62 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



jl'i..;, -■> 1888. 



THE RIFLE SEASON OF 1883, 



WITHIN a few weeks the clearing up of the ranges 

 and the settling of the weather will enable practice 

 to open before the target, and the work of the shooting 

 season of 1883 will bo on in full force. It promises to be a 

 brisk season for those interested in rifle improvement, and in 

 official military and amateur civilian circles as well, there 

 is a desire to see progress as well as mere relaxation and 

 enjoyment. 



The great event will be the International match, and to 

 secure a creditable showing in this every effort should be 

 bent. There must be no such disgraceful light against the 

 odds encountered in the last contest. The team of 1883 

 must not be sent out to any such sure defeat, and it cer- 

 tainly looks as though they were to have choice of some 

 excellent weapons. 



Of course it will be a very agreeable outcome of the con- 

 test should victory come home with the visiting team, but 

 the match can have only a good effect, at any event, in so 

 far as it points attention to the matter of non-cleaning 

 matches. They are to be the contests of the future in the 

 line of practical rifle practice, and there could be no more 

 instructive series of experiments at Creedmoor than com- 

 parative tests with the ordinary military rifles in prolonged 

 series of shots without cleaning, A rifle which becomes 

 useless from leading or jamming, or stripping of bullet 

 patch under such trials, is not worthy of support as a de- 

 sirable weapon. It does not come up to the requirements of 

 a military arm, where oftentimes it is necessary to have shot 

 after shot for long periods fired, and often very rapidly, too, 

 where cleaning is entirely out of the question. If the arm 

 shoots the more wildly the more it is fired in this way, it 

 Very soon becomes a mere stick, and is no better than a quar- 

 ter staff or policeman's billy. There would be an added pleas- 

 ure to targot practice if the marksman could be certain that 

 in ridding himself of the labor of cleaning his rifle bore he 

 was not at the same time placing himself under a heavy 

 handicap. It must not be inferred that the practice of ten 

 years past on American ranges, wheie so much attention 

 was paid to cleaning, was misdirected practice. The re- 

 sults obtained were valuable, and make the building of a 

 non-cleaning rifle a comparatively easy task. There is to 

 be no general overhauling of the construction, but by care 

 in a few minor poiuts it will be found that any good shoot- 

 ing weapon under the present system will be serviceable for 

 prolonged shoots without cleaning. 



If in place of offering for prizes for the marksman 

 who may hit the best score in a match under our present 

 rules, the N. R. A. should encourage original experiments 

 and carefully tabulate the results obtained under certain 

 known and defined conditions, something could be accom- 

 plished in a single season which it would require a dozen 

 years to reach under our present hap-hazard system. In all 

 reports of rifle matches as now given there are so many 

 omissions that the records are of little value as guides to 

 riflemen wishing to improve their own practice. A siugli 

 score might serve as the text for a very complete lesson of 

 practical rifle shooting, but if the only point aimed at in 

 publication is to designate differences between individuals, 

 then the system now in use is a good one and answers every 

 purpose. Progress, however, is not to be made by years of 

 this sort of work. The experimenter is the leader and there 

 is no reason why the several clubs of the country and organ- 

 izations generally should not devote some time and atten- 

 tion to securing and tabulating Tesults in these systematic 

 endeavors to overcome some of the present impediments in 

 the way of good and reliable scoring at all times. 



It is time, too, in military practice that, there should be a 

 general exhibit of what is and has been done. The regular 

 army has made great progress since rifle practice was taken 

 up a few years ago, and it is to be hoped that with the 

 carrying out of the wise suggestion for the concentration of 

 the troops and the breaking up of the present series of 

 detached posts something may be accomplished in the 

 direction of rifle improvement. In the militia it would be 

 wise if a uniform system of scoring could be introduced so 

 that the relative standing of the men of the several States 

 could be readily fixsd, and especially the fact brought out 

 in strong relief that in many parts of the Union abso- 

 lutely no attention is paid to building up this strong arm to 

 the civil power of the body politic. 



It is one of the difficulties of this sort of target practice 

 that it must be kept up under the guise of a pleasure. 

