164 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[ALvkch 39, 1883. 



Rocky Mountains is "Pacific Coast " to the people there. It 

 Is always the "Const" and the "States," speaking of East and 

 West. ' A person from the East, would be at a loss to under- 

 stand the jargon of a mining camp west, of the Rooties. It 

 is bad enpugn East, S»Ut not to be compared with that on 

 the western "slope. "Chinook," Spanish, Indian and Eng- 

 lish all mixed, and queer are the expressions used. A per 

 Son always employs the most common or shortest words that 

 will convey the meaning, We had one old "Webb-foot" 

 (<". A,, a man from Oregon) who used to convulse us with his 

 ii i. i it.'s and his "use of the Chinook lingo. Some 

 one brought a copy of Longfellow's "Hiawatha?' to camp, 

 and one rainy day 'old, lake got hold of it. After reading n 

 lilt le of the poetry an expression Of disgust came over the 

 old man's weather beaten countenance, and ill his peculiar 

 Western drawl he asked. ' Did Longfellow write that? 

 Why. the Banged old fool, he oughtcr ask me about Injuns. 

 I could tell him inore'n he ever dreamed of;'' and we all 

 thought he could, as he had lived with them. Poor old 

 Jake; these same "danged" "Injuns" got him at last, and 

 from all I could ever find out his bones lie bleaching in some 

 quiet nook in the fastnesses of the Big Horn Mountains. 

 lie and some others went, in prospecting and never came 

 out, and as the Sioux were "bad" at that time, it, w T as easy 

 in account for the disappearance, 



I must relates little incident showiug how ''Chinook" is 

 used in the far West to express thoughts that to one East 



■ I - i in on! of place spoken in the jargon. Charley D., 



When in Oregon, attended Sunday school, and some of the 

 "Webb-fOOt" maidens were in his class. The lesson was on 

 the crucifixion and the question was, "What did the .lews 

 do to Jesus'?" For an instant no one answered. Then a 

 great, tall, ungainly girl, bending forward eagerly, shouted 

 out, "They iiiama'loosed him" (' niamaloose" is to kill in 

 "Chinook"). 



1 could relate many Stories, but I am afraid it would tire 

 the general reader, as all do not take the interest in the 

 "West and its ways that the few do who have had a little ex- 

 perience themselves. 



The glory of the Rosebud has departed and the human 

 inhabitants thereof have scattered fur and wide. The grave 

 has claimed its share and the "boys" will never meet again 

 on this earth. The unpleasant events which occurred wc 

 will try to forget. The pleasant memories of the past we 

 will cherish, and as I hey are, brought to our minds while liv- 

 ing a different life amid strangely different scenes we will 

 think of Rosebud city in all its glory, blooming like its 

 namesake in the dreary fastness of its mountain home. 



' PiiArKre Doo. 



THE LAST OF THE GROUSE. 



t't /""1A.N you drive over here for our last harryiug of the birds 



V^ to-morrow, before we so south?" wrote the son of a 

 neighboring laird a short time ago. and knowing the invita- 

 tion would' be backed by pleasant company and at least fair 

 •port. 1 most willingly sent back an acceptance by the 

 mounted gillie, whose horse was pawing the gravel outside 

 the porch of the Highland lodge which formed my tempor- 

 ary abode, while his rider compared the recent "bags" of 

 rival estates in tin- broadest Galic wilh our own keeper. 



Looking out of my window the following morning the 

 prospect was wintry enough. All the higher spurs of the 

 ragged neighboring mountains lay shrouded in snow where 

 a few hours before they had been green and fertile. Truly 

 Ihehtmd of winter was coming down upon the land and in a 

 little time even the few still occupied shooting lodges would 

 be hare and empty of their summer migrants. But we 

 judge things as they affect ourselves, and the snow would 

 'make iittle difference lo-day, since it was confined to the 

 higher range's, while our working ground for the time 

 Would be on comparatively low-lying moorland. 



