THE AMERICAN SPORTSMAN'S 



JOURNAL. 



NEW YORK, THURSDAY, JUNE 7, 1877- 



TACKING SHIP OFF-SHORE. 



Tlie w eatl el D^satt shivers, 



Thel ' , i .id the lee shrouds slacken, 



The).:.. nd the lithe boom 'I'Uvers, 



And the Ira' }■» th the coming storui-clm 



Open out , ruerbow 



Is the lighthouse ta'l on Fire Island head : 



There's a shade of doubt on the captains brow; 

 And the pilot watches the hearing lead. 



I stand at the wheel, and with eager eye 

 To sea and to sir and to shore I gaze. 



Till the mattered order of " Fall and by" 

 Is suddenly changed to " Full for stayst" 



The ship bends lowe 

 As her broadside i; 



And she swifter sprii 

 As the pilot calls. " 



>eloi 



Stan. I b 



f 01 



it is silence all, as each in his place, 



With the gathered coils in his hardened hands, 

 By tack and bowline, by sheet and brace, 



Waiting the watchword, impatient stands. 



And the light on Fire Island head draws near. 



Wit 



shout ; 



leel I hear, 

 dy! About!" 



No time to spare I It is touch and go; 



And the captain growls. '• Down helm! hard down:" 

 -As my weight on the whirling spokes I throw, 



While heaven grows Mack with the storm cloud's frown. 



High o'er the knight- iea<Js flies the spray. 



As we meet the shock of the plunging sea; 

 And niy shoulder stiff to the wheel I lay, 



As I answer, " Ay. ay. sir! hard a lee 1" 



W r ith the swerving leap of a startled steed 

 The ship flies fast in the eye of the wind, 



And the dangerous shoals on the lee recede, 

 And the headland white we have left behind. 



The topsails flutter, the jibs collapse 

 And belly and tug at the groaning sheets ; 



The spanker slaps and the mainsail flaps. 

 And thunders the order, " Tacks and sheets !" 



' Mid the rattling of blocks and the tramp of the crew 



Hisses the rain of the rushing squall ; 

 The sails are aback from clew to clew, 



And now is the moment for " Mainsail, haul :" 

 And the heavy yards like a baby's toy 



By fifty strong arms are quickly swung; 

 She holds her way. and I look with joy 



For the first white 3pray o'er the bulwarks flung. 

 "Let go, and haul!" 'tis the last command, 



And the headsails fill to the blast once more; 

 Astern and to leeward lies the laud, 



With the breakers white on the shingly shore. 

 What matters the reef, or the rain, or the squall J 



I steady the helm for the open sea; 

 The first mate clamors, •• Belay there, all !" 



And the captain's breath once more comes free. 

 And so off-shore let the good ship fly; 



Little care I how the gusts may blow ; 

 In my fo'castle bunk in a jacket dry- 

 Eight bells have struck, and my watch is below. 



&*•& Celia Thaxttr. 



SKETCH, BT J. S. 



IN beauty of rural scenery the Scandinavian Peninsula may 

 fairly compete with the most favored countries in the old 

 world or the new, while to the followers of St. Hut-hurt, or 

 Isaac Walton, it offers attractions hardly to be equalled, cer- 

 tainly not surpassed, in any other country of Europe. 



Pyramus and Thisbe may here stroll at will over flowery 

 mead, through verdant grove, along the margin of murmur- 

 ing rill, while the admirer of the grand and the sublime may 

 wander through primeval foresls, where the solemn stillness 

 never was interrupted by the sound of the woodman's axe, 

 or he may gaze on the roaring cataract as it leaps from cliff 

 to cliff down the side of eonii mountain, whose snow-capped 

 summit glistens in the light of the midnight sun. 



The United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway, extending 

 from lat. 55 to 72 north, between the Baltic and the North 



sea. present an ever-changing panorama of hill and valley, 

 forest and mountain, river and lake. The south and middle 

 part is thickly settled and highly cultivated, but as you pro- 

 ceed towards the north, say beyond lat, 60, settlements grad- 

 ually become smaller, neighborhoods farther apart, pine and 

 birch, heath and rock assert more and more their dominion, 

 until finally is reached the great unbroken wilderness, where 

 the Lapplander and his herd of reindeer represents the last 

 faint trace of civilization. 



