126 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Madctt IS, 1888, 



have a ditch or trench dug, and everything ready. 1 will 



in 1 ai your camp before sun-up Tuesday morning.'" 



W i III this arrangement, we parted for the Digit. My 

 hands were all in rani]) when I got buck, and the next thing 

 aftergettimr ray supper wnslb examine my ri He, and gat 



01 cry thing in readiness I'nr hunting I lie turkeys. Some time 

 before daybreak. 1 rode to the plaoc where we had flushed 

 them the night before, mid waited until they should begin to 

 yelp in order to gel together, 



WfllVes ftlld (vibleats being so numerous in the bottom, 

 caused flie wild turkeys to be later in dying from their roosts 

 t.baii in places where those animals are nut found. Hence, 

 il was light enough to see to shoot before a turkey yelped. 

 1 bad stopped in shooting distance of a fine young" gobbler, 

 and as soon US il yelped, 1 saw il and II rod. It was evidently 

 wounded, for I saw it come lo the ground about two 

 hundred yards up the brake, and al I be same time I saw a 

 huge turkey fly and light in a cypress tree, near where the 

 wounded one came down. Loading my ride as quickly as 

 possible, I kept a big tree between the turkey and myself 

 until i w as near enough lo shoot, and then, slipping beside 

 of a tree, 1 fired at this one, and had the mortification to see 

 ibe turkey sail oil' ami come lo l he ground as the first, one 

 did. 1 knew I had hit both turkeys, because al that early 

 hour t In- v would have flown lo some other tree instead of the 

 ground, 



While I WBS looking around to liud the first one f shot, 

 1 heard a slight noise on the bluff bank of the brake, and 

 looking up 1 saw two deer, small does, running along it. 

 The deer stopped suddenly, as soon as they heard tbebieat 

 1 made. I fired at the one nearest to me, and had the pleas- 

 ure of seeing it fall. The olher did not move, and I loaded 

 and shot tied. down. This consoled me in a manner for the 

 bad shots I Mad made at the turkeys. 1 rode to camp as 

 soon as possible, got a e.ouplcof bauds with mules lo go with 

 me to get the deer, and I took along also a bound thai was 

 remarkably good for running turkeys. 1 took him lo the 

 place where" 1 saw Ihe first turkey fly lo the ground. He 

 soon struck its track, and in less thau a hundred yardseame 

 upon il dead, It was Ml0l WtO far back to produce instant 

 deal!, faking him lo the (..ace where I saw the second one 

 come down, he struck Us track, trailed if up and caught it. 

 The sou was no' iwu hours high when 1 relurned. 



The bayou was lull of ducks. 1 sat in my tent door and 

 killed several during the day. The trench was dug as Copo- 

 land desired, and I sent him a note slating what I had killed, 

 and desiring him to firing his wife and children with him. 



Ketones Tuesday morning he came, bringing not only sev- 

 l ial pieces of the panther, but Ihe half of a very fat two-year- 

 old she bear, lie told me wdieu he got to the great catio- 

 luake i.m ihe Couehart, where he expected I o find the bear, 

 his tlOgB winded it. where il had bedded for the w inter. Il 

 was so fat that it ran but a short distance before they 

 brought if lo bay When be go! up with them they pulled 

 it down, and he killed it with his cane-knife. 



Next to the spun of killing game comes the pleasure of 

 having it cooked to suit, tin- hunter's taste and then of eating 

 it. On this occasion Uipelaud added a few wrinkles to my 

 horn in the way of cooking a species of game I had never 

 seen eaten. 



By the time he arrived 1 had a quaufity of seasoned ash 

 and hickory wood prepared; a good supply of it bad been 

 burned down lo coals iu the trench, while the cross sticks 

 were read v to pnt irj place as soon, as the pieces of meat 

 were ready. 



The heads of the fleer were placed before a hot lire lo 

 roast until the brains and tongues should tie thoroughly 

 cooked. The bam aud the tenderloin of the bear were 

 placed over Ihe crosspieees to be linked; also the ham and 

 haunch of the panther put on another crosspiece to be baked 

 slowlv and near it were the ribs and haunches of the deer. 

