326 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



to I I'll puici is am] utility for sporting purposes, My breed 

 urn from twenty-one to twenty-two indies liipB nt the Shoulder, an- .-lose 

 curled nil over the body, color, very dark liver; tail thick at the root, rind 

 ^tiug at the point, free rrom feather underneath; lbe legs are 

 well fenttlerad all round; they are strongly built, looking as square as a 

 cart horse when adnlta; the head is larger that, in most oilier spaniel?, 

 with a rich, dark brown eye; race from the eye to the nose perfectly 

 smooth; the lie el is cn.wned with a large top knot, which Is one of their 



i ■!■' eharoctmSstica: data from twenty-four to twenty-sis inches 



long from polnl to point, hut in a very good specimen they will measure 

 thirty inches, or even more. They are high-mettled, courageous dogs, 

 that will jump from any height into the water, and race it 111 the coldest 

 IB often ou any reasonable man would let them. 1 consider that 

 potcsraan only keeps one ( 1ol>, and where his bag may be made 

 ■ ■■' - : '1 ''■'■•■ i 'si 'ids Of game, an Irish water spaniel is the. most snit- 

 ! ;. will hunt well, keeping within ea-y disi.ii.ee, they will drop 



to wing 01 Soot, and retrieve vour game as tenderly as any oilier breed. 

 Fur wild fowl or pant singling :hey are invaluable, and can stand the se- 

 vere colt without injury, seldom contracting rhonmatism, on account of 

 the protection afforded by their oily coat. They will live in water, and 

 dive like d icks, either after wild fowl, or anything thrown in for them. 

 As a companion for man, they are not. to be beaten, 1 could relate 

 nnrnerons stories of their sagacity and tricks, but must not take np too 

 much of your valuable space. Sufllce it lo any, that Ihev arc good guards, 

 ii icd to act a« valet, errand boy (if you will allow the term) and 

 anything that any other dog can lie taught, .fust one fact and f have 



1 i yuirs agu T was walking out with a frieud and an old dog 



n micd Boatswain., TO let my Mend see some of the old dog's tricks, 1, 

 ! ■ 1 1 ■ ■ 1 1 - i ithers, nut my pocket knife down on the grass by the roadside, 

 and after walking on over a mile we sent him back for it; a man who 



" i ' ttfetl - 11 1 on the road sawmm go bat*, and guessed that he 



I' -' ' iliii'g wo had left, as be returned with the kni re. The 

 man wa.viaid him, throwing the dog some of his dinner which he had 

 witli htm. Boatswain put the knife down to cat the meat, which the man 

 i'i ■ '. | picked up and pocketed, bdt when the dog had eaten the 

 food he looked round for the knife; not finding it, with something 

 more than instinct he understood how matters were, and going to the 

 man he reared himself up agalust him, growling very meaningly, until 

 the man got so frightened that he throw the knife on the ground, glad to 

 get Mr. Boatswain to retiru quick, which lie did, bringing the 

 kutfe safely to my hand. J. a. Skjdnouk. 



BEAGLES. 



LaGbanoe, Mo., December -21, 1874. 

 EniToit ironissT and BTitEAM:— 



I see lu your paper a good many inquiries fcr beagles. The best way 

 to obtain one would be to get in communication with the master of a 

 pack in England, and draft rrorn his pack. Kent is ihe best country in 

 -KiiL-laud rur iheni, and I have known or a pack there all under eleven 

 Inches in height ami perfect at their work. A beagle may be quite a 

 pOod siseS dog, or very diminutive; the smaller, if healthy and well 

 1 i lie most valuable. Anyone writing for beagles fortius 

 country should distinctively say, rabbit beagles, in contradistinction to 

 the beagle used for hunting the hare, which in England is crossed with 

 the harrier. E. W. II. 



■»■» 



For Forest and Stream. 

 ON THE DEATH OF "DASH," THE CHAM. 

 PION OF AMERICA. 



