes plugged with solid
wood.

English Centre-board Gig.—These craft have been brought to
America from Southampton, England—clipper built, square and
rather full stern; length fifteen feet, width four feet eight inches,
depth two feet, rising at stem and stern, so as to give about four
inches sheer; decked three feet six inches on bow, and two feet six
inches at stern—decks connected by washboards on each side six
inches wide. Below the decks two bulkheads are fitted, so as to
make a water-tight compartment fore and aft. Exactly amidships
a centre-board three feet six inches long is placed, the case of
which, however, does not rise above the level of the thwarts so as
to interfere with the rower. Rigged for sailing with a sprit, main-
sail, and foresail or jib. Mainsail is used without a boom, except
when running, when it can be boomed out with a boat-hook. The
main sheet passes through a small block which travels on a hawse
at the stern, and the tack of the foresail is made fast either to the
stern or a small bumpkin eight inches long. Sprit made in two
pieces joined by a ferrule, so as to allow of its being shortened and
a reef taken in the mainsail; the sails are altogether inboard.
Sails well and is an excellent sea-going craft.
BOATS FOR SPORTING USES. 631

The Gunning Skiff.—Built by Sam. T. Quitman, South Oyster
’ Bay, Long Island, New York. This is a serviceable and seaworthy
craft, and is considered an improvement on the Barnegat boat.

Dimensions: eleven feet keel, twelve feet nine inches over all
on deck, four feet three inches beam, with a swinging centre-board,
which acts of its own accord when the boat is sailing in shallow
water. The boat is also supplied with a lug sail of ten yards of
canvas; mast, ten feet; sprit, fourteen and one-half feet; sail
nearly square. She is decked over four feet forward and two feet
aft, washboard one foot wide. The combing is four inches high,
and arranged for thatching with grass. Depth, fifteen inches from
top of combing. The sail is made so as a reef can be taken when
necessary.

The Nautiélus.—This canoe is of different lengths, with two
masts, built for sailing or paddling; carries no centre-board, but a
two and one-half inch keel; greatest beam twenty-eight inches ;
weight, fifty pounds. Price, one hundred dollars. William Byles,
Harlem, and J. Everson, Greenpoint, builders.

The Pirogue or Dug-out is hollowed from a single log, or may
be shaped from several; is in use from Maine to Florida and Min-
nesota, and is propelled by paddles, seldom carrying more than
two persons.

Birch Canoes——Of various patterns, sizes, and degrees of
merit, carrying from one to eight persons with their luggage.
Price varies from twelve dollars to twenty dollars in the Provinces.
The best are obtained in Nova Scotia. Good ones can be bought
at Old Town and Princeton, Maine.

Rzbless Boats.—Sail boats, for coast and river fishing, ‘built
up ’’ without ribs, are very popular in Massachusetts Bay on account
of their speed, lightness, cheapness, and ease of construction. To
make one, the only material needed are good clear pine boards,
each the whole length of the intended boat, a few pounds of small
nails (galvanized,) and the material for the stem, keel, and stern
post. The boards are run through a saw mill and cut into strips
about an inch and a half wide, and out of these the boat is built up
according to working models. These models are merely patterns
of wood that give the outside of a half-section of the boat. They
give the shape of a boat at every foot of her length, and are formed
632 SPORTING BOATS AND CANOES.

from some existing boat or drawn from a scale designed by some
competent boat-builder. The keel, stern post and stem are set up
and secured together firmly, and then to the keel two strips are
fitted horizontally, one on each side, and having been planed down
at each end to fit the model, holes are bored through them and they
are securely nailed to the keel. Over each is laid another strip, and
with the plane and shave it is fitted to them in such a way as to
conform to the shape of the boat, and then each is nailed down as
before. In this simple manner the work proceeds. As the strips
are nailed one over the other, they are bent to conform to the shape
of the boat, and bevelled to give the sides the right form.

A single day’s practice in fitting the strips to the shape of the
boat will enable a good carpenter to do the work with neatness and
dispatch, and any person skillful with plane and hammer could in
time turn boat-builder. When the sides rise to the gunwale, a
broader and thicker strip of oak or ash is laid over all, to act as a
fender and gunwale. During the whole process, the strips are kept
heavily painted with white lead, and when all is finished, we have
a ribless shell, showing no nails except at the top, exactly conform-
ing on the outside and inside the model. To give lateral strength,
shorter pieces of the strips are built up from the keel inside, and care-
fully fitted to the sides. The seats are placed over these, and then
decks, storeroom and cabin may be added as desired. Boats made
in this way are very light and buoyant, and, being smooth on the
outside, are good sailers. In case of injury, they are easily repaired
by cutting out the broken place and inserting new strips, secured
“by backing on the inside. In practical use, such boats are found to
be swift, dry and safe. They make good sea boats, and are said to
resist injury with ease. In sailing they demand plenty of ballast,
to compensate for their lightness. Their cheapness and ease of
construction are rapidly bringing them into favor, as the cost is
about one-third less than by the ordinary method. Two men with
the materials in hand can easily make a boat eighteen by six in
sixteen days. .

The Whitehall Boat.—A Whitehall boat is a carvel-built boat
(smooth, not lapstreak,) generally seventeen feet in length, though
sometimes nineteen and twenty-one feet, and has a movable mast
with spreet sail, It can be sailed or rowed equally well, and with
BOATS FOR SPORTING USES. 633

a breeze can be managed without oars or rudder, the boatman
steering her by simply shifting his position, fore, aft, or amidships,
according as he wishes to luff, keep her off, or hold her on her
course. This kind of boat originated with the fishermen of Fulton
Market, New York, about forty years ago.

frenner’s Portable Boat—This is a canvas skin on a lattice
frame of great lightness and strength. Weight from twenty-five
to seventy-five pounds, the largest having carrying capacity for
half aton. It folds or packs in the space of a valise or trunk—the
smallest eleven by twenty-two by twenty-seven inches. Its strength
is greater than the ordinary birch or cedar used in light boats, and
when made impervious to water by Mr. Tappan’s process, makes
the dryest of boats. The principle on which the frame is con-
structed has its own peculiar advantages. Of strength first, as seen
in many railroad bridges, and of compressibility, where each inter-
section moves upon abrass rivet. After it has been shoved together
there still remains a space in which the canvas is laid, with room
for tent, clothing, and victuals. The whole is then closed by fold-
ing down the two seats for a lid, and the boat is then a stout trunk,
which can be placed in another box or not. It also can be used as
a shelter tent. Jointed paddles are to be used withit. C, A. Fen-
ner, builder, Mystic, Connecticut. Sold by Holberton & Beemer,
New York, and Bradford & Anthony, Boston.

Hegeman’s Folding Boat.—This is a light, jointed frame of
sufficient strength to keep its canvas shell in proper shape, and
sustain the weight of its load. It folds with it the canvas into a
complete parallelogram whose weight is not more than forty
pounds. This boat is not sinkable; it will sustain a dozen men
easily, It is a good boat for many purposes, and can be bought
at prices ranging from $80 to $100, It is built at Balston Spa,
New York.

The Monitor Raft,—This is a capital angler’s contrivance for
use on lakes, consisting of rubber cylinders (to be inflated), con-
nected by a suitable frame work, with an elevated seat for the
fisherman. Sold bythe Combination Rubber Company, 62 Church
street, New York. Price $75.

Treat’s Steel Frame Canoe.—This is the invention of John H.
Treat, of Lawrence, Massachusetts. Weighs fifty-seven pounds
634 SPORTING BOATS AND CANOES.

when fifteen feet long. Can be packed in a box six feet by seven
inches, by four inches. The cover is made in a single piece of
canvas, and can be folded and carried in a haversack over the
shoulder. The gunwales from being lined with steel, are but one-
half an inch thick. They are said to be strictly impervious to
water, and can be covered with a buttoned tarpaulin so as to keep
out rain and waves. Address William H. Rollins, Boston, Mass.

The Colvin Canvas Boat.—This boat, or canoe, is usually
made twelve feet long by four feet wide. Only the canvas skin or
cover is carried ; it weighs ten pounds eight ounces (leaving out
the light leathern pieces which receive the corners of keelson and
gunwales), and when compactly folded, occupies the space of less
than half a cubic foot. It has carried in a heavy storm, far from
land, a burden of seven hundred pounds, and will, in smooth
water, convey a much greater burden. The prows are guarded
with brass cut-waters, riveted on. The keelson and gunwales are
improvised from stout poles cut in the wood, when required, and
two dozen stout boughs form the ribs. The skin is made fast to
the gunwale by leathern thongs or points, It is in reality a make-
shift, to use in places so inaccessible that it will not pay to carry
an ordinary portable boat. Made by R. C. Scott, Albany.

The Adirondack Boat.—This is a round bottom, lap streak
cedar boat, fourteen to eighteen feet in length, accommodating
two or three persons with their camp outfit. They are stiff and
safe. C. J.-Chase, Newcomb, Essex Co., New York, Reuben
Cary and Henry Stanton, of Long Lake, W. E. Martin, E. Peck,
and G, Philboots, of Saranac Lake, are all good builders. Cary’s
and Stanton’s models differ from Chase’s in being higher in the
stern and somewhat squarer, while his are not so sheer and alike
at both ends. There is, perhaps, a little more style to the Long
Lake boats, while Chase’s are somewhat stiffer.

Bond's Sectional Boat.—This is made with iron sides and
wooden bottom, with an air chamber amidships. It is con-
structed in two sections of eight feet each, which can be unjointed,
and one-half of the boat set in the other. It is flat-bottomed and
can run in shoal water, and being of iron is less vulnerable to
snags and rocks than other boats. Built at Cleveland, Ohio, by
Thomas E. Bond ; price $60. :
BOATS FOR SPORTING USES. 635

Waters’ Paper Canoe.—This is an improved Nautilus canoe,
made by Waters & Son, of Troy; price $100 to $125. The body
is made of tough linen paper about one-sixth of an inch thick ;
length fourteen to sixteen feet, depth amidships eight and one-half
inches. It has a canvas deck which buttons at the sides. Weighs
fifty to sixty pounds. It has ample accommodations for camp
stuff, but carries only one person. Objection has been made that
the material (paper) would soon become soft and destructible, but
the long voyages of months and miles made in this craft wholly
controvert this, They will stand any kind of sea.

The Rushton Boat is made at Canton, N. Y. This is a round
bottom lap streak cedar or ‘oak boat, with much more sheer and
bearings than the Adirondack boat, and much lighter, as they are
made to weigh as little as thirty pounds. It is best adapted for a
single person, but will accommodate two. Length, eleven to
thirteen feet ; weight, thirty to fifty-five pounds.

The English Canoe.—This is a bass wood canoe made by
William English, of Peterboro, Canada, and like the Gordon ca-
noe, more nearly approaches the Indian birch canoe in shape and
character, than any other craft afloat, but is much stronger, stiffer
and taster. It is made of thin boards laid upon ribs two inches
apart so neatly that the seams cannot be detected on the outside.
Length fourteen to eighteen feet, weight about sixty pounds, and
will carry three persons and their baggage with ease. They are
not easily fractured, as bass wood is very tough. They can be
fitted with a small sprit sail. Price $25.

The Gordon Canoe is like the English canoe in all respects
except the shape. It is, if anything, perhaps a little more cranky
but is preferred by many experts. It is made by Thomas Gordon,
-at Lakefield, Peterboro, Canada.

The Herald Canoe is made at Gore’s Landing, Rice Lake,
Canada, by Hutchinson & Co. Its material is white cedar. It
has no ribs, and is so constructed that it resembles a dug-out
canoe, both inside and out. Instead of ribs it has transverse strips
of cedar jointed neatly, constituting the frame of the canoe, and
upon which similar boards are laid lengthwise. Price, weight and
dimensions similar to the above.

Berthon’s Self-Folding Boat,—lIt is the invention of Rev. E.
636 SPORTING BOATS AND CANOES.

L. Berthon, of Romsey, Hampshire, England, and differs from all
others. It claims to combine the necessary elements of the life-
boat with the advantage of being folded up to one-tenth of its size
and again opened and set up inhalf a minute. The ribs are longi-
tudinal, joined at the bow and stern by strong linkage. When
the boat is closed up the ribs close in parallel lines, and when open
they are raised into position by the use of braces, and the proper
form of the boat is maintained by these braces, the flooring, seats,
etc. The sides are of very strong canvas and India rubber com-
partments, inclosing a continuous air chamber. These boats are
used for yachting as well as for higher uses. Price $25 to $250
for the largest, which is fully equipped with mast and sail. “ Cap-
tain Nares took several on his British Arctic expedition.

Lyman's Patent Rowing Gear.—In this contrivance, by which
the oarsman is enabled to propel his boat while facing where he
is going, the oars, or rather, to speak properly the sculls, are
made in two pieces. The outer end of the loom, or portion of the
scull inboard, is fastened by a ball and socket joint to the gunwale,
and a short distance forward, by a similar joint, is fastened the
shaft, or outboard portion. A light iron lever, or connecting row,
joins the two pieces in such a manner that the blades of the oars
move in the same direction as the handles, reversing the ordinary
method.

The action is absolutely without noise, which will be appre-
ciated by every one who has attempted to row on to game. The
sculls, although but eight feet long, give as much reach and
power, apparently, as could have been obtained in the same
boat with ten feet sculls, a length that would have necessitated
outriggers. By simply drawing the looms against the gunwale,
the blades are folded back asa bird folds its wings. Although
the gear can be detached instantly, the sculls cannot become un-
shipped by accident. They feather well and leave the water with-
out noise. It is adapted for every boat propelled by oars, except,
perhaps, outrigged racing shells.

Address William Lyman, Middlefield, Connecticut.
WOODCRAFT.

HINTS TO SPORTSMEN,

THE sportsman can, if need be, in stress of accident or mis-
fortune, forego nearly every appliance of civilization, and having
learned the ways of the savages, live and enjoy life as the savages
do. The skins of animals he slays, or the bark of the birch or
the hemlock will make him a shanty; pieces of fresh peeled bark
supply him with cups and plates which need no washing after
use, as they are thrown away. Cedar roots and tough long grasses
supply twine and rope, a spindle of hard dry wood rapidly revolved
with the hands upon a piece of soft pithy wood, or with an ordinary
bow with a single turn of the string around the spindle, will obtain
a fire ; he can bake his fish and bread in the ashes and broil his
meat on a stick; and provided he has only sufficiently warm cloth-
ing, a trusty gun, a hatchet, knife, matches, and compass, he has
the measure of his necessities full.

Waiving luxurious comforts, it is always desirable to travel as
lightly as possible and as little encumbered, especially if the tramp
be long and continuous and not broken by occasional temporary
camps. Nevertheless, experience teaches that the trouble of carry-
ing an extra pair of walking-boots, or at least a pair of moccasins
or easy shoes, is well repaid. If your feet are blistered, coat the
inside of your socks (woolen are best,) from the ankles downward
with common yellow bar soap, repeating the application for two or
three days, by which time the feet will become hardened. It acts
equally well as a preventive. Never suffer the shoes to dry after
wetting, before they are thoroughly oiled, soles as well as uppers,
with castor oil. The least inconvenient dress is a woolen overshirt
with pockets, worn as a blouse and fastened around the waist with
a sash or belt. The toe of a stocking fitted into the shirt makes a
good pocket, if you have none already. A heavy Hudson’s Bay or
638 WOODCRAFT.

Canadian overcoat, with hood, serves as coat, blanket, pillow, and
cap combined. Always carry plenty of twine and large needles.
If a piece of your clothing is torn out, patch it with anything avail-
able. The legs of a boot make the best possible seat for a pair of
trowsers, and can, be as easily fitted as woolen stuff. If your felt
hat is too loose, put a stick under the band and give it a half-turn.
If you want a candle-stick make a loop of birch bark and slip the
ends into a split stick ; then insert your tallow dip. If you wish a
torch, take sheets of birch bark and slip them in the slit. A pine
knot is better than either where no danger is apprehended from fire.
If your matches are wet, and it rains heavily you can find bits of
dry punk in the excrescences under the bark of birch and maple
trees ; flash powder into lint or tow and then ignite the punk.
Either fire powder from your gun or use a flint and steel. If lost
in a hardwood forest and can find no water, one can generally get
sap enough for a drink by cutting a chip out of a maple or birch,
and making a spout to let it flow clean of the trunk, Water can be
obtained by digging a hole into a marshy spot and filling it with
grass. Then take a piece of elder, pipe-stem, or any hollow tube
and setting it perpendicularly upon the grass, pack the earth
around it. Then apply suction with the lips and you will get
water enough to assuage thirst. (By the way, in a desert birds fly
toward water in the afternoon, and away from it in the morning.)
Carry your matches in a vulcanized rubber box to prevent wetting ;
or a bottle will answer. There are a thousand little devices and
resorts which one learns-by experience, and which occur to him
naturally when required, but are difficult to inventory for others’
use. For provisions, one must be governed by circumstances.
Tea, flour, ham, salt pork, soda powders, salt and pepper in quan-
tities required, are all that are necessary. Never carry ground
coffee ; it is bulky and will impregnate the other stuff with its
aroma, especially when wet. Borden’s condensed coffee takes no
room, and is a luxury indeed. But, if the sportsman insists upon
carrying ground coffee, he will tind the grounds very useful to keep
fish fresh, taking out their entrails and gills, and sprinkling the
coffee grounds thickly into the belly and mouth of the fish; the
more grounds used to each fish the better.

Desiccated food of all kinds is compact, and goes a great
HINTS TO SPORTSMEN, 639

way. Pickles and onions are a desirable addendum and an ex-
cellent relish. We are writing for those who Propose “ roughing
it” in earnest. Of course, for ordinary camping out one may add
as many luxuries as he likes, and the greatest of these is a camp
kit of tin: ware, containing knives, forks, spoons, cups, plates,
broiler, frying-pan, teapot, pepper and salt box, syrup and tea cad-
dies, sufficient for five or six persons, all fitting nicely together in a
large water-pail, the whole costing about twelve dollars and weigh-
ing nine pounds. The old army knife-fork-and-spoon combined is
very convenient tocarry. Always take blankets and warm clothing
when it is possible, and a change of under and outer clothing,
One’s cast-off suits are the best, as they can be thrown away in
the end of the journey, leaving the party less weight to carry home
with them. An ‘aqua scutem,” a small waterproof cape that can
be folded into a small compass in the pocket is sometimes a great
comfort. Of miscellaneous articles for a party who intend to
remain much in camp, we enumerate the following :

Rods, reels, lines, flies, bait hooks, trolling tackle, gaffs, landing net, bait box,
float.

Woolen and rubber overcoats, old shoes, rubber leggings, extra boots, slip-
pers, or moccasins.

Hatchet, knife, pistol and cartridges, screw-driver, awl, pliers, gimlet, whet-
stone, twine, wire, rope, leather straps, tacks, needles, pins, thread, wax, scissors,
paper, pencil, rubber.

Compass, matches, fuse, candles, spring balance, cork-screw, pocket pistol,
field-glass.

Soap, towels, comb, sponge, looking-glass, goggles, linen and flannel rags and
Taw cotton, to be used for cuts, wounds, cleaning guns, mending, etc.

Pipes, tobacco, maps, diarrhcea mixture, cathartic pills, salve, court-plaster,
ammonia, sweet oil, and a mixture of tar and oilas a preventive against flies and
other insects.

One India-rubber bag to hold the ‘‘ kit’’ is a desirable addition to an outfit, as
it makes a portable package and keeps its contents always dry.

One thing which every hunter should appreciate is comfort in
camp, and to be comfortable and happy should be his main busi-
ness. “Roughing it,” is not healthy on account of poor: food
badly cooked, sleep taken on the bare ground, unnecessary ex-
posure and dirt. Every one should be careful to provide an abund-
ance of good food with proper means for cooking and caring for
it conveniently ; he should camp in the best attainable place, con-
sidering always sanitary laws, just as potent by the way in camp
640 WOODCRAFT.

as anywhere else ; and camp too in time to make himself comfort-
able for the night, when it is daylight, and everything is handy
around. Camp “ tricks ” should be kept in their places, not thrown
helter skelter, or left lying where last used, the common opinion
that order is opposed to easy comfort and freedom from care, to
the contrary notwithstanding.

In sleeping, but little, if any, more bed clothing should be used
in camp than in a house; too much cover has given many a city
fellow a cold, and disgusted him with sleeping out of doors. He
thinks that as he has no roof over his head, he ought have a
thousand blankets. In the middle of the night he gets into a per-
spiration, kicks off the cover, cools suddenly, and the next morn-
ing swears ina hoarse whisper that sleeping out of doors is a
humbug. No more cover should be used than will keep the body
at a natural heat; anything more is bad, even if not enough to
cause perceptible perspiration,

In making up your party fora camp, it is of the first import-
ance to include only congenial minds and dispositions. No matter
how dear to you your friend is, or how warm his affection may be
for you, if your habits of thought and body are not under control,
the little things of camp life will be the fruitful causes of unhappi-
ness and discontent. The number of the party has of course to
be considered and the style of camp life, whether you do your own
work or employ help. One man who shirks, and “ the best fellow
in the world ” is often the man, will interfere sadly with your pleas-
ure. Men incline in camp to couples. Three can seldom agree
long, for one is almost of necessity “left out in the cold.”

No party should attempt to camp out unless one at least of
their number is thoroughly conversant with woodcraft, and able to
devise and direct so as to secure the general comfort under all
changes of circumstances and vicissitudes of weather. One great
essential to thorough enjoyment is an equitable division of labor,
and a faithful observance of the duties assigned to each member.
This is especially important where no servants are employed.
Four persons constitute a large enough party. One should be a
fair cook ; another should be able to keep the camp supplied with
wood and make a fire, which is a task by no means easy; a third
should be a fair shot and a good pot-fisherman, for a variety of
HINTS TO SPORTSMEN. 641

food adds much to the charm of camp life ; and the fourth should
be apt at building a shelter and pitching a tent, and a good boat-
man withal. Thus organized, a party is ready to start for the
woods,

We cannot too earnestly urge the advantage of taking the vari-
ous kinds of condensed food which ingenuity has devised, for they
not only greatly reduce a load, but add much to the ease and com-
fort of all, and materially lighten the laborsof the cook. Borden’s
condensed milk, coffee and beef are a great acquisition. A single
can of coffee will serve a man for thirty days, and really needs
neither milk nor sugar. Put a part of a teaspoonful in hot water,
stir it, and your beverage is ready for use. The beef will make a
variety of soups, if used according to directions, and the milk is
useful in compounding various dishes. The self-leavening flour
prepared by Jewell Brothers is another indispensable. It has only
to be mixed with cold water or milk, requires no salt, and with
slight change in preparation will produce bread, biscuit, cakes, etc.,
ina very few minutes. The bones and small pieces of meat left
after cutting up venison, when boiled to a jelly in the camp kettle,
strained, and put away cold, form the ingredients of a very nourish-
ing soup which can be prepared in a few minutes at any time by
adding a sufficient quantity of hot water. With a little potato
and onion chopped fine, red pepper, salt, and flour, or dried
tomatoes, it can be made really delicious.

To carry the camp stuff most easily, back-loads should be so
made up that the softest parts should rest upon the shoulders and
neck, and when adjusted and supported by a strap that passes across
the forehead, boxes and cumbrous articles may be packed on top;
by this method fifty pounds may be carried with comparative ease.
Fishing. rods, paddles, axes, etc., should be tied together in
bundles in two places at least, and when shouldered, boots, ket-
tles, and the like, may be slung over their upper ends. Where a
canoe or boat is to be carried, lash the paddles lengthwise one foot
apart across the bars or thwarts amidships, turn the canoe upside-
down, rest one end upon a convenient projecting branch of a tree
at such a height that you can easily pass under, and then thrusting
in your head so that the paddles will rest upon the shoulders, raise
and balance it, and proceed on the journey. If the cance is too
642 WOODCRAFT.

heavy for one person, it shouldbe shouldered by two men, one at
each end, and carried right side up. There 1s a knack in walking,
too, which should be acquired, namely: always run your eye along
the trail at least a rod in advance, so that you may not only see
soft places, rocks, roots, and other obstructions, but calculate to a
nicety just where your steps are to be made. This practice will
prevent stumbling; it also enables one to discern a blind trail
easily, and teaches him to observe any strange signs which might
otherwise pass unnoticed. “If you are thirsty by the wayside, and
have no cup handy, bend up a portion of the brim of your felt hat
so as to form a cup, and drink out of that. It is better than lying
flat on the stomach to drink from a pool or spring, whereby there
is real danger of swallowing living creatures that may possibly
cause serious difficulty afterwards. A cup may be instantly fash-
ioned by cutting a slit longitudinally in a piece of clean bark; and
lapping the divided parts, one over the other, hold them between
the’ thumb and fingers.

Camp sites should be selected for access to wood and water—
wood first; but there are many other considerations to take into
account, such as shelter, immunity from insects, or proximity to
game. A high open knoll away from water is preferable, in fly
time, to a location on a river bottom. Sandy beaches or gravelly
points are liable to swarm with midges or punkies, and the thicker
woods with mosquitoes. Points where a breeze draws up or down
a stream are the most desirable. Black flies do not molest between
sunset and sunrise. The camp site being chosen, the first duties
are to fix the shelter, cut wood, and get the kettle boiling. A let-
ter A tent is the greatest luxury in camping, but in fair weather a
tilt or half tent of canvas or blankets, or a “ rough slant” of bark
or boughs laid on poles supported by crotches, are comfortable
enough when a good fire is kept up. Or, for the matter of a night,
a screen of spruce boughs to windward, or the canoe turned over
to protect the chest and shoulders, is a good make-shift. The lee
of a protecting ledge, with a bush screen, is a dry and comfortable
camp. A permanent shanty is made with sides four logs high and
a peaked roof of poles covered with bark or split shingles four feet
long, with a hole at the top for smoke. In this way also a conical
wigwam can be constructed, Indian fashion. Make the bed of
HINTS TO SPORTSMEN. 643

evergreen boughs—balsam and ‘hemlock are the softest—place
them in layers with the buts all one way, and shingle the buts of
the first row with the tops of the second, and so on successively,
Fires are made in various ways. For a good cooking fire, a back
should be made three logs high, supported against upright stakes
driven into the ground; two logs at right angles, or two stones
placed in front to lay fuel on, will raise the latter from the ground
sufficiently for a good draft. Another mode is to lay two eight-
inch logs on skids, say two feet apart and parallel, filling in the
space with small fuel. The Indian fashion is to lay the sticks in a
circle, with the buts in the centre, resting on one another making
a conical pile. A tree should be felled, the trunk cut into logs,
and the branches being chopped up for fuel. In almost all woods
are logs, some time cut and seasoned that furnish dry fuel and
kindlings. To peel bark, girdle the tree at intervals of two or more
feet and split the sections with an axe longitudinally. In fly time,
when the air is still, make the camp fire so that the smoke will
blow into the tent or shanty, in order to drive out the flies ; but at
all times, and especially at night, guard against changes of wind
and flying sparks.* Clean greasy plates with moss and scour them
with sand. To clean knives and forks, simply thrust them two or
‘three times into the ground. At night, tuck your trowsers. into
your woolen socks, and tie them at the ankles. Never sleep with

* To make Fire from Dry Wood without Matches.—Get a round spindle of dry
hard wood, oak for example, about a foot long and a quarter of an inch in diam-
eter ; polish it smooth, and round off one end. Then get a dry piece of some soft
pithy wood, elder will do; if over half an inch in diameter split it: if less shave the
wood on one side down to the pith, making a flat surface} make a small bow of
any springy wood or root, string it: buckskin is the best string ; get your kindling
wood all ready for your fire, together with some small dry splinters, grass or leaves,
or punk is best of all; hold the soft wood, flat side up, firmly between your knees ;
take a turn with your bow string about the middle of the hard wood spindle; set
the rounded end of the spindle in a little trench you will make in the soft wood or
pith; press down with any flat piece of wood held in the left hand, on the other
end of the spindle; work the bow back and forth, and the spindle will revolve
rapidly. Ina little while the dust worn from the soft wood will fill the little trench,
smoke, and take fire. If punk is used, this spark will ignite it by bringing them
in contact; if grass, as soon as the spark is well developed envelope it in dry grass
and wave rapidly back and forth until the fire is well set or breaksinto flame. An
Indian expert in this method will get fire in about a minute, more or less, as his
material happens to be in condition, and will make it nearly as soon using both
hands, in place of the bow to revolve the spindle, .
644 WOODCRAFT

boots on. Use moccasins if you have them. Keep your feet to
the fire, but don’t let them burn. See that there is a sufficient
supply of fuel for the night, and learn to wake at proper intervals
to replenish the fire. Early mornings are always cold at any sea-
son of the year. A compound of tar and sweet oil applied to the
face and hands is the best protection against gnats and flies. Buck-
skin gloves may be worn without discomfort at night. When an
A tent is used, a cord drawn through the apex with its ends stretched
to convenient trees, supports it better than two crotches and a
ridge-pole, and will prevent its being blown down by a gust of wind.
The sides should be drawn down tight and fastened to the ground.
Never sit up after nine o’clock at night, and rise at daylight in the
morning. Never omit a good wash, at least of the face and hands.

Every hunter should know the edible roots, berries, and salad
plants of the country he hunts in. The number, especially of edi-
ble and wholesome “weeds” which can be boiled as greens,
is astonishing. He phould also know the herbs from which to
make teas for sickness, and poultices and dressings for wounds
and bruises. None of the ills which a hunter as such is heir to, are
beyond the reach of nature’s remedies. If he don’t know the med-
icines of the field and forest, he should take to camp a few of the
simplest of the apothecary’s sort,

One great point gained in learning woodcraft is to acquire a
habit of close and continued observation. All dense woods look
so much alike that the novice without a guide is almost helpless.
In travelling it is important to turn frequently and survey the
ground behind, especially if one intends to retrace his steps. A
locality looks entirely different from different points of observation.
Hence it is always prudent to blaze the route by occasionally
scoring a tree or breaking the top of a bush or limb. Where
small spruces are frequent, the broken tops of these are most
easily seen. In passing through alder brush, cut them well down
toward the buts with a hatchet, remembering to bend them well
over with the left hand and giving a smart clip on the bend. A
greenhorn will be surprised to see how easy it is to cut brush in
this way, and how much hacking is required to cut even the
smallest sapling in any other way. Alder brush makes a good
“blaze,” as the under sides of the leaves are much lighter than
HINTS TO SPORTSMEN. 645

the upper, and show distinctly. In following a blind trail, the eye
should always run casually in advance. If it is cast down directly
in front, the sign is lost; but if raised, the trail can usually be
traced quite distinctly. In all cases where a man discovers him-
self lost, he should stop short and carefully consider the situation
—the position of the sun, direction of the wind, character of adja-
cent prominent objects, etc., and then retrace his steps as nearly
as possible. It is senseless to plunge headlong into trackless un-
certainty, when it may be quite possible to go back on one’s own
track to the point started from, which, though a loss of time in
reaching a desired destination, is better than a loss of way and an
involuntary bivouac in the woods. The writer remembers having
once tracked back through a laurel brake with such nicety of cal-
culation as to pick up a handkerchief which had been pulled out
of his pocket, and was clinging toa bush. As a general thing, a
man does not go far off his course before he discovers his mistake.
A quarter of a mile in a jungle or a strange forest seems a great
distance. It is not imptacticable either, when one is in doubt to
climb a tall tree and take a survey from the top. Caribou hunters
often adopt this practice when looking for barrens where game
are likely to be found. Rivers and streams are certain highways
to deliverance provided a person has previously some idea of the
general lay of the land.

One never should be without a compass; though in some per-
sons animal magnetism is so strong that they determine the cardi-
nal points instinctively. Indeed there are individuals who cannot
sleep with their heads to the south, but instantly detect a bed so
placed. Backwoodsmen acquire by practice and careful obser-
vation a certain craft in reading signs which is almost infallible.
As a tule, but not always, moss grows more densely on the north
side of trees, nature providing against the cold that comes from
that quarter. But a more reliable sign is the limbs of trees, which
grow longest on the south side, those on the north side being ex-
posed to the wintry blasts which twist, scathe and stunt them.
A laurel swamp is the worst conceivable place in which to get
lost. The tendency to travel in circles is well known. It is a phys-
iological freak not easily explained. In an article on this subject
which we clipped from the Sczentijic American fifteen years ago,
the writer, who is a Texan, says :
646 WOODCRAFT.

“ Bewildered persons frequently travel in a perfect circle, some-
times keeping the same track until they have made half a dozen
equal rounds ; at other times making the circle larger or smaller
each time. It is not, by any means, always the case, when a per-
son is lost ; but it is so frequent that it is within the experience of
every one who has been much in the woods. In calm and cloudy
weather in a country of much sameness of appearance, the best
woodsmen get so bewildered as to “take the circles.” Persons
not accustomed to the woods will sometimes do so, when the sun
is shining and a steady breeze blowing. On the level or gulf prai-
ries of this country on a calm, foggy morning, no man can travel
without a road. It is an incident of every day occurrence in the
spring and fall seasons, that men are thus becalmed on the prairie
as effectually as men are at sea; nor will a compass mend the
matter, for it cannot be carried steadily enough to keep. its merid-
ian, and the course it points cannot be kept for fifty yards ; if a
man attempts it he will make’a circle and come back to the place
he started from. The circle will be large or small generally in
proportion to the density of the fog—sometimes only a hundred
yards in diameter ; at other times a mile, but seldom more. The
circles thus made are perfect. This kind of wandering seems to
arise from an attempt to go a straight course when there is nothing
to guide the senses, or when the usual guides of sun, wind, or the
general contour of the country are disregarded. It rarely befalls
children, who do not attempt to get on a course, but only run from
one visible point to another equally perceptible.

“Many apparently trivial traits in. the disposition of animals,
which are of great use to woodsmen are omitted in books of nat-
ural history; chiefly from ignorance no doubt. One of these is the
disposition of the horse, when frightened, to run agazust the wind,
if any is blowing. Thousands of horses which would be other-
wise irrecoverably lost annually on this frontier, are recovered by
observing this simple rule in pursuit. All animals have similar
inexplicable traits in their disposition; and men are no exception
to the rule. White men, when they are scared, will retreat 2” the
same direction tn which they came. The Indians know this, and
lay their plans accordingly ; and many a gallant company has been
cut to pieces simply from ignorance of this fact. But those who
understand these matters, when they find it necessary to make a
hasty retreat, always do so in a straight line, and in a direction
different from the one in which they came.

“We frequently see notices in Northern papers of children being
lost. Such things rarely occur on this frontier ; though children
often wander, and there are but few neighbors to help to search
for them, Perhaps the cause of humanity might be subserved by
publishing a few rules to be observed in such searches. Any
child will make a track or trail plain enough to be followed by the
HINTS FOR SOUTHERN TRAVEL. 647

eye over any ground, unless there be much passing of men or
animals to spoil the trail; and it can be followed by almost any
person of good sight, although he may not have had any previous
experience. Goto the place where the child was last seen and
look for the trail, glancing along the ground with a sharp scanning
look; when it is found, a faint kind of a line will be seen, which
may be followed at a fast walk until a well-defined track occurs.
If the trailer stops to look for a track he will probably lose the
trail, and must go back and take it up again with the same scan-
ning glance~along the ground. The trails which hunters and In-
dians follow skilfully, is not so much composed of tracks or foot-
prints, as of indescribable little signs, such as leaves and blades of
grass bent or turned, twigs broken, and other things so small and
faint that they cannot be shown to any one, yet which, when ail put
together, make a kind of /zze along the ground, which line can be
‘seen by a rapid glancing look, but which will disappear when
looked at steadily. The trail of a human being is more easily fol-
lowed than that of any other creature, because there is a kind of
purpose in it different from the trail of irrational animals. A child
will change its course around every thick clump of bushes, and go
nearly straight when the ground is open. If it is scared and run-
ning, it will run “vom the wind, if much is blowing, and from any
voice it hears; in such cases, therefore, it is not good policy to
call much upon the lost child’s name.”

HINTS FOR SOUTHERN TRAVEL.

In preparing for a winter’s campaign in Florida, one should
take with him, if practiacble, a tent and small boat. If they can be
shipped by sailing vessel two weeks in advance of his sailing, they
will reach Jacksonville in season for use and at little cost. If sent
by steamer the-charge for freight will be enormous. A shot gun,
rifle, ammunition, and fishing tackle should be taken from the
north. The tent should be as light as possible and so constructed
that all the room can be utilized. The boat should be small,flat-
bottomed and light. A large sail boat can be hired in Jacksonville
at a reasonable price, and a man to sail it and do the cooking.
Gun and rifle should be breech-loading, thus securing safety and dis-
patch in loading. Revolvers and big bowie knives are superfluities.
Everybody takes them, and everybody finds them in the way. Wear
old clothes ; half the pleasure in camping out is to be able to rough
it. Don’t put.on fancy costumes expecting to “make a spread,”
as no one will appreciate the effort or effect. Wear woolen
648 WOODCRAFT.

clothing at all times. For the feet, take good stout shoes, lacing
up tightly about the ankle. A pair of tight (not tight fitting) boots
may be very good for.a short, wet walk, but for an all day’s tramp
through swamp and pine woods, shoes are far superior. Two
pairs good woolen, and one rubber blanket. For sleeping in camp,
in this animated land of fleas, spiders and creeping things so un-
fortunately taken into the ark, a hammock should be used; one
arranged (as it may easily be), with a light canvas roof, with sides
of netting. Two or three rafter-shaped triangles hung on a line
will spread such a shelter, and in a canvas hammock under it, one
can rest free from the companionship of the guides and dogs, and
without vivid ideas of snakes and centipedes. Sportsmen are
often disabled by the fiercest animal in Florida, the flea. High
boots will be some defence, but keep away from the vicinity of do-
mestic animals, and sleep not in any of the “cracker” houses, but
camp in remote pine woods and keep’ the dogs away from the
tent. Such forest is comparatively free from mosquitoes, and
in mid winter the sand flies are not very annoying. A mosquito
bar is indispensable, as many nights the tormenting insects call

their own.

If the country on the coast be visited, the “bar” should be
made of thin cotton or lawn, to keep out the “ sand flies,” insects
so small as hardly to be discernible, but with a bite like the burn
of a hot iron, It would be well to take a little salve and thin plas-
ter for cuts and bruises. In the line of medicine one can take a
whole apothecary’s shop, if so disposed, but, excepting a little
whiskey and quinine, the former for snake bites, which hardly ever
occur, and the latter for imaginary fever, no medicine will be
needed. For light atnight, a lantern and candles will be sufficient,
though kerosene, where little transportation is to be made, is pre-
ferable. Buy it in New York in five gallon can, boxed. It will al-
ways sell for twice its cost. The keen bracing air gives more
pungency to a haunch of venison or brace of quail than all the
sauces piquante ever concocted. A bunch of Spanish moss is in-
finitely superior to a napkin, and the clear waters of some spring
to the finger-bowl. And here a word as to water.

Nearly all the water in East Florida is impregnated more or
less with lime or some mineral or salt that gives it a “flat” taste to
ROCKY MOUNTAIN TRAVEL. 649
the uninitiated, and a drink of raw unadulterated water is not al-
ways acceptabie. Some people “ qualify ” it—indeed the majority
of settlers “ qualify” it so much that the original taste of the agua
is lost in that of the qualifier—That is all—a word to the wise.
We advise a plain mode of living. Take hard bread, “self-
raising flour,” pork, salt, potatoes, brown sugar, rice or hominy,
Borden’s condensed milk and coffee, a little jelly for venison, but-
ter, pepper and mustard. Venison, fish and game birds may be
on the bill of fare every day, but again they may not. No one
should start down the river depending upon a supply, as the
game is regulated and controlled by a multitude of laws that the
visitor knows nothing about. ‘Preserved fruits, meats, etc., are
not necessary, though sometimes found acceptable—they don’t
stay incamp long. Regarding cooking utensils, if cooking is to
be done in the usual way over an open fire, they should be a
“bake kettle’ or oven, a foot diameter; frying-pan, same dimen-
sions, with a long handle; tin plates, plated knives and forks,
pint tea-cups, iron or tin spoons, and butcher knife, A
regular camp kit is preferable, however. If a stove is preferred,
go tothe tin-smith’s and have him make a sheet-iron box, two
feet long, one broad, open at one end. The door a sheet of iron,
to slide in a groove, perpendicularly, acting as draught regulator.
The legs should be flat, fastened to the box by hinges, shutting
under it when packed. The pipe small and in joints, to be
packéd in the stove. A piece of tin should be taken io fasten to
the tent to run the pipe through. With such a stove, well sup-
plied with “light wood” or pitch pine, a fire can be sustained
that will vacate the tent in short metre.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN TRAVEL.

Special preparation is required for travel in the Rocky Moun-
tains. Before entering the mountains one should prepare himself
and party for the country they are about to visit, for if their outfit
is not carefully selected, what might have been a summer’s pleasure
will very likely be one of toil and regret. Take nothing but what
is absolutely needed, and what is taken let it be as light as pos-
sible, as every extra pound lacerates the back of the pack mule.
Use medium sized animals for packing, ’as they will carry as heavy a

28
650 WOODCRAFT.

pack as a larger animal in rough places, and are more to be relied
upon where there are steep ascents to be made or fallen timber to
be crossed. Two hundred pounds is enough for a single pack
mule to carry at once, but some persons will overload their ani-
mals to save buying an extra mule, and will not see their folly
until they have lost some of their best animals by rolling down
hill sides against the rocks, or by having them “snagged” in
fallen timber. When returning at the end of the season, if the
animals’ backs are sound and good from the effects of light loading,
they will command a good price and are easily disposed of ; but if
on the contrary, their backs are covered with sores, they will only
bring one-half their original value, so men may easily see the econ-
omy of having a sufficient number of animals to carry theirluggage.

For riding animals use mules for the mountains and horses for
the “ plains.” A good mule will follow a trail and take its rider
into camp the darkest night that ever was. Should you get
strayed away from camp and not be able to find your way back.
again, drop the bridle rein on the horn of your saddle and trust to
the instinct of your mule, and if it is not very hungry, after wander-
ing about a short time it will take a direct course for camp,
although the rider may think camp is in an opposite direction from
the one where the mule is taking him. The common Indian pony
or bronco is the best horse to use on the plains, as they are tough,
quick and thoroughly acclimated to cold weather and the poor feed
that is to be had in most places. Select an easy saddle with a
good California tree, a light pair of spurs, and a broad hair Cincho
bridle with a light curb bit, a good saddle blanket, a small pair of
saddle bags, and your riding outfit is complete, unless you ride a
mule, and in sucha case a good strong broad crouper is necessary,’
so it will not cut the tail of your riding animal. When travelling
do not hurry your horse, or do not allow him to become lazy; keep
him ata steady gait, and if necessary, he will accomplish a long dis«
tance daily; but should you become impatient and lope him nearly
all day, he will become poor, stubborn and lazy. Use the Spanish
arrapahoe instead of the pack saddle, as it is easier packed and
more comfortable for the animal wearing it. Select heavy lash
ropes, or they will stretch, and the animals will have to be repacked
a dozen times a day, particularly after a rain, when the ropes have
ROCKY MOUNTAIN TRAVEL. 6sI

been wet and are gradually drying by the heat of the sun. Have
a long “‘ lariat” for each animal, for in some places in a timbered
country it will be necessary to picket them over night, for if they
were turned loose they would stray through the woods in search
of better feed, and it would be a severe task to collect them to-
gether again. Put a cow bell on the neck of the gentlest mare,
and the whole herd will become attached to the animal wearing
the bell; and when travelling let the ‘‘ Bell mare’ take the lead,
and the other animals will follow in single file where it would be
impossible to drive them. The cooking utensils should be several
camp kettles made of copper and lined with tin, (made to fit in
each other so they may be more easily packed,) a small Dutch
oven, spade, axe, hatchet, coffee mill, knives, forks, spoons, tin plates
and cups, a bread pan, frying pan, gridiron, whetstone, and two
small iron bars to lay over the fire to set kettles on when cooking.

The bedding for each person should consist of four California
blankets, a small pillow, a rubber poncho, buffalo robe, and half
a wagon cover of canvas to cover the whole bed and piotect it
from the rain, If tents are used, the small dog tent is the best,
and will be found very useful as a wrapper to roll the bedding in
for packing. For hunting large game, use the Gove rifle, of
Denver, or the Sharps from Hartford. There should always be
one good double-barreled shot gun in a party for the smaller game,
and thus provided for, there is always an abundance of fresh meat
to be had, which is a great addition and saving to the table.
When a party is preparing to camp out it is a good plan to estab-
lish a depot camp for a few days near some town, (where there is
good water and wood,) while fitting out, and become accustomed
to camp life before striking out for the more wild portions
of the country. The experience thus gained proves a good guide
for future operations. When starting out for a distant point, do
not travel too far the first few days, but make short marches until
the animals’ backs become hardened to the arrapahoe. Do not
allow the arrapahoe or pack to become loose, but have them as
tight as two men can draw them. A mule may grunta little about
being laced so tightly, but it is much better for them than to have
a pack rocking from side to side, backward and forward, thus
bruising the mule’s back and ending in sores and a worthless
animal. In the saddle bags always carry a pound or two of good,
652 WOODCRAFT.

solid, square crackers, “hard tack,” if need be, soda crackers,
if obtainable at the last little village through which he passes, and
in his coat pocket, sequrely wrapped, an ounce of salt and a half
ounée of ground pepper. Properly packed, the crackers need take
but little room, and the man is to be pitied, no matter how fashion-
able his stomach, who cannot, after a good day’s ride, make a
satisfactory, and certainly digestible, supper off the crackers
crumbed in the good sweet milk he is sure to find at any settler’s
cabin, especially when duly seasoned with the salt and pepper he
carries with him. Persons of limited or no experience in the West
may smile at the suggestion that salt and pepper be carried along ;
but the writer has found many families, rich in acres and herds,
who were “just out of salt,’ and to whom pepper had been so
long absent that it was a cool friend. And many a palatable sup-
per and breakfast has he made off crackers and milk with pepper
in it, duly salted, when, had want of foresight confined him to the
“corn dodger,” made all too “short” with lard, and the bacon
swimming in its native grease, which served the more rugged
stomach of his host, he would but weakly have bestridden his
mustang for the next day’s ride.

Guard against the “mountain fever,” which is a severe cold
peculiar to the Rocky Mountains, caused by exposure and over
exertion. Its symptoms are flushes, fever, cold in the head, head-
aches and general ‘debility. It reduces a cast-iron mountain man
to a weak and helpless infant in a few days. It in no respect
resembles the fever and ague, or the fever prevalent to the
Southern States.

To prevent snow-blindness, smear the nose and the parts of the
face around the eyes withdamp gunpowder. Those who travel to
the mountains by railroad should get a canteen at Omaha and fill
it with milk, and suspend it on the outside of the car window by
means of a stick (laid crosswise) and a string. It will keep sweet
until you wish to replenish. By this means you avoid the alkali
water which is injurious, especially to children. Hang your lunch
basket in the same way, and you can keep roast turkey, chicken,
game, meat, etc., the entire distance. You want two or more
coffee cups with handles, as you do not always feel like eating
breakfast at the stations, and ten cents worth of coffee procured at
the counter will suffice in aiding the lunch basket.

'
INSTRUCTION IN TAXIDERMY.

 

BACKWOODS TAXIDERMY.

Wirn a slight knowledge of taxidermy, the hunter can prepare and preserve
hard earned trophies of the chase. The following tools and materials are all
that are absolutely needed:

A heavy and light scalpel, or good pocket knife, scissors, needles and thread,
cotton wadding, or any soft material if not obtainable ; arsenic, alum, saltpetre,
carbolic acid, paper for wrappers, and a little bran, meal, or fine sawdust to use
when skinning.

To make a Bird into a Skin.—Lay the bird on its back and make a longitudinal
cut from the breast bone to the vent. Push the body away from the skin with
the knife, holding the skin firmly between the fingers and thumb of the left hand,
and avoid cutting as much as possible. When the skin has been removed far
enough to expose the shins, unjoint them at the knee, and cut through the flesh
until the skin is laid bare. Skin down to the vent and cut off the extremity of
the body which holds the tail feathers, and remove the skin to the wings, unjoint-
ing them and skinniag to below the eyes. Cut the neck off close to the head,
and remove the triangular, lower part of the skull, and the brains. Take out the
eyes, and cut away all superfluous flesh from the skull, leg, and wing bones and
unjoint the main bone of the wing from the double bones or fore-arm.

(In skinning large birds, break the wings close to the body at the commence-
ment, as it will facilitate the handling, and skinning.)

Pass a thread through the wing bones and draw them nearly together, tying
them in position. Cram the eye holes full of cotton, wrap the leg bones with the
same, and draw them back in natural position. Dust the whole flesh side of the
skin freely with dry arsenic, and return the skin. Should the neck become
stretched, and difficult to return, soap it, and it will slip over the head easily.
Smooth the plumage, fill out the body, sew up the skin, cross the legs and tie
them, and wrap the skin closely in sheet cotton, or thin paper. A skin thus pre-
pared will keep for fifty years or more, and can be naturally mounted at any time.

Mounting Birds with closed wings.—Lay the specimen on its back and fill the
throat with cotton to keep the saliva from soiling the plumage. If the bird isa
large one, such as a hawk, owl, raven, gull, etc., it should have the nostrils
crowded full of cotton to prevent similar disastrous effects. If a bird is bloody,
wash the soiled parts in cold water and dry the feathers as much as possible with
a dry rag or sponge, and cover them with calcined plaster, which can be had in
any paint store, rubbing it lightly into the plumage until the feathers are dry and
assume their natural appearance, To remove the plaster from the feathers beat
the bird vigorously with the wing of a bird or fowl. When cleaned, lay the bird
on its back and make a longitudinal cut from the breast bone to the vent, Push
654 INSTRUCTION IN TAXIDERMY.

the body away from the skin with a scalpel, holding the latter firmly between the
fingers and thumb of the left hand, and avoid cutting as much as possible. When
the skin has been removed far enough to expose the shins, unjoint them at the
knee, and cut through the fleshy part of the knee until the skin is laid bare. Skin
down to the vent and cut off the extremity of the body which holds the tail
feathers, and remove the skin to the wings. Unjoint the wings and skin to below
the eyes. Cut the neck off close to the skull and remove the under part of the
skull, and from the hole thus made take out the brains. Remove the eyes and
all superfluous flesh from the'skull, leg, and wing bones, and sever the main bone
of the wing from the double bones or fore-arm. In skinning large birds break-
ing the wings close to the body before removing it will facilitate the skinning.
Roll up a small ball of tow and crowd it tightly into the skull. Point a piece of
wire at both ends by filing, and twist the tow around it the length and size of the
natural neck, commencing an inch or two inches from one end, according to the
size of the bird to be mounted. Pass the short end of the wire up through the
tow in the head and occipital bone (hind part of skull), and clinch it firmly by re—
passing the end of the wire through the fore part of the skull, and fasten it
through the eye hole with a pair of pliers. Fill the eyes out to nearly their natu-
ral size with soft putty, and dust the whole fleshy side of the skin with dry arse-
nic, best applied with the hind feet of a rabbit or hare. Between the wings, and
on the shoulders of the bird, are two yellowish lines, where the feathers are in-
clined to protrude through the skin. These lines should be caught up witha
needle and drawn nearly together and tied in position. Ina skin of a bird of the
size of a red-tailed hawk, they should be (when tied) an inch and a half apart.
Other bird skins should be drawn up in proportion to their size. Return the leg
bones in position, and also the skin, by passing the head through the neck. Pick
out the eye lids in their usual form with a needle or pincers, and arrange the
plumage smoothly. Make a body ¢he size of the original one by rolling upa
bunch of excelsior, or sea grass, and winding it into form with twine or thread.
Pass the neck wire through the body lengthwise, pull the skin carefully over the
body, and clinch the protruding neck wire firmly. Never use soft bodies, as
they will not hold wire sufficiently tight to keep a bird in position, Wire the legs
by putting pointed wires through them from the centre of the feet. Fasten the
Jeg bones to the wires by wrapping them with tow, making the legs a little
smaller than they naturally are, and slip the wire further through the legs and let
them pass obliquely through the body from the side to the fore breast. Clinch
the leg wires firmly into the body, straighten the legs parallel with the sides ot
the body, and sew up the hole in the skin, Smooth down the plumage, bend in
any natural position, and mount on a stand. Fill the throat out slightly with
cotton or tow, and apply a little mucilage to the inside of the eye lids. Press the
eyes tightly in position, and pick out the eye lids over the eyes as required with
the point of aneedle. Fasten the bill together by passing a needle and thread
through the nostrils and base of under mandible and tie in position. To wire the
tail is one of the most delicate tasks for the tyro, and should be doneas follows:
~Pass a long pointed piece of small wire through each tail feather, at the flat part
of the quill near the body, and spread the tail as desired. Another large wire
should be run through the fleshy part of the skin (at the base of the tail) into the
body from the under side of the tail, thus fastening it in any position wanted.
Fasten the wings by sticking a sharp piece of wire through the shoulder of the
wing into the body. Stick small pieces of wire in different parts of the body, and
BACK WOODS TAXIDERMY. 655

wind the bird tightly, with fine thread, thus holding the plumage in position until
dry. The plumage may be made to lie smoother by touching the tough places
with a feather wet in turpentine. When collecting, one should note the color of
the eyes, legs, cere, gullar sack, etc., of birds when first killed, as it may be natu-
rally reproduced by paint when the birds are mounted and dry.

To Preserve Birds Temporarily.—Birds can be preserved for a few days dur-
ing hot weather as follows: Ifa large bird is killed, first swab out the blood from
the throat if necessary, and distribute powdered alum and saltpetre (one part salt-
petre, six parts alum) the entire length of the throat, and push some of it into the
crop with a stick ; rub a little of the preservative into and around the eyes exter-
nally ; draw the entrails from the specimen through a small hole, made longitudi-
nally into the vent, and prime the inside of the bird with the powder ; put a small
piece of cotton down the throat, and cram the nostrils full of the same material, to
prevent the saliva and blood from coming out on to the plumage. Carbolicacid is
also a good disinfectant and preservative. Take a small bottle of water and put
a teaspoonful of acid into it, and apply the mixture to the most perishable parts of
a specimen in the same manner as directed to use the saltpetre and alum. Pieces
of cotton or tow, wet with the acid and water, should be placed in the vent and
throat of the bird. Should one wish to keep any hard feathered birds, such as
loons, grebes, auks, guillemots, gulls, ducks, etc., they should be drawn and
thrown into a pickle of saltpetre and alum, and any good taxidermist can mount
and clean them when desired.

To Prepare a Buck's Head.—To preserve a buck’s head, make a cut across the
head from the middle of one horn across the skull to the middle of the other antler ;
then make a cut from the middle of the incision made down the back of the neck
to the shoulders; cut the skin around and a little below the neck until it is free
from the fore shoulders, and continue to skin the neck up to the base of the antlers ;
cut the skin carefully away from around the horns, and skin down over the muz-
zle ; skin the ears part way down, trim away the flesh from the skin, and rub the
whole fleshy side of it with the powdered alum and saltpetre, and if no other pre-
servative is at hand use salt. Turn the fleshy side of the pelt to the open air, and
dry as soon as possible. The skin will shrivel up to the dimensions of an old
boot leg, which it resembles in shape, but nevertheless it will be in good condi-
tion. Chop away the part of the skull to which the horns are attached, enlarge
the hole in the occipital bone, remove the brains, dust what remains of the skull
with any preservative, and hang the horns in a convenient crotch of a tree until
the camp is deserted.

Never cut a deer skin down the front of the neck, unless you want an ugly
looking seam to mar the beauty of ahead. Should a deer be wounded or killed,
it is not necessary to cut his head nearly off to bleed him, and if a deer is shot
through the lungs or near the heart, it does not need bleeding, as the blood will
settle in the thorax and can easily be turned out when the animal is dressed.
What looks worse than a deer with his head nearly cut off, and ils coat covered
with blood, which will become half putrid in a few days in mild weather, unless it
is washed off from the hair when fresh? Never wash out a deer after dressing it
unless you are desirous of spoiling your venison When saving saddles, let them
cool and stiffen before folding the skin over them. So do not mangle your game
and spoil your skins and meat by slashing animals to pieces witha huge butcher
knife.

Skinning Small Quadrupeds.—Begin by making a longitudinal incision be-
656 INSTRUCTION IN TAXIDERMY.

tween the hind legs, extending quite back to the vent, the hair having been care-
fully parted so that it may not be cut. Do not cut into the abdominal cavity.
The skin can now be separated from the flesh and turned back as far as the thigh,
which is severed at the joint. When this is done on both sides, the gut should be
drawn out and severed at a short distance from the vent. The tail should also be
disjointed at the root. This being done, the skin can be loosened around the body
until the fore-legs are reached, when they also should be dissevered. The skin-
ning now proceeds along the neck until the skull is reached. Here considerable
care is necessary to remove the skin without damage to the ears, eyelids, and
lips. The skin is left attached to the skull; when the operation has proceeded far
enough to expose the muscles of the jaws, the skin must be separated from the
body at the first joint of the neck. The tongue, eyes, and muscles, remaining
attached to the head, are now to be carefully removed, and the brain taken out
from an opening in the back of the skull, cut through for that purpose. To make
this opening, amateurs can use a small gimlet or bit with very small animals, and
a large one as circumstances may demand. The legs are now to be skinned out
quite down to the claws, which completes the operation of skinning. During the
entire process, all fluids escaping must be immediately soaked up with cotton.
As soon as the skin is removed, it should be thoroughly rubbed with arsenical
soap, not omitting the inside of the skull and mouth cavities.

Insect Specimens.—To preserve insects ; quarter of an ounce of corrosive sub-
limate in one ounce of water, and add three ounces of spirits of wine. Steep
insects in this, then dry ; and especially if spider specimens be treated this way,
they will be found to be pliable.

Bird Lime.—To make it, boil down linseed oil of the best quality until it
becomes thick and glutinous. It should be boiled in an earthern pot in the open
air, for about two or three hours. It is very essential that an earthen vessel
should be used, as an iron one heats and the oil takes fire when boiling, and in
such a case is useless as bird lime. A pot should be used with a tight fitting cover,
to prevent the fire entering inside it. When prepared set the oil away in tin
boxes with tight fitting covers, until it is to be used. Prepared lime made of
pitch and oil and sold by some dealers, is worthless.

To Use /t,—Seleet some small dry sticks, about eight inches long and as thick as
a straw; sharpen one end of them to a flat thin edge, so they can be stuck
iito a cut in stake; take a large stick or stake and drive it in the ground;
make cuts in its sides suitable to receive the flat ends of the stick ; take two of the
small sticks and dip them in the lime; when covered, hold one in each hand
and roll them between your thumbs and fingers with their sides touching, thus
equally distributing the lime; insert their ends loosely into the notches in the
ground, and place a ‘‘ call bird”’ in a conspicuous place near the stake ; when the
birds alight in the sticks they pull loose from the main stick, and when flying
away the wings come in contact with the lime, and are pinioned to the bird’s sides.
It does not hold them by the feet, as is generally supposed.

To Tan Skins of Animals with the Fur ou.—1. Put them into a pickle of alum
and saltpetre until they become like leather ; then dress the flesh sides, dry them
slowly, and rub them witha little butter, and dry them by rubbing or treading
them out in veneer sawdust.

z. Take soft water, about ten gallons, a half bushel wheat bran, seven pounds
of salt, two and a half pounds of sulphuric acid. Dissolve all together and put the
skins in the solution and allow them to remain twelve hours; take them out and
BACKWOODS TAXIDERMY. 657

clean them well, and again immerse twelve more hours, or longer, if necessary.
‘The skins may then be taken out, well washed and dried. They can be beaten
soft, if desired.

3. Take equal parts salt, alum, and Glauber salts, and half a pint saltpetre ; pul-
verize and mix, Handle the skins and rub the mixture in well three or four times
a day, the oftener the better. If there is not sufficient moisture in the skin to
dissolve the salts put a little water into the latter. We are assured that no moth
will ever attack furs, the pelts of which have been thus prepared.

4. Mix the proportion of six pounds of alum, and three of salt. Dissolve both
in about a gallon of warm water. Use when cool. Place skins not too tightly
packed, in a barrel or keg, and pour in mixture. Skins without injury to hair may
be kept any length of time in this way, and all in good order at any time to stuff.

5. Take two parts of saltpetre and one of alum, pulverize them well together ;
spread the skin carefully, fur side down, before it has dried ; apply the mix-
tures evenly, being careful to touch every part in sufficient quantity to thoroughly
wet the surface after it dissolves ; double the flesh side and roll it up closely ; put
it in a cool place, out of the way of the frost, and let it remain three or four days
or more according to thickness ; then unroll, and when it gets nearly dry, witha
dull knife remove the fat that may adhere in spots, and a little rubbing makes it
pliable and fit for use.

6. Glauber salts, two pounds; rock salt, one pound ; alum, two pounds; all to
be dissolved in boiling water; leave skins in about ten days, take them out occa-
sionally for a little while during that time ; cut the edge of the skin to see if the
tanning has gone through; then take them in the hand and beat them over a
round stick or block until they are soft. They are to be beaten with the hair
side in.

Indian Tanned Skins.—The skin is stretched either on the ground or on poles,
and all fat or flesh removed. When well dried it is washed in soap and water
to cleanse the fur; the brains of any animal are then taken and mashed into a
paste with hot water, and this paste is thoroughly rubbed into the flesh side, and
the skin hung out todry. When dry it is scraped, and exposed to the dew for one
night, and next morning rubbed and pulled until soft.

Buckskins are made by rubbing off the hair with a horse-rib, while the skin is
fresh, or, after soaking in a weak lye ; then dressing with brains, and staining a
reddish color in a decoction of Wasatchie bark. Alum and salt are very good,
but alum is rather scarce in the chapparal, as also are doors and boards. Some
stretch skins on the ground.

Care should be taken, by the way, not to use too much salt, as it causes the
skin afterward to absorb moisture too readily. Smoking a skin is done by first
dressing with brains, sewing it up into a funnel-shape, and suspending over a
slow fire of buffalo chips, or dry prickly pear, built in a hole in the ground. The
tips of the funnel being pinned down close around the hole ; a clear, calm day, is
selected, and the smoking requires about two hours. It gives a velvet-like finish,
and the skin never shrinks or gets stiff from wetting, but washes like cloth.

To Keep Moths from Skins.—Dissolve a small piece of corrosive sublimate
in alcohol, and brush on; or the best arsenic dissolved in the same manner will
answer.

To Preserve Fish for Specimens.—Specimens, which, after being taken, should
be wrapped in a damp cloth or moss until opportunity offered for placing them in
weak spirits of whisky or alcohol, when they should be allowed to soak until the
658 INSTRUCTION IN TAXIDERMY.

spirit has thoroughly permeated the fish, which requires several days, more or
less, the length of time required being governed considerably by the weather.
They should then be carefully spread on a platter and covered with alcohol until
the fish is hardened, when it can be placed in the jar.

To Preserve Fish Skins.—Skin your fish carefully, but do not be particular as
to leaving a little meat on. Spread the skins in layers and sprinkle with salt and
alum ; or make a pickle in a small keg of a weak solution of carbolic acid; any
remaining flesh can be scraped off afterwards, and the fish set up by a taxider-
mist. Many of the most delicate fishes with large scales will not stand the above
treatment, to say nothing of mounting them afterward
BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR SPORTSMEN.

x

BOOKS ON ANGLING.

Superior Fishing.—R. B. Roosevelt: Carleton, New York.

Game Fish af the North.—R. B. Roosevelt, (out of print).

1 Go a Fishing.—Wm. C. Prime: Harper & Bros.

Fish and Fishing.—Frank Forester.

Fishing in American Waters.—Genio C. Scott: Harpers.

American Angler's Book —Thaddeus Norris.

Ronald's Fly Fisher's Entomology. (English.)

Chitty's Fisher’s Text Book. (Eng.)

Pullman's Fly Fishing. (Eng.)

Chalmondley- Pennell’s Fly Fishing, (Eng.)

Ephemera’s Handbooks of Angling. (Eng.) Longman, Green, and Longman,
London, or through the agency of George W. Ford, care of Potts, Young & Co.
Cooper Union, New York.

Hints to Anglers and Miseries of Fishing—With numerous humorous engrav-
ings. Philadelphia; Claxton, Remsen & Haffelfinger.

Walton and Cotton’s Complete Angler ; or, The Contemplative Man’s Recrea-
tion: Being a Discourse of Rivers, Fishponds, Fish and Fishing, written by Izaak
Walton ; and Instructions how to Angle for a Trout or Grayling in a clear Stream,
by Charles Cotton.

By Lake and River.—Francis Francis, Field Office, 346 Strand, London.

The Pleasures of Angling.—By Geo. Dawson, Editor of the Albany Yournal:
Sheldon & Co., New York.

Maxims and Hints for Anglers.—T. F. Bell: Philadelphia.

illustrated Angler’s Hand-book for 1875. The author, Max Von dem Borne,
treats of all matters appertaining to angling with most thorough detail, and every
important point is explained by well executed wood cuts. Published in Berlin,
Prussia. /

Book of the Salmon.—By Ephemera. Longman, Green and Longman, London,

Fur, Fin, and Feather.—By Chas. Suydam, 61 Warren St.

Camp Fires of the Everglades.—Chas E. Whitehead.

The Fishing Tourist.—Hallock. Harper & Bros.

Forays’‘among Salmon and Deer.—J. Conway. (English.)

An -lngler's Rambles, and Angling Songs.—T. Todd Stoddart. (English.) 9s.
Schuylkill Fishing Company. Phila., 1830.

Angling.—Brookes, Nobbs and Bowlker.

Newcastde.—Fisher’s Garlands,

American Angler's Guide.—Brown.
660 BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR SPORTSMEN.

Lines of Donne, Walton, Herbert, etc. Walton,2 vols. 1832.

Hofiana’s Angler's Manual.—k. Jesse.

Treatyse on Fysshynge.—Dame Juliana Berners. 1486, by Van Siclen, 1875.

The Art of Angling.—R. Brooks. 1790. London. .

Modern Practical Angler.—C. Pennel.

Game Fish of North,—Barnwell.

Secrets of Angling.—A S. Moffatt.”

Bottom or Float Fishing.—H. Chalmondeley-Pennell ; author of ‘t The Modern
Practical Angler,’’ etc. London: George Routledge & Sons.

Blacker’s Art of Fly Making. Blacker's Bookof the Salmon.—s4 Dean St.
Soho, London.

GUN, DOG AND RIFLE.

Field, Cover, and Trap Shooting —By Adam H. Bogardus, Champion wing
shot of America. Embracing hints for skilled marksmen, instructions for young
sportsmen, haunts and habits of game birds, flights and resorts of water fowl,
breeding and breaking of dogs. New York: J.B. Ford & Co. 1874.

How to Use the Pistol_—Industrial Publication Company, 176 Broadway, N. Y.

Fox Hunting, as recorded by Raed. Edited by C. A. Stephens. Illustrated.
Boston : James R. Osgood & Co.

Setters and Potnters—Their rearing, Training and Hygiene. By Elbert S.
Carman. Published for the Ahaodah Society by D. Appleton & Co. New York.

The American Sportsman.—By Elisha J. Lewis, M.D. With illustrations,
Third edition. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co.

Prairie and Forest.—By Parker Gilmore: Harper & Bros. 1874.

IlMustrated Handbook of Rifle Shooting, by A. Lord Russell, is published in
Toronto, Canada.

Lynx Hunting.—By C. Stephens. Boston: James R. Osgood & Co,

How to Become an Expert Shot.—With Regulations of the National Rifle
Association, with Blanks for Recording Matches. New York Mercantile Pub-
lishing Co., No. 1 Park Place: 1874. :

American Wild Fowl Shooting.—By J. W. Long: J. B. Ford & Co., New
York, Publishers.

Cyclopedia of Rural Sports.—By J. H. Walsh (Stonehenge). First American
from the eighth English edition. Philadelphia: Porter & Coates.

Frank Forester’s Shooting Box.—T. B. Peterson and Bro: Philadelphia.

Deer Statkers.—By Frank Forester. Philadelphia. T. B. Peterson & Co.

Frank Forester’s Quorndon Hounds.—By Wi. W. Herbert, N. Y. T. B.
Peterson & Bro.

The Complete Manual for Young Sportsmen, by Forester, was published by
Stringer & Townsend, 222 Broadway, N. Y., in 1857.

The Dog.—By Dinks, Hutchinson & Mayhew.

The Dog.—By Stonehenge. Lee & Shepherd. Boston.

Shot-gun and Sporting Rifle-—Stonehenge.

Dog and Sportsman.—By J. S. Skinner (out of print).

Vouatt on the Dog, $3.75.

Hawker on Shooting.~-By Porter,

Wingate’s Rifle Manual.

Shooting on the Wing.—Price 75 cts. Orange Judd & Co: New York.

Forest and Stream Rifle Manual.—By M.S. Starr. J. B. Ford & Co.
TEXT AND REFERENCE BOOKS. 661

American Game in Season.—Frank Forester.

The Breech Loader.—By Wilson. Orange Judd & Co.

Breech Loaders.—By Gloan. New York: George E. Woodward. Orange
Judd & Co. 1873.

American Kennel and Sporting Field.—By Arnold Burgess. $4. J.B. Ford
& Co. New York.

The Practical Kennel Guide —By Gordon Stables, M. D.,C. M.R.N. Cassell,
Petter & Galpin, London, Paris, and New York.

American Partridge and Pheasant Shooting.—By Frank Schley. Baughman
Bros., Frederick, Md. .

Choke-Bore Guns and How to Load for all Kinds of Game.—Price $3.50:
Cassell, Petter & Galpin, 596 Broadway.

Dogs.—By Francis Butler, price $2. (Out of print.)

Hawker on Shooting.—Porter.

Hand-Bood for Young Sportsmen.—By Will Wildwood: Printed by the Sen-
tinel Company, Milwaukee, Wis.

Partridges and Pheasants.—By Frank Schley. Baughman Bros., Frederick
City, Maryland.

Idstone on the Dog, $t.25-

Schley’s American Partridge and Pheasant Shooting, $2.

Gun, Rod and Saddle, $1.

Dead Shot, or Sportsman’s Complete Guide, $1.75.

The above may be obtained from Orange Judd & Co., New York.

TEXT AND REFERENCE BOOKS, FOR ZOOLOGY AND MAM-
MALS.

Quadrupeds of North America.—Audubon and Bachman, $50 to $7s5-
Pacific Railroad Reports.—Professor Baird, Vol. VIII, $5.
Mammals of New York (in Reports on Natural History of the State): De
Kay. Very difficult to obtain separately.
Quadrupeds of Itlinots——Kennicott. Patent Office Reports, Agriculture
1857-8. (Out of print.)
Bats of North America.—Allen (soc.) ; and various lesser books.
First Book of Zoology —By Edward S. Morse, Ph D., etc. New York: D.
Appleton & Co., 1875.
Mammals of Zoology.—By Fenney. Price $2.
Natural History.—By J.G. Wood. Three volumes, $4 per volume: ~
Zoology and Resources of Oregon and Washington Territtory.—Published by S,
J. McCormick, Portland, Oregon.
Osteology of the Mammalia.—An Introduction to the Osteology of the Mam-—
-malia. By W. H. Flower, F. R. S.,F.R.C.S. With numerous Illustrations.
* Second Edition, revised. 350pp.12mo. Cloth, $2.25.
List of Skeletons, etc. By Dr. H. C. Yarrow.

MOLLUSKS.

Books upon Mollusks include—Invertebrates of Massachusetts: Gould, $4.
Shells of New York: De Kay. American Marine Conchology: Lyon, $20 to
$42. Terrestrial Mollusks of the United States: Binney $30. Land and Fresh,
water Shells; Binney and Bland, Smithsonian, $5. American Journal of Conch-
“ology, $10 a volume. European works, and numerous American pamphlets.
662 BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR SPORTSMEN.

The Molluscous Animals and their Shells, of Chester County, Penn.—By W.
D. Hartman and Dr. E. Michener: Claxton, Remsen & Haffelfinger, publishers,
Philadelphia.
ENTOMOLOGY.

In Entomology (insects) there are :-Guide to the Study of Insects: Packard
$7. Our Common Insects: Packard, $2.50. American Entomology: Say; va-
rious editions, $12 to $18. Injurious insects of Massachusetts: Harris. $3 to $8.
Illustrated and expensive works on the butterflies, moths, etc., by Edwards,
‘tretch, Streeker, and others ; and numerous publications by the Smithsonian.

Relation of Insects to Man.—By A.S. Packard, Jr., Editor of the American
Naturalist, etc., being No. 3 of the popular series published by Estes & Lauriatt.
Boston.

On the Origin and Metamorphosis of Insects—By Sir John Lubbock, M. P.,
F.R.S. MIlustrated. New York, Macmillan & Co. 1874. 108 pp. 8v0. $1.50.

Our Common Insects :—A Popular Account of the Insects of our.Fields, For-
ests, Gardens and Houses. By A.S. Packard, Jr.: Salem: Naturalists’ Agency.
Will be found a very useful guide.

Half Hours with the Microscope.—By Edwin Lankester, M.D., F.R.S. Il-
lustrated by 250 drawings from Nature. x12mo., cloth, $1.25. New York: G. P.
Putnam’s Sons. :

The Preparation and Mounting of Microscopic Objects —By Thomas Davis.
16mo, cloth, $x. 25. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons.

History of British Moths.—Sir W. Jardine. Illustrated with nearly 2000 Ex-
quisitely Colored Specimens, 4 vols. English Price, 140s.

British Butterflies, -With Seventy-one Beautifully Colored Plates. ars.

On British Wild Flowers.—Sir J. Lubbock. Considered in Relation to Insects,
English. 4s. 6d.

ORNITHOLOGY.

Upon Ornithology there are written:

Birds of North America.—J.J. Audubon. Octayoand quarto editions; rare,
and costing about $100,

American Ornithology.—Alex. Wilson. Several editions, the quarto of Bona-
parte selling for $60 to $80, and the little one without plates for about $20.

Ornithology of New York.—De Kay. Rare separately, and expensive.

Manual of Ornithology.—Nuttall. Rare, and worth $30.

Pacific Railroad Reports.—Professor Baird, Vol. IX, $s.

Ornithology and Oology of New England.—Samuels. Good to identify East
ern birds by. $6.

Key to North American Birds.—Coues. The best thing to identify by. $7.
Dodd & Mead, 138 Broadway. ‘

Manual of Ornithology.—Coues. A hand-book of taxidermy and field work ;
similar to Maynard’s ** Naturalist’s Guide.’”” No descriptions. Price of Coues’
book $2.50; of Maynard’s $2.

Birds of the Northwest.—Coues. Habits and Synonomy of North-western
birds, Published by U. S. Geological Survey, and only on sale by chance at $3
to $s.

Swainson’s Birds, in Fauna Boreali Americana:

Moore's Book on Pigeons.—Price 30 cents ; to be had by addressing ** Fancier’s
Journal,’’ Hartford, Conn.
TEXT AND REFERENCE BOOKS. 663

Brown's Taxidermist's Manual,—Price $1. Orange Judd & Co., New York.

Taxidermist’s Manual.—Jesse Haney & Co., » ug Nassau St.

Bailey's * Our own Birds of the United States.

Audubon's Synopsis.—A terse account of the classification used by him, with
more or less of the technical characters of the groups given ; 2 book of reference.

Ornithology of California.—Coover. Elegantly illustrated, $ro.

History of North American Birds.—Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway. The
most comprehensive and best ofall. Three volumesare issued at $10 (plain), and
$20 (colored) a volume.

Practical Naturalist’s Guide.—Davis (English) and Avis’ Bird Preserving
(English), are for sale here by importers.

The Birds of Florida.—Original descriptions of two hundred and fifty species
of different kinds of birds. By C.J. Maynard. With fine plates drawn and col-
ored from nature. Part 3.

The Birds of North America.—By Theodore Jasper,A.M., M.D. Drawn
from life, one-quarter size of life. Robert Clarke & Co., Cincinnati, Ohio.

Our Birds of Prey.—By. H.J. Venner, field Geologist of the Canada Survey.
Dawson & Bros. Montreal. Price $12.

Birds of Long Island.—By J. P. Giraud.

Ornithologist’s Directory.—S. L. Willard & Co., of Utica, have recently issued
a small collection, which contains the names of taxidermists and egg collectors in
various parts of this country and Europe. Besides, it contains a list of valuable
works of reference, and other matters of general interest and usefulness to stu-
dents and naturalists.

An Annotated List of the Birds of Utah.-H. W. Henshaw. Salem. 1874.

Books of Birds.—By Charles F. Holden. New York. Charles Reiche & Bro. ;
and 9 Bowdoin Street, Boston ; N. E. News Co., Court St.

A Popular Key to the Birds, Batrachians and Fishes of the Northern United
States east of the Mississippi River. By Prof. D. S. Jordan and B. H. Van
Vleck. Appletons. Wisconsin. :

Birds of Minnesota.—By T. Martin Tripp. (Out of print.)

Ornithology of the Wheeler Expedition.—By H.C. Henshaw. Published by
the Engineer Department of the U. S. Army.

Manual of Vertebrate Animals.—By Professor D. S. Jordan. Jansen,
McClurg & Co., Chicago. Price $2.

Naturalist’s Library.—By Sir William Jardine. 40 vols. Lippincott and Co.,
Philadelphia.

Oologist.—S. L. Wiliard & Co. Utica,

Naturalist's Guide.—By C.J. Maynard. For sale at Naturalists’ Agency:
Salem, Mass. Full instructions in Taxidermy.

North American Oology, with colored plates, $5. By Thomas N. Brewer.
This work includes only the Raptores and Fissirostroes.

A History of the Birds of Europe, not observed in the British Isles, 2d edi-
tion enlarged. C.R. Bree. 5 vols. 1055.

Morris's Nests and Eges of British Birds.—With two hundred and twenty-
three beautifully colored engravings. 63s.

The Birds of Great Britain and Ireland.—Sir W. Jardine. Illustrated with
one hundred and twenty-tive colored plates. 4 vols, 24s.

Bewick's Land Birds.

Bewickh's Water Birds.
664 BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR SPORTSMEN.

Birds and Quadrupeds.—Bewick.

Among the Birds.—E. A. Samuels.

Audubon, the Naturaligg —Mrs. H. St. John.
Yournal of Acadeny Mic tuves Sctences,

Birds and Seasons of New England.—Wilson Flagg.
Pacific Railroad Reports,—F ull set, 13 vols.
Canadian Naturalist and Geologist.

Nuttall’s Water Birds.

Nuttall’s Land Birds. 3
Martin's Natural History.

Humming Birds.—H, G. Adams.

Beautiful Birds.—R. Tyas.

British Cyclopaedia.—C. F. Partington.

Birds of North America.—Baird, Cassin and Lawrence.

FISHES AND REPTILES.

The chief books upon fishes and reptiles are :—

Fishes of Maryland.—Salt and Fresh Water Species. Annapolis, John F.
Wiley, State Printer.

Fishes of Massachusetts.—Storer, $12.

Fishes of South Carolina.—Holbrook, $25.

Pacific Railroad Reports, Vol X and XII, $5 each.

Fishes of New York.—De Kay.

Arrangement of the Families of Fishes, by Theodore Gill. Address Natur-
alists’ Agency, Salem, Mass.

Fishes of Eastern Coast of North America from Greenland to Georgia, by
U.S. Com. Fish and Fisheries. 1874.

Herpetology of North America-—Holbrook. Rare. Price $50 to $80,

Smithsonian Catalogue of Serpents.—Baird and Girard, $1.

Pactfic Ratlroad Reports, Vols. K and XII, $5 each.

Reptiles of New York.—De Kay.

Contributions to Natural History of North America.—Agassiz, Vol. I (Tur-
tles), $10.

FISH CULTURE.

Trout Culture.—Seth Green. Rochester, N. Y.

American Fish Culture.—By Thad. Norris.

American Angler's Book.—By Thaddeus Norris, E.H. Butler and Co., Phil.

Practical Trout Culture.—By J. H. Slack,M.D. Orange Judd & Co., New
York.

Domesticated Trout.—By Livingston Stone. Osgood & Co., Boston.

Fish Culture.—¥. Francis. A Practical Guide to the Modern System of
Breeding and Rearing Fish. (English.) Price 5s.

Fish Hatching —F.T. Buckland. (English.) 55.

Fish Culture.—By Garlick. 1857.

TRAPPING.

How to Hunt and Trap.—By J. H. Batty. Published by Albert Cogswell
New York.
TEXT AND REFERENCE BOOKS. 665

Trapper's Guide.—S. Newhouse. Oneida, New York, Baker & Pratt, 142
Grand St., New York. ;

Complete American Trapper.—By W.H. Gibson. James Miller, publisher ;
New York. Price $1.75.

The Amateur Trapper and Trap Maker's Guide.—By Stanley Harding.
New York: Dick and Fitzgerald.

BOATING.

Vanderdecken’s Vacht Sailer. (Eng.)

Oarsman’s Manual.—Waters & Sons. Troy.

Rowing and Training.—To be had of James Watson.

The Sailing Boat.—By H.C. Folkhard. Longmans, Green & Co, ; London,

HORSES,

Hints for Horsemen.—Frank Forester.

Handbook on the Treatment of the Horse in the Stable and on the Road.—By
Charles Wharton. J.B. Lippincott & Co., Philadelphia, Publishers.

Diseases of the Horse and How to Treat Them.—Porter & Coates, Philadelphia.
By Dr. Robert Chalker.

frank Forester’s Horse of America, 2 vols., $10. Orange Judd & Co., New
York. .

Stonehenge, on the Horse in Stable and Field, $2. Orange Judd & Co. N.Y.

Horse Doctor, and Horse Management.—Mayhew. Each $3. Orange Judd &
Co. New York. E

American Gentleman's Stable Guide, $1. Orange Judd & Co. New York.

TRAVEL, HUNTING ADVENTURES, GUIDE BOOKS, ETC.

Yellowstone National Park.—By Prof. Thomas C. Archer. Edinburgh, Scot-
land.

The Prairie Province—By J. C. Hamilton, M. A., LL. B. Published by
Belford Bros., Toronto, 1876.

Ocean to Ocean.—By Rev. G. M. Grant. Campbell & Son, Toronto.

Sporting, Horse, and Horsemanshif.—Frank Forester. Orange Judd & Co,

Sporting Scenes and Characters.—Frank Forester. Orange Judd & Co.

Farrar’s Illustrated Guide Book.—By Chas, J. Farrar. Farrar & Johnson,
-383 Washington Street, Boston, Publishers. It isa guide to Rangeley, Richard-
son, Kennebago, Umbagog, and Parmachene Lakes, Dixville Notch, and Ando-
ver, Maine, and vicinity, with map of the Lake Region,

Plains of the Great West.—By Col, R. J. Dodge, U.S. A., with an introduc-
tion by Wm. Blackmore. G. P. Putnam’s Sons, Publishers, 182 Fifth Avenue,
New York.

This is by far the most comprehensive and intelligent volume that has ever
been written of the Far West. It is alike invaluable to the sportsman, the settler,
the overland traveler, the trapper, and the soldier.

Wild Scenes and Wild Hunters.—By C. W. Weboer. Claxton, Remsen &
Haffelfinger, Philadelphia. .

Florida ,; Its Scenery, Climate, and History.—By Sidney Lanier.
pincott & Co., Philadelphia.

The Marvelous Country ; or Three Years in Arizona and New Mexico, the
Apaches’ Home, By Samuel W. Cozzens. 8vo, Boston; Shepard & Gill,

J. B. Lip-
666 BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR SPORTSMEN. .

Lake Superior Guide.—With Township Map, including Lake Superior Region
and Northern Minnesota. Philadelphia: J. Disturnell, 1874.

Guide to Moosehead Lake and Northern Maine, with Map.—T. W. Ripley.
Boston: 1874.

Report of the Topographical Survey of the Adirondack Wilderness.—By Ver-
planck Colvin. Published by Weed, Parsons & Co. Albany.

Rambler's Guide to Florida. American News Company, No. 39 Chambers
Street, New York, 1873.

Sailing on the Great Lakes and Rivers of America.—J. Disturnell, Philadelphia.

Wallace’s Adirondack Guide, with Map.—American News Co., Chambers
Street, New York. Price $2.

Camp Life in Florida.—Hallock. American News Co. Price $1.50.

Vo Florida for the Winter —By S. Fleet Speir.

Bertram’s Florida.—(Out of print.)

Costa’s Mount Desert.—Osgood & Co., Boston,

Iilustrated Adirondacks.—By S. C. Stoddard. Weed, Parsons & Co., Albany.

Long Lake.—By Rev. Dr. John Todd. (Out of print.)

Camp Fires of the Everglades By Chas. E, Whitehead. (Out of print.)

Southern California —C. Nordhoff. Harper & Bros. Price $2.50.

Map of Ottawa District, Canada.—Bears & Co., Cor. Fulton and Church,
New York.

Pacific Tourist.—By H. T. Williams.

Carolina Sports by Land and Water.—By William Elliott, Beaufort, N. C.

Osgood’s Handbooks, New England, The Middle States, and the Maritime
Provinces. Three volumes. J. R. Osgood & Co. Boston.

Lovell's Gazetteer pf the British Provinces. Contains a valuable table of
routes.

All Around the World,—P. Gilmore. Adventures in Europe, Asia, Africa,
and America, with Illustrations, by S. P. Hall. Ubique. 7s. 62.

Lone Life-—A Year inthe Wilderness, 2volsinone. ais.

Accessible Field Sports —The Experiences of a Sportsman in North America, gs.

Prairie Farms and Prairie Folks, 2 vols, 215.

Adventures Afloat and Ashore, 2vols. 21s.

Forest Life in Arcadie.—Captain C. Hardy, Sketches of Sport and Natural
History in the Lower Provinces of the Canadian Dominion, Illustrated. 8vo. 18s.

Old Sports and Sportsmen ; or, the Willey Country.—By John Randall, F. G.S.
Virtue & Co: 1874.

Walden, or Life in the Woods, Excursions in Field and Forest.—Both by
Thoreau. Price $2.

Frank Forester and His Friends,

Warwick Woodlands,

Shooting Scenes and Characters.—All three by Frank Forester. Philadelphia,
T. B, Peterson and Bro.

The Great Lone Land.—Adams, Stevenson & Co., Toronto,

Krider's Sporting Anecdotes.—Corner 2d and Walnut Sts., Phila. (Out of print.)

Field and Forest Rambles —By A. Leith Adams.

Forty-four Years of a Hunter's Life. (Out of print.)

Our Vacations, and How to Enjoy Them.—By Estes and Lauriat: Boston,

Dunraven's The Great Divide. A Narrative of Travels in the Upper Yellow-
stone in the Summer of 1874.—By the Earl of Dunraven. 185,
TEXT AND REFERENCE BOOKS. 667

Catlin’s Illustrations of the Manners, Customs, and Condition of the North
American Indians ; the Result of Eight Years of Travel and Adventure among the
Wildest and most Remarkable Tribes now existing. Containing three hundred
and sixty colored engravings from the author’s original paintings. £3. 3s.

Chapters on Animals—Philip Gilbert Hamerton. Roberts Brothers. Boston.
1874.

The Book of Archery.—G. A. Hansard. Being the Complete History and
Practice of the Art, Interspersed with numerous Iuteresting Anecdotes. 52s.

Log Letters, from the Challenger.—By Lord G. Campbell. Macmillan & Co,
New York. $2.50.

New Mexico and Arizona.—Ruxton. Harper & Bros.

Life in the Far West.—Ruxton. Harper & Bros.”

Nova Scotia.—A. W. Makinlay & Co., Halifax, N.S. $2.

New Brunswick.—Macmillan & Co., St John, N. B.

Province of Quebec.—James Campbell & Son, 26 Trout St., Toronto.

The Two Americas.—By Sir Rose Lambert Price, Bart. Philadelphia: J. B.
Lippincott & Co. T. W. Ripley, 138 Congress St., Boston.

Magog District of Canada (Included in the Eastern Townships). Smith & Co.,
St. Johns, Province of Quebec, and Roberts & Co.. Publishers, Montreal.

Coast Survey Maps of Florida.—Can be obtained at the houses of T. S.& J, D.
Negus, r4o Water Street, and of D. Eggerts’ Sons, 74 Wall Street.

The Great West and the Pacific Coast.—By Gen. James F. Rusling. New
York: Sheldon & Co.

The Prairie Traveller.—By Gen. Wm. B. Marcy. Harper and Bros,

How to Camp Out.—By John M.Gould. Scribner, Armstrong & Co., New
York.

Accidents, Emergencies and Poisons.—Care of the Sick.—These are the titles
of two little books issued to its policy holders by the Mutual Life Insurance
Company.

Wrinkles and Receipts is the title of a handy little book compiled from the
Scientific American by Park Benjamin.

Guide to the Cricket Ground.—G. H. Selkirk, English. 3s. 6d.

Forest Scenery.— William Gilpin.

Garden and Menageries,

Flood, Field and Forest.—Rooker.

Wild Scenes and Wild Hunters.—W ebber. 1865.

Adventures In The Wilderness —W. H. H. Murray.

American Sportsman.—E. J. Lewis.

Nimrod's Hunting Tours, 2 vols.

Cabinet of American History and American Rural Sports.

Sporting Shetches, Home and Abroad.—By ‘‘ Old Bushman.”

Scott's Sportsman's Repository. London.

American Rural Sports. 2 vols.

British Field Sports. W.H, Scott. London, 1818.

Maps of The Peninsula, (on rollers).—Published by Boughman, Thomas & Co,
Wilmington, Del. Price $3.

Riftes and Rifle Practices.—C. M. Wilcox. 1850,

Shooting.—Robert Blakely.

The Prince of Wales’ Tour: A Diary in India,

—————-Russel. London, 1877.

etc.—By William Howard
DEALERS’ AND OUTFITTERS’ LIST.

SPORTSMEN’S OUTFITS.

Waterproof Shooting-suits—Thomson & Son, 301 Broadway, N. Y., furnish
suits made of extra quality duck ‘‘ waterproofed by the celebrated paraffine pro-
cess.’’ The best and cheapest suits ever offered to American sportsmen. They also
manufacture a very superior shooting coat lined with pliable leather, making the
warmest and best coat for cold weather shooting ever known, price $10. Pants
$3, knee-breeches $3, vest $2.50, cap $2.50. Send for illustrated catalogue with
full description. .

Sportsmen's Outfit.—At Barton & Co., 337 Broadway, New York, can be ob-
tained: Guns, rifics, pistols, powder-flasks, shot-pouches, pocket-flasks, hunt-
ing-knives, pocket-knives, scissors,and ammunition of all kinds; also fishing-rods,
hooks, lines, reels, bait-baskets, wading-stockings, waterproof shoes, hunting-
suits, and everything requisite: wholesale and retail.

Everything necessary in sportsmen’s outfit, John P. Moore’s Sons, 302 Broad-
way.New York. Established 1823. Agents for Williams & Powell’s Breech
Loader Colt Revolver, Depot tor Ely’s Ammunition, Thomson’s Shooting suits
and Shoes, etc., etc.

Boudren's Patent Combination Reflecting Fishing, Jack, and Dash Lamp, for
night hunting deer, spearing fish, lighting camps and landings. Indispensable
on any hunting, boating, or camping trip. White Manufacturing Co., Bridge-
port, Conn., sole makers.

Sportsmen's and Field Outfits—Peck & Snyder, 124 Nassau St.,N. Y., keep
constantly on hand the largest and best assortment of goods of every class for
sportsmen, and consists of fishing tackle, guns, base-ball, cricket, archery, gymna-
sium, yachting, boating goods, tents, etc. We also make a specialty of shirts,
pants, caps, leggings and shoes, for boating and hunting purposes. Ournew and
complete catalogue contains over five hundred illustrations with descriptions of
all sporting goods. Sent by mail on receipt of ten cents.

Sportsmen's Emporium.—W. Holberton’s Complete Outfits, for camping
‘shooting and fishing. Fine fishing tackle. McBride’s and Holberton’s trout, black
bass and salmon flies. Fine fly rods, warranted, at $7. Tents, blankets, rubber
goods. Camp stoves, portable boats. Holberton’s Improved Fly-book for car-
rying flies at full length. Sole agent for Purdy’s $5 Glass Ball Trap.

Illustrated Catalogue with hints on fly fishing for trout and black bass, camp
ing and shooting, ten cents each. P.O. Box 5109. 102 Nassau St ,N. Y.
SPORTSMEN’S OUTFITS. 669

FISHING TACKLE, ETC.

Fishing Tackle.—Barton & Co., 337 Broadway, New York, Importers and
manufacturers of fish hooks, reels}rods, lines, artificial flies, baits, leaders, trolling
tackle, nets, baskets, etc., etc. Finest quality split bamboo fly rods, and water-
proof tapered silk fly lines, for trout and salmon fishing. Trout, salmon and bass
flies dressed to order, suitable for Maine, Adirondack and Canadian waters, whole-
sale and retail.

Spéit Bamboo.—Conroy, Bassett & Matteson, 65 Fulton St.,N. Y. Six strip
rods. Fly for trout $25, salmon $50, black bass $30; formerly $40, $80, $45. Best
fly, rods, ash and lancewood, Ger. sil. $12, brass, $9; formerly $17 and $14.
Best trout flies $1.25, formerly $1.50. Reels, lines, snells, leaders, at reduced
rates. Parties fitted out with appropriate tackle for any section of the country.

The Frankfort Fishing Reel.—Made by B. C. MILAM, successor to Meek &
Milam. Send for size and price list, to B. C. Milam, Frankfort, Ky.

Fishing Tackle.—Bradford & Anthony, 374 Washington St., Boston, Mass.
Everything the angler wants; patent waterproof braided line, and waterproof
dip nets, patent adjustable floats, patent adjustable sinkers, artificial baits, flies,
the best of rods and reels.

HAWKS & OGILVY, Manuracturers anp Importers oF FisH Hooxs,
Lines, Rops, and every description of fishing tackle, 300 Broadway, New York.

Split Bamboo Rods for salmon, grilse, trout and bass fishing, the best and
cheapest ever offered to anglers. Patent reels, artificial flies, and a full line of
fishing tackle. Send to H. L. Leonard, Bangor, Maine, and after October 15th,
1877, New York City.

Split Bamboo Rods.—Abbey & Imbrie, 48 Maiden Lane, New York. Being the
pioneers in the use and manufacture of section bamboo rods, we have each season
invented improvements in the method of construction. Our success having in-
duced others to imitate our work, the market has become flooded with all grades
and makes. Though we engrave our name upon, and guarantee only our own
make, still we keep constantly on hand rods made by every other manufacturer
of any importance. Our stock includes every variety from the cheap hexagonal,
to our own perfectly callibered round joint. Send for circular.

Fishing Tackle—Abbey and Imbrie, 48 Maiden Lane, New York. Manufac-
turers and importers of, and wholesale and retail dealers in fishing tackle of every
description. Fine goods of sportsmen a specialty. The only firm in the United
States, all the members of which are practical anglers. Facilities for manufac-
turing anything in our line to order. Every valuable invention purchased and
controled. Friends desiring information, whether or not with a view to purchas-
ing tackle, are invited to call upon or write to us. Send for price list and cir-
cular, P. O- Box, 1294.
670 DEALERS’ AND OUTFITTERS’ LIST.

Fishing Tackle.—William Read & Sons, 13 Faneuil Hall Square, Boston
Fine trout, bait and salmon rods of every quality and price. Split bamboo rods,
very fine at $13, $15, and upward. General rods for all fishing, both trout and
salmon. Flies, baits, baskets, lines, braided and common of every grade, and
everything in fishing tackle. Send for circulars.

The Erie Railway is the only railroad leading from New York, that offers,
within a few miles of the city, attractions and conveniences for sportsmen. Its
regions are famous for hunting and fishing.

Sporting Boats and Canoes.—Rushton’s portable sporting boats and ca-
noes, The lightest weights and finest models ever made. Send stamp®¢for
illustrated circular, J. H. Rushton, manufacturer, Canton, St. Lawrence
Co., N. Y.

GUNS, AMMUNITION, ETC.

Guns.—William Read & Sons, 13 Faneuil Hall Square, Boston. Agents for W.
& C. Scott & Sons’ noted Breech Loading Guns—used by Capt. Bogardus and
most of the best shots. We have also brought out this season the best $50 Breech-
loader of favorite top snap action ever shown in the American Market! A lot
of shop-worn muzzle loaders at cost, $7, $8, $10, etc-—Ballard Sporting Rifles $18.
Also Maynard’s, Sharp’s, Remington, and Wesson. Tourists’ Knapsacks. Re-
volvers, Ely’s Shells, Caps, etc. etc. Fine Rods and Fishing Tackle. Send for
Circulars.

Breech Loading Shot Guns.—Schuyler, Hartley & Graham, 19 Maiden Lane,
New York. A large assortment of W. C. Scott & Sons’ celebrated breech-
loaders, awarded the premium at the Centennial Exhibition, also winners of gun
trial, 1873. Wealso have on hand a full assortment of breech and muzzle load-
ers, of Westley Richards, P. Webley & Sons, J. P. Clabrough & Bros., and other
celebrated makers.

Pistols, Rifles, etc.—Schuyler, Hartley & Graham, special agents for W. & C.
Scott Sons’ celebrated double action pocket revolver, Colt’s new line and
double action revolver, Hood Fire Arms Co., Smith & Wesson, and other well-
known manufacturers. Agents for the Peabody Martini target and sporting rifles.
A full assortment of Wesson, Ballard, Sharp, and other makes of rifles con-
stantly on hand. ‘

Ammunition, Union Metallic Ctge. Co., Bridgeport, Ct. Manufacturers of
all kinds of rim and central fire cartridges and cartridge machinery.-—Brass shells
for shot guns with Berdan or Sturtevant anvils.

Paper shells for breech-loaders, warranted equal to any in the market.

The celebrated ‘‘ Berdan”’ long range target and sporting cartridges. Used
by all the best shots at Creedmoor, Schuyler, Hartley & Graham, 17, 19 Maiden
Lane, N. Y. Agents.

E, REMINGTON & SONS, Manuracturers oF BREECH-LOADING GUNS,
Ririgs, PisTots, etc., 283 Broadway, New York.
SPORTSMEN’S OUTFITS. 671

Guns, Pistols, etc.—Barton & Co., 337 Broadway, New York. Importers of
Breech and Muzzle Loading Guns of the following Manufacturers, W. & C. Scott
& Sons, W. Geerner, Clabrough & Bros., Webley & Son, Moore & Co., étc.
Rifles, Pistols, Ammunition and Sportsmen’s Goods of every description. Manu-
facturers of The United States Arms Co.’s Repeating Pistols. Wholesale and
Retail.

Guns, Pistols,and Sporting Goods, Fowler & Fulton, 300 Broadway, N. Y.
Their sfeciadtzes are: Smith’s patent revolvers, Maynard rifles and shot guns,
English shot guns and reloading implements ; gun cases and covers of all kinds.
Wading moccasins and rubber stockings ; the best thing in the world for snipe
shooters in wet meadows, Long range match rifles of all kinds both breech and
muzzle loaders. Ammunition of all kinds.

Breech-Loading Guns.—W. R. Schaefer, No. 61 Elm St., Boston, corner Dock
Square, Manufacturer only of First Class Breech-Loading shot guns, and dealer
in guns of all descriptions. Guns bored to shoot close and hard. Warranted every
time. Gun stocks—bent, crooked or straight—warranted to stay, constantly on
hand. Hunting suits, and shoes for land or water use. Spratt’s imported dog
cake ; also the latest, new improved Ballard rifles, for long or short range.

Gun Cases.—Thomson & Son, 301 Broadway, N. ¥Y. The very superior gun
cases made by this firm, are acknowledged by sportsmen to be perfect, strong
and durable. Trunk-shape, first quality sole leather case, four qualities from $15
to $9. English style, first quality, made of extra heavy sole Jeather, two quali-
ties $13 and $11 Low Gun. First quality made of extra heavy sole leather, four
qualities, $13 to $7. Send for illustrated catalogue for full particulars.

Stoddard’s Cartridge Loading Implements.—Combining all other tools for
the preparation of shells. Cap expeller, re-capper, loader and tube-creaser,
cutter, crimper and shell-extracter. Length four anda half inches; weight ten
ounces. This is a standard article and necessary to every sportsman with breech
loader. Get of dealers, or of C. J. Stoddard & Co.,Washington, D. C.

‘The Hazard Powder Company have reached the highest standard of excel-
lence in the manufacture of fine sporting gunpowders. For long ranges their
‘“ Fy Kentucky Rifle” is used by all experts, while their ‘‘ Duck Shooting”
and ‘‘ Electric’? are unsurpassed for field purposes. General office, 88 Wall St.,
New York, and Agencies in all large cities.

Dupont’s Gunpowder Milts, established in 1801, have maintained their great
reputation for seventy-six years. They manufacture the celebrated Eagle
Ducking, Eagle Rifle and Diamond Grain Powder. F. L Kneeland, Agent, 70
Wall St., New York. Agencies in all large cities.

Ballard Rifles, with the new improvements, adapted to any length of range,
have points which make them superior to all others. Are recommended by
many of the most’ expert shots in the country. Charles Daly Breech Loading
Guns, used by the Kleinman Brothers, and hundreds of the first trap shots, are
the best in the world. Both are for sale by Schoverling and Daly, 84 and 86
Chambers St., New York. Lists furnished on application.

DOGS,

Dogs cannot slip this collar, no matter how violently they pull. It will not
choke or injure the dog. Made of heavy bridle leather, with nickel plated trim-
672 DEALERS’ AND OUTFITTERS’ LIST.

mings. Sent by mail, with name of dog or owner on name plate, for $1. Send
for illustrated catalogue. Dog collars manufactured by Thomson & Son, 301
Broadway, New York.

Ballara’s Flea Killer.—Proprietors, Lazell, Marsh & Gardner, 10 Gold St.,
New York. For the destruction of fleas on dogs and other animals, an absolute
and perfect exterminator of the pest. May be used with entire safety. Contents
of a package sufficient to rid half a dozen large dogs of the vermin. No person
owning dogs should be without the flea killer. Price fifty cents per package.
Will be sent, postage paid, on receipt of price.

Patent Automatic Muzzle.—All owners of dogs will appreciate the good points
of this muzzle. The lower jaw works with an automatic movement, which, while
it prevents biting, allows the animal to open its mouth freely, drink and breathe
naturally, which is so necessary to his comfort and health, especially in hot
weather. As this muzzle does not check any usual or natural movements, the
dog is not worried, and very quickly becomes accustomed to it. They are made
of best quality of tinned wire, in nine different sizes, and sold by all dealers in
hardware and sportsmen’s goods. Manufactured by W. T. & J. Mersereau, 3ar
Broadway. Also mauufacturers of a large variety of fine brass, nickel plated and
leather dog collars in all sizes. Collar locks, dog leads and whistles.

Spratt's Patent—London—dog biscuits, Francis O de Luze, 18 South William
St., New York, sole agent. Twenty gold and silver medals awarded, also medal
from Westminster Kennel Club, for excellence in manutacture.

SPORTSMEN’S ROUTES.

Old Dominion Steam Ship Co.—Passenger steamships for Norfolk, City Point
and Richmond, Va. Connections direct for Currituck, James River points, and all
upland shooting sections. Delaware Division, for Chincoteague and all celebra-
ted points on the peninsula. No charge for dogs accompanying owners. Rates
always low. See daily papers for sailing. Full information given at general
office, 197 Greenwich St., N. Y.

Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern Railway, connecting with the Chicago
and North-western Railway at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and the Chicago, Burlington
and Quincy Railway at Burlington, Iowa, forms the best line and shortest route
from Chicago to the best hunting grounds of Iowa and Minnesota, for ducks,
geese, brant, chicken, quail and snipe. Reduced rates to parties of ten or more,
by applying to General Ticket Office, Cedar Rapids, and dogs carried at low rates,
and well taken care of. E. F. Winslow, General Manager ; C. J. Jr., Superin-
tendent; B. E. Mills, agent, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

The Erie Railway.—Three hours’ ride from New York will bring you toa
section of country abounding with covers, brooks and lakes, offering game in
abundance, and rare sport with rod or gun.

The Great New York Aquarium, Broadway and Thirty-fifth St., open daily
from g A. M., until ro p.m. Strange and wonderful animals and fishes, remarkable
and curious Chinese quadruple-tailed or dragon-eyed fishes, Austrian blind
Proteus, six Mexican axoltl, English roach fish, German striped salamandus, man-
SPORTSMEN’S OUTFITS. 673

eating alligators, educated and performing seals, flying foxes. Afternoon and
evening concerts. Admission fifty cents, children half price.

TOBACCO.

Vanity Fair.—For Meerschaum and Cigarette. Does not bite the tongue.
The Sportsman's best Friend. Wm. 8S. Kimball & Co., Rochester, N. Y. Sold by
all dealers.

PIPES.

Meerschaunt Pipes.—F. Julius Kaldenberg, Manufacturer. Factory and sales-
room, entire building 117 Fulton through to 44 Ann Street, third door from
Nassau Street ; stores No. 6 Astor House, Broadway, opposite New Post Office,
No. 71 Nassau, corner of John Street. Cigar holders and amber goods of all
descriptions, Repairing in all its branches, All kinds of tobacco, cigarettes,
cigars, etc., etc., in the Astor House store. Billiard balls, ivory goods, etc., etc.,
in Fulton St. factory and store.

WINES.

Francis O. de Luze, 18 South William St., New York, importer of wines
brandies, olive oil, etc., sole agent for Bordeaux clarets, brandies. A. de Luze &
Sons, Ernest Irroy, Reems champagne, H. and G. Simonds’ India pale ale,
Reading, England. Spratt’s Patent London.
INDEX.

GAME ANIMALS OF NORTH -AMERICA.

A.

Alce Americana, 50.
Antelope, 44.

Antilocapra Americana, 46.
Aplocerus columbianus, 4o.