 It must not be made too irksome as a task, for there 

 it is thrown aside as s bore, and all interest in it ceases. 

 It will not do for the authorities to insist upon men 

 making up for the defects of an inferior arm by extra 

 practice and precaution. The best weapons should be 

 secured, and then can the best result be insisted upon from 

 the men into whose hands the rifles have been placed. In 

 this respect the militia of several of the States have very 

 just cause for complaint, and it is not at all surprising 

 that some lively grumbling should at times be indulged in. 

 It is probable that this year will see some interesting ex- 

 periments in the direction of repeating rifles for military 

 uses. It is an open question whether for sporting rifles to 

 be used in hunting there is any legitimate demand for a 

 magazine rifle, but in military circles it is recognized that 

 the morale of a body of troops is wonderfully strengthened 

 by having them armed to the very highest poiut of excellence, 



and competent experts are working in the direction of mag- 

 azine rifles with great, determination. Much lias been done 

 abroad, and most excellent results have been shown on this 

 side the ocean; but there is the .service test to be yet applied 

 to many of the models put up for trial. 



It would be well if the season of 1883 should see a more 

 general diffusion of rifle shooting, and the sport become 

 popular in all quarters of the country. If for every one 

 of the thousands upon thousands of little pistol plagues 

 which are scattered in every quarter, a good weapon was 

 made and put in careful uso, we should have a big decrease 

 in accidents from firearms. Tt> infer from the number of 

 fatal shooting occurrences that small arms are per se respon- 

 sible is most absurd. Carelessness, ignorance or design 

 come in to explain the mishap in fully ninety-nine per 

 cent, of the cases reported. If the season of '83 will see 

 more intelligence on the questions of petty arms scattered 

 among the people, it will see a" corresponding reduction in 

 the number of shooting accidents. 



Nets is Lake Chamflain. — We would call attention to 

 the article by Dr. C.Hart Merriam in another column, in 



hich he shows how the valuable food fishes of Lake Cham- 

 plain are slaughtered on the Termont side of the lake while 

 seeking their spawning grounds. A year ago one of the 

 New York game protectors complained in our columns of 

 this same thing;, anil regretted that he was powerless to 

 remedy the matter. The greed of fishermen in all parts 

 leads them to try to capture the last fish in the waters in 

 order to make as much out of them to-day as is possible and 

 to neglect the future harvests. We hope some action may 

 be taken by the authorities to prevent the annual March 

 slaughter this year, and thus secure a fair drop of young fish 

 the coming season. If the fisherman took the fish after they 

 had spawned it would not be so bad, but according to Dr. 

 Merriam they are doing all they can to exterminate the fishes 

 of the lake, whose main spawning grounds seem to be upon 

 the Vermont side. 



"AstEEr at Hits Post,"— Had the artist chosen to tell his 

 story in prose, instead of by a sketch, it would properly have 

 been placed in our Camp Fire Flickerings. The picture is 

 suggestive. The hero is by no means the only unfortunate 

 sportsman who has, by falling asleep, missed one of the 

 golden opportunities of his life. A similar experience has 

 befallen others. We recall an occasion when a fox hunter 

 (New England style), overcome by fatigue, fell asleep at his 

 stand. When he woke to find that the fox had passed within 

 six feet of him, he delivered an oration to himself and the 

 other stumps, which, though eloquent in the extreme, our 

 limited space will not permit us to repeat here. To his 

 friends it was plausibly explained that the fox had been 

 missed because his gun had hung fire; the real truth has 

 never been told before, and it is now given to the reader only 

 in the strictest confidence. May we not ask in return a like 

 confidential relation from some one else? 



The Local Pkess may be utilized to further the inte- 

 rests of sportsmen if a little attention be given to the matter. 

 The local editor is, in nine cases out of ten, willing to give 

 his influence to the cause of game protection, provided only 

 that his attention be properly called to the subject. How 

 clearly and truly the local press can talk, witness the words 

 of the Huron (Dakota) Leader, reproduced elsewhere. With 

 such an ally as the home paper, the sportsmen of a town or 

 county can accomplish a vast amount of good. 



