FOREST AND STREAM 
25 
protected from July 1st to September 35th; deer from 
January 1st to September 1st, and rang and insectivorous 
birds tit all limes. The other regulations, regarding bat¬ 
teries, trespass, and Sunday shooting, are similar to those 
in force in this Stale, 
Fish and Game in Oneida County. — Under the Act 
■which permits the Boards of Supervisors of counties to 
pas9 regulations regarding the protection of fish and game 
within their limits, the Supervisors of Oneida county have 
prohibited the shooting of woodcock before the first of Sep¬ 
tember; a capital ordinance, and one that we should like to 
see made a State law, They have also prohibited the 
catching of trout by any means for periods varying from 
three to five years in certain streams. 
Broome County, — A law is now in force in this county 
Which works some good. If positively prohibits I ho sale 
of game of every description, whether in or out of season 
within the limits of the county. This takes away* from 
farmer’s boys a great inducement to snare grouse, as they 
have no convenient market for their disposal. 
New York City. — The usual monthly meeting of the 
Nefr York Association for the Protection of Game was 
held last Monday at the residence of Hon. Robert B. Roose¬ 
velt, Vice-President of the society, Ho. 20 Bast Twentieth 
street. The chair was occupied, by Mr. Royal Phelps, 
President, and a large number of members were in attend¬ 
ance. After the rending of the minutes of the last meet¬ 
ing, Ilia President read a long list of communications re¬ 
ceived during the past months from the Middle and Western 
Slates. The majority were from the organizers of newly 
formed protective associations, modeled after the New 
York society, requesting copies of game laws, by laws, 
and t-Uch other information as they most needed. Several 
gratifying testimonials to the. valuable services performed 
by the association in'pfbleciing game in New York, aud 
the commendable mauuer in which its example was being 
followed by other States were also reud and placed on file. 
Mr. Roosevelt said that be had invited the Assembly Com¬ 
mittee od Game Laws to attend the meeting. Mr. Sher¬ 
man, the Chairman, had replied, regretting their inability 
to lie present, but. requesting the association to put itself 
in communication with his committee. Mr. Lmlington, on 
behalf of the Committee on Amendments to the Game 
Laws, stared that the bill forwarded by Hie association had 
been introduced in the Senate by Mr. ICennaduy, and the 
Chairman of the Committe on Internal Affairs had promised 
the latter to report it. The reports of various other com¬ 
mittees were then presented, and the hill of Mr. 0. E. 
Whiteside, senior counsel, for services performed during 
the past year, amounting to ip,517.62, and that, of Mr. Cuth- 
bert, junior counsel, for $166, Were ordered to be paid. 
Mr. Allred W. Craven staled that lie had promised some 
Washington Market game dealers to present their views to 
the association in relation to the sale of venison. They 
propose that deer be killed in November and December 
only, and sold up to March 1st, instead of February 1st, 
as now. They complained that they were unable to dis¬ 
pose of the game within the prescribed time, as venison 
had scarcely more than begun to come iu when the season 
for ils sate expired, In addition, they claimed to be un¬ 
able to dispose of the vast quantities of venison coming in 
from the West during the month of January. Counsel for 
flic association was of the opinion that it would bo im¬ 
possible to pass any law preventing the killing of deer in 
September and October, their being among the members of 
the Legislature too many sportsmen who went shooliDg in 
these months. As to extending the sale of game to March 
1st, he thought it- would be impracticable, for the reason 
that often the game would not keep. Most of the late 
game, to be sure, caine from the Wesi, but it that were al¬ 
lowed to be sold here, they could not protect their owu 
game. Besides, the sale of frozen game late in the season 
was very unhealthy. It was first frozen for a month, then 
thawed for a similar period, aud, should it be sold iu that 
couditiotl iu our warm spring days, it would be anything 
but healthy food. As it was, the greater portion of it was 
only kept from becoming prulrid by being cooked up witli 
spices, in which condition it was served in the restaurants 
of this city. The same remarks applied to frozen fish, the 
fat of Which, under the thawing process, became decom¬ 
posed and destroyed the flavor, so that after being frozen 
for any length of lime the choicest fish lost its flavor, and 
became no oetter than the poorest. Their game laws, lie 
thought, were so nearly perfect now that it would he dif¬ 
ficult to improve them, and he should therefore vote 
against any change, Mr. Phelps also opposed any conces¬ 
sions to dealers, or change in the game Jaws, and the mat¬ 
ter was dropped. The resignation of Goveineur Morris, 
Jr., was accepted, and the meeting adjourned. The mem¬ 
bers were subsequently entertained at supper by Mr. Roose¬ 
velt . — limes 
K Toronto, Feb. otb, 1370. 