THE famous old hero has gone to his rest, 

 Wc will welcome him here never more; 

 He has hunted his last, and he quietly sleeps, 

 While the hearts that have loved him are sore. 



No more will he answer his master's caress, 



No more will he waken his pride; 

 With a break in his voice, and tears in his eyes, 



lie will tell how the old dog has died. 



Ilow lonely he'll be wi Ihont his old friend, 



llow deeply for Basil will he mourn; 

 And saddened will many a sportsman's heart be, 



When they hear that our champion has gone. 



liis fame will lire alter him many a year, 



(Old hero, so faithful and brave); 

 And his memory will ever be green in our hearts, 



As the grass that grows over his grave. 



Farewell 1 dear old friend I The last, sad good by 



lias been said, and you're now of the past: 

 Your mission fnltilled, you have laid yourself down, 

 And solved life's enigma at last. 13. L. It. 



December it, 1674. 



fe# mid $§iver Jfis/w$. 



FISH IN SEASON IN JANUARY. 



Pompano. 



Snapper. 

 Grouper. 



ltockiisli. 



SOUTHERN WATER 



Trout (black bass). 

 Drum (two species). 

 Kiugtlsh. 

 Striped Bass. 



She.epshead. 

 Tailorflsh. 

 Sea Bass. 



Plan Fon Makket. — Codfish is still abundant at 8 cents 

 per pound, as the Long Island fishermen are yet doing a 

 good business. Halibut is down to 20 cents per pound. 

 Blue fish from Norfolk, Virginia, is coming in profusely, 

 and sells at 10 cents ; striped bass from the Hudson River 

 and New bury port, Massachusetts, brings from 18 to 25 

 cents per pound, according to size. Smelts are so common 

 as to overstock the market ; they come from Maine, retail 

 price 15 cents per pound. White perch is abundant at 15 

 cents; king fish, from Key West, at 18 cents; Spanish 

 mackerel, from Florida, at 50 cents; Shad, from Savannah, 

 which is profuse enough to supply the demand, bring $1 

 each, though few will exceed two pounds and a half in 

 weight, lied snappers, from Savannah, sell at 20 cents per 

 pound ; and hardshell crabs at $2 per 100, while the soft 

 shell variety bring $1 per dozen. 



—Probably the greatest catch of eels on record is tl at 

 made by Reeves & Aldrich's seine in Shinnecock Bay a 

 few days ago. The bay had been closed for some lime, and 

 when the serf broke over the beach, the eels started for the 

 salt water, when the seine was cast, and 2,500 dozen -were 

 taken at one haul, 150 dozen of which weighed at least 

 three pounds each. During the night over 4,000 dozen 

 were taken. 



— Large numbers of eels arc being caught in nets about 

 the shores of Statim Island. They are readily sold in the 

 NgW York marvel al from 10 to J§ ccnls pur pound. 



Now, concerning eels, we have a story of our own to relate : 

 # Bkainekd. Minn., January 15. 



An exchange suys t "A Minnesota flouring mill was 

 slopped the other day by a gorge of fish, and four tons of 

 them were removed ; the boys never have to spit on their 

 bait in Minnesota." 



This extract brings to mind a somewhat similar instance 

 that occurred years ago on the stream where we were 

 raised, the Norton Greek, in Lower Canada, only in this 

 case the fish were eels on their annual fall migration to Ihe 

 salt water. The mill was old fashioned, bncket-rlgged, 

 undershot power, and at the time, ten o'clock al night, was 

 running with a full head on. Boy fashion, we were leaning 

 over Ihe hopper, asking questions of the good-natured Mr. 

