228 



fl 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[April 31, 1881. 



quickly < 

 n Iccomr 

 R«Ct wi- 



nch illusion. According to such a principle 

 tamed by a rope and straining wilh all its 

 intofl at full speed when I he cope was sud- 

 denly cut. Any one w ho has seen a tow line part on a steam- 

 ing, or had a ropo break on which lie was pulling wilh all his 

 might, knows lhal this is net so. 1 liese cases are, of course, 

 not exactly analogous to the aclion of gravity which arts oji 

 every molecule nl once ; but they are near enough to it to 

 east a ihade uf doubt on " C.'s" position on the release 

 ipiestion. 



1 am sorry that " C." did not take more time, for I Hunk he 

 could have thrown some light on file subject. He lias evi- 

 dently written hastily and with too full confidence in the 

 soundness of his position— a thing liable to make any one 

 mistake the true point of any question. Hut 1 am much 

 obliged to him for even attempting to answer it. 



The questions are these : 



1. Can gravity instantly produce motion any more than 

 any other force ? 



2. Can release be transmitted from molecule to molecule 

 any faster than motion canjie transmitted-? 



One word about Express bullets. " Edmund G. K." need 

 have no fears about Express bullets "reducing theiusideof a 

 deer to pulp; tearing a hole as big as a hat," etc. Of all ob- 

 jections to bullets calculated to spare animals unnecessary 

 suffering, to spare the hunter frequent loss of his game and 

 more frequent work in securing it, none proves on trial more 

 baSdlesS than the "spoil the meat " theory. Occasionally a 

 deer is badly "mussed." But take an average of five, and 

 there is not half the spoiling there is with chasing a deer half 

 a mile with a dog, letting hiui lie down an hour or two and 

 get sick, or shontu g two or three more halls into him. In a 

 deer killed and dressed at once there is not half the meat 

 bloodshot and otherwise spoiled that there is in the other 

 cases. The difference in the amount actually cut away by a 

 large or expansive ball practically amounts to nothing. 



There is nothing probably in hunting about which as much 

 twaddle has been written as the effect of Express and explo- 

 sive bullets. "Blowing open a grizzlie's head " as if it were 

 a snuff box, " pulverizing a wild boar's head" as if it were 

 a puff ball, " Express shock " as if it were a bottlcd-up stroke 

 Of lightning suddenly let loose, etc., etc., are only the least 

 of their marvelous imputed effects. 



It ia astonishing that it never occurred to 



"Col. John Hills, 

 ' that the dashing 

 yvon the size and 

 velocity, and that 

 ;s momentum and 



of the. Indian Army," quoted by "Ne 

 of a ball to pieces depended aim 

 shape of the hole in front of il, i 

 the shock of a ball depends moi- 

 st rikiug surface than upon velocity. It anyone will run 

 back the files of FoKicsr ami Stjieam and' other Sporting 

 papai b they will find just such wonderful bullets as Capt. 

 Hills speaks of condemned by other Indian hunters, and also 

 by American hunters such as II. Batty, Ned Buntliue and 

 Others who, jt is safe to say, know what they are talking 

 about. Read Capt. Williamson's experience with grizzlies 

 in FoKESl* Ai'D STREAM of two or three years ago and see his 

 opinion. 



The truth of- all this is tlrs: A ball that flies to Hinders is 

 far the best, provided il strikes the heait, hmgs or kidneys. 

 For those favored individuals who know how lo make a 

 deer pose for a shot and who can "jait the hall in 

 lis heart" every time "on the keen jump," "at forty 

 rods," etc., these bulls are the best. But then for Amer- 

 ican game they don't need them. But "duffers ' like 

 myself, who have to take a shot just where they can 

 get il who have to shoot at dark or brown spots ia brush 

 without wailing to see just where the heart is, who think they 

 are doing tolerably well if they hit a deer at a long shot or 

 when running anywhere in the body need it ball Unit, has 

 penetration quite as often as the other kind. Essential aaeX- 

 pansion is, penetration is in the long run quite, as iniab so. 

 Such a ball as Captain Hills describes in "Nemo's" letter 

 would tniiko complete minced meat of the heart or lungs of a 

 deer, but if it hit him in the haunch or stern would not kill 

 him in one-fourth the time a Winchester .71! bullet, would 

 do it, and in the paunch would not be lull' as affective as if 

 il tlaltened out and passed clear through without breaking. 

