THE AMERICAN SPORTSMAN 



JOURNAL. 



Term», Four Dollars a Yea*. I 

 Tun (lentil a Copy. | 



NEW YORK, THURSDAY, AUGUST 15, 1878. 



TROUT FISHING. 



1 pis twenty years. Do you remember 



■■- When, boy and girl, we stole the stiff, 

 And went a (Ishlng one September ? 

 The lake so clear, It was as If, 

 Upborne on love's delicious leaven, 

 We floated in a pure mid-heaven, 

 With clouds of lilies for a bordc-r. 

 The fragrant summer seemed to ache 

 In blossom for dear passion's sake, 

 Excessive with Its sweet disorder. 

 In you, too, was that fond distress 

 Of flush and fear and happiness, 

 Caresses by caiess unhanded, 

 Till, Angers mated on thii reel, 

 I ihought the very trout oould feel 

 His double spoil wa« caught and landed. 



Alas 1 that love which we remember, 

 Blush-ripe as all the wanton weeds, 

 Sliculd oe a blossom of September, 

 Born gutltles* of the promise seeds — 

 Sweet dying things, whose only duty 

 Is clothing life In forms of neauiy 1 

 For though I held you in my arms, 

 Ab full of honey in your oharms 

 As when the trefoil holds the clover, 

 Tour flngere, tutorod in a thimble, 

 In plaving trout were found bo nimble 

 You hoiked the ilsh and cast the lover. 



But often, since we slipped the books 

 To play fur life with baited hooks 

 In pools less pure, do I remember 

 The fragile blossom of September, 

 Born guiltless of Ihe promise seedB— 

 A dying th'ng, whose only dnty 

 Was clothing life in forms of beauty, 

 With heaven above and heaven below It. 

 Though life has growa to other needs, 

 Our boat lies rotting in the weeds, 

 And we can neither raise nor row it. 



—Wilt. Wallaob Babnbt, in Harper't Magazine. 



For Forest and Stream and Rod and Chin. 



BY PKNOBBOOT. 



[Concluded from Vol. X, page iU.] 



IN regard to the changeable temperature theory, the follow- 

 ing perfectly unvarnished statement of facts ought to 

 settle it: A friend in Maine, being out one day with 

 hounds, started up a buck, which, in his course, happened to 

 run over a bear's den, scaring out an old she bear and her two 

 cubs of the spring before. This was the 10th of December, 

 there being eight to ten inches of crusty snow on the ground. 

 The hunt was at once transferred to the new and more ex- 

 citing game. Failing to secure them that day, a party of 

 four pursued them all the next without success, their num- 

 bers increasing instead of diminishing, as these bears, in their 

 terror, ran over the den of a very large male bear, which also 

 came out and joined the others. The next day the hunters 

 killed the two cubs. The tenth day they killed the 

 old she bear, leaving the big male alone in his glory. During 

 all this time they had confined their operations to a piece of 

 woods a little less than three mileB square, in the immediate 

 vicinity of which the hunters lived, the track at night being 

 frequently left within fifty rods of some of their homes. I 

 reached home from a trip • to Union River the day the she 

 bear was killed, and it is hardly necessary to Bay that the next 

 morning the party was augmented by one. Fur five more 

 dayB the hunt was kept up, when Christmas dawned on us, 

 one of the coldest throughout the greater portion of New 

 England on record, the thermometer in our neighborhood at 

 sunrise registering 35 degB., and the opinion was expressed 

 among the boys, as we plunged into the woods, that the " old 

 fellow would be too stiff to stir," which opinion was strength- 

 ened by the fact that he had been twice so severely wounded 

 that he dropped in his tracks, but had at once regained his 

 feet and made off apparently as well as ever, both the men 

 declaring firmly, however, that they had shot him through. 

 During the hunt we had tried every good dog that we could 

 hear of within ten miles around, but had not succeeded in 

 getting one which would attack the bear. This^as, doubt- 

 less, owing in a great measure to the cowardice of an old 

 houud we were obliged to keep as « tracker, for it ia a well- 



established fact that the bear leaves a fainter scent than any 

 other animal in the Stale. Plenty of ordinary dogs cannot 

 follow the track by Ihe scent at all, even when just made, and 

 not one in a hundred can follow it two hours after the animal 

 has passed. The hound in question was the best in that 

 respect I ever saw, but would not get within a hundred paces 

 of the bear if he knew it ; and if by chance he caught sight of 

 him making a charge he would run yelping back, and never 

 stop till be reached some of us, even if we were two miles in 

 the rear. This pusilanimous conduct had a fearfully de- 

 moralizing effect on all the dogs we could get, and occasioned 

 an amount of profanity among the boys sufficient to have run 

 an ordinary mining camp for six months. We had long ago 

 learned the futility of attempting to get a shot by following 

 his track, and always after leaving him at night he would exe- 

 cute a series of uianceuvres which would frequently take us 

 till after mid-day to unravel. 