As diversified as is the scenery, are also the opportunities 

 of the hunter. The modern Kimrod may here take his 

 choice of stalking the wild reindeer amidst glaciers and pre- 

 cipices, or on swift sliding snow-shoes chasing the brown bear 

 or the lordly moose through wild pine forests, or — if less 

 dangerous and fatiguing sports are more to his taste — he may 

 scour the moorland, the stubble field or the meadow in quest 

 of black game, partridge or snipe. 



As regards its forests, Sweden is divided in a certain num- 

 ber of districts, each under the supervision of a Chief-For- 

 ester with numerous subordinates. These public officers are 

 educated for their profession at the Royal Forest Institute, in 

 Stockholm, a public institution of learning, giving thorough 

 instruction in forestry, surveying, natural history, botany 

 and allied branches. The duty of these officials is not only 

 to guard and attend to the proper use of the forest of the 

 public domain (crown-forests) within the district, but also, 

 on application of private owners of timbered lands, to survey 

 and subdivide these in sucb a manner that a certain area of 

 forest every year may be cut down and replanted, with a view- 

 to the permanency of the plantation. Another duty of these 

 foresters is to guard that the game laws are observed, and to 

 make complaint against all trespassers. Iu the performance 

 of this duty they are energetically assisted by the Swedish 

 Sportsman's Associaiion, a society of nearly fifty years stand- 

 ing, with headquarters in Stockholm, and ramifications iu ev- 

 ery part of the country. The society counts several thousand 

 members, aud under its auspices is published, since the year 

 1832, the Journal of the Swedish Spoilsman's Association, a 

 monthly publication of great merit and talent. 



The laws enacted for the preservation of game are very 

 strict, and, what is more to the purpose, are supported by 

 public opinion. The poacher and market hunter, particularly 

 if out of season, will have a hard road to travel. The game 

 and the privilege to hunt it in proper time belong by right of 

 law to the owner of the land where it is found, but any well- 

 behaved man, even if an entire stranger, in search of a few 

 days recreation by hunting, will seldom apply in vain to the 

 landowner for permission to pursue the wild game found on 

 his premises, a permission which often is followed by an in- 

 vitation to the applicant to become the guest of the farmer, 

 in whose house he will find himself the object of generous 

 hospitality, for that aucient virtue obtains as yet to great ex- 

 tent in old Scandinavia. 



The following animals and birds are the most common ob- 

 jects for hunting. The nomenclature is after Linneus or 

 Nilson : 



MAMMALIA. 



Brown Bear {TTrms arctos), Bjorn. Inhabits the large forests 

 of the northern part of the country. It is much larger, 

 stronger and more destructive on domestic animals thau the 

 black bear of America. 



fWolf (Oaipmlupug), Swed. Varg: Is found more or lesd 

 common in all timbered districts of Scandinavia, and is the 

 most destructive beast of prey in the country. 



Fox {Vulpus vulgaris), Swd. Raf. Is very numerous in ev- 

 ery part of the country. In the most northern latitudes, it is 

 supplanted by C'anis lagopus. 



Lynx (FeUs lynx), Swed. Lo. Was formerly quite numer- 

 ous, and is yet hunted with hounds and killed every year. 

 When pressed-by the dogs, it generally takes to some conven- 

 ient tree. If wounded it often attacks the hunter with great 

 fury. 



Wolverin {Gulo luseus), Swed. Tilfras. Is very scarce, but 

 now and then found in Lapland and caught in traps. 



Jloose {Cervus aloes), Swed Elg. This magnificent animal, 

 the pride of the Scandinavian forest, was nearly extinct fifty 

 years ago, when the Swedish Diet, with a view to its preserva- 

 tion, passed a law forbidding its killing for a period of ten 

 years. Since theu the season for huntiugelg has been limited 

 to two or three months a-year, in the autumn, and it is now 



quite numerous in all the larger timber districts in the middle 

 and northern part of the country. 



Red Deer (Uero. elephas), Swed. Eron-hjort. Inhabits at 

 present only two small spots on the peninsula. It is foimd in 

 some large beach and oak forest belonging to the entailed es- 

 tates of the Counts Piper, in the utmost south-east corner of 

 Sweden, and on an island on the coast of Norway. On both 

 places it is strictly preserved. 