Breakfast over, myself and "J." Climbed into the waiting 

 dog-Cart, in which' guns with cartridges quantum *nf. 

 were ready stowed aw ay, and tucking in the wolfskin rugs, 

 for an autumn morning' in the Highlands before the sun is 

 well over the hilltops is none too warm. .T, picked op the 

 ribbons, flicked the sleek-coated chestnut and away w^e went 

 down the drive, our cigars aglow and our minds full of 

 pleasant anticipations. 



Half an hour's sharp trotting brought us to the beginning 

 of lb.- long avenue which led to our entertainer's noble man- 

 sion, where arriving we had a hearty Highland welcome from 

 him and his assembled guests; but the hour being already 

 HOineWhat late, the necessary introductions were hurried 

 over, and then we vi ere soon following the head keeper down 

 a winding path into the valley below the house. 



The morning was lovely, cold and clear as could be 

 wished, while our "fighting line." winding through a deep 

 Surest of firs, was really a picturesque sight. First went the 

 keeper in his national dress, a man of Strength and stature, 

 and an awe to all the poachers far or near; I hen our host, 

 I -ii cussing the merits of a new trout, tly with an Assam 

 tea planter, P.. whose gun, carried over his shoulder, had 

 recently been dealing out death and destruction to snipe on 

 the plain- of Northern India. On their heels came our 

 host's sou talking to "Uncle P.," as he called that relative of 

 his, and two cousins, both in Athoh- tartans. These, my- 

 self. J. and one other young laird made up the party. We 

 wound down the narrow path tu single tile, the occasional 

 gleams of sunshine breaking into the cool shade of the forest 

 to glitter on our gtm barrels. We chatted and laughed 

 unlil. having dipped into a lovely glen, thick with amber 

 fern ami silver birches, we crossed a rocky torrent bed, 

 sealed the opposite bank, and soon found ourselves by a 

 thatched cottage, where keepers with numerous dogs in lash 

 awaited our arrival. 



Now chaff and fun had to be given up, for we were about 

 to begin the serious business of the day, and our host, an 

 unwavering enthusiast, led us out of' the wood, across a 

 patch of rocky ground, through a gap in a stone wall, and 

 there we were? on the breezy hillside, knee deep in heather. 

 breathing such nectar as dwellers in towns never dream of. 

 with in front a limitless expanse of mountain and moorland 

 undisturbed as far as the eye could see by a trace of eiviliza- 

 ii,m. 'Can thkmitrhlv, uninhabited expanse he in the over- 

 crowded British lslesv" 1 wondered; but my host ' 'sniffed 

 the scent of battles afar off," and stopped all musing by an 

 imperative "Come along!" 



Uur first position was behind a broken-down stonewall, 

 where the keeper diopped us some seventy-five yards apart, 

 and with our faces all to the eastward whence the birds 

 weie to be driven up. This turned out to be but a poor sort 

 of cover, for though the wall in front of each shooter had 

 been built up to serve him the better, yet to be out of sight 

 it was necessary to sit or crouch down, either of which 

 positions are fatal to good, rapid shooting. The best screen 



in driving game is always found to be one that comes up to 

 the neck of the shooter "when standing, thus allowing him 

 lo turn rapidly and giving him a clear shot, in every direc- 

 tion. We occupied' our "marks." such as they were, and 

 ranking ourselves comfortable awaited in silence" the arrival 

 of the first bird, amusing ourselves meanwhile with our 

 delightful surroundings — numberless mountains fringing in 

 an amphitheater of purple moor, all rugged and grand, 

 some just lipped with suow at the highest points, and 

 gleaming silver where the sun lay upon them, and purple in 

 the shadows of the ravines. Tlie wind from these snow- 

 fields, now that we had no trees to shelter us, was as cool 

 and fresh as it could lie, sweeping over the wide expanse of 

 moors, and bringing to our ears the fur away bleat of moun- 

 tain sheep, or the melancholy whistle of a plover, whose 

 Sharp eyes already perceived the advancing beaters. But the. 

 sun was warm overhead, and our pipes smoked fragrantly, 

 so we waited with contentment for the battle to commence. 

