FOREST AND STREAM. 



371 



greeJiB, Corn bread and sp&Te ribs, and usually the stranger 

 nndi eery welcome. 



The country is-mty uneven. We found it literally up 

 one hill and down the other. The teamsters used I 

 If you wished to Mop on the top of a hill the hind wheel- 

 must be on one side and the fore Wheels on the Other, else 

 the wagon Would not keep its place. The soil is a sticky 

 red olay, very muddy in wet weather, and very dusty in 

 drv. About 'one sixth of the country is under cultivation; 

 perhaps hardly so much. The rest is covered with a heavy 

 growth of oak, hickory, gum, holly, and "pine. 



The game to he found consists of deer, bear, an occa- 

 sional "cat"—/, e., wildcat, or catamount — raccoon, opos- 

 sums, Wild turkeys, ducks, quail (partridge), geese, stupe, 

 and woodcock in their season, and many others. Deer 

 and tuikeys are particularly abundant, and with hut, Utile 

 Trouble otie can have rare spoil. Squirrels are as thick as 

 hops. 



There are a considerable number of small lakes through- 

 out the country, and these are full of fish. The river also 

 contains many varieties In abundance, including the white, 

 or channel cat, and the "buffalo. " 



One more subject of interest, and Twill (dose. Many 

 going to Alabama will remember that along the rivers and 

 in the swamps the malaria is very deadly^ and visions of 

 Swamp fever, congestive chills, and lever and ague will 

 ri-e la fore their eyes, and they will hesitate and fear, lest 

 the seeds Of immediate attack or future illness be implant- 

 ed in their systems. In the Summer and Autumn, on the 

 i aver banks and in the swamps, the miasma is powerful, a 

 single night's exposure often entailing a troublesome attack 



of typho-malarial feve 

 Hie upland durin 

 icr. there, is nod: 

 North need have 

 pf a wine glass o 

 quinine di ■ Dlvt ..1 



house in the rac 



proof riming his solo 



the fever of thi 



A prophylactic 

 its, with 

 ud takei 



But i 



i Wi 



it fn 



the 

 eegr 



e leaves tin 



shape 

 Of 



hef< 

 render the sportsman fevcr- 

 ., _.' a two grain quinine pill, and 

 & cup Of hof coffee afterwards, wiirauswcr the same pur- 

 pose, perhaps in a much better way. 



In speaking of the various places in Choctaw county, 1 

 mentioned Mount Bterling and Tompkiusville, as well as. 

 Bladon and Butler. I ought not to close this article without 

 Jelling the reader know that he will probably find Mount 

 Sterling the most agreeable place of residence in the coun- 

 ty. It is the one place in the whole South where ardent 



mi, hot sold as a beverage. The wealth, the reliue- 



nieuf, and the aristocracy of the county seem to have cen- 

 tered there. In saying 'this I do not reflect upou other 

 pails of the county. I only mention what is universally 

 conceded to be the case. A stranger going there and call- 

 ing on Mr. Prince, or Mr. Taylor, or Mr. Q lover, or any of 

 half a dozen others, will not be disappointed. 



At Tompkinsville, or at its landing on the river, "Mari- 

 ->la." 1 am sure a. gentlemanly stranger will find an agree- 

 able companion InT'api. James Bryant of that ilk. 



Choctaw county and its vicinage, like all other pila- 

 has its good and "its bad site, ft is ft perfect wilder! 

 outside of the little 

 than fifty buildings, 

 all}, and one is a.s in 

 the Adiroudueks. 

 varv from once to h 

 Invert 



tillages (the county 

 counting stores, dwt 



tch out of the world 



von are i 



So if one wtsnes 

 fintUns plenty 01 gam 



". i ''- ii,u l! ; Knd 



better than : pet 



sport-man, be Will til 

 cities; hut be can al . 

 and good hearty food. II 

 and, if he be a good telle 

 without, having made score 

 taw with regret; and I lei 



.tr pi 

 at pit 



: heart of 

 lack, and 

 Ich (own 

 at, all. 

 aspect of 

 ,ce of sp- 

 nuiot do 

 a true 



so> 



i forgot, the pie; 



er in Choctaw. If i 

 peet the luxuries of the large 

 gel plenty of puie, fresh ait, 

 will meet a warm welcome, 

 >W, will not leave the. country 

 a of friends. I went, to Choc- 

 it with regret; audi shall not, 

 ant friends I met and left then-. 



