July lit, 1888.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



483 



" ' i "' 'Bed I" Hi'' house to have them prepared 



for dinner Tlis cook, who. by the way, is splendid in 

 browning* fish, just lo salt my palate, and baking a corn 

 dodger, which, next to an ash cake. 1 love tibuvti all SOVtS of 



bread, had cooked Hie Ban to sail me to a T, and I did en 



jny my dinner. Mr. Meieer Las the largest quantify ol* Bat- 

 tle of anyone in Bossier Parish, among I hem some of' i he bent 

 milk cows, and no end to line butter and cool milk. How 

 1 did enjoy these after being cooped Up in II town lor a 

 year ! 



That evening $ big Chill caught mo, and I could no! 8,0- 

 company Cole and Sugden lo go higher up the bayuu. where 

 they thought the water would lie r iV-.-i r and the chances good 

 for catching bass and goggle-eyes. They relumed in time 

 for having the Tish cooked for supper, with a large number 

 of. each kind, reporting tin- fistu'uj as superb, tl being sflmost 

 impossible to let the troll strike the water before aline, ftti 

 bass of some two or three pounds striking i!. ("Joggle-eye 

 bit as fast us the hook COIlld )>C bailed and thrown "in tin 1 

 water. 



This was all pleasant to I hem, but poor me! I had shaken 

 the bed nearly down with a, chill, and wd.cn they brought 

 the line fish into my room to slum m<, I was burning "up 

 •with high fever. 



Sunday, July 1. — I trot up, dressed, and felt betler, but 

 staid in-doors all day. 



Mr. Mercer said, as it W8S now lawful lo hilnl dorr, we 

 would go hunting early Monday morning. 



Monday Morning. July 2. — Ate a hearty breakfusl by sun- 

 rise, and. then mouutingDma, Mr. Mercer's hue sadille'mare, 

 with him, Cole and I wo freednien, proceeded to our stands 

 about a mile and a half from Ihe store. The deer hud been 

 coming every night into ids cotton Held just before the 

 house, and then laid up durintr the day in a lame piece of 

 woods nearly surrounded by fields. Cole drove. Be had 

 two good hpunds. 1 went with Carey Porter, a freedman. 

 to show me my stand, while Mercer 'and Adam Turner, a 

 freedman, went to stands beyond ours. Carey had barely 

 time to place me at. the proper place, before' 1 heard the 

 hounds iu full it; coining direel to my stand. In a few 

 minutes 1 caught the outline of a deer's ears as he sprang 

 into the path some seventy-five yards from mo, and stopped, 

 "but behind some pine trees, and at the same instant, a 

 plagued red cur bounded across the path between the deer 

 and myself. It was dune so quickly that I was iu doubt 

 whether it was a dog or a fawn, until in a moment it re- 

 turned direct ro the little deer and drove it back into the 

 drive. The two hounds came out, ran across the path, 

 made a circuit coming tip to me, and just then 1 heard the 

 cur open a few times, not less than a quarter of a mile on. 

 the drive, taking the deep, as I thought, to Mr. Mercer. 

 The cur was running it so close that Die animal took a 

 thicket, and though passing quite near Mr. Mercer, he did 

 not see.it, aud then left on quick time for Sad Rher bottom. 



To say I was mad would not express my feelings. I wa.s 

 furious, and I declared I would kill that dog as sure as I 

 should lay eyes on him in the drive. 



Cole blew back the hounds, and went to stands inside of 

 the same drive. Mercer told me this same cur had kept him 

 over twenty times from killing deer, jusl as he did me, that 

 he belonged to a worth}' freodmnu who lived not far from 

 his store, and when the dog heard the horn of the driver, 

 he would come to him or the drive, and act just as be did 

 this morning. 



Mercer took mo to a stand and then went on to one further 

 down the road, the freednien being left at the stands I and 

 Carey Porter had filled, 



. Not thirty minutes passed before I heard Cole halloing 

 very lustily to his dogs, and then they broke into full cry. 

 Soon he blew 7 his horn many times and succeeded in getting 

 the dogs back to him. He was blowing, shouting, and 

 making as much noise as the first locomotive makes on 

 coming to a station out West for the first time, when (wo 

 heavy shots in rapid succession broke the stillness, and then 

 came an indistinct cry of a dog as in pain, and next the war 

 of both dogs for half "a minute. Then all ceased, and the 

 three long blasts of the horn notified me that a deer was 

 killed, and I should ride up. 



