286 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Mat 10, 1888. 



%mx[t §ng m\d §ttti. 



GAME R Esui its '.— tiv are always glad U> receive for pub- 

 lication such notes of desirable c/ame resort* as may be. of help 

 to the readers of Forest as d STREAM. Will not our corre- 

 spondents facor usvit), : :„eh advice? 



TRANSATLANTIC NOTES. 



I ENCLOSE soiir- extracts from a letter received lately 

 from t) friend, who is now traveling in Europe: 



■T have been nway now more than eighteen months, 

 and can hardly realize' that it is so long a time. Last winter 

 we were quite husy traveling in Egypt, going up the Nile 

 to the second cataract, and in the spring through Palestine 

 and Syria to Sreece and Constantinople" and up the Danube 

 to Vienna. 



"On the Nile 1 found same birds much less plentiful than 

 1 expected to see them, although if one took the time a good 

 deal of sport could be had along the hanks. There are a 

 Wfettl many birds of fine plumage, herons, penguins, cranes, 

 etc , and any quantity of pigeons. 



'•We traveled through Palestine and Syria, camping out on 

 otrr wiy to Damascus, and in one section of the country we 

 passed ' through we scared up any number of quail; but 

 as I hail neither dog nor gun it was' only an aggravation. 



"flere in France [writing from Paris] guns generally 

 used are of 14 and 1G bore, 12-bores are rarely seen, and Id's 

 are absolutely unknown. 



"Waterfowl shooting in France is very little, if any, prac- 

 ticed. 1 see ducks hung up for sale, but they came from 

 Holland. The only kinds 1 have seen have been redheads, 

 and aiiolher that is' a mallard or looks like it, they sell at 

 about one dollar each. Partridges, which are considerably 

 smaller than ours, bring about seventy-live cents each, and 

 quail, at this season, forty-five or fifty cents each; earlier. 

 when more plentiful, thirty cents each. A great many 

 pheasants are -old here. I don't think we have them in 

 America, at least 1 have never seen them; they are birds of 

 tine plumage, larger than our partridge (ruffed gtoUBe), and 

 much belter eating, they sell at eight to ten francs each. All 

 kiuds of game and poultry here are sold by the piece, and as 

 you can judge are very dear. Me. 



THROUGH THE WILDS OF TUCKER. 



HEARING of an undiscovered country in the Cheate 

 River district in Tucker county, West Virginia, 1 

 assembled three congenial spirits to accompany me in an 

 exploration and hunt. 



Ed. .J.. Clair. Syd, and myself left here ou September 27, 

 via The Pittsburgh division of Baltimore & Ohio Railway, 

 and after four hours' ride along the banks of the Voughiog- 

 heuy River, through some very grand and lofty mountain 

 peaks, we stopped one hour at Cumberland, lud"., for din- 

 ner and change of ears: and at lour in the afternoon were 

 bowling swiftly toward Rowlesburg, W. Va. There we 

 disembarked, to the immense edification of the well-dressed 

 passengers, for we were truly most wonderful to behold. 

 Ed. J.'s gold-rimmed spectacles sadly accorded with his 

 toggery, which was made up of a part of painfully ragged 

 ana short trousers, a blue shirt well worn, a battered rubber 

 hat, and a satchel distended to its utmost. We were all 

 dressed much after this fashion, Clair and myself excepted, 

 for we two were distinguished by heavy leather leggius and 

 two murderous looking rifles, hi's a repeating Winchester, 

 and mine a .45-caliber Sharps. 



The train moved on amid three rounds of applause; ami 

 here we were at a place that looked the "abomination of 

 desolation" — a wooden platform well whitened with wind 

 and rain, two wretched wooden houses which answered the 

 purposes of general stores, posl -office and doctor's office. 

 This scene was enlivened by four plain frame dwelling 

 houses perched prominently upon the ledges of the surround- 

 ing rocks and — well, we saw five men walking around lan- 

 guidly and smoking home-raised tobacco in the leaf. 



