FOREST AND STREAM. 



89 



THE SARATOGA REGATTA. 



IF some familiar names known among our amateur oars- 

 men were wanting in this contest, the race itself was in 

 every respect a model one, and well worthy of putting 

 on record. Aside from the spirited nature of the struggle, 

 there was one excellent element about it, the perfect har- 

 mony with which everything went off, and the absence of 

 all strife and bickering. The unpleasant feeling which was 

 manifested in the Springfield race did not occur, and to the 

 conquerors were instantly adjudged their well earned re- 

 wards. Such accidents as may arise about stake-boats and 

 buoys, from ignorance of crews, and incompetency of 

 judges, we trust will no longer mar the pleasures of our 

 amateur contests. Saratoga Lake is, perhaps, one of the 

 best waters in the United States for boating contests. 

 Three quarters surrounded by woods, .the wind has but very 

 little effect, so that the water is rarely lumpy, and of course 

 influences of currents are unknown. We again have to 

 commend the fact that no gambling was allowed, and that 

 the authorities had combined with the managers of the 

 race to entirely exclude anything like pools. Efforts of 

 this kind are in the highest degree proper, and must tend to 

 elevate the sport to that high position which all gentlemen 

 desire amateur boating should assume in the United States. 



There can be no possible grumble at the victory gained 

 by the Messrs. Lamb. They showed themselves thorough 

 oarsmen. It is exactly by meeting rivals of this calibre 

 that true proficiency will be acquired by our own men. Of 

 course our amateur friends will do wisely to profit by the 

 lesson they have received. 



With a little more '-are and judgment by beginners to 

 train our boys at an earlier age to athletic sports, the 

 time will come when we will put our English friends up to 

 their mettle. 



-**-* 



WHAT 



THE GERMANS SAY 

 WOOD CUTTING. 



ABOUT 



THE Germans, who have made a science of arboricul- 

 ture, with their admirable powers of scientific analy- 

 sis, have determined pretty exactly how much water is pre- 

 served by the soil covered by their forests. They do not, 

 however, indulge only in simple speculations in regard to 

 this self-evident fact, but, in some cases, have brought the 

 calculations down to a question of gallons. From the 

 A usland we translate as follows: "The woods, thicket, 

 and herbage which cover the grouud, we all know, hold 

 the rain-water which falls on them. The sole reason for 

 this is, that there is less chance of the water evapora- 

 ting. The best idea that can be had of what would be the 

 effect of cutting down the woods, ivould be presented by 

 supposing we denuded the Spessant Mountain of its trees, 

 which mountain rises in the right side of the Mein (Maine) 

 on one side of the valley which divides it from, the Oden- 

 wald. The cutting of the wood on this single mountain 

 would prevent the formation of a river as large as the Mein 

 before Aschaffenburg, whose flow would be continuous 

 during a period of sixteen days." 



Here is shown, in that admirable practical way the Ger- 

 mans have of imparting knowledge, exactly the facts the 

 Forest and Stream is so desirous of making public, in re- 

 gard to indiscriminate, senseless wood cutting. Data of 

 this character we think are essential, and if reiterated, must 

 at last have their effect on the public mind. Cut down the 

 Adirondack region, and it is no exaggeration to state that- 

 the volume of the Hudson will be appreciably diminished. 



TRESPASS. 



A VERY proper amount of prejudice exists in the Uni- 

 ted States in regard to the stringency of the English 

 game laws. As was justly remarked by a prominent Eng- 

 lish statesman, "that miserable animal, the rabbit, has been 

 the cause of more class-hatred in Great Britain than any of 

 the most obnoxious acts passed by Parliament." If Herbert 

 Spencer, in some of his admirable essays, has quite clearly 

 proved that almost all the modern eft orts of legislation have 

 been directed towards diminishing -the vigorous character 

 of certain laws imposed on us by generations that have 

 gone before, such arguments hardly hold good in this newer 

 country of ours. Game restrictions in England may be 

 sometimes rigorous, extending not only towards the game 

 itself, but taxing pretty roundly those who carry guns; but 

 without advocating any extreme measures we must never- 

 theless animadvert if not to the singular laxity with which 

 our game laws are administered, at least to the indifference 

 in regard to trespass. 