Fallow Deer (Cero dama), Swed. Dof-hjort. As a wild 

 animal the fallow deer is extinct, but is preserved in enclosed 

 deer parks in a few places on some larger estates, and also 

 in the royal deer-park at Stockholm. 



Reindeer (Ceroj,:-randvs), Swed. Ben. Since time imme- 

 morial the reindeer has been kept domesticated by the Lapp- 

 landers, inhabiting the interior of the northern wilds from 

 lat. 62 tip to North Cape. With these people it supplants the 

 horse, the cattle and sheep. Some families own as many as 

 1,000 reindeer. On that high chain of mountains, which con- 

 stitutes the boundary between Sweden and Norway, the rein- 

 deer is found in a wildstateiu all the higher altitudes, border- 

 ing on the glaciers and the eternal snow. 



Roebuck {Cero capreohts). This, tha smallest but most 

 beautiful of the deer family, has its habitations in the south 

 part of Sweden, in the forests of which it is not so scarce. 

 The season for hunting it is limited to October and Novem- 

 ber. 



Hare (Lepus timidis), Swed. Hare. Among the animals 

 which constitute sources of amusement and recreation for the 

 Scandinavian sportsman, the hare must by no means be for- 

 gotten; in fact, it is entitled to a very distinguished place in 

 the catalogue. It is very numerous all over the country, and 

 provides more genuine sport than all the other animals taken 

 together. In size it is about twice as large as the common 

 American hare, (missnamed rabbit), and after being started 

 by the hounds it often makes a bee-line of two or three 

 miles before it turns on a crcuitous route towards the starting- 

 point. 



BIBDS : GALLIXACEA. 



Capercailzie {Tetrao urogallus), Swed. Tjeder. This 

 splendid member of the grouse family is found not only all 

 over Scandinavia, at least as far north as the arctic circle, but 

 also in Russia, Northern Germany and Bohemia. Its favor- 

 ite habitations are deep and mountainous pine and spruce for- 

 ests. 



Black-cock {Tetr. tetrix), Swed. Orre. Is in Sweden 

 and Norway more numerous than any other species of grouse, 

 and is found in every part of the country. Its favorite haunts 

 heath-covered moors audsuch places in the timber and wood- 

 land-pastures, which abouud in blueberries, upland-craberries 

 and the like. 



Ptarmigan {Tetr. lagopus), Swed. Ripa. Inhabits only 

 the northern and mountainous part of the peninsula ; in the 

 summer the higher regions of the mountains beyond the belts 

 of spruce and pine, among the scrubbery of the dwarf birch 

 {betula nana) and the salix varieties, but in winter the low- 

 lands, chiefly the birch forests, the buds of which constitute 

 at that season its principal food. It is a mooted question (or 

 at least was som» years ago) whether there are not in Scan- 

 dinavia two different species of ptarmigans. The hunters of 

 the north make a distinction, calling one the ptarmigan of the 

 mountain (Jjell ripri), and the other, ptarm of the valley [da- 

 ripa). A distinguished English sportsman who "had shot 

 ptarmigans on the mountains of Xorway, gave me as his opin- 

 ion that such distinction exists, aud that the latter variety is 

 identical wilh the red grouse of the Brilish Islands. 



Hazel-hen {Tetr. bonasaf), Swed. Hjerpe. The name 

 "Hazel-hen " I found given to this little grouse in a Swedish 

 English dictionary, but if correct, it is certainly not express- 

 ive of the bird's habitation, for I doubt very much that it ever 

 was found among hazel-bushes. The Scandinavian "Hjerpe" 

 inhabits deep and wild pine and spruce forests, and is in such 

 localities quite common in the northern part of Sweden and 

 Norway. It is the smallest of the grouse family, not much 

 larger than a tame pigeon, its flesh, resembling that of the 

 ruffed grouse, is highly valued for the table. 



Common Partridge (Perdix cinema), Swed. Kapphona. 

 Is not. originally an indiginous bird of Sweden. History teila 

 that this fine bird was first introduced to the country by or- 

 der of Queen Christina in the middle of the seventeenth 

 , but probably some time afterwards became extinct, 

 aud was again imported under the auspices of that very iu- 