Cole was not over a quarter of a mile from me, when he 

 shot, and as 1 came up both of the freednien and Mercer 

 rode up. I saw- a beautiful fat young maiden doe lying 

 dead, with both hind legs broken in several places, 'and 

 several shot piercing both hams. He had made a splendid 

 shot as the deer got up before him in very thick bushes, and 

 he only caught a glimpse of it as he shot.' 



He rather evaded a reply to my asking him "did he kill it 

 with the first or second shot'?' He was in line spirits, more 

 lively than usual. It was not over half a mile to the house, 

 and while going along back home heinformed me, "that red 

 cur would never bother me again, his second shot being at 

 the cur that ran in before him as the deer lumped up." 



We had not been absent two hours from the store The 

 milt and liver being favorite parts of a deer with me. Mr 

 Mercer sent them to the cook, to have them prepared in the 

 best manner, aud did 1 not enjoy them? It had been eleven 

 months since I had eaten any venison, and this was at. Mr, 

 Mercer's. 



Soon after dinner I was taken with a regular old fashion 

 ague and chill. I have rarely suffered as much before with 

 one as I did with this. Nevertheless I managed to cat a 

 double portion of the delightful venison. The cook had 

 stewed the ribs until they were thoroughly done. late an 

 enormous quantity for a sick man. 



The next day I laid up all day. swallowed not less than 

 forty grains of quinine, sweated myself nearly to death, and 

 rose the next, bright aud refreshed, ready for another hunt. 



July 4.— Mercer could not go hunting, but- Cole was sent 

 by him. He got several freedinen to accompany us. Among 

 them were. Carey- Porter and Henry Johnson. 'This last was 

 one of the best negroes, Mercer "said, he ever knew, lie 

 certainly had one of the most pleasant and honest faces I 

 ever saw. Mercer told me, "he would believe him as 

 quickly as any white man in tin- country, and he would 

 credit him as soon as any one the amount he asked for." 



He was one of the finest specimens J oversaw of the negro 

 race, about six feet two inches tall, black as a ei'ow, "well- 

 proportioned, and having <i face that, one does not tire in 

 looking at. Honesty, fidelity aud. bravery were stamped on 

 every lineament. Ho was the body servant to young Jack 

 Hodges, an older brother of my son-iu law, Lawson K 

 Hodges, and had accompanied his young master at the open 

 ing of the war, tothe battle-field of "Manassas. There ynunir 

 Hodges was killed, and when il was told Henry. U 

 negro nearly went crazy. Some of the eompBuy told him 

 his young master was left, dead on the field of battle. The 

 negro broke from camp, traversed the whole bold, turning 

 over and scanning every deatl body, until he found him" 



faftinghim gently lit ins great arms, lie bore the body back 

 lo camp. He could gel no eoltin Iu place Ihe body 111, but 

 as he lold BIG, "he borrowed a saw, and he stole some 

 planks from a quarter -master, and made himself a rude 

 ooiliu in which he placed the hotly, and I hen digging a grave, 



he buried by himself ihe loved form of him whom he loved 



as a brother, and then he made his way back to his old 

 master's home, near which place, on the same land, he now 

 lives, lie owns his own fai-m. h.-is a good gl», plenty of 

 horses and cattle and hogs, makes good WOpS, mill owes no 

 man a dollar. 



Who will denie thai a. negro is not faithful, and to hit 

 greatly praised under such circumstances'.' 



But to return to our hunt, lie made three drives in sue 

 ees-lon, wilhoul getting a sfarl. "Ordinarily." t'ole said, 

 "he could start twenty deer iu the woods we hunted." it 

 was getting excessively hoh and we weld to rt .spring to get 

 some water. While there, 1 was struck with a quaint re- 

 mark ol Carey Poller, Said he. after swallowing nearly a 

 gallon of water, "it is loo hot for white Polks, too hot for 



hounds, but is just right lor niggars." 