 McGilton, now of Burr Oak, Wis., when the rapid motion 

 of the buzzing slones begun lo lessen sensibly, Pushing 

 down the gate and letting the full power on, started therii 

 up again fo,- a few moments, but thev began to go slower 

 and slower, till finally they stopped stock still. Mc. was at 

 his wits end. Tie oiled the shafts, he raised and lowered 

 the gate, but no use ; the stones would not revolve, and 

 with a lantern we descended into the wheel room, and then 

 by a ladder into still lower depths, a horrible place, that 

 always reminded us of those fearful "bone orchards," the 

 catacombs of Rome, a foul-smelling, slimy, damp, musty 

 place, sixty feet long by twenty to thirty 'wide, and three 

 feet deep below the wheels with dead and withering eels, 

 crushed by lite cogs of the wheels us Ihev passed through 1 

 The wheels were gorged full, every bucket hud all it could 

 bold; above the wheels, the waler was alive with the 

 crawling creatures uninjured, and the "race" above the 

 mill, a stream six to eight reel broad, was full of eels, till it 

 struck the broad river, twenty rods above. The Water was 

 runuiug over Ihe dam, arid how many got safely down 

 stream cannot be computed. The rush was over by day- 

 light, and the miller and his men assisted (!) by all the boys 

 in town, went to hoisting the game from the lower detiths 

 into daylight. They filled a large store-room four feet deep 

 with eels, about half of them bruised, but in very good 

 order. Word was sent to the different villagers near by, 

 and about noon the hnbitiuis in their little two-wheeled 

 carta began to arrive. The word was given, "help your- 

 selves," and such a jabbering of French, such a slashing 

 among the eels, such a smeli of "fish ile" and onions has 

 not been heard or smelt before or since around that isolated 

 iittle town. 



This is a "fish story," but it is as true as that the old mill 

 stands on its solid rock foundation yet; as true as that the 

 Ncrlon creek (the stream on which' we first wet a line) still 

 rolls its amber-colored current to the St. Lawrence, and 

 many middle-aged Montrealers — boys then— will remember 

 the facts and the incidents of the "eel freshet." 



Haviland. 



— The Islip oystermen report that oysters are rather 

 scarce this season, but unusually fine. 



— During the last whaling voyage of Ihe barque Nile of 

 New London, a whale was captured, in the head of which 

 was found Ihe head of a Scotch gun harpoon, marked 

 "True Love, 1801." The ship True Love has not cruised 

 for eight years, and the whale must have carried the iron 

 for that period, if not longer. 



—The Atlantic Works of Bast Boston have contracted 

 with Messrs. Joseph Church & Co., of Fall River, to build 

 for them a steam vessel for engagiug in the porgy business. 



— Four Gloucester fishing vessels have been lost this sea- 

 son in the Grand Bank fishery— three of them with all of 

 their crews. A fifth is now given up as lost with her crew 

 of thirteen men. 



—Our esteemed correspondent, E. J. Hooper, Esq., of 

 San Francisco, has written a very interesting article on 

 some of the principal fishes of California, in one of the 

 California journals. These contributions are of much value 

 (o science, so we hope to hear further from Mr. Hooper. 

 y{ — Every river and stream in Florida abounds in fish of 

 numerous varieties. Shad catching commences in Decem- 

 ber and lasts until May, when they go North. Numbers 

 are sent lo Savannah and the interior of Georgia and to 

 Charleston. Shad were so plentiful last Winter in Jackson- 

 sonville that they sold two for twenty-five cents. Our 

 mullets begin lo appear in July. In August and Septem- 

 ber they are in their prime, some of them weighing as high 

 as four pounds. They are so plentiful that we have known 

 six of them to sell for twenty-five cents, and in St. Augus- 

 tine they are still cheaper. A great trade could be done in 

 these fish; they are so fat that the oil alone would pay for 

 extracting, or ihey could be salted and packed in barrels to 

 be exported, as mackerel are treated. The roes dried in the 

 sun are a great delicacy, and if known in the Northern 

 markets would command a high price. Over 2,000 mullet 

 have been caught at one haul of a small seine. Our mullet 

 here much resemble the West Indian calapever, so highly 

 prized there, and we think is the same fish, lu the West 

 hidies the fish as caught are cleaned and seasoned with 

 black pepper, stuffed with bread crumbs, wrapped in a 

 banana leaf and baked; it is then a delicious dish til for the 

 gods. The river is crowded with shrimps seven months 

 during the Summer. They are usually retailed at ten cents 

 per quart, but only a limited quantity can be sold at that 

 price. They are large and fine, and a profitable business 

 could be carried on in polting and canning them during the 

 season. Of sheepsbead, bass, croakers, brim and perch, 

 we have an inexhaustible supply. Young hickory shad 

 and bony fish throng the St. John's River in such quantities 

 that a person cau catch barrels with a common cast net. — 

 Florida Agriculturist. 