B.
Bighorn, 42.
Bison, American, 33-
mountain, 39.
Bear, black, 2a.
brown, 22
cinnamon, 22.
grizzly, 19..
polar, 25.
white, 25.
Bos americanus, 33.
Buffalo, 33-

Cc.
Canis latrans, 12.
lupus, 12
Cariacus columbianus, 78.
macrotis, 75.
Virginianus, 79.
Carigou, barren ground, 58.
woodland, 62, go.
Cats, 9.
Catamount, 10.
Cervus canadensis, 66.
Coon, 28.
Cougar, 9.
Coyote, 12.

D.

Deer, mule,75.

black-tail, 78.

burro, 75.

Virginia, 79.

deer-driving, 82.

hounding, 81.

jacking, 83.

scaffold-shooting, 84.

stalking, 85.

still hunting, 88.
Didelphys Virginiana, 100.

 

E.
Elk, 66. ;

Felis concolor, 9.
Fox, arctic, 15.,
black, gs.
ree 15,17, 96.
it, 15.

little grey, 15.
prairie, 15.

red, 15, 17.
southern, 96.
swift, 15, 17.
Virginia, 15.
western, 96.
fox-circling, 16.
hounds, 16.

H.
HARES, 92.
great arctic, 95.
Jack, 94.
L.

Lepus americanus, 92.
aquaticus, 93.
callatis, 92.
californicus, 93.
campestris, 92.
palustris, 93.
sylvaticus, 92.
timidus, var. arcticus, 92.
Trowbridgii, 92.

Loup cervin-Lucifere, 1o.

Lynx, Canada, 10.
canadensis, ro.
bay, 10.

Tufus, 10.

M.
Moose, so.
Mountain goat, 40.
Mountain lion, 9.
Mountain sheep, 42.
Musk ox, 31.
INDEX.

oO. :
Opossum, roo.
Ovibus moschatus, 31.
Ovis montana, 42.

P.
Panther, Ma
Procyon lotor, 28.
Puma, 9.
R.
Rabbit, 94. :

Raccoon, 28. 2
RanGiFER groenlandicus, 58.
caribou, 61. =

8.

Sciurus carolinensis, 96.
cinereus, 96.
ludovicianus, 96.
vulpinus, 96.
SQuirRELs, 96.
black or grey, cat, southern fox,
western fox.

GAME BIRDS OF
A.

ZEGIALITIS cantiana, 153.
melodus, 152.
semipalmatus, 152.
vociferus 151.
Wilsonius, 152.

Actiturus bartranius, 171.

Aix sponsa, 209.

Anas boschas, 200,
obscura, 203.

‘Anatinz, 200.

ANSER albifrons, var. gambeli, 189
czerulescens, 192.
hyperboreus, 190.
Tossii, 192.

Aphriza virgata, 153.

Avocet, American, 165.

Beach birds, 163.
Bittern, 236.
Bobolink, 183.
Bog-bull, 236.
Bonasa betulina, rrz.
umbellus, 124.
Botaurus minor, 236.
Brant, bald-headed, 192.
prairie, 189.
white, 192.

 

 

67

U.

Urocyon cinereo-argentatus, 15.
littoralis, 15.

Ursus americanus, 22.
var, cinnamoneus, 22.
horribilis, 19.
maritimus, 25.

Vv.

Vutres lagopus, 156
macronius, rs.
Vulpes, var. Pennsylvanicus, rs,
velox, 15.
vulgaris, 15.

W.
Wapiti, 66.
White goat, 4o.
Wildcat, 10.
Wot r, buffalo, 12.
grey timber, 2.
prairie, 12.

NORTH AMERICA.

Branta bernicla, 193.
canadensis, 196.
leucopsis, 193-

Brant-bird, 164.

Buceruata albeola, 223.
clangula, 222.
islandica, 223.

Butter-bird, 183.

Cc,

Calico-back, 164.
Calidres arenaria, 168.
Callipepla squamata, r4o.
Camptolemus labradorius, 225.
Canace canadensis, 111.
franklini, 112.
fuliginosus, 115.
obscura, 112.
Centrocercus urophasianus, 115.
Chaulelasmus streperus, 205.
Charadriidze, 149.
Charadrius fulvus, var. virginicus, 149.
Chicaric, 164, 4
Chickling, 164.
Cock of the woods, 111.
Coot, 180.
Cormorant, 234.
Corn-crake, 177.
Crane, brown, 237.
sandhill, 237.
675

Crane, white, 236.
whooping, 236.
Cucu, large, 170.
Cupidonia cupido, r19.
Curlew, 164.
Curtew, Esquimaux, 172.
Hudsonian, 172.
jack, 172.
ong-billed, 172.
sabre-bill, 172
sickle-bill, 172.
Cyanus americana, 186.
buccinator, 185.
Cyrtonyx massena, r4o.

D.

Dafila acuta, 205.
Dendrocygne, :89-
Dolichonyx orizyvorus, 183.
Dough bird, 172.
Dowitcher, 166.
Driver, 166.
Ducks, sea, 211.
shoal water, 200.
American widgeon, 206.
bald pate, 206,
Barrow’s golden-eye, 223
bell-tongued coot, 229.
big black-head, 212.
black mallard, 203.
black scoter, 228.
blue duck, 203.
blue-bill, 212.
broad bill, 212.
buffle-head dipper, 223.
butter-ball, 223.
canvas-back, 214.
copper nose, 228.
devil diver, 223
dusky, 203.
eider, 227.
English teal, 206.
European widgeon, 206.
fish, 232.
flocking fowl, 212.
gadwall, 205.
garrot, 222.
golden-eye, 222.
goosander, 233.
greater scaup, 212,
green head, 200.
grey, 205.
prey coat, 228.
arlequin, 225.
hooded merganser, 233.
hound, 224.
king, 228.
king eider, 228.
Labrador, 225.
lady, 225.
lesser scaup, 212.
little broad-bill, 212.
long tailed, 224,
lord, 225.
mallard, 200.

 

INDEX.

Ducks, merganser, 232.
old Injun, 224.
old squaw, 224.

old wife south-southerly, 224.

Pacific eider, 228.
pied, 225.

pin-tail, 205.
pochard, 213.
raft, 212.

red-breasted merganser, 232.

red-head, ar3.:
ring-necked, 213.

Rocky Mountain garrot, 223.

tuddy, 232.
St. Domingo, 232.
saw-billed diver, 233.
sea, 227.
sea coot, 229.
sharp-tail, 205.
sheldrake, 232.
shoveller, 208.
skunk-head, 229.
snuff-taker, 229.
spectacled eider, 226,
spoon-bill, 208.
sprig-tail, 205.
Steller’s eider, 226.
summer, 209.
surf, 229.
teal, blue-winged, 207
teal, cinnamon, 208,
teal, green-winged, 207.
teal, red-breasted, 208.
teal, salt-water, 223.
Trowbridge’s, 229.
tufted, 213.
velvet scoter, 229.
whistler, 222.
white-winged coot, 229.
white-winged surf, 229.
wood, 209.
duck-call, 203.
blinds, 218.

Dunlin,/ American, 168.

E.

Ectopistes migratorius, 234.

Endromias montanus, 153-

Ereunetes pusillus, 166.

ErisMaTurRA dominica, 232.
Tubida, 232.

F.
Fool-hen, r12.
Frost bird, 149.
Fulica americana, 180.
Fuligulinze, 211.
Futicuta affinis, 212.
collaris, 213.

ferina, var. americana, 213.

marila, 212,
vallisneria, 214.
G.

Gallinago Wilsonii, 159.
GaLuInuLe, Florida, 179.
purple, 179.
Geese, 188.
GopwiTt, 164.
great marbled, 169.
Hudsonian, 169.
Goose, barnacle, 193.
blue, 192.
brant, 193.
brant, black, 193.
brant, white, x90.
Canada, 196.
common wild, 196.
emperor, 192.
grey, 196,
orned wavy, 192.
laughing, 189.
Painted: 192.
OSS, 192.
snow, 190.
~speckle-belly, 189.
white-fronted, 189.
Grebe, 234.
Grouse, 111.
blue, rz2, rr4.
Canada, 111.
cock of the plains, 115.
dusky, 112, 113.
grey, 112.
mountain, rr2.
pine, rr2.
pinnated, rr9.
pin-tail, 117.
prairie chicken, 119.
sage, 115.
sharp-tail, 127.
Siberian pine, rr.
sprig-tail, 117.
white-belly, 117.
willow, 131.
Grus, Americana, 236.
canadensis, 237.

H.

Heematopus palliatus, 164.
Harelda glacialis, 224.
Heterascelus incanus, 172.

Hemantopus nigricollis, 165.

Histrionicus torquatus, 225.
Humility, 169.

L.

Indian hen, 236,

Knot, 168.
L.

Lacopus albus, 131.
leucurus, 113, 134.
rupestris, 134.

 

INDEX. 677

Lawyer, 165.

Limicolze, 163, 172.

Limosa fedoa, 169.
hudsonica, 169.

Lobipes hyperboreus, 165.

Long shanks, 165.

Loon, 234.

Lopuorrtyx californica, 138.
gambeli, 139.

M.

Macrorhamphus griseus, 166.
MareEca americana, 206.
penelope, 206.
Mar.i, 169.
wing-tailed, 169.
Marsu Hen, fresh water, 177.
salt water, 176.
Meleagris gallopavo, 103.
Mercus cucullatus, 233.
merganser, 232.
serrator, 232.
Micropalma himantopus, 166.
Mud-hen, 176.

N.

Noumentus borealis longirostris, 172.
hudsonicus, 172.

O.

Odontophorinze, 137.
(CEdemia americana, 228,
fusca, 22).
perspicillata, 229.
Oreortyx pictus, 138.
Ortolan, 177, 184.
Orryx floridanus, 138.
texanus, 138
virginianus, 137.
Ox-eye, 166.
Oyster catcher, 164.

P.

PARTRIDGE, 124, 137.
Gambel’s, 139.
Newfoundland, 13.
scaled, 140.
spruce, 111.

Pedizecetes phasianellus, var, colum-
bianus, 117.
Peep, 166.

Peet weet, 171.
Puacarore, Northern, 165.
red, 165.

Wilson's, 165.
Phalaropus tulicarius, 165.
PHEASANT, 124.

water, 205.
Philacte canagica, 192.
Philohela minor, 154.
678

PicEon, passenger, 234.
prairie, 151.
wild, 234.
PLover, 149.
bottle head, 149.
black-bellied, 149.
bull-head, 149.
field, 171.
olden, 149°
<ankakee bar, 151.
killdeer, 151.
marsh, 167.
mountain, 153.
ox-eye, 149.
piping, 152
ring, 152.
ring neck, 152.
ruddy, 168.
semipalmated, 152.
snowy, 153-
upland, 171.
whistling, 149.
Wilson's, 152.
Porphyrio martinica, 179.
Porzana Carolina, 177.
Jamaicensis, 179.
noveboracensis, 178.
PTARMIGAN, 113, 131.
mountain, 134.
Tock, 134.
white-tailed, 134.

Q.

Qual, 137.
Arizona, 139.
Bob White, 137.
blue, 140.
California, 139.
Florida, 138.
Massena, 140.
meadow, 138.
mountain, 136.

mountain, of California, 138.

valley, 138.

white 14 .
Querquedula carolinensis, 207.

crecea, 206,

cyanoptera, 208.

discors, 207.

R.

RAIL, 175.
black, 179.
Carolina, 177.
clapper, 176.
king, 177, 179.
red, 177.
Virginia, 177.
yellow, 178.
yellow-breasted, 178.

Rattus elegans, 177.
longirostris, 176.

 

INDEX.

Rallus, virginianus, 177.
Recurverostra americana, 165.
Reed-bird, 175, 183.

Rice-bird, 183.

s.

Sanderling, 168.
Sand lark, 171.
SAND-PIPER, 164.
_ash-colored, 168.
Baird's, 167.
Bartramian, 171.
black-bellied, 171.
bluff-breasted, 171.
curlew, 168.
rey-back, 168.
east, 166.
pectoral, 167.
purple, 168.
red-backed, 168.
red-breasted, 168.
semi-pairmated, 166.
spotted, 171.
stilt, 166.
white-rumped, 167.
Sand-runner, 164.
Scolopax rusticola, 155.
Sea crow, 180.
Shad spirit, 159.
Shore birds, 163.
Skinner, 168.
Somateria fisherii, 226.
molissima, 227.
spectabilis, 228.
stellerii, 226.
V. nigra, 228.
Snipe, American, 189.
blind, 1545
blue stocking, 165.
Bonaparte, 159.
brown back, 166.
English, 159.
grass, 167.
grey, 166.
jack, 3159, 167.
red-breasted, 166,
robin, 168.
stone, 170.
white, 165.
Wilson’s, 159.
wood, 154.
Sora, 177.
Spatula clypeata, 208.
Squatarola helvetica, 149.
Stake-driver, 236.
Stegairopus Wilsonii, 165.
Strip, 168 ; white-tailed, 167,
Stilt, 165.
Strepsilar interpres, 164.
Surf bird, 153.
Swan, 185.
American, 186,
trumpeter, 185.
whistling, 186.
; T.

TATTLER, 170.
semipalmated, 169.
solitary, 170.
wandering, 172.

Teeter, r7s-

TELL-TALE ; greater, 170.
lesser. 170.

TETRAR falcipennis, 111.

-  tetrix, rrr.
urogallus, rrz,

Tip-rip, 171.

Totanus flavipes, 170.
melanolencus, 170.
semipalmatus, 169.
TrinGa alpina, 168,
Bairdii, 167.
Bonapattii, 167.
canutus, 168.
maculata, 167.
maritima, 168.
-minutilla, 166.
solitarius, 170.
subaquata, 168.

 

INDEX,

Tringoides macularius, 171.
Tryngites rufescens, 171.
Turkey, wild, 103.

Turkey call, 107.
Turnstone, 164.

Ww.

Willet, 164, 169.
Woopcock, 154.
seat 154.
ogsucker, 154.
‘English, 155.
timberdoodle, 154.
Woodcock, dog for et cating: 157+

Y.

YELLOW LEGS, 164.
big, 170.
greater, 164.
lesser, 164, 170.

Yellow shanks, 170.

 

GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA.

A.

Achirus lineatus, 390.

Acipenseridz, 384.

ACIPENSER brevirostrum, 385.
oxyrhynchus, 384.
rubicundus, 329.

Albicore, 243, 329.

ALosa przestabilis, 380.
sapidissima, 276, 380.
AMBLOPLITES interruptur, 334.

rupestris, 323.

Amita calon, 310.
occidentalis, 310.
ocellicanda, 310, 324.

Amiurus nebulosus, 314.

Anchovy, 368.

Angel fish, 368.

Anguilla tyranus, 314, 389.

Anguillidz, 314, 389.

Archosargus probato-cephalus, 347, 397-
ARGyRoSOMuUS clupei-formis, 311, 327-

cisco harengus, 311, 323-
Ariopsis milberti, 385, 407.
Atherinidze, 355-

Atherinopsis californensis, 355.

B.

Barb, 245, 396.
Barbel, 284.
Barracouta varracua, 355.

 

Bass, black, 273, 312, 373-
black, still-fishing for, 314.
black, trolling for,313.
black sea, 249.
calico, 323, 378.
channel, 394.

Florida, flies for, 375.
grass, 378.

green, 276.

large mouthed, 274.
little, 355- en
marsh, 276.

Oswego, 276.

Otsego, 309.
Potomac, 374.

river, 276.

Roanoke, 376.

rock, 273, 276, 323.
sea, 249, 358, 399-
slough, 276-

small mouthed, 274.
spotted, 276.

straw, 323.
strawberry, 276, 378.
striped, 250, 323, 379, 401.
white, 276.

white lake, 273.

Bass, bait for, 280.
flies for, 279.
methods of taking, 278.
rod for, 316.
rod for striped, 250.

Batrachide, 356.
680

Bergall, 240.
Berycida, 393.
Bezuga, 396. ~
Black fish, 240, 249. 390, 399-
Black hurry, 249.
Black will, 249, 399-
Blue fish 240, 249, 253, 403-
Blue fish, tackle for, 256.
Blue fish, or weak fish, 243.
Bone fish, 406.
Bonito, 391, 242.
Batholemus pampanus, 393-
Bowlin, 310,
BREAM, 248, 282, 378, 398.
blue, 378.
copper-nose, 378.
red bellied, 378.
Bubalichthys bubalus, 338
Buffalo, 338, 383.
Bull head, 282, 397.
Bull pout, 282.
Burhot, 339.

c.

Calico, 390.

Carangida, 392. -

Caraux defensor, 392-

Carp, 283.
common, 284, 381.
golden, 333.

Catrisu, 282, 314, 338, 385-
blue, 385. =
channel, 282, 338, 385.
common, 282.
great lake, 282.
lake, 338.
mud, 338, 385
porous, 356.
salt water, 407.
shovelbill, 385.
yellow, 385.
white, 385.

Catostomide, 351.

Catosromus auratus, 383.
aureotus, 283.
cepedianum, 338.
communis, 383.
cyprinus, 383.
duquesnii, 382.
fecundus, 314, 352, 389.
guzmaniensis, 314, 352, 389.
maculosus, 382.
higricans, 383.
teres, 339.
tuberculatus, 284.

Cavalli, 392.

CENTRARCHUS #Nneus, 273.
irideus, 379.

Centropristres atrarius, 249, 399.
Cerasichthys physignathus, 389.

squamilentus, 389.
stirlitus, 389.
Cero, 243, 392.
Cerus, 243.
Checutts, 243-

INDEX.

Chickwick, 243. :

Currolsis nebulosis, 368.
pictus, 368.

Chogset, 240.

CHUB, 245, 276, 313, 373» 378, 388, 396.
Baird’s, 314, 389.
black, 314, 389.
elegant,313, 388.

ila, 313, 388.
srahaim’s, 313, 388.

half-scaled, 353.

horned, 352.

“robust, 312, 387-
Cisco, Geneva, 323- .
Clupidz, 267, 323, 367, 380.
| Cobia, 403.

Cod, 239.
rock 355.
tom, 356.

Corabati, 340.

Coreconus albus, 332.
couesii, 351.
labradoricus, 308.
mukson, 340.

Otsego, 309.
Williamsoni, 350.

Corporaalen, 384.

Corvina oscula, 312.
richardsonii, 338.

Coverlip, 390.

Crab-eater, 403.

Craskee, 339.

Crevalle, 392.

Croaker, 396.

Croppie, 323, 378.

Cunner, 240.

Cygium maculatus, 242, 397.
regale, 243, 392.

Cynoscion regalis, 243, 394.

Cyprinidae, 283, 312, 338, 351, 381, 387.

Cyprinis carpio, 284, 381.

D.

Dace, 283, 284.

horned, 284.

white, 284.
Daciscus nitidus, 284.
Damalicthys vacca, 366.
Diplectrum fasciculare, 393.
Dogfish, 324.
Dorosoma cepedia, 327.
Drum, 311, 395.

young, 396.

E.

Echeneidz, 403.
Echeneio lineata, 403.
Eel pout, 339.
Elacate canadus, 403
Elacatidae, 403.
Elopidz, 406.

Elops saurus, 406.

 

Embcatocoide,
INDEX. 681

 

Engraulis mordax, 368. Grunter, 3:1.
Entomology, Angler’s, 296. Grystes nigricans, 273.
Ephippudeze, 391. salmoides, 373.
Ephippus gigas, 389, 391.
Epinephelus morio, 400.
Esocidze, 284, 327, 379) 404. H.
Esox affnis, 379+ Paddeinaes
estor, i ri
fasciates 292. Hamuton aruratum, 399-
luceres, ago. chrysopteron, 398.
lucius, 328, 379, 404. se a
nobilior, 284, 327. Ha iDut, 353. “
ravenelii, 380. aploidonasut grunnieus, 311, 322.
reticulatus, 292, 380, 404. HERRING, 326, 381.
Exoglossum ‘maxillingue, 383- Pierce te
+ 38z.
lut, 381.
ake,310, 311, 327.
FP; mountain, 350.
; ; river, 326.
cee 398. toothed, 326.
ee Heterastichus rostratus, 355.
Fario Clarkii, 343+ Pee eget ene 358.
Flatfish, 239, 357, 399. Hog fish, 399.
Flounder, 239, 357, 390- Holconotus rhodoterus, 366.
F iy, for bass, 279. Horn pout, 483:
for Florida bass, 37s. Huthen, 340;
Her eusons 279+ Hyodontida, 380.
Pas 6 ap 279 Hyodontergisus, 326, 380.
+279.
turkey brown, 279.
turkey green, 279. L
Frostfish, 240.
Ice, fishing through, 289, zgr.
IcTHELIS incisor, 378.
G rubicunda, 378. B
7 Ingersoll, Ernest, Lecture on Fishes,
Gadida, 239, 356- 408.
Gadus morrhua, 239.
Ganoids, at w.
Gaspergou, 383.
Gita elegans, 313, 388. Jack Beh it *
emorii, 314, 389. Jack mari 406.
gracilis, 313, 388. Jer at 352.
grahami, 388. Jewfish, 406.
gula, 388.
nigra, 389. K.
eeadare sas Killifish, 283.
2 . Kingfish, 243, 245, 355, 392+
Tobusta, 312, 387- King netings by enio & Scott, 245.
_ seminuda, 353, 389. Tod for, 246.
Gizzard fish, 308. Kiver, 282.
eae 305- 378 Ko-lak-ah, 340.
oggle-eye, 323, 378. 2 :
Gold fish, 383. King, 340 :
Goody, 245, 396. L.
eee oer Labracida, 4or
ack’s 7 :
lessen ata Labrax albidus, 273.
mountain, 350. lineatus, 250, 333.
Greentish, 403. nigricans, 272.
Grilse, 261. Labridz, 240. 390, 358.
SECUI ERs black, 399. pa ee 358.
Tred, 400. ady fish, 406.
Grunt, black , Lafayette, 245, 396.
red auth, 398) Lagodom rhomboides, 398.
682

Lake lawyer, 324.
Larimus fasciatus, 397.
Leach, N. P., Lunge, 303.
Leuciscus nitidus, 384.
Liastomus lineatus, 355.
obliquus, 245, 396.
Lobotes surinamensis 396.
xanthurus, 396.
Losh, 339.
Lota maculata, 339.
Luceatrutta leucichthys, 340.
Lucioperca pepinus, 322.
Lunge, 300.

M.
MACKEREL, 241.
banded, 392.

black spotted Spanish, 242, 392.

common, 391.

green, 392.

horse. 243, 253, 392.

Spanish, 242, 391.
MASCALONGE, 284, 327-

sketch of, by I, L. Beaman, 285.

methods of capturing, 287.
Maw mouth, 378.
Megalops thrissoides, 406.
Melasheganay, 338.
Menticirrus nebulosus, 245, 395.
Microgadus tomcodus, 240.
Micropogon undulatus, 396.
Microprerus nigricans, 273, 312.
salmoides, 310, 373.
Microstomides.
Microstomida, 259.
Minister, 282.
Minnows, 283.
Mooneye, 326.
tiver, 380.
Morone americana, 253, 379, 401.
Morrhua proxima, 356.
Morskoi, 349.
Mud dab, 239.
Muddying, 371.
Mud fish, 310, 324.
Mugilide, 353, 386, 406.
Mugil lineatus, 406,
MULLET, 283, 386, 406.
golden, 283.
fick, 382.
ong headed, 353.
of the Mormons, 353.
Muskellunge, 284.

N.
Nulato, 340.
Nutalaski, 340

°

Oplopoma pantherina, 368.
Orcynus secundi-dorsalis, 243, 392.
Orthopristis fulvomaculatus, 399.
Osmerus mordax, 259, 310.
Ouininnish, 305.

 

INDEX.

P.

PanrosTEus jarrovii, 314, 352, 389.
platyrhynchus, 314, 352, 389.

Paralabrax clathratus, 354.
nebulifer, 354.

Paralichthys maculosus, 358.

Perca flavescens, 272, 323, 377-

PeERcuH, 276.
bachelor, 378.
black, 249, 272, 276, 379) 396-
blue, 240.
buffalo, 322.
chinkapin, 378.
-EeJacksonii, 366.
goggle-eyed, 378.
green, 373.
golden-barred, 366.
grunting, 322.
pike, 272, 319.
red-bellied, 378.
red-finned, 377
ring, 272, 377-
sand, 378.

San Francisco, 354.
sapphire, 365.

silver, 378.

silvery, 366.

speckled, 378.
strawberry, 378.

sun, 379.

viviparous, 365.

white, 253, 311, 379, 412.
yellow, 272, 276, 323, 377.

Percidze, 272, 312, 354, 373-

Pescaditi, 313, 314.

Pescadito, 388.

PICKEREL, 380,
pond, 292.

Pig fish, 396.

PIKE, 290, 328, 339, 379, 404.
glass-eyed, 272, 319.
sand, 322.
wall-eyed, 272, 319.

PImoLevus catus, 282.
nigricans, 282.

Plalessa bilineatus, 358.

PLaTICHTHYS rugosus, 357.
umbrosus, 358.

Pleuronectide, 239, 357, 390.

Pocontas cromis, 395.
fasciatus, 396.

Pollachius carbonarius, 239.

Pollock, 239.

Pomatomida. 253, 403.

Pomatomus saltattix, 253, 403.

Pomoits vulgaris, 379.

PoMABoLus mediviris, 381.
pseudoharengus, 381.

Pomaris auritus, 323.
vulgaris, 282, 323-

Pomoxis hexacanthus, 378.
rhomboides, 378.°

Pompano, 393-

Pond fish, 282.

Porcy, 248, 398.
rhomboidal, 398.
Porichthys notatus, 356.
Pounder, 406.
Pristipomatidze, 398.

INDEX. 683

Pseudo pleuronectes americanus, 239.

Ptychostomus conjestus, 314, 389
Pumpkin-seed, 282.
Purmalids, 249.

R.
Red eyes 378.
Redfish, 348, 355, 394.
Red-horse, 283, 314, 338, 382, 389.
Red mouth, speckled, 399.
Red snapper, 400.
Roach, 245, 282.
Rooccus chrysops, 379.
lineatus, 379, 401.
RockFISH, 354, 355, 401+
dusky, 354.
Round fish, 340, 381.

Ss.
Sac-a-lac, 378.
Sailor’s choice, 399.
Samo adirondakus, 304.
atraria, 353.
bairdii, 347.
brevicauda, 347.
campbelli, 349.
canadensis, 265.
carinatus, 345.
confinis, 304.
fontinalis, 293, 331, 384-
ibbsii, 347+
oodii, 348.
immaculatus, 265.
iridea, 34x.
kennerlyi, 347.
lewisi, 345.
masoni, 343.
namaycush, 329.
newberryi, 348.
oquasso, 299.
parkii, 347.
pleuritichus, 343-
quinnat, 359.
salar, 260.
sebago, 305.
siscowet, 331.
spilurus, 312, 387.
stellatus, 341.
stomias, 346.
symmetrica, 304.
toma, 300.
virginialis, 344.
warrenii, 347-
SALMON, 261.
Atlantic, 260.
Gibbs’, 347.
Hoods, 348.
(rs 322.
ake, 304. ;
land locked, 305.
Ohio, 272.
Otsego shad, 309.

*

 

SaLmon, Western, 272, 319.
white, 272, 319.
Salmon fishing season, 307.
Salmon, Milne-Edwards on the habits
of, 410. .
Salmon run, on Pacific Coast, 361.
eee 260, 293, 312, 329, 341, 358,
384, 387.
Sarda pelamys, 242, 391.
Saury, 406.
Scarniruyncuoprs platyrhynchus, 329.
Scienidze, 243, 338, 355, 394.
Sclzenops ocellatus, 394.
Scomser colias, 391.
scombrus, 241, 391.
esox scutellatus, 406.
Scombridze, 241, 391.
Scorpzena guttata, 355.
Scorpzenidze, 355.
Scott, Genio & on striped bass, 250.
Scup, 248.
Scuppang, 248.
Sebastes rosaceus, 355.
SEMOTILUS corporalis, 384.
rhotheus, 384.
Sergeant, 403.
SERIOLA car dlinensis, 392."
chloris, 392. .
zonata, 392.
Serranidze, 249, 399-
Serranus crythowaster, 400,
nigritus, 399. ©
SHAD, 267, 308, 380.
piers 327+
ickory, 381.

mud, 380.

Shad fishing, article on, by J. P. Mot-
ley, 268

She-cutts, 243.

SHEEPSHEAD, 247, 338, 397-
lake, 310.

Shiner, 283, 284, 326.

Shining face, 384.

Shoe maker, 283.

Sierra, 243.

Siluridze, 282, 314, 334, 382, 385, 389, 407

Siboma atraria, 353.

Siscowet, or siskowitz, 331.

Skip-jack, 242, 391, 403, 406.

Skipper, 406.

Smelt, 259, 310, 355-

Smolt, 261.

Snapper, red, 4oo,

Sole, 239, 390.

Soleidze, 390.

Spar, 261.

Sparidze, 247, 397.

Spearing, 308.

Speckled hen, 276.

Sphyrzena argentea, 355.

Sphyrzaenidze, 355.

Spot, 396.

Squeteague, 243.

Squirrel fish, 393.

Squit, 243.

Stenotomus argyrops, 248, 398.

Stizostedion americanum, 319. ,
684

Stizostedion americana, 272.
Stone-roller, 386.
Stone-toler, 386.
Stony head, 384.
Srurceon, jack, 384.
rock, 329.
sharp-nosed, 384.
short-nosed, 385.
shovel-nosed, 329.
Sturionidze, 329.
SUCKER, 283. 314, 339, 351, 389-
black, 283, 382.
chub, 283, 383.
common mud, 383.
horned, 284, 383.
lake, 383.
large scaled, 381.
long-finned chuck, 383.
of the Mormons, 352.
mullet, 283.
Pittsburgh, 382.
Utah lake, 352.
Yarrow’s, 35,
Suckers, snare for, 283.
Suckermang, 243.
Suck-fish, 403.
SuNnFISH, 282,-323, 379.
northern, 323-
Sunny, 282.

T.

Tailor, 403.

Tarpum, 406.

Tautog, 240.

Tautoga onitis, 240, 3yo.

Tautogolabrus adspersus, 240.

Til-ih-yuh, 340.

TuHYMALLUS montanus, 350.
ontariensis, 308.
signifer, 340, 349.
tricolor, 334.

Tin-mouth, 378.

Toad-fish, 356.

Togue, 300.

Togue angling, 301.

Tom cod, 243.

Trachinidae, 355.

TROUT, 276, 373, 394.
Baird’s river, 347.
black, 343.
blue-back, 299.
brook, 293, 341, 384.
Columbia salmon, 347.
Dolly Varden, 349.
STEY, 300, 394.
great lake, 329.

DOGS USED
A.
Age, to tell the, 454.

 

INDEX.

Trout, Kennerley’s 347-
lake, 304, 373-
Lewis’, 345-
Mackinaw, 329.
Mason's, 343+
Missouri, 345.
mountain, 341, 384-
Newberry’s, 348.
Pacific brook, 341.
Pacific red spotted salmon, 349.
Parke’s river, 347.
Platte river, 346.
Rangeley’s lake, 299.
red, 304.
red salmon, 347. ;
red spotted Rocky Mountain, 347.
Rio Grande, 312, 387.
Rock Mountain, 343.
salmon, 304, 343.
salt water, 394.
sea, 265.
sebago, 305.
short-tailed, 347.
silver, 343- 4
Southern Rocky Mountain, 344.
speckled, 293, 331, 344, 384.
tah, 344
Warren’s, 347.
Yellowstone, 343, 345+
Trout (weak fish), 243.
Tuladi, 300.
Tunny, American, 243.

U.

Umbrina littoralis, 396.
undulata, 353.
Unduk, 339.

Ww.
Weak fish, 243.
Wuite fish, 308, 332, 340, 381.
Coues’, 351.
Rock Mountain, 351-
Williamson’s, 350.
Wuitinc, 245) 395.
shore, 396.

__ Surf, 396.
Williamson, Prof., on Potomac bass
374.
Wininnish, 305.
Y.

Yellow-fin, 243-
Yellow-tail, 396.

FOR SPORT.

B.
Beagles, 440.
Blood-hound, 442.
INDEX. 685

BREAKING, 457.
backing, 460.
flushing, 466.
gun shyness, 468.
raking, 466,
retrieving, 463.
wide ranging, 469.
whip, use of, 469.

BREEDING, 472.
at puberty, 474.
tor kind, 4:
plurality ot sires, 478.

c.

Chesapeake Bay dog, 42
Choice of a dee, ae ”
Colleys, 444.

D.
Daschunds, 433-
Deer-hound, 440.
DISEASES, 474.
alopeeia, 49
alteration of secretions, 496.
bronchocele, 534.
canker, 531.
cataract, 493-
chorea Sancti Viti, srr.
colic, 49x.
convulsions, 508.
coughs, 533.
diarrhoea, 489, 491.
distemper, 499.
dysentery, 491.
enteritis, 486.
epilepsy, 508.
feet, gnawing the, 534.
tender, 534.
fits, 508.
hernia, 533.
hydrophobia, 512.
ileus, 486.

inflammation of the bowels, 486.

of the eye, 492.

of the lange. asa
intestinal catarrh, 486.
itch,"493.
lung fever, 499.
lyssa, a
mange, 4
mucous enteritis, 489.
ophthalmitis, 492.
ophthalmitis conjunctive, 492.
osmidrosis, 496.
peritonitis, 489.
piles, .
pleuro-pneumonia, 499.
pneumonia, 499.
purpurea canina, 497-
rabies canina, 512.
ring worm, 494
St. Vitus’ dance, srr.
scabies canina, 493.
tape-worm, 483.
trichosis furfuracea canina, 494.

Diseases, tumors, 533.
warts, 533+

worms, 479.
Disinfectants, 535.
Docking tail, 455.
Domestic dog, 413.

EB.
Emetics, 534.

F.
Feeding, 452.
Feeding PUpELCe, 453-
Fox-hound, 428.

Grey-hound, 438.
H.

Harrier, 431.

K.

Kangaroo dog, 444+
Kennel, 450.

M.
Muzzling, 455, 531.

N.

Nose, want of, 467.
Otter-hound, 441.

P.
Pointer, 420.
Prescriptions, 535-

R.
Retriever, 427.

8.

Setter, black and tan, 418.
English, 413.
Gordon, 418.
Irish, 415.
native, 413.
SPANIEL, field, 426.
Trish water, 424.
Spaying, 457-

as
Tentamone, £33.
TERRIER, bull, 443.
Dandie Diamont, 443-
English, 443-
fox, 443.
Skye, 443.

 

Vv.
Vermin, 534.
686 INDEX.

FOREST, FIELD AND PRAIRIE. OCEAN,
LAKE, AND RIVER.

A.

ANGLE worms, artificial, 613.
to scour, 612.

B.

Baked beans, 620.
Bamboo, 573.

Barometer, 613.

Bites of rabid animals, 619.
Blinds, 550.

Burns, 618.

Cc.

Cartridges, cleaning,
Clam bake, 621.

Cold and headache, 618.
Concentrators, 568.
Croup, 618.

D.
Decoys, 563.
Deer, to pack, or carry, 615.
Diarrhcea and dysentery, 618,
Disinfectants, 619.
Dittmar wood powder, 566.

F.

Fever diet, 618.
Fire arms, rules for use of, 555-
Fish baits, 612.
Fishbone in throat, 618.
Fish lines, to color, 587.
to waterproof, 587.
Fish roe, 612.
Fleas, 614.
Fuss, artificial, 603.
trout flies in season, 610,
Fly casting, 578.
Fly fishing, 572.
Fly making, 588.
Frogs, for bait, 612.
Fulminate for caps and cartridges, 569.

G.

Guns and ammunition, 536.

charges, table of proportionate, 553.

choke boring, 554.
choosing a, 536.
cleaning, $79. .
loading choke-bores, 568.
loading for game.
loading paper shells, 568.
loading shot-guns, 568.

 

Guns, point blank, 547.
sighting, 544.
shooting over, 544.
Gun barrels, to brown, 570.
Gunpowder, composition of, 565.
Gun stocks, to darken, 570.

H.

Head with hair on, to cook, 620.
Helgramite for bait, 612.
Horse, age of, 613.
food for, 614.
saddle marks, 614.
shedding mane, 614.
swimming a, 613.
to subdue a, 613.
ticks on, 614.

I.
Insects, 604.

L.
Lacquer for guns, 571.

Lasso, 615.
Leather gun cases, to soften, 571.
Lines and lures, 572,

M.

Minnows, to keep fresh, 612.
Mired animals, 614.
Mosquito bites, 578.
Mountain holth-polth, 6a.
Mushrooms, 620.

P.
Poison ivy, 619.
Poisons, 619.
Poison sumac, 619.
Powder measure, 566.
Prairie shooting, 558.

R.

Rattlesnake bite, 619

Rawhide straps and halters, 614.

Reels, 575.

Rifles, long and short range, 549.

Rods §72.

Rubber cement, 617.

Rust, to preserve steel from, 571.
in gun barrels, 571.
8.

Shell-holder, 569.
Shells, $46.
to clean, 569.

Shot, number of in a charge, 566.

Shrimps, to keep fresh, 612.
Small Pita. to bake, 620.
Snake bites, 619.

Sneak box, 560.

Southern shooting, 556.

Squawker for duck shooting, 564.

Stools for snipe shooting, 563.
Sumac poison, 619.

T.
Tackle, care of, 576.

INDEX. 687

Target, 572.
Turkey calls, 564.

Vv.

Varnish for rods, 586.

Venison steak, 620,
stew, 620.

Vermin, 612.

Ww.

Waterproofing boots, 616.
garments and tents, 616.
Weight of fish according to length, 586
Weather indications, 612.
Whistle for bay snipe, 564.
for plover, 564.
Wild turkey, to roast, 620.
Wire cartridges, 568.
Wounds, cure for, 618.

SPORTING BOATS AND CANOES.

A.

Adirondack boat, 636.
Al Fresco boat, 626.

B.

Barnegat sneak boat, 630.
Berthon’s self-folding boat, 637.
Birch canoe, 633.

Bond's sectional boat, 636.

Cc.
Calking, 633.
Chaloupe, 628.
Chesapeake Bay boat, 628.
Calvin's canvas boat,

D.
Dug out, 633.

E.
English canoe, 637.
English centre-board gig, 632.
F,
Fair Haven sharper, 626.

Fenner’s portable boat, 635,

G.

Gordon canoe, 637.

 

Gunning boat, 631.
Gunning skiff, 632.

H.

Hegeman’s folding boat, 635.
Herald canoe, 637.

L.

Lyman’s patent rowing gear, 638.

M.

Mackinaw boat, 628.
Monitor raft, 635.

N.
Nautilus, 633. .
Newport boat, 626.

P.
Pirogue, 633.

Q.

Qui Vive canoe, 627.

R.
Rob Roy, 630.
Rushton boat, 637.

s.

Sailing, rules for, 623.
suggestions for, 625.
688 INDEX.

Ts Ww.

Treat’s steel frame canoes635.
To waterproof paper boats, 623.

Waters’ paper canoe, 636.
To whiten decks, 623.

Whitehall boat, 634.

WOODCRAFT.

Cc.
Camp site, 644.
Compass, 647.
Carrying camp stuff, 643.
Condensed food, 643.

D.
Dress, 639.

F.
Fire, 644.

Flies, protection against, 646.

oO.
Outfit, 639.

P.

Party, selection of the, 642.
Provisions, 640.

R.
Rocky Mountain trout, 652.

“Ss.
Sleeping, 643.
Snow blindness, 655.
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PANY THE “NORTHERN

MAP OF
ROUTE

a

 
A SPORTSMAN’S DIRECTORY

TO THE

PRINCIPAL RESORTS FOR GAME AND FISH
IN NORTH AMERICA.

ALABAMA.

This State has a population of 997,000. It may be said to be
divided into three parts like its neighbor Georgia, namely, into the
low country, the midland or pine wood country, and the upper or
hill country. In the lower part, on the coast, sea fowl are abun-
dant in winter, and the salt water fishing is good. There are
many canebrakes and wilderness tracts which abound in wild game
of all kinds, panthers, bears, deer, and the like. In the piney
woods and mountain districts, the game includes many northern
varieties. The State is sparsely settled in many parts, and the
game is very abundant. By taking one of the railroads or rivers
which traverse the States like arteries, the sportsman can find
access tolerably easy to excellent hunting districts. The fishing,
except for black bass, or “chub,” is indifferent.

Baldwin County—

Fish River and Berwick’s Bay. From Mobile take one of the little steam-
ers, which By regularly, twice daily between the city and all points on the bay,
to Battle’s Wharf, and drive thence nine miles to the ferry on Fish River. Here
will be found every convenience in the way of boats, and the angler can enjoy the
advantages of both fresh and salt water fishing. In the river and its numerous
tributary creeks and branches are multitudes of perch, and a species of bass, called
by the natives fresh-water trout.

The bay is only a mile below the mill, and in its waters are salt-water trout,
red-fish, croakers, shecpshead, and mullets by the myriad. These latter cannot
be caught with a hook, but are easily caught with nets, and are used for bait.
Minnows are not to be had, and cut mullet is used almost exclusively. "

Berwick’s Bay, or Wick’s Bay as it is called, is a lake-like expansion of Fish
River, where it forms an elliptical basin some three miles long and two miles
broad before its exboucher into Mobile Bay. Where its waters mingle with
those of the bay, it is not more than two hundred yards wide, and at this place
is a bar, which is a fine place for seining. The fishing in the bay is at times ver
exciting, and at all seasons, plenty of game and edible fish reward the angler’s
care. The gars do not annoy one quite as much here as in the river. ,

Fish River, which empties into Berwick’s Bay, twenty-five miles from Mobile,
is a favorite fishing ground for red-fish, croakers, trout, mullet, etc. Captain
Wemyes owns a large saw-mill on the river, and will entertain. Reached by sail-
boat or steam-tug from Mobile. Country flat.
2 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

Bullock County—

A large part of the county is covered by extensive pine forests which are full
of game. The Montgomery and Eufaula, and the Mobile and Girard Railroads,
intersect at Union Springs, where hotel accommodations may be found, and from
which the game centres are accessible. :

Cherokee County—

Stonewall, on the Selma, Rome and Dalton Railroad, and Centre, reached from
Greenwood on the Alabama and Chattanooga Railroad, are initial points for sport
in this county. Bears, deer, wild turkeys, quail, and other game are abundant.
The country is mountainous, and partly covered with pine forests,

Choctaw County—

Lies between the Tombigbee River and the Mississippi line. The county town
is Butler, which lies a little to the north and east of the centre of the county.
The nearest railroad and telegraph station is at York, Sumter County, distant
thirty-eight miles. There are several other towns‘of very moderate size in Choc-
taw County, the principal of which are Bladen Springs, Mount Sterling, and
Tompkinsville.

eé game consists of deer, bears, an occasional wild-cat, or catamount—rac-
coons, opossums, rabbits, squirrels, wild turkeys, ducks, quail (partridge), geese,
snipe, woodcock, and many others. Deer and turkeys are particularly abundant,
and with but little trouble one can have rare sport.
here are several small lakes throughout the county, and these are full of
fish. The river contains many varieties in abundance, including the white, or
channel cat, and the buffalo.

The hunting grounds are very uneven, broken and hilly.

The routes most favorable for getting into this country are, from the North
and East, via Montgomery, where you take the Western Alabama Railroad to
Selma ; thence the Alabama Central to Demopolis, or, if the boat be not there, to
York, where a team can be hired to Butler. If the boat be at Demopolis, stop
there, and go down the river (Tombigbee) to Tuskohoma, where a conveyance
can be procured for Mount Sterling or Butler, the former distant four, and the
latter eight miles.

From the west § to Meridian, Mississippi, forty miles from Butler, and take
the cars thence to York, or hire a carriage to Butler.

The most pleasant way is from the South. Goto Mobile, and there take the
boat to Bladen Springs Landing (Bladen itself is four miles from the river ; con-
veyance thither can always be procured from Mr. Heron, who keeps the landing),
or go on to Tuskohoma Landing, as before. At Tuskohoma, Mr. Henry Gaines,
the proprietor, will give every information and afford every facility to the visitor.

If you stop at Bladen, Mr. James T. Staples will show the sportsman plenty
of game, and take pleasure in making his stay agreeable.

At Bladen there is a hotel. If the visitor goes to Butler he will have to depend
upon the kindness of the people. There are some who keep what is called a
““ house of entertainment,”” where the traveler can obtain food and lodging. But
with the exception of Mr. Spangenberg, no one entertains except during court.
After a few days the sportsman will probably be taken in hand by the members
of the Hound Dog Club, all of whom will take pleasure in making the stranger
comfortable. The country is very uneven, broken by steep ridges and hills.

Clarke County—

By taking boat to any one of the river towns on the Tombigbee or Alabama
River and then striking inland, the sportsman cannot fail of finding game in abun-
dance. Deer, bears, wild-cats, raccoons, opossums, turkeys, ducks, geese, snipe,
woodcock, rabbits and squirrels will be found in more or less abundance with
white, channel, cat, and buffalo fish in the rivers and their tributary streams.

Colbert County—

South Florence, on the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, is near the Muscle
Shoals, famed for their wild-fowl shooting. [See Lauderdale County.] Deer, tur-
keys, and quail are abundant through the county.

Conecuh County—

Evergreen, on the Mobile and Montgomery Railroad, is a good initial point
for the sportsman. Deer, turkeys, quail, small game and wild fowl shooting
may be found in fair numbers.
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 3

DeKalb County—

Deer, bears, an occasional panther, wild turkeys, quail, and squirrels. Th
fishing is chiefly for black bass, chub, and bream. eached via the Alabama aad
Chattanooga Railroad to Valley Head, forty miles from Chattanooga. The sur-
face of the country isrugged and mountainous, and noted for its romantic scenery.

Escambia County—

With the exception of the southern portion, this county is still unsettled, and
abounds in fame, while the numerous streams afford good fishing. Deer,
turkeys, quail and other game will be found in abundance, by starting out from
any point on the Mobile and Montgomery Railroad.

Jackson County—

The numerous creeks in this county furnish black bass, catfish, drum, perch,
red horse, and wall-eyed pike fishing. The wooded and mountainous parts are
the abode of deer and wild turkeys, and quail and wild fowl are found in
numbers sufficient for good sport. Take Tennessee River boats to Bellefonte,
or go via Memphis and Charleston Railroad, to Larkinsville, Stevenson, or to
Scottsborough, at which place board can be obtained for $12 to $15 per month.

Jefferson County—

Yonesborough. Bears and deer in the neighboring mountains, quail and wood-
cock in the swamps and cultivated fields, Game abundant along the Salem Creek
and on the line of the Alabama and Chattanooga Railroad, by which Jonesboro’
is reached. Good hotels.

Lauderdale County—

North Alabama is one of the finest hunting regions in the United States. The
fields are filled with quail, the woods with wild turkeys and deer, and all the
streams and ponds in winter abound with wild ducks and geese. The finest wild-

oose shooting is to be had every winter in the Muscle Shoals on the Tennessee

iver, where the wild geese congregate by the thousands. The shoals are
about five miles wide, and filled with small islands, called ‘‘ tow-heads.”” Most
of these tow-heads are covered with drift wood, in which the sportsmen conceal
themselves, and shoot the geese asthey fly over, which happens every few
minutes, as they are constantly being disturbed by one cause or another. Just
before nightfall, the geese leave the river for the fields and ponds, which af-
fords the sportsman another good opportunity for rare sport. What is true
of the wild geese, is more or less true of the wild ducks, with this in addition,
tbat the latter are to be found every where, all the winter through, filling every
point, ‘‘ spring branch,” or creek. Wild turkeys abound everv where, and the
ted deer almost every where. The deer are hunted with hounds. Large black
bass are caught in Shoal Creek. The route is to South Florence, or Florence
via Tuscumbia, on the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, or to Decatur on
the same road, thence via team or boat down the river. Or go to Athens on
the Louisville and Nashville and Great Southern Railroad, thence by wagon.

See Decatur, Morgan County.

Lawrence County—

Courtland, reached via the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, is in the vicinity
of good deer, turkey, quail and wild-fowl shooting. The Muscle Shoals (See
Lauderdale County), on the northern border of the county, are accessible from
Courtland.

Limestone County—

This county is well supplied with game. Deer, turkeys, quail, ducks and
geese, afford fine sport, and the fishing is for black bass, salmon, pike, and
speckled perch. The Nashville and Louisville and Great Southern Railroad
intersects the county, and renders it easily accessible. Stop at Athens or other
points on this road. Steamers ply on the Tennessee and Elk Rivers.

Lowndes County—

This county is made up of pine and hammock lands, and abounds in the varie-
ties of game peculiar to such country. The county is intersected by the Mobile
and Montgomery Railroad, and from that road the game grounds are accessible.
4 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

Madison County—

Huntsville. Fexcellent black bass and wall-eyed pike fishing in Flint River,
fifteen miles distant. The best points are at Wood's and Gardiner’s Mills. See
also Decatur, Guntersville and Muscle Shoals, all of which places are resorted to
by Huntsville sportsmen.

Marengo County—

‘For description of game and character of county, see Choctaw County. Take
the route as there given to Demopolis, or thence down the river to any of the
steamboat landings.

Marshall County—

Guntersville. In Short Creek are black bass, catfish, drum, perch, red-horse
and salmon, or wall-eyed pike. On the Tennessee River, thirty miles from
Huntsville, reached by wagon or boat.

Mobile County—

Mobile. Deer, quail, snipe, ducks, and many varieties of bay birds, and wild
fowl on the bay, with excellent fishing. Daily communication with Lake Pon-
tchartrain, Louisiana (See Lake Pontchartrain).

Monroe County—
Claiborne, on the Alabama River. Deer, turkeys and quail. Reached via
steamer from Mobile or Montgomery. Hotel.

Montgomery County—

Montgomery. The central position of this city and its excellent railroad and
river communications with all parts of the State, render it one of the best initial
points for sportsmen in the whole State. The Mobile and Montgomery, Mont-
gomery and Eufaula, South and North Alabama, and Western Alabama Rail-
roads all centre here, and on the line of each the sportsman will find excellent
game regions. The Alabama, Coosa and Tallapoosa Rivers, on all of which
steamers ply, flow through a country full of deer, bears, wild turkeys, quail and
other game. The railroad and steamboat officials are as a rule well-informed as
to game docalites and will always give every information in regard to the best
routes, etc.

Morgan County—

Decatur. The game fish are the trout, so-called—a congener of the northern
bass—the salmon, the pike, and the speckled perch, a fine fish, often weighin;
several pounds. These fish are usually taken with the minnow for bait, disuee.
in Swan and Beaver Lakes, they are taken with the fly, and by ‘ bobbing.”
Swan and Beaver Lakes, the places most visited by anglers from a distance, are
one mile from Decatur, where strangers can find good hotels. These lakes are
free to all. Next to these the Muscle Shoals afford the best fishing. Deer, tur-
keys, quail, and wild fowl, furnish good sport.

Decatur is at the junction of the Memphis and Charleston, and the Louisville
and Nashville and Great Southern Railroads. The country is hilly and moun-

ainous.

Pike County—
The pine forests which are extensive, are filled with Eames Dear deers, wild

turkeys, quail, squirrels, etc. Take the Mobile and Girard Railroad to Troy
whence other parts of the county are accessible by wagon roads. - :

Sumter County—

For general description of the county with game and fish, see Choct
Tike the oa so cee aload to Livingston or York vor fe
abama Central to Coatopa, and from the: i i
eee pa, se points the game regions are

Washington County—

The country and game of this county answer to the descripti i
Choctaw County. Take boat from Mobile up the Tombi bea inert St Stee
phe 0 strike off from any of the stations on the line of the Mobile and Ohio
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 5

Wilcox County—

Take the Alabama River steamers to Black’s Bluff or Clifton, or the Selma
and Gulf Railroad to Allenton, or Pine Apple. Deer, turkey and quail shooting,
hr ee rae along the river bottoms, and other varieties of large and small game
in the woods,

“ALASKA.

Alaska has an area of 580,107 square miles. The southern
and western portions are mountainous and near the coast covered
with forests of spruce, cedar and fir. The Northern and Arctic
Ocean coast regions are level and, for the most part, barren. The
climate is not so severe as that of the corresponding latitude on
the Atlantic coast. The mean annual temperature at Sitka is 42°.
The zodlogy of the country embraces, elk, deer, polar bear, barren-
ground bear, grizzly bear, black bear, seal, fox, beaver, marten,
otter, mink, lynx and wolverine. Alaska is the nesting place of
many migratory birds; geese, ducks, the canvas-back and others,
swans, ospreys, etc. The ptarmigan is found here. The fish are
of many varieties and of inexhaustible quantities, constituting the
chief wealth of the country.

At the head of the salt water species stands the salmon, found
from Behring Straits to the most southerly point of Vancouver’s
Island. In the spawning season the straits, bays, sounds and
inlets of the coast are thronged with it. From the first of June to
the middle of August the Stikine and Yukon Rivers are fairly alive
with the countless numbers hastening to the headwaters, among
the mountain gorges. The first salmon to visit Alaska is the chief
or king salmon, the oxchorhynchus ordentalis of Pallas. Two
other species are also found in these waters, the O. lagocephalus
and O. proteus, of Pallas, and the zoot-glag-hoo and noog-lag-uh,
respectively, of the Yukons or Tinnehs. The salmon or mountain
trout is very abundant in the northern portion of Alaska, and is
apparently a constant resident, as it is found in the streams at all
seasons.

The O. sanguznolentus, or red-fish, the O. lycaadon, or dog
salmon, and the salmo purpuratus or black salmon, of Pallas,
arrive in the rivers between August and October, and run fora
month or more.

A sucker found here, which is called craskee by the Russians,
(catostomus teres), is quite common, and for its northern habitat,
quite large, averaging from four to seven pounds, A species of
the cottida, called wzduk by the Tinnehs, frequents the shallow
streams and ponds, and is caught in large numbers by the abori-
gines, who scoop them out with their hands, paddles and grass
baskets. A small dace, also found with this, bites readily at a
6 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

baited hook. The pike, (esox esfor), is very abundant in the ponds
and lakes of the almost arctic regions of Alaska. The burhot, eel
pout, or losh, (dota maculata), swarms in the lakes and rivers.
Of the white-fish, there are several varieties or species, the larger
portion being allied to the southern prototypes, the greater differ-
ence being in their numbers. The nulato —zzzlatosk¢ of the
Russians, the morskoz, or white-fish of the Russians, the hump-
backed species, the coraéat7 of the Russians and Ko-/ak-ah of the
Yukons, is quite abundant but bony and insipid, the coregonus
nasus, or round fish—the Russian £rug, and Yukon Autuen, is a
denizen of several streams, and is often caught for food; the con-
egonus muksun, or broad white-fish, the ¢e/-z2-yuh of the Yukons,
weight of thirty pounds. The largest of this genus is the great
white-fish, (/uczotrutta leucecthys), which excels its congeners not
only in size but flavor. It is very abundant in the Stikine and
Yukon Rivers—and is found in all the streams throughout the
year. The grayling, (¢hymad/us), is very abundant, and with the
brook trout completes the list. The salt water fishing is for cod,
tom cod, halibut, five species of clupea, two species of flounders,
euchalon and smelts,

ARIZONA.

The surface of the State, which has an area of 113,916 square
miles, may be described as a series of wide and elevated plateaus
sloping gradually southward and interspersed with desert wastes
and arid plains on which no vegetation grows, excepting the arte-
misia or sage bush. These plateaus are broken up by numerous
mountain chains and spurs and diversified by many lofty buttes.
A noticeable feature of the country is the number and depth of its
cafions. The mountain regions are densely wooded and are the
haunts of many kinds of wild animals. The plateaus, prairie and
sandy plains, are, especially in the southern portions, good shoot-
ing grounds for wild fowl and other game birds. The game of
the country includes elk, deer, antelope, mountain sheep, pumas,
jaguars, ocelots, black and grizzly bears, wild cat, red and grey
wolves, fox, peccary, raccoon, opossum, sage-rabbit, several vari-
eties of squirrel, wild turkeys, ducks and geese in great variety
and abundance, swans, cranes, curlew, snipe, plover, etc., in count-
less multitudes. The streams contain several varieties of gamey
and finely flavored fish,

Arizona is thinly settled, there being few towns, with a limited
number of military posts. The population is in great part of
Spanish and half-breed descent. The lines of communication
through the country are few, and confined to the stage routes,
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 7

These are all more or less infested by Indians, chiefly Apaches,
rendering travel and hunting here very precarious. For this rea-
son we have not specified particular localities. The sportsman
will not be apt to go far from the regular lines of travel, nor will
he need to do so. He will find in his pathway game of all kinds
and in such quantity as to afford him constant occupation. We
will however mention, as one of the best regions for elk, deer,
antelope and wild turkey shooting, the White Mountains.

ARKANSAS.

Arkansas has a population of 484,471. It is sparsely settled in
nearly all parts, and therefore offers unusual opportunities for
sportsmen who are willing to rough it. There are very few coun-
try hotels in the State, that can be dignified even by the name of
tavern, so that the sportsman must generally be prepared to camp
out, or take chances at the farm houses and plantations. As a
tule, the people will be found hospitable to true gentlemen sports-
men, and willing to entertain them. Much of the hunting will
have to be done from the saddle or pirogues. The State is tolera-
bly flat in the lower division, filled with canebrakes, and cut up by
water courses. In the middle it is densely wooded and undulat-
ing, interspersed with prairies. The northern part is hilly, and
the northwestern part partakes of the features of the Indian Ter-
ritory adjoining. The northeastern counties are an unbroken
level, with the exception of Crowley’s Ridge, a low range of hills,
which traverses six counties from northwest to southeast, averag-
ing in width from two to five miles. This range of hills runs par-
allel with the St. Francis River, and is the western boundary of
the Great Mississippi Swamp. To the east of this range of hills,
and between the St. Francis and Mississippi Rivers, lie the swamp
counties of Crittenden and Mississippi—about forty miles in width
and about one -hundred in length. They are but thinly settled,
abound in lakes and bayous, and are traversed by the Tyronza
and Little Rivers, tributaries of the St. Francis.

The unsettled portions of these counties consist of dense and
heavy canebrakes and low swamps. The animals found here are
the bear, panther, wolf, wild-cat, deer, and turkeys and water-fowl
of every variety, from the swan to the smallest duck. This is also
a fine field for trapping. Beaver, otter, mink, coon, etc., are very
abundant. The rivers, lakes and bayous abound in every variety
of game fish known to this latitude—such as trout, black bass
striped bass, speckled perch, and all the varieties of bream and lake
perch ; these are taken in great numbers at any season of the year.
8 ” GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

The country west of these hills is level as far west as White
River—with one small prairie about six miles in width, and thirty
in length—a fine field for deer and bird shooting. ;

The swamp country is accessible from Memphis by river, and
by the Memphis and Little Rock Railroad. The lakes and bayous
are numerous and without names. The principal and largest one
is the Sunk Land Lake of the St. Francis and Little Rivers, sit-
uated in the counties of Greene, Craighead and Mississippi, just
below the Missouri line. The general physical characteristics of
the State resemble those of Texas. There are few railroad, steam-
boat, and stage facilities throughout the State.

Clark County—

Arkadelphia, on the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Great Southern Railroad, is
a centre for bear, deer, snipe, and wild-fowl shooting. The surrounding country
is hilly and rolling.

Craighead County—

Goldsborough. The hunting grounds of St. Francis Lake are within easy
access. For the game found there see Forest City, St. Francis County.
Crittenden County— 8

Marion, opposite Memphis, Tennessee. Deer, bears and wild turkeys in the
swamps and thickets, foxes and wolves in the lowlands. Quail are abundant.

Cross County—

The dense swamps, canebrakes and forests, of which the county is mainl
made up, are the haunts of many wild animals, such as bears, panthers, wild
cats, with deer and the smaller game in sufficient abundance to afford good
sport. The fur-bearing animals most larg cly trapped are beavers, otters, minks
and coons. Bass, striped and black, speckled perch, lake perch, all the varie-
ties of bream, and several other kinds of fish, afford good angling. Take the
Memphis and Little Rock Railroad to Forest City, thence via team to Wittsburgh.
Guides, outfit, and all necessary information will be found at Forest City.

Dallas County—
Fairview, Bears, deer, turkeys, quail, and other varieties of game.

Garland County—

_ Hot Springs. This is a winter resort for invalids and pleasure seekers, which
will compare favorably in its attractions and appointments with any at the north.
It is one of the pleasantest spots in the south, and is much frequented by northern
people. There is good shooting and fishing anywhere within a radius of twelve
miles, and one can here enjoy all the luxuries and comforts of civilization, and
take his shooting and out door pastimes with dignity and ease. The route to
Hot Springs is via the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway to Mal-
eit eas miles south of Little Rock, thence via the Hot Springs

ailroad.

Greene County—

_The hunter will here find much large game, bear, deer, panther If,
with wild-fowl shooting, and fishing excellent. The southern Doaler of the evant
touches the lakes of the St. Francis River, which are noted shooting grounds.
Take the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway, to De La Plaine, .

Hempstead County—

Fulton and Hope, on the St. Louis, [ron Mountain, and Great Southern R
way, are good initial points for the hunting of the county. Deer, bears ana
other large game, with an abundance of wild-fowl, snipe, quail and woodcock
shooting. The southern part of the county is accessible By Red River steamers.
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 9

Jackson County—

_ Facksonport. The White River before its junction with Black River, abounds
in a variety of fish, firm and finely flavored. Opposite the town a long sandy
bar extends into the river, and off this bar some splendid fish may be taken. The
are the black bass and striped bass; each kind readily takes a minnow or small
craw fish. There is also a fine game fish, locally called the jack salmon.

Little Red River empties into White River, fty or sixty miles below Jackson-
port. It abounds in fish of several varieties, consisting of black bass, drum, cat-
fish, bream, and white perch,

Red River is deep, rather clear, and with very little current. In the vicinity
of Jacksonport, game is abundant. The river in winter is full of ducks of various
kinds, and the small lakes, ponds, sloughs, and lagoons absolutely swarm with
them. Geese are quite plenty ; and occasionally a swan is seen. Bob White is
there in full numbers in the plantations. A few woodcock, and an abundance of
snipe. East of town, twelve or fifteen miles, deer are plenty, especially between
bayous Cache and De View. Between these bayous, there isa belt of post oak
barrens, almost uninhabited. The deer there are not much hunted, and lie well
when approached on horseback, and when hunted with hounds do not run off,
but tack and dodge for hours.

In the dense cane along the river are found bear, wild-cat, and occasionally a
panther. Ducks can be bagged by the score by stalking them—under cover of
the switch cane—along the bayous, lakes and ponds, and by floating for them in
the river. Snipe are abundant. Reached via the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and
Great Southern Railway to Newport, thence via stage or hired conveyance.

La Fayette County—

The numerous bayous of this county. with the rivers and water courses, afford
fine shooting for geese and ducks. The hammock lands are the haunts of the
deer, bear, wild cat, and other varieties of large game, snipe and woodcock
shooting Louisville will be found a good initial point, and may be reached from
some station on the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway. Communi-
cation is also had with different points by the Red River steamers.

Miller County—

Texarkana, Bears, deer, wild turkeys, quell, pinnated grouse. Reached via
St, Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern, or Texas and Pacific Railroad. Hotel
$2.50; guides $1; teams $3. Camping necessary. Good sport can be had any-
where in the vicinity, by going from one to four miles back from the railroads.

Mississippi County—

Lewis and Osceola. See the northeastern countiesabove. Osceola is reached
via Mississippi River steamers. The hunting grounds of St. Francis Lake are ac-
cessible. See Forest City, St. Francis County.

Prairie County—

Des Arc. Inthe extensive canebrakes between the White and Cache Rivers
are great numbers of deer, bears, wild cats, wolves, panthers, and other game.
Des Arc is a few miles distant from Devall’s Blugf, which is an excellent initial
point for sportsmen. In addition to the game mentioned above, there are found
within a few miles of the town, wild turkeys, pinnated grouse, quail, snipe, plover,
rail, geese, brant, ducks, and water-fowl of all varieties. Four miles distant is
Pepper’s Lake, one of a chain forming the head waters of Reese’s Fork. These
lakes teem with fish in great variety, and are fine shooting grounds for wild-fowl.
Rock Roe Lake affords the best tishing. Reached via the Memphis and Little
Rock Railway, or via boat from Memphis. Hotel $1.50, $7 per week. Write to
T. M. Horsfall.

Phillips County—

Helena. 1n the numerous lakes in the vicinity are found all the variety of
water-fowl that winter in this latitude ; in the woods are deer, black bears and
occasionally a panther. Trout, bass and white perch in the waters, See Austin,
Mississippi. Reached via the Arkansas Central Railroad.

Poinsett County—
Harrisburg. For the game, see Forest City, St. Francis County. St. Fran-
cis Lake is easy of access.
I *
10 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

Pulaski County— ;

Little Rock. The sportsmen of this city. have, within a day’s ride, excellent
shooting for such game as bear, panther, wild-cat, deer, wild turkey, quail, wood-
cock, ducks, geese, snipe, and other varieties. The fishing is for black bass,
drum, cat-fish, brown and white perch.

St. Francis County-—

Forest City is the initial point for sport in St. Francis and the adjoining coun-
ties. The game here comprises bear, wolf, panther, wild-cat, deer, turkey, all
varieties of water fowl, beaver, otter, mink, coon; trout, black and stri ed
bass, speckled and lake perch, all the varieties of bream, and other kinds of fish.
Reached via the Memphis and Little Rock Railroad, forty-five miles from Mem-
phis. The Hunting Chub will give all needed information, and show every atten-
tion to gentlemen sportsmen from abroad. Teams ($4) and camping outfits can
be procured for the St. Francis and Little Rivers and their lakes, seventy-five
miles north. Here will be found all the varieties of game enumerated above. |

Black Fish Lake, two and one-half miles north of Black Fish Siding, a station
on the Memphis and Little Rock Railway, and thirty-three miles from Memphis,
is a favorite resort for sportsmen. The region abounds in the game mentioned
under Forest City. The lake contains black and spotted perch.

Van Buren County—

On Sugar Loaf and the adjacent mountains is found game in great variety and
abundance. The streams afford excellent fishing.
White County—

West Point. Coons, otters and minks are found in this vicinity.

The Red River. For the fish and game of this region see Jacksonport, Jack-
son County.

White Court House.— Raft Creekis a small sluggish creek ofabout fifteen miles
in length, widening out into small lakes and large cypress ponds in its tortuous
course into White River. Baley lake is much visited as a fishing resort by the
people living back on the hills. The water is deep, and fine buffalo fish and perch
are taken with the hook and line. Although the lake is right in the bottom
and subject to six feet overflow from White and Little Red Rivers, there is about
twelve acres on the north bank of the lake entirely above any high water which
would be a pleasant camp ground at any time in the winter. Good deer and
turkey shooting, and fine trapping all around this country.

Woodruff County—

Augusta, For the game region lying between the bayous Cache and De View,
see Jacksonport, Jackson County.

CALIFORNIA.

California has an area of 188,981 square miles, with a popula-
tion of 560,247, the bulk of which is confined to the belt lying
between the thirty-seventh and fortieth parallels. The distinctive
physical feature of the State is her vast mountain system, which
may be divided into two grand divisions, the Sierra Nevadas on
the east, and the Coast Range on the west. In addition to these,
there are many distinct ranges, spurs, and isolated peaks, or
buttes. Between the Sierras and the Coast Range lie the extended
valleys of the San Joaquin, and the Sacramento ; and east of the
culminating crest of the Sierras is the lake country. The State is
divided into three parallel sections, the Eastern slope, or the terri-
tory east of the Sierras ; the California Valley, between the foot-
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. II

hills of the Sierras and the Coast Range, and the Pacific slope,
between the Coast Range and the ocean. The face of the country
presents every variety of surface, lofty mountains, fertile river val-
leys, cafions, wide stretching plains and prairies, and tulé lands.
These tulés, or marsh lands, consisting of dense brakes of rushes
and covering nearly one-half the entire surface of the State, are in
all seasons the abodes of numerous and varied wild-fowl and game
animals, and afford unlimited sport for the hunter. The game of
the State, embraces one hundred and fifteen species of mammals,
three hundred and fifty species of birds, and one hundred and fif-
teen species of fish. Every portion of the State is accessible by
rail, stage-coach and steamboat; while excellent hotels, guides,
boats, saddle horses, and all the necessary articles of camping out-
fit are everywhere easily secured. With the abundance and
variety of game, and the facilities of communication here offered,
California will long offer peculiar inducements to the sportsmen
of the country.

Alameda County—

Oakland, Within a radius of fifty miles, there are at least twenty localities
where good trout fishing may be had. There are the Water Company Lakes, or
Lake Merced, of the Acclimatizing Society, in either of which, for a small fee,
permission may be obtained to fish, and fine fishing is to be found. There area
led number of creeks and streams inland, north, south, and east, where are
Tequently taken from thirty to fifty trout in a day’s fishing.

Berkeley. See San Francisco. 2

Amador County—

Amador City. In the Amador Valley, jack snipe, quail, ducks and other
game birds are found in great abundance. ‘Reached via the Sacramento and Pla-
cerville Railroad to Latrobe, thence stage.

Butte County—

Durham. Inthe Sierra Nevadas, seven miles distant, bear, deer, California
lion and other large game; wild fowl abundant in the valley near the town;
good fishing in a branch of the Feather River. Reached via the Oregon Division
of the Central Pacific Railroad. Guides are necessary for the mountain hunting.

Chico. Bear, deer, trout, salmon, sturgeon and pike. Reached via Central
Pacific Railroad, Oregon Division. ‘Board $x to $3; teams $3 to$10. |

Cana. Grizzly bear, deer, ducks, geese, quail; salmon, mountain trout,
Reached via the Central Pacific Railroad. Hotel $1; guide $1.50; teams $5.

Nord. Deer, elk, panther, California lion, grouse, quail, ducks, snipe, curlew,
rabbits, hares; salmon, sturgeon, trout, perch, white fish. Reached via the
Oregon Division of the Central Pacific Railroad. Hunters must camp. Indian

ides can be procured at small expense. Hunters and stockmen are scattered
through the mountains, and are always hospitable.

Contra Costa County—
Martinez See San Rafael, Marin County.

Fresno County—

Borden. Bear, deer, antelope, quail, geese, ducks, swans, cranes ; mountain
and salmon trout, salmon and white perch. Reached via the Visalia Division of
the Central Pacific Railroad. All along the line of this road, the sportsman will
find plenty of ducks and geese. Board $1.50; teams $2.50 to $5. For hunting
in the mountains, guides are necessary, and can be secured for $35 per month,
and found. The San Joaquin, Fresno and King’s rivers, are good fishing streams.

Berendo. Autelopes, hares, rabbits, sand hill cranes, ducks, geese ; trout and

tO ae
I2 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

salmon trout in the San Joaquin River. For route,see Borden. Board $1.50 to
$2, $7 per week. Camping necessary for successful sport. The country prairie.

Humboldt County—

The Humbolat Bay Country comprises all of Humboldt, and parts of Klamath,
Trinity and Mendocino Counties. The bay is twenty miles long, and from one to
one anda half miles wide. At its head is Arcata; half way down Eureka, and
three miles farther south, Bucksport and Fort Humboldt. : ata

The game includes the grizzly, cinnamon and black bear, California lion, pan-
ther, lynx, cougar, wild-cat, elk, deer, red, black, grey, and prairie wolves, foxes,
Taccoon, opossum, porcupine, rabbit, jack rabbit, otter, sea otter, seal, sea lion ;
swans, Canada, Hutchins’ and brant geese, eighty varieties of ducks, wild pigeon,
plover, curlew, willet, many varieties of bay snipe, Wilson snipe, woodcock,
mountain quail, California quail, ruffed, pinnated, pintail, and Canada grouse,
ptarmigan, and a host of small birds of all varieties and kinds ; salmon, trout,
mullet, bass, rock cod, flounder, sunfish, catfish and dozens of other kinds.

Humboldt Bay is reached via the Pacific Coast line of steamers from San
Francisco, or via rail and stage. y 7

Camp Fagua. Salmon trout fishing, excellent hunting. The game includes
elk, deer, bears and California lions, with great numbers of quail and grouse.
Reached by hired conveyance from Humboldt Bay.

Kern County— :

Delano. Deer are found among all the mountains of the county. Antelope,a
few elk ; quail along the foot-hills, hares, rabbits, geese, ducks in great variety,
and swans. Reached via the Southern Pacific Railroad. Board $27 to $35 per
month. The hunting grounds are near Kern River, Pasa Creek, and Tulare
Lake, ten miles distant, where camping is necessary.

Caliente. Deer, wild hogs, quail. Reached via the Southern Pacific Rail-
Toads Board $2; teams $3 to $5. Caliente is among the foot-hills of the
mountains.

Lake County—

Lakeport. Rabbits and quail are abundant in the hills west of Lakeport. For
route see Glenbrook.

Adam's Springs. Deer, quail, rabbits, squirrels ; with mountain trout abun-
dant in a pond one mile from town. Forroute see Glenbrook. Hotel $2,$10 per
tS das ; saddle horses $2, teams $5 to $8. Eight miles north is Clear Lake, with

oats, etc.

Glenbrook. Bear, deer, quail, grouse, ducks, geese, trout. Reached via the
California Pacific Railway to Calistoga, thence stage thirty miles. Board $2.

Klamath County—
See Humboldt County.

The Valley of the Klamath River. See Berryvale, Siskiyou County.

Los Angeles County—

In this county and those adjacent to it are many varieties of game.

In the foot-hills and lower fands, quail, rabbits, hacen wild pigeons, doves,
and bastard snipe, black-tail deer, antelope, coyotes, wild-cats, mountain lions,
coons, foxes. badgers, many ground grey squirrels, and a few tree squirrels. On
the marshes and lagunas are wild fowl, swans, grey, white, and a blackish-col-
ored goose, mallards and canvas-backs, red heads, grey ducks, blue-bills, sprig-
tails, long-tails, widgeons, three kinds of teal, blue-wing, cinnamon, and green
wing, chufladoses, gadwells, spoon-bills, ice ducks, and several other varieties.
There are also brant, and on the coast many sea fowl. In the mountains are deer,
California lions, cats, black, cinnamon, and grizzly bears, big horn sheep, goats,
grey squirrels, pigeons, mountain quails, and rabbits. Elk are occasionally seen.

Anaheim. Deer, rabbits, hares, quail, geese and ducks. Au occasional
grizzly bear is shot within thirty or forty miles. Reached by branch of the

outhern Pacific Railroad. Board $2 to $2.50.

Compton. Geese, ducks, snipe, rabbits, hares ; rock fish, smelt, barracontas,
etc. Reached via Southern Pacific Railroad. Hotel $2, $40 per month.

Monte. Quail, hares and rabbits in the valley; good trout fishing in San
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 13

Gabriel Cafion, ten miles distant, and ten miles beyond excellent sport may be
had with bear, deer, and mountain sheep. Reached via the Southern Pacific
Railroad. Hotel $6 per week. For successful sport, camping is preferable.

Pomona, Rabbits, quail, ducks and geese on the plains, deer, rabbits and
quail among the foot-hills, and in the mountains grizzly bears, California lions,
mountain sheep, wild-cats, etc. The mountain streams abound in trout. Reached
via the Southern Pacific Railroad. Board $1 to $2; teams $4 to $6. Provide
camping outfit.

Santa Monica. Quail in the cafions, snipe and curlew in the lagoons and
along the beach. Deer are abundant among the mountains. Railroad connec-
tion with Los Angeles.

The San Gabriel Narrows, reached by rail from San Francisco to Los An-
geles, and thence by wagon or saddle horse, is a starting point for those who go
to hunt in the Big Pine Mountains, which abound in game of all kinds.

Marin County—
_ Function, Bears, deer, quail, ducks, snipe ; brook trout and salmon. Reached
via the North Pacific Coast Railroad, seventeen miles from San Francisco.

Nicasio, Cinnamon bear, deer, California lion, wild-cat, coon, fox, squirrel,
badger, hare, rabbit, quail, snipe, wild goose, duck, brant ; mountain and salmon
trout, salmon. Reached via the North Pacific Coast Railroad, twenty-four miles
from San Francisco. The country mountainous.

Sancelito. Bears, deer, rabbits, quail, ducks; salmon. Six miles from San
Francisco, via the North Pacific Coast Railroad. Board $7-15 per week. Guides,
boats, etc., to be obtained. Hilly and mountainous country.

San Rafael. Take steamer from San Francisco to San Rafael, and thence a
two or three-mile drive to the grounds. After the rains set in, Suisun Bay, near
Martinez, affords capital hunting grounds; also the neighborhood of Milbrae, on
the S. P. R. R. and, in fact, all along the Bay of San Francisco good duck-shoot-
ing can be had. There are plenty of ducks about Suisun Bay, Solano County,
but most of them are on the inshore lakes, and difficult to get at. The ducks are
principally teal, which resort to the creek below San Rafael in thousands to feed
a ee tide upon the shrimps and soft crabs left on the flats. Milbrae has a good

otel.

Mendocino County—

Anderson. Bears, deer, quail, geese, ducks; salmon, trout, sturgeon, bass,
perch. Reached via San Francisco and Northern Pacific Railroad, or steamer,
to Cloverdale, thence stage or hired conveyance. Board $1 ; guides $2; teams $4.

North Forks of the Navarro River, Deer and small game, with good trout
fishing. Reached as above to Cloverdale, thence stage to the North Fork House,
where comfortable accommodations will be found, $2. The hunting ground is
very mountainous and heavily wooded.

Noyo. Bears, deer, an occasional panther, quail, ducks, cormorants, divers,
salmon, Route as above to Cloverdale, thence a stage ride of two days. The
Noyo House, John Byrnes, $2, boats free to guests. The wood-cutters will act
as guides.

Merced County—

Merced. In the San Joaquin Valley, antelope, ducks, geese and snipe;
towards the Yosemite Valley, bears, deer, quail, grouse. Trout, salmon, perch
and pike are found in the mountain streams and in the Merced and San Joaquin
Rivers. Reached via the Central Pacific Railroad. Hotels $2 to $3; guides
$2, double team and driver $16, four horse team with driver $25. .

Plainsberg. Antelope, ducks, geese, quail, hares, rabbits. Reached via the
Visalia Division of the Central Pacific Railroad, Board $1 to$r.50; teams $4. For
good sport camp out. Prairie country.

Mono County—
Bridgeport. Deer, quail, swans, wild geese, and ducks of all varieties.
Reached via the California Pacific Railroad. Hotel $2; boats $1.

Napa County—

Calistoga, Bear, deer, quail, brook and salmon trout. Reached via the Cali-
‘fornia Facile Railroad. Board $6 per week; teams $6; boats, etc., to be
iHimmunmnnnunObtained,

 
14 GAME AND FISH RESORTS,

Napa City. Deer, wild hog, quail, snipe, ducks and other wild fowl. Reached
asabove. Hotel $2; teams$5 to $8. The country is hilly and mountainous with
excellent grounds for camping. 2 2 P

St. Helena. Biack, brown and grizzly bears in the mountains. Deer and
quail are very abundant, and there are a few grouse. Reached as above. Hotel
$2, private board $6 to $10 per week. — s .

Vouxtville. Deer, a few bears, quail and rabbits abundant, and good trouting
in all the streams. Route as above.

Nevada County—

Independence Lake is well known among sportsmen as an excellent game cen-
tre. Black, cinnamon and grizzly bears, deer, and California lions constitute the
large game, while of birds there are great numbers of grouse, mountain quail,
ducks and geese. The trapper will here find lynx, wild-cat, fisher, otter, marten,
mink, and red cross, silver grey and black foxes. The brooks are filled with
trout, and in the lake the lake trout mieian from eight ounces to a pound. Reached
via stage from Truckee, fare $z. The Independence Lake House, J. A. Rhodes,
proprietor, furnishes good accommvudation at $3; boats and tackle free to

‘uests.
. Bronco. Bear, deer, mink, otter, wild-cat ; good trouting. Reached via the
Central Pacific Railroad. Board $1; guides $3. Camping necessary. The
country is mountainous, and heavily timbered. .

Boca. Deer in the hills six miles distant, jack rabbits, quail, grouse, ducks ;
trout and other fish in Truckee and Little Truckee Rivers. Independence Lake is
fourteen miles distant. Reached via the Central Pacific Railroad. Board $7.50
per week ; teams $8 per day. This country is mountainous, with pee timber.

Truckee. Bear, deer, quail, grouse, geese, ducks ; trout, white fish. Reached
via Central Pacific Railway. Board $2 to $5, guides $3, boats with boatmen §5,
teams $5 to $10. Truckee is on the river of the same name. Donner Creek, one
and one-half miles distant, Donner Lake three miles, Lake Tahoe fifteen miles,
Webber Lake twenty-one miles, Independence Lake twelve miles. See Reno,
Nevada. Country hilly and mountainous. k .

Prosser Creek. Grizzly and cinnamon bears, deer, grouse, mountain quail ;
speckled and salmon trout. Hotel $3. Mountainous country.

Placer County—

Lake Tahoe, famous for its trout fishing, is reached via the Central Pacific
Railroad to Summit or Truckee, thence stage to Tahoe, onthe lake. From Tahoe,
an excursion steamer makes the circuit of the lake. There are several good ho-
tels, with guides, boats, etc., always to be had.

New Castle. Deer, quail, rabbit, squirrel, fox and wild-cat. Reached via
Central Pacific Railroad. Board $1, $6 per week; teams $8. Hilly country.

Emigrant Gap. Deer, cinnamon bear, grouse, quail ; trout and white fish in

American and Bear Rivers, and Crystal Lake. eached via Central Pacific
Railroad. Hotel $1 to $1.50. Teams can be procured in summer. Mountainous
country,

Cisco. Bear, deer, fox, grouse, quail.. Reached via the Central Pacific Rail-
road. Hilly and mountainous country.

Plumas County—

Summit. Bear, deer, mountain sheep, grouse, quail; several varieties of
trout. Reached via the Central Pacific Railroad. Board $3. Saddle horses,
guides, etc., can be procured. The country is very mountainous,

Sacramento County—

Sacramento, There is excellent wild fowl shooting along the river. Twenty
miles below the city, a tide slough that heads up inthe plains is the resort of
great flights of ducks and geese. There are many varieties of the former, includ-
ing grey, speckled breasts, mallards, sprigs, widgeons, teal, and others.. Ducks
are also very abundant on the Marysville road, a short distance from the city.

San Bernardino County—

Colton. Grizzly and cinnamon bears in the mountains, deer on the foot-hills
quail Jack rabbits and hares in the valley. Reached via the Southern Pacific
ailroad. Hotel $2. For large game camping is desirable.
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 15

San Francisco County—

Lake Merced, five miles from San Francisco, is stocked with salmon and trout.
Owned by a private club, with tine accommodations for members and their
pucsts. A pleasant drive from the city. There are no other fish in the lake but
bullheads and stickle backs, with perhaps a few other sorts of small fish. There
is on the shore of the lake a hotel—the Ocean View House—and at the head of
the lake a small tavern, kept by Haskins, where boats can be obtained. Near
the ocean, and but a-short distance from the lake, is the Ocean Side House, four
miles from the famous Seal Rocks and Cliff House, and seven miles from the city.

Sax Francisco, There are quail, black-tail deer, jack snipe, rabbits and hares
all about San Francisco. The favorite grounds of sportsmen are the great valleys
of the San Joaquin and Sacramento. The State can produce no better ducking-
prouna than the San Joaquin Valley, and geese are nowhere more abundant.

nipe and the smaller aquatic fowl are also plentiful. The Sacramento, almost
equally accessible, is unsurpassed. The Svorisiias taking the tour o’clock steam-
boat, finds himself at supper time passing Rio Vista. He may debark anywhere
along here on the Solano shore, unpack his things and begin shooting on excellent
grounds for water fowl. Collinsville and Bridgeport he will find convenient
Stopping places, with boats and guides at a moderate hire. Going further he
will fnd unsurpassed shooting on the islands in the Sacramento. Or, if another
route is preferred, let him take the cars to the San Joaquin Bridge—if he can
school himself fo pass the great Livermore snipe grounds. He will there find
boats at his service, and scow or flat boat hotels, maintained by experienced river
gunners, who will feast him with the best of sportsman’s cheer, and take him to
the cream of the shooting grounds. The Santa Clara Valley also swarms with
wild fowl, and there are excellent sporting fields near Salinas. There is also an
abundance of the birds on the San Mateo marshes, which may be reached in an
hour from this city by car or rail. The hills back of Berkeley, in or about Wild
Cat Creek, afford many rabbits and quail. Deer are frequently met.

There are other resorts not as good which sometimes afford those who must be
contented with a few hours’ shooting, a little fun, such as Sancilito, around the
Cliff House, Alms House, Seven-mile House, or San Bruno road ; an occasional
hare may be shot insuch places, and sometimes some jack snipe at San Bruno,

The Alameda Marshes give good duck shooting from blinds, with decoys, but
the birds are very wild. The ducks most abundant there are widgeon, spoon bill,
and teal, some quail, curlew and jack snipe may occasionally be found. The
fishing in the bay is for salmon, grilse and tom cod. The Oakland long wharf,
Opposite the city, is the favorite place foranglers. There are many resorts within
a short distance of the city, easily accessible by the different railroad lines. The
Southern Pacific Railroad will take the anglers to Lakes Pilercitos and San An-
dreas, controlled by the Sportsman’s Club of California. San Bruno is the station,
and the fare is fifty cents. A vehicle will convey persons to the fishing grounds.
To fish here it is necessary first to become a member of the Sportsman’s Club
(initiation fee, $20; dues, $3 per quarter). There are club houses at both of these
lakes. All other information may be obtained from Mr. William Stuart, the
Secretary, at No. 113 Leidesdorff street. Pilercitos, one of the Spring Valley
Water Comeuny reservoirs, is now well filled with fair-sized trout, and San
Andreas, chiefly with silver salmon of generally moderate size.

The Pilercitos trout are very gamey : the meat is of a rich, red color, and they
are in every respect an excellent table fish. The angler who is not a member of
the Sportsman’s Club may go on to San Mateo (21 miles, ninety cents), Near the
town he will strike the San Mateo Creek, in which is good trout fishing. Should he
wish to extend his journey to the coast he may proceed by stage from San Mateo
to Spanishtown, where will be found two or three pretty good trout streams, and
beyond there down the shores of the ocean are Purissima, San Gregorio, Lobetis
Pescadero, Butano, Scott, and other creeks, in each of which tolerably good an
sometimes excellent sport may be had, although the fish are mostly not of much
size. Between San Mateo and Santa Clara there are several small streams, which
can be reached on a Saturday, and where fishing may be enjoyed from that day to
Monday morning. The names of these creeks are the Adobe, San Francisquita,
Stevens, and Congress Hall. From Santa Clara, stages connect for Saratoga in
Santa Cruz County, from which point may be reached the head-waters of the San
Lorenzo, once a capital trout stream, and affording fair sport now. There is good
fishing in the Guadaloupe, Coyote, and Los Gatos Creek, all of which may be
reached via Santa Clara. . ; ‘ :

On the San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad, good fishing may be had in
16 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

Santa Rosa Creek. A branch of this road runs from Fulton to Guerneville, a dis-
tance of fifteen miles. At the latter place may be found some of the finest trout
fishing in the State. Squaw Creek, north of Cloverdale, and Sulphur Creek, near
Cloverdale, are very attractive trout streams. For the full enjoyment of, the beau~
ties of nature, the aroma of the redwoods and a genuine feast of trout fishing,
these latter streams, including those on the headwaters of the Walhalla, Bi, River,
Navarro River, Dry Creek, Russian River, and Little Dry Creek, in Sonoma
County, will require a vacation of a week or two, The San Francisco and North
Pacific Railroad Company will make special rates with camping parties, desirous
of stopping over atany of the stations on their line. The rates of fare and the dis-
tance of some of the prominent places are:

    
  
 

Distance Miles. Single Trip. Excursion.
Petaluma........+.. aieeea 42 $x 50 $2 00
Santa Rosa. - 57 2 00 3 00
Fulton .... «. 6r 225 3 50
Mark Wes - 63 2 50 375
Healdsburg . =e 92 3 00 400
Littons.. 7634 3 25 450
Guernvil 17 375 5 00
Cloverdale ........... «+. 60 435 5 50

The excursion tickets are only good from Saturday to Monday.

The North Pacific Railroad from San Quentin to Moscow, at the mouth of the
Russian River, runs through a magnificent region of country, which is watered
by innumerable streams, in which the finny tribe abounds. The ‘t Lagunitas,’’ or
‘San Geronimo,” Creek, is the first trouting stream north of the city, of any
magnitude, in which the public are allowed to fish, and here only on Rayment of
a moderate sporting fee. The head-waters can be reached by way of San Rafael,
on horseback, or even by buggy, if a strong one. The best way of entering the
cafion, however, for a man who is willing to walk five or six miles, is by way of
Fairfax, just beyond San Rafael. The scenery is Superb and the fishing fair. If
one wishes a tramp of a dozen miles or so, let him make the passage of Lagunitas,
from its source, just back of Mount Tamalpais, to its confluence with White Creek,
and here he can take the cars of the North Pacific Coast Railroad for the city ;
but he should not attempt the passage alone, and must be prepared to camp over
night part way down the cafion. The way is very rough, and one must stick close
to the bed of the Creek.

From the point where it strikes Paper Mill Creek (which is formed by the unit-
ae of the Lagunitas and White Creeks), the railroad follows the canon many
miles. A short distance below the paper mill, at Taylorsville, from which the
creek takes its name,is adam. In this vicinity sportsmen are not allowed to fish,
the ground being reserved for private use; but below the mill property the
stream is, we believe, public fishing ground. The cars, following the cafion, will
pt you down or take you up at any oint, on request. At Olema, several miles

elow, the creek flows into Tomales Bay ; and here, in the months of February
and March, extending at times into April, great sport is had in taking salmon-
trout with shrimp bait. Olema, possessing a good country hotel and livery stable,
with three small but well-stocked trout streams fone close by and two in the dis-
tance of a few miles) offers special advantages to fishermen from the city who wish
to make the shortest possible trouting excursions. Leaving the city at about
midday, you may reach Olema in time to get the evening’s fishing, and return che
next day, after a morning’s sport. A full day or a week even, for that matter,
can be pleasantly spent here and in the vicinity. Fare to Olema and return,

3-50.

From Olema to Bolinas, a distance of twelve miles, runs one of the finest wag-
on roads in the country. You can go by livery team or stage from Olema.

At Bolinas are two hotels, and in the vicinity two trout brooks. Here also are
two ponds for artificial propagation, where the fishing is moderate. Bolinas can
also be reached via Saucelito, by stage. Fare to Bolinas and return, $1.75.

On the line of the Central Pacific Railroad, by an experienced angler, some
trout may be whipped out of Alameda Creek early in the season. At San Lean-
dro,a short distance above the water-works, the sport may be enjoyed, also near
Hayward’s, in Palmyrus Creek, and in Stony Brook, near Niles. hese streams
are all within a few hours journey of this city.

Those who feel disposed to engage in the invigorating exercise of a good tramp
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 17

before they cast their lines, should go over to Berkeley, and, taking the San
Pablo road, walk over the hills to Wild-cat Creek, five miles from the University.
They will find_some excellent sport here. Two miles beyond this stream they
will strike the San Pablo Creek. In both they will be rewarded by good catches.

San Joaquin County—

_ Stockton, Ducks, geese, snipe, quail ; salmon, salmon trout, perch. Reached
via Central Pacific Railroad. oard $2.50; saddle-horses and teams $1.50 to $10.
Country prairie and marsh land.

Lodi, Hare, quail and snipe in the immediate vicinity. Six miles down the
Mokelumne River, among the tules, geese, ducks and cranes are abundant.
Reached via the Central Pacific Railroad. Hotel $2; guides and boat $3.50 to $4 ;
teams $3 to $4. Prairie country, interspread with oak timber.

Banta. Deer, wild hogs, grouse, quail, and all kinds of wild fowl shooting at
the San Joaquin, Old and Middle Rivers Shag Lake and Tom Paine Slough.
Reached via the Central Pacific Railroad. Board $2; guides $2 to $3; teams $5 to
$z0. Low and level country.

Lathrop. Geese, ducks, quail, hares, rabbits, and excellent fishing in the San
Joaquin River. Reached via the Central Pacific Railroad. Board $2; teams $5
to $ro. Best sporting grounds three miles distant. Prairie country.

Ellis. Bear, deer, quail, woodcock, all varieties of geese and ducks ; salmon
trout. A station on the Central Pacific Railroad. Hotels $2 to $2.50; guides $3;
teams $5. Camping necessary. Country mountains and plains.

San Luis Obispo County— ;
Paso Robles. Game in wildest variety. Reached via Southern Pacific Rail-
road to Soledod, thence stage. Hotel accommodations, ‘

San Mateo County—

Pescadero. Excellent salmon and grilse fishing. Wild ducks are here in great
numbers, but the absence of covert renders successful shooting extremely difficult.
Reached from San Francisco via Southern Pacific Railroad, twenty-eight miles to
Redwood city, thence stage thirty-two miles. There are good hotels, with boats,
etc., always at hand.

Millbrae. See San Rafael, Marin County.

Santa Clara County—
San ¥ose. Bears, deer, California lions, hares, rabbits, ducks, geese, snipe,
uail; trout. Reached via the Central Pacific, or the Southern Pacific Railroad:
otel $1 to $4. Mustangs for hunting expeditions, can be bought cheap. The
country is hilly and mountainous.

Santa Cruz County—

Santa Cruz. Fine sea fishing, Reached from San Francisco, via stage or
steamer. The hotel accommodations are excellent. In the Santa Cruz moun-
tains which are crossed by the stage route, are many fine salmon trout streams,
with bear and small game in abundance. Good hotel accommodations, and guides
will be found.

Shasta County—

The McCloud River U.S. Fishery. The McCloud river is famed for its sal-
mon and trout fishing. Take the Central Pacific Railroad Oregon Division, to
Redding, thence stage twenty-two miles. ;

Castle Rock. Bears and deer; salmon trout, mountain trout and salmon, all
in great abundance. Reached via Oregon Division of Central Pacific to Redding,
thence stage sixty-five miles. Board $1.50. Mountainous country. :

Cottonwood. Bear, deer, quail, geese, ducks; salmon, trout, white fish.
Reached via the Union Pacific Railroad. Board $1.50; guides $2; boats with
boatmen $5. : ;

Lower Soda Springs. Good fishing in the Sacramento and McCloud Rivers,
Castle Lake, twelve miles distant, and salmon in some of the spring pools. Black
tail and mule deer and mountain sheep, are found in summer on Mt. Shasta, and
in winter at Sheep Rock. Black and brown bears, with California lions in the
mountains. The valleys fifteen miles east, furnish fine deer and elk shooting.

uail are found in fair numbers. Reached via Redding, as above. Board at
W. Bailey’s $1.75, $8 per week ; Indian guides $1.50 to $2; horse $1 to $1.50.
18 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

Southeren’s Station, For game, route, etc., see Castle Rock. Fifty-four
miles from Redding. :

Allin’s Station. For game, route, etc., see Castle Rock. Twenty-two miles
from Redding.

Siskiyou County—

Soda Springs. Blackand brown bear, black-tail, and mule deer, grouse, quail;
brook and Dolly Varden trout, salmon and white fish. For route, see Castle
Rock. Sixty-five miles from Redding. Hotel $1.75, $8 per week ; saddle horses
$1.50. Guides are necessary for the hunting and fishing grounds of the McCloud
and Sacramento Rivers, Soda Creek and Castle Lake. Sisson’s is eight miles
distant, where all necessary outfits and supplies will be found. The country is
mountainous, but not rough. 7

Coles. Deer, black, brown, and grizzly bears, panthers, mountain quail,

rouse. Reached by stage from Redding, on the Oregon Division of the Central
acific Railroad. Board $1.50, $7 per week. Country mountainous.

Berryvale, or Sisson’s Station, at the base of Mt. Shasta. Black, brown and
cinnamon bears, black tail and mule deer, mountain sheep, antelope, elk, jack
rabbits, grouse, sage hens, quail ; salmon and three varieties of trout. The game
and fish in great abundance. Reached via stage, seventy-five miles from Red-
ding, the terminus of the Oregon Division of the Central Pacific Railroad. Fare
$7.50. J. H. Sisson keeps a sportsman’s house, $1.50, $10 per week. For huntin
expeditions, he furnishes saddle and pack horses, complete camping outfit, wit
guides and cook, and furnishes board. The expense per man, is about $5 per
day. Excursions are made into the Klamath Basin for antelope and mountain
sheep, and into Oregon for elk. This is also an excellent headquarters for fishing
in the McCloud River.

Solano County—

Dixon. On the Sacramento River the sportsman will find geese, ducks, mal-
lards, Ri -tails, widgeons and teal, bitterns, cranes, snipe, curlew ; quail in the
foot-hills ; fish abundant in Patch Creek. Reached via the California Pacific
Railroad, sixty-five miles from San Francisco, twenty-one miles from Sacramento,
Board $2, with boats free, guides $2, teams $5. The country is level prairie.

Baie Ducks, geese, quail, and many varieties of wild fowl ; trout, sal-
mon. eached via the California Pacific Railroad. Board $1.50 to $2, or $7 per
week, guides and boats $3 to $5 per day. Country hilly and prairie.

Sonoma County—

eae Deer, bears, panthers, wild-cats, foxes, rabbits, hares, quail,
grouse, and ducks of all varieties. Of fur-bearing animals, there are beavers,
pine martens, minks, coons and grey squirrels. Salmon, salmon trout and moun-
tain trout are abundant in the rivers and small streams. Take the San Francisco
and North Pacific Railroad. Sylvester Scott, who lives twenty-tive miles from
Healdsburgh, is an old hunter and a good guide.

The Wachalla, on the coast, is a noted territory for deer and bears. Hunting
is done chiefly with dogs, in the hot dry season,

Stanislaus County—

Oakdale. Cinnamon bear, quail, ducks, geese and other wild fowl ; salmon
and ta Reached via Modesta, on the Central Pacific Railroad. Board $1.50 .
teams $5.

Lehama County—

Vina. Bears, deer, California lions, quail, geese, ducks, cranes and other
water-fowl. Reached via the Oregon Division of the’ Central Pacific Railroad.
Board $4 to’ $5 per week; teams $4; guides at reasonable rates. For the best
sport, camping is necessary.

Tulare County—

Cross Creek, Bear, deer, antelope, grouse, quail, ducks and geese ; salmon,
trout, and other fish. Reached via Visalia Division of Central Pacific Railroad”
Hotel $1 50; guides $3 to $5, with boats $5; teams $3 to $5, For good sport,
camp out. Country prairie and mountains.
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 19

Tulare. Splendid duck and goose shooting on Lake Tulare. Every variety
of these birds known on the coast, congregate here. Reached as above. The
shooting is done over decoys, and from boats concealed in the tule, a broad belt
of which surround the lake.

Ventura County—

, Quail, ducks, and sand-hill cranes in great abundance. Deer shooting in the
vicinity. Excellent salmon and trout fishing in Lake Merced.

Yolo County—
Knight's Landing. Deer, ducks, geese, rabbits, beavers ; salmon, sturgeon,
-perch. Reached via the California Pacific Railroad. Hotel $1.50, teams & to
3.50. Country prairie, with mountains twenty miles east:

Yuba County—

Marysville. Ducks, geese, snipe, curlew, quail, hares, and rabbits in great
abundance ; salmon, sturgeon and perch in Yuba and Feather Rivers, and Lake
Como. Reached via the Gregon Division of the Central Pacific Railroad. Board
at hotel $2.50; teams $6. Rolling country.

Wheatland. Wild geese, ducks, snipe, quail and other game. Reached as
above. Hotel $r. Wheatland is in the Sacramento Valley, with the Sierra foot-
hills seven to ten miles distant.

COLORADO.

Colorado has an area of 104,500 square miles with a popula-
tion of 39,864. The State is traversed near its centre by the
Rocky Mountains, which chain forms the watershed of the con-
tinent. The parks among these mountains are famed for their
romantic scenery, and are taking their place among the popular
summer resorts of the country. These mountains and parks
abound in many varieties of large and small game, and the exten-
sive plains and rolling prairies which make up the eastern and
western portions of the State, are still the feeding grounds of the
buffalo, antelope, and innumerable wild fowl. Colorado is rap-
idly developing her railroad facilities and access may be had to
any part of the State where the sportsman will find abundant
employment for both rod and gun.

Arapahoe County—

Denver. There are many inviting fields open to the sportsman about Denver.
To the west, accessible by rail and wagon, are the Rocky Mountain Parks,
abounding in many varieties of game. Sixteen miles from Denver on the South
Park Railroad, at Morrison Springs, (Evergreen House) Beach Creek, offers
excellent trouting. The Platte and Cache-la-Poudre, are also good fishing
streams, Twenty miles up Cherry Creek. which flows through Denver, will be
found great numbers of pinnated grouse, quail, and large jack rabbits. Still
farther up this stream are grouse and ducks. Along the base of the mountains
are deer and bears, and on the plains, to the west, antelope, elk and buffalo.
Twenty miles south of Denver is Parker’s, a favorite resort for shooting pinnated
grouse. Here the game are found in gulches or water courses, and when routed

out from these, are shot on the open prairie. Wald geese and turkeys are found
in great numbers within a short drive from the town. Denver is reached via the
20 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

ion Pacific to Cheyenne, thence via the Denver Pacific Railroad, or via the
Diehiaes Depew and Santa Fe Railroad to Pueblo, thence via the Denver and
Rio Grande Road ; or via the Kansas Pacific Railroad, There are several good
hotels, $4; $21 to $25 per week.

Bent County—
Kit Carson. Large herds of antelope are found west of this town. Reached
via the Kansas Pacific Railway. ; .
Rocky Ford, A good hunting pround for antelope. Reached via the Atchison,
Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad. The hunting grounds are high rolling prairie.

Boulder County—

Caribou. Good hunting, and fine trout fishing: in the mountain streams.
Reached from Denver via the Colorado Central Railroad to Boulder City, thence
via good wagon road twenty miles.

Clear Creek County—

Georgetown. Game abounds in all the Suara neGly Ont. The Chicago
Lakes eight miles distant, the Green Lakes and Grand River are all well stocked
with trout. Reached from Denver via the Colorado Central Railroad to Floyd
Hill, thence stage sixteen miles. Fare from Denver $7; round trip $11.50.,

Costilla County—

San Louis Park and the surrounding country affords fine gorse duck, quail,
mountain grouse and deer shooting. Reached via Denver and Rio Grande Rail-
way, to Cucharas, thence stage.

El Paso County—

Manitou. In the vicinity are elk, bear, black-tail and other varieties of deer,
bison and mountain sheep. It is one of the best trout centres of the Rocky
Mountains, the season extending through July and August. Manitou is five
miles from Colorada Springs station, on the Denver and Rio Grande Railway,
and seventy-two miles south of Denver. The Harrow: pale cars take the trav-
eler along at the rate of fifteen miles an hour, reaching Colorado Springs at noon.
Thence a carriage is taken to the Springs. Here the Manitou House, and the
Cliff House, and, two miles further on, the Tonic Springs Hotel—all having spa-
cious walks, croquet grounds, drive ways, billiard halls, barber shops, and min-
eral baths—offer abundant comforts for guests. Charges $3.50 to $4.50 per day.
Saddle-horses and carriages can be obtained to visit all the points of interest ;
also guides and pack animals to the summit of Pike’s Peak, where the Govern-
ment signal office is located.

Fremont County—

Canon City, one hundred and sixty miles from Denver, is the terminus of the
Arkansas Valley branch of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, connecting with
the main line at Pueblo ; distance, forty-Ave miles. Trout abound in the moun-
tain streams, and game is abundant. are from Denver $14, round trip $20.

Gilpin County—
Central City. Grizzly bears, buffaloes, elk, deer, antelope, jack rabbits,
ducks, geese and grouse. Reached via the Colorado Central Railroad,
Rollinsville. xcellent trout fishing. Reached via Boulder Valley Railway

from Denver to Boulder City, thence stage. Comfortable hotel, and many good
camping points.

Grand County—

Hot Sulphur Serings is the objective point of the Middle Park of the Rocky
Mountains. In addition to its charms for the pleasure seeker, this park offers, in
the variety and abundance of its fame, many attractions to the sportsman. All
the game found in North Park, (which see) is here in equal quantity, and here as
there, camping affords the best and most successful sport. Grae Lake, twenty-
five miles trom the Springs, contains large fish, with boats, etc.,at hand. Game
and brook trout are found in the country west of Middle Park, in unlimited num—
bers. The route to Hot Sulphur Springs is to Denver, as above, thence via the
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 21

Colorado Central Railroad to Central City, thence via Rollinsville and the
Rollinsville wagon road over the Boulder Pass; or via Georgetown, and daily

stage through the Berthoud Pass. Good hotels will be found here, with guides,
teams, etc.

Jefferson County--
Morrison. See Denver.

Lake County—

Twin Lakes are beyond South Park, in the Arkansas range of mountains, and
are becoming a favorite place of resort for fishing, hunting and boating. They
can be easily reached from Colorado Springs—although mountainous all the way
—by carriage, ambulance or stage. The lakes are upon the Lake Fork of the
Arkansas River, one of the largest of its tributaries, which flows eastward from
the summit of the lofty Saguache Range. This place isa great summer resort
for the Denver people, who go with tents and all the conveniences for out-door

ife.

