March 28, 1888.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



148 



lie was headed to the northwest, and 

 fed thai be wen) straight to the Bad 

 ■ nougb sure, But the serpent didn't 

 i'ii'«. is no record thai he wae driven 

 lusivc evidence that lie stayed in this 



.-eipent wa.-a masa-an-. -i ] II..- stayed 



can't prove it by in 

 i have h 

 T,and-\ which was 

 go— not a bit of it, 

 out, ami [ have c 

 Eden. Yes, bora, t 

 and multiplied pro 



• \hi-:i-:ni::ri '] What's iii,ii, "\r.-i_icn-v"' sliouti'il a little nr- 

 Chin on the outer circle Of thecrowd with hia slma-brush' 

 and blacking-box slung over his shoulder, as he adjusted bis 

 i Straw hat. 



"There, now," shouted the Major. "Whal is this world 

 tt-coining to that a boy born und bred right here should ask 

 what a inasaaauger is I Where is the schoolmaster now. that 

 such ignorance should prevail in the rising generation? 

 Fes, in one who is growing up to make n voter and may de 

 citfa a Presidential election, H may be, and, I dare say, his 

 mamma thinks in will be Piesidcnl himself— most mammas 

 think 90 iu this country. But you tell her for mi . strany, 

 that Mich ignorance looks had for her hopeful Mnslfc u 

 ger! That, is the little black prairie rattlesnake. He is 

 the meanest littfccuss that ever walked theeartb, [just 

 know be is ih. rascal thai presented that apple to Eve The 

 evidence is abundant. He-isfnundin theiighl plaoe, II 



is just mean enough lo i 

 When the reft i 

 Now, it ii bad been a bja 

 the timid maiden, and hi 

 her ruin. \o. it was a 'ii 

 of that offered her tin.- a pi 

 "Stop. Major, a moment,'.' I: 



ii it, and then he is just tli 

 i we musi look to probabilities. 

 nakc il would have Beared away 

 could never hav< accomplished 

 Ic serpent thai she was not afraid 

 le. " 



iriod Tom Slack, "and tell 



apph 



that 



us how such a little snake could have held such a big 

 in his mouth?" 



1 There it is again," cried the Major, "another presij 

 candidate going iiinlri- \ery fast. Don't you EllO' 



a snake's mouth is a great deal biggor than he is hi 



Dbn'i you know that a snake can .fust unhinge his jaws when 

 he pleases and open his nioutli as wide as a quohog if he oan 

 make anything by it ; mid you just bet Ilia) liltle fellow 

 did Ids very best to handle a hia apple, and I have no doubt 

 ii was a red one at that. 



"Mean, did I say. yes. indeed. "Would you believe it, in the 

 uesiing season ol the prairie chicken, tliej prowl around 

 and find all the nests and eggs, which they gulp down as if 

 l hey were sugar-coated. One will swallow a whole nest 

 full, till he is bloated out like a bologna sausage. But this 

 is not all, If a nest escapes them they are always on the 

 lookout for the little chicks which they seem to like even 

 better than the eggs, and 1 honestly believe they are mean 

 enough and smart enough to leave some of the' nests, that 

 they may thus profit by the patient industn of ihe old hen. 

 On some prairies I have, seen them so thiek'flia' noi..-, prairie 

 eliieken could be raised there, and how they supported them- 

 selves I don't know, unless they eat each' oilier, which l am 

 sun i i.\ did, for they are just mean enough to lie cannibals. 

 Why, if I were to tell you of some of my cxperfen'ci - with 

 ihe inasa-auger you would actually think me exaggerating, 

 and I should lo-e your contidenee 113 my veracity which I 

 prize so highly," 



".Noi Nol" they nil cried. "Tell uh about it. we know we 

 '•;ni depend on every word you say." 



"Wml then," said the Major, as he smoothed down his 



id the position of his legs by 

 ■ft. "1 will venture this once 

 ti surveying in the prairie- in- 

 luay wear heavy hoots and a 



long white beard and chat 

 swinging the right over the 

 to toil you how' it wttg, \\ I 

 tested by these varment.-. I 

 buckskin suil throughout. 



"] was once running a line across a large prairie when T 

 1 mill- up to 1 lii- Bagman on the top of a swell in the prairie, 

 which overlooked a valley about a mile wide, and in the 

 middle of the vallev was wide *\\;\\v where Ihe grass was 

 vi r\ high, 1 told the flagman to go quite across the valley. 

