110 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



■would be more than counterbalanced by the disadvantages at- 

 tending its use, in the increased difficulty of casting and in 

 other respects. 



Of course all this applies only to fly fishing. If any one 

 "Wishes to go all the way to Nipegon and fish with a lead and 

 hait, and yank out trout as you would catfish, no special pre- 

 paration is necessary. Only do as the Indians do— cut the 

 first stout sapling alongside" your path, tie a stout piece of 

 cord to the end of it, tie on half an ounce of lead, and take 

 two or three hall hitches over the shank of a stout hook, stick 

 on a piece of fat bacon, and throw your bait with a chug into 

 the river. When you feel a tug yank him out ; if a small one 

 you will probably find him suspended fifteen feet in the near- 

 est pine tree that chances to be back of you. If so, keep your 

 temper. If a large one, and your book "tears loose, keep your 

 temper ; but, if 3'ou are fortunate enough to land him, thank 

 your lucky stars and go on your way rejoicing. I have never 

 teen a believer in the entomological knowledge of trout, and 

 jny experience on Nipegon did no tend to encourage such be- 

 lief. So far as I could see, the trout accepted one fly as readi- 

 ly as another — and red or yellow, blue, gray or white, all were 

 alike welcome. 



The agent of the Hudson's Bay Co. issues fishing permits, 

 for which he charges one dollar per day, or a season permit 

 for five dollars. Some of our party were inclined to demur to 

 this demand and question his right to enforce it. I cannot 

 speak authoritatively on the subject, but have myself no 

 doubt of his right to do so. Our steamer left Nipegon on the 

 morning of Tuesday, the 30th of July, and ran direct for the 

 Sault, where we had a repetition of our former bad luck fish- 

 ing, and, having again ran down the rapids, we laid aside our 

 tackle, satisfied that after Nipegon all else would be stale, flat 

 and unprofitable. Piscator. 



Steamer Kciceenaa, Auj. 2, 1878. 



FISH NEWS FROM NEW HAMPSHIRE. 



Mr. Sam. Webber, one of the New Hampshire Fish Com- 

 missioners, writes from Manchester, September 7 ; 



The young salmon which were introduced in May, '76, were 

 very plenty last year, and had not all gone to salt water last 

 July. We have built a new fishway at the Amoskeag Falls in 

 this city, with a very easy slope— about one foot in fourteen — 

 so that any fish can ascend it easily. Salmon have been seen 

 here at intervals all summer in the pools below the fall, and 

 many of them have undoubtedly gone up. One, estimated at 

 twenty pounds, a week ago— August 31— and Commissioner 

 Powers has secured several at the hatchery above Plymouth. 

 We expect to get more when the fall rains come to start them 

 up. as there was quite a large run in October last year. The 

 mill owners at Nashua have just completed two first-class 

 fishways on the Brackett plan,' over the dams on the Nashua 

 Hiverin that city, which will give the salmon access to the 

 upper waters of "that river in Lancaster and Oliuton, Mass., 

 where the fry have been placed by the Massachusetts Commis- 

 missioriers. The road to the Pemigewasset River is all clear 

 for the salmon, and next year we expect to provide fishways, 

 ao that the shad which we put iu last summer can return to 

 Lake Winnepcsaukee. All the evidence we can collect points 

 to a two-years residence of the parr and smolts in fresh water, 

 after which they go to the sea, returning as 8-pound fish the 

 fourth year. Most of those seen in 1877 weighed from 7 to 8 

 pounds, and must have been of the planting of 1873, as there 

 were none put in the Merrimack in 1874, the fry of that year 

 having all been placed iu the Connecticut. A few larger fish 

 of lust year may be referred to the planting cf 1872. The 

 same holds good this year, while the main rim of those seen 

 have been from 13 to 14 pounds, with a few larger ones. I, 

 for one, have no faith in the theory that salmon increase in 

 weight with such enormous rapidity in saltwater, that a smolt 

 of i or -J of a pound can go down to salt water one season and 

 return a 10-pound fish the next. 