Ilov, hue is this in such a latitude and al such It season of 

 ihe year! 



hi no part have I seen the freednien so well off as lit Ibis 

 Bossier Point, and 1 tun certain I have nvvcv seen a more 

 quiet, orderly aud respectful body of colored people. All 

 lire doing well. You never hear of any lights and quarrels. 

 And 1 am certain thai even iu slave limes one would not 

 have found the negroes more respectful mid law-abiding. 



A I'ttT cooling al the spring, we proceeded to beat across 

 an old field, before taking another drive. 



Cole was riding a little in advance of me, lo mv left, 

 lleniv Johnson was in the center, but iu advance of me. 

 We were passing a little cluster of sumac bushes, when I 

 saw Henry lower himself ou the neck of his horse to look at 

 something, and then exclaim: "Daris a deer: shoot him." 

 Up bounded a beautiful fawn, and then it slopped a moment 

 aud ran on my right I could not shoot, but rode a step or 

 two to give Cole a chance to shoot, when he let 11 y both bar- 

 rels from the left, Shoulder, hut did no damage. 'The terri- 

 fied little creature ran some forty yards and stopped. By 

 litis time I had turned Dora to the left, which gave me a 

 beautiful chance to shoot ; and as I brought down the heavy 

 Moore & Son gun, weighing some eight pounds, the mare's 

 head went up and down quicker than a die-dapper duck. 

 The gun was so hard ou trigger that I could not keep it on 

 the deer, and I fired at random, only frightening the beauti- 

 ful little terrified creature, it hounded "off unharmed, and 

 I was glad of it. 



The. hounds ran it for a mile or more and then lost it. On 

 returning home, Henry told us "he could not die happy un- 

 less he told the truth about this little deer, and that was, he 

 was so excited he forgot he bad a gun, and wanted us to 

 shoot it." 



This ended our hunt. I did not have a chill, and I did, 

 indeed, enjoy the eating of the deer we killed the day before. 



After our railroad is completed, the hunter who loves 

 both fishing aud hunting can have as much of both as he 

 wants by going down into Bossier Point, And should be 

 he so fortunate as to make the acquaintance of this most 

 hospitable and genial gentleman, William Mercer, he will 

 never regret a sojourn at his residence. 



The next day 1 returned to Minden, to find all my fine 

 chickens dead 'with cholera or some other fatal disease, aud 

 my line hitch, Princess Louise, ihe gift of Mr. J. O. Dormer, 

 of Brooklyn, so wild, that she would not come to me, and 

 had left home to take up with a. neighbor. 



Minden, La. 



£*%»/ fiptarg. 



THE COMMANDER ISLANDS. 



[continued.] 



I AM unable to send you at present a full description of the 

 islands, as my sojourn here has scarcely exceeded tltree 

 mouths. The following pages will contain merely some 

 disconnected sketches of those things I consider to be new 

 or of special interest. You will see, besides, that they are, 

 with a few exceptions, limited to the land fauna as this of 

 course, has been the main object of my studies and observa- 

 tions. The collections of marine animals are as yet insig- 



lifit 



int. 