 I set the compass and sighted across, when I observed in ihe 

 exact line a clump of the compass plant in full bloom, which 

 stood a little by itself, though mauv others like it were near 

 by on all sides. I thought if I could keep my eye fixed on 

 the object till i could reach it. 1 could save some time, and 

 1 determined to try it. The conjrpaflg under one arm and 

 the tripod under the other made a pielly good load, 

 bul 1 was young and strong, and 1 fixed my eye 

 on the object a mile away and started. The first 

 half of the distance 1 got over very well, but after that i 

 began to labor and go slowly, and before 1 reached the ob- 

 ject from which I never once removed my eyes, it seemed 

 almost impossible to drag one foot after the other, and I felt 

 as if I must stop and nisi. 1 however persevered lo the end. 

 So soon as I reached the object I looked clown and saw thai 

 more than fifty of those cussed masasaugers were fastened 

 to my buckskin leggius. The pisen pests had been striking 

 a; me all the Way across, Whenever I came near one. anil 

 from the pet [iliar texture of buckskin, whenever one -.truck 

 his teelh into it he could not let go, especially if it was in 

 motion. WelL boys, they just covered both logs nearly to 

 the km es and they made' it lively down there. I tell yon. 

 My legs then would have made 'a good match for the 

 Medii-a'- head To draw my hunting-knife was the work 



Of an instant, and I struck off head- taster than you could 

 count. That was Ihe bisgBSi masa.-auger funeral' 1 ever at- 

 tended, and the ceremonies were the shortest. 



"Hut the masasauger is not without its uses, and proves 

 the truth of the saving that nothing is made in vain. The 

 early settlers, before they had time to raise a crop of corn, 

 ii.-ed 10 fatten their hogs on masasangers, finishing off with 

 acorns in the groves. How the bog is an dmuiv 

 uial, and—" 



"ih Ih.. Major, \\iiai is omnivorous? What breed of bogs 

 is thai?" cried a little urchin, whose pant.- .were rolled up 

 to the km 1- and WCte held up by a piece of listing ns a sus- 

 pender over t lie left shoulder, and whose mamma had not 

 had time to repair his breeches torn on a picket fence, 

 which he had climbed the day before to plunder a neigh- 

 bor's garden. 



Tin Ma jor -iroked his long heard as he looked at the in- 

 quirer with a benevolent rath, r than offended expression 



and -aid 



"Come here, sonny, till 1 tell you Here is another case 

 in-- is likely to be ruined by 

 namma design you for? Not 

 nsnre. You will make a man 

 •- carry a white flag, But let 

 any it in front of you rati 



herbivorous. "Will you remember that, sonny? The car- 

 nivorous ..at only the" highest organizt 'I kind oi food, namely 

 flesh, and would -lam.- to death in Hi, mid-t of all the vege- 

 table food Iu ihe world. Of this class i.- the masasaugjer 

 and the tiger, for instance. The omnivorous are those who 

 <ut anything that comes along, whether flesh, li-h or vege- 

 tabll food. You are of this class, jis I said before, and so is 

 the hog as well as the. hear, the 'coon and the 'possum •••<• 

 example. This class can live anywhere when- anything 

 can be got to eat, and so may he called lucky. 



"The herbivorous is a class of animals thai live on vege- 

 table food alone, of which there is a much greater abundance 

 than ol animal food. Of this class the elephant, thi eamol 

 and the horse and the rabbit are examples, so you see that 



1 tbei 



who stumbled 1 

 nee, holly pursued lij 

 and frothing at the m< 

 ; if he thought he v 9 

 iss, and Onlj ; 

 1 t'unej ' ' 



these vegetarians ei 



ihrace 



Now you know wh 



ll Ol.lt 



hop.- for you." 





• Bul why ili-lni 



the s.i 



bright cved, round- 





Ustening to the Ma 



01 - I. 



"There, now." si 



id the 







11. al 1 1 now of that 1 



hs rati 



1 dqnt know of ejrj 



. ■ 



bog will smell a ra 

 chicken, and will g 



for 1 



there are of them t 



ie fasti 



who had winded a 



Big lot 



fast that it fairly i< 



ok all 



when she broke in 



upon t 



were basking in tin 



sun 01 



av/ay right Mid lei 



f in a 



and one shake was 



eno'ug 



and go for another. 



and hi 



the ground was co\ 



ered u 



she rooted over the 



old nu 



the 



of all 

 , the; 



mis 



ay h, 



Iu 



Hie hogs?" inquired a 

 tood with gaping mouth 



i hat a question for a boy 



The hog is the only ani- 

 n't hurt, and what- more. 

 lOiSOU him. I one.- tried 

 he grew fat on il, and I 

 onlrarv \Vhv. he just 

 lot of rats in 'a pit. A 

 .•]■ will n prairie 

 aud the more 



Ic 



fa.- 



ints run up wind - 

 S of her tail, an 



r he goe 

 of these 

 )f the ki 



■ c silence of the meeting as they 

 1 an old muskrat house, she . slashed 

 most astonishing way. One nip 

 ugh for one, when she would drop it 

 you could say .lack Robinson, 

 he slaughtered reptiles, when 

 uskral house, where she found a 

 few more. She then piled them all up heads and points. 

 and went off for her litter of pigs thai had come trailing 

 and squalling after her. They had a choice family dinner 

 that day. i tell you. 