 A ball that Hies to powder will have no penel ration where 

 solid llesh or bone is to be met, nnd no amount of velocity 

 will give it. To the peuelralion of all such balls there is a 

 limit which cannot be passed any more than thai of flue shot 

 can. And this limit is a very short one too. 



I think Major Merrill has made a mistake in his figures of 

 ajidory. if he can get a long itinge bull into the centre at 



naliale 



nly two inches at the 

 1 1 ever could. He says 

 point nine and one-hall 



Unless the rille throws 

 ie case, this ought lo car- 

 and three-fourth inel 



Instead of fifty five yfttt. 

 for 10 J yards will often be 

 and even :t lit lie over. Th 

 wilh round ball sighted fo 

 seventy yards, and is there 

 iuch at fifty yards; this 

 fourths of a 



100 yards 



highest point be could do more th 



the Ix.re of a rille so sighted will 



Inches above the cenlre at 100 yards. 



downward from recoil, as is often tin 



rv il at least four and one-half or fou 



over at fifty-five yards. Thai is just about the rise I have 



always found, the drop at 1U0 yards being about len inches 



wilh long range ball fired on a level. 



' 3 point of highest trajectory 

 -live yards with some rifles, 

 jhest rise of my heavy rifle, 

 i- 101 \ards, is about sixty-eight or 

 re one inch, and only about one-half 

 lis wilh globe sislits about three- 

 axis or bore. 

 For the plains a rifle sighted over is all right, but for the 

 woods aud bushy grouud, 'especially for quick shooting, ruu- 

 niiij- shooting, or downhill shooting, or iu the dim light of 

 evening or early morning, or with the sun on an actual front 

 Sight one that overshoots four inched at fifty lo seventy yards 

 is an abomination. Better sight every rille level for all such 

 ground, unless you know how to make your game strike a 

 position aud wall for you to calculate your distance a val- 

 uable art that, judging from their writings, many seem lo 

 possess. T. S. Van Dyke. 

 _,^,— . 



SPORT ABOUT SAVANNAH. 



Savannui, Ca., April 11, 1881. 



DURING the winter months Hie wa'crs around Savannah 

 are fairly alive with aquatic fowl of almost every de- 

 scription, especially on the waters adjoining the rice planta- 

 tions. Among the numerous species are the canvas back, 

 mallard, widgeon, raft-blue and green-wing leal, hard heads, 

 bald pales, butter rail and a variety of other small ducks. 



The most successful way of hunting Ihem, in fact the only 

 way (except by stooiing), is to have a duck boat, about I;ix4, 

 decked all over, save a cck-pit in the middle, and on the 

 main deck a blind made securely of rice straw and cane lops. 

 y,,u sit behind this, and wilh yum- oars uusli the boat forward 

 until you spy your game in liie distance; then you lake in 

 your oars and lie ou your left side, aud by the use of a long 



there i 



of till 



best i, 



scull oar that goes through a small hole in the stern you can 

 scull right iu Their midst, especially in the early part of the 

 season. Looking at the boat, coming toward you it appears 

 to be an old bush or bunch of trash floating down with the 

 tide. The boat can be bought at a cost of 'from $25 to $75. 

 In the catty part of the season I bought a fine one of white 

 cedar for &C5, alsoa large 5 gauge duck gun weighing 20 lbs., 

 together with a smdl breech-loader lor cripples. Repeatedly 

 I liave returned to the city after a two days' hunt on the 

 waters around the city with from 100 lo 300 ducks of various 

 species. The best waters are "Lonesometony," " Knox- 

 borough," "Union," " Collis," "Abercorn" and "Fife- 

 maker " creeks, also the back rivers, which arc too numerous 

 to mention. 



The most successful hunt I had this winter was about the 

 101b of January. I put my duck boat on the steamer "W. 

 T. Whccless," which plies between this cily and Augusta, and 

 went up the river as far as "r.-irachuckla," about seventy 

 miles from Savannah, and sculled all the way back, taking in 

 a number of lakes and creeks, arriving iu the city again' ou 

 Friday evening after a hunt of about two aud a half days. 1 

 bagged sixty-five mallards, twenty four summer ducks, a few 

 raft, eight wild turkeys ami a small doe. Before reaching 

 the city I had to take put my scull oar and stop up the scull 

 hole to keep the water from running in my boat, it was so 

 well loaded. One or two of the numerous professional gun- 

 ners around here make a very fine living at it. One especi- 

 ally, a Mr. AVestcot, who realizes, i.t his own account, from 

 $2,000 -1*2,000 for six months, and I don'l doubt it, for 1 have 

 seen specimens of his success myself. 