We procured some crackers and cheese, but failed 1o get 

 a team to move our luggage to St. George, the county seat 

 twenty-live miles distant ou our route. After a short parley 

 we decided to leave our satchels and blankets to be hauled 

 over the next day, and we would move to St. George by 

 means of the poor man's steed — "shank's mare." We slung 

 our rifles across our shoulders, placed our revolvers promi- 

 nently in the belts and started to foot it, 12:20 P. M. , ex- 

 expecting to make the town by dark (7t80 P. M.), We were 

 in good spirits, for the day was bright and warm, but after 

 the first seven miles up and down innumerable wild spurs of 

 the range we began to talk less and perspire more. At the 

 eighth mile we came to our third farm-house, and one and 

 all concluded that we must have bread or blood. The for- 

 mer being more after our stomachs we knocked at Ihe door, 

 which frowned upon us from its second story down in 

 all its laded country glory. The first knock brought no re- 

 sponse; at the second a small girl came to the door. She 

 stared at us for nearly one minute and then said, "What do 

 you want?" We insinuated thai we would like to buy some 

 dinner and have some milk. "Well, we haint got no milk, 

 hut I'll see." Soon a large girl came to tlie door ami said: 

 "Vouns folks 'II have to 'take dry bread and apple butter." 

 "Bring it out," we chorused, and soon we were refreshed 

 and prepared to do the rest of the twenty-five miles. 



Again we trudged along the monotonous road, lined on 

 either side by dense forests of oak, beech and hemlock. 

 About three (/clock in the afternoon a drizzling rain came 

 on and added to our many discomforts: and at four o'clock 

 we were all wet through to the skin. By this time I had 

 contracted a severe cold and my back and legs ached fear- 

 fully. But I bore up until darkness set in; andtheu told the 

 boy's T was unable to go further on account of my back. As 

 happy fortune would have it, we now saw a small light 

 through the brush, away down the mountain side; and 

 going to the log shanty we engaged a mule from Mr. 

 John" Gordon, the bearded proprietor, and in his company 

 the procession moved on. your humble bestriding the 

 mule. 



At 8:80 we forded the Cheat" River twice and entered the 

 populous town of St. George. Beingtoo tired to look about, 

 we stopped before the hotel, a long two-Story white frame, 

 Willi flagstones in fi'iit of the porch, and entered the com- 

 mon room of the house, which was destitute of carpet and 

 furniture, if we except two old chairs and a kitchen table. 

 Mr. Hawkins, the proprietor, greeted us each by a. hearty 

 shake of the hand, and said: "Gents, supper will be ready 

 in ten minutes. My ole woman wasn't expectin' ye, but I'm 



glad you've come. Set down and take off your shoes." 

 Soon we had dried our clothes, eaten supper, and were ready 

 to retire. Clair and Ed. were assigned a double bed next to 

 Syd. and myself; and at eleven o'clock we wereneatlv lucked 

 under Ihe sheets. At midnight we were aroused by a 

 smothered groan from the next room, followed by horrible 

 imprecations, while the wall resounded with peculiar knocks. 

 This continued until daybreak, ami then we dressed and 

 called upon our restless neighbors -a sight pitiful to look 

 upon. Ed., completely dressed, was seated stoically upon 

 the only chair of the apartment, smoking a cigarette, while 

 poor Clair, in his shirt and socks, was making a bloody on- 

 slaught upon an aggressive bedbug. 



"Hello, fellows. What's all the racket about?" we cried as 

 we entered. "AVell, eome to the bed and look. I'm going 

 to leave right after breakfast," said Master Ed. "Look ill 

 this sheet," he continued; "we have been lighting bugs ever 

 since we went, to bed. and I killed thirteen with 'mine own 

 hand. You see Clair is half frantic," and, indeed, he looked 

 hideous, his face covered with biles and a dangerous light in 

 his eves. 



After breakfast, we met our friend Gordon, of the night 

 before, who had come up to offer his team. At 8 A. M. we 

 were all under way in Luke's two-horse springless wagon, 

 and old Hawkins waved us a farewell as we bowled merrily 

 out of town. At the end of the first three miles the road 

 was simply a trail six feet wide, winding along the edges of 

 tremendous precipices, and through fertile bottom lauds 

 watered ley the beautiful little river Cheate, which we 

 crossed six" times within the next thirty miles. This river 

 is so grandly picturesque that it deserves special mention. 