"Without thai supply of hog fodder many an early settler 

 would have run short of meat. 



"What kind of bacon did those hogs moke? you ask. I 

 tell you it was lirst-iat.c. A little Strong, il may be. but we 

 had strong men in those days, and they needed strong meal. 

 Ii'- more than thirty year's since I have tasted a hit of it— 

 more's the pity. 



"Masaaaugcrs hate civilization as much as civilization 

 hales them; so soon as white men began to come in they 

 began to leave, and I don't believe there has been one this 

 side of the Mississippi River in the last twenty years. That 

 is why I say if they hadn't cleared out .Vdam the first time 

 the; tried, they would all have left tb 

 Cain was grown up so he could stria 



selves, long befo 

 ud lick.' " 



'But was Adam a white man?" asked a strapping lad ... . 

 the. outside of the circle. 



"Then;, now,' said Hie Major, a little tartly. -'There is 

 another promising piece of timber spoiled for some great 

 place. No amount of teaching can ever get bun out of a 

 log cabin or raise him above the plane of a rail-splitter, a 

 tanner, or a canal driver. Put never mind, for there ;,r, 



where a 



candidate foi 



ignoratH 

 the (lem 



e, Whai did 



r.-,l of the An 



Of peaet 



for I see vol 



the ad VI 



e you hereatt 



than !>el 



n.d, that V..111 



are ijljlii 



eti. Omnivot 



nivorous 



yourself, at 



hands ol 



-flesh, tisb < 



Igli left to keep tryii 

 win. Where is the so 

 man'.' To be sure he wti 



find a place among llu 

 rulers will he make ol v. 



, and it ma 



Omaster, to let 



ng generation? 



if them will 



Adam a white 



first nigger- 1 



such non.-ense 



What kind of 



breed of hogs those were? I tbll 

 you they were the plowshare breed, or the 'prairie rooters,' 

 as some called them. They bad snouts as long as a tapir. 

 and as stout as a orowbar, and the way they went for the 

 wild artichokes was a caution. They would break up a 

 ten acre piece quicker than you could with six yoke of 

 oxen, and twice as well. And many a settler who was short 

 of a team depended on them to break his land. But then 

 they were always troublesome, for they would come back 

 lor the crop after it was raised. Fence 1 hem out! As well 

 fence out the prairie chickens or the spotted gophers. I have 

 soenoneclearateu rail fence without touching a hoof, and I 

 once saw an old sow with a litter of pigs at her heels, slip 

 through a space in a paling fence not three inches wide, as 

 .-lick a- if both sides wete greased, and the way she went 

 iuto those flowerbeds was a caution. But a circus soon fol- 

 lowed — the old woman and the stalwart girls rushed out of 

 the cabin with shovel and tongs, mop and broom, and set 

 up a yell that would have drowned Gabriel's horn, and you 

 might have seen that old sow scoot buck quicker than she 

 came, and all you could see after that was a blue streak 

 "ending away to the prairie, aud the pigs squealing along 

 it'ter. That was a remarkable instance, I admit, for a hog 

 a the contraries* animal ever civilized by man, aud if you 

 vfint to get him out of a lot the surest plan is to try to keep 

 him in." 



"But," said Jack Tubbs, "didn't those hogs sometimes 

 run off and the settlers lose them?" 



Tinai now." said the Major, "there is some sense in that 

 question, and there is some hope for that boy if his mamma 

 only licks, him often enough. 



"Ye- a good many of those hogs did run oil' and set up 

 housekeeping on their own account. The hog is a strange 

 is a direct descendant of the wild I10V11 

 r stoiy books tell you is so fierce : ""i 

 ly domesticated, and in a fe-.\ gt 1 1 1 ■■ 

 -e. treated kindly and well fed. e-p-a-i 



Lea the quiet porker you sei 

 11 he goes wild still easier. Turn oui 

 e range and make him shift for him 

 1 he becomes as wild a- his srondfathej 



first, ran as he never ran before. 

 he boar, who was champing his 



lib and pitched right i nong 



Samson, .and wielded thejaw. 

 rifle bullet changed it from a 

 ral to a hog funeral, We wonl a long w av around 

 mai settlement, and I calculated the distance without 

 chaining it. 1 lell you I would turn out a prairie wild boar 

 aga)flfit the best in the old country and woidd ask no odds, 

 either. 