At the Twin Lakes the fishing is tolerably good, but the fish are small. Should
a party fit out with a pack team when at the Twin Lakes, and follow the Arkansas
River to its head at Tennessee Pass, and then strike the head waters of Eagle
River, and follow it down until nearly opposite the mountain of the Holy Cross,
they can catch trout to their hearts content, and probably kill some elk and moun-
tain sheep. The trout of the Eagle River run large, and large flies or spinning
tackle should be used to take them. Another party wishing to hunt grizzlies,can
go by pack train from the lakes up Twin Lake Creek, about ten miles to the fork,
and then follow the left branch of the creek to Elk Pass, where the Elk Moun-
tains are crossed. From the Elk Mountains there is an old Ute trail going to
Rock Creek and to the snow ranges of the Rocky Mountains, where grizzlies are
common during the summer. There are trails leading to Rock Creek and Eagle
a nin were made by the U. S. Geological Survey, under Dr. F. V. Hay-

en in 1873.
Granite. Good trout fishing in Twin Lakes, which see.
.
Larimer County—

Estes Park, eighty-four miles from Denver, via Boulder and Longmont, and
thirty miles from Longmont, at the northeast foot of Long's Peak, is a beautiful
basin of meadows and groves, with delightful hunting and fishing, where a week
or a month of the later summer months can be spent very agreeably. Reached
via the Colorado Central Railroad to the above stations.

Fort Collins is situated in Colorado Territory, on Cache le Poudre River, a
clear, swift, never-failing stream, abounding in trout and other fish. Game is
abundant in the vicinity. Reached from Cheyenne, or from Greeley, on the
Denver and Pacific Railroad.

Las Animas County—

The western fourth of the county is mountainous, interspersed with valleys
and mountain peaks. This section is covered with pine torests, and intersected by
numerous mountain streams which abound with trout. The eastern three-fourths
of the county is a series of table-lands, stretching from the mountains to the level

lain. The principal wild game in this part of the country, are buffalo, antelope

eaver, otter, jack rabbits, etc. The mountains abound with different species o
bear, immense droves of deer, turkeys and mountain grouse, and various animals
hunted and trapped exclusively for their furs. Bac

Sucarica Cation, Cottonwood Cafion, and Tuckalote Cafion, all within a few
miles of Dick’s ranche, on the southern slope of the Ratorn Mountains, near the
New Mexico boundary line, afford excellent shooting for deer, antelope, tur-
keys, bears, and other game. Take rail to Pueblo, and there fit out.

Trinidad, Fine antelope shooting east of the town, and through the county.
Reached from Pueblo, via the Denver and Rio Grande Railway to El Moro,
thence a short stage ride.

Pueblo County—

Pueblo, at the junction of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, and the Denver
and Rio Grande Railroad, has rail and stage connections for all the best hunting
grounds in Colorado and ‘New Mexico. This is the headquarters where hunting
parties fit out for the antelope plains to the east, and the Rocky Mountains to the
22 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

west. Buffalo, antelope, wolves, foxes, elk, deer of several varicties, mountain
sheep, bears, and many other kinds of large game, with wild fowl of all descrip-
tions, and excellent fishing are found within short distances from Pueblo, The
sportsman cannot go amiss. Every thing necessary for camping out, horses,
pack mules, guides, etc., will be found here.

Rio Grande County—

Del Norte. Deer, bear, wild ducks, grouse, and in the streams fine trouting.
Reached from Denver via Denver and Rio Grande Railroad to Canon City,
thence one hundred and forty miles by fine stage route, over a mountain road.
Saddle horses or pack-mules, can here be obtained at reasonable prices.

Summit County—

The North Park is filled with a erent variety and abundance of game, in-

cluding black and cinnamon bears, elk, antelope, black-tail and white-tail deer,

mountain lion, mountain sheep, woodland buffalo, or mountain bison, wild geese,

ducks of several varieties, and four kinds of grouse, with excellent trout fishing

in the mountain streams. The smaller fur-bearing animals are found here in
reat numbers. Go via the Union Pacific Railroad to Cheyenne or Laramie, and
ere fit out. Tents, pack horses, wagons, etc., will be found at either place.

CONNECTICUT.

Connecticut has an area of 4,674 square miles, with a popula-
tion of 537,454. Though some portions of the State are rugged and
hilly, there are no mfountains properly speaking. The surface of
the country is made up mostly of the valleys of the Housatonic,
Connecticut and Thames Rivers, with their tributary streams.
Railroads and fine wagon roads intersect every part of the State,
and with the rivers furnish excellent travelling facilities. Owing to
the dense population of this State, there are now very few of the
larger and wilder animals, once abundant, though in most parts
of the less thickly settled regions, small game is found in fair
quantity. Along the bays and inlets of its southern shore, wild
fowl are abundant, and always afford good sport.

Fairfield County—

Bridgeport. Blue-fishing in the harbor, and by taking rail to Stratford, good
bass fishing may be found in the Housatonic River. Excellent duck shooting
around Bridgeport, in the Harbor and on the Sound. Route: Boat from New
York, or New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, fifty-seven miles from
New York. Hotels: Sterling and Atlantic Houses, each, $3. See Stratford.

Stamford. Quail, partridge and woodcock shooting ; ‘ishing on the Sound.
Route as above, Hotels: Stamford and Union Houses. The Ocean House,
on the beach at Shippan Point, is a summer resort for New Yorkers.

Stratford, on the Housatonic River. Ruffed grouse, woodcock, quail, black
duck and teal shooting. Good bass fishing, and the river has been stocked with
California and Kennebec salmon. Route as above via rail. No hotel. Good
quail and woodcock shooting around Fairfield and neighboring towns, but the
grounds are pretty thoroughly posted. .

Hartford County-—-

= Hartland, Partridgesafford good sport. Take the Canal Railroad from New
aven.
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 23

New Britain. Black bass of large size are caught in Shuttle Meadows pond,
two miles from town. Route: Hartford, Providence and Fishkill Railroad.
_ ast Glastonbury. The headwaters of Roaring Brook afford good trout fish-
ing. ee
The Farmington River has been stocked with California salmon. Go via the
Canal Railroad to Farmington or Granby, in both of which places there are hotels,

Danbury anglers resort to Lake Kenosha with its boating and excellent fishing.
It is two miles from the village, reached by a pleasant drive. Danbury is on the
Danbury and Norwalk, and the Housatonic Railroads. Two hotels.

Middlesex County—

Saybrook Point, at the mouth of the Connecticut River, furnishes excellent
shooting for ducks, broadbills, red heads, black ducks and dippers. - Reached by
the Shore Line, or Connecticut Valley Railroad. There is a good hotel within
forty rods of the depot.

Last Hampton, Excellent black bass fishing in Lake Pocatsopogue whose
waters have also been stocked with salmon. Reached via the New York and
Boston Air Line. Buell's is gens stopping place,

Clinton. Woodcock, ruffed grouse, pickerel. Reached via the New York,
New Haven and Hartford Railroad, twenty-three miles from New Haven.

Higganum. Salmon are taken in the Connecticut. Reached via the Con-
necticut Valley Railroad.

New Haven County—

Guilford. Duck and snipe shooting, and good fishing. Guilford is on the
New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, sixteen miles from New Haven.
Hotel, the Guilford House, and at Guilford Point several summer hotels.

Milford. Several trout streams in the wouys and a variety of fishing in the
Sound. Route: New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. Hotel: the
Milford House, $2. Charles Island with a small hotel, is a summer resort, and
affords good fishing.

New Haven. Onthe East Haven marshes snipe abound. On the hills wild
pigeons are found in their season, and quails also abound. On the ridge that joins
the East and West Rock quails are found in considerable numbers, and on the
West Haven side isa series of salt water flats that extend for several miles. These
of course are much hunted. Savin Rock or Light House Point are within an hour’s
drive by carriage, and both afford good fishing, while by the Shore Line Railroad
a few minutes ride by the early train will place the angler at Brantord, Double
Beach, Stony Creek, Guilford, the Thimble Islands, and other places long known
as tip-top fishing grounds for black fish, sea bass, weak fish, lobsters, etc., and
now provided with hotels and boarding houses of all classes and every style of

retension. ;
y Stony Creek. Good duck shooting on the Shore Line Railroad. Guides and
information can be obtained at Frink’s Hotel. Several inexpensive hotels. For
full information address Richard Payne or Henry Rogers, From the Indian
Point hotel boats may be hired (25 to so cents) for the Thimble Islands.

The Thimble Islands. A resort that ought to be brought more generally to
the notice of the people outside of Connecticut, is the ‘‘ Thimble Islands,” ying
between New Haven and New London, and reached by the Shore Line Railroa
from Stony Creek, Branford or Guilford stations. There are several hundred of
these islands, with bold shores, and splendid sea fishing of all kinds convenient,
offering greater variety and change of scenery than is usually afforded by any
single pleasure resort. A cruise among these islands ina yacht gives perfect
dolce far niente. The old Double Beach House, a famous resort for fifty years,
the Branford Point House, and a dozen new ones, offer abundant hotel accommo-
dation. Many of the islands are occupied by private cottages. The pleasantest
way to reach the islands from points south of New York, is to take the New
Haven steamboat line at Peck Slip, New York, at 11 p. m., Sleep all night com-
fortably, and reach Stony Creek in time for breakfast. _

West Meriden. Good snipe shooting. Reached via the New York, New
Haven and Hartford Railroad, to Meriden. ‘

Litchfield County—
Canaan, The Twin Lakes are fast growing into favor as a camping and pic-
nic resort. On the mountain tops near at hand, are lakes as wild and much less
24 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

frequented than the Adirondacks or Maine lakes, and abundantly stocked with
fish and game.

The ‘* Twins ’'—‘*' Waushinee” and ‘‘ Waushining ’’—are on the Connecticut
Western Railroad, twelve miles east of Millerton, which is on the Harlem road,
and fifty-seven miles west from Hartford. They are on high ground, and held in
place by a range of hills. The Twins are ‘* siamesed’’ together by a narrow,
crooked strait, that is barely navigable in low water. Both lakes are well stocked
with the fish usually found in this region, and vast quantities of pickerel and
perch are taken from the smaller lake during the winter. The large lake—some
six miles in circuit—haslong been famous for its fine pike (pickerel they are called
hereabouts), fish of five to seven pounds weight being not unusual in the bygone
days ; but since the stocking of the waters with black bass, some years since, the
pike are not so plenty nor so large. The abundant supply of bass, however,
more than makes up for it, and during the summer affords tare sport to those ex-
perts who know the when and the how to take them. The lakes have also been
stocked with land locked salmon. Close around this lake region are numerous
trout streams, which afford the angler fine sport; notably More Brook and
Bracie’s brook, in Salisbury, and Bartholomew, Spurr, and Lee brooks, in Shef-
field, and the Sages’ Ravine brook, that divides the two States. These streams
are hardly large enough for the fly-fisher’s best efforts, though trout of two pounds
weight, have been taken from the Lee brook, and very good creels full in Sages’
Ravine and the More Brook. .

The game in the neighborhood comprises grouse, woodcock, quail, squirrels,
and rabbits, mink and otter, fox, wild-cat, and woodchucks, Of ducks there are
the broad-bill, shell drake, whistler, buffle-head, brant, black duck, and in short
nearly every kind found on any fresh water, and in great abundance; wild geese
are here in great numbers, and quail, woodcock and pigeons in sufficient quanti-
ties to insure good sport. From New York City via Harlem and Connecticut
Railroads, the fare is $2.80. Board at the Twin Lakes Trout Farm, Corbin’s
Union Depot Hotel, and at Salisbury, which see.

Hu Cab HUH es Good bass fishing. Route: Connecticut Western Railroad from
artford.

Kent. The Spectacle Ponds are two lakes amid the forest on a high plain to
the west, and reached by a steep road. These waters have been stocked with
land locked salmon, Reached via the Housatonic Railroad from Bridgeport or
Pittsfield. Hotel, the Kent Plains House.

New Milford. Fine black bass fishing in the Housatonic River. Route as
above. Hotel, the New Milford House.

Salisbury. For game and fish see Canaan. The Twin Lakes are six miles
distant, reached via a good wagon road. Route: from Hartford via the Connec-
ticut Western. Hotels, Barnard House $2; anda large summer boarding house.

West Norfolk. Trouting in the vicinity. Route as above.

Winsted. Some distance above the village on a high plateau, is Long Lake,
which has been stocked with land locked salmon. Route: Naugatuck Railroad
from Bridgeport ; fare $1.85; or Connecticut Western Railroad from Hartford.
Hotels, Clarke House $2; Beardsley House.

Litch field is one of the favorite quiet and un fashionable summer resorts of the
State. Bantam Lake, reached by a pleasant drive, is a beautiful sheet of water,
full of many kinds of fish, and is much visited by the summer tourists and pleas—
ure seekers who resort to Litchfield. Take the Naugatuck Railroad from
Bridgeport.

New London County—

_Niantic. The striped bass in the river afford excellent sport. The fishing at
this point is the more attractive, as it is done from a bridge not twenty yards from
the hotel, on the flood tide, and from below the railroad bridge at the ebb, and by
trawling at night. The current is very rapid, and from the bridge, the line
sweeps the whole width of the river at this point of the channel. The hotel is
comfortable, and the hening ground within call of the dinner-bell. Blood Point,
one mile from Niantic, is a famous resort for fishing for large striped bass. Nian-
tic is six miles from New London, is reached from East Lyme, and is one mile
from that place, The Niantic River, two-and-a-half miles long, connects the bay
with a lake which receives the waters of several fine trout streams, so that the
river and bay form a natural breeding and spawning ground for bass. There
are two hotels, one at Block Point on the East Lyme side, and the other on the
opposite side of the river at Bloody Point. Niantic Bay is three miles wide, and
GAME AND #£I1SH RESORTS. 25

has a depth of three fathoms. In the channel below the railroad bridge it is five
fathoms. A small fish known as mummychugs is used for bait.

Norwich. Fly fishing for shad at Greenville Dam, one mile above Norwich,
on the Shetucket River. Dace and bony fish are also caught there, and the river
has been stocked with California and Kennebec salmon. Reached via the New
ae New England, or the New London Northern Railroads. Hotels $2.50,

3 and less.

New London. Good striped bass fishing at Rope Ferry, on the Niantic River,
and a variety of fishing on the Sound. Reached via steamboat or rail from New
York and Boston.

Noank, a little villaze midway between New London and Stonington, fur-
nishes excellent fishing for mackerel, blue fish, tautog, flounders, porgies and
squeteague, or weak fish, locally known as yellow-fins. The principal fishing
ground is Block Island Sound. ood duck shooting may be had in season.

Tolland. Skungaurong, Snipsie, Square and Bolton Pond, all within an hour’s
drive, afford as good boats and as good pond fishing as can be had at any point
in the State. Woodcock and snipe are in fair abundance. Route Central Ver-
mont Railroad.

Windham County—

Brooklyn. Quail, ruffed grouse and woodcock. Take the New York and
New England Railroad to Danielsonville, thence a drive of four miles. Hotel, the
Putnam House. u

Woodstock. One mile from the village is Woodstock Lake, where there is
good boating and fishing. Woodstock is a quiet country town with one hotel,
where .the stranger will Bnd comfortable accommodations. Take the New York
and New England Railroad to Putnam, thence five miles via stage or hired
conveyance.

 

DAKOTA.

The territory is divided into two nearly equal parts by the
Missouri River, which flows through it from northwest to south-
east. The surface of the country north and east of the river is
broken up by many lakes, some of them of large size, and all
abounding in fish and game. From the southwest, there are a
series of gradually rising plateaus, extending west to the Black
Hills, and the Rocky Mountain spurs. The first of these plateaus
is the Coteau des Prairies, west of this the Coteau de Missouri ;
north is the valley of the Red River, and west of this another
plateau, extending to the Rocky Mountains. These plains are
diversified by occasional lofty buttes, and deep cafions. In the
south and southwestern part of the territory, are the Bad Lands,
sterile plains of blue clay land. The plateaus and mountains are
full of game, including the larger species common in the west,
with all the wild fowl and fish usually found in the neighboring
States and territories. The country is thinly settled, and the game
consequently for the most part undisturbed. The North Pacific
and Central Pacific Railroads and the Missouri River, are the
principal lines of access to the Territory. The population is con-
fined to the eastern and southern borders, and the line of the

2
26 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

Northern Pacific Road. The interior is uninhabited, or occupied
by hostile Indian tribes, and travelling without armed escourt
consequently dangerous.

Black Hills. Asa game region, the Black Hills will compare very favorably
with any locality in the country. Deer of two species are most abundant, the
white-tailed and the mule deer. Elk are numerous, grizzly bears, mountain
sheep, cougar, wild-cat, Canada lynx, grey wolf, and coyote, are common, The
kit-fox, or swift, is abundant on the plains. The mink, otter and badger are
abundant on the rivers flowing into the Missouri, and squirrels, gophers, wood-
chucks and muskrats are common on the plains. The beaver builds its dams in
all the streams. Game birds are well represented by several species of geese
and ducks, which are to be found along the various water-courses in and about
the Hills, and by at least two species of grouse, the sharp-tailed and the ruffed.
The former are numerous along the open valleys and in the sparsely-wooded
hili-sides, and the latter among the dense pines of the higher land. Altogether,
the Black Hills offer to the sportsman an abundance and variety of game, and
since opened to the white man, are as much esteemed asa hunting-ground by
him, as formerly by the Indian. ;

From the north there are routes from Bismark, Fort Pierre and Brule City to
the northern and northwestern parts of the Hills. From the east there are trails
from Yankton, Sioux City and Kearney Junction. There are three routes from
the south; from North Platte and Sidney in Nebraska, and from Cheyenne,
pening ; and one from the west, by the way of Whisky Gap and Independence

ock.

The route from Cheyenne is said to be the safest, and preferable to the others.

Crystal Springs is a fine ground for ducks, geese, swans, etc. A station on
the Northern Pacific Railroad, sixty-four miles east of Bismark. The lakes and
sloughs are all shallow, with hard bottoms. A boat is unnecessary, as the hunter
can walk through the rice and rushes.

Barnes County—

_ Worthington, on the Northern Pacific Railroad. There are a few buffalo,
with plesty of elk, antelope, wolves, jack rabbits and other game. The country
is rolling prairie.

Burleigh County—

Bismark, on the Northern Pacific Railroad, is an excellent point for sportsmen
to make their headquarters. In the surrounding country will be found buffalo,
large droves of elk and antelope, black-tail deer in abundance, and unlimited
numbers of swans, brant, geese, ducks, plover, snipe and pinnated grouse.

Cass County—

Fargo. Buffalo, black bear, elk, black-tail deer, antelope, canvas-backs,
mallards, blue and green-winged teal, widgeons, and red-head ducks, brant,
Canada geese, swans, pelicans, snipe, curlew, upland and golden plover, ruffed
and pinnated grouse. Fargo is on the Northern Pacific Railroad, and is the point
of departure of the Red River steamers. The sportsman will find good accommo-
dations at the Headquarters Hotel. From Fargo, for two hundred and fifty miles
out to the Missouri, the country is mostly open rolling prairie. Rivers and
lakes are comparatively rare, but when found, abound in fish and attract great
quantities of game to their wooded shores. Antelope, elk, wolves, jack rabbits,
and other ime abound. Buffalo are rare, as hostile Indians beyond the Mis-
souri watch the fords jealously to prevent their crossing.

Charles Mix County—

White Swan. Black-tail deer; antelope are plenty on the Bijou Hills, forty-
five miles up the river. i
Stutsman County—

Famestown. Elk, antelope, wolves, jack rabbits and other i
with buflalo occasionally. Rolling prairie. Seen e rs
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 27

DELAWARE.

This State occupies the eastern portion of the peninsula
which lies between the Delaware Bay and the Atlantic Ocean on
the east, and the Chesapeake Bay on the west. The greatest
length of the State is ninety-six miles, the breadth thirty-seven,
the whole area 2,120, and the population 125,000, The surface is
hilly and rolling in the northern part, and level in the central and
southern portions. The coast is indented by numerous bays and
inlets, which are the resort of great numbers of wild-fowl, and are
easily reached by the Delaware railroads and their branches, or by
the different lines of steamboats plying on the Bay.

Kent County—

Bombay Hook, WLogan’s Hotel is a well-known resort for gunners. Bay and
beach birds are here found in abundance. Reached from Dover, which is on the
Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad, or via boat from Philadelphia.

Kitshannock, nine miles from Dover, is a well-known place for bay and beach
bird shooting. A good hotel here. :

Little Creek Landing. On Little Creek is to be tound woodcock, quail, snipe
and other duck shooting. A few miles from Dover, which is on the Philadelphia,
Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad. Hotel at Dover, the Capitol House.

Suyrna. at and snipe shooting. Reached via Philadelphia, Wilmington
and Baltimore Railroad. Two hotels, the Delaware and the Smyrna.

Dover. On the creeks near the city are woodcock, quail, snipe, ducks and
wild-fowl of several varieties.

Near Milford, are the popular sportsmen’s resorts, Thorn Point and Doctor’s
Island, which are annually visited by gunners. The Milford House furnishes
comfortable accommodations. Reached via the Junction and Breakwater
Railroad.

New Castle County—

Delaware City. Woodcock, quailand snipe on the Dragon Marshes, Reached
via the Pennsylvania and Delaware Railroad. : ;

Port Penn. On the marshes are snipe, and excellent rail shooting.

Sussex County—

Lewes, on Lewes Creek and Delaware Bay, affords excellent bay-bird and
wild-fowl shooting, with fresh and salt water fishing. Terrapins, rock-fish, perch,
eels, and near the Breakwater, large numbers of black fish and flounders. The
route is via the Junction and Breakwater Railroad. The Atlantic House and
the United States House afford comfortable accommodations.

Rehototh Beach, a few miles south of Lewes, is a summer resort for Delaware

eople, and there the visitor will find home-like hotels, with fishing and shooting
¢ neighborhood.

 

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

The District of Columbia, with the adjoining counties of Mary-
land and Virginia, is one of the best game bird and fish centres in
the country. Dr. Coues has found two hundred and twenty-six
different varieties of birds there. Ducks, geese, snipe, woodcock,
28 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

wild turkeys, ruffed grouse, quail, reed birds, wild pigeons, etc.,
can be obtained in greater quantities here, than at much-talked-of
places hundreds of miles further off, and scarcely accessible.

Washington. There are hundreds of pice on the Potomac, within two or
three hours’ drive of Washington, where black bass and perch are abundant, and
where the rarest sport is afforded. The Little Falls, Dam No. 7, and the basin
above it, Stubblefield Falls, the Great Falls, and many other places between
Washington and the latter point, are celebrated for good fishing. Duck and snipe
shooting, and on the marshes in the vicinity of the city are reed birds, black-birds,
ortolans, jack snipe, stiff-tails, and canvas-back ducks. :

Marlborough Point is the best place in the vicinity for quail, or for bar shoot-
ing for mallard ducks. 2 4

On the eastern branch near the vicinity of Benning’s Bridge, is a locality for
plover, mallard, sprig-tail and teal ducks, and reed birds, ‘

Black Bass Fishing in the Reservoirs. Connected with the aqueduct which
supplies the cities of Washington and Georgetown with Potomac water, are two
immense reservoirs, one of which is known as the receiving reservoir, and the
other as the distributing reservoir. The first is used for the storage of water to
supply the city in case of a freshet in the river, or when the water continues
muddy for any length of time ; and the other, located at the head of the pipe line,
supplies the various mains leading to the two cities. Both of these reservoirs are
filled with black bass. The receiving reservoir was first completed and filled
with water. It has been in use about fifteen years, and during that time the bass
have increased and multiplied therein with great rapidity ; besides the supply is
annually increased by the young ones, which come down the conduit from the
Falls, and easily get through the wire screens into the reservoir, on account of
their diminutive size. Many now in the waters of the reservoir, have been there
twelve or fourteen years, amd in that time have attained a weight of from four to
five pounds. This reservoir coversan area of forty-four acres, and variesin depth
from two to fifty feet. The presence of fish in the reservoirs was long a disputed

uestion, but is now generally admitted that they are beneficial to the water, as
t ey feed upon the animalculz, and to a great extent clear it of insects and vege-
table matter, washed therein by rains from the surrounding hills, which are culti-
vated. Some years since it was noticed in the spring, that the water had a fetid
taste and smell, and it was then argued that its offensiveness proceeded from fish
in a state of decomposition in the reservoirs or pipes leading to the city. Other
water-works in different parts of the country had the same trouble, and the sub-
ject was scientifically investigated. The generally received opinion now is, that
it arises from the confervz, which, under favorable circumstances, are generated
in all reservoirs.

The bait used for bass in these waters is live minnows, frogs, and crawfish.
They never rise to a fly in the still water of the reservoirs, though they often take
it in the Potomac in places where rocks abound, forming rapids and eddies. The
bass undoubtedly spawn in the reservoirs, and for that purpose seek the head-
waters in the spring, where it is not sodeep. As warm weather approaches they
return to the deep water, Fish are frequently taken, weighing from two to three
pounds, and when a bass of that size is hooked in water fifteen or twenty feet
deep, with no rocks, grass, or snags to catch the line, he affords delightful sport.
Their favorite feeding time is early morning. Trolling for them with minnow for
bait, is often very successful in these reservoirs, especially in August and Septem-
ber. A permit from the aqueduct authorities is necessary, to enjoy the privilege
ot fishing in these waters, but the courteous gentlemen who have charge of the
work, never refuse such permission to gentlemen whom they know will not abuse
the privilege.

 

FLORIDA.

Florida has an area of 59,268 square miles, and a population
of 187,748. The country is level throughout the State, with the
exception of between the Suwannee and Apalachicola Rivers
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 29

where the hills are.of inconsiderable height. In the southern part
of the State, a wide stretch of country known as the Everglades, is
annually submerged, and north of this country, the elevation does
not exceed two hundred feet. Florida is well supplied with har-
bors and bays, especially upon the Gulf; the whole extent of her
coast line is 1,150 miles. The St. John’s, Apalachicola and other
rivers, with their numerous tributaries, and the many lakes con-
nected with them, form a system of water communication with
the greater part of the inland. The northern and eastern coun-
ties are also accessible by railroads, and new roads are being con-
structed as the development of the country demands them.
Florida has vast forests of pine and live oak, dense swamps, cane-
brakes and prairie lands. The greater part of the State is unset-
tled, much of it has never been disturbed by the settler, and here
the sportsman will find game in all its primitive abundance, in-
cluding the varieties here mentioned :—

Animais.—Panther, common in all the unsettled parts of the
State, lynx, abundant and do.; grey wolf, some nearly black, not
common; grey fox, common; raccoon, very abundant ; common
bear do; red deer abundant but very small; southern fox squirrel,
abundant, confined to pine woods, affords fine sport; grey squirrel
very abundant and very tame; grey rabbit, marsh rabbit, and
opossum, very common.

Birds. — Wild turkey, quail, kill-deer, plover, Wilson plover,
piping plover, golden and black belly, very numerous ; woodcock,
not very abundant; snipe very numerous, fly in large flocks and
cover the whole country; red-breasted snipe very numerous ;
willet, yellow legs, and godwit, very common; Hudson curlew
and Esquimaux, rare; long-billed curlew abundant; black-neck
stilt, rails, galannules, herons, cranes and ibis, all common.

Ducks, Geese, etc.—Mallard, very abundant ; black duck, com-
mon; pin-tail, green-winged teal, blue-winged teal, blue-winged
shoveller, wood duck, scaup duck, red-head, all abundant ; bald
pate, canvas back, butter ball, ruddy duck, all common ; hooded
meganser, abundant; Canada goose, common in western Florida.

ftsh.—Sheepshead, red-fish or channel bass, salt water trout,
drum, whiting, red-snapper, or grouper, black grouper, cobia,
pompano, cavalli, black fish, or sea bass, hog fish, croaker, black
grunt, skip jack, mullet, salt water catfish, shark, gar fish, or (saw
fish), angel fish, ray, skate, torpedo fish, great ray or devil fish.
The fresh water fish are the black trout, or bass, yellow perch,
sunfish, blue bream, red-bellied perch, goggle-eyed perch.

Brevard County—

Fort Capron, at Indian River Inlet, is an excellent point for the hunter or fish-
erman. There are red fish, red snapper, sheepshead, cavalli, red trout, sea mul-
let, pompano, Jew fish and tarpon, with other varieties, and a good game country
in the interiqr. Good board can be found at Captain Payne’s, A shart distance
30 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

from Capron is Fort Pierce, an excellent camping ground where the same sport
may behad. For route to both these points, see New Smyrna, Volusia County.
See also Titusville,

Clay County—

Magnolia. Black Creek is a navigable stream for fishermen and sportsmen.
On a sunny day its banks are lined with alligators, while fish and game of all
Te are plentiful. A regular landing for St. John’s River steamboats.

otel, $s.

Columbia County—

Lake City, Deer, wild turkeys, ducks, quail; trout, bream, speckled bream.
Reached via the Jacksonville, Pensacola and Mobile Railroad. Board $25 to
$30 per month ; guides $1 to $1.25 ; teams $3 to $5.

The Gulf Counties—

In all the counties along the Gulf of Mexico, and in nearly all the heavily
timbered lands in the others, are to be found all kinds of game, such as bear, deer
wild turkeys, panthers, catamounts, wild cats, etc. Deer and turkey are abun—
dant. In all the lakes, rivers, and creeks are an abundance of fish, such as trout,
perch, jack or hake, catfish, black fish, bream, etc. On the coast there are the

nest of oysters, clams, turtle, and every variety of salt water fish. During the
winter all the lakes, ponds, bays, inlets, rivers, etc., have an abundance of every
variety of water fowl. Sportsmen should visit Middle Florida by all means and
take a hunt and a fish down on the coast. =

Escambia County—

This is one of the best sporting counties in West Forida. On the Perdido,
Black Water, Escambia, East Bay, and Choctawhatchee Rivers, and on Palmetto,
Soldier, St. Johns, and Stone anny creeks, on the Grand Lagoon, Bear and
Deer Points, and on Bayous Grande, Checo, Texar, Marquis, Garcon and -Tar-
kill, all within a few hours’ sail of Pensacola and the Navy Yard, can be found
excellent fish in many varieties, with deer, bear, turkey, squirrel, etc. Within
five miles of the Navy Yard any sane of game can be obtained. The Grand
Lagoon furnishes fine duck shooting all the year. The summer or wood duck
remains the entire year, and in the fall and winter it is visited by great numbers
of Mallard or English duck, red-heads, blackwing teal, wood duck, large crested,
widgeon or bald heads, bullheads, sawbills, black ducks, gadwalls, and the wild
goose and swan. In the spring the sprig-tail or pin-tail, spoon-bill or shoveler
and the blackwing teal. The latter come in great clouds and linger until late in
May. They usually feed in shallow water along the shore, and are often found
in great numbers on the beach, which affords the stealthy gunner a capital chance
to slaughter them by the wholesale. In what is known as the Live Oak Reserva-
tion, are deer, bears, and wild turkeys in great numbers. The fishing is for blue-
fish, pompano, Spanish mackerel, sheepshead, cavalli, sea trout, channel bass,
red snappers, and groupers. Reached via steamer from New Orleans, St. Mark’s
and other points, and via Pensacola Railroad, connecting at Junction with Mobile
and Montgomery Railroad. Board $20 per month,

Duval County—

Facksonvilie, Excursions go out to the fishing banks off the St. John’s bar,
where large snappers and black fish are caught.

Asa place from which one may reach the most attractive portions of the State
Jacksonville should be selected. “Situated upon the St. John’s, it has steam com-
munication with every settlement upon that interesting river, and with St. Augus-
tine, New Smyrna and Indian River, upon the coast. 1t has direct rail connec-
tion with Tallahassee, the capital of the State, with Cedar Keys upon the west
coast, and thence with all the gulf ports, the Keys and Cuba, and with Savannah
via the old circuitous route, anda more direct new one. Here the camper-out
should procure his outfit, except tent.

From Jacksonville to Enterprise, two hundred miles up the St. John’s, the fare
by steamer is $12, and of proportionable price to intervening landings. ’ To Salt
Lake, the farthest point reached by steamers, (curious stern-wheelers), jt is about
$6 more; all freight at the rate of about $r per barrel ; a small boat ‘up the St.
John’s pays $5 for passage upon the steamers, Indian River, the great game sec-
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 31

tion, is reached via Salt Lake, from the St. John’s, the dist:
point being but six miles. i : esa

Franklin County—

Apalachicola, Curlew, plover, snipe, rail, quail, ducks and geese, At

Point and Topsil-bluff, three miles dustaaity is good deer hunting. The acne
itty miles up the river, reached by steamer, is an excellent hunting ground for
many kinds of game. Transportation of small boats to this point, $2. Board at
moderate rates, and dogs for deer hunting can be obtained at Apalachicola.
Reached via steamer from St. Mark’s, and other points.

Gadsden County—

Chattahoochee. Deer, beaver, fox and grey squirrels, raccoons, opossums
wild turkeys; ducks, quail; trout, speckled perch, and other varieties of fish:
The best fishing is at Fish Lake, two miles from the depot. The route is via the
Jacksonville, Pensacola and Mobile Railroad. Board $2 to $2.50 ; guides $0.75 to
$1.50; boats at reasonable rates.

Quincy. Bears, deer, wild turkeys, ducks, ruffed grouse, woodcock, small
ame in abundance; trout, rock fish, bream, and several varieties of perch.
oute as above. Board $1 to $3; teams $3 to $4 ; guides and boatscan be secured

when necessary. :

Hamilton County—

Yasper. Bears, deer, wild hogs, turkeys, ducks, geese, ruffed grouse, snipe,
and many other varieties of birds, with small game, and excellent fishing.
Reached via the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad. Hotels and private board $15 per
week: teams $3. Country undulating pine and hammock lands.

Hillsborough County—

At Boca Ciega Bay, Mr. Murphy’s youngest son is a good boatman, and a
reliable guide to the game districts of the neighborhood.

Tampa. For the piscator, Tampa does not present many inducements. A
few miles up the Hillsborough river, fair trout fishing can be obtained, and about
the docks and in the channel, passable sheepsheading will be found. By taking
a row or sail boat, and proceeniy to the oyster bar, nine miles down the bay,
superior sheepshead and drum fishing can be enjoyed. There are several good
boarding houses here. Reached via steamer from Cedar Keys, which see.

Jefferson County—

Monticello, Bear, deer, wild turkey, quail, ducks ; black bass, trout, bream,
perch, with other varieties of game and fish. Reached via Jacksonville, Pensa-
cola and Mobile Railroad. Hotel $2 to $3; private board $1.50 to $2 ; guides $x ;
boat 50 cts ; teams $6,

Leon County—

Tallahassee. The fields are full of quail. In the neighborhood are many small
lakes, in which ducks, geese, brant, and other wild fowl are plentiful. At Lakes
Lafayette and Jackson, six miles distant, and some miles in extent, there is good
fishing as well as shooting. About two miles from town, and on a high hill, which
lies among several small lakes, is a favorite resort for duck-shooters—as the birds
are continually passing and ey ees from lake to lake. There is abundance of
accommodation in the city, and the sportsman will receive all necessary informa-
tion and assistance. Horses and vehicles aie readily obtained. Deer and wild
turkeys are killed within a few miles of the town. .

St. Mark’s, but an hour’s ride from the city, by rail, is on the Gulf; and the
fishing and wild fowl shooting is of the best. Boats and assistants are easily had.

Levy County—

Bronson. Inthe neighborhood, deer, turkeys, brant, duck, and quail can be
found in abundance. Chunky Pond is distant from the village about two miles ; it
is about two miles long and one wide, connecting with a number of smaller ponds,
which extend for a distance of about nine miles. These ponds contain bream and
trout (bass) in endless numbers—the latter ranging from one to fifteen pounds.
Bronson is on the Fernandina and Cedar Keys Railroad, thirty miles from Cedar
32 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

Keys. Board can be obtained for $7 per week; guides for fishing and hunting
can always be found. : :

Cedar Keys is the terminus of the Atlantic and Gulf and West India Road,
Ducks, geese, deer and wild turkeys are found in the vicinity. From the railroad
dock, sea trout (weak fish) ranging from two to six pounds, sea bass and porgies
can be caught with cut bait, and sheepshead with fiddlers. On the points and
about the reefs a few miles from town, superior red and grouper Ashing can be
obtained at Cedar Keys. The sportsman will find unbounded hospitality and
courteous attention on the part,of the inhabitants. From this point the tourist
may take steamship to New Orleans, Tampa, Punta Rassa, Key West, or
Havana. For the purpose of cruising along the coast, or general sporting pur-
poses, suitable boats with experienced sailing masters can be engaged at from
tour to six dollars per day. :

Rosewood. Inthe hammock are bears, deer, and hurkeys in great abundance.
Reached via the Fernandina and Cedar Keys Railroad. r. Ford keeps a good
sportsman’s house.

Hernando County—

Anclote. In the river of thé same name are red fish, sheepshead, tarpum,
with excellent snipe, curlew, coot and duck shooting. Reached by boat from

ay port.

Wovport, The country back of Bayport is well stocked with bear and deer.
and there the sportsman may secure some excellent sport. The section referre:
to can be reached by land, by taking stage from Gainesville, or by leaving Ock-
‘awaha steamers at Silver Spring ; conveyance to Ocala and stage from Ocala to
Brooksville. At the latter place a vehicle of some description can be obtained,
by which Bayport, distant thirty miles, can be reached. The tourist will find the
neighborhood of Brooksville an interesting locality. The immediate neighbor-
hood is hilly, some of the highest points attaining an altitude of over four hundred
feet. In the neighborhood the sportsman will find some crystal lakes, surrounded
by hills, where he can catch trout and bream.

Brooksville, see above,

In the Cheesehowiska River, ten miles from Bayport, are found sheepshead,
cavalli, bream, trout, and red and black groupers. Reached by boat from Bay-
port, or from Homosassa.

Homosassa. In the river and spring are sheepshead, red fish, cavalli, channel
bass, weak fish, red and black groupers, bream, snappers, skip jacks, sea trout
and large snapping turtles. Around the basin and along the banks of the river,
are large numbers of water turkeys, many varieties of sea birds, and ducks in
great abundance. In the woods and hammocks are bears, deer, turkeys, and
other game. There are two routes to Homosassa—one via Savannah, Fernandina,
or Jacksonville to Cedar Keys, and the other via Silver Spring and Ocala. The
sportsman can easily ascertain upon what day he will reach Cedar Keys, and by
addressing Alfred E. Jones, Homosassa, Fla., in advance of the day of arrival,
Mr. J. will be found at the Keys with a boat to transport visitors to his place free
«charge. If unable to communicate with Mr. J. a suitable boat may be char-
t red at Cedar Keys for about $10 for the trip, thirty miles. If the sports-
anan is desirous of visiting an interesting and attractive portion of the State, he
can take steamer from Jacksonville to Silver Spring, and back from the Spring to
Ocala, via stage, a distance of six miles. From Ocala to Homosassa, the distance
is forty miles over a fair road, and E. J. Harris, of the Ocala House, will make
the necessary arrangements for transportation of visitors to the hospitable ingle-
side of A. E. Jones, where will be found excellent accommodations, at moderate
prices. No place in the State presents so many attractions for the sportsman, if
we take into consideration the sporting advantages in connection with home
comforts, excellent accommodations, superior table, perfect cleanliness, and an
admirable climate. Sportsmen who wish to enjoy themselves, and at the same
titne be accompanied by their wives, will find this place to offer many attractions.
Ifa stag party of from two to four wish to enjoy themselves for a few weeks or
months, we would recommend them to ongage Liberty Hall—from $10 to $12 per
week. Visitors will find an ample supply of boats, and for a trifling charge
negroes living on the plantation, will keep the piscator supplied with bait. There
is also a good pair of hounds for deer hunting. The sportsman should provide a
strong bass rod, aod a eee flies, hooks and lines, with large sized

poon for trolling. r. Jones is the Postmaster, and t i i i
a weekly mail, " . : Replace is paws wit
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 33

Madison County—

Madison. Bear, deer, wild turkeys; trout, perch; with other varieti
game and fish. Reached via the Jacksonville, Pensacola and Mobile Hees,
oard $2.50; guides 75 cents to $1; teams $2 to $4; boats free, Country rolling
and prairie. a :
Ellavitle. Bear, deer, wild turkey, quail. Reached via the Jack i
Pensacola and Mobile Railroad. Board $1.50 to $2.50 per day ; ts eae

Marion County—

The Ocklawaha River. The game once very abundant has been much
depleted by wanton destruction. There are still found in fair numbers lim kins,
water-turkeys, herons, painted gallenells, coots, eagles. The black bass shing
is good, and alligators numerous. The river is reached by regular steamer.

Monroe County—

Between the Caloosatchie River and the Big Cypress Swamp and the Ever-
glades, is a country unsurpassed for game. Deer, wild turkeys, ducks and quail
are very abundant. In the waters, good cavalli and other fishing. This country
is reached via rail to Cedar Keys, thence boat to the Caloosatchie River. For
the best sport, provide tent, boat, and camping equipments. A light wagon with
mules is also desirable and can be procured at Manatee. The country is open
and the land firm, A horse at full speed can be ridden almost anywhere without
roads or paths.

Nassau County—

Fernandina, Deer, duck, rail and snipe. Reached via steamer from New
York, Charleston, and Savannah, and by rail from Jacksonville, and Key West.
The Mansion House affords good accommodations. M. W. Downie, proprietor.

Manatee County—

Charlotte Harbor—Bird Key, one mile west of Useppi, is a small island con-
sisting of about forty acres and covered with large mangrove trees. I[t is the
roosting place for the multitudes of birds that frequent Charlotte Harbor. On
the island will be found pelicans, ganet, cormorants, water turkeys, cranes and
herons of all kinds, sizes and descriptions. A person desirous of collecting
ornithological specimens would find this a desirable locality.

Gasparilla Island. The Inlet, at the northern end of this island, teems with
red fish ranging from five to twenty pounds, cavalli, weak fish, bone fish, grunts,
or red and black grouper of large size. Inside the inner point sheepsheading is
excellent, the fish Tanging from one to five pounds. With a stout nine foot rod
and three hooks baited with fiddlers, from one to three sheepshead can be cap-
tured at almost every cast. The water is very clear, and the bottom a white shell
bank, and the fish are visible in dozens slowly swimming along in search of food.
Fiddlers of large size can be secured in quantity for bait on most of the sandy
keys. If placed in an ordinary wooden pail they will live for many days. Red
and other fish will readily take cut fish bait, but seem to prefer minnows.

All the larger islands in the vicinity are stocked with deer, and on most of them
dogs are unnecessary ; still-hunting is preferable. Coons in immense numbers
exist on these islands and their tracks are visible everywhere near the bay
beaches. On the mud flats thousands of snipe and curlews can be seen at any
time, apparently waiting to be destroyed. In the centre of the island the sports-
man will find a large fresh water lagoon where excellent water can be obtained.
The invalid who is piscatorially inclined, and who desires an excellent climate,
should spend a few weeks or months on the northern end of Little Gasparilla.
‘The air is pure, water excellent, frost absent, sea-bathing unequalled, fishing
beyond description, deer plentiful on the island and on the main land.

Peace Creek is para be for eighty miles, and on its banks is fine deer and
turkey hunting. Myakka River is full of alligators. p

Egmont. Eugene Coons, son of the light-house keeper, iaa goad pilot and

uide for the game localities of any part of the Western and Southern coast of
*lorida. His schooner can be chartered for an excursion, and under his pilotage
the trip is pleasant for ladies as well as gentlemen.

The South-eastern Hunting District. Southwest of Lake Okechobee, nearly
to the shore of Charlotte Harbor, and from the Caloosahatchie River tp Bedce
Creek, a distance of sixty miles, the sportsman will tind @ beautiful prairie,
34 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

clothed with luxuriant and nutritious grasses, different from those of the St,
John’s and Atlantic sections. This vast expanse of hunting ground is dotted with
“islands,” that is to say, spots clothed with live oaks and palms. These islands
vary from a few square rods to fifty acres, and here and there will be found small
belts of pine timber, the islands and belts furnishing ample shelter for game.
This section is unequaled by any portion of the United States for deer hunting or
turkey shooting. In crossing the prairie from New Fort Centre large herds of
deer are frequently visible on each side of the trail. Owing to the inequality of the
surface, and the protection afforded by the tall grass and patches of saw palmetto,
the game can be approached without difficulty. Since the removal of the major-
ity of the Seminoles, deer have roamed and increased on the prairie undisturbed.
With the exception of the few annually destroyed in the neighborhood of Fort
Thompson, they are unmolested, the grasses are nutritious, climatic conditions
favorable, and, as a consequence, the amount of deer in this section is fabulous.
This locality is truly the hunter’s paradise, and if he desires variety, he will find
numberless turkeys on the banks of the creek or in the adjoining islands; or if
disposed to indulge in fishing, all that will be necessary is to use a bob, spinner,
or fly, and he will soon tire of landing the largest and fattest trout in the State.
On the rivers and lakes, ducks, coots, yellow-legged snipe, curlews, cranes,
herons, water turkeys, and other birds exist in countless numbers.

If any one should contemplate a visit to this region we would recommend as a
site for his camp a point on the creek ten or fifteen miles west of New Fort Cen-
tre. To reach this locality the sportsman can take steamer to Charleston, Savan-
nah, or Fernandina, and railroad to Cedar Keys; or steamer from New York
to Key West. Punta Rassa can be reached from Cedar Keys or Key West
by steamer, sailing weekly. From Punta Rassa sportsmen can ascend the
river to Fort Thompson, or take a bullock dray from Fort Myers. Mr. Carlton
xesides two miles north of Fort Thompson, and for $3 per day will furnish a con-
veyance to the ereek, To find Mr. C.’s residence after reaching the fort, land on
the west side of the river below the rapids, thence a northerly course must be
kept, leaving the river to the right and the timber to the left. Two miles from
the landing place Mr. Carlton’s residence will be noticed to the lett, near some large
pine timber. Mr. C. will be found to be a good guide—kind, sociable, attentive,
and moderate in his charges ; in fact, a gentleman whom we can unhesitatingly
recommend to the favorable notice of sportsmen.

Orange County—

Altamont furnishes good bass oe and good general hunting. Reached
via St. John’s River to Sanford or Mellonville, thence stage or hired convey-
ance. A.M. Shepherd is an old hunter and fisherman, who will serve as guide.

a popka. Deer, turkeys and quail. Reached via steamer up the St. John’s to
Mellonville, thence by wagon, nine miles.

Mellonville. Within eight miles of Mellonville are deer, bear, panther, tur-
key, snipe, quail, duck, plume birds of various kinds, such as white heron, pink
curlew, blue heron, etc., squirrel, fox, mink, otter, sand-hill crane, and_ hosts
of other fine game. Deer, bear, and panther are hunted with hounds, and a fine
pack can be collected on short notice. Fox hunting affords good sport. Stran-
gers will find plenty of gentlemen who have hounds, and know the stands, who
are always willing to give them sport.

V.-M. Humphries and Count Nersgaroo are the most noted deer stalkers, and
reside near Mellonville. The finest hunting ground is the southwestern part of
Orange County, on the coast. The country is invariably too rough, being cov-
ered with saw palmetto, but in the interior a carriage can be driven one hundred
miles through the pine woods, with scrubs or thickets on every hand, where the
deer can be ‘‘ jumped ”’ at all times.

Mellonville is reached by steamer on the St. John’s River, and hunters should
take a team and wagon at Mellonville, with tent and supplies to last a few days,
and about forty miles distant, they will find excellent hunting on Davenport Creek.
There are hotels at Mellonville, but none in the hunting grounds. Fish abound
in all the streams and lakes. Shad are taken with the fly in Lake Monroe:
black bass are found there in great numbers, and at the outlet are white herons,
blue ducks, rail; and bass. 2

Longwood. Deer, turkeys, quail, black bass, bream, with other varieties of
fish and game. Reached via steamer to Lake Jessup, thence stage or hired con-
veyance, or by wagon from Mellonville,

Salt Lake is well worth visiting, especially if the day is warm, and the sports-
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 35

man fond of ’gator shooting. Deer hunting in this neighborhood is fai
region wont be sore wouey. ofa visits ae legs, kill deer, ved pale
snipe, and other varieties, coots, pintail, an ack ducks, and te:
birds found here. Black bass abound. Sh ES eNne
Orange Dale. Grey and fox squirrels, and other game in Hutching’s
Hammock. St. John’s R
At Lake George, on St. John’s River, large bass and wild fowl in great. a
dance. In Bell's Stream, six miles from the Drayton Island Sane pel
bass fishing can be found. This hotel is much favored by sportsmen ; itis kept
by a Mr. Crosby. St. John river steamers make this locality easy of access.

Putnam County—

Sax Mateo. Deer, turkeys and squirrels in abundance; in the St. John’s
mullet are taken in large quantities, and Lake May, six miles distant, is an excel-
lent fishing ground for fresh water trout. San Mateo is on the river, eighteen
miles below Jacksonville, and reached by steamer.

Volusia County—

_ Enterprize. Deer, wild turkey, quail, duck and snipe ; black bass. Reached
via steamer up the St. John’s. A good place for sportsmen is at Aiken’s, twelve
miles from Enterprize, on the road to New Smyrna.

New Smyrna and the Indian River Country, Deer, bears, wild turkeys. The
fishing comprises sheepshead, red bass, salt water trout, whiting, black-fish,
grunts, scup, groupers, rock groupers, cavalli, snappers, drum, bezugas, pigfish,
catfish, sharks, and rays. Besides these common species, are occasionally taken
specimens of more southern and tropical forms, which variety adds much to the
interest of aday’s sport in these waters. The sheepshead run from one-half to
seven pounds ; average, three pounds; bass from one to thirty pounds ; average
five pounds ; grouper from one to fifteen pounds ; average, three pounds ; snap-
per from one-half to ten pounds ; average, two pounds ; trout from one to twenty
pounds; average, four pounds; drumfish from five to fifty pounds ; average, ten

ounds ; whiting and pigfish average one-half pound each; black fish about one-

alf pound ; blue-fish, one-half pound.

In Spruce Creek, excellent black bass, red fish, sea trout, jew fish and tarpum
fishing. The bass average two and a half pounds. Go to Major Alden’s house, or
Mr, Loud’s, One of the best guides is Morrison Lewis. is terms are $2 per
day, and $r for the use of a horse, which will be found necessary in hunting the
greet swamp that extends from New Smyrna to the head of Indian River. The

est time for hunting is from r5th December to rst February. In February the
does are with fawn, and Only the bucks are fit to kill, Wild turkeys should not
be killed after February. The fishing is best after February.

The Hillsboro’ for twenty miles is filled with mangrove and marshy islands,
making many exceedingly tortuous channels difficult to follow, ‘‘ Shipyard
Reach,” fifteen miles south of Smyrna, is a noted place for ducks ; but the best
of all grounds is a little below on the west channel, where they come to a little
pool all day long to drink. Parties have been here and shot a hundred to the
man in halt a day’s shooting. Bissett’s orange mound is a favorite place ; here
the wild oranges glow an sleam through ‘the dark foliage, covering a shell
mound, at whose base is a drinking pool where the ducks flack by scores. October
and November are the best months, and again in March, the interim being spent
by the greater part of the mass of ducks wintering in Florida further south.

The route to New Smyrna is up the St. John’s to Enterprise, thence via stage
or hired conveyance across the country. Or via steamer up the St. John’s and
Deep River to Crescent City, thence by stages which make bi-weekly trips. Boats
are transferred for from $1 to $20. ni .

Titusville and the Indian River Country. Titusville is a point of arrival and
departure for more interesting points on the river. For ducks one must go across
the river to Dummitt’s, ten miles, or to Banana creek, still further. For deer, to
Merritt’s Island, or to the prairies bordering Salt or South Lakes. Boatmen and
guides can be hired to any point on the lagoon and interior. James Stewart, cap-
tain of the “ Blonde,” is perfectly trustworthy and reliable. Jim Russell is thor-
oughly posted upon the game and fish of Indian River, and will be found of great
value to any party contemplating a winter's camp here.

Indian River, so called, is not properly a river; but rather a sound or salt
water lagoon, being separated from the ocean by a narrow strip of sandy land,
36 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

overgrown with palmettoes and mangroves. It is about one hundred and fifty
miles long, and ranges from several miles to forty yards in width. On the east it
is fed by several inlets from the sea, through which the tide ebbs and flows freely.
Several large rivers enter it from the west, the principal of which are the San
Sebastian, Santa Lucia, and Locha Hatchee. Besides large game, such as bear,
deer, turkeys, etc., this region literally swarms with snipe and ducks, at least
during the winter months. Partridges (bob whites) are also sufficiently numerous
to afford sport. The snipe shooting on the savannahsis simply superb. These
savannahs (or natural meadows) afford sufficient moisture to attract the birds,
without being so miry as to render the walking difficult or fatiguing, as is so often
the case at points further north,

The localities for fish and game in Volusia and Brevard Counties, are these :

For fish go to New Smyrna, Indian River inlet or Jupiter. For duck, Mos-

uito lagoon and Hillsboro’, at the places already mentioned, the marshes between

lack Point and the canal, at Dummitt’s, Pelican Island, near the Narrows, and
St. Lucie Sound. Ten Mile Creek, ten miles back of Fort Pierce, also abounds in
teal and wood duck. For deer and bear, ‘‘ Turnbull’s hammock,’’ near New
Smyrna ; Merritt’s Island, and the beach ridge, three miles from the southern
end ; the Narrows; St. John’s prairie, five miles west of Capron and beyond.
For turkey, St. John’s prairie and about St. Lucie Sound.

There are good camping sites at Indian River canal, Jones’ Point, Addison
Point, Horse Creek, Turkey Creek, south end of Merritt's Island; St. Sebastian,
Barker’s Bluff, Fort Capron, Fort Pierce, and at various points along St. Lucie
Sounds, Water may be procured almost anywhere, by digging a shallow pit in
the sand,

St, John’s County—

Remington Park, Black River abounds in large bass. Fine trout, (weak fish)
and bass, weighing six pounds are taken up the river a short distance from where
it pupils into the St. John’s. No hotels, but Capt. H. will secure accommoda-
tion for gentlemen in private quarters. Camping out in winter is preferable, al-
though the river steamers make the locality sufficiently accessible from hotel
accommodation.

St. Augustine. Deer,rabbits, squirrels, foxes, wild turkeys. ducks, including
the mallard, teal, summer, spoonbill, widgeon, shagpole, sprigtail, black-head,
blue-head, En lish diver, canvas-back, and raft-duck ; channel bass, trout,—mul-
let,—whiting, black fish, sheepshead. Sportsmen hunt some few miles south of
the city on the Halifax River, as they like the idea of spending a few weeks of
camp life. They generally go by way of the Matanzas River, running South
about twenty-five miles; thence they are hauled over—boat and all—a strip of
land nine miles in widch to the Halifax River.

Suwannee County—

Live Oak. Deer and wild turkey. In the ponds and lakes east and southeast
of Live Oak many. varieties of fish are caught. The Suwannee River is an excel-
lent stream for fish and game. Live Oak is at the junction of the Attantic and
Gulf, and the Jacksonville, Pensacola and Mobile Railroads, Board in private
house $15 to $35 per month ; guides $1 to $1.50.

Wakulla County—

New Port. On the opposite side of the river, deer, bears, turkeys, and other
game in great quantity. The route is by boat from St. Mark's.

St. Mark's, Bears, deer, wild turkeys, quail, snipe, geese, brant, ducks, and
other wild fowl. Reached via the Jacksonville, Pensacola and Mobile Railroad,
Paes by the Gulf Steamers, Sportsmen should provide camping outfit. Guides

x to $2.

Washington County—

Philli~'s Inlet. Deer, bear, and wild turkey in great abundance.
Lake Okechobee. There is but one practicable route to Luke Okechobee
that via the Kissimmee River. There are, however, two routes to that river, A
ood boat, provisions, and everything necessary for a month’s stay, are necessary
y either. One is from Indian River, at St. Lucie, across the country, to the
location of old Fort Bassenger, on the Kissimmee River. The other is from Lake
GdME AND FISH RESORTS. 37

Jessup, or Winder, on the St. John’s, to Lake Tohopekali
waters or the Kissimmee J . ohopekaliga, or Cypress, the head
t is said to be about forty miles over land, and one hundred
therriverto Peeeeneee y ne hundred and forty down
e Kissimmee, as it enters the lake, forms a bay a mile in width and
filled with lilies and water-lettuce. There are two Dares trees near its me
but all around is marsh. The most conspicuous birds on the river are the limpkin’
or crying bird, the white ibis, white heron, snake bird and vulture. Black bass are
plentiful and large, perch, cat-fish and bream also abound.
The game birds found here are wild turkey, quail, kill-deer, plover. snipe
woe legs, red breasted snipe, sand hill cranes, clapper rail, coots, herons,
ittern, green wing teal and wood duck. i

 

GEORGIA.

Area 58,000 square miles: population 1,184,109. The State
has a coast line of one hundred miles from north to south, but by
numerous islands and their inclosed sounds this is increased to
four hundred and eighty miles. Back from the coast for twenty
miles, the surface is low and swampy, stretching out, in the ex-
treme southwest, into the Great Okifinokee Swamp. Back of this
swamp land the country rises by a series of terraces covered with
pine forests, to Baldwin County where the foot-hills begin. North
and west of this county is the hill country described more particu-
larly hereafter under Bartow County. The State is well watered
by numerous large rivers, and these with excellent railroad con-
nections afford good facilities for communication with all parts of
the interior. Many portions of the State, especially the great for-
ests of the central and southern sections are sparsely settled, and
‘there are few hotels. But the stranger will find no difficulty in

securing either entertainment or guides when the latter are neces-
sary.
Bartow County, and The Hill Country—

The northern and north-western portion of Georgia, embracing the counties
of Rabun, Habersham, Hall, White, Towns, Union, Lumpkin, Fannin, Gilmer,
Pickens, Murray, Gordon, Bartow, Dade, Walker, Chattooga, and Floyd—a tract
one hundred and forty miles long by about seventy-five wide—contains some of
the roughest, wildest and most picturesque scenery in our land, and this is ‘‘ The
Hill Country of Georgia.”

The tourist will find high mountains, crystal streams, deep, dark gorges, roar—
ing torrents, smiling valleys—in short, the grand and the beautiful in nature in
every conceivable form, and the lovers of the rod and gun can find in its recesses
some of the choicest sport in the South. It isa wild country, and it will be no
child's play hunting ae fishing through this wilderness. Game of all kinds is
abundant. Deer and bear are everywhere found, and amid its deep fastnesses
the scream of the panther is not unfrequently heard. .

The visitor to the hill country will also find turkeys, partridges (quail) and
squirrels abundant, and the seasons in this elevated region are but little earlier
than much further north. Asa general thing fish are scarce ; suckers, bull-pouts
and several other varieties are found in most of the streams. Where the water
is clear and cold the chub and bream abound, and most of the lakes and mill-
ponds contain '' trout,’’ 7. ¢., the black bass of the South. These bass are also
38 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

found in the rivers whenever they are not obstructed by falls or too steep rap-
ids. East of the Blue Ridge, the mountain or speckled trout (sadmo fontinaizs)
are not found, save in one creek—‘* Warwoman’s Creek ''—in Rabun county. On
the west side of this ridge, however, they abound.

The means of access to this country are—via Chattanooga, over the Western
and Atlantic Railroad, and via Richmond, over the Atlanta and Richmond Air
Line Railroad. One cannot go amiss, whatever direction he takes after he leaves
the railroad. Horses and teams can be obtained in all the county or other towns
with but little trouble. Hotels are scarce, though each county town, usually, has
one or more. But if the visitor will be satisfied with the rough fare of the coun-
try, he will be welcome everywhere. All will be glad to go SROOnNE or fishing
with him, for no one is ever so busy as to have no time to spare. In all these
counties are men who do little but hunt, and anywhere good guides and good
hunters can be obtained. aie

Adairsville, Cartersville and Kingston, all on the Western and Atlantic Rail-
road, will be found convenient headquarters for Bartow County.

Bryan County—

Way's Station. Game exists in great variety—deer, bears, turkeys, quail,
snipe, and woodcock, besides otters, coons, minks, and opossums. The area of
forest has increased since the war, and game has multiplied apace. There are no
hotels or houses for entertainment ; the sportsman must go prepared to camp,
but the planters are kind-hearted, and know a gentleman when they see one.
Reached via the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad, from Savannah. Every one keeps
pointers, and deer dogs are easily procured. Hunting is good throughout the
country which is level and sandy, undulating on the river margins, and covered
with pine forests,

Camden County—

Cumberland Island. A favorite resort for Georgia sportsmen. Reached by
the ‘‘inside-passage”’’ boats between Savannah and the Florida ports, or from
Brunswick, which has rail connection with Savannah and the interior towns.

The St. Mary’s River, which forms the southern border of the county, is a
fine region for game. Reached by boat as before, or from Fernandina, Fla.

Chatham County—

Savannah. Quail shooting on the Ogeechee road, afew miles from town;
wild fowl shooting on the inlets, and among the neighboring islands. People fish
in and around Savannah all the year round, and there is a certain bank off Tybee
Light, near the Light Ship, where bass are captured in quantity. From Savannah
to Thunderbolt, and in all the waters in the vicinity, are fish in plenty, including
bass, sheepshead, whiting and croaker.

Green Island, sixteen miles from Savannah, is an excellent place for quail and
wild fowl shooting, and is reached by rail, boat from Savannah, or by the regular
inside route of the Florida steamers.

White Bluff, eight miles from Savannah, affords fine fishing, and shooting for
quail and other birds.

Chattooga County—

Summerville. See Bartow County. The route is via the Selma and Dalton
Railroad to Skelley’s.

Clarke County—
Athens. Deer, turkeys, squirrels, partridges. Reached via the Athens

Branch of the Georgia Railroad. There are several large hotels.
Columbia County—

Berzelia, Foxes and quail. Fox hunting isa favorite sport throughout the
county; there are many fine packs of hounds kept for the purpose, Reached
via the Georgia Railroad from Savannah, Charleston or Atlanta,

Dade County—

Trenton. Wild turkeys and_woodcock, quail, deer and bears
the Alabama and Chattanooga Railroad, icueen miles from Chalianeoene athe
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 39

county occupies the valley of Lookout Mountain, and is surrounded by hills and
mountains in which game abounds, See Bartow County.

Decatur County—

Bainbridge. Deer, wild turkeys, quail, ducks, English snipe. Lake Douglass.
Moose Pond and Flint River with other localities, are the best known erounds:
Reached via the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad. Hotel $2; private board $15 to $20
per month ; guides socts. For the best sport camping is necessary. The coun-
try is pine barren and hammock.

Fannin County—
Morganton, See Bartow County. The route is via carriage road from Dalton,

Floyd County—
Rone. See Bartow County. The route is via the Selma, Rome and Dalton
Railroad. Hotel accommodations.

Gilmer County—
Ellize a For game, etc., see Bartow County. Reached via the Western and
Atlantic Railroad to Tilton, thence wagon.

Glynn County—

Brunswick. There is a variety of excellent salt water fishing in the sounds,
and among the coast islands. The pine barrens and swamps abound in many
kinds of game. Bears, deer, turkeys, quail, woodcock, snipe, many kinds of wild
fowl, with several varieties of fur bearing animals. Brunswick is reached by the
Macon and Brunswick, and the Brunswick and Albany Railroads, or by steamer
from Savannah and Florida ports.

Gordon County—

Take the Western and Atlantic Railroad from Chattanooga, Tenn., or from
Atlanta, and learn from the conductor or employees of the train, where to leave
the railroad for a camp in the woods. Black bass fishing, and a variety of fishing
will be found. Provisions may be obtained at the neighboring farmhouses.
For fuller directions, see Forest and Stream, Vol. iv., No. 24, July 22, 1875.
The railroad officials will be found attentive to the wants of sportsmen. See
Bartow County. :

Habersham County—

Tallulah Falls. See Bartow County. The route is via the Atlanta and Rich-
mond Air Line to Toccoa, thence by wagon.

Hall County—

Gainsville. Deer, turkey and quail shooting. Take the Atlanta and Rich-
mond Air Line. There are good hotels, and the town is in summer a fashionable
resort. See Bartow County.

Liberty County—
Fleming, McIntosh, and Walthourviile. For game and route see Way’s Sta-
tion, Bryan County.

Lowndes County—

Valdosta. Deer, turkeys, quail, etc. Reached via the Atlantic and Gulf Rail-
road. Hotels with guides, teams, etc., easily procured. The country is level,
pine and hummock land. :

Lumpkin County— ;

Dahlonega. For game, etc., see Bartow County. Reached via the Atlanta
and Richmond Air Line to Gainesville, thence wagon road. Hotel accommo-
dations.

McIntosh County— .
Broughton Island, near Broughton, Altamaha Sound, and the rivers and
40 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

creeks which empty into it, furnish most excellent fishing grounds throughout
the year. Inthe Sound are immense numbers of sea bass, spotted bass, drum,
sheepshead, ‘t young drum,’’ whiting, croakers, weak fish, and yellow tails,
besides oysters, clams, crabs, shrimp, prawn, terrapin, etc. .

On the wide rivers which form the boundary line of Broughton, terrapin, soft-
shelled turtles, bream, trout, rock fish, perch (three or four species), and man
other kinds in their season. The uplands in the vicinity ot the island offer excel-
lent sport in the way of deer, coon and fox hunting. Ducks and other wild fowl
frequent the sounds and rivers, Wild turkeys, partridges, English snipe, wood-
cock, turtle doves, with hares in abundance, must not De forgotten in making up
2 list of the shooting resources of this part of the Georgia coast,

Johnston Station. For game and route see Way’s Station, Bryan County.
The country is level pine land. cha

_ Sapelo Island. For game see Broughton Island, above. Randolph Spalding’s
sons keep a pack of hounds.

Murray County—
Spring Place. Yor game and character of country see Bartow County. Route
via Western and Atlantic Railroad to Dalton, thence wagon drive.

Oglethorpe County—
Lexington. For game and route see Athens, Clarke County.

Pickens County—
‘asper. For game, etc., see Bartow County. Reached by wagon road from
Calhoun, on the Western and Atlantic Railroad.

Putnam County—

EZatonton. Deer and turkeys in the neighborhood. Reached via Central
Georgia Railroad to Gordon, thence via Milledgeville and Eatonton Branch. The
town is on a high ridge.

Rabun County—

Deer, turkey, bear and wild cat. Take the Atlanta and Richmond Air Line,
and learn from the conductor what station to strike out from. Guides can easily
be secured, with board at the farmhouses. The country is mountainous, and
covered with forests. See Bartow County.

Richmond County—

In the vicinity of Augusta, is good bird and rabbit shooting. At the head of
the canal, which takes water from the Savannah River for the cotton factories in
town, are excellent perch and black bass fishing on the rapids ; and shad are also
taken here with fly. The rapids are seven miles above town. This is a favorite
Picnic ground for the town people. Deer are found along the bottoms in the
vicinity.

Thomas County—
, ‘cDonald. Bear, panther, deer, turkeys and quail. Reached via the Atlan-
tic and Gulf Railroad. Comfortable hotel,

Thomasville, Deer, turkeys and quail. Reached via the Atlantic and Gulf
Railroad. Hotel, with teams, etc.

Towns County-—

Hiawassee. For game, etc., see Bartow County,
Union County—

Blairsville. See Bartow County. Reached b i i
There are two hotels. ¥ y wagon from Gainesvil.e.
Walker County—

La Fayette. For game, etc., see Bartow County.
from Dalton game, ’ ounty. Reached by wagon road
Ware County—

Tebeauville. Bears, deer and wild turkeys are found in the neighborhood
The favorite ground for hunting and fishing, is the extensive Oketinokee Swe
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 4!

eight miles distant. Reached via the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad, ninety-
miles from Savannah, The Tebeauville Hotel, J. W. Reinhart, $2, "sa ner
week. Guide $1.50. Parties usually camp. ~The ‘country is low, flat pine land
and swamp. *

Washington County—

Oconee, and the Oconee Swamp. This swamp, ten miles in length, ext i
along the Oconee River, is filled with great uri bure of bears, deer, ila ee
aod al game, with all varieties of wild fowl. Take the Central Georgia

ailroad. i

Wilkinson County—

Toomsborough. Y¥xcellent shooting in the Oconee Swamp. For game and
route see Oconee, above.
White County—

_ Cleveland. See Bartow County. Reached via the Atlanta and Richmond
Air Line to Gainesville thence via wagon.

 

IDAHO.

The territory of Idaho embraces an area of 86,294 square
miles, and had a population in 1870, of 20,583, of whom 10,618
were whites and the rest Indians and Chinese. Idaho is moun-
tainous throughout nearly its whole extent ; many of its mountain
ranges are lofty and snow-capped. The only plain or prairie of
note is that extending along the Snake River south-east from the
Payette and Sandtooth Mountains. Most of the rivers, of which
there are a large number, have fertile valleys, which constitute the
most valuable agricultural lands in the territory. There are sev-
eral lakes of considerable extent, all of which, with the rivers, are
supplied with the usual varieties of fresh water fish. The moun-
tains and forests abound in many varieties of large and savage
game, including bears, wolves, panthers, etc., while buffalo, moose,
elk, several species of deer, with smaller game, and many varieties
of fur bearing animals are found in great plenty. The birds in-
clude ninety-five species, and are generally abundant. The means
of communication are confined to wagon roads and trails. There
are no railroads in the territory though several have been pro-
jected. The nearest approach by rail is via the Ogden and Frank-
lin Branch of the Union Pacific. The inaccessibility of the coun-
try has greatly impeded its settlement and hence the sportsman
will find here vast tracts of undisturbed game ground, where
weeks and months may be spent in successful sport.

Ada County—

Boise City, is a central point for expeditions into the game regions of Ada
County and those adjoining. The route is similar to that of Idaho City. (See
Boise County.) The game in the mountains includes elk, antelope, mountain
sheep, deer, bears and small game. The streams furnish mountain and salmon
trout, white fish, and other varieties,
42 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

Attava County—

The Three Buttes are good aaa grounds for the mountain game common in
this region and mentioned below. Reached from Soda Springs or Boise City.
The northern part of the county is composed of mountain ridges, among which
game will be found in large quantities.

Boise County—

Quartzburgh. Deer, bear, grouse, mountain trout, white, and red fish, sal-
mon trout. Route as above. Pe

Idaho City. Elk, deer, mountain sheep, bear ; mountain and salmon trout, red
and white fish, Reached via Central Pacific Railroad to Kelton, thence stage
three hundred miles. Board $3; guides $4 ; teams $8. : :

Payette Lake contains red fish. Parties are fitted out at Idaho City for fishing
and hunting expeditions to the lake.

Idaho County—

This county, extending east and west from Oregon to Montana, is a grand
field for hunting and fishing. The county is mountainous, and for the most part
unsettled. The game found here comprises bears, wolves, panthers, wild-cats,
foxes of several species, moose, buffalo, on the Payette Valley prairie, elk, black-
tailed and mule deer, antelopes, Rocky Mountain sheep, ducks, geese and many
other kinds of water fowl, with other game birds in preae variety and abundance,
and the fresh water fish common to the territory. There will also be found excel-
lent trapping in all the streams. Elk City at the base of the Bitter Root Moun-
tains is a good place for headquarters.

Lahtoah County—

Moose are found in the Coeur d’Alene Mountains. Sage hens are abundant
throughout the county.

Oneida County—

Fort Bonneville is a good starting point for elk, mountain sheep, antelope,
bear and deer shooting. Quail, and grouse are abundant. Mountain and salmon
trout, and white fish furnish good fishing.

Soda Springs, on Bear River, is in the centre.of excellent hunting and fishing.
The game is abundant in the mountains south and east. Bear River contains
grayling, and the mountain streams are filled with mountain trout and other vari-
eties of game fish.

Shoshone County—

The mountains which form the eastern boundary of this county are full of large
game. Go to Pierce City where guides will be found.

 

ILLINOIS.

The area of the State is 55,410 square miles, the population is
2,537,891. The surface of the country may be described as a
gently inclined plane, sloping from Lake Michigan, on the north,
toward the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. An elevated plateau
extends from Wisconsin into the northwestern part of the State,
where it is manifested in bluffs and hills. Another range of hills
in the extreme southern section crosses the State from Grand
Tower, to Shawneetown. With the exception of these eleva-
tions, the State is level, consisting for the most part, of prairie
lands, dotted here and there with islands of oak and other forest
trees, The railroad system of Illinois is remarkable for its per-
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 43

fection, The total length of her railroads exceeds that of any
other State, and there is scarcely a county which is not tra-
versed by one or more of these lines. As a game region Illi-
nois will compare favorably with the neighboring States, in the
abundance of wild fowl found on all the rivers and lakes, pinna-
ted grouse on the prairies, and fish of various kinds in all the
streams. With the exception of a little deer shooting, there is no
large game.

Adams County—

Lima Lake isa noted place for wild fowl shooting. See La Grange, Lewis
County, Mo. The lake, which is surrounded by marsh, contains several islands,
and is connected by a navigable slough with the Mississippi River. These

rounds may be reached by river steamers; by boat or hired conveyance from
Duincy via Chicago and Burlington and Quincy Railroad to Mendon, thence
ired conveyance or stage to Lima; or via La Grange, Missouri.

Quincy. See Lima Lake.

Bureau County-—

Sheffield. Excellent duck shooting ; mallards, and other varieties. The little
steamer Sheffield takes numerous parties from the Sheffield House to the favorite
hunting stations on Lake Wolf, Hyde Lake, and Lake George, and the Grand
Calumet, while Chittenden's, Bee’s, and other points loved by the sportsman, are
prety ee to. One hundred and thirty-six miles from Chicago on the Chi-
cago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad. The Sheffield House is the resort of
sportsmen,

Walnut. Pinnated grouse, ducks, brant, geese. Winnebago Swamp is a
favorite resort for water fowl. Reached via the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy
Railroad. Stop at Deer Grove Station for duck shooting.

Champaign County—
Urbana. Pinnated grouse ; pike and pickerel. Reached via the Indianapolis,
Bloomington and Western Railroad. Board $2; teams $3.

Christian County—
Assumption. Geese, ducks, plover_and snipe, on the wet lowland prairie.
Pinnated grouse and quail abundant. Reached via the Illinois Central Railroad.

Cook County—

Chicago. At Calumet Lake, distant ten miles, and at other localities within
forty miles of the city, is good duck shooting. Mallards, wood ducks, and blue
and green-winged teal are the most common varieties. Wilson snipe afford
average sport. By rail to Peoria and thence down the river, the shooting
grounds of Mason County (which see), may be reached, See also South Chicago
and Kankakee.

Lake Zurich. See Palatine. 7 aA

Palatine. Pinnated and ruffed grouse, gual. partridges, many varieties of
ducks, snipe, plover, wild pigeons. Lakes Zurich, Diamond, Grass, Honey, and
Bangs, are in the vicinity, and afford excellent fishing. Of these, Lake Zurich
may be especially mentioned. The village of the same name is on its shores, and
has two good hotels for summer guests. The lake is belted all around with groves
of timber, among the openings of which grass-plats slope down to the pebbled
beach. Its waters abound with fish of various kinds, the principal of which are

ickerel and black bass. Reached via the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad.
xcellent hotels. ;

South Chicago, twelve miles from Chicago, on the shore of the lake, is a favor-
ite point for Chicago excursionists. In the vicinity, especially in the bays and
sloughs of the Calumet region, are great flocks of ducks and other wild fowl.
Reached via the Lake Shore and Rone Southern, the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne
and Chicago, and Baltimore and Ohio Railroads,

De Witt County— : :
Farmer City. Good pinnated grouse shooting. Reached via Gilman, Clin-
ton and Springfield Railroad.
44 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

Ford County— ; ‘
Gibson City. Pinnated grouse abundant. Reached via the Chicago and Padu-
cah, and other railroads.

Franklin County—

Benton. Good wild turkey shooting in the nea nee Reached by wagon
road from McLeansborough on the St. Louis and South-eastern Railroad, or from
Duquoin on the Illinois Central Railroad.

Fulton County—

The Illinois River, See Mason County. zs

Lewiston is within a few miles of the celebrated sporting grounds of the
Illinois River. Reached via the Chicago and Alton Railroad.

Hancock County—
Nauvoo. Deer and wild turkeys, with an abundance of pinnated grouse,
woodcock and quail. Reached by river steamer, or wagon road from Keokuk.

Iroquois County—
St. Mary’s. Ducks, geese, crane, plover, snipe, quail, woodcock, ruffed and
innated grouse. Reached via the Cincinnati, Lafayette and Chicago Railroad.
oard $2.

Jefferson County—

Calumet. Duck and snipe shooting. Reached via the Illinois Central, or the
Michigan Central Railroad.

Jersey County—

Grafton is a few miles above Alton at the junction of the Illinois River with
the Mississippi.

In the vicinity of the mouth of the Illinois River there is good deer hunting.
In the marshes and lakes are snipe in their season, and ducks most of the year.
In the curn fields and stubble, an abundance of quail. On the brushy hillsides
there are ruffed grouse, locally known as ‘' pheasants.’’ Great numbers of geese
and brants frequent this vicinity, and many are killed as they pass from their
feeding grounds in the fields to the sandbars and lakes. There are a number of
places in the Mississippi, near the mouth of the Illinois, where the current is too
rapid and the shallow waters too turbulent to freeze at any time. Both geese
and ducks (mallards) frequent these open places. Take rail to Alton, thence by
wagon road.

Kane County—

Batavia. The Fox River, from the Wisconsin line to its junction with the
Illinois River at Ottawa, a distance of about one hundred. miles: abounds with
fish common to the tributaries of the Mississippi, and probably second to none in
numbers, variety and size. At the head of the river are anumber of lakes abound-
ing in mascalonge, black, silver, rock and_river bass, yellow perch, gar, pickerel,
wall-eyed pike, red horse, bull heads, silver eels, and four varieties of dace.
Batavia is on the Chicago and Northwestern Railway.

_ Geneva is built on terraces on both sides of Fox river, which is well stocked
with black bass, pickerel, pike, sun, and other fish. Its best hotel is The Union
House, which can accommodate one hundred guests at $2 per day.

The surrounding country is rolling, and is about equally divided between
prairie and timber. Thecounty affords fine shooting in season. Pinnated grouse,
quail, woodcock, partridge, and other game abound. Nelson's Lake, ¥ohnson’s
Mound,and Harrington's Island are popular resorts, one to seven miles from the
village. Take the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad,

Lake County—

Deerfield, Black squirrel shooting is good in the woods about Deerfield.
Take the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad, twenty miles from Chicago!

Fox Lake, Fine hunting in the neighborhood. The duck shooting is
excellent.

Lake Zurich. (See Palatine, Cook County,

Waukegan. Game of most kinds abundant; fox and black squirrel
plenty. Reached via the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad. Good hotel,
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 45

Kankakee County—

Kankakee. The Kankakee River flows through a country which 1
marsh for miles on either side. At times its banks are darkened by the heaey
forests of Indiana, which fringe the stream for a considerable distance. The
river is winding and rapid, being deep in many places and in others so shallow
that boats cannot pass ard have to be catticd. In other places the wild rice
prove all across the shallows, this generally occurring when the surrounding

and lies low, forming the home of myriads of wild fowl of all sorts. There are
also plenty of fishin this stream, chiefly pickerel and black and speckled bass.
Kankakee is a station on the Illinois Central Railroad, and on the Cincinnati
Lafayette and Chicago road. Sportsmen should prepare for camping out. ;
_ St. Anne, Geese, brant, ducks, cranes, snipe, quail, pinnated grouse; pike
pickerel, bass and other varieties of fish. Reached via the Chicago, Danville
and Vincennes, and Cincinnati, Lafayette and Chicago Railroads. otels $1 to
$1.50 per day, $4 to $5 per week ; guides $1 to $1.50; boats $x ; teams $2.50 to $3.
La Salle County—

Marseilles, Among the Islands, at the Kickapoo Rapids of the Illinois River,
are some excellent snipe shooting grounds. The route is via the Chicago, Rock
Island and Pacific Railroad. | :

Ottawa. The marshes on the Illinois River, near this town, are fine ducking

rounds. Reached via the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy, or the Chicago,
ock Island and Pacific Railroad.

Lee County—

Compton. Inlet Swamp affords excellent shooting for Canada geese, brant,
mallards, pin tails, ruffle heads, spoonbills, teal, and jack snipe, and_ on the
borders of the swamp are ruffed grouse and quail. Take the Chicago, Burling-
ton and Quincy Railroad to Compton, thence hired conveyance to the swamp,
five miles north. The mouth of Wilson Creek is the best spot for game.

Dixon. A small steamer runs between Dixon and Grand Detour, twelve
miles, and passes ev route many islands and picturesque points of interest. The
river provides ample eg lego and the fisherman will be abundantly repaid
for angling in its waters. Game abounds, the golden plover, upland plover, the
jack snipe and woodcock being especially plentiful. Reached via the Chicago
and Northwestern Railroad. There are several fine hotels.

Nachusa is on the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad, ninety-three miles
from Chicago. :

White Rock,a popular picnic and fishing resort, is four miles north, and is
much frequented by parties from all portions of the State. The rock is a noted
landmark, rising as it does sixty feet above the surface of the water of Rock
River, and above the surrounding prairie.

Livingston County—
Chatsworth. Deer, wild turkeys and grouse. Reached via the Toledo, Peo-
ria and Warsaw Railroad. i

Logan County—
Elkhart City. Quail, pinnated grouse, ducks and geese. Wild turkeys at
Lake Fort, seven miles distant. Reached via the Chicago and Alton Railroad.
Lincoln. The ‘game on Salt Creek is similar to that of the Sangamon River.
See Petersburg, Menard County. Reached via the Chicago and Alton, and other
railroads.

McDonough County—
Colchester. Pinnated grouse. On the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy
Railroad.

McHenry County—

Cary Station is one mile from Fox River, in which is excellent fishing. See
Batavia, Kane County. Reached via the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad,
thirty-eight miles from Chicago. There is a fine hotel, where sportsmen will
receive every attention.

Crystal Lake. The lake affords good black and rock bass, pickerel and perch
fishing. Reached via the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad.

Harvard. The Twin Lakes are twenty miles distant ; a line of stages runs to
Geneva, which see. Reached via the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad.
46 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

McHenry is sixty-six miles from Chicago, on the banks of Fox River. It has
three hotels. Five miles distant, a chain of small lakes extends eastward some
“thirty miles. These lakes are full of fish, and along their shores game is found in
abundance. Reached via the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad. |

Richmond is on the banks of the Neipersink River. The Twin Lakes are
three miles from the station, and furnish excellent fishing. Game abounds in the
vicinity. Reached via the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad, seventy-five
miles from Chicago. Hotel accommodations. | Ads é

Ridgefield. Excellent shooting and angling in the vicinity. Reached via the
Chicago and Northwestern Railroad, forty-six miles from Chicago.

McLean County—
Belle Flower. Excellent pinnated grouse shooting. Reachéd via the Gilman,
Clinton and Springfield Railroad. oz , i
Bloomington. Pinnated grouse on the prairies. Reached via the Chicago and
Alton, or Illinois Central, and other roads. Board $3; teams $3 to $s.
Leroy. Pinnated grouse and quail. Reached via the Indianapolis, Blooming-
ton and Western Railroad. .

Macon County—

Decatur. Pinnated grouse and ducks. Reached via Illinois Central and
other railroads. Hotels $3.

Madison County—

Alton. Duck and snipe shooting. Reached via the Chicago and Alton, or
Indianapolis and St. Louis Railroad.

Mason County--

Havana, forty miles below Peoria, on the Illinois River, (which see, below) is
reached by steamer, or via the Peoria, Pekin and Jacksonville, the Indianapolis
Bloomington and Western, or the Springfield and Northwestern Railroads.

The Illinois River. The most noted sporting grounds in Central Illinois, if not
in the whole State, lie upon the Illinois River about twenty-five miles below Peoria.
The game here is of great variety and abundance, consisting of ducks; the mal-
lard, wood or summer, blue and green-winged teal, widgeon, canvas back, and
nearly all the other inland varieties, with several of the salt water species ; geese,
the brant and common wild goose ; white pelicans, sand hill cranes, herons, water
turkeys, coots, plover, snipe, common hawks, bitterns, curlew, loons, dippers,
quail, pinnated grouse, woodcock, large fox squirrels ; catfish, buffalo fish, pike,
bass and most of the ordinary varieties of fresh water fish. Of fur bearing ani-
mals, there are raccoons, minks and muskrats. The hunting grounds lie upon
either side of the river. The part west isin Fulton County, that east in Mason
County. Havana, a small village near the south end of them, is a good initial
points either by railroad or river. They are about eight miles long, and one and a

alf miles on each side of the stream. They are ‘* bottom lands,” and generally
heavily timbered, but in some places open, except brush, flags, weeds, etc.
They are lower, back from the river, than on its banks, which are open, hard,
dry, and fine for camping, with plenty of wood. Blind wagon roads intersect
them generally, so they are easily entered on almost every side. The river is
ieee about three hundred yards wide with aslow current, and sloping banks.

n each side, and back at convenient distance for hunting, lie about twenty lakes,
sloughs and ponds, varying from three miles and a bale down to the ordinary
pond. These, about ten on each side, stretch along from north to south, throughout
the hunting grounds. The most prominent are Thomson's, Johnson’s, Slim and
Duck Island, in Fulton County; Flag, Spring, Mud and Clear in Mason County.
Camps are generally pitched so as to command several of these lakes. Persons
living in the vicinity will always conduct strangers to the best camping grounds,
or haul their camp equipage to and from the same. Steamboats often land par-
ties right on the ground, hence Peoria or Pekin, from the north, are good initial
points, where perfect outfit for camp may be purchased. A small skiff or boat is
almost indispensable, and there are few if any to hire. India rubber boots with
high leggins, are a necessary article of outfit. Most of the game killed may be got
by wading from the shore. The lakes are generally shallow, and some aay be
waded ; some are open, but most are broadly belted with wild rice, flags, grass,
etc. From about the roth to the 20th of October is the best time to camp here.

ae is generally along the borders, and a retriever will add much to the
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 47

Mason City. Good plover and snipe shooting. On the Chicago, Milwaukee
and St. Paul Railroad.

Middle Grove. Pigeons, fox-squirrels, grouse, quail, ducks and geese.
Reached from Peoria.

Menard County—

Petersburgh, On the bottom lands of the Sangamon River are geese, ducks,
mallards, blue bills, pintails, green-winged teal, blue-winged teal, wood ducks,
snipe, quail and grouse. Reached via the Chicago and Alton Railroad.

Monroe County—

Murdock Lake, twenty-six miles south of St. Louis, affords excellent black,

white, and striped bass fishing. The St. Louis and Murdock Lake Club have a

club house here. Take hired conveyance from St. Louis, or go via boat to Har-
risonville, thence drive to the lake.

Morgan County—

Facksonville. Game is abundant in the vicinity. This is the headquarters of
the Audubon Sportsman’s Club. Easily accessible by rail.

Ogle County—

Flag, on the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad, is three-fourths of a mile
from Kite River, where fair fishing, and excellent quail and pinnated grouse
shooting will be found.

Grand Detour. See Dixon, Lee County.

Rochelle. Pinnated grouse shooting. Reached via the Chicago and Iowa,
and the Chicago and Northwestern Railroads.

Peoria County—

_Peoria. The best grounds for gee are on the Illinois River, twenty-five
miles below the city. See Mason County.

Perry County—

Du Quoin on the Illinois Central, and the St. Louis, Alton and Terre Haute
Railroads, is a most excellent centre for small game.

Piatt County—

Monticello. Asa game region, Piatt County will compare favorably with any
in the State. Monticello, a good initial point, is reached via the Chicago and
Paducah, or the Indianapolis, Bloomington and Western Railroad.

Pike County—
Rockport. Geese, brant, ducks, pinnated and ruffed grouse, woodcock and
quail. Reached via the Quincy, Alton and St. Louis Railroad.

St. Clair County—
Lebanon. Quail, pinnated grouse, mallards, teal and snipe. Reached via the
Ohio and Mississippi Railroad.

Schuyler County—

Bluff City. Dickerson’s Lake abounds in deer, ducks and brant. It is one
of the best localities in the State for the above game. Smith’s Lake, about three
miles from Bluffs, Scott County, affords excellent duck shooting. Quail are abun-
dant. The Bluff House, kept by Col. Waterhouse, a thorough sportsman, affords
excellent quarters for the sportsman.

Scott County—
Bluffs. See Bluff City, Schuyler County. Reached via the Toledo, Wabash
and Western Railroad.

Tazewell County—

Pekin. Good woodcock shooting in the vicinity of the Illinois Railroad. The
shooting grounds of the Illinois River are easily accessible. See Mason County.
Reached i rail from Chicago, Indianapolis, and other points.

Vermillion County— :
Danville. Pinnated grouse on the prairie ; bass fishing in the rivers. Reached
via the Chicago, Danville, and Vincennes, and other railroads.
48 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

Whitesides County—

. Deer Grove. Excellent wild fowl shooting at the Winnebago Seay with
rouse and plover on the adjacent sand ridges and fields. Take the Chicago,
Buciagton and Quincy Railroad. i
The Meredosia River is famous for its wild fowl shooting. See Camanche
Clinton County, Iowa.

Will County—
¥Yoliet. Pinnated grouse and snipe shooting. Reached via the Chicago and
Alton, or the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad. . ;
Lockport. Good woodcock shooting in the vicinity. Reached via the Chi-
cago and Alton Railroad. 7 aed ‘ :
Peotone. Geese, ducks and snipe. Reached via the Illinois Central Railroad,
forty-one miles from Chicago.

Winnebago County—

Rockford. Inthe Rock River, which flows through the city, and in its tribu-
tary, the Kishwaukee, are found shad, salmon, trout, black bass, pike, pickerel
and afew perch. Grouse and quail shooting in the vicinity. Reached via the
Chicago and Northwestern, or the Chicago and Iowa Railroad.

INDIANA.

Area, 33,809 square miles; population, 1,680,637. There are
in Indiana no mountains, and no hills except what are known as
river hills. These are formed by the erosion of the rivers, forming
deep valleys gradually sloping from the former broad limits of the
rivers, to their present channels. These valleys give the bluffs
the appearance of hills where in reality they do not exist. Of the
whole surface of the State two-thirds are very level, the other third
being broken and rolling. The State is well watered by rivers
and many small lakes, or what in the East would be called ponds,
the largest of which is Beaver Lake, in Newton County. There is
in the State no large game to offer attractions to the sportsman.
Smaller game is, however, abundant, hares, rabbits, squirrels, and
pinnated grouse in unlimited quantity, with an abundance of all
kinds of wild fowl. Railroad communications throughout the
State are very perfect; here as in Illinois, every county is easily
accessible, and on nearly every line of these roads the sportsman
will find abundant sport.

Allen County—

Fort Wayne. There will be found excellent quail, ruffed grouse and rabbit
shooting on the line of the Toledo, Wabash and Western Railroad, between Fort
Wayne and La Fayette. Deer and wild turkeys are found thirty miles out, on
the Muncie Railroad. Good bass, pike and pickerel fishing near the city.

Rartholomew County—

Columbus. Deer, wild turkeys, pinnated and ruffed grouse, quail, woodcock
snipe and wild fowl.’ Reached via the Jefferson, Madison and iad anapetis Rail?
road. Good hotels at moderate rates. °
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 49

Blackford County—

Montpelier. From Montpelier as a centre the sportsman will find s
thousand acres of splendid shooting ground, perfectly level. The eae eee
deer, wild turkey, ruffed grouse, woodcock and wild fowl of all varieties. Take
the Fort Wayne, Muncie and Cincinnati Railroad. Private board can be obtained
at the farmhouses. =

Hartford City. ild turkeys and quail in the immediate vicinity of the
Reached via the Fort Wayne, Muncie and Cincinnati Railroad. e sa

Crawford Count y—

Wyandotte. In the Greenbrier and Blue Rivers is good fishing for black bass.
rock bass, sunfish, pike, and there are many catfish. Wyandotte is about sixty>
five miles below Louisville. The daily packets of ‘the Louisville and Evansville
Mail Line, and the tri-weekly Louisville and_Leavenworth packet stop at
Leavenworth, the nearest point by water to the Cave. The fare is $1.50. Prob-
ably the most convenient of these packets is the Sandy No. 2,a very elegant
little boat, with gentlemanly and accommodating officers, which ends its voy-
age at Leavenworth, thus enabling passengers to remain on board all night.
Leaving Louisville at five o’clock, all the boats reach their destination before
midnight, Board at the Wyandotte Hotel $7 per week.

Delaware County—

Muncie. uail shooting along the White River. Reached via Fort Wayne,
Muncie and Cincinnati Railroad. Hotels $2. Country level and heavily wooded.

fountain County— :
Covington. Wild turkey, quail and pinnated grouse. Reached via the Chi-
cago, Danville and Vincennes Railroad. Hotels $2. The country hilly.

Franklin County—
Mount Carmel, Fine bass fishing in the Wabash River. See Princeton, Gib-
son County.

Gibson County—

Princeton. Long Pond, on the Wabash Bottom, a lake about three miles long,
is full of black bass, and there is also excellent bass fishing on the rapids of the
Wabash some ten miles from Princeton, where two dozen fish in an hour’s time
is considered ae remarkable. The river is a clear, tumbling, rapid stream,
and the ride by rail from Princeton to Mt. Carmel, and thence by omnibus to
the fishing grounds, where there is a capital hotel, is a favorite excursion with
both ladies and gentlemen, not only from the vicinity, but from Louisville, Cin-
cinnati, Indianapolis and other towns. Princeton is reached via the Evansville
and Crawfordsville, or the Louisville, New Albany and St. Louis Railroad.

Patoka. The flats west of the town are excellent shooting grounds for all
kinds of wild fowl. On the hills are wild turkeys and quail. Reached via the
Evansville and Crawfordsville Railroad.

Henry County—
Luray. Pinnated grouse and quail. Reached from New Castle or Muncie.

Jasper County—

Remington, on the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railroad, is a good
centre from which to start out for'a camp on the prairie. Pinnated grouse, sand-
hill cranes and ducks, with other varieties of wild fowl are found. The best
shooting is on the north side of the railroad, Teams can be hired from the
farmers.

Jefferson County—
Madison, The Indian Kentuck, seven miles above Madison, is a fine fishing
stream. Take the Jeffersonville, Madison and Indianapolis Railroad to Madison.

Knox County—-

Vincennes. One of the localities especially noted for its snipe shooting, is the
broad extent of marshes and prairies that lie back of the Wabash River, some ten
or twelve miles from Vincennes. Pinnated grouse are found here in abundance.
There is good hotel accommodation, and one can drive across the prairie in a
50 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

wagon to the hunting ground, though obliged to make many detours to avoid
swamps and sloughs.

Kosciusko County—

Syracuse. Great numbers of geese and ducks congregate at Cedar and Nine-
Mile Lakes. These waters abound in bass, pickerel and pike. Reached via the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Provide camping equipments. Guides and boats
$2 to $2.50. King and Sloane are good guides.

Lake County—

Crown Point. Pinnated grouse, quail and wild fowl shooting. Reached via
Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railroad. :

Lowell. Pinnated grouse, quail and wild fowl shooting. The route is via the
Jefferson, Madison and Indianapolis Railroad.

Sheffield. An excellent headquarters for shooting on the Calumet grounds.
Reached via the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad. There is a good
hotel, with boats, etc.

Toleston, Excellent wild fowl shooting, with snipe, pinnated grouse and
woodcock. Reached via the Michigan Central, and the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne
and Chicago Railroad. The Toleston Club of Chicago, has a club house here.
Good boats, etc.

La Porte County—

The Kankakee Bridge is crossed by the Louisville, New Albany and Chicago
Railroad; there are four club houses at this place, Crawfordsville, West, Wil-
liamson, and Hayden, and in the shooting season there will be from twenty to
thirty hunters stopping at these houses, who make it Pretty lively for the birds.
Asa general thing each member has his own boat, decoys, etc. This point is
about ten miles from English Lake (see Stark County) by river, and half that dis-
tance by across-country.

Davis Station, on the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad, fifty miles
from Chicago, affords excellent shooting. Ducks, geese, grouse, quail, snipe and
woodcock. Grafton Wells will act as guide. Boats, etc. Provide camping
outfit.

Hanna Station. Excellent shooting. The Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chi-
cago Railroad. No hotels.

Marshall County—
Plymouth. The pinnated grouse shooting here affords fine sport. Reached
via the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad.

Newton County—

Beaver Lake is a great resort for mallards, pintails, and green-winged teal,
also geese, snipe, prairie fowl, and rabbits.

Noble County—

The Counties of Noble, Steuben, and Whitley contain numerous small lakes,
varying from fifty to three hundred acres, which abound in fish and wild ducks.
Of fish, the principal varieties are the black bass, rock bass, pike and pickerel. A
favorite mode of taking these fish, in vogue among the Hoosiers, is by spearing
at night, and the season commences as soon as the lakes are clear of ice, and con-
tinues until the ‘* splatter dock ’’ shoots up its long stem and broad leaf from the
bottom, in which the fish take refuge from their nocturnal enemy, the spearer.
Noble County is intersected by the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad, and
officers of the trains will furnish information as to the best game localities.

Rome City. Good duck shooting, and a variety of fishing. The lake is well-
stocked with pike, pickerel, croppies, ring perch, blue-gills, etc. Reached via
the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad, thirty-five miles north of Fort Wayne.
The Lake Side Hotel furnishes comfortable accommodations for summer visitors.
Boats can be obtained at the hotel. Several islands in the lake afford excellent
camping grounds.

Porter County—

Valparaiso. Pinnated grouse, woodcock, quail, snipe, geese, brant, ducks
and cranes. Bass fishing is excellent in the county. There are many small lakes
containing fish of large size. Forty-one miles from Chicago, reached via the
Chicago and Lock Haven, or the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad.
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 51

St. Joseph County—
South Bend. Pinnated grouse. Reached by rail.

Stark County—
_ The Kankakee River which flows through the northwestern part of the State,
is a great resort for sportsmen from Chicago, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and other
cities. The game includes ducks of every variety, geese, brant, sand hill cranes,
pinnated and ruffed grouse, quail, snipe, woodcock and reed birds. Of fish there
are bass, pilke, pickerel, jack salmon, and muscalonge. One of the best centres
for good sport, is English Lake,a small station on the Pittsburgh and Chicago
Railroad. There are two good hotels at this place for the accommodation of hunt-
ers and their families who come here from the prominent cities on the line of this
road. The hotels furnish boats, decoys, and a pusher, for which you pay $3 a
day, board $2 a day. Their boats are made double bowed, flat bottom, ver
wide,and can go anywhere, from two inches to a fathom of water. At aplish
Lake, Dr. George Yeakel will be pleased to give all needed information. ~

Sax Pierre,on the Louisville, New Albany and Chicago Railroad, is three
and a half miles from the Kankakee River. Hotel $1; boat, team and driver $5.

Steuben County—
Angola and other points in the county, reached via the Fort Wayne, Jackson
and Saginaw Railroad, afford good shooting and fishing. See Noble County.

Tippecanoe County—
La Fayette. Quail, ruffed gale and rabbit shooting on the line of the
Toledo, Wabash and Western Railroad.

Vigo County—
Terre Haute. The Wabash River affords fine bass fishing.

Wayne County —

Centreville. The southern part of Wayne County is a good locality for small
game, such as squirrels, rabbits, and quail. Here are several packs of dogs, and
in winter great sport is enjoyed in ‘‘ circling’’ foxes, and in hunting coons at
night. The trespass laws are rigidly enforced in this county. Centreville is the
nearest railroad station on the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railroad.
Very good hotels.

Wells County—

Bluffton. Good wild turkey and quail shooting. Reached via the Fort
Wayne, Muncie and Cincinnati Railroad. Hotels, $1.50; teams $2. Country
flat, heavy timber land.

Keystone. Deer and wild turkey shooting within a few miles of town. Reached
via the Fort Wayne, Muncie and Cincinnati Railroad.

White County—

Reynolds. Ducks, geese, pinnated grouse, woodcock and snipe. Reached
via the Louisville, New Albany and Chicago Railroad. Hotel $4 to $5 per week ;
teams $3.50 per day. :

Whitley County—

Columbia City, and other stations on the line of the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne
and Chicago Railroad, are in the vicinity of good hunting and fishing. (See Noble
County.) The conductor and employees of the railroad will always give infor-
mation of the game localities.

IOWA.

Area, 50,914 square miles, population, 1,191,792. The State
has no mountains, the surface being generally rolling prairie.
In the north-western section is an elevated plateau called the
52 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

Coteau des Prairies, which extends into the State from Minnesota,
and in the north-eastern portion of the State is a small extent of
rocky and rugged country. With these exceptions the country is
rolling prairie throughout the entire State. This prairie land is in-
tersected by numerous rivers with deep furrows, and by numerous
sinks, or depressions of the surface, which are especially abun-
dant in the vicinity of Turkey River, in the northern part of the
State. Near the river the country is generally well wooded, but
the prairie lands are otherwise devoid of timber, presenting vast
plains covered only by prairie-grass. These prairies abound in
great numbers of pinnated grouse, making Iowa one of the best, if
not the best ground for “ chicken ”’ shooting in the country. The
water courses are the resort of all kinds of water fowl, which in
their season afford excellent shooting. The facilities for travel
are of the best; railroads, steamers, and good carriage roads,
render every portion of the State easy of access, and on the prairies
teams may be driven anywhere to the hunting grounds.

Adair County—

Adair. Good pinnated grouse shooting will be found here and at any of the
stations west on the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad.

fontanelle. See Casey, Guthrie County.

Benton County—

Belle Plain. Inthe surrounding forests, deer and wild turkeys ; on the prairie,
pinnated grouse, quail, woodcock, snipe and other varieties; in the streams,
sloughs, and bayous, ducks, geese, and brant. The Iowa River and Salt Creelc
furnish a variety of fishing. Reached via the Chicago and Northwestern Rail-
road. Several hotels offer good accommodations at prices ranging from §1 to $2.

Blairstown. Small game is abundant in the vicinity, Large pike and bass
are caught in Cedar River and Prairie Creek. Reached as above.

a Ue eas Excellent pinnated grouse, with some deer. Route as above.
oard $1. ;

Boone County—

Boone. Excellent pinnated grouse, duck, and goose shooting. Reached as
above. Hotels $2.50, private board $5 per week.

Moingona. Pinnated grouse. Reached as above. Hotels $1, $3 per week;
teams $3. Hilly country.

Buena Vista County—
Storm Lake. Quailabundant, For other game, and route, see Alden, Hardin
County. Hotel and private board at reasonable rates.

Butler County—

Greene. From this point north to Austin, Minn., along the line of the Burling-
ton, Cedar Rapids and Northern Railway, the sportsman will find pinnated
prose in immense quanti: with quail, pheasants, Canada geese, brant, sand-

ill cranes, ducks, all varieties except canvas backs, and a few wild turkeys,

Calhoun County—

Manson. For game and route see Alden, Hardin County.

Pomeroy. Ducks, geese, turkeys, grouse, snipe, plover, and other game
birds in abundance. Route as above.

Carroll County—

Glidden is in the midst of one of the best shooting regions of Iowa. Two
rivers run within five miles, along the banks of which are ee tracts of timber,
that are full of deer, wild turkeys, and other forest game, while the contiguous
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 53

prairies abound with pinnated grouse, snipe, woodcock, quail, and small game,
and the rivers, creeks, and bayous are full of ducks, geese and brant. The Glid-
den House, by N. D. Thurman, and the Dedrick, by J. C. Dedrick—both furnish
excellent quarters, and abundant accommodations for the sportsmen who frequent
the village. Board $2; teams $3. Good board at farmhouses. Reached via the
Chicago and Northwestern Railroad.

Cass County—
Anita and Atlantic. For route and game see Adair, Adair County.

Cedar County—

Mechanicsville. Pinnated grouse and quail. High Mills pond, one mile north
of the town, contains large sized black bass. In Cedar River, some miles south,
are pickerel, bass and other varieties of fish. Reached via the Chicago and
Northwestern Railroad. Hotel $1 to $2 boat and guide $3 ; teams $3.

Cerro Gordo County—
Mason City. Pinnated eras, cranes, geese, ducks and quail. Reached via
the Central Iowa, and the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroads.
o Plymouth and Plymouth Function. For game and route, see Greene, Butler
ounty.

Cherokee County—

Aurelia. Excellent pinnated grouse shooting. Reached via the Iowa Di-
vinen. of the Illinois Central Railroad. Mr. Sperry will act as guide and fur-
nish dogs.

Cherokee and Marcus. Game and route as above.

Clinton County—

Charlotte is on Deep River, which has been stocked with California salmon.
Goose Lake, three miles southeast, is a great resort for sportsmen ; geese, ducks
and brant are very abundant there. Reached via the Chicago and Northwestern
Railroad. Good accommodations will be found at the Sherman House.

De ivitt. Pinnated and ruffed grouse, quail, ducks ; black bass and pickerel.
Reached as above, or via the Davenport and St. Paul Railroad. Hotel $x to $2,
private board $3.50 to $5 per week. Country rolling prairie.

Camanche, is on the Mississippi River, opposite the mouth of the Meredosia
River, of Illinois. This last-named river has largé meadows or dry marshes, ex-
tending for many miles along either bank, furnishing some of the best duck, goose,
brant and crane shooting that can be found in the west. Thousands of these birds
are shot here every season, and hundreds of sportsmen visit these grounds from
all parts of the country. Camanche furnishes many of the outfits for these hunt-
ing parties. Reached via the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad. The New
Haven Hotel, F. Anthony, proprietor, $2 per day.

Low Moor is four miles north of the Wapsipinicon River, a stream noted for
its most excellent shooting. Ducks, geese, and brant abound on the river, and
in the bayous setting into it. Snipe, several varieties, woodcock, pinnated grouse
and quail are foun in countless numbers along its banks. The river contains
several varieties of fish. Reached as above. Hotel $r.
es Ae eae is near the Wapsipinicon River. For game and route, see above.

otel $2.

Dallas County—
Redfield. Pinnated grouse are very abundant, with quail sufficient for good
sport, Board $2.50 to $3 teams $2 to $3.

