THE AMERICAN SPORTSMAN'S JOURNAL. 



Entered According to Act of Congress, In the year issi, by the Forest and Stream Publishing Company, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.; 



Six r»r»'*. Si. Tin 



NEW YORK, THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 1881. 



rr. New York 



CONTENTS. 



EDTTOTtTAt, : 



The R .bin's Wand Clnb ; A Canoe Voyage: No Life in Me- 

 teorites; The American Association Meeting; Coney 



'■'!""] . N«.i V..I-I. I", i, - ..,uo.ii^,i.Mi ■'(- 



Gulden Opinions 36i 



Natcbal Hiktobv: — 

 The FUh Mortality in the Gulf : Spring Notes from Nova 

 Scotia ; A. Mother's Courage : Strange Crabs of Mauritius ; 

 How a Partridge Leaves Her Nest; A Curiously Marked 



Buffalo see 



Game Bag and Gun :— 



Habits of Deer and How to Hunt Them : The Gaston Club ; 

 A Dunk Shoot on the Wabash i The Infsmv of the Cat 

 Laid Eire ; Phila'lelphiaNoles; TheNewYork Game Law ; 

 The Michigan Game Law: Game Notes; Measuring Gun 

 Stocks 368 



Sea anp River Fishixo :— 



Our First Fish of the Season : The Fly-Casting Tourna- 

 ment : Buss that Refuse the Fly ; Bass Fishing in Ken- 

 tucky ; Notes of Fishing 370 



Tb-e Spoiltkman Totjbist :— 

 Notes of an Angler tn the North, No. 2 : The Land of the 

 Bionx; Catching Wild Horses in Mexico; winous Point 

 CI ub 365 



Fish Ccltcbk : — 



The First American Fishculturist ; Report of the California 

 Commission; Gill-Nets in the Cod Fishery: Land-Locked 



Salmon in Connecticut ; What Shall Wo Stock With ? 371 



The Kennel :— 



Blaok Spaniels; The Cocker Standard : How to Nurse Sick 

 Dogs ; Are There Two Champion Elchos ? Notes 372 



Rifle and Trap Shooting :— 

 Range and Gallery ; Tire Trap 371 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



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 Instruction and Information between American sportsmen. 



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 are Invited from every part of the country. 



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 ents. 



All communications of whatever nature should be addressed to the 

 Forest and stream Publishing Company, Nos. S9 and 40 Park Row, 

 New York. 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



Thursday, June 9. 



Fkom our valued correspondent, Gen. E. W. Rce, of Ari- 

 zona we learn ihat lie miners and s ockmen of Catalinn, in 

 that Territoiy, Ivive combined to suppress the vanda'isra of 

 the tramps and vagabonds, and wi'h ttv se ou'.laws they put 

 t e scoundrels who slio it ihest'ing quail and ihepregniit 

 dor. A committee of ihe ci'iz ns i.nnrunce through the 

 press that they mean >o protect their property, and they also 

 demand a vigo 1 ous enforcemi nt of the game laws. It is evi- 

 de c ■ of s healthy public sentiment when gime bu ch<-rs a>e 

 clas*id»here ibeybel ng — with tramps and vandals. By 

 t l iis movempn', wh ; ch we lake much pha'ure in recording, 

 the people of Cat dina. Arizona, have shown themselves to 

 have a higher apprecia'ion of decency in resi ect lo the cap- 

 ture of breeding game lh.au can be cla : med by many nptthelic 

 communttiB f the older Sates. On 'hs eastern side of the 

 Rockv Mountsi'S the cilizns of Catilina might without 

 difflculy find num rous benighted regions in which is ample 

 room for home missionary off <rt. 



The Hunting Cabs of the Pullman Palace Car Company 

 have become so popular that the demand for them far exceeds 

 the supply. Last season the applications for these cars were 

 more numerous than ever before, and we presume that for 

 the coming fall the effort to secure them will be equally 

 great. Wo understand that the Davy Crocke t and Izank 

 Waiton have been thoroughly overhauled and renovated 

 since last season, so that they will now be more comfortable 

 than ever. 



Direct Communication between all the standard dealers 

 in sportsmen's goods and purchasers of the same goods is 

 established by means of our adverlising columns. The 

 pages devoted to this kind of i'tformatiou are well worth 

 careful reading; everything that the sportsman needs can be 

 obtained by communicating with the Anns there represented. 



THE ROBIN'S ISLAND CLUB. 