We have ordered from the U. S. Fish Commission 250,000 

 ova of the Salmo quinnat (not of California shad, as jsome of 

 the papers have it) which we hope to hatch successfully and 

 divide between the Merrimack River and one of the larger 

 lakes, wishing to see if they will naturalize in fresh water, as 

 they have in California. We also expect from Mr. Stone 

 some of the ova of the McCloud River trout, and have ar- 

 ranged with Mr. Atkins for 100,000 landlocked salmon spawn. 

 Massachusetts will probably provide n lot of California ova, 

 and we have 150 fine brook trout weighing from | to 2 pounds 

 each, so that we expect to fill our hatching boxes" this winter 

 ■with 000,000 ova of various species of the salrno family. If 

 the Connecticut Legislature will pass proper close laws and 

 allow the fish to return up the river of that name, we will put 

 part of one hatch in the upper waters of that stream. 



Black bass fishing has been very good this season in some 

 of our ponds, while in others, either from want of food or 

 some other cause unknown, m03t of the fish appear to have 

 escaped and gone down into the rivers, but Sunapee Lake, 

 Wakefield, Milton, and Northwood ponds have afforded fine 



diminish inside. There may be as many as seven of these 

 distinct formations. Some fish begin to breed when they are 

 two, and some three and four and five years old. Now, sup- 

 pose a fish is five years old and it breeds seven yeaTs, that 

 would make it twelve years old. That would take it through 

 the prime of its life, and fish may be like animals, and their 

 breeding stops when they have passed the prime of their life, 

 liens have a deposit of eggs for days; fish have for years. 

 Hens lay one egg a day ami fish lay one batch of eggs per 

 year. If eels spawn 1 do not think it would take long to find 

 that out, for the roe sack is always there after the fish have 

 spawned. 



I have said that I thought they breed in the ocean, because 

 I have always seen them coming up the fresh water streams 

 when they were not larger than a small needle, and when they 

 are that size they can go up any falls. They do not go up in 

 the sheet of water, but on the rocks, the same as an angle 

 worm would go up any wet surface, and I think that is the 

 reason that there are no eels iu the upper lakes. The reason 

 is because they get so large by the time they arrive at Niagara 

 Falls that their weight causes them to drop off. I believe if 

 Niagara Falls were within one hundred miles of the ocean that 

 young eels would go over them. I have never seen or heard 

 of an eel being caught five hundred miles from the ocean that 

 was not over six inches long and his body as large as a pipe 

 stem. These facts are what I base my opinion on. I am 

 anxious to know how eels breed, and will send the first man 

 a draft on New York for five dollars, and pay express charges, 

 that will fend me an eel with young eels in it that bred there, 

 or an eel that has a roe of spawn in it. Tours, 



Sbtu Gtiben. 



Mr. Green's idas about eels are very good and sound, and 

 his explanation why eels are not found above, the falls of Ni- 

 agara is quite plausible. 



— Eels in Michigan, thanks to the work of the Commis- 

 sioners, are quite plentiful. In nearlyevery place where they 

 have been deposited they have grown and multiplied. 



The Ludlow Trout Co. — This association is prepared to 

 sell trout and salmon egg and fry at reasonable prices. Ad- 

 dress B. Frecburg, Supt., Ludlow, McKean Co., Pa. 