Some Northern men come South every winter to hunt for 

 a living, but soon give it up, as the majority of them know 

 nothing of the use of a gun, to say nothing about Ihe skill in 

 manipulating the boat, and arc totally ignorant of the 

 waters, w:,ieli is a very great item in successful duck shoot- 

 ing. 



In Ihe spring there are thousands of snipe in the low- 

 lands, especially when the ground is wet from rains or a 

 freshet. Myself aud a friend bagged 148 last Friday on Mr. 

 Chisholm's "phmtation, and would' have got more had our 

 ammunition not given out. Quail are not so numerous in 

 this immediate section, but a little higher up the country 

 tliey are as thick almost as blackbirds. My dogs have re- 

 peatedly found eighteen and twenty coolies in a day in Jef- 

 ferson, Biuke or '"Richmond Counties, and iu those counties 

 "s little difficulty in killing them, as the shooting ground 

 lleut, and one hSa no-excuse to miss a bird on ordinary 

 Jus, The birds rise in old broom sedge fields, where 

 ire a few young pines and stubble, also on the margins 

 numerous little ponds in that section. Wilh good 

 ml a little knowledge of the country a good shot can 

 -ily from 75 to 100 birds in a day's shooting. It is 

 hunt on horseback, as von can get over more ground 

 in less time. 1 always find it the best, and never hunt quail 

 any other way. You can very easily jump off your horse 

 when your dogs " come down" if you don't wish to shoot 

 them from the saddle.— It. \V, A. 



SPORTING 6.QRAPB3. 



THERE being a dearth of spoiling news in Ibis immedi- 

 ate locality, ba ring rabbit hunting, of which there is 

 considerable, wilh fair success, ,i , i-c.uml lo me that pos- 

 sibly two or three incidents which helped to embellish and 

 relieve my rather monotonous boyhood life iu the country, 

 might be of interest, and at. lie same time a warning to some 

 of your youthful leaders at any rale. 



By the way, that life must be an exceedingly stupid one 

 which has not its ludicrous side, and tint mind dull of per- 

 ception which cannot discern and enjoy the ludicrous as it 

 crops out now and then, here and there, 'in speech and act. 



Our nearest neighbor was a tanner. Though his name was 

 Washington liarcalow, a name very unlike that of the Ca- 

 ll ii a tanner Which has become so illustrious, yet by trade he 

 could claim a .-oil of relationship lo him. ami by nam*: lo ihe 

 Father of his Country. Ufa son William and nn.-ili were 

 about the Same age. We had arrived at that delectable 

 period in our boyhood when we were allowed, by ihe very 

 reluctant consent of our | a rents, to handle firearms a little. 

 Ucnrc we used to practice target shooting together wilh an 

 old flint-lock, hittiDg the bnllseye mice iu twenty times at 

 short range His father was a good marksman andafiir 

 hunt-man. 



His theory was, and he conscientiously practiced it. thai 

 all game should have a chance for its life"; il should be taken 

 in motion, either on Ihe wing or on foot. A righteous 

 theory, surely, and one which every true and honorable 

 sportsman will scrupulously observe. 



Pursuit is the cream of pleasure, and 1 fail to perceive how 

 any one can find sport in stealthily crawling up, on a sitting 

 rabbit for instance, -and riddling il with shot. To my mind 

 it is belillling to one's manhood. If it is not criminal, it is 

 inexcusable butchery. It smacks somewhat of the "slab-a- 

 iiian.behindhisliack" principle. It is anything but fair 

 plav, ar.d as for Ihe fun and fame lhal there maybe in il, 

 there is more by far in going out alone in the woods, pinning 

 a while patch against a tree, and shooting at thai. I did not 

 think so when 1 was a boy. In boys, still shooting is tojor- 

 able, but not in men. Men are supposed lo have outgrown 

 [lie crude ideas of their boyhood, many of which savor largely 

 uf folly. 1 went. out. for rabbits Monday afternoon wilh a 

 boy who was old enough and bad hunted enough lo know 

 better. Though he hiida double-barrel gun, with a sin 11 in 

 each harr. I, happening suddenly on a rabbit, he jumped on 

 him with his great cow-hide boots, instead of giving him a 

 fail- chauce and Shooting him iu a spnilsiminUke manner. 

