-FOREST AND STREAM, 



207 



our guide climbed u tree, and in the distance discovered thu 

 pond for which we searched, (he borders of which we soon 

 reached, and peeping carefully through the high grass which 

 lined its banks, gazed out on' its placid surface, Out ap- 

 proach disturbed the water fowl, which, arising from the 

 water, circled in the sir above us and were BOOB lost from 

 sight, The borders of the pond wore very marshy, and our 

 feet sank below the surface at every step, hut dividing our 

 party so as to command the entire pond, we threw ourselves 

 on to our rubber blankets, cocked our rifios, and waited 

 patiently the arrival of the caribou and deer. For six mor- 

 tal hours we lay on our faces in the hot sun, hardly daring 

 to breathe, tormented by mosquitoes and black flies (oh ! 

 how they did bite), and "the beating of out own hearts was 

 oil the sound we heard." At one time an immense beaver, 

 which the guide said would weigh hard on to forty pounds, 

 made his appearance on the scene and beguiled the weary 

 hours by his pranks iu the water, and then a great blue 

 heron dropped on the sand, sad Standing on one log cast 

 dreamy, sidelong glances at our position among the weeds. 

 I could not help "drawing a bead" on him several times, but 

 for fear of frightening the expected deer I lowered my rifle. 

 At one time a loud crushing of branches on my left caused 

 inv heart to give a sudden leap, as I expected the next mo- 

 ment to see my much-longed-for buck, but he didn't make 

 his appearance, mid we were obliged to retrace our steps to 

 camp without him, running across on ourjourney an otter's 

 trail, and shooting a rabbit which served for supper and 

 breakfast. 



How delightful was that rapper at camp— the trout, rab- 

 bit, and other fare which our tramp had secured, together 

 with the appetites to enjoy the same, made a meal "fit to set 

 before a king." 



Then, after a little exercise of hauling wood to our glorious 

 big fire before the camp, we lay down to rest on our cedar 

 boughs, lulled to sleep by the plaintive cry of the loons on 

 the lake. 



Wednesday morning I awoke a. little before daylight, and 

 wondered why there should be a second lire down by the 

 lake shore, and on rubbing my eyes to assure myself I was 

 not in the land of dreams, I discovered that a spark from 

 our fire had been lodged in an old stump where we had 

 stuck our fish rods, and in a few moments seventy-five dol- 

 lars worth of rods would be in ashes. The time made be- 

 tween our camp and that burning stump would do well to 

 go on record ! 



After breakfast we tramped back to the pond after caribou, 

 but without success; and after climbing a high mountain we 

 returned to Camp Kennobago, to find a welcome from letters 

 and papers from our friends in civilization. 



On Thursday, the 1.0th, a number of us rowed to Cup-sup- 

 tuc Falls, a description of which I have given in a former 

 letter, where we captured some three dozen fine trout. We 

 shot six partridges while passing up and down the river with 

 a small Smith and Wesson revolver, and one of our number 

 had an accidental bath in the stream, which of course added 

 to the day's adventures. 



On Friday, the lllhinst,, oue of our party captured, ainonf, 

 a large number, the following trout from' a pound and up- 

 ward, all of them being taken "within an hour: Three trout, 

 of two pounds each, besides three of eight ounces. That day 

 one of our number shot two plump partridges. 



When we had all returned from our several expeditions at 

 evening, and as we gathered around our evening's repast, to 

 which I have so often alluded, one of our party, who had 

 been so unfortunate during the day as to capture an im- 

 mense sucker a foot and a half in length (the first one I ever 

 saw in this region, by the way), arose, and in a most pathetic 

 tone of voice, presented the ' aforesaid fish to our best lly- 

 fisherman. The speech of presentation and acceptance 

 would have dune justice to any famed orator, for they moved 

 us all to tears. 



Saturday, September 12th, after breakfast, we occupied 

 two hours in practicing with our rifles at a target six inches 

 in diameter, and at a distance of one hundred and sixty 

 feet we placed nine balls in the bull's-eye, which we thought 

 was fair for amateurs. Then our party divided, some going 

 to the lake, and others up the various streams near camp. 

