37 2 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 



Quail in Fayal abounded ; they have lost their 

 migratory instincts so breed in the islands. Blue 

 rock pigeons were in thousands ; rabbits not plentiful ; 

 no hares ; woodcocks in all the hilly and well-wooded 

 portions. What they got to eat is a puzzle, for there 

 were no marshes, and as the surface is disintegrated 

 lava, they could not force their bills through it in 

 search of their ordinary food, and even if they did I 

 don't believe there is a worm in the island, still they 

 exist and are fine plump birds. To get at them is 

 very difficult work, and beaters are hard to obtain, and 

 the bush is very heavy. The Portuguese content 

 themselves with flight shooting, when the birds are 

 pairing and out of season, and kill a good many, and 

 I am sorry to say I was told the American residents 

 followed their bad example. This scolopax is more 

 numerous in Pico than in Fayal, and I shot a few in 

 each island, but the trouble and expense were more 

 than the game was worth. The vines grow luxuri- 

 antly ; the principal grain produced is maize, and 

 directly a crop has been gathered, lupins are thrown 

 broadcast, take root, attain an immense size, but when 

 on the point of flowering are all dug up and interred 

 into the ground, so do in place of manure. Of course a 

 few fields are left here and there for seed, potatoes 

 flourish, chilies are perennial. Apricots are abundant 

 in Pico, and a basket load can be purchased for a 

 shilling. Fish is very plentiful, but not good of its 

 kind. The sea fishing is excellent. Using hand lines 

 the sea-bream and other kinds of fish up to three 

 pounds weight can be caught almost faster than the 

 extra lines can be baited. By trolling we caught a 

 fish, very like a pike, which runs to fifteen pounds, but 