Editor Forest akd Stream:— 
Tuis 5F tor norm ever-Vteleomo Foxiest and Stream, of the 8d insl. ar¬ 
rived, and I find iu it s im article oh ‘‘Proviiiclui Associations for Caa- 
ShUV’ W wh ch mention is made of our association, just formed in To¬ 
ronto. The writer of tile above mentioned article is in error, and 1 trust 
you will allow me to explain to j’OD, ami l&rout'U your columns to your 
many readers in Canada, the origin M object of our association. 
"We Wave a game law hero—not by any mean* a perfect one, and I re¬ 
gret to feay that, in the majority of places in Ontario, it is a dead letter, 
There are several; Game aud Fish Protective Associations in Ontario, 
scattered through the Province, but r.hcy experience great difficulty in 
procuring convidioms, owing to the fuct that it is next to impossible to 
Induce a man 10 inform on his neighbor, owing to the ill feeling such 
information would produce, I thought an association might Ue formed 
here with mcmbei a from parts of the Province where at present no asso¬ 
ciations exist, and after consulting with some fellow sportsmen, 1 issued 
Circulars Lo some sixty gentlemen in Toronto, calling a meeting to con¬ 
sider the desirability of forming such an association. This meeting was 
hold on the Bih of December, and alJ preftwUt expressed them selves in 
favor of the idea, and resolved that il. would be desirable to foirn the 
association. A committee was appointed to draft rules and by-laws and 
to draft, a petition to tlm Legislature drying Lhe alteration Of the present 
game laws as regards (he close seasons lor certain kinds Of game. 
Onr association Is not a provincial one aud Was hoc intended to be one. 
We do noi think ihecountry is ready Tor a provincial association as a suf¬ 
ficient number of conntry associations do not at present exist. One of 
our objects is the encouragement of tiie formation of local associations, 
and when a number of these exist it will be time enough to form, a pro¬ 
vincial one. During the one month of onr existence we have Icdnced 
pome sportsmen to undertake the formation of an association at. Dar¬ 
lington, and we hope to be able to induce many more to do the same. 
Many of our members have expressed their willingness to inform ua of 
any infractions of the law that they may hear or. We can then appoint 
a man from the neighborhood where the offense was committed to work 
up the case, if we can obtain one; if not, a detective will be sent from 
here without costing a great deal, A counsel can be obtained inmost 
ernes from among our members in that locality who will not make us 
bankrupt by heavy fees. 
We regret that one association Bhould feel aggrieved that they were 
not consulted about our formation, but we do uot see in what way It 
concerns them, except that they, if they have the objects at heart which 
they profess to have, should feel pleased that anoLher association is 
formed to assist them in enforcing the laws. The petition which we 
have prepared embodies the following changes in the law:— 
The present law allows woodcock to be shot on nnd after the 1st of 
July. Wc propose that the close season be extended to the l*t of Sep¬ 
tember. The present law allows all ducks to be shot du or after the 15th 
of August, and also permits the killing of certain kinds of ducks, such 
ua rcd*hcads, blue-hills, and others, which are not supposed lo breed 
here, In the spring. We propose that the spring shorning of all kinds 
of ducks and snipe be prohibited, And that the close season be extended 
to the 1st of September. 
Thdse are the amendments which wc propose, and our petitions have 
been very largely signed by sportsmen from Windsor to the Ottawa. 