 On the lake we, met Or. Ordway and party of Boston, who 

 had been camping for some time, on the Oupsuptuc river, 

 and had a fine lot of trout. On our return to camp at night, 

 we found the following to be the adventures of the day: 



A gentleman from Philadelphia had "struck a four- 

 pounder" (as he should judge) at the mouth of the Bungoluy 

 Biver, and after a sharp battle had lost lnm, together with 

 his entire "whip of Hies." Another gentleman from Boston 

 had landed a five-and-a-half pounder below the dam on tho 

 same stream, and had "a rise" also from two other trout of 

 the same dimensions, but these he failed to "strike." Two 

 trout, weighing each four pounds, had been captured on the 

 Cupsuptuc Lake by an angler from New York, while two of 

 our party from Brooklyn had taken fish on the Kangeley 

 Bake, which turned the scales at two and three-quarter 

 pounds. There had also been line fishing on the Kennobago 

 .River, a party capturing thirty trout, eight of which weighed 

 from one and a half to throe pounds each. 



The ascent ol Bald Mountain, in front of our camp, some 

 2,500 feet above tide-water, makes a delightful dav's excur- 

 sion. From its summit three and sometimes four of these 

 six Bangeley Lakes can be seen. The average temperature. 

 of the camp "the past weeli has been as follows: At 6 a. m., 

 ■il degrees to 38 degrees; 1 v, ai., 70tn85 degrees; V i? m., 

 51 to (JO degrees. Temperature of the streams is 80 degrees: 

 of the lake, twelve feet below the surface, 66 degrees. 



The above is the daily routine oi life •'. this C nap, making, 

 as you see, a great variety of pleasing incidents, and pro- 

 ducing in itself a panacea for all ills. 

 UTa /»: mftiinued.) 



TEXAS GOBBLERS AT 



For Forest and Sireajn. 

 "PEEP O' DAY.' 



WILLIAM BOUTWELL, a large stock and grain pro- 

 ducer, living in Huut County, Texas, not far from 

 Dennison and the railroad, in a private letter (Match 17th » 

 among other things, says; "When I think of the pleasure it 

 has given me and my family to read the interest! l g 

 found in Fobest and Stiieam we received of you, 1 can find 

 no words to express my thanks for them. They were anx- 

 iously looked for and read with delight, feeling" that it WBS a 

 great treat I I such a nature as to interest all, 



both old . * * 



Now, the truth is, Mr. Editor— and without wishing to put 

 your extreme modesty to a blush — your paper carries joy 

 with it wherever it goes- Especially is this the case when it 

 finds its way into the household of an old Texan hunter, 

 whose heart is as big as the bullocks' that cover his broad 

 acres. He further says; ''X do not know of anything that 



will interest you. Times are very good in Texas. We 

 raised an abundant crop last year of corn, cotton, oats, etc. 

 Cotton bears a good price ; corn is very low for this country, 

 ami is selling at 25 to :i0 cents a bushel. Otir wheat crop, 

 which is generally good, was rather light, and wdieat sells at 

 a dollar per bushel. But the best of all is that peace, har- 

 mony and kind feeliugs prevail throughout the whole broad 

 State, and the people are now prosperous and happy. Immi- 

 gration is pouring in like the waves of the sea from every 

 quarter of our Union, and from abroad also: and Texas is 

 large enough and sufficiently diversified to meet all their 

 wants, whether it be for work, health, pleasure or sport. Our 

 people bid all a hearty welcome— only come with honest 

 hearts and a will to do good, not evil. We are now planting 

 our corn, and the spring is very late. Game is plenty. I had 

 a wild gobbler for breakfast this morning, which is nothing 

 uuusual. I can hear them a-gobbling from my house at al- 

 most any hour of the day. In the morning, just at the first 

 crack of' day, their notes are very clear and enlivening, and I 

 love to bear them from their roost. It is more cheerful than 

 the yell ol the Indians, as it once was, but that has all passed 

 away now; but that was exciting, too— only another kind of 

 excitement. You must know what this is. Though game is 

 generally plenty I do not hunt, now as I used to, and so I- turn 

 In business over to the boys, 'who are fond ot it.'" 