My stay here has as yet been too short, of course, to allow 

 of exhaustive generalizations with regard to the zoological 

 rekt,"i:s of th: isk:i::.ls, the more ca I have been able to 

 identify with certainty only a small portion of the animals 

 which 1 have collected. Hut I do not hesitate to state that 

 the. character of the land fauna is pakea relic, as il has been 

 supposed to be. Such being the case, you will not lind it 

 surprising that tin- fauital character of the island agrees more 

 or less with that of Kanitschatka. * * 



The islauds during the period previous lo which thev re 

 ceived their present fauna and flora weie totally covered by 

 the sea, and that since that time they have not been coii- 

 uected with the mainland on either side. From this it 

 would follow that none of the species occurring bere are 

 true indigenes. They evidently immigrated, especially and 

 more regularly from Ihe west, from Asia, by means of pre 

 vailiim- winds', currents, and the driftwood earned by these 

 and more accidentally from the easl, from America. That 

 the inhabitants, more independent ot" those oircunistancefi 

 likewise show nearer relationship to the Asiatic fauna is 

 partly due to the shorter distance, this being only 100 miles 

 from the nearest cape of Kanitschatka, Cape" Kronotski 

 (which by the Russian man-of-war Vestnik Ibis year has 

 been found to bo situated twenty miles more to fhe west- 

 ward than given in the charts), vvnile the nearest island of 

 the Aleutian chain, Attn, is twice as far oil; and partly to 

 the effort of the Asiatic fauna to extend beyond its own 

 limits. It is a well-known fact that the Asiatic fauna is in 

 a continuous and comparatively rapid motion toward the 

 west, especially m northern Europe. But it seems to me 

 that, a similar movement takes place in the eastern part of 

 Asia, only in an opposite direction, the proof of which I find 

 in the uot it iv-ideiabie number .of exclusively paiseartic 



forms in Alaska, especial^ among the birds. I here enumoi' 

 inly Vyoimu.la, x„..ri,;,t„, Pfiytfoph&wte, Pffrr/wbi, Pai'us 



btectv 



'.all. 



II istruethat the zofigeographioal regions overlap em liotbei 

 near their borders, but il is a, remarkable fact that America 

 contributes but very little to the fauna Thus il is probable 

 (hat ere long we will detect still more Asiatic forms in 

 Alaska, and thai hereafter it will he necessary lo register as 



residents such aperies which at present are known only as 

 temporary or casual intruders. 



The occurrence of specie,, peculiar lo the islands (and I 

 have in. doubt the final revision of the material collected bv 

 me will make known several new ones) will not invalidate 

 what 1 have stated above with regard lo the want of indi- 

 genous animals and plants. Their origin is due merely to 

 variability in connection with isolation and time. 



As to the plants I shall be very brief, as I am not a bota- 

 nist. 1 limit myself to the remark that I find the general 

 character of the flora very much like I led of the treeless re 



gions of Northern Europe, the most discrepant foatuTes be- 

 ing the.splendid /,'//„;/,„/,,,,/,„,, , ,,.„•., /,,,;,„,„ a nd ehr>/*an- 



tfium) and the Saranna lilly (Frttillariu saranna). ' Still 



I' ' i course is the resemblance to Ihe plants of Kanit- 

 schatka, especially to those in greater altitude,,. The plants 

 of both islands are. I think, identical, but the manner of 

 their immigration very likely has caused the occurrence of 

 some species in one' island which are absent' in fee other. 

 Thus 1 have from Copper Island a very small but conspicu- 

 ous Vtot/i witjl yellow flowers (much resembling the yellow 

 variely of ['. Irimhir), a plant which I found also n, Pei.ro 

 paulski, hut not here on Bering Island 



The islands are completely destitute of frees, unless one 

 might be tempted to term so the shrubs of Stditi; tiaPdua and 

 Butm, I'rom six to eight feel high, some of which obtain a 

 proportionately great thickness close to the ground. Thus, 

 lor instance. 1 bine a seel ion of a birch with a diameter of 

 two inches. 



The vegetation, especially in the valleys, is very luxuriant, 

 in most places of a man's height or more. This exuberance 

 is especially due to the rich soil in c icction with the ex- 

 treme moisture, for the temperature during the three months, 

 during which the plants have now been growing, was not 

 high. U\ observations show a mean of 42 .? F. for Junr, 

 IS .2 for July, and of for August. The minimum temper- 

 atures for the same mouths are 31. 3, 30 s . 4 and -I! .6, re- 

 spectively, In higher latitudes the length of the day and 

 the intensity of the liu'ht produce fhe same effect hut as we 

 live here in latitude 55 c , under a skv generally over- 

 cast, wc do not find the same conditions" as we should 

 there. 



Of land aud fresh-water invertebrates I have collected only 

 some specimens of worms, mollusks, and arthropods, The 

 worms tire represented only by a species of Lv mhricua and 

 by two ITirudiueo'. 



The mollusks are more numerous, including one bi- 

 valve and two or three pond snails, seven land snails, 

 and one slug. Among the land snails there, are several ex- 

 tremely small Helms, scarcely larger than a pin's head some 

 of which I suspect to be new." They are surely not the 

 young of the larger kinds, of which I pt>ssess young oucs 

 also of the same size, except a medium-sized Liniiueux, and 

 with the same exception they are not very numerous. 



Of myriapods 1 have found only a few" species, while the 

 spiders have yielded a richer harvest. 



