j)8 



F0RES1 AND STREAM. 



being very edible are let alone. Some of the .sturgeon, 

 known here 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 

 Die ocean. The true smell, Arr/rntimi prctwan, arrives in 

 myriads in the spawning season, and are caught with nets 

 iu'immense numbers. 'flte i-hipnidm is well represented by 

 the Puget Sound herring, a very agreeable species, and one 

 which furnishes an unlimited supply of food to the In- 

 dians, who capture it in weirs. Another mode they have 

 is to put two rows of nails into a paddle, then push their 

 canoe in among a school and toss them into the boat— a 

 feat to be acquired only by long practice. The color of 

 ibis fish is blackish above,' and yellowish white beneath, 

 the fins being unicolor. 



The anchovy (Engraulw mordaa) 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 

 flat's at any time during the summer. This is equal to t la- 

 best French sardine, and if canned like it could be worked 

 into a prominent industry. The body is subfusifoini; 

 deep bluish brown above, silverv beneath. 



The most peculiar of the finny tribe is the Vhimntdcol- 

 Wei, or little elephant fish, called* wsooma by the Indians. It 

 has a smooth skin, brownish above, dull white beneath; 

 back and sides with numerous whitish patches of various 

 size. Length, seven to fourteen inches; first dorsal sub- 

 triangular; upper margin crescent; lower parallel with 

 back, to which it is attached by a thin membrane. Flesh 

 useless. 



We have oue whiting (humafopomus), also a coregonm, or 

 white fish, in the streams, which take a fly with alacrity. 

 I have heard of a blood red trout frequenting a lake in 

 eastern Oregon, but I have not seen it. It is said to be su- 

 perior to any in the waters of the West, to weigh from 

 one to two pounds, and to bite readily at a salmon fly. 

 Those who have caught it say they would not use any other 

 fish after once tasting its rich, hard flesh. 



This list embraces, so far aa my knowledge extends, the 

 principal species in the northwest, excepting, of course, 

 the xtdriLonidae, and a few of the less known varieties <of 

 the chub, and kindred fish inhabiting the more remote 

 streams. There are, no doubt, several species of trout in 

 the streams that are still unknown, and it will require 

 some time ere they are presented to science. As a field for 

 the angler I believe this region is the best in the world, 

 and the assertion will, 1 think, be verified by all who have 

 cast a line in these waters. Mortimer Kerry. 



Jfor Forest and Stream. 

 THE COMANCHE INDIANS. 



MDMBER THREE. 



A FEW more words in relation to their customs ; a short 

 account of the cause of the present war, and I will 

 finish the Comanches. 



The dances are frequent, and as among whites any ex- 

 cuse is sufficient for a dance, though some are stated and 

 forma! affairs, most prominent used to be the yearly medi- 

 cine, or horse danee; the object of which was to find out 

 who were worthy of being classed as warriors. This dance 

 was held each spring, when the notion wood trees were in 

 bloom; it was a very severe ordeal, the dance lasting three 

 days and nights, during which time the aspirants were 

 kept dancing and moving about without cessation and 

 without food or water, in addition to this they were sub- 

 jected to painful tortures, cutting and burning the flesh, 

 even thorns and briars were thrust into the body. Those 

 who passed through this rather tough examination were 

 pronounced warriors, a rifle fully compensating the suc- 

 cessful for all their sufferings, "it was imperative upon 

 those 'who passed this ordeal to stand and tight without re- 

 gard to death; this duty was so religiously observed that 

 their best warriors were constantly being killed, so the 

 older aud wiser heads decided on grounds of political 

 economy, and discretion, to abolish this dunce. And a 

 Comanche may now run without disgrace, and thus live to 

 fight or steal a horse, another day. 