^xfttml Jjiisfargt 



AN EXTINCT ANIMAL. 



christening, as he supposes, C. macrOtis, calling it. the mule 

 deer instead of the black-tailed deer, the name by which it is 

 known in that region. A little attention to the history of 

 this nomenclature will show the hunter that the rechristening 

 was done in the mountains, when it was called black-tailed 

 deer. This deer, so far as we have any written record, was 

 first discovered by Lewis and Clark in 1804. They first (»lled 

 it the black-tailed deer, till they discovered C. cohtmbiamu in 

 1805, when they abandoned this name for mncrotis, and gave 

 it the name of mule deer, giving 1 the former name to the 

 Columbia deer, and they thereafter adhered to the name of 

 mule deer except in one solitary instance. When on their 

 return in 1800 they procured their lust specimen, which they 

 brought home, they called it the mule deer, which is the last 

 time they mentioned it in their journal. According to every 

 rule of propriety and practice, they, as the first discoverers, 

 had the right to name it, especially if they proposed an appro- 

 priate name. The enormous ears of the animal suggested 

 the name and vindicate its propriety, while there is a mani- 

 fest impropriety in calling it black-tailed deer, when the 

 entire tail is white except "the black pencil at the end— a 

 much larger proportion of the tail is while thnn black. On 

 the Columbia deer all the visible part of the tail is black, and 

 hence the appropriateness of that name for it* The Colum- 

 bia deer has never been known by any other name. I submit, 

 then, that the hunters of the Kooky Mountains did not act 

 wisely when they rechristened this deer, giving it an inappro- 

 priate name, and one which properly belonged to another and 

 very distinct species. From necessity this new name could 

 never become universal, for on the Pacific slope, where both 

 these deer occupy the same range, it must be known by its 

 old name to avoicl unutterable confusion. It seems to me" that 

 the hunters of the Rocky Mountains should desire to be able 

 to converse intelligibly with their brethren on the western 

 slope on this subject; but this is impossible so long as they 

 retain this misnomer. Audubon and Bachman, Prof. Baird 

 and all other authorities, so far as 1 know, have followed the 

 names given to these two species of deer by their original 

 discoverers, and in doing this it never occurred to them that 

 they were rechristening this Rocky Mountain deer. The 

 question of names I deem an important one, if language is to 

 be used to convey an identical idea in all parts of the country. 

 Already great confusion and misunderstanding has arisen 

 from lids misnomer, and I really thiuK the sooner it. is aband- 

 oned the better. J. D. Caton. 

 Ottawa, 111, Sept. 4. 



SETH GREEN ON EELS. 



\V Rochester, Sept. 4, 1878. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I see by the papers that some party has seen spawn in eels, 

 and another party has seen young eels born. One or both of 

 these parties are mistaken, I am going to let them fight it 

 out, and it may be that some one will take up the light and 

 use up the conqueror. I see my name mixed in with all the 

 articles, and I think it my duty to let the people know what I 

 have said. I said I bad opened thousands of eels, and I had 

 opened and examined them nearly every day in the year, and 

 had never found any young eels or spawn in them except in 

 their stomachs. All 1 ever said was that I did not know how 

 they bred. I may have said some time that they might be hy- 

 brids, but I never said they were ; and the reasonl did not 

 6ay they were hybrids is because 1 did not know. If an eel 

 had a row of spawn like other fish she would have a row after 

 she had done spawning. The sac that contains the spawn 

 is left, and in three weeks it is healed up and is as perfect as 

 it was before the fish spawned. The sack after spawning is 

 so small that people do not. notice it. It is about one fiftieth 

 part as large as it was before she cast her spawn. Fish carry 

 these eggs for years. When they arc put under a magnifier 

 they can be seen of seven different sizes. Th ise nearest to be 

 cast out are the largest, then there are immature eggs, which 



EntTOB FoilEST AST) STREAM : 



Tn the "New Annual Register," of 1781, there is an "Ac- 

 count of some particular animals in Connecticut," purporting 

 to be taken from the " General History of Connecticut." Pre- 

 cisely when this " General History" was published, or what 

 degree of credibility it was entitled to I am unable to say ; but 

 in this " account" is the following catalogue of animals which 

 bad their habitat in that State, which I transcribe in the words 

 of the History : 



" There are only two small parks of deer in Connecticut ; 

 but plenty of rabbits, hares, gray, black, striped and red Mpiir- 

 rels, otters, minks, raccoons," weazels, foxes, wbapperuockers, 

 woodeluicks, cubas and skunks f . The following descriptions 

 of the four last mentioned animals may be new to the reader." 