This matter of trespass seems to be now a growing evil, 

 and the cases of individual injury are so frequent that we 

 arc in receipt of numerous letters requesting us to use our 

 influence to prevent it. Each year, just about this time, 

 men with guns (not sportsmen) assemble from every quar- 

 ter of the United States and track the Western corn-fields 

 and prairies in search of the pinnated grouse. They shoot 

 right and left, without leave or license. The farmers of 

 our prairies are as generous a set of men as ever lived, 

 many of them good sportsmen, and, actuated by no dog-in- 

 tlie manger motives, are now up in arms at this violation of 

 their grounds. Every year they see their grounds de- 

 stroyed, their birds slaughtered, and they can find no re- 

 dress. They ask us what are they to do. Some even go 

 so far as to intimate a desire to take the law in their own 

 hands. Such measures we must deprecate. The redress 

 lies in taking the laws made against trespass out of the civil 

 courts; which is a 'tedious and ineffective process of law, 



and of having cases of trespass tried by the more prompt 

 action of the criminal courts. Privileges to shoot should 

 be considered as property, and might be sold by our West- 

 ern prairie owners, and without any idea of money being- 

 made out of them. With the proceeds of the sale of such 

 licenses men might be employed to guard the grounds, who 

 could prevent trespass. We doubt very much the efficacy 

 of having State officials to attend to these duties, something 

 like the French guarde de chasse. Such duties could be bet- 

 ter undertaken by men paid for this purpose. That tres- 

 passing, all over the country, is a growing nuisance is verj' 

 certain, and that prompt measures for correcting this evil 



are necessary, is equally evident. 



**«+. 



MOCCASINS. 



WE have received some letters from friends en route 

 for Nova Scotia and the Dominion of Canada, in- 

 tent on moose and carribou hunting, who are desirous of 

 obtaining some informatin in regard to moccasins. Such 

 moccasins as we find at Saratoga, are only proper to use in 

 a bed-room. The real hunting moccasins, which can stand 

 any amount of usage are an entirely different thing. There 

 are two kinds of moccasins used in the Canadas, one 

 which may be called the shoe moccasin, low cut, fitted for 

 going over smooth ground, the other coming up higher, 

 proper for rough country, and where brambles are found, 

 and commonly called the shoe-pack. Both kinds should be 

 made of the hide of the carribou. The skin of the car- 

 ribou contains within itself a great deal of natural oil, is 

 remarkably tough and moderately elastic. The hide should 

 be regularly tanned in oak bark; all preparations containing 

 alum destroys its excellent qualities... The hide of the car- 

 ribou, especially in the male near the neck, is almost an 

 inch in thickness. The hair itself is very close and curly, 

 looking like grey moss. In tanning, hide and hair should 

 be cured together. In making a pair of moccasin boots, 

 have the sole broad and the heels low, and sew the seams 

 with the sinews of the carribou. Moccasins dipped in the 

 melted fat of the animal makes them almost impervious to 

 snow and water. The boot should by all means have a 

 tongue of carribou hide, not a thin one, but one which will 

 fully cover the instep and ankle. It should invariably be 

 laced with carribou thongs. If a boot of caribou hide is 

 rubbed with the ordinary preparations of tallow and Bur- 

 gundy pitch or dubbing, it seems to retain such substances 

 longer than any other kind of leather. All village shoe- 

 makers in the Provinces can turn out a servicable pair of 

 moccasins, and know how to make a good fit. Never 

 wear high boots in hunting moose or caribou; they make 

 too much noise in those still woods. Besides boots are 

 rapidly worn out, going over the rocky ground, and be- 

 come soon useless. An excellent sole is made, and a most 

 lasting one, by taking a piece of hide with the hair on, 

 doubling it on the skin side, leaving the hair outside, and 

 then sewing it together. The durability of a sole of this 

 character is remarkable. 



In camp when coming home from a wet hunt, never put 

 either boots, shoes, or moccasins too near the fire. It is bet- 

 ter to hang them up above your head, and let them dry 

 slowly. The smoke of the camp fire seems to improve* 

 them. Sometimes moccasins may be frozen stiff; they must 

 then be completely thawed out, and whilst not too near the 

 fire rub deer fat into them. No one who has hunted in 

 moccasins takes again to the boots or shoes of civilization 

 without regret. In fact nothing can be made more unphilo- 

 sophical than our boots and shoes, as to their construction. 