The righl of a husband to, divorce himself from his wife 

 is recognised, for adultery, laziness, or general worlhless- 

 , Hi is seldom -resorted to; inmost instances the in- 

 riicii'on of a little corporeal punishment in the way of a 

 whipping suffices to correct all domestic, difficulties. It is 

 seldom, however, that a squaw is lazy; they are taught to 

 work from childhood, and do much hard work through lite 

 without complaint. A squaw cannot divorce herself, though 

 sometimes she takes a bolder step aud elopes wilh some 

 brave, this then brings the matter to a settlement in 

 ponies. 



Time is measured by the moons, seasons, and snows. 

 The year is designated" by 1b e 'word "tome," meaning a 

 winter; the seasons are, ''Lome,' "lomarra," "lintcli," 

 and "yerban," corresponding with our seasons, using win- 

 ter as the first. In divisions of time less than a year the 

 moons ate used, each moon having a different name. 



In speaking of days, it is not days, bnt nightx that are 

 meant, thus a "three nighl's'journey," or "in three nights 

 mi,m, : may nieau five full days, but it always means that 

 three nights must elapse. 



Distance is divided into long and short distances, by rep- 

 resenting long distances as "so many day's journeys." 

 An ordinary journey would mean fifteen or twenty miles, 

 vet. a journey of a war parly may mean fifty miles, or even 

 more. Short distances are' measured as "so many arrow 

 i , , an arrow flight being estimated at about, two bun 

 ,',rd.s. 



Counting for small numbers is done upon the fingers, 



heir language provides a means of counting as 



|ij i; two or three thousand, above that it is " a h'-up." 



renames lot some of the stars, and use the 



north biai as a t'uide. 



I once gave u Comanche a compass; meeting him soon 

 after on the prairie, i asked him where his compass was, 

 and why he did not cairy it; he answered, he "supposed that 

 was for the while man, who did'nt know the way." 



I .'one-is are looked upon as harbingers of war. The 

 great comet of 1860, was a certain sign of great war; the 

 rebellion soon followed, and fully continued in the Coin- 

 auebe mind the certainty of war, succeeding a comet. 



Apropos of the late comet's appearance, I will pell you 

 the story of the present war, and also define the meaning of 

 medicine man. 



Some lime early this spring a famous medicine man 

 arose like a second* Moses among the Oomanches. He be- 

 longed to the Quohoda Comanches, the most warlike aud 



hostile of all the tribes. His prophecies were startling; he 

 predicted "the speedy destruction of the entire Comanche 

 people, unless tbev arose and destroyed as many whiles BE 

 thev had lost warriors in the past year; that the (-ileal 

 Spirit was angrv at them for the apathy and want of spirit 

 displayed, and that certain destruction awaited them, un- 

 less they listened to his counsels, as he had seen the Great 

 Spirit in a dream and was directed to tell the people of his 

 anger." It must be staled here that the Comanches lost 

 nearly thirty warriors last winter, who were raiding in 

 Texas. The address and its effect upon the Quohodas 

 soon spread from camp to camp; in May the bands all col- 

 lected and after a full .discussion decided to go on the war 

 path. 



The medicine man promised perfect security and im- 

 munity front danger to all engaged; that "he would slop 

 the bullets in the muzzles of white men's guns, and they 

 would fall harmless to the ground." 



Wilh this feel in n fresh in their minds thev started, nearly 

 five hundred warriors, to attack a party of Buffalo hunters, 

 thirty-odd in number, who were hunting in the pan handle 

 of Texas, at a place known as the Adobe Walls; of their 

 failure and loss in this attack you have already seen ac- 

 counts. 



This sore defeat greatly incensed many of the Indians 

 against the medicine man", wdio, however, was equal to the 

 occasion, and soon rectified mailers by reminding them 

 that when they started he had particularly caulioned them 

 "nol to kill any skunks, but to go around them, that he 

 "knew they had disobeyed him in this matter, aud that 

 the failure was entirely due to their own folly and disobe- 

 dience." This slraigteued matters again, for believing as 

 they do in the mighty power aud wisdom of the "medicine 

 man," he still maintains his dignity and position. Soon 

 after this the comet made its appearance, and as it confirmed 

 his prophecy of war the medicine man pointed to it with 

 just pride as "the omen he knew was to follow his predic- 

 tions." 



