34 
FOREST AND STREAM 
he grass, it does not appear that, her sense of smell is af¬ 
fected very much hy the dead turd. I advanced, and as it 
arose bowled it over, “.Fetch, Kate," and the noble little 
bitch—a worthy daughter of my old favorite—brought in 
the one she held in her mouth, and then dashed back and 
retrieved the others. Old Kate, her dam. in her prime, 
■was the equal, if not the superior, of any dog I ever snw, 
excepting her grandfather, old Frank, who died ten years 
ago. They are pure native American stock, having been 
bred with the utmost care in my kennel for over a quarter 
of a century. I have never sold one of my puppies, and 
nm not advertising my stock; but I do candidly believe 
that for intelligence, beauty, nose aod endurance, my breed 
of pointers are equal, if not superior, to any sporting dogs, 
seller or pointer, on this nr any other continent. And 1 do 
not know of a real first-class pointer in North Mississippi 
or West Tennessee that does not boast, of a strain from my 
kennel. I see in tbe pedigree ot Mr. Arthur Wheatley’s 
Lilly, whose portrait illustrated the 23u of December num¬ 
ber of the Forest and Stream, claims a progenitor in a 
dog called Morgan from my kennel. Although digressing 
somewhat, I must here tell a joke on my friend “Guido,” 
of Memphis, who has some dogs that have borne off prizes 
in dog shows. 
He carried out four of the best Memphis could produce 
to hunt against our mutual friend Dr. A. F. McKinney, of 
Germantown, Tenn., who has a pointer named Lee, bred in 
my kennel, and one I did not prize as above ordinary, as 
compared with others of my stock; and Lee beat- the entire 
quartette of Guido’s, finding seven out of eight coveys of 
partridges lor grouse), surpassing all competitors in speed, 
endurance, and nose. Old Kate is now useless for hunting 
purposes, owing to an injury received from the kick; of a 
horse, which fractured her nose. Dr. McKinney has her 
now to breed for himself and his Memphis friends. Look 
out for these puppies in the Bench Show at Memphis next 
• full and in future field trials. 
Excuse me, Messis. Editors, for this long digression on 
my favorites; but the pointer is one of my hobbies, and 
after years of experience will) both setter and pointer, I 
must give the preference to the pointer for southern cli- 
ni ues. We have very warm days here all through the 
wiuier, especially in the early fall and later in the winter, 
in which the seller soon knocks up, and in hunting over 
our prairies in long, dry seasons the setter will give out lor 
warn of water when the pointer is but little incommoded 
by thirst. I would not disparage the setter by an invidious 
comparison. lie is'good in his place—superior to the 
pointer in very cold and wet weather, as the pointer is to 
the seller in hot and dry weather. But as lliave wandered 
so far from my text I will close my hunt with Guyon, aud 
tell you of our visit at oight to Mary. Kind reader, do 
you wonder what Old Pious is tip to, and lie a married 
man, grim and gray, from exposures of war, wild sports 
in the field, aud, Guyon might maliciously add, some 
“early pieties” in visiting a fair youug damsel wilhsosweet 
a name. 
••Art shon named Mary, maiden fair? 
:*neli bhould. inethinka, its nmeic be, 
TJih sweetest name* ihut mortals bear 
Were butt belitting thee. 
And ebe to whom it once was given, 
Wushalf of earth and. naif of heaven.” 
Gentle reader, Mary is the name given to the Comman- 
dery of Kniglus Templar, of which noble Order Guyon 
and myself have the honor to bear the Red Cross, with its 
motto "la Hoc Signo Vinces and to our courteous Sir 
Knight Guyon ar,d the noble Knights of Mary Comman¬ 
der v, not forgetting Wheallhy, Bryson, and Tytus, of the 
Memphis spoi ls, whose courtesies are gratefully remem¬ 
bered, X would send a greeting with a sixth libation from 
Pious Jerks. 
lockinvar, Miss., Jan. 4th, 1876. 
For Forest and Stream. 
