May 10, 1883.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



283 



most conspicuous oases by any manner of moans. On the. 

 lH!i of .November, in 187.11. one sledge of my party, with 

 nineteen dogs, I believe , found itself at the head of Sherman 

 Inlet essaying the Dangerous Rapids at the mouth ol* Back's 

 River, fully one hundred miles away and across a perfectly 

 unknown country. That day we led our dogs a tolerable 

 meal only, for not a reindeer had been seen since in early 

 October the forming he in Simpson's Straits had allowed 

 theio to cross ou their southward migrations, and our 

 supply of venison was gelling low.' One of those 

 detestable storms, so common to Ibe Arctic, that, knows 

 no meteorological law except thai of persistency, now set in 

 and continued in its varying mood- until the ith of Decem- 

 ber, during all of which of oem-si we marie very slow prog- 

 ress. Eight days after, on the S2d, we again fed them very 

 I;; /fitly (hiving f ?d them four or five dttys before the 14ft r,f 

 November), for we were now in a hilly country, hardly 

 knowing when we would reach the rapids. Seven clays 

 after, on the 29tfi, we gave them a tolerable feed, as we now 

 for the first time saw our way clear to our desired poiut. 

 Again, on the. 5lh. six days after the last feed, we reached 

 the rapids, tore down a native cairn of fish, and as the natives 

 were absent, put a knife and a few trinkets in the debris of 

 the rock as pa\ meal, according to the custom of the country, 

 and gave our poor polar puppies a most regal feed. Not one 

 fell by the way, although the nineteen of them were so thin 

 and gaunt that 1 doubt if the whole lot were truly equal lo 

 any half dozen of them before We left the head of the inlet, 

 when they were in the best condition on my trip of nearly a 

 rear in iength. 1 doubt if there are a dozen dogs in the 

 temperate /one that would have lived half way through that 

 ordeal of three weeks in the depth of an Arlic winter 



[TO Bit CONOl.UBEP.] 



THOSE BONINS. 



HERE is a hand to "Piseeo" for reviving the old mem- 

 ories. I wonder bow many of the readers of his lively 

 paper in the ForrE=T atsd Stream for April 26 ever saw 

 the Bouin Islands? Here is one. And how his descrip- 

 tions melted away the long hard years between, and 

 brought me face to face with "the old scenes. I can see it. 

 now; Ilic volcanic islands, crowned to their craggy tops 

 with tropical verdure, and a brood of callow islets scattered 

 around them; the harbor of Port Lloyd environed with 

 hills and palm groves; the huge black hulls and lowering 

 spars of the Susquehanna and Saratoga mirrored in its glassy 

 bosom. June, 1S53: that was long ago. "Piseeo" doubt- 

 less remembers the Saratoga, but "not" likely her eaptaiu's 

 clerk. We were there on our way with Commodore Perry 

 to Japan. He was at the Bonins in quest not of the Holy 

 Grail, but of a coal station; the rest of us were after what- 

 ever might turn up. Four days of novel adventure. Did 

 some fishing, too; not willi split bamboos, though bamboo 

 was plenty enough, but with cod-line and seine. To be. 

 sure we did not have a Kanaka fairy to pilot us. nor get 

 penned up in a sea cave by a shark ; but we visited the cav- 

 ern all the same— the one at Port Lloyd I mean— and chased 

 crabs ou the beach. We crawled "through, too, for this 

 cavern has a small opening from its inner channel directly 

 upon the ocean outside; and I remember digging from a 

 seam in the rock* close by it a very respectable specimen of 

 opal. 



The seine gave us abundance of mullets, and trips in the 

 third and fourth cutters to the reefs outside brought in che- 

 lonia enough to make turtle soup for the wdiolc ship's com- 

 pany for weeks. Two or three of these enormous armor- 

 plated beasts we carried to sea with us, and when the men 

 were washing down decks in the morning it was a favorite 

 amusement to trot out the turtles and have a ride, or a crawl 

 ou their backs. How much the turtles enjoyed it they never 

 informed us, but doubtless it was better "fun than being 

 stewed up in the ship's coppers for soup. 



