Mat 5, 1881.] 



FOEEST AND STREAM. 



2i;'5 



shooting as 

 such shooLim 

 Following eli 

 Coursing Hat 

 over the grou 



i da 



1 lv. 



attracting the pleasure lourist could not have'.sel forth the 

 natural advantages of the country more strongly ; and yet 

 there arc passages here and there throughout the book which 

 inspire confidence in the author as one not given to violet ink 

 and rose-colored spectacles. 



Black brant, Belleville — who, we take it, expresses through- 

 out the opinions of l lie au-hor — thinks the finest ot American 

 water flow) ; and "although quicker far than any other bind 

 of goose, ihey are still slower than a duck. But they shed 

 shot as subscribers do editorial appeals 10 pay up," and can 

 bear off a good load of lead without succumbing. The brant 

 ed in the first chapter of the hook is 

 )utd repay a man to go far to enjoy, 

 devoted to Inland Shooting and to 

 exciting sport, when the hare skims 

 ow Hying grouse and dogs and riders 

 fallow in' hot pursuit. Thu valley quail, wo arc told, here 

 runs so fast that they will spoil a dog unless he is kept back 

 until they are thoroughly scattered and seared, so as to 

 make them hide and lie closely; and one. cm get all the 

 shooting he wants without any dog at ail; and when a dog is 

 employed the birds are so plenty and so strong of scent that 

 it does not require such careful working of the dog as on the 

 Eastern quail. To successfully bag the birds in the shooting 

 here described calls for the highest skill with the gun j they 

 arc gamy and die hard; unless fairly struck with the centre 

 of the charge they are apt to get away. The proper shot for 

 theni.isNo. 10, with heavy charges of powder. Even after 

 bringing the birds to the ground the sportsman is not sure of 

 them. It requires a well developed bump of locality, a keen 

 eye and a quick judgment, or the shooter will never pick up 

 two-thirds of the birds be kills. In the autumn the valley 

 quail pack, sometimes all the birds bred during the season 

 in two or three thousand acres being found in a single band 

 in the little valleys. 



Among the various devices described for circumventing 

 the wild goose is this : A looking-glass is fastened to the 

 front ot a small skiff, the glass hanging clown to the water 

 and concealing the boat behind it. A bit of looking-glass is 

 then fastened to a split stick and lashed to the boat so as to 

 project sidewise from the bow, aud just beyond the 

 Hue of the edge of the glass in front, giving to the oc- 

 cupants of the boat a view of everything ahead, aud the 

 skiff is paddled noiselessly down upon the unsuspecting 

 birds, who are not so silly as to fear their own shadows in 

 the mirror. 



Deer shootinc in Southern California, our author thinks, is 

 one of the severest tests of a man's skill with the rifle. This 

 deer, the " blacklail," or, according to Judge Caton, a variety 

 of the mule deer, is smaller than the Virginia orcouunon deer, 

 but superior in activity. ''There was no gentle canter, no 

 rapid run, no hugging the earth like a greyhound, nor any- 

 thing indicative of effort to absorb space. Nevertheless 

 the noble fellow bounded, not ran, as though the ground 

 were India rubber and Ins legs steel springs, his four feet 

 grouped close together, all striking the hard ground at one 

 hlow, and glancing from the touch like the rkodiel of a can- 

 non ball." And this bouuding I tie sportsman finds something 

 altogether novel, bewildering aud battling; the height of the 

 rise from the ground is not appreciated even by those most 

 familiar with it, and it keeps up this style of traveling -'up hill 

 and down hill, through brush, over brush, among huge 

 boulders, rocks and shingle, with such astonishing speed and 

 endurance that it is always worth half a day's work just to 

 see one run." San Diego, though not a deer country, still 

 affords abundant sport to the man who knows how and'where 

 to luiut i his game ; and in the autumn Mr. Van Dyke thinks 

 it doubtful if any country in the world can give easier and 

 more pleasant still-hunting than this. But w T e must not en- 

 croach too much upon our author's patience by transferring 

 his entertaining aud instructive chapters to our columns, nor 

 would we mar the reader's pleasure by anticipating. Five 

 chapters of the book treat of the various modes of hunting 

 deer, and are well worth a careful perusal. The novice will 

 find them instructive and helpful, aud the veteran deer 

 hunter will find equal satisfaction in the realistic pictures of 

 the unequal fortunes of his days on the trail. 



Mr. Van Dyke can tell a story concisely and pithily. Here 

 is one of the " Goose Cavalry:" 



"Pretty liberally sprinkled with mud-Lens," said Belville; 

 " still there are some ducks there. And, as sure an I live, there is 

 a flock of geese on that flat !" he added, pointing to a distant line 

 of dark-gray birds standing on the green sod across the pond. "If 

 1 can borrow that horse of that follow I'll try a charge on them. 

