THE 



AMERICAN 



SPORTSMAN'S JOURNAL. 



NEW YORK, THURSDAY, JUNE 14, 1877- 



UNDER THE SOD. 



Re#jMct/vllt/ dedicated to a .favtrite brace of setter*, mened in A-'s boyhood, 

 BY KECAPFSOS. 



"CVVREWELL to the setters, s j loved in my boyhood, 

 -^ They have " dropped to the charge " that death ca!l3 to us all; 

 O'er their graves thelUiwers bloom, by the edge or the wlldwood, 

 They have left me for aye, I still mourn o'er their tali. 



O'er the green meads the snipe sails at pleasure, 



From fleld and from forest the quail pipes his call; 

 In ilie thicket and marshes the woodcock is feeding, 



But they fear ye uo more, you have done with theui ill. 

 Brave Monk and flee: Nellie, you live bat in memory. 



Yet how much of the past your old names now recall, 

 Of cheerful companions and hours then so happy, 



That have passed from the scenes round my childhood's old hall. 



From far o'er hi!!-top, the meadows aud river, 

 The winds whisper low of the days that are flown 



Under the sod MoiA and Nellie lie sleeping, 

 While 1 am left mourning to wander alone. 



Under the so 1 Monk and Nillie lie sleeping, 



Never more in ttls life will they route to my call ; 



Under the sod must v:c had our resting 

 From the cares and the sorrows that weary us alL 



Then why should I mourn for the friends that have left met 

 It is but the will of a merciful God— 

 " A rest for the wjary." Our cares all are ended 

 When we arc s)eep!ng auder the Bod. 



Farewell, then, brave dogs, ye but rest from life's labors, 

 I shall see you n-i more iu this life's fitful dreaji ; 



But, when wandering in thought through fond memory s chambers, 

 Ye shall live with me then until death ends the scene. 



for Forvsi and Stream and Rod and Gun. 



jj grip hike it. rgorh of <g£mf& 



ON the morning of Tuesday, Aug. 29, 1876, I started for 

 the wilds of Mendocino, accompanied by my uncle, 

 E. J. Hooper, and frieud, F. B. I rose early, ;'. e., 5:20. _ A 

 wagon conveyed us with our guns, rods and baggage to the 

 steamer "Donohue." We much enjoyed the trip along the 

 bay of San Francisco, for the morning was bright, with an 

 invigorating breeze to refresh us. Arriving at Donohue 

 Landing, 35 miles from the city, we found the train awaiting 

 us, which carried us up the pretty Sonoma Valley to Clover- 

 dale. We arrived at Cloverdale, distant from San Francisco 

 90 miles, at 11:30, and there at the depot mounted the coach 

 which conveyed us to the United States Hotel, quite an 

 important establishment for so small a country town. There 

 we took lunch, and a very poor apology for a me A it proved, 

 being much out of keeping with the importance of the sur- 

 roundings. After several i«effectual attempts on the part of 

 our pet " buck grinders " to masticate the meat placed before 

 us, we fell back on vegetable diet and fruit. At 13:30, " All 

 aboard" was the cry of the stage driver, Mr. Getz, the pro- 

 prietor of the line, and one of the crack whips of the countr}-. 

 The stage was packed a little too full to be pleasant, indeed 

 full or not full, the word pleasant, as applied to stage travel, is 

 rather inapplicable. Our first stopping place on the road was 

 "Whitehall," a small roadside inn, where we took our dinner. 

 This establishment can hardly be considered as possessing any 

 great attractions in itself, or the building for any architectural 

 beauty. But how can I pass by without a word or two of 

 comment upon, at least, one of the inmates of that lonely 

 dwelling ? Our little waitress, a girl of about IS, is the one 

 to whom I allude. The weary traveller greatly needs re- 

 freshment by the wayside inn, and a few drops of interest, of 

 the right sort, are truly acceptable, and iu an outlandish 

 place like the little ion in question, one expects no more. But 

 how w T ere our hearts gladdened by the sight of a damsel of 

 most surpassing loveliness to wait upon us at table I Her 

 raveu locks hung carelessly on her shoulders, her bright, rosy 

 cheeks betokened the full bloom of youth and robust health. 