Des Moines County—

Burlington. Ducks, geese, brant, quail, snipe, pinnated grouse, wild turkeys,
and a few deer beyond the Des Moines River, on the line of the Southwestern
ea ae In the Mississippi River are wall-eyed pike, bass, croppies and
sunfish,

Dickinson County—

Spirit Lake. Excellent fishing is found in Spirit Lake and Lake Okoboji.
Pinnated grouse are very abundant in the vicinity, and the wild fowl include
mallards, widgeons, grey ducks, canvas-backs, redheads, and other varieties of
ducks, with good goose shooting,
54 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

On the shores of Okoboji, some Englishmen have built a shooting-box, and
after the chicken and duck shooting in the fall, start from their pleasant head-
quarters on the lake, out upon the plains in pursuit of elk, buffalo, black and
white-tailed deer, antelope, beaver, and other large game found there. A Mr.
Van Steenburg, from New York State, also has a shooting-box delightfully situa-
ted on the shores of another of the numerous and beautiful lakes. The weather
continues very agreeable till after the middle of October, when it is apt to be cold
and windy. The route is via the Sioux City and St, Paul Railroad to Worthing-
ton, thence a beautiful drive of thirty miles over the rolling prairie, and along
the timbered shores of the numerous lakes which give to the country, in the
Indian dialect, its characteristic name of ‘‘ Minnesota,” land and water. Com-
fortable accommodations will be found at Crandall’s hotel, All the lakes and
prairie lands in this region, are splendid sporting grounds.

Dubuque County—

Worthington, on the Sioux City and St. Paul Railroad. The two lakes, one
east and the other west of the town, are the resort of many varieties of wild fowl,
geese. ducks, etc. On the prairie are pinnated grouse in limitless numbers.

otel accommodations.

Dubuque. Pike, black bass and white salmon in abundance. Excellent wood-
cock and duck shooting ten miles up the river. Reached via the Illinois Central,
and the Chicago, Dubuque and Minnesota Railroads.

Fayette County—

Fayette. Fine bass fishing in the Little Volga. Fayette is on the Davenport
and St. Paul Railroad, and furnishes good hotel accommodations. Ten miles
west via wagon road, is Wilson Grove,a fine centre for pinnated grouse shooting.

Floyd County—

Rudd. Pinnated grouse shooting excellent. Reached via the Chicago, Mil-
waukee and St. Paul Railroad. A dog is necessary, alsoa team and driver, which
are easily procured, The railroad conductor will give all necessary information
in regard to the best localities on the prairies of this and the adjoining counties.
es Marble Rock, Nora, Rockford, For game and route see Greene, Butler

ounty.

Greene County—

Grand Yunction. Excellent pinnated grouse shooting may be found any-
where along the line of the Keokuk and Des Moines Railroad, from Grand Junc-
tion to Fort Dodge, Webster County. As arule, it is best to stop at a country
house some miles out from the railroad, and on the line of some stage route.

New Y¥efferson, Pinnated grouse, quail, geese, ducks, cranes, etc. Reached
via the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad. Hotel $2; teams $4.

Scranton Station is south of Coon River, which furnishes excellent fishing for
pike, bass, pickerel, etc., and on the prairie the pinnated grouse afford excellent
gunning. Reached via the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad. The Hunter
House, by F. Foster, $2 per day.

Guthrie County—

Casey and Stuart. Quail, geese, ducks, plover, ctc. See Des Moines, Polk
County.
Hamilton County—

Webster City and Williams, For game and route see Hardin County.

Hancock County—

Garner, on the line of the Chicago. Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad, from
Garner to Algona, the sportsman will find excellent pinnated grouse shooting.
Garner, Britt, Wesley and Algona are good initial points. The train conductors
will give all necessary information, and at Garner. Robert Elder will direct to the
Cottonwood Grove Camp.

Hardin County—
Alden and Iowa Falls. Atany point west of Iowa Falls, on the line of the

Iowa Division of the Illinois Central Railroad, pinnated grouse are found in great
abundance.
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 55

Harrison County—

Dunlap. Pinnated grouse, quail, ducks, snipe, a few deer. Reached via the
Chicago and Northwestern Railroad. Hotel $3; teams $4.

Little Sioux. Game is abundant, deer being especially plentiful. Reached
via the Sioux City and Pacific Railroad.

Missouri Valley. Junction of the Chicago and Northwestern, and Sioux City
and Pacific Railroads. The surrounding country is full of game. Geese, ducks,
brant, ruffed grouse. pinnated grouse, quail, snipe, plover and woodcock are
pail: Three hotels. The Missouri Valley Sportsmen's Club have their

eadquarters here.

Jackson County—

Baldwin, three miles from the Maquoketa River. Wild game of all kinds
abounds in the vicinity. Reached via the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad.
There is one hotel.

Maquoketa. See above.

Kossuth County—
Algona. Pinnated grouse, woodcock, snipe, and all kinds of wild fowl.
Reached via the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad. Good hotels,
IVesley. Pinnated grouse. Route as above.

Linn County—

Cedar Rafids. Pinnated and ruffed grouse, quail, ducks, geese, snipe; wall-
eyed pike, bass, pickerel and white perch. Reached via Chicago an North-
western, and other railroads. Hotel $2 to $3.

Marshall County—

Marshalltown. Pinnated grouse shooting. Reached via the Central lowa
Railroad.

State Centre. Pinnated grouse, snipe, ducks, sandhill cranes and quail.
Reached via the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad. Hotel $1.50 to $3; teams
$3. Country rolling prairie.

Muscatine County—

Stockton. Excellent shooting for pinnated grouse, ducks, brant, wild geese,
snipe, rabbits, squirrels, etc. Sturgeon, pike, buffalo fish, perch and catfish are
abundant in the Mississippi River. Reached via the Caicago, Rock Island and
Pacific Railroad.

West Liberty. Duck shooting is excellent on the marsh and lake, where
many varieties are found. Take the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific, or the
Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern Railroad.

Plymouth County—
Fames, Lemars and Remsen. For game and route see Alden, Hardin County.

Pocahontas County—
Fonda. For game and route see Alden, Hardin County.

Polk County—

Des Moines. Good pinnated grouse shooting is found on railroads running
west and northwest from the city. From Des Moines northwest stop at Grand
Junction, or Gowrie, north of there, or at almost any station west of Grand Junc-
tion. Going west from Des Moines, stop at Stuart and take stage line to Fonta—
nelle, twelve miles out. Excellent shooting conveniences, and extends for twelve
miles further. . Twelve miles west from Stuart is Casey. Take stage from there
to Fontanelle, twenty-four miles. Every foot almost abounds with chickens,
and at almost any station west of Casey good sport can be had. Permission to
shoot on the farms is easily obtained. ‘

Pottawattamie County—

Avoca. See Adair, Adair County. 3

Council Bluffs. Deer, rabbit, squirrel, wild turkey, pinnated grouse and
quail. Beaver and mink are trapped in the vicinity.

Neola. See Avoca.

Scott County—
Davenport. Mascalonge and black bass fishing in the Wapsie, a tributary of
56 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

the Mississippi, twenty miles above Davenport. Davenport is on the Chicago
Rock Teland, and Paci c, and the Davenport and St. Paul Railrond, se

Shelby County—
Shelby. See Adair, Adair County.
Tama County—

Tama City. Pinnated grouse, quail, geese, ducks, teal and mallards in great
abundance on the Iowa River ; bass, pike and pickerel. Reached via the Chicago
and Northwestern Railroad. Hotel $2; guide $2; team $5; boat $1. Rolling
prairie.

Webster County—
fort Dodge. See Grand Junction, Greene County,and Alden, Hardin County.
Gowrie. See Des Moines, Polk County.

Winnebago County—

Lake Mitls is located in a large belt of timber and surrounded by lakes, where
the hunting is excellent. There are here in the spring and fall snipe, woodcock,
field plover, curlew, morble, godwit, rail, yellow leg plover, black bellied plover,
pinnated grouse, ruffed grouse, sharp-tail grousé, quail, wild pigeon, reed bird,
sand-hill crane, the whooping crane, snow goose, white frontell,and Canada
goose, with all the ducks except the black duck. ‘Deer are founda mile from
town. Elk are killed about thirty miles away, and bear also. Of fur bearing
animals there are two kinds of wolves and a variety of foxes, with otters, minks,
coons, skunks, badgers, squirrels and gophers.

Woodbury County—

Sioux City. Deer, turkeys, ducks, geese, quail and pinnated grouse are
-abundant, Reached via the Illinois Central and other railroads, Hotels $2.

Sloan. Deer, ducks, geese, quail and pinnated grouse. Reached via the
Sioux City and Pacific Railroad. The surrounding country is valley land.

KANSAS.

Area 78,418 square miles, population 364,399. The face of the
country is uniformly rolling prairie. There are no mountains in
the State. The valleys of the Missouri and Kansas Rivers are
vell wooded, and very fertile when under cultivation ; the Neosho
Valley, which is mentioned hereafter, is famous for its agricultural
wealth, and is one of the best game sections of the entire State.
Kansas, as a game region, has few superiors, buffalo, elk, deer,
antelope, with many kinds of smaller game; wild turkeys, ducks,
geese, pinnated grouse and other game birds, make up a list full
of attraction to the hunter. By a wise provision against shipping
game from the State, the supply promises to be long unexhausted.
The railroad and other traveling facilities are good and are
constantly being improved. On any of the lines of railroads
traversing the State, the devotees of rod and gun will find ample
employment. The officers on these roads are generally well in-
formed and will always give information and attention to those
so desiring.
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 57

Allen County—

Humboldt. Deer, turkey, snipe, ruffed and pinnated grouse, quail, duck,

Rosse sandhill crane, curlew. The route is via the Missouri, Kansas and Texas
ailway. Hotels $1.50 to $2 ; teams $2.50 to $4. Tents and other camping neces-

sities can be secured. Big Creek, Marmarton and Fall Rivers are excellent

camping sites.

Anderson County—

Colony, sixty-eight miles south of Lawrence, on the Leavenworth and Law-
tence and Galveston Railway, is an excellent initial point for pinnated grouse
shooting. ‘Teams can be procured,

Atchison County—

Atchison. Excellent pinnated grouse, duck, goose and quail shooting in the
vicinity. Atchison is easily accessible via the Central Branch of the Union Pacitic,
the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific, and other railroads.

Bourbon County—

Fort Scott, Pinnated grouse, quail, Wilson snipe, woodcock. Within sixty-
five miles are fine duck, goose and turkey shooting grounds. Fort Scott is on the
Missouri, Kansas and ‘Texas, and the Missouri River, Fort Scott and Gulf Rail-
roads. Hotels $2 to $3; teams $2 to$s. Rolling prairie and hilly country.
Coffey County— 4

Burlington. A few turkeys, pinnated grouse in abundance, quail and snipe,
deer and jack-rabbits ; bass,.pike, pickerel, buffalo and other varieties of fish.
The best fishing and shooting grounds are the Neosho River, Wolf, Turkey, and
Crooked Creeks, and Swan, and White Lakes. Reached via the Missouri, Reaes
and Texas Railway. Hotels, $1.50 to $2; teams, with drivers $3.50 to $4.50.
Good camping grounds.

Crawford County—

Hepler. Excellent pinnated grouse, quail and duck shooting, Reached via
the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway. A small hotel. Two and one half
miles from the depot is an old Kentuckian, who will act as guide and furnish dogs.
Douglas County--

Lawrence. Pinnated and ruffed grouse, and quail. Deer on the bluffs of the
Rock River shore ; deer, duck and snipe shooting, with excellent fishing on the
Wapsie. Wild turkeys, Canada geese, brant, and many varieties of duck
abound. Easily accessible by rail. Hotels $3 ; teams $2 to $3.

Ford County—

Dodge City. A point from which to reach the antelope hunting district to the
west. Reached via the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad.

fort Dodge. Buffalo, deer, antelope, turkeys, geese, teal, mallards, shovel bills,
widgeons, butter-ducks, shell ducks, herons, cranes, quail, grouse, field-plover,
yellow-legs, jack snipe, and Pigeons, are found about the small tributaries of the
Cinnamon River southeast of Fort Dodge.

Labette County—

Chetopah, A_ place of fifteen hundred people, and one of the most thriving in
Kansas. One of the best chicken centres in the United States. Deer and pinna-
ted grouse, by the hundred, can be got within two or three miles of town.
Gond hotels, guides, wagons, outfits, tents, etc. A station on the Missouri,
Kansas and Texas Railroad.

Parsons, The Labette River, one mile southwest of town, affords fine duck
shooting ; the marshes, meadows and prairies in the vicinity offer splendid grouse,
quail and snipe shooting. Reached via Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad.
The Belmont, Lockwood and St. James Hotels are near the depot, and the pro-
prietors are well posted as to the country. The town has good livery stables ;
there are also quite a number of sportsmen, and some fine dogs.

Lyon County—

_Emporia, is situated between the Neosho and Cottonwood Rivers. These
with their numerous tributaries in the neighborhood, offer excellent sport.
Quail, grouse, snipe, duck, geese, brant, curlew, and plover in immense quanti-
ote now and thena deer. Reached via the Missouri, Kansas and Texas

ailroad.

3*
58 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

Marshall County— e
Beattie. Pinnated grouse. On the St. Joseph and Denver City Railroad.
Miami County—

Paola. Deer, jack-rabbits, pinnated grouse, wild turkeys, quail, ducks,
Reese, swan, Snipe ; several varieties of fur-bearing animals. Reached via the

issouri River, Fort Scott and Gulf Railroad. Hotel and private board 75 cts. to
$2; teams $2 to $4. Rolling country, with excellent camping grounds,

Montgomery County—

_ Coffeyville. Pinnated grouse and quail shooting, very fine in the immediate
vicinity, with ducks and geese. Bass fishing. Ten miles south in Indian Terri-
tory, are deer and wild turkey. Reached via the Leavenworth, Lawrence and
Galveston Railroad. Hotel, $6 per week.

_ Independence, Liberty Lake affords fine duck, plover and snipe shooting.
ee grouse are abundant, and deer and turkeys twenty miles distant. Route
as above.

Morris County—

Council Grove. Pinnated and ruffed grouse, quail, snipe, ducks, cranes, and
other game in great plenty, on the prairie lands, two to twelve miles west of the
town. Reached via the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway. The Old Com-
mercial Hotel, $2; team $5.

Neosho County—

Osage Mission. The Neosho River, marshes, meadows and small streams
afford excellent duck, snipe and plover shootin: , while on the prairies, and among
the brush and corn-fields near at hand, quail, chickens and rabbits are very abun-
dant. The depot agent will show sportsmen good grounds, and direct them to
first-class accommodations. Reached as above.

New Chicago. A few deer and wild turkeys. Geese, brant, ducks, mallards,
wood ducks, widgeons, teal, redheads, pin-tails, spoon-bills, canvas-backs and
others. Pinnated grouse are very abundant. Quail, snipe, plover, and curlew
shooting. Common and jack-rabbits. Reached via the Missouri, Kansas and
Texas Railroad. Good hotel accommodations.

The Neosho River Valley, along the line of the Missouri, Kansas and Texas
Railroad, affords excellent shooting. Quail, pinnated grouse, snipe, ducks and

eese, antelope, and jack-rabbits are found within short distances of the railway.
he railroad officials will give all needed direction to the best game localities.

Ottawa County—
Delphos. Grouse and quail.

Reno County—

Hutchinson is a good point from which to start south for the antelope country.
On the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, one hundred and sixty-eight
miles from Topeka. Fit out at Hutchinson, thence ride fifty miles south over the
prairie. The country is rolling prairie, covered with buffalo grass, Ducks, geese
and prairie chickens abound.

Russell County—

Russell. Elk, antelope, buffalo occasionally, deer, sae ap, coyotes, grey
wolves, quail, pinnated and sharp-tailed grouse, and a few dusky grouse. Reached
via the Kansas Pacific Railway. .

Saline County—

Brookville. Excellent pints grouse and quail shooting ; jack-rabbits and
antelope. Reached via the Kansas Pacific Railway, thirty-two miles from
Topeka,

Wallace County—

Fort Wallace. Buffalo, black tail deer andantelope. Reached via the Kansas

Pacific Railway.
Woodson County—
Neosho Falls. Geese, ducks, snipe, woodcock, pinnated grouse, quail, rabbits,
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 59

jack-rabbits, squirrels. A few deer and wild turkeys. Bass, sun, cat and buffalo
fish, and mullets. Reached via the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad.
Hotels $2 ; team and driver $3.

 

KENTUCKY.

The area of the State is 37,680 square miles; the population
was, in 1870, 1,321,011. The Cumberland Mountains, which form
the western boundary of the State, have several spurs extending
through the eastern and south-eastern counties to Wayne County.
The central and northern counties are hilly and rolling. The
western section of the State is a table land intersected by nu-
merous rivers which have worn deep furrows often reaching a
depth of 400 feet, and giving to the country a hilly appearance,
where in reality no hills exist. The inland river communication of
the State is very extensive and the natural facilities thus afforded
have been augmented by a series of artificial locks and dams. All
parts of the country are easily accessible, by boat, rail, or good
carriage roads. There will usually be found good hotel accommo-
dations, and where these do not exist the stranger will find no lack
of hospitality among the people. The game of the State is for the
most part confined to the smaller varieties. Fox hunting with
hounds is a favorite sport. There are some deer among the mount-
ains in the eastern districts. The blue grass country abounds in
woodcock and quail. The farms are large, generally not posted,
and an opportunity for good shooting always afforded.

Bourbon County—
Paris, Good red fox hunting in the vicinity. Reached via the Kentucky
Central, and Maysville and Lexington Railroads,

Campbell County—

Newforé, on the Ohio opposite Cincinnati. Ducks are plentiful and wild
turkeys abound within a radius of ten miles. There is excellent spoon-trolling
for southern black bass. On the Louisville and Cincinnati Railroad.

Carroll County-—

Carrolitox. Quail and rabbit shooting good along the rivers. Reached via
Ohio River steamer.

Ghent. See above.

Clark County—

In the Red River is excellent black bass fishing. Take Louisville, Cincinnati
and Lexington Railroad to Winchester, thence via wagon.

Franklin County—

Frankfort. Inthe Kentucky River are black bass, salmon, silver perch, and
near its source, pike are‘abundant. The best locality for fishing is in the Elkhornt
asmall tributary of the Kentucky, a few miles below Frankfort, where are grea,
numbers of black bass. The stream is narrow, shallow, rocky and hill-bound,
requiring constant wading. In Black’s Pond, four miles distant, are caught
perch, dark grey, and silver, and black bass.
60 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

Gallatin County—

Warsaw, on the Ohio River, midway between Louisville and Cincinnati, on
the L. C. and L. R.R., is a good starting point for quail grounds. Turkeys, rab-
bits, pigeons, and some teal can also be had. Only a small part of the district is
pores, and gunners havea fair showing. Board can be obtained at reasona-

e rates.

Grant County—

Williamstown. Partridges, pheasants, woodcock, rabbits and squirrels.
Reached via rail and stage from Covington.

Hopkins County—

A shbysburg, on the Green River, is in the vicinity of good squirrel, quail and
rabbit shooting. Reached by rail to Madisonville, thence drive, or via Green
River steamboats.

Jefferson County—

Louisville, Quail and ruffed grouse in the vicinity. Mr. J. P. Johnson, of the
Galt House, will give every information in regard to localities.

Hickman County—

Columbus, Bears, deer, wild turkeys, ducks, geese, with an abundance of
small game. Good hunting is also found on the other side of the Mississippi
River, in Missouri, keached via the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, or via steamboat.
Board $1.50 to $2, $4 to $5 per week ; boats and guides $3; teams $3.

Lineoln County—

__ Stanford. Quail and rabbits ; good bass usting. Via Louisville, and Nash-
ville and Great Southern Railroad, six hours from Louisville.

MeLean County—

Calhoun. Green River fs from eighty to one hundred and twenty-five yards
in width, and from twenty-five to one hundred feet deep from the mouth to Cal-
houn, distant seventy miles. Lock and Dam No. 2 is situated at Cathoun, and in
May and June one can have tolerably fair sport catching bass below the falls.
But of all the fish famous in the waters of this river is the catfish; they grow to
immense size, and as they suffer less from the nets than other fish they are still
tolerably plenty. In the oak and hickory flats along the river bottom are plenty
of squirrels ; quails and rabbits are abundant on the hills; geese and ducks in
limited numbers. Reached via Evansville, Owensboro’ and Nashville Railroad
to Livermore, thence wagon, or by river steamer.

Mason County—

Maysville, Good quail shooting. Reached via the Maysville and Lexington
Railroad.
Mercer County—

A good shooting ground for small game. Coons abundant.

Oldham County—
La Grange. Quail and rabbit shooting. Reached via Ohio River boats.

Pendleton County—
Falmouth. Bass and red-eye fishing is good in the Licking River, at Fal-
mouth, and other points on the line of the Kentucky Central Railroad.

Powell County—

Stanton. Fine bass and pike, (locally known as ‘‘jack”’) fishing in the Red
River. Deer hunting in the vicinity. The route is from Lexington via the Louis-
ville, Cincinnati and Lexington Railroad to Mt. Sterling, thence via private con-
veyance. Provide camping equipments.

Woodford County—

Midway. Ducks and jack snipe. Bass fishing. Reached via the Louisville,
Cincinnati and Lexington Railroad.
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 61

LOUISIANA.

This State embraces a great deal of flat country, much cut up
by rivers, bayous, lagoons, marshes, and intricate water courses.
The water surface of Louisiana, excluding the rivers and the bays,
which open out into the Gulf of Mexico, is 1700 square miles. This
includes Lake Pontchartrain and all the many fresh water lakes in
the interior of the State. The coast marshes are peculiar—mostly
affected by the tides of the lakes—are covered with a tall rank
growth of reed and grass, ranging in height from three to six feet,
and almost impenetrable. Throughout this region are found shell-
banks, or islands, showing unmistakable indications that, at some
remote period, this whole expanse of marsh land must have been
covered by the waters of the sea. The people burn the grass in
early fall to afford “snipe burns’’ where the birds feed in great
numbers, and along the edges of the bayous and lagoons the grass
is permitted to grow, as it furnishes the best of blinds tor conceal-
ment in ducking. In ducking, the prevailing custom is to hunt in
the pirogue ; very cranky specimens of the ship-builder’s craft to
the inexperienced. To the experienced, the pirogue is safe and
comfortable as a Clyde steamer, and the writer remembers having
frequently seen men so expert as to stand upon the gunwale and
shoot or paddle without materially rocking the boat. ‘The parishes
which have the greater part of their surface covered with this marsh
are Cameron, Vermillion, St. Mary’s, Terrebonne, La Fourche,
Jefferson, Plaquemines, St. Bernard and Orleans. In all of them
there are other kinds of surface ; belts of very fertile alluvial land
along the bayous, some prairie in Cameron, a good deal in Ver-
million and a less amount in St. Mary’s.

Excepting the planters living on the bayous, the population of
the coast-marsh region is sparse, and consists mostly of hunters
and fishermen. West of Bayou Teche and south of Bayou Co-
codné are the prairie lands, broken up by numerous bayous,
creeks and forests. In the middle and northern tier of counties, the
State is very heavily timbered and thickly intersected by bayous,
many of them navigable and all affected in volume by the rise and
fall of the Mississippi, into which all their waters eventually empty.
The cutting of the levees by Grant at Lake Providence near
Vicksburg, overflows all the low lands of that section every spring,
the water usually rising in March and falling in April. These
annual overflows drive the deer from their swamp coverts to the
uplands which are not subject to overflow, and at that time the
shooting is better than at any other, as, the deer being confined ina
limited area, there is no trouble in starting them, and once started,
if one knows the land, and has a good horse, he need seldom fail
62 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

of ashot. Mallards are found here in countless numbers in the
bayous and swamps, and quail and woodcock are plenty.

Carroll Parish—

This is an excellent shooting ground for bears, deer, wild turkeys, rabbits,
quail, ducks, geese and many other varieties of game. For description of coun-
try see above, and East Baton Rouge Parish. Providence, on the Mississippi
River, is a good centre.

Catahoula Parish—

Catahoula Lake is afine ground for ducks and geese. Deer and quail are
plenty in the vicinity,

Hast Baton Rouge Parish—

Baton Rouge. Take the steam ferry to Allen Station. a mile above the town, and
go out on the railroad whichruns west from the Mississippi River, in the parish
of West Baton Rouge, to Livonia, in the parish of Point Coupee, twenty-eight
miles, and from thence is graded twelve miles to the Atchafalaya River. The
country is level, and where not reclaimed, is swamp and dense canebrake,
abounding in deer, bear, wild turkey, etc. It is subject to overflow from the
Mississippi, in case of breaks in the levees. Bayous Grosse Tete, Foxdoche, and
smaller streams run through the country, and at low water afford good fishing for
trout, perch, white cat, etc. The trains run twice a week from Allen ‘tation,
‘The accommodations on the line of the road are poor.

The country on the east side of the Mississippi is high and rolling ; the streams,
of which the principal are the Amite and Comite Rivers, are clear, and afford ex-
cellent sport, fishiag for trout, various kinds of perch, white cat, etc. The woods
abound In squirrels, wild turkeys, rabbits and deer ; the fields with quail, doves,
larks, etc., and in winter, snipe, ducks, woodcock, robins, wild pigeons, etc.
Transportation is abundant and very cheap. Parties who go with the intention
of camping, generally send the conveyances back, to return for them ata specified
time. A carryall with seats for fifteen persons, four horses and driver, can be had
for $12 per day. Board $1.50 to $2 per day ; by the month, $30 and $25.

Grant Parish—

In the Flagon, Clear, Big and Trout Creeks, are found bass, pike, perch, cat-
fish, bar-fish and buffalo-fish ; in the vicinity are quail, ducks and geese—abun-
dant in Catahoula Lake—wild turkeys, deer, bears, panthers and wildcats. Take
Red River steamers to Colfax. The bottom lands are heavily timbered with cot-
tonwood, ash, willow, holly, cypress, and the grand magnolia, and a dense
undergrowth, There is generally an open, clear space of from ten to fifly feet
along the margin of the stream, thus giving ample room to cast the line.

Iberia Parish—

New Iberia. The sea marshes abound in deer. Geese, ducks, brant, wood-
cock, snipe, rice birds and pinnated grouse, are found on the marshes and
prairies.

Madison Parish—

In the streams of this county is excellent fishing. The swamp and dense cane-
brakes are full of bears, deer, wild turkeys and other game ; the woods afford
good shooting for many kinds of birds and animals ; the fields are filled with quail,
doves, etc. Take Mississi pi River steamer to Delta, thence stop at any of the
stations on the line of the Vicksburg, Shreveport and Texas Railway.

Morehouse Parish—

In the dense canebrakes are bears, deer, wild turkeys, etc., with wild fowl of
many varieties, and good fishing in all the Streams and bayous. (See description
of the northern counties, above.) Take rail to Raysville, via the Vicksburg,
Shreveport and Texas Railroad, and thence drive to Bastrop,

Orleans Parish—

New Ordeaxs. The best points most accessible from New Orleans are Miller’s
Bayou, Chef Menteur, Bayou des Allemandes, and Bayou Labranche. The first
two named are situated upon the Mobile Railroad, the latter, respectively, upon
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 63

Morgan’s Railroad and Jackson Railroad. At Miller’s, the hunter or fisherman,
as the case may be, finds a camp, so to speak, of three or four houses, situated
upon a shell island of the prairie near the shore of Lake Catherine, and directly
upon the bayou, where ample provision is furnished—such as pirogue, decoys, a
clean bunk, and plenty of duck, and fish, and coffee, and other consolation for the
inner man, all for a moderate sum ; and at an equally modest sum can be procured

uides. These guides are experienced in manceuvering the pirogue across the

etimes angry waves of Lake Catherine, or through the intricate maze of a
crooked, narrow bayou. Woe to him who, under *‘ Tom’s”’ care, fails to kill
ducks at Seven Ponds, Bayous Bob, Pecan, or Cassenay, at Grand Point, or the
Corridors, or snipe on Frederic Burn, or Ween’s Island! Black, grey, mallard,
canvas-back, teal, ‘* fan-fan,” ‘‘ dec see,” ‘‘ dos gres,” and many varieties of
duck, with names peculiar to the creole vocabulary, are found here in great num-
bers, from November rst to March rst. Prior thereto and after, large bags are not
frequent. Miller's Bayou offers red fish, sheepshead, green trout, and striped
bass. The fare from New Orleans to Miller’s Bayou is $1.50. Other favorite
spots near the city for teal, canvas-back and red head shooting are along the upper
line of Canal Street, at the Lake Swamp, and Little Lake. Twin Lakes, two
miles from Miller's Bayou, is a famous place for ducks.

Plaquemine Parish—

The vicinity of the mouth of the Mississippi is a resort for great numbers of
ducks. Hunters there kill sometimes one thousand in a day.

St. John Baptist Parish—

Bayou De Sair, on the west shore of Lake Pontchartrain is noted for its fine
fishing. In the adjoining cypress swamp is good deer and bear hunting.

St. Maro’s Parish—

Bayou Teche, Irish Bend. Jack snipe, wood duck, quail, woodcock
shooting.

St. Tammany Parish—

Mandville isa pretty summer bathing, and winter hunting and fishing resort
for New Orleans people, situated thirty miles from the city, on the north shore of
Lake Pontchartrain, which is crossed every day by an elegant passenger steamer.

The game consists, along the coast, of whiat the French Creole citizens call the

ussee, a very small bird ; two varieties of the cye, somewhat larger; magnolia

irds, robins, snipe, woodcock, cedar birds, French and English duck, teal in
abundance, wild geese, Poules d'eau and Peppebot, rail, snipe, with half a dozen
other less important varieties.

The northern part of this parish, near Pearl River, is thinly inhabited, and
abounds in wild pine, live oak, and magnolia forests and swamps. Here large
numbers of deer, wild turkeys, quails, and squirrels, and occasionally a few bears
and wild cats are killed. ~

Lake Pontchartrain. is generally brackish, sometimes quite fresh from the Mis-
sissippi crevasses, and sometimes again quite salty. The fresh water streams
that flow into it from the pine hills, abound in yellow and red perch, with some
pickerel, and not a few ‘' green trout”’ the local name for the black bass. It is
the favorite fresh water game fish. The Tangipahoa River, twenty miles from
here, contains a species of fresh water speckled trout, and many large rock fish,
which, like the green trout, are caught with a ‘“t bob,”

Lake Pontchartrain is a glorious fishing ground. With a crab and cast net, the
angler can catch all the red crawfish, crabs, shrimps, and mullets he wants for
bait (or food) ina few moments. With these he can, from a bath house, wharf or
boat, catch striped bass, the famous sheepshead, redfish, sea perch, sea trout and
croakers, not to mention a superior quality of speckled catfish. The fishing is
good all the year round, but best in the winter. Striped bass are most plentiful
almost all winter. Sheepshead abound at this season, but are difficult to catch
with a hook, from lack of proper bait. f .

The redfish is quite plentiful. And he is the gamest fishin the lake. With
mullet for bait and a reel, the sport of playing him is magnificent. Heis the staple
good aut water fish of the South, and bites well on the Gulf coast all the year
round,

The speckled sea trout are found a couple of months in the autumn, and bite
voraciously at any kind of bait, ‘‘ bob” or fly. The croaker isa beautiful sil-
64 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

very symmetrical fish, and derives its name from the croaking noise it makes
when caught. As a table fish, it may be said to be quite as popular as the sheeps-
head, and is in great demand. It is caught vom boats. out a mile or so in the
jake, and with hand line, with soft shell crabs or mullets for bait. It goes in
schools and bites eagerly.

Tensas Parish—

In this county are many canebrakes, which are filled with large game, such as
bear, deer, etc. Wild turkeys, quail, rabbits, squirrels, ducks, geese, and other
geme are abundant throughout the county, Take Mississippi River steamer to

t. Joseph or Water Proof, which will be found good centres for sport.

 

MAINE.

Maine, the largest of the New England States, has an area of
31,766 square miles, with a population of 626,915. Upon the
coast are many bays and inlets, with numerous peninsulas and
many beautiful islands, making the whole coast line 2,500 miles.
The rivers of the State are numerous and several of them of large
size. The State is everywhere dotted with a great number of
lakes of all sizes, which with the rivers constitute one-tenth of the
whole area of the surface. An irregular continuation of the White
Mountains of New Hampshire extends along part of the western
side of Maine, thence crossing the State in a north-eastern direc-
tion, forms the scattered hills, which terminate in Mars Hill, on the
eastern boundary. There are other ranges of high lands, and the
surface is generally hilly and broken. Three-fourths of the whole
area are still covered by the primeval wilderness, in whose forests
lurk great quantities of the wilder varieties of game. Bears, deer,
moose, etc., are abundant, and foxes, beavers, otters, minks and
various other fur bearing animals furnish a support to numbers of
trappers. The lakes and rivers are noted throughout the country
for their fine fishing, and these waters are also excellent shooting
grounds for all kinds of wild fowl. The means of communication
are generally good in the settled portions of Maine, but in the wil-
derness guides are necessary; the favorite method pursued by
sportsmen is to strike into the wilderness, where guides are neces-
sary, and may always be secured.

Aroostook County—

The best of fishing is found in the chain of lakes above Grand Lake. The
number of lakes there is legion, and the fishing magnificent and easy of access.
Go to Bangor, thence via the E. and N. A. Railroad to Wina, then team to
Springfield, twenty miles (good road) to Duck Lake, canal across Duck Lake
to Junior Lake, across Pocumpus to Syssylladobsis. This route can be made
from Bangor in one day. There are some fifteen or twenty large lakes that
are accessible with a canoe, with short thoroughfares between and good fish-
ing in them all, But few fishermen go there, and a party could have it all to
themselves. Plenty of landlocked salmon. Also some brook trout (small, two
pounds is large) and any number of togue, pickerel, and white perch. The best
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 65

time for catching the salmon is from the last of May to the first of July. The close
time commences here the 15th of September, so there is no fishing in the fall. The
salmon do not commence running till the last of September.

Sherman Mills. Trout, togue, ruffed grouse; ducks, moose, caribou, bears.
A se guide can be obtained ata fair price. Write for information to Ed. A.
Cushman.

Cumberland County— .

Sebago Lake, fourteen miles long by eleven miles wide, contains fine salmon
trout of a peculiar variety. They are very large, averaging double the size they
do in the eastern part of the State. They vary from six to seventeen pounds, and
are of a bright silver color, with very few large black spots on the sides near the
back, so nearly resembling the grilse that the difference can hardly be perceived.
They begin to run up the streams the first of September and continue to do so
till they spawn, which isin October. They also run up in May, about the fif-
teenth, and stay up about two or three weeks. Sebago Lake is situated fifteen
miles from Portland. The Ogdensburg Railroad runs past it.

Portland. The game includes the grey coot, with other varieties, black duck,
teal, loon, red diver, sheldrake, old squaw, grebe, yellow legs, snipe, woodcock,
tuffed grouse, squirrels ; trout.

Franklin and Oxford Counties—

The Rangeley Lakes. This chain of lakes consists of Rangeley, or Oquossoc,
nine miles long, Cupsuptic, seven miles, Mooselucmaguntic, or Great Lake, four-
teen miles, Molechunkamunk, or Upper Richardson, twelve miles, Welokenne-
bacook or Lower Richardson, and Umbagog, twelve miles. The last lies partly
in Coos County, New Hampshire. All these lakes are connected by thorough-
fares; the distance between them is from one to six miles, The surrounding
country with the exception of the northern shore of Rangeley and the southern
shore of Umbagog, is an unbroken wilderness. , The lakes are far famed for their
rare fishing ; the trout taken from them are among the largest found in the coun-
try. The game of the region comprises moose, deer, caribou, black ducks, shel-
drakes, pigeons, partridges.

Lake Umbagog. The hotels at Upton are the Lake House, H. R. Godwin, and
Umbagog House. W. J. Abbott. Terms at each $2 per day, $7 to $10 per week.
Good fishing is found near the hotels.

Lower Richardson Lake. The Middle Dam Camp, or Angler’s Retreat, H.
R. Godwin, $2 per day. The best points for fishing are; the Dam, the Pond in
the river, Smooth Ledge, the Hop Yard, and other places to which guides can
direct.

Andover. The Andover House, A. W. Thomas, $2 per day, $7 to $10 per
week. Inthe vicinity of Andover are several good trouting streams, to which
Mr. Thomas will direct the angler. The best known are Black Brook, Sawyer’s
Brook, Old Maid Brook, Frye’s Brook and Burrough’s Brook, all of which are
within convenient distance from the hotel. The fish in these streams average
trom one-fourth to two pounds in weight.

At the approach to Upper Richardson Lake, from below, off Metalic Point, is
fine fishing. Three miles from here is Metalic Pond, where ducks of several
kinds, deer, caribou, and an occasional moose are seen. Metalic Brook, which
flows into the pond, affords fine trout fishing. :

Upper Richardson Lake. The Upper Dam Camp, H. R. Godwin, $2 per day.
At the piers and apron of the dam, the mouth of the river, and Trout Cove, good
fishing will be found. ‘A sail of three miles, and a walk of three miles, brings the
angler to Richardson Pond, whose shores are heavily wooded and frequented by
deer, caribou and other game.

Phillits. The Barden House, Samuel Farmer, and the Elmwood House,
E. D. Prescott. Terms of each $2 per day, $7 to $10 per week. There is excel-
lent brook trouting in the vicinity, to which the anglers will be directed from the
hotels. The Sandy River Ponds, and other waters on the road between Phillips
and Greenvale, contain fine trout. .

Rangeley Lake. The hotels are at Greenvale, the head of the lake, the Kim-
ball Hotel, H. T. Kimball, and at the outlet, the Mountain View House, H. T.
Kimball. Terms of each $2 per day, $7 to $10 per week. At Rangeley is the
Rangeley Lake House. Rangeley affords the finest fishing of the chain ; the favor-
ite points being near Kimball’s, at the head of the lake, and at the South Bog, the
dam, and the outlet, From Greenvale, Kennebago Lake is eleven miles distant,
66 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

Fine fishing may be found there. The new hotel at Rangeley City is now ready
for the public. “The former landlord of the old Rangeley Lake House, Mr. Eben
Hinkley, is to be found in the new house, two stories in height, all finished and
furnished in the best manner. Fishermen, and those who desire a quiet, home-
like house in the midst of the best trout fishing in New England, would do well
to correspond with Mr. Hinkley for terms, etc., which will be reasonable. The
arrangements are completed for a through stage, direct from Phillips to this place,
arriving here in season for dinner, the second day from Boston, via Eastern or
Boston and Maine Railroad. The fine little steamer Molly Chunkamunk, takes
Parties from here to all parts of the lakes.

Indian Rock is at the junction of the Kennebago and Rangeley streams. Camp
Kennebago, O. T. Richardson, $2 per day.

There are several routes to this chain. 1. From Boston via Eastern, or Bos-
ton and Maine Railroad, fare $3, or via steamer, fare $1, to Portland ; thence
via Grand Trunk Railroad to Bethel, whence stages run to Upton, on Lake Um-
bagog, fare $2. From Upton, steamers to the inlet, twelve miles, fare $1.50,
whence a team conveys baggage four and one-half miles to the Middle Dam
Camp. Round trip ticket from Boston to Bethel and return, $7, Upton and return,
$13. 2. From Portland as above to Bryant’s Pond, thence stage to Andover,
twenty-one miles, fare $1.50, where teams, boats and guides can be procured of
Mr. Thomas for the Arm of the Lake, twelve miles, and the Middle Dam Camp,
four miles beyond. Thence via boat to the Upper Dam, and across the carry to
the lakes. Charge for transporting boat across the carry, $1. Round trip tick-
ets, via this route from Boston to Bryant’s Pond and return $7 ; to Andover and
return $9; to Richardson Lakes and return $13 ; to Middle Dam and return $15 ;
to Upper Dam and return $16. 3. From Portland as before to North Stratford,
thence stage via Colebrook and Dixville Notch to Errol Dam, fare $4, thence
steamer across Umbagog to the Inlet, fare $1, thence boat up the river to Five
Mile pees: and a_carry five miles to Middle Dam. Fare from Boston $13.

. From Boston to Colebrook, via Boston, Concord and Montreal Railroad, fare

bo70: to Errol Dam and return via Colebrook, $17. 5. From Portland via
Maine Central Railroad to Farmington, ninety miles, thence stage to Phillips,
eighteen miles, fare $1.50, thence stage to Greenvale on Ranreley Lake, eighteen
miles, fare $2. From Greenvale via steamer, fare $1, across the lake to Camp
Henry at the Outlet, thence a carry of two miles, brings the tourist to Cam
Kennebago. Round trip tickets, Boston to Harmmp ion and return $9; to Phil-
lips and return $11; Greenvale and return $14; Upper Dam and return $17.
6. From Canada and the west, take Grand Trunk Railway to North Stratford,
Bethel or Bryant’s Pond, thence as above. 7, From the White Mountains, go
via Gorham or other points on the Grand Trunk Railroad, to Bethel, etc., as
above.
The Megalloway River and Lake Parmachene, Take the Grand Trunk
Railway to Bethel or Upton, stage to Errol Dam, steamer to Durkee’s Landing,
thence up the river in boat. There are several carries, and the river is subject to
sudden freshets at all times of the year. Excellent trouting, the fish averaging
Ewe pounds, ducks, partridges, deer and moose, and other game will be found in
the route.

Hancock County—

Sullivan. Trout, lake trout, ducks, geese, coots, and loons, etc., in Tunk
Pond. Reached via steamer from Boston via Rockland.

Ellsworth. Reed’s Pond, near this town, contains landlocked salmon, The
route is via stage or hired conveyance from Bucksport. ;

Mount Desert, a favorite seaside resort, combines more trout and salt water
fishing within a smaller radius than any other resort that we know of. We have
taken pound trout from Eagle Lake, only about two and a half miles from Bar
Harbor, on the ocean. It is beautifully situated up among the Mount Desert
hills, and is well worthy a visit. Jordan’s Pond affords good trout fishing. It is
reached by wagon road from Bar Harbor. Long, and Denning’s Lakes near
Southwest Harbor are well stocked with fish. Lorne’s Sound has excellent boat-
ing and fishing. Make headquarters at Lime’s Tavern, Somerville, at the head
of the. Sound. From this point the central lakes are easily reached. There are
several hotels or large boarding houses on the Island, where accommodations can
be obtained for about $10 per week. The principal ones are the Island, Ocean,
and Freeman Houses at Southwest Harbor, and fourteen houses or more at Bar
Warbor. Steamers leave Portland daily for Mt. Desert, fare $s.
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 67

Bucksport. Deer and grouse shooting, with excellent fishing in the vicinity,
Reached from Bangor, or Boston via boat.

Kennebee County—

Hallowell. Woodcock, grouse and partridges. Reached via the Maine Cen-
tral Railroad, two miles from Augusta.

Augusta, Black bass fishing in the neighboring lakes.

Oxford County—

Grafton. Good partridge shooting in this section. The country is rough and
birds plenty, and there is a first rate hotel.

Gull Pond and Dodge Pond. On the roth of October—or within three days of
that date—the outlets of Gull Pond and Dodge Pond, both emptying into Range-
ley Lake at points six miles apart, and the outlet of Rangeley Lake, six miles from
Dodge Pond, are thronged by myriads of fish known as blue backed trout. The
waters of the stream are actually filled with this crowding multitude, gathering to
deposit their spawn. They do not make a ‘* spawning bed,” like the salmon and
trout, but deposit their engs in all parts of the stream, remaining about ten days,
when they return to the lake, and are never seen until the roth of October the fol-
lowing year.

The variation between the blue back and the brook trout 1s plainly noticed.
The former are more slender, have no bright vermilion spots; the ventral, anal,
and pectoral fins are a bright scarlet, without the black and white lines so con-
spicuous in the other. ‘The tail is more forked. As their popular name indicates,
they are very dark. The most singular fact of all is the uniformity of size. They
are never less than seven nor more than nine inches in length, weighing from
three to four ounces. They never take fly or bait. They are captured in nets by
the bushel ; are not considered as good eating as the common brook trout.

For Rangeley Lakes see Franklin County.

Penobscot County—

Bangor. There are plekers! Perch. bass, and lake trout in Pushaw Pond, six
miles from town, and landlocked salmon in Reed’s Pond, within twelve miles,
and trout in the tributaries of the Penobscot. Good trouting in the Ken-
duskeog, and other streams in the vicinity. The fishing is very good within a
dozen points easily accessible, and hunting also in its season. There is a good
hotel at the lake. Stages connect Bangor with Moosehead Lake. .

North Milford. rouse and other game in the vicinity, though the dense
woods arid swamps render wing-shooting difficult. For deer the best locality is
Brandy Pond, about twenty miles distant, and along the Big Buffalo, which
empties into the Brandy Stream, the outlet of the lake, anda tributary of the
Union River. Take the Eastern and North American Railroad to Milford, thence
via stage or hired conveyance. James Fothergill, Jr. will entertain sportsmen
and act as guide.

Piscataquis County—

In Sebec Lake are landlocked salmon, and pickerel ; ducks, grouse, and rab-
bits in abundance. Go via European and North American Railroad to South
Sebec, thence by stage to the lake. The line of country opened by this road
from Bangor to the St. John River is teeming with glorious trout brooks and
lakes, The sportsman cannot go amiss here. Every man on the railroad is a
sportsman and a gentleman, from the president and superintendent to the brakes-
man. The postal clerks are all anglers, and will take pleasure in imparting infor—
mation to visitors in search of a few days’ recreation.

aaaes Pond, one mile from Sebec Lake, is noted for its fine togue or lake
trout. Take the route as given to Sebec.

Monson is an excellent centre for trout fishing. Within a radius of seventeen
miles there are thirty-two ponds, all of which afford magnificent sport. These
waters are known as Hebron, Monson, Spectacle, Dongnty (2), Bunker (2), Bog
Stream, Bell (2), McLan. North Moors, Bear, South Senior, South Junior, Meadow,
Meadow Stream, No. 18, Grindstone, Buttermilk, Benson, Ship, Greenwood (3)
Long, Hedgehog, Big Indian, Little Indian, Herring and Greenleaf. Ship Pon
also contains landlocked salmon. These lakes are situated in a rugged, moun—
tainous country, full of romantic scenery. They are easily accessible a
Bangor and Piscataquis Railroad to Guilford, thence via stage fifteen miles to Mon-
son, where a good hotel will be found. Sportsmen from abroad should call on
Mr. E. R. Haynes, the postmaster, who will give them all possible attention, and
direct to the best fishing grounds.
68 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

Moosehead Lake. The shooting to be found at and about Moosehead Lake
and its adjacent, waters, embraces deer, caribou, bears, wolves, an occasional
moose, squirrels, hares, ruffed grouse, ducks, geese, sand-pipers, loons and
herons. Spencer Pond, at the head of Moosehead Lake, isa breeding place for
black ducks, and Lucky Pond is a favorite resort for them. These are fiftcen
miles from Kineo, an weary from_Greenville. Ruffed grouse are abundant
most everywhere, and deer also on Spencer Mountain, a mile from Moosehcad
Lake. A great variety of game is found at Brassua Lake, near the Canadian line,
at the head of Misery River. The Wilson Ponds are full of trout. The nearest
pend is three miles from the lake, and reached by a good road ;, boats can there

e procured, Three miles beyond is the Upper Wilson ; camping is necessary
for much sport. :

Lagle Stream. This is a short distance from the Lake House at Greenville,
and affords good trout fishing. The stream flows through a meadow, and there
are no bushes to obstruct the casting. For larger trout go to the outlet, twelve
smiles from Greenville, where trout averaging two pounds are caught in abun-

ance.

Table Rock at Mt. Kineo, is a favorite spot for fly fishing, and a short distance
from the hotel, a well known spot furnishes trout averaging five pounds, and white
fish averaging one and a half pounds. Misery Stream, flowing into Lake Brassua
hear its outlet, Socateau River, Spencer Pond, Roach River and Lucky Pond, are
all fine fishing grounds. Lily Boy furnishes excellent trouting, with duck ‘and
partridge shooting.

The routes trom Boston are : 1st. Via Eastern Railroad to Dexter, two hundred
and thirty miles; stage thirty-five miles to Greenville, thence steamer twenty
miles to Mt. Kineo. Time twenty-four hours. Fare for round trip $15; single
ticket $8.50. 2d. Eastern Railroad to Guilford, three hundred and seven miles,
stage to Greenville twenty-five miles, thence steamer as before. Time twenty-
four hours, Fare same as above; and 3d. Steamer (International Sandford’s
Lines) to Bangor, two hundred and fifty miles, thence European Railway to
rae sixty-one miles, thence same as above. Time forty-nine hours.

are $7. :

The hotels and boarding houses are the Eveleth, and the Lake House, at
Greenville ; the Wilson House at the Outlet; the Mt. Kineo House, $2.50 per
day, at the base of the mountain ; the Carry Hotel, on the northeast carry, at the
head of the lake; the Morris Farm, west branch: guides can be procured either
at Greenville or Mount Kineo. Captain Samuel Cole at the Lake House, is ever
ready to guide to the best fisheries, There are also F. H. Vaughan, Pete Ronco,
Levi Ronco, A. B. Farrar, Ivory Littlefield, D. T. Saunders, and other well
known guides. They furnish generally their services, a canoe and cooking
utensils, for $3 per day. Boats can be procured of all sizes and styles, from birch
canoes at twenty-five cents per day, to a steam pleasure yacht-at $10 per day.
There are good liveries at the hotels. The best months for sport, are August and
September. The trip from Boston including traveling expenses and a stay of two
weeks, can be made tor about fifty dollars. Excursion tickets are sold from New
York for $24, from Boston for $15. At Greenville, D. T. Saunders will furnish
canoes, guides, and provisions for a canoe trip down the Allegash. The route is
up the lake via steamer, across the carry to the Penobscot, down this river twenty
miles to Chesuncook Lake, thence up the Umbazookskus River, across the Mud
Pond Carry, thence via Mud Pond, Chamberlain Lake, the Locks, Eagle Lake,
Pleasant Brook and Churchill Lake, into the Allegash. Moose, bear, caribou,
wild ducks, partridges, trout, and other game are found on the route.

Somerset County—

Bingham is a oo point from which to start into the Maine wilderness,
Leave Boston by Eastern Railroad via Portland and Kennebec to Skowhegan,
thence by stage fifteen miles to Solon, then eight miles to Bingham. Provide for
roughing it. uffed grouse, ducks, trout, caribou, and other game will be found.
Caribou about the forks of the Kennebec.

Washington County—

Grand Lake and Stream. Grand Lake Stream, is an outlet of the Grand
Lake, one of the chain of Schoodic Lakes, famous for its landlocked salmon. In
the lakes themselves, pike and lake trout abound, and brook trout in the streams
that empty into them. Reached by steamboat from Portland and St. John, to
Eastport, and thence rail to Princeton, or by European and North American
Railroad to McAdam, St. Stephens and Princeton, A steamer leaves the Stream
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 69

every morning, connecting with the first train to Calais, and returning in the
afternoon on the arrival of the train at Princeton. Canoes, hotels, and guides at
Princeton. Board $1 to $1.50 perday. Guides’ wages, white or Indians, $2 to $2.50
per day. Camping is generally preferred. David Dresser, at Princeton, will
secure reliable guides and full information. Country hilly, The Dobsis club
has a camp here. a

Machias. Grouse, woodcock, bears and deer, salmon, black fish, brook trout.
Reached by boat from Eastport or Rockland, or by yacht; also by wagon.
Indians, canoes and provisions, can here be secured for a trip up the Upper
Machias River, where there is good hunting for deer, bear, and other game,

Calais. Black meganders, ducks, ruffed grouse, woodcock, pickerel. Salmon
and trout ee in Grand Lake, on northern border of Washington County.
Calais ison the St. Croix and Penobscot Railroad, or reached by steamer from
Eastport, or by stare from Bucksport, there connecting with Boston steamers.

Dennysville. There is excellent trouting, with good woodcock shooting in the
Denny’s River, sixteen miles from Eastport. Reached by boat or wagon.

Vanceborough. Trout fishing in the St. Croix River. The route is via the
European and North American Railway.

Princeton. Bear, deer, ruffed grouse, ducks, geese, plover ; brook and sal-
mon trout. For route see Grand Lake. Hotels.

Grand Manan. The Island of Grand Manan is situated in the Bay of Fundy,
about thirty miles southeast of Eastport, Maine. It is thirty miles long and about
nine miles wide, and lies in nearly a north and south direction. There are two
small villages on the island and habitations are scattered over its greater part.

There are several small streams on Grand Manan which contain trout. The
south, west and north coasts of the island are rocky and abrupt.

The southern end of the island isa favorite breeding ground of the herring
gulls, (Larus argentatus), and their eggs are sought and used as food. The Pas-
samaquoddy and Micmac Indians live near South Head and hunt the porpoise
and seal for their oil. The eastern coast is low compared with its other shores,
and it is that side of the island that 1s mostly inhabited. It is covered principall
with spruce and birch timber, and it has the peculiar mossy spruce swamps auhich
are common to northern Maine. Several years ago deer were common on the
island, but the Indians and whites combined, have nearly exterminated them.
There are a few ruffed grouse, woodcock, thrushes, (hermit, olive backed and
golden crowned), robins, swallows, (barn, white-bellied, and bank swallows),
warblers, flycatchers, etc., etc., that are found on the island, also the hare, grey
rabbit and red squirrel. To the southeast, and east of Grand Manan are many
beautiful islands which are full of interest to the naturalist. They are as follows:
Two Islands, Three Islands, White Head, Eastern and Western Green Islands,
Sheep, Pumpkin, Low Duck, Little Duck, Big Duck, Long, Ross, Cheney's
Head, and Nantucket Islands. To the southeast are the Black Ox, Seal, Eastern,
Western and Yellow Merle ledges, which are favorite breeding grounds of the
seals. There is also one small island called the White Horse, which is a general
‘* headquarters ’’ and breeding ground of the Leach’s Petrels. They burrow into
the rich loam and deposit one egg in each hole. When caught in the hand they
disgorge a brownish oil which is not very sweet scented. The eider duck and
black guillemot breed on the rocky shores of the numerous islands, and an occa-
sional pair of arctic puffins, (parrot bill murre,) are found breeding in the same
localities. The razor-billed auk breeds in considerable numbers on the Yellow
Merle ledges, and twelve years ago it was common to nearly all the islands of the
Bay of Fundy. The island of Grand Manan is a good collecting ground for the
naturalist at any season. In the autumn the ornithologist can collect the follow-
ing birds in the Bay of Fundy :—Loons, red-throated diver, foolish guillemot, lit-
tle auk, eider duck, pomarine skua, (gull chaser), herring gull, Wilson’s tern,
black guillemot, puffin, great black-backed gull, purple sandpipers, red phala-
Tope, etc. etc.

Those who enjoy fishing can gaff lobsters, spear flounders, catch cod, hake.
ollock, and an occasional halibut, Grand Manan can be reached from Boston,
y rail, by the Boston and Maine Railroad, to Milltown, Me., and from there by

boat to Eastport, thence by some tisherman’s boat or the British mail packet to
Grand Manan. The boats of the International Steamship Company ply between
Boston, Portland and Eastport, and any person can go by boat the entire distance
a di York, if they wish to, by connecting with the Boston steamers for
St. John,

The house of Simeon F, Cheney, Nantucket Island, affords best of accommo-
dations, boats, etc.
7O GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

MARYLAND.

Maryland has an area of 11,124 square miles, excluding the
waters and islands of Chesapeake Bay. The State is divided by
the Chesapeake into two divisions, the Eastern Shore or that por-
tion lying between the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays and the
Atlantic, and the Western Shore, or that part between the Chesa-
peake Bay and Susquehanna River, and the Potomac, | The East-
ern Shore is level and in some places swampy, the Western Shore
is in the north-western part, decidedly mountainous, the moun-
tains growing less towards the south to the Great Falls of the Po-
tomac, where the foothills are merged in the plain which makes
up the lower portion of the State. Maryland has an extensive sea
and bay coast, the latter indented by many bays, all of which are
famous grounds for gunners. The game comprises a great variety
of wild fowl. The waters afford excellent fishing, and railroad
and extensive water communications of the State render these re-
sorts easy of access. :

Alleghany County—

Cumberland. Deer are found on the neighboring hills. The game birds are
the wild turkey, pheasant, partridge, woodcock, jack-snipe, and several varieties
of the duck family. Cumberland is on the Baltimore and Ohio, the Cumberland
and Piedmont, and the Pittsburgh, Washington and Baltimore Railroads. The
Queen City Hotel is well kept ; the St. Nicholas is the resort for sportsmen.

Baltimore County—

Baltimore. Miller’s Island is a great resort for ducks. The best Staotine
spots are leased so that sportsmen have but moderately fair shooting. Reache:
by boat from Baltimore.

Cecil County—

At Turkey Point on the Eastern Shore, near the mouth of the Susquehanna,
there are two points about one hundred yards apart and excellent ground to reach
before the birds come. The game includes red heads, black ducks, and canvas-
backs. Reached from Perrymansville.

Charles County—

In this county are some fine partridge and wild turkey shooting grounds.
Dorchester County—

Last New Market. Rabbits, opossums, squirrels, red and grey foxes, geese,
ducks, canvas-backs, quail, woodcock, snipe, water-rail; shad, rock pickerel,
perch, herring. Reached via the Delaware and Dorchester Railroad. Hotel
accommodations at Bramble’s house, where horses and dogs will be cared for.
‘The country is very level.

Cambridge. Snipe shooting in the vicinity. Reached via the Dorchester and
Delaware Railroad.

Garrett County—

Deer Park. Bear, deer, foxes, rabbits, turkeys, ducks, snipe, partridges,
ruffed grouse, woodcock, quail, and wild pigeons are found in all the siconntine
country in such numbers as to make Deer Park a noted resort for sportsmen.
There are no fish except trout in the Blackwater at this place, and they are, as
a rule, small, but are very strong and fight well. There are immense numbers of
them. Near the Falls the fish are much larger.
The fare from New York to Deer Park is about fifteen dollars; it is the same
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 71

from New York to Wheeling, W. Va., so if ticket be bought to the latter place
it can be disposed of at Deer Park or Oakland for a couple of dollars,

All trains of the Baltimore and Ohio Railway stop here inthe summer. Most
of the sportsmen who have been over this route to the Blackwater have started
from Oakland, but the ‘t Glades Hotel,” (famous for its table and general excel-
lency), has been destroyed by fire. The distance from Deer Park to Oakland is
but six miles, and those who prefer to go on the old road can go from here.

There is a large hotel here owned and operated by the Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad. It is a first-class house ; the charges are from $3 to $3.50 per day.

The sportsman need not burden himself with much luggage ; let him take his
rod and gun, and if the latter be a breech loader, his cartridges also, for he can-
not get them here. Other kinds of ammunition, Ditmar’s wood powder and
others, all kinds of shot, wads, etc., he can procure ; also good lines and flies. A
blanket will not be amiss. Coffee pots, frying-pan, etc., can also be had. It
will not be necessary to take much food for camping expeditions, and a couple of
hams, some bacon, coffee, sugar, etc., will be supplied at very reasonable rates.
Good guides can be had for $1.50 to $1.75 per day ; they will do the cooking, etc.
Horses will cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $1.50. Trout are found in
Deep Creek.

here is a tract of land called the ‘t‘ Dobbin Estate,’’ where parties generally
stay. It has upon it a good frame house, which is partially furnished and a lot of
about twelve acres of pasture land for the horses, Nothing is charged for the use
of house or lot and as it is but three miles from the North Fork, and on the banks
of the South, and four miles from the famous ‘' Falls of the Blackwater,”’ it is the
best plan to make this headquarters, The distance to this house from Deer Park
is thirty-six miles, from Oakland thirty. See West Virginia.

Harford County—

Havre de Grace. Good duck shooting, including canvas-backs, broad-bills,
black ducks. Reached via the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad,
eighty-two miles from Philadelphia, twenty-six miles from Baltimore. Duckers,
Boats, decoys, etc., can be obtained for about $25 per day. Write to James

ixon.

The shooting at Havre de Grace is monopolized by fifteen or twenty parties,
who shoot altogether for market.

The ‘*‘ Narrows,” which begin about six miles south of Havre de Grace, some-
times afford good shooting from the shore, either side ; but not until after a severe
storm, do the ducks leave the flats and resort to these contracted waters, to afford
sport enough to pay to leave New York, and then the stranger would find
trouble in shooting, unless accompanied by some one known to the land owners.

Magnolia County—

There is excellent duck gunning at the railroad bridge crossing Gunpowder
River.

Perrymansville is in the midst of many excellent wild-fowl shooting localities,
Bush River, with Abbey Island at its mouth, Gunpowder River with Carroll’s
Island at its mouth, Maxwell’s Point, three miles from the Srnrowder Bridge,
the level shores near Harewood and Stemmer’s Run, and many other well-known
localities, are annually visited by sportsmen.

The shooting on Bush River is from point only. The shore owned by Mr. S.
Sutton, P. O. address, Perrymansville, is a good one; the shooting is red-head
ptincipally. This shore is opposite the celebrated Leggoes’ Point, the extension
of Gunpowder Neck, and is one of the finest rough weather points onthe Gun-

owder. Carroll’s Island, and in fact all che points on the Gunpowder, are rented
or fabulous prices.

Kent County—

The White Perch Fishing at Betterton. Betterton is on the extreme upper
end of Chesapeake Bay, within sight of the mouths of the Susquehanna, Elk,
Northeast and Sassafras Rivers. Itis abuut eighty miles by water from Phila-
delphia, and forty from Baltimore. It is reached by the Ericsson steamers which
leave both cities at 4 p. m., requiring for the trip about eleven hours from the for-
mer, and four hours from the latter city. The fare from Philadelphia is $1.50,
which includes berth. Meals are fifty cents extra. Philadelphians may leave the
wharf on the upper side of Chestnut Street any day by the beats, which, though
not large, furnish excellent accommodations, arrive at Betterton by sunrise, spend.
72 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

a.day on the fishing ground, and return by the evening boat, reaching home by
six or seven o’clock next morning, being absent only an afternoon and a day.

The Delaware branch of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Rail-
road also runs to Still Pond, a station four miles from Betterton. The train
leaves Philadelphia at 8 a. M., and makes the trip in four hours. Still Pond is also
the Post Office, Betterton having only a few scattering dwellings, and no Post
Office. Thomas Crew keeps the house (not a hotel and without a bar,) and can
probably accommodate twenty guests, for whom he provides bountifully. His
rate is $1.50 per day, and boats with captain and bait $3 per day. The favorite
fishing ground is about two miles from the house, and the water there is about
thirty to forty feet deep. The ebb current runs about two and a half miles an
hour, and the flood current about two miles an hour, or with about one half the
force of the current in the Delaware, hence a ten or twelve ounce dipsey is heavy
enough for a bow or hand line, and two ounces for a rod line. A bass rod nine
feet long, with multiplying reel, isthe properrod. The perch bite better at the
turn of the tide—an hour before and after each, the low water and young flood
being the best.

The tide tables of the Chesapeake are published in the Nautical Almanac.
ek water at Betterton, would be about half an hour earlier than at Turkey

ont.

It is not amiss to take some bait along—worm, clam, or shrimp, or a good dip
minnow net. Ifa hand line is used, glove fingers are necessary, else any but the
toughest hand will give out before a day’s fishing is over. Spesutia Island fur-
nishes excellent duck shooting.

Montgomery County-—

Barnesville. Black bass fishing in the Potomac, with excellent shooting.
Reached via the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.

The Great Falls of the Potomac are located fourteen miles above Washing-
ton, and seven miles from Rockville, on the Metropolitan branch of the Baltimore
and Ohio Railroad. The route is from Washington to Georgetown, thence via
canal ; fare fifty cents, or via stage, seventy-five cents, to the fishing grounds.
The Potomac has here three falls, aggregating a descent of eighty feet, within a
distance of a few rods. Big. bass, little bass, rock, and striped bass abound, and
afford excellent sport. Atthe Cornelia Hotel, Messrs. Garrett and Mans, proprie-
tors; board may be obtained, $2 per day.

Prince George County—

Upper Marlboro. Fine shooting on the swamp and marshes adjacent to the
Patuxent River. Ortolans, reed birds, partridges, ducks, etc., and other game
birds. Reached via the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad, or by drive from
Washington. Skiffs and pushers are readily obtained, and the sport is always
good. The grounds are within three miles of Marlboro.

Muirkirk Furnace. Snipe and quail shooting good in the vicinity. Reached
via the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.

Nottingham. On the marshes of the Patuxent River, excellent shooting is to
be had (See Upper Marlboro). Mr. John Maccubbin, keeps the very comfortable
and home-like inn in the village. =

Ste. Mary’s County—

Of the best known resorts on the Potomac may be mentioned Colton’s, Leon--
ardtown, Blackstone’s Island, Piney Point, Marshall’s, and Point Lookout, the
latter a point of land at the mouth of the Potomac, with a splendid beach fronting
on Chesapeake Bay. The attractions at all these places are boating, fishing, bath-
ing, crabbing, and a fare composed almost exclusively of fish and oysters. Save
at Piney Point, the terms are very moderate—$z per day, $10 per week, and $30
to $35 per month.

Leonardtown, Duck shooting and good fishing. Reached by boat on the
Potomac River. Hotel $2 per day, $10 per week, $30 per month.

Point Lookout. Fair fishing may be found there: including sheepshead.
Reached via steamer on the Potomac, one hundred and thirteen miles from
Washington. Board same as at Leonardtown.

Marshall’s,two miles below Piney Point, is a favorite summer resort for
pleasure seekers. The fishing includes sheepshead, while perch, rock, taylor,
spot and croakers. The shooting is for partridge, duck and goose. Marshall's
is one hundred miles from Washington, reached via Potomac steamers, and has
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 73

a good boarding house, with boats and other conveniences. Charges, $30 per
month for a longer time than one month, or $35 for single month. as
Piney Point. For the fishing and hunting and the route see Marshall’s. The
St. George’s Hotel is comfortable and well kept, with moderate prices.
Chaptico. Good fishing in Britain’s and Chapeto Bays. Take’stage from
Washington to Leonardtown.

Somerset Count y—

Princess Anne. Quail, snipe, woodcock and wild fowl. Reached via Dela-
ware Railroad. Good board can be found among the farmers for $5 per week.
Washington County—

Williamsport. Black bass fishing furnishes fine sport. Williamsport is the
terminus of the Western Maryland Railroad, and can be reached from New York
by rail via Philadelphia, in about eleven hours, either by way of Harrisburg,
Pa., or Baltrmore. Hotel charges, $1.25 per day. A boat and boatman costs
$1.50 per day.

Hagerstown. Turkeys, pheasants, quail, and woodcock. Reached via Cum-
berland Valley Railroad.

Wicomico County—
Tyaskin District, near Salisbury, is a favorite resort for wood duck and quail.
Worcester County—

Berlin. Ducks and geese, plover, snipe, quail, woodcock, rabbits ; blue fish,
striped bass, weak fish and perch. Reached by rail from Wilmington to Herring-
ton Station and thence by either of two railroads via Georgetown or Salisbury.
Hotel accommodations. A sneak boat or skiff, and several dozen decoys for
geese, ducks, and snipe, are indispensable.

Ocean City. Ducks and geese, plover, snipe, quail, woodcock, rabbits ; blue
fish, striped bass, weak fish and perch. Favorite points of departure for the field
are Canterbury, Herrington, Farmington, Greenwood, Seaford, Georgetown,
Salisbury, Pittsville, and Berlin. There are good hotels, and Captain Ayres
keeps a hostelry open all winter to accommodate sportsmen. As a rule, the
farms are all posted, as a protection against market gunners, but gentlemen
sportsmen can almost invariably obtain’ permission to shoot over private terri-
tory. It is better, in all cases, to obtain letters of introduction to land owners.

Snow Hill, Good snipe shooting on the marshes. Rabbits, squirrels, par-
tridges in the vicinity. Reached via the Wicomico and Pocomoke Railroad.

Chincoteague Island. For game, route, etc., see Accomack County, Virginia.

MASSACHUSETTS.

Massachusetts comprises an area of 7800 square miles, with a
population of 1,457,351. With the exception of the eastern and
south-eastern sections, the surface of the State may be described
as broken and rugged. Several inconsiderable mountain ranges are
found in the State, the Hoosic, Holyoke and other ranges. The val-
leys, especially that of the Connecticut, are noted for their beauty
.of scenery and fertility of soil. Upon the coast are many islands,
bays and sounds, all of which furnish excellent fishing and bay
bird and wild fowl shooting. The railroad system of Massachu-
setts is very complete, this State containing, in proportion to her
ize, more miles of road than any other State in the Union. Hotel
iawiawiawiawiwaccoMmedations at all the shooting resorts are generally good, or

4

 

 

 

 
74 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

where these do not exist the sportsman will readily obtain accom-
modations at the farm houses. :

Barnstable County—

There area preat many deer in this county, and several fine trout streams, as
readily accessible from the town of Sandwich, as any other place. There are also
plenty of quail. Take Old Colony Railroad to Sandwich. ood accommodations
at the Central House.

Wooa’s Hole. On Buzzard’s Bay there is excellent shooting for ducks, plover,
and other varieties of water fowl. Professor Vinal N. Edwards, of Wood’s Hole,
has collected here the following fish, consisting of seventy-five different varieties.
Small spotted skate, peaked nose skate, sand shark, blue shark, leopard shark,
mackerel shark, trasher shark, hammer head shark, sleeper shark, (never before
found in these waters ;) horned dog, fish, no-horned dog fish, common mackerel,
spotted mackerel, tallow mackerel, mackerel scare, white mackerel, (not before
found here ;) sea herring, English herring, brown sea robin, large red sea robin,
long finned’sea robin, fiying fish, tautog, scup, sea’bass, menhaden, shad, hickory
shad, common butter ‘ish, square headed butter fish, (or silver fish ;) common eel,
lamprey eel, striped bass, squeteague, squid, king fish, tom cod, sea perch, sculpin,
common large flounder, four spotted flounder, small mouth flat fish, large mouth
flat fish, (very rare ;) talbot, pollock, smelt, toad fish, swell fish, blue fish, haddock,
hake, sturgeon, goose fish, boneta, sucker, cramp fish, red sculpin, (or pork in
barrel ;) large black ‘stingray, bill fish, (seven feet long ;) pilot fish, rudder fish,
horned swell fish, or (egg fish ;) puffin pig, file fish, moon fish, pompano, cero,
Spanish mackerel, cunner, leather jacket, (never before caught in these waters ;)
codfish, whiting, (or frost fish ;) mullet, ling, and three others.

he route from Boston is via the Old Colony Railroad ; from New York, via the
New Bedford steamers, which leave Pier 39, North River, every evening. Good
hotel accommodations will be found.
2 ea is in the vicinity of good smelt fishing. Reached via Old Colony
ailroad,

At the elbow of Cape Cod, and inside the sheltering range of sand cliffs which
forms the lower extremity of Nanset Beach, is a wide expanse of shoals known to
the hardy fishermen and mariners of the vicinity as ‘*‘ The Common Flats.”
These shoals, when bared by the falling tide, disclose miles upon miles of
mud flats covered with the marine mud commonly known as eel-grass, the favor-
ite food of several varieties of wild fowl, but more especially of the brant,
Landward from these mud flats, and also protected from the encroachments of
Old Ocean by Nanset Beach, stretches an extensive series of sand flats. This
part of the ‘‘ Cape”’ was in olden time a favorite hunting resort, and still affords
good sport.

Monument. Excellent fishing in Buzzard’s Bay. Reached via the Old Colony
Railroad. The Stearns House offers comfortable accommodations. eos

Chatham. Dough birds, yellow legs, plover, brant, and other varieties of
birds. Reached via Old Colony Railroad.

Cohasset Narrows. Blue fish, squeteague. Good catches of striped bass aré
made off the railroad bridge. Sportsmen will.find good accommodations, with
boats, bait, etc., at A. and H. Hatnaway’s. Route as above.

a West Barnstable. Fine deer hunting in the neighboring woods. Route as
above,

Marshpce. The Marshpee River is a good trout stream. There is also excel-
lent snipe shooting on the marshes. Reached via Old Colony Railroad.

Queshnet. Snipe shooting is good in the vicinity.

Cotuzt Port reached by stage, seven miles from West Barnstable, which is on
the Old Colony Road, is‘a famous place for shooting. The village is on the south
shore of the cape, and on the neighboring highlands are many fresh ponds among
the pire forests. Here the sportsman will find a variety of fresh and salt water
fishing, aus excellent wild fowl shooting. The Santuit House is a favorite sum-
mer hotel. ‘ 3

Hyannis, reached by a branch of the Old Colony Railroad, affords good
shooting.

Sandwich, The streams in the vicinity are good trouting streams, but much
fished ; deer in the adjacent forests. Reached via the Old Colony Railroad.

Abington. White hares. Reached as above.

Waguoit. Good trout fishing may be found near the town.
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 75

Berkshire County—

Pittsfield. The Housatonic River is a fine locality for trapping muskrats and
otters. Reached via the Boston and Albany Railroad. Silver, Sylvan and other
lakes in the neighborhood, are full of pickerel.

Great Barrington. Woodcock and ruffed grouse shooting in the vicinity,
with fishing in the streams and numerous lakes in the surrounding country.
Reached by rail or highway from Stockbridge. There are comfortable hotels
here, and many pleasant drives all about this region.

Ashley Falls are three miles from the Twin Lakes. (See Canaan, Conn.)
Reached via Harlem Railroad, four hours ride from New York. Cooper’s
“ Locust Hill Farm”’ furnishes every accommodation to sportsmen.

Otis. Woodcock and grouse shooting. Reached via stage or hired convey-
ance from some station on the Boston and Albany Railroad.

Lee. Laurel Lake, two miles north, the Yokum Ponds, a few miles southeast,
Lake Mahkeenac, tour miles distant, and other waters in the neighborhood, are
favorite picnic and fishing resorts. Lee 1s a pleasant village,’ much visited in
summer, The route is via the Housatonic Railroad.

Bristol County—

New Bedford. Quail, partridge, grouse, woodcock, snipe, plover, bay birds,
marsh birds, ducks, blue fish, bass, scup, tautog, bill fish, sword fish, trout in the
neighboring fresh water streams. New Bedford is headquarters for sportsmen
who wish to enjoy the splendid fishing and shooting in Buzzard’s Bay. Captain
J. L. Sisson, whose address is at 22 South Water Street, owns a yacht, live decoys
for ducks, and wooden ones for bay birds and sheldrakes, and will serve parties
of sportsmen faitituliy. Black ducks are particularly abundant in the fall months.
De ( osta’s Island affords excellent stands for shooting. It is about a mile from
the main land. The easiest and cheapest way to reach New Bedford from New
York is by steamer that leaves New York in the afternoon and arrives early the
Tourn morning. Fare $3. From Boston go via Old Colony and New Bedford

ailroads. ss

Nonquit. Fishing directly from the rocks for tautog, scup and blue fish.
There is a good hotel $2 to $3 per day, with boats, boatmen, etc., to be obtained
at Nonquit or New Bedford, at prices ranging from 25 cts. an hour to $6 per day.
A steamer makes three trips a day to and from New Bedford, seven miles distant,
making a delightful sail of one hour down Buzzard’s Bay.

The Elizabeth Islands—

Cuttyhunk, Nashawena, Pasque Island and Naushon._ Striped bass, blue fish,
squeteague, sword fish, excellent bay bird shooting. There is a private club-
house on each island. Naushon is stocked with English and Scotch game birds
and animals, Amcrican deer, and prairie fowl. These islands are accessible by
yacht from New Bedford or Martha’s Vineyard.

Fall River. Grouse, quail, woodcock, and broadbills in the Westport ponds,
white and yellow perch and pickerel in Lake Watuppa, Reached via rail from
Boston, and steamer from New York City.

Dukes County— :

Martha’s Vineyard. A famous place for summer excursionists and pleasure
seekers. Good fishing and shooting are found at various points on_ the Island,
some of the best known being in the vicinity of Gay Head. At Gay Head, ifthe
wind is southeasterly, so that it blows from Cuttyhunk, the fishing is spoiled by
washing off the white clay bottom ; but there are one or two points along shore
known to old fishermen only, where good sport can be had when the wind is from
the northward. The lighthouse keeper at Gay Head is always glad to entertain
anglers. There are several fine hotels and boarding houses open in summer.
Boats, boatmen, etc., are always to be had. Reached from Boston, via Old
Colony Railroad to Wood’s Hole, thence steamer. From New York take steamer
to Fall River, thence rail to New Bedford, thence via steamboat.

No Man's Land. Striped bass, blue fish, and other fishing, with good shoot-
ing for wild fowl and several varieties of game. Address Captain J. L. Sisson,
22 South Water Street, New Bedford, Mass. He has every facility for fishing
and shooting at No Man’s Land. The route is by pleasure yacht from New Bed-
ford or Martha’s Vineyard.

Essex County—
Marblehead. Smelts, cod, cunners, and other varieties of fish, with snipe,
76 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

player, duck and other shooting. Reached by a branch of the Eastern Railroad
rom Salem.

_ Gloucester. Many varieties of fish, including smelts. The shooting in the
vicinity is for bay birds and water fowl. Reached via the Eastern Railroad.
There are several summer hotels besides those in the city. There are a good
aay fullest grouse and woodcock in some parts of Danvers, Middletield, and

opsville.

Cage Ann. Cooting at Annisquam and other points on the Cape. Take the
Eastern Railroad to Rockport, thence stage or hired conveyance.

Andover has some fishing in the neighboring lakes and streams.

North Andover. Black bass in Lake Cochickewick. Reached via the Boston
and Maine Railroad. :

#3 Swampscott. Smelts. Reached via the Eastern Railroad, thirteen miles from
oston,

Lynnfield, Lynnfield Lake, a delightful sheet of water, within ten miles of
Boston, has been stocked with Oswego bass, and now affords capital sport. Take
the Danvers and Newburyport branch of the Boston and Maine Railroad. Good
Beard can be had in private families in the village, and boats, etc., can be easily
obtained.

Beverly. Peeps and ring necks. Reached via the Eastern Railroad.

Ipswich is a good shooting centre. Snipe, ducks, etc. Reached via the East-
ern Railroad.

Nahant, the favorite sea-side resort of Bostonians, affords good shooting
and fishing. Ducks, brant, curlew, coots, etc., with a variety of fishing, offer
abundant employment for rod and gun. Nahant is reached by steamer from
India wharf, Boston, or via Eastern Railroad to Lynn, thence omnibus, or by
Narrow Gauge Railroad, direct.

Lynn, Ducks and other wild fowl in the harbor. Excellent fishing. Rail
from Boston. 2 ‘i

Wenham, Trout are caught in the lake. Wenham is onthe Eastern Railroad,
twenty-three miles from Boston.

Salem. All about Salem and the neighboring harbors, good gunning may be
enjoyed. All kinds of wild fowl are found here, ducks of many varieties, geese,
coots, plover, snipe, quail, partridges, etc., and rabbits on the hills. The fishing
is for the usual varieties found on the coast. There are many boats always to be
had, and guides, boatmen, etc., at reasonable rates.

Franklin County—
Shutesbury. "Excellent trouting in the-streams in this vicinity. Reached by
stage from Amherst.

Hampden County—

Springfield, Fly fishing for shad in the Connecticut ; trouting in the vicinity.
and woodcock and partridge shooting. Reached via the Boston and Albany, an
other railroads.

Iampshire County— 5
Florence. Grey and red squirrels, foxes, coons, rabbits, pigeons, partridges,
etc. Reached via the New Haven and Northampton Railroad, or by horse-cars
from Northampton.
Amherst. Fox, rabbit and sqmirrel shooting. There are several good trout
streams in the vicinity. On the New London Northern Railroad.

Middlesex County— ’

Good black bass fishing near Lincoln. Take Fitchburg Railroad to Weston.

Framingham. Some quail, and in the meadows a few snipe. Boston and
Albany Railroad. - 3

Lexington. Ruffed grouse, woodcock and quail shooting in the neighborin,
country. Reached by the Lexington Branch Railroad, from the Boston an
Lowell depot, Boston. The Monument House furnishes comfortable accom-
modation. 7

Shirley, Foxes. Reached via Fitchburg Railroad, ;

Natick. Good trout streams in the vicinity. Landlocked salmon have been
planted in Dry Pond.

Nantucket County—
Nantucket. Scup, blue fish, and, in the ponds perch; black ducks, plovers,
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 77

curlew, and almost every waricy. of shore bird on the commons, and in the Ham-
mock Pond. Reached via Old Colony Railroad to Wood’s Hole, thence by
steamer,

Norfolk County— .

Cohasset. Ducks, black and mallard, teal, brant, coots, plover, curlew, tattlers,
grass birds, quail, partridges, wild Pigeons. The fishing is for smelts, blue fish,
etc. Reached via the Old Colony Railroad, twenty-one miles from Boston.
Kimball's Hotel is patronized by sportsmen.

At North Cohasset, smelts are caught inside of the Black Rock, and also at
Milton. Route as above.

Randolph. Ducks, geese and other wild fowl afford fine shooting. Reached
via the Old Colony Railroad. :

Weymouth. Smelts. Route; via Old Colony and South Shore Railroads.

Quzucy, Squantum Point, connected with Boston in summer by steamers,
atords ood fishing, and is famous for its chowders. Reached via the Old Colony

ailroad.
Quincy Point. Smelts here afford good sport.

Plymouth County—

Marshfield. Yellow legs, snipe, grass birds, peeps and ring necks. Reached
via Old Colony Railroad.

Clark's Island, is situated two miles from the main land, opposite the towns
of Marshfield, Duxbury, and Plymouth, once a famous gunning ground, and still
affording good sport for wild fowl of all kinds. Reached by boats from the towns
mentioned, which are easily accessible by rail.

Cokasset is a favorite resort for gunners. Ducks, geese, snipe, rabbits, etc.
Reached by rail from Boston.

Hingham and Hull, Smelts, and other varieties of fish. The shooting is
good for bay birds. Reached via steamers from Boston, which leave Liverpool
wharf twice daily in summer. +

Plymouth, Snipe and quail shooting. Plymouth Woods is the only locality
in Massachusetts where deer are now found ; the forests are dotted with beautiful
lakes, from many of which flow sparkling brooks filled with speckled trout. The
lakes contain pickerel, perch, black bass, etc. Reached by Old Colony Railroad
from Boston or New York.

Scituate furnishes good wild fowl shooting. Reached as above.

Wareham, Fine squeteague (weak fish) fishing in season. Go via the Old
Colony Railroad, and stop at the Kendrick House, P. S. Hackett, proprietor,
and previously write to him in order to have a boat and boatman engaged to take
you down the river into Buzzard’s Bay to the fishing grounds. A party who are
fortunate in securing the services of that renowned and jovial colored gentleman
Dempsey (Hill), who carries parties from the Kendrick House, and his fast and
well found yacht, ‘‘ Dempsey's Dream,” will be sure of a pleasant time, even if
they experience ‘' fisherman's luck.’’ Dempsey is az fait in everything pertain-
ing to capturing fishes in these waters.

Suffolk County—

Boston. Srey squirrels, partridges, quail, and ducks are found in the vicinity.
At Spectacle, Thompson’s Island, and other points in the harbor, good fishing is
to be had. Boston has many seaside resorts within a short distance by rail and
steamer from the city, at all of which fishing and shooting is to be had.

Worcester County—

Charlton. Quail, ruffed grouse, woodcock, etc. The route is via the Boston
and Albany Railroad.

Ashburnham. Wild pigeons are found on the heights at this place. Reached
via the Fitchburg Railroad, ten miles from Hitehoate
R seer lover shooting. Reached via the Worcester and Nashua

road,

 
78 . GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

MICHIGAN.

Area 56,451 square miles, population 1,184,059. The State is
divided into two peninsulas, the northern peninsula which comprises
one-third of the State is for the most part rugged and mountain-
ous. The Porcupine Range forms the watershed, from which on
either side an elevated table land slopes to the lakes. The coun-
try is rocky, much of it sterile, near the lake shore often sandy
plains, and the remainder coverd by dense forests. The lower
peninsula, on the contrary, is level, with formerly great stretches of
marsh lands which have since been reclaimed and cultivated. This
region is now the garden of the north-west. The surface of both
peninsulas is diversified by great numbers of lakes, of all sizes, and
are in the proper season the resort of great numbers of wild fowl
of various species. The forests of the northern section of the State
are the abode of much large game. The lakes afford good fishing,
and the streams of the southern peninsula are famous for their trout
and grayling. All these shooting and fishing grounds are readily
reached by the railroads of the State, on all of which the sports-
man will secure every attention, and from whose officers and em-
ployees all needed information may be obtained.

Alpena County—

Avene City. Good duck shooting on Thunder Bay. The route is via boat
from Detroit, or via the Michigan Central Railroad to Standish, thence stage.

Baraga County—

L’Ance. On Fall River and L’Ance Bay, is found fine brook and salmon
trout, and white fish fishing. Reached via the Marquette, Houghton and Onton-
agon Railroad. Good hotel accommodations may be found.

Bay County —

Bay City. Good duck shooting all along Saginaw Bay. Reached via the
Michigan Central, the Flint and Pere Marquette, or the Saginaw Valley and St.
Louis Railroad, or via boat from Detroit.

Charlevoix County—

Boyne. The Boyne River and the waters in the vicinity afford excellent trout
fishing. Reached via the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad. The Boyne is
navigable for small boats, a short distance from its mouth, but its rapid current

recludes their frequent use. Two and one-half miles from Boyne Falls, a small
ody of water called Deer Lake affords fine fishing, and five miles west of the
station, the Boyne empties into Pine Lake, an admirable fishing ground.

Daily stages run between Boyne Falls and the head of Pine Lake, there con-
necting with a small steamer, making daily trips to Charlevoix and intermediate

oints. Charlevoix can also be reached by public highways passing around the
ake, or by steamer sailing from Traverse City. Horton Creek, a very fine trout
stream, flows into Pine Lake three miles from its head. Passing ten miles west-
ward on the south highway, or taking steamer from the head of Pine Lake, the
embouchure of the south arm of Pine Lake is reached. It isa marrow auih, of
water nine miles long, varying from half a mile to a mile in width. Like Pine
Lake, it is well supplied with pike, pickerel and bass, thus affording very choice
fishing with the spoon. By continuing up the arm in boats, or by following the
highway one and one-half miles west, and then going south, the Jordan, which
flows into the south arm, isreached. It is very swift,and grows swifter as the
stream is ascended. It is navigable for small boats, and flows in a northwesterly
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 79

direction from itssource. It is regarded as a very fine trout stream, and abounds
in grayling. There is excellent wading. At the mouth of the Jordan there isa
good house—Mr, Wiekel’s. Also, at J. B. Webster's, five miles from the mouth
of the Jordan, andjhalf a mile back from the stream, good quarters may be
secured.

Chippewa County—

Sault de St. Marie. Trouting in the neighboring streams, flowing into Lake
Superior, white fish in the rapids. The route is via the Lake Superior line of
steamers, which start from Buffalo, and go via Erie, Cleveland, Detroit, etc. ; or
via the Collingwood line of steamers, which connect at Collingwood with the
Northern Railway of Canada ; or via the Chicago and Milwaukee line of steam-
ers. All the supplies the fisherman requires can be had on the Canadian or
American side of the falls of St. Marie at the lowest tariff, including seaworthy
boats, and also seamen to manage them—men who are nonpareil as camp ser-
vants, and learned in the geography of the coast.

Delta County— .

Escanaba, This is one of the pleasantest summer resorts in the west. It is
situated at the head of Little Bay Des Noques, at the north end of Green Bay.
The water of the bay. clear as crystal, washes the streets of the city on two sides,
while the Escanaba River forms the third, and the aromatic ‘* piney woods” close
well down ou ‘he other side. Good hotels offer quiet and comfortable quarters
for tourists who may wish to spend days or weeks here fishing, boating or bath-
ing. White Fish Bay in this vicinity offers rare sport for fishermen, and every little
stream (and they are numerous) is almost alive with brook trout. From Escahaba
excursions are fitted out in various directions. Those not caring for fishing, can
find bear and deer in abundance, with ducks, geese, brants, partridges and
smaller feathered game. This is now a favorite summer resort for the people of
Chicago. The hotel accommodations are unsurpassed.

The country beyond Escanaba contains many fine brook trout streams, and
deer, bear and other game, and fur-bearing animals. The sportsman, fisherman
or trapper, will find ample employment and sport here. There isa good winter
hunting spot, eight to ten miles north of Day’s River, and on Red Division
(twelve miles north of Escanaba) on the Smith River. On Bay de Noquet, the
deer congregate in a section of heavy timber, and winter there. Splendid hunt-
ing may be had in the months of October, November and December. Guides
may be had at about two dollars per day. Guides make their headquarters here,
and this, without doubt, is the best point to fit out with everything necessary for
the trip, with exception of arms and accoutrements. The deer commence cross-
ing at Little Lake, about August sth ; Helena Switch, about August 8th to roth;
McFarland’s Hill (half-way between Helena and Centreville), roth to 12th ; Cen-
treville, about r5th to 18th, and so on. Escanaba is reached via the Chicago and
Northwestern Railroad.

Emmett County—

Petoskey, the northern terminus of the main line of the Grand Rapids and
Indiana Railroad, is situated on the south side of Little Traverse Bay, at the foot
of high bluffs. To the north, just across the bay, is Little Traverse village, the
headquarters of Indians who dwell in the neighborhood. A steam yacht runs
between Petoskey and Little Traverse, fare twenty-five cents. In the Bear
River, emptying into the bay, grayling and brook trout are caught. In Round
Lake, four miles, and in Crooked Lake, seven miles northeast, the usual varie-
ties of fish are found. From Petoskey, upon arrival of the train from Cincinnati
in the morning, the swift and beautifully appointed steamer, Music, leaves for
Mackinaw Island. An admirable breakfast is served on board the steamer, and
returning in the evening, an equally good supper.

Genesee County—

Flint. Bear, deer, wild turkey, quail, ruffed grouse and wild fowl shooting.
Reached via the Flint and Pere Marquette Railroad. Gentlemen sportsmen will
find accommodations at most of the farmhouses in the vicinity.

Grand Traverse County—

Traverse City. Mascalonge, lake trout, bass, pike and pickerel are very
abundant. These varieties, except lake trout, are found also in Cedar Lake
three miles, Bass Lake eight miles, Betsie Lake twelve miles, Long Lake six
80 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

miles, and Traverse Lake ten miles from Traverse City, and are especially fine.
Perhaps the best fishing with the spoon, outside the bay, is found in Carp Lake
eight miles northwest of Traverse City, reached by highway.

Brook trout are very abundant in this vicinity. The water of all streams in
this locality, is very cold and extremely pure and clear. The Boardman, its
branches, and all the streams in the neighborhood of Traverse City, contain brook
trout. No stream is navigable except the Boardman, and that only for small
boats. Current swift, but not too deep for wading ; excellent sandy bottom.

* te are a few grayling in the Boardman, known by the local name of
arpin.

Besides the Boardman River, the various trout streams. and ponds are Mitch-
ell’s Pond, distant three and one-half miles from Traverse City; Hoxie’s, seven
miles ; Whitewater, nine miles; Scofield, twelve miles ; Hannah's Mill Pond and
Creek, one-half mile ; Greelick, three miles; Bitner’s Pond and Creek, seven
miles; also the kacket, Joyton and Pine Rivers, as well as many smaller streams
emptying into the Boardman.

; traverse City is the terminus of the Traverse City division of the Grand Rap-
ids and Indiana Railroad. The hotel accommodations are good. Prices, $2 per
day ; $10 to $14 per week.

Parties desiring can find good camping grounds at the ‘“‘ Forks” of the river,
State Road Bridge, Railroad Crossing near Mayfield town line, and Smith’s Farm,
all on the Boardman River. Stage fare to Hoxie’s, $1 ; to Whitewater, $1.25 ; to
Mitchell’s, 50 cents. All other points reached by private conveyance.

Guides charge $2 per day ; with boats, $2.50 to $4 per day ; with team, $4 to
$6 per day ; boats only, 50 cents to $2 per day.

Fife Lake, In the lake, on which this village is situated, are found bass
pike and pickerel. In the Manistee River, five miles southeast, are grayling, ani
in the Boardman River, six miles north, is excellent fishing for grayling and brook
trout. Take the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad. Hotel charges are from
$1.50 to $2 per day. Teams, with driver, can be procured for $5 per day. Roats
for fishing on the lake can be had for the asking, but boats for the Manistee will
have to be taken there by team. Boat-fishing in the Boardman at this point is
difficult, owing to brush and undergrowth along its banks, but wading is good.

Houghton County—

Hancock and Houghton are on the Portage Lake. In the vicinity of each are
fine trout streams. Reached via the Marquette, Houghton and Ontonagon Rail-
road, or via steamer.

Ingham County—
Lansing, on the Mississippi River, is in the vicinity of excellent shooting for
brant, geese, ducks, mallard, a few canvas-backs, quail and pheasants,

Isabella County—

Crawford. Black and rock bass, and grayling ; deer, wild turkeys and bears,
On the Mackinaw Division of the Michigan Central Railroad. Camp, or hotel
a:scommodations.

Jackson County—

Yackson, In the vicinity of Silver Lake, six miles from the town, are ducks,
plover, pinnated grouse, ruffed grouse, woodcock, quail and wild turkey. Jack-
son is easily accessible by the Lake Shore, Michigan Central, and other rail-
roads. Hotels $2.50 per day, private house $4 per week; boats 75 cents per day;
teams $4 per day.

Hanover. Fine quail and pinnated grouse shooting on the many dry marshes
in the vicinity. Reached via the Fort Wayne, Jackson and Saginaw Railroad.

Kalkaska County—

Kalkaska is on the North Boardman River, which is full of trout. Three miles
north is the Rapid River, another good trout stream, and in the vicinity are many
lakes well stocked with fish. The route is via the Grand Rapids and Indiana
Railroad. Good hotel accommodations can be found for $1.50 to $2 per day.
Teams may be used, if visitors so desire, or, as the distances are short, excursions
may be made on foot. A good plan is to arrdnge with the hotel-keeper for a con-
veyance, and perhaps a lunch, to be sent at a specified time to a spot previously
agreed upon; the fisher working his way arenes the day to the rendezvous.
Good wagon roads lead from the village to all fishing spots. Camping grounds
 

GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 81

are numerous and fine. At this point the Boardman flows with a speed of four
miles per hour, and is not navigable, but has a good bottom for wading. The
Rapid River flows with a current of eight miles per hour, and forms many deep
pools. From Kalkaska the sportsman can go via the railroad to the head-waters
of the Intermediate, Grass, Jordan, Deer and Boyne Rivers, all most excellent
trout streams. Owing to the unbroken character of the forest in this vicinity, no
stranger should venture in without a guide who is thoroughly acquainted with
the grounds. Parties must come prepared to camp. In-the hunting season,
large numbers of deer are found in these woods ; there are many squirrels in the
forest lining the banks of the Jordan and adjacent streams, and their flesh forms
most excellent bait in the absence of worms.

Kalamazoo County—

Kalamazoo and Texas. Kalamazoo County hasnumerous smalllakes. There
are thirty-three within ten miles from Kalamazoo, all well stocked with black
bass, In the town of Texas there are several lakes ina cluster, the principal of
which are called Crooked, Eagle, Pine Island, and Pretty.

Lake County—-

Baldwin. Bears, deer in abundance ; black bass, grayling, perch, pickerel,
and other varieties in the adjacent lakes. Reached via the Flint and Pere Mar-
oe Railroad. Hotel and private board, $1 per day ; guides $1.50; teams $2.50.

ountry level and well timbered, with excellent camping grounds,

Marquette County—

Ispheming. Black bears, deer, ruffed grouse; black bass, speckled trout,
Mackinaw trout. Reached via the Marquette, Houghton and Ontonagon Rail-
road. Hotel $1.75 to $3 per day. The country is hilly, with excellent camping
grounds on the borders of the lake.

Negaunee. Bears, deer, lynx, otter» beaver; brook and lake trout, bass,
sturgeon, and white fish. There are several rivers and lakes in the vicinity, all
affording fine sport, and accessible by rail or wagon. Reached via the Chicago
a sae Railroad. Boats with guides $1.so to $2 per day. Good

otels,

Marquette is on the southern shore of Lake Superior, on the Bay of Marquette,
which affords unequaled facilities for boating, and whose waters are filled with
white fish and fine salmon trout, ranging from five to twenty-five pounds in weight.
Numerous streams in the vicinity furnish excellent brook trout fishing. Dead,
Chocolay, Little, Garlic, Salmon, Trout and Huron Rivers, are all filled with large
trout. A tent isa necessary adjunct of all parties to these streams. Reached via
steamer, or the Marquette, Houghton, and Ontonagon Railroad.

From Marquette, the sportsman can take the steamer for Sault St. Marie, for
Isle Royal, St. Ignace Island, Fort William, or any point on the north shore of
Lake Superior. The rivers VzAzgon and Michapacoton, are the best known of the
trout streams of the north shore. Guides to these streams can be easily hired at
Marquette, and fishing parties fitted out with little expense or labor.

Presque Isie is an excellent fishing resort, and here there are fishing club
houses. Reached via boat from Marquette.

The Michigammin River flows from Lake Michigammin to the Menominee
River. From the lake to the mouth of the Michigammin River, in a direct line,
may be not over fifty miles, but by the current it is estimated to be over one hun-
dred miles through a wild, mountainous region, often contracted into narrow,
deep canons, presenting a scenery wild and romantic beyond description. It has
been navigated by several parties, and is said to afford most excellent trout fish-
ing, deer and wild fowl shooting. The course of this stream is through an inter-
minable forest. There are several easy carries, which are readily surmounted
by the guides, who are familiar with the route, and who can be secured at $1.50
per day, either at the lake or at Marquette, on Lake Superior, where a complete

tting out can be effected on short notice. Up the Brule twenty-five miles, are
fine trout. There are two routes, one by rail and one by steamboat. From Mil-
waukee, take rail via Marquette to Champion, at the head of the lake, where are
birchen canoes for the trip down the river. From Marquette to the lake is about
thirty-five miles. The railroad officials are very polite and attentive, and will
give every facility to promote the sportsman’s pleasure. The steamboat route is
direct from Buffalo through the Straits of Mackinaw, and is probably the most
convenient to the Eastern tourist, as he can have a fine sail through the whole
length of Lake Erie, Detroit River, Lake St. Clair, Lake Huron, and across a

4%
82 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

part of Lake Superior to Marquette, which is now the point of embarkation.
ere is no trouble in securing half breeds, who are perfectly reliable for guides
and who understand perfectly the proposed route. :

Mason County—
Ludington. Deer, ducks, ruffed grouse; lake trout, graylin ickerel
Reached via Flint and Pere Marquette Railroad. Hotels ae ‘to 8 ae teas

uides, $2 per day; boats with boatmen er day; t .
rovide camping outfit, Country rolling. me ee ee Pee ea

Midland County—

Averill’s Station. Six miles north is a fine shooting ground for deer, ruffed
grouse and quail. On the Flint and Pere Marquette Railroad, one hundred and
sixty-eight miles north of Detroit.

Coleman. Years and deer. Rovteas above. Hotel and private board $1 per
day, $4.50 per week; teams $5 per day. Camping out is necessary for good
sport. Country generally level and heavily timbered.

Monroe County—

Monroe. Black bass, pike, pickerel, perch ; woodcock, quail, partridges,
ruffed grouse, wild turkeys, ducks, mallards, widgeons, canvas-backs, sprig-tails,
teal, snipe, plover, reed birds. Monroe is three miles from Lake Erie, twenty-five
miles from Toledo, reached via the Canada Southern, and Lake Lhore and Michi-
ae Southern, or the Flint and Pere Marquette Railroad. Goto Joseph Guyor’s

sland House, on Raisin River, where sportsmen will find the best of accommo-
dations, and where boats, tackle and everything needful can be procured,

Oakland County—

Pontiac. Woodcock, ruffed grouse, pigeons ; trout, pike and bass, Reached
via the Detroit and Milwaukee Railroad.

Birmingham, Woodcock, partridges, quail, squirrels and rabbits.

Osceola County—

Hersey. Deer, ruffed grouse; trout and pickerel. Reached via Flint and
Pere Marquette Railroad. Board $1.50 per day. Provide for camping out.

Reed City, Ruffed grouse; grayling in Picesen Creek. Route as above.
Hotel $2 per day ; teams $3.

Three miles from Reed City is Hersey Creek, which is well stocked with
grayling. The route is as above, or via the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad.

Otsego County—

Otsego Lake. Bears, deer, wild turkeys ; black bass, pickerel and grayling in
Otsego Lake. The route is via the Michigan Central Railroad. Camping equip-
ments should be provided.

Roscommon County—

Houghton Lake and Higgins Lake, the first fifteen miles long, and from two
to six miles wide, and the second six miles by three, are reached by Jackson, Lant
sing and Saginaw Railroad, cig ty miles from Bay City ; thence wagon five miles.
‘The lakes are full of white fish, and the vicinity abounds in deer, bears, ducks,
and small game. Leave the railroad at Roscommon Station. There are a few
log cabins on the lakes, built for the accommodation of visitors who come to hunt
and fish,

St. Joseph County—

White Pigeon. Wild turkeys, quail, ruffed grouse, woodcock, in a lake three
miles from town, black bass and pickerel. Reached via the Lake Shore and
Michigan Southern Railroad.

Salinac County—

Lexington. Deer, bear, wild-cat and wild turkeys. Rail to Port Huron
thence via boat, thirty miles to Lexington, thence five miles inland. Board and
dogs can be found among the farmers,

Schoolcraft County-—

_, For sport in this county commence at a point about thirty miles above White
Fish Point, the entrance to Lake Superior, which is fifty or sixty miles from Sault
St. Marie. Gravel River has large trout, anda great many of them. A beauti
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 83

ful lake, one-half mile wide and two long, lies about four miles from Grand
Marias River, and is filled with black bass and pickerel. Pickerel are very large

ere also—as high as twenty pounds or more. This lake is about one mile south
witwwwmwmwwOf Lake Superior, and boats must be carried across an immense sand bluff to get
oit. It is a great resort for deer all through the season, and more or less can be
shot any night by torchlight by whoever will take the trouble. Leaving here, we
pass the Grand Sauble, the Pictured Rocks,and come to Miners River. Here are
many fine trout and deer. Next is Grand Island. A fine hotel here, and summer
resort. Trout and deer are plenty. In Anna River, at the head of the bay, are
many trout of three and four pounds in weight. They are also caught there as ,
large off the dock inthe bay. There are many small streams and lakes in the
vicinity full of trout. Au-train Lake comes next, abounding in pickerel, with

lenty of deer about. Next comes Laughing White Fish Point, and then the

hocoly River. In this river, which is three miles from Marquette, are taken
trout weighing over five pounds. This river and its branches are full of trout,
with deer and ducks on its borders and in its waters. Then comes Carp River,
full of fish, and.then Marquette.

Luscola County—

This county and the adjoining counties of Huron and Salinac, in the north-
western part of the State, contain some elk, as well as deer, ruffed grouse, squir-
rels and other game. Reached by Lake steamer or rail from Bay City, Port
Huron or Detroit.

 

 

 

Washtenaw County—

Ann Arbor. Ducks, plover, woodcock, ruffed grouse, squirrels, and other
game are found within easy access from the city.
Wayne County—

Detroit. The St. Clair flats are favorite resorts for gunners, both from Can-
ada and the United States. Ducks qf nearly all varieties, woodcock, quail, par-
tridges, turkeys, deer ; and excellent black bass fishing. The Indians on the Can-
ada side have leased their marsh shootings for ten years, while they retain for
their own exclusive use the animals and the fish. Trespassers will be warned off,
and if they persist, will be prosecuted. Any respectable person will find little
difficulty in securing permission at feasonable times and on reasonable terms.
Four hours from Detroit, via steamer. There are two club houses. Conner’s
Creek near Detroit is a good place for blue bill, poke, and red head duck shoot-
ing, snipe and plover.

Trenton is in the vicinity of excellent duck shooting. Reached via the Can~
ada Southern, or the Lake Shore and Michigan Central Railroad.
= eas Jsée. Fine ducking is found here. Reached via the Canada Southern

ailroad.

Wexford County— és

Clam Lake. The lakes here afford very good fishing, Clam Lake is on the
Graud Rapids and Indiana Railroad, ninety-seven miles from Grand Rapids.
Boats varying in price, and accommodation and teams, at from $3 to $5 per day,
can be obtained at any time. .

Walton. The Manistee River is one of the finest grayling streams of Michi-)
ft Walton is on the Grand Rapids and Indiana Road. Parties intending a
ong stay must come prepared to camp. Teams can be hired at from §3 to $5 per
day, to transport camping equipage to the river banks. The river is navigable,
and boats must be used, for it is a wide, strong stream. The current runs about
four miles an hour, but in some places it is much swifter.

 

MINNESOTA.

Area 83,331; population 439,706. The State is without moun-
tains. Thrée-fourths of the surface is rolling prairie, interspersed
with groves, oak openings and innumerable lakes and small streams,
84 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

The remaining fourth, comprising the section where the Missouri
and the Red River of the North have their sources, is hilly and
densely wooded. Minnesota is remarkable for the great number
of lakes, of all shapes and sizes, which every where dot her surface.
It has been estimated that these lakes make up one-thirty-fifth of
the whole area of the State. On all these waters are found great
flights of wild fowl, while the prairies abound in pinnated grouse
and other game, and the forests are full of deer, bears and elk. The
means of communication are good; the sportsman may strike out
from any of the railroad lines, with good assurance of success and
will find either hotel accommodations, or courteous entertainment
among the farmers.

Aitkin County—

Aitkin is twenty-eight miles east of Brainerd, on the Northern Pacific Rail-
road. A delightful trip is to launch your bark canoe on Mud River, following
that crooked stream a mile, enter the Mississippi River, and thence down stream
e bundred miles to Brainerd, getting fish, duck, grouse, and perhaps a shot at a

eer or bear.

Becker County—

Detroit City, near the shores of Detroit Lake, a tine sheet of water, and on the
borders of the ‘t Park Region,’’ is becoming a popular place of resort by those
who admire beautiful scenery, and enjoy the sports of hunting and fishing.
Reached as above. -

Blue Earth County—

Eagle Lake is in the centre of the Big Woods. Excellent fishing and wild
fowl shooting on the lake, and in the vicinity. Reached as above. Hotel accom-
modations will be found. There are many large lakes in the county, in all of
which the sportsman will find fish and game.