SOME DESCRIPTIONS OF HANOVER 
TOWNSHIP, MORRIS CO, N. J. 
I FANCY some will say, “Why, that place is not worthy 
uf note.” But we, with equal earnestness exclaim, 
“Ho! all ye lovers of nature, ye fiunters and fishers; if ye 
wish for enjoyment,, come hither." Bootiton is northwest 
of us, aud who is there that has not heard of the town of 
Bocmton, so lamed for its great iron works? It is truly 
set upuu a hill ami cannot be hid. The iron works were 
built iu 1830 aud have beeo greatly improved upon siDce. 
The Roekaway river runs through the towu at the south¬ 
west, and forms a cascade of about thirty feet fall. In 
this vicinity the scenery is exceedingly picturesque. The 
river is both useful and beautiful, tor it furnisltes all the 
water power for the manufactories. The iron is brought 
in i's crude state from the mines, which are numerous in 
the mouutaius north of us. Morris, the only city our 
county contains, is directly south of us, and is not tins 
place worthy of note? As we enter it from llie south one 
ot the first uolldiugs that attracts the eye is the great white 
mansion that Washington made his headquarters in the 
winter of 1779 80. It is liuiy an elegant little city; its in¬ 
habitants are wealthy, and for the most part its churches, 
dwellings, and stores are handsome and tasty. Now, let 
us speak particularly of our own township, which is 
lliouriu to be the earliest settlement iu what is now Morris 
county. As we have said, it has an urea of about sixteen 
equate miles. Wehave Booulou on the northwest, but the 
Roekaway river forms most of our northern boundary. On 
tire east we have the famous Passaic Ur divide us from Es¬ 
sex couniy, aud this river, the largest aud most circuitous 
in our cute, takes its rise iu the highlands of this couniy. 
Kocsaway township is ou our west, aud as we have said 
uu rve, Morris city is directly south of us. Wllippany river 
fio ,vs through me township, taking a northeasterly direc¬ 
tum audits little tributary, the Parsippany, rises iu the 
niuumams in Llie western part of the townsnip, aud flows 
directly cast to empty its waters into the stream above 
named, about a mile and a quarter from its mouth. Now, 
wuai is singular and beautiful, these rivers all meet and 
uuile like dear friends. The PaBsaic receives the waters 
from them all, but many a pretty little freak is cut by 
them before this great uuion. We shall soon show yon that 
tuese four rivers are the most neighborly streams you have 
sjr u. F.rsi, the Little Parsippany, which is only ten miles 
ion* 1 flows itiit) toe \V (lippany in the northeastern part of 
tlieTownslilp; then the Whippany, after flowing about a 
mile and a quarter luriber nmtoward, empties into the 
Witching Roekaway; tlte latter receives all, an^i hurries 
along for the space of a mile, forming many curves and 
nooks, which are picturesque enough. It gracefully delves 
up the water to the grand old Passaic, who needs it, for it 
has in all seventy miles to travel and wants plenty of water 
to dash over the falls at Paterson and Little Palis, and also 
plenty to carry its steamers and do other arduous work. 
The Passaic and these, some of its tributaries, overflow 
their banks in wet seasons in our township and elsewhere. 
The land is so flat that in Hanover alone we have some 
thousands of acres that are frequently inuundated. This 
forms what is called the natural meadow, and great crops 
of hay are yeariy cut therefrom, and the farmer depends 
greatly upon this crop. Now, in cousequence of these many 
rivers the country abounds in game, and is rich with beau¬ 
tiful scenery. A sail on the Roekaway is lovely. It is, to 
our mind, the most beautiful river of the four; its banks 
are delightfully high, covered with soft, velvety grass, and 
shaded in many places with groves of majestic forest trees, 
its course is very irregular, and it turns and winds most 
bewitchingly. Its waters are clear and deep, its current 
exceedinglyswift, and there are places where this river is 
obliged to find its way among rocks and stone, which lie 
in its bed. These spots are some of tbe most picturesque 
we liaveever seen, for the rocks appear above the surface 
and the river picks its way among them like a maid with 
dainty feet. The Passaic, in oar vieiuily, has not as swift 
allow; it, is rather sluggish, but there are spots where its 
banks are also clothed with beauty. Tbe Whippany— 
when we speak of this stream we bring in its faults reluc¬ 
tantly, for does not our own farm border on this river? and 
we look with partial eyes on whatever we hold most dear. 