 The turkeys were stuffed with nice loaf-bread and oysters, 

 anil hung over a good fire to roast, the gravy falling into a 

 frying-pan, lo be taken up and poured over them from time 

 to' time, as the browning was going on. The middling of 

 the bear was hung near a good tire, to tie cooked thoroughly, 

 so that at the proper time pieces could be eul to hang over 

 the panther, deer and turkeys, in order that tbe^ rich bear 

 gravy might drop slowly on these pieeesaud soak into them. 

 This gravy, with bear hunters, is looked trpun BB the acme 

 of what is'most palatable for heightening the flavor of veni- 

 son, and, as Copeland remarked, was indispensably neces- 

 sary to reuder the | iinlher Ihe great. isl delicacy of all wild 



The flesh of the panther is the whitest of all animals 1 

 have eaten. The grain of the flesh is finer sntl more com- 

 pact than any other. In appearance if resembles that of 

 human flesh. 



Mrs. Copeland had brought will i her 

 Vegetables, sweet and Irish potatoes, 

 parsuips, onions and peas. 1 had a 

 oyster,-, several kinds of catsups, and my 

 loaf bread and risen cornbread — the espc. 

 hunter. Mrs. Copeland brought plenty of hotter and milk 

 with her, and with ihe assistance of my cook she baked a 

 genuine old-fashioned English plum-pludding. 



I bad sent over to my neighbors, Mr. Calloway and Mr. 

 Hunter, an invitation to attend, and tube sure and bung 

 with them a good supply of pickle, celery aud jetty-. They 

 came with the required articles, 



|)i i was ready bv three o'clock in the afternoon. 1 



omitted to mention that a. favorite part of a deer had been 

 cooked for mv benefit. It is the melt, which I had wrapped 

 in paper and then put under a bed of hot ashes, and cooked 

 done When taken on! il was put into a dish of melted 

 butter well seasoned with salt, pepper and vinegar. 



We had no wine, nor braudv, but. a good supply of old 

 whisky, which enabled Mrs. Copeland to prepare a large 

 bowl of egg-nog, I must confess I never enjoyed any din- 

 ner, upon any occasion, as much as 1 did this, and ample 

 justice by every one was done to each species of game. All 

 'pronounced the. haunch of panther the sweetest and most 

 delicious meat, they had ever ealen. Several times since I 

 have had panther cooked, but. if did not taste as good as it 

 did on this occasion, due, perhaps, to the want of some of 

 the condiments' 1 had at that time, chiefly to the addition of 

 the bear meat and the bear gravy. 



I think all of us ate. more thau we ever did before at any 

 one meal, and seldom does a hunter have more variety of 

 game. In addition to the kinds of game already mentioned. 

 Hie hands had killed and caught, a good many squirrels, 

 bares, with several very fat 'possums and 'coons, also a line 

 lot of trout and perch. Mr. Hunter had caught a beaver 

 the day before, and brought the tail to be cooked. In fact, 

 we had nearly all the game, of Arkansas represented, and 

 cooked iu a style to satisfy the appetites of the most fastidi- 

 ous gormauds', much less the backwoods hunters. 



When 1 had drank two cups of pure Java Coffee, made 



nearly resembling 

 New'Orleans, and It 

 "Lone Jack'' lobaee 



wish to .ai another 

 to my mouth. Tha 

 went to sleep, I had 

 panther wan aft 



coffee of the old French Market of 

 1 smoked a dozen pipes full of good 

 out of a. cob pipe, 1 felt as if I did not 

 outhful for a week at least. I was lull 

 night, when 1 lay do- 



ll 



cd tin 



nil 1 was making 

 U) escape, hut could not, anil just when he grabbed 

 me and I had given up all hope of escape, the ancient mound- 

 builder and his family, on whose mound 1 had pitched my 

 tent, rose out of the ground in the very nick of time to drive 

 off the savage beast, but to frighten me more than it did. 

 All nighl 1 was rolling and tossing and talking with the 

 ancient builder, whom, 1 thought, wanted lo carry me down 

 Into his mound and eat me up for daring to desecrate it. 

 When I awoke next morning,! was as sore as if bodily 

 beaten, and I attributed it all to the mound builder. I 

 vowed 1 would have his home searched that very day, and 

 retaliate upon him the sufferings I had endured that long 

 weary night. On my land, about a hundred yards from the 

 bank' of the bayou was a round mound, not' less (ban 10(1 

 yards diameter' and some 30 feet high. On this I designed 

 "erecting my dwelling house. 1 sold the frail of laud before 

 it. w as buili. bul flic' purchaser erected a tine residence on 

 it. and his family are living there at this date. 