- -»•♦» 



STRIPED BASS FISHING AT NI ANTIC. 



Nrw York, December 21, 1S74. 

 -Editor Forest and Stream:— 



It was my good fortune last Nov. to spend a week at Niantic, fishing 

 in the river of the some nimie for striped bass, one of the most beautiful 

 and gamest fish taken on our coast, and the fishing at this point is the 

 more attractive , as it Is done from a bridge not twenty yards from the 

 hotel on the flood tide, audf torn below the railroad bridge at the ebb, 

 and trawling at night over about Ave hundred yards of as sparkling and 

 r water as cub be found In Lake C'hamplain, The current Is very 

 rapid, aud from the bridge the line sweeps the whole width of the river 

 at this point of ihe channel. A small fish called niuminy-cliugs are used 

 for bait, hooking them through the mouth, thus permitting them to use 

 their gills, and in this way they live for hours. Some of the craft here 

 use small eels faliait. The bass rail from I wo to seven |10 



was there, as the school fish were running up the river, but, one gentle- 

 man trawling at night, struck a bass which carried his rod under the boat, 

 and not long before a fish weighing thirty-five pounds was laken by the 

 landlord , aud he receni ly wrote me 1 hat he had struck a bass which car- 

 ried awny his tackle, after trying to drown the fish for half an hour. The 

 hotel is exceedingly comfortable, and the rooms and beds excellent, und 

 the fisliinc ground within call or the diuuer bell. Blood Point, one mile 

 from NJnntic. is a famous resort for fishing for largo striped bass, mid 

 one was taken there while! was at Niantic weighing over fifty pounds. 

 Niantac i< six miles this side of New London, and is reached from East 

 Lyme, Conn., and is one mile from that place. A flsh called hickory 

 shad were in the Niantic .River by thousands, but could not be persuaded 

 to take the hook, although Mr. TJ. B. Reed, the proprietor of the hotel, 

 tried them repeatedly with shad flies; but I have since leamd at. Barne- 

 gat that they will bite at a piece of red woolen, and would afford fine 

 sport, ub they are about two pounds in weight aud very game, although 

 not considered a good flsh for the table. The comfort in fishing from 

 this point (no spray nor wetting) must commend it 10 the angler, prop- 

 erly equipped with rod and reel. 1?. c. F. 



ptchting mid § anting. 



s and friends s/iould be mailed r 

 HIGH WATF.R, FOR THE WEEK. 



Hate. 



Boston. 



New York. 



Charleston. 



Dec. .11 



Jan,] 



Jan. 2 - 



Jan 3 



Jan. 4 



Jan. 5 . .,., 



Jan.H 



o' 58 

 6 41 



r .is 



8 35 



fi us 



10 R 

 JO 59 



"' 38 

 » 2? 



4 18 



5 15 



6 1 



6 54 



7 42 



rt. si. 



i sa 



:1 (1 



3 33 



4 .5 



5 :« 



6 8 

 6 5!) 



—President Ferry of the Yale navy and Capt. Otis of 

 Harvard, are said to be much in favor of the New London 

 course for the next regatta, and the Suru/ofjiiin says that two- 

 thirds of the colleges are of the same mind/ The New 

 London hotels would accommodate 1,000 guests, while Ihe 

 neighboring villages, easily accessible by steam and rail, 

 would quarter the rest. — Sprint/field, 26 publican. 