' Mankato, Fish and game abound inthe vicinity, offering rare sport to the
hunter and fisherman. Route as above.

Brown County—

Sleepy Eye. Geese, ducks, pinnated grouse, and other game abound in the
vicinity ; pike, pickerel, and other varieties of fish in the lakes. Reached via the
Chicago and Northwestern Railroad. Hotel $1.50 per day. Country rolling
prairie.

Carleton County—

Northern Pacific Function, on the Northern Pacific and the Lake puperior and
Mississippi Railroads, one hundred and thirty-one miles from St. Paul, and
twenty-four miles from Duluth. Island Lake, two_bodies of water, are full of
fish, bass, pike, perch, and pickerel, and where the lakes join at the south end, is
large field of wild rice, a splendid place to shoot ducks as they fly back and

orth,

Moose Lake. Bears, deer, ruffed grouse ; pike, pickerel, and bass. Reached
via the Northern Pacific Railroad. he sportsman will find no accommodations
here ; should provide camping outfit. Indian guides, $2 to $3 per day, birch bark
canoes can be bought for $5 to $10. The country is rolling and densely wooded,
with many lakes in the vicinity.

Cass County—

Leech Lake is seventy-five miles north from Brainerd. Among the animals
are deer in abundance, and occasionally a moose. Otter, mink, muskrat, bear,
black and cinnamon ; foxes of all kinds, wolverines, weasels and wild cats, are
the principal fur-bearing animals, of which the muskrat is the most common.
They are sometimes of enormous size, and will fight savagely when wounded or
cornered. The swamp wolf and the prairie wolf are also very numerous.

Of the feathered tribe, there are wild ducks of every kind in abundance ; it is
uot uncommon to shoot from fifty to one hundred ina few hours.
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 85

The fish are very similar tothe fresh water fish of New York, only are taken
in much larger quantities. One species in Leech Lake worthy of mention, is the
Lake Superior white fish, They are only caught late in the fall with nets, and in
the winter are speared through openings in the ice ; they weigh about four pounds
each. Mascalonge weighing as high as thirty pounds, are caught with a hook ;
they are very gamy, and make exciting work when caught. They resemble
very much the common pike except in size.

The fare from St. Paul to Brainerd is $10, thence to Leech Lake $6. Leech
Lake is an Indian Agency.

ftasca Lake. Yor game of vicinity, see Leech Lake.

Chisago County—

Rush City, Deer, ruffed and pinnated Bouse j pickerel and pike. Reached
via Northern Pacific Railroad. Hotel and private board $5 to $7 per week ;
teams $4 per day. Country rolling and timbered, with many lakes in the
vicinity.

North Branch Station. Deer, bears; ruffed and pinnated grouse ; brook trout
and black bass. Reached via the Northern Pacific Railroad. Hotel $4 to $5 per
week; teams $3 per day. The country is oak openings and swamp.

Cottonwood County—

From Bingham Lake, on the St. Paul and Sioux City Railroad, excellent sport-
ing grounds may be reached. Ducks, geese, brant, cranes and swans abound
in the lakes and sloughs, and pinnated grouse are found in great numbers on
he prairie. Beavers, minks, muskrats, and other fur bearing animals are
plenty.

Crow Wing County—
Brainerd. Moose, elk, deer, bears, wild cats in the dense woods east of
Brainerd. Ducks of all kinds and geese in great abundance, snipe, plover, rail,
in-tail, pinnated, and ruffed grouse, partridges. In the lakes are black and rock
ass, pickerel, pike, perch pike, mascalonge ; and the samo fontinadis in Trout
Lake, thirty-five miles north and all the lakes, reservoirs for the Prairie River.
Gull Lake, twelve miles north, Sullivan Lake, twelve miles west, Round, Long,
and Fish Trap Lakes are also favorite resorts.

Brainerd, on the Northern Pacific Railroad, has a good hotel, and the sports-
man will here find all conveniences for camping out, cheap outfits, boats, tackle,
tents, guides, excellent hotel accommodations, and gentlemanly and obliging
amateur sportsmen. Reuben Gray keeps a stopping place at Gull Lake, a good
enough place for a hungry fisherman. West from Brainerd to the Red River
along the line of the Northern Pacific Railroad, the country grows more openand
streams, lakes, marshes increase until you reach the wonderful Red River Flats.
Here it is entirely within bounds to say ducks can be found by the million. The
shallow ponds, the streams, the larger lakes are alive withthem. It is no un-
common thing to see a thousand at once from the car window. Passing on a
hand-car, between stations, with a good dog, one could make a big bag without
leaving the track. At times pinnated grouse are almost as abundant.

Withington is seventeen miles east of Brainerd on the Northern Pacific Rail-
road. In Serpent Lake are taken black and rock bass, mascalonge, pickerel
croppies and perch. Hoty, rods from Serpent is Agate Lake where the fishing is
excellent. On both these lakes boats can be procured. Half a mile further on is
Rabbit Lake (Crow Wing County) a large body of water full of fish. Its outlet, a
sluggish stream ten miles long and flowing into the Mississippi, affords excellent
duck shooting.

Dakota County—

Hastings. Fine duck shooting on the river bottoms. Reached via the Chi-
cago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad, nineteen miles from St. Paul.

Dodge County—

Rice Lake. Splendid duck and goose shooting on Rice Lake, Reached by
wagon from Pillager Station on the Pacific Railroad.

Douglas County—
Millervitle, Fine ruffed grouse shooting. See Wadena.
86 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

Faribault County—
Winnebago City. Pinnated grouse abundant ; black b: i é
via Southern Minnesota Raiiond, Hotels $2 ; teams Segoe. - pee
Detavan Station. There are in the neighborhood many lakes, sloughs, ponds
and creeks, where the Sportsman will tind excellent shooting and fishing. Ducks,
ese, cranes, snipe, curlew, and on the prairie great numbers of pinnated grouse.
he lakes contain black bass, pickerel and other varieties, Reached via the
Southern Minnesota Railroad.
Easton. For game and route see Delavan.
Wetls. For game and route see Delavan. Good hotel ; teams, and camping
outfits can here be secured.

Freeborn County—

Albert Lea. In Fountain and Lea Lakes are found pickerel and other fish ; in
the vicinity, ducks, mallards, teal and red head, geese, brant, pinnated grouse,
sandhill cranes in great abundance on the prairie. Reached via the Southern
Minnesota Railroad. Board $3.50 to $5.per week.

Hayward. Pinnated grouse, and ducks of many varieties, at Lake Albert
Lea. Reached via Southern Minnesota Railroad. Boats at the lake.

Alden. Pinnated grouse and duck shooting with fishing in the lakes, Reached
via the Southern Minnesota Railroad,

Goodhue County—

Frontenac, located near the head of Lake Pepin, is an excellent resort for the
tourist and sportsman. Rush River on the opposite side of the lake, is a good
trouting stream,

Pine Creek, directly opposite this point, is another noted stream ; also Wells’
Creek, six miles below on this side—there are many other streams within fifteen
miles of Frontenac, where that delicate and gamy fish can be found enough to
satisfy the enthusiast.

Game is excellent, consisting of grouse, snipe, woodcock, rail, geese and
ducks. In the great forest of Wisconsin, which can be reached immediately after
crossing the lake, can be found within ten or fifteen miles, any amount of deer.
Good lake fishing at all times can be had. There are other points on the lake
where gvod accommodations can be had, with ready access to the sporting

rounds. Six miles distant is Lake City, Wabasha County (which see). Lake
Hotel $3 per day, $2.50 if one month or more; yachts, rowboats, and teams.
Go via the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad, or via the Mississippi
River steamer. The Lake Side Hotel furnishes every accommodation,

Hennepin County—

Wayzata, twenty-eight miles from St. Paul, is at the head of Lake Minnetonka,
a favorite summer resort. The lake contains black and rock bass, pickerel, crop-
pies, perch, sunfish, pike, and a few catfish. Wood-duck, mallard, teal, and
ruffed grouse shooting. 2

Many Minneapolis and St. Paul people run up for a day’s fishing, as the train
arrives at the lake about 9.30 a. M., and leaves Wayzata on its return about 5.30."
There is also a train leaving the city about half-past four, and one at half-past six
in the evening, during the summer, by which the sportsman is enabled to be on
hand at daybreak, and have a full day’s‘sport. Take the St. Paul and Pacific
Railroad. Steamers ply on the lake between Wayzata and Excelsior. There are
many boats fo be procured, of all sizes and styles. Hotels and boarding houses
are numerous on the shores of the lake, and furnish good accommodation,

Minneapolis. Pinnated grouse, partridges and woodcock ; along the Minne-
sota River bottom, wild pigeons, plover, ducks. Excellent fishing and wild fowl
shooting on the chain of lakes which lie three miles from the city. These are
Lakes Harriet and Calhoun, the Lake of the Isles, and Cedar Lake, (the location
of the Oak Grove House), while still further on, some fifteen miles distant, Lake
Minnetonka, approachable by railroad, and one of the largest and most beautiful
sheets of water in the State, offers its charms to the visitor or resident, affording
abundance of fish and wild fowl, and sailing and boating. To the east a few
miles, is White Bear Lake, Ramsey County (which see).
Houston County—

Hokah. There are several fine trout streams in the vicinity. Hokah is on the

Southern Minnesota Railroad, which connects at La Crosse, with the Chicago,
Dubuque and La Crosse road.
GAME AND FISH RESORTS, 87

Tiasca County—

In the rice and cedar swamps, with which this county abounds, are found
numerous deer, moose, bears, ducks, geese, etc. This county is reached by stage
from Brainerd. Provide camping outtit.

Kandiyohi County—

Green Lake. Deer, ducks, partridges, pinnated grouse. Take St. Paul and
Pacific Railroad to Willmar.

Kanabec County—

Brunswick, Bears, deer, ruffed grouse, ducks. Take Northern Pacific Rail-
road to Pine City, (which see), thence wagon twenty miles west. Good camping
grounds on the shores of the neighboring lakes. Boats and guides are to be had.

La Sueur County—

Kasota, Around the village are many little lakes, in which fish may be taken
in any season of the year. Reached via the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad.
The Kasota House is the best hotel.

MeLeod Count y—

Glencoe, the terminus of the Hastings and- Dakota branch of the Chicago,
Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad, is a good starting point from which to reach
the Yellow Medicine and Lac-Qui-Parle country. Pinnated grouse, sandhill
cranes, ducks, geese, mallards, yellow shanks, etc., are found in the vicinity.

Macon County—

Macon, Good bags of ducks are made on the Chariton bottoms. Quail shoot-
ing in the neighborhood. Macon is on the Hannibal and St. Joseph, and the St.
Louis, Kansas City and Northern Railroad.

Martin County--

Starting from Fazrmont and other_places the sportsman will find the game of
the county similar to that of Noble County, which see. Take the St. Paul and
Sioux City Railroad to Madelia, thence wagon road,

Meeker County—

Litchfield. Fine duck and goose shooting can be found within four hours
drive of Litchfield. Take the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad, A good hotel. The
pass between Lake Koronis and Mud Lake isa famous place for ducks and geese,
with pickerel in the lakes and grouse and pheasants in the vicinity. Take the St.
Paul and Pacific Railroad and learn from the conductor where to leave the road.
Provide camping equipments.

Mower County—
Grand Meadow. Pinnated grouse, wild geese, ducks, sandhill cranes, etc.,
afford fine sport. Reached via the Southern Minnesota Railroad,

Nicollet County—

St. Peter. Ducks, geese, brant, ruffed grouse, woodcock, snipe, ring-necks,
golden plover ; black and rock bass, wall-eyed pike, pickerel, California salmon
in Lake Emily; deer in the woods near the city. Reached via the Chicago and
Northwestern Railroad. Hotels $2 per day ; teams $3 ; boats at moderate charges.
Excellent camping grounds. Prairie and heavily timbered country.

Austin and Lyle. See Greene, Butler County, lowa.

Nobles County—
Worthington. Starting from this place the sportsman will find on the prairies
‘great numbers of pinnated grouse, on the lakes, ponds and sloughs, ducks, mal-
ards and other varieties, geese, brant, cranes, swan, plover, and other varieties
‘of wild fowl. Beaver, mink, muskrats innumerable, and other fur bearing ani-
‘mals are to be found. Take the St. Paul and Sioux City Railroad, The county
‘abounds in lakes which are filled with black bass and pickerel.

Olmsted County—
Rochester. Game is abundant on the surrounding prairies. Reached via the
WMUChicago and Northwestern Railroad.

   
  
88 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

Otter Tail County—

Pelican Lake, Good deer shooting. Reached via Northern Pacific Railroad
to Detroit, thence wagon. At the hotel, guides, dogs, etc., will be found ; address
Warfield Bro’s , Proprietors.

_New York Mills. Bears, deer, ducks, geese, ruffed grouse, beavers, otters,
minks, foxes, wolves. Reached via Northern Pacific Railroad, Private board
$5 per week ; guides, $1.50 per day ; teams $2 to $3. Country rolling prairie, and
heavily timbered. .

Parker's Prairie, There is abundance of grouse on the uplands, ducks and
Rosse on the ponds, ruffed grouse in the thickets, with good woodcock shooting,

here is only one objection to Parker’s Prairie as a resort for sportsmen ; it is so
far from the railroad that one cannot dispose of the game he kills, neither can it
be given away, as every settler can kill at any time (almost in his door yard), all
the grouse and ducks he can consume ; consequently the killing of game there as
a sport degenerates into needless butchery, Asa place to break young dogs and
spend a few days in luxurious idleness among the hospitable settlers at a mod-
erate cost, we know not its equalin the State. Parker’s Prairie is reached via
wagon road from Wadena (which see). Fine duck, goose, woodcock and other
shooting can be found on the route. E

Otter Tail City. On the road from Otter Tail to Wadena via Deer Creek is
excellent sharp-tailed grouse shooting.

Pembina County—

In the vicinity of the Red River of the North are found pinnated grouse, ptar-
migan, wild fowl, rabbits and deer, with bass fishing in the lakes. Reached via
Northern Pacific Railroad to Fargo, thence by Red River line of steamers.

Pine County—

Pine City, Bears, deer, ducks, ruffed grouse; black and white bass, wall-
eyed pike and pickerel. Reached via the Northern Pacific Railroad, Good
hotels $1.50 per day ; boats $1 pér day; teams $5. Rolling and heavily timbered
country.

Hinckley. Deer, bear, ruffed grouse Pickerel and other varieties of fish.
Reached via the Northern Pacific Railroad. Hotel $2 per day. Good camping
grounds near Grindstone Lake and River.

Pope County—

Lakes Johanna, White Bear, and Reno, are all excellent duck shooting grounds,
Go to Lake Johanna, a town on this lake, to Winthrop, on White Bear Lake.
Reached by highway from Randall, on the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad,

Ramsey County—

White Bear Lake, twelve miles from St. Paul, is an excellent shooting centre,
The game in the vicinity comprises pinnated grouse, ruffed grouse, pigeons,
quail, foxes and deer, and in the lake are pike, pickerel, salmon, (wall-eyed pike),
bass, croppies, sunfish, perch, etc. Bald Eagle is a meeting place for trains from
four different directions, viz.; St. Paul, Duluth, Minneapolis, and Stillwater?
The Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad runs daily seven trains from St,
Paul, three from Stillwater, and four from Duluth, and the Minneapolis and St.
Louis Road three from Minneapolis. There are three large hotels, and a number
of private boarding houses ; cost of board from $1.50 to $3.50 per day. Boats and
boatmen at reasonable rates. Aas . .

St. Paud. Fine duck shooting at the rice lakes, within fifteen miles of the city:
The game includes teal, blue bills, mallard, wood ducks, canvas-backs, with wi ld
geese at times, grouse, snipe, pheasants, pinnated grouse. Go to Ellsberg’s
where good accommodations can be secured. The pass, a favorite locality, is
near his house.

Rock Oounty—

For the game of the county, see Noble County. Take the St. Paul and Sioux
City Railroad to Bigelow, N oble County, thence stage or hired conveyance.
St. Louis County—

Duluth. Deer are abundant. In the St. Louis and Chester Rivers, black
bass are caught in great numbers. In King’s, Kingstons, and Buffalo Creeks is
excellent brook trout fishing, Reached by Take Superior steamers, and via the
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 89

Illinois Central and Northern Pacific Railroads. Hotel and private board $3 per
day ; boats $1 per day.

‘Fond au Lac Deer, ruffed grouse, ducks ; brook trout, pickerel, wall-eyed
pike ; with other varieties of game and fish. Many lakes and several rivers, all
affording fine sport, are within ten miles. Reached via the Chica ‘o and North-
western, and the Sheboygan and Fond du Lac Railroads. Hotels $2 per day.
Guides $1.50 to $2 per day.

Scott County—

Shakopee. Pickerel and bass in Long Lake. Deer in the neighborhood.
Shakopee is on the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul, and the St. Paul and Sioux
City Railroads.

Todd County— .

Long Prairie, Deer, ruffed and pinnated grouse shooting, and black bass and
pickerel fishing. This is a difficult country to still-hunt in, as the bushes are
thick, and the dry leaves lie thickly on the ground, and make a great rustlin
when trod on. Moccasins and leggins are necessary to hunt in here, in the fall.
The bucks commence running about October r4th. he deer are found mostly in
oak timber, where they feed on acorns, They hide in the tamarack swamps
during the day, and feed and travel during the night. Take the St. Paul and
Pacific Railroad to Sauk Rapids, thence wagon.

Sherburne County—
Big Lake Station is fifty miles from St. Paul, on the St. Paul and Pacific Rail-
ron pare bass are caught in the lake, a variety of shooting in the neigh-
orhood.

Wabasha County—

Wabasha. Fine pickerel fishing in the Zumbro, three miles from here. For
route see Frontenac, above.

Lake City, on the shore of Lake Pepin, is headquarters for the fishing and
hunting of this vicinity. The lake and its tributary streams abound ina variety
of game fish, including black and striped bass, pike, perch, pickerel, mascalonge,
sheepshead, herring, catfish, croppie, moon eye, eel, sturgeon and buffalo fish.
Mascalonge here are of large size, usually ranging from ten to forty pounds in
weight. They are best caught by rod and line from the shore, or by wading out
upon the bars. The black bass are caught in the same manner, or by trolling.
The bass are many of them very large, some having been caught, weighing more
than seven pounds, few less than three pounds. All the fish here are taken near
the shore, or in the shallow water on the bars, except the wall-eyed pike. The
private pond known as Kyle’s, or Pine Creek Pond, six miles from Lake City,
and directly opposite Frontenac, is a famous trout pond, where good fishing may
be enjoyed by paying a fee of thirty cents per pound for fish caught. The ground
is reached by steamer or small boats. Comfortable farm-house accommodation
can be secured here, and hotels will be found at Maiden Rock, Wis, a village
one anda half miles distant. There are several other streams affording fair trout
fishing. Plumb Creek and Rush River are well-known. The latter enters Lake
Pepin eight miles above Lake City, and may be reached by boat or team.
Plumb Creek, the same distance, is reached by team. The gentleman sportsman
will find entertainment at any of the farmhouses in the vicinity of these waters.
In the neighborhood of Lake City, a variety of Sport for the gunner will always be
found. Pinnated grouse are here in great abundance; ducks and geese are
abundant; a few snipe and woodcock, and many wild pigeons furnish excellent
shooting. Of larger game there are deer and bears abundant within ten and fif-
teen miles. Lake City has excellent accommodations, and in the vicinity are
many good camping grounds, Boats, teams, fishing tackle, decoys, and all neces-
sary outfit may Ker e found. For route, see Frontenac, above. .

Reea's Landing. Excellent salmon fishing in the Chippewa River, opposite
the town, in Wisconsin. Route as above.

Wadena County—

Wadena, on the Northern Pacific Railroad, forty-five miles beyond Brainerd,
is an excellent centre from which to reach the finest shooting grounds the State
affords. There is a hotel, and teams can be readily procured. See Parker’s
Prairie. From Wadena a pleasant trip may be made by taking hired conveyance
to Parker's Prairie Millerville, and thence return via Otter Tail and Deer Creek.
go GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

The game includes pinnated grouse, partrid i
po ee P 2 , bartridges, ducks, geese, plover, etc., in | | |

Waseca County--

Fonesville is on the outlet of Lake Elyrian, a beautiful body of wat 1
stocked with many varieties of fish. Reached via the Chicago andl Naame a
Railroad. There are two hotels. Stages run to Okaman, at the head of the lake,

Washington County—

Stillwater. Steamers can here be chartered for trips down the St. Croix
Lake, for duck and goose shooting. Deer and other game are found in the adja-
cent country. Stillwater is twenty-four miles from St. Paul, on the Lake Superior
and Mississippi Railroad.. There are good hotels,

Winona County—

Minnesota City is on the Rolling Stone River, at the headwaters of which
many trout are caught. Reached via the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad.

Winona. Ducks, geese, pinnated grouse and quail. Lake Winona adjoins
the city limits, and in an early day was so noted for its game, that its surround-
ings were named ‘‘ Prairie of Winged Fowl.” The county is quite famous for its
trout streams. Reached via the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad.

 

MISSISSIPPI.

Area, 47,156 square miles ; population 827,922. From the north-
east the surface of the State slopes with many undulations, west to
the Mississippi River and south to the Gulf of Mexico. Extending
through the centre of the State is a broad low ridge, on which are
cultivated farms and extensive dense forests. The larger portion
of the surface may be described as rolling prairie, in places broken
and undulating. From the line of the Vicksburg and Meridian
Railroad between Jackson and Meridian, an extensive pine forest
stretches to the Gulf of Mexico. The forests of the State all
abound in large game. Much of the State is still wild and unset-
tled, and there the hunter will find a variety and abundance of the
game common to this latitude. The best hunting grounds are
reached via the numerous steamboat lines which penetrate the’
State, or may be easily reached from the different railroad lines.
Accommodations, as a rule, are poor. When practicable, the best
plan is to camp in the vicinity of some farmhouse where neces-
sary supplies may be obtained.

Adams County—

The district between Woodville and Natchez abounds in deer and other game.
There is a good tract between the two places, with occasional plantations where
the sportsman may find entertainment. Some of the planters have packs of fine
moe is the centre of a fine deer country. Beavers and otters abound in
such numbers as to be a great nuisance, Black bass, perch, gaspereau, etc., are
taken in the rivers.

Alcorn County—
Corinth. Woodcock, quail, turkeys, ducks, Big ons, deer, squirrels, black
bass, perch, The old fields around Farmington, a dozen miles from Corinth, are
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. gl

much resorted to by gunners in pursuit of quail, turkeys, deer, and the like.
Corinth is reached via the Mobile and Ohio, and the Memphis and Charleston
Railroad ; or by Mississippi River steamers.

Bolivar County—

This county abounds in deer, bears, wild turkeys, ducks, geese, quail, squir-
rels and other kinds of large and small game. Take Mississippi River steamer to
Bolivar, Victoria, or Concordia, thence strike inland. Guides and all necessary
information will be found at any of these places. The eastern part of the county
may be reached via the Sunflower River.

Carroll County—

Deer are found throughout the county, bears, wild turkeys, water fowl, with
many varieties of small game. The fishing is good. The county is bounded on
the west by the Yazoo River on which steamboats ply. The eastern portion is
accessible by the Mississippi Central Railroad. Good starting points are Green-
wood on the river, and Duck Hill, Winona and Shongola on the railroad.

De Sote County—

This county is full of game of many kinds and great abundance.. By taking
the Mississippi and Tennessee Railroad from Memphis, and stopping at Cold-
water, or Sinatoby, the sportsman may easily reach splendid hunting grounds.

Hinds County—

Jackson. Partridges, woodcock, snipe, ducks, turkeys and deer. Reached
via the New Orleans, St. Louis and Chicago, or the Vicksburg and Meridian
Railroad.

Jackson County—
Grand Hey Deer, bear, etc., with good fishing. Reached via New Orleans,
Mobile and Texas Railroad.

Lauderdale County—

Meridian. Deer, wild turkeys, quail, and small game; jack fish, trout and
erch, At the junction of the Alabama and Chattanooga, Mobile and Ohio and
icksburg and Meridian Railroads. Hotel $1.50 to $2.50; boats; teams $2 to $5.

Mountainous and rolling country.

Marshall County—

Many kinds of game are found in abundance throughout the county... The
Mississippi Central Railroad traverses the county, and from any of the stations
on this line the sportsman may easily reach good game grounds. Go to Holly
Springs or Waterford.

Monroe County—

Smithville, There is excellent shooting in all the surrounding country, and
fair fishing in the Tombigbee and its tributary streams. Take the Mobile and
Ohio Railroad. :

Panolo County—

There is no section of the State which affords more game than that lying be-
tween the Tallahatchie, Coldwater and Mississippi Rivers. Take steamboat to
Austin, thence inland, or go via the Mississippi and Tennessee Railroad from
Memphis, or the New Orleans, Jackson and Great Northern from New Orleans.
Repu Panolo, or Como will be found good centres for starting out from the
railroad.

Sunflower County—
For game and route see Washington County,

Tallahatehie County—

This region is a magnificent game vountry. Deer, bears, ducks, geese, quail,
and many other varieties of game afford excellent shooting. The county may be
reached from the Mississippi and Tennessee Railroad, or by boats from Vicks-
burg via the Tallahatchie River which traverses the county. Much of the county
is swamp land full of game. The steamboat officers are all sportsmen and can
give every direction to sportsmen. Provide camping outfit.
92 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

Tunica County—

Hudson's Ferry,on the Coldwater River. A fine trapping region. Otters,
beavers, coons, minks and muskrats are found. Ducks, geese and brant are also
plenty in season, Si

Hudson, This section of the State, near the Mississippi River, is an excellent
region for bears, deer, panthers, wild cats, wild turkeys, geese, swan, ducks, part-
ri Bes and squirrels, Board can be had among the farmers, for $8 and $10 per
week.

Austin is a convenient centre for sport in the Mississippi Bottom. Deers, tur-
keys, ducks, and other game are abundant, with occasionally a bear. The route
is via the river steamers. Immediately behind the levee, there is generally a
cypress swamp, a belt of cottonwood trees or a dense canebrake. Behind these
swamps and canebrakes, lie the cultivated fields, and the deadening or burnt
tracts. In these fields of deadening, the deer lie ruminating, and dogs give tongue
before they have been in their covers many minutes. Deer are to be had either
by still-hunting them, or by running them before the dogs; but as the former
method requires not only great experience, but also an accurate knowledge of the
country, a stranger will find the other the more productive and satisfactory of the
two. Although some of the planters in the Bottom keep their own packs of
hounds, yet it will be as well for the sportsman, if he go south with the intention of
running deer, to take along acouple of dogs. The people are generally very ready
to point out the deer passes, or stands. Still farther back from the river stretches
the great forest, encroached upon at intervals by patches of cleared land, and in-
tersected by lengthy bayous and broad lagoons. Here the sportsman may ba
ducks and geese innumerable, and swans also, if he can stalk then. All kinds o
water fowl are very abundant, and may be shot in many places where they are
easily recovered at the cost of a wetting ; but when one has to thread his way
among the lagoons and bayous, a good retriever is an almost indispensable
assistant. Some of the lagoons are of great extent, and are almost invariably pro-
vided with a skiff, a dug out, or a floating machine of some sort, the use of which
is generally to be had without any trouble by an application to the neighboring
planter, whose property itis. The winter months are the best for sport. The
country at other seasons is unhealthy.

Washington County—

This county and those adjoining, through which the Sunflower River flows,
afford excellent duck, wild goose, squirrel, coon, deer, bear and panther hunting ;
and striped bass, black bass, and white and bachelor perch fishing. To reach
this county take steamer from Vicksburg, up the Big Sunflower River. Provide
camping equipments. Information as to the best localities can be obtained from
the officers of the steamers. bee

Greenville. The Deer Creek country, running parallel with the Mississippi
for one hundred miles, has its principal outlet here. Bear, deer, and small game
abundant. Excellent fishing in Washington and Lee Lakes. Reached from
Orleans, St. Louis, or Louisville via steamer.

Yazoo County—

The county offers abundant employment for both rod and gun, Bears, deer,
wild turkeys, quail, etc., ducks, geese, and many other varieties of game are here
in great numbers. The county is traversed by the Yazoo River, by which access
is had to the game grounds. The New Orleans, Jackson and Great Northern
Railroad touches the eastern border of the county,

Wilkinson County—
Woodville. Between this town and Natchez will be founda good game

country. (See Adams County.)

 

MISSOURI.

Area 65,350 square miles ; population 1,721,295. The north-
ern and north-western portions of the surface are for the most part
rolling prairie, interspersed with hills of timber. South of the Mis-..-
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 93

souri River are the highland bluffs, and below these in the south-
western part are low and swampy lands subject to overflow from
the river. In the south-west are the Ozark Mountains; north of
these the valley of the Osage River is principally rolling prairie.
The Missouri and its tributaries are all lined with belts of dense
forest. A large part of the State abounds in game of various kinds.
The prairies are full of wild fowl and grouse and the forests with
the larger species of animals. The facilities of travel are gen-
erally good.

Carroll County—
a Lima Lake. eese, brant and ducks afford fine sport on the lake. Go to
ima.

Cass County—

Harrisonville. Rabbits, squirrels, pinnated grouse, quail, ducks, geese, brant,
snipe and other varieties of water fowl ; bass, croppies, etc. Payne’s and Bates’
Lakes, distant seven and seventeen miles, are the best shooting grounds.
Reached via the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad. Hotels $1 to ae per
day ; teams $3 per day. At Bates’ Lake, in the town of Everett, the sportsman
will find accommodations at the house of J. Bodenhammer. For further particu-
lars address, at Harrisonville, Mr. R. A. Brown.

Chariton County—

Mendon. Duck shooting on the lakes about the Chariton. Grouse and quail
in the neighborhood. The county is traversed by the St. Louis, Kansas City,
and Northern Railroad, from any of the stations on which line good shooting
grounds may be reached. ¥

Cole County—

Fefferson City. Good quail, Honeys wild goose, duck; and deer shooting
on the Osage River, eight miles from the city. Reached via the Missouri Pacific
Railway.

Crawford County—

The game of this region is very abundant, embracing es squirrels, wild

sh,

turkeys and deer. The fishing is for perch, bass and cat fi Reached via the
St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad to Leesburg and adjacent points.

Daviess County—
Gallatin. Deer, turkeys, quail, ducks and snipe. Reached via the Omaha
Branch of the St. Louis, Kansas City and Northern Railroad.

Franklin County—

Along the Maramec River is good wild fowl shooting and in the more unsettled
porcee of the county are deer and wild turkeys. This country is reached from
ie Stanton, Sullivan and other points on the St. Louis and San Francisco

ailroad.

Gasconade County—

In the vicinity of the Gasconade River quail are very plentiful along the entire
valley ; pinnated grouse are of rare occurrence. The duck shooting is fair. Squir-
rels are, along the valleys where it is wide enough for farms, surprisingly numer-
ous. The great game attraction, however, of the beautiful Ozark range, and
especially of the Gasconade region, is deer; these, with wild turkeys, are easily
found in great numbers by even inexperienced hunters. :

The Gasconade takes its rise in the heart of the Ozark Mountains, which ex-
tend from the Missouri River, near its mouth, in a southwesterly direction across
this State and part of Arkansas. Fed by innumerable boldly flowing springs of
almost icy coldness, and reinforced by numerous affluents, the chief of which are
the Big and Little Piney and the Bourbeuse, it pursues a tortuous course, mainly
in a northeasterly direction, and enters the Missouri near Hermann, in Gasconade
county. The river with its tributaries teems with pike, perch, (locally known as
94 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

jack salmon), bass, and large channel catfish. Those whose acquaintance with
the catfish family is confined to its fat, sluggish, repulsive representative of stag—
nant ponds and muddy creeks, can have no conception of the sport afforded by
its slender, shapely and powerful cousin of the spring-fed streams flowing into
the Missouri from the Ozarks. With the forked tail and adipose dorsal of the
salmon, long, graceful, muscular body, hardened by conflict with fierce ra ‘ids,
and invigorated by pure cold water, its capture, if of large size, is an event long
to be remembered.

Provide boats and camp equipage, and go via the Atlantic and Pacific Rail-
way, to Arlington, a town situated at the point where the railroad crosses the
river, ninety miles above its mouth, and one hundred and twenty miles from St.
Louis. Thence take wagon to Smith’s. ‘Then fish down the river, back to Ar-
lington, sending your baggage via wagon to the different camping stations along
the bank, Fishing is done with fly and spoon. Of the latter the single OO hook
No. 6, Buell spoon attached to a line with a single gull snell is the best tackle.

Howard County—

Fayette. A few turkeys ; wild fowls partis es and quails abundant, rabbits,
squirrels ; catfish, trout, bass. Reached via Missouri, kXansas and Texas Rail-
road. Hotel; Howard House, $2 per day ; teams with driver $5 per day.

Jasper County—
Carthage, on the Memphis, Carthage and Northwestern Railroad, is a good

centre from which to go, via hired conveyance, to the pinnated grouse grounds
near at hand.

Laclede County—

Lebanon. Ten niiles from the St. Louis and Pacific Railroad at this point,
excellent wild turkey shooting may be found.

Lewis County—

La Grange and Vicinity. The Mississippi River, at this point, contains man
islands, densely wooded and full of lakes, ponds and sloughs. The bottom lands
on each side of the river are of the same general character, with now and then
extensive prairies. In this region on either side of the river, are great numbers
of mallards, blue and green-winged teal, widgeons, pintails, redheads, wood
ducks, and other varieties ; geese, swans, cranes, pelicans, wild turkeys, wood-
cock, snipe, ruffed and pinnated grouse, quail, anda few deer. The fish include
the bass, pickerel, perch, wall-eyed pike. catfish of several varieties, croppie, etc.
Reached via the St. Louis, Keokuk and Northwestern Railroad, or by Mississippi
steamer. Hotel and farmhouse board can be obtained at any of the towns along
the river. See Lima, Mlinois.

Livingston County—

Shoal Creek. Deer, turkeys, pinnated and ruffed grouse, quail. The Hanni-
bal and St. Joseph, and other railroads, traverse the county, and on the lines of
these roads good shooting will be found. The country is wild and rugged.

Marion County—

Hannibal, Excellent teal and wood duck shooting. Quail are abundant, and
wild turkeys plenty on the Salt River bottoms.

Monroe County—

Monroe City. Duck, quail, snipe, pigeons: pheasants, pinnated prouses a few
wild turkeys, and an occasional deer. Catfish, perch, and buffalo fish are abun-
dant. Reached via Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad, or Hannibal and St.
Joseph Railroad. Hotels $2 per day ; team with driver $3 to $4.

Morgan County—
Maradosia. Duck shooting may be found near the town.

Pettis County—

Sedalia, Pinnated grouse, plover, quail, woodcock, snipe, ducks, mallards,
on the flat creek bottom lands ; foxes, squirrels, rabbits. Reached via the Mis-
souri, Kansas and Texas Railway. Hotels $2 to $3 per day ; board in ee
family, $30 to $40 per month. Good liveries. At Flat and Big Muddy Creeks,
three miles from the town, are excellent camping grounds.
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 95

Beaman, a station five miles north, is a favorite resort for shooting small
game.

Pike County—
Clarksville. Snipe shooting is excellent on the marshes back of the town.

St. Louis County—-

St, Louis. In the vicinity sportsmen may find several resorts where duck,
goose, and other wild fowl shooting may be enjoyed. the prairies afew miles
northwest, are excellent grounds for mallards and brant. urdock Lake, thirty
miles south, reached by steamer, or hired conveyance, is the most frequented
shooting and fishing ground. Ducks are here in great numbers. The fish are
the black bass, dog fish, cattish, croppies, and others. The Murdock Lake Club
have a club house here. The best grounds are obstructed by logs and tree tops,
hence it is not feasible to use fancy tackle, reels, etc. (See Monroe County,
atmos Six miles east of the city, in Illinois, Breese Lake affords excellent duck
shooting.

The St. Louis and King’s Lake Fish Breeding Association hold their grounds
seventy miles up the river, and four miles back of Sterling’s Landing. This lake
is twenty-five miles long, by an average of a half a mile wide. It isfed by springs
and river, and abounds with croppies and black bass. Adjoining are extensive
prairie hunting or shooting grounds. This is said to afford the best fishing waters
within one hundred miles of the city. Theclub has an extensive boat club house,
with all the appliances for fishing and good cheer. It numbers about eighty
members. The railroads radiating from St. Louis render easy of access many
fine hunting grounds in Illinois and Iowa.

Vernon County—

Schell City. Mallards, teal, spike-tails, wood ducks, geese, snipe, plover,
crooked bill curlew, ee grouse—one of the best localities in the State
—rabbits, wild turkey and small game; fish abundant in Osage River; deer
thirty miles east on the Sac River. Reached via the Missouri, Kansas and Texas
Railroad. Excellent hotel, teams, etc. Schell City is situated on a high upland
prairie, looking down toward marshes, valleys and meadows.

Wayne County— i

Williamsville. Ducks, brant, geese and cranes in Big Lake, about thirty
miles distant. Reached via the Iron Mountain Railroad, from St. Louis, distance
one hundred and forty-five miles. Joe Deine is an excellent guide.

MONTANA.

Area 153,300 square miles. The surface of the country is gene-
rallymountainous. The Rocky Mountains extend through this terri-
tory, entering at the northern boundary, stretching south and south-
east for two hundred miles, and then curving toward the west to
Idaho. In the west are also the Bitter Root Mountains with mi-
nor chains through the country. The rest of the surface is made up
of rolling prairie lands, interspersed with islands of forests. The
country is thinly settled, travel is confined for the most part to wag-
on trails, and these trails are often infested by hostile Indians. The
Northern Pacific Railroad forms the best means of access, and at
the stations on this road, the sportsman may find guides and all
outfit for camping.

Choteau County—
Fort Benton, Iu Montana among the eastern foot-hills of the main divide are
96 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

to be found elk, black and white-tailed deer, buffalo, bears, moose, mountai
sheep,.and antelope in large numbers. All the streams are full of ilce, Acree
catfish, sturgeon perch, suckers, trout, grayling and salmon trout. Fort Benton
is a good pines to start from, traveling north along the base of the mountains.
Take the Northern Pacific Railway to Bismark, thence steamer up the Missouri
River. There is plenty of game all along the river region between Bismark and
Fort Benton, and the river and its tributaries are full of fish.

Fort Belknap is situated above the two forks on the Milk River, two hundred
and fifty miles from Fort Buford, one hundred and seventy miles from Fort Peck,
two hundred and forty miles from the city of Helena, one hundred miles from
Fort Benton at the head of navigation on the Missouri River, twenty-five miles
from the boundary line. The outlying country is filled with game, buffalo,
white and black tailed deer, antelope, elk, and at the Little Rocky Mountains,
thirty miles southeast, are quantities of bears, big horns, mountain sheep, and
smaller game in abundance. To reach this county start from Sioux City, early in
the season, say in April, in time to take the first boat for Fort Benton, a trip
occupying nearly a month ; thence a day’s ride into a country not attractive from
surroundings, on the contrary desolate from the monotony of the prairie, but
full of the game mentioned.

Deer Lodge County—

Deer Lodge City. Foxes and hares, of the latter two varieties. Reached via
the Union Pacific Railroad to Kelton, thence via stage.

Lewis and Clarke County—

Helena. Grizzly bear, elk, antelope, moose, deer, jack-rabbits, pinnated
grouse, snipe, curlew, ducks and geese ; trout and salmon trout. Take the Utah

orthern Railroad from Ogden to Franklin, Idaho, thence stage four hundred and
twenty miles. Mountainous country.

Deadwood City is in the heart of a game country, most easily reached by the
following routes:

No. 1, beginning at Bismark, Dakota. No. 2, beginning at a point on the right
bank of the Missouri, known as Fort Pierre, or some point not over eighteen
miles north of that place. No. 3, beginning at the Yankton crossing of the Mis-
souri river, and thence up the south bank of the Niobrara to its crossing opposite
the mouth of the Keya Paha river, thence up the latter stream to or near the
sources of the Porcupine Creek, Allare to cross the 103d meridian on the shortest
and most practicable route, the first two to Deadwood, the third to Custer City.
There is a tri-weekly mail service between Kearney, Neb., and Deadwood, in
the Black Hills region, three hundred and thirty-nine miles, and a daily service
between Hat Creek and Deadwood, one hundred and twenty-one miles. There
is daily mail communication with Hat Creek and the Union Pacific Railroad at
Cheyenne. The distance from Deadwood from the railroad is two hundred and
thirty-five miles. ae :

Deadwood City is a good starting point for a campaign in the Black Hills.
Elk or wapiti are very numerous on Rapid Creek, Elk reek, and Red Water.
Black-tailed deer, white-tail deer, antelope, on the prairie and foot-hills, moun-
tain sheep along the foot-hills, jack-rabbits, common hares, red squirrels, ground
squirrels, wild geese and ducks in the spring and fall, pinnated grouse in the
foot-hills, sage hens in the timber near the prairies, ruffed grouse and quail in the
hills, all are very numerous, and afford attractions to the sportsman not often
found in one locality. Cinnamon and black bears, mountain lions, grey wolves,
prairie wolves, beavers and otters are common. ji

The Sweet Grass Hills are in Northern Montana near the boundary line of
the United States. These hills are separated into two ranges by a belt of prairie
about ten miles wide. The well known landmarks the Three Buttes are in this
neighborhood. This locality isa splendid game country. Elk, mule deer, buf-
falo, bears, mountain sheep and antelope abound. These hills are visited by
many tribes of Indians in the hunting season.

The Yellowstone Valley—

The Yellowstone Valley abounds in game of great variety and abundance.
The varicties comprise the bullalo, elk, mountain sheep, grizzly bear, antelope
California lion, hare, squirrel, several species, swans, pelicans, Canada geese,
brant, many varieties of ducks and dippers, herons, sandhill cranes, grouse and
pinnated grouse. The streams are filled with large salmon trout of great weight
and fine flavor. Gvyayling also abound. Entrance to this valley is through the
   
     
 

      
      
   
      
   
    

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CHICAGO & NORTHWESTERN RAILWAY,
Consolidated Road and Branches,............ oes .-- 1,059.30 miles.
Chicago and Milwaukee Line,............ dsierwe ada egies es ...-. 85.00 *
Iowa Leased Roads, (perpetual lease,)................. wees. 356.60 “ |
Total Chicago and Northwestern Railway,....... -.+.---1,500.90 |
; va = ; PROPRIETARY LINES. |
earl we VHERbcoveAND! “| Winona and St. Peter R. Ree.s...-eeeceeeee 327.00 miles.
Pia ae ao pa | Mankato Branch,.... .......-..-.-eceeeeeeeeees 375 |
>} Ui RR Binal La Crosse, Trempeleau, and Prescott R. R..... 29.00 ‘ |
la oa v lak aA’ vat KA QOS Northwestern Union Railway, ...... ieoeasacasy 62.63 |
i AN ttf ‘ Iowa Midland Railway,............-... seeeeess 68.80 *
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GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 97

wcafion of the Yellowstone, and this can be pained only during the months of June,
_July, August, and September. There is also a trail over the mountains, touching
“the upper end of the valley leading from the great Shoshone Falls and head ot
-the Snake River, via the head waters of the Madison and Gallatin rivers—both of
‘which have valleys similar to, but much smaller than the Yellowstone—to the
reat buffalo range between this district and the Missouri. This is known as the
annock Trail.
The sportsman will go by the Pacific Railroad to Evanston or Cheyenne, and
“thence to Fort Ellis, six days from the Great Basin, with fine hunting and fishing
allthe way. He will require heavy clothing, and all the requisites tor camping
out. The travel will not be found especially difficult, nor will the danger be great,
as the Indians, having a superstitious reverence for the valley, believing it to be
the abode of the Great Spirit, never enter it. One very fine caiion of the Yellow-
stone can be reached from Fort Ellis ina very few hours, being about twenty
miles from that place and ten or eleven above the Crow Indian Agency.

  

NEBRASKA.

Area 75,995 square miles; population 116,196. The surface
of the State is a rolling prairie, rising gradually towards the west
into the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. There is very little for-
est or timber land in the State. The country is still, in a great
measure, unsettled and abounds in all the game common to the
plains of the West. The means of communication are imperfect,
but from the line of the Union Pacific and other railroads, hunting
parties may start out to the game regions, which will be found of
easy access. The sportsman must, in a large measure, depend
upon the results of the chase.

Adams County-—

Juniata. Adams county is situated in the southern part of Nebraska, forty-
“five miles from State line, and about one hundred and sixty miles west of Missouri
River. It is one of the best parts of the State. Game is plenty. Buffalo, elk,
antelope, pinnated grouse, geese, and most all other kinds of game. There is no
“fish to speak of, except in the Platte River, twelve miles north of Juniata. Juniata
is on the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad in Nebraska, one hundred and
fifty-eight miles from Omaha.

Antelope County—
Antelope. Antelope, black-tailed and white-tailed deer, grouse, jack and
brush rabbits. Reached via the Union Pacific Railroad. Guides $2; teams $4.

The country is rolling prairie and limestone bluffs, covered with short buffalo
grass,

 

Boone County—

Deer and elk are plenty in the county, and farther west. Take Union Pacific
Railroad to Silver Creek. (See Jackson, Dakota County.)

Buffalo County—

Gibbon. Deer, antelope, grouse, pinnated grouse, geese, ducks, jack and brush
tabbits ; with good fishing in the Wood and Platte Rivers. Reached via the
Union Pacinc Railroad. Board $3 per week; team with driver $3. Country level

wand rolling. 4

Shelton. Some antelope and deer; geese, ducks and pinnated grouse in
abundance, and fish of several varieties. Reached via the Union Pacific Rail-
road. Hotel $4 per week ; teams $3. Provide camping outfit. The country is
prairie and high table lands.

5

 
98 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

Elm Creek. Buffalo, deer, antelope, geese, ducks and grouse; a varicty of
fishing in the Elm and Buffalo creeks, and the Platte River. Reached via the
Union Pacific Railroad. Board $1; teams $3. Prairies and bluffs.

Kearney Function. Elk, deer, antelope,a few buffalo, pinnated grouse, quail,
snipe, woodcock, plover, geese, ducks, jack rabbits, beavers, otters, minks; a
variety of fishing. Reached via Union Pacific Railroad. Hotel $2, private board
$5 pee week ; teams $3. Provide camping equipments. Rolling prairie. Tift
miles to the southward flows the Republican River; the banks of which are still
the feeding .ground of countless numbers of buffalo, and the hunting ground of
the brave Pawnee, the treacherous Sioux, and many other smaller tribes of In-
dians. Fifty miles to the northward lies the Loup Fork, once the undisputed
home of the Pawnee, and now a sort of debatable ground between their Reserva-
tion and that of their deadly enemies, the Sioux. On the banks of this river are
grand elk grounds. A little further to the west among the sand-hills, feed the
watchful antelope ; beaver and otter are in every stream. The open prairie fur-
nishes chickens, sharp tailed grouse, and upland plover, while the river bottoms
teem with quail, and occasionally we find a drove of wild turkeys, Deer, both
black-tail and Virginia, abound both in the rivers and along the creeks. In short,-
oo the sportsman carry his rifle or shot-gun, or both, he will find work
enough.

The Loup River country abounds in elk (or wapiti), the black-tail or mule
deer, the white-tail, or red deer, the pronghorn antelope, and occasionally a stray
buffalo. Musquash, beaver and otter are found in nearly all the shallow, swiftly-
running streams. Of fame birds, there are the sharp-tailed grouse, common pin-
nated grouse, and in their season, all the water fowl common to the west. he
Loup River isa miniature Platte, (of which it isa tributary), in many respects,
and drains with its branches much of northwestern Nebraska. The Upper Mid-
dle Loup, where the best hunting is, has the same broad channel, and innumera-
ble sand bars. Its low banks and many islands, are densely covered with a
thick, tall growth of coarse grass, weeds, and willow brush. The country lying
adjacent to this river, and its main branch, the Dismal, is, to say the least, very
hilly, being composed of ranges of bluffs lying parallel to the river, and succeed-
ing each other at intervals of one or more miles, as far as the eyecan reach. The
intervening valleys are made up of short, sharp ridges and steep-sided knolls,
usually but a few yards apart. Deep cafions from the river, wind out into the
various ranges, furnishing timber of several kinds, including cedar, elm, ash, box-
elder, and many brush thickets. The first grows in thick dark clumps along the
steep sides, and is intermixed with the latter varieties, along the level, floor-like
bottoms of the cafions. Such grasses as are indigenous to the soil, grow sparsely
on the up-lands, among which is the famous buffalo or gramme grass. The low-
lands furnish a rank growth of ‘‘ blue-stem,”’ or ‘* blue-joint,’’ everywhere com-
mon inthe West. .

The elk, and black-tail deer range among the highest points of the bluffs ; the
former in bedding choose some elevated spur or ridge, while the mule-deer bed
in ‘* blow-outs”’ (excavations made by the elements in the loose soil) along the
higher ranges, both varieties going some distance for water. The Virginia deer
prefer the willow-covered islands, the reedy patches, and the many plum thickets
in the immediate vicinity of the river. =

To reach the best hunting grounds, take Pacific Railroad to Kearney Junction,
and thence to Mack’s ranche, where mule teams can be obtained.

Cheyenne County— | =

Big Spring. Antelope, buffalo, black-tailed and white-tailed deer, very abun-
dant ten miles north, with plenty of mountain grouse. Reached via Union Paci-
fic Railroad. Private board $1.50 to $2; guides $2 to $3, teams $3 to $5.

Sidney. Buffalo, antelope, deer, some mountain sheep, jack rabbits, ducks,
and geese. Reached via Union Pacific Rallway. Hotel $1.50 to $3 ; teams and
guides $5._ For antelope, must camp out. The buffalo groundsare in the vicinity
of the South Platte River. Rolling prairie and hills.

Colfax County—

Schuyler. Antelope in fair numbers, with immense numbers of pinnated
grouse and quail, geese, ducks and brant. The Platte River with its tributary
creeks, and the sloughs on the river bottom, are alive with all varieties of wild
fowl. Pickerel are caught of fair size, and in considerablenumbers. Seventy-six
miles from Omaha, on the Union Pacitic Railroad. Board $2, teams with driver
$2 to $4. Level and rolling prairie, with little timber.
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 99

Cuming County—

Wisner 1s situated in the Elkhorn Valley, one of the most beautiful in the
world. Horse-shoe, Deer, Swan, Goose, Pickerel, Beaver and Bull-head Lakes
are from one to four miles from Wisner, and are full of fish. Wild game is also
very plentiful, among which are the satelope: deer, geese, ducks, pinnated grouse
and quail. The hotels are The Elkhorn alley andthe Wisner. On the Sioux
City and Pacific Railroad.

Dakota County—

Sackson. Wolves, antelope, deer, jack-rabbits, geese, ducks, swans, cranes.
quail and pinnated grouse. eached via the Union Pacific Railroad, one hundred
miles west of Omaha. Hotel and private board $1 to $1.50 ; teams with driver $2.50
to $4. R. G. Coreter, the ticket agent at the railroad station, will give full infor-
mation, and act as guide. The antelope and deer are found on the hills, half a
mile north from the station.

Dawson County—

Willow Island. Elk, deer, antelope and a few grouse. Reached via the
Union Pacific Railroad. Private board $5 per week. Rolling prairie.

Overton. Antelope, and a few deer. he latter are found in abundance on
the Loup River, thirty miles north. On the Union Pacific Railroad. Private
board, $1.25; teams $5.

Plum Creek. Elk, buffalo, deer, antelope, rabbits, hares, pinnated grouse,
Renses ducks, sandhill cranes, snipe and plover. Reached via the Union Pacific

ailroad. Hotel $1.50, private board $5 per week ; guides $2; teams $3. Timber
land and rolling prairie. Excellent camping grounds,

Cozad. Buttalo, elk, antelope, deer, wild turkeys, geese, swans, ducks, and
other wild fowlin great abundance. Reached via the Union Pacific Railroad.
Hotel and private board, $3 to $6 per week; guides with double team, $4 to $s.
For successful sport camping is necessary. The game grounds are the wooded
ravines of the table lands.

Dodge County—
North Bend. Pinnated grouse, ducks and geese, with fair deer shooting.

On the Union Pacific Railroad, sixty-two miles from Omaha. Hotel $1.50; team
and driver $3. Prairie country.

Douglas County—

Valley, on the Union Pacific Railroad, thirty-five miles from Omaha, is an
excellent point for the sportsman. There is an abundance of deer, ducks, geese,
pened grouse, qua and snipe in the surrounding country. In the streams are

ass, pickerel, and other varieties of fish, Hotel $1 per day; teams $2 to $3.
The country to the north of the Platte River is. prairie, to the south rolling
prairie. z

Omaha. Deer, wild turkeys, pinnated grouse, quail and other varieties of
game are very abundant in the vicinity.

Waterloo.” Pinnated and ruffed grouse, quail, snipe, geese, brant, ducks
swans, cranes, a few deer ; salmon, pickerel, bass, white perch, various kinds o
catfish, sturgeons, and others. Thirty-one miles from Omaha, on the Union
Pacific Railroad. Hotel and private accommodations $1.50 to $2; guides $2 to
$4; boats 50 cents ; teams $2.50 to $4. Prairie country, rolling, with strips of tim-
ber along the Elkhorn and Platte Rivers. . f

On Elkhorn River and Horse Shoe Lake are black bass, Take Pacific Rail-
road to Elkhorn City.

Halt County—

Grand Island. For game and route see Chapman, Merrick County. Good
hotels and boarding houses $2.50 to $4 per week. e

Wood River. « Elk are found about the Loup River, fifteen miles north ; ante-
lope and deer in limited numbers, rabbits, geese, ducks and pinnated grouse.
Reached via Union Pacific Railroad. Board in private family $4 per week ;
teams $3 to $4. The country is rolling prairie and bluffs.

Keith County—

Ogalalla. Deer, antelope and grouse, with a few buffalo, Reached via the
Union Pacific Railroad. otel, $1.50 per day ; teams with driver $5. Country,
prairie with hills, and rocky bluffs.
100 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

Alkali. Buffalo, deer, antelope, jack and brush rabbits, grouse and many
varieties of water fowl ; excellent and varied fishing. Reached via the Union
Pacific Railroad. Private board $1; teams and ponies at reasonable rates,
Hills and river bottom lands.

Kountze County—
New Helena, on the Middle Loup River, one hundred miles from Pacific
Railway. Antelope and other game.

Lancaster County—
Lincoln. Excellent pinnated grouse shooting. Reached via the Atchison
and Nebraska, and other railroads.

Lincoln County—

O’ Fallon's. Antelope and jack-rabbits. Reached via Union Pacific Railroad.
Board $5 per week ; teams $3 per day. Provide for camping. Prairie and hills.

Brandy Island. Elk, mountain and red deer, antelope, jack and Brey rabbits,
pinnated and ruffed grouse, geese, ducks, swan, snipe, plover ; buffalo fish, wall-
eyed pike. Reached via Union Pacitic Railroad, Private board $1 ; guides $2;
teams $4. Camping necessary. Rolling prairie.

McPherson. Deer, ducks, geese, and pinnated grouse shooting. Reached
via the Northern Pacific Railroad, two hundred and seventy eight miles from
Omaha. Guides $2 per day. The town is located in the Platte Valley, with roll-
ing prairie north and south.

Merrick County—

Chapman. Pinnated grouse, quail, geese, ducks, jack-rabbits ; fish of different
varieties. Reached via the Union Pacific Railroad. Private board $3.50 to $4
per week. Country, rolling prairie.

Lone Tree. Antelope, deer, and to the northwest large herds of elk. For
other game, and route see Chapman. Boarding houses and hotels $2.50 to $4;
teams, guides, etc.

Otoe County—

Cooper's Lake, Deer and elk are occasionally shot in the vicinity, and are
abundant in the mountains thirty miles south. Ducks and rabbits in great quan-
tities. Trout and red-horse fishing excellent. Reached via the Union Pacifi-
Railroad. Private board $5.50 per week; boats, teams, etc. For successful
hunting camp out. A. B. Hildreth, an old mountaineer, will act as guide. Roll-
ing prairie.

Platte County—

Columbus. Deer, antelope, wild turkey, pinnated grouse, quail, geese, brant,
ducks and snipe. Reached via the Union Pacific Railroad. otels $1.50 ; teams
$4. Level and rolling prairie. 7

Richardson County— ‘

Falls City is a favorite summer resort in this part of the country. The river
affords excellent fishing and the surrounding country fine shooting. The route
is via the Sioux City and Pembina Railroad from Davis Junction, a few miles
west of Sioux City. The Chicago and Northwestern Railroad issues through
tickets from Chicago.

Ashland. uail, grouse, geese and ducks are found in all this section in
abundance. eached via the Burlington and Missouri River in Nebraska

ailroad.

NEVADA.

Area 104,125 square miles; population 42,291. The surface
of the country is rugged and very mountainous. The ranges ex-
tend north and south with intervening valleys and streams, all rich
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. Io!

in mineral wealth. The population is made up for the most part of
miners and those engaged in kindred pursuits. The Central Pa-
cific Railroad intersects the State from the north-east, west to the
centre of the western boundary. The game is that of the Pacific
slope; the fish, éspecially in the large lakes, are abundant and
gamy. 3

Elko County—

Wells. Antelope, deer, sage hens, grouse, ducks, geese; trout. Take the
Central Pacific Railroad. Hotel and private board $1 to $1.50 ; teams $5 to $8.

Carlin. Deer, geese, ducks and trout. Reached via the Central Pacific Rail-
road. Private board $1.50 to,$2. Hunting parties usually camp. Hilly and
mountainous.

Eiko. Pinnated grouse, sage hens, ducks, geese, trout; deer and antelope
within ten or fifteen miles. Reached via the Central Pacific Railroad. Hotels
$10 per week ; teams $7 to $10. Camping is necessary for good sport. Country
hilly and mountainous.

Tecoma. Deer, antelope, mountain sheep, bear, rabbits, sage hens, ducks,
pinnated and ruffed grouse. Reached via the Central ‘Pacific Railroad. Hotel $1;
guides $3 to $4. Camping is necessary. Mountainous country.

Eureka County—

Palisade. Ducks, pinnated grouse, sage hens; excellent trout fishing in the
Humboldt River. Reached via the Central Pacific Railroad. Private board $1;
teams at reasonable rates. Mountainous country.

Humboldt County—

Oreana. Antelope, mountain sheep, sage hens, ducks, geese. Reached via
Central Pacific Railroad. Hotel $2, $8 to $10 per week ; saddle horses $3 ; teams
$xo. Rolling prairie and mountains. The sloughs known as the Big Meadows,
are good shooting grounds.

Rye Patch. Antelope, mountain sheep, deer, sage hens; trout. The fur-bear-
ing animals are beavers, otters, minks, etc. Reached via the Central Pacific
Railroad. Hotels $2, private board $1.50; guides $2 to $3. Provide camping
outfit. Valley and mountain.

Winnemucca. Ducks, geese, sage hens and grouse ; mountain trout. Reached
via the Central Pacific Railroad. Board $1; saddle horses $2. Country moun-
tainous and rolling.

Golconda. Many varieties of ducks, geese, sandhill cranes, jack-rabbits, cot-
ton tails; trout. Reached via Central Pacific Railroad. Board $1; teams $7.
Golconda is situated in a valley among the mountains.

Brown’s, fayty-six miles east of Wadsworth, on the Central Pacific Railroad,
Ducks, geese, swan, snipe, with other varieties of water fowl. There are no ac-
commodations of any kind.

Lander County—

_ Battle Mountain, Antelope, mountain sheep, deer, grouse, sage hens, rab-
bits. Reached via Central Pacific Railroad. Private board may be found, $2, but
it is better to camp out. The country is mountainous.

Ormsby County—

Carson City. Ducks, geese, sage hens, mountain quail, rabbits, and two
varieties of hare; trout, salmon trout, whitefish. Reached via Central Pacific
Railroad to Reno, thence via Virginia and Truckee Railroad. Board $1 to $2.
Parties fit out at Carson and Virginia City for expeditions to Hope Valley, the
best shooting ground in the State.

Stony County—
Virginia City. See Carson, Ormsby County.

Washoe County—

Reno, Stages run daily from Reno, and from Truckee, Cal., into the Sierra
Valley, a popular resort for sportsmen, Here may be found quail, grouse, deer,
102 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

ducks, rabbits, and brook trout in all the small streams in abundance. Next to
Hoe Valley, this affords the best shooting to be found in this State.

he best fishing 1s found in the Truckee River, the lake of the same name, and
Pyramid Lake, The waters of the Truckee River extend from Lake Tahoe (the
head of the Truckee), to Pyramid Lake, the sink thereof. It is a great resort for
tourists, situated on the line between Nevada and California, in the Sierras. The
Truckee River flows trom its north end, and is its only outlet of importance, but
the river is fed, all along its course, by mountain streams of melting snow, till it
debouches in a basin, where is built Reno. The river leaves the basin, after an
easterly course through it by a canon, and passing a little northerly, empties
into Pyramid Lake, a large body of water within the confines of the mountains,
but not quite so picturesque as Tahoe or Donner Lakes. The country around it
affords excellent grazing ranges. Pyramid Lake abounds with feathered game,
swan, geese, ducks, etc., the latter ot several species, and is the winter quar-
ters of the trout. As soon as the river begins to rise inthe spring, they start for
Tahoe in such vast schools that it is no trouble to get as many as one wishes by
simply going to the river. Fish are taken any where along the river, but usually
where it runs deepest and smoothest, whereas the brook trout of the east is taken
from foam of cascade and rapids, and by concealed anglers. Concealment is not
necessary here. The bait is thrown out as far as pole and line will cast it and let
float down with the current, properly leaded to cause it tosink near the bottom,
just to escape the rocks and sunken logs, and when all the line is out, is pulled up
and thrown again out and up stream. The trout takes it freely, and is easily
landed, not by jerking the fish out of the wet, but by playing him ashore. Some
fly hooks are used, but they do not seem to be a favorite bait. Spawn or min-
nows are preferred. Hooks are used from number four to larger. The grab
hooks are much larger. The Kirby hook is préferred tothe Limerick. The lines
used are the ordinary linen lines or grass lines. Cane poles, or any that are
strong enough, and the longer the better, to get the bait cast out to the middle ot
the stream, or as near as possible in the deepest channel of the river. Those who
go to the Truckee River trout-fishing will do well to be careful about their bait,
if they wish to have any success. The only bait with which they can succeed at
certain seasons of the year, isa worm that is found inthe greasewood. This worm
cuts a ring around the main stalk of the greasewood, and is easily found by ob-
serving that the tops of the greasewood bushes are dead. The trout will bite at
these worms when they: will touch no other kind of bait. The Piutes and a few
old settlers know how to find this peculiar bait, and are successful fishermen
when all others fail. The dead leaves on the tops of the greasewood bushes
show where the worms are, and all that is necessary to be done is to kick over
the bushes to find the bait, as the shrubs break off at the point where the worms
have ringed them. :

Wadsworth, Trout fishing in the Truckee River and in Pyramid Lake, eigh-
teen miles. Humboldt Lake, forty miles, near the line of the railroad, is a good
shooting ground for ducks, geese, swans, curlew, snipe, etc., though owing to the
absence of cover, the approach to the game is difficult. Mountain quail, sage
hens and grouse are found in the mountains. Eight miles west of Wadsworth,
with a few mountain sheep and black-tailed gees )aek rabbits abound in every
direction. Good trout fishing in Independence Lake. Reached via the Central
Pacific Railroad.

Washoe City. Deer, bears, grouse, sage hens, mountain quail ; excellent fish-
ing in Ophir Creek, and Washoe and Marlette Lakes. Reached via Virginia and
Truckee Railway. Board $7 per week. Country very mountainous and rocky ;
the foot-hills covered with sage brush. :

Franktown. Geese, ducks, grouse, quail, snipe, rabbits, hares, a few dcer.
Reached via the Virginia and Truckee Railroad. Hotel $1. Mountainous
country.

Verdi, Deer, rabbit, grouse, quail; trout in the Truckee River. Reached
via the Central Pacific Railroad. Private accommodations $1; guides $3. A
mountain country.

White Pine County—

Hamilton. Deer, wild geese, ducks, pinnated grouse, snipe. Good trout
fishing. Board $3. Mountainous country.
GAME AND FISII RESORTS. 103

NEW HAMPSHIRE.

Area 9,280 square miles ; population 318,300. The State is rug-
ged and includes among its mountain systems, the White Mountains,
the highest of the Eastern and North-eastern States. The sea
coast region, embracing a strip extending twenty or thirty miles in-
land, forms an exception to the general description of the State, this
section being low and marshy. The north-eastern part of the State
is covered with extensive and dense forests, interspersed with nu-
merous lakes and partakes of the wilderness character of the neigh-
boring State of Maine. All this region is a grand hunting ground
for the larger and wilder kinds of New England game, while the
lakes are well stocked with fish. Aside from this region, the facil-
ities of travel are excellent, and the hotel and other accommoda-
tions generally good.

Belknap County—

Centre Harbor. Pickerel are caught in that part of Lake Winnipisiogee
which is known as the Basin. Reached via Boston, Concord and Montreal Rail-
road to Foggs or Hederness, thence stage. Hotel, boats, etc.

Meredith. Wakeman Lake contains black bass. Reached via the Boston,
Concord and Montreal Railroad.

Laconia. Woodcock, ruffed grouse and plover, ducks, and other game.
Reached via the Boston, Concord and Montreal Railroad.

Lake Winnipisiogee. The waters of this lake are fine fishing grounds for
different kinds of fish, with game birds on the shores and upland plover on the
islands. Reached via Boston and Concord Railroad to Wezr's, whence other
parts of the lake are accessible by steamer ; or via Boston and Maine Railroad to
Alton Bay.

Carroll County—

Jackson. In the Wild River, with the tributary streams, is fine trouting.
Secure ‘ Jock’’ Davis as your guide. Reached from the Eastern Railroad.

The Big Intervale, near the town of Albany, is a good deer country. Take
Eastern Railroad to Ossipee.

Madison, Bear hunting on Mt, Chocorua, five miles from Madison, and part-

_ ridge shooting in the vicinity. Take the Eastern Railroad. Piper is an old hunter

who lives at the foot of the mountain and will act as guide,

Sandwich. Bears are found on the mountains.. Take the Eastern Railroad to
West Ossipee and from there drive over.

West Ossipee. There are trout in Drake’s Brook, which runs near the base of
the Ossipee Mountain. Reached via the Eastern Railroad.

Moultonborough. Yong, and Red Hill Ponds contain black bass.

Wolfborough. WRuffed grouse shooting. Lake Winnipisiogee offers many
inducements to the camper out on the many beautiful islands which dot its sur-
face, Wolfborough is a good point a’apput, possessing fine hotels and boarding
houses. The lake abounds in fish. Take the Eastern Railroad.

South Tamworth, Ruffed grouse. Bears numerous on Chocorua Mount,
Foxes numerous. Good duck shooting on Ossipee Lake.

North Conway. Good fishing in the streams and lakes in the vicinity.

Cheshire County—

Munsonville. A pond in the vicinity has been stocked with black bass.

Keene, The lakes and ponds in the vicinity abound in pickerel and perch;
but few have trout, which, however, are found in nearly every creek. Wilson’s
Pond has black bass. Two favorite lakes are Monadnock, at the foot of Mt.
Monadnock, twelve miles east, and Spofford ten miles west. The former contains
trout, the latter very fine pickerel. e game of the surrounding country includes
ruffed grouse, ducks, ployer, foxes, minks, rabbits, raccoons and grey squirrels.
104. GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

For these the sportsman must take his own dog, as no good ones are to be found
here. Keene is on the Cheshire Railroad. A summer resort.

Harrisville. A pond near the town contains black bass.

Stoddard. In Long Pond are found pickerel and perch. Reached via the
Cheshire Railroad to Walpole, thence by drive; or via Concord and Claremont
Railroad to Hillsboro, thence stage.

Fitzwilliam, White hares and foxes. Cheshire Railroad from Boston.

Coos County—

Gorham. The mountain streams and brooks in the vicinity afford excellent
trout fishing. Reached via the Grand Trunk Railroad.

The Megalloway River. Good trout fishing in this stream, in its source,
Lake Parmachene, and in the small tributary streams. Take Grand Trunk road
to Stratford, stage to Colebrook, thence wagon to Erroll’s Falls on the river.

he lakes on the Upper Androscoggin, which are reached only by canoe, are
the centres of fine trout fishing and ruffed grouse, deer, and bear shooting. Take
stage to Erroll’s Falls, and canoe from there.

The Connecticut Lakes and adjacent waters, at the source of the Connecticut
River. Game of various kinds is abundant in this region. Moose are numerous
in some localities, and deer without number range the hillsides. Some of their
runs are beaten hard. The streams are full of trout. Also otter, mink and sable
are in such numbers that the trapper gets well paid for his timg and labor The
lumbering business has not been carried on in this locality, consequently it is the
paradise of hunters and trappers.

To reach the lakes leave Grand Trunk Railroad at Island Pond, Vermont, and
take the wilderness road to First Lake, Second Lake. and so on; or leave the
Grand Trunk Railroad at Stratford, stage to Colebrook, wagon to Erroll’s Falls,
boat up river to Duckee’s Landing on the Megalloway River, and thence up
stream to Parmachene Lake. From thence a portage over the Connecticut lakes.
Second Lake is the largest, being about three miles long by a mile wide. It lies
four miles from First Lake. There isa good bark shanty there. Third Lake is
still two or three miles further. Besides the Connecticut Lakes, there is the
Unknown Pond, near Stewartstown, at the head of Diamond River, which emp-
ties into the Megalloway, reached by wagon from Colebrook. These watcrs are
filled with trout.

Grafton County—

Plymouth. Good trout streams, but fish of inferior size. Reached via the
Boston, Concord and Montreal Railroad.

Franconia. There are black bass in Echo Lake.

Littleton, Black bass in Partridge Pond, Reached via the Boston, Concord
and Montreal Railroad.

Rumney. Stinson’s Pond contains black bass. Route as above.

Hillsborough County—

Hillsborough. oon Pond-contains black bass.

Manchester. Good black bass fishing in the Massabesie, Dorr’s, Nutt’s and
other mele Beane onds. Reached via the Concord, the Concord and Ports-
mouth and other railroads,

Antrim. Black bass in Gregg’s Pond.

Amherst. Black bass in Baboosie Lake. Reached via the Boston, Lowell
and Nashua Railroad.

Merrimack County—

Warner. Black bass are caught in Pleasant Pond. Route as below.

Bradford, Good bear fishing in the vicinity. Reached via the Concord and
Claremont Railroad.

East Andover. Black bass in Highland Lake, Reached via the Northern
New Hampshire Railroad.

Sutton. Squirrels, partridges. Good black bass fishing in the Blaisdell Pond.

London. Black bass are caught in Hat Hole Pond.

Webster, Long Pond was stocked in ’71 with black bass.

Canterbury. Black bass in Clough’s Pond,

Franklin. Black bass and pickerel in Webster Lake. Reached via Northern
New Hampshire Railroad.

Concord, Black bass in Pumacook Lake. Reached by rail.
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 105

Rockingham County— 7

Hampton. Robin, snipe. curlew, and other shooting. Reached via the Eastern
Massachusetts Railroad, forty-seven miles from Boston.

Smelts are taken in great numbers at the proper season in Great Bay. Take
the Eastern Railroad.

Rye. Woodcock, partridges, snipe, yellow legs, plover, loon, coots. Reached
by drive or rail from Portsmouth. d

Deny. Beaver Pond furnishes excellent black bass fishing. Reached via the
Manchester and Lawrence Railroad.

Deerfield, Pleasant Pond has been stocked with black bass,

Northwood. Suncook Pond affords black bass fishing.

Stafford County—
Long Pond, in Stafford, is well stocked with perch and pickerel,

Sullivan County—

Sunapee. Sunapee Lake and Sugar River, from Sunapee to Newport, are
well stocked with black bass. There is fine squirrel and other hunting in the
ey Reached via the Concord and Claremont Railroad to Newbury or

ewport.

 

NEW JERSEY.

Area 8,320 square miles ; population 906,096. The northern
half of the State is traversed by three mountain ranges, the south-
ern portion is made up of a plain extending through the centre and
gently sloping on either side to the Atlantic and the Delaware Bay.
There are now and then in this section of the State, a few hills, but
they are all of inconsiderable size. The coast line of New Jersey
is indented by numerous bays, and lined with a great number of
islands. - These inlets are all famous for the variety and numbers
of their fish and wild fowl. The species of fish are numbered by
hundreds, and include many of the salt water kind most sought by
sportsmen. The fishing and shooting grounds are well provided
with numerous means of access, and at all the better known resorts
are comfortable hotels with every convenience for the sportsman.
The Southern counties of the State are under the jurisdiction of
the West Jersey Game Protecting Society, and under its auspicies
have been well stocked with game and fish during the past few
years. Black bass, quail, pinnated grouse, etc.

Atlantic County—

Somers’ Point and its Harbor are favorite localities for duck and snipe shoot-
ing, and for shore shooting of every kind, as well as for fishing. Ruffed grouse,
and an occasional deer and bear in the adjacent wilds. A strip of beach, seven
miles in length called Peck’s Island, separates the bay from the sea_and forms
capital feeding grounds for curlew, marlin, willet, robin, snipe, etc. The months
of August and September are the best for snipe shooting. In the fall and winter
months wild ducks and geese visit the harbor in large numbers. Good hotel ac-
commodations. Captian Japheth Townsend keeps a first rate country inn for
sportsmen. He has a good yacht and plenty of boats. Charges $10 a week. His
house is five miles from Absecon, on the Camden and Atlantic Railroad. Deer
are abundant in this county in certain districts. Take the Camden and Atlantic
106 GAME AND FISIT RESORTS.

Railroad. Eplings,six miles from Egg Harbor, is good ground for jack or Wil-
son’s snipe. Rough accommodations at farm house.

Atlantic City. Robin snipe, bull-head plover, ducks and drum fish, floun-
ders, sheepshead, and weakfish. Reached via the New Jersey Southern Railroad.
Bagmen can be procured. Shauffler’s Hotel is the headquarters for sportsmen.

Bergen County—

Hackensack. On the meadows, rail and snipe shooting is good. For striped
bass, fish off the bridges with bamboo trolling rod, one hundred and fifty feet line
at least, float, shrimp, shedder, or minnow bait, small sinker to keep hook under
the tide; reel, of course. The bridge at‘ English Neighborhood,” Northern
Railroad of N. J., isa favorite stand. Rabbits and quail abound there. Reached
ua the Erie, or the New Jersey Midland Railroad, thirteen miles from Jersey

Sity.

Tenafly. Good squirrel shooting, woodcock, quail, ruffed grouse, wood duck,
jack snipe, rail and other game birds furnish excellent sport. Reached via the
Northern New Jersey Railroad, sixteen miles from Jersey City. :

j Palesiced Good snipe shooting. Reached as above, fourteen miles from
ersey City.

Paskack, on the Hackensack Branch of the Erie Railroad, is an excellent place
for New Yorkers to visit, when but one day can be spared from business. Good
squirrel and rabbit shooting, with other sport, is to be found here.

Burlington County—

Beverly. Across the bar are skip jacks, blue fish, Spanish mackerel and
other varieties, all of which afford good sport. Reached via the Amboy Division
of the Pennsylvania Railroad. ‘lhere are hotel accommodations.

Moorestown. Quail and woodcock. Reached as above to Hartford, thence
stage two miles.

Delanco. Fine rail shooting, Reached via the Camden and Amboy Railroad.

Tuckerton, on Little Egg Harbor, offers many attractions to the sportsman and
angler. Duck and brant shooting is very fine in the fall and spring, and also
for geese in the spring in Tuckerton Bay.

The ducks include the black head, widgeon, black, sprig-tail, red head, broad
bill. This is a famous place for bluefishing. Go via the l'uckerton Railroad.
dine everett and Carlton Houses are good hotels. ‘l'erms $2 per day, $10 per
week.

Mount Holly, Trout in Rancocas Creek. Reached via the Pennsylvania Rail-
road. ‘Two hotels.

Camden County—

Gloucester City. White and yellow perch of great weight are abundant in the
Rancocas, Pensancon, Newton and Timber Creeks. Take the West Jersey Rail-
road, Good hotels both at Gloucester and Bridesburg.

Cape May County—
Townsend Inlet, seventeen miles from Cape May. Dowitchers, calico backs,
rey backs, black breasts, bull-headed plover, robin snipe, yellow legs, ducks.
Reached by sail-boat from Cape May, or by wagon from North Dennysville, on
the West dee Railroad.

Cape May. oodcock, curlew, redhead and blackhead ducks, plover, Canada
geese, sea pigeons; blue fish, ‘‘ Cape May gocdy,”’ spot, blackfish, drum, and
other varieties of birds and fish. Reached via the West Jersey Railroad. Boats
may be hired at Schellinger’s Landing.

Seaville. Woodcock, bay birds, willets, and other varieties of wild fowl, fur-
nish excellent sport. The fishing is good. Reached via the West Jersey
Railroad.

Tuckahoe, Quail, woodcock, Suipe, bay birds, pheasants, squirrels, rabbits,
etc., abound on the borders of the village. Deer are quite Plent in the swamps
and thick uplands. Reached via the West Jersey Railroad to Point Elizabeth,
thence by stage or hired conveyance. Busby’s Star Tavern.

The Tuckahoe River, which winds its crooked course between Atiantic and
Cape May counties, and pours its muddy waters into Great Egg Harbor Bay,
contains not a single spear of wild rice, from its source to its mouth, while all the
tributary streams that help swell the volume of its waters, above where the flood
tides are salt, are filled with this reed. Rail birds, as every gunner knows,
delight in the seeds and tender shoots of the wild rice, and where it is plentiful,
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 107

congregate in vast numbers, and grow enormously fat. The marshes on the
margins of the tributary streams of the Tuckahoe, consequently are favorite feed-
ing grounds of the rail.

Cumberland County—

Cohaxsey. Fine bags of jack snipe are made on the Cohansey Creek Mead-
ows. Take the West Jersey Railroad.

Essex County —

Mortclair, The Big Piece and the Little Piece shooting grounds are eight
miles distant. Reached via the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western, or the Mont-
clair and Greenwood Lake Railroad. (See Pine Brook.)

Newark, Duck and Boose shooting on Newark Bay, with Wilson and jack
snipe. Reached via the Pennsylvania Railroad.

Gloucester County—

Maiaga. Deer inthe vicinity ; quail and partridge afford fine sport. Reached
via the West Jersey Railroad.

Westville, five miles from Camden, on the West Jersey Railroad, is at the
mouth of Timber Creek, a good trout stream.

Hunterdon County—

Bull's (sland. a squirrels, and excellent black bass fishing in the Dela-
ware River. Reached via the Belvidere Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad.
Board at reasonable rates ; teams $3 to $5 per day.

Lambertville, on the Delaware River, is a good place for yellow perch fishing.
Route as above. -

Middlesex County—

Perth Amboy. Weakfish and other fishing affords good sport here. Take
Staten Island boat to Third Landing, cars to Tottenville, ferry to Perth Amboy ;
fare, sviicls distance, twenty-five cents. Boats and bait at Tottenville or Perth
Amboy.

Cheese Creek, a few miles from Perth Amboy, is an excellent place for sheeps-
head, bluefish, striped bass, weakfish, porgies; bait with crabs and clams. The
shooting here is for mallards, black ducks, sprig-tails, bay birds, jack snipe, 4nd
other wild fowl.

South Amboy. uail, ruffed grouse and a few woodcock. Reached via the
Amboy Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad.

Spotswood and Gld Bridge. Rabbit and quail shooting. Route as above.

New Brunswick. Snipe on the meadows, and some quail. Reached via the
New York Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Board at the George Street
House, at about $2 per day.

Moumouth County—

Mariborough. Woodcock, doves, pigeons, plover and snipe. Reached via
drive from Freehold, on the Freehold and Jamesburg Railroad.

Shrewsbury. Excellent quail sheeting in the vicinity. The route is via the
New Jersey Southern Railroad.

Red Bank. In the Shrewsbury River are bluefish, weakfish, kingfish, and
sheepshead. In the vicinity, snipe, woodcock and quail. Red Bank, on the
Shrewsbury Rivet, is at the head of steamboat navigation, or is reached via the
New Jersey Southern. The hotels on the Shrewsbury River are Thompson’s
Pavilion, at the Highlands ; Jenkinson’s, at the same place ; the Fowler House,
ra ors and the Tontine, at Fair Haven. The hotel of Red Bank, is the

lobe. :

Matawan. Goodtrabbit shooting. Take boat to Keyport, thence by wagon.

Holmdel, Rabbit and quail shooting in the vicinity. Reached by drive from
Red Bank.

Ocean Beach. Good snipe and bay bird shooting. Reached via New Jersey
Southern Railroad. Comfortable hotel accommodations.

Sguan Beach is a good locality for beach birds and wild fowl. Take the
Freehold and Jamesburg Railroad.

Morris County—
Hanover. Jack snipe, black ducks, teal, canvas-backs, wood ducks, -wid-
108 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

geons, woodcock, quail, pigeons, rabbits, muskrats in great plenty. Reached
via the New Jersey Southern Railroad.

Hanover Neck. Woodcock and snipe in quantity. Address A. T. Tappan at

that place. He has dogs.
_ Buda’sLake, or Lake Senecawana, These waters are the abode of many fish
including pickerel of large size, Ruffed grouse, quail and hares in the vicinity.
Reached via the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad toStanhope whence
stages run to the lake two and one-half miles distant. The Forest House, $3 per
day, $15 to $21 per week.

Pine Brook, The Pine Brook Hotel is a convenient headquarters for sports-
men shooting on the well known Big Piece and Little Piece hunting grounds.
Wilson snipe afford the best sport. Black ducks, and woodcock are also found.

For six weeks in the spring, and for the same length of time in the fall, the
meadows are covered with shooters, and oftentimes a hunter toa bird. In the
fall flight it frequently happens that large numbers stop to feed on the soft and
muddy flats and remain a day or two. Abundance of food soon renders them tat
and luscious, and although the birds first stop only to rest, they find so good
cover and so fine feed, they hesitate about continuing their flight and remain for
weeks. Not easy of access to pot-hunters, the shooting is as fine now as it was
forty years ago, and the fortunate hunter who happens to reach the meadows
while the flight is at its height, finds most famous sport. It is no uncommon thing
to secure a bag of from thirty to fifty birds. Lying midway between Paterson
and Newark, it is still secluded ground, for both the Big and Little Pieces are a
dozen miles away from any depot house, and only those who possess or can com-
mand a horse and wagon or excellent pedestrian accommodation, ever reach
these meadows.

The Big Piece stretches out, a broad level meadow for miles, which in seasons
of heavy rains is submerged.

Lake Hopatcong, or Brookland Pond, contains large sized pickerel, with perch
and salmon trout. Reached via Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad to
Drakesville, thence stage four miles. There are several good hotels at the lake,
with boats, etc. Byram’s Cove is a favorite fishing ground, and Bishop's Rock an
excellent camping place.

Hopatcong. There are good hotels on the lake shore at Hopatcong. Take
Morris and Essex Railroad to Drakesville. Hotel rates reasonable. Fair pickerel
fishing in season. They are taken with Buel spinners, trolling.

Newfoundland. Trout are abundant in the streams of the Bear Foot Moun-
tains. Reached via the New Jersey Midland Railroad.

Ocean County—

Barnegat Inlet. Weakfish, kingfish, striped bass, sea bass, blackfish, sheeps-
head, bluefish, flounders, barb; geese, brant, black ducks, sprig-tail, broad
pills, bay snipe and other fishing and shooting. Kinsey’s Ashley House is a
favorite resort of sportsmen.

Barnegat Bay. Fine duck and snipe shooting at Chadwiek’s gunning house.
Any one who goes between the 2sth of August and 2oth of a will find
the shooting all that can be desired. Fare by Pennsylvania Central Railroad,
excursion ticket, good for one month, from New York to Squan, $3; stage to
Moxun’s, dinner and boat up to Chadwick's, $2.50; board, $2 per day.

Forked River. Weakfish, striped bass, sheepshead, bluefish, kingfish, pick-
erel in the river, geese, ducks, brant, woodcock, quail, partridges, surf, rock
and bay snipe. yellow legs, curlew, dowitch, plover, willets, marlin, robin.
Reached via the the New Jersey Southern Railroad. The Carmen House, E. H.
ee PROpHlEny, is patronized by sportsmen, and there boats, guides, etc., can
be found.

Barnegat. Quail, curlew, yellow legs, bay snipe, willets, etc., in abundance.
Bluefish, kingfish or barb, sheepshead, weakfish, striped bass, sea bass, black
fish. In its season, Barnegat Bay is one of the best ducking points known on the
coast, being filled with ducks, geese, and brant, and there are innumerable good

oints and thoroughfares where they_can be stooled. Quail, jack snipe, cur-
ew, yellow legs, bay snipe, willets. Selection can be made of a dozen expe-
rienced gunners, who are provided with yachts, sneakboats, and decoys. From
its accessibility Barnegat Bay ought to be a preferred resort of sportsmen from
New York to Philadelphia. “The Bay can be reached by Southern Railroad of
New Jersey, or Pennsylvania Central via Trenton.
Rumson. Woodcock, quail, plover, ducks, snipe, rabbits.
Point Pleasant. Snipe, willets, sickle bills, curlew, marlins, kreikers and yel-
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 109

low legs. To reach this place, take the Long Branch boat to Sandy Hook, cars
to Farmingdale, where a branch meets the trains tor Squan village, and Charles
Moxon's stage will take guests direct to the house; or take Pennsylvania Rail-
road to Monmouth Junction, and then the Squan village train. By the former
route you can leave New York at four p. m. and the latter attwo p.m. It takes
about three hours and a half to get to John E. Loveland’s, Point Pleasant.

West Creek. Curlew and brown backs, Reached via the Tuckerton Railroad.

Waretown. Curlew and brown backs on the meadows, yellow legs, jack
snipe, meadow larks. Sheepshead, rail, quail, ducks ; weakfish, blackfish, bass,
bluefish. Reached as above. ;

Tom's River. Bay snipe, curlew, yellow legs, ducks, etc., are found in the
vicinity. Take the New Jersey Southern Railroad. Hotels; Ocean and Mag-
nolia Houses.

Beach Haven. A narrow strip of sandy and meadow land, twenty miles long,
and from a half mile to a mile wide, runs from Barnegat Inlet to Little Egg Har-
bor Inlet. Between it and the main land on the west, is Tuckerton Bay, in some
places seven miles wide; on the east side is the Atlantic Ocean, and directly
opposite Tuckerton a part of this land is called Beach Haven.

he shooting and fishing are excellent. Ducks, willet, marlin, curlew, large
and small yellow legs, black breasted plovers, dowitchers, robins, and the various
kinds of wading birds are to be found at the proper time in great numbers on the
bars, meadows and islands in the bay ; and the larger rail are quite numerous on
the salt marshes, Rabbits are found on the islands and quail on the mainland.
Sheepshead are found in large numbers.

Weakfish are also plenty ; and sea bass and striped bass fishing is equally
good. Good yachts for sailing with competent seamen and fishermen and gun-
ners are always to be had at reasonable charges.

There are several good hotels. The Parry House, the Bay View House and
others, the prices ranging from $3 per day to $10 and $14 pe1 week.

The most direct route is by the New Jersey Southern Railroad from pier 8,
North River, by way of Sandy Hook and Long Branch. At Whitings you con-
nect with the Tuckerton Railroad. At Tuckerton you take the steamboat across
the bay to Beach Haven, affording a most delightful sail of seven miles.

The surf bathing is very fine, and the still water bathing equally good. The
facilities Beach Haven has for yachting are excellent, there being a stretch from
inlet to inlet of twenty miles, and across from shore to shore of from six to seven
miles. For those who yo the ocean to sail on, it is easily reached by going
out through Little Eee arbor Inlet, which is a short sail ; also by a continuous
stretch of eighteen miles. Atlantic City can be visited without going outside.

Passaic County—
Echo Lake is a fine locality for pickerel fishing. Take the Midland Railroad

to Charlottesburg, thence six miles by stage. A good hotel is kept by Mr.
Wickham.

Salem County—

Salem. The extensive meadows here afford fine jack snipe shooting. Reached
via the West Jersey Railroad.

Pennsville, on the Delaware River, midway between Wilmington and New
Castle, Delaware, is a famous place for all varieties of marsh ducks. Captain Read
and Captain Kidd keep good hotels. Reached via Philadelphia and Reading
Railroad to Catawissa Junction, thence via Muncy Creek Railway.

Sussex County—

Deckertown. In the vicinity are found pheasants, quail, woodcock and rab-
bits. Reached via the New Jersey Midland Railway.

Newton furnishes good ruffed grouse shooting. Reached via the Sussex
Railroad.

Keene Flats. Good trout fishing,

Vernon. In Lake Wawayanda are fine lake bass. Go via the Sussex Railroad
to Newton, thence wagon to Vernon, where there is a fine hotel. Permission to
fish in the lake must be obtained of Mr. Hunt, who lives near the lake.

Union County—
Summit Lake contains black bass, perch, pickerel, etc. Reached via the
Ito GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

Central Railroad, twenty one and three-fourths miles from New York City. A
good house called the Summit House.

Plainfield. Good quail shooting in the neighborhood. Reached via the New
Jersey Central Railroad

Warren County—

In the Delaware River at the first island helow the mouth of the Pohatcong,
near the Belvidere Railroad, shad can be taken with a bait made of Irish moss,
gluten of wheat flour, oyster juice, fibrine of bullock’s blood, and powdered sul-
phate of barytes. Make into a paste, dry with gentle heat, and grind up into
fragments as coarse as Dupont’s ducking powder. Cover the hooks with this
preparation in its moist state, and let it dry on, so that in dissolving, it may ad-
here for a long time. Use a rod, three hooks on snoods dyed a brownish green
color, and a float. The night before you intend to fish, sift a pint of the prepara-
tion into the water at the head of the eddy. The barytes will cause it to sink to
the bottom.

Shad will not take the fly here.

Belvidere, Quail, woodcock, ruffed grouse, jack snipe, black bass, rock
fish, perch, trout and pickerel. The fishing waters are the Delaware River,
Pequest Creek and Green’s pond, four miles distant. Reached via the New York
and Belvidere Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Hotel $2 per day; boats
50 cents per day.

Bridgeville. Some excellent trouting streams. Reached via the Delaware,
Lackawanna and Western Railroad.

 

NEW MEXICO.

New Mexico comprises an area of 121,201 square miles, and is
the second most populous Territory in the Union, The surface of
the country consists, for the most part, of elevated and level pla-
teaus, which are traversed by several lofty and densely wooded
mountain ranges, and occasionally interspersed with fertile valleys.
The greater portions of the entire territory, more noticeably the
Llano Estacado, or Staked Plains-of the south-east, are occupied
by vast sterile plains, devoid of trees and all other vegetation, The
population is principally of Mexican descent, speaking the Spanish
language and preserving the characteristics of that race. Many
portions of the territory also are subject to the incursions of the
Apaches and other tribes of hostile Indians. From these facts it
will be seen that, for the sportsman, New Mexico has few attrac-
tions. Although the larger western game, such as deer, antelope,
sheep, elk, bears, cougars, etc., and ducks, geese, sage hens and
pinnated grouse abound in sufficient quantities to afford fair shoot-
ing, yet the difficulty and danger of travel here, and the proxim-
ity of other and more inviting fields, will deter the pleasure-seeker
from penetrating far beyond its borders.

 
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. Ill

NEW YORK.

New York embraces an area of 47,000 square miles and has a
population of 4,705,208.

The eastern and north-eastern sections are mountainous, the cen-
tral portion rolling, and the western part consists of broad plains
and fertile river valleys. The surface of the State is further diver-
sified by a noble river system and by many picturesque lakes, most
of them navigable for steamers. The steamboat, railroad and
highway communication is, as a rule, very perfect, and the hotel
system generally complete. Though early settled, the State still
affords, especially in its wilder portions, abundant sport for the
hunter and angler. The mountains are the haunts of large game;
the Atlantic coast, and the inland lakes are excellent wild fowl shoot-
ing grounds, and the salt water and fresh water fishing comprises
great variety. The north-eastern counties, known as the Adiron-
dack region, have acquired a national celebrity for their wild beauty
of scenery and their many inducements to the seeker of recreation
and sport.

The Adirondack Region of Northern New York, comprising
an area of seventy-five miles square, is usually divided into nine
sections : John Brown’s Tract, extending across Herkimer and into
Hamilton County on the east, and Lewis County on the west; the
Oswegatchie and Grass River Regions, which are included in the
south-eastern portion of St. Lawrence County; the Chateaugay
Woods, occupying the central part of Franklin County and the
south-western portion of Clinton County; the St. Regis Woods,
lying in Franklin County; the Saranac Region, embracing the
southern portion of Franklin County, the southern corner of St. Law-
rence County, and the northern borders of Hamilton County; the
Adirondack and Hudson River Regions, comprising nearly the
whole of Essex County with the northern portion of Warren County ;
the Racquette and Long Lake Regions make up the northern half
of Hamilton County; the Garoga Lake Region, included in the
northern part of Fulton County; the Lakes Pleasant and Piseco
Regions included in the southern half of Hamilton County.

For camping in the Adirondacks, full outfits may generally be
secured at the principal points of entry into the Wilderness. Guides
are necessary, and reliable men are always to be procured ($2.50
to $3 per day). They furnish boat, axe, etc. Boats may be hired
for so'cts. per day. The expenses of living in the woods need not
exceed $2 per man each day : ;

There are eight routes which may be designated as the prin-
cipal entries into the different sections of the Wilderness: /27s¢—
From the south-west, via Boonville, on the Utica and Black River
Railroad, a wagon road leads into the John Brown Tract to Arnold’s
112 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

old sporting house, thence a navigable watercourse to Racquette,
whence acontinuous net-work of lakes and streams renders access-
ible the north-western limits of the Adirondacks. This route tra-
verses a country full of game, in which, by going a little aside from
the more beaten line of travel, the sportsman will find successful
hunting and fishing.

Second.— Lowville and Carthage, each on the Utica and Black
River Railroad, are points of entry from the West. Wagon roads
from these villages converge at Lake Francis, and thence by land
and water there is a route to Beach's Lake, twenty-two miles, and
Racquette Lake, nine miles farther.

7 hird.—From the North via Potsdam there is a route via Col-
ton, McEwen’s on the Racquette River, Haw’s, the Moosehead still
water, and Racquette Lake, to Grave’s Lodge, on Big Tupper Lake,
whence all parts of the Wilderness are accessible by boat. Excel-
lent hunting and fishing are to be had.

Fourth.—Malone isa starting point for entering the Wilderness
from the North. It is reached via the Central Vermont Railroad.
The route is by regular stage via Chazy and Chateaugay Lakes,
both worthy of the sportsman’s attention, and the east branch of
the St. Regis River to Meacham Pond, and thence via Osgood’s
Pond to Paul Smith's, on the lower St. Regis Lake. This is the best
starting point for all parts of the interior Wilderness. A good
wagon road leads from Malone to Martin’s, a well known hotel on
the Lower Saranac.

Fifth.—Plattsburg, on Lake Champlain and on the Delaware
and Hudson Canal Company’s Railroad, is a point of entry from the
North-east. The route is via rail to Ausable Station, thence cov-
ered coaches to Paul Smith’s and Martin’s. From Port Kenta
stage route runs to Keeseville, thence to Ausable Station, and thence
as before.

Martin’s, on the Lower Saranac Lake, the pioneer hotel of the
Wilderness, has grown from a small log cabin, to be the largest and
most commodious hotel in the woods, complete with every con-
venience, and with a table of the best. Many ladies board here,
preferring to do so, to going off to camp with their husbands.
Board is fourteen dollars per week, two-fifty per day. Martin fur-
nishes supplies for the camp, every thing necessary and complete.
The guides are all independent, and command three dollars per
day and found. They furnish a boat and hound, and carry a
rifle. The expense of a guide, and the average expense of cost of
living while in camp, will amount to four dollars per day, (three
dollars for guide, and fifty cents a piece for self and guide,)
so a couple of weeks will cost about fifty-six dollars, while in
camp.

Sei — Prati the East, the heart of the Wilderness may be
reached by routes starting from Westport, or Crown Point on Lake
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 113

Champlain. The route from Westport via Elizabethtown is the
shortest from Lake Champlain to the Saranac Region.

Seventh.—From Little Falls and Herkimer, stations on the New
York Central Railroad, good wagon roads to Round, Pleasant and
Piseco Lakes, the distance to the latter being fifty miles.

Eighth—Via the Adirondack Railroad to Riverside or North
Creek, whence stage and boat communication extends to Blue
Mountain Lake, Schroon Lake and other points.

Trenton Falls and Prospect, stations on the Black River Rail-
road, with good hotels, are excellent initial points for those who
do not wish to penetrate far into the wilds. Within short distances
and accessible by good roads, or well known routes, are Giles
Beecraft’s and Ed. Wilkinson’s sporting houses, which are head-
quarters for the shooting and fishing of the region. Boarding
accommodations, with guides, etc., are to be had there. The prin-
cipal deer hunting and trout fishing resorts reached from Trenton
Falls and Prospect are Canada and Metcalf Creeks, Snag, Little
Rock, Little Bear, Twin Rock, Big Rock, Pine, G., Morehouse,
Joc’s, and North Reservoir and South Reservoir Lakes.

Alder Creek Station, on the Black River Railroad, is a start-
ing point for White Lake, the Woodhull Chain, Chub, and Bisby
Lakes, Moose River and the Old Forge, all of which are localities
more or less famed for their sporting resources.

Boonville (see above) has good hotels, the Hurlburt House being
famous among Adirondack visitors for its comfortable accommo-
dations and excellent fare. At the village stores all needed outfit
for a life in the woods may be procured. Nick’s Lake, the Indian
Spring Hole and numerous other resorts in the vicinity of Arnold’s,
well known to the guides, furnish abundant reward for the sports-
man and angler. The Old Forge has a well kept hostelry, with
all facilities for sportsmen.

By going aside from the main route from Boonville to Racquette
Lake, excursions may be made via First Lake to Little Moose Lake,
famous for the abundance and flavor of its trout, and to the South
Branch of Moose River; via Fourth Lake to Big Moose Lake, where
can be found the best June trouting in the woods, with excellent
deer shooting, and to Moose and Cascade Lakes, noted for their
fishing. At Fifth and Sixth Lakes deer are to be found. From
Eighth Lake, water communication is had with Eagle Lakes and
innumerable smaller lakes lying in the surrounding forest, all of
which afford the best of shooting and angling.

Lowville (see above) has hotels where sportsmen will find com~-
fortable quarters. Number Four may be reached by two routes from
this point. The Fenton House at No. 4, is much resorted to by
Adirondack visitors. This angler’s home accommodates fifty peo-
ple. It is pleasantly situated on a plateau surrounded at first by
valleys, and beyond by long ranges of mountains, which are seen
114 GAME AND FISH RESORTS

stretching their outlines in the distance, at from twelve to twenty
miles to the north, east and south. Half a mile to the north is Bea-
ver Lake, which is a mile and a quarter long, about one-third of a
mile wide and forty feet deep in its deepest part; and through
which the Beaver River flows. This lake has been stocked with
salmon trout. Sunday Creek, Slough Brook and Alder Creek, all
good trout streams, empty their pure waters into the lake or river
near by. Up the river to the Stillwater, twelve miles by the wind-
ings of the stream, there are nineteen distinct falls and rapids ;
some of the larger falls being from thirty to forty feet in height with
good fishing all along the stream. This part of the river can be
descended in a boat, with a skilful guide, by carrying around the
heavy falls and lower rapids about a mile. One and a half miles
to the south of Fenton’s by road and trail is Francis’ Lake, a
pleasant sheet of water one and a half miles long, more noted for
deer than for trout. There are any number of streams, ponds, and
lakes in the neighborhood, where speckled trout can be caught by
starting from*the house inthe morning and returning the same
night, but if one prefers to stay longer, new trips can be enjoyed
without number. A short day's trip down the Beaver River will
take one over a succession of rapids and falls to the noted Eagle
Falls—a delightful trip, which can hardly be excelled.

Although the wilderness bordering the Beaver River is not
marked by that variety of scenery which is characteristic of the
more northerly portions of the forest, the game is more abundant
and the fishing better. The Beaver drains a large extent of terri-
tory. including thirty or forty ponds and lakes, some of the latter
of which are of considerable size. Smith's Lake, too, near its head
waters, is one of the most charming lakes to be found in the wil-
derness, and its clear waters swarm with speckled and salmon trout.
Ten years ago few parties penetrated to its shores, but now few go
in who fail to reachthem, From Smith’s Lake to the Racquette, the
distance is about twenty miles. Beaver Lake and Clear Pond afford
good deer shooting, and Crooked and Gull Lakes have excellent
trout fishing. From Fenton's deer hunters and trout anglers go
to Francis Lake, the Mashier Ponds, and by longer journeys to
Loon Lake.

Loon Lake, one of the head waters of the west branch of the
Saranac River, and reached also by the main road from Malone,
is three miles long, and has two small inlets. By addressing L.
L. Smith, of Hunter’s Home, Merrillville P. O., Franklir County,
all needed information can he obtained. The surroundings are
necessarily wild, but Rock Shanty, a well known shelter, is within
twenty rods of its shores, Best time in June. At Woods Lake,
ducks are abundant. Twitchell’s Lake is little visited, and is con-
sequently a good game ground, the Red Horse Chain, Crooked and
Smith’s Lakes, and many others, all reached from No. 4, furnish
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 115

the best of sport. From Smith’s Lake there are three routes to
the Tupper Lakes passing through some of the best hunting and
fishing districts of the Brown Tract. The Oswegatchie fishing
grounds are reached from Lowville by good roads, traversing a
region in which deer and trout are plenty.

Carthage, Brandreth’s Lake and Schroon River are reached
from here.

De Kalb Functzon is within easy access of numerous points for
trout fishing and deer shooting, and is connected by stage with
Cranberry Lake, a noted place tor trout. There are in the vicinity
many other lakes with a great many streams, in all of which the
angler will always find good sport.

Potsdam is within twenty miles of excellent hunting and fish-
ing, and is a starting point for many famous game regions.

Massena Springs, reached by the St. Lawrence River and
stage, is an initial point for bass, pickerel, mascalonge and white
fishing. These fish are found herein great abundance. The hotels
are fine, and the expenses moderate.

Morzra, on the Central Vermont Railroad, has connections with
the St. Regis River and other localities atfording excellent sport.

Malone. Among the numerous resorts of sportsmen there are
few more easily accessible, or which afford better sport than the
Salmon River, above what is known as the ‘State Dam.” Here
within thirteen miles of Malone, is a stream which, notwithstanding
its frequent visitors, affords an inexhaustible quantity of trout. The
pond, raised by the dam, varies greatly in size. Generally it is only
about a quarter of a mile in length, and above that the river winds
a tortuous course for several miles among grassy flats, and for a
still further distance a still more devious way, if possible, among
a thick margin of alders. The water is swift and cold, and there
is a trout hole in the curve of each bend, which is well populated.
When the water is up, a boat can go all over the meadows, the
trout running farther up, the distance to the fishing grounds being
thereby reduced about seventy-five per cent. Several lakes and
ponds empty into this river, which furnish homes for the trout in
winter, :

Many deer come into Round Pond, Wolf Pond, and the other
sheets of water in the neighborhood, and traces of bear are also
visible. Many partridges are to be found in the woods. There is
a good, although unpretentious, hotel at the dam, kept by R. J.
Cunningham (better known as “Rus ’), where guides and boats
can be obtained. Tobey and Chisholm run a line of Concord
coaches to Duane, fifteen miles south, connecting with Paul Smith’s
stages for all interior resorts of any note.

At Meacham Lake (see route four, above) there is a well known
hostelry, where boats, guides, etc., may be found. This is a fa-
mous place for deer shooting. The surrounding country is full of
116 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

game and the waters of the lake abound in fish. A good road leads
from Malone, thirty-one miles, to the Hunter’s Home, which is
headquarters for the shooting and fishing of Loon and Rainbow

Lakes, and Elbow, Round, Mud, Buck and Oregon Ponds.

Chateaugay, on the Central Vermont Railroad, has excellent
hotels, with boats and other conveniences for the fishing and shoot-
ing of the Chateaugay Lakes.

Plattsburg. Stage or hired conveyance takes the sportsman
from here to Chazy Lake, renowned as a game ground and pos-
sessing comfortable hotels, with all sporting facilities. Rainbow
Lake, and Round, Buck, Jones, Lily Pad, Elbow and Plumadore
Ponds, the North Branch of the Saranac, and Nigger and Cold
Brooks are all noted for their speckled trout, and most of them are
fine points for shooting deer.

Crown Pornt is the starting point for Root’s, a favorite head-
quarters for sportsmen where all needed supplies may be secured.
West Sturtevant Branch and Schroon River afford excellent fishing.
Fenton’s Tavern, in the vicinity of Mud and Clear Ponds, and the
Lakeside House at Clear Pond, also furnish comfortable accom-
modations. Lake Andrew, the noted Preston Ponds, and Lakes
Sanford and Henderson are all full of trout.

Ticonderoga. Routes extend to Long Pond, Paradox Lake,
Schroon Lake, and other waters where bass, pickerel, large trout,
etc., are caught in great numbers. Crane Pond has pickerel, and
Bartlett’s, Regis, and Gull Ponds are noted for trout and deer.