As a rule toe winged insects seem to be more numerous, 

 with regard to both indivualsand species, which is also the 

 case near Petropaulski. In the first place, the mosquitos 

 make themselves very conspicuous. Although not quite in 

 such large numbers as in Kanitschatka. where the furious 

 attacks of their legions sometimes prohibited me from se 

 curing a bird I had shot, and usually a valuable one, even 

 here on the island they seriously interfere with the duties of 

 a collecting naturalist. The diurnal lepidoptera seem to be 

 very scarce, I have seen only a single one, early in the 

 spring, on the 21st of May ; it was a butterfly, much' like, if 

 not identical with Vanessa ■uiiim L., but unfortunately the 

 chase was unsuccessful. My lookout for some species of 

 Argyrmis, Evebia or Tien* has been completely in vain. The 

 yejetitinei are uot very numerous either, while the Geenue- 

 tvida-. aud Mierokptihrpt* ra are more common. 



The beetles are not numerous, including up to date only 

 one or two (Jii reiilwiiiihr. one or two El,ilrrida\ one Sil/i/nt, 

 some Staph yUie/da, D.i/tixeida; Gyritiido\ Corahieida, and a 

 Cmndda, which I. have seen tit only a single place, although 

 it is a conspicuous species. 



Of crustaceans the fresh-water ponds have yielded a 

 Brahdufyms, some Gamniaridm, one Daphnia. and one or 

 two other almost microscopical species, which. I think 

 belong to Cyelap*. 



T can hardly write anything about the fishes inhabiting 



II be better to postpone this topic 



yself to a mere enumera- 



Qasteron- 



the rivers and lakes. It \ 

 until next year, and I shall 1 

 tion of the species observed by me up t 

 /e/rxfxiif/itiil* L., and C. rata pit met iw (] 

 (Pall. I, (called Qokiz by the natives 1 R 

 e,wdon (Pall.), (Russian Kvamaatt TW 

 (Pall.), (Russian, Khuieh), 0. pmt, ,/s (1 

 hise/ta), and the ■'Bajdarsik" of fhe m 

 not vet been able to make out. ••Silc 

 of Vo 



-,1m 



■alia 



I. Oaeorhyaeltu* ly- 



11.)," (Russian, Gor- 



ves, which I have 

 the Russian name 



nun, but I do not believe that it belongs to that 

 genus, as the mouth extends beyond the eve. Probably it is 

 the same species called (Jonyoaa* by Nordenskjold (Vega 

 Expedition, American edition, page 018), as I do not know 

 any other one to which to refer this name: the three other 

 species of which he speaks are eallaeia.i, lycaodon, and yen- 

 tens. 



In niy next report I hope to be able to add another Sal- 

 monoid to the list of the species known (as I suspect Ihe 



Batraehians and reptiles are. wanting altogether on the 

 island, as might be expected. Dr. Dybowski aud I have 

 been searching very eagerly for a SedainandrilMt, as we sus- 

 pected the "Krai/ant," of which the uatives told us, to be 

 such an animal. It turned out, however, to be a large Bj/tiH- 



The ornithologist starting for Bering Island will probably 

 prepare himself beforehand for hunting and collecting two 

 large, rare, and interesting birds, viz., 'Ihala^afttm pehwieux 

 (Pall.) and Plmlaemeara.e pe.fxpinWi.tun Pall., as Pa"" 



Steller's authority, gives Bering Is 



aud as theii habitat. 



where they occurred iu abundance. 



You will not be more 



disappointed than 1 tun iu learning 



that there is no hope 



whatever of getting a specimen of th 



■ hitler, and very little 



of obtaining any of the former from 1 



Jering Island 



It is not to be doubted that Ihe /Vet 



aeme/iea r penpieillatilx 



tloes not occur on Ihe islands at prese 



nl, The natives, how 



ever, remember very well the lime w 



ton it was plentiful on 



he rocks, especially on the outlying islel Are Kamen. 

 About thirty years ago, they say, the last ones were seen, 

 and the reason they give why liiis bird has become, exter- 

 minated here on the island is 'that it was killed in great num- 

 bers for food. They unanimously assert that it has uot been 

 seen since, and they only laughed when J. offered a verv 

 high reward for a specimen. 

 When Pallas gives Beting Island as the habitat, of 