A Comanche who was at the Adobe Walls light, has as- 

 sured me that "at. first the white man's bullets dropped 

 right on the ground, but that soon after the white men 

 somehow broke the medicine, and after that the Indians 

 suffered badly." 



Such are the Comanche Indians. These aud many other 

 superstitions are more, firmly rooted in their minds than 

 is faith in the mind of a christian. There is not a shadow 

 of excuse on their part for this war; they do not even make 

 a complaint. In conversation with Essahabet aud Horse- 

 back, also other friendly chiefs, they said that "the Com- 

 anches did not pretend to have any cause of complaint 

 against the whites; that they were only following the medi- 

 cine man's advice." Up to the time they started to hear 

 this prophet, they drew their rations regularly at this 

 agency, and were apparently friendly. 



The fact that the Petiateihka band have been friendly 

 for nearly fifteen years, is proof positive that the others 

 maybe made so, but not by systematic deception and 

 cant. 



There are none more thoroughly disgusted with the pres- 

 ent venal policy of this superiulendency than the friendly 

 Pcnatethkas, aiid the Coddas, who openly declare that, the 

 only means of bringing the wild ones to a sense of good be- 

 havior, is to give thqm a thrashing that they will remember. 

 In the interest of humanity, aud in recollection of nearly 

 oue hundred murders committed by them during my know 

 ledge of them, I hope this thrashing may soon be given the 

 wild Comanche. 



1 must close now with the remark, that a few more mat- 

 ters of interst may occur to my mind which I will give 

 in a short letter next week. R- 



-*»-r- 



CHICKEN SHOOTING IN IOWA, 



LETTER FROM TOM. 



[Four weeks ago we printed a characteristic sketch from a new cor- 

 respondent who will for the present be known simply as "Tom." Thai 

 sketch was worthy of a more prominent place than was given it in our 

 columus, and we therefore compromise with our conscience, by raising 

 the one before us lo the dignity of a master communicaiion. It will lie ee- 

 pccially interesting to old chicken shooters, while to experts it gives 

 much information. — En. F. & S.J 



Belle Plain, Iowa, Sept. 1, 1874. 