One calm, lazy afternoon, the first lieutenant proposed a 

 fishing party outside. The captain's gig was borrowed for 

 the occasion, and into the stern sheets he' stowed himself, the 

 doctor, the master, and luckily for me, the clerk. Our 

 boat's crew put us ou our fishing ground in a very few 

 minutes. And there we lavished all our seductive arts, but 

 only one solitary fish cotdd we persuade to leave the briny 

 and "eoinein out of the wet." That one I had the honor 

 of catching, and a gorgeous craft he was as he came sailing 

 over the thwarts. We were fishing iu some eight or ten 

 fiihoms. Looking over the side the perfectly limpid water 

 showed us the floor of the ocean, or rather a submarine 

 garden of raiubow-hued coral, and shoals of what appeared 

 :tl thai d -pill io be mmnov. , ,s vaiaegat.-d and ; .. in" i.'naar 

 as the coral At last a nibble! 1 could see the tiny spot of 

 gold as he cautiously essayed a lunch off my hook. Another 

 nibble, and 1 had him! And he darted toward the surface 

 with more uiotij and less volitiou than he was accustomed 

 to. He was about as long as my finger when he so suddenly 

 left home, but. when 1 laid him to rest on the bottom of the 

 boat he was twelve or fifteen inches iu length, and from 

 stem lo stern one glowing splendor of scarlet, more bril- 

 liant than any goldfish I ever saw. "Good for you, scribe!" 

 "Isn't he a beauty!" "'Rah lor our side!" "We held a 

 naval court martial over our prize, and concluded to send 

 him ou board the tlagsbip and let Mr. Heine (the artist of 

 the expedition) make a "skaatch" of him. That was what 

 became of him; and if "Piseeo" will look in Commodore 

 Terry's, Japan Expedition, Vol, If., plate HI. (description, 

 p. 257), he will find that fish on a reduced scale, and not 

 nearly so resplendent as in life, but a tolerable "skaateh." 



No more nibbles, and so we landed on the little rocky 

 islet just off the southern head of Port Lloyd, It had no 

 beach and its craggy snarly sides went sheer down into the 

 transparent depths. A low jagged point gave us a chance 

 to bundle ashore. The boat rose and fell with the surf. We 

 had t.Q watch our opportunity and jump. The feat was ac- 

 complished, and no bones broken, nor a, single souse in the 

 sea. We found the little island supporting a denser popu- 

 lation to the square acre than Belgium or even London— 

 nrjt of quite the same genus, but enjoying life just, as 

 ■My to business. Most of the in- 



much, and alia 



habitants 

 producing r 

 I'car— bul 1 

 know the s|. 

 from her ne 

 hi -'iig the-] 

 densely crowded that we could scarcely move without step- 

 ping on them, leisurely examining their plumage discussing 

 their habits, and even handling their egg.- They meanwhile 

 kept up a subdued gabbling and ohattemg Which was their 

 way of expressing their opinion of us. We did not kill a 

 bird, but left them to their peaceful business ol' populating 



ig." a monotonous life, I fancy, hut 

 ividends. They showed no signs of 

 ■d io say thai was because they did not 

 •longed to. Not one of them got up 

 make her manners. And we strolled 

 ganuets and sea gulls and shags, so 



the cliffs and waves. That was the nearest I ever came to 

 actually attending Chaucer's Assembly of Ponies. 



We left these charming islands Saturday morning, June 

 18. The last thing I did"on shore was to ti'll all my "pockets 

 with lumps of chalcedony, which lay scattered among the 

 pebbles on the beach. Some of them were beautiful speci- 

 mens; and. as I was showing my treasures, after 1 got on 



board, Lieut. said eagerly (peace to bis ashes! he .aimed 



at the right word, but his tongue slipped) "Now, clerk, 

 when you get back to Boston, I would take sonic of those stones 

 to a di'lapidary's and have them polished and set!" I did. And 

 that "dilapidary" did some elegant work. And some of my 

 lady friends wear those chalcedonies to this day. J. S. S- 



Bangou, Me. 



Jfa/tfjp/ Jjjimtarg, 



VARIOUS MATTERS. 