 He seized him bv the hind legs ami drags d him out. from 

 underneath his big feet, when I insisted lhal he should let 

 him go and gel him again fairly, or not at all. lie let him 

 go. and then' discharged bolh barrels at him without effect, 

 when my little single barrel breech-loader brought him to a 

 halt. I found that one of his hind legs was badly broken, 

 and the boy then told mc that he did that jumping ou him, 

 and that was the reason why he let him go, for he thoughl 

 that he couldn't get away anyhow ; but even with his three 

 Ie<'-s he would have made his escape if the boy had been alone. 

 The unfeeling youth deserved much more than the plain 

 Lecture that I dealt out lo him in anything hut homoeopathic 

 dosoa aud 1 sincerely trust that no boy or man that may 

 read this will ever be guilty of such a mean, unprincipled 

 deed as that was. A great deal of game is never killed out- 

 iv lit where it is in the power of the sportsman to do bo, hut 

 ii miserably tortured to death, inch by inch, as it" the game 

 P i-snssed lio more feeling than the hearts of those who thus 

 butcher H. . , 



Ap ilQgi/.mgfor I his digression I return to thcepisodu with 

 my neighbors! One cold, crisp January morning I wandered 



bjck to an old well on the farm, two fields away from the 

 house. The well was almost full to the curb with" wati l aild 

 as 1 looked over the curb into the well 1 saw a rabbit floating 

 upon the surface. It looked as if il had not been in ihere 

 long, so I climbed the curb, reached down into the Well and 

 took him out. lie was yet quite limber. Right behind our 

 house and bam there was a young peach orchard. I brought 

 Ihe rabbit down to ihe orchard and set him up as nicely as I 

 could in the dead weeds aud grass by one of the peach trees, 

 lie looked as natural as lite. . Theu I called very excitedly 

 to our neighbor's boy that there was a rabbit in the peach or- 

 chard behind the barn. He raufor his old flintlock, but. when 

 he emerged from the house, his father was with him armed 

 with his own fowding-pieee. I saw that my game was up. 

 However easily the boy might, be fooled the 'father could not 

 be inlo shooting a dead rabbit. I stood my grouud, how- 

 ever, long enough to point out the tree where the rabbit was. 

 Mr. B. cocked his gun and, true to his theory, began to ap- 

 proach the tree nearer and nearer, waiting for the rabbit to 

 leap forth. Aud somehow, curious as it may seem, the 

 nearer lie drew to the tree the further away fiom it 1 got, 

 until, as he phiccd the end of the barrel underneath the rabbit 

 aud tossed him out from Ihe tree a lifeless carcass, I stood 

 Ireinbling in my boots behind the burn squinting around the 

 corner at the cool performance. Such a fire of indignation 

 as burned in the orbs of that man aud his son as they turned 

 to look for the little practical joker was enough to' squelch 

 forever any boy of ordinary grit. For a long time thereafter 

 it seemed to me the belter par t of valor to keep out of the way 

 of both, and 1 did. 



On another occasion while passing through this same or- 

 chard at nightfall on my return from a short hunting excur- 

 sion I started a rabbit, fired and missed him. He ran under 

 the barn behind which I hid in ihe other scrape. The ham 

 rested ou stone pillars and there was space enough between 

 the floor timbers and the grouud to enable a hoy to creep 

 under with difficulty. I loaded again and crawling under a 

 short distance 1 saw the rabbit, fired and killed him. The 

 burning wad ignited ihe hay aud straw which had gathered 

 there. 1 forgot all about my gun and game in my anxiety and 

 eagerness lo put out the lire, which i si led. after a whllo 



induing. I then recovered my rabbit and gun and wrul 

 home, did my evening chores and retired early to bed as the 

 custom i;; in country life. But I could not sleep. 1 kept 

 wondering whether or no there miglu not be some fire still 

 under the barn— -some spark that 1 had overlooked. I some- 

 times imagined Hint I heard the crackling of flames. t en- 

 dured my fear until almost midnight, when it became tor- 

 ture. In desperation 1 sprang from my bed and went out in 

 the darkness and looked under the barn lo assure myself that 

 it was all right. These it oidcuts enforce tw, i lessons : Pirst, 

 never lo play tricks on children that would be likely to involve 

 the parent; second, never to lie go OVOt-JSealOuS in any cause 

 us to be regardless of probable evil consequences. ilix. 