 It's the only way to get a shot." 



So saying, he hailed a young Mexican who was coming behind 

 them on horseback, and. pointing to the geese, asked bim in vil- 

 lainous Spanish to lend him the horse. 



The Mexican dismounted with a smile, perhaps at the 

 Spanish, perhaps at the geese, possibly at neither. We 

 shall see. Belville mounted and ambled down to with- 

 " in two hundred yards of the geeBe, on the windward 

 aide. Then, on a gentle canter, he rode on a slanting course 

 toward one tide of the flock. He did not look at them at all until 

 he got within about one hundred yards, when he suddenly -wheeled 

 the horse and charged directly at them on a full run. They wad- 

 dled and looked and looked and waddled, until the "cavalry " got 

 within sixty yards, when they concluded it was about time to clear 

 the track. Being compelled, however, to rise against the wind- 

 geese can rise down wind, but .prefer up wind— the cavalry, in its 

 rapid career, was within thirty-live yards before the heavy birds 

 got liuily started from the ground. The confused bustling' hud- 

 dle of black necks, white collars, dark-gray backs, together with 

 the sound of heavily-heating wings :oe! \h> .' n | ,.n ;_v leenrrmg "ouk- 

 k-xoonk — onk-wenJi. — liorU: — '.>>rionk-onk,''' causodthe horse, a mere 

 colt, to sheer a little. But the target was so large that a snap-shot, 

 the only kind ppasible from a running horse, could hardly miss it, 

 and, with the report of the first barrel, two geese sunk heavily to 

 the sod. 



So did Belville at about the same instant As though a keg of 

 powder had exploded beneath h i i n he left the saddle, as the horse, 

 springing high in ah-, struck ground sthMegged and >-,iY, ,,r. i n g 

 back. Belvik-' sat for a, moment, hall dazed by the jar, but nnd- 

 ing no bone3 broken, picked himself up, took an 

 at his swiftly retiring charger and indulged in some highly philo- 

 sophical observations upon mustangs and their skill in the art of 

 " bucking," 



He did not smile very much as he approached the wagon and 

 thanked the owner of ("lie horse, Dot the owner did— s sviido hif, 

 as deep as politeness demanded. Then he borrowed a bunch of 

 matches and some tobacco of Belville and bade him good-bye in a 

 tone and with a smile that said, as plainly as words, " If my horse 

 can he of any service to you next time, he is entirely yours." 



We have not attempted to outline the wide field of Cali- 

 fornia sports depicted in the book before us. All the game of 

 California is in lum discussed, its habits set forth, and the 

 methods of its capture explained. This volume is full of 

 hints which are drawn from the author's own practically ac- 

 quired knowledge. It is at once a pqwerful plea for the cli- 

 mate aud sceneiy of Southern California, a book of instruc- 

 tion about game, aud enough of a romance to justify its 

 leading title, had that title teen made subordinate. Wc pre- 



dict for Mr. Van Dyke's volume a most pleasant reception 

 among sportsmen, and heartily indorse it as more deserving 

 in merit than the ordinary contributions to American sporting 

 literature. It will justly enhance the author's reputation as 

 a writer thoroughly Terser] in the subjects of which he treats. 

 The tone of the bo. It is high, its sentiments are healthful and 

 eievatiug. The book is dedicated " To those kindred spirits 

 to whom the count of game and the sizzle of the frying-pan 

 are the last and lowest of the pleasures of the field and 

 stream:" and this same feeling finds frequent repetition 

 throughout the book. We quote, aspire of the many good 

 things, this racy sketch of "The Great American Trout 

 Swine :" 



The Indian, the Mexican and the Spaniard long held this hind of 

 which wc write, yet the name increased iu their time rather than 

 dimmi-hed. i lie antelope Bli ipt within sound of the fandango, Ihe 

 elk Honritir-ed as . ig the i ichero'S cattle, the trout ri.ished in the 

 brook bv the Indian's rnnrh-rin aud the deer drank by his I mi ■■■ ■■■'. 

 Say nol'that. these men knew tiuthiugot the chase or' were toolazv 

 to follow it for pleasure or for f....d." This can hardly bo Bftid oif 

 men rtio crmld outride the filk _ar the antelope xm the plain and 



nteraiu their way. They lacked wily the- soini of id 

 Anglo-Saxons, who go to work at the game of the country like a 

 drove of swine at a pile of grain, beginning at the top aud tramp- 

 ling and desti'oviii'-f ten times what would suiriee for their real 

 wants. 