 Editor Forest and Stkkam:— 



Jn addition to Hanson and myself our party consisted of 

 a young fellow clerking in a drug store who had never shot 

 a chicken or any other bird on the wing, 1 believe be said, 

 and a hardware" man who had been anxious for some time 

 to drive the team for us in some of our short runs; and at 

 just four o'clock we left the barn. On all our trips we 

 have taken a northerly course, and this time determined on 

 an opposite direction. We found the road across the bot- 

 toms in a terrible condition from the rain and the passage 

 of a circus outfit on Thursday, aud our progress was ne- 

 cessarily slow. Reaching a point about four miles due 

 south, Hauson said that for the past five years he had never 

 tailed in finding a covev of birds in this slough, but I said 

 our time was so short we would hardly have time to hunt 

 il. His confidence was so great I consented, he and the 

 drug clerk taking one side of the slough, and I with 

 "Count" going along the edge of the coru. Reaching the 

 end of the route assigned me, I sat down to Watch the suc- 

 cess of the others passing up the hollow, as Ihey seemed 

 eontidenl ilie birds must be somewhere. Soon the dog be- 

 gan trailing for them, ami following him a hundred yards 

 i saw a single bird start— then saw a puff of smoke, saw 

 the bird drop, uud in a few seconds heard the crack of the 

 gun Then five more arose— i wo more puffs— two birds 

 talling-and then the reports of the guns. It looked very 

 pretty from mv elev.-ued position to see this little play, and 

 I naturally regretted nut being an actor. The three birds 

 going off look refuge in the corn, and we all returned to 

 the wagon; I wilh a clean gun and they wilh three birds, 

 two of 'which dropped for Hanson; the druggist killing his 



We drove due south two miles further, and there found 

 We should have taken a road west just a half mile back, as 

 We were brought to an open prairie beyond our ground and 

 the -mi wa- fast sinking. "faking a 'northwest direction 

 i, iai ii il ibe point where we proposed Irving our luck, 

 and dividiu" as before, directed the driver to go a half mile 

 west and we would there meet him. Hanson aud the drug- 

 gist took the south side of the road, and yon will now fol- 

 low "Count" and me over the fence on the north side mlo 

 a little stubble field bounded on the north aud west by corn, 

 and well grown with weeds from the recent rains, contain- 

 ing about twenty acres, aud about twice as long north and 



south as wide. The wind was brisk from the northwest, 

 and when about one-third the length of the field "Count" 

 came to a point where he stood until I reached him, when, as 

 bis manner is in following a trail where he is sure of birds, 

 lie b; ■---.■ n crawling- and almost dragging his body. In this 

 manner I walked just behind him about 100 yards, when a 

 bird sot up about' twenty feet ahead of me, and upon its 

 reaching a proper distance, 1 fired; this startled the balance 

 of the covey; as they hastened to get beyond my reach, 

 two came in range, and it. did me a power of good to see 

 them drop in the stubble. As the smoke blew away I saw 

 two going off in the opposite direction to which I was in- 

 tending to travel, and seeing no prospect of following 

 them, told "Count" to get the dead birds, and he brought 

 me in the three; although the first bird I did not, see fall, 

 so quick did I change to the rest of the covey. Going to 

 the left a little, "Count 11 was hunting fast to see if any had 

 remained, when he suddenly stopped in the position you 

 have frequently seen a don take when he was almost, on the 

 game. His nose was toward me and I walked directly to- 

 ward him, haltina about ten feet from him. As I told him 

 to go on, the bird' flew directly over his head, and giving a 

 spring he caught it by the leg's and dropped to the ground 

 with it. In attempting to "hold it with his paws until I 

 should take it, he missed his calculation, and off went the 

 bird, chuckling his miraculous escape 'for a distance of 

 twenty yards, when he quietly dropped in the stubble. 

 Satisfying ourselves that they had all left, we walked 

 through the rest of the stubble, then turned west through 

 a field or corn, and came out in another wheat field. This 

 was a verv long field running north and south about a 

 quarter of a mile aud probably 200 yards wide. We struck 

 it about a third of the way up. and wishing to hunt with 

 the wind in our faces turned north. Being a little warmed 

 up over the last covey "Count" was hunting pretty fast 

 when a single old bird left about twenty feet in frout of 

 him, which he failed to scent. Knowing he had done 

 wrong he dropped until I came to him, but I thought a 

 scolding under the circumstances better than flogging, and 

 with a few cross words 1 told him lo go on and be careful, 

 and right well he obeyed the command. A few yards 

 further" on and he struck a trail, waiting until 1 came up, 

 and after working until I began to think it too old to be 

 useful, he came to a point. This proved a false alarm, and 

 I sent him around a short distance, when he again pointed. 

 As I leisurely walked toward him a bu-d arose on my left 

 and then fell. Changing my shell I again started for the 

 dog, who still stood his point, and with a few steps only 

 started another which shared the same fate. Again chang- 

 ing shell, 1 Ibis time reached the dog, aud at the command 

 "go on," he Walked a few steps, when the bird started. 