Monmouth. 



ACROSS NEWFOUNDLAND. 



PEIttOS KXrt.uTi.VNONS -I-L0I1A, FAUNA, AND IDEOLOGI- 

 CAL FORMATION. 



[Continued from January \tth.\ 



CHAPTER IV. 



OCTOBER 7th.— The nights and mornings were now 

 frosty, and the vegetable kingdom hail put on its 

 Autumnal coloring of various tints. The witters as well 

 as the air were becoming more chilly every day. A favor- 

 able change of wind did not now bring the accustomed 

 mildness of temperature. 



We had been occupied since the 11th of September in 

 traveling the savanna country. A hilly ridge in the. west- 

 ward, lying northerly and southerly, had "been in 

 several days, i 



riving 

 including 

 .strata a" 

 angulai 

 same, r 

 dermis, 



highest 

 rock, ai 



iioiih 



it, thi 



,1 about the centre "of the island. 

 ridge proved to be a serpentine deposit, 

 ity of rocks, all lying in nearly vertical 

 j. The conspicuous points were the large 

 blocks of quart,/, rock, lying on outgoings of ilie 

 nged along the summit. This rock was very pon- 

 iwing to much disseminated Iron pyrites. All the 

 --an sol the ridge were formed of' this metalline 

 1 were extremely sterile. The other rocks were 

 Tpentine— varying in color from black green to a 

 yellow 7 , and from translucent, to semi-transparent, in .-I rata 

 nearly a yard wide — stealile, or soap stone, vcrtl,i antique, 

 (/■..,''/;,>,., and various oilier inagnesian rocks. Sterile red 

 earthly patches, entirely destitute of vegetation, were here 

 and I here on and adjacent, to the ridge, and on these lay 



tod. rock 



heaps of loose fragments of asbestos, 

 cork, rock leather, rock horn, rock bone, and stones light 

 in Hie hand, resembling burnt clay, eum mtdth tdiin, the 

 Whole having the appearance id' heaps of rubbish from a 

 pottery, but evidently detached from adjoining strata and 

 veins." I could not divest myself from the feeling that we 

 were in the vicinity ol a quiescent volcano. 



The beaches nf many 01 the lakes of the neighborhood, 

 as already noticed, are formed of disintegrated fragments 

 of those rocks. At one lake in particular, which I in con- 

 sequence denominated Serpentine take, tile beauty and in- 

 teresting- appearance of some of the beaches, composed 

 effltjrely Of rolled fragments of those rocks of every kind 

 and color, the red, yellow, and green prevailing, may he 

 fancied better thau described- A part of the eastern 



shore is font 

 loose flags, ii 

 as we tread 

 metal, 

 about two i 



cd of a html, greenish, gray rock, in lame, 

 ideated straight.' grooves, which, when struck 

 npom them, emitted a sound like pieces of 

 antine Bake is comparatively small, being 

 .. -dies and a half in length and one in breadth. 

 It is known to the Mickmack Indian by the Iudian name 

 for it, or Stone Bipe Bake, from their procuring here rerde 



and other inaghe'siau rocks, out of which they 

 carve or chisel tobacco pipes, much prized by them. 



In the woods on theniarsin of Serpentine Lake we found 

 an old birch rind canoe "of the Mickmack Indians, the 

 same as those used by these people at. the sea coast. It 

 had been brought up from the Bay of Despair at the south 

 coast of the island, by Ihem of the Cod Roy River, which 

 ; i -i: iugh this and" intervening lakes. From the circum- 

 stance of finding this canoe here, wo inferred that the port- 

 ages between Serpentine Lake and Ihe sea coast were not 

 very extensive or difficult. Here, then, is a route of the 

 Indians by which the centre of the island may be ap- 

 proached with the same canoe, and close by are Ihe sources 

 of livers that flow to the north coast. There was an in- 

 habited beaver's house at, the south end of Serpentine Lake, 

 and we shot three of the family that occupied it for food. 