 The laughing bright hazel eyes, which peeped from out those 

 flowing tresses, were well calculated to impress the traveller 

 with admiration for the country maiden. And greatly as we 

 desired to get through the fatigues of our somewhat wearisome 



was our pleasure marred by the overwatehfuiness of the fond 

 mother, who.through an opening in the wall,surveyed the crowd 

 with maternal suspicion. The effect of a smile from the 

 daughter was quickly dispelled by the angry frown of the old 

 lady through the aforesaid aperture; and the musical voice of 

 the maiden by the deep growl of the old she-bear in the 

 kitchen. The paternal member of the family, too, attending 

 to things without (inelnding the stile of poisonous whiskey 

 and Chinese cigars), was by no means a person to be sneezed 

 at : over six feet in height, one-eyed, and generally very 

 colossal. We continued our journey through Anderson Val- 

 ley, through groves of beautiful trees of great variety of 

 growth, form and foliage. Some ominous-looking clouds had 

 been gathering around for some time, aud at length a sudden 

 storm arose, quite rare in these parts of California. It had 

 quite the character of a hurricane for a brief space of time. 

 As the breeze approached, the leaves became agitated ; then, 

 as the wind increased, the limbs commenced to crack, and the 

 branches to wave, until the storm burst upon us with alarm- 

 ing force, prostrating quite a number of the smaller trees and 

 one of gigantic growth, uncomfortably near where the stage 

 was. The lightning became intensely vivid, and the bursts 

 of thunder quite grand. A heavy shower of raiu fell, refresh- 

 ing the air, which, until then, had been very sultry aud op- 

 pressive. The storm passed away as suddenly as it came, 

 and soon the evening was clear aud tranquil. Darkness set 

 in, and passing through the tall aud dense redwood forest, 

 one coidd barely distinguish the stems of the trees. After a 

 terrible bumping" the rumble of the wheels over the bridge, 

 which crosses the "North Fork " stream, announced to us 

 our arrival at the little Hotel. How great was the relief ; for 

 after nearly twelve hours of almost uninterrupted staging over 

 an exceedingly rough road, and partly in darkness, who 

 would not gladly welcome the termination of such a journey. 

 At the Little North Fork inn, where we arrived at 11:30, we 

 found Mrs. Averill, the hostess, ready to receive us ; for we 

 had taken the precaution to advise her of our coming some 

 days before. After disposing of our numerous packages, B. 

 and 1 taking one room, and Uncle another, and, after wash- 

 ing off some of the stage dust, we descended to enjoy an ex- 

 cellent supper, prepared, like all the meats of which we partook 

 under her roof, with excellent taste, by our good landlady. A 

 most indefatigable, energetic lady, she came unmistakably 

 from a New England State — always on the qui vise, head lev- 

 el, eyes always open (I shouldn' i wonder, too, when asleep) 

 she seemed to possess that extraordinary faculty peculiar to 

 few, of being able to attend to everybody and everything at 

 the same time, without distraction or confusion. Such is a 

 brief description of the Madam to whose tender care we com- 

 mitted ourselves, our guns and our rods during our stay at the 

 North Fork. Requiring a good night's rest after our long stage 

 journey, we did not rise much before 8 next morning. On 

 that day, the 30th of September, Uncle and I started up the 

 stream, capturing a few small trout, but we found the water 

 sluggish and disturbed a good deal by the wood-choppers, 

 whose camp is situated about three-quarters of a mile from 

 the hotel. I managed, however, to kill a beautiful trout of 

 fully a pound in a deep pool near the logging camp. B. took 

 his gun and brought down a few quail for our supper. At 

 about 4 o'clock, he and I started on foot for the hills in search 

 of deer. We followed the stream for a mile, then proceeded 

 along a trail through the wood, ascending a range of bald 

 hills, which proved extremely steep aud hard to climb. That 

 evening we saw but two deer, at one of which I got a long 

 shot, but apparently without effect. The next day, Uncle on 

 horseback, B. and I on foot, ascended the same hills, aud sit- 

 ting under a fine grove of oak and Madronio trees, we devot- 

 ed an hour or two to sketching. B. made a study in water- 

 colors of a group of oaks, while I sketched B., with Uncle 

 sitting under a big tree, with an umbrella over them to modi- 

 fy the light for drawing. In the evening, B. and I repeated 

 our climb on the open hills along the edge of the woods : this 

 time riding on horseback to the edge of the forest, and there 

 tying the beasts to trees. Once more our hunt proved " no 

 go," We saw two or three deer, but entirely out of range. 

 On returning to our horses, we unhitched and mounted. My 

 horse, from some unknown cause (unless from natural devil- 

 ment), commenced the most frantic circus performance, buck- 



journey, we could not help lengthening over that meal, if only 



to ask our fair waitress for just one more slice of that nice apple I ing with such violence as to cause me greatly to doubt my 



pie, or only /Wf'acup more of that refreshing tea. But greatly I ability to remain longer in that elevated and precarious posi- 



tion. I am indebted to my friend F. B. for a graphic des- 

 cription of that scene. Being one of the actors in the comedy, 

 I can hardly be considered a judge of the manner in which 

 this wayward and bucking beast aud I conducted ourselves. 