 Having used my left hand barrel to kill the two then on the 

 grouud, 1 decided to give the one then in the air the con- 

 tents of the right ; I pulled, and from the peculiar sound 

 knew that the wad had been improperly placed on the shot, 

 and that only powder remained. Instantly covering the 

 bird, I pulled the left, and although a very long shot, it 

 dropped. These being all I had, I ordered "Count' to 

 "seek dead," and he brought me in the three. Pursuing 

 our course north only a few rods, the dog again began 

 working as if on game aud soon pointed. 1 went up and 

 had just reached him when the bird flew and died. Drop- 

 ping my barrels, 1 changed shell, and at the crack of the 

 gun it fell within four feet of the former. Again changing 

 shell, aud without taking a step, another got up and as soon 

 dropped, aud changing the third time, the fourth bird got 

 up aud like the oilier three, dropped in the stubble. With 

 this four Others got up out of range and escaped without 

 my compliments. They completing the covey, I told 

 "Count" to bring the dead birds, and he readily brought 

 me three. For the next five minutes he hunted failhfully 

 for the fourth bird, but in vain, aud noticing that he had 

 started once as if trailing, I concluded the bird was only 

 winged, aud taking him to where I called him from at that 

 time' he again struck in, and following him a few rods, he 

 stood as if close to game, and looking ahead of htm about 

 two feet, there, iu a little hole, I saw the bird hugging the 

 grouud close. Knowing it was the winged bird, I. told him 

 "dead bird," and wilh a spring he placed his paws on it. 

 This made me eleven birds at ten shots, nit bough all young 

 birds. 1 began retracing my steps, and reaching the road 

 without another shot for me or smell for "Count,' I sig- 

 nalled the wagon, which was a quarter of a mile ahead, 

 aud the driver came lo my relief. When the team had 

 come within a few yards of me I heard the report of a gun, 

 and looking in the direction saw a covey of birds coming 

 over a cornfield, and ihen saw the others of our party. 

 The driver and I marked the birds down in lite edge of the 

 corn and slough grass, and tying the team to the fence 

 hailed the others, aud all hands started for the birds just as 

 the sun was goiii" out of sight. Reaching the point we 

 walked four abreast, aud a bird flew fair tor the druggist, 

 and he in his excitement, dropped it in u very short range. 

 Soon another flew for him, which he brought down iu a 

 proper distance. The next was for me and 1 did my duty. 

 Pindino- no more in the slough, I told Hanson to try the 

 corn, which he did, scaring a siugle bird, but failing to 

 drop it; he wauled 1 should try "Count." in the corn while 

 he stood on the edge, as his pup wouldn't mind him with 

 "Count" near. So, changing positions, I took to the coin, 

 aud then made the luckiest shots of the trip. I heard a 

 bird fly and catching a glimpse, tired in the direction, and 

 hearim- another start, got a quick sight of him and tiled, 

 the muzzle of my gun being in a hill of coru. Asking 

 those outside if 1 killed any, they said "yes, both of them," 

 and sine enough, "Count" brought them both in. Holding 

 my gun at the wrist of the stock, 1 could just reach I be 

 top of the corn, so rank is its growth. Failing to start any 

 more, aud being seven, miles from home, we repaired to the 

 wagon and were soon on our way rejoicing. Like myself, 

 Hanson aud the druggist had been enjoying themselves, 

 for iu the counting up, we found our efforts to result in 

 thirty birds and nol a single old one among them, although 

 every bird was more than three-fouribs grown, lire score 

 of each was;— Hanson, 10; the Druggist, (5; and yours 

 truly 14 Hauson got a bird lor each shell, havmg killed 

 two with oue, and missed in the corn ; the druggist killed 

 6 out of 10; and I got my 13 with 13 shells. A two-hours 

 moonlight ride brought us safely liome,und nowLouisehas 

 some of them smoking on the table, and is mud that I cou- 

 liuue to write. Don't you wish you had started when you 

 read my last hunting letter? 



—The Brown aud Morris boat race, which takes place 

 to-morrow on the Keunebeccasis river, near St. John, X. 

 B is creating considerable interest. Brown is slightly the 

 favorite Bolh men exercise on the course every day. 



