NEW YORK, THURSDAY, DEC. 3, 1874. 



FIRST SALMON OF THE SEASON. 



ATHBHh' I 



1ACO.0K OAimisn 1 



THE rain cloud 1ms parsed mtd the sun rises high, 

 Tho mist from the river flours Up to the sky; 

 Tin, Bhuds oi in.- maplij 9ttll rests on the stream, 

 Willi (tssiiottingsor gold from each quivering beam. 

 The lluoii his'sullsirlua— UlBWHtorls clear— 

 Hurrah tor D salmon! tin- prime or the year. 



Our tackle Is ready, unil first in our way 

 Thfeglittoting tiuceil Itoverp o'ei Hie "Gtanrl Hels;" 

 It lijjiita in the eddy-by Jupiter Anitmm I 

 Already darts at it a silverv -almon. 

 1 have missed him, and bach with a dash and a gleam 

 The fish seeks indignant the depth or the stream. 



Once more he hits risen and amply displayed 

 His beautiful form on lite billows he made; 

 1 have hint! he's fast! hark the musical steel 

 Sings sweetly as rashes the silk horn the reel. 

 ltd makes for the rapids— a hm-Ieimiu spring 

 Another! again! he's a tlsh for n king! 



Ue has gained the mid-torrent, fast spins out the line; 

 We mBat run down the hank or the beauty resign, 

 The margin is rock, and such racing 1 ween 

 'Twist a man and a tish has but seldom been seen. 

 Now a plunge- now a leap— and in air when he spins 

 He dashes the foam in white showers from his fins. 



They are d 



ingcroos crags, but my path i 



well known, 



And the he 



sen, like wax, catch (lie slippe 



■y stone; 



Whilst the 



reel's Bounding treble enliven 



4 the chase, 



And lite ro 



rr ot the river booms deep as 



a baas, 



Down. d0V 



n tliu swift current now dashe 



s the fish, 



As gallant i 



salmon as angler could wish. 





We have gained 1. lli'/iitul and the rapid is past, 

 There's leisure to breathe and to wind lip at last; 

 No« hie Hue. good Burnett, no m " r(; cn " hc n y~ 

 <>atf ~t.nK' an 1 sorBly, our triumph is nigb; 

 'Tisihmc, bravely dune, the struggle is o'er, 

 And a bright twenty pounder gasps high on the shore. 

 EniTort For.t-.sr as-i> Stream;— 



The ohove was written about forty years ago by a surgeon in one of the 

 British regiments. If worth publishing in Forest and Stueam, yon are 

 heartily welcome to it. Tours very truly, U. M. FAincBU.D, Jr. 



For Forest and Stream. 



jfewfa h[ ffjrtijformn. 



'HUNTING THE CALIFORNIA LION. 

 NDMBJSR SIX. 



LION hunting is not a favorite pursuit of Califovnians, 

 tiny move tlian lltat tlte wise are fond of hunting the 

 grizzly bear. The animal in question is, next to the said 

 grizzly, and, possibly, excepting his cousin the jaguar, or 

 "tincr," tis the Mexicans call him, the most formidable an- 

 tagonist otic can meet in the mountains and forests of 

 America, I believe there is some difference of opinion 

 as to whether lie is a true panther, or puma (Spanish), or 

 not. I am not enough of a naturalist to decide, but a 

 slight semblance of ' "mane," together with his Spanish 

 appellation of "Leon," and his habitat, have given him 

 the name of California lion. He is certainly a most formi- 

 dable beast, and the very perfection of strength and agil- 

 ity. He never attacks rnau unless wounded or hard pressed 

 by hunger. His weight, when full grown, is about one 

 hundred and fifty pounds. The iemalo is somewhat 

 smaller, and, I believe, has no mane. They are not plen- 

 tiful, though I have beard that quite a number— as many 

 as eight or nine— have been seen together. Usually they 

 j i re initial in pairs, and their home, is always amidst the 

 fasirtesseg of OlB roeUs or the impenetrable thickets ot the 

 swamp. From this point they raid on the surrounding 

 country. The devastation a pair of California lions will 

 eommi'tupon the calves and pigs (they are very fond of 

 purl. I of the ranches within reach of their den is beyond 

 count. They are never bunted save wheu their depreda- 

 tions are so great as to make it a matter of necessity, and 

 then the ranchmen turn out in force to rid the neighbor- 

 hood of their pestilent foe. I said they are not "hunted." 