 Whv iB it that even hero-, iu this far corner of our country, amid 



those beautiful and abundant streams, it is necessary to ton for 



miles over great boulder-washes and penetrate the verv heart of 

 the mountain to find plenty of trout? And «hr. even here, are 

 tiier fast fading from the placei thai knew tbemj led. the great 

 American trout-hog anrnvar, for h re he comes. 



We see a rabbit-like eojnplacenej til couuteuauoe/cprn-sflk looks, 

 caterpillar mustache, butterily necktie. /«»:'«.< "jirai paper collar 

 and lark-heeled boots. Ho has a smalhehampagnc basket strapped 

 on his back, a quart oyster-can of grasshoppers and worms, a line 

 with two or three hooks on a pole and half a dozen extra ones in 

 Ida pocket, a soul that would rattle in a dried flea-skin and an 

 abysmal stomach that vaarneth evermore fm- trout. 



He has already over'tiltv trout iu hi- basket -twice as many a., 

 any man should catch in one day ; more ihau would satisfy the 

 most exacting of his four-footed brethren. Vet he skips along from 

 pool to pool and from riffle to riffle under the elastic impulse of the 

 only love he over felt, the love of a poor lil tie Iront, debased to ihe 

 worst and last use to which game cm hi put— Clinking. He tosses 



hisfaoi '- ndiaiitas inowly-madi bridegroom's when a 'little fish', 

 a finger long, conies shimmering out of the water with feeble strug- 

 gles. 



But, surely, ho will put that hack ? 



Of course— back into the hole in the basket! Both it not'QQUiit 



Soon another comes out only a trifle larger. Too small yet even 

 for him who was made only a little highm; than the brub 

 of (as has Long beBii errgui .mdv Supposed) '*alittlc lower than the 

 angels." But not too small for tin- /■■•■■'< ■ ■-. ■<>■■ .do-,,:;. , to snout. 

 as he slides the lish through the hole in his Laskei . 



Eat what good lStranhafingi ding - 



Go to ! thou ignoramus ! Both R not eouni ? Are not its feeble 

 bones tender.- 1 Will it not, in the frying-pan, sing celestial music 

 oj in:-. -,oiil '■' And so, Ihe live-long day, lie skips from pool to pool 

 with tireless sole, as if ihe great problem of life were to see how 

 many of the-,; I.ei.utUul cieatures could possibly be destroyed iu 

 one day. What t" him is the ulh'yru of the swift-rushing stream. 

 the m n ■■■-■'. 'so of the boiling pool, (he awtohte of the wind in the 

 pines above ! He is deal' to ail music hut the sputtering expostu- 

 lation of a poor little trout in the frying-pan. 



What cares he for the ice-cold stream of crystal, dashing itself 

 into sparkling spray as it leaps d .v.,, that ellff fromits high moun- 

 tain home, then foaming away through long tanks of stately al- 

 ders, whirling around White bouldaw, boiling in deep pools of 

 green and wnife, glancing through narrows, shimmering over 

 sha.don,,. pl'meioedii'.-.o deep r.„d,s < Kxeiise me : he does ap- 

 preciate if, t.iii. it's. put- convenient to wash his fish, to water 

 his h WD, to nil to b&caffao! 



What, to him are tin- snipe, K l, ,11s -lopes nl„,ye, the tnrreted bat- 

 tlements and granite cables. Hooting like silver islands in the 



ingaunJ Or the grand, ill ■ ', slung to the denizen of 



the sun-baked plains ; the pure, cool morning air or the view down 

 the greel tailing valley as the sun floods it with his last beams! 

 His eyes are blind to ah but a. -'nicely-browned " trout. 



The morning passes and he has ninth/ in his banket. He meets 

 his comrade, who ha« about eighty. And now, surely, they are 

 done, for the prince of swine could ask no more than this. ' And 

 see, too, they are taking off their baskets and winding up Iben: 

 lines. 



Yes, they are done. Done with gucji clow work (is this .' Not 

 thus can proper homage be paid to the idols of the great American 

 porous — the palate and the score! The stream shall he turned, 

 for ti'Ont must he had quicker and with less work-. 



And now, mark how they dam up the stream and turn its cur- 

 rent aside; and see the halo of delight that euwreathch each snout 

 when the old channel is nearly dry and the sordid misers grab up 

 the poor little flopping silver-sides '. And f ee bow they gloat over 

 the struggling opalescence and writhine green iu the basket, while 

 then- palates throb with joy as happy fancy hovers over the sizzling 

 frying-pan ! O Nature ! why dost thou not whip such wretches 

 around to thy lo'tchen door, instead of allowing them to root in thy 

 drawing-rooms ! 