Deer and ruffed grouse are found at Schroon Lake, which lies on
the very borders of the great forest, and within a few hours drive
and tramp of some of the wildest and most sublime scenery of the
Adirondacks. No better accommodations could be desired than
those furnished by the Leland and the Ondawa Hotels, both situ-
ated in the pleasant village at the head of the lake. No more effi-
cient guides can be secured anywhere than Sam. Saunders, Ben.
Wickham, Geo. M. Sawyer, N. B. Knox, and Ed. Jenks. The
route to Schroon Lake from the south is via rail from Saratoga
Springs to Riverside, fifty miles (Adirondack * Railroad, fare $2 ;)
stage to Pottersville, six miles, good road and fine scenery, fare $1 ;
steamer through the entire length of Schroon Lake, nine miles, fare
seventy-five cents.

Caldwell, at the head of Lake Champlain, possesses excellent
hotels and is near fine hunting and fishing grounds.

Amsterdam, on the New York Central Railroad, is connected
by stage route with Lake Pleasant and the adjacent waters. Fish
and game are abundant all through this region.

fonda, on the same road, is a starting point for Garoga, Pine
and Stink Lakes, all abounding in fish.

Blue Mountain Lake is one of the best paints of interest in the
Adirondacks. From it one can go by water to almost any desir-
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 117

able point. It opens into Eagle Lake, which is two miles long,
and which, in turn, opens into Utawana Lake, a favorite haunt of
thedeer. Below this lake is Marian River and then Racquette Lake.
From Blue Mountain Lake to Long Lake there is a more direct
route with four miles of carry, but even the guides when travelling
light, will take the longer and all-water route. The trout in these
lakes are very abundant and large. A little north of Blue Moun-
tain Lake is a little pond literally filled with brook trout, and they
respond most quickly to the fly. In the fall there is no spot in the
Adirondacks where deer and partridges are more plenty. Chauncey
Hathorne keeps an excellent house here. The route is via North
Creek, the terminus of the Adirondack Railroad, sixty miles from
Saratoga; thence stage five miles to J. Eldridge’s hotel at North
River ; thence stage, good road, fifteen miles to R. B. Jackson’s on
Cedar River; thence team ten miles to Blue Mountain Lake.

The Oswegatchte River and Fishing Grounds. The east, or
main branch, of the Oswegatchie River rises in Crooked Lake.
From Crooked Lake it runs in a north-easterly direction some six
or eight miles, to where it forms the branch from Deer Pond (Col-
vin's Lost Lake) country. It is known above this point as the
Robinson River. Below the junction, some two miles, it tumbles
over a ledge of rocks some twenty feet in height. Here, at the
foot of these falls, known as the “ High Falls,” on the inlet, are
found speckled trout of three to four paunds weight. Above the
falls are plenty of trout weighing from a quarter to a half pound.
Half a mile further down are “ The Plains,” a tract of country that
has been cleared of timber by wind and fire, some three miles long,
and varying in width from a quarter to three-quarters of a mile, and
nearly surrounded by hills of from three to five hundred feet high.
Near the upper part of these plains is a good “trout hole” when
the water is not too high. Inthe brook are also small trout. All
along here, and for some miles further down, the fishing is good,
and for a stretch of ten miles the chances for a shot at a deer by
day or jack light arevery good. On the west side of the river, near
the foot of the plains, and distant from one and a half to two miles,
are the “ Five Ponds,” taking their name from their number. These,
or apart of them, are good ponds for deer. About this section
there is now and then a wolf and panther. At the foot of this still
water are some three miles of rapids, on which, about the first of
June, is some good fishing. Below this we come to the “ Drowned
Land,” a large swamp overflowed by the draining of Cranberry
Lake, where, in September, fishing and bunting are both good.
A dozen or more ponds empty into the lake on the south and south-
east side, among which are Bossout, Cat Mountain, Cow Horn,
Olmstead, Darnneedle, Fish Pole, or Little Grass, as it is sometimes
called, Little Gull, Curtis, and other small ones. Nearly all of these
are good for trout or deer, and some of them for both.
118 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

To reach this hunting ground, the sportsman has a choice of
two routes. First—leave the Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg
Railroad at Gouveneur, going through Edwards to Fine, twenty-five’
miles by stage, three times a week, or by private conveyances.
At Fine, one can put up at a good hotel, or go on five miles to
Griffin’s, where he will find as good fare and accommodations as
can be had at a first class farmhouse. Here, or at the hotel, good
guides with light boats for three dollars a day, and board can be
had, also team, usually oxen and sled, to convey boats and baggage
to the foot of still water on the outlet or inlet, as the river is fre-
quently called above and below the lake. Second—he can leave
railroad at Canton and go direct to the foot of Cranberry Lake hy
team. The distance is about forty miles, and is accomplished in
aday. Good light boats weighing thirty to forty pounds can be
purchased at Canton, or rather poor ones may be hired at the hotel
at the lake. One can get there with or without guides.

Pine Pond, in the southern edge of the township of Blandford
and Blenheim, is a favorite fishing place for large black bass and
pike. Reached by rail to Chatham, thence stage or hired convey-
ance,

Boreas River affords good trouting, the fish averaging nearly
a pound apiece. The best fishing spots are at Lester Dam and
Leach Eddy. The route is via Adirondack Railroad to Riverside,
fifty miles from Saratoga, thence stage to Pottersville on Schroon
Lake, steamer thence to Schroon Village, and from that point,
twenty-five miles by buck board. Stop at Powell Smith’s.

Broome County—
Deposit. Ruffed grouse, woodcock, grey and black squirrels and some wild
igeons. Reached via the Erie Road, one hundred and seventy-six miles from
New York City.

Cayuga County—

Owasco Lake contains black bass, lake trout, pickerel, and yellow perch. The
latter are often taken with gay flies. Reached by rail via Auburn,

Auburn. Woodcock, partridges, ducks, plover and snipe, On the New York

Central Railroad.

Montezuma. In the marshes is good snipe shooting. Go via New York Cen-
tral to Port Byron, or to Cayuga. .

Cayuga Lake, Speckled trout, Oswego bass, silver bass, strawberry bass,
black, and rock bass. Cayugaon the New York Central Railroad, Union Springs,
Aurora, Ithaca, and other points reached from Cayuga via rail or boat, are all pro-
vided with boats and there the angler will find good accommodations.

Chautauqua County—

Findley's Lake. Eight miles from North-East on Lake Shore Railroad, and
seven miles from Sherman or Buffalo, Corry and Pittsburg Railroad, reached by
omnibus from each place. Three miles long by one-quarter mile wide. Salmon
trout, pike, black bass, Oswego bass, perch, snipe, woodcock, plover, grouse, and
squirrels. Findley’s Lake House, R. A. Corbett, Proprietor. Croquet grounds,
bath-house, stables, steam yacht, etc.

Chenango County—
Oxford. The game found in the vicinity includes foxes, raccoons, wood-

!
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. Ilg

chucks, rabbits, black, grey and red squirrels, chipmunks, hawks, partridges,
pigeons, woodcock, wild ducks, and cranes.

Clinton County—

Chamflain, Good hunting, and salmon and brook trout fishing. Reached
via the Vermont Central Raijlroad to Rouse’s Point, thence via Ogdensburg and
Lake Champlain Railroad.

Delaware County—

Colchester affords good ruffed grouse and woodcock shooting, and there are
many trout streams in the vicinity. It is situated in the valley of the east branch
of the Delaware, and is reached by the Oswego Midland Railroad. Stage thir-
teen miles from east branch station. Good farmhouse accommodation. Country

hilly.

; Dean's Corners. Take steamboat or railroad to Kingston, thence rail to
Dean’s Corners, on Ulster and Delaware Railroad. Good trout fishing, small
game, and an occasional deer.

Long Pond. Wagon ten miles from Westfield, on the Oswego Midland Rail-
road. Large trout very abundant in the ponds and adjacent streams. Country
nearly all forest, aud hilly. An occasional deer; ruffed grouse, woodcock, wood

~ duck, and snipe. Must camp out.

Griffin's Corners. Bears, foxes, rabbits, ruffed grouse and trout. Go via
steam or rail to Rondout, thence Ulster and Delaware Railroad. Hotels and pri-
vate board $1 to $z ; teams $3 to $6.

Dutchess County—
New Hamburg. Ducks and wild geese. On the Hudson River, sixty-four
miles above New York ; reached via rail or boat.

Erie County—
i: Buffalo. On the lake shore, in the vicinity, the residents of the city take many
aSS. °
Sardinia, Trout in the neighboring streams. Grey squirrels and ruffed
grouse are found at Hemlock Lake, six miles from Livonia station, on the Roches-
ter branch of the Erie Railroad. a

Essex County—

Fort Ticonderoga. Fine fishing in the vicinity. Reached via the Central
Vermont Railroad.

Elizabethtown. Deer, bears, etc., here afford fine sport. Elizabethtown is
delightfully situated eight miles west of Lake Champlain. Few localities have
surroundings more charmingly romantic. Twelve miles further west is that gem
of all the Adirondack valleys—the famous Keene Flats. They are both favorite
resorts of artists and people of refinement, generally in the summer months.
Keached via Lake Champlain steamers to Westport, thence wagon or stage.

Tahawus or Mt. Marcy. Panthers, Canada lynxes, rabbits, sables, hares,
squirrels, etc. :

Port Kent. At the mouth of the Ausable, and extending along Champlain
for about three miles, is a large marsh, affording numerous lurking places for
wild fowl, and, in years when the water is high and the marsh covered during
October and November, the different varieties of ducks and Canada geese visit
itin great numbers. Reached via the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company
Railroad, or via the Lake Champlain steamers,

Westport. The waters abound with pickerel, perch, black bass, trout and other
varieties of fish. Reached from New Vork via Albany and Saratoga to-White-
hall, thence via steamer to Westport. Time, fourteen hours; fare$8. The Nich-
ols hotel affords good accommodation.

Greene County—

Catskill, At the Embouchure or Rodgers’ Island, there is duck and snipe
shooting. Hudson River Railroad, and steamboats. ashe

Tannersville, among the mountains, fifteen miles from Catskill, and reached by
Stage from that place. Good treuting in the mountain streams. : :

Leeds. Trout and pickerel fishing, with some woodcock shooting in the
vicinity. Reached by carriage road from Catskill.
129 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

Hunter. Trouting in the mountain streams, and bears among the mountains.
The favorite resorts for anglers are the Cauterskill and Clove.

Stony Clove, whose streams abound in trout of small size. Reached via stage
from Catskill, or via Ulster and Delaware Railroad to Phcenicia, thence stage or
hired conveyance.

Livingston County—

Caledonia. There is salmon fishing in Caledonia Creek. Take the Erie or the
New York Central Railroad.

Jefferson County—

Theresa. In Jefferson County, which lies upon the outskirts of the Adiron-
dack region, there are the usual varieties of mascalonge, black bass, pike, picke-
rel, and salmon trout, and the fishing grounds are most easily ceached from The-
resa and other points on the Utica and Black River Railroad. Notable among
these is the Indian river and adjoining lakes. Comfortable accommodation is
afforded for small parties at the summer houses on the lakes. Trolling is almost
the only mode of fishing in vogue, and W. D. Chapman, of Theresa, the patentee
and manufacturer of various kinds of spinning tackle, does a large business in
supplying the fish with ‘ spoon-victuals.”’

exter. Mascalonge, pickerel, black bass, rock bass, wall-eyed pike, yellow
erch, sunfish, mullet, eels, bullheads and catfish. Reached via the Hudson
iver and Central Railroads to Rome, thence by the Rome, Watertown and
Ogdensburg Railroad to Limerick, on the Cape Vincent branch; thence by stage
one mile and a half to Dexter. There are two hotels where the accommodations
are good, and the prices reasonable. Board can also be obtained in private
families. Boats and livery at reasonable prices.

Cape Vincent. Mascalonge; plover, snipe and other varieties of game.
Reached via the Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg Railroad. Hotels.

Henderson. Good bass and pickerel fishing. Leave New York via New
York Central Railroad so as to arrive at Utica at noon; make immediate con-
nection with Black River Road to Watertown, and thence to Sackett’s Harbor by
railroad, arriving at 7p. m.; thence by steamer to Henderson, or by the same
train £e on to Rome, connect immediately with Rome and Watertown Railroad,
get off at Adams, and take the stage over to Henderson, eleven miles Hotel ac-
commodations, Frontier House, at $5 per week. Good boats, fishing gear, and

ood oarsmen, are on the spot. Mr. Tyler will rent or sell as good boats as can
Ee made, completely fitted out with minnow pail, frying pan, etc., etc., and will
furnish flies, spoons, etc.

The Islands in Lake Ontario. Some of the finest black bass fishing within
easy access of New York city, is to be found about the islands that lie in Lake
Ontario, a score or less of miles from where it merges into the St. Lawrence

River.

The fish are equally plenty at the head and foot of Stony Island, at the foot of
Little Galloo, at the head of Fox and the lower side of the Grenadier Islands.
The Duck Islands are a much better place than either of those named, but con-
siderably further out in the lake. They are very rarely visited and their shores
are lined with bass. There is, however, little choice of water at the fout of the
lake. Wherevera shoal makes out from the islands the bass congregate. These
grounds are rarely visited, save by the inhabitants of the neighboring hamlets,
and the fish scarcely know the fear of the hook. Next to the Duck Islands, the
bass are thickest at the foot of Galloo. There is fine pickerel and pike fishing in
the little bays that indent the main shore, and often a mascalonge is taken there.

The black bass begin to bite in these waters about the first of June; July and
August are the best months. They are caught with the fly, bait or spoon.

he island above-named may be reached from any of the fishing villages along

the Jefferson County shore. The distance is short from Cape Vincent, Sackett’s
Harbor, Three-Mile Bay, Chaumont, or Henderson. The fishermen at the latter
lace charge three, four or five dollars a day for their services, according to the
Kind and number of boats they furnish. For two persons in a sail-boat that is
small enough to be rowed, the price is three dollars. Alden Stevens understands
the grounds perfectly, and owns a comfortable shanty on Galloo. His address is
Henderson, New. York. The expense of reaching Henderson Bay from New
York City, is $8.40. There are no mosquitoes oy the islands. The cost of camp
or shanty life is small, and a party of five might spend ten days at the foot of the
lake for $40 each, including car fares. Five dollars a day would be the boatman’s
charge for the yacht and two skiffs. In going this way the party can easily do
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 121

the Thousand Islands, also, by turning the yacht into the river and cruising down
and back. The fishing, however, is far better in the lake.

Take the Ogdensburg Railroad to Adams, thence stage to Henderson, where
outfit can be procured.

* The Thousand Islands. This well known resort of pleasure seekers and sum-
mer tourists offers many attractions to the sportsman. The waters of the Bay
teem with fish and wild towl. Black bass, pickerel, perch, pike, and the masca-
longe afford magnificent sport for the angler, while the gunner will find waterfowl
in great variety and abundance, ducks, snipe, with woodcock and quail.

Alexandria Bay is the chief resort_at the Thousand Islands. Black bass,
pickerel, perch, pike, and mascalonge fishing ; woodcock, snipe, quail and duck
shooting. The hotels are the Crossman House and the Thousand Island House,
each large and well appointed establishments with every convenience and com-
fort. Terms $3 per day. Board is readily obtained at the farm-houses in the
ey Boats and boatmen $2 to $3 per day. The principal routes are: 1, Via
New York Central Railroad to Rome, thence via the Rome, Watertown and
Ogdensburg Railroad to Cape Vincent, thence steamer, thirty miles. 2. From
Syracuse via Syracuse Northern Railroad to Sandy Creek, thence via the Rome,
Watertown and Ogdensburg Road. 3. From Utica via Utica and Black River
Railroad to Clayton, thence steamer, twelve miles. 4. As before via Utica and
Black River road to Morristown, thence stage seven miles. This route includes
Theresa and the Indian River lakes. 5. From Ogdensburg via steamer. 6. By
St. Lawrence River steamers.

The best known hunting and fishing grounds are: Goose Bay, three miles
above the village ; Halstead Bay on the Canada side ; Eel Bay at the head of Wells’
Island, the Lake of the Island, and Fiddler’s Elbow. The season for mascalonge
le from te middle of May to the last of June, for bass from the middle of June to

eptember. :

 lajtou, The fishing is excellent ; black bass, pike, mascalonge, The Walton
House is frequented by sportsmen. Board may also be found at the farm-houses.
Reached via Utica and Black Valley Railroad, or steamer from Alexandria Bay,
also via Grand Trunk Railway to Gananoque, Ont., thence ferry.

Brockville, on the Canada side, (Brockville County, Ontario,) is situated at the
foot of the group ofislands. It is easy of access via Grand Trunk Railway or the
St. Lawrence steamboats. From the south the route is via Utica and Black
River Railroad to Morristown, thence a ferry crosses to Brockville. Excellent
pet accommodations will be found here with boats and every facility for excel-
ent sport.

Kings County: Long Island—

Long Island and its adjacent waters, especially those of the south side, abound
in game and fish in great variety—deer, rulfed grouse, quail, rabbits, foxes, ducks,
geese, brook trout, and all varieties of sea fish common to the waters of its lati-
tude—the Great South Bay, Peconic Bay, and Shinnecock Bay being the favorite
localities for wild fowl shooting and sea fishing. Deer can be shot only from the 1st
to the r5th of. November in each year, and in the centre of the island are tolerably
abundant. There are a good many quail and grouse, but many of these are on
private grounds and not available to the public.

The whole number of improved trout ponds on Long Island is eighty-two.
They occur on both sides of the Island, from Brooklyn to Riverhead. Most of
these are private, but there are several in which fishing privileges are sold to
transient anglers at so much per day, or $1.50 per pound cougut The principal
ponds are at Maspeth, Little Neck, Smithtown, Northport, Huntington, Centre-
port, Cold Spring, Wading River, Smithtown River, and Roslyn, on the North
side, and at Riverhead, Seatuck, Belleport, Fireplace, Islip, Patchogue, Canarsie,
Seaford, Amityville, Babylon, South Oyster Bay, Freeport and Hempstead, on
the South side.

There are some waters open to the public, but they yield meagre returns.

Kings and Queens County, comprising Brooklyn and many large towns,
occupy the extreme western end of Long Island. Suffolk County occupies the
remaining four-fifths, and consequently most of the places which we shall enu-
merate are found within its limits. AS ©. de

Canarsie, the terminus of the East New York Railway. The fishing is for
striped bass, weakfish, kingfish, flounders and sheepshead. Marsh hens, bay
snipe, yellow legs, etc., furnish good sport., There are over sixty boats and forty
yachts constantly on hire. Rockaway Beach is eight miles from Canarsie, and
can be reached by a steamboat three times a day—1o a. M. and 1 and 4 P, M. We

6
122 GAME AND FISIT RESORTS.

know of no better place for temporary sojourn than Canarsie, The Bay View
House there has a piazza that incloses it entirely on three stories.

Livingston County—

Conesus Lake. Bass, pickerel, perch and other varieties of fish here furnish
good sport. Reached via the New York Central Railroad.

New York County—

The Fishing about New York City. For striped bass, the favorite localities
are: in the East River, Hog’s Back, Flood Rock. Big and Little Mill Rocks,
Holmes’ Rock, Nigger Point, the Rope Walk and Ward's Island, Woolsey’s
Point, Lawrence’s Eddy, and along the Long Island shore ; the kills which con-
nect the East and Harlem Rivers ; in the Harlem River, at the floats foot of 3d
Avenue, McComb’s Dam and King’s Bridge. For fishing at these points boats
may be obtained at Colonel Brown’s, foot of Thirty-second Street and Avenue
A., E. R., Jeroloman’s, foot of East Eighty-fourth Street, E. R.,at Harlem Bridge
and McComb’s Dam. Westchester Cree eonerally bas good spring fishing. tn
the Hudson River, the fish are usually first taken at Newburgh, Poughkeepsie and
other localities where they begin to feed, after leaving their winter quarters at the
head of the river. A little later in the season, they are taken in great numbers
off One Hundred and Twentieth Street. The English Neighborhood, above
Hackensack, on the river of the same name, is much resorted to by anglers in the
proper season. Down the Bay, a noted place is the Kill Von Kull, which sepa-
rates Staten Island and the New Jersey shore, all along the Jersey Flats, good
fishing is to be had at the light-house, on the south end of Newark Bay, Bergen
Point, Robins Reef, and off the mouth of Caven Channel, below Communipaw.
Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island, the Narrows and Princess Bay are also visited.
Captain Al. Foster’s steamboat makes regular trips to the Fishing Banks.

or weakfish, the most noted fishing grounds are about Fort Richmond and
the Narrows. Rockaway and Canarsie Bay afford good sheepshead fishing in
summer. Kingfish are also taken off Rockaway, as well as bluefish, bonita and
Spanish mackerel.

Madison County—

Oneida Lake. Pickerel and bass fishing good. Go to Canastota on the New
York Central Railroad, thence drive to Bridgeport or to the lake direct, or go to
Chitrenango Station, thence three miles to Lakeport.

South Lake. Woodcock and grouse. Reached via Utica and Black River
Railroad to Prospect, thence by highway.

Monroe County—

Rochester. Twenty-five miles from Rochester is Hemlock Lake, a fine fishing
ground for trout. This lake is reached by the Rochester Branch of the Erie
Railroad, fiom Livonia Station. Youman’s stage line connects with the station.
It is six miles to the lake.

At the foot of the lake is the Jacques House. On the western side is the
Lake Shore House. On the eastern side is located the Lima House, and Half
way House, the regular Stopping place for the steamer Seth Green, that plies its
way regularly each day to the head of the lake.

On /rondequott Bay and at other localities, are widgeons and redheads, mal-
lards and black ducks, with good jack snipe, quail, grouse and woodcock shoot-

ing. The Brackett Marshes are favorite snipegrounds, Black and grey squirrels.......

are found in the vicinity.
Greece. Ducks, brant, woodcock. Reached by drive from Rochester.
Mendon Ponds. Pickerel, black bass, perch and strawberry bass are abundant.
Take the New York Central Railroad.

Niagara County--

Niagara Falls, The Niagara River, both above and below the Falls, is a
favorite resort of the anglers in the vicinity, who take large numbers of black bass
by loading their line with a bullet, and slinging it out into the channel of the river.
Then hauling in, the current gives the line an oblique direction, and the angler
frequently brings a fine bass to hand.

ass have been caught off the Three Sister Islands in the middle of the rapids,
and almost at the foot of the Falls they are plenty. There is also fine perch fish-
ing in the spring and fall, and seven miles below, at Lewiston, and still turther
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 123

down on the Canada side at Niagara village, are bass, perch, and in the season
plenty of herring, with now and then a pike or mascalonge.
At the ** Old French Landing,” within ten minutes walk above the Falls, is
a favorite spot for black bass and pike. Burnt Ship Bay, above, in the spring
teems with perch, and all around the bars of Navy Island, black bass are abun—
dant. The piles, standing in the water at the site of the old store-house, above
Gill Creek, are good fishing grounds for rock bass. Still further up the river at
La Salle, bass, perch and sunfish are caught in great abundance. On the Canada
‘side, near Chippewa, excellent perch fishing is to be had. The shootifg is for
uail, snipe, woodcock and black and grey squirrels. The latter are very abun-
dant along the line of the Lake Ontario Shore Railroad, west of Kendall station.

Oneida County—

The Mohawk and Sauquoit Rivers, and West Canada Creek, Black River, and
the streams about Boonville and Trenton, contain trout, and were stocked in
1876, by the Central New York Sportsman’s Club of Utica. Reached by New
York Central, and Utica and Black River Railroads.

Fish Creek, which empties into Oneida Lake, twenty-eight miles north of
Rome. is an excellent trouting stream. Take the Rome, Watertown and Ogdens-
burg Railroad.

Onondaga County—

Liverpool. Ducks and geese in the Seneca River near Onondaga Lake. Reached
via the Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg Railroad.

Brewerton, Black and rock bass in the Oneida River. Reached as above.

Skaneateles, Fine salmon trouting in the lake. Reached via the New York
Central Railroad.

Syracuse. In Onondaga Lake are found ducks, and there is good snipe and
plover shooting in the vicinity.

Baldwinsville, Ducks, wild pigeons, rabbits and other game. The common
varieties of fish. Reached via the Delaware and Lackawanna Railroad.

Ontario County—

Honeoye Lake affords good perch and bass fishing. Reached via the Central
Railroad to Honeoye Falls. Hotel, etc.

Canandaigua on Canandaigua Lake. Whitefish and trout afford fair sport.
Reached via the New York Central, or the Northern Central Railroad. otel
$1.50 to $2; teams $4 to $8.

Orange County—

Florida, In Mirror Lake, amile from Florida, are many varieties of fish, pick-
erel being abundant, and of large size. The lands and extensive wood three miles
from here afford excellent hunting for partridge, woodcock, snipe, squirrels and
other varieties of game. The Dill House at Florida, a famons hotel, and the
Glenmere House at the lake, are first class houses. In addition to these are sev-
eral private boarding houses. Reached yia the Erie Railroad.

Greenwood Lake. Bass fishing, ruffed grouse, quail and woodcock. Take
Montclair and Greenwood Lake Railroad, a ride of forty-two miles from New
York. Hotel accommodations, boats, guides, etc., at the Brandon House.

Monroe. Within a radius of three miles are four lakes: Round, Long, Mom-
basha and Hazzard’s or Cromwell's, all of them well stocked with fine varieties
of fish and affording excellent sport. Good woodcock shooting is found in the
vicinity. Reached via the Erie Railroad, fifty miles from New York. There
are several hotels and boarding houses, and accommodations may also be ob-
tained among the farm houses.

Warwick, On the drowned lands of the Wallkill, covering a vast extent of
territory, the most noted resort for woodcock in this section of the country, they
are generally found in large numbers and the bags correspondingly large. There
isan excellent tavern at Pine Island, kept by the Carling Bros. Many sports-
men resort there. Reached via the Erie Railroad. .

Montgomery is in the vicinity of good hunting and fishing. Reached via the
Erie Railroad. .

Turner's, Black bass, quail, grouse, and other game. Reached via the Erie
Railroad, forty-seven miles from Jersey City. .

West Point. The only fishing near West Point for trout is in two or three
Streams that rise in the Fishkill Mountains. A short drive from Cold Spring,
124 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

about five or six miles will take one to the head of them. There isa stream
Fort Montgomery, below West Point, that has trout in it. on

_ Newburgh. On the Shawangunk Mountains, twenty-four miles back of the
city, are partridges, woodcock, quail and rabbits,

Orange Lake House, on south side of Orange Lake, six miles west of New-
burgh, has facilities for boating and fishing on Orange Lake, one of the most
picturesque sheets of inland water in the country, and skirted by fine groves and
picnicking grounds.

Central Valley is forty-eight miles from New York City, and ten miles dis-
tant from West Point among the Highlands. About two miles east of the station
is Summit Lake, affording good tishing and boating. Summit Lake House $6 to
$15 per week, also private accommodations $7 to $10 per week. Route as above.

Guymard Lake, eighty miles from New York City, is a clear mountain lake,
about one and one-half miles in circumference, well stocked with fish. Guymard
Spring House, board $10 to $12 per week, boats, etc: Game in the adjacent woods
Ee Route as above. feat

ort Jervis is eighty-eight miles from New York City. The junction of
Delaware and Neversink Rivers is near this place. ; me

Port Jervis is the centre of a section noted for its fishing and hunting, the cele-
brated trout streams of Pennsylvania, and of Sullivan and upper Orange Coun-
ties, being in the immediate vicinity and easy of access. A sojourn at Port
Jervis is always attended with both pleasure and profit to the tourist, whether
sportsman or not. In Pike County, just across the Delaware River, are the
grounds of the Blooming Grove Park Association, where game of every kind
abounds. Thousands of the finny tribe are caught, too, in the adjacent waters
every year. Route as above.

Middletown. Good fishing can be found in the Wallkill, forty minutes walk
from town, and duck hunting along this stream and others in the vicinity. Rab-
bits and small game abound in the woods near at hand, and an hour’s ride by rail
will take one to the trout streams and hunting grounds of Sullivan County.
There are a number of fine hotels, ($10 to $15 per week) and several private board-
ing houses $6 to to per week. Reached via the Erie Railroad. P

Otisville. There are many streams and lakes in the neighborhood, abound-
ing in various kinds of fish. Route as above. Several good hotels and private
boarding houses.

Lake Sterling. Take Erie Railroad to Sterling Junction, or in case the train does
not stop there, go to Sloatsburg, walk back to the junction, and take cars
Sterling Mountain Railroad to Sterling Mines, the terminus of the road. The
train makes but two trips daily. Inquire at the junction, for the superintendent,
John C. Missimar, from whom it is necessary to obtain an order for the boat.
The lake is but five hundred yards distant from the mines, There are two boats,
one large yawl, capable of carrying fifteen persons, and one small boat, which
will safely carry six ‘t light weights.” The fish most sought for are pickerel and

erch, and the former are taken weighing from one-half to seven pounds each.
Phere are two ways adopted for catching them, one by trolling and the other by
* still’? fishing, with live minnows for bait. Occasionally a brook, also a lake
trout (salmon) is caught.

Goshen is within two hours’ ride of the trout brooks of Sullivan County. ang
the game covers of Cedar Swamp, the Warwick Woodlands, and the Great Wil
Meadows, all abounding in woodcock, plover, quail, and other game, The route
is via the Erie Railroad. There are several hotels and boarding houses, with
prices ranging from $12 to $6 per week.

Oswego County—

Minetto. Black bass, pike, pickerel, trout, ruffed grouse, quail, snipe, wood-
cock, ducks. Reached via the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad to
Oswego, thence stage or wagon five miles. Hotel $2; boats, etc., to be hired.

Rolling country. : Jf, ,
Sandy Creek. Ducks, red-heads, brants, blue-bills, and other varieties of wild

fowl afford fine sport. ‘
The Oszwego River. Good bass fishing. Take rail to Oswego. .
Redfield. Excellent trouting may be had on the Salmon River, The-favorite
spots are Seymour’s and Covey's Bridge, the Meadows, North Branch, the Brick
ard, Petrie’s and Stony Brook.

Otsego County—
Some woodcock may be shot in the vicinity of Richfield Springs. Canadarago
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 125

Lake has been stocked with trout and whitefish, and affords besides a variety of
fishing. There are good hotels here, $3.50 per day, $15 to $25 per week. Take
the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad.

Putnam County—

Lake Makopac. The ee excellent, and with other attractions, makes
this a favorite summer resort. eached via Harlem River Railroad, by a branch
line from Golden’s Bridge. There are several large hotels $18 to $25 per week,
and boarding houses $10 to $15 per week. A large flotilla of boats and yachts,
The surrounding country is rugged.

Carmel. The Patterson swamp is a famous ground for sportsmen. The game
includes woodcock, and other varieties.

Lake Oscawana, among the Highlands, isa good place for summer camping.
July and August are the best months for general fishing. Take the Harlem Rail-
road to Golden’s Bridge, thence branch road.

Rensselaer County—
Troy. The fishing at Troy is confined chiefly to perch and bass. There are
many trout streams in the vicinity, but there are about two fishermen to every fish.
Troy sportsmen go to Westerboro, back of the Helderburgh Mountains.
Woodcock are here found in large numbers, it being quite a favorite breeding
place for them and the hunt there invariably results in large bags.

Queens County—

See Kings County.

South Oyster Bay is a pleasant place for a day’s fishing. There are good
hotels here. The route is via the South Side Railroad.

Freeport. Good perch fishing between this point, and Baldwinsville. Reached
via the South Side Railroad.

Hempstead, Quail shooting is good in the vicinity. Hewlett’s Hotel is a
ae house where the sportsman will receive every attention. Reached

y rail.

Far Rockaway. Good blue-fishing. Go to Bath, Canarsie, Penney Bridge,
Brooklyn or Jersey City to hire yachts.

Rockaway Beach is a famous pleasure resort for New York and Brooklyn peo-
ple. A long, narrow, sandy peninsula encloses a broad inlet with several marshy
islands. Great numbers of wild fowl congregate in the vicinity and there is
always good fishing for sheepshead, bluefish, bonita, and other varieties in their
season. Reached via the South Side Railroad. There are good hotels, and every
facility for sport. It is an easy, cheap, and delightful trip from the Fulton, South,
and Williamsburgh Ferries by horse cars to East New York, steam cars to Can
arsie, and steamboat to Rockaway Beach—fare fifty-five cents. The favorite
skippers know the intricacies of the great Jamaica Bay thoroughly, this including
Canarsie Bay.

Seaman's Pond in Ridgewood, thirty miles from Brooklyn via the South Side
Railroad, affords excellent fishing. The terms are moderate.

Farmingdale isa Eood point to start from for scrub quail shooting. Take the
Long {sland, or Flushing Railroad.

Richmond County—

This county is formed by Staten Island, which is reached by ferry from New
York. The fishing 1s principally for weakfish, the favorite points for this sport
being Rossville and Prince’s Bay. The latter place is reached by cars to Rich-
mond Valley station, thence stage. Go to Steele’s for boats, tackle, bait, etc. _

New Dorp. About here will be found good shooting for woodcock, quail,
snipe, yellow legs and other varieties of birds, with rabbits abundant in the
neighborhood.

Rockland County—

Sloatsburg. Bass and pickerel in Truxedo Lake, Potague Lake and Cedar
Pond, all within three miles, woodcock, snipe, etc., in the vicinity. Reached via
the Erie Railroad. There is a hotel besides summer boarding houses.

‘ Piermont and Suffern, reached via the Erie Railroad furnish good woodcock
shooting.

Ramapo, on the Erie Railroad, contains one summer boarding house, ‘* Ter-
race Hall,’’a few hundred yards from the depot, pleasantly located on the banks
of the Ramapo River, and capable of accommodating forty boarders.
126 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

At this point a wide and beautiful expanse of water, formed by damming the
Ramapo River, affords the visitor arare opportunity for boating and bShing

Sloatsburg, on the Erie Railroad, Truxedo Lake, three miles, Potague Lake,
one mile. and Cedar Pond, two and a half miles distant, all abound with bass and
pickerel. Good game grounds in the vicinity.

Cedar Pond. There is excellent woodcock shooting in the vicinity.

Saratoga County—

Dean's Corners. Bears, ruffed grouse, pigeons, squirrels, rabbits, trout in the
Beaverkill and other streams. Board $2 at hotel, $1 to $2 in private house;
guides $2. The country is hilly and mountainous.

Schenectady County—
The Mohawk River affords fine bass fishing, at several points.

Schuyler County—

Watkins. Ruffed grouse, wild ducks, rabbits, squirrels ; black bass, pickerel
in Lake Seneca, and trout in the streams. Reached via the Northern Central
Railroad. Hotels $2 to $3.50; boats 25 cents per hour.

St. Lawrence County—

Ogdensburg. In Black Lake, six miles up the Oswegatchie, is pickerel, pike
and bass fishing. Take boat and comping. equipments from the city. In the
Oswegatchie below the dam, bass and perch are caught. Mascalonge in the St.
Lawrence below the city. Duck shooting is good in season, with partridges,
woodcock and other varieties of game. Ogdensburg is reached via the Central
Vermont, or the Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg Railroad. Opposite
Ogdensburg is Prescott, the terminus of the St. Lawrence and Ottawa Railroad,
and an important point on the Grand Trunk Railroad. Two ferries, running three
boats and making half-hourly trips, connect Prescott and Ogdensburg. Alexan-
dria Bay and the Thousand Islands, the famous fishing and camping grounds, are
about thirty miles up the river, the islands extending from Brockville to Cape
Vincent, sixty miles. This great pleasure resort is reached from Ogdensburg, by
various lines of steamers. uring the season, boats leave at 8 and 9,30 A. M., and
x1 and 6 Pp. m., making the run in two hours,

Steuben Countiy—

Hornellsvilie. Ruffed grouse, quail, rabbits, black and grey squirrels, of the
latter very good shooting. Hornellsville is on the Erie road, ninety-one miles
from Buffalo.
4s Lake Salubria, Salmon trout, pickerel, perch, strawberry, Otsego, and black

ass.

Crooked Lake. This lake is about twenty-two miles long, and abounds in sal-
mon trout, pickerel, black and strawberry bass, perch, whitefish, etc. The Grove
Spring House, Stephen Moore, proprietor, is on the east shore of the lake, six
miles from Hammondsport. Route: Erie Railway to Elmira, or Penn Yan.
Goodhue and Cranberry Lakes afford fine bass, perch, and pickerel fishing.

Suffolk County—

See Kings County.

Babylon, A comfortable village with several hotels, the American, Lagrange,
Sampwanis and other houses. The fishing here is famous. Great South Bay, to
which stages run, is one half mile south. A steamboat crosses several times daily,
to Fire Island. The peninsula of which Fire Island is the western extremity,
extends forty miles to the northeast, and shelters Great South Bay, Moriches
Ray, and Shinnecock Bay. The fishing ground off Fire Island is about thirty to
thirty-four miles off shore, and about four to six miles long, having from twelve
to sixteen fathoms on the bank; the bottom is hard gravel, with small stones.
There are plenty of cod, and a few halibut. The ground is known to many of the
Noank fishermen. It is the path of the European packets, and land is just in sight
from the ground. The course is south by west from Fire Island, and it is found
by the lead.

Y nglers also have fine sport taking bluefish with a rod in the vicinity of Fire
Island, both inside and outside of the Bay. a Ney, are of large size, running from
ten to thirteen pounds. An ordinary two-jointed bamboo bass-rod, is used with
GAME AND FISY RESORTS. 127

float and sinker, and shedder crabs for bait. A wire snell is requisite, to prevent
the fish from snapping off the line.

Oak Island, opposite Babylon, is a favorite resort for gunners ; Rube Ander-
son is a good guide and boatman. Babylon is thirty-six miles from New York
on the South Side Railroad.

Bellsport, a pleasant village on Bellsport Bay, is a good point for bay bird
shooting. Quail afford good sport in the vicmity. Fish abound in the bay.
There are good boarding houses, $7 to $10 per week. Reached by Long Island
Railroad to Bellsport station, thence stage three miles.

East Moriches. Quail and partridge shooting in the vicinity, affords excellent
sport. The shooting and eas ee Moriches Bay is good: The East Moriches

otel isa comfortable house. ogs, boats, traps, and decoys are furnished by
H.L. Rogers. Reached via Long Island Railroad.

Centre Moriches isa much frequented resort for anglers and gunners, Great
numbers of fish and wild fowl are annually sent from here to New York. The
Ocean, Moriches, Long Island, Baldwin, and other houses afford good accommo-
dations. Yachts regularly sail across the bay to the outer beach, where the
Havens House is much visited for its surf bathing.

Fisher's Island, four miles from New London, is good headquarters for fishing,
and snipe and duck shooting. There isa hotel there with boats and other con-
veniences for sport. The route is via the Shore Line Railroad, and steamboat
from New London or Stonington.

Good Ground is one of the best points on the Island for shooting ducks, geese,
brant, yellow legs, dowitchers, ring-tailed marlins, quail, rabbits, foxes, and other

ame. Good hotel accommodations at the Bay View House, guides, boats,

ecoys and everything necessary furnished. William Lane or Orville Wilcox
will give the sportsman the best of treatment and may be addressed for infor-
mation.

Great Shinnecock Bay. Ducks are plenty in season, such as black ducks,
broadbills, grey ducks, pintails,coots, etc. Most all varieties of birds are to be
found here on the 2zoth October except geese and brant; their time to make their
appearance is from the rst to the roth of November, when they are quite abun-
dant. Experienced gunners at this place, men that have followed shooting for
thirty poe They are prepared with live stools for geese and brant, also bat-
teries for shore and point shooting. There is also good quail, and rabbit, and
grouse shooting. The Bay and Ocean View House is situated within two hun-
dred feet of the Great Shinnecock Bay and overlooks it, All birds passing over
the bay can be seen from the veranda of the hotel. This is large and affords the
best of accommodations for sporting men. Ammunition furnished at the house
for all those that wish to save the labor of bringing it with them. Gentlemen vis-
iting the Bay View House will buy tickets at James Slip or Thirty-fourth street
Ferry, New York, for Good Ground Station, Sag Harbor Branch Long Island
Railroad, where a stage will convey them to the house.

Atlanticville, situated at the head of Shinnecock Bay, is headquarters for goose,
duck and bay bird shooting. The gunners, Washington Howell and John and
Tuttle Carter, have a capital rig, and will be found able and obliging by all
Sportsmen. .

Great South Bay. Noted for its fish of all descriptions, and also for its geese,
ducks, and snipe. Take South Side road to Babylon or Islip. Pon Quogue and
Good Ground are much frequented resorts, reached by same railroad. Good
board and all necessary outfit of boats, stools, etc., at William Lane’s, and Orville
Wilcox’s. Board alone $1.50 per day or $8 per week. Gunning outfit. including
bayman, boat, board, etc., S1o per day. There is good quail shooting, also a few
tulfed grouse and deer in the barrens anywhere within ten miles east or west of
Jslip. Deer can be shot only during the first fifteen days of November.

‘slip. Near by are the trouting ponds and club-house of the Sportsmen’s
Club. The village is frequented in summer for its fishing and shooting. Good
hotel accommodations will be found here.

North Islip is a good starting point for scrub shooting for quail.

Merrick Bay, near Smithville, is an excellent place for shooting the great
head duck, geese, and brant, Jim Baldwin is an excellent guide, Charges for
boat, stools, and all told, $4 per day. A tavern called the Sportsman House, kept
by B. F. Sammis, at Smithville, is a clean, small house ; the landlord has every
appliance for quail, snipe and duck shooting, such as boats, stools, etc. In this
section the quail shooting is fairly middling, with good cover, easy walking and
the brush not above the middle of the body. :

Montauk Point,. Excellent bay bird shooting and weak fishing. Ducks, geese
128 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

and trout areabundant, Reached via Long Island Railroad to Sag Harbor, thence
stage. There is a good hotel, and boarding-house. A favorite place for summer
tenting on the beach.

Noyac. Noyac and its beautiful bay lie about four miles to the northwest of
the old town of Sag Harbor. For wild duck shooting, no place on the island
affords better sport or more game. Mr. Picrson has a cosy boarding place for
summer visitors and sportsmen, and a letter to him, telling him what day you
expect to arrive, will find him with his wagon ready at either the steamboat
wharf at seven in the morning, or at the railroad depot at two or eight in the
evening, accordiug to the way you propose to reach the Harbor: the boat—W.
W. Coit—leaving foot of Wall Street Mondays and Thursdays at five in the even-
ing for Sag Harbor (fare, $1.50), and the cars from Hunter’s Point at half past
seven in the morning, and at half past three in the afternoon (fare, $2.75.) he
charge for board at Mr. Pierson’s is a dollara day, or seven dollars a week,
with use of a boat. The modus operandi for Noyac Bay shooting is either to go
on the long beach on Jessup’s Neck, take your station at daylight, and await

our chances for shots at the flights of ducks which regularly cross the neck from

voyac Bay to the Little Peconic Bay, or by taking a sail boat out in the bay, or
a small boat, get in among thousands of ducks to be seen early in the day floating
on the surface of the bay. After a morning’s work at the ducks, you can take
your gun and dog and go into the thick woods of the back country and get par-
tridges and rabbits.

here is good trout fishing in Mr. Barker’s preserve. Mr, Sampson’s farm

adjoins the pond on the southeasterly side, and he hasa spare room for a couple
of boarders during the summer months. There is good perch fishing in the mill-
pond, and occasionally one may get hold of a trout, but they are scarce. Permis-
sion from Mr. Barker is required, to fish in the pond, which he readily gives.
Noyac is a cultivated strip of land running along the southerly shore of Little
Peconic Bay from Sag Harbor to North Sea. Once upon a time the waters of the
shores of Noyac were full of game fish, but what with seincs, nets and
‘“pounds’’ they have all been driven away, and though the locality used to
abound in bass, not a fish is now to be caught there. Off Jessup’s Neck—a stri
of land covered with cedar brush and full of nests of mosquitoes-—there is excel-
lent bluefishing to be had in season, and in the bay scollops abound, as also
excellent hard and soft clams. There are a few porgies to be had in the bay and
kingfish occasionally. Back of the cultivated strip there are the woods, which
extend back some four miles toward Bade chempton, and in the watered portion
woodcock shooting is good in season. In the fall excellent wild fowl shooting is
to be had in the bay, and for purposes of a family sojourn in summer to parties lik-
ing a very retired and out-of-the-way country place, Noyac presents an attrac-
tive locality.

Patchogue is a good objective point for sportsmen on the Great South Bay.
Ducks, quails and partridges are shot in the vicinity, and in the ponds are perch
and trout. There are several boarding houses $8 to $12 per week. ‘Take the
South Side Railroad.

Peconic. Great Peconic Bay, well known for its fishing and shooting, is on
the Long Island Railroad, eighty-eight miles from New.York. Good hotels with
beats, guides, etc.

Pon Quogue. Good shooting for ducks, geese, snipe, etc. The route is via
the Long Island Railroad to Good Grounds, where a wagon may be procured to
convey the sportsman to the shooting grounds. Go to William Lane’s at Good
Ground, who will furnish all necessary outfit. >

Riverhead (several hotels), Smithville and West Hampton, all on the Long
Island Railroad, are good points for ducks, quail, and woodcock shooting.

Ronkonkoma Lake, near Lakeland and Islip, has good perch fishing. Boats
are to be obtained. Take the Long Island Railroad.

Sag Harbor is one of the cheapest places in the vicinity of New York, for
boating, fishing, gunning, etc. Reached by the South Side Railroad, or steamer
W. W.. Coit, from foot of Wall Street, New York, fare $1.50. Board at several
places, $7 per week. Inquire at Tucker’s Fancy store, Sag Harbor.

Shelter Island, This island is partly owned by a Company who have a fine
hotel, grounds laid out, and other attractions for summer visitors. During
December, ducks of nearly all kinds, except canvas-backs, can be shot from any
of the lowlands, by using decoys. Quail are also numerous in places. A steam-
bout leaves pier 25 East River, N. Y. The island is also reached by Long
island Railroad, trom ‘Hunter's Point to Greenport; fare $2.70. Hotel accom-
modations are good in Greenport. A row boat will land the hunter on Shelter
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 129

Island, ina few minutes. Ducks swarm here to feed. Gardiner’s Island fishing
grounds, and Plum Gut are within ten hours sail.

Southold, near the Sound. is much visited in summer for its boating, fishing and
gunning. On the Long Island Road. The Southold Hotel is a good house.

West Hampton, seventy-five miles from New York, by Long Island Railroad.
Wild geese and ducks commence to come in October, and remain until about the
first freeze, say in December. Black ducks come in September, snipe appear the
last of August, and remain until the 1st of October. Abundance of bluefish can
be caught either by trolling or churning, and all other varieties of fish to be caught
in these waters. Nathan Raynor’s House, two miles ride from depot, can accom-
modate from one to eight persons. Board $1.50. Plenty of wooden decoys and
tame wild geese for decoys. The surrounding neighborhood good for game.
Pond for shooting within a few minutes walk of the house. The Sound in Novem-
ber is often covered with millions of sea birds, coots, alewifes, etc.

Sullivan County—

Sullivan and Ulster counties have been long famous for their trout streams.

First among the streams of this region, is the far-famed Beaverkill. Near the
head of the Beaverkill are several small ponds, some of which contain trout, as
Pesan Lake, Thomas pond, and others. Some of them alsocontain sunfish and

ullheads,

East of the Beaverkill and parallel with it is the Willewemoc, near its head is
Lake Willewemoc, famous for the size of its trout ; this pond, with Balsam and
Thomas ponds, belong to the Willewemoc Club, and can only be fished by permis-
sion, which however, can easily be obtained. This stream, like the Beaverkill,
contains small sized trout in fairnumbers. Last of these rivers is the Neversink,
the finest river of the whole region, although it is also the most persistently fished.
It is formed by two branches that unite at Claraville, just on the line between the
two counties. Either branch is a good sized trout brook, or river rather, about
fitteen miles long, and they formerly contained an almost inexhaustible supply of
fish ; at present, however, it requires a long and patient day’s work, to fill even a
small basket. The west branch of the Neversink has two tributary streams, Fall
Brook and Biscuit Brook, both of these contain large numbers of smal] trout.
Northeast of the headwaters of the Neversink are the sources of the Rondout.
There is near the head of the Rondout, a hamlet named Sundown.

The Big Indian, a tributary of the Esopus, rises a few hundred yards from the
Neversink, and flowing eight miles through Big Indian Hollow, unites with th>
main stream.

North and west of the Big Indian are several streams, the best and most cele-
brated of which are Mill brook and Dry brook ; with many smaller streams, to all
of which the same description will apply ; they are clear, cold mountain brooks
that come tumbling over boulders and ledges, and usually contain a fair supply
of small trout. Indeed, all the trout of this region, even in the larger streams,
are small, from a quarter to half a pound is a good weight, anything above a half
islarge. Take the New York and Oswego Midland Railroad from New York to
Fallsburgh, thence a drive to Dewittville, for the Neversink ; and to Westfield
Flats, and thence to Beaverkill, for that stream. Or drive from Shokan, on the
Ulster and Delaware Railroad, slenteed miles from Rondout. The place where
anglers will find the most hospitable welcome is with Bailey Beers, of Dewittville,
known and beloved of many anglers, as the oddest and best of innkeepers.

Wurtsborough. Fine sport with black bass can be had in Marston Pond, near
this place. Take the New York and Oswego Midland Railroad. Write to
George Olcott at Wurtsboro, who will pilot and take charge of visitors.

White Lake. Pickerel, black bass and trout, with an abundance of game, are
found here. Reached by stage or private conveyance from Monticello. There
are seven good hotels, with several private boarding houses. _ : 2

Narrowsburg. Deer, ruffed grouse and trout. Reached via the Erie Rail-
road. There is a hotel here. 7

Shin Creek, on the banks of the Beaverkill, eleven miles from Morsston Station,
on the New York and Oswego Midland Railroad, is an excellent trouting centre.

Eldred. Good deer, and ruffed grouse shooting and trout fishing. Isaac
M. Bradley, an old hunter, keeps a sportsman’s house, and guarantees fine sport
in season.

Monticello. Black and grey squirrrel shooting, with many varieties of game
and excellent fishing. The route is via the Erie Railroad. There are many hotels
and boarding houses here. The country about Monticello is high, yet there are
no grand mountainous elevations. It is situated on what is sometimes called ‘a

6*
130 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

rolling plateau,’ a region presenting many scenes which have been highly extolled
by the poet and artist.

fond Eddy. Deer within ten miles of here ; three miles back in the mountains
from Pond Eddy, next station from Port Jervis, bears. On the Erie Road.

Blooomingburgh isa good point for woodcock and grouse, with a few quail.
It is reached via Middletown, on the Oswego Midland Railroad. Get out at the
Tunnel, and drive half a mile to the village. Milo H. Seagar entertains
sportsmen,

Susquehanna Count y—
Dundaf. Black bass and pickerel in Crystal Lake. Good accommodations
can be found.

Tompkins County—

ithaca. Grouse, quail and duck. Ithaca is reached via steamer or rail from
Cayuga, or via the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western, and the Utica, Ithaca
and Elmira roads.

Ulster County—

Rondout. Black bass fishing. On the Hudson River, reached by rail or
steamer from New York. :

Shokan. Inthe Park Swamp foxes and vixen are shot.

One of the best localities within a fair distance of New York for ruffed grouse
shooting is called the Cannape. It is a large extent of wild territory situated
on the northeast corner of Ulster County. Take Hudson River Railroad for
Kingston, which connects with the Ulster and Delaware Railroad to Shokan,
which is seventeen miles. The distance from Shokan to Watson Hollow is seven
miles. Stop over night at C. Rockwell’s, who will give every information and
send a guide or go himself. This country is quite unknown to the sportsmen, as
we firm ly believe. There has never beena breech-loader or a setter within its
limits. The scenery is grand in the extreme, and the berries which the ruffed
grouse feed on, are very abundant. This territory is also noted for its deep
mountain gorge, at the head of which is a beautiful lake, the head waters of the
Bushkill creek. It has two outlets, one emptying into the Esopus creek, and
the other in a directly opposite quarter, into the Susquehanna.

Bears, panthers and wild cats are found in the neighborhood. Hotel $2, pri-
vate board $7 per week ; guides $2 ; teams $5.

Lake Mohonk is located near the summit of Sky Top mountain, five and one-
half miles from New Paltz, fourteen and one-half miles west of Foun liscepsle,
eighty-eight miles from New York City. The lake is very deep and abounds in
black blass, perch, etc. The route is via Erie Railroad and Wallkill Valley Branch.
There is a hotel, with boats, etc.

Shandaken. Bears, foxes, ruffed grouse, rabbits; trout in the Esopus and
other streams. Reached via the Ulster and Delaware Railroad. Board $1.50;
guides $2; teams $5.

Big Indian, Bears, foxes, rabbits, squirrels, woodcock, ruffed grouse.
Reached via Ulster and Delaware Railroad. Board $1 ; teams $6.

Mount Pleasant, Bears, rabbits, squirrels, ruffed grouse ; trout in the Esopus,
Beaverkill and other streams. Reached via the Ulster and Delaware Railroad.
Board -$6 to $10 per week.

Lutenvitle. Excellent trouting in the vicinity. Yankee Pond is stocked with
trout. Reached via the New York and Oswego Midland Railway. Board can
be found in private houses, $8 per week.

Warren County—

Glens Falls. Good ground for wild ducks and geese inthe spring. Go via the
Delaware and Hudson Canal Company Railroad to Fort Edward, thence via
Glens Falls Branch.

Lake George has always been famous for its fishing. Lake trout, speckled
trout, black bass, rock bass. Reached by rail, steamboat and stage, from all
directions. Hotels, guides, boats, and every convenience at hand.

Lake Pharo, a few miles west of Lake George, abounds in speckled trout.

Wayne County—

Savannah. Two and one-half miles distant is the Seneca River. In the
meadows along its banks, are snipe, on_the river are black ducks, coots.
Savannah is on the New York Central and Hudson River Road.
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 131

Sodus Bay. Pike, pickerel and bass are caughthere. Take the Rome, Water-
town and Ogdensburg Railroad.
Yates County—

Penn Yan. The birds are the ruffed grouse, woodcock, quail, and wild ducks,
and of fur-bearing animals, the mink, muskrat, red fox, grey squirrel, and grey
rabbit are found. Hotel accommodations of an excellent character can be found
at Penn Yan. The sporting club of the county is called the Forrester Club of
Yates County. Penn Yan is on the Northern Central Railway. 1n Keuka Lake
are salmon trout, whitefish, black bass, perch, pickerel, suckérs, rock bass, sun-
fish and bullheads.

NORTH CAROLINA.

Area 50,704 square miles ; population 1,071,361. The State
may be dividea into the coast region, the middle country and the
mountain district. The coast line is much broken by sounds, num-
erous islands and broad bays and lagoons. The coast belt, extend-
ing acrass trom the northern and southern boundaries, and inland
eighty or one hundred miles, is a level expanse, partly sandy and
covered with pine barrens, and partly marshy and swampy lands.
The Great Dismal Swamp, extending into the State from Virginia
on the North, and the Little Dismal lying between the sounds, are
the most prominent of the numerous swamps, which, throughout
the State, cover three million acres, Back of the coast region, the
middle hill country gradually rises toward the west, until it merges
into the mountains of the Alleghany Range, Throughout the State
from the marsh to the mountain, the sportsman will find game of
all the varieties common to the Southern States. Railroad and
steamboat travel are supplemented by the saddle horse, a mode of
travel much more in vogue among the people of the South than in
any other part of the country. Hotels are not always to be found,
but where these are lacking the visitor will find such entertainment
as the country affords, proffered with characteristic hospitality.
Bertie Count y—

The Chowan and Roanoke Rivers, with Albemarle Sound, are excellent shoot-
ing grounds for geese, swan, brant and ducks. The eae grounds are acces-
sible by boat or yacht from Colesdam, Ashland or Merry Hill.

Brunswick County—

Smithville. See Wilmington.

Buneombe and the Adjoining Counties—

That portion of the State lying west and north of the Blue Ridge, and south of
the Alleghanies, is known as western North Carolina. It is about one hundred
and seventy-five miles in length, with an average breadth of seventy-five miles.
It embraces sixteen counties, about seven thousand square miles.

The valleys have an average elevation of two thousand feet, and are generally
well studded with farms and hamlets, but the mountains are, and for centuries to
come will remain, wildernesses. In them game is abundant, but in the settle-
ments it is growing scarce, owing to the indifference of the people and law-
makers, on the subject of game laws,
132 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

The valleys have each their principal stream taking its rise in the northern
slope of the Blue Ridge, and flowing in a northerly course through the Alle-
ghanies into the Tennessee Valley. All of these streamsare preity well supphed
with fish. In some they are very abundant, the pike and black bass of the south,
both very gamy, being the most desirable. But it is the headwaters and tribu-
taries of these rivers, where the joy of the angler’s heart—the speck] ii
to be found in untold numbers. They are not large, seldom exceedi
inches in length, and averaging not more than nine ; but their great number com-
pensates for their size.

Asheville is well situated for a starting point, being, geographically, in the
centre of the region. From New York. or any of the New England or Eastern
States, the best route ‘is via Richmond, Danville, Salisbury to Old Fort, by rail,
thence across the ridge twenty-four miles by stage, a daily line connecting with
railroad. From northwest via Louisville, Nashville, Knoxville to Wolf Creek,
thence by stage forty-four miles—a daily line. From the south, either one of the
routes mentioned will be found convenient.

Burke County—

Morganton. Quail, woodcock, rabbits, rail, deer, and other game in the
vicinity, with good trout fishing in nearly all the mountaia streams in Burke
County and vicinity. Reached via the Piedmont Air Line to Salisbury, thence
via the Western North Carolina Railroad. From the middle of May till the last
of June is the season. For information, write to R. L. Patton, Morganton.
The country is hilly and mountainous.

  

Carteret County—

Beaufort and Vicinity. Canada geese, brant, canvas-backs, redheads, black,
and other varieties of duck, bay birds, curlew, robin snipe, marlin, godwits,
quail ; excellent trolling for blueish. Reached via the North Carolina Railroad
from New Berne to Morehead City, thence steamer, or viasteamer from New
York or Baltimore. See New Berne. Carteret County is level swamp lands and
pine forests.

Chowan County—

Edenton. The Chowan River and Albemarle Sound are the feeding grounds
of great numbers of swan, geese, brant and ducks, and are splendid fishin
grounds fora variety of valuable and gamy fish. Reached by steamers whic!
ply on the sound and river. The surrounding country is level.

Clay County—
flayesville. The Hurricane Branch, and the Little Hurricane Branch, are
good trout streams.

Columbus County—

Flemington is seventeen miles from Wilmington, on the Wilmington, Colum-
bia and Augusta Railroad. There is excellent fishing and shooting on Lake Wac-
camaw. Good accommodations can be obtained.

*

Craven County—

New Berne is easily reached from New York by rail or by water direct, or by
water via Baltimore and Norfolk steamers. To goto the lake region, take the
cars at New Berne, on the Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad, for Havelock
Station, sixteen miles distant. In the vicinity of Havelock Station isa heavily
wooded country, vast pine uplands, and swamps where gum, maple. and other
trees grow in dense profusion. Five miles from the station is Lake Ellis,a round
lake of about three miles in diameter, and nearly connected with it are four or tive
other sheets of water. Some of these lakes are open water ; others are grown up,
like Lake Ellis, with grass, through which a punt can be easily pushed. These
lakes are the resort of thousands of wild geese, black ducks, and mallards. very
few of any other kind being found there. The dry swamp known as Long Lake,
to the south and west of the above chain of ponds, is an excellent place to hunt
for bears, panthers and wild cats. The pine ridges in that vicinity offer excellent
deer hunting. As but few persons about New Berne hunt in these forests, there
are but few guides to be had. Sailing down the Neuse River from New Berne,
the yachtsman will pass several good shooting points, one of which—Stocum’s
Creek, about eighteen miles from the city—isa resort for various species of ducks.
In those woods colored guides can be had for 75 cents to $: per day, finding

 
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 133

themselves in provisions. Black ducks and Canada geese are found in large
numbers.

Proceeding down the Neuse River, the sportsman can have the choice of
shooting in Pamlico and Cove Sounds, at Harbor Island, Hunting Quarters, and
various other points, twenty miles apart. There is no restriction as to fire hunt-
ing. There are no ‘‘ points”’ held by private parties. The hanting and shooting
grounds ashore and on the water are free to any one who may choose to visit this
part of North Carolina,

The fishing about New Berne is of great variety and excellence, including
trout, drum, bluefish and other varieties.

Currituck County—

The grounds of the ‘* Currituck Shooting and Fishing Club,’ are forty miles
south of Norfolk, Virginia, and include Deal’s Islands and adjacent marshes.
Steamers run regularly from Norfolk to Knott’s Island, which is three miles dis-
tant from the Club grounds. White swans, geese, ducks, etc., congregate here
in great numbers.

he club property runs from the Virginia line southerly about three and a half
miles, and from the Atlantic Ocean (not including the sand hills) westerly about
one and a half miles, being separated from the main land by one or two marsh
islands, and distant about one-quarter of a mile.

Those desiring to shoot quail can be satisfied to their hearts’ content, by goings
onthe main land. A couple of dollars paid to the owners of these lands, will
afford immunity to the upland gunner for an indefinite period. In addition to
the wild-fowl already mentioned, there are jack snipe and coons in great numbers
among the marshes, and some good upland shooting on the two hundred acres of
high grounds belonging to the club. The route is via Norfolk, rail or Ole Do-
minion Line of Steamers. Sportsmen can go to the club-house where decoys,
boats, gunners, and board will be furnished at the rate of $2.50 per day.

Poplar Branch is a headquarters for sportsmen. Ducks, widgeons, sprigtails,
black and mallards, geese, snipe, partridges and other varieties of game furnish
abundant sport, while coon hunting is to be had in the vicinity. The route is as
above to Norfolk, Va., thence via river steamer. Board can be obtained at Van
Sleyck’s or D. W. Linsey’s, $2 per day ; gunners $3; boats, etc., at reasonable
rates.

Knott's Island and Currituck Sound. Between the headwaters of Currituck
Sound, otherwise known as the Back Bay, and the outside ocean beach is a des-
olate sand flat, known to residents and to sportsmen as ‘‘ The Sand.” This
almost desert extends north and south a dozen or more miles in length, ranging
in width from half a mile to two or three, and its inner edge, from Chesapeake
Bay along the sounds and creeks that indent the coast to Currituck inlet, is the
preat resort and feeding ground of various species of ducks, comprising canvas-

ack, black duck, widgeon, sprig-tail, teal, red-head, broad bill, etc., also geese
and swans in profusion. Route as above via Norfolk steamers. Time from
New York, thirty hours ; fare for round trip $24. Cost per day for man, decoys,
skiffs and marshes $3. Season lasts till Feb. 15th. Board at J. White’s $1.50.

Davidson County—

Thomasville. Wild turkeys and other game in the vicinity. Reached via
Richmond and Danville Railroad, The surface of the county is diversified by hills
and valleys.

Granville County—

Aittreld, Quail in abundance. Reached in thirty hours from New York via
Baltimore; steamer to Portsmouth ; Seaboard and Roanoke Railroad to Weldon ;
Raleigh and Gaston Railroad to Kittrell. Good hotel accommodations at Colone
Davis’s house. Horses and wagons furnished at the hotel. The surface of the
county is undulating and hilly.

Guilford County—

_ Greensborough. Good quail shooting with a variety of game in the surround-
ing country. Reached via the Piedmont Air Line Railroad, one hundred and
eighty miles from Richmond. The surface of the county is undulating and in
many portions covered by aense forests.

Halifax County—
Weldon is a good centre for the sportsman. Deer, wild turkeys and quail are
134 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

abundant in the vicinity. The game is so near one can start in the morning after
breakfast trom the hotel and return to a four o’clock dinner, with the certainty of
seeing at least one deer, and generally of bringing one in. Twenty miles down
the Roanoke River they are more abundant still, bnt one has no need to go so far.

For wild turkeys the ground down the Roanoke, or on the other side opposite
Weldon, is better. Thesurrounding country can be easily reached from Weldon,
either by rail or the Roanoke River. On the latter are two lines of boats which
make trips down the river about twige a week. A party can take a cook and
servants, and all the necessaries from the Weldon Hotel. A stay of a week
would be rewarded by many deer, and wild turkeys in abundance.

A boat is a necessity to enable sportsmen to hunt either side of the river.
There are several small places on the Roanoke where one can be accommodated,
and from which daily excursions can be made. Weldon is easily accessible by
rail. Leaving New York City, via the Pennsylvania road at 3 Pp. m., Weldon is
reached in time for breakfast the next day. The Weldon Hotel is a favorite
house with sportsmen. An introduction from its proprietors, Messrs. McLaurie
and Russell, secures in the neighborhood every attention and facility for hunting.

Halifax. Deer and small game are abundant within a short distance from the
town. Reached via the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad, and by river steamer,
Good accommodations can be secured for $1.50 and $2 per day ; teams $2 ; guides
75 cents.

Haywood Count y—

Mt. Sterling. The Big, Catalouche, and Jonathan's Creeks, tributaries of the
Big Pigeon River, are excellent trout streams. Reached via East Tennessee,
Virginia and Georgia Railroad to Morristown, thence via Cincinnati, Cumber-
land Gap and Charleston Railroad tu Clifton, thence by good turapike thirty-four
miles to Mt. Sterling. Stop with B. P. Hopkins. Country mountainous.

Me Dowell County—

Marion is a small village among the mountains and im an excellent quail coun-
try, with good trout fishing in the streams. The route is via the Western North
Carolina Railroad.

Mitchell County--

Black Mountain. This region is quite famous for bears, and there are deer,
ruffed grouse, wild turkeys, squirrels, and speckled trout. Go to Johnson’s City,
Tenn., via the East Tennessee Virginia and Georgia Railroad.

Moore County—

Caledonia, on the Roanoke, ten miles from Halifax, is an excellent centre for
deer and small game. Expenses about the same as those of Halifax. Excellent
shooting all along the Roanoke River in this vicinity.

New Hanover County—

Wilmington. On the Cape Fear River below Wilmington, and in the vicinity
of Smithville is good swan, pouse, brant, duck and snipe shooting. Reached via
the Carolina Central, the Wilmington, Columbia and seus, or the Wilmington
and Weldon Railroads, also by boats from New York. The surrounding country
is level.

Northampton County—

Garysburgh is a good place for the sportsman to stop, and is three miles from
Weldon on the railroad to Norfolk. he proprietor of the hotel, W. P. Kee,
knows all the best stands for deer, and where every gang of turkeys works
around him. He owns the hunting privilege on about ten thousand acres of land,
and makes it his business during the winter months to hunt with sportsmen, or
alone. See Weldon.

Pitt County—

The Tar River, flowing through Pitt and Beaufort Counties and emptying into
Pamlico Sound, is the_resort of thousands of geese, swan, ducks, brant, etc.
Reached by boat from Pamlico Sound, or via Tarborough.

Richmond County—

_ Lawrinburgh. Deer, wild turkeys and other game in abundance. Reached
via the Carolina Central Railroad. No good hotel. The surface of the country
is undulating,
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 135

Stokes County—

Big Creek, A variety of fishing and hunting in the surrounding country.
Stop at B. P. Hopkins’. Reached by drive rom Grecasbor. The Gounkey 1s
illy.
Warren County—

Manson is an excellent quaillocality. Go via the Raleigh and Gaston Railroad.

OHIO.

The surface of Ohio, extending over an area of 39,946 square
miles, is a plateau which reaches its greatest elevation in Logan
County. There is a ridge of highlands north of the middle of the
State which forms the water ridge, which with a second ridge, south
ofthis, are the only ones worthy of mention. The surface is farther
diversified by the deeply eroded river valleys, with their high bluffs,
and by numerous stretches of forest land. The State was once the
range of much large game, which has now, however, almost en-
tirely disappeared. The sport is therefore confined to bird shoot-
ing, and fishing.

Auglaize County—

Saint Mary's. The Reservoir, an artificial sheet of water, containing seven-
teen thousand acres, built as a feeder, affords as fine wild fowl shooting as can be
found in the State. Take the Dayton and Michigan Railway to Wapakonetta,
thence wagon.

Ashtabula County—

Sefferson. In this vicinity are found squirrels, quail, woodcock, rabbits, very
pea red foxes, wild turkeys and deer. Take Franklin Division of the Lake

hore and Michigan Southern.

Ashtabula. Snipe, ruffed grouse, woodcock, wild turkey. Reached via the
Lake Shore Railroad.

Conneaut. Excellent fishing in Lake Erie and in the Conneaut River, for
bass, pike, perch, whitefish, and mascalonge in the river. Good shooting for
ducks, squirrels, and partridges. Conneaut is on the Lake Shore and Michigan
Southern Railroad, twenty-eight miles west from Erie, Penn.

pene Quail, ruffed grouse, wild pigeons, wild turkeys, grey and black
squirrels.

Belmont County—
Bellaire. Good quail shooting in the Ohio River bottoms. Reached via Bal-
timore and Ohio, or Cleveland and Pittsburg Railroad.

Columbiana County—
East Liverpool, Quail and ruffed grouse are numerous. Take the Cleveland
and Pittsburg Railroad. ‘
New Lisbon. Black bass, quaii and grouse abundant. Take the Atlantic and
Creat oe Railway from Cleveland to Niles, thence Niles and New Lisbon
ranch.

Cuyahoga County—

_ Cleveland. The Hones Point Club, of Cleveland, has one of the finest duck-
ing grounds on Lake Erie, and the ducking season commences on the rst of Sep-
tember. The rendezvous is only a hundred miles from Cleveland, and ducks are

_, plentiful.
136 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

Defiance County—

Rabbits are abundant, and of good quality throughout the county. Stop at
any of the stations on the line of the Baltimore and Ohio, or the Toledo, Wabash
and Western Railroads.

Delaware County—

Lewis Center. Quail and turkeys. Reached via the Cleveland, Columbus,
Cincinnati and Indianapolis Railroad, sixteen miles trom Columbus. No hotels,
though board can be obtained in the village.

Erie County—

Sandusky, Good duck shooting onthe marshes, Reached via the Lake Shore
and Michigan Southern, the Baltimore and Ohio, or the Cincinnati, Sandusky and
Cleveland Railroad.

Kelley's Island, in Lake Erie, is the headquarters for black bass anglers, from
Cincinnati, Covington, Pittsburg, Columbus and Cleveland, and may be reached
by boat from Sandusky or Cleveland. Hotel accommodations at Jacob Rush's
house, $2 per day.

Put-in-Bay and Point au Pelee Islands, are also favorite resorts, Point au
Pelee, about twenty-five miles from Sandusky, and just across Uncle Sam’s
boundary isa locality that cannot be excelled for its black bass fishing. It is
accessible easily from Buffalo, Cleveland and Sandusky. Hotel accommoda-
tion is poor, but the camping ground is superb. Minnows are used for bait, and
the bass are not known to take the fly except by trolling. If desired, splendid
accommodations can be had at Put-in-Bay, fourteen miles distant, and a steam
tug will take you to and from the fishing ground each day. We are rather in-
clined to recommend this place to the luxurious angler who does not care to rough
it in the bush, for superior fishing is rarely found in connection with the comforts
of civilization. Moreover, splendid duck shooting can be enjoyed here in the fall,
as there are about five thousand acres of marsh land covered with wild rice, upon
which the mallard feed, and any bungler can bag from ten to twenty of an after-
noon. There is also fox hunting, if the sportsman will only bring his hounds,
for the island is full of red foxes. The best time for an excursion is the middle
of the months of May and September. Taken all in all, the Point au Pelee is
exceptionally attractive. The South Side Dock is the best place to go to; better
accommodations, but you have to fish in boats. The best point to obtain men is
at Put-in-Bay. West Dock is the best part for ducking and fishing combined, as
you are near the marsh. For information, address Robert McCormick, Kings-
ville, Ontario, Canada, the nearest post office for South Side ; Walter Grubb, or
Dr. McCormick, Kelley’s Island, Ohio.

Huron County—
The extensive marshes surrounding the Great Pigeon Roost in the Western
art of this county, accessible from Attica, on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad,
is a grand shooting place for ducks, mallards, shovelers, pintails, redheads and
teal.

Jackson County—

Byer's Station, Rabbits, pheasants, and quail. The country is too hilly and
the brush too thick and high for successful hunting.
Licking County—

Newark. Situated about ten miles from this city is the Licking Reservoir, a
noted place of resort for sportsmen in this vicinity, as well as abroad. This res-
ervoir is a sheet of water covering about five to six thousand acres, abounding in
good fishing and hunting. Black bass, pickerel, sunfish, and Lake Erie bass, wild
ducks and quail are found in this locality. There are three hotels; cost of
board from $1.50 to $2 per day. Boats at all of these places for 50 cents per day ;
man to row for $2. It is reached from Newark by rail for 25 cents, or by team for
$3 per day. Fishing season, April, May and June—best in last two months.
Hunting from October rst through the fall. Rolling country. One hotel is
located on the line of the Newark, Somerset and Straitsville Railroad ; other ho-
tels reached by teams ; they are kept open the year through. Newark is on the
Baltimore and Ohio, and the Pittsburg, Cincinnati and St Louis Railroads.

Logan County—
Huntsville. Duck, snipe and quail shooting excellent at the Reservoir. Take
 

GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 137

the Cincinnati, Sandusky and Cleveland Railroad, seventy-one miles from
Cleveland, or the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad. Going from
Pittsburg take the latter railroad at Forest, and change cars to Cincinnati, San-
dusky and Dayton Railroad to Huntsville thence a ride of five miles to the Res-
a ag Inquire for William Hornberger. Board $:; boats and guides to be
ad.

Medina County—

Medina. Ruffed grouse, quail, woodcock, mallard, teal and wood-ducks.
Black bass are abundant in a lake four miles from town. Reached via the L. S.
and T. V. Railroad.

Chippewa Lake. Quail, woodcock, ducks ; black and spotted bass at Chippe-
wa Lake. Reached via the Cleveland, Tuscarawas Valley and Wheeling Rail
road. Private board $1 per day ; teams $5. Country rolling.

Perry County—

Somerset. Quail and ruffed grouse abundant. Reached via the Baltimore and
Ohio Railroad. Good hotel accommodations at moderate prices.

Seneca County—

Republic. Squirrel shooting is good in the vicinity. Reached via the Balti-
more and Ohio Railroad.

Thin. Deer, turkeys and ruffed grouse are found in the ‘* Big Woods.” Quail
are plenty in the vicinity. Tiffin is reached via the Baltimore and Ohio, the Cin-
cinnati, Sandusky and Cleveland, or the Mansfield, Coldwater and Lake Michi-
gan Railroads.

Stark County—

‘Alliance. Foxes are numerous in winter, quail, ruffed grouse; black bass,
pee, ranging in weight from one to five pounds. Reached via the Cleveland and
‘ittsburg, and the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroads,

Summit County—

Hudson. Woodcock, snipe, sora, Carolina and Virginia rail, pigeons at times
in great quantities. Reached via the Cleveland and Pittsburg, or the Cleveland,
Mount Vernon and Columbus Railroad.

Macedonia Depot. Ducks, geese, ruffed grouse, woodcock, snipe. Shooting
ounds, Riley's Lake and Cuyahoga River. Reached via Cleveland and Pitts-
urg Railroad, twenty miles from Cleveland. Hotel and private board, $1 per

day ; boats to be hired.
Tuscarawas County—

New Philadelphia. Quail, woodcock, etc. ; fishing in the Tuscarawas River.
Reached via the Cleveland, Tuscarawas and Wheeling Railroad.
Wiliams County—

Bryan. The “big woods,” afford good deer hunting. Take the Lake Shore
and Michigan Southern Railroad. -
Wood County—

 Tontogany. In the rapids of the Maumee River, two miles from here, excel-
lent rock and black bass fishing. Take the Dayton and Michigan Railroad, dis-
tance from Toledo, twenty-two miles. Boats and boatmen on hand. Fly fishing
in May and June, after that time minnows for bait.

OREGON.

The State of Oregon embraces an area of 95,274 square
miles, and is the least populated territory in the United States, the
138 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

population being confined almost exclusively to the Willamette
Valley. The Cascade Mountains, in the centre, divide the State
and with other ranges give to the surface distinctively a mountain-
ous character. Deep cafions, snow-capped mountains and rapid
dashing streams are the striking physical features of Oregon. The
game of the Pacific slope is found in abundance through the
State: grizzly and black bears, panthers, wild cats, grey wolves,
coyotes, mountain sheep, elk, black-tail deer, antelope, swans,
geese, brant, and other varieties of animals and birds. The rivers
and streams abound in salmon, cod, halibut, sturgeon, herring,
smelts, etc.. and these fisheries constitute one of the most import-
ant industries of the State.

Clatsop County—
Astoria, Clatsop Beach isa favorite summer resort. The game comprises
deer, elk, black bears, grouse, doves and quail. Reached via the Pacific Coast

line of steamers from San Francisco. For other routes see Jacksonville, Jackson
County. Board at the hotel $15 per week,

Jackson County—

Facksonville. Inthe mountains are deer, bears, elk, and other game, rabbits
in the fields, and fine trouting in the streams. A favorite resort for Jacksonville
people is Volcano Lake in the Cascade Mountains. :

o this part of Oregon there are three routes. The first is to leave the cars at
Kelton, Utah, and take the stage through the artemisia plains of Idaho, and the
bunch-grass plateaus of Washington ‘lerritory ; the next is to go by rail to San
Francisco, thence take the steamer north ; and the third is to pass through Cali-
fornia overland by stage and rail, and enter Oregon from the south. The former
is the most tedious; the next the most comfortable, and the third the most
interesting.

Josephine County—

Grove Creek. Bears, deer and panthers numerous; mountain trout. Fifty-
four miles from Roseburg, the southern terminus of the Oregon and California
Railroad. Daily stage connection. Board $7 per week. Mountainous country.

Union County—

La Grande. Bears, deer, elk, mountain sheep, jack rabbits, geese, ducks, sage
hens ; pinnated and ruffed grouse ; salmon, mountain trout. La Grande is four
hundred miles from Kelton, on the Central Pacific Railroad. Board 75 cents to
$1. A valley surrounded by undulating prairies, and heavily timbered moun-
tains.

PENNSYLVANIA.

This State, embracing an area of 43,000 square miles, presents
a great variety of surface, The eastern and central parts are tra-
versed by parallel ranges of the Appalachian Chain which here at-
tains a width of two hundred miles. The western sections of the
State are broken and hilly. The mountain regions are covered by
extensive forest lands which are the abode of much large game, and
where are to be found some of the most picturesque trouting streams
inthe world, The natural attractions of these regions, the numerous
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 139

and well appointed railroads and highways, rendering them easy
of access from the great cities, and the comfortable accommoda-
tions usually found in summer, all conspire to place the mountain
counties of Pennsylvania among the most popular sportsmen’s
resorts of the Middle States.

Allegheny Cowunty—

Clinton. Atthe junction of Conequenessing Creek and Beaver Creek near
Clinton, is a good hotel for sportsmen. Quail, praise and_ squirrels are there
found. On the Erie and Pittsburg and the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne and Chicago
Railroads.

Armstrong County—
Leechburgh. uail, partridge, squirrels; bass, pike. Reached via the Penn-

sylvania Railroad. Board $1 per day, $5 per week ; teams $5 per day.
Oakland, Good trout fishing. Reached same as Henryville, above.

Beaver County—

New Brighton, Woodcock and ruffed grouse. Reached via the Pittsburg,
Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad.

Baden. Grey squirrels, hares and partridges, especially abundant in the
vicinity of Raccoon Creek. Reached via the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne and Chi-
cago Railroad.

Bedford County—

Bedford. Deer, wild turkeys, ruffed perotse quail, woodcock, trout, black
bass. Reached via the Pennsylvania, or Huntingdon and Broad Top Railroads.
Hotels. Cuuntry mountainous.

Woodbury. ood snipe shooting on the meadows.

Hopewell, Grouse and pheasants. Take the Pennsylvania Railroad to Hunt-
ingdon, thence via the Huntingdon and Broad Top Road.

Berks County—

Hamburg. Rabbits, wild pigeons, turkeys, pheasants, partridges, quail, etc.,
afford good shooting. Hamburg is on the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad.

Reading. Black bass fishing in the Delaware from here to Manayunk, espe-
cially good at Flat Rock Dam.

Algany. Blue Mountain is an excellent hunting ground for wildcats, deer,
foxes and grouse.

Blair County—

Altoona is at the base of the Alleghany Mountains. Bears, deer, wild turkeys,
pigeons, partridges, squirrels, and other game are found in the mountains, while
the streams abound in trout. Reached via the Pennsylvania Railroad. There
are good hotels $2 to $3.50; guides $2 to $3. The Bells Gap Run, and Kittan-
ning Point are favorite camping grounds.

Williamsburgh. Bear, deer, wild turkey, partridge, woodcock, squirts 3
trout, pike and black bass. Reached via the Pennsylvania Railroad. Hotel $5
per week ; teams $1.50 to $2 per day. Mountainous country.

Hollidaysburgh. Black bass and ducks are quite plentiful in the old canal
reservoir. Deer, rabbits and other game in the vicinity. Reached via the Penn-
sylvania Railroad.

Tyrane. Deer, ruffed grouse, quail and woodcock. Six miles out on the Clear-
field Railroad is the best locality for trout: Reached via the Pennsylvania Rail-
toad. The City Hotel $1,50 per day, private board $5 per week ; guides $1.50 to
$2 per day. The country mountainous and well suited to camping out.

At Munson’s Cove, fifteen miles south of the Martinsburg branch of the Penn-
sylvania Railroad, are found partridges, pheasants and woodcock.

Bradford County—
Towanda. Good quail and grouse shooting, Take the Lehigh Valley Road.
Bucks County—

Riegelsville. Excellent black bass oe in the Delaware. Reached by the
New feresy Central Railroad to Easton, and thence eight miles down the Belvi-
140 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

dere-Delaware Railroad, or by the Pennsylvania Railroad to
up On Belyidere-Delavare Ruilroad. * a encased MENGE
_ Quakertown. abbits, squirrels, pheasants, partridges, woodcock. Reached
via the North Pennsylvania, or the Divebume. Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad,
_ Sellersvilde, Quail, ruffed grouse, woodcock. The country is directly in the
line of the migratory woodcock. Take the North Pennsylvania, a ride o tuirty-
one miles from Philadelphia.
Mount Pleasant. See Mount Pleasant, New Jersey.
New Hope. Black bass fishing in the Delaware River.

Butler County—

Butler. Wild ducks, geese, partridges, quail, squirrels and black bass
Reached_via the Pennsylvania Railroad. Board $1 to $2 per d 5 t ¢
week. Country hilly and rolling. - Sp em

Cambria County—

Conemaugh. Ducks are abundant in season. Reached via the Pennsylvania
Railroad,

Ebensburgh. Panthers, wildcats, bears, deer, foxes ; turkeys, ruffed grouse ;
trout. Reached via the Ebensburg branch of Pennsylvania ailroad. Hotels
and private board, so cents to $2. Wountaidous country.

Cameron County—

Emporium, Trout in Potter, McKean, Cameron and Clinton Counties are
found in fair quantity in the small tributaries of the large streams, such as Pine,
Kettle and Driftwood Creeks, which are near the head waters of the Sinnamaho-
ning River. Emporium is a good point to start from ; the route is by the Philadel-
phia and Erie Railroad. These counties are the best in the State for hunting and

shing. Hotel board, $2; guides $1.50, and found; teams $3 to $5. Provide
camping outfit. The country is hilly.

Sinnamahoning. Deer, bears, foxes, wolves, grouse, with trout fishing.
Reached via the Philadelphia and Erie Railroad. A comfortable hotel is kept by
J. M. Shaffer, $1.50. A fine pack of hounds, with guide, teams etc., can here be
found, $5 per day. The country is broken into narrow defiles and steep ridges,
and the prevailing mode of deer hunting is to drive with dogs.

Carbon County—

Penn Haven. Stony Creek, accessible from this point, is a famous trouting
stream. Take the Lehigh Valley Railroad. In Carbon, Luzerne and Sullivan
Counties are extensive forests of hemlock, spruce and pine in which deer, bear, etc.,
are still found in large numbers. The swamps and lakes, of which there are many,
afford good sport. uffed grouse, quail, etc., are quite plenty.

Centre County—

Philipshurgh, among the Alleghany Mountains, is a good centre for bear ay’
deer hunting and trout fishing. Reached via the Pennsylvania, and Alleghe
Valley Railroads. Hotel, $2; guides $2. Provide camping outfit.

Bellefonte. Deer, ruffed grouse; trout. Reached via the Pennsylvania Rail-
road. Board at hotel or private house, $2.50 per week, The Seven Mountains
and other well known hunting and fishing resorts are easily accessible.

Chester County—
Phenixville. Good black bass fishing. Reached via the Reading Railroad.
Downingtown. Ruffed grouse, quail, woodcock, trout. Reached via_the
Pennsylvania Railroad. Hotels $2; private board $1.50; teams $3 to $4. Hilly
country.

Clearfield County—-

Curwinsville. Black bass are caught in the river. The Susquehanna River
bottoms are good grounds for deer.

Clearfield. Deer, an occasional bear, ruffed grouse, quail, trout in the moun-
tain streams, and black bass in Clearfield Creek. Reached via the Pennsylvania
Railroad. Board at the hotels $a to $3, guides at reasonable rates, and log lodges
tor sportsmen in the hunting and fishing regions.
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. I4t

Clinton County—

Lock Haven, among the Alleghenies, is a summer resort much frequented for
its scenery and the fine fishing and shooting found in the neighborhood. In all
the streams to the northwest trout are plenty. Reached via the Philadelphia and
Erie Railroad. Good summer hotels.

Hyner and Renovo, on the Philadelphia and Erie Division of the Pennsylvania
Railroad, are in the midst of the great pine forest regions of Northern Pennsyl-
vania. The woods all about abound in game, the streams in brook trout and
other varieties. The Susquehanna alone has thirty-one varieties. Near Hyner
is qeete ee Town, which has the wildest, crookedest stream of the same
name. ettle Creek is another very beautiful and romantic stream. The Short
Bend on this stream is a lovely spot, not far from where the Susquehanna turns
around the corner of a mountain. If you follow any one of these streams into the
forest you will have ample use for both rod and gun. You can return to Renovo
by a little branch of Kettle Creek, or, you may follow the winding of this favorite
stream up past Beaver’s Dam, Spicewood River, Trout Fork, and Ox Bow Bend,
to Cross Fork P. O., and return by Paddy's Run through Tamarach Swamp in
almost a direct line to Renovo. The whole surface in this vicinity is deeply
seamed with narrow valleys and ravines spreading in every direction, and mark-
ing out the innumerable water-courses. Steep walls of massive rock rise up to
lofty heights, supporting the broad table-land, which is crowned with mountains
of dense forests, and stretches far out toward the sea into five points, called the
Finger Mountains, of which Mahoopany, Tonawanda, and Blossburg are the
most important.

Renovo is much visited in summer by sportsmen and pleasure seekers. There
are good hotels and other accommodations here.

oung Woman’s Town. Excellent trout fishing in the neighboring creeks,
with game in the woods. Take the Philadelphia and Erie Division of the Penn-
sylvania Railroad. Guides are necessary and can be obtained.

Columbian County—

Bloomsburgh. There is a good locality about twenty miles from Bloomsburgh,
and withio four miles of Rickett’s Long Pond Hotel, with board in private family
at $7 per week. Bloomsburgh is reached by Philadelphia and Reading Rail-
road or Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. Address John Gibbs,
Bloomsburgh.

Crawford County— -

Evansburgh. Conneaut Lake contains fine black bass. Reached via the
Atlantic and Great Western Railroad, or via the Erie and Pittsburg road to
Transfer Junction, thence carriage two miles. Accommodations will be found at
the Lake Ehouse, or go to old Phil Miller’s; board $2. .

Atlantic. Grouse, quail, rabbits, and other game. Reached via the Atlantic
and Great Western Railroad.

Centreville. The Slippery Rock waters, are famed for the abundance of pike
found there. The stream for ten miles is one succession of dams, all of them
broad and deep. There are many ducks and geese, and in the woods are squir-
rels, hares and all varieties of small game. The route is via the Atlantic and
Great Western Road to Shenango Junction, thence via the Shenango and Alle-
ghany Road to Centerville Station, twenty-five miles. Sportsmen will find the
abe accommodations with Mr. John Keuster, whose house is three miles trom
the depot.

Cumberland County—
Newville, Excellent trout fishing all around here. Reached via the Cumber-
land Valley Railroad. Good hotels. ‘ :
Shippensburgh. Wild turkeys on the North Mountain. Reached via the
Cumberland Valley Railroad, forty-one miles from Harrisburg.

Dauphin County—

_ Dauphin, Excellent bass fishing in the Susquehanna is found all along the
river, from Dauphin to Clark’s Ferry. Dauphin is on the Philadelphia and
Reading, the Northern Central, and the Pennsylvania Railroads. : .

Middletown. Ducks, partridges, quail, squirrels ; black bass, Reached via
the Pennsylvania Railroad. Hotels $1.50 to $2; boats and boatmen $1.50.

Country hilly and mountainous. Fine place for bass is Codéin's Station, and for
small game Hidésdale, Indiana County, and Conewago, Lancaster County.
142 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

Harrisburgh. Deer hunting in the vicinity of Lykens, Williamstown, and
Grotz, Peters, Berry, and Short Mountains, and EP the Juniata in the Black Log,
Tuscarora and Bald Eagle Mountains. Cox’s Island in the Susquehanna, four
miles, is a famous resort for duck slayers during the fall and winter, and for shad-
seining in the spring. Wild turkeys are found in the valley skirting the Kittatinny,
Roberts, and Peters mountains—in Fishing Creek, Stony Creek, Clark’s and
Powell's Valley.

Quail and woodcock are found within a few miles of the city. The farmers
are pretty strict, however, and forbid their killing, except for a money
equivalent.

York Hills, eight miles below the city, is a fair locality for rabbits, grey squir-
rels and woodcock. Up the river, on the flats opposite McCormick's Island,
plover of the yellow leaged variety are found in great numbers along the marshy
grounds on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and Northern Virginia.

Jack-snipe may occasionally be shot along the river. Their feed'ng grounds
being principally along the marshy creeks and rivulets emptying into the river,
and on the edges of the grassy flats when the river is low. Swans, wild geese,
and wild ducks are shot above the city, Canvas-backs, red-necks, black, mal-

ards, etc.

Black bass in the Susquehanna and its tributaries. Blue Mountain is a great
resort for shooting grey and red squtirels, foxes, minks and weasels. A few

artridges are found there. Reached via the Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia and
eading, and other railroads.

Delaware County—

Chester, the Lazaretto and Marcus Hook, are much visited by Philadelphia
sportsmen, for their excellent rail and reed biid shooting These places are on
the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad. The Lazaretto is eleven
miles from Philadelphia. Chester, fourteen miles has several hotels, and at Mar-
cus Hook, or Linwood Station, as it is now called, accommodations may be
secured.

In order to have the best show for a shoot, it will be better to secure a pusher,
which can always be done by application at the gun stores of Mr. John Krider,
corner of Second and Walnut streets, or Mr. Abraham Peterman, in Dock Street
above Walnut, Philadelphia. As this kind of shooting is done altogetner from a
clean, dry boat, the shooter requires no special change of clothing.

By tating the through Washington train in the afternoon from New York,
sportsmen can be landed at Chester before midnight, and by looking at any

hiladelphia paper can learn at what time it will be high water on the days they
wish to shoot, always rating the tide forty minutes earlier at Lazaretto than at
the navy yard at Philadelphia, where the record is made.

English snipe shooting can be had at these points, and one can alternate his
sport by taking one day with the rail, and the next with snipe. At Marcus Hook,
good ducking is to be had in season.

Lik County—

Ridgway. Deer are very abundant; one of the best shooting grounds in the
country; bears, wolves, panthers, foxes; trout in Clarion River and tributa
streams. Reached via the Philadelphia and Erie Division of the Pennsylvania
Railroad. Hotel $5.50 per week; guides $2 per day; teams $3.50. Provide camp-
ing outfit. Mountainous country. ; . ; :

Trout, Straight’s and Clarion Creeks, with all the tributaries of the Clarion
River, in this county, are good fishing streams. : .

Wilcox. Deer, ruffed grouse; trout in the west branch of the Clarion River.
Reached via the Philadelphia and Erie Railroad. Board $1 to $3; teams $53
guides procured at moderate rates. Country hilly. . ; 4 ;

St. Mary's, Deer, ruffed grouse; trout. Reached via Philadelphia and Erie
Railroad. “Hotels, $2.50 per day.

Erie County—

Erie. The harbor affords excellent fishing in summer, Presque Island which
forms it being full of small lakes and ponds in which the fish spawn. The sum-
mer sport comprises the mascalonge, pike, black bass. Perch and herring are
caught in winter. In May and June a fish called blue pickerel is caught in
thousands with hand lines from a boat anchoréd over what are called the Banks.

They run from fifteen to twenty inches in length, and are very greedy, taking the 1111111
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 143

bait almost as soon as it strikes the water. In the spring and fall ducks are
plenty, and snipe, plover, rabbits, etc., in abundance.

Fayette County—

Brownsville is reached from Connellsville, and the game is essentially the
same. There is a hotel where sportsmen will find comfortable quarters.

Uniontown, Good quail and grouse shooting. Stop at Frey's‘ McClelland
House.” Guides and dogs can be obtained. Reached via Pittsburg, Washington
and Baltimore Railroad to Connellsville, thence by the Uniontown Branch road.

Connellsvitle. Chestnut Ridge and Indian Creek Valley and Laurel Hill,
abound in bears, deer, foxes, squirrels, wild turkeys, pheasants and quail. The
rolling country west of the town is fine hunting ground for small game. Trout,

ike, salmon, bass, white perch and sunfish are caught in the neighborhood.
Prout are found in all the streams of the county. tributary to the Monongahela
River. Reached via the Pennsylvania or Philadelphia, Wilmington and Balti-
more Railroad. Hotels and liveries. Guides unnecessary ; can be secured for
$1 or $1.50 per day.

Waterford Lake, near Waterford, is an excellent place for large pike fishing.
ate a here are of great size and afford rare sport. Take the Pennsylvania
Railroad.

Albion. Pickerel fishing in the Conneaut. Reached via the Erie and Pitts-
burg Railroad.

Forest County—
Tionesta. In neighboring woods deer are abundant, and there is excellent
uel shooting in the vicinity. Reached via the Pittsburg, Titusville and Buffalo
ailroad.

Franklin County.—
Chambersburg. Bass fishing in the Conococheague Creek. Reached via the
Cumberland Valley Railroad. There are good hotels.

Fulton County—

Bear and deer hunting are good in the vicinity. Reached via_ private convey-
ance, or tramp from Chambersburg, on the Cumberland Valley Railroad.

Greene County—
Waynesburg is an excellent ground for ruffed grouse and Wilson snipe. A
farming town on the Waynesburg Branch of the Pittsburg and Reading Railroad,

Huntingdon County—

Mount Union. Bears, deer, wild turkeys; trout, black bass and pike.
Reached via the Pennsylvania Railroad. otels, $2. Country mountainous,
with suitable grounds for camping.

Huntingdon. Bears and deer, neither abundant; plenty of turkeys, par~
tridges, squirrels and other small game; good black bass fishing. Reached via
the Pennsylvania Railroad. Hotel $2, private board $1.50.

Indiana County—

Blairsville. Wild turkeys, aes ducks, quail, partridges, squirrels ; pike,
salmon, white and black bass. eached via the Pennsylvania Railroad. otel
$1.25 to $2; teams $3 to $4. Hilly country.

Saltsburgh. Quail, partridges, squirrels ; pike and perch. Reached via the
Pennsylvania Railroad. Hotel $1.50 to $2; teams $2.50 to $3.50. Hilly country.

Jefferson County— |
Coolspring. The waters here have been stocked with trout, and will in time
furnish good sport. Reached via the Shenandoah and Allegheny Railroad.

Juniata County—

Mifflintown. Bear hunting on Shade Mountain ; deer, partridge, small game,
and trout afford abundant sport in the vicinity. Mifflintown, on the Juniata
River, is opposite Perrysville, a station on the Pennsylvania Railroad. Hotels $2 ;
teams $3.

Lancaster County—
Columbia. Wild ducks, partridges; bass and salmon, Reached via the Penn-
144 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

sylvania Railroad. The Continental and other hotels, with boarding houses,
$1.50. Boats, etc., at reasonable rates.

Lehigh County—

Allentown. The streams in the vicinity have been stocked with trout. Allen-
we sen the New Jersey Central, Lehigh Valley and Philadelphia and Reading

Luzerne County—

Wilkesbarre is situated in a fine hunting and fishing region. The mountain
streams are full of speckled trout; twelve miles northwest is Harvey's Lake,
abounding in black bass. Reached via the New Jersey Central, the Lehigh Val-
ley, or Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroads. The hotels are the

yoming Valley, $3.50; $14 to $20 per week, Luzerne House, Exchange, and at
the lake, the Lake House.

Whitehaven, Trout fishing good in the vicinity. Reached via the Lehigh
Valley Railroad. The Whitehaven Hotel furnishes good accommodations.

Carbondale, Six miles northwest is a mountain loch, Crystal Lake, which
contains black bass. There isa summer hotel on the shore of the lake, with a

leasure steamer and small boats. To reach Carbondale take the Delaware and
udson, or the Erie Railroad.

Lycoming County—-

Ralston. Bears, deer, squirrels, woodcock, ruffed grouse. There is excellent
trout fishing in Roaring Branch, Pleasant Stream, and the Winslow, tributaries
of the Lycoming Creek, and in the main stream itself from Ralston to Field's ;
the fish running in weight from one-fourth of a pound to two pounds. Reache
via the Northern Central Railroad. Comfortable accommodations at the Ralston
and Meyer’s hotels, where teams and guides may be procured.

Lewis’ Lake, a growing summer resort, is twenty miles from Muncy, reached
by stage. The lake, whica covers three hundred and fifty acres, contains brook
and lake trout, eels, catfish and other species. All the streams in the neighbor-
hood furnish excellent brook trout fishing, and the duck shooting is always good.

Bodinesville, on the Northern Central Railroad is an excellent centre for shoot-
ing and trout fishing in the Lycoming Creek and its tributaries. Tim Gray’s Run,
Rock Run, Pleasant Stream and other fishing waters are easily accessible. Ac-

* commodations are furnished at Bodinesville, in private family, S150 ; teams, etc.
At Rock Run isa large hotel, the summer resort of Baltimore, ashington and
Philadelphia pleasure seekers. The fish of these streams are brisk and gamy, but
a special knowledge of their haunts, and a peculiar aptitude for alluring them, is
essential to the angler who purposes a visit to Lycoming Creek, and even then
he is not likely to get a large basket.

Muncy. Deer, bears, ruffed grouse, woodcock ; and splendid trout fishing.
Reached via the Pennsylvania, and the Philadelphia and Reading Railroads.
The ponds of the Muncy Trout Company are situated in the Muncy Valley, in
sight of Muncy and Hughesville, and fifteen miles from the city of Williamsport.
There are fitteen acres of forest and a half mile of stream and ponds. As to lodg-
ings, you can take it a/ _/resco in a tent or at the hotel. . :

Trout Run, Good trout fishing and woodcock shooting. Reached via the
Northern Central Railroad, fifteen miles from Williamsport. The country is rug-
ged and densely wooded. ¥ . f

Pine Creek. There are good trouting streams in the locality. The route is
via the Allegheny Valley Railroad.

McKean County—

Kane. Deer, bears, wildcats, rabbits ; pheasants, woodcock, ruffed grouse ;
trout. Kane is among the Allegheny Mountains at the highest point of the Phil-
adelphia and Reading Railroad. The Thomson House, $1.50 to $2. Guides
easily secured at reasonable rates. a

Ludlow. Good trout streams in the vicinity. Reached via the Pennsylvania
Railroad.

Mercer County—

Trout Island, situated in the Chenango River, about six miles from Sharon,
and ten miles from Greenville, is a favorite resort for ducks, woodcock, snipe, etc.
It is owned by a club; but there is equally good shooting in the vicinity that is
not preserved, as well as good trout fishing. Reached by the Atlantic and Great
 

 

« GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 145

Western, and the Erie and Pittsburg Railroad to Greenville. Pike and black
bass fishing is good in the neighborhood of Greenville. A good hote! is kept here
by Fred Grubbe.

Mifflin County—

Lewistown. From Lewistown, the Kishacoquillas Valley, whose streams
abound in trout, and on the Blue Ridge to the south, is a great unbroken wilder-
ness, haunted by deer, bears, and wild turkeys. Black bass fishing is good in the
neighborhood. Reached via the Pennsylvania Railroad. National Hotel and
Coleman’s. Board $1.50 to $2. Boats 25 to 50 cents; teams $2 to $3.

Monroe County—

Tobyhanna Mills. Good trout fishing. Reached via the Delaware, Lacka-
wanna and Western Railroad, a short distance beyond the Water Gap. Hotel
accommodations at Case's, where teams, etc., can be obtained. The upper part
of the Tobyhanna is full of trout, but difficult to wade; further down more even,
and affords good fly fishing.

2 La Good trout fishing. Reached via the Lackawanna and Western
ailroad.

Delaware Water Gag. In the vicinity are Hornbeck’s, Dingman’s, and
Adams’ Creeks, all trout streams, while Mill, Tom’s and Cole Creeks, all full of
fish, are accessible. Woodcock and wild fowl shooting on the Delaware. Reached
via the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. From New York, via
Morris and Essex Road ; three and one-half hours; fare $2.55. Several hotels,
$10 to $20 per week.

Stroudsburgh. Good trout fishing in the Broadhead Creeks, twenty-five miles
from the Delaware Water Gap. Reached via the Delaware, Lackawanna and
Western Railroad. :

Montgomery County—

Norristown. Black bass fishing in the Schuylkill. The best localities are in
the swift waters below Rawlings, Catfish, Norristown, Conshohocken and Flat
Rock Dam. The principal bait used is the live minnow (shiner), although
worms, clams and cheese are successfully used. Norristown is on the Philadel-
phia and Reading Railroad. There are two hotels.

Perkiomenville. Good black bass fishing in the Schuylkill, at Paulin’s Bridge.
Reached as above, the Reading Railroad.

2 on Wissahickon Creek are a few quail and ruffed grouse ; in the vicinity of
enllyn. F

Pottstown. Good black bass fishing. Reached via the Reading Ruilroad.

Eagleville. Deer, partridges, squirrels and other small game ; trout and pike.
Reached via the Pennsylvania Railroad. Hotel $1.50, $5 per week; guides $2 ;
teams $4. Parties hunting will find convenient stations at the lumbermen’s
camps, which are numerous in the forests.

Northampton County—

Easton. Good bass fishing in the Delaware. Woodcock, ruffed grouse, quail,
and deer shooting. Reached via the Central Railroad ot New Jersey, the Dela-
ware, Lackawanna and Western, or the Lehigh Valley Railroads.

Northumberland County—

Sunbury, on the Susquehanna River. Deer, and smaller game, bass, salmon
and trout. Reached via the Northern Central, or the Philadelphia and Erie
Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Hotels; Central House, City Hotel, and
hoarding houses, $1.50 to $2.50. Teams $3.50 to $6. Boats, etc.

Perry County—

Newfort, on the Juniata, forty miles above Harrisburg, is a favorite resort for
bass fishermen. Wild turkeys are found in the vicinity. Reached via the Cen-
tral of New Jersey and the Lehigh Valley Railroads. Board $2; teams $3.

Duncannon. A good centre tor quail, ruffed grouse, wild turkeys and rabbits.
Wolves and deer are seen rarely. Reached via the Pennsylvania Railroad.

. Philadelphia County— rr
Philadelphia, In the marshes both above and below the city is good rail and
. Teed bird shooting inseason. Grey squirrels are found in the woods in the vicinity
f the city. Rocktish, catfish and perch are caught in the Delaware within ten
miles, Gloucester Point and Tacony are good points. Shad and sturgeon roe,
nd clams for bait.

7
146 GAME AND FISH RESORTS. :

Bridesburg. Fine rail and reed bird shooting. Reached via the New York
Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad.

Pike County—

Dingman’s Ferry, on the Delaware River. Bears, deer, squirrels, ruffed
Bouse quail, woodcock ; trout, pickerel and black bass. Reached via the Erie
ailroad to Port Jervis, thence stage, fare $x. Dr. P. F. Fulmer’s High Falls
Hotel ; board $2.50 ; $10 per week ; guides $3; boats free to guests ; teams $3 to
$6. Adams Creek ‘one and one-half miles distant. Bushkill, thirteen miles,
Water Gap twenty-five miles. See Milford.

Lackawaxen. In the vicinity deer, hares, ducks, snipe, ruffed grouse; trout,
bass, lake trout and pickerel. In the Lackawaxen region Lord’s Brook, Panther
Brook, Taylor Creek and other streams afford fine trouting. Reached via the
Erie Railroad. Williamson's Hotel is a good central station for the sportsman.
Board $8 per week. Wagons and carriages can be hired.

Masthope. Deer are tound in Cranberry Marsh. Grasse’s and Panther
Swamps, and other haunts known to the guides.