 It originates near the St. George region, drawing its volume 

 from many small mountain creeks and springs. It is very 

 shallow and pebbly in some parts, and very frequently we 

 find deep, quiet stretches of perhaps a half mile in length 

 fringed on either side with noble trees and hemmed in by 

 the lofty peaks of the Blue Ridge. The river in places is 

 very swift and contains plenty of trout and black boss. For 

 two hundred and fifty miles it flows onward through this 

 unbroken wilderness and empties into the Moiiongahela 

 River four miles above the town of Geneva, W. Va., and one 

 hundred and four miles above Pittsburgh, Pa. 



The end of our journey was the region thirty miles from 

 St. George, called -'The Caiiaau." or as the natives pro- 

 nounce it "Canaaan." We had covered twenty-five miles 

 of this rocky road without meeting a single team, wheu we 

 espied an old square log shauty to the lei t of the road in a 

 small clearing on the mountain side. "Guess we'll hev to 

 bunk here, fellers," said Luke, so Luke and 1 approached 

 the house while the rest watched the team. Wheu we were 

 close by we saw a hoary -headed fellow working away at a 

 sawhorse. his old flannel shirt thrown well open, showing 

 his hairy bosom, while his feet were displayed in all their 

 pristine glory, nuked and large. We saluted, and he, with 

 a cool nod, continued to sawT "Can we put up here lor the 

 night?" we quavered in weak voice. 



"Go ahinl the house and ax the women folks, I hain't got 

 nothiu' to do with it," responded this ancient creature: so 

 we knocked at Ihe back door aud fouud his wife. .Mrs. 

 Long, very old aud very homely, but withal very pleasant. 

 She said we might stay, but added. "We keul give you 

 much." 



Up we came with the team, unhitched near the front door 

 and tied the horses to the wagon wheels, giving them some 

 oals which luckily we brought with us. We sat upon the 

 front door step and log sawhorse waiting for supper, and 

 soon the boys began to come in from the field. The clans 

 gathered steadily until we had an admiring crowd of six 

 people, who proved to lie members of the immediate Long 

 family. There were Jake and Pele, and last, but not least, 

 among ihe boys Charles, a cadaverous rustic of eighteen 

 summers. The boys, as usual, gathered around the guns 

 and examined the Winchester carefully: but popular favor 

 seemed to settle upon the old breech-loading shotgun in the 

 crowd. Mr. .lake, who was rigged Jike his companions in a 

 short pair of pants and a nondescript garment winch looked 

 to me like a cotton flannel night shirt, took me aside and 

 spoke as follows : 



"If you men want to get she! of that 'air shotgun, I kin 

 sell it for you." 



"Ask Syd," I replied, and soon S. was undergoing a con- 

 fidential examination. The old man of the sawhorse. the 

 patriarch of flu- Long progeny, looked at Ihe breech-loaders 

 coldly and said "he had seen "them new-fangled guns twenty 

 years" afore," which was an astounding revelation to us. 



After each man had fired a ball at a knot on an old tree, 

 the old woman opened the door and invited us in. "Come 

 in, men, and eat; you hev been totin yourselves arotiu' a 

 heap, and I ain't got much though." 



We needed no" second bidding, but went in and sat 

 solemnly dowu to a meal of boiled chicken, boiled cabbage, 

 and corn pone. The old man aud the two boys pitched un- 

 ceremoniously into the viands, and used their knives in 

 place of forks, and being in Home, we followed suit. After 

 our meal was finished, Mrs. Long called the two voting 

 ladies of the house in, and they shyly sat down to the dis- 

 mantled tables, and made a clean sweep. About half-past 

 eight that evening some neighbors from South Fork arrived. 

 and soon we were deep in the pleasures of "an apple paring 

 bee." The young ladies, their faces dirty, hair unkempt and 

 clothing scanty, were good workers, and we all pared away 

 in silence. This monotony was broken twice by Pete in- 

 forming Clias. E., Br,, that "Ball Duncan would be over to- 

 morrow to git them potatoes," which piece of information 

 the patriarch acknowledged by a grunt. 