Some opposition has been offered to the clause which proposes the abo¬ 
lition of spiiiig duck shooting, mainly on the grounds that tba laws of 
your States bordering ou Canada make no provision for Lhe prevention 
of spring shooting. A very large number of ducks breed in Canada, 
and if they were not disturbed very many more w ould breed here, and 
our skuoliug in the fall, as well as the shooting iu Michigau and Now 
York, would be very much bimefitted. Snipe also breed hero, but the 
law allows them lo bo shot as lute as the 3Uih of April, and during the 
month of April they are laying their eggs and in many cases hatching 
out their young. 
Wc do not doubt from the encouragement we have received that onr 
proposed amendments will be carried, and then* if tho law is properly 
enforced, we Bball again have an abundant supply of gamo in Canada. 
Apologizing for occupying so much, of your valuable space, I remain, 
T. Herbert Marsh, 
Secretary and Treasurer Ontario Fish and Game Pro. Atsoc’n. 
FROM THE HEAD OF THE OHIO RIVER 
TO THE GULF OF MEXICO IN A 
BARNEGAT DUCK BOAT—2,153 MILES 
OUT. 
Editor Forest and Stream:— 
Having completed my geographical studies of the con¬ 
necting water conrses of the continent in Eastern North 
America (which I followed in a paper canoe weighing 
fifty-eight pounds) from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to Cedar 
Keys on the GulQof Mexico, during the season of 1874 and 
1875. 1 had a strong desire to pass the present winter in 
extending my investigations over the great river highway 
of the West, the Ohio and Mississippi Valleys, down to 
New Orleans; thence, (after making a shoit portage across 
that city), easterly to the point where I ended last season 
my long “voyage of the paper canoe,” at the mouth of the 
Suwanee river, Florida. 
The novel character of the paper canoe voyage had 
giyen such notoriety, through the papers, to my loneiy 
journey that I was frequently interrupted while hurrying 
southward along the interior waters of the Atlanlic coast 
by the generous and profuse hospitality of the Southern 
people, so that I ended my eunoe voyage of above two 
thousand five hundred miles, and entered upon the waters 
of the great Mexican gulf as late as April, 1875. 
To insure rapid, or Tatiier continuous traveling, I de¬ 
termined to give up my favorite paper canoe, which had 
carried me across the tidal currents of Hatteras, and more 
than thirty other ihlels of the ocean, and adopt the strong 
and secure home-like accommodations offered by the little 
Barnegat duck boat, or “sneak-box.” For forty years out 
wild fowl hunters on the New Jersey coast of Monmouth, 
Ocean, aud Burlington counties had been slowly perfecting 
this little craft. She, in the Centennial year, was all that 
could be desired—a novel boat, compact, light, Blrong, sea¬ 
worthy, and yet destitute of sheer. A fair rowing boat, a 
good sailer, and better than any other model for the size, 
a comfortable boat to live in, a safe and stiff boat to shoot 
from. George Bogart, a surf man, at Maualiawken, built this 
liillecralt. Our fine yacht builders raiely build these boats; 
agood“sncak-bo.\” builder is not an expert in the construc¬ 
tion of yachts. Itrequires a peculiar gift, as “Natty Bumpo” 
would say, to model a “sneak-box,” or make an axe handle. 