The examination was partly made, with nothing found in 

 the mound, not even a leg bone, a skull, or a tooth to denote 

 il was once a burial place of sonic distinguished mound 

 builder, wdiose ghosts had appeared to give me such a fright. 



I came to the 

 panther meat novi 

 reproduce visions 



It might uot b 

 landnndhisson Si 

 Pine Bluff had bei 

 Gen. Powcl Cla 



that, to 



ng quautil 



Tin 



r fail to gi\ 



of day thoughts. 



,. The 

 Of sic 



• the 



tcli 



ghln 



the third year of the war, aud with the 



souri cavalry company made a raid kite 

 bottom where Copeland was operating 



e sad fate of Bill Cope- 

 the daleof this barbecue, 

 upiedbv the command of 

 lersallr'efugeedtoTexas, 

 kinds on their deserted 



omeof those 

 ug for the in- 

 a systematic 

 iters' returned 

 ice of a Mis- 

 ui t portion of the 

 They caught him 



I'd to 



111 pi 



several varieties of 

 cabbages, salsify, 

 supply ot canned 

 cook had prepared 

 1 favorite of the 



and his son Sam, and huug them both lo the same limb. 



When I heard of il, 1 could not help feeling sorry for the 

 fate of a man with whom I had had many a bear hunt, 

 though I thought he was righteously executed. 



WrHBTEK PVUISH. 

 Mikdbm, I,n. 



THE NEGROES AND THE GAME. 



TN the last number (March I) of the Forest and Stream 

 I noticed an article from M., who writes from North- 

 side, Virginia. The author, whoever he may be. assumes that 

 mv hum ilephrmt is somewhat suggestive of my real name. 

 and hints, rather broadly, thai "once in the flight of ages 

 past" 1 was an insignificant factor in the Legislative Depart- 

 ment of the Federal Government., sometime called the Con- 

 gress of the Uuiteil Slates. 1 shall neither deny nor confess 

 the "soft impeachment" — or the "bard" one if you prefer— 

 and will content myself with staling that I have been iu the 

 city of Washington on several occasions during the sessions 

 of 'Congress, and spent some time in observing the move- 

 ments of those individuals wdiom partial friends regard as 

 the leading statesmen of the country. It has been my fortune, 

 too, in that very city aud not far from the Hall at the south 

 end of the Capi'lol, to have literally "trod ou the toes" of a 

 somewhat notorious and provoking politician, wdio regards 

 himself not only as a man of wit, but as specially com- 

 missioned to throw impediments in the way of advancing 

 civilization, unless such advancement is of a character to 

 meet the approval of his excellent judgment. Of course, it 

 was done accidentally; but nevertheless the Hon. John Ran- 

 dolph Tucker could! perhaps, testify that he, whose corns 

 were heeled, gave unmistakable manifestations that he had 

 not lost the sense of I'eelim: in the pedal extremities. Pos- 

 sibly M. is right iu his guess, and 1 might, if I chose to do 

 so Indicate that certain "ear-marks" of his article cause me 

 tu'think that his secret may have leaked out. There may be 

 a pun somewhere along here; but if so. I shall leave it to M. 

 to find out. If he shall succeeed, 1 trust be will not cane 

 me on sight, and rue his folly for the rest of his life. How 

 is that? 



I must be allowed to say lo ::ty fn-nd M. that '-..n :!, 

 in the past, the people of any Congressional District so far 

 mistook my fitness as to furnish rue with a commission under 

 the broad seal of the State, to represent their interests at 

 the Federal Capitol. I was never under any necessity o! 

 invoking the aid of "the brother in black." If 1 had been, 

 1 feel sure thai mv labor would have been in vain. But having 

 been born on a plantation where there was a considerable 

 number of these descendants of Ham. or the children of the 

 sun, I learned not a little of their cliaracter, and then- fitness 

 for the pursuit, uf the more elevated pastimes. 1 have 

 observed them, loo, since the date of their emancipation. 