 I shall, for want of space, omit the description of the wood- 

 chucks and skunks, as containing little that is novel, and 

 shall pass over the account of the. whappcrnocker with the 

 simple remark that lip was somewhat, bigger than a weazel, of 

 a beautiful brown color, exceedingly wild and untamable, and 

 carried a fur of so fine a quality that muffs made of it sold for 

 forty guineas apiece ; but the description of the cuba is so in- 

 teresting that 1 transcribe the quaint original : 



" The cuba I suppose to be peculiar to New England. The 

 male is of the size of a large cat, has four long tushes sharp 

 as a razor, is very active in" defending himself and, if he has 

 the first blow, will spoil a dog before he yields. His lady is 

 peaceable and harmless, and depends for protection upon her 

 spouse; and, as he has more courage than prudence, always 

 attends him to moderate his temper. She sees danger and he 

 fears it not. She chatters at him while he is preparing for 

 battle ; and, if she thinks the danger is too great, she runs to 

 him and clings about his neck, screaming her extreme distress; 

 his wrath abat es and by her advice they fly to their caves. In 

 like manner, when he is chained, and irritated into the great- 

 est rage by an impertinent dog, his lady, who is never chained, 

 will fly about his neck and kiss him, and in half a minute re- 

 store him to calmness. 



" He is very tender of all his family, and never forsakes 

 them till death dissolves their union. What father shows the 

 magnanimity of this little.'an final ? He never manifests the least 

 anger toward his lady, though I have often seen her extremely 

 loquacious and, as I guessed, impertinent to him. How hap- 

 py would the rational part of creation become if they would 

 but follow the example of these irrational beasts ! I the more 

 readily suppose the cuba to be peculiar to New England, not 

 only from my never having yet seen the creature described, 

 but also on account of its perverse observance of carnival and 

 neglect of careme. " 



It is to be observed that the writer does not furnish any 

 description of the color, appearance and personal habits of 

 the cuba, by which we may compare him with other animals, 

 or determine whether he is now really extinct, further than 

 that he " is of the size of a large cat and has four long tushes 

 sharp as a razor. " 1 was tolerably familiar with the fauna 

 of New England fifty years ago ; but I think the cuba will 

 have to be identified by somebody older than I am. I should 

 suspect that the author of the " General History of Connecti- 

 cut" had been made a victim of by some one accustomed to 

 draw the long bow, but that he claims to have seen the ani- 

 mal he describes and to have himself witnessed the exhibition 

 of those admirable moral qualities ascribed to the cuba. 



There are said to be grains of truth in the sources of all the 

 myths that inwrap human beliefs and current social systems. 

 And I hope there are savants among your readers who, from 

 the facilities of age and accurate observation, or of extended 

 reading, may be able to identify, by the above description, the 

 very curious New England animal whose example is held up 

 for imitation by the "rational part of creation." 



Milwaukee, Aug., 1, 1878. Geo. W. Chapman, 



MULE DEER. 



EruToii Forest and Stream: 



I notice in your issue of the 29th of August that a hunter 

 expresses an "indignant protest" in the Rocky Mountain 

 AVm-s against the liberty Eastern naturalists have taken in re- 



At the Aquarium. — It is kind of comforting to look at an 

 alligator nursery, a whole batch of the darliugist little 'gators 

 youcanclapyoureyeson, "pretty enough,' as a strong-minded 

 lady Who looked at them said, " 10 kiss.'' Dr. Corner is their 

 foster mother. The Doctor improvised a bed for the eggs, 

 brought up the temperature with horse manure, watered 

 them., and in eleven weeks the little things chipped the shell. 