Only think, Mr. Editor, of being awakened these soft and 

 quiet mornings of a Texas March by the clear and sonorous 

 notes of these shining gobblers, instead of the harsh and 

 grating noise of the rusty royal dunghills! "Ye gods !'' I 

 hear you exclai m, " 'tis well as it is, else no dirty types would 

 bo sot by us, or notes scratched off by our friend to try and 

 impart some little happiness to others." 



I would ask the privilege of aunouncing to your readers 

 that tbe railroad from near Houston, Texas, known as the 

 Sunset Boute, is now open to San Antonio; hence all Mm th- 

 em travelers may now reach this beautiful citybyallra.il. 

 This very ancient and historic place — the city of the Alamo, 

 the River and the Plain, and justly styled the "Pearl of the. 

 West"— is henceforth destined to take a prominent place, not 

 •only in Texas, but iu tho minds of Northern people, who will 

 soon learn its great advantages for health, etc. This road 

 passes through the southern tier of counlies nearly, and runs 

 almost parallel with tho Gulf. All along this coast, and in- 

 land also, the game birds of the North mostly assemble to 

 spend the autumn, winter and spring. The road runs through 

 eountless prairies and timber lands, across water-courses, etc., 

 all of which are well and most graphically described by Col. 

 Cr. II. Sweet, editor of the TeMa Hem Yorker, published at 

 No. 28 Centre street, New York city. 1 would recommend all 

 persons feeling an interest in Texas to read this March num- 

 ber, and especially the tourist or sportsman who wishes to 

 post himself up on good hunting grounds for tho winter, etc. 

 Lest many may not he able to do so, I will quote, but only 

 for game, what ho has to say of Colorado County : "Game 

 is plentiful at all seasons of the year, and consists of deer, 

 turkey, wild ducks, wild goose, mule-eared rabbits, prairie 

 chickens, quails, many kinds of plover, snipe, eoous, oppos- 

 sum, the gray and cat arpiirrel, the wild spotted cat, and now 

 and then a prairie wolf is founds The wild gooso and duck 

 ate found in great numbers in the fall and winter. They be- 

 come quite fat in the large com and pea fields in this county, 

 and are nice for table use. Fish abound in our rivers, creeks 

 and lakes iu great quantity and variety, and consist princi- 

 pally of cat, buffalo, gaspergou, trout, black bass and perch." 

 To this list I will add the sand-hill crane, nearly aB kind? of 

 hawks, crows, awls, cranes, herons, bitterns, marsh hens, 

 blackbirds by the thousand, etc., but nut all as game birds. 

 What applies to this county is about true for all the conuties 

 along the coast, and with 'some variations only for all the 

 northerly inland counties of the State, while in tho north- 

 westward counties and among tbe highlands, we add the 

 larger game, the buffalo, bear, cougar, leopard, ontelojje, 

 and the lobus; and tho smaller, civet cat, prairie dog, musk- 

 rat, beaver, otter, mink, etc. For five years or more this 

 State was my common stamping ground iu the saddle, and I 

 feel at liberty to speak of almost every part of it, ami with 

 that full assurance which my observations justify. 



Maj. H. W. Meebiel, 



JSaeio fiocheUe, N, I'., April 9, 1877. 



Young Salmon Entekino me Connecticut Btveb,— The 

 Hartford Vml of May lith says: "Wu were shown to-day at 

 Stevens' market a fish that 'looked like a trout, having tho 

 line of golden spots, but on closer examination it pTOved to 

 be a young salmon. It was about nine inches long, and was 

 caught in the large gill-nets used for hiking shad at the 

 mouth of the i-iver, and was brought up by Clerk Sillov.ay. 

 of the steamer StotG Of New York. It seems that quite a 

 number of these young Salmon have, within a few days, 

 been caught in the nets at the mouth of the river. Tho 

 meshes of these nets are large enough to permit the escape 

 of such a fish, but these that have been caught were 

 evidently in some way entangled in the net, They were 

 evidently the young salmon of 1875 that were hatched in 

 the upper waters of the, river, from the spawn placed there 

 by the Fish Commissioners, and having spent perhaps a year 

 and a half at sin. are now returning by their unerring in- 

 stinct, to the river of their birth. Thai, they are really sal- 

 mon and not trout admits of little or no question upon a 

 careful examination, as theshape of the head and ".-.houhb-r" 

 and the white belly sufficiently show. 

