274 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



Pat sets fire to a rough birch near camp, and we watch 

 the flames in their serpentine course rushing upwards. It 

 is too cold to sleep; we sit huddled together before the fire, 

 and are entertained by droll songs and stories by Pat. He 

 has just been telling us of an adventure he had when a 

 young man while hunting caribou, which might have ended 

 seriously. He had started out in the morning with only 

 his rifle, knife, and a mouthful of provisions. About noon 

 he struck a fresh caribou track, and started in pursuit. 

 Twice in crossing a lake did he catch a glimpse of him, 

 but out of shooting distance? He still resolutely followed 

 until the lengthening shadows warned him to retrace his way 

 back to camp, and defer the further pursuit until the mor- 

 row. Darkness set in, and with it a gathering snow storm, 

 and he soon found it impossible to follow his track. He 

 now became seriously alarmed, and began devising with 

 himself what he had best do. After some time a happy 

 thought struck him. He was surrounded by balsam trees, 

 and cutting from these sufficient branches he dug a hole in 

 the snow and lining it top sides and bottom he crawled in, 

 and sheltered from the storm anxiously awaited daylight to 

 liberate him from his uncomfortable position. Morning 

 came at last, and crawling out more dead than alive he 

 took up his track, and had not gone far when he met his 

 anxious companions, who had come to search for him. 



We look sorry for want of sleep this morning, but make 

 an early start for the lake. We have just returned, and 

 with good success — twenty dozen trout, averaging some 

 half a pound apiece. Out of one hole I took some five 

 dozen, and in a depth of only three feet of water. I at- 

 tribute our success to the fact that the lake is shallow, and 

 the ice, with the heavy accumulation of snow, has been 

 forced to the bottom, driving the fish into the channel. I 

 caught one — a curiosity. It was about a foot in length, and, 

 as I supposed, had a protuberance growing from each side 

 of its mouth. I seized it, and giving it a slight pull was 

 horrified when out came a frog of good proportions. It 

 had swallowed it head foremost, but had been unable to 

 get the hind legs fully in. We had a rare meal — trout in 

 all forms. The meat is firm and good. 



We give up all idea of moose or caribou, and prepare 

 for one more day's fishing. At noon we have taken twenty 

 dozen more, when Mr. K, complaining of not feeling well, 

 we return to camp. What an enthusiastic sportsman he is; 

 fast approaching his seventieth year, he still retains the 

 vigor to enjoy it. He often puts me, his junior by many 

 years, to the test to equal him in agility. It is growing 

 very mild, and we have reason to fear a rain storm, which 

 will place us in an ugly predicament, as it renders snow 

 shoeing almost impossible. We pack up everything pre- 

 paratory to a start. 



At daybreak we are off, and by forced marches we reach 

 Michel Lake. The snow shoeing is horrible, the snow ac- 

 cumulating on the shoes to such a degree that we are 

 obliged to carry sticks to beat it off. 



We descend the mountain safely in a series of slides, and 

 are at Ned's just as it commences to rain. We hastily har- 

 ness up, and at eleven o'clock arrive home worn out with 

 the day's tramp. A good night's rest puts us all to rights, 

 and so ended our trip. Though we secured no large game 

 yet was I much pleased, and have promised myself another 

 such at some future time, when I may have a better report 



to make. G. M. F. , Jr. 

 «*-»♦■ 



PIGEON ENGLISH. 



* 



Editor Forest and Stream : — 



Of all spoken languages the Chinese is to a foreign 

 tongue perhaps the most difficult to acquire; mainly pho- 

 netic in its construction, the slightest difference, in inflection 

 may make a vast difference in the meaning of two or a 

 dozen words nearly similar. For example, between long 

 sui, lung sui, loong sui, lang s>'i, and several other "suis" 

 with nearly identical prefixes, a slight variation in the 

 grunt tells whether it be hot water, cold water, or ice water 

 that you speak of. 



Again, if by close study and quick ear one has learned at 

 Hong Kong enough to procure ice water for his table or hot 

 for his bath, let him travel a few miles into another Prov- 

 ince and his learning goes for naught. With the same 

 written, the spoken language is very different, and the in- 

 habitants of opposite sides of a river may not be able to un- 

 derstand each other. "Amoy," (gates of the sea,) is, not five 

 miles from its walls, known as "Hai moon," which, I be- 

 lieve means "shut the door;" and as short a distance in 

 another direction gives it another name, which I forget. 