Titk Maine Commissioners. — We arc pleased to learn of 

 the reappointment of Messrs. H. O. Stanley and E. M. Stil- 

 well as Commissioners of Fisheries and Game for the State 

 of Maine. The latter gentleman, although not appearing 

 as such, has in reality held the position and discharged the 

 duties of commissioner during the past year, having served 

 at the request of the Governor's Council. His reinstatement 

 will receive the cordial approval of citizens of Maine, 



Seal Hixnteso.— The hardy sport of seal hunting has not 

 found favor with many of our sportsmen, yet no doubt it 

 may be an enjoyable one. We learn that the well-known 

 naturalist, Dr. C. Hart Merriam, whose contributions have 

 often enriched our columns, will start next week for New- 

 foundland and the Northern ice fields on a big sea) hunt. 

 We hope he will have all the success that he has hoped for, 

 and that he will give us some account of the trip. 



Maine Bieds.— Many of our ornithological readers will 

 no doubt be surprised, as we confess we were, at Mr. 

 Smith's arrangement of the families of the Qrallatores in the 

 list of Maine Birds, now being published in these columns. 

 This arrangement was not determined upon by the author 

 without consideration, and we leave it without change and 

 without comment 



The Chesapeake Big-Guss.— Just as we go to press we 

 are in receipt of a telegram from Baltimore dated February 

 30, which reports that three, more big-guns have been cap- 

 tured, making seven in all, and the remainder are located. 



Ouk Readehs will confer a favor by sending us the names 

 of suck of their friends as are not note among the »ubscribers 

 of the Forest and Stream, but who would presumably be 

 interested in the paper 



W 1 * B^orinn\nn ^ouri$t 



N1MROD IN THE NORTH. 



BY LIEUT, fred'i; scuwatka, tj. s. army. 

 lV.-Nimrod with a Shotgrun.-Part One. 

 \A/ MILE in the winter time the Arctic regions are an 

 t T almost barren country for the sportsman after small 

 game, there is no place on' this planet where it. is more 

 plentiful during the short summer, especially of the aquatic 

 variety, and the lover of duck-shooting could certainly gain 

 his fill in a short, while. 



While encamped in North Hudson's Bay it was considered 

 no great doings at all to take the shotgun out to one of the 

 many lakes in this vicinity and get a good mess for our lit- 

 tle party. These lakes, which were nothing more than great 

 impervious basins of granite full of drainage water, were so 

 numerous and oftentimes so large that I do not believe I ex- 

 aggerate when I say that their superficial measurement 

 would be one-third of the whole country thereabouts; cer- 

 tainly they were a most annoying impediment to inland 

 traveling in the summer, and an equally fortunate boon in 

 the winfer when we followed their level surfaces with dog- 

 teams and sledges. Each pond or lake contained its little 

 family or families of eider ducks, and if it were at all large, 

 and especially it it werp dotted with flat, grassy islands, 

 which gave them protection while breeding, they would br- 

 iu large bands over its surface. They only inhabit the pond.-, 

 and lakes near the sea shore until the young are large, enough 

 to fly, when they congregate in the fiords, inlets and bays of 

 the sea, and oftentimes in immense numbers. The greatest 

 trouble we had was to penetrate their ironclad coating of 

 feathers, the greater majority of those secured being shot in 

 the head and neck. As small shot was equally efficacious in 

 this method of destruction, we adopted it, with the effect of 

 increasing - our scores. 



Our first efforts were often laughable. Colonel Gilder 

 one day turned a duck's feet into the air with a shot of 

 about thirty yards distance, fuel when the wind had blown 

 him nearly into shore, all the time kicking vigorously, 

 the Colonel, desirous of facilitating bis travels, commenced 

 throwing large stones just, beyond him with the effect of 

 bringing him rigid side up with care. The duck looked 

 md astonished, sneezed a couple of times, and when the 

 next stone splashed alongside he disappeared in the water 

 and came up over a hundred yards away, where .lie coolly 

 proceeded to arrange his feathers after their last disturbance. 