I) ESPECTING the adaption of animals to their surround- 

 t ings. a circumstance takes place in British Columbia 

 partaking of the marvelous, but which is a "true bill" 

 nevertheless. Pigs living upon the clear water rivers learn 

 to dive after the salmon lying dead on the bottom of the 

 streams, and the interesting sight may be witnessed of a 

 sow diving for a salmon, and"" when "obtained taking it 

 ashore for her little ones. 



Again, wolves iX'anit twpm var. oecidfirfulU) in the summer 

 season, live to a great extent on the numerous berries grow- 

 ing iu this part of the world, a matter Of surprise to many, 

 as the wolf is generally considered to be strictly carnivor- 

 ous in its habits, I have not been fortunate enough to see 

 the animal myself in the act of feeding, but have" been in- 

 formed upon the most trustworthy statements ol' others who 

 have done so, and I have seen the excrement of wolves con- 

 taining a large amount of berry seeds, upon islands where 

 there were no dogs, and where it was thus impossible for it 

 to be theirs. 1 do not know that the latter ever partake of 

 this kind of food, though it is possible that they may, as it is 

 stilted that dogs in Italy play sad havoc with the vineyards 

 wheu gaining access lo 1he grapes there growing. 



In tiiis region fresh water does not appear to be an article 

 of necessity to the black-tailed deer [CerinU ••■•JambiaiuiK), 

 as ou some islands in the Gulf of Georgia which are desti- 

 tute of freshwater, deer are found fairly plentiful. Do 

 they drink salt water, or do the heavy dew's afford enough 

 for their requirements? 



Perhaps then: is a grain of truth associated with the pop- 

 ular idea that bears lick their paws. Along toward spring 

 the outside cuticle of the soles of bears' feet becomes hard, 

 dried, and dead, and peels off in large pieces, leaving the 

 soles of the feet with an exceedingly soft and sensitive cov- 

 ering. While the sole is becoming detached, it appears to 

 annoy ursus, who endeavors to assist the course of nature 

 by tearing it off with his teeth, and then licks the soft sole 

 with his tongue. Perhaps he derives the same pleasure 

 from this that the average boy enjoys in nursing a sore toe, 

 or au elderly party in petting a favorite corn. The nutri- 

 ment, however, to be derived from this barmecidal feast, 

 would be about equal to the amount of blood that could be 

 extracted from a turnip. This circumstance may have 

 given rise to the story. 



On emerging from" his den in the spring, the bear is a 

 "tenderfoot" in the literal acceptation of the word. Those 

 persons who have had the outer skin of the palms of the 

 hands and soles of Ihe feet peeled off after recovering from 

 scarlet fever, will keenly appreciate the bear's unhappy con- 

 dition at this period, and until the soles of his feet become 

 again hardened, he does not travel far from his den, to 

 which place he nightly returns until "well heeled," and if 

 fouud before this time, becomes generally an easy prev to 

 the hunter, who has the black gentleman at a considerable 

 disadvantage at this particular season. 



The tappen or. plug which seals, so to speak, Die intestines 

 of bears during hibernation is not confined to this animal 

 alone, being also found in the racoon (Procyon lotor); but 

 on account of its small size in the last-named auimal is not 

 so conspicuous, and consequently not so often noticed. 



The early arrival of waterfowl from the north is not the 

 harbinger of an early winter, as many suppose, and which 

 idea has in fact ripened into a very general belief. The 

 birds are not driven southward by the stress of weather in 

 the hyperborean regions to seek more favored climes, but an 

 early migration is due to an early spring and warm summer 

 preceding. The explanation is this: the birds, having had 

 an opportunity of gaining their arctic haunts much earlier 

 than in average years, and the warm weather accelerating 

 the production of a young brood, the latter are, therefore; 

 strong in body and wing at an earlier date than is usual', 

 and when thus ready, the natural migratory instinct impels 

 them to take their southward journey. It is due more to 

 this than any other cause that we occasionally have an early 

 arrival of waterfowl in the fall. Of course cold weather is 

 a factor iu causing all birds to leave localities where ice and 

 frost deprive them of their customary food, but the first- 

 named circumstance is really the main "one. 