 Presently a distant shout comes floating to us. and the guns 

 all down the line are to be seen directly on theyift'wiw; 

 cartridges are hastily arranged, caps nervously "crammed" 

 down ou their wearers' heads, and all eyes are- directed over 

 the wall to get a wider view of the plain in front; and soon 

 the grouse come in sight on the far left of the line, giving 

 the last man one chance, and his gun immediately breaks 

 the silence of the hills, the white puff of smoke sailing away 

 over the heather to leeward. Then some black game go 

 over lo the right under a regular fusilade from the batteries 

 down there, and it becomes obvious that though we cannot 

 see them, vet the beaters arc all among the birds down the 

 hill slope. ' 



Soou my turn comes, and 1 see R. making signs to me 

 under cover of his ambush and taking a peep at the moor in 

 front; there is a large covey coming "dead" for my stand. 

 It is always an exciting moment, even to those who think 

 little of driving as a legitimate sport. The birds appeared 

 skimming lightly over the tops of the heather, seeming 

 almost stationary for some time though traveling at a great, 

 pace, and being dead ou little is to be seen of them but the 

 head and narrow edges of the outstretched wings. Another 

 second or two aud they are within forty yards, and as my 

 gun speaks the foremost bird drops, the others going tit such 

 a pace as on such near acquaintance as we are now 

 seems fearful, rise to clear the wall, passing overhead like 

 meteors, in another second are retreating over the heather 

 behind the line. I fired again. R. fired, my brother fired, 

 his bird coming down within a few feet of "the staud occu- 

 pied by me; and to our astonishment, when we thought it, 

 was all over, "Uncle P.," far away down the line, also sent 

 a couple of charges of shot up in our direction, but without 

 bagging either any of us or of the grouse. 



We get a few more shots aud then the heaters arrive, the 

 retrievers are unslipped, the slain picked up, after which we 

 walk in line over some rough ground where the dogs find a 

 wounded bird or two and put up a lowland hare which out- 

 host stops in good style. 



At the next broken-down dj ke we disperse again to our 

 posts, spending the interval, while the beaters walk round 

 the moor, in adding to the screens as our fancy suggests, 

 and making our seats comfortable in the manner set by our 

 luxurious friend the Assam planter, whose first care at every 

 stand is a springy nest of heather, on which he reclines in 

 bliss until the birds arrive. Again the same sort of process 

 is gone through, aud a rather long wait well rewarded by 

 a rush of grouse, mixed with smali bodies of black game, 

 hares and squadrons of shrieking plovers, when the beater's 

 get within feel of the enemy. 



The cannonading is soon brisk up and down the line — 

 the two young gentlemen in tartans getting a little "off their 

 heads" with excitement, and showing themselves freely (a 

 great mistake in grouse driving), sweep the neighborhood 

 with their well-served guns, while "Uncle P.." who, by a 

 judicious and philanthropies] foresight of the head keeper, is 

 always their companion, far away down on the left, also 

 gets a "wee bit daft," burning much powder with great sat- 

 isfaction to himself but little effect on the bag. Wc up in 

 the center, however, behave ourselves with decorum, never 

 tiring at any birds but our own, and carefully making a 

 mental note of where such of them as we may bring down 

 will be found when the beaters come up. I have heard of 

 this latter matter being settled in a very cut-and-dried 

 manner with the help of a pencil and sheet of cardboard, 

 the latter being divided by lines into quarters, with a circle 

 where the divisions meet in the center to represent the stand; 

 the shooter carries a supply about with him, and, dividing 

 his neighborhood at every drive into imaginary quarters, 

 marks with the pencil as nearly as he can the vicinity of 

 every bird, as he. brings it down, on the sheet of paper— a 

 cross for dead birds aud a dot for probable runners, this 

 record being handed over to the keepers when they come 

 up: an arrangement. I fear, which, though it may read well 

 enough, would need a shooter as many-minded as Csesar to 

 carry out, in the heat of the fight. By the time the sun high 

 up iit the sky points to a little past midday, being all more 

 than ready for lunch, we seek a sheltered nook, cut deep 

 through the moor by the ceaseless labors of a sparkling 

 Streamlet, where, on a broad, sunny rock will out of the 

 wind, wc find luncheon spread and our host's charmiug 

 daughter in I he neatest and most reasonable of costumes 

 ready to welcome uh, while the big mastiff at her side makes 

 hill and valley echo to his sonorous baying until a sign from 

 llis mistreBs'fl hand informs him we are lawful intruders, 

 when he forthwith subsides into the heather. 