But, boys, I only lold you abort! half of that snake story. 

 When the pesky masasaugers handicapped, me so, when 

 crossing that valley, you kUoW both bauds were full, and I 

 couldn't lake my eyes off the bunch of pilot plant. When 

 about half way across, a fioek of gallillippers lit on me, like 

 a Hock of pigeons on a grain field. They could not make 

 much headwa\ through liie huek-km glove- or the buckskin 

 clothes, though they did some; but the fnc wa* naked, and 

 they soon found it out and fought lor the chance. That 

 fighting alone saved me, and nol much, either, for when I got 

 through and planted my foot nf. the object, my face was 

 covered as thick with them as a squash poultice. 1 laid 

 down my tools and brushed them oil' by the handful. Before' 

 I COUlil see to 1 ill oil' IhoSl -nakc' In ads 1 loid you aboul, » 

 thousand of Ibein, al l.-a-i, had l",i Iheii snouts in so far 

 that they lore awav When the owners weiil lo grass, and it 

 look one of the chain men an hour al leasl to pull (hem out 

 With tweezers. Hewas prudent and cm-id. 

 and when 1 saw him carefully laying then 

 letter which he took from his pocket, bea,i 

 ly, and asked him what In saved then 

 ml had w 

 nearly out of pin 



do 



te youth, 



a I Id 



:-:uid points alter- 

 1 for, he said thai 

 ritten thai, hitter) 



in' had a-kdl him 

 gallillippers. to save her II 

 •c Sharper and stronger and 



Jai 



had told him she 



d he came across an\ lir'-i-ran 



good lot of their bills, which we 



better every way than store pins 



"While Jim was busy collect 

 the party had bee 

 ply of the root of 

 iinn. — V.i). I This 

 high prairies. TI 



of'loug, narrow flag-like leaves, alo 

 are slender barbs. The seed ita 

 center of tin- cluster 6J h a-'-, on tl 

 grows, which contains seeds widely 

 seeds again the third year and the h 

 then it' dies. Near '1 lie top of ibis 

 branches are thrown off, upon each 

 burr is grown, bul their seeds arcg( 



"Persons much affected by mosquito bites usei 

 piece of this root in their pockets and when bitle 

 end of it a little and hold it on Ihe bite fo 



x the hairpiit- the rest of 

 11- v digging and munching good sup- 

 rattlesnake weed I /'.'/■,</..'.".-■ : 

 plan! thai grows almndanwy all overthe 



ilant throws out from tie- root a cluster 

 like have-, along the edges of which 



The seed -i-iik shoots up from the 



of leaves, on the lop of which a Inur 



and bear 



■ear-, and 



amber of 

 which a small seed 



•ally blasted. 



to cany a 

 1 chew ihe 

 ihorl time, 



icceeding 



-talk a 



hen the irritation almost instantly disappeared, 

 "Whether the sap of the leaves or the -talk is an antidote 

 for poisonou- bites- 1 do not kuotv", mlt the root certainly 

 possesses properties worth examining by the doctors, and 

 ihis is true of many oilier plants of the prairie which were 

 used by the early settlers lot medicinal puiposcs,. One I 

 may mention, which grew on the prairie, wa- u-.o in 

 place of quinine, and with similar eil'ei ! in en re the ague. 

 II. grew up in a single Stem from ihe root iind bore a num- 

 ber of small white flowers with short, small lea. 1 

 leaf of the plant grew out from Ihe stem two and a half 

 inches long and one and a half inches broad, and w is v,-r\ 

 bitter [Vemna strkin.— Ed.] Of these leaves 11 strong tea 

 Was made, which was drank freely, end produced a sensation 

 almost like a slight intoxication.' Tin- tea wa- sometimes 

 boiled down and made into pills, one of which, ai 

 small pea. was as much as 1 cared to lake ai oner. 



"By the lime.lim bad finished collecting hairpins, I had 

 the big head badly. Hut the pouitiee was ready, and ap- 

 plied all over the fade. Almost instantly the burning pain 

 ceased, and in an hour ] was as well as ever." 



But what 

 boyS, who see 

 "Well, noi 



e gallinippers, Major?" cried out. one of the 

 •d to have an inquiring mind. 