It is honored in that it flows through Morris city. It takes 
a northeasterly direction riom its source, and flows through 
Morris and Wbippauy, thus far being made exceedingly 
useful aud not at all lacking in beauty. Its water turns 
grist, mills, cotton and paper mills, and no doubt does other 
useful work; but from Whippany the stream flows iu a 
lazy, sluggish manner, the current being almost impercept¬ 
ible; it flows through the natural meadow, and passes on 
our own little peninsula on the west, Hanover Neck dividing 
us from Roekaway Neck. By-the-way, these rivers form 
Decks of land iu ’their vicinity, and we have the two men¬ 
tioned above aud others that we will not at present name. 
But to return to "our river,” as we are wont to call the 
above. We must confess that, except in times of freshet, 
it is here hardly deserving the name of river, aud friends 
sometimes iu u’erision call it a creek, a brook, aud even a 
pond. The bauks are weedy aud marshy, so of course in 
no ways beautiful; but when "the heavy rains fill it to over¬ 
flowing wo have a river, aud assure you it is at such times 
almost a half mile in width. These streams all abound in 
flsh, and as good fish as can be expected for fresh water 
growth. We have the pickerel, pike, catfish, eels, and 
others. At one lime there were sixty-six bushels of these 
varieties taken from the Passaic in this vicinity. 
The hunting is tine; in early spriugweliave the snipe, 
It hides among the reeds and pokes its long, sensitive bill 
in Lhe mud and marshes to find the insects and worms. Oil! 
how our sportsmen delight in the snipe shooting. One 
reason lor this is, the dilheult matter it is to become expert 
at the business. The gunner has to guess instinctively 
when and where ho shall shoot, being especially careful 
not to aim where the "bird is, but where it is to be. We 
have not only several species that are erroneously called 
snipe, but the real genuine English snipe. Before tbe snipe 
season commences the ducks begin to claim attention, aud 
these streams are frequented by tbe large black duck, the 
teal, cauvas-back, (rather scarce), wood duck, widgeon, and 
others. These make the spring time lively. July com¬ 
mences woodcock hunting, for in summer these birds come 
to the wet banks of the rivers and marshes near. We do 
not have them now in abundance, but the sport-men are 
in great abundance, and the sport often quite exciting, and 
happy the tuau who carries away ten or a dozen of these 
truly’delicious birds. Again in the fall we have lliosuipcand 
ducks, a few woodcock, and a few quail. Now, we have 
only mentioned the principal game birds; there are others 
that arc; often thought worth hunting, hut we do not con¬ 
sider them worthy of notice here. Occasionally flocks of 
wild geese fly near enough to cause an excitement, and 
sometimes they lose they lives for their presumption. Pig¬ 
eons are at times quite plenty. Perhaps as often as annu¬ 
ally we have a vibtt fiom gome wandering bald-headed 
eagle, and such wanderers generally lose llieir lives, lor 
what gunner could or would resist the temptation of a shot 
at the king of birds and our national symbol? In the win¬ 
ter, when the sportsmen are especially dry for sport, we 
have kuown them to have a rabbit chase, aod these little 
animals are plenty enough in our midst. We not only 
have game and flsh, but fur. The muskrats have been so 
plenty here that to shoot sixty in a day was considered 
only an ordinary day’s work; they are scarce now in com¬ 
parison, but still hundreds are shot every winter. Many a 
mink skin has no doubt been paraded in Fifth avenue that 
grew hereabouts. But were I to mention the different 
kinds of fur procured here, it might provoke a smile from 
some one who at present has his thoughts only on seal skin; 
but there are a great many skins sold from these parts, and 
the fur hunting fever often runs so high that even the 
glossy black cat has to scamper for her life or lose her 
pretty hide. 