This matter was brought to my notice by a valued friend 

 of mine, whose long course of observation on the Atlantic 

 <-u:.,-.r. a. California, ihe Roeky Mountains, and here, entitle- 

 his opinion to the greatest" consideration ; and my own 

 experience satisfies me as to the correctness of his views in 

 respect to autumnal migrations. Were cold alone the only 

 incentive, we should have all the waterfowl at about the 

 same time, but any person who is familiar at all with their 

 flight is aware bow they come stringing along, the van- 

 guards being weeks ahead of the rear of the army. 



There is no great difference in individuals of the same 

 kinds of ducks and geese, consequently Ihe weather would 

 affect all alike, and we would then have, if severe weather 

 ■e the governor regulating migration, a scene somewhat 

 ilar to that enacted in New York city on the first of yiay 

 by "the biped without feathers" of Plato. 



The transmission of physical defects, such as stumpy tails, 

 etc., to their progeny, is of common occurrence in <j 

 a remarkable case came under my notice a short time ago 



A black and tan terrier bitch was hamstrung by accident 

 The pups she afterward bore, were all well formed, but one 

 of her pup's pups, i. e., her grandson, was born with the 

 same defect that the grandmother suffered from, and in the 

 corresponding hind leg was as lame as was his grandmother. 

 The limb was as useless as if the teedou achi'llcs had been 

 severed by a surgical operation. 



A very interesting anecdote was related to me of a Hud- 

 son's Bay trader (since deceased) by name Allard, combining, 

 through one event the record of a remarkable case of acci 



dental death, an illustration of credulity of native races, and 



the adaptability Of some men to turn a' trivial circumstance 

 to important personal advantage; the story runs in this way; 



One time when Allard was traveling from Astoria, 'in 

 Oregon, to another trading post of the Company's at Van- 

 couver, now a garrison town of the U, S. Army, by canoe, 

 manned by an Indian crew— at that time the only means of 

 travel in that then wild region. While turning a point on 

 the river, a flock of swans {Qyg<it,W bwcoirustor) then and still 

 plentiful on the Columbia River, were surprised and took 

 wing. The Indians, though aimed with the trade guns 

 furnished by the Hudson's Bay Company, made no attempt 

 to shoot them, as they had not" learned lo shoot on the wing 

 at that early period." 



Allard. however, playfully lifted his paddle, took imagin- 

 ary aim at the flock, and uttered a loud "Bang!" when, to 

 the astouishmeut of all, the leader of the flock tumbled down 

 on the surface of the w ater, and. after struggling; like any 

 wounded bird, by the time the canoe reached" him had 

 given up the. ghost, and was lifted into the canoe to add to 

 their scanty supper of dried salmon and hard bread. The 

 wily trader was too shrewd to show- any signs of surprise, at 

 this unlooked-for occurrence, and treated the matter as if it 

 was a commonplace affair; but at camp that night, being of 

 an inquiring turn of mind, took bis knife and cut up the 

 bird himself for the purpose of ascertaining if possible, the 

 cause of death, and was successful, the solution of the 

 apparent mystery being this; The swans had been feeding 

 ou their favorite' food, the "wappato" of the Chinook Indi- 

 ans {SagHlniia r-,i n'iMisX and a large bulb had lodged in the 

 throat of the unfortunate bird, aud death resulted from 

 suffocation. Allard wisely kept this fact a secret, aud in 

 this way turned the matter to profitable account, his super, 

 natural powers, manifested in such a marked manner, giving 

 him great prominence, among the Indians. Taking care not 

 to attempt a repetition, and resting upon his easily earned 

 laurels, he was afterward known to Indians of that locality 

 by the soubriquet of The-uian-who-shoots-flying swaus-w ith- 

 a-paddle. J. C. Hughes, 



New Westminster, British Columbia. Feh. 33, 188a. 



THE SEA-SERPENT. 



THE following extracts from the American Monthly Mug- 

 ij-.ine, nf 1S20, or thereabout, are interestingin connec- 

 tion with the articles already published by us in reference 

 to the sea-serpent; 



Washington, Sept. 2, 1817. 



"My Dear Stti— The description given in our newspapers 

 of a sea-serpent, lately seen in and about Cape Ann Harbor, 

 has brought to my recollection one of this species. 