Vl Q P. M. we monopolized the only lamp and ascended 

 the rickety stairs to our bedroom. Here two antiquated 

 beds stared us in the face; but we had learned our lesson at 

 St. George, and all fought hard for Hie third couch in the 

 middle of the floor, preferring it to the beds. Luke and 

 Ed. were the lucky fellows, so 1 proceeded to undress, or 

 rather to dress, for "the coming fray. I buckled my leggius 

 tightly, put on au extra coat, and enveloped myself in a 

 rubber blanket. Then 1 climbed upon the undisturbed bed 

 clothes aud sought; pleasant dreams. Owing to these pre- 

 cautions I lay awake, uncomfortable but unbitten. 



The next day we pushed on to Mr. John Eaaom's house, 

 upon the top of the AEegheiri.es, and in the heart of the 

 Canaan region. We found lie had been burned out com- 

 pletely, hut had rebuilt his house and barn upon a smaller 

 scale.' He was unable to keen us all in his one extra lied 

 room so, as we were live miles from the next neighbor, I 

 slept in the hayloft. At midnight or thereabout 1 heard a 

 faint rustle in the hay. 1 lay still and listened. Again that 

 crawling rustle. Oh, horror. 1 thought, a copperhead snake 

 near me. and if I move he will spring and bile. Five min- 

 utes more of suspense, aud T rose quickly, revolver in hand. 



and to my intense relief found it to he one of Easom's old 

 foxhounds, which had come up for company and warmth, 

 Next morning a cold drizzle and plenty of mud made the 

 outlook anything but cheerful, and notwithstanding that 

 Easom assured us of same black bear and a couple of' bucks 

 back on the mountain, we concluded to beat a retreat from 

 this howling wilderness. After breakfasting upon some 

 delicious venison steaks (our first decent, meal since leaving 

 Cumberland), and after a pleasant chat with Mis. Easom 

 who was, like her husband, an educated and refined person 

 we lefl at nine o'clock ami stopped for a : -hort. time at Long'* 

 to trade my Sharp's for a little black bear. Chas . E. said 

 "Ikalklate I'll fetch some bear meal in with this 'ere. If 

 Vpuns fellers want to get shot of your shotgun, 1 kin sell it 

 From here W8 passed slowly to Cumberland and thence to 

 Pittsburgh, sadder and wiser men. E. P. HODGES 



PlTTSBTOCII, Pa, 



TRAP AND FIELD SHOOTING, 



"The time of the singing of birds has eome, aud the voice of tnv 

 bnrtte te heard in the laud." 



AT OT WITHSTANDING we have no game laws in this 

 J- ^ State worth the name, the approach of warm weathc-i 

 gives the birds rest until another sporting season shall come 

 Mating has about commenced, and there aie quail enough 

 left in all parts of our country to raise an abundant crop of 

 young. If the weather shall prove propitious for incuba- 

 tion aud rearing, aud no enemies shall prey upon the eggs or 

 chicks, we may reasonably hope, when November comes, to 

 have the opportunity of using many a shell in the field. In 

 deed, iu some localities the remaining birds are more nunicr 

 Qua than they have been for several years pas!. 



Our sumiiicr pastimes will soon" begin. We have not 

 patience enough to wait, for frost for shooting, and will, in 

 consequence, commence at an early dav to rig up our trap 

 and try our skill at puff or glass balls." 1 confess I do not 

 like either, and would be glad to get some of another kind 

 which I have seen advertised— made somewhere in New 

 York— but the place of manufacture of which has escaped 

 my memory. The article referred to is not the clay pigeon, 

 nor the explosive ball, and you can. perhaps, give me such 

 information as will place me in communication with the 

 manufacturer pr some dealer from whom they can be had. 



