THE CORBIN GAME PARK IN NEW HAMPSHIRE, U.S.A. 205 



beautiful and fragrant enough to give a city man the heartache 

 when he thinks of them. 



Mr. Corbin determined to buy from 20,000 to 30,000 acres of 

 these hills and valleys, and there establish a park for his new- 

 found four-footed friends in which they would find the condi- 

 tions as nearly as possible those to which they were best suited. 

 Mr. Corbin eventually got 22,000 acres in one tract. 



The next thing was to fence it, and only those who have tried 

 building elk- tight fences can appreciate the job. Here was a 

 tract of over thirty-five square miles of land to inclose. They 

 started out with a wire-net six feet high, secured to stout posts 

 ten feet apart. Above the net they strung ten lines of barbed 

 wire, and that made a right good fence. But when eighteen miles 

 had been erected, they abandoned the wire-net and used barbed 

 wire only for the rest of the way. That was cheaper and just as 

 good. It is not uninteresting to note that the fencing cost 

 74,000 dollars, or £14,800. 



In all, nine gates were to be placed in this fence, with a 

 keeper's lodge at each gate, made necessary by the presence in 

 every community of the skulking lout who will steal or destroy 

 the property of the well-to-do, and especially such property as 

 this fence would enclose. Mr. Corbin was sure his park would not 

 in any way interfere with the rights of legitimate sportsmen. 



Here in this tract of woodland, with only enough cleared land 

 on it to afford meadows over which the animals would like to 

 wander at times, were gathered twenty-five Buffalo, sixty Elk, 

 over seventy Deer, half-a-dozen each of Caribou and Antelope, 

 eighteen Wild Boars imported from Germany, and an unknown 

 number of Moose — perhaps a dozen. He had four Reindeer 

 brought from Labrador, but all died. He hoped to have also a 

 community of Beavers, for the lakes and streams are admirably 

 adapted for these beautiful animals. 



Quite ;s interesting as any description of the park and its 

 inhabitants is the story of the gathering of the specimens. It is 

 too long to tell in full, but room remains for enough. The agent 

 employed to gather a large part of the animals from Canada was 

 Thomas H. Ryan, who had served Mr. Corbin in a number of 

 capacities for the previous twelve years. In October, 1890, Ryan 

 was commissioned to go to Canada to see what could be done 

 about getting " any wild animals there except Bears, Panthers, 