On reaching the place where he intended to pass away the 

 night (usually in the thickest apruee growth he could find), 

 he would pick an armful of boughs and, carrying them to 

 where three or four short scrubby spruce or firs grew, would 

 lay them down in their midst, and getting on them would 

 bend the tops of the shrubs over him, forming an arbor, under 

 which he would remain always till we started him out, but 

 always getting off before we came in sight of him We had 

 therefore adopted the plan of stationing ourselves at the 

 various points where he would be likely to pass during the 

 day, one man only following the tracks with the dogs. But 

 on this Christmas morning we all followed up the tracks, for 

 a man can't stand on a runway with the thermometer thirty- 

 five degrees below zero, or at least he can't get off it, if he 

 stands there long I After following the trail for about two 

 hours we found it lead into a small opening made by the fire, 

 the trees turning up after being killed, which rendered it ex- 

 tremely difficult to puss through it; so we skirted its edges, 

 and, going entirely around it, made the discovery that there 

 were no tracks out. This was better than we had hoped for, 

 aud we immediately disposed ourselves so as to give him a 

 warm reception when forced to make his appearance. One 

 of the boys had a double-barrel rifle, one barrel of which was 

 a double shooter, thus giving him three shots. Him we placed 

 on the tracks leading into the opening, as experience had 

 taught us that he was more likely to come out there than in 

 any O'her place. It was my turn to go in with the dngs. I 

 had worked my waynearly to the centre of the '' blow-down " 

 with the dogs at heel, when I came suddenly on his bed, 

 under the body of a large tree turned up by the roots. The 

 ground was only partially clear of suow, and here he had lain 

 through that bitter night without anyihing under him but the 

 snow and frozen ground, and nothing over him but the log, at 

 least three feet above him. I whistled forward the dogs, and 

 almost at the same instant heard behind me the crack of Dan's 

 rifle, making innumerable forest echoes in that cold air. The 

 bear, on hearing my approach, had run a semi-circle, struck 

 his back tracks behind me, and was at the edge of the opening 

 almost as soon as I got to his bed. A second report quickly 

 followed the first, and as I hastened back a third rang out 

 sharply on the morning air, followed by a shout of "All 

 right." 



As I neared the spot where the shooting took place I heard 

 some of the most emphatic language I ever listened to, and on 

 getting there I found Dan, usually the coolest of huuters and 

 the most placid of men, in a high state of excitement ; but no 

 bear I 



It was several minutes before he calmed down sufficiently 

 to give an account of the affair, during which time we had all 

 collected around him. 



It seemed that when he first saw the bear he was walking 

 on a log, broadside to him, not having yet got into his " buck 

 tracks." Taking a deliberate aim just behiud the shoulder, 

 he "unhitched," and the bear "went down like a stone." 

 He stood for a moment and was just going to call out, when 

 he saw the bear on his feet and about striking his own trail, 

 the log behind which he fell having concealed him up to this 

 point. A second shot again rolled him over ; but instantly re- 

 gaining his feet he started down his tracks directly toward the 

 astonished Dan, who was brginning to regard him as buUYt- 

 proof. As he approached Dun delivered his ihird and and last 

 charge full between his eyes. The brute pitched forward and 

 fell headlong. Naturally supposing that an animal shot 

 through the head must be dead, he had shouted to us, and, 

 setting away his rifle, was very coolly taking out his pocket- 

 knile tor the purpose of cutting his throat, when the animal 

 again struggled to his feet and stood reeling to and fro for a 

 moment, so near to him that he could see him lap the blood as 

 it ran down oyer his nose. Steadying himself iu a moment 

 he rushed forward on his old tracks, and not caring to be 

 caught fooling with a bear of his size and toughness, wilti 

 nothing but a pocket knife and empty rifle, Dan very respect- 

 fully gave him the right of way. A short inspection of the 

 ground bore out Dan's statement. 



In the meantime the dogs, which had gone ahead on the 

 track, showing conclusively I hat the bear was still alive and 

 able to repel all assault in that direction. 



On following him up we found that he was barely able to 

 keep out of our way, as we came in hearing of him several 

 times, the dogs refusing to advance any faster than we did. 

 We soon decided that it was best to leave him for that day, 

 believing that the effects of his wounds, and the cold com- 

 bined, would render him incapable of getting out of our way 

 in the morning, so we struck out for home, the most of us 



going to a Christmas dance that night, so as to be sure and 

 not oversleep ourselves I The next morning we were on hand 

 before sunrise, the weather having moderated but very little. 