 There were several herds of deer around. The while 

 headed eagle was also an inhabitant of this part. 



This interesting ridge and district, which forms the cen- 

 tre nearly of Newfoundland, I designated Jameson's Moun- 

 tains. Judging from the rise in the laud for about thirty 

 miles to the eastward, they are about 1,200 feet above the 

 level of the sea. Future travelers may easily reach Jame- 

 son'.-, by the route mentioned. 



,,,.,.,:, ,. LOW,— Being now upwards of 110 miles from the 

 most inland part of Trinity Bay, about ninety miies of the 

 distance being across the savannas, we had not yet seen a 

 trace of the Bed Indians, it had been supposed that all 

 the central parts of the island were occupied by these peo- 

 ple, and I had been daily looking out for them. They 

 were, however, more likely to be fallen in with farther to 

 the westward. It was now neaily live weeks since with 

 my Indian I left the sea coast, and was just half way to 

 George's Bay. We had for some time past felt severely the 

 effects of continued excessive exertion, of wet, and of ir- 

 regular supplies of food. My Indian, and only companion, 

 complained much of the never ending toil, and would wil- 

 lingly have gone out to the sea if 1 had yielded to his wish 



d I had appi 



iau at the toilsome task 

 b.y promises of future 

 emulation by allusions 10 

 for enduring fatigue and 

 bite man could bear, and 



But with 



of being overtaken by the White 



St. George's Bay. To keep my 1 



I had sometimes to encourage h 



reward, sometimes to excite 



the fame of the Indian hunt 



hardships beyond what the 



again to picture the shame consequent on his leaving me 



in the country 10 perform alone what we had set out to do 



together-. 



In the west mountain succeeds mountain in irregular 

 suecc :■'•', rugged and bleak. Encumbered with many 

 additional tmiieralogical Specimens, we took our departure 

 from the interesting central mountains. Immediately on 

 the west they are succeeded by^/ieaw, and next to "that 

 comes the hungry granitic territory, still almost as barren 

 to imagination as at the creation. There are occasional 

 marshes, and some of the less exposed spots produce ground 

 berries in great plenty. A species of Ledum, or Indian 

 tea, is met with here, different from that commonly- found 

 at the sea coast. It is a more perfectly formed shrub, with 

 smaller, rounder, and more numerous leave-; lichens grow 

 everywhere, from ike edge of the lake to the mountain 

 ■t.cr now begin to appear in small herds in every 

 direction. 



Oeiblm ll/A..— While surveying 

 west, we descried a faint coiuin 



amongst islands nc; 

 taut. The time V 

 Bed Indians. Bi\ 

 our journey, owiu 

 both sides of the I 

 side this lake cunt 

 been reported not 

 It was to 



the 



hope 



.1 had at 1 



,ck be 



id; but it could i 



lake in the south- 

 tiokc issuing from 

 iiout live miles clis- 

 come to meet, the 

 they had throughout 

 central, that 



-que 



dav 



seen to which 

 Red Indians had 

 uth side of the Island, 

 toitrc; aud my Indian 

 went in pursuit Of a herd of deer in another direction, we 

 having no provisions for L supper. At sunset he did not 

 meet me. at the appointed wood in a valley hard by, nor did 

 he return by midnight, or at all. 1 dared not' exhibit a 

 Are on the hill us a beacon to him, in sight of the strange 

 encampment. His gun might have burst and injured him; 

 be might have fled, or been surprised by the party on the 

 lake. 



OctvJier V2lh. — At daybreak the atmosphere was frosty, 

 and the slender while column of smoke still more distinctly 

 seen. There were human beings there, aud, deserted, I 

 felt an irresistible desire to approach my fellow creatures, 

 whether they should prove friendly or hostile. Having 

 put my gun and pi.-lols in the best order, and no appear- 

 ance of my Indian at noon, 1 left my knapsack and all in- 

 cumbrances, aud ucsceu'ded through, thickets and marshes 

 towards ihe nearest path of the lake, about two miles dis- 

 tant. The white sandy shore, formed of disintegrated 

 granite, was much trodden over by deer and other animals, 

 but i here were no marks of men discernable. The extent 

 of the lake was uncertain ; but it. was apparent that it would 

 require two days at least to walk round either end to the 

 nearest point of the opposite shore to the occupied island. 