We publish the following communication from Mr, Van 

 Dyke, as it entirely relieves him from a criticism which we 

 have heard several persons advance upon his references to 

 that villainous compound, the Dittmar sporting powder : 



Ml. FAiavirw, Han Diego Co., CaL, March in, 1881, 

 Editor Forest and ,S'hv«,e : 



The first criticism that comes to hand on mv hook on California 

 field sports is from a valued friend, valued all the rnoro for his 

 frankness, and is that the first chapter looks "too much like an ad- 

 vertisement of Dittmar's powder." 



Had hesaid an advertisement to Eastern honey dealers of Beohe's 

 apiary, I cordd not have been more surprised. But, as othcra may 

 think the same thing, I hope you wdl pardon a few words. 



That book was written onlv'to entertain— not to instruct— except 

 as to habit, of birds and animals, and modes of hunting and the 

 character of the background for our field sports* To enlighten 

 the sportsman on a subject which, so far as books are concerned, 

 is entirely new, and do so without wearying that fastidious chap 

 know u as "the general reader" has been my aim. I have tried 

 also to show that * : a sportsman " is not necessarily an insn tinkle 

 pig let loose 111 nature's flower garden. And this is all, and I do 

 not anywhere intend to indorse or recommend any persons, places 

 or things. 



In doing this I have spoken of things as they were considered 

 generally, and not by myself, taking care not to obtrude, except 

 upon waste of game, etc., my peculiar views. In so doing I 

 have sometimes even run against my own views. My views on the 

 subject of small bored rifles for hunting deer are well known to 

 your readers, yet I put one in the hands of the main character-. I 

 think the use of the shot gun for deer, unless accompanied by 

 good dogs to catch cripples should be punished by at least ninety 

 days' hard labor on a diet of cucumbers and water, yet I put one 

 in tbe hands of another character. Ibis is because the general 

 opinion is against mine, which I admit to be extreme on all points 

 relating to the waste or heedless torture of game. In like manner 

 I call on page ten, what I think a variety of flamingo, a curlew, be- 

 cause (ho;, .in . ad. d here ' the Idled: cm 'rid 



Now, when Belville is trying to persuade Norton to lay the medi- 

 cine of the field he does it, among other trays, by tolling him of the 



modern improvements in sporting implements and tbe greater es.-c 

 aud comfort of shooting than was known when Norton hunted as it 



At the time this houk was written T had never seen a groin 

 of Dittmar powder, a bamnierless hrsech-loader or a grain of chilled 

 shot, and the only ckoke-b....re 1 ever saw I with my oAvn hands cut 

 the choke out, of on account of tbe fouling in our' drv air. Yet all 

 these things were supposed at this time to t.e improvements, Ditt- 

 mar powder standing Inch m the estimation of prominent sport- 

 tnen aud iu the advortir-ing columns of this paper. I knew, 

 of course, that it had been questioned, aud so had the safety and 

 utility of hammerless guns, but the better opinion seemed hi their 

 favor, Aud I there speak of Dittmar just as of the other three— 

 as they appeared to be, and nut as they are. I uo more intend to 



of 



stood that I do not in that, be 



miring as the best an 1 purest men 

 . And in Chanter VI 1 have tali 





of : 



id Ihe 



Mis in those that did reach me. The MBS. ha 



; eonetted ami returned heii.tc ...ir .-.': .onv ..f Ditimar. 



T. S. VAN DYKE. 



'. B.— It is plain enough from the frequent use of ■• cloud of 

 smoke," " roDirtg report, etc ," throughout the hook and also from 

 page 111. that they are all shooting black powder. 



DUCK HUNTING D, A STEAM LAUNCH. 



MY brother and I concluded to make a run up inlo Old 

 liiver, above Vicksburg to inlervew the ducks we 

 heard were abundant in a small lake lying back of a low- 

 head some live or six miles above the junction, of Did liiver 

 with the Mississippi, aud about twelve or fourteen miles, all 

 told, front the city. As ihe current was rather stiff, and the 

 distance too gfctf for a pull in our skill, wc made up our 

 minds to perfoim the journey in a small ateaui launch, a 

 screw propeller, about thirty feet in length and seven in 

 breadth, drawing throe feet nine inches when coaled and 

 laden with our traps. Neither of us bad had any experience 

 iu navigating a steam vessel, but my brother being a kind 

 .1 genius touching lnaoliiueKy thought lie could do the tiring 

 ami manage thcenginc, while, with some hesitation, I agreed 

 to steer the craft. So one dark, damp, chilly morning in 

 November, at about II o'clock, we steamed out the harbor at 

 VicksbuJ£, and soon began iu a small way plowing up Ihe 

 Father of Waters. 