It is by no means tlie worst part of the day, the provender 

 is ample and varied, cold grouse pies, flanked by such 

 salads as must surelv have grown in celestial kitchen 

 gardens, a sirloin of the finest, stalled beef, pastry of fairy 

 lightness, and the drink unimpeachable, and when accepted 

 in foaming tankards from the fair fingers of our fascinating 

 Hebe becomes quite ambrosial. We linger, too, over the 

 choice cheroots which our host passes round after the meal, 

 thus careless of time until the edges of the purple shadows 

 creeping up the opposite hillside warn us that autumn days 

 are all too short for much idleness, so we see the "mem. 

 sahib" to her pony carriage in the neighboring lane and then 

 are soon hard at work once more. 



Tlie first wait to-day is a long oue, the keepers and beaters 

 seeming to have lunched as well as we have and to 

 be rather lazy; however, we are contented and sit calmly in 

 our shelters* our guns across our knees and the position of 

 each man down the long line of gray wall marked by a tiny 

 curl of tobacco smoke ascending in the still air, for the 

 morning breeze had died out as It often does in the lat let- 

 part of a Highland day, and all the wide, lovely landscape 

 before us simmering in the golden glow of the downward 

 sinking sun 



But aftei twenty minutes or so there comes a shout mel- 



lowed by distance echoing over the corrie, and soon a de- 

 voted band of little brown "birds are on the wing coining 

 along all in a bunch. They come nearer and are just within 

 long range, the cock bird leading -and the rest "'twinkling" 

 over the heather behind him. when the report of the gnu of 

 some impetuous individual, whom we have no time to ace, 

 disturbs the sti]|]„-,ss, and us the covey breaks up to right 

 and left we all get our chances, thinning their numbers 

 sadly until they are out of shot behind us. 



Other drives follow, bringing up the beg to a very respect- 

 able total considering the lateness of the season, but so much 

 alike in the details of the slaughter of the unsuspicious lit- 

 tle brown birds "butchered to make a Roman holiday," Unit 

 it would be but tedious to narrate them all, and then we 

 have finished the final beat and troop homeward as the sun 

 sets, not quite so noisy as in the morning but well pleased 

 with the day's shooting. Nor are our eons'ciences. whatever 

 the tender-hearted may suppose, overburdened with the man- 

 ner of our sport, for we feel that at this time of year we 

 could not have got near the birds in any other way. and 

 finally, as our entertainer remarks with a sigb, handing his 

 gun to the keeper, "It is the last bustling they will get until 

 next August." E. Li. A. 



London. England. 



/»//#/ fji$forg t 



A SALMAGUNDI OF NATURAL HISTORY. 

 In Two Parts Part II. 



BY JOHN DE.VN CATON, LL.D 



\ FEW minutes before the appointed time the Major- 

 ii made his appearance, smoking his corn-cob pipe, 

 charged with the strongest kind of nalive tobacco, and took 

 the place which he occupied yesterday. He 



puffed 



ivitli 



encrg\ 



way 



h to do in that way in a very i 

 came running up from all directions 

 might lose a siugle word, and there wi 

 growth gathered with the rest, 



Presently the Major knocked the 

 which he carefully placed in his poekr 



"Good morning, young gentlemen, 

 always so conduct yourselves as to de 

 I am* glad you are prompt to til 



eemed to say, that he- . 

 lort time. "The boys 

 i if they feared they 

 e a number of larger 



ishes from his pipe,, 

 and began ; 

 udl hope you will 

 rve that appellation, 

 i — promptness in all 



things is of the highest importance, especially in meeting 

 appointments I have strong hopes for those who net up in 

 the morning betimes and an/alive and prompt all day. 