 The scene was laid in a small open spot at the edge of the for- 

 est. The surroundings consisted of wide-spreading oaks and 

 Madrionios, whose branches hung, unfortunately for me, very 

 low. The miserable brute's nltimate intention was, no doubt, 

 to dash my brains out against one of these limbs. The buck- 

 ing part of the performance took place immediately in the 

 midst of a confused mass of overhanging branches, to any of 

 which, Absalom-like, I might have been suspended, but that 

 my hair lacks the growth of that King David's Son. B. de- 

 scribed the scene as one confused heap of branches, horse, rid- 

 er, rifle, etc., assuming no definite shape. The thoughts 

 which were hastily flashing through my mind, were these ; 

 Which fate shall I choose ? Decapitation or concussion from 

 the trees, explosion of cartridges in my belt, accidental dis- 

 charge of rifle, kick from horse, or broken neck ? None of 

 these appear'ng to me as sufficiently enticing, and as at this 

 moment the animal made a dash for a huge limb, under which 

 he alone could have passed, I deemed it prudent to spring 

 from his back, breaking my fall with the butt of my rifle, 

 which unluckily broke off at the stock ! However, beyond a 

 bit of a shake and a few scratches, I was unhurt. As I fell, 

 the horse, in kicking, struck the sole of my boot with great 

 force, but without, in any way, hurting my foot. The ani- 

 mal escaped into the woods. B. proceeded home on his horse; 

 I followed ingloriously on foot, and after passing on a mile or 

 so, we heard the horse coming through the woods at a gallop. 

 We had no difficulty in effecting his capture, and arrived 

 home shortly after dark without further mishap. 



The next day, B. and I having secured the assistance of an old 

 hunter,proceeded down the river for about three miles, and then 

 ascended a tremendously steep gorge. Thompson, our guide, 

 showed us a spot,"where, a day or two previous, he had killed 

 two deer. We found bears had been feasting on the remains, 

 there being bear signs in every direction. We saw no large 

 game. We then returned to the hotel, packed a few pro- 

 visions, taking with us a horse, riding in turns. We retraced 

 our steps, but followed the creek down some four or five 

 miles. While tying the horse on the ground we had selected 

 for our camp that night, we saw a magnificent buck and doe 

 walking slowly up the distant wooded hillside. Thompson 

 threw himself down to get a rest, exhibiting great excitement 

 for so old a hunter. In the meantime the deer passed behind 

 some trees, and were lost to view. The countrymen around 

 there seem all to prefer firing with a rest, indeed, seldom 

 firing in any other way. We separated, B. and Thompson 

 going in different directions with their rifles, wliile I took my 

 fly -rod, and fished down stream, killing a dozen fine sized 

 trout. The stream generally at this season about these parts, 

 is sluggish, but here and there there are some pvetty pools and 

 eddies. At dark, B. and I met at camp, and lighting our fire, 

 awaited the return of our guide. He, however, worked his 

 way through the forest after some deer, and finding himself 

 close to his home, remained there for the night. The spot 

 chosen for our camp was just above 'the creek, in an opening 

 in the woods — a very pretty place, but too cold and damp at 

 night to be agreeable. We contrived to rig up a fairly com- 

 fortable bed, consisting of a large heap of " broken ferns," 

 with our blankets above. A great part of the night wa« 

 taken up in endeavoring to keep the fire alive, as the cold en- 

 tirely prevented a lasting repos*. We rose next morning ex- 

 tremely early, and after a cup of hot coffee, proceeded in op- 

 posite directions with our rifles. Soon after leaving camp, I 

 saw a large panther darting off, but not affording a chance for 

 a shot. Although we worked dilligeutly, we saw nothing of 

 any large game. In my ramble, I passed through several ex- 

 tremely lovely valleys, rich with the most prolific 

 undergrowth, and covered with masses of broksn rocks, 

 around which clung a variety of ferns aud mosses. We re- 

 turned to camp, and for a change, I took my fly rod in hand. 

 B. mounted the horse to ride over the trail. He had but turn- 

 ed the bend of the stream, wheu he came suddenly upon three 

 deer drinking. As ill luck would have it, the beast wouldn't 

 staud fire. One of the deer darted up the hillside, about 

 where I stood. I was. at the moment, above my knees in a 

 deep pool, my fly-rod iu bund. I made several plunges to se- 

 cure my rifle, which was on the bank, and had a snap shot, 