 + > — 



The Grayling. — George H. Jerome, State Fish Commis- 

 sioner, has been at the headwaters of the Au Sable and 

 Manistee Bivers to secure spawn for the State hatchery. On 

 the 11th April, while on the Manistee, he began catching 

 grayling, which are not found in waters of Southern Michi- 

 gan. Some 225 adult grayling were removed to the State 

 hatchery, whither it is expected to remove from 500 to 1,000 

 more. From one grayling there were produced 3,555 eggs. 

 The fish after the operation weighed but nine ounces. A 

 large one would have yielded 7. "00. Heretofore the belief 

 has been that the grayling would yield no more than tho 

 brook trout, but trout of the size of this grayling would pro- 

 dir-tbut L00 eggs The & rivhn. i ;s weri L^ut with a fly 

 and are very gamey, furnishing fun- sport for the fisherman. 

 Mr. Jerome pronounces the flavor and quality ol 

 Ung equal to the brook trout, and intends to. stock three 



1 chigan, a few of them 



having been found in the hike-, a fact hitherto unknown. 



[We find the above information in a Detroit paper It will 

 interest uur fish culturista and anglers, We shall look with 

 interest, for the results of the efforts to habilitate the grayling 

 in Southern Michigan, and shall hope to receive full re- 

 ports,— Ex., J 



SAMfONiuNEW Jersey. — A. Belvidere correspondent says: 

 "I notice you quote from the report at the New Jersey Fish 

 Commissioners a statement that a three and one-half pound 

 salmon was taken in October last iu the Pequest. The report 

 does not state this positively, and I am qtdte suro it is an ei- 

 ror on the part o( the person informing the Commissioners. 

 If such was the case it would have been beard of here, at the 

 junction of the Pequost and the Delaware. No authontio evi- 

 dence has, I think, yet been produced of the return of any of 

 the salmon placed in the Delaware; still, we are not without 

 hope. - H. 1 ' 

 ■*•» 



Shad Cuxtcee xnt CAnrpoBNiA. — The Yallejo Chronicle says: 

 A VaUejo fisherman informs vas that ho had a shad in his 

 nets the other day that would weigh at least five pounds. 

 These fish are very plentiful, and among the fishermen not 

 a little troublesome, for they have to return them to the 

 water or lay themselves liable to prosecution. The fisher- 

 men say that in another year shad will be as common and as 

 plentiful as herring. 



The Taking op Food by Fishes. — When a fish snaps up an 

 object it first opens its mouth and closes its gill flaps, and 

 opens the gills when it closes the mouth. When it wishes to 

 reject a disagreeable morsel, on the other hand, it first, with 

 closed mouth, opens the gill slits, and enlarges the mouth- 

 cavity, then shuts the gill slits and simultaneously opens the 

 mouth. By narrowing the mouth-cavity throughout its 

 length, it now forces out its contents; and" in doing so, it is 

 driven a little backward bv the reaction, like a cannon when 

 it is fired. If we think of" it a little more closely, we shall 

 see that, without the gill slits, the fish could not snap up any 

 object, and so could not eat, because the morsel, if it got 

 into the mouth-cavity, would, on closing the mouth, be 

 ejected. The reason is simply this: On opening, the mouth- 

 cavity fills with water after the manner of a pump, and the 

 morsel is taken in through auction of the portion of water 

 in which it floats. It can now be held fast in the mouth 

 only if the water finds a mode of exit so narrow that tho 

 morsel cannot escape along with it. For this the mouth slit 

 is nowise fitted, for if it bo closed, so that a small morsel 

 cannot escape by it, it affords no easy outflow for the water. 