' This boat is usually adapted to one gunner, and its small¬ 
est dimensions would give this resuit: Length over all, 12 
feet; beam, 8 feet 11 inches; depth amidships, 12 inches; 
weight, about 150 pounds. With the prospect of a voyage 
of nearly three thousand miles before me, from the frozen 
regions of the North to the genial climate of the seaboard 
of the Southern United States, it was necessary to have 
this duck boat built in the most substantial manuer, to with¬ 
stand ice, snags, and the effects of heat and moisture, Her 
shell is of half-iuch juniper, or swamp cedar, calked to 
above water lines. The convex deck is made of tongued 
and grooved cedar of the same thickness as that ot the 
bottom and sides. She does not leak a drop. The heaviest 
rains have not yet penetrated her deck. Three meu can 
stand upright m this little craft without disturbing her 
equilibrium, unless they make considerable effort to effect 
that end. Two thin hair cushions, and a cotton comfort¬ 
able, with two blankets, with the hatch cover dropped 
lightly down on to the combing of the cockpit allowed me 
to enjoy a warm nights’ repose in Pleasant Run, three 
miles below Cincinnati in December, with mercury down 3° 
above 0, and ice forming under the boat two or three inches 
in thickness. Late in Nov- mber the little boat, loaded in¬ 
side with provisions, bedding, etc., (this bout is not easily 
strained), was Bhipped ou the cars from Maualiawken, 
Ocean County, New Jersey, to Philadelphia, carted across 
Delaware avenue to the Pennsylvania Rattrdad freight 
depot, and again transported by rail to Pittsburg, at the 
head of (he Ohio river. On December 2d I reached the 
point of departure, and immediately put the boat into the 
Mo nan gabel a side of Pittsburg, and embarked in this new 
boat, yet untried, for the Gulf of .Mexico. It was very 
cold; and here, under the smoky clouds of the smoky 
city, my trials commenced. The Alleghany on the west 
side, with the Monongahela on the other side of the city 
at their junction below Pittsburg, give birth to the Ohio. 
With a swift current I decended the Monongahela, and, 
to my surprise, viewed the vast fields of floating ice cover¬ 
ing the Ohio as they whirled along the current out of the 
Alleghany. For two dnys I was in the floating ice. It 
melted and disappeared before 1 quite readied Wheeling. 
The Ohio was followed for one thousand miles, from De¬ 
cember 2d to December 31st. Then on a heavy rise in the 
Ohio 1 entered the great “Father of Rivers," the mighty 
Mississippi. Nineteen days of bard pulling, ami the 
friendly assistance of a rapid current, and the little “sneak- 
box,” reached the boat house of the Southern Boat Club, 
foot of Louisiana avenue, New Orleans. She had ruts 
above one thousand miles between the 1st of January and) 
the morning of the 19th on the Mississippi river. Having; 
slept and lived alone on this little boat, running at nights 
into creeks and bayous to escape the steamboats which are 
moving al all hours on tile great rivers; keeping aloof from 
towns aud people as much as possible, 1 now begged the 
polite Mr. Deckbar, of-the Southern Boat Club, to allow me 
to leave my boat in the tastily-built club establishment until 
the next day. Every kindness that Mr.Deckbar could offer 
was shown me. Quietly, the next morning in a' furniture 
spring wagon, we made a portage of two or three miles, 
from the boat house mt.o the New Basin canal, and I rowed 
along it about live miles to Lake Pontchaitrain, whtre, se¬ 
curely tied up to the sides of the canal, and inside of the 
breakwater and lighthouse, I found a small fleet of schoon¬ 
ers awaiting a change of the easterly wind then blowing. 
Here I was confined for several days, much to my regret, 
wuiting for settled weather before venturing out, upon the 
gulf jeuruey to Florida. Capt. M. II. Riddle, harbor¬ 
master of the New Basin canal, is the principal amateur 
kuuter at this point on the lakes. Parties from t he North 
visiting New Orleans will find him always ready to direct 
them to bayous where birds are lo be found. This iiglit- 
Ural't, decked, and cabined sloop is well fitted for cruising 
lo the islands outside of the limits of Luke Pontchartrain. 