We would know that the Indians once dwelt here were 
history silent upon the subject, for the signs are unmis¬ 
takable- Indian arrows are often ploughed up, sometimes 
a hatchet, or tomahawk, aud other tools. And on our own 
farm there is said to be an Indian grave. We have read 
that it was customary with the Indians of Jersey to put 
family utensils, bows and arrows, and sometimes wampus 
into the graves of their friends. Some of these articles 
mentioned were, we believe, found in Lhe said grave which 
was discovered in ploughing or digging. Along the banks 
of the river, and in these groves, has the poor red m an 
Jived and hnnted, aud the little Indian canoes have sped 
along the waters upon which we now sail. The ill-fated 
Alexander Hamilton, who fell in 1804, in a duel fought 
with Vice President Burr, is said to have paid many a visit 
to these meadows aud groves for the express purpose of 
hunting. 
Aud now, friends, we think what we have written is 
enough to show you that Morris county, and Hanover town¬ 
ship are worthy to be noticed in Forest and Stream. 
—The wild pigeon, it is reported by knowing farresters, 
will be plenty in the Pennsylvania woodlands the coming 
season, on account ot a talr promise of the beech-nut aud 
mast crops upon which the birds feed. 
For Forest and Stream. 
FOX-HUNTING. 
Y ES, Ido know something about fox-hunting. More 
than I did, though I don’t believe the experience 
quite paid for the trouble of obtaining it. At Greenbrier, 
North Carolina, in the winter of 1870, I was of course 
acquainted with the whole town. I could shoot well 
upon the wing, and, another thihg of greater importance 
toward winning the respect of my uew acquaint¬ 
ances, was a sure shot with the revolver. In spile of 
my position as a "carpet bag” Judge, they were all very 
friendly to me, and very willing to do anything possible 
for my amusement. They were all enthusiastic fox-hunt¬ 
ers, and they had a pack of hounds whose noses were 
marvels of accuracy. Reynard might double and twist 
his prettiest, but he’ was certainly a gone fox when that 
pack opened on Jiitn. They often entertained me with 
glowing accounts of the fine runs they had, always urging 
me to accompany them next lime. At length, carried 
away by repeated solicitations, 1 began to believe there 
must, be something in it, aud expressed my willingness to 
go, only 1 bad no horse. They said they would fie only 
too glad to provide me, and the next morning early a small 
darkey brought me over a big jackass, with a note from 
“ntassa” advising me of the place and time of meeting — 
the time being as soon as I could get there; they were 
waiting for me. I had hut one suit of clothes aud a plug 
hat, and donning these I rode over to Mr. H.’s, where! 
found the party all ready, and anxious to be off. They 
gave me a small brass horn, With instructions when the 
dogs got after a fox to keep as near them as possible, and 
whenever I viewed them that I must blow my horn to spur 
on the pack, and as a signal to the rest. Before long the 
dogs made game and dished off, we all following alter as 
fast as we could go. My jackass was ns good as the best, 
and the way we smashed through the brush and briars was 
a caution. Onoe in a while 1 caught sight of the pack, 
aud then, of oaurse, I blew my horu and hied them on, as 
did every other man near me. The baying of the hounds | 
was right royal, aud though I had lost my hat at the first 
rush, aud now had a handkerchief tied around my head, I 
the excitement was glorious, turd 1 made up my mind that 
riding after a fox, even upon a jackass, was something io 
live tor. There were now three of us ahead, aud as we 
came to a sluggish creek the horses .of my companions 
went over witli a bound. 1 came up to it with an extra 
dash, expecting that my steed would iollow suit; out in¬ 
stead lie slopped stock still upon the brink, as though 
struck by lightning. 1 didn’t, do anything of the kind, Out 
kept right on straight over his head, landing flat iu the 
black mud of the farther side. 1 scrambled out the best 
way I could, and scraped myself off with a slick, thor¬ 
oughly disgusted with fox-hunting, especially upon jack¬ 
asses. The long-eared animal had left for home, aud, 
having no alternative, I sadly and soberly followed after. 