 The writer has frequently shot on the prairies, for a whole 

 season, following the grouse over the tough wiry grass, 

 with a single pair of Canadian moccasins, while his com- 

 panions have worn and cut out two pairs of ordinary 

 hunting shoes in the same time. Perhaps, had the learned 

 Chancellor of England, Erskine, known about moccasins, 

 he might not have said, what .Rogers declares he did say on 

 his death-bed, which was : ' ' When that dread hour comes 

 when all our secrets will be shown, then only shall we 

 know the reason why shoes are always made so tight." 



AMERICANISMS IN SHAKSPEARE. 



ROM Dr. Charles Steam's clever book on the wisdom 

 and knowledge of Shakspeare we select the following 

 fragments, from a chapter with the above caption. Such 

 fossil words as have remained with us should be treasured. 

 Brought over here three centuries ago, they still defy all 

 attempts to cover them over with the fresher "alluvial de- 

 posite. We note particularly these that follow : 



" Slyly fingered from the deck." 3 Henry, VI. V. I.— 

 A similar use of the word "deck " for a pack of playing- 

 cards is common at the present day throughout the West- 

 ern and Southern States. 



"When I cried Ho! like boys in a muss." Antony and 

 Cleopatra, III. 2. Muss is a familiar word to Americans, 

 as meaning a slight brawl, or disturbance. 



Then again flapjack, is Shakspeariau, too, for what do 

 the fishermen say to the ship-wrecked Prince Pericles? 

 "Moreover, puddings and flapjacks," that were promised 

 him. "Flapjacks," are those broad, thin and extemporane- 

 ously prepared cakes, now called pancakes, and consecrated 

 in Old England to Shrove Tuesday, but which are yet known 

 in New England by their Shaksparian name. In regard 

 •to horses, Dr. Stearns quotes from Macbeth to show that the 

 Mexican stampede was not unknown to him. Duncan's 

 horses are said to have " Turned wild in nature, broke their 

 stalls, flung out, contending gainst obedience." 



The critic says, ll this sort of panic is probably unknown 

 in England at the present day. and could only have hap 



pened in parts of the country comparatively thinly settled. 

 In a newly settled country, stalls for horses are little more 

 than small sheds fenced about with wooden palings. Dun-. 

 can's horses could not " break " or " fling out," from well 

 built brick stalls. Again of Duncan's horses: " 'Tis said 

 they eat each other." 



Dr. Stearns states that " this language, used of horses, 

 sounds like poetical exaggeration. Yet it happens to be 

 true. Horses when loose and engaged in deadly conflict 

 with each other, use only their teeth, and aim to get at 

 one another's throats, but never use their heels. They kick 

 only when quarrelling, or if they are tired and hampered 

 in some way. " 



KILLING A GRIZZLY BEAR. 



CORRESPONDENT of the Tribune on the Ilayden 



expedition writes as follows :. 

 ' ' On this beautiful green meadow, all our three divisions en- 

 camped. Not that it was wholly destitute before of an 

 occupant and owner. Unmistakable signs in great abun- 

 dance and freshness showed at once that it was the pasture 

 and play; ground of a large bear. To avoid any strife a,s 

 to the rightful possesion, one of the party shot his bear- 

 ship yesterday. It was a good sized grizzly bear, old and 

 tough beyond the average of his kind. His teeth were 

 well worn, one or two of the front ones even giving way 

 and decaying, and his scull was completely ball-proof. He 

 was really killed by the first shot, one of Meigs's explosive 

 bullets taking effect just behind the head and blowing the 

 first cervical vertebra to pieces; but as he stilled moved, 

 two or three solid shots were, by way of precaution, fired 

 through the head, as was supposed, from a good Reming- 

 ton rifle at 80 yards' distance, but they simply flatten- 

 ed against the bone, without penetrating it or leaving a. 

 mark. People may look incredulous, but I have in my 

 pocket one of the flattened bullets taken from between the 

 skin and the maxillary arch, and the scull may be exam- 

 ined by any one in the Smithsonian collection next winter." 