 Could any of the many dealers or manufacturers in shot- 

 guns who advertise so extensively in FOHKST AND STKEA.M 

 get a good record on the Arctic dock, 1 think he could rest 

 perfectly satisfied with his practical test. 



The compass is a sluggish, unreliable instrument in the 

 northern part of the bay, and it became necessary to estab- 

 lish a good long north and south line while conducting my 

 lurveys, and for reasons unnecessary to explain, I fixed upon 

 the expedient of doing so by the" culmiuation of Jupiter. 

 My north point was fixed hear Oalnp, and the south one 

 approximately about a mile away across a lake; .-nut one 

 night I sent Henry to it to fix it as accurately as possible by 

 this method. I gave him a small torch to define his posi- 

 tion, and then expected to put him on the meridian by sig- 

 nals at the instant of culmination which I knew. My shot- 

 gun ease contained a duck call, and 1 fixed on it as a good 

 instrument to be heard a long distance, and told Henry that 

 one r/iifick meant the right, while two meant the left. The 

 night came and Henry took his place, and I could see that 

 he would be out of the way even a quarter of an hour ahead; 

 and I gave a quack that sent him nearly as far out of the Way 

 on the" other side. Quack, quack, was sent to him, and he 

 had just gone about half way back and nearly where 1 wanted 

 him, when there came floating over the lake quack, quack. 

 That dragged him way out again. .\ single signal from my 

 call to rectify this was answered by about a half a dozen 

 single and double calls all over ttie lake; and I soon found 

 that I had stirred up about a hundred ducks, all of them 

 fully educated in the art of surveying, and most strenuous 

 rivals in superintending this particular job. I at once gave 

 up the quack method and returned to the standard rules of 

 the tegular school, but I wasted a bag of shot on that lake 

 next day, and we lived for a week on Jupiter birds, as Henry 

 called them. 



One writer says that the mother will lead the young ones 

 to the water almost as soon as they creep from the eggs. 

 Going before them to the shore, they trip after, and, wdien 

 she comes to the waterside, she takes' tliem on her back and 

 swims a few yards with them, when she dives, and the lit- 

 tle ones are left floating on the surface, and are obliged to 

 take care of themselves. After once initiated to the water 

 I think they never return to the laud. From these birds is 

 produced the soft down so well known, and which the fe- 

 male plucks from her breast to line her nest. In the sub- 

 Arctic regions the people regularly rob them of this, and it 

 forms an important item of commerce. If robbed, the fe- 

 male forms another nest in the same way, and the third 

 time she is compelled to call on the master of the household 

 for a supply of down from his breast. Each female yields, 

 it is said, about four ounces of this material, and so soft and 

 light is it that it has to be mixed with moss roots and gravel 

 by the old bird to prevent the winds scattering it away; and 

 as gathered weighs two or three times its final weight. 

 Upon King William's Land my party in one day saw about 

 forty of these nests, the whole' island being compur ■dively 

 abundant with them, and I have but little doubt, that one 

 person alone could have seen as many had that, been his 

 sole object. Should atrial navigation ever be completed, such 

 wages as $25 to $30 per day (or even half that if the market. 

 should become stocked) would undoubtedly draw many 

 thither during the breeding season of nearly a month in , 

 length. 



1 have said that the eider favors the little islands in the 

 large lakes or those along the seashore for protection while 

 breeding, the Arctic fox being the most inveterate egg- 

 sucker I have ever met, and consequently their worst 

 enemy. One method they have of circumventing this pest 

 in Spitsbergen is too curious to pass by. If driven off of their 

 nests ihey hastily draw the down of the nest over the eggs, 

 and glue" it with a copious supply of yellow fluid, which 

 not only retains the warmth of the eggs for a Ion 

 but is of so extremely offensive a nature, that the foxes 

 would not touch the eggs tainted with it. 



The eider-ducks of Hudson's Bay are mostly the common 

 variety; all of those of King William's Land being the 

 crested or king eidw. Yet an indifferent observer would 

 believe that there were two distinct varieties, so widely 

 different is the plumage of the sexes, and the fact that when 