Milford. Woodcock, ruffed grouse, partridges, quail and squirrel shooting is
excellent in the vicinity. Within easy reach of ilford—-many of them but a ae
minutes’ walk—are numerous trout streams which furnish in season abundant
sport to the angler. These streams all thread the most picturesque glens and
glades, and some of them abound in scenery unequalled even among the Adi-
rondacks. Notable among these streams is the Adams Brook, seven miles below
Milford. The Sawkill and the Vandermarck, both running through Milford ; the
Raymondskill, three miles below the village ; the Coneshaugh, four miles below ;
Ryder's Brook, three miles above, on the Port Jervis road; the Capow, two
miles west of Mjlford, and dozens of smaller streams are all within easy reach,
and all afford good fishing. Besides the trout streams, the Delaware hiver con-
tains black bass, and many other varieties of the finny tribe ; in every direction
lie inland lakes for which Pike and adjoining counties are noted, all stocked with
fine game fish, and all easy of access. Excursions to these lakes, which are from
five to fifteen miles distant, are among the popular recreations of the summer
visitors to Milford. Guides to all of these streams and lakes are readily obtained
in the village. There are numerous good hotels, all furnishing good accommoda-
tions, $10 to $14 per week, with boarding and lodging houses. The Wells’ hotel
is resorted to by sportsmen and has every facility for shooting and _ fishing.
Guides, dogs, etc., are alwaysto be had. The route is via the Erie Railroad to
Port Jervis, thence seven miles of staging. :

Blooming Grove Park is an extensive game preserve owned by the Bloomin,
Grove Park Association who havea club house on the premises. To hunt an
fish here permission must be obtained from the proper authorities. The game
includes bears, deer, grey squirrels, rabbits, etc., ducks, woodcock, quail, and
other birds. The fishing is for black bass, perch, pickerel and catfish. ‘The route
is via the Erie Railroad to Lackawaxen, thence stage or private conveyance.
Excursion tickets to Lackawaxen are issued from the Erie office, No. gor Broad-
way, New York. For bear hunting go to Westbrook’s Tavern, where old hunters
are always to be found who will act as guides. The Westbrook Meadows»
which are just on the confines of Blooming Grove Park, are widely known as
a capital ground for July woodcock. :

Shohola, one hundred and eight miles from New York, is beautifully located
among the mountains, overlooking the Delaware. It is in the heart of the famous
hunting and fishing, regions of Pike and Sullivan Counties, There is but one
hotel, the Shohola House, kept by George Layman. It is a new and commodious
hotel, near the depot. Detailed information as to the locality, and terms, may be
obtained by addressing the proprietor. Take the Erie Railroad. :

Porter's Lake. The quickest and best way for sportsmen to go to this lake
from Philadelphia is to take the cars from the Kensington Depot and go to
Stroudsburg. An excursion ticket to that place will cost $4.85. They can geta
wagon at Stroudsburg from W. K. Henry, who keeps a livery stable, and will
take chem to the lake for $6. It will take about six hours ride to get there, or, if
they write to the proprietor of the hotel, Adam Rinehart, he will send his team to
meet them. In ihe faice will be found pickerel, catfish, and perch. The black
bass were only put in the lake in August, 1874. There are plenty of trout streams
in the neighborhood, particularly the Bushkill Creek, the Sawkill Creek, Middle
Branch and Indian Calvin Branch (branches of the Bushkill), which streams are
all within a short distance of Porter’s Lake. Good board may be obtained at the
hotel for $7 per week which will entitle one to the use of the boats, whereas
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 147

should sportsmen camp out and have no boats, it is very doubtful if they can
catch any large fish, for these are to be caught only at certain places iu the lake
which must be fished from a boat.

High Knob, nine miles from Porter’s Lake, reached via cars to Oakland, and
thence a team, is an excellent camping ground with splendid black bass fishing
near athand. <A boat is necessary. he lake may be reached from New York
via the Erie Road to Hawley, thence wagon.

The Sawkit? Creeé is a favorite stream with anglers, among whom it has
gained the sobriquet of the ‘“‘ Old Reliable.” A good basket will reward the
angler in its waters. Reached from Milford and other points.

Bushkill, The Bushkills, Saw Creek, Pond Run, Tom’s Creek, and other
streams are famous for their trout. Go to Bushkill, reached by carriage road
from Stroudsburg on the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad.

Potter County—

Coudersport. Bears, deer, rabbits, squirrels, quail, ruffed grouse, partridges,
woodcock and ducks. The streams and brooks swarm with fish, especially trout.
The trip to this region can be made in less time, and with much less expense, than
to any other hunting districts.

The nearest and shortest route from the West is via_the Buffalo, New York
and Philadelphia Railway. The fare from Buffalo to Port Alleghany is $2.98.
Thence via stage. Reached from New York City via Philadelphia and Erie
Railroad to Emporium. Provide camping equipments.

Wharton Milis. The East and First Forks of the Sinnemahoning here unite.
About a mile below the junction is an old mill, and under the dam a deep pool
where trout are always to be taken. Both the Forks afford excellent fly iching
with plenty of room to cast, while for bait fishing there are many waters within
an hour’s drive from Wharton, noticeably Nelson and Freeman’s Runs, Birch
Creek, and the headwaters of East Fork. The route to Wharton is via the Penn-
sylvania Railroad to Sinnemahoning Station, fare $8.35; time twelve hours.
Stages run thence Mondays and Thursdays, fare $1.50. On other daysa team
may be hired for $5. Good and cheap accommodations at M. M. T. Siebert’s,
whose post office address is, Care F. Welton, Sinnemahoning. Guides $1. An
india-rubber stocking, with stout brogans will be found very serviceable here,
and a small landing net will often come into play.

Schuylkill County—

Pottsville. This county abounds in wild turkeys, partridges, pheasants, rab-
bits, squirrels, geese, ducks and deer. The mountain streams are full of trout,
and in some of the waters are large sized catfish, chubs and eels. Reached via
the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad.

Somerset County—

Confluence, Somerset and Ursina. Yor the game see Connellsville, Fayette
County. There are good hotels at all these places, which are reached via the
Pittsburg, Western and Baltimore Railroad.

Sullivan County—

Hill's Grove is in the vicinity of some good trouting streams. Write to R.
Biddle, at that place.

Tioga County—

Mahoopany Tributaries. Take Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, or Dela-
ware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, to Bloomsburg, and then wagon to
the streams, which are within four miles of Colonel Rickett’s Long Pond Hotel.
Address John Gibbs, Bloomsburg. Good deer, ruffed grouse, and squirrel hunt-
ing in their season. Board in private family at $7 per week.

Union County—

Mifflinburgh. Deer, ruffed grouse and quail. Reached via the Philadelphia
and Erie Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Three hotels, $1.50 to $2.

Warren County—
Warren. Deer shooting, and trouting. Reached via the Philadelphia and
Erie Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Hotel, $1.50 to $2.
Grand Valley. Deer, ruffed grouse, and other small game. Reached via the
148 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

Dunkirk, Allegheny Valley and Pittsburg Railroad. Hotel $1; teams $3. The
surrounding country is hilly.
Kinzua, Deer shooting along the Kinzua Creek.

Washington County—

Good quail and fair ruffed grouse shooting throughout the county along the
-nes of the Baltimore and Ohio, and the Pittsburg, Cincinnati and St. Louis Rail-
oads. Inquire of the train conductors as to best localities.

Wayne County—

Waymart is a good central point, with hotel accommodation, Bass, pickerel
and trout in abundance. Reached by Erie Railroad to Honesdale, or Carbon-
dale, thence sage or hired conveyance.

Honesdale. hite’s Hollow, twelve miles distant, abounds in ruffed grouse
and some large game. Panthers are occasionally seen. The country is hilly and
densely wooded, Reached via Erie Railroad.

Wyoming County—

Forkston. Excellent trout fishing in the Mahoopany River. Hotel accom-
modations will be found, with guides, teams, etc.

Lovelton. Black and grey squirrels are abundant in the vicinity. Deer, bears,
ruffed grouse, etc. Trout in the streams.

Mahoofany. There is a good hunting ground on Muncey Creek and the
Loyalsock, Mahoopany, etc. Colonel Ricket keeps a sporting house at Lon,
Pond, on the old Berwick turnpike leading to Susquehanna River, and throug:
to Dushore, the present terminus of the Sullivan and Erie Railroad. Long Pond
is the ver heart of the wilderness, and can be easily reached from New York or
Philadelphia by taking Lehigh Valley Railroad to Mahoopany Station, and thence
by stage and rail. .

 

RHODE ISLAND.

Rhode Island, the smallest State in the Union, has an area of
1,046 square miles, with a population of 352,791. The surface of
the State is generally hilly and rough, though without any moun-
tains. The Narragansett Bay, with numerous rivers and tributaries,
extends into the State thirty miles, and is thickly studded with isl-
ands. The game of the State is confined, in the interior, to the
smaller varieties of birds, and on the coast comprises all the wild
fowl and bay birds common to the New England States. One
hundred and twelve kinds of fish are found on the Rhode Island
coast. The fishing and shooting grounds are easily accessible by
excellent railroad and steamboat communications,

Bristol County—

Bristol, Boats, yachts and boatmen are always to be had for the fishing and
shooting found here. Ducks, snipe, plover, and other varieties of bay and shore
birds, aitord good sport, while the fishing is varied and abundant, eached via
the Providence, Warren and Bristol Railroad.

Kent County—

Greenwich, on Conesit Bay. Ducks, plover, snipe, and other bay and shore
bird shooting. Reached via Shore Line Railroad. Hotels, boats, etc.

Old Warwick, afew miles from Greenwich, across Conesit Bay, has excellent
shooting and fishing facilities. : .

Summit. Woodcock shooting may be found in the vicinity. Reached via the
Hartford, Providence and Fishkill Railroad.
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 149

Newport County—

This county is made up, for the most part, of a great number of islands, with a
strip of the mainland forming its eastern section. The waters and coasts afford
much fishing and wild fowl shoeting. The sportsman may make his headquarters
at any of the villages, and will be pretty sure to find good sport there. Where
hotel accommodations are not found, board may, as a general thing, be obtained at
private houses, and boats with boatmen are always to be secured at reasonable
rates.

Newport. Snipe, yellow legs, dowitchers, plover, brant, teal, wood ducks,
black ducks, greenheads, and other birds dfoed excellent sport. Bateman’s
Point is much visited by gunners. Every facility for fishing will be found at
Newport, and the fish caught here are of great variety, embracing most of those
common to the Rhode Island coast. Sachnest Point at the southeastern extrem-
ity of the island, is the favorite fishing ground. Newport has railroad connec-
tions, via Old Colony, with Boston, or via Shore Line, with New York; and
steamboats run to New York, Fall River, Rocky Point and Providence. There
are a great number of hotels, private boarding houses, cottages, etc.

Providence County—

The northeastern part of the county, comprising the towns of Burrillville, Glou-
cester, good for quail, ruffed grouse, wild pigeons, rabbits and squirrels. Make
headquarters, either at Pascoag, reached by rail, twenty-one miles from Providence
on the Providence and Springfield Railroad, or at Chepachet, three or four miles
by stage from Oakland Station on the same road. Sneach Pond in Cumberland,
Moswansicutt Pond in North Scituate, Herring Pond and Pascoag Reservoir, in
Burrillville, are good for black bass. There is good trout fishing in Naterman’s
Pond, Burrillville. Trout are not plentitul nor large, owing to innumerable mills
and oe fishing. Onthe Branch River, a tributary of the Blackstone, are thirty-
one dams. :

Providence. Good woodcock shooting in the vicinity, with all the varieties of
shore birds, ducks, plover, snipe, etc. here are many resorts ‘in the immediate
vicinity of the city, where boats and boatmen may be secured for gunning and
fishing, The fish and game are abundant in many localities known to Providence
sportsmen. Rocky Point, reached via steamer, midway between Providence and
Newport, is one of the most popular resorts of New England, and furnishes ex-
cellent fishing. The numerous islands in the vicinity, accessible by steamer, or
hired yacht, are much visited by sportsmen, and among them success with rod
and gun is always to be found,

Washington County—

Narragansett Pier is a fashionable summer resort, reached via the Lake Shore
Line to Kingston, thence stage or carriage, nine miles; or via boat from Provi-
dence and Newport. Below the Pier is a mass of rocks, from which many fish
are caught. Bovits, boatmen, etc., may be procured for fishing in the Bay. There
are numerous fine hotels, $12 to $18 per week.

Five miles from the Pier, reached by carriage road, is Peacedale, where the
sportsman will find good quail and snipe shooting.

The road running southeast from Peacedale, leads to the Porter Place, near
which is Point Judith Pond, a long lagoon, having many islands and full of fish.

South Kingston. Worden’s Pond affords good fishing, and in the great pine
and cedar swamp here will be found a variety of shooting. Accommodations can

robably be obtained at some of the farmhouses in the vicinity. Take the Shore
ine to South Kingston. y

Watch Hill. The shooting here is for ducks, geese, curlew, sand snipe, yel-
low legs, etc., the fishing imchudes the varieties common to the sound, bluefish,
blackfish, striped bass, and others. The route is via the Shore Line to Westerly,
thence steamer down the Pawcatuck River, or from Stonington, New London
and Norwich, via steamer. There are several hotels, prices moderate. Every
facility for sport will be found here.

Block Island, reached by steamer from Stonington and eee or yacht from
Martha’s Vineyard, and other points, is a noted place for fishing. The only
variety affording much sport however, is the bluefish. There are two hotels,
with boats, boatmen, etc., on hire. .
150 GAME AND FISH RESORTS,

SOUTH CAROLINA.

South Carolina has an area of 34,000 square miles and a popu-
lation of 705,606. An outline of the physical features of the coun-
try would be found to closely resemble that already given of its
sister State, North Carolina. We here find repeated, or, more
properly, continued, the sea islands ; the sea coast, broken by nu-
merous inlets and lagoons; the low level pine and swamp lands;
back of this, the hill country gradually rising towards the West ;
and finally the mountains in the extreme western part of the State.
The game, travelling facilities, accommodations, etc., are generally
the same as those of North Carolina.

Aiken County—

Azken,a favorite watering place, much patronized by northern visitors and
invalids in winter. Its hotels will compare favorably with the majority of those
at the north. There is good shooting for snipe, quail and turkeys within easy
riding distance. Take the South Carolina Railroad.

Hamburg. Around the old and now almost deserted village of Hamburg, on
the Savannah River, directly opposite the city of Augusta, and in spite of its
propinquity, may be had good quail shooting, and an occasional deer or turkey
may be bagged up the river. At the rapids of the Savannah River, seven miles
up, there is good perch and shad fishing, both of which arc often taken with rod,
reel, and flies. Can get board in Augusta; possibly in Hamburg.

Barnwell County—

The pine forests and swamps of the county are excellent shooting grounds for
deer, wild turkeys, foxes, rabbits, squirrels, quail, woodcock, etc., with an oc-
casional wildcat, and on the rivers are to be found geese, ducks, snipe, etc.
Take the South Carolina Railroad to Williston or Blackville, and strike out from
either of these points. g

Milletiville. Good quail shooting near the town. Foxes and wildcats are
shot within a short distance. The prevailing mode of hunting in this section of
the country is from horseback. For fox hunting there are several packs of hounds
in the neighborhood.

Beaufort County—

Like all of those lying upon the coast, this county in the eastern section is low
and interspersed with much swampy land. The coast region is made up of a
system of islands with inlets, bays, straits, and channels, nearly all navigable.
Like all the rice producing lands of the State this region abounds in the common
varieties of ducks; mallards, black ducks, widgeons, pin-tails, gadwalls, teal,
shovelers, ring-necks, greater and lesser scaups, buffleheads, ruddies and mer-
gausers. In addition to these the sportsman will find all through the rice fields,
along the coast and on the islands, great numbers of white-fronted geese, jack-
curlew, black-breasted plover, godwits, willets, sanderlings, marsh hens, snipe,
rail, woodcock, quail, partridges, wild turkeys, rabbits, coons, squirrels, and
other game. Deer are abundant on the Hunting Islands, near Beaufort, and Port
Royal, either one of which is an excellent place for sportsmen to make their head-
quarters. Take steamer from New York, or Fernandina, Fla., or go via the Port
Royal Railroad, which connects at Yemassee with the Savannah and Charleston
Railroad. January and February are the best months for sport.

Charleston County— me

Charleston. The surface of much of the county near the coast is very low and
at times subject to inundation. The game found here is similar to that of the
coast region of the state generally. Ducks of all the common varieties are abun-
dant, mallards, teal, widgeons, pin-tails, shovelers, scoups, buffleheads, ruddies,
gadwalls and mergausers. Geese, snipe, plover, sanderlings, godwits, willets,
marsh hens, reed birds, etc., also abound on the coast. The fishing about the
 

  

GAME AND FISH RESORTS. ISI

city is for the common southern coast fishes ; the breakwater at Sullivan Island,
and the rocks about Fort Sumter are excellent grounds for sheepshead. By tak-
ing rail back into the country. a few hours ride will bring the sportsman to a
country where deer, foxes, wild turkeys, squirrels, etc., are found in numbers
sufficient to insure success. Charleston has rail and steamboat communication
with the northern and southern ports and all points in the interior.

Colleton County—

The description of this county agrees in all essential particulars with that of
Beaufort County. The surface is partly swampy and extensive tracts are cov-
ered with pine forests. The coast region is made up of numerous islands all
abounding in game, and the rivers and sounds between them furnishing good
fishing. Ducks, geese, snipe, plover, reed birds, woodcock, quail, etc., are
found all through the eastern portion of the county. In the woods and swamps
are deer, foxes, squirrels, coons, wild turkeys. he South Carolina, and the
Charleston and Savannah Railroads traverse the county and render accessible
some of the best regions for the sportsman. The coast shooting grounds may be
reached by yacht from Charleston or Beaufort. The hunter cannot fail of finding
abundant employment for shot gun and rifle among the sea islands of the Caro-
lina coast. The winter months are the best for sport.

Georgetown County—

The extensive rice fields on the lowlands near the coast attract great flocks of
wild fowl and other birds. Ducks in great variety, reed birds, and all the varie-
ties of bog and shore birds enumerated under Beaufort County are found here in
equal abundance. The swamps and hummock lands are generally well supplied
with deer, wild turkeys and other like game, and there one may occasionally
meet with a wildcat. Foxes and coons are abundant through the county. The
natives are as a rule well supplied with fox hounds and the stranger will find
little difficulty in securing the services of competent guides. Take steamer to
Georgetown and make that town headquarters, or go from there by boat or hired
conveyance into the interior.

Horry County—

A large portion of this county is swamp and marsh, and here are to be found
in immense quantities many varieties of wild fowl and larger game. The north-
western part of the county is traversed by the Wilmington, Columbia and Augusta
Railroad, and the eastern sections are rendered accessible by the Wallamon
River. Bucksville or Conwayboro reached by boat from Georgetown will be
found good headquarters for sport.

Richland County—

Columbia. The pine forests and swamps are the abodes of great numbers of
deer, rabbits, swamp rabbits, squirrels, coons, etc. There is excellent partrides,
woodcock and dove shooting: allard and teal duck, and geese are shot on the
Saluda River. Columbia is well supplied with railroad communications with all
the surrounding country. The Charlotte, Columbia and Augusta, the Greenville
and Columbia, the South Carolina, and the Wilmington, Columbia and Augusta
Railroads all pass through fine game countries, and on the line of any one of them
will be found convenient centres for the gunner.

TENNESSEE.

Area 45,600 square miles, population, 1,258,520, That por-
tion of the State lying east of the Cumberland Mountains, and
commonly known as East Tennessee, is traversed by numerous
mountain ridges; Middle Tennessee is generally hilly, and West
Tennessee, or the section west of the Tennessee River, is level or
gently undulating. With the exception of deer, there is little large
ame to be found in the State. Foxes are numerous and the
152 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

music of the hounds is often heard. Wild fowl are abundant in
season in many of the lagoons and rivers; the fishing is for the
most part indifferent. The gentleman stranger will find the people
of the hunting districts always hospitable, and rarely will it occur
that some one cannot be found who has the time and the inclina-
tion to serve as guide and join in the sport.

Bedford County—

_ Shelbyville. uail, black, and other varieties of ducks, furnish good shootin
in the vicinity. Reached via the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railroad.
The county is undulating and hilly.

Cooke County—
Casby Creek, a tributary of Big Pigeon River, is a good trout stream.

Davidson County—

Nashville. On the bottoms of the Cumberland River, wood ducks are quite
abundant all the way from Nashville to the forks, three hundred and forty milcs
above, especially in the month of October, when the white acorns commence fall-
ing. Quail, partridges, rabbits, wild turkeys and deer are also found in abun-
dance along the Cumberland.

Dyer County—

Reelfoot Lake. Swan, geese, mallard, teal, and other varieties of water fowl
in great abundance. Bear and deer in the vicinity. Reached by hired convey-
ance from Dyerburg or Johnsonville. Hotels, boats, etc. A dense cypress
swamp surrounds the lake.

Trimbie. Deer, wild turkeys, ducks, etc. Reached via the Paducah and
Memphis Railroad. Private board 75 cents per day.

Franklin County—

Sewanee. Black bass and black perch are caught in the Elk River. The
mountains of the country afford good deer hunting, and smaller game is found in
fair abundance.

Hamilton County—

Wauhatchie. Deer in the mountains, with quail in the neighboring fields.
Wauhatchie is a station on the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railroad, six
miles from Chattanooga.

Chattanooga. Bass fishing in the neighboring creeks, Chickamauga, twelve
miles, and others. Deer, foxes, coons and rabbits, are found on the neighboring
mountains. By taking any one of the numerous railroads radiating from the city,
the sportsman may reach excellent shooting grounds, within a few hours’ ride.

Hardin County—

Hamburg. Turkeys, ducks, geese, quail; bass, catfish, drum and buffalo
fish. Reached via Tennessee River boat, or via rail to Chickasaw, Ala., thence
stage or horseback.

Pittsburg Landing. See Hamburg.

Savannah. Ducks, geese, wild turkeys, quail, and occasionally woodcock
shooting. The fishing is for perch, trout, bream and gar pike. Route as above.

Johnson County-— See ok.

Taylorsville, which is reached Be wagon from Abingdon, Virginia, via Atlan-
tic and Mississippi Railroad, is a fine centre for sportsmen wishing to fish the
Laurel and its tributaries in the adjacent mountains, where brook trout and small
game are found.

Lake County—

Tiptonville. Good duck shooting on Reelfoot Lake. Reached via Thompson’s
Ferry. Provide for camping.
Lauderdale County—

Hale's Point. Deer, wild turkeys, quail, woodcock and other game. Reached
via St. Louis packet daily, Cincinnati packets, three or four times per week. Hotel
$5.50 per week.
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 153

Lawrence County—

Shoal Creek is a good game centre, and is a favorite resort for Nashville
sportsmen. The black bass fishing is good, and on the Muscle Shoals, near the
mouth of the creek, in Alabama (which see), will be found splendid duck shoot-
ing. Reached by rail from Nashville to Bodenham, thence drive.

Madison County—

Fackson. Trout, buffalo fish and catfish. Reached via the New Orleans, St.
Louis, and Chicago Railroad. Hotel and private board, $1 to $2.

Madison is eecod centre for quail shooting. Reached via the Louisville and
Nepyills and Great Southern Railroad, or the St. Louis and Southeastern

ailroad.

Shelby County—

Memphis. In the vicinity of the city, on either side of the Mississippi, bears
and deer afford fine sport. A resort for hunters is Bayou Pemiscot, which lies
on the river, partly in Missouri and partly in Arkansas. The cane below the
city is a fine ground for bears, panthers, wildcats, wolves, deer, and occasion-
ally, elk. Foxes, quail, partridges, etc.,are abundant all through the surround-
ing country.

TEXAS.

Texas embraces an area of 237,504 square miles. The State
comprises a great variety of surface ; the extreme south-eastern por-
tion is a level plain, which is followed by rolling and prairie coun-
try, and this in turn, is succeeded by the table land and mountain-
ous districts of the north and north-west. The Llano Estacado,
destitute of vegetation, extends into the State from New Mexico.
The sea coast is braken by a series of bays, lagoons and harbors,
all of them abounding in an extensive variety of salt water fish.
As a game country Texas surpasses any State inthe Union. Tak-
ing steamer on the coast, or any one of the railroads into the inte-
rior, the sportsman will find, within easy access from almost any
locality he may select as his initial point, game in the greatest
variety and abundance. Upon the bays, lagoons, and inland
streams, are ducks, geese, brant, snipes, plover and other varieties
of game birds. Buffalo roam over the north-western counties.
Bears, deer, antelope, etc., are to be had in the greatest abundance.
Turkeys, pinnated grouse, quail, etc., are found throughout the
State, and go where he may the sportsman will always meet with
success.

Bexar County—

San Antonia, The head waters of the Medina are fine hunting grounds for
red deer, bears, wild turkeys, and partridges. (See Belknap.) Reached via the
Houston and Texas Central Railroad to Austin, thence via daily stages to San

Antonio, or go via the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway to Kings-
bury, thence via daily stages.

Blanco County— :

Round Mountain. Buffalo range in large herds seventy miles west. Deer are
very plenty; with wild turkeys numerous in the cedar brakes ; the peccary, or
wild hog, is found on Sand Mountain, twelve miles west; jack-rabbits, cotton-
tails, squirrels, foxes, coons and opossums are very abundant. Wild geese,

ae
154 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

ducks, brant, pelicans, cranes, quail, and other birds afford fine sport on the
streams in winter. Black bass, perch and white catfish may be caught in all the
streams of any size, The Spanish ponies are used for the hunt. The sportsman
may shoot from their back, or leave them to graze while he secures his game.

Chambers County--

The mouth ae is a favorite ducking locality. Reached from Gal-
veston, Wallisville, or New Washington, on Galveston Bay. See Galveston.

Colorado County—

Game is plentiful at all seasons of the year, and consists of the deer, turkey,
wild goose, wild duck, mule-eared rabbit, pinnated grouse, quails, plover, snipe,
coons, opossums, the grey and cat squirrel, the wild spotted cat, and now and
then a stray prairie wolf is found. The wild goose and duck are found in great
numbers in the fall and winter. Fish abound in the rivers, creeks and lakes in
great quantity and variety, and consist principally of cat, buffalo gaspergou,
trout, black bass and perch. The Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Rail-
road passes through the centre of the county. Good game grounds are to be
reached from Columbus, Eagle Lake, Alleyton, Borden, or Weimar. The face
of the country presents a beautiful undulating level.

Concho County—

Camp Concho, on the Concho River, is the southern limit of the buffalo coun-
try. Plenty of small game isto be found. Reached from San Antonio. (See
Bexar County.)

Cooke County—

Gainesville, six hours from Sherman by daily stage, is on the waters of Elm
Fork of Trinity River, twenty-five miles east of its head. This stream is deep
and clear, and abounds with several varieties of fish. Three kinds of catfish are
found in this stream, the yellow cat, the blue cat, and the channel cat ; and three
kinds of perch, the trout, the white bass and the sun perch. Several varieties of
suckers are common, the largest being the ‘t buffalo,” which weighs from ten to
fifteen pounds,

Seven miles north of Gainesville is Red River, the boundary line between
Texas and Indian Territory. The hills running back from the river on each side
are timbered, and afford hiding place for deer, turkeys, wild cats, wolves and
foxes, with an occasional cougar or panther.

North of the river, for miles, lies a fine hunting ground in the open post oak
woods, as the settlements are very sparse and the Indians friendly.

Tyas Bend, on the Red River, is a fine deer and turkey locality.

About twenty miles west of Gainesville is the eastern edge of the upper cross
timbers, which extend through Montague. County, a distance of thirty miles.
Throughout the entire woodland the red deer and wild turkey can be found,

At Gainesville, Elm Fork turns due south till it leaves the county. It affords
splendid stands for * driving.’’ Along this stream, and on Red River, are sev-
eral packs of trained hounds for hunting wildcats and deer. On the prairies are
found the mule-eared rabbit, the pinnated grouse and plover, and in the vicinity .
of the farms the grey squirrel, fox-squirrel and quail. In the winter season the
streams abound with wild geese and wild ducks, The fall and winter are the
best seasons for sporting, as the winters are generally so mild that persons camp
out all winter intents. Take the Houston and Texas Central Railway, or the
Texas and Pacific Railway to Sherman.

Galveston County—

Galveston. Plover, brant, mallard, blue and green-winged teal, grey ducks,
big and little blue-bills, red heads, canvas-backs, golden eyes, top-knots, curlew,
snipe, killdeer; trout, redfish, stingarees, alligators, gars, swordfish, sharks, jew
fish, croakers and sheepshead. Reached via boat or by the Galveston, Houston
and Henderson Railway. The favorite localities for duck are Smith’s Point,
distant fifteen miles, on the bay, and the mouth of Trinity River and the lakes
twenty miles inland. On Bolivar is also a good ground fot gece: teal and black
duck, distant about seven miles, with innumerable ponds and sufficient protection
to hide and creep on game unawares, In the Western Bay, not much frequented,
feather above and fin beneath, sport their idle and dreamy hours away in perfect
security,a pleasant place for the sportsman in the dead of winter. Always warm,
free from storm, yacht protected from the most violent gales, and game so plenty,

17*
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 155

no effort to kill, As the place is not known to any extent, and rather hard for sail
boats to visit on account of intricate and shallow channels, and an out-of-the-way
place generally, game of all descriptions seek it as their refuge in safety. The
snipe grounds are the wild prairies, with a little water on them, where there is
gon walking and riding. Cars, boats and guides can be obtained at reason-
able prices.

Goliad County—
Goliad. Ducks are found in great numbers in the vicinity.

Harris County—

Hfouston. On the line ot the new Houston and Texas Western Railway and
within thirty miles of Houston are found in great abundance deer, hares, prairie
chickens, sandhill cranes, ducks, geese, blackbirds and quail. By going a very
short distance back from ‘the railroad the sportsman will find all the game men-
tioned in great abundance.

Hockley, forty miles from Houston on the Central Railroad, and one hundred
and thirty miles from Austin. Grouse, snipe, ducks, geese, etc., here afford ex-
cellent sport.

Hopkins County—
Deer, turkeys, quail, and other varieties of game abound.

Hunt County—

White Rock. Deer, turkeys and small game throughout the county. Reached
= fhe Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad. The country is open oak timber
ands.

Kaufman County—

Terretl. Deer, jack-rabbits, pinnated grouse, quail, ducks and snipe.
Reached via the Texas and Pacific Railroad. Board at hotel $2; teams $3.
Country rolling prairie and timber.

Kinney County—
Fort Clark. Quail, plover, teal, wild turkeys, bears, deer; bass, catfish, gar,
sernaly and buffalo fish. Fort Clark is about one hundred miles west from
ntonio.

Marion County—

Fefferson. Deer, quail, snipe, mallards, teal, bass and many other varieties of
game and fish. Reached via the Texas and Pacific Railroad. Hotel $2.50, pri:
vate board $1.50; boats and guides $2.50; teams at reasonable rates. The
country is rolling and timbered. The best fishing points are the three forks of
Cypress Bayou, and Cudd Lake.

Mason County—

Fort Mason. At the Llano River, six miles distant, is excellent turkey shoot-
ing. The river contains several varieties of fish including the large yellow cat-
fish, which is here esteemed a fine table delicacy.

Montague County—

The upper cross timbers thirty miles west of Gainesville (which see) are excel-
lent hunting grounds for red deer and wild turkeys.

Shackleford County—

Fort Griffin. The vicinity of the Clear Fork of the Brazos River isa grand
buffalo range. The locality is about one hundred_and te miles south-west of
Gainesville. Go via the Texas Pacific Railroad to Gainesville, fit out there, or at
Henderson, with tents, wagons, teams, horses, etc., for a several weeks campaign.

The Northwestern Counties—

In the vicinity of the headwaters of the Brazos and Big Wachita Rivers, buffalo,
antelope and deer are found in large quantities. The buffalo range extends from
the tributaries of the Canadian, across the northern end of the Staked Plains to
the Pecos River. This range however, changes very rapidly, and it is therefore
difficult to give precise information where this game may be found. .
’

156 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

The Southern Border Counties—

These counties abound in fine game, including turkeys, peccaries, deer, ducks,
coyotes, sandhill cranes, partridges, jack rabbits, with a smaller variety, eagles,
lon, billed curlew, herons, snipe.

Drownsoslie, Cameron County, is a good centre to start from. The route is
via steamer to Brazos Santiago.

Travis County—
Austin. See Belknap, Young County. Austin is the terminus of the Western
Division of the Houston and Texas Central Railway.

Upshur Count y—

Longview. Deer, wild turkeys and ducks. Reached viathe Texas and Pacific
Railroad. Board $6 per week, $20 per month.

Van Zandt County—

Will's Point. Deer, and pinnated and ruffed grouse. Reached via Texas and
Pacific Railroad. Teams $4 to $5. Provide camping outfit.

Grand Saline. Deerin abundance. Reached via the Texas and Pacific Rail-
way. Teams $3. Prepare for camping.

Young County—

Belknap. All this northern part of Texas, embracing both the Cross Timbers
as a centre, and flanked by extensive prairies on the east and west, and abound-
ing in game (in their places and season), hold out their peculiar charms, and
invite the sportsman to the tented field. When acorns and other mast are plenty,
and have fallen, then in the open woods, the sportsman will find deer, ducks
geese, and turkeys abundant, quail and rabbits plenty, antelope, grouse, and
squirrels medium, and bear occasionally, to say nothin got prairie wolves, foxes,
coons, possums, etc., not generally noticed. October, November and December
are the perfect months for sport, and January and February not bad, but havin
a few days, at intervals, of rather cold weather—that is, a few inches of snow an
ice, with cold, northerly winds—thus constituting what is so well known in Texas,
as a ‘* norther.”’

These remarks apply to northern Texas in winter, while along the gulf, or
southern coast, these same winter months have the mild climate of New York in
September. Connecting with the railroad running south from Dennison, near the
north line of the State, are stages which convey persons at once to almost any
pee of the State desired. For central cities, in which to spend the winter for

ealth, as well as for sporting, San Antonio stands first, and Austin, the capital
oF the Stats, second. These places cannot well be excelled, everything con-
sidered.

UTAH.

Utah has an area of 108,000 miles. The Wasatch Chain travers-
ing the central part, and numerous other ranges give a decidedly
mountainous character to the Territory. Deep cafions, dashing
mountain streams, and plains are the principal features of the
country. Though the game found here is not abundant, the list
includes some of the larger game sought after by the hunter. Elk,
deer, antelope, mountain sheep, bears and the common fur bear-
ing animals with water fowl and the birds afford fair sport. The
mountain streams and the lakes abqund in salmon and trout ot
superior size, and here the angler will find opportunity for his
highest skill. All parts of the Territory may be reached from
“GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 157

Ogden or Salt Lake City, at either of which points will be found
pack horses, guides, and all necessary outfit and provisions.

Morgan County—

Peterson, This county, is adjacent to Salt Lake County, and has the same gen-
eral physical features, The game is abundant, and includes bears, deer, foxes,
beavers, pinnated grouse, sage hens, pine hens and ducks. All the mountain
streams furnish good trout fishing. The route is via the Union Pacific Railroad,
Board in private family $1 ; guides $3. (See Salt Lake County.)

Salt Lake County, and those Adjoining—

The country generally is mountainous ; the Wasatch, Oquirrh, and other ranges
being prominent features, and occupying a large proportion of the whole district.
Amid the Wasatch Mountains are the cafions of City Creek, Dry, Red Butte,
Emigration, Parley’s, Mill Creek, Big Cottonwood, Little Cottonwood, Willow
Creek, and a number of other cafions and streams of less notoriety.

City Creek is immediately north of Salt Lake City, and the others are to the
east and south in the order mentioned.

The cafions named are on the east side, and the mountains are more precipi-
tous than those on the west, in the Oquirrh range, in which there are several
cafions and streams, all of which contain game of various kinds. lowa and Cali-
fornia quail have been imported, and are doing well.

In both ranges of mountains there are pisnty of pine hens, as they are locally
known, and on all the foothills or benches at the proper season, can be found
pinnated grouse, sage hens, rabbits, plover, curlew, etc., and on the bottoms
nearer the Salt Lake are immense quantities of hares and cotton tail rabbits.

The Jordan River, which runs from south to north through the valley, has
recently been stocked with imported fish of many varieties, and will soon afford
excellent sport for the angler, as the streams contain large quantities of whitefish,
chub, and some trout—which are indigenous to the stream. All of the streams
Meee the cafions mentioned, are well stocked with mountain trout and mountain

erring.

In nearly all of the cafions, especially those which are less frequented, deer,
and an occasional elk, and large numbers of bears may be found. The severe
snow storms of winter often drive the deer down into the settlements near the
mountains.

The description here given, although with special reference to the immediate
neighborhood of Salt Lake City, will apply to all other parts of Utah. To the
north for one hundred and fifty miles, these cafions and streams are met with
every few miles, and in them can be found more or less game of the kinds enu-
merated. The Weber River, near which Ogden is situated, is a splendid stream,
rich in trout, and is a watering place for innumerable ducks and geese. Special
mention is due to Ogden Cafion, one of the most picturesque and attractive
mountain retreats in the Rocky Mountains. There are plenty of trout in the
stream, and abundance of fowl on the mountain side. The hunter will find bears
and deer also in their season.

Farther to the north is the Bear River, a magnificent stream liberally stocked
with fish of many kinds, prominent among which is the trout. This is the finest
tiver for fish in the Territory. But the best sport for the angler is found in the
creeks, such as Blacksmith’s Fork and scores of other narrow and swift mountain
streams, which are the homes of great numbers of splendid trout. All of these
streams can be reached without any difficulty, as they are in close proximity to
the railroads, and in many instances crossed by them.

To the south of Salt Lake City about forty miles is the famous Utah Lake,
full of trout, mullet, chub, mountain herring, etc. This is an immense shcet of
water and although there are scores of tons of trout and other fish taken out each
season, it still affords a supply for all demands made uponit. While speaking
of the north mention should have been made of the splendid fishing and grouse
shooting to be found in Cache Valley. Thousands of grouse, geese, ducks, etc.,
are shot here every season, These grounds can be reached directly by rail, as
the Utah and Northern Railroad runs through the best hunting grounds. 3

In Bear Lake Valley, which is but afew miles from the northern terminus
of the same road, there are large quantities of ducks, geese and chicken, and
plenty of bears and deer to be found in the surrounding mountains, Bear Lake,
about twenty-five miles long and eight to ten miles wide, is the abode of trout
innumerable, consisting principally of salmon trout, some of them of very large
158 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

size. It is a common thing to see them here from four to eight pounds in weight
and often ten, twelve and even fifteen pounds; and the flesh is as solid as beef
and flavor almost equal to the smallest mountain trout,

To the west is Stockton Lake, on the line of the Utah Western Railroad, filled
with whitefish, and its bosom frequently covered with ducks, geese, pelicans, etc.

The Hot Spring Lake, three miles northwest of Salt Lake City, is a favorite
resort for ducks which are here at times exceedingly numerous.

The Great Salt Lake also is a great attraction to the feathered tribe. On its
margin may be found pelicans, swans, geese and ducks by the million. The
lake extends from immediately west of the city to about seventy-five miles north
and all along its borders will be found in their seasons, curlew, jack-snipe, can-
vas-backs, mallards, teal, red-heads, and a great variety of other ducks, several
kinds of geese, and all along the bottoms small game are to be found anywhere.

In the immediate neighborhood of Salt Lake City the game is mostly ducks
and ‘rabbits, thousands of which are sometimes killed in a day.

The best initial points for sportsmen are Salt Lake City or Ogden. Here all
necessary information may be obtained, with supplies for camping out. The
hotels through the Territory are generally fair, ($1.50 to $4) and the stranger will
find accommodations in private families ($1 to $2) at most of the points mentioned.
In some localities camping is preferable, but nowhere absolutely necessary.
Teams $3 to $8 ; boats $1 to $2.

Summit County—

Echo City, Elk, deer, bears, sage hens, sharp-tailed grouse ; trout. Reached
via the Union Pacitic Railroad. otels $t.50 to $2; guides $1.50; teams $4.
Provide camping equipment. The hunting grounds are among the mountains.
The description of Salt Lake County (which see) will apply equally to this
county.

Wasatch is a starting point for elk, bear, jack- rabbit, duck, goose and sage
hen shooting, and trout fishing. Route as above. Private board $2; guides
$1.50; teams $4 to $s. Sportsmen generally secure their camping outfit here and

lke their camp among the mountains.
Weber County—

Ogden City. Bears, deer, jack-rabbits, hares, pinnated grouse, mae hens
grouse, etc. The streams in the county are full of trout and other fish. eached
via the Union Pacific Railroad. Hotel and private board $2 to $3; teams with
driver $4 to $5 per day. See Salt Lake County.

Uintah. Bears, deer, ducks, quail, pinnated grouse, trout. On the Union
Pacific Railroad. Private board $1; teams $3 to $4. Country hilly and moun-
tainous.

VERMONT.

This State embraces an area of 10,212 square miles and has a
population of 330,551. The Green Mountains running north and
south through the centre of the State, divide it into two nearly
equal parts. The general surface of the country partakes of this
hilly and mountainous character. Though without any large rivers
within her boundaries, Vermont is well supplied with streams and
several beautiful lakes. The mountains still contain some bears
and other animals. There is fair shooting for some of the smaller
species, and the fishing in certain parts of the State is fair. Asa
rule, however, this State has not many attractions for sportsmen
from abroad. The travelling facilities and accommodations
throughout the State will be found of the same general character
as all the earlier settled States.
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 159

Addison County—

Vergennes. Whitefish, black bass, pike, etc., in Lake Champlain, and trout in
Otter Creek, Reached via the Central Vetinont Railroad. Two hotels.

Larabee’s Point. Grey squirrels and coons.

Salisbury. Lake Dunmore abounds in fish. Reached via the Central Ver-
mont Railroad. The Lake Dunmore House is on the west side of the lake.

Ferrisburgh. Ducks, ruffed grouse, woodcock, snipe and quail ;Pike, pickerel,
black bass, rock bass and perch. Route as above, or via Lake Champlain
steamer.

Bennington County—

Arlington, on the Western Vermont or Harlem Extension Railroad, has good
trout fishing. Two hotels afford comfortable accommodations.

Manchester, at the base of Mount Equinox in the valley of the Battenkill, is
much visited in summer for its fine trouting. (See Weston, below.) Ruffed
grouse shooting in the neighborhood.

Glastendury. Bears are found in the mountains; trout in all the streams.
pols grouse are shot in fair numbers. Reached from Bennington, distant five
miles.

Dorset. Good grey squirrel shooting here and in the vicinity. Reached via
the Harlem Extension to Factoryville, thence by stage. Hotel.

Bennington. Trout are caught in the Walloomack River, near thisplace. The
pickerel ponds of Woodford are much visited.

Essex County—

The northeastern corner of Vermont is comparatively a wilderness, several
townships being entirely without population, and a number of the organized,
cleared and populated chiefly in the valley of the Connecticut River. In fact-a
greater portion of Essex county is forest. It is well watered by lakes and ponds,
some of which are miles in length ; all contain fish, the largest ponds, the lake
trout, (called here lunge,) the brook trout-and shad waiters, a sort of whitefish ;
the smaller ponds, trout or pickerel. In one of the lakes, the ‘* Averil,’”’ where
the largest speckled trout are caught, are also found land-locked salmon.

The lake trout are of a large size, sometimes taken upward of thirty pounds,
but generally from one to seven pounds. In the woods are found a few moose, an
abundance of deer, rabbits, partridge and duck, occasionally a bear and lynx ;
otter, muskrat, mink, sable and black cats are quite plenty. Grey squirrels are
but rarely found. By taking the Grand Trunk Railroad and leaving the line at
Island Pond or any other of the stations in the county, the sportsman will find
the game mentioned within accessible distances.

Island Pond, reached as above, is in the midst of the uninhabited forest.
Near the village is a lake two miles in length whose waters abound in fish.
There are zed hotels and other conveniences here. 7

Norton, twelve miles from Island Pond, on the same road, is near Norton
ponds which afford excellent fishing.

Rutland County—

Rutland. In Lake Bomoseen is excellent fishing. The migratory ducks pause
here and in season excellent shooting may be had. There are several mountains
and streams in the vicinity of Rutland where may be found game and fish. The
route is via the Central Vermont and other Railroads. Hotels $2.50 to $3.

Wallingford. Ruffed grouse are abundant. In the streams fine trout fishing.
Reached via the Western Vermont or Harlem Extension Railroad.

Brandon. Lake Dunmore is eight miles distant, reached by stage. (See
Salisbury.)

Washington County—

Montpelier. Fine trouting in Peacham’s Lake, distant twenty miles. _Dail
stages connect with Hardwick, on the Portland and Ogdensburg Railroad,
passing through Calais, (Moscow House,) and Woodbury. All about these
towns are scores of small lakes, abounding in trout and other fish.

Windham County—
Brattleboro. Black bass eeteng ie the Connecticut. On the New London
Northern Railroad. The Brooks House here, is one of the finest hotels in the

‘State.
160 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

Bellows Fails. Black bass fishing in the Connecticut River. Excursions are
made by summer visitors to Warren's Pond, in Alstead, N. H. Good hotels.
Reached via the Vermont Central Railroad.

Grafton. Woxes are numerous on the hills ; ruffed grouse, partridges, rabbits
and raccoons are abundant. Take the Central Vermont Railroad to Bellows
walls. oF Rockingham. Good hotel, F. and H. Phelps, proprietors. Country
rough. :

Windsor County—

Weston, is in the heart of the Green Mountains, and the neighborhood abounds
in trout streams that are easily accessible from the village, and visited but by
few besides the resident anglers. In the main streams the trout are of fair size.
Then there is the Cold Spring Reservoir, literally swarming with fine, large
trout, but except in the first of the open season, they will not answer a summons
every day, nor are they a gamy fish. Weston is twelve miles from Chester, a
station on the Rutland and Burlington Railroad, and connected by daily stage and
can be reached the same day from Boston or Troy, N. Y. There isa good hotel.
‘There are also plenty of accomplished and gentlemanly anglers to act as guides,
notably Messrs. William Holden and H. B. Rogers, who are ax faz? in all that
pertains to, rod and gun, and own craft upon the reservoir.

The Battenkill, on the west side of the mountain, and running through Man-
chester, Sunderland and Arlington, is a famous trout stream, coursing through the
open meadow most of the way, affording the finest Bpote for casting, as the de-
ponent can testify from personal knowledge, Then the fish are large and gamy.

he stream is greatly fished, but still the supply is kept up. In the towns men-
tioned, are capital hostelries, notably the Elm House, at Manchester, kept by C.
F. Orvis, the maker of excellent cheap rods, and himself the most oe
ay fisherman in the State, ever courteous and ready to put his guests in the way
of securing a full measure of sport with rod or gun.

VIRGINIA.

This State presents a wide and attractive theatre for the gun
and the rod; with water, plain, and mountain, every variety of
sport may be had in its season. There are twenty-five hundred
square miles of tide water within its limits, extending from the
Potomac to Albemarle Sound, a distance of one hundred and thirty
miles, embracing most of the Chesapeake Bay, and stretching up
into the interior, by several large tidal streams, one hundred and
sixty miles. In these waters are found numerous species of fish
and every variety of water fowl. On the rivers, too, near the head
of tide, sora and jack snipe abound in their season in all the marshes.
Of these rivers, beginning on the north, we have first the Potomac,
then the Rappahannock—the two making the narrow peninsula of
sixty miles in length, and seven to twelve in width, called the
Northern Neck—abounding in game and fish; then the Piankitank,
and various streams in Gloucester and Matthews—all arms of the
sea, as it were, emptying into Mob Jack Bay, a sort of inland sea
—then York River, with its tributaries, Mattaponi and Pamaunkee
—which make a peninsula of thirty miles in length, and from two
and one-half to seven in width, bringing both streams within the
range of the gunner and the angler, abounding with fish and fowl,
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 161

and the dividing ridge with deer, quail, turkey, foxes, raccoons, and
opossums. The sportsman, with an humble heart, might find a
contented home here. Next comes the James, called in earlier and
better days,the Powhatan—which, with the York, makes what
is called, simply by. the way of preéminence, 7Ze Peninsula. It
was the theatre of the earliest civilization of the Old Dominion,
and the seat of its first metropolis. It extends from the bay up-
ward some seventy or eighty miles—its upper portion bounded
by the Pamaunkee and Chickahominy. This peninsula also
abounds with game. The deer have returned, verifying Horace—
Ferisqgue ursus occupabrtur solum,

South of the James and near its mouth are two tributaries—
Elizabeth River, and Nansemond—having their sources in the
Dismal Swamp. This whole region is well adapted for sporting
adventure.

Next we have the Chowan and its tributaries—the Blackwater,
Nottoway, and Meherin—and then the Roanoke, with its tributaries
—the Staunton and the Dan, which rise in the Alleghany
Mountains.

Every portion of Virginia is easily reached by steamboat or rail
from Norfolk, or Baltimore, or Washington.

The Atlantic, Mississippi, and Ohio Railroad runs from Norfolk,
four hundred and eight miles to Bristol, Tennessee —passing
Suffolk, in Nansemond, near the Dismal Swamp, through Isle of
Wight, Sussex and Surrey Counties (where deer and other game
are almost as abundant as when the Indians ruled the land), by
Petersburg, Burkesville, and Lynchburg, at each of which places
it is crossed by railroads going North and South. The Sea-Board
and Roanoke Railroad also runs from Norfolk through Nansemond
and Southampton Counties, to Weldon, N. C., crossing the Black-
water, Nottoway, and Meherin—the tributaries of the Chowan.
This railroad is an extension of the daily line of steamboats from
Baltimore to Norfolk. A line of fine steamers also ply between
Norfolk and Richmond, stopping at the various landings on the
river. York River and its tributaries—the Mattaponi and the
Pamaunkee—are accessible from Richmond and Baltimore by the
York River Railroad, and steamers from West Point to Baltimore.
All the landings on the Rappahannock are reached by steamers,
which run twice a week between Baltimore and Fredericksburg.
Every portion of the Potomac below Washington is accessible by
steamers from that city, or Baltimore, or Norfolk. A line of rail-
road (the Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac) extends from
Quantico on the Potomac (accessible by steamer or railroad from
Washington), due south along the head of tide-water by Fred-
ericksburg, Richmond, and Petersburg, to Weldon, N.C. The
Washington, Virginia Midland, and Great Southern Railroad runs
from Washington by Manassas (where it connects with the Man-
162 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

assas Gap Railroad leading to Front Royal and Shenandoah Valley),
by Gordonsville, Charlottesville (where it connects with the Ches-
apeake and Ohio Railroad,) by Lynchburg (where it connects with
the Atlantic, Mississippi, and Ohio Railroad) to Danville (where it
connects with the ferry,) by Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, where it
connects with the Valley Road, extending to Staunton, where
connection is made with the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad. On
either side of this Valley Road, at distances varying from five to
forty miles, is found a great variety of game; deer, ruffed grouse
(there called pheasants), bears, wild turkeys, etc. Most of the
mountain streams have speckled trout— Salmo fontinalzs—-the
more abundant and larger, the deeper you advance into the
mountains, and the further from civilization. Perhaps the best trout
fishing on the continent may be tound in the head-waters of Cheat
River in Pendleton, Grant, and Tucker Counties, West Virginia,
and in the head-waters of the Greenbrier, in Bath and Highland,
Va., and Pocahontas, W. Va., and in the Gauley River, in Nicholas
and Webster Counties, W. Va. The Cheat River waters may be
reached in forty miles from the Valley Railroad, and the others
from the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad in less than thirty miles.

The Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad runs from Richmond to
Huntingdon (four hundred and twenty three miles), passing Char-
lottesville, Staunton, the famous White Sulphur Springs in Green-
brier, the Great Falls of the Kanawha, etc. After passing the Blue
Ridge, this line supplies the greatest abundance and variety of
game and the wildest field for adventure of any district in the State.
Deer, bear, ruffed grouse, turkeys, and trout are more abundant
and accessible than elsewhere ; it presents a magnificent field for
camping parties.

The Richmond and Danville Railroad extends one hundred and
forty miles to Danville, and forms a part of the Piedmont Air-line
to Atlanta. It traverses Middle Virginia, where the game mainly
consists of quail, hares, squirrels and wild turkeys, and where the
waters contain very few fish, dams and seines being fatal to them.
Above Danville, on the Dan River, the case is different. There
the game becomes more abundant, and the mountain streams have
many trout.

Among the mountains of the State are found many wild hogs,
which do not hesitate to attack the traveller, and are, without doubt,
the most dangerous denizens of the mountains. They are usually
found in herds of from five to twelve, and the sight of a human
being is the only signal for attack that they require. The intruder
has then nothing left him but to outrun them, or climb a tree and
wait for them to leave. This would be a good place to go for those
who like to be hunted as well as to hunt, so as to enjoy both phases
of pleasure.

Accomack and Northampton Countzes.—The eastern shore of
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 163

Virginia, composed of the counties of Accomack and Northampton,
is a peninsula lying between the Atlantic Ocean on the one side,
and the Chesapeake Bay on the other. It presents a very level
surface, and has, perhaps, the best roads in the world, requiring
but little attention to keep them in good condition. It is within
easy access of Baltimore by a line of steamers, one of which leaves
South Street wharf, in that city, every day at five o’clock P. M.,
except Saturday. The upper portion of the peninsula can be
reached daily by rail from Philadelphia, the terminus being Green-
backville, on the sea side opposite to Chincoteague Island, and
distant from it about five miles. A steam ferryboat conveys pas-
sengers from the depot to the island.

There is, perhaps, no portion of the country presenting greater
attraction to the sportsman in quest of small game, such as quail
and water-fowl, than this little strip of land. The former are
abundant, and the peculiar geographical features of the country
render the sport of hunting them both easy and delightful. The
excellent character of the roads makes a ride of twenty or thirty
miles but a trifle, thus enabling the hunter to go over a great deal
of ground in a day, and the numberless creeks or small rivers
indenting the coasts on sea and bay, form long glades fringed with
yellow sedge, affording cover to the birds and protection trom the
hawks, while the absence of trees in such places insures to the
hunter almost any number of shots “in the open.” Snipe and
woodcock are also found, but in small numbers. On the sea side,
and to a great, though less extent on the bay, waterfowl, such as
wild geese, brant, black mallards, shufflers or black ducks, red heads
and all other kinds of duck, except the canvas-back, swarm in
myriads, and are killed in great numbers every year ; they are shot
principally from blinds over decoys. On every part of the shore
persons can be found who have large experience in this kind of
sport, and whose services can be procured by visitors at reasonable
rates. Perhaps the best point for this kind of shooting is Cobb’s
Island, in the county of Northampton, whose proprietors entertain
each year, in winter, quite a number of sportsmen, and have all the
appliances, such as boats and decoys, for their accommodation.
The island itself is a noted resort during summer, and furnishes
the best shooting among birds peculiar to that season that can be
found on the eastern shore.

In summer, and, indeed, until November, fine fishing can be
had in the waters of both sea and bay, the principal varieties caught
being the drum, or sea bass, trout, mullet, spot, taylor, bluefish
and sheepshead. Millions of sea birds, such as curlews, willets,
grey-backs, brown-backs, and red-breasted snipe feed in the
marshes and on the beaches, which skirt the sea coast from Cape
Charles to the Delaware line, and furnish inexhaustible sport to
the gunner. Foxes are numerous, and the good old English sport
164 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

of the fox hunt, with many of its primitive characteristics, still sur-
vives among the people of the eastern shore, who, indeed. have in
an especial manner retained the peculiarities of their ancestors
together with the purity of the old stock. They welcome gentlemen
who come for enjoyment and recreation, and furnish them gladly
every assistance in their power, but hold the pot hunter in detesta-
tion, and visit him, when caught, with the severest penalties of the
law prohibiting hunting by non-residents.

The steamers from Baltimore land at different points in both
counties, one touching twice at Onancock, within five miles of
Accomac C. H., the county seat. The sportsman leaves New
York by the steamers of the Old Dominion Steamship Company,
which in summer, sail daily, and in fall and winter every Monday,
Wednesday and Friday, from pier 37, North River, at 4 P. M.;
Lewes, Del., is reached at 5 Pp. M. the next morning; at 9 o'clock
a train starts for Berlin, Snow Hill and Chincoteague Bay, reaching
Snow Hill early in the afternoon and the Bay by 3 or 4 o'clock.
Return trains run daily, connecting with the steamer at Lewes on
Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 4 P. M., reaching New York
at 5 A. M. onthe following morning. Good hotels with horses and
buggies or light wagons for hire, can be found at Chincoteague
Island, J. English’s Hotel $2; guides for wild fowl $5, for snipe
$2.50; Accomac C. H.; Horn Town, T. Pittel’s Hotel, $1.50; Onan-
cock, Pungoteague and Belle Haven, in Accomac, and at Eastville
in Northampton. Board in private families can also be obtained
at fair rates. The Hog Island and Mock Island shooting grounds
are always accessible by yacht, and guides are to be had.

Alexandria County—

Alexandria is headquarters for duck and snipe shooting, which are found in
great numbers at Hunting Creek, the Ox Bar, Pentecost, opposite the Navy Yard,
and other localities near the city. Plover, sora, reed birds, quail, partiidges
rabbits and opossums, are found near the city. Black bass caught at the old coal
wharf and in the canal above the basin, the anglers using grasshoppers for bait.
Reached by boat and rail.

Amelia County—-

Good deer hunting through the county. Take the Richmond and Danville
Railroad, and strike out from any of the stations in the county.

Amherst County—

Mclvers, a few miles from Lynchburg, is a good centre for deer shooting.
Reached via the Washington and Virginia Midland Railway.

Appomattox County—

Tower Hill, Fine deer shooting here. Fox hunting isa favorite sport, and
many gentlemen own fine packs of hounds. There are several ranges of hills in
the county, with dense forests, where will be found the best of sporting grounds.
Reached via the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad, and wagon drive.
Excellent quail shooting is to be had, near Lynchburg, on the ‘ turned out”
lands and deserted plantations. Make headquarters at Lynchburg

Augusta County—

Staunton, The Shenandoah Valley and the mountains to the west contain
much fish and game. Black bass, which were introduced into the streams of this
region in 1871-72, now afford fine sport, and these waters have also been stocked
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 165

with land locked-salmon and trout. Partridge and quail shooting is good, and
larger game abounds in the mountains, Staunton is headquarters es sportsmen’s
association, and isa good initial Boint for the shooting and fishing of the region.
Reached via the Baltimore and Ohio, and the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroads.
By addressing Captain W. L. Bumgardner, at Staunton, sportsmen may obtain
full information. ood quail shooting around Fort Defiance, seven miles from
Staunton, by excellent drive.

Bath County—

Warm Springs. Within a radius of twelve miles are bears, deer, turkeys, and
trout. Take the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad to Millboro, thence stage.
Mountainous country.

The Cowpasture River affords splendid trout fishing. The best bait here is
grasshoppers, though the fly may be used with success. In all the streams of the
county good baskets of fish will reward the angler. Go to Warm Springs which
be be a good point for headquarters. Or reached trom Staunton, twenty-five
miles,

Bedford County—

Bedford. Quail, pheasants, ruffed grouse, wild turkeys, hares and foxes in
abundance. Reached via the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad, thirty-
seven miles from Lynchburg. Good hotels will be found here.

Forest Depot. Very good quail, fox and hare hunting. Reached as above,
ten miles from Lynchburg. Sportsmen will find comfortable accommodations at
New London, three miles distant.

Liberty, on the same road, twenty-five miles from Lynchburg, is an excellent
centre for quail, hare and fox shooting, Hotels good.

Brunswick County—

Excellent deer hunting and beaver trapping throughout this county and
Nottaway County adjoining it. Several trappers from the northern states have
visited these regions and have been abundantly rewarded. Board is generally to
be obtained at cheap rates. The trapping grounds may be reached via boat to
Norfolk, thence via the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad inland to any
of the towns of these counties, whence teams will convey one to the selected
eae The Richmond and Danville Railroad will also be found a good line to
Start from.

Buckingham County—

Planterstown. Deer, turkeys, ducks, Reese snipe, ruffed grouse and quail in
great abundance, with a few woodcock. The fishing includes silver perch, south-
ern chub, white chub, pike, trout and other fish. Take the Atlantic and Missis-
sippi Railroad to Farmville, thence wagon road.

New Canton, on the James, is the best point in the county for duck, goose and
partridge shooting. A very inferior hotel here.

Daekinphaos C.H. is the best point in the county for sportsmen’s headquarters.
Reached same as Planterstown.

Campbell County—

Lynchburg. Good quail shooting is to be had within ten miles of the city
Many of the tributaries of the James, which rise on the eastern slopes and spurs
of the Blue Ridge, have long been noted for their excellence as trout streams,
and if they were properly protected and cared for would soon rival the choicest
streams in the Adirondacks. There are half a dozen streams within a few hours
ride of Lynchburg where as good sport may be had as in perhaps nine out of ten
of the most famous trout streams of New York or New England. The trout of
these waters range from a quarter of a pound to one pound anda half. The
streams are generally a succession of cascades or rapids, and large, deep pools,
and the banks sufficiently free from brush to afford a free use of the artificial fly.
Lynchburg is on the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio, and the Washington and
Stent Midland Railroad. Conveyances to the fishing grounds are easily
obtained.

Culpepper County—

Seffersonton. This county is finely diversified by hill and dale and abounds
in game. Turkeys, aaa, peste ee rabbits and squirrels are always to be
found in the vicinity of Jeffersonton. The route is via the Virginia Midland
166 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

Railroad to Warrenton, thence ten miles drive. Be corresponding with George
Myers, Jeffersonton, the sportsman will receive fullinformation. Board can be
had at Myers’. . :

Waterloo. Wild turkey and quail shooting. Route as above. Private board
can be found in the village.

Dinwiddie County—

Petersburg. Deer are plenty in the vicinity. Good duck shooting on the Ap-
omattox Flats, nine miles from the city. The ue is a splendid field for deer.
rovide camping equipments and strike out from Petersburg in any direction,

The route is via the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio, the Richmond and Peters-
burg, or the Petersburg Railroads.

Elizabeth City County—
Old Point Comfort, twelve miles from Norfolk is headquarters for fishermen
from that city.

Fairfax County—
Fairfax Court House. Deer, wild turkeys, partridges, quail ; bass, rock fish,
erch and other varieties of game and fish. Board ae house $1 ; teams to
Ee had at any time. Reached via the Washington City and Virginia Midland
Railroad.

Fauquier County--
Bealeton. Quail, rabbits and squirrels. Reached via the Washington City and
Virginia Midland Railway, two or three hours ride from Washington.
Warrenton. Woodcock shooting. Reached via the Washington City and
Virginia Midland Railway.

Frederick County—

Winchester. Wild turkeys are abundant in the vicinity and excellent deer
shooting may be had in all the surrounding country. Reached via the Balti-
more and Ohio Railroad.

Giles County—

Mountain Lake. Deer and small game are abundant in the mountains, with
trout in all the streams. Twenty-three miles from Christiansburg which is on
the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad.

Greene County—

Cavesville. Deer, wild turkeys, woodcock, quail; and trout fishing good.
Reached via the Chesapeake and Ohio, or the ashington City and Vitrioia
Midland Railroad to Gordonsville, thence hired conveyance. Board in private
family $2.50 to $3 per week.

Hanover County—

Hanover Court House, fifteen miles from Richmond, is visited by sportsmen
from that city. Deer and quail shooting is good in the vicinity, and the fishing
angludes several varieties. Reached by stage or hired conveyance from Rich-
mond.

Isle of Wight County—

A portion of this county is occupied by swamp and marsh lands in which
much game is found. Deer, turkeys, ducks, quail, etc., are abundant throughout
the county. A special feature of the hunting in this section of the State is the
prevailing mode of fox driving, which furnishes exciting sport for mounted par-
ties, with regularly trained fox hounds, beagles, etc.

Zuni Station, on the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad, is an excellent
point for quail and duck shooting, and pike, black bass and perch fishing.

Windsor Station on the same road. Deer, wild turkey and quail within three
or four miles of the station.

James City County—

Piney Creek. Excellent duck shooting on the Chickahominy and James

Rivers. Reached via boat or wagon road from Williamsburg.

Landown County—
In the Kittocton Mountains in the centre of the county, and the Blue Ridge on
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 167

the northwestern border, game is very abundant and many sportsmen annually
visit this part of the State.

Leesburg. Deer, partridges, quail, woodcock, and coons are found in large
numbers in all the surrounding country. Bass, fall-fish and perch are caught in
Goose Creek, and trout in Big Spring River. Reached via the Washington and
Ohio Railroad, thirty-six miles from Washington. All necessary tackle can be
procured in Leesburg at Baltimore prices. Boats can be hired from different per-
sons at points on the river from White's to Edward’s Ferry, varying in price
from nothing to very little. Not long ago John Ault, near Red Rocks (the best
bass ground on the river) furnished boats, live bait, etc.,on reasonable terms.
Board is reasonable in town or in the country. Bob White in the fall are abund-
ant, woodcock in season used to be plentiful. There are many gentlemen taking
interest in such pursuits, in the town and vicinity.

Snickersville. Snicker’s Gap, of the Blue Ridge, is a famous quail ground.
Woodcock abound there, and in the swamps are coons and opossums. Reached
via carriage drive from Leesburg and other points. :

Caa’s Afill, Little Falls, Payne's Eddy, and Georgtown are favorite points on
the Potomac for black bass and white perch. The Rifles, opposite Cad’s Mills,
is a choice spot for striped bass.

Montgomery County—

Big Spring Depot, on the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad, is a fine cen-
tre for the shooting among the mountains of the county. The Fort Lewis Moun-
tains are the haunts of many deer and bears, while in the immediate vicinity of
the town are found quail and hares. The fishing is varied and good baskets may
be made.

Blacksburg. Bull-bats, quail, partridges, pigeons, wild turkeys, reed-birds,
jack-snipe, wood-ducks, mallards, golden eyes, mergansers, deer, bears, and
lack bass fishing. Route same as Mountain Lake, Giles County.

Nansemond County—

The eastern portion of this county borders on the Great Dismal Swamp and
partakes of the physical characteristics of that wilderness, The central and west-
ern portions are level and covered with forests of cypress and pine in which deer,
turkeys, quail and other game are to be found.

Suffolk, twenty miles from Norfolk, on the Seaboard and Roanoke Railroad, is
an excellent centre for quail and snipe shooting. Board can be obtained at pri-
vate houses.

Nelson County—

Hardwicksville is headquarters for excellent deer shooting. Reached via
Washington and Virginia Midland Railroad, and stage or hired conveyance.

Norfolk County—-

The Dismal Swamp, one vast morass, with little islands of solid ground scat-
tered here and there, is the haunt of great numbers of bears, panthers, deer,
coons, otters, ducks, geese. swans, turkeys, partridges and other game. Cat and
other varieties of fish are found in its waters, The bears and panthers are sel-
dom shot, as they retire into the vastnesses of the densest and most impenetrable
jungles. The swamp is but little hunted and game there is unmolested save by
the lumbermen or shingle-men who depend largely upon the ritle for their sub-
sistence. The starting point for the interior of the swamp is Norfolk, where
guides, cooks, provisions, row and sail boats, or steam-tugs may be secured.

rom Norfolk the route is up the Elizabeth River to Deep Creek, thence via
we Lake Drummond Canal fourteen miles to Balakock, or, better, to Prentiss
uke’s. :

Norfolk. Ducks and geese, plover, willets, curlew, snipe, quail and other

ame, The fishing is good and embraces a variety of fresh and salt water species.
Reached from New Yorke via the Old Dominion Line of steamers, and via rail
from all points in the interior. : ! ‘

Great Bridge, eight miles from Norfolk, via steamer or hired conveyance, isa
good field for snipe and other shooting.

Pittsylvania County—

Mount Airy. Deer, ruffed grouse, and quail. Reached by stage or hired
conveyance, one hundred and fifty miles south of Lynchburg.
168 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

Princess Anne County—

Sand Bridge is about remy on miles from Norfolk and is reached by private
gonvevanes from that city. The marshes afford excellent duck and snipe shoot-
ing. eer, turkeys and other game in the woods. Good accommodation may be
obtained at Mr. Fork’s.

Prince William County—

Neabsco Bay isa grand duck shooting field. It is visited by sportsmen from
Washington and the neighboring cities. Reached by rail or boat.

Surattsville, twelve miles from Washington, is a good ground for partridges,
rabbits and grey squirrels. Visited by Washington sporismen.

Pulaski County—

Central Depot. Catfish weighing fifty-five pounds are caught in the New
River. The woodsin the vicimty are excellent hunting grounds for deer. turkeys,
foxes, squirrels, and all the game common in the Virginia mountains, Fourteen
miles from Central Depot are the New River White Sulphur Springs, which
afford excellent catfishing. Take the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad,
The hotels are good.

Martin's Station, on the same road, is in the vicinity of fair deer hunting.
Wild turkeys are plenty, and quail, woodcock and snipe on the meadows.

Roanoke County—

Big Lick. Black perch, bass, red-eye and red-horse fishing ia the Roanoke
River, near the village, with abundance of partridges and hares in the neighbor-
hood, On the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad, fifty-three miles from
Lynchburg. 4

Salem. Fine fall fishing for perch, black bass and red-horse, with splendid
quail and hare hunting. On the same road, forty miles from Lynchburg.

Bonsack’s. Excellent fox, bird and hare shooting. Reached via the Atlantic,
Mississippi and Ohio Railroad. At the hotel, the sportsman will find a good pack
of hounds.

Rockbridge County— .

Lexington. On the marshes of the North River, reed birds are found in num-
bers sufficient to afford good shooting. Take the Washington and Virginia Mid-
land Railroad to Amherst, thence stage, or go via the Chesapeake and Ohio Rail-
road to Goshen, thence stage. The Cedar Grove Hotel on the river, furnishes
boats, and every convenience for the sportsman.

Rockingham County—

Rawley Springs. Fine trout fishing in the mountain streams. Excellent
hotels. ake the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad to Harrisonburg, thence stage.

Shenandoah County—

Strasburg. The mountains in the vicinity are well stocked with deer and
wild turkeys. An abundance of quail in the vicinity of the town. Reached via
the Baltimore and Ohio, or the Washington and Virginia Midland Railway.
Board at hotel and private house, $2.50 to $5.

New Market. In the adjacent forests, deer, bears and wild turkeys numer-
ous; quail and woodcock in the swamps and field ; good fishing in the North
Fork of the Shenandoah. Reached as above. Board in private family $12 to $15
per month.

Smyth County—

Marion, on the western slope of the Alleghenies, is one of the finest game dis-
tricts easily accessible to the sportsman. ‘Bears and deer are found t ere, and
wild turkeys, grouse, quail, and woodcock are abundant. There is good hunt-
ing all about the neighborhood of Marion, and accessible therefrom by good-
mountain roads, Marion is on the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad.
There are three good hotels in the town.

In Stanley’s Creek, there is good trout fishing easily accessible from Marion.
Black bass are also found, though not abundant, and are taken weighing six
pounds, although the average is perhaps two pounds. The trout average a half
pound apiece, and seldom attain a weight of two pounds. The number is said to
have increased of late. Attention hasbeen directed to fish culture in this section,
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 169

and a breeding pond has been established near Marion, at which place there is
also an anglin :

Marion is als» the point of departure for the excellent trout streams tributary
to the Holston River. In this river black perch are caught. Fifteen miles from
Marion is White Top, a mountain well known for its great height and the extended
view from its summit. The streams at the base of this mountain are famous for
trout but very seldom visited. Among them are the Laurel Fork, White Top
Fork, Horse Creek, Fox Creek, and Helton Creek. Good accommodations can
be secured at Seabird Dinkin’s who lives at the foot of the mountain. Go via
wagon to the base of Iron Mountain, thence tramp it.

Stafford County—

Acqguia Creek, Excellent quail shooting ; ducks and other birds abundant.
Reached via rail or boat from Lynchburg or ‘Washington.

Sussex County—

Littleton. Deer, wild turkeys, foxes, squirrels, rabbits, and on the Nottoway
River, otters and beavers. The partridge shooting in the vicinity excellent.
The route is via the Petersburg and Weldon Railroad to Stony Creek Station,
thence stage or hired conveyance twenty miles.

Warren County—

Front Royal is a favorite mountain summer resort for Virginians. The black
bass fishing in the Shenandoah, near this place, is fine. Reached via the Wash-
ington and Virginia Midland Railroad.

Water Lick, eighty miles from Washington, on the Washington City and Vir-
ginia Railway, is an excellent centre for quail and woodcock shooting.

Riverton, On the Shenandoah there is good fishing. The angler will find
good accommodations at extremely moderate charges, with Major J. R. Richards,
who fora long time refused to take pay at all, until his friends and visitors forced
him to establish a moderate rate per diem.

Washington County—

Abingdon. Within six or eight miles of this town will be found fishing and
game in abundance. On the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad, one hun-
ed and eighty miles from Lynchburg. Hotels good.

WASHINGTON TERRITORY.

Washington is the extreme north-western Territory of the
United States, and has an area of 70,000 square miles. The Cas-
cade and the Coast Ranges, with other mountains, traverse much
of the Territory, and give a mountainous character to the surface
of the country. These mountains are some of the best hunting
districts in America. The streams abound in salmon and trout
and afford magnificent sport. The sportsman here should, as a
rule, to enjoy the best sport, provide camping equipments, which
can be procured at any of the larger towns, and go prepared for a
several weeks’ campaign. In fact, Washington Territory is a
Sportsman’s Paradise, whether it be for trout-fishing, deer-stalking,
grouse-shooting or wild-fowling at the hunter’s option. It does not
equal California in the matter of quail-shooting, itis true; but there
are six or seven varieties of grouse, which more than make up the
inequality on quail. There are mule deer on the broad plains of
the upper Columbia, the black-tail in the willow swamps of Caw-

8
i170 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

litz and Chehalis, and the mighty elk in the lonely glens about
Dungeness. Some of these days, the Eastern tourist will begin to
consider that his mission is unfulfilled unless he visits there, the
mighty inland sea, to wet a line in some of the streams that trickle
from Rainier’sicy crown, or give a death shot to the antlered mon-
arch of the glen in the silent woods above the foaming cataract of
Snoqualmie.

Clark County—

Vancouver. Black-tail and white-tail deer, wildcats, and panthers, Reached
via the Pacific Division of the Northern Pacific Railroad.

Jefferson County—

Port Townsend. Lopez Island, twenty-five miles distant, across Admiralty
Bay, isa fine hunting ground for deer. The prevailing mode here is to chase
them with dogs. Port Townsend is reached via the Pacific Coast Line of
steamers from San Francisco.

King County—
Seattle. In winter the jack-snipe inhabits the tide lands about the delta of the

Skagit and the sandy flats at the head of Seattle Bay. In the spring this bird is
found along the slope of Mts. Rainier and St. Helen's.

Lewis County—

Cawlitz. In the willow swamps are black-tail deer. Wild fowl are numer-
ous in the surrounding country and the streams are full of trout and salmon.
Reached via the Pacific Division of the Northern Pacific Railroad.

Chehalis is a good starting point for black-tail deer shooting.

Pacific County—

Shoalwater Bay affords excellent shooting for geese, ducks and snipe, which
are very numerous, The best ground is five miles from the town of Unity. Mr.
Henessy knows the ground well, and will serve sportsmen who call upon him.
Pierce County—

Puyallup. Clark’s Creek near the town is a fine stream for trout fishing.
Reached via the Coast Line of steamers from San Francisco, to the Coast cities,
whence all inland points may be reached by stage or railroad.

Steilacoom City. Speckled and silver trout. The lake is an excellent place for
troll fishing Just below Chambers Mill, on Steilacoom, is good trouting. Go via
Northern Pacific Road, the Pacific Division.

Thurston County—

Olympia, Speckled and silver trout in the Snohomish, Skagit and Nisqually -
streams, in McAllister stream and lake, nine miles from Olympia, and in the
Turwater and Snoqualmie Falls. The route is via the Pacific Division of the
Northern Pacific Railroad. The Northern Pacific steamers connect San Francis-
co with all points in Washington Territory-

WEST VIRGINIA.

The eastern sections are traversed by parallel ridges of the
Alleghenies, and the remainder of the country is hilly, rugged and
in some portions occupied by outlying spurs of the mountains. The
State possesses much romantic scenery and is becoming one of the
most popular regions for summer resorts in the South. The rail-
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 171

road communication is supplemented by excellent roads ; there are
numerous well appointed hotels in the neighborhood of the best
hunting and fishing localities. Or where such accommodations are
not to be had, no difficulty will be found in securing comfortable
accommodations at the farmhouses. The trout and bass fishing,
and deer, bear, fox and bird shooting afford abundant employment
for many weeks of sport.

Grant County—

a Williamsport is headquarters for bass fishing in the Potomac. See Jefferson
ounty.

Greenbrier County—

This county is a fine region for beaver trapping. Reached via Chesapeake and
Ohio Railroad. The country is mountainous.

Ronceverte. Bear, deer, wild turkey, woodcock, quail, ruffed grouse, squir-
ae and minks. Reached via the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad.

otel $2.

Hardy County—

The Moorefield Valley isa great place for deer. At the northern end of the
valley, the south branch of the Potomac finds an exit between two lofty moun-
tains, forming a miniature cafion for a distance of five miles. In this “* Trough,’’
as it is called, are situated the deer stands. The most famous is the ‘t Sycamore,”
which takes its name from an old sycamore stump, now used as a seat for the
watcher. The country is very mountainous and rugged. Take the Baltimore
and Ohio Railroad, and stage.

Jackson County—
Sandy. Good general hunting, deer, grouse, squirrels, etc.

Jefferson County— 7

If any one contemplates a serious raid against the so-called black bass, he
should by all means go to the Potomac or some of its tributaries. There is good
fishing at various points, from the Great Falls to Harper’s Ferry and Williams-
port. Sandy Hook, about four miles below Harper’s Ferry, is said to be an ex-
cellent stopping place, with fair accommodations. Dam No. 6, two miles above
the station, called Sir John’s Run, and about one hundred and twenty miles from
Baltimore, is the best place for large bass on the river. The Capon comes in here
on the Virginia side, and is reported to be well stocked. There is no public house
at this place, and the angler must seek entertainment of some private family on the
river.

Shannondale is a good headquarters for bass fishing in the Shenandoah River.

Harper's Ferry. A noted resort for black bass, which run from three to six
pounds in weight. Reached via the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.

Monroe County—

Sweet Springs. Deer, woodcock, pheasants, trout, and other game and fish
very abundant, and within easy access from the hotel. The route is via the
ines pemke and Ohio Railroad to Allegheny Station, thence by stage, nine miles.
Excellent accommodations can be obtained. The Springs are a well-known and
much visited resort of pleasure seekers.

Morgan County—

Berkeley Springs. Deer, bears, turkeys, quail, ruffed grouse, pheasants, squir-
Tels, rabbits, coons, etc., make up the game of this region. Black bass and trout
are caught in abundance. For bass, favorite spots are the dam five miles up_ the
Sir John’s River, and Capon Creek, reached by a hard mountain tramp. Fitz-
miller is an excellent guide, has a team, and will be found a good pilot or stran—
gers. The route is via the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad to Sir John’s Run,
thence two and a half miles via stage. There is an excellent hotel here, $12 to
$17 per week, and board may also be found at the farmhouses in the vicinity ; $6
to $10 per week. It isa good plan to pitch a tent near some farmhouse, where pro-
172 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

visions may be secured. The country is rough and mountainous, and hard and
fatiguing tramps are necessary for successful sport here.

Ohio County—
Wheeling. Good quail shooting is found on the Ohio River bottoms below
Wheeling. Reached via the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.

Randolph County—

Beverly, The mountain streams contain trout, and in the larger streams are
found black bass. Reached via the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad to Webster,
thence via wagon road. The country is difficult of access, and the fish not very
large. Board can be obtained among the farmers.

Lucker County—

Hoy’s Wilderness, and the Blackwater Region. The Blackwater lies among the
mountains twenty-six miles south of Oakland, on the Baltimore and Ohio Baile
road. The stream is one of the extreme eastern afHluents of the Ohio. It runs
through a forest country of probably thirty miles in length and width, a tract of
some nine hundred square miles, almost as wild as any part of the Rocky Moun-
tains. In all this region, there is hardly a settler to the hundred square miles ;
in the part usually visited by trout fishermen, there is but one house, a lone log
building ten miles from the nearest settlement, known among the mountaineers
as ‘‘ Dobbins.”” In winter the region is entirely deserted, but with the opening of
the fishing season in May,a family by the name of Kitzmiller moves in and accom-
modates visitors with plain and substantial country fare. Thisis the only place in
the wilderness where shelter or supplies can be obtained, except at ‘* Cosner’s,”
eighteen miles up the river. ‘* Dobbins’’ is headquarters for trout, while for bear,
deer, turkey and grouse shooting, the sportsman should go to Wm. Kitzmiller’s,
thirteen miles from Oakland, on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. To reach
either point, a letter should be sent to William Kitzmiller, Oakland, Garrett Co.,
Md. He will provide conveyance thence into the wilderness. He furnishes
board at $1.50 per day. Outfit can be procured at Oakland. Thomas Basley of
Oakland will give all needed information. The Blackwater is a stream some
thirty or forty yards in width, clear of driftwood and trash, and the chance for
casting the fly on it is first-class. The fishing in the proper season, May, June and
September, is magnificent. The trout average rather small, and have not the
activity of those of more northern and colder streams, The large ones, however,
will give the wielder of a light fly rod enough to do.

Wood County—

Parkersburg. By taking steamer up the Little Kanawha, thence up Hugh’s
River. ten or twenty miles, the sportsman will find excellent localities for camp-
ing. Deer and squirrel shooting is excellent; black bass and trout are caught in
large numbers. Take the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.

WISCONSIN.

Area 53,924 square miles; population, 1,054,670. The surface
of Wisconsin is a rolling prairie, interspersed with numerous oak
openings and a great number of lakes. The water system of the
State comprises innumerable streams forming a complete network
of magnificent fishing waters. The extensive forests, known as
the Big Woods, are the haunts of bears, deer, and other game in
such variety and abundance as to attract many sportsmen from
other States. The fishing is good throughout the State; black
bass, trout, and other varieties are always to be found within con-
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 173

venient distance from any of the numerous railroads which render
accessible all points of the State.

Adams County—

Little Lake, Good deer shooting in the forests which cover a portion of the
county.

Bayfield County—

Bayfield is situated behind the Apostle Islands, which land-lock a coast of
over fifty miles, where boating in small boats is a matter of entire safety, and
with the incomparable healthfulness of climate, pure water, and delicious Ban of
various kinds combine in affording attractions that can only be appreciated b
those enjoying them. ‘he special feature among the attractions of Bayfield is
the numerous trout streams and the trout fishing along the coast in the vicinity.
There are between twenty-five and fifty streams running into the lake within the
limits of the coast protected by the islands, which seem to possess exhaustless
numbers of brook trout, and in addition the fishing along the coast for the whole
distance (about fifty miles) is unexcelled. The ‘‘ rock fishing,’’ as this coast fish-
ing is termed, affords fine sport for the angler. These streams admit of fine boat-
fishing near their mouths, and splendid stream-fishing farther up. Very large
trout are taken in these waters, many weighing three and a half and four pounds.
Deer hunting affords excellent sport in the neighboring forests.

Boats for Bayfield leave almost daily from Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, and
Chicago, also from Duluth, eighty miles distant, reached by rail via St. Paul.
J. B. Bono can comfortably accommodate twelve persons ; George Stark can do
the same; N. La Bonta four or five; William Herbert seven or eight ; Mr. Milli-
gan, on the Red Cliff Indian Reservation, where he is beautifully located, can
accommodate several, and so can Colonel E. E. Henderson on a farm eight miles
from Bayfield, and where one of the finest trout streams to be found in any coun-
try runs through the yard. These are all in addition to Smith’s Hotel, which can
accommodate about one hundred persons, and the Island House which has every
facility for sportsmen ($2 to $2.50). There are three steam yachts that can be hired
at any time at low rates, in addition to any number of small boats suitable for
boating and fishing purposes.

Brown County—

Wrightstown, There are excellent shooting and fishing grounds in the vicin-
ity. Deer, bears. ducks, geese, snipe, woodcock, partridges, pheasants and small
game abound. Black bass and pickerel in the waters. For information write to

tto Guttrer. Reached via the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad. Board
$3.50 per week ; teams $1.50 to $2.50; Indian guides. Camping out is the best
mode of hunting here. Hilly country.

Fort Howard. Deer, ruffed grouse, ducks, snipe; brook trout, lake trout,
whitefish, bass. The fishing waters are Green Bay, and Fox and East Rivers.
Reached as above. Hotels $2.50 to $3; boats and steam yachts ; teams $6; ser-
vices of driver $2. Excellent camping grounds.

Green Bay. The fine hotels and many attractions in and about Green Bay
render it a very desirable summer resort. It can be reached by the Wisconsin
Central, or the North-western Railroad from Milwaukee. It affords magnificent
bass fishing and sailing, while adjacent streams flowing into Green Bay are well
stocked with brook trout. There is fine hunting in season. There are three
large, first-class hotels in the city. The Beaumont House $3, $17.50 per week ;
eons Hotel $2, $8.50 to $12 per week; and The First National Hotel $2, $9 to

12 per week.

e Pere. Deer, duck, ruffed grouse, pickerel, pike, sturgeon in Fox River
and Green Bay. Reached via Chicago and North-western Railroad. Board $1
to $1 50 per day, $3.50 to $5 per week ; boats and guides $3.soto $5; teams $4 to
$6. Rolling country.

Clark County—

Excellent deer hunting is to be found in this county. Take the West Wis-
consin Railroad to Humburd, whence other parts of the county are easily
reached.

Columbia County—
This county furnishes some of the best pinnated grouse shooting regions in
174 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

the State. Take the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad to Portage City.
Thence all parts of the county are easily accessible.

Dane County—

Madison. On the lakes, geese, brant, wood-ducks, mallards, teal, canvas-
backs, redheads, pin-tails, bluebills, spoon-bills, grey whistlers, bald-pates, ruffle
heads; on the Nine Spring Marshes, Wilson snipe, several varieties of plover,
sand-piners, and rails ; ruffed and pinnated grouse and quail. The fishing includes
pickerel, black bass, catfish and a variety of whitefish. Madison is one hundred
and thirty-six miles from Chicago on the Chicago and North-western Railroad,
and eighty miles from Milwaukee on the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Rail-
road. Hotels, boats, etc. See Rudd, Floyd County, Iowa.

Norway. Deer, bears, etc. Reached via the Wisconsin Valley Railway.
Board $1.50. Hilly country.

Dodge County—

Beaver Dam. Quail, snipe, ducks, squirrels, On the Chicago, Milwaukee
and St. Paul Railroad.

Fox Lake. A good ground for ducks. Take Chicago and North-western
Railroad to McHenry. Stop at Harry Durnell’s Hotel. A wagon ride of six
miles from there will bring one to the shooting ground, which forms a part of a
system of alternating ponds, lakes, marshes and swamps.

Burnett. Fine shooting grounds in the immediate vicinity. Ducks, geese,
brant and swans are found in countless numbers. Reached via the Chicago and
North-western Railroad. There are two hotels.

Horicon, on Horicon Lake, is a favorite resort for anglers. The lake contains
a variety and abundance of fish. Reached as above.

Mud Lake. Twenty-eight miles east'of Madison. An excellent shooting
round for ducks. Take the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad to Hub-
leton, whence the lake is four miles down the river. Boats can be had at

Hubbleton,

Door County—

Sturgeon Bay. Excellent fishing for mascalonge, pickerel, black bass, sal-
mon trout, whitefish, etc. Deer, ducks, water hens, pigeons, etc. Reached via
steamer.

Douglass County—

The Srude River, thirty miles from Superior City, abounds in large speckled
trout. Reached by steamer from Superior City.

Dunn County—

Menomonee is reached by rail from Chicago over the North-western Railroad
and West Wisconsin Road, in a twenty-four hours’ ride. At Menomonee are the
famous ‘' Tea. Gardens,"’ on Wilson’s Creek, ten miles from Ménomonee. This

lace is fast acquiring reputation for the number more than the size of its trout.

he Tea Gardens have an established hotel that is devoted to sportsmen who
visit there. Aside from this, many other streams, all tributary to the Chippewa
and Menomonee Rivers, are to be found in this locality—and chicken hunting in
season cannot be surpassed. John H. Knapp of Menomonee will gladly give in-
formation concerning future developments. The hotels are: The Menomonee,
The Merchants, and The Central. Board $2; teams $4; guides $1.50; boats
$1.50. Camp out for best sport. Bears, deer, elk, ruffed grouse and other game is
to be found in the vicinity. Hilly country.

Dunnville is headquarters for duck and goose shooting. Reached by stage
from Menomonee.

Eau Claire County—

Augusta, Sharp-tailed, pinnated, and ruffed grouse. Reached via the West
Wisconsin Railroad,

Fond du Lac County—

New Cassel. Lake Fifteen and Long Lake contain a variety of fish. Game is
found in great abundance in the adjacent country. Reached via the Chicago and
North-western Railroad.

Van Dyne. Ducks, pinnated grouse. Lake Winnebago is within one and one-
half miles, and furnishes good fishing. Reached as above. Hotel $1.50; guides
$1.50; teams $1 ; boats 50 cents,
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 175

Fond du Lac, one hundred and forty-eight miles from Chicago via the Chica-
0, Milwaukee and Fond du Lac Air Line, is located on the southern end of Lake
Vinnebago which aboundsin fish. (See Menasha.) Lake de Neveu, a beautiful
sheet of water, is romantically situated about three miles southeast of the city.
Eastward is Elkhart Lake, already famous for its natural beauties, and westward
lies Green Lake, a noted summer resort. On all these lakes are pleasure boats
propelled by steam, wind and man power. The waters of all these lakes furnish
a plentiful and various supply of fresh-water fish, where the piscatorially-inclined
can enjoy ue amusement. The Patty House and the American House are the
best hotels. here are yachts and pleasure steamers on Winnebago Lake.

Green Lake County—

Green Lake is ninety miles northwest from Milwaukee. This is quite a large
body of water, being some fifteen miles long and three wide. The shores com-
prise a pleasing variety of green slopes and rocky cliffs. The water is quite deep
and cool, for which reasons the bass do not commence biting before September.
Here is the best fall bass fishing in the State, and the fish are unusually large.
Perch and pickerel are also caught. Pinnated grouse shooting in the vicinity ;
duck shooting is excellent. Take the Chicago and North-western road to Fon
du Lac, thence via the Sheboygan and Fond du Lac Road. The shortest route is
via the Chicago and North-western Railroad. The hotels on the lake are the Oak-
wood, Sherwood Forest, Walker, Collins’ boarding house, and others. The
Oakwood House is a handsome and commodious structure, advantageously
located on the bank of the lake ; it is kept open until November, and furnishes
every convenience for the tourist or angler. A few miles west of Green Lake
are Puckaway and Buffalo Lakes, renowned for their good fishing and for fur-
nishing the best duck shooting in Wisconsin.

Jefferson County—

Fort Atkinson. Rock, Ripley, Cambridge, Rose Lakes, and Lake Mills, are
near, and noted for their wild fowl shooting. Canvas-back ducks are abundant
in all of them ; mallards, teal, redheads, etc ; bass, pike and pickerel. Reached
via the Chicago and North-western Railroad. Hotel and private board $1.50;
boats $1 ; teams $3.

Hubbleton. See Mud Lake, Dodge County.

Watertown, Onthe Lowell Creek Marsh, a few miles from this place, is fine
duck, brant, wild goose and other shooting. Reached via the Chicago, Milwau-
kee, Lowell and St. Paul Railroad, forty-five miles from Milwaukee.

Sefferson. Ducks, pinnated and ruffed grouse, and other small game; pike,
pickerel, black and rock bass. Reached via the Chicago and North-western Rail-
road. Hotel and private board $1: to $2; $4 to $6 per week. Stage to Lake
Mills, (fare 50 cents) where good fishing is to be had.

Juneau County—

Wonewoc, on the Chicago and ‘North-western Railroad, is a good headquarters
for sport. The surrounding country is broken and covered with timber, but offers
ne unting to the sportsman. Deer are abundant, and bears are not unfrequently
shot,

La Crosse County—

Bangor. Excellent fishing and shooting can be found close to the village, in
the La Crosse River, within a fourth of a mile of the town. Pike, pickerel, black
and rock bass, and several other varieties of fish, are found in great abundance.
A fine brook trout stream flows through the village, and half a mile from it isa
large artificial trout pone fully stocked with fish. In the woods which surround
the village are found deer, squirrel, and wild turkeys. Many bird dogs are kept
here for hire, and there is also a pack of hounds for fox hunting, owned by the
Hon. John Bradley. The Bangor House will be found a comfortable home for
hunters. Reached via the Chicago and North-western, or the Chicago, Milwaukee
and St. Paul Railroad. ‘

La Crosse. Woodcock and quail shooting in the Mississippi bottoms, Reached
as above, and by other railroads.

Marathon Count y—
Mosinee. An excellent game certre for bears, deer, etc. Reached via the
I 76 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

Wisconsin Valley Railroad. Board $1.50. Guides are necessary, and can be
secured at reasonable rates.
Wausau. For game and route see Mosinee. Board $2.

Pierce County—

Prescott, on the St. Croix River, is a good initial point for pinnated grouse
shooting throngh the counties of Dunn, Polk and Barron. The southern border
of Pierce County lies on Lake Pepin (see Minnesota).

Marquette County— ‘.

Montello, Mallards, canvas-backs and teal, on the marshes overflowed by the
Fox River, woodcock, ruffed and pinnated grouse, snipe, wild_geese. Scaup,
buffed-heads and redheads are abundant on Buffalo Lake and Fox River. On
the northern margin of Buffalo Lake, a small creek stretches away for four miles,
and along this rice bound rivulet, the mallards are abundant. The mallards and
teal are found in the marshes, which being covered with from one half foot to a
foot of water, and the grass uncut, affords good chance of approach on foot, with
high top rubber boots. Pickerel are the most numerous, and are caught in large
numbers with trolling spoons and live minnows. Trolling is the favorite method
of taking them, and the average catch is from three to five pounds each. At Col-
lins Lake, three miles south of Muscalonge, they are taken with live bait or troll-
ing spoon, and weigh from twelve to fifteen pounds. This is also an admirable
place for bass fishing, and much sought by the enthusiastic anglers of the locality.
At Buffalo Lake and other ‘points near Montello, black bass are frequently caught
of five pounds weight and upward. Perch are usually plenty in Fox River,
though seine fishing has to a degree depopulated the river of these and other
varieties of fish. On Puckaway Lake, canvas-backs, redheads, and other varic-
ue of ducks, ruffed grouse, snipe, woodcock, grey, fox and black squirrels, rab-

its, ete.

Gitlroy’s Creek, six miles west of Puckaway Lake, to which it is a tributary, is
a favorite locality for grouse shooting. The Grand River, which winds its way
south from the Fox River, is one of the favorite haunts of mallards, as also are the
numerous sloughs and rice fields bordering on the lake. As the Grand River
nears its head, itis difficult of navigation, but the splendid shooting more than
repays for this. Montello is reached by drive from Portage City, Columbia
County, or from Princeton on the Sheboygan and Fond du Lac Railroad.

Westfield. WRuffed and pinnated grouse, snipe, ducks, geese, and, in the pine-
lands to the north, plenty of deer. ‘ake the Wisconsin Central Railroad

Monroe County—

Sparta, Trout are abundant in the neighboring streams, and perch in Perch
Lake. It has been computed that there are more than two hundred and fifty
miles of trout streams within Monroe County, There are numerous fine hunting

rounds in the vicinity of Sparta, where bears, deer, and small game may be
found. Take the Chicago and North-western Railroad. Several excellent hotels
and private board, $5 to $7 per week ; teams $4 per day.

Norwalk, Brook trout and many kinds of game are found in the vicinity.
Reached as above.

Glendale. Within a radius of five miles are a large number of fine trouting
streams. Game is abundant. Reached as above. he Glendale House is the
resort of sportsmen. Two miles farther on the railroad is Kendad/s, where are
good hotels, and a half mile from here is Lake Torrence well stocked with brook
trout.

Wilton is built at the head waters of Kickapoo Creek, which, with lateral
streams, are full of brook trout. Bears, deer and squirrels are found in the sur-
rounding forests, while pinnated grouse, partridges, pheasants, quail and grouse
are plentiful in the clearings. The village has two hotels. Reached via the Chi-
cago and North-western Railroad.

Oconto County—

Pensaukee. Game of many kinds abounds in the vicinity. Reached via the
Chicago and North-western Railroad.

Peshtigo. Thunder Lake, River Medicine, Gravel and Trout Lakes, are near,
and are full of fish. Pickerel, whitefish, pike, sturgeon, black, silver, and rock bass
are the varieties. Brook trout are caught in great abundance in many of the streams
of the vicinity. Deer, bears, ruffed grouse and other game are plentiful. The city
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 177

has several good hotels, where sportsmen are lodged and fed at very reasonable
rates. Reached as above.

Outagamie County—

Appleton, in the Lower Fox River Valley, is a charming summer resort, which
offers many attractions to the sportsman. The river abounds in fish, (see Men-
asha) the wild rice tracts are filled with ducks ard in the woods are numbers of
small game. Reached via the Chicago and North-western, or the Milwaukee,
Lake Shore and Western Railroad.

Little Chute. For Game see Wrightstown. Route same as Appleton.

Kaukauna. Same as Wrightstown, which see.

Seymour. The surrounding country is densely wooded and the forests are
full of deer, bears, and small game. Reached via the Green Bay and Minnesota
Railroad. Wisconsin House, Seymour House, each $1.50.

Pepin County—

The Chippewa River empties its clear water into the Mississippi River one mile
below the foot of Lake Pepin. All its branches are trout streams, and its water
is much cooler than the Mississippi. It is a great lumber stream, and a great
many rafts descend it to the Mississippi, and to the cities below. These rafts are
strung along the shore for several miles, and the white salmon collect in vast
numbers under them, where they are sheltered from the sun, and enjoy the cool
water of the Chippewa. The minnows pass up the river in vast numbers just
along side of the rafts, and an expat with scoop net will sometimes take a quart
of minnows at one drive; enough to do a party for a day’s fishing. The fishing
for salmon is close along Side the rafts.

The town of Reed’s Landing, on the opposite side of the Mississippi in Min-.
nesota, affords good accommodations and is convenient for anglers. For the fish-
ing of Lake Pepin see Minnesota.

Portage County— :

Function. Bears, deer, and other game. Pike and pickerel in Rice Lake
Reached via the Wisconsin Central or Wisconsin Valley Railway. Hotel $1.50.
Guides are necessary and camping out furnishes the best sport.

Racine County—

Racine. Pinnated grouse, pickerel and bass. Reached via the Chicago and
North-western, or Western Union Railroad, or by boat. Hotel $1.50; boats 50
cents. Eagle and Wind Lakes are excellent fishing grounds.

Rock County—

-Koshkonong. The fishing in Lake fee is good for bass, pickerel,
pike, yellow and silver perch. Wild celery grows here in great abundance, and
for canvas-back ducks this lake vies with the Delaware and Potomac Rivers, and
with Chesapeake Bay. Red-heads, mallards, black-heads and spike-tails, geese,
trout, swans, soipes sora, quail, poidaes and pinnated grouse make up the
attractive list of the shooting on this far famed ground. The Koshkonong Club
have a house here, and there are numerous hotels and boarding-houses. The
route is via the Chicago and North-western Railroad.

Fanesville. Mallard, Northern duck, snipe, pinnated grouse and other shoot-
ing. The angler will find excellent black bass fishing, Reached via the Chicago
a Northcwestern and the Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroads. Several good

otels.

Catfish Creek is the outlet of a chain of lakes called, First, Second, Third and
Fourth Lakes, and empties into Rock River, twelve miles above Janesville.
These waters afford fine fishing for bass, pike, and pickerel, and good shooting
for ducks, geese, snipe, and other wild fal. There is good fishing in both creek
and lakes. Third Lake is filled with wild rice which affords abundant food for
the birds. There is a fine hotel at Winnagua, near Third Lake.

Clinton. The surrounding country is prairie and affords fine pinnated grouse
shooting in the fall. Reached via the Chicago and North-western, or the Western
Union Railroads. 7

Beloit is on the Rock River in which is excellent fishing. Reached via the
Chicago and North-western Railroad.

St. Croix County—
New Richmond. Elk, bears, deer, pinnated and ruffed grouse. Reached via

8*
178 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

the North Wisconsin Railway, thirty-eight miles from St. Paul. Board, boats
and guides at reasonable rates; teams $5 per day. Camping is the preferable
mode of hunting here. Country level prairie.

Pigeon River is famous for its wild goose and duck shooting. Pigeons are
numerous at certain seasons.

Baldwin. Deer, pinnated and ruffed grouse, wild fowl. Reached via the
West Wisconsin Railway, forty-one miles from St. Paul. Hotel and private
board, $5 to $12 per week; teams $4.

Hudson is on Lake St. Croix. The largest nflsiceipel steamers ascend the St.
Croix river to this point. Twelve miles southeast is Kinnickinnick River, yield-
ing the finest brook trout, not only in the main stream but on the north and
south forks, Tiffany Creek also abounds with brook trout. Bass Lake, eight
miles northeast, furnishes excellent bass fishing. The pickerel and mascalonge
fishing is good. The surrounding woods and prairies abound in game. Deer, pin-
nated and ruffed grouse, ducks, geese, etc., furnish abundant reward for shot gun
and rifle. Take the Chicago and North-western and the West Wisconsin Rail-
roads. At the Baldwin House, Amasa Walker, proprietor, sportsmen will receive
every ore ; private board can also be had, $1 to a.50 per day ; boats $1.50;
teams $6,

IVitson. For game and route see Menomonee. Board $4 per week ; teams $3
to $4 per day.

Sauk County— y

Devil's Lake, a romantic spot, furnishes excellent sport for the angler. The
waters are full of different varieties of fish. It is reached directly by two daily
lines of palace cars, that leave Chicago morning and night via the Chicago and
North-western Railroad, and stop in front of the hotel that has been opened for
the use of the summer tourists who flock to the place. About fifteen miles west
of Ableman’s is the divide, and in the streams running west, brook trout can be
found ; in the streams running east, pickerel and bass.

Baraboo. Deer, an occasional pear, pinnated and ruffed grouse, in abundance.
Fine trouting in the tributaries of the Baraboo and Kickapoo Rivers. Reached
via the Chicago and North-western Railroad. Board $2.50.

Sheboygan County—

Elkhart Lake is sixty miles north of Milwaukee, on the Wisconsin Central
Railroad, and is becoming very popular, and deservedly so. The lake is a beau-
tiful sheet of water, and furnishes fine facilities for black bass fishing, boating, or
sailing. There are two hotels on its banks, and both are well kept.

Trempealeau County—

Arcadia is on the Green Bay and Minnesota Railroad one hundred and ninety-
two miles from Green Bay. There are many fine trout streams in the vicinity.
The pinnated grouse shooting all through the county is excellent.

Walworth County—

In the county _are twenty-four lakes, among which are Lakes Geneva,
Crooked, ALO Potter’s Booth, Lulu, Como, Turtle, Whitewater, Bass, Hol-
den’s, Grove, Middle, Mill, Otter and Pleasant, ranging from one-half mile wide
and one mile long, to three or ten miles wide to ten or twelve miles long. All
are stocked with fish, and on several of them are various pleasure boats, includ-
ing yachts and steamers, and on the shores of several are club-houses and sum-
mer hotels.

Geneva, a delightful and growing place of summer resort, is situated at the foot
ot Geneva Lake, and is headquarters for the cisco campaign. But during the
‘‘run’’ thousands of people from the surrounding country visit the shores, hun-
dreds of people tent on the beach, and scores of camp fires are seen on all sides
in the calm summer nights. It is worth the while for any enthusiastic piscator to
go a-ciscoing once in his life at least. He will very likely conclude that it is not
equal to salmon or trout fishing, but he will find his skill and patience sufficiently
lated to “ie his first dozen ciscoes seem a genuine and thrilling victory. (See
Elkhorn.

Geneva is about sixty miles northwest from Chicago, and easily reached by
rail via the Chicago and North-western Railroad. Good hotel accommodation
and all sorts of boating facilities may be had at reasonable rates. Two fine side
wheel steamers make regular trips from Geneva to Fontana and all intermediate
points.
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 179

Elkhorn. Woodcock, pinnated grouse, ruffed grouse, Wilson snipe, Canada
geese, brant, quail, ducks, including blue bells, butter-balls, ruddy ducks, pin-
tails, widgeons, redheads, whistlers, scooters, canvas-backs, mallards, wood
ducks, and teal. The game however is not of sufficient quantity to ensure suc-
cess to sportsmen from abroad, In Geneva Lake fine sport is had with the cisco.
the annual run of which begins about June roth, and lasts fora week. Follow-
ing the cisco run comes the regular fishing season, when may be had in any of
the many beautiful lakes of this section capital sport with rod and line. Black
bass, rock bass, pike-perch, pickerel, and yellow perch are abundant in all the
waters, -

Delaware Lake, four miles distant, is a favorite place for pickerel and trolling.

Elkhorn is on the Western Union Railroad. Hotel and private board $1 to $2
per day ; guides, rarely necessary, $1.50 to $2 per day ; boats so cents.

Trey. Cisco and other fishing in Troy Lake.

Waukesha County—

Pewaukee. Nineteen miles west of Milwaukee, on the Chicago, Milwaukee
and St. Paul Railroad is the pleasant lake and village of Pewaukee. This lake is
six miles long and amile wide, and the black bass fishing most excellent. Heath’s
Hotel and the Oakton Springs Hotel, in the village, and the Lakeside, further up
the lake, furnish accommodations of the best kind.

Oconomowoc, is twelve miles west of Pewaukee, and thirty miles from Milwau-
kee on the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad. Asasummer resort it is
popularly known as the ‘* Saratoga of the West,’’ and in sporting parlance it isan
‘ Angler’s Paradise.’’ Within a radius of eight miles there are no less than
thirty lakes, varying from one to several square miles in extent, and teeming with
black bass, Oswego or green bass, northern pickerel, and the smaller fry of rock
bass, silver bass, yellow perch, cisco, etc. In the vicinity the sportsman will find
woodcock, pinnated, ruffed and sharp-tailed grouse, wild geese, brant, ducks,
plover and snipe. The favorite lakes with anglers are La Belle, Fowler, Okau-
chee, Oconomowoc, Nemahbin, Nashotah, Nagowicka, Genesee, Pine, Beaver,
North, Silver, and Golden. They are all well supplied with fishing boats, and at
Oconomowoc experienced guides and boatmencan be obtained at a moderate

tice. The hotel accommodations are ample and excellent, and terms reasona-

le. The Townsend House, on Fowler Lake, Draper Hall, La Belle House, and
Woodlands are beautifully located, and are very handsome and convenient in
their appointments. Giffords’, on Oconomowoc Lake, is very romantically situ-
ated, and is quite a favorite resort. In addition to these hotels are numerous
boarding houses, agreeably and pleasantly situated, and well conducted. Owing
to the remarkably fine roads the livery stables are unusually good, with lively-
stepping horses and first-class vehicles. J.C. Hitchcock & Co., manufacturers
of the ‘* Oconomowoc bass rod,’’ keep a full stock of fishing tackle of all kinds,
and the angler can here procure everything necessary to his sport. Black River
has rock and black bass.