]>„n«rur ni. 



SIY FIKl-T MOO.-SE 



IRK AD wilh interest and plci 

 Moose," in your issue of 

 tell you something about the Brsl 

 saw. although since lhal time I I 

 least between lilt v aud sixty, i 



vatcr, in 



liter 



•: thei 

 gin of lakes and ri 

 cranberry bogs; and 

 a trumpet formed 

 their mates in the m 

 they seek the lo 



otUi 



plai 

 , I84B, 



npy fee 

 ' i, of 



ivhich the' 

 i old bun' 

 has 



" Xed linn!'! I. 



• la-ch, and pn p ■-■ to 

 e I ever shot or ever 

 illcd a great many, at. 

 water and out of the 

 summer iu boats, as 

 - and mud on the mar- 

 res of pokologans and 

 out of the v. 

 imiialiug their call lo 

 ic early evening when 

 .lain the lily ' 



It was in Jun 

 Lakes by the name of Kimbail (who has long since go 

 the better bunting grounds beyond i aud myself paddled 

 lo the foot of Oupsuptu: Bog and camped 

 hunt in the evening. This" being ruynri 

 old man made Die shoo; at a mark with ,-. I 

 and I hit the spot on th ; trie :■• hi 

 I'd do. ily gun was an old single bairel- 

 1 believe he called it— a smooth bore, and 

 ounce bullet, ami, by the way, I used Unit s 

 years after for all putposes— with shot for b 



lo 



slill- 

 cperiencc, the 

 I, seven rod-, 

 . aud be said 

 hieen's arm," 

 fled about an 

 gun for many 

 ids aud small 

 nials, and bullets lor bears, deer, caribou and moose, and 

 it seldom failed mc. 



We cooked our supper of trout and flap-jacks before night, 

 so as to make all arrangements early for evening hum uig, 

 and about sunset started up lb" Cupsiiploc River through the 

 bog. Our boal wasawootien skill', just large enough to hold 

 two persons, and the Captain, as the old hunter was fami- 

 liarly called, took the stern and the paddle, and stationed ine 

 near the bow with my gun at my right hand, in the bottom 

 of the boat, and his old rille at my left. The plan was for 

 ihe Captain to hit me with his paddle when we were near 

 enough to shoot, and I wits first to fire my gun and then 

 catchup Ihe rille and give him a long shot as lie made off, 

 should we miss him at first. 



Wo got well started up the bog bef 

 moviug very slow and still. Not 

 except the everlasting croaking of the froi 

 of the innumerable multitudes of mosqij 

 flies, midgets and other winged insects, 

 around our ears, eyes and uiouih, annoyii 

 making the blood trickle down my face, : 

 smeared myself welt with salt pork hefo 

 park was then the only antidote known for 

 orders were not to move a hand or stir, but lo sil up s 

 and not look around or whisper. This, I think, w 

 toughest experience 1 ever had- -being eaten up alive v 

 the privilege of resentment. 1 would have 

 iu a moment, to have rubbed my face well just once, b 

 could not be. The night was clear starlight, but no 

 and ihe captaiu propelled the light skiff steadily alonj 

 out lifting his paddle out of the' water, a feat that hat 

 acquired by long practice and much patience, so as not to hit 

 the paddle against the boat, and all the way j on could realize 

 you were moving through Ihe water was by the sound Of the 

 grass blades as Ihcy rubbed against the boat. 



It had now got to ho Bel ween nine and„ten o'clock, and the 

 flies still were punishing us dreadfully, wheu all at. once the 

 Stillness of the night was broken by Urn sound of some heavy 

 animal running into the waler at the upper end of the bog. 

 No electricity ever went through a body like Ibis sound. J 

 can only speak for nivsclf, bull felt no more fly-bites after 

 this, The unspeakable thrill this gave my senses I shall 

 nevi i i irget. fapiaiu just Iben turned gently the head of 

 the skill "into a liltlo creel; and headed toward the plashing 

 in the water. 1 slowly raised my old suiooih-bore into an 



diyligbt left, 

 icted our e irs 



iron swartned 

 ie dreadfully, 

 ugh I had be- 

 (Salt 



:ct bite: 



My 



aighl 

 3 Ihe 

 tliout 



■■Half. 



i lids 



. wilhl 

 s to be 