Tims foreigners coming to China for trade or other pur- 

 poses would 'find, but for a resource, an almost insuper- 

 able obstacle to communication with the natives. This re- 

 source is that strange conglomeration of distorted words 

 from many languages known as "Pigeon English." Ameri- 

 cans, English, Portuguese, Dutch, Spaniards, in short, all 

 nations come to China, and must talk with the natives. 

 They can't or won't all learn Chinese, so the Chinese who 

 are not to be baffled, have with wonderful ingenuity con- 

 structed a common language for all to meet on. It is a fun- 

 ny thing, though, to hear a Frenchman trying to talk pigeon 

 English. To a stranger upon first arrival it sounds ridicu- 

 lous, and he is tempted to class it as gibberish, but he soon 

 learns his mistake. 



Words and phrases have fixed meanings. When a China 

 merchant says, "Maskee, my can secure, "his word is given 

 and your contract is as safe as a bond could make it. He 

 has said "Enough, I give my guarantee." 



Poetry can be written in it, as a very successful parody 



of "Excelsior" that has been widely quoted has proved, 

 and the paraphase of Mrs. Herman's "Casabianca," which 

 I have written, is almost a translation. There is hardly more 

 freedom of phrase than would be required to put the same 

 into French. 



Of course many of the words convey no meaning to " one 

 not familiar with the language ; but they all have meanings, 

 and I give you a glossary : 



Glossary of Terms.— Top-side, upstairs, above, on deck; chop-chop, 

 quickly, hurry up; whilo, get away, clear out; allosame, the same as, 

 like; joss, deity; number one, first class, perfect; downside, down stairs, 

 below; no saby, no savez; maskei, enough, enough said, finished; what 

 fashion, what do you mean? what kind of a way of doing business is 

 this? what ting, nearly the same as above; hi yah, exclamation; galah, 

 exclamation; chow cJww, as a verb, to eat or devour as a man, some- 

 thing to eat, as "my wanchee chow-chow,'" I want semethingto eat, I'm 

 hungry . 



The pronoun he is made to do duty for all genders and 

 persons, and means he, she, it, his, hers, its, him, &c, as 

 required. My, in the same way, means, me, I, mine, &c, 

 and when Mr. Willie Edwin, in his otherwise perfect 

 "Heathen Chinee" says, "Me washee, washee," he makes a 

 great mistake; "My washee, washee" would be correct and 

 beautiful. The word pigeon or 'pidgin means most any- 

 thing, but more generally is used for business, as, "no be- 

 longy you pidgin," means "its none of your business." 

 "My saby my pidgin," means "I understand my own af- 

 fairs." "You can catchee you own pidgin," means, "You 

 attend to your own business," &c. The syllable ee or y is 

 added to most English words, and the letter r they cannot 

 pronounce. "Cross" is with t\\e,m. doss, "strong stlong. 

 This has a curious effect; when at dinner the waiter asks 

 you to take some "■lice,'''' he don't mean what he says. 



Chinamen at Hong Kong will quickly detect a new ar- 

 rival by the facility with which he speaks. Says one to me 

 one clay, turning with disgust from a newly arrived Ameri- 

 can, "He belong too muchee damn foolo; he no saby he 

 cwn talkee." I'm sorry, to record that they have not soft- 

 ened down our rough word "damn," but give it its 

 perfect accent, and when one bequeued gentleman calls 

 another a "damned Chinaman," he insults him as does our 

 colored brother when he stigmatises a coffee colored friend 



as a "d d nigger." (You can put a dash between those 



other d's if you wish.) 



The amenities of social life can be explained in this "pid- 

 gin." I called one evening on a young lady in Hong Kong, 

 and to the boy who came to the door I said, "Miss Malia 

 hab got?" "Hab got topside." "Walkee topside chop- 

 chop, talkee Miss Malia hab got one piecy man downside 

 wanchee catchee he." Returned with the message, "Miss 

 Malia talky alia plopper, can catchee;" so I staid. 