 Nobody has i° st ni, y Uous; noMy lul3 Wtafldl any, and is 



looking for his property. But occasionally the wandering- 

 hunter meets one, and if he comes upon him suddenly it 

 is a question of life or death. Except when cornered, 

 wounded, or famished, they ilee the face of man; but 

 when a tight is once inaugurated one meets a foe worthy 

 of his steel. 



Among the Indians of the mountains or plains, to kill a 

 lion in single combat is a feat that places the successful 

 hunter at the head of the list of braves. He ranks with 

 the conqueror of the grizzly bear, and it is hard lo tell 

 who is the most honored, the warrior who sports a neck- 

 lace of the claws of the grizzly, or the one who carelessly 

 and ostentatiously draws around his shoulders a robe of 

 the skin of the California lion. Neither dare wear such a 

 trophy unless he has killed the beast unassisted, and much 

 as our brother "Lo" loves the hair of his white friends, a 

 necklace of heart' claws or a lion robe ranks far above 

 leggings or horse trappings trimmed Willi human scalps. 



Fortunately, the animal is too scarce to make its pursuit 

 a business. None but those who have "a heart of iron 

 and nerves of steel" dare hunt, the lion in his lair, and then 

 he will want the best of weapons and plenty of them. A 

 good rifle, a good revolver (army size), and a good knife 

 are indispensable, A well armed party, with plenty of 

 dogs, -will track the lion to his den and slay him, but I 

 never heard of a man singly attempting the feat. Usually 

 they are treed by dogs and then shot. 



Among the Mexicans, or, rather, in Mexico, there is a 

 class of men known as "tigreros," or tiger hunters, whose 

 business it is, and which calling they alone follow, to Tid 

 ranches of any tigers (jaguars) which may infest that sec- 

 tion of the country. They are usually Indians, few Mexi- 

 cans possessing the necessary pluck, aud receive from the 

 proprietors of the haciendas and ranches a large "gratili- 

 cacion" for each and every animal of this kind lulled on 

 their estates or in their vicinity. But the race has almost 

 died out. I have hoard in late years of a few, a very few, 

 being left; but it is more of a rumor than anything else, 

 I imagine, for although the locations were mentioned, the 

 name3 were unknown. In the palmy Spanish days of 

 California, when the "missions" counted their horses and 

 horned cattle by the hundreds of thousands, these men 

 may have existed. No doubt the wise padres kept so keen 

 an eye to their possessions as not to neglect this point, and 

 I have been informed that one or two of these bold and 

 brave men were always kept in the pay of the good fathers. 

 But they have long since died out, the sturdy Anglo Sax- 

 ons kill their own lions, and, like the missions to which 

 they belonged, the race of "tigreros" is but a memory. 



The only occasion when I was in at the death of a Cali- 

 fornia lion was whilst returning with the General and 

 escort from a tour of inspection among the outlying posts 

 amid the hills. We camped one evening near the cabin of 

 a ranchman some thirty miles from the bay, and, fatigued 

 by a long day's march over tho hills, after posting our sen- 

 tries and getting our suppers, turned in early. We slept 

 "the sleep of the just," but just before daybreak a tremen 

 dous hullabaloo in the settler's pig pen, the barking of the 

 dogs, and a shot from the sentry, brought us to our feet. 