"On a passage f made from Quebec, in 1787, in a schooner 

 of about eighty tons burden, while standing in for the Gut 

 of Causo, the island of Cape Breton being about four leagues 

 distant, one of the crew cried out, 'A shoal ahead.' The 

 helm was instantly put down to tack ship, when, to our 

 great astonishment, this shoal, as we thought it to be, moved 

 off, and as it passed athwart the bow of our vessel, we dis- 

 covered it to be an enormous sea-serpant, four times as long 

 as the schooner Its back was of a dark green color, form- 

 ing above the water a number of little hillocks, resembling a 

 chain of hogsheads. I was then but a lad, and being much 

 terrified, ran below until the monster was some distance from 

 us. I did not see his head distinctly, but these who did, after f 

 had bid myself in the cabin, said'it was as large as the small 

 boat of the schooner. I remember the tremendous ripple 

 and noise he made iu the water, as he went off from us. 

 which I compared at the time to that occasioned by the 

 launching of a ship. 



"My venerable friend, Mr, , of your city, was a pas- 

 senger with me at the time. He will "corroborate this state- 

 ment, and probably furnish you with a better description of 

 this monster, for 1 well recollect his taking bis stand at the 

 bow of the vessel, with great courage, to examine it, while 

 the other passengers were intent only ou their own safety. 



"At Halifax, and ou my return to Boston, wheu frequently 

 describing this monster, I was laughed at so immoderately 

 that I found it necessary to remain silent on the subject, to 

 escape the imputation of using a traveler's privilege of deal- 

 ing in the marvelous." 



On the evening of September 9, Capt. James Riley was 

 at my house, and said that he knew Capt. Folger, of' Nan- 

 tucket, who was occupied on a whaling voyage in the 

 Soul hern Atlantic Ocean, about twenty years ago. On the 

 cruise he saw an animal of uncommon size floating on the 

 sea, off the coast of Brazil. Capt. R. then commanded a 

 very large French-built ship, and the Boating carcass was 

 four or five times as long as his vessel, it attracted the 

 spermaceti whales, who came to feed upon it, and had 

 eaten away great portions of the flesh. He visited the huge 

 body of the creature and satisfied himself that it was an enorm- 

 ous kraken. He hauled all his boats upon it, and his men as- 

 cended it and lived upon it as if it had been a rock or 

 emaiued on it and near it for the purpose of 

 es that came to devour it. In this they were 

 U by continuing there they took whales 

 heir vessel and complete their cargo. The 

 hack of the kraken was high and dry enough for them to 

 inhabit temporarily, aud to look out tor then- game. And 

 when from this point of observation they discovered a 

 whale coming to make a meal, they launched their boats 

 from the top of the dead kraken, and made an easy prey of 

 him. The substance of the monster's body was skinny 

 membraneous and gelatinous, and destitute "of the fat and 

 blubber for which the whale is remarkable. 



Capt. Neville, being on a voyage from London to Arch- 

 angel, iu the year 1803, saw floating ou the ocean in 

 about the latitude of 08 . a mass of solid matter of a dirty 

 whitish color, which, when he descried it. and for some 

 time after. Was believed to be an island of ice. On approach- 

 ing if, however, he ascertained it to be an animal substance 

 of an. irregular figure, as if lacerated, decayed, and eaten 

 away. 



The remnant of the carcass was nevertheless full as large 

 as the brig in which he sailed, whose capacity was one bun 

 dred ant" "iKf.ty i::ne ton;; and bngth s< "•, -|, f.-t. 



This enormous body was the food ol animals both of the 

 air and of the water. For, as he sailed within a few rods of 

 it. he saw great numbers of gulls and other seafowls, sitting 

 on it and flying over if, those which were full retiring, and 

 the hungry winging their way to il lor a repast. He abo 

 beheld several cetaceous creatures swimniiug round it; some 

 ol them were whales of a prodigious magnitude, exceeding 

 the vessel in length. Others were smaller and seemed to 

 belong to the grampus and porpoise tribe, He considered 

 them nil as regaling themselves with its flesh. 



Near one extremity of this carcass he distinguished an 



islan 

 killii 



enough t 