National Amateur Association. — A meeting of the 

 Executive Committee of the National Association of 

 Amateur Oarsmen will bo held at the Astor House, New 

 York, Saturday, Jan. 2, 1875, for the purpose of appoint- 

 iug a time and" selecting a course for ihe next national re- 

 gatta. Any communications received by me before that 

 date will be duly presented to the Committee. 



J. C. Pinkerton. 

 Secretary Ex. Com. 



Very respectfully, 



309 Chestnut k., PhihuMphi.i 



— Sadler, the English oarsman, has agreed torowBrown, 

 on Bedford Basin, in June or July next. 



— A despatch from Rockland to the Press says that dur- 

 ing the late blow the yachts Beeswax and Medora went 

 ashore at Dix Island. The Medora was sunk and the Bees- 

 wax was a total loss. The Medora was raised. 



THE CLASSIFICATION OF YACHTS OF 

 DIFFERENT RIGS. 



THERE is a very strong feeling among yachting men 

 against mixed races, that is to say,' races in which 

 yachts of different rigs compeio together, yawls and schoon- 

 ers getting either an allowance of time from cutters or a 

 reduction of tonnage; and there can be no doubt that for 

 many reasons it. would be better to have separate matches 

 for the various rigs; although at, the same time we would 

 regret very much if mixed races were entirely abolished. 

 It is quite true that in a schooners' day when there is a 

 great deal of reaching, the two-sticker, eyen without claim- 

 ing any allowance, is quite as much a match for the cutter 

 as ihe latter is for the former where there is much turning 

 to windward, and that therefore the result of a race be- 

 tween these two rigs depends chiefly on the direction of the 

 wind and the shape of the course. The yawl is in some- 

 what the same position as regards meeting aeutter, the only 

 difference being that she is better on a wind than a schooner, 

 but not so good iti reaching. In very strong breeze she is 

 or ought to" be as good as a cutter, on every point of sail- 

 ing, and in fact, as her rig nearly resembles a cutter, so do 

 her sailing points. It has been frequently proposed to class 

 cutlers anil yawls together and race schooners alone, but to 

 this the owners of cutters object on the grounds that they 

 cannot meet them with a reasonable chance of success at 

 the present reduction of one-fourth of their tonnage. 

 That this is true in a strong gale and a heavy sea is un- 

 doubted, but whether under ordinary circumstances it is so 

 or not remains to be proved. A few yawls — three we be- 

 lieve—have succeeded in beating some of our fastest cut- 

 ters, and one in particular, the Florinda, appears to be too 

 much for anything at present afloat, but this does not prove 

 the rig to have an"undue advantage with its present allow- 

 ance, as it may be that the vessel herself is an extraordi- 

 narily good one, ami might be even more formidable rigged 

 as a cutter. Racing yachts of different rigs together" has 

 been the means of improving at least two of these rigs so 

 much that we think it would be unwise in the interests of 

 yachling to utterly abolish the practice. If schooners had 

 not been forced lo meet cutters, it might never have been 

 thought necessary to build vessels so closewinded as Ceto- 

 nia, Sea Belle, etc.; and if they did not occasionally race 

 together we would have no means of knowing how much 

 we had improved our yachts on certain points of sailing. 

 It is perhaps perfectly just and proper for the cutler men. 

 to say they have no chance against a schooner in a beam 

 wind; but if so the owners of schooners might equally ob- 

 ject to meeting cutters in a dead beat to windward, so' that 

 it appears as if the justice (or injustice if the word is pre- 

 ferred) was equally balanced, but yet the complaints arc 

 generally on the cutters' side. It is perhaps with some 

 such view as this comparing of the various ritrs that so 

 many yaeht clubs now give prizes in mixed races for each 

 rig, and a better plan for doing so, and at the sa.ne time 

 giving satisfaction to all could not be devised; but when 

 two x>r three prizes are given of different values, ihe ft.-st 

 vessel of any rig saving her time should take the largest 

 prize, the next yachts of different rigs saving their times 

 taking the other two, and not, as is sometimes i he case, 