I had traveled above two thousand miles quietly, some¬ 
times relieving the monotony of the river journey by pulling 
alongside of a flat boat to converse with those rough charac¬ 
ters, who drift from point to point, the champion floaters 
of the world* These men are civil, and frequently friendly; 
but the large towns and cities flood the canoeist, or ‘ sneak- 
box" voyager with visitors with whose company he would 
willingly dispense. These loughs ply you with imperti¬ 
nent questions, as if they believed you were traveling to 
advertise the business ot your boal'buiider. They receive 
your honest replies to unpleasant criticisms, made upon a 
boat of novel construction, as if you were trying to deceive 
them. With a little knowledge of pulliug a boat in smooth 
water, they are ignorant of that experience which travel¬ 
ing upon rough water gives to yachtsmen, and fishermen; 
yet they advance with confidence their criticisms so boldly 
as to make the boat voyager feel that his own experience 
is worthless aud contemptible, no matter how many tllou- 
sads of miles he may have sailed, rowed, paddled, and 
poled on the creeks, rivers, bays, and sounds of seven or 
eight countries besides his own. The “sneak-box” unfor¬ 
tunately got into the New Orleans Bulletin, aud, as usual, 
the roughs came out first to overhaul the new humbug. I 
hid the boat in the saw-grass behind the breakwater. They 
came in parties of two and three. With a coarse salute 
they desired to kuow if 1 was “on u bet,” to which 1 re¬ 
plied, “on a bet? no; I am a Sunday’school Superintendent!" 
“Oh! Ah!" they would asperate. Then continue, “who 
pays you for making such a long pull?” “Nobody." 
“Then what are you doing It for?" “I am simply studying 
geography.” “Studying what?” “Geography.” “Gog- 
rai'y! now that's too thin; come aud take a drink?'* 
“Thank you, no.” Then off they go, these gentlemen, - 
and pronounce “that fellow as a humbug, and a Sunday- 
school preacher." Ask any canoe traveler to relate his ex¬ 
perience with this class of visitor, and lie will tell you “for 
safety aud comfort keep away with your boat from large 
towns. Now among the fishermen of (he seaside towns 
we do not experienne this trouble. They are curious to ex¬ 
amine boats of novel construction. They know by experi¬ 
ence if the lines of your little craft are trustworthy. They 
help you aloug with ad view, aud information. Excuse me, 
Messrs. Editors, if, alter ^vo thousand miles of travel, dur¬ 
ing two seasons of boating; often dodging this class of 
seamen, (the fresh water' roughs of our targe American 
towns), 1 have, for the first time, publicly given them this 
gratuitous notice, which is offered, not for their benefit, 
but os a caution lo iuexpeiienced canoeists, aud young 
travelers about to set out upon the delightful study of the 
noble water courses of the American Continent. Having 
entered upon the waters' of the Gulf of Mexico; having 
left behind me towns and cities which supply, iu great ex¬ 
cess of demand, the class of persous just noticed, I feel 
like doing justice to the kind-hearted, opcD-handed class of 
men who wrest from Nature’s lap their toilsome livelihood 
upon the coast of Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida—the 
fisherman, the oysterman, the lurtler, and sponger. Until 
another opportunity, 1 am yours. N. H. B. 
Biloxi, Miss., Gutf of Mexico, February 1st, 1876. 
Florida Mounds. —If the story told by the Palatka 
Herald, of the 22d ult., is correct in all its particulars, a 
most promising field for exploration has been opened 
to archaeologists. Dr. Kenworlby (Al Fresco) arid other 
Floridain explorers have repeatedly urged upon scientific 
bodies and others interested, the opening and examination 
of the Indian mounds scattered throughout the Peninsular. 
The story which we reprint below must be taken cum grano 
salts, as it may only he a clever hoax; and yet these mounds 
must contain something, or have been built for some pur¬ 
pose. Even ehould the Palatka story turn out a fraud, 
there is still no reason why investigation should not he 
made until this mound building question be settled. The 
Herald story is as follows:— 
“We learn that the Indian moundon Murphy's Island was 
opened, or rather entered, by a parly on Wednesday last. 
This mound is one of the largest on the river, and lias ex¬ 
cited more Ilian ordinary interest among our scientiflc vis¬ 
itors. But Col. Hart, proprietor of ike island upon which 
the mound stands, heretofore persisted in his refusal to 
have this relic of past ages disturbed. On Wednesday, 
however, a party from the Putnam, with others, look a 
steamer for the island. It was agreed to open the mound 
at its base. After making a breach of thirty five feet, they 
discovered a hard wall made of coquina or shell rock. 
This wall was cemented, and wes ornamented with various 