' 'I hope you have well conned over what I told you yester 

 day so that you remember it, all. If I could only 'know this 

 of half of you I should feel richly rewarded for my trouble 

 and feel encouraged to go on witii the lesson — and the hopes 



of your fond 



Lot" me see— i 

 were at Lake 

 Kewauam Pe 

 There are 01 

 Lake Superio 

 have ever see 

 lallj 



as might not be altogether groundless. 



tvns TV O. yes. 1 now remember. We 



rhich is'on the easterly side of the 



rich tuts far out, into Lake Superior. 



lese beautiful little lakes in that 



aud Lake Gratiot is the only one I 



■hdid not abound in brook trout. They 



fed hy springs and in many of them the spring's 



:he 



Gratii 



my of 

 count i" 



boi! up in the bottoi 



through the clear water where the i 



is perpetually dancing as if ittri 



for a i 

 brook tr 

 hold their 

 gently wa 

 chasing a 

 looks, hov 

 a dance ol 

 quick as a 

 them in tl: 

 down to tl 

 there they 



,'ing tie 

 ■oi aid : 



Such pla 

 hey gather auou 

 ectings. They 

 tins and ta: 

 if there v 



i to a great depth 

 •estless white sand 

 still and could not 

 fie moment. Such places are the paradises for the 

 great numbers, and 

 ally lay quit* still, 

 ;, though a few may be seen 

 s a tiddler among them. It 

 ever, like a grave council of sachems, rather thau 

 youngfolks-Tbut you frighten them once aud as 

 flash of lightning they "will disappear, many ot 

 at boiling sand, and I don't know but they go 

 ic very bottoms of those great boiling springs, and 

 stay for a good while after all is still again, but 

 tit last they wilt reappear, one by one, ami finally the meet- 

 ting will be called to older again. 



"One curious thing is that most of the trout, in a lake are 

 nearly of the same size. T have caught a string of twenty 

 that would not vary an ounce in the weight of each, bu1 

 sometime you will "take an old patriarch of four or five 

 pounds that, will tight you like a buffalo bull, and make 

 your tackle hum again, and if you are not up to the work, , 

 will smash it, for you— but this is uncommon. 



"Again you may take a little fellow that 1ms strayed 

 away from his mamma, but that is more uncommon still. 

 The'fiugerlings are found mostly in the running streams 

 which generally head in some of the little lakes— while the 

 old fellows eo on their travels— ami bring up in Lake Super- 

 ior, though! have sometime caught along the shores of that 

 lake tine strings of small trout by throwing out, from the 

 gravelly beach, while the larger ones hang about the rocky 

 islets not far from shore, and the blaekerthe rocks the more 

 likely you are tolled Hie big trout. But they do not stay- 

 in the Trig lake all the time alter they go there. I once saw 

 a big school of trout run out of the lake up into the Huron 

 Kiver. and stran -e to say, they changed their color very 

 soon after. , . „ . 



-Now all the trout you take, in Lake [superior are of a 

 silvery white color, while those you take in the streams are 

 of a very 'lark color, even the beautiful red on the belly and 

 tins has 'a dark, clouded shade. 



f this is very plain. The lake waters ate as 



"Tl 



clear as crystal and colorli 



1 ever saw' which empties 



a wine color, no doubt by 



aud tasteless, and quite tn 



as fresh spring water, aud 



clare them perfectly port 



abound in them is couvint 



pure. The, coloring matter seems i 



rather than in suspension, and seems 



of harm. 



"The trout in the little head lakei 

 those in Lake Superior, although the 

 less; nor yet are they as dark 

 streams. II may be they eha 

 in search of food. 



waters ol every n vcr 

 3 the Great Lake are stained to 

 ii !■■:■! ! >j latter. Tlie.v are cold 

 parent, and as pleasant to drink 

 at for the, color, you would de- 

 ,nd the fact that brook trout 

 ; proof that they are practically 



' held in solution 



to )..- perfectly 



noocnl 



are not as white as 

 fater seems as color- 

 found in the colored 

 ge their quarters frequently 



"But, the renin 



eel fo 



ity of size in tl given lake 

 .1 it may be that f can't do it 



guess which you may 

 think over after you go to bed if you like. 



"This trout, although he is so very beautiful, is still a 

 cannibal, especially when rations run' short— will enjoy a 

 breakfast off his own babies. 1 am sorry to say such bad 

 things of mv beautiful favorite, but why shouldn't he love 