 We soon reached the spot where we had left the trail— a very 

 favorable place on the side of an open ridge, which they had 

 previously avoided. The dogs, feeling unusually well, 

 bounded forward unchecked, as we did not anticipate starling 

 him till after the usual amount of circling, which would give 

 us ample time to overtake them. We had gone nearly a quar- 

 ter of a mile, however, before we heard a tremendous outcry 

 from the dogs, only a short distance in advance. The uproar 

 increased every moment ; the baying of the old houud and 

 the savage snarls of the ether dogs, mingled with the roars 

 and snorting 'of the bear, showing that a desperate fight was 

 in progress. We soon reached the battle-" round, and were 

 speechless with surprise to see. dogs which for two weeks had 

 exhibited nothing but fear and cowardice, attacking the en- 

 raged and foaming bear, not only with courage, but with 

 absolute fury. Even the old hound was barking furiously 

 not twenty feet away ; and catching sight of us as we came 

 up, he made a gallant charge on the bear, and actually 

 scratched some hairs from his" ridiculous apology for a tail. 

 For some moments, so close was the fighting, we could not 

 get a shot at the bear without ruHning the risk of sacrificing 

 a dog; but as the old fellow warmed up to his work, he soon 

 cleared a space around him, when a shot under his ear laid 

 him low, ending at once his life and the longest bear hunt on 

 record. A short examination was sufficient to show that the 

 shot between the eyes had glanced upwards on the skull and 

 come out between the ears, inflicting only a slight wound. 

 On skinning him, however, four bullet holes were found in 

 his body, two, evidently shot by Dan the day before, had grazed 

 his lungs, and lodged against the skin on the opposite side. 

 His lungs were very much bloodshot and inflamed, showing 

 clearly what had occasioned his distress. The other two 

 bullets went completely through his body, cutting the intes- 

 tines in twenty places. In his normal condition they would 

 have proved fatal in from two to six hours, and they had 

 been shot through him, respectively, four and six days before. 

 The plug (a name more expressive than elegant) was found 

 intact, not having any use for his intestines, or any action in 

 them ; their being cut to pieces did not seem to affect him in 

 the least. His coating of fat had greatly wasted away, and that 

 which remained had totally altered in character, being of a 

 tough, leathery consistency, wholly differing from its ap- 

 pearance when the animal is killed without being run. It 

 seems incredible, and a total subversion of all the laws of nature 

 that an animal could run sixteen days without eating or drink- 

 ing, or having any action of the bowels or bladder, be shot in 

 the meantime five times and then make a desperate fight. He 

 would undoubtedly hive whipped the five dogs easily if let 

 alone. But all the participators in the hunt are alive, and 

 can testify to its entire truthfulness. The conduct of the dogs 

 was as unaccountable as that of the bear. We examined the 

 ground with the greatest care to arrive at a solution of the 

 mystery. The bear had gone straight from where we left him 

 the day before to an old den that looked as though it had been 

 used for ten years. It was dug under the roots of an enormous 

 upturned pine. Into this he had crawled, it being well pro- 

 vided with dry moss and leaves, and the dogs had attacked 

 him while in it, as could easily be told by hair lying at the 

 mouth of it, and the furious manner in which he had torn out 

 of it. What induced them to make the attack will always 

 remain a mystery. They probably came upon him unexpect- 

 edly to themselves, and the boldest, encouraged by the others, 

 began the battle, upon which the others joined in. 



1 had just finished this article (as I supposed; when your 

 is;ue of May 31 came to hand with its " Gossip About Bears." 

 I am afraid the subject will hardly bear so much writing up, 

 but cannot forbear adding a few comments. So far from be- 

 ing "nearly extinct" in the East, they have increased rather 

 than diminished iu Maine and New Brunswick during the last 

 thirty years, in proof of which I might cite that the payment 

 of bounties is such a heavy tax iu Maine that a bill was intro- 

 duced into the Legislature last winter (and I believe passed) 

 repealing it. I have a brother-in-law in that State who has 

 yet to see his thirty-eighth birttiday, who, when I left last 

 fall, was looking round "mighty pert" for two more bears 

 to make up fifty shot or trapped by him in the last twenty 

 years. And they are certainly not decreasing in the North 

 Woods, for it was the unauimous testimony of guides and 

 hunters last October that the bears had not been so pleotiful 

 for years. In regard to the assertion that the bear "has from 

 two to six cubB, usually three or four," I would reply that it 

 is doubtful if there is a single perfectly authenticated instance 

 on record of the American black bear having more than two 

 cubs at a birth, for it must be remembered that the very rare 

 casi s whr re more than that number have been found with a 

 female are no proof, for numbers of bears, havingyoung cubs, 

 are trapped every spring. These, when pressed by hunger, 

 giye utterance to a peculiarly plaintive and pitiful cry, which, 

 in the stillness of the forest at night, can easily be heard for 

 half a mile. Tnis will attract other females having young, 

 wheu the cubs will naturally attach themselves to her. In a 

 hunting experience extending over many years, daring which 

 time I have tracked scores, f have never found more than two 

 following one dam ; nor have I ever found or he ird of more 

 than that number being found in utero. Of course I do not 

 insist that triple (or even quadruple) births never occur, but 

 that they are so very Tare tliat they must, if occurring at all, 

 be classed as exceptions. 