A good story is told of a gentleman who, annoyed by a 

 terrific racket in the court near his house, sent his boy to 

 ascertain the cause of the gun firing, cracker popping and 

 gong beating. The boy returned ; "Well what ting?" "Oh, 

 smallo ting, sir; one piecee Chinaman catchee bull chilo, 

 he busy band makee chin-chin joss." In other words, a 

 Chinawoman has had a son born ; and her husband is re- 

 turning thanks to God. 



Chinamen can quarrel in the pigeon. Said one of them 

 to a Jew merchant in San Francisco, who had treated him 

 with indignity: "Hi yah, my saby you too muchee; you 

 number one damn rascal ; you killum Mellica man's Joss." 

 And sometimes they are forced to use it in intercourse with 

 each other. I saw an amusing interview between old "bum 

 boat Sam," our Hong Kong purveyor, a Shanghai China- 

 man who understood the pidgin, and a third Shanghai man 

 who did not. Sam couldn't speak Shanghai dialect and 

 the others could not speak that of the South. So the two 

 talked pigeon, and the Shanghai man translated to his 



friend. 



Thus necessity has developed a new language, and a gen- 

 eration of people speak an idiom unknown to the world at 



large. Piseco. 

 *-•*». 



LEAVES FROM A SU RVEYOR'S JOURNAL 



TRAPPING. 



AFTER securing the skins of the wolves, we started on 

 our way home, it being too late to go further that day 

 and get back. Upon striking our trail as we passed one of 

 the deadfalls, Ralph commenced again growling about that 

 "dog-goned fisher." After pondering the matter over in 

 silence for awhile, he broke out with, "darn his pokey 

 hide, let's fix him;" with that we returned to the fall, and 

 after much cogitation and mental calculation, together with 

 considerable hard labor, we managed to fix a heavy log to 

 a couple of saplings just over the back part of the dead- 

 fall, and so attached to the rear stakes that any violent at- 

 tempt to pull away or tear down the same would loosen 

 the weight above and cause it to fall. "There," said 

 Ralph, "I'll bet that'll do it." It certainly was a very in- 

 genious arrangement, and I hoped with all my heart would 

 prove effective. We rigged up another one the same way 

 before reaching camp. The construction of a deadfall is 

 well understood, and it is not necessary for me to describe 

 it, for hardly a country boy of a dozen years but is familiar 

 with its composition, and its spindle or figure four arrange- 

 ment. 



The next day Ralph having fixed up his scent drag, start- 

 ed off alone on his trail. A trapper's trail, or line of traps, 

 consists of a line blazed on the trees through the woods 

 along which, at intermediate distances, depending upon 

 circumstances, character of the country, &c, he builds a 

 deadfall, or sets a trap. These lines are generally eight or 

 ten miles in extent, so that they can be gone over, the traps 

 visited, and a return made to camp the same day ; though 

 sometimes they reach the distance of thirty or even forty 



miles; then the trappers have a camp at each end or often- 

 er, (or a sleeping place at least,) with their maincamp 

 either at one end or often a short distance from the centre 

 of the line. Sometimes, if the lay of the country, the lakes, 

 water courses, &c, will allow, the line is laid out in circu- 

 lar form, starting from and coming around to the general 

 or main shanty. 