 The sentry Stated he had seen some large animal leap on 

 the pen, and had fired at it. Pistols in hand, we hastened 

 at once to the place, the ranchman, armed with rifle, pis- 

 tol, and knife coming out of his door and joining us as we 

 passed. Going to the pen whose inhabitants were still 

 nervous, the ranchman missed a pig, and said at once "it's 

 one of them cussed lions." The dogs, which ran around 

 snulting eagerly, kept near us. They well knew the nature 

 of the foe." A short search revealed the trail, for by this 

 time it began to bo light. Taking it up we followed it as 

 rapidly as possible, the dogs leading a very short distance 

 in advance, and soon came to the pig, which was past 

 squeaking, and showed unmistakably the marks of the 

 liou's teeth. He had been so hard pressed as to drop his 

 prey. Knowing he was not far off, we hastened on, and 

 presently the barking of the dogs announced that he was 

 treed. When wo came up, which wc did very cautiously, 



for it was still barely light, we found the animal crouched 

 in the forks of a stout mndrone, some twenty feet from 

 the ground, slowly waving his tail with that peculiar snap 

 of Ihc end (which means so much) each lime it came 

 round, and quietly watching the dogs, which were franti- 

 cally barking at the foot of the tree. Spreading ourselves 

 around the tree so as to command the spot, and all on (he 

 qui vine, the settler, rifle at shoulder, advanced into the 

 open. A subdued, angry growl, and a quicker and more 

 snappy movement of the tail, indicated the disposition of 

 our foe, and his appreciation of the movement. In the 

 gray morning light the face of the ranchman, as he slowly 

 and carefully advanced step by step, was a picture I shall 

 never forget. The set, mouth, the rigidly drawn muscles, 

 and the determined expression of that face told their own 

 story. If was no trifling matter their owner was engaged 

 in. Cautiously advancing, ever on the alert, until he was 

 at the proper point, slowly the muzzle of the rifle was 

 raised until the sights covered the heart of the animal. A 

 moment's pause, a sheet of flame, a fierce howl of agony, 

 and, wildly clinging to the tree in his death struggles, the 

 ferocious beast presently dropped to the ground, and tore 

 up the leaves and earth in his dying throes. The dogs 

 vamoosed, the ranchman sprang back and snatched out 

 his revolver (ours were already drawn), and a half dozen 

 shots were fired at the expiring animal. But it was unnec- 

 essary. The settler's ball had found bis heart and done 

 the work. The frantic struggles were but the agony of his 

 death throes. In a few moments he lay lifeless, and the 

 hounds rushed in, afraid even then to touch their dreaded 

 enemy. We carried him back to the ranche, where he was 

 duly admired and discussed. He measured nearly ten feet 

 from the tip of his nose to the end of his tail. The fargs 

 (canine teeth) measured au inch and a half in length above 

 the gums. I got his skull, perfect, and afterwards pre- 

 pared it to send to the museum of the State Zoological 

 Society at San Francisco (Prof. Whitney's); but during a 

 short absence my steward, who had been reading some 

 thing about the preservation of crania, took the notion of 

 varnishing it (for which hc was duly blessed), and so spoiled 

 it as a specimen. I regretted it the more as the animal 

 was unusually large and thick set— weight, one hundred 

 and fifty pounds, or very nearly so, if I recollect aright. 

 The teeth were perfect— not a sign of decay or wear. The 

 animal was evidently full grown, and in the prime and 

 vigor of life, T tried to get the skin, the property of the 

 ranchman by hunter's law, but he would not part with 

 the trophy, aud it doubtless graces his cabin to this day, 

 the pride of his numerous tow headed children, who emu- 

 late the prowess of their paternal ancestor. 



Lions are but seldom met, and, as in the case mentioned, 

 only by accident. There are, however, numberless tales 

 of such "accidents" on the frontier, and as some of them 

 may pnve not uninteresting, I will give a few samples. 



A yojing officer of the Eighteenth United States Infantry, 

 while stationed at Port lleno, one day saw an Arrupahoe 

 I, rave promenading with a lion robe thrown gracefully 

 about his shoulders. Being blessed with a fair portion of 

 this world's goods, and desiring to send his friends a sam- 

 ple of the fauna of the country in which he then dwelt, 

 he tried to purchase the article. But our friend Lo was 

 obdurate. Nothing could induce the Indian to part with 

 his treasure. He was a brave, and a chief of braves, lot- 

 he had killed the beast single handed, without help from 

 mortal man, and as he slt'uiled about the admiring eyes of 

 all the maidens of his tribe followed his steps, and the old 

 men ot his nation spoke well of him, and gave him a seat 

 in their council, for though not old in years, nor a chief by 

 hirth, was he not the acknowledged leader of the young- 

 men of his tribe, and had he not met and slain, with his 

 Sirjgle hand, the monarch of the. forest, the dreaded lion of 

 the mountains? No, no; money could not buy that tro- 

 phy. The "Lion Killer of the Arrapahocs" could not part 

 with his credentials, and my friend had lo submit, But to 

 his inquiries, for the animal is not an inhabitant of the 

 prairies, he condescended to let him know that "once upon 