 Of thirty-six eggs thirty-five alligators were horn. One egg 

 was cut open to see how the incubating perJtor) 

 getting along. Now the secret Dr. Dottier may claim as his 

 own is the use of the watering pot to sprinkle the bed with 

 and keep the eggs moist. One of the little things when 

 handled showed exceeding obstinacy. He would not open 

 his mouth to show his trctl 1. V, i irj e do SO he gave 



faint squeals which could be distinctly heard. Little alliga- 

 tors are very much in request for aquaria, and as now' the 

 • whole rationale of raising them has been found out, the 

 aquarium can enter the market With spring alligators on de- 

 mand. A saunter through the aquarium discloses many new 

 features. The electric eels look iu line condition. There 

 fine specimens are quite as largo as the tank, and seem sc 

 comfortable and contented that there cm be no doubt but that 

 they are storing up all the time whole loads of el 

 For eels they are quite handsome, the bottom of the head and 

 neck being of rich salmon color inclining to crimson. When 

 the eels are to be let into one of thepmd* in the. aquarium 

 with a Bleecker street car horse has not yet been arranged as 

 to time. Dr. Kohn is busy educating his two pets, Saets and 

 Bohita, the hippopotomi. These two brutes, solid 400 pounds 

 of India-rubber, are in splendid condition. The tine ordei 

 they are in arises from the egg-nog (less the liquor in it) 

 which they absorb every morning, their breakfast being 10 

 quarts of milk with 10 eggs in it for each of them. At the 

 word of command the hippo's smile. It. is a smile covering 

 about an area of four square feet, when the growing tushes 

 and any amount of tongue and jaw can Be seen. The Doctor 

 says they are fast becoming gentle, though they will snap likea 

 bulldog at times. It is doubtful whether they are very sensi- 

 ble animals. All their heads seem devoted to seeing, hearing, 

 eating and keeping out the water, therefore the brain recepta- 

 cle must be small. The peculiar valves in the nostrils arc 

 curiously constructed. As soon as apples are ripe the young 

 hippos will be fed with some as a desert after their mash of 

 bread and bran. Should a baby hippo get a colic what a sad 

 thing it would be, and what gallons of paregoric would have 

 to be poured down ! The two chimpanzees seem to be all 

 right, but, poor creatures, the winter is coming, and it is 

 doubtful whether they will live. The most melancholy thing 

 we know of is to see a languid chimpanzee munching a cold 

 boiled potato. One especially, the red-haired monkey, is said 

 to be u striking likeuessof Kearney, though itis the seal which 

 "pools its issues." The grand coming feature pi the aqua- 

 rium is the advent of Professor Herrman, the great prededigis- 

 tateur, who will do all kiDds of impossible things. This 

 wizaid will commence to astonish people ou the 18th of this 

 month. 



YorNG of the Snxo Rat. — Sarasota Buy, Fla., Avr;. 19, 

 1878.— Editor Forest and Stream : 1 notice iu recent numbers 

 several items relating to the development of the young of the 

 sting-ray, Trygon centrums, or, in the vernacular, sting-a-ree. 

 1 am happy to be able to give a little information as to the 

 time of the year when the young are found alive in them, as 

 one of your'correspondents si ad only found them 



in the spring, although the fishermen Btated they were also 

 found in the fall. I was at U-dar Keys the 81s1 of last month, 

 and while my sloop was lying at the wharf a number of men 

 and boys came down to enjoy the fishing ou the incoming 

 tide. Among the catch was a sting-ray. some eighteen or 

 twenty inches across, which soou after being landed on the 

 wharf gave birth to three live young, about one-third as broad 

 as the old one. As soon as this fact wai reported to me I 

 hastened up the wharf intending to secure the family for the 

 Smithsonian or TJ. S. Museum, but. was unfortunately too 

 late, as the young man and brother who caught them, in re- 

 venge for a slight sung from the old one, had uiutilated every 

 one so thoroughly that J doubted of 1 hey could he made of any 

 use for scientific purposes, lie said I lie young were all very- 

 lively and flopped about as much as the old one, and as far as 

 I could observe they were as completely developed. Upon, 