 For a reison we did not know at the time, wo were unable 



to get up a high pros; nrc of steam, 

 the indicator go above (10. For this 

 hand to avoid the current and hug the It, 

 hie, and the pilot did this 30 thoroughly 

 utes the fireman and engineer, would sir 

 id further out you'll ground her : 



mil at no time did 

 easou it stood us in 

 ■s as much as posfci, 

 thai every five min- 

 ouf, "If. you don't 

 the bar is Hat here 1 

 Keep in r ye ahead ! Don't you see that low point running 

 out there!" And over would go tbe lead. "Scant four 

 feet! Turn her out!" Aud out she would go till the cur- 

 rent was encountered, aud our speed reduced to that of a 

 pair of lovers on a limited stroll, then back again till the 

 warning cry of "Keep her out!" was repeated. A_nd iu 

 this way we wrigtrled ahoutlike a serpent until we had passed 

 the bar and -struck the stiff current along the. hluil shore. 

 Here the fireman stirred up the tire, stuffed itt more CQal, 

 and then ran back aud throw the throttle wide open, and 

 stood sighting at some object, on the shore to see if the Gen- 

 tle Savage — fcr that was her name — was making any prog- 

 ress. She was not "Hying," nor was she "skimming ihe 

 foaming billows" to auy alarming extent, but still she moved 

 up stream slowly, and. the. reaching our deslinadton was only 

 a question of time aud whether our coal pile would last, that 

 long. 



After a while we came in sight of the mouth of Old River, 

 and soon thereafter dropped into the shoal water lying out- 

 side the current. IVe had scraped one or two points in" hug 

 gina ihe shore, aud got a jolting and cauie near sticking on a 

 sunken log thus far. We had both gathered up some confi- 

 dence and had begun to feel that running a steamboat was 

 no big thing after all. As we nearcd the mouth of Old Kiver 

 a cast of the lead — the combined engineer and fireman was 

 great on the lead — showed eight feet, and we thought every- 

 thing lovely, when in two minutes thereafter the craft gently 

 glided upon a bump and quietly settled there. Getting into 

 our skiff and taking a few soundings to find the deep water, 

 we worked her forward and backward alternately, stirring 

 up a sight of mud with the screw, but still sticking to- the 

 bump like a leach. A negro who kept the Government light 

 on the point, passing in his skiff at. the time, was hailed and 

 came to our assistance. We d tln't know just what good he 

 could do, but felt that he would be company anyway and re- 

 port us to our friends as stranded in case of tailing to get 

 off. But while wailing for him to pull up, enough steam bad 

 accumulated for us to syphon out. Tbe vessel leaked badly 

 and the syphon had to be employed often. This crmld only 

 be done with steam at forty and above. As soon as we got 

 her up to that point wc put the water iu her hold outeide 

 id at once floated off the hump. Thenceforward we car- 

 2i- for this very purl ose. 



quite low, while the Yazoo, 

 Old Ttiver, was swollen from 

 gave us a current almost to 

 1 the mouth up, but by keep- 

 and behind the points we man- 



ned a goodly supply of wat 



The Mississippi "Kiver wa: 

 which flows into it througl 

 rains at its headwaters. Thi 

 rapids for a mile or more frt 

 ing close to Ihe shallow short 

 aged, after a long pull and stick 

 get into the broad waters of OldHiver in comparatively dead 

 water. But for the life of the fireman, with all the advice 

 he got from the pilot, he could net get up steam enough to 

 talk about. I think about this time the maximum was 

 twenty-seven. Now, I would like to know if one going 

 a-duckingiua steam vessel, with big expectations, would 

 not feel discouraged at twenty -seven pounds of steam ? A 

 cold north wind began blowing, bringing with it a nasty 

 rain, and the crew began to get wet. \Ve could not run with 

 the curtains down, as the wind being dead ahead and our 

 motive power light, we would have been blown down the 

 back track and into the Mississippi. So, running up to a 

 big snag, wc lied up, put on our rubbers, accumulated 

 some steam aud plowed away again. In an hour 

 or so we sighted the tow-head, through the rain and 

 mist, about three. miles away, but after Earning and fretting 

 for an hour or more, and the steam dropping down to 15, 

 we conducted to cast, anchor for the night two miles below 

 the tow-head and hold n council of war. Hero we had been 

 out from home nearly six hours and made only twelve miles. 