 Iu regard lo the question at issue, whether the negro has 

 been a potent cause iu the diminution of the game bird 

 which we call the partridge, I confess I have decided 

 opinions. In the whole range of my acquired aim I know 

 of no darkev who ow ns a bird-dog or a breech-loading shot- 

 gun; and 1 never heard of one whose skill enabled him to 

 do more than shoot a squirrel on a tree, or a bird on the 

 ground. With US, these days, they do but little ol that. 

 They have traps, and by tins means Succeed in taking quite 

 a number of birds. White persons have them also, and are 

 quite as destructive. One of the great engines ot misclncl 

 is the net, which is remorseless in its greed. Beside this, 

 we have foxes which destroy the nests, and hawks which 

 prey upon the birds. But I think that as these have always 

 been, that some other cause still must be assigned. It may 

 be that disease has made its ravages-disease somewhat akin 

 to that which destroys so many chickens. 



In this section of the State the negroes outnumber the 

 whites; and yet we have as many birds as they have in 

 Montgomery and Kandolph, where the whites preponderate. 

 In those sections the birds should he much more abundant, 

 because of the fact that the people cultivate grain more ex- 

 tensively than we do— our population regarding '•cotton as 

 king." ' Bo, therefore, whatever other sins the negro may 

 commit- and 1 am not his apologist- he is, as I think, guilt- 

 less of this offense. 



It is a fact that birds are far less numerous than they were 

 a few years ago, and unless they largely increase, sportsmen 

 most confine their Westley Richards, Greeners, Purdeys, 

 Scous and Tollcys-io say nothing of Parker, Remington 



and Coll — to the glories of Card's rotary trap. 1 have 

 hunted repeatedly since the middle of October, and in quite 

 a number Of localities, and with the same general result. 

 Birds were scarce everywhere. I thought that possibly they 

 were in ihe woods. But from all I can hear that is not so. 

 They are really scarce. Not long since a party of four went 

 into Cumberland county, where two yen rs ago we got one 

 hundred and fifty in about three, days. ' We had good dogs, 

 and hunted the s'aine grouuds. YVY bagged less than sixty. 

 Only last week three of our sportsmen went into the county 

 ot Anson, where, on one plantation, we were told there 

 were twenty covies. We searched the place well find found 

 but two small ones! In two days we got about forty. II 

 was not our fault. We shot pretty well when we. found the 

 birds, but. the birds were not there, 



Mow. I trust. 1 shall be pardoned for making one more 

 allusion to that "remarkable shot" in Florida. I never 

 doubted thai No. 9 shot, propelled by a heavy charge of 

 good gunpowder, would kill a deer, at very short range. I 

 had heard bear hunters in Arkansas say that they frequently 

 used small shot and found bo difficulty' in killing v\ dl.h them. 

 But they were always at a very short dislance. Hut, I 

 reiterate the statement, that, unless the hunter is exceedingly 

 close lo the game, ten drams of Corliss A Harvey will not 

 throw No. 9 shot hard enough to make a five-pointed buck 

 do morel ban drop his tail. It is safest, if the sportsman 

 wants venison to eat, to use shot not less in size than No. 8 

 buck, and even these do not always prove effective over 

 forty yards. Of course, T cannot doubt that, now and then, a 

 miraculous shot takes place. But I never inadeone of them, 



And now let me tell a yarn on a pair of sportsmen iu a 

 neighboring county. 1 do not vouch for it, and only tell 

 the' tale as if was told to me. by one Kill Rapper, an indi- 

 vidual somewhat known in this : section of country— I will 

 not say for respectability or truth. He said he heard the 

 father'of one of Ihe unfortunates relate it. iu the town of 

 Wadesboio. A young merchant, the senior of the firm of 

 Weak & Lyatl, was in Wilmington, ami so gol on the blind 

 side of a hardware merchant, who owned a "good l.avcrack 

 setter hound Alack, that the owner sent the clog up lo him. 

 Now, 1 know that Mack is a good oog, for Teceel (does M. 

 understand this tic&i "' plitltnef) and I have had many a 

 "canny day, John, wi' ane neither,'' hunting with hi'm. 

 Mack is a sensible dog. too, and when we had him. he not 

 only found birds, and" set them, but got many chances to 

 retrieve them, too — tor T. is II fair shot, and' I, Sometime, 

 make Westley Richards give an account of himself, especially 

 When 1 am in Ihe open field and the bird goes quartering oil 

 to the left. 