 1 therefore kept on my own side to discover who the party 

 were. By firing off my gun, if the party were Bed In- 

 lliaus, they would in ail probability move off quickly on 

 and they having no firearms my fire 

 ercd. If they were other Indians, my 

 nod. I tired. By and by the report of 

 id among the islands from the direction 

 ud apprehensions 



hearing the repo 

 would not be ans\ 

 fire would be retu 

 a strange gun i 



of the smoke, and thus all my doubt: 



were dispelled. The report of this gun was the nrsl noise 

 I had heard caused by man, except by my Indian and my- 

 self, for more thau five weeks, aud it excited very peculiar 

 feelings. 



lu about an hour my lost Indian unexpectedly made his 

 appearance from Ihe direction where we had parted on the 

 i >i. ■• eiiiug evening, brought to the spot by the report of my 

 gun. lie accounted for himself, "that after having shot a 

 slug about two miles from the spot appointed for our en- 

 campment, lie attempted to get around the west cud of 

 the lake to reconnoitre the party on the island, hut found 

 the distance too great, and, getting benighted, had slept in 



the woods." 



Soou afterwards, to my great delight, there appeared 

 among some woody islets in front, which precluded the 

 view of ihe other side of the lake, a .small canou with a 



man seated in the stern, paddling softly towards us with 

 an air of serenity and independence possessed only by the 

 Indian. After a* brotherly salutation with me, aud the two 

 Indians kissing each other, Ihe hunter proved unable to 

 speak English or French. They, however, soon understood 

 one auother; for the stranger, although a Mountaineer 

 from Labrador, could speak "a little of the Mickmack lan- 

 guage, his wife being a Mickmack. The Mountaineer 

 tribe belongs to Labrador, and he told us that he had come 

 to Newfoundland, hearing that it was a better country 

 than his own, and that he was now on his way hunting 

 from St. George's Bay to the Bay of Despair to spend the 

 Winter with the Indians there. He had left St. George's 

 Bay two months before, aud expected to be at the Bay of 

 Despair in two weeks hence. This was his second year in 

 Newfoundland; he was accompanied by his wife only. 

 My Indian told him that I had come to see the rocks, the 

 deer, the beavers, and the Red Indians, and to tell King 

 George what was going on in the middle of that country. 

 He said St. George's Hay was about two weeks' walk from 

 us if we knew the best way, and invited us over with him 

 in his canoe to rest a day at his camp, where he said he had 

 plenty of venison, which was readily agreed to on rny 

 part. 



The island on which the Mountaineer's camp was lay 

 about three miles distant. The varying scenery as we 

 paddled towards it, amongst innumerable islands and 

 inlets, all of granite, and mostly covered with spruce and 

 birch trees, was beautiful. His canoe was similar to those 

 described to have been used by the ancient Briions on the 

 invasion by the Romans. It was made of wicker work, 

 covered over outside with deer skins sewed together 

 stretched on it, nearly of the usual form of canoes, with a 

 bar or beam across the middle, and one on each end to 

 strengthen it. The skin covering, flesh side out, was fast- 

 ened or laced to the gunwales with thongs of the same ma- 

 terial. Owing to decay aud wear it requires to be rem wed 

 once in from six' to twelve weeks. It is in these temporary 

 barks that the Indians of Newfoundland of the present 

 day navigate the lakes and rivers of ihe interior. They 

 are easily carried, owing to their lightness, across the port- 

 ages from one water to another, and when damaged easily 

 repaired. There were innumerable granile rocks in the 

 lake a little below and above the surface; on one of these 

 our canoe struck and rubbed a hole through the half de- 

 cayed skin, and was attended with some risk to our persons 

 and guns. His wigwam was situated in Ihe centre of a 

 wooden islet, at which we arrived before sunset. The ap- 

 proach from the landing place was by a mossy carpeted 

 avenue, formed by the trees having been cut down in that 

 direction for firewood. The sight of a lire, not of our own 

 kindling, of which we were to partake, seemed hospitably. 