In the evening several uf the fox-hunters came to see 
me. They had had a fine run— a glorious run— and had 
caught the fox some four miles beyond wheie 1 had met , 
with my mishap. Their enthusiasm interested me in spite , 
of myself; besides, 1 did not like to give up beaten. If 
there was so much in foxhunting I was bound to see it, 
As good luck would have it, the next week I had an 
opportunity to purchase a fine horse. The price was well 
up, but there was no doubt about his excellent qualities, 
which were more than confirmed upon trial. I also bought 
me a horn of my own, aud made up my mind that i would I 
show them that 1 could ride, aud keep ahead, aud if one 
horse wouldn’t do it I would gel a span. At the nexL meet 
I was on hand in good time. The weather had been ruiuy 
for the last two uays, and though the ground was some¬ 
what sticky, the scent would lie splendidly. There were 
twelve of us, and we set off in high spirits.. Three miles 
out of town the dogs struck a scent, and rushed away as 
usual, we all alter them as well as we could. Through 
the fields aud the thickets, and the rail fences and the mud 
holes, we love along, the old horse taking everything with¬ 
out a pause. 1 had run my companions out of sight, aud 
could hear tlte hounds ahead discoursing wliat they cull 
“sweet music" in large quantities- Soon I came up near 
them, so 1 blew my horn aud hied them on, excited with) 
the speed aud the dash. I wound up with a hurrah that 
mii>ht have been heard a mile. The fox was evidently 
near at hand, and I blew my horn and hied them on every 
time i had the breath to spare. Belore long we came out 
into a clearing. The honutls dashed through a line cab¬ 
bage patch, and I close alter them, trampling dowD all lhe 
cabbages except one, aud brought up all of a sudden by a 
small lug cabin, the pack circling around, apparently at 
fault. As I rode up, blowing my born, a man came to tbe 
door. 1 inquired hastily if he hud seen the fox go by. 
“Fox be hanged!” replied he, "your hounds have been 
hunting my old yaller dog till he is almost dead; he is now 
under the bed.” I drew off my forces us quietly as I 
could, 'flte man, not knowing the condition of his cul>- 
ba-j-es, was very civil, and directed me what couise i 
should lake to get home, where I was bound to go as soon 
as possible, or course I hail to take tlte fox-hounds with 
me, and 1 had no end of bother keeping them together. 
So we went about a mile, when all at once, at right angles 
willt the road, away went three or four of the leaders, and 
the rest after them. Here was a fox seem for sure, and, 
catching the enthusiasm, 1 leaped my horse over the old 
rail fence, blew my horu, and hied on the dogs, Siraighl 
into the woods the trail lc-d, aud stmigUt into Die woods 
went we ail, the dogs baying like mad, and 1 hieing Ihelil 
on aud blowing lay horn. Twenty rods more aud uf 
flapped a stray turkey; perhaps it was a wild one, but wt 
were hunting foxes, ami savagely I called off the dogs 
Which bad surrounded the Iree in which the turkey sat, 
and each individual fox hound .appeared determined ti 
climb it. I laid into them w ith my riding-whip until my 
arm was tired, aud slowly Jed them oat of the woods 
IV hen I struck the road it did not seem to be the same roai 
1 bad left at all. I hadn’t heard a sound from my Uicud 
for more than two hours, and I was somewhat anxious ii 
regard to my whereabouts. The dogs were very uneasy 
but my savage manner awed them, the eounliy becum 
more hilly and broken, and all at once, quick as a flash 
off went the whole pack in full try again. Here was 
fox aud do mistake. 1 inwardly begged pardon ot lb 
docs, as 1 knew that they were all tired out; but here, upu 
a buna fide scent, they started off as fresh as uew, 1 blei 
my hom and hied them on, being bound lo catch this to 
aud go into town with his brush in my cap. Away wev» 
the pack With eolith willingness, and my noble old hort« 