 I don't blame you lor thai," said the in- 

 iraj history, ''for they, loo, were all gone 

 auger long before you were born, and it is 

 iai 1 h.v were. They are a kind of mosquito 

 more so. Thev are 'most a.- Big as grass 

 I legs, and they 

 ihown by what. 



lucky for you 



only a good d. 



hoppers, with speckled or bar 



have bills long enough for bairp 



Jim did for his sweetheart. They are as sharp a- a two- 

 edged needle and as Strong as a lire poker. Winn one -'.ui-'i 

 you in tin- face, you would think a mule had kicked you. 

 They hunted in flocks, and each one wa- more savage than 

 another. The. only way to sleep When they were around 

 was to lay down on the lee Bide of a big fire, onid when you 

 in the morning ihe dead and the woundid 

 iu like a blanket. 1 once got n pan of 

 it ti cabin when we were out of provision*, 

 ■eil. We all -at down around it in a big 

 il to divide it bv each oiie taking one swai- 



it, but the last fellow didn't. 

 ood out of it than any of the 



tippers would clear that 



ugly. Jut. he is c| 



lions, if he 1.- kept cli 

 ally the latter, becoi 

 country fair. But il 

 the fattest hog into tl 

 .-elf and in a few yea 

 was a thousand vea 



ten i-.ni and iong-legg 



light like a tiger, aiid 



lip. 



. l,o\ 



id 



nay be s 

 on ask? Y.i 



ything you < 



befo 



are : 



■ yon 



not always over scrupulous how you get them. Ali eaters 

 are divided into three (lasses — carnivorous, omnivorous and 



deer 1 

 1 become 



ike the pigs of the wild boar. This is what they call n 

 ,'erting to the wild stale and thi- In- seem- lall.er fond of 

 loin.g.' 



•tv or fifty years ago there were a good many 

 fangs of wild hogs in the great prairies of lllinoi-. II..'* 



kept 



lie- 



timb.-i if there were an\ settle 

 i,;--i --. hided places they could 



ie plowshare brutes didn't want 



\ wild, either. Oncel Was Sur 

 ric, not a hundred miles from 

 f these wild hogs An old boar 

 challenged us at once, aud I made up my uiihd directly that 

 1 had lost no hogs in that neighborhood, and left. The flag- 



leaj awav i 

 there, and took 

 find many miles away. Til 

 much change to make Ha 

 veying on the Grand IV 

 and came across a 1 



ould 

 would cover y 

 skimmed milk 

 and nearly star 

 smoke aud agre 



low— honest. Each swelled his cheeks Qui 

 appear. (I fast, but before it got round thcr. 

 hall an inch of gallinippen 

 mind it, and said Ic got mo 

 rest. 



"Why' a half-dozen sm; 

 bottom of the mosquitoes any day in half an hour. Once, 

 when I was surveying a Government contract on Lake 

 Superior we camped on" a beautiful lake— Lake Gratiot, ft 

 was a charming little lake of clear swtet water. 'Now, 

 hoys," said I, 'Wfi Will have a nice dish of trout for supper. 

 You, Bill, get some bail, for thai lake f am sure is full of 



the speckled jackets ' 'What shall I get,' said Gtill. 'foi 

 you know there are no angle worms in till this country.' and 

 1 knew Bill was right— not an tingle worm ev, r . .-, 1. d i: 

 the Lake Superior eountrv. tulihey were I aken tin there 

 and planted h.v while men. 1 myself took a pailful of them 

 up Ihcre about twenty-five year- ago and planted them 

 along Eagle Elver, and m a few years thi •• were as plenty as 

 blackberries on fndiau Creek. Angle worms are migratory 

 and follow civilization, but ih.-\ won't follow the Indian-, 

 th.-y are too refined for that. 



' 1 told P.ill to Par an old log to pieces and get some grubs, 

 I said 1 li'-y would do better than angle worms, because the 

 trout were not 11-oi to these, An old Chippi wa Indian who 

 had -aunlei-ed into camp and heard what was sai.Upoice np : 

 •Notroui in thai lake.' I was too polito lo tell him that I knew 

 i, for I thought no trout could ki ep oui of such water, 

 nook and corner 

 right, Ho let no 



thai lake.' I w as too polite I 

 I thought no trout could kei 

 bul after fishing the lake all ovorlu evi 

 for three days, t found the old Biivage v 

 one fish for trout in Lake Gratiot. 



"Before Bill had found anygrubs a crowd of gallinippers 

 which had scented us afar off, came like a Whirlwind and 

 settled down on us. Then such a jumping for bear's grease 