But — getting back to the mutton — soon after Mack made 

 his appearance Weak invited his friend Squire Crafftti'd to 

 go with him on a hunt. The Squire has an excellent breech- 

 loader, and Weak either had or borrowed one. After get- 

 ting two or three miles into the country, the dog was turned 

 loose and soou found a covey in an open straw field. Both 

 sportsmen got their guns ready, walked up to the birds, and 

 each one discharged" both barrels. Not a feather dropped. 

 The bird- settled "in an open place, and Mack was soon again 

 ,,u the i.oel. Four shots were taketi. as before, with a like 

 result. The birds were again found, and two bairelswere 

 discharged without diminishing the stock of game. So soon 

 as Mack saw this he dropped his tail between his legs, let 

 fall his crest, gave the sportsmen a knowing look, and, at 

 lull speed, went back home, leaving these crack shots "alone 

 in their glory," if glory it was. He found he had gotten in 

 the wrong crowd, and couldn't stand it. 



I trust I suaU be excused for expressing the wish lo have 

 it in my power at some time in the' future to take a hunt 

 with M. on the "north side'' of the James, in a section of the 

 country where some of my ancestors were born, and in 

 which 'some of my kinsmen now live. Doubtless M. knows 

 some of them. And it would afford me equal pleasure to 

 have a visit from him, and show him a section which, 

 Ihouirhbe mav haveseenil, is not entirely destitute of at- 

 traction to one who is fond of the sports of the field, and 

 where, at all events, he could have the association of quite 

 a number Of persons with whom he would not be ashamed 

 in mingle, In such case I would Ihrow off the mask which 

 my modesty compels me to assume, and welcome him in 

 my own proper person to all Ihe hospitalities which my 

 humble ilivi lliiw could afford. "UT-ici.s. 



Bockinuham, ST. C., March 5, IBM. 



1 spent a short time in Maiyland last fall. While 

 there, a gentleman who has lived there some three or four 

 years' said to me, "There is no jealousy between the white 

 and colored sportsmen, because' they are not alter Ihe same 

 game. 'Ihe whiles don't care for 'old bar,' and the darks 

 don't, care for quail." Mv own observations tended to con- 

 firm his statements, although doubtless each race takes Ihe 

 distinctive game of the other when it comes in their way — 

 Picket. 



PHILADELPHIA NOTES. 



r P HE closing days of last month were so bright and spring- 

 _L like the thoughts and conversation of the knights of 

 the trigger who met at the different, gun shops of our city 

 turned" '""-snipeward," but March has opened so wintry, and 

 the first week of the month has been so stormy and cold, 

 even th: sprigtcil ducks th;:t hav:. lately arrived m tie. Del- 

 aware River "may regret their early coming. Those 1 have 

 seen in the market s,"seiit to Philadelphia by the professional 

 shooters, are in a terribly poor condition and not worth the 

 killing. As they hang side by side with plump, celery -led 

 widgeons shot in the neighborhood of Havre de Grace, they 

 present a sorry appearance. It will take a fortnight before 

 our Delaware Tiver cpigtdlfi are iu g-.od I'de.' f-jr Ik- 

 table, if U'cy are lobe shot, and I suppose they will be, as 

 there' is no law to prevent. 



A walk iu the rural sections of Philadelphia shows that 

 the purple grakle has made his appearance, and discovers 

 the robins and bluebirds have come. 



Below Bombay Hook, Del, a large (lock ot snow gee.se 

 have taken up their quarters, and use, as they did last 

 year, the extensive meadows in the neighborhood as their 

 feeding grounds, tearing up the grass to get at the tender 

 roots, aud making the ground look as though a held ol mviup 

 had been rooting there. It is difficult to get at these fowl, 

 as they sit out in the bay the greater part of the time when 

 not feeding, aud when they go to feed start in two or three 

 bodies, so that if the shooter has made a blind on the 

 meadows where he expects them to visit, and they do conic 

 to him, the first shot or two drives them to another portion 

 of the extensive feedine grounds, where they remain until 

 ready to go out to the bay again, or if it is blowing too hard, 

 to some "of the marshes near by. where they cannot be ap- 

 proached. HoMO - 