 But tho want is fully met by its gill apparatus, which pre- 

 sents a double row of long, narrow sbts, each of which is 

 generally a good deal longer than the mouth slit, so that the 

 water can readily flow away without the morsel being carried 

 off along wioh it. But, again, if a fish were obligee! to eject 

 by its mouth the water it had taken up, it -would be driven 

 backward at each bite, and have to expend force wostefully 

 in recovering its ground by swimming, which would be 

 especially disadvantageous m flowing water. On the con- 

 trary, however, as the water tlows out backward through tho 

 gill "slits the fish receives each time an impulse which drives 

 it; forward, and the maintenance of its position in rapid 

 water is thus rendered more easy. From these considera- 

 tions it becomes possible to explain a number of arrange- 

 ments found in aquatic animals, as compared with those that 

 live in air. Still, regarding the finny tribes, we find remark- 

 ably large gill slits iu fishes of prey; and any one who has 

 watched a pike or a trout in pursuit of its p'rey will have 

 noticed how widely it has stretched its gill slits. 'so as to let 

 the water flow off us freely as possible on all sides. B' this 

 were at any moment to accumulate in the mouth-cavity, the 

 fish's motion would be seriously compromised. It may with 

 certainty be said that, all fishes with remarkably wide gill 

 si its hunt their prey in long pursuit, Thus, among out fresh- 

 water predaeeous fishes, the pike makes the longest pursuit 

 and has the widest gills. As a contrast we might take tho 

 gently feeding and nibbling plant-bushes, such as barbel, 

 carp, etc., which have narrow gill slits. A similar difference 

 is associated with the streaming of water. As a fish always 

 snaps with its mouth against tho current, it receives more 

 water into the mouth the more rapid the current; and, there- 

 fore, river fishes have, in general, larger gill slits than fishes 

 which live in stiB water. Thus, too, may be explained the 

 remarkable correlation between tho width of the mouth slit 

 and that of the gill slits, inasmuch as narrow-mouthed fish 

 have narrow gill slits, and wide-mouthed fishes wide gill 

 slits. — Chambers' Journal. 



Rebel Shad. — The Hudson is found to contain this year 

 a decidedly inferior sort of shad, called "rebel shad." which 

 are the work of the Fish Commissioners, who used herring 

 milt to stimulate shad eggs with, at a time when they could 

 not find enough male shad. If these inferior fish perpetuate 

 themselves, there will have to be a State shad detective I ill 

 the real "North River" from this counterfeit.— Exchange, 



CONFIDENCES OF BROOK TROUT. 



f* Beevidebe, N. J., April 23, 1877. 



Editor Forest and Strp.ah. 



On Sunday, April 15th inst., I had a little adventure with a 

 fourteen-inch trout which may be interesting to some of your 

 readers, My wife and I strolled down to the trout ponds of 

 a gentleman residing here to see the trout, and took with us 

 some pieces of meat to feed them. The water was muddy, 

 having been recently disturbed by a niuskrat, and we could 

 see but three or four fish in the clear water at one end of tbe 

 largest pond. I threw in several pieces of the meat, and saw 

 them jump for it, and then noticed one large one swimming 

 nearer than the others, I then favored him with the food, 

 and finally reached down and invited him to take a strip 

 nbout an inch long from my ringers. He circled around, 

 coining nearer and nearer, stopped close to my hand, re- 

 treated, then advanced again and quickly'took tho meat 

 This he did seven times successively, growing quite friendly, 

 and coming up within four inches of the shoro. He did not 

 seem to be at all afraid of either myself or my wife, who was 

 by my side. During the feeding I called the attendant to see 

 it, and he informed me that neither tho owner nor himself had 

 ever fed any of the trout in that way. As we left we passed 

 along an embankment overlooking the pond, and could sec 

 our friend at the same spot " asking for more." I had never 

 fed (he fish before, and had only been to sea them at long in- 

 tervals. Last evening I met at, and asked 

 whether he had tried the experiment. He replied ihathe had, 

 but without success. So I am led to oue or the other ( 

 conclusions. There was something peculiarly seductive in 

 your correspondent, or an unusually urgeut condii 

 stomach in my finny friend, ,H» 