Winnebago County—

Menasha and Neenah. These twin cities are one hundred miles north of Mil-
waukee, and can be reached by either the Wisconsin Central Railroad or North-
western Railroad. They lie at the foot of Winnebago Lake, on either side of Fox
River, the outlet of the lake. This is the largest lake in Wisconsin, being thirty
miles long with an average width of five miles. On the opposite side of the cities
is Lake Buttes des Morts. The bass fishing here is very good ; the Neenah chan-
nel of Fox River is especially good for fly fishing. The rapids of the lower Fox
River also furnish some of the finest of sport. Kaukauna rapid in particular,
nearly a mile in extent, is a wild eddying part of the stream, grand in its scenery:
and rich in ragged shelving rocks and dark deep pools, that are well filled wit
large, dark-colored, rather slim, active fellows that are no burlesque on western
civilization 3 and the Nimrod who can preserve his light tackle in order, and
retain his fish in some of the headlong races he must make down the stream over
boulders and brambles with one of these fellows on the lead for his favorite pool,
must lose all thought of self and the consequence of a disordered appearance at
the close of the race. Garlic Island is another good spot, The bass are mostly
of the small-mouth variety. Here are also found the white bass, the pike perch,
pickerel, catfish, bullheads, shad, taken here with fly, and, to the occasional
disgust of the angler, the sheepshead, not Sargus ovis but Corvina oscula. The
sturgeon also holds high carnival in these waters, sometimes attaining the weight
of two hundred pounds. The National Hotel at Menasha is the angler’s resort.
180 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

It is well ordered and ably conducted. Boats, oarsmen, and all necessary ap-
purtenances for fishing are furnished by the host. The Russel House in Neenah
also furnishes good accommodations, and there boats, etc., can be obtained.
Board $2 ; teams $3 to $5. (See Fond du Lac.)

Oshkosh is at the mouth of Fox River, on the western shore of Lake Winneba-
go. Wild pime is abundant in the vicinity, and is composed of blue and green-
winged teal, mallard and wood duck, snipe, woodcock, quail and pinnated grouse.
The waters abound in black and white bass and other fish, and brook trout are
plentiful in streams within a day’s travel. Oshkosh is on the Chicago and North-
Wester phd. the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroads. There are several

ne hotels.

Wood County—

Centralia. Bears, deer, grouse, and different varieties of wild fowl. Reached
via the St. Louis, Kansas City and Northern Railroad. Board at hotel $2.

Remington. Bear, deer, pinnated grouse, ruffed grouse. In all the streams
trout are abundant. Reached via the Chica o, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad
to Tomah thence via the Wisconsin Valley Railroad. Board $1.50.

WYOMING.

The area of Wyoming is 97,883 square miles. The population
in 1870 was 9,118, and has been, since that year, increased by the
immigration to the mining fields of the Black Hills. The surface
of the country is high and mountainous, the mean elevation being
6,450 feet. The main chain of the Rocky Mountains entering at
the south-eastern border extends through the Territory in a north-
western direction. There are in addition to these, many other
spurs and chains of mountains, the Wind River, Big Horn, Black
Hills, etc. The Laramie Plains, an extent of 7,000 square miles,
are made up of extensive meadows, and rolling hilly country, and
areamong the finest hunting grounds inthecountry, Inthe North-
western corner of the Territory is a section of 3,575 square miles,
the Yellowstone Region, which for natural wonders has no equal
of the same area upon the globe. The Union Pacific Railroad,
the Union Pacific and the Kansas Pacific Railroad, are the princi-
pal means of access, via Cheyenne and other points, to all parts of
the Territory. Pack and saddle horses, and all equipments may
here be secured.

Albany County—

Como. Deer, elk, antelope, mountain sheep and bears, a few miles distant in
the timber land. Ducks and geese in abundance. Reached via the Union Pacific
Railway. Board $1. For bear and mountain sheep hunting, camping is neces-
sary. Country hilly, rocky and timber lands.

Lookout. Fk, antelope, and black tail deer, are found in Medicine Bow
Mountains, twenty miles south. Pinnated grouse, ducks and geese are in abun-
dance. Reached via the Union Pacific Railroad. Camping is necessary ; guides
can be found at Laramie. Hilly country:

Tie Siding. Elk, deer, antelope and rabbits very abundant. Good trouting.
Reached as above. Board $7 per week ; teams $5. Camping outfits can be pro-
cured here. x

Miser. Deer, elk, antelope, mountain sheep, jack rabbits, geese and ducks,
Reached asabove. Board $1. Mountain country.
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 181

Laramie City. Elk, antelope, deer, mountain sheep, bears, sage hens, duck
and geese. Reached as above, Guides $2 to $4; fears $5. eae sae

Fort Saunders. Perhaps the best elk country is on the Laramie Plains, in the
vicinity of Fort Saunders, on the Union Pacific.

Carbon County—

Medicine Bow. Elk, deer, antelope, sage hens. Reached via Union Pacific
Railroad. Board $3; teams $5. For good sport, camping is necessary. Rolling
and mountainous country. '

Percy. Elk, antelope, black tail deer, beavers, otters, etc. Mountain trout in
the streams, twelve miles from the station. Reached as above. Private board
$1.50 ; guides can be procured. Country rolling prairie:

Separation. Antelope in abundance, deer, elk, mountain sheep, a few black
bears and cinnamon bears ; sage hens andjack rabbits plenty. Reached as above.
Private board $1 ; guides $3 ; saddle and pack horses $4. Camping outfit can be
purchased at Rawlins, a station fourteen miles east. The country is rolling prai-
rie, hills and mountains.

Rawlins. Bears, elk, black tail deer, mountain sheep, antelope, sage hens,
jack rabbits; good trouting in the mountain streams, Reached asabove. Board
$1; guides $2.50 to $3; teams and driver $4 to $6. The country mountainous,
with excellent camping grounds. :

Carbon. Elk, antelope, deer, bears occasionally, mountain sheep, sage hens,
rabbits, hares ; fish of different kinds. Reached as above. Hotel $2; guides $3
to $5 peas $7. The country is hilly and mountainous, with excellent camping

rounds. :
- St. Mary's. Bears, elk, black-tail deer, antelope, some mountain sheep, jack
rabbits, sage hens, mountain grouse. Reached as above. Private board $1;
guides $2. Provide for camping. Country hilly.

Fort Steele. Elk, deer, antelope, mountain sheep, sage hens, ducks and geese.
Fish of different varieties. Reached via Union Bacibe Railroad. Board $1;
teams $3. In bad weather the game are found in the valleys; in fine weather
they retire to the mountains.

Laramie County—

Cheyenne City, Deer, elk, antelope, bears, mountain sheep, mountain lions;
excellent trouting. Reached via the Union Pacific Railroad. Hotel and private
board, $1 to $4; teams $5.; guides at reasonable rates. For best sport camp out.
Rolling prairie, with the Rocky Mountains fifty miles distant.

Pine Bluff. Bilack-tail deer, and mountain sheep are abundant on the hills,
antelope on the prairies, bears on Horse Creek, twenty-five miles north. The
route is asabove, Board in private family $1. For hunting on the hills, camping
is necessary.

Hazard, twenty miles from the Black Hills. Antelope, black-tail and white-
tail deer, geese, sandhill cranes, ducks of all kinds, jack snipe, curlew ; and trout
in the Black Hill streams. Reached via the Union Pacific Railroad. Board at
ranches $2; teams with driver $5. Country hilly and rolling.

Spear Fish Creek. Rapid Creek, Spring Creek and Redwater are full of pike,
perch, catfish, bullheads, suckers, etc. Reached from Deadwood City, on the

nion Pacific Railroad.

Sweetwater County—

Green River City, The Green River country offers many attractions to the
sportsman or trapper. The brooks furnish trout - thousands—from half a pound
to four pounds in weight—active, plucky fish, that it is a pleasure to hook and a
satisfaction to land. Beaver are very plentiful, and their dams may be found at
intervals of half a mile on every moderately large brook. Otters, too, are trapped
in considerable numbers every winter, though not so numerous now as in former
years, These, with the mink and fisher, are the finer fur-bearing animals of the
country. The felinze are represented by the lynx and the mountain lion ; the lat-
ter rarely seen.

Deer and elk are numerous in the bottoms and on the mountains, a few ante-
lopes frequent the elevated plateaus that occur from time to time along the river,
while the loftiest peaks afford a secure refuge to the wary mountain sheep.
When hunting along the river or some of its tributaries the hunter will often
notice the track of the ferocious grizzly, or of his smaller and more timid conge-
ners, the black and cinnamon bears. Sandhill cranes, together with geese and
182 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

ducks in countless numbers pass over in spring and autumn, and pause at various
points-to feed and rest. Three species of grouse—the sage, the blue and the
ruffed—are found in the bottoms and on the mountain’s sides, while close beneath
the snow line breeds the white-tailed ptarmigan. Reached via the Union Pacific
Railroad, Board $3.50 to $6 per week ; teams with driver $5. Camping affords
the best sport.

Rock SE7 IES: Black-tail deer are very abundant but hard to approach be-
cause of the scarcity of timber. Elk and antelope are plenty within a radius of
thirty miles. Ducks. geese, grouse and sage hens afford fine sport. Trout are
to be found in all the streams in the neighborhood. Reached as above.

Bryan. Antelope, black-tail deer, jack-rabbits, sage hens. Route as above.
Board in private house $1; guides $3 to $5; teams $5 to $8. Rolling praitic:

Black Buttes. Deer, antelope, elk and bears twenty miles south. eached as
above. Board in private house, $1 ; guides, saddle-horses, etc., to be had. Moun-
tain country.

Creston. Antelope abundant, sage hens, jack-rabbits and cotton-tails. Elk
and deer in limited numbers. Buffalo are found forty miles north Reached as
above. Sportsmen must carry camping outtit. Good ponies can be bought
here for $30 to $60. The country is rolling prairie, with hills and mountains.

Point of Rocks. Elk, deer, antelope, buffalo, bears, jack-rabbits and sage
hens. Excellent trout fishing in the Sandy Creeks. Reached as above. Pack
and saddle horses can be procured. Hunting parties camp out. The best hunt-
ing and fishing grounds are at the Sandys, thirty miles distant.

The Big Horn Mountains. Big horns, buffalo, elk, mountain sheep, black-
tail deer, beavers, otters, minks, grey wolves, coyotes, foxes, including the sil-
ver grey, panther, wildcats, lynxes, two species ; black, cinnamon, and grizzly
bears; dusky grouse. Trout and a species of whitefish are caught in the Big
Horn, Little Horn, and_Tongue Rivers. The mountains are densely timbere
with pine and spruce. Their elevation is about thirteen thousand feet above the
level of the sea, and they are covered with snow in summer. They contain innu-
merable beautiful lakes. Take Union Pacific Railroad to Benton or some station
in that vicinity, thence go via saddle-horse.

Uintah County—

Fort Bridger and the Uintah Mountains. Fort Bridger is eleven miles south
of Carter, a station onthe Union Pacific Railroad. Twenty-five miles south of the
Fort are the Uintah Mountains, a splendid country for the sportsman. The game
here includes bears, mountain sheep, deer, elk, antelope, grouse, sage hens, mal-
lards and black ducks, the Western fluker, sandhill cranes, and ptarmigan. The
streams and lakes abound in trout, and near Carter are caught a few whitefish.
There is daily communication between Carter and Fort Bridger. Camping out-
fits can be procured at either place. Board $3; guides $2.50; teams $5 to $8;
saddle-horses $2.

Bridger. "Elk, black-tail deer and grouse are very abundant, with good
trouting. Reached via the Union Pacific Railroad. Teams with driver $3. Roll-
ing prairie and hills.

sen. Thie Uintah Mountains are eight miles south. For the game found
there see Fort Bridger. Reached as above. Board $2; teams with driver $5.

Evanston. Bears, elk, antelope, deer, sage hens; trout. Best hunting from
ten to forty miles distant. Reached as above. Board $1.50 to $4; teams with
driver $4 to $7. Country rolling and hilly.

Piedmont. Bilack-tail deer, elk, bears, sage hens, jack-rabbits and brush-
rabbits. All the mountain streams abound in mountain trout. Reached as
above. Private board $5 per week; teams $2 to $3 ; pack and saddle-horses $1,
Mountainous country.

Hilliard. Bears, elk, deer; good mountain trout fishing, with other varieties
of fish and game. Route as above. Hotel and private board $x to $3; teams $4
to $7. Camping necessary. Hilly and mountainous country.

Walla Walla County—

Walla Walla. Deer and bears; mountain trout, Reached via Central Pacific
Railroad to Kelton, thence stage. Hotel $2. The country is mountainous and
heavily wooded.
DOMINION OF CANADA.

ONTARIO.

ONTARIO, the Upper, or Western Province of Canada, has an
area of 107,780 square miles, and a population of 1,620,851, which
is confined mostly to the Southern and South-western sections ; the
region north of Lake Huron and Lake Superior is inhabited only
by a few Indians and the Hudson’s Bay Company’s employees,
The surface of the province is gently undulating with extensive
prairie lands. A ridge of elevated land stretches from Niagara
Falls north-west to Hamilton, thence along the peninsula between
Lake Huron and Georgian Bay, and through to the Manitoulin
Islands. These hills, in some places wild and rugged, are, as a rule,
rounded with gentle slopes and wide fertile valleys. The country
is remarkable for the great number of the Jakes which everywhere
stud its surface. The region from Lake Ontario, north between
Georgian and Ottawa Bays, and thence around Lake Superior, is
covered by a perfect net-work of lakes and rivers. These waters
are stocked with the finest of salmon and trout, and offer to the
piscatorially inclined abundant opportunity for weeks of enjoyment
and pleasure. The Southern part of the province has been nearly
depleted of the larger animals, but in the North and West are vast
tracts of unbroken wilderness where game is still found in almost
primitive abundance. From the railroad and steamboat lines of
travel, excursions may be made into the wilderness country, and
for this purpose, the visitors will always find trustworthy guides,
usually Indians, and at any of the larger towns or at the Hudson’s
Bay Company’s Posts, full outfits are to be secured at prices much
more moderate than in the States. The salmon-fishing of the
Dominion of Canada is under Government control. ‘“ The govern-
ment leases the rivers for a term of nine years, and rivers unlet on
the first day of each year are advertised by the government to be
let to the highest bidder. The places of residence of those tender-
ing for fishings are not considered in letting a river ; and if a gen-
tleman from the States outbids a Canadian, the river will be declared
as his. Rivers are therefore hired by Europeans as well as by
Canadians and citizens of the States. ... Rivers are let in whole
184 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

or parts, each part permitting the use of a given number of rods,
usually four. Parties who desire to lease a Canadian river should
address a letter to the Minister of Marine and Fisheries, at Ottawa,
stating how many rods they have, and the district which they pre-
fer to fish. He will forward them a list of the leasable rivers, and
a note of information, upon which they should get some Canadian
to make the tender for them. The leases of fluvial parts of rivers
vary from two to six hundred dollars a year for from three to eight
rods, and the price for guides or gaffers is a dollar a day.””—
Genio C. Scott’s Fushing 22 American Waters.

District of Algoma—

Michipicoton Island, in Lake Superior, is in summer a stopping place for the
Collingwood steamers. Large trout are caught in the adjacent waters. Sup-
plies may be obtained at Michipicon River, which is a Hudson Bay Company’s

epot.

Sault Ste. Marie. The streams flowing into the St. Mary’s River, Garden
River, Root River, and Hay Lake and its outlet afford excellent trout fishing and
the last named good duck shooting. Along the north shore there are several
well known trouting localities, distant from fifteen to forty miles. Indian guides,
canoes, etc., are to be had forall these places. Gaulais Bay, Batcheewanaung
Bay and River, Harmony, Montreal and Agnawa Rivers. The route to Sault Ste.
Marie is via steamer from Collingwood, Ont., or from Buffalo, Cleveland, De-
troit, Chicago or Milwaukee. Good hotels on either side of the river. (See
Michigan.)

The Nepigon River. The river is forty-five miles long to the great Nepigon
Lake at its head, and is broken by fifteen chutes or falls, at all of whichis the best
of fishing. It has an average width of two hundred yards, and at frequent inter-
vals widens into lakes two miles and more in width, in which the whitefish and
the great lake trout dwell. Camping ground is excellent everywhere, and there
is a beaten trail across the portages, over portions of which a wagon might pass
with ease; for this has long been a thoroughfare for the Company’s employees,
who, once a year at least, bring down their furs and carry back their annual sup-
plies to Nepigon House above. There is ample casting room throughout. The
depth varies from twenty to two hundred and fifty feet, and the water is so cold
at all times as to benumb the limbs. Its temperature is about 38°, In September
partridges (ruffed grouse) are very plenty and the forests abound in bears, rab-
bits, and other fur-bearing animals and small game. There are a few caribou,
but no deer nor any other species of the genus Cervus. Trout, pike, pickerel,
salmon trout, and whitefish in greatest possible abundance. By August the flies
and punkies disappear and the trout become fat and gamy ; for they spawn later
here than in most_other localities. The Hepigon is reached via steamer from
Toronto, Ont., or Duluth, Minnesota, to Red Rock Landing at the mouth of the
river.

From Toronto there is a choice of routes either to Collingwood or Sarnia,
whence good boats run to Sault Ste. Marie, and from there, the first to the north
shore of Lake Superior, and the other to the south shore, touching at Marquette
and other points, and on to Duluth. The North Shore steamers connect at Prince
Arthur's Landing with other boats for Duluth, one hundred and forty miles dis-
tant. A favorite route for Americans is from Buffalo via Lake Erie to Detroit,
and thence through Lake Huron to Sault Ste. Marie. Residents of States west
and north of New York, will naturally make Detroit their objective starting point.
A round trip ticket via the Collingwood route, costs thirty-five dollars gold,
which includes meals and stateroom. The fare from New York City via rail, to
Niagara Falls, thence boat to Toronto, is eleven dollars fifty cents ; so that the
cost of the entire trip from New York and return is about sixty-five dollars cur-
rency. The actual running time of the trip occupies ten days.

Red Rock is a Hudson’s Bay Company Post, where the sportsman will find
excellent accommodations with Robert Crawford, the agent. From him must
be procured the necessary fishing permits, without which no angler can fish in
the Nepigon. He will furnish almost everything requisite for camping out ;
cedar boats, and birch canoes, tents, blankets, woolen shirts, Hudson’s Bay over-
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 185

coats, corduroys, cigars and tobacco, canned fruits, desiccated meats, condensed
soups, milk and coffee, pickles, English ale, whisky for medicinal use, New Tes-
taments, flour, pork and ham, cutlery, boots, shoe-packs—at ridiculously low
tices. Good guides and Indian canoe-men can be had at a dollar per day each.
he angler must take his own fishing tackle, including a stout rod, and red and
brown hackles. From the Middle of July through August and September is the
best season for fishing. :

Brant County—

The lakes and ponds in this county contain a variety of very large black bass.
Grand River and its tributaries, Smith’s and Homer’s Creeks are well known
localities. At Ivy’s mill, on Homer’s Creek is a deep hole where they often con-
gregate in great numbers in June,

The Coulonge District—

Is one of the best in Canada. It lies partly in the Province of Otanrio, and

artly in the Province of Quebec, the Ottawa River forming the dividing line
Petwecn these game centres. In order to reach either of these localities, take the
Great Western Railway to Brockville, on the St. Lawrence River, and thence by
the Canada Central, to either Sand Point or Renfrew.

If the desire is to visit the Coulonge district, to kill moose, caribou, bears,
wolves, trap fur animals, and angle for trout, leave the cars at Sand Point. From
here take the river boat to Portage du Fort, twenty miles north. At this place,
provisions and camping essentials must be secured, together with a conveyance
as far as the foot of the Coulonge River. Moose and fur animals are found eighty
miles up stream ; caribou are not met with, save far up the river. The hunting
region proper lies between the Black River and the Coulonge, which are distant
from each other at the most extreme points, not more than twenty miles, the aver-
age being not more than ten. There is excellent angling in these streams.

Should Virginia deer be the game desired, together with bears, wolves, lynx
and water animals, then go on to Renfrew. This village is twenty miles north
of Sand Point, twelve miles west of Ottawa River, and about one hundred and
fifty miles north of the St. Lawrence River. Seventy miles due west, toward the
Georgian Bay, reached by team, is the Adirondack district of the Canadas. The
Toute traverses the beautiful and picturesque Bonne Chere River, which is one
succession of lakes. Here are Mud Lake, Long Lake, Round Lake, and Trout
Lake. This lake region lies between the Ottawa on the east, the Georgian Bay on
the west, and Lake Nipissing on the north. This area contains about the same
number of reported lakes as the Adirondacks, and it is probable that there are
hundreds yet undiscovered.

- At Eageausville, twenty-five miles from Renfrew, on the Bonne Chere, guides
and provisions may be obtained for any of the lakes. The majority of trappers
and hunters seldom penetrate beyond Round Lake, which is the home of the Vir-
ginia deer and of the speckled trout. Trappersand hunters are to be met with on
almost every creek, lake, river, and stream that contains fur animals. They goin
search of furs about the first of September.

The Virginia deer are, during the months of September and October, hunted
with dogs, and usually killed in the lakes where they run to escape the
hounds. 1n November still hunting commences, and continues until the end
of the season.

t
Glengarry County—
Lancaster. Lake St. Francis, an expansion of the St. Lawrence River, affords
food fishing in the autumn. Reached via steamer from Montreal, or Grand
runk Railway. Hotel accommodations at the village, and also at Hopkin’s
Point, on the opposite side of the river.

Grenville County—

Charleston Lake is some twenty-two miles back of Gananoque, reached by
row boat from Gananoque River and Wilsey Creek, also by stage from Brock-
ville, seventeen miles. This creek flows through drowned lands, and in the
proper season is full of ducks. :

. The black bass at Charleston Lake are very small, averaging one and three-
quarter pounds, but are very gamy, a one pound bass giving as much sport, as a
three pound St. Lawrence bass. Salmon trout also plentiful. ‘

There are twa fair hotels, charging one dollar per day. Boat accommodations
Poor. The lake is full of islands, ‘and affords excellent camping grounds.
186 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

Grey County—

Presque Isle Harbor, on Lake Ontario, fine ducking ground. Grand Trunk
Railroad from Coburg or Kingston. Hotel accommodation. Country hilly.
Hastings County—

Belleville. A fine place for black bass, especially in the month of May, when
they are taken in large quantities by the fishermen in seines. The shooting in-
cludes snipe, plover, ducks, partridges and red foxes. Belleville is on the “Bay
GF juicer an expansion of the St. Lawrence River, and is reached by steamboat
and the Grand Trunk Railroad. There is a game club here, and good hotel
accommodations, boats, etc.

Bay of Quinte. Kingston and Belleville are on this bay. Excellent black
bass, pike, perch, and mascalonge. Reached by Grand Trunk Railway. Every
accommodation.

Kingston County—

Kingston. There is a section of country situated in Canada, near Kingston,
known as the Drowned Lands. To reach it from New York City, take New
York Central and Hudson River Railroad to Rome, Watertown and Cape Vin-
cent. All baggage checked through. At Cape Vincent you can make any neces-
sary inquiries at the hotel, where the Kingston steamboats stop. In Kingston,
the British American Hotel is near the boat landing, and well kept. The
Drowned Lands district is accessible from Kingston by various routes; pretty
well fished, and shooting fair. Bass and pickerel are caught in the Bay of Quinte,
at Kingston.

Lanark County—

Perth. Deer and partridge shooting, and fair trapping in the vicinity. The
fur bearing animals include otters, minks, beavers, foxes and coons. Reached
via the Brockville and Ottawa Railroad. :

Clayton, Fine bass fishing in the St. Lawrence at this point. Clayton is
eleven miles from Almonte, on the Brockville and Ottawa Railroad.

La Prairie County.—

La Prairie, south side of the St. Lawrence. Among the islands in the Lachine
Rapids, bass are found in abundance, and there is splendid duck shooting, espe-
cially in the spring when the ice breaks up. A boat runs from Montreal to La
Prairie, which is nearly opposite. From there take a hack and boatman, and
drive down to the fishing ground. Desaultel is popularly and favorably known
as a guide and sportsman, which, indeed nearly all the villagers are. Charges are
trifling.

Lincoln County—

St. Catherines. Quail shooting. Reached via the Great Western and Wel-
land Railways. Good hotels. :
The Muskoka District—

One of the most attractive regions in Canada for summer tourists embraces
what is known as the Northern Lakes, a chain lying north of Toronto, and com-
prising Lakes Simcoe, Muskoka, Rosseau, and Gocochong. This is a popular —
resort for sportsmen, and supplies the best bass fishing to be had in Canada, as®
well as superb trout fishing. The lakes vary greatly in size; the larger ones
thirty or forty miles in length, and the smaller ones mere ponds, but clear and
deep, and all abounding in salmon trout, perch, black bass, etc. The principal
rivers are the Muskoka, with its two branches, both heading in lakes, and broken
by many falls ; the noble Magnetewan, the Severn, Moon River, Sharpe’s Creek,
South River, and the Kasheshebogamog. Large trout abound in the South branch
of the Muskoka, which is broken by thirteen falls. This stream is some ten rods
wide and uniformly deep, with forests impinging upon the margin, in which deer
are very numerous. There are but few ruffed grouse and but little small game.
In the North Muskoka, there are no trout. 1n the Magnetewan, which empties
into Georgian Bay, the speckled trout reach five pounds in weight, black bass
eight pounds, and pickerel fourteen pounds. This river traverses the finest deer
country in Canada. Grouse are also numerous, and ducks in their season. In
Moon River are monster mascalonge. This stream is the outlet of Lake Muskoka.
On the Severn, between the towns of Bracebridge and Gravenhurst, isa fine ruffed
grouse district.
  

GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 187

To those leaving the States, Toronto is the first objective point, reached fr
New York by the ‘tie and Central Railroad, via Niaeara Falls and Suspension
Bridge, and from the West by Lake Shore and Great Western.

From Toronto the route is via the Northern Railroad to Gravenhurst, or rail
to Belle Ewart, thence steamer to Gravenhurst. Thence the route is all by water
through Lakes Muskoka, Rosseau, and Joseph—all connecting. After a few miles
run the steamer turns into the River Muskoka, which it ascends seven miles to
Bracebridge. Bracebridge is the starting point for the South Muskoka and for
Trading Lake, sixteen miles distant, both splendid deer and trout districts, with
guides, boats and dogs at both places. It is necessary, however, to haul a boat
over to the former, some ten miles. Mr. Higgins, of Queens hotel, Bracebridge,
will be of service in securing pulides and conveyance. At the head of Lake Ros-
seau is a fine hotel kept by Mr. Pratt. Good deer hunting and trout fishing and
every convenience there. At the head of Joseph Lake is avery comfortable
hotei kept by Mr. Fraser. Black bass fishing in the lake. There isa road from
there to Parry Sound and Georgian Bay. From Rosseau there is an excellent
mail road to the Magnetewan, thirty-three miles distant, and extending as many
more miles to Lake Nipissing. elegraph communication between all these
points, which are designated here merely as places of rest and departure, acces-
sible to the most feeble, and comfortable in all respects for the wives of sportsmen.
There is no end to minor obiective points which can be reached by steamboat,
skiff, or wagon—Gull Lake, near Gravenhurst, at the beginning of the interior
route, with fair fishing for salmon trout, speckled trout, pickerel and bass, and
some deer and ducks; Moon River, twenty miles north-west from Gravenhurst,
with a beautiful fall, and very good fishing for the fish above mentioned, and
mascalonge ; Perch Lake, Silver Lake, Pickerel Lake, and TVerry’s Lake, all near
the head of Muskoka Lake, and well stocked with fish; Sharpe’s Creek, near
Bracebridge, with speckled trout ; a chain of lakes, reached by sixteen miles sta-
ging from Bracebridge, called Fairy Vernon, Fox, and Peninsula Lakes, with the
Lake of Bays, reached by a portage of three-fourths of a mile; and best of all,
the waters adjacent to and including the famous Magnetewan, all of which teem
with deer, ducks and fish of various kinds. Of these are Aumick Lake, Seeb
Lake, White Lake, and Doe Lake, the last little visited but highly spoken of.

The whole country is now so accessible that the sportsman can easily visit the
principal hunting and fishing grounds in the space of a single month. At the most
frequented places, boats, canoes. dogs, and guides can be procured. A canoe
with guide will cost $2 per day. Richard Crooks of Magnetewan will act as
guide for fishing and hunting parties on the Magnetewan, and furnish canoes, a
tent, and three dogs for $2.50 per day. Provisions and wagons can be obtained
at the larger towns, but it is advisable for the sportsman to take his own camp
kit and tent. Heavy clothing is requisite at all times of the year, although the
moid-summmer days are often very hot. June, September, and October are the
best months, the former for fish, the latter for game. The weather is not severe
in October, and navigation does not close until the end of the month. Expenses
of round trip for a month $100. Joseph Scott, Gravenhurst, will furnish guides,
boats and reliable information. A good map of the river and adjacent country
may be obtained of Charles Lount, Register, Bracebridge; or of Adams, Ste—
phenson & Co., King St., Toronto.

Niagara County—

Niagara. The commons near the town are excellent grounds for plover
shooting. For the fishing of the Niagara River see Niagara, New York. On
the Erie and Niagara division of the Canada Southern Railroad. Good hotels.

Northumberland County—

Harwood. In Rice Lake, bass, pickerel, mascalonge. Reached via Grand
Trunk Railroad from Toronto to Port Hope or Coburg, or by boat from Rochester
to Coburg, thence to Harwood seventeen miles. A. V.Denio’s, and other hotels,
where Indians, canoes, etc., can be obtained.

The Ottawa District— :

One of the best hunting grounds, easily accessible from the cities of Montreal
and Ottawa, is to be found in the country watered by the River Nation and its
tributaries. This river, which empties into the Ottawa about forty miles below
the city of the same name, is long, narrow and deep, flows through a somewhat
at country, and is one of the most important lumbering tributaries of the Ottawa.
t has numerous small streams running into it which render the surrounding

*

 
188 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

country penetrable by boat. The whole region abounds in mineral springs, to
many of which the deer resort in numbers on account of the saline character of
the waters.

To reach the hunting ground you leave Montreal by the morning train for
Lachine, thence steamer (breakfast) to Carillon ; thence railroad to Grenville, as
the steamer does not go through the canal. From Grenville steamer (dinner) to
Brown’s Wharf, where, if there are more than two or three in the party, a con-
veyance must be hired to Plantagenet. There is a mail wagon which can carry
two or three persons, butno more. At Plantagenet you must stop all night, and
there a conveyance may be obtained to take you to what is called ‘t The Brook,”
where, if you are fortunate enough to secure the services of Jim Simpson, you
may expect sport. There are other hunters besides Simpson. The fare from
Montreal to Brown’s Wharf is about $3.25, including breakfast and dinner ; from
the Wharf to Plantagenet, fifty cents. A buggy and driver to The Brook will
cost about $2, and you will pay Simpson $2 per day for himself and dogs, for each
day you hunt; perhaps a little more, should there be a large party. The fare
from Ottawa to Brown’s Wharfis about $1.25. Early in ‘the season it is prefera-
ble to camp out, but Simpson can generally find accommodation for a few.

Besides deer, this region abounds in bears, foxes, hares, and ruffed grouse.
The only way you can hunt the latter is to have a dog that will tree them and
bark until you come up. In this way large numbers may be obtained.

Peterborough Count y—

Burleigh. Deer, ducks, partridge ; black bass. The route is via the Midland
Railroad to Lakefield, thence steamer. There is a comfortable and neat tavern at
Burleigh Falls.

Young's Point. Bass, and mascalonge fishing, Reached via steamer. Six
miles from here is the Burleigh Hotel, which is designed expressly for sportsmen,
and where splendid salmon trout fishing may be found, The fish weigh from ten
to thirty-five pounds. Excellent guides can be readily obtained, canoes can be
had for hire, and all camping equipments can be purchased, or perhaps rented, at
reasonable prices by merely applying to the landlord of the house where the
sportsman may put as

Pigeon River and Pigeon Lake are good duck shooting grounds ; black ducks,
pin-tails, teal and wood ducks. Take Midland Railway to Omemee, thence via
boat down stream to Muskrat Island, a good camping ground, and excellent
shooting. Flood’s Bog, three miles farther, is good snipe ground. Clansey’s
Pond is the resort of many ducks. Twin Islands at the head of Pigeon Lake is
the best point for shooting.

Peterborough. The Otonabee River is a noble stream for black bass fishing.
It is a sluggish stream of some twenty miles in length, and from one hundred to
one hundred _and twenty yards wide, winding gracefully through forest and farm
till it enters Rice Lake.

The fish are game to the last, and range in weight from one and one-half
to five pounds. Excellent duck shooting on the lakes in the vicinity. Buck-
horn Lake affords excellent mascalonge fishing, with deer shooting in the neigh-
borhood. Reached by stage from Peterborough six miles to Chemong Lake,
thence by water. Peterborough is on a branch of the Midland Railway.

Balsam Lake. Big Island isagood deer ground. The pools all about are full’
of fine fish. At the foot of the rapid between Big and Little Mud-turtle Bays, is
a famous place for fish.

Stony Lake, is a body of water about nine miles long by three wide, and
dotted over with innumerable islands of all sizes and shapes. Many of these are
wooded, others are covered with grass and small shrubs. The black bass fishing
in the lake is first-class, especially at the mouths of Jack’s and Eel Creeks. Troll-
ing is also good inall parts of the lake, mascalonge and land-locked salmon
taking the troll freely. The latter fish afford magnificent sport for the angler
(with live minnow for bait) early in May, at Purleigh Falls; they are seldom
caught weighing less than seven pounds, and have been taken over thirty pounds
in weight. Herring and perch are also caught in the lake. Summer duck shoot-
ing begins on the sth of August, and remains good for four or five weeks, when
the fall flight commences, Wild rice and celery grow in great abundance in all
of these waters, which are visited by millions of the duck tribe, until the cold
weather closes the waters, compelling them to seek a more congenial clime.
Deer hunting, or rather, the open_season begins about the ist of September,
Stony Lake, Lovesick Lake and Deer Bay, (all contiguous,) being favorite re-
sorts for the deer hunter, as they are all easy of access, and deer are plentiful.

-
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 189

The Mount Julien Hotel, on the very shore of Stony Lake, for i
comfort of tourists and sportsmen, has accommodation for sixty uests See
luxury that could reasonably be looked for in the backwoods of Canada. Terms
$a per day, $10.50 per week. Sailboats, row boats, and canoes, guides and dogs
are alwa s at hand. Go via Rochester, N. Y., to Charlotte on the New York
Central Railroad, thence by steamer to Port Hope, thence Midland Railwav to
Lakefield where the steamer Chippewa is in waiting to convey you to Mt. Julien
ane from Charlotte, fourteen hours, fare $4. Fare from New York about $20
each way.

Prince Edward County—

Long Point or Point Traverse, on Lake Erie, is owned by an influential club
and has been known for years as one of the finest preserves and shooting grounds
inthe country, Citizens of Canada and the United States are joint members. A
great deal of fur, as well as some game and fish is taken there annually, but the
duck shooting affords the sport par exced/ence. Reached by steamer from Mont-
real or Kingston to Pictou, thence seventeen miles drive.

Renfrew County—

Pembroke, on Alumette Lake, Excellent trout fishing with deer shooting in
the penne Take cars from Brockville on Grand Trunk Railway, to
Sand’s Point, and thence steamer, Several hotels.

Simcoe County—

Lake Simcoe. One of the most famous black bass localities in the world is Lake
Simcoe, and_its contiguous chain of lakes. It is only twenty-four hours from
New York City, via Niagara Falls and Toronto, and thence by the Northern
Railway of Canada to Barrie or Belle Ewart, at which places a steamboat con-
nects with the railway. This boat traverses Lake Simcoe thirty miles, and passes
by a connecting channel into Lake Coochachung, touching at Orillia, at which
place there is also a railway connection with Barrie. In other words, there is an
all rail route from New York to Orillia. From Coochachung is ten miles of staging
to Muskoka Lake, one of the very finest bass lakes in the world, and there the
angler may take steamboat again, and traversing the lake, pass through a canal
and lock into Lake Rosseau. This whole region swarms with bass, and is well
worth a week’s visit. Cost of a ten days’ trip about $75. Excellent hotels at
Belle Ewart, Barrie and Orillia. Guides and boats can also be obtained at
Rama, an Indian village three miles above Orillia.

Victoria County—

Bobcaygeon. This is a good place for any sportsman desiring variety. In
May, June, and July, mascalonge can be caught in any quantities. They run
from five to twenty pounds, averaging about nine pounds, Black bass are gamy
and large. Ducks, partridges and snipe are plenty. Deer abundant, and hounds
and starters can be found in the village. Half a mile beyond Bobcaygeon, the
river enters Pigeon Lake, and from this place can be reached numerous others,
all well supplied with fish. At Bobcaygeon, good hotel board can be had at five
dollars Pet week. The best place is kept by John Simson, whose wife makes it a

lace of home neatness. This place can be reached via the Midland Railroad to
indsay,thence by steamboat. There are no boats nor guides. The foot of
Pigeon Lake, at Little Bob River, is the place to fish.

Gravenhurst. Ruffed grouse and deer. Go via rail to Orillia, thence by stage,
twenty-five miles. Hotels.

Lindsey. Eight miles down the Scazag River, Sturgeon Bay, is a renowned
place for black bass, mascalonge and other fish. There is a good summer hotel.

Coboconk. Two miles distant from Coboconk are some excellent black bass
fishing pools. Big Turtle Lake has mascalonge fishing ; Moore’s Lake, salmon and
mascalonge ; Gull Lake, salmon. In the fall good trolling between the island, and
in the vicinity is good deer shooting. Mountain Lake is well stocked with salmon
trout, reached from Gull River Bridge. Big Bush Kouk Lake is the receiving
basin of three chains of lakes, salmon and game in all the surrounding country,
Grass River and lake, Pine and Cranberry Lake, etc. Hall’s Lake is the most
beautiful of the chain, and isin the centre of a grand game country, Take the
Toronto ard Nipissing Railway to Coboconk.

Wellington County—
. Guelph. Fine bags of plover are made in the vicinity. Reached via the
Grand Trunk, or the Great Western Railroad. Hotels excellent.
-
190 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

QUEBEC.

The Province of Quebec, or Canada East, has an area of 193,-
355 square miles. The population (1,191,576) is mostly confined
to that portion of the province lying south of the St. Lawrence River
and west of the meridian of Quebec, and known as the Eastern
Townships. North of the St. Lawrence, there are but a few settle-
ments, and a small number of hamlets a short distance inland from
the river. The inhabitants are principally of French descent, pre-
serve many of the old customs, and speak a fatozs, some knowledge
of which the visitor will find of great service. The surface of
Quebec south of the St. Lawrence is hilly ; north of that river it is
rocky and mountainous. There are here, as in Ontario, extensive
forests, numerous rivers and lakes. The North-western country
is especially remarkable for the extent of its water system, and is
little else than a continuous chain of lakes and their connecting
streams. The hunting and fishing, the conveniences of travel and
the restrictions upon salmon fishing are the same as those already
given under Ontario.

Axnticosta Island. Reached in summer by regular Sailing packet from Gaspe,
and by chance vessels from Quebec. A canoe, Indians, and provisions can be
obtained at Gaspe. Take shot gun,salmon and troutrods. From Gaspe to West
Point, the run is seventy miles. There isa lighthouse here. English Bay is a
fishing station a few miles to the northward. ‘Twelve miles further is Ellis Bay.
There is fair shooting all along shore, for yellow legs, plover, ducks and sea
pigeons. There are cabins at Ellis Bay, and at the head of a nig aban inlet
known as Gamanche Bay, Captain Setter has a very comfortable house. nland
are bogs, barrens, pools and creeks, which are breeding places for geese. Fifteen
miles further is Bessie River, with good fishing tor salmonand trout. The inter-
mediate ground is broken by wooded spits and grassy points, which enclose in-
numerable lagoons, into which the tide flows, and these swarm with ducks in
great variety. Absalom Gamanche and his wife have a cabin at Bessie River,
and will accommodate sportsmen. Four miles up stream isa splendid salmon
pool with large fish. The trout fishing is very fine, the fish running from half a
pound each to two pounds. Some twenty miles farther is Otter River, supplying
good salmon fishing for rods. There are plenty of ducks and geese here. A few
miles farther is Jupiter River, the largest river on the island, sixteen miles in
length, with many large salmon and fine pools. For trout, a rod willaverage two
hundred per day. Four miles from Jupiter is Southwest Point, a fishing station.
A Mr. Pope lives here and entertains most hospitably. There are no animals on
Anticosta Island, save bears, martens, otters, and several varieties of fox. For
salmon, small flies are requisite, the most killing being one with red head, pale
green body, ribbed with gold tinsel, legs light brown, wings of partridge feather,
and brick-red tail; another, equally good, with dark claret body, with silver
twist, bright scarlet legs, wings of brown mottled turkey feather, with black tip,
and forked tail of yellowand red; and, generally speaking, bright gaudy flies
with small hook seem to be the favorites.

The cost of a month's trip, in round numbers, would be about $150 for two
persons.

Bonaventure County—

Port Daniel is at the mouth of the Nouvelle River, in which is excellent fishing.
Reached via steamer from Montreal, Quebec or Dalhousie.

New Carlisle, Fine salmon fishing in the Bonaventure River. Reached via
steamer from Quebec, The river is without bad rapids or obstructions, the water
cold and clear.

™
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. IgI

Charlevoix County—
Mai Baie, ninety miles from Quebec on the Lower St. Lawrence River. A
ood moose country. Surface mountainous. Lodgings in farmhouse, or camp,
Reached by shallop.
Murray Bay. A fashionable watering place on the St. Lawrence River, be-'
tween Montreal and Quebec, reached by rail or steamer. Fair trout fishing in
the vicinity. Post Office address is Potnte a Pic,

Chateaguay County—

Ormstown and Durham. Deer abound in the Flat Rock woods between
Ormstown and Franklin. Reached via Caughnawaga, on the Lachine division of
the Grand Trunk Railrogd.

St, Urbain. The caribou still resort in large droves to feed on the white moss
which clothes most luxuriantly the extensive moors in rear of Bay St. Paul, called
Les Fardins, and bears are frequently met, attracted by a small red berry, which
grows on low shrubs much like the low-bush cranberry. Whole moors are
studded with this fruit, called by the Indians Des Grains. From St. Urbain the
trip is made on snow shoes. The guides are harnessed to the wagons laden with
provisions, ammunition and camp utensils, and away you go for twenty or thirty
miles on foot, over the most mountainous, but picturesque portion of the Lauren-
tine Chain, amid some of the wildest and most lovely scenery on the continent.
Take boat from Quebec to St. Urbain.

Chicontimi County—

Chicontimi. Land-locked salmon are caught in the Saguenay. Reached via
steamer from Quebec. Provide camping equipments at Chicontimi, and after
crossing the river, drive eighteen miles, to the house of Thomas Savard, who will
act as guide to the camping ground which is at the foot of the Grand Discharge.

Compton County—

The Chaudiere. The River Chaudiere is the outlet of Lake Megantic, and
empties into the St. Lawrence just above Quebec, over a beautiful fall. The first
rapids of the Chaudiere near the outlet of Megantic Lake, are three miles from the
landing at John Boston's, where there isa post office. It is a romantic canoe
voyage from the falls up to the lake, with abundant trout fishing in the numerous
tributaries.

Lake St. Francis. Reached by wagon from Stornoway, twelve miles, or by -
boat from Sherbrooke. Fine mascalonge fishing, and trout fishing in adjacent
waters. (See Lake Megantic.)

The Eastern Townships—

The section of the Province of Quebec known as the Eastern Townships lies
directly north of the States of Vermont and New Hampshire and extends thence
northerly and easterly to the St. Lawrence and the Province of New Brunswick
and the State of Maine. The country is very hilly, almost mountainous, and
abounds in lakes and streams which, in their turn, abound, in general, in fish ;
principally trout, lake trout, bass, pike and pickerel. In the larger streams, an
the Jakes, they will be found weibiice from one to five pounds. The best flies
for the Salmo fontinadis in these waters are the Canada fly and any medium-sized
brown-winged fly. The lunge never rise to the fly, but are taken by trolling and
by down fishing. The best bait is the live minnow, and the best season for troll-
ing is from May 25th to July 1st. With a moderate amount of skill you will be
sure of fair sport, and be pleased with the country. To enjoy this section thor-
oughly a full camping outut is necessary, and a good bit of advice to those about
making camp is, to dig a ditch three inches deep around the tent, so formed that
the water from a rainfall may run off at one or two corners. The Passumpsic
Railroad is given as the most direct route. Parties travelling after July rst can
avail themselves of the excursion rates to Newport ; return tickets being issued
for $13. A party could thus go to Newport, thence to Sherbrooke, and return by
way of Magog; thus enjoying the sail up the lake and arriving at Newport in
season for the evening train. The tourist by taking the evening train from Bos-
ton, will arrive, or should arrive in Sherbrooke next day in ample season to get
his tent pitched the same night. Even if he buys his supplies in Sherbrooke, there
will be ample time to camp the same night. herever, in this section, there is
mail communication by stage, transportation may be had at an average rate of
five or six cents a mile; so that parties desiring to visit any other part of the
country than those named may make their estimates accordingly.
192 GAME AND FISH: RESORTS.

Brompton Lakes. The lakes of the Brompton Chain are twelve or fourteen in
number, situated in the midst of a perfect wilderness of hills; indeed, so broken
is the contour of the ground, they can only be reached by one road, and that one
runs at an average angle of 45° to the horizon. The larger lakes contain the
finest ‘‘ lunge” or lake trout, and some of the smaller ones abound with brook
trout and bass. At the foot of the largest lake there is a mill, but this is about
the only building in a circuit of miles, and the sportsman may easily imagine
himself in a perfect wilderness. 7

At Brompton Lake proper, séven miles long by three wide, the Waterloo Club
has a cclub-house. Boats and a permit to occupy the club-house can be obtained
at the village of Waterloo. The club-house is situated on a small island near the
middle ofthe lake. At the west side of the lake a small creek comes in, which is
the outlet of Mud Lake, and another nameless lake. Mbud Lake is about a mile
long, and contains both lunge and speckled trout. Two miles east from the large
lake is Little Brompton Lake, which is nearly two miles lone: Two anda half
miles east from the south end of the large lake isa body of water called Key
Pond, This pond is somewhat larger than Little Brompton, Roth of these lakes
contain lunge. Three miles south from the ‘* Old Mill” is Trout Lake, which is
about two miles long. Speckled trout have been caught there that tipped up the
beam at the six pound notch. This lake is only six miles by a good road from
Magog. The ‘t Old Mill”’ is the name of a landing place on the inlet of Brompton
Lake, where an old mill once stood. There is none there now. The water at
this spot tumbles over the old dam down the rocks into a dark deep pool, the
abode of many large speckled trout. They will seldom rise to the fly, but are
taken with a live minnow or a small trolling spoon. You launch your boat here
and row down the sluggish stream three miles to the lake, which is about seven
miles in length by three in breadth. You find here the speckled trout, the silver
lunge, which vary in weight from three to twenty-five pounds, the black lunge,
from two to ten pounds, and a short, thick lunge, which hardly ever exceeds two
pounds in weight. The latter fish are only caught by down fishing in very deep
water. ,

To reach the Brompton Lakes, take the Grand Trunk Railway to Sherbrooke,
at the junction of the Magog and Francis Rivers. This is on the Massiwippi
branch of the Passumpsic Railroad, and also on the Kennebec and Megantic
roads. The Magog House is the best hotel in Sherbrooke, where you will find

ood accommodations, at $1to $1.25 perday. The lakescan also bereached from
Mazon, if preferable. The distance from the hotel to Brompton Lake is fourteen
miles over a passable road.

IWaterloo. Waterloo, or Magog, is situated near a small lake bearing the
same name, and ison the Sheffard and Chamby Railroad, which runs from
Montreal. The train leaves Montreal at 2.45 p.M., and arrives in Waterloo
at seven o'clock that evening. At the station you will find a free ‘‘ bus” for
the Brooks Hotel, where you will get good accommodations at $1.25 per day.
Waterloo boasts a ‘* Piscatorial Club,’’ whose members, Messrs. George Allen,
Walt Taylor, Nutting, Skinner, and others, are a set of genial gentlemen, ever
ready to give any information and assistance that a stranger sportsman visit-
ing there may require. For pickerel, fish in the lake near the hotel, or drive over
to Broome Lake, a fine body of water seven miles from Waterloo. This lake is
famous for its black bass fishing, and for an abundance of fish called *‘ shad*
waiters.’’ At the south end of the lake, near the village of Knowlton, large quan-
tities of pike are caught. To catch speckled trout, get a rig from ‘‘ Herbert’s,”” and
take Walt Taylor, or some other member of the club with you, and take a tour
among the streams and lakes east toward Magog. Put your rod together first some
four miles out from the village, and try the railroad pool; fish there and in the
brook through the Beaver meadow carefully, and you will be able to count a goodl
number of tine brook trout. Some four miles farther you come to Grass Pond,
which, however, is full of pickerel; but a short distance from the pond, in its
outlet, the water tumbles over a little fall into a deep pool, where large trout are
sometimes caught. Four miles farther, by the same road, brings you toa mill-
pond containing large trout. A farther drive of three miles brings you to Mrs.
Peasley’s farmhouse, where you put up your team, and, taking young Peasley
for guide, tramp a mile through the woods to Lake Nick, a pretty sheet of water,
which measures about a mile in length, to half that distance in breadth. The
‘* moss-backed ” speckled trout are taken here, weighing from one-half to four
pounds: They are caught over a weedy bottom, in four or five feet of water.
Some two hundred yards north of this lake is Mud Pond, which is about one-
quarter of a mile in diameter, and contains small trout. Five or six miles south
 

GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 193

from Mrs, Peasley’s, and about the same distance from Knowlton village, is Coon’s
Pond, a beautiful little body of water near the top of Bolton Mountain, and con-
tains a rare variety of the Salso fontinalis, known there as the ‘ forked tailed
speckled trout.”” They are a slim formed, silver-colored trout, with the usual
red spots on their sides, and will average half a pound each. They take the fly
well, and area remarkably gamy little fish, and give as much play as ordinary
trout of three times their size.

Gaspe County—

The York River, a fine salmon and trout stream, is reached via New Rich-
mond. The Little Cascapedia River isan excellent stream for salmon and trout
fishing, with moose in the vicinity. Reached via Inter-colonial Railroad to Dal-
housie, and thence by sail-boat across the bay, or via steamer from New Carlisle.
Hotel accommodations. Take guides and canoes, and camping equipments, and
go up the river thirty miles to the region of the Chick Chick mountains. In the
Grand River are salmon and grilse.

The Magdalen Islands—

The Magdalen Group of islands are situated fifty miles from Prince Edward
Island, at the entrance of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. These islands are thirteen
in number, and extend ina north-easterly range of fifty miles. Summer excur-
sionists visit the islands for the rare sport of white sea trout fishing, great_num-
bers of this fish being found in the vicinity. The route is via steamer from Pictou,
fare $8. The inhabitants live in very Pie style, and the accommodations are
humble, but the visitor will meet with hospitality wherever he may go, and if
content to forego many modern conveniences, will be sure of an enjoyable trip.
Amherst, Grindstone and Entry, are the principalislands of the group. The Bird
Isles are famous brooding grounds of gannets, puffins, guillemots, kittewakes and
razor-billed ducks.

The Magog District—

The “‘ Magog” District lies directly north of the States of Vermont and New
Hampshire, and west of Somerset County in Maine. It is a primitive wilderness
in many parts. Its principal tivers are the Yamaska, St. Francis, Nicolet, Becan-
cour and Chaudiere, on the latter of which are the picturesque falls of the same
name. The largest lakes are Memphremagog, Massawippi, Aylmer, St. Francis
and Megantic ; but throughout the region are found numberless small lakes, and
from the hillsides, countless streams gush down to swell the volume ot the larger
rivers. The scenery is romantic and beautiful in the extreme, and the mountain
air pe bracing.

he region is accessible by way of the Grand Trunk Railroad from Portland,
Sherbrooke being the most convenient point of departure on this line, by way of
the Connecticut and Passumpsic River Railroad, from Boston, either disembark-
ing at Newport or going on to Waterloo, and by Hudson River and Lake Cham-
plain to St. John’s, and thence to Waterloo. Steamer Lady of the Lake conveys
the tourist from Newport to Magog ; which latter is a good centre of operations.
There is a fair hotel at Sherbrooke, the Magog House; rate $1.50 per day. At
Magog there is also a fair hotel whose price is about $1 per day, and the same is
charged at Waterloo for fair accommodation. A horse and buggy may be hired
for about $1.50 per day. There are many good streams within a radius of sixteen
miles from Waterloo, though the fish are apt to be small, At Coon’s Pond, twelve
miles, there is splendid trouting, the fish averaging’about halfa pound. At Lake
Oxford, twelve miles, they are taken welghine over three pounds; at Brome
Lake, six miles, there is excellent bass fishing, and some heavy fish are taken,
while in the lake at the village you may troll for pike with good success. Mr. KE.
B. Hodge, or any member of the ‘ Fishing Club,” will afford all the information
to sportsmen that lies in their power. From Magog, it is four miles to Lake Ox-
ford. ‘There are several small lakes and streams in the vicinity affording good
sport. In Lake Memphremagog are lake trout, or ‘t lunge’ as they are called.
From Sherbrooke, a drive of about fourteen miles takes you to the Brompton
series ot lakes where are to be found trout and bass, but as boats are difficult to
procure on these lakes, the tourist had better make previous arrangemunts. Ten
miles brings you to Lake Massawippi where there are lake trout, and .his lake
can be reached by a drive of five miles from Magog, There are also small
‘streams within a few miles where good trout fishing may be had, and the proprie-

 

‘tors of the hotels here, as elsewhere. will afford all possible information.

6
194 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

There are numerous small villages near which excellent fishing may be had
and though many of them have no hotels, yet the inhabitants are hospitable, and
kindly in the extreme.

The counties of Wolfe and Megantic are wild and unsettled, as also are parts
of the counties of Compton, Richmond and Shefford, and even parts of the town
of Sherbrooke, and the tourist would do well to arm himself with a rifle as he may
have an opportunity to meet bruinin his native haunts. Of course, only in the
wilder parts of the above counties is this possible, but there are numerous smaller
animals ; and eagles are quite common. The requisite supplies can be procured
cheaply in Canada.

Brompton Lake, and Lake Megantic, Aylmer and others as well as many tribu-
taries of the Chaudiere, afford splendid sport. The Waterloo Fishing Club have
a shanty on an island in Brompton Lake, and are exceedingly courteous to all
sportsmen, and many small lakes near their village would well repay a week
spent on their shores.

There are also salmon in Salmon River but they will not take a fly.

The most favorable season for trout fishing is during May and June, and the
latter part of September. During the hotter months they are only to be found in
the springholes and deep shady pools ; but there are several lakes in which they
can be caught on any cloudy summer day.

The Megantie District—

The section of the Province of Quebee known as the Megantic country em-
braces the eastern portions of Compton and Wolfe counties and the southern part
of the county of Beauce, its southern and eastern boundaries being the States of
New Hampshire and Maine. The surface of the country is of a rolling character,
dotted with occasional mountains, the Megantic being the largest in the district,
and one of the finest mountains in the province. The district is well watered with
numerous lakes and streams, which form the sources of two rivers of considerable
size—the St. Francis and the Chaudiere. The former river affords but little sport
for the angler as it only contains a few mascalonge, pickerel, and other coarse
fish, unless we add salmen, which run up the river to same of its tributaries for
the purpose of spawning, but they give no sport to the fly-tisher, as they will not
rise and Lake the fly so tar from the sea. The upper waters of the Chaudiere are
well stocked with the Saémo fontinalis, and some of them of large size. To
reach this district, make your first stopping place at Sherbrooke, where you wilk
find good accommodations at the Magog House. Its genial landlord, Brother
Buck, knows how to keep a hotel. You can here procure your supplies, except-
ing tent and ene tackle, which, of course, you have brought with you, together
with your breech loading rifle and a large sized revolver and compass. At this
point either hire a team for the trip with wagon suitable for hauling.a boat, or go

y stage east to the village of Robinson, or ** Burg,’’ as st is more familiarty called,
twenty-six miles distant from Sherbrooke, and the centre of a fine fishing region.
Stop at Clonglis Hotel, Good trout fishing at hand in the mill ponds, and also at
the new mill, ona brook some five miles out from the village toward Scotston,
You can procure boats here, to haul into the wilderness, tf you are going farther.

Scotston. ‘This isa new village at Victoria Falls, on the Salmon River, a tribe
utary of the St. Francis River, twelve miles drive from Robinson, or the Burg,
by wagon or Pinkham’s Express. You can procure a guide here for $1.25 per
day. Archie MacDonald is a trustworthy guide, or John Breaden, of Burg ;
Archie Annas, a college educated Indian, is also a good guide, his address is
Dilton, Quebec. Pinkham usually has boats to hire, and will furnish a team to
haul your boat to the bay or over to the lake at a mere nominal sum. While you
remain at Scotston Occupy your tent by all means, and sleep in peace. There
are some large trout in the rapids below the dam, and many smaller ones of half
a pound weight in the pond above. Should your visit there be during the month
of August you would undoubtedly witness some of the various methods used by
the Scotch ‘settlers to destroy the salmon that are stopped here by the dam on
ae way to their spawning grounds in the still waters a few miles above the

alls.

Lake Megantic, There are two routes to Lake Megantic—one by the new
Government road from Scotston to Myers, a distance of eighteen or twenty miles,
the other, the old route via Gould and Starnoway, to the lake near its foot, at John
Boston's, Lake Megantic Post Office, distance about thirty-eight miles from
Scotston. This route passes near two lakes—Moffat’s and McGill’s—which contain
no speckled trout, but a fish called ‘t white fish." Gould is a small village in the
township of Linwick. Inthe northern part of the town there is a trout lake, which
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 195

it will pay to visit. Seven miles from Gould, toward Starnoway, is Mountain
Brook number three. Some three miles down the brook, is a bog or stretch of
dead water, of considerable size. The stream from the road down to the bog, has
lately been cleared out by Jumbermen to run down thick logs, so there would-be
but little trouble in floating a boat down to the dead water, Accommodations for
teams may be found at one of the farmhouses before entering the wood. Another
small river passed before reaching Starnoway hasa few trout. At Starnoway
there is but one hotel—Leonard’s, which is fourteen miles from the lake. -Four
miles from Starnoway, toward the lake, is a small creek with an old mill on it.
Here will be found good trouting. Lake Megantic is estimated to be about four—
teen miles long, and from two to three miles broad. It contains both lake and
speckled trout, black bass, and many other varieties of fish. Very large trout are
caught at the first rapids of the Chaudiere River, at the outlet of the lake. Good

rouse shooting, and deer to be had three miles from the landing, at John Boston’s.

rom the Chaudiere go up the lake to Myers’ and try a small lake back of the
church ; then go up to the head of the Megantic, up Spider River to Spider Lake,
which is seven miles long ; then fish Arnold River, and tramp three miles over to
Trout Pond; also visit Egg Pond, east of the Megantic. The Megantic and
suburbs will keep you quite busy for a couple of weeks. When you return to
Starnoway, you can visit another small trout lake, some six miles distant ; then go
to Lampton, at Lake St. Francis, twelve miles from Starnoway, where you will
have trolling for mascalonge, and in a small river that runs into the west side of
the lake, you will get trout. You can now return to Sherbrooke by water, pass-
ing through Lake Aylmer, or return to Starnoway,and drive to Lake “Aqder,
twelve miles ; there hire a boy to take your team to Briere’s, at Lake Weedon,
eight miles by road and four by water, while you go down with your boat. In
the bend of the river, near a mud lake and among the rocks, you can get some
fine black bass and hog or pike perch. From Briere’s you havea drive of nine-
teen miles to Lathrop’s Hotel, at Dudswell Corners. There is some good brook
fishing near Lathrop’s, and you should visit a small lake in the eastern part of the
township of Stoke, some eight miles from the hotel. This lake is full of fine trout.
For the largest fish, take off your fly and use live minnows; try the deep water
near the outlet,and see how quick you can fill your basket. From the Corners to
“Sherbrooke is twenty-one miles, and each of the small streams that you pass
between those places have trout in them. Theophile Beauchamp, whose post
office address is at St. Hyppolite de Richemy P. O., Province of Quebec, is a
good general pulide for this district.

The Bog. This is the centre of a fine moose and trout country ; lying along the
base of the Megantic Mountain, five miles from Scotston. It is a long stretch of
dead water on Otter Brook—a stream that empties into the Salmon some three
miles above the falls. If you make butan hour’s stay at Pinkham’s, you could
reach the bog for dinner, which you will take a mile above the landing, at the
Old Dead Pine, where you will find a little rivulet of good water, which comes
down sparkling and cold from the mountains. Your camp should be three miles
up the stream, at the mouth of Mountain Brook. There are plenty of trout in the
bog, and some of them will tip the beam at full three pounds. You will find them
the most beautiful at the head of the deep pools, where the lily pads nearly cover
the water ; at the mouth of the brook, near camp, you may expect some big fel-
lows. The sources of both streams are a couple of small lakes a few miles above
your camp, and should you visit them, you will undoubtedly have fine sport, and

nd the trout there numerousand unsophisticated. When you tire of that camp,
return to the landing and send the guide for your team, to haul your boat and
traps via Scotston to the river, while you fish down the brook to its mouth, a dis-
tance of three miles. After you reach the river go up to the left shore for a short
distance, and you will find a spruce bark camp, where you will await your guide ;
then proceed up the river about three miles and camp at Cold Spring, Archie’s
(the Indian), old camp, at the foot of the lower still water. The still waters of the
salmon are, together, nine miles in length, with a portage of about half a mile
between them. The lower still waters afford the most trout, and are the favorite
haunts of deer and moose. A few yards below and opposite the camp, is the
mouth of Mountain Brook number two. This stream takes its rise from springs
in a large basin on the west side of the mountain ; back a mile from the river are
a series of falls, where early in the season large trout may be caught. Above the
upper still water you come to the settlement of Dilton and Pope’s gold mines.
On the Dilton branch and the headwaters of the Salmon you wil find good sport.
After you have fished these waters to your satisfaction, and desire a change,
return to Scotston and start to Lake Megantic,
196 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

Montmagny County—
Montmagny. Good snipe and duck shooting on the small islands in the St.
Lawrence, near this point. Reached via the Grand Trunk Railway.

Montmorency County—

The Isle of Orleans. The Argentenay meadows on the north shore, at the ex-
tremity of the island, are fine hunting grounds for wild fowl and other game.
The island is connected with Quebec by steam ferries.

Chateau Richer. On the marshes excellent duck, snipe and partridge shoot-
ing, with trouting in the upland streams. This locality, fifteen miles from Quebec,
and easily accessible by carriage road or steamboat, is a favorite resort for the
sportsmen of that city. Fair hotel accommodations will be found.

Montmorency River. Excellent tishing for trout, thirty miles above the falls.
At the falls, eight miles from Quebec, is good trout fishing, but the property is
protected by the owner and proprietor,

Ottawa County—

Thurso. Duck and deer hunting on the Ottawa near this place. Reached
via the Grand Trunk Railroad to Lachine, thence via steamer, Provide for
camping.

Pontiac County—

Victoria Lake and vicinity is a good locality for caribou, moose, grotise, hares,
and trout.

Pont Neuf County—

Jacques Cartier River. Trout in upper part, above the falls ; salmon in lower
art. For trout take wagon twenty-hve miles from Quebec. John Bayard will
‘urnish canoe and man. Must camp out. For salmon, take steamer up the St.

Lawrence to the mouth of the Jacques Cartier, and there obtain canoes. Country
illy.
The Quebec Country—

The region designated as the yous country 1s included within a circuit of
one hundred miles, lying north of the city of thatname. We say a hundred miles,
because the sportsman, however much of an ambitious or exploring turn of mind,
would scarcely undertake the journey through to Hudson Bay or Labrador,
though these are its boundaries proper. Within the distance there is still a vast
unexplored mountainous tract, among which are numberless lakes, rivers and
streams affording, each and all, such fishing and pleasant enjoyment in the wild
camp life as are not to be had elsewhere short of the Rocky Mountains.

he Jacques Cartier is the first river of any importance which you strike after
leaving Quebec. It is twenty miles distant from that city and is the boundary
of the settlements to the north. The river is extremely picturesque in its meander-
ings among the numerous islands with which it is dotted and affords some excel-
lent trout fishing. Salmon fishing is to be had lower down. It is navigable for
canoes for fifty or sixty miles from its mouth, with but few portages.

Two days’ tramp from the Jacques Cartier is the St. Ann’s, a shallow rapid
tiver tlowing between high precipitous mountains expanding at intervals into
large deep pools, in which lurk some fine fish. One of the largest of these pools
is called the Peche a Malcolm. Between the two rivers are many large lakes,
deep among the mountains. Yoxtari, Grande Lac, and the lakes of the river Aux
Pin’s, afford the finest fishing. Caribou and moose can be successfully pursued
here in fall and winter. The lakes abound in ducks which breed on the islands.

Outfits must be of the lightest, for everything has to be carried on the back of
the guide over high mountains. Leave this matter to the guide and let him pro-
cure under your supervision whatever is needful and nothing more. You must
expect to carry your own little traps. No tentis requisite, asa bark camp can
be soon constructed with little labor.

For guides, we can refer to George Neil, Robert Douglas and young Pat Cas-
sin, all of Valcartier. Indian guides can be obtained at the Indian village of
Lorette, on the road to Valcartier. Charlo Gros-Louis, Francis and Etienne are,
good reliable men. There are others doubtless equally as good. All speak
cnough English to get along with.

Charles Wolff of Valcartier will accord all sportsmen a cordial welcome and
put them on the road to good sport. The cost of atrip of two or three weeks’
duration, including fare to and return, will not exceed $60,
GAME AND FISH RESCRTS. 197

Lakes around Quebec City. Caivaire, St. Augustine, St. Joseph, Lac a
Trinte, Philippi, Jaune, Snow Lake, Lac Blanc, Lac seucoaeer Thomas ee
Claire, Lac McKenzie, Lac Vincent, Lake Sagamite, Lake Burns, Lake Bonnet
Beauport, St. Charles. Some of these lakes contain speckled trout ; others pick-
erel. Good accommodations for sportsmen at most of these. Much fished.
Country rolling. Reached by eight to fourteen miles drive from the city.

Lake Garnier, forty-five miles trom Quebec by wagon. There isa tolerable

- inn at the toll-gate, three miles from the lake, where one must make head-
quarters if he does not wish to camp out. Boats and guides can be had. Speckled
trout very large. All needed supplies must be taken with you. Country hilly,
with picturesque scenery,

Quebec County— y

Tontari Lakes. Valcartier, some fifteen miles from Quebec, 1s the farthest
settlement north of the St. Lawrence. Here commence those vast forests and
mountain ranges that extend to the Hudson’s Bay. Throughout its entire length
this region is intersected by numberless lakes and rapid shallow rivers. In this

rimeval wilderness moose and caribou abound, anise every lake and stream

js filled with trout. The smaller fur-bearing animals are also numerous.

The few remaining Indians in autumn strike far into the interior, to return in
“the Spring laden with the proceeds of their rifles and traps. Occasional parties
from Quebec, under the guidance of some Indian, make short excursions to the
lakes, and return with glowing accounts of the abundance of game and the wild
and beautiful scenery everywhere met with. These trips are usually made in
summer or early autumn. At Valcartier Mr. Charles Wolff will welcome all
sportsmen and secure all guides for the Tontari Lakes. They are one and a half
day’s journey from this settlement. Lake Tontari, four miles in length, affords
very fine fly fshing. The fish here average a pound in weight.

Belle, Trinity and Peche a Malcolm, reached from Valcartier, are good fishing
localities.

Montmorency Falls. The wants allem ar sip is a fine stream for trout, espe-
cially at the junction of the Snow River. Distant six miles from Quebec.

Valcartier. In the vicinity are found partridges, pigeons, ducks, hares.
Seventeen miles from Quebec.

Richelieu County—
Sorel is reached by steamer from Montreal or Quebec. There 1s good snipe,
plover and wild goose shooting on Crane Island, in the spring and autumn,

Rimouski County—

St. Maurice District. The innumerable lakes of the Laurentian hills abound
in trout, The Lake A l'eau Claire is especially famed for its beauty and the
size and abundance of its fish.. This lake draws tribute from fifteen others all full
of fish, and its outlet mingles, three miles from the lake, with the Riviere du
Loupenhaut, a river stretc ing back from Lake St, Peter into the Lauvertides,

* one hundred miles or more. - The lakes tributary to this stream are numbered by
hundreds, of all sizes, and with few exceptions those on'the east side of the river
swarm with the brook trout.

This river, with its tributaries, is but a fraction of the St. Maurice Territory,
as yet almost a ¢erra zucoguita to the angler. The Matawan, Shawenegan, Ma-
chichi, Maskinonge and L’Assomption are all full of fish.

Rimouski. Good salmon angling in the Rimouski and Metis Rivers. Reached
via the Inter-colonial Railway or via boat from Quebec.

The Saguenay Country—

The tributaries of the Saguenay River nearly all contain salmon. Some are
leased. The Marguerite is the best river; itis underlease. Sea trout are caught
from the middle of June until the rst of August in the lower part of the river.
The early run is found at the bar opposite the mouth of the river. Later they are
found as high as fifteen miles up. xcellent hotel accommodation at Tadousac.

_ Chicontimi Falls, a series of rough rapids at the outlet of Lake St. John, some
Seay miles up the river, and twenty miles above the village of Chicontimi,
where are comfortable taverns. P

The Falls comprise two divisions, separated by an island, and are known as
the Petite Discharge and Grand Discharge. This place is celebrated for its land-
locked salmon, (locally called winninnish, or ouininish). About the middle of
198 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

June, take steamer from Quebec or Riviere du Loup, on the Inter-colonial Rail-
way, on Saturdays or Wednesdays, to Tatlousac and Chicontimi. Thence find
steam conveyance on a tug to the Upper Saguenay. Go to Savard, the French-
man, and engage a canoe and two men to take you to the camping ground at the
‘Grand Discharge,”’ five miles above. You can troll for big pike while going up.
Sleep at the foot of the Rapid de Gervais. Next day cross the rapid and fish tor
winninnish, about a mile up the river at the top of the rapid. The men will show
you an island, near which liesa rock. Fish off that rock. Next day go up the
main branch of the river to another place, and return so as to be at Chicontimi
by Wednesday or Saturday afternoon. Take medium sized flies—yellow ; black
wings and yellow body; grey; red body and grey hackle; brown wings and
black body ; these are the best colors, the yellow and black prevailing,

Saguenay County— ‘*
The Godbout River is one of the best salmon streams in the province, and a
favorite resort for anglers. -
The Mozsic River which empties into the St. Lawrence Gulf, eighteen miles
east of the Bay of Seven Islands, is one of the best salmon trout streams in the
world. Take steamer from Tadousac, to Moisic at the mouth of the river,

Soulanges County—

Coteau du Lac. Fine bass fishing in the St. Lawrence, and good duck shoot-
ing at this point. Reached via the Grand Trunk Railway, thirty-six miles from
Montreal. i

La Prairie. A good placefor bass tishing in the St. Lawrence. Seven miles
from Montreal, on the opposite side of the river.

St. John’s County—

St. Fohn's. There is very good fishing in the Richelieu, particularly at St.
John’s, Chambly, Beleil, and near Sorel. <A beautiful silvery tish, called by the
French La gueche, is taken in large numbers at Beleil, in July and August. The
best bait is the grasshopper. They are sometimes taken with the spoon, and will
also, it is said, take a bright red trout fly. Black bass, dore, pike, perch, sunfish,
rock bass, a small kind of sturgeon, pickerel and whitefish are abundant. St. John’s
is an easy distance from Montreal ; there is an excellent English hotel there, and
those who have pleasant associations with foreign climes, will enjoy a stay ina
thoroughly French family hotel, clean and airy, with good cooking and moderate
charges. The pleasantest spot to fish on the Richelieu, however, is at Chambly,
at the foot of the rapids. The ‘‘ Basin”? affords fine boating, and there isa good
hotel there, kept by a Frenchman.

Sherbrooke County—

Oxford Lake. A very beautiful body of water lying along the southwestern
base of Mount Oxford, fifteen miles east from Waterloo, and six miles west of
Magog ; contains silver lunge, from two to five pounds in weight. In Hopp’s
Pond, one mile south of the lake, are very large speckled trout. Onc mile and a
half south is Brown’s, or Mulligan’s Pond, an indifferent water for trout. South
from this is a chain of small lakes but little visited, as most of them contain
pickerel. :

Black River. Ten miles north of Waterloo, a pleasant drive all the way,
has large speckled trout. On the way out, several good trout streams are passed.

Wolfe County—

Lake St. Francis, in the midst of lofty wooded mountains, is an excellent fish-
ing ground. Reached via Levis and Kennebec Railroad to St. Francis, thence
stage thirty-six miles. *

Stanstead County—

Magog. The village of Magog is pleasantly situated on the outlet of Lake
Memphremagog, and is twenty-one miles east from Waterloo, sixteen trom Sher-
brooke, eleven miles from Ayers Flat, a small station on the Passumpsic Rail-
road, and thirty miles north of Newport, Vt. It is connected with the first named
places by a daily line of stages, and with Newport during the summer season by
the little steamboat Lady of the Lake, which makes dai y trips. Asa Hubbard
keeps a good hotel, called the Park House, between which and Mt. Orford, six
miles away, are several good trout streams, with Orford Lake and Hopp's Pond
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 199

near by, and also northeast from the mountain, towards Trout Lake, near Bromp-
en are other good trout waters. Board $1.25 per day, with no extra charge for
oats.

Massiwippi Lake. This lake is twelve miles long, and contains a great variety
of fish which net and spear have sadly diminished. Reached from Ayers Flat on
the Passumpsic Railroad, by a short drive, or from Sherbrooke on the Grand
Trunk Railroad. Six miles southeast from the hotel is Lovering’s Pond, which
was once famous for its ‘‘ big trout,’’ but is now seldom visited by the angler.
In the lake near the hotel the silver, black, and racer lunge are taken in large
quantities. Some of the silver Iunge grow to a very large size. Three pound
speckled trout are often caught in the rapids, in the outlet near the hotel, during
the months of May and June.

Terrebonne County—

New Glasgow. Snipe, woodcock, ruffed grouse, ptarmigan, and squirrel shoot-
ing in the vicinity of Kilkenny Lake. Route from Montreal, via stage to New
Glasgow, thence hired conveyance to the lake. At the lake, W. Hamilton, or
“ Rapidee Willie,” as he is called, or the Ward Brothers, will act as guides.

Kilkenny Lake. The woods teem with ruffed grouse and neither bears nor
deer are very scarce, The roads are extremely hilly and rough in the vicinity of
the lake, and vehicles are subject to much violent bumping. The principal fish
are the trout, lake trout and bass. There are also taken in small quantity in the
winter, white herrings. This latter fish is said to be exceedingly delicate and
fine in favor, and seems to be the whitefish of the great lakes. During the sum-
mer an occasional ‘‘ lunge ’’ may be taken by bottom fishing, but the angler had
much better devote himself to the black bass, which are very numerous. There
are two kinds of-trout in this lake, the lake trout or ‘* black trout,”’ as it is called,

rowing sometimes to twenty pounds weight and much more slender and graceful
an its Lake Superior brother, and the brook trout which seldom weighs over
four pounds. In the seasons spoken of, the latter fish will take almost any bait.
and have been caught with a spoon, trolling. Among flies their favorite seems to
be those with yellowish bodies and mottled wings. The fishing is mostly from
boat or raft, the only place from whence a fly can be successfully thrown being at
the inlet ef the lake. When fishing with bait or minnow, however, many rocks
near shore afford a good foothold. In Red Trout Lake, two and a half miles from
Kilkenny, there are no fish except the brook trout, and any one going there at the
proper season will find them in flavor and gaminess superior to the Kilkenny fish.
ake Masson, several miles from Lake Kilkenny, and several small lakes
close by Kilkenny, though difficult of access, afford splendid sport.

The visitor to these lakes must camp out, or else run the chances of accommo-
dation at some log cabin ; in either case all supplies must be brought from Mont-
real. Access is by stage once a day from Montreal to New Glasgow;; fare, $1.
At New Glasgow a team may be hired to the lake, about nine miles. At the
lake William Hamilton called *t Rapidee Willie,” to distinguish him from a second
William Hamilton, will find a boat, or render any other service that he possibly
can. The Ward brothers also live near the lake and are very obliging. Mr. John
Haile, who lives between New Glasgow and the lake, is a thorough sportsman ;
and any information or assistance in his power he will cheerfully give.

NEW BRUNSWICK.

New Brunswick has an area of 27,700 square miles. The sur-
face is undulating and mountainous, alternating with broad plains
and deep valleys. The greater part of the country is covered with
dense forests, through which flow many excellent salmon and trout
streams. The Province is full of interest for the tourist, the sports-
man and theangler. The dense wood§ are filled with noble game,
the streams and lakes abound in fish ; communication is easy, and
guides, canoes, etc., are everywhere to be procured for penetrating
the wilderness.
200 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

Gloucester County—
Bathurst, on the Bay of Chaleurs, at the mouth of the River Nepisiguit, is a
ood initial point where guides and outfits may be secured for the wilderness.
Splendid salmon fishing is found in the vicinity, and in the woods game is abun-
dant.

The Tabusintac River is an excellent stream for salmon trout, bass, and sea-
trout. In October immense flocks of ducks and geese frequent the neighboring
lagoons. Go via stage from Chatham or Bathurst to Tabusintac, where there is
a smallinn, By going up to the headwaters of the river a fine moose region is
reached.

The Nepisiguit River. Fine salmon fishing, some portions tree, some leased,
and others at a small charge per rod. Salmon run up twenty miles to the Great
Falls. There is excellent trout fishing above the falls. Take the Inter-colonial
Railway from St. John, or Quebec, or North Shore steamer from Shediac, or
Gulf Port steamer from Pictou or Quebec. Good hotels at Bathurst, near the
mouth of the river, guides, canoes, etc. Sea-trout in season.

North-west and South-west Miramichi Rivers. Privileges at a small charge
per rod. Reached by rail or steamer as above to Chatham and Newcastle, where
outfit and guides can be had. Salmon large and fine, with trout in abundance,
and sea-trout.

Charlotte County—

St. George. Four miles distant is Lake Utopia, situated among forest covered
hills. Its waters are full of silver-grey trout, and its tributaries contain many
brook trout and smelt. Among the hills along the valley of the Magaguadaive
River; Virginia deer are abundant. Bears are found in the vicinity and great
numbers of wild fowl. Reached by steamboat from St. John.

Mare's Bay. Plover, ducks, etc. Reached via Inter-colonial or European
and North American Railroad, twenty-one miles from St. John. Sportsmen will
find excellent accommodations, good boats, reliable guides, reasonable charges,
etc., at Mr. Albert Craft’s,

Northumberland and York Counties—

The Miramichi District. This includes all the wilderness in and about the
great south-west branch of the Miramichi River and its tributaries, together with
all that territory in and about all the little Miramichis. The south-west Miramichi
lies about fifty-five miles north of Fredericton, the seat of government. This
river and its branches traverse the very heart wilderness of the Province. It is
reached by taking the European and North American Railroad at Boston, to
Fredericton Junction. Here change cars for Fredericton on the St. John River,
where supplies must be obtained for the wilderness, since there is no place be-
yond this point where provisions can be bought.

Guides and dug-outs can be secured at Boiestown, Miramichi River, (south-
west branch) ; or by addressing the Palmer or Stickney Brothers at that village.
John Stickney has no superior as a guide in angling and hunting in this region.
One of the Palmer brothers can call moose with much Indian art and success.
There is a stage running every day from Fredericton to Boieston, which will
convey you and your supplies to the Miramichi River. When up river to
“Burnt Hill,” the ze plus uttra of salmon pools, you can strike off from either
side a few miles, and find moose and caribou, bear and beaver and small game,
or ascend the river twenty miles farther and see many of these animals, together
with other fur-bearing quadrupeds, without leaving the steamer. In these coun-
ties moose are to be found all through the regions about the sources of the Mira-
michi, Tobique, Nepisiguit and Restigouche Rivers.

Jndiantown is a tavorite resort for anglers seeking sea-trout, which frequent
the waters of the South-west Miramichi at that point. Take steamer or rail to
New Castle, thence eighteen miles by stage.

In the Tadusintac River fine trout fishing may be found, with the guidance of
Kane, at Goodwin’s hotel. The route is by steamer to Chatham, thence via
stage twenty miles. Board in Chatham at Mrs. Bowser’s $1 per day. Fare from
Chatham to Goodwin’s $1.75.

Newcastle, Onthe Newcastle stream forty-five miles distant, among the bar-
rens and forests, will be found a fair hunting ground for moose.

The Restigouche Region—
Is one of the finest hunting and angling regions in America, and embraces one
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 2al

million and a quarter acres of wilderness, comprising the county of Restigouche
the same being traversed in all directions by the Restigouche River and its tribu-
taries, which afford easy thoroughfares for canoes ‘to its innermost penetralia.
Moose, caribou, bear, wild cat, and lucifee abound, beavers build their dams, and
many varieties of fur-bearing animals and small game are found. The streams are
filled with salmon and trout in their season. This region is easily reached by the
Inter-colonial Railway, either from St, John or Quebec ; or by Gulf Port steamers
from Shediac on the Inter-colonial, or by stage from Chatham or Newcastle. Gulf
‘Port steamers and stages touch at Dalhousie, near the mouth of the Restigouche,
where anything needed for an outfit can be obtained. The railway runs through
Dalhousie to Matapedia Station, thirty-eight miles up the river, and the centre of
the salmon region. Here is a telegraph station, stores, post office, and an excellent
hotel, kept by Mr. Fraser. Here.can be obtained canoes, guides, and provisions,
for the journey up the river ; and in case sportsmen come into the widecdess at
the upper end of the river, goods and necessaries must be sent up by a previous
timely order to meet the incoming party. It isabout eighty miles up stream to the
portage which must be crossed by those taking the route referred to, which is by
railway via Bangor to St. Croix, on the European and North American Railway,
thence to Woodstock by rail, and thence by stage via the Grand Falls to the
mouth of Grand River, which is fifteen miles further, the whole stage journe
being about forty-five miles, over a most excellent_and picturesque road that fol-
lows the course of the noble St. John River. At Grand River, batteaux can be
procured through Mr. Violet, a French Canadian, to take you to the portage, fif-
teen miles up the river, at which point you meet the canoes from below. The
advantage of the latter route, is that you reach more quickly the heart of the hunt-
ing country though for the matter of game, there is plenty, from Dan Fraser’s all
the way up stream, with the exception of an inhabited stretch of the first twenty
miles or so. Cost of canoe, with two Indians, $2 per day and “found.” Larry
Pecaire, Catpat, Peter, and John Morrison are good reliable guides.

Cambelltown. Inthe vicinity of Cambelltown, which is on the Restigouche
River, twenty miles above Dalhousie, is most excellent duck and goose shooting
in September. The river above is filled with marshy and grassy islands, where
the wild fowl tarry on their migrations. Guides and canoes obtained at the In-
dian Mission across the river. Cambelltown is reached by the North Shore
steamers, plying between Shediac, Richibucto, (hatham, Bathurst, Dalhousie,
etc., and by the Inter-colonial Railway from St. John and Shediac. - Good hotels
and delightful scenery. Also trout, sea trout, and salmon fishing.

Eed River, twelve miles drive from Dalhousie, over excellent roads, abounds in
their season with curlew, brant, snipe, ducks, geese, and numerous other varieties
of wild fowl. Indians and canoes can be had at. Dalhousie, if not on the spot.
Eel River is filled with marshes and grassy spots, with an abundance of suitable
feed, and here the birds tarry long in their migrations southward to the waters of
the Chesapeake and the sounds of North Carolina. The shooting is equal to that
found later in the places last named. ee

St. John County— :

St. Yohn. Excellent fishing may be found in Tracey’s Lake, twenty-eight
miles from the city. Good hotel accommodations are to be had.

Riley’s Lake, Saddler’s, McCracken‘s, Chambers’, Lerrio, Bal’s, Beaver, Deer,
Latemer, Long’s, Spruce, and Lake Lomond are all fine waters to fish in, and
vary from seven to twenty miles in distance from St. John. With the exception
of the white trout family of this latter lake, the fish of all these waters are of the
very finest class, being handsomely formed, brightly spotted, and of an exquisite
reddish salmon color

Lake Lomond is a delightful resort, being only eleven miles from St. John. It
consists of a chain of three lakes, and in extent covers fully two thousand four
hundred and eighty acres. It contains the red and white trout, both of which are
taken at three and four pounds weight. The Ben Lomond House, at the foot of
the lake, furnishes exeelent fare. Boats are to be hired here. There is also ex-
cellent stream fishing near St. John, as Mispeck stream, Nerepis, Radcliff’s, Col-
lins’, and lastly, Garnett’s Creek. i 7

waco. English snipe, duck and woodcock. Reached via the Inter-colonial,
or the European and North American Railroad.
Westmoreland County— ;

Petitcodiac, on the European and North American Railroad. Good trout fish-
ing-will be found in the Pollet River and Anagance streams near by. Comforta-
ble accommodations in the village. >

9*
202 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

NOVA SCOTIA.

The Province of Nova Scotia, embracing an area of 15,627
square miles, is undulating and picturesque throughout the greater
portion of its extent. There are in the interior dense wilds, where
moose, caribou, deer, bears and other game are still found in
quantities sufficient for exciting and remunerative sport. The coast
is broken by a great many fine harbors, and lined with beetling
crags. The streams of Nova Scotia are famous throughout the
world for their angling, and are annually visited by great numbers
of enthusiastic devotees of the sport. The best streams are, as a
rule, preserved and rented, though for a moderate fare strangers
may enjoy the privilege of casting their lines. The steamboat and
railroad facilities of communication are well developed. Enter-
tainment may usually be found at comfortable inns, and guides,
canoes, etc., are always on hand.

Annapolis County—

There is an excellent game region, which embraces the wildemess extending
from Yarmouth into Annapolis county, and lying north of what is known aS
the lake region of the Province. It only lacks the mountains to make it physi-
cally as attractive as the Adirondacks, while as for game and fishit isin every
way infinitely superior. The region north o1 the lake country is a dense and ex-
tensive wilderness, in which game is but little disturbed, he Micmac Indians
have always considered this and the lake country one of their best angling and
hunting grounds. There are also in this region many varieties of fur-bearing ani-
mals, such as otter, mink, marten, together with bear, lucifee, and other game
animals. These are common to all the districts inhabited by moose and caribou,
and the streams will afford fine sport to the fly fisher in killing salmon and trout.
Yarmouth county is nearly one-fourth water; every lake and river contains in
their season salmon and trout. The land lies comparatively level, and on the bor-
ders of the rivers are many acres of meadow, overflowed by high water. The
Tusket and its branches feed and supply its lakes. The best tishing is in the
rapid portions of the rivers, between the lakes, and in the large pools at the foot
of the rapids.

Cape Breton County—

Sidney. Scatari Island, five miles north of Cape Breton, reached from Sidney,
is a great resort for many varieties of sea birds. From Sidney various steamer
and stage routes render accessible numerous well known resorts for gunner and
angler.

Cumberland County—

Parrsboro is the Bateway of a famous moose and caribou eountey much fre-
quented in_ years past by Provincial Governors and their distinguished guests.

ears are found here, wildcats, many red and cross foxes, and other fur-bearing
animals, including otters, fishers, martens, minks, which are found along nearly
all the streams; also ruffed grouse and black grouse. The latter are known as
spruce partridge, and are met only in cedar and spruce swamps. Near Parrsboro
both woodcock and duck shooting is good with some of the best snipe, plover and
curlew shooting in America. ‘Trout are found in the streams and salmon in the
Tivers. The Ottawa House, kept by Miss Wheeler, is a first class summer resort
commanding the finest scenery on the Basin of Minas, the country of ‘' Evange-
line.” Besides its scenery and sea bathing, yachting, etc., Parrsboro abounds in
rare minerals and is much visited by mineralogists of all countries. Guides can
be had for the wilderness either for moose hunting or salmon fishing at $1.25 to
$1.so perday. One of the best is the half breed Indian, John Logan, who resides
at Half Way River, on the Basin. Parrsboro is reached by steamer from St. John,
New Brunswick or by rail and stage from Halifax.
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 203

Tantramar Marshes. Abound in curlew, plover, and snipe—a magnificent
shooting ground reached by stage from Amherst, Lockville, and Parrsboro.

Amherst. In the neighborhood the sportsman will find ducks, plovers and
snipe. Reached via Inter-colonial Railroad from St John or Halifax.

Apple River, thirty-four miles from Amherst is a little village on the river of
the same name. Here is excellent trout and salmon fishing.

River Philéip, reached by rail from Amherst, has good salmon fishing. A small
hotel here offers entertainment to sportsmen.

Digby County—
Digéy, on the south-west shore of Annapolis Bay, is much visited in summer

for its fishing and shooting. Reached by stage from Yarmouth or via the Windsor
and Annapolis Railroad. Hotel here.

Halifax County—

St. Margaret's Bay is one of the most beautiful sheets of water on all this
coast. The bay offers a yan of fishing and in the vicinity are some splendid
salmon and trout grounds, obley’s Lake, East River and others, well known
to anglers who have visited this region, afford as fine sport as can be desired.
The route is via stage-coach from Halifax. ~

Five Islands, Margaret’s Bay, reached by steamer. Large brook trout, weigh-
ing from one to three pounds.

‘Indian River has some fine salmon, trout, and in their season, sea-trout. The
‘* Alma,” the “ Inkerman,”’ and ‘‘ Mason's”? are popular hostelries. Reached
by abe from Halifax daily ; distance twenty-five miles. Guides, boats, etc.
Hotel fares $2 per day.

Dartmouth Lakes, six wiles from Halifax, contain trout, and there are vari-
ous other lakes and streams in the vicinity, of various degrees of excellence as
fishing grounds.

Tangier. Sea-trout in season. Reached via coach from Halifax. Board and
guides can be found at the farmhouses.

Inverness County—

The Margaree River is one of the finest salmon streams in the country and
during the season is much visited by anglers from far and near. Besides salmon
various other kinds of fish are found in its waters, including the gaspereaux.
Numerous shade trees, principally elms and evergreens, stud the plain, and
through these winds the river the perfection of a salmon stream inasmuch as it
presents a succession of deep poois and shallow rapids, with pebble bottom as
clear as crystal, sheltered by trees, but without any impediment anywhere to the
casting of a line or the landing of a fish, and above all, totally free from the deze
noir of the angler, the black fly or the mosquito. The northeast Margaree is the
main river, running down nearly the whole extent of the northeast angle of the
Island from near Cape North, and is a clear stony stream, while the west Mar-
eoee is small and muddy, and com eral unfrequented by salmon. The best

shing ground is at the forks, where is the little village of Margaree Forks.
Reach ny boat from Halifax to Port Hastings, thence stage via Port Hood to
Margaree Forks, distance sixty-eight miles ; or to Margaree, eight miles farther.
Another route is from Portland to Halifax and return, $10; to Pictou and return,
$6; to Hawksberry and return, $6; to West Bay and return, $2; to Baddeck
and return, $2; to Margaree and return, $6. To these items add staterooms.
meals, and incidental expenses, and an estimate can be formed of the cost of
travel. Once there the cost of living is very moderate.

Lunenburg County—

Chester is pleasantly situated on a slope overlooking Chester Basin and
Mahone Bay and has two good hotels, From the wharf may be caught tomcods,
flounders and cunners, and there is every facility for deep sea fishing. Caribou
are found at Gold River, and the wilderness beyond Beech Hillis the haunt of
moose. Salmon and trout in all the neighboring rivers.

Queens County—

Port Mouton, with its broad white sand beaches and sedge flats, is covered in
autumn with sea-ducks, black ducks, grebe, brant, geese, snipe, etc. Stage to
Liverpool, from Halifax, and thence wagon to Port Mouton. Hotel kept by
Appleton. 2

"Fiere is one of the best moose regions in the Provinces. Stage to Liverpool ;
204. GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

thence wagon to Port Mouton, Port Joli, and Tom Tigny Bridge. At the latter
place stop at Dunlap’s who will haul camp stuff into the moose country. Indian
guides can be hired at Bridgewater, or at Mill Village, near Port Medway, on
the Port Medway River. Moose calling from middle of September until close of
October. Tracking as soon as snow falls.

Richmond County—

trish Cove isin a region where the brooks are full of salmon and trout. Loch
Lomond, twelve miles south-east, reached by carriage road, is a lake six miles
lon abounding in trout. There are Scotch villages on its shores where the
angler may find entertainment. Irish Cove is on the stage line between Port
Hawksberry and Sidney. The streams crossed by this route are all worthy of a
visit.
Shelburne County—

The Jointon and other rivers in this county contain salmon and trout. Moose
and caribou are abundant. ‘

Yarmouth County—

Yarmouth, on the bay side of the cape, is two hundred and forty miles from
Boston, and is reached by boat from latter place, Portland, and St. John’s. From
Yarmouth the angler may choose his route, either by the bay coast as far as Digby,
with numerous salmon and trout streams; or up the Tusket, with its three
branches, all of which are good streams. Boats, guides, and camping outfit may
be obtained at Yarmouth. The salmon fishing is fine in all the streams in this
country. The flies mostly used are the large Montreal, the yellow fly and a small
salmon fly, with blue-jay wings.

Kemi, Fine trout fishing in the Tusket River. Reached via boat from Hali-
fax, ur Boston, to Yarmouth, thence via stage or wagon. Guides and boats can
be engaged by addressing Mr. William Brosser, Kempt. Boatmen charge $1.50
per day., Board and other accommodations cheap.

Annapolis Royal. Inthe bay is salt water fishing, and on the hills to the south
bd oe good trout streams. Reached via rail or steamer. There are good

otels here,

PRINCE EDWARD'S ISLAND.

This island situated in the southern portion of the Gulf of St.
Lawrence, is often visited by anglers for its salmon and trout fish-
ing. Thecoast presents a remarkable succession of broad lagoons:
and bays and projecting headlands. These harbors thus formed
are in season excellent salmon fishing resorts, while nearly all of
the streams of the island abound in trout. Prince Edward has
steamboat communication with Pictou, N.S. and Boston, Mass., via
Halifax. All points of the island are easily reached from Charlotte-
town, via rail and good wagon roads. The stranger will find the
people here simple and hospitable, with the expenses of living
moderate.

Kings County—

Morrell, on the Morrell River, is a headquarters for fishermen. Reached via
the Prince Edward Island Railway from Charlottetown.

St, Peters, reached as above, on St. Peter's Bay, is a small village where the
angler may find accommodation at the Prairie Hotel. The salmon fishing in the
bay is superb. The fish are very large and afford the best of sport.

Princes Cowntn—
Malpegue, ot Princetown. Bay-bird shooting on Fish Island, in August.
Steamer to Charlottetown, rail to Malpeque Road. There are three hotels,
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 205

Queens County—

The Wilkins River. Good trout fishing may be found here. Take steamer
from Pictou to Charlottetown (fare $2), where there is a ivotel kept by Mr. Davis
who will furnish conveyance and act as guide to the river, fourteen miles distant,
Accommodations will be found at the house of Mrs. Baens.

Wilkins River affords good trout fishing. Take steamer to Charlottetown,
thence via wagon road fourteen miles.

Rustico,a marine hamlet on the Western Shore, is reached via the Narrow
Gauge Railroad from Charlottetown. There are excellent facilities here for boat-
ing, fishing and gunning. The Ocean House furnishes comfortable accommoda-
tions. The Hunter River contains fine trout, and the angler will find a hotel at
New Glasgow, reached by drive from Rustico.

In Bunk River, reached from Charlottetown, the angler will find good fishing.

 

NEWFOUNDLAND.

Newfoundland has an area of 40,200 square miles. The coast
is indented by remarkable bays, inlets and fiords, of which there
are a great number. The interior consists for the most part of
vast rocky wastes covered only with moss or stunted vegetation.
There are numerous inland lakes and ponds, which with the
rivers constitute one-third of the surface. The island is reached
via the Halifax and Liverpool steamships which call at St. John’s,
and by regular bi-monthly steamer from Halifax, fare $15, steerage
$5. The fur animals of the country are reindeers, wolves, bears,
foxes, of which there are the blue or Arctic, and the red varieties,
the latter including the cross, silver and black; otters, beavers,
martens and muskrats. The hare of Newfoundland is the Arctic
hare, Lemus Arctecus. Jt sometimes weighs fourteen pounds and
upwards. There is no other kind in the island. The only deer
indigenous to Newfoundland, is the caribou. The game birds are
geese, brant, ducks, including black, “ pie duck” or American
golden eye, long tailed duck, locally known as “ hound,’ Ameri-
can eider, sea duck, king eider, harlequin, and occasionally the
surf duck, American scooter and velvet duck. The American
golden plover is very abundant in autumn, and the ring plover, the
piping plover, and the grey plover are all pretty common in the
fall of the year. Wilson’s snipe is a summer migrant, arriving at
the end of April. The American jack snipe are periodical visitors.
Of sandpipers there are a large variety, Bonapartes and the yellow
shanked are very common. Of walrus, the Esquimaux is the most
common species. Of partridges, there are the Canada grouse, or
spruce partridge, the willow grouse, and rock ptarmigan or, as it
is locally called, mountain partridge. The rivers and lakes abound
in trout of three or four kinds, and salmon are abundant. A spe-
cies of fish larger than the trout is said by the Indians to be found
in several of the large lakes.
206 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

St. ¥Yohn's. The surrounding country is full of trout streams, which are acces-
sible by fine carriage road.

Bay Bulls, on the Aralon Peninsula, and accessible from St. John’s by boat or
stage, is a favorite resort for hunting parties from that city, who here spend sev-
eral days in shooting and fishing. : iia
A ae Broyle, thirty-eight miles from St. John’s is in the vicinity of good salmon

shing.

Te pases Biscay Bay River. At the mouth of the river sea-trout are caught
running in weight from one and one-half to four pounds. —s :

La Poile Bay. The northern arm of the river that empties into this bay con-
tains salmon, and there are several good runs three-quarters of a mile from its
mouth. The fish are found in the right hand channel only.

Port au Basque, about five miles to the westward of La Poile Bay, has a small,
deep, but narrow stream ; current very rapid; about one mile up are two small
falls, four to five feet in height. Salmon in this stream.

Trout River, between York Harbor and Bonne Bay, (about thirty miles to the
westward of York Harbor), affords good casting ground from Shingly Beach, and
sea-trout are caught at junction of salt and fresh water.

Hawke Bay, lngornachoix fay. Three rivers discharge into Hawke Bay,
which is completely landlocked, the land being high and thickly wooded. The
eastern river of the three, about a mile from the mouth, which is narrow, is
bifurcated by a small island ; in the forks thus formed large salmon are caught,

Harbor Grace. In the large lakes or ponds in the vicinity good trouting may
be found. Big Island Pond, ten miles north furnishes fine sport.

LABRADOR.

The peninsula of Labrador stretches from the Gulf and River
of St. Lawrence north to Hudson’s Strait. The coast is rugged,
bleak and desolate; the interior region is covered with low moun-
tains, barren plateaus, vast stretches of moss-covered plains, and
interspersed with lakes, swamps, boulders and masses of rock.
Reindeer, bears, wolves, foxes, and other game, once abundant,
are gradually diminishing in number. The population is confined
to the coast region, and are principally engaged in the fisheries for
which the country is noted. From the River St. John du Nord,
which is the boundary line between the Province of Quebec and
Labrador, to the Esquimaux River, a distance of seven hundred
and twenty miles east of Quebec, there are no less than twenty
salmon rivers, eight or nine of which are superior for salmon fish-
ing, and the majority of them frequently visited by both Canadian
and United States sportsmen. Leases of these rivers for rod-fishing
may be obtained from W. F. Whitaker, Commissioner of Fishing
at Ottawa, P.Q. They can be reached only by chadl/loupe, the fish-
ing smack of the St. Lawrence. These can be hired either at
Quebec, or at Tadousac, north of the Saguenay, both of which
places are reached by steamers plying twice or three times a week
in mid-summer. The expense of a challoupe is light. Tents,
canoes, and complete outfits required. A great variety of wild
fowl are found all along the coast.

Henley Harbor (Strait of Belle Isle). This is a fishing station at the extreme
GAME AND FISH RESORTS. 207

eastern end of the strait, where good board and lodging accomm i

obtained. In August the curlew shooting is Sigeck! aed other ages

wild fowl may be had. Good sea trout fishing in season. The scenery is the

most piebirescue mh Parador Board . to 4 per weer Belle Isle with its light-
iouse and perpendicular cliffs, three hundred feet hi i ithi sai

There are no ame animals on Belle Isle. iy Ae athe, Easy" al.

Fortean. is is a light-house station on a headland in the j
Good accommodation with the light keeper. Plenty of wild ta Se GENE Tales

Blanc Sablon. A fishing station near the middle of Belle Isle Strait, located on
alandlocked and very picturesque bay. Good board and lodgings. Wild fowl
and sea trout. os

Ship Harbor, A fishing station north of Belle Isle. Fine sea trout and birds
of various kinds.

Tub Harbor. Good shooting and plenty of fishing for shore cod. Two or
three houses here, but will have to camp out. Located about one hundred and
twenty miles north of Belle Isle. There are numerous bird rocks and islands in
the vicinity within a radius of fifteen miles that swarm with birds in great variety.

Sandwich Bay. fishing station, latitude fifty-four degrees nearly. Sea trout
and birds. A few caribou on the mainland. Lodgings may be procured.

Flatwater. Esquimaux Bay, latitude fifty-five degrees nearly. Excellent sea
trout fishing, and also brook trout, Canada grouse and ptarmigan. A few caribou.

Rigolette, Hudson's Bay Company's post at the head of Esquimaux Bay.
Excellent jogging accommodations. Many salmon are taken here in pound nets,
and the rod fishing at the head of the ‘* Narrows ”’ that connect a large interior lake
with the bay a mile and a half from it,is the best in Labrador. Birds and caribou
may be shot, the former in great numbers including the eider duck which is
found all along the coast ; also ptarmigan and Canada grouse. Good fishing for
speckled trout.

Norwest River. Hudson’s Bay Station, thirty miles up the lake, northward of
Rigolette, and about seventy from the ocean. Excellent lodging accommoda-
tions and fine wooded country, with Northern hares, ptarmigan, caribou, and
speckled trout.

MANITOBA.

Manitoba, bounded on the south by the United States and
stretching North, East and West to the North-west Territories,
comprises an area of 14,340 square miles. The country is for the
most part a prairie, perfectly level and interspersed with islands
of oak and other forest trees. The inaccessibility of the country
has retarded its rapid settlement, so that here the hunter will find
vast tracts of undisturbed territory, where game will be found in
all its primitive abundance. The routes are via the Union Pacific
Railroad to Fargo, thence Red River steamers, or via the Dawson
or Canadian route from the head of Lake Superior, fifteen hundred
miles from Quebec. Winnipeg, the seat of Government, is a thriv-
ing town of six years growth, and within three miles on any side
of it, during the spring and fall, the hunter may fill his game bag
with pinnated grouse, ruffed grouse, or the white hare, not omit-
ting duck, plover, several species of goose and many other water-
fowl. The surrounding country, on the west side of the river, is
level prairie, occasionally broken by small bluffs of poplar, and every
here and there a swamp or musky, all of which in the spring are
covered with ducks. Following the course of the river to Lake
208 GAME AND FISH RESORTS.

Winnipeg, the sportsman will come to one of the largest duck-
shooting grounds in the country, perhaps in the world, the mouth
of Red River where the amount of water-fowl is something won-
derful. The Indians here never use more than one-half oz. of shot,
No. 2, but they slaughter the birds by creeping up to a flock in
their canoes, and firing at a few yards. There are, however, here,
many residents, American, Canadian, and English, who are lovers
of the gun and dog. In the fall of the year the prairies literally
swarm with pinnated grouse, and it is no uncommon feat for a
fair shot to bag from sixty to one hundred and fifty in one day.
The Pembina Mountains, about seventy miles distant, are favorite
feeding grounds for wavies. Woodcock are found about Winnipeg.

Besides the birds mentioned, swans, cranes, grey and white
pelicans, etc., are very plentiful in the lakes and marshes, with
which the country abounds. The flesh of the grey crane is very
fine and much esteemed, whereas in the States it is considered
unfit for food. There are here two species of white crane, one very
large, and having a crimson patch on the top of the head; this bird
is very showy, and if only winged, extremely dangerous to approach.

The yellow legged plover is also very plentiful, and one can
make a bag in almost any marsh or swamp; in the fall of the year
they are very fat and a delicious addition to the larder. The game
consists chiefly of moose, elk, caribou, black and brown bear, with
beaver and other fur animals. Moose, especially in the vicinity of
Pembina Mountains and the region north of Shoal Lake, are very
numerous, as also in that portion of the country lying between
Winnipeg and the Lake of the Woods. Unlike those in Nova
Scotia and New Brunswick, the moose here do not “yard” but
travel generally in pairs or at most four together. The hunting of
them is very difficult and great hardship is endured by the hunter,
being compelled to use very large snow-shoes, and then sinking
to the knees at every step, the snow in this country having no
crust at any time during the winter.
 

 

 

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