The main shanty is generally constructed of logs dove- 

 tailed or notched in at the ends, is built commodiously, 

 sufficient to accommodate three or four persons, fitted up 

 with bunks for sleeping, a fire-place in the middle, if there 

 js no stone chimney at the end, is well chinked with mud 

 and moss between the logs, and a tight roof made from 

 split cedar slabs, and bark. The other or temporary shan- 

 t ies are easily thrown up by driving in the ground a couple 

 of forked saplings six or eight feet apart, across which is 

 placed a pole two or three inches in diameter, and from 

 this slabs of cedar, or any other tree that splits easy, of 

 twelve or fourteen feet in length, are laid to the ground, 

 and these overlaid at the seams with bark. This forms the 

 roof; the sides may be constructed in the same way, or with 

 poles. This makes a comfortable house of two sides and a 

 sloping roof. The fire should be built against a couple of 

 hardwood logs (maple is good) placed one above the other 

 and kept in their position by a couple of strong stakes 

 braced at the back. Hemlock or most any evergreen makes 

 the best andirons, as they burn less easy. A fire place con- 

 structed in this way will reflect the heat strongly into the 

 shanty, 



When going over the line a trail or drag is drawn by the 

 trapper. This may consist of a deer's head or leg or paunch, 

 or anything fleshy that will leave a scent, so that animals 

 in their roamings about, on crossing this trail will be at- 

 tracted by the smell and follow it up to the trap. The 

 trappers manufacture a scent for this purpose by placing 

 small fish in a bottle and letting them decay in the sun un- 

 til a strong oil is formed that when rubbed on the drag, 

 and a few drops placed on the bait or anywhere in the back 

 part of the fall, will prove an attraction irresistable to a 

 mink. For wolf or fox it is better to mix with the above a 

 little assafcetida and oil of anise. The trappers generally 

 go two together, (rarely more, as two can do the work, and 

 the profits are greater,) sometime in September or early 

 October, and having found a suitable region for trapping, 

 built their shanty or shanties, and got in their supplies, 

 they blaze their line and construct their deadfalls to locate 

 their traps. This takes them until about November, when 

 the fur begins to become good. The trapping season lasts 

 until about April, though otter skins are good, I believe, 

 somewhat longer. The most favorable time for trapping 

 is in the fall and early spring. The months of November 

 and March are the best. Of course it varies in different 

 seasons. 



The best bait for mink is first any part of a fish, even the 

 head is good, or a piece of muskrat flesh or a bird The 

 fisher the same; for marten or sable any part of a fowl, a 

 duck or partridge head or a red squirrel, or a hare's leg, in 

 fact they will take about the same thing. 



I have but little faith in deadfalls, and few trappers 

 now a days, I believe rely on them to any extent. They use 

 them sometimes of course on the mountains when they are 

 short of traps, but I would no more think of going on a fur 

 expedition without a set of steel traps of different sizes 

 than I would of going without my gun or axe. Deadfalls 

 will only operate (and then not always successfully) with 

 mink, marten and sable; neither otter, beaver or fox, and 

 rarely a wolf, will enter them. Fisher and wild cat are 

 sometimes caught in them, but of tener they tear them down 

 and carry off the bait, and also the marten or any smaller 

 animal you may have previously secured. A good steel 

 trap properly set and attached to the right kind of a spring 

 pole, is much neater and surer, as it secures your prize 

 from the devouring propensities of the larger animals. 



For otter the trap should be set on their slides either at 

 the top or, as 1 prefer, at the bottom, about two or three 

 inches under water. It leaves no scent there and will drown 

 your animal before he has time to perform any act of am- 

 putation. As for the other animals, you can generally find 

 a hole in a stump or log or in the bank of sufficient depth 

 to place the bait, then set the trap at the opening lightly 

 covered. A first rate place to set a trap for fox, wolf or wild 

 cat is near where you have killed a deer. It should be 

 thoroughly though lightly covered over with earth, rotten 

 wood or leaves. Traps should be thoroughly and often 

 smoked or rubbed with fresh blood to remove the smell of 

 the human hand, and it pays a trapper to always wear a 

 buckskin glove when handling these traps. 



Along the watercourses, lakes, &c, the trapper looks for 

 mink, otter and beaver; the fisher, martin and sable are 

 found only in the heavily wooded and hilly legions. Wolves 

 range all over. It is very difficult to catch an otter in a 

 deadfall, as they rarely touch bait. Ralph unfortunately 

 possessed only one steel trap, and that was an outrageously 

 large one for bear. It took two men, and even then a 

 lever was called into requisition^ set it. Although with- 

 in twenty miles of Ralph's camp we knew of sixteen differ- 

 ent otter slides, I don't remember of his catching a single 

 one while we were camped near him. Had he had a score 

 of good steel traps he might have made a small fortune that 

 season among the fur. , 



And by the way, that is a singular characteristic of these 

 most singular animals. They seem to enter into the enjoy- 

 ment of the sliding down hill process with all the zest and 

 keenness of merry school children, and whimper their 

 pleasure to each other with equal gusto. The gambols of 

 a party of otters on a slide is a very interesting m well m * 