We have no club here, and can raise only four persons 

 who can be relied upon to enter the lists for a friendly compe 

 titiou. For this reason, and for no other— and we have 

 other reasons — we have no contests for medals, badges 

 prizes, pools, or any wagers. We shoot "for the fun of the 

 thing," and need no special stimulus to "price the sides of 

 our intent." Our ambitionis of that barren sort which de- 

 lights only in honor. "The almighty dollar" does not 

 sharpen our vision or steady our nerves. Sometimes when 

 one or more of us get away from home, and meet with those 

 who need the other incentives, we try Iq lie not detieieni 

 in politeness, and get up a "scrub team" to shoot against or- 

 ganized adepts. In such cases we do not expect "any sue 

 Cess; and if by chance we come out of the contest about the 

 middle, we feel that we have achieved "glory enough for 

 one day.'' and are fully compensated for the loss- of the 

 "entrance money." None of us have guns larger than 

 12, aud nearly all use lfis. This size is ample for small 

 game, and being light, our physical powers are exactly 

 suited. We want no chokelmns, hut guns which will 

 allow considerable margin or freedom of' aim. ill course. 

 we do not calculate on killing at Jong range except by acci- 

 dent, and upon accident we depend largely for our success. 



In our trap shooting Ave pull the string for each other, and 

 the party who sits at the cord acts as "judge. Nor do we 

 care very much if the butt of the gun Is adit tie above the 

 elbow, or, indeed, how the gun is held, so that it is below 

 the shoulder. In. oilier words, we allow all the advantage 

 which a sportsman takes w lien he is in the held hunting 

 birds. On that arena such stringent rides are not reeog 

 nized, and I confess 1 have never seen any reason for their 

 requirement in the sham trials at the trap. I have seen 

 many oases where au expert at glass halls or pigeons failed 

 most disastrously in the field, while others who showed no 

 remarkable skill' at the trap were very effective at game 

 Birds iu the iields or woods should be the standard' upon 

 which all other competition is based, and, as before re 

 mr.rked, the position of tin. gun used by the hunter when 

 he approaches his dog upon a point is a'll which should be 

 exacted. i\o one "walks" hi on the birds thinking whethei 

 the butt of the gun is below or above the dhow, bin holds 

 as may suit his convenience. Wells. 



"BALTIMORE DUCKERS." 



AN article in the Foukst asb Stream of May 3, headed 

 as above, and giving a free advertisement' to a place 

 on the Gunpowder Kivcr, locally known as "Harewood 

 Farm," is calculated to mislead a portion of your readers. 

 In ihe first place, there is no such club iu existence as the 

 "Harewood Ducking Club.'' Ten gentlemen did pay a 

 small fee last season for ihe privilege of shooting at this 

 place, so cleverly advertised. 1 am personally acquainted 

 with the ••members" and will wager a handsome sum that 1 

 can name ti\ e of ihe ten, whose aggregate bag for the entire 

 season did not, number SOU waterfowl, of every description 

 —coots, old squaws, baldpates aud redheads. ' 1 am quite 

 intimate with two of the "club," one of whom told me only 

 this morning, that lie had not killed as many as fifty ducks 

 during the season, and that he was in the bliud one day in 

 every week. This gentleman says he has had enough of 

 ducking shores on which market gunnel's are privileged to 

 shoot. The man in occupation at Harewood is a. market 

 gunner— ie sells ihig duck, That so many ducks were at 

 Harewood as is claimed in the article alluded to, is 

 doubled. Certainly uol half that number were brought 

 to bag by the "members" from this city, and they, everyone, 

 live here. But as the renter and bis brother were in the 

 blind from daylight until it was loo dark to shoot, and per- 

 mitted the decoys to remain out on Sundays as well as every 

 dav and night in the week, they may have killed ducks that 

 none of the "members" know anything about. 



The writer of the puff already alluded to, forgot to state 

 thai tolling is the chief feature at Harewood. and that a 

 majority of the ducks were killed in thai way, and not Over 

 decoys, for When the winds are adverse and the I ides are 

 low, i lie decoys ate high and dry, and so remain for hours. 

 Now. some "'true sportsmen' consider tolling fun. I regard 

 it as being exactly the same as shooting quail while yet sit- 

 ting- a dozen in a covey— on their roost. 



The shc.oi.iug privileges at Harewood are for rent. The 

 writer has been informed that it is the intention of the man 

 who rents this farm, to endeavor to get up a club of New 