TI1E little island, which has acquired prominence as the 

 scene of the Easte'n Field Trials, lias just passed into 

 the possession of a club of twenty New York gentlemen, 

 which is styled the Ro' in's Island Club. The officers of the 

 club are: President, Win. K Kendall; Vice-President, Dr. 

 J. Fleet Speir ; Secretary and Treasurer, Abrm. R. Boylis, 

 Jr. It is proposed to keep the preserve well stocked and 

 cared for. 



The new club have acquired a most desirable piece of 

 property. Robin's Island, of which a map was published in 

 our issue of December 2, 1880, divides Great Peconic Bay 

 from the little Peconic Bay and lies in the middle of the en- 

 trance to the former. The island lies nearly north by wes' 

 and south by east and is a mile and three-quarters long, but a 

 large portion of this length is due to the narrow sand spits 

 which extend to the northward and southward from the main 

 body of the island. It is of moderate height and grassy, be- 

 ing des itute of trees, but stunted scrub oak thickets cover 

 the crowns of the hills that rise from ihe centre of the island 

 and extend to the southward. From the water the island 

 shows steep faces from ten to forty feet, high on all sides save 

 to the northward. The soil is sandy aB a general thing, but 

 there are several clay pits toward the northwestern shore. 

 The extent is said to be about 5!10 acres, seventy-five pf 

 which are under cultivation. The vegetation is rank, and 

 the rolling hills to the north remind one of those near Reedy 

 Pond on Montauk Point. Salt waer grass and bay-berry 

 bushes, with a deal of nasty briers, form the frinci pal cover 

 and make it a hard place for youngsters to run, indeed, a 

 strong lusty dog finds hi3 work cir out for him to make any 

 kind of speed. But there is a large portion of the is'and to 

 the westward where dogs can be speeded on the rolling hills 

 and where they can be seen at all times. 



It was geuerally understood that t he Eastern Field Trials 

 Club were intending to purchase the island for their annual 

 trials. The change of ownership will not, however, we pre- 

 sume, interfere with the successful running of the trials. 

 On this point Dr. Speir writes to us: "Being myself the 

 originator of ihe club I have kept constantly before the 

 members the interests of the 'Eastern Field Trials,' and I 

 think I can safely say that every courtesy will be extended 

 to them. Anything I can do to advance the interests of the 

 Field Trials I shall do with the grealest pleasure." 



A CANOE VOYAGE OF GEOGRAPHICAL 

 STUDY AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH. 



TWO gentlemen, members of the American Canoe Asso- 

 sociation and of this Like George Cnnot Ciub, »ill 

 s'art from Like George at the close of the August meeting, 

 for a canoe voyage of sore twelve thousand miles. They 

 will go down Lake George to old Fort Ticonder- ga, through 

 the neck of Lake Champlain to Whitehall, thenoe through 

 the Champlain Canal to Troy, fo'Iowing the Erie Cattal to 

 Buffalo, th 1 nee Lake Eie to- city of Erie, and thence via 

 canal to Allegheny River to Pitts'uirg. From the latter city 

 they will f How the Ohio river to its jm ction with the Miss- 

 issippi at Cairo. They will go d >wn the big river as far as 

 Point Breeze or Turnbub's Island, 'hen takme AtchafaLyo 

 Bayou will foil w it into bay of same name on Gull of Mexic •. 

 Up t" this point the trp has beeu s'mply a passage. Now 

 the genuine work wi 1 commence. The coast of this part 

 of the Gulf is comparative y unknown. Cote Blanche 

 Bay, Vermillion Bay, the Mermentin River and lake of same 

 name will receive some attention. Ca'cassien Lake and 

 River visited, they will paddle to Sabine Fass, through the 

 pass to Sabine Lake. The Sabine It ver will b>; explored as 

 f r as time wil' allow, and then away f r Galveston, Texas. 

 I he bays and watet course s 1 ere are a i well known„that no- 

 thing but. a passing glance will he given them. Below Gal- 

 veston conies West Buy, San L uisPass, and ihen some forly 

 miles of open coast. A short porage will la'e ih'in into 

 Ma agorda Bay, wlien they will have a clear inland roue to 

 Point Isa'el at the mouth of the Ro Grande River. From 

 the latter p lint there will be an uninterrupted opportunity to 

 study, not fiom books, but from nature herself. The mute 

 from this out abounds in interest to the student— rare birds, 

 unknown plant*, beau ilul shells, specimens of coral, many- 

 hued flowers, and a thousand and one things to see, admire 



and study. Fol'owing a'ong the coa=t to Gulf of Tamp che, 

 and around to TJxmal River— asc nding this river about fifty 

 mill s will bring them ne>.r to the famous Uxmal niius, which, 

 were probably ruins before the Pyramids were built — an und 

 Cape t'atoche, past the Island of C zunel at d into ihe Bay 

 of Honduras. Vi-iting the principal of ihe Bay Is ands, they 

 w II now go on again, around Cape Cameron, past Segovia 

 River, through Ihat wonderful collection of coral reefs and 

 keys th-»i belt ihe Mosquito Coa>t. San Juan de Nicaragua is 

 passed, and Chagres is looked over; Caragena and Point 

 Gallinas are passed, and then comes a perfect network of 

 ilands, coral reefs, etc., etc , as far as the Is'and of Trinidad. 