 A gentleman attached to the Ilayden expedition has 

 called on us, and on our asking about the flattening of the 

 balls, when fired at this bear, he states that the gun used 

 in this particular case was a ltght Remington sporting rifle, 

 that it was loaded with the regular army cartriage, and 

 that the distance Avas about fifty yards. He states that 

 the balls struck the bear just where a heavy dense mnscle 

 covered the grizzly scull, which muscle was fully four 

 inches thick. The bear weighed 1,000 pounds, and being 

 in prime order, was excellent food, He repudiates all 

 stories of the stabbing a bear with a knife, insisting that 



the hide is so thick that no steel will penetrate it. 

 — i . — .»..*. 



Tiyi United States Fisii Commission. — The gentlemen 

 named below comprise the United States Fish Commission, 

 whose headquarters are at Peak's Island, Maine. They all 

 serve without any compensation whatever, and pay then- 

 own expenses. They give the Government the first choice 

 from the specimens which they collect, and furnish gratuit- 

 ously all professional services required of them. In return 

 they receive merely the advantages of the outfit and the 

 facilities thereby afforded for collecting. Science is always 

 enthusiastic, generous, self-denying! The names are here- 

 with given : — 



Prof. S. T. Baird, Assistant Secretary Smithsonian Inst. 

 Prof. A. E. Verrill, Professor Zoology, Yale College. 

 Prof. S. I. Smith, Assistant Prof. Zoology, Yale College. 

 Prof. J. E. Todd, Professor Zoology, Tabor College, Iowa, 

 Prof. E. Y. Nelson, Ohio Wesly an Union, Delaware, Ohio. 

 Prof. Win. Rice, Wesleyan Union, Middletown, Conn. 

 Prof. J. K\ Thatcher, Tutor, Yale College. 

 Mr. J. B. Goode, Curator Museum, Wesleyan, Union Mid- 

 dletown, Conn. 

 Dr. E. Pulmer, Curator, Smithsonian Institute. 

 Mr. J. H. Emerton, Artist, Boston Soc. Nat. Hist. 

 Mr. H. Benner, Student, Yale College. 

 Mr. II. E. Rockwell, Phonographer, Washington, D. C. 

 Mr. Spencer Biddle, Philadelphia, 

 Dr. Scovil, Indiana, 

 Dr. J. B. Holder, Central Park Museum, New York. 



Tall Figtjees.— The sale of the famous New York 

 Mills stock took place on the 10th, three miles from Utica. 

 The origin of the herd was the purchase made by Mr. Samuel 

 Thorne of New York of several animals of the Duchess 

 tribe at the famous sale of Earl Ducie in 1852, which he 

 bought for his father, and for Col. Lewis G. Morris. 



Among the English breeders present may be mentioned 

 the Right Hon. Lord Skelmersdale, whose seat is near Liv- 

 erpool; Mr. Halford, of Papillon Market Harbor; Mr. Cal- 

 thrope; Mr. Richardson, who represents Sir Curtis Lampson, 

 of Sussex; Mr. Berwick agent for Lord Dunmore, but who 

 buys for Earl Bective, recently of Lord Kenlis, of Underly 

 Hall, Lancashire, and Mr. Kello, agent for Mr. R. Pavin 

 Davis, of Horton, Gloucestershire. Messrs. Cochrane 

 Christie, Miller, and Beattie of Canada were also present. ' 



The three year old bull, second Duke of Oneida, was sold 

 for $12,000, to Mr. McGibbon of Cynthia, Kentucky. First 

 Duchess of Oneida was bought by Lord Skelmersdale, for 

 $30,000. The tenth Duchess found a purchaser, Lord 

 Bective, at $35,000. Eleven cows of the same august 

 family, $238,800. There were 111 animals presented 

 realizing $481,585 Some day we will send horses and do°~s 

 to England. 



«*-••&>■ — 



We understand that the manufacturers of the Ballard 

 rifle have ceased making them, and sold their machinery 

 Messrs. Smith & Squires, 523 Broadway, purchased some 

 time ago a large number, and have a few left. It is a good 

 oportunity for those who desire one of these excellent 

 breech muzzle-loaders to purchase one at once, as no more 

 will be made. 