 It was occupied by his wife above, seated on y deerskin, 

 busy sewing together skins of the same kind to renew the 

 outside o( the canoe we had just found, which required it. 

 A large Newfoundland dog, her only companion in her 

 husband's absence, had welcomed us at the landing place 

 with signs ot the greatest joy. Sylvan happiness reigned 

 here. His wigwam was of a semi-circular form, covered 

 with birch rind and dried deer skins, the tire on the fore 

 ground outside. Abundance and neatness pervaded the 

 encampment. On horizontal poles over the fire hung quan- 

 tities of venison steaks, being smoked dry. The hostess 

 was cheerful, and a supper, the best the chase could fur- 

 nish, was soon set before us on sheets of birch rind. They 

 told me to make their camp my own, and use everything 

 in it as such. Kindness so elegantly tendered by these 

 people of Nature in their solitude commenced to" soften 

 those feelings which had been fortified against receiving 

 any comfort except that of my own administering. The 

 excellence of the venison aud of the flesh of young beav- 

 ers could not be surpassed. A cake of hard" deer's fat, 

 With scraps of suet, toasted brown, intermixed, was eaten 

 -with the meat; soup was the drink. Our hostess, after 

 supper, sang several Indian songs at my request. 

 (To be continued.) 



■»■» 



Novel Deer Chase.— A valued contributor, who is a 

 keen sportsman, sends the following item clipped from the 

 Stralhoy (Canada) Dispatch:— 



As Dr. Billings, of this town, was riding along near 

 Mount Carincl, he descried a deer on the road, and shouted 

 at it, expecting to see a fine run across the fields. The 

 deer was so frightened that, in attempting to jump the 

 fence, it struck the fence-rider aud fell back. The Docior 

 kept on shouting all the while, and the confusion of the 

 animal became so great that, each succeeding attempt was 

 no more successful than the first. Seeing this, the Doctor 

 reined his horses in a corner of the fence, jumped out of his 

 buggy, made for the deer, aud actually caught it, but had 

 no sooner touched it than he found himself in the ditch. 

 After two or three ups and downs It got away from him; 

 but, being a doctor, he fought on seieuthic principles, an t 

 in his endeavors to cut the carotid artery inflicted a wound 

 on its neck. The confused aud now wounded animal rati 

 off ten or twelve rods and actually came back to the very 

 same spot to jump the fence, and with the same ill-success 

 as before. The Doctor closed in and caught it a second 

 lime, and after another series of ups aud downs, succeeded 

 in severing the carotid artery with his penknife, when the 

 deer's life-blood soou effused, and it sank a victim to its 

 captor's pluck. After the excitement was over ihe Doctor 

 found himself too much exhausted to lift his prize into the 

 carriage. By 'testing some time, however, he was able to 

 do so; and that being done, he drove home, we will not 

 say a bigger, but certainly a pleased, muddy, aud bloody 



—The following clipping, from the St. Bonis Bepnbliam, 

 contains some hints that may be of service to some of our 

 New Jersey' fox hunters: — 



Mr. It. S. MacDonald, a modern Nimrod, is in the habit 

 of receiving letters, instructing him on sporting affairs, 

 in the following style: — 



"1 have a fox that will chase your pack of hounds and 

 run a coon up a tree. I offer you and your chasers my fox 

 for §0. 1 will guarantee that he will not lose his brush. 

 Come and see my fox, at the southeast comer of Eleventh 

 and Washington avenue." 



The following is another specimen:— "I see in the paper 

 that you brought live foxes from Europe, and thai you and 

 your friends will soon go on the hum. I have a Tox that 

 is young and wild, which I will sell to you for sjt). i, -, V!1S 

 horn in this country, and knows every hole and c. vm 

 around Oreve Cceur Lake; consequently you will have a 

 high old time." 