 Here the voyagers will bid farewell to the c ntinent for 

 awhile, and follow up the chain of the Caribbee Islands as far 

 as Havana, Cuba, when they will strike off across ihe Gulf 

 Stream to the Flo ida reefs, and home by the Atlantic coa-t, 

 expecting to reach their starting point some time in August, 

 1882. The entire voyage wi 1 be made in a double canoe, 16 

 ft et long, 82 inches beam. 14 inch's deep. There is noslnnd- 

 pont from which to observe natu'e so favorable as ihe cock- 

 pit of a ca oe, a- d these gentlemen are disposed to test Ibis 

 fact to the utmost. AVhi'e on the trip they will be entirely 

 dep'-nd'-nt on their own i xertions, and tte voyage from start 

 to finish w 11 be made by canoe alone. There will be, prob- 

 ably, a large and enthusiasts gathering of canoeists to wish 

 them bon vynge&t the start, and a larger one to welcome 

 them home in 1882. 



NO LIFE IN METEORITES. 



AN account is now going the rounds of the daily papers 

 to the effect that traces of organic life have been found 

 in meteorites, and that hence the other members of the solar 

 system are inhabited by living beings. The following ex- 

 tract from the London Teh graph gives the substance of the 

 supposed discovery, and we quote it as follows: — 



Two interesting problems, which have long perplexed the scien- 

 tific world, appear to have beeu at lust definitely solved by the 

 eminent geologist, Dr. Halm. These questions are, lirt.t, whether 

 or not celestial bodies, other than Ihe earth, belonging to our solar 

 system, are inhabited by animate beings; and, secondly, whether the 

 meteoric stones from time to time cast upon the surface of tLL globe 

 emanate from incandescent comets or from volcanic planets. That 

 they at no time formed a part of the earth itself has been con- 

 clusively demonstrated. Dr. Hahu baa recently completed a series 

 of investigations upon some of the huge meteoric stones that fell 

 from the skies in Hnugary during the summer of I860, 'ihla 

 laminse of these mysterious bodies, subjected to examination un- 

 der a powerful microscope, have been found to contain coralline 

 and spongeous formations, and to reveal unmistakable traces of 

 the lower forms of vegetation. All the organisms, animal and 

 vegetable, discovered by Dr. Iluhn ui the delieate stone thavinga 

 ho has thus dealt with indicate the coiiditi )u of their parent world 

 to be oue of what is technically termed "primary formation." But 

 the presence of water in that world is proved by the fact thattha 

 tiny petrified creatures revealed by the magic of the lens, one and 

 all, belong to the so-called subaqueous classes of animals. They 

 could not, therefore, have possibly existed in comets, at lenat if 

 the assumption be correct that these are in a btate of active com- 

 bustion. 



This supposed discovery, about which such a pother has 

 been raised, is no discovery at all, and the work of Dr. Hahn 

 merely shows how utterly he has misconceived the character 

 of the material which he has studied. The plates of his vol- 

 ume are beautiful, but they only serve to illustrate ihe min- 

 eralogical nature of the mate ial Wha' he has supposed to 

 represent coralline and spongiform organisms are in fact only 

 concretionary forms which the common mil erals of meteor- 

 ites often take These forms are well understood by mineral- 

 ogists, have long since been described and are to be seen in 

 nearly all the stony meteorites. 



While we know that there are other worlds 'ban ours, and 

 while it is possible Ihat they may support life in some form 

 or other, there is, we believe, as yet no evidence whatever 

 that this is the case. 



Somewhat on the same level with this meteorite story is 

 the one recently published by a San Francisco paper with 

 regard to the enormous magnifying power of a large telescope 

 in California. It was said that when the telescope was di- 

 rected toward the planet Mars, the whole topography of one 

 face of that orb could be distintly seen. Rivers, seas, lakes 

 and forests were plainly distinguishable, even cultivated 

 fields were known by their shape and color, rectangular ob- 



