m 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



^yortii\Q <^ew8 from ^b\on&. 



— ♦- 



ONE cannot help animadverting with some regret to 

 the character of the correspondence one sees in lead- 

 ing English papers devoted to the annals of field sports. 

 The remark would be too sweeping should we state that a 

 discussion in England on questions of dogs, or game, or 

 guns always ends by being of an acrimonious character, 

 but we are forced to declare that a simple difference of 

 opinion in regard to the various sides a question may be 

 viewed from, too frequently engenders an amount of re- 

 crimination which concludes with allusions of a personal 

 kind somewhat coarse, and with a careless use of epithets 

 which we cannot but regard as uncalled for. We must do 

 our elder brethren the justice to state that assertions made 

 by them are rarely or ever advanced without a good deal 

 of reason, and it is safe to say that before making a state- 

 ment of facts they are always most careful in regard to 

 their authority. A Frenchman may make up his history 

 of the camel from a visit to the Jardin des Plantes ; a Ger- 

 man eliminate one from his inner consciousness, but it is 

 the Englishman who will go to Arabia or to Sahara and be- 

 come a camel driver himself before he is ready to print the 

 facts in regard to this animal. We have sometimes en- 

 deavored, and fruitlessly, to try and find out why English- 

 men were so rough in print and quarrelled so savagely, 

 just as soon as ink is spilt. We have a theory that your 

 average Briton rarely sees himself in type, and that when 

 he gets there he hardly knews how to behave himself. In 

 the United States, where the columns of a newspaper are 

 so easily accessible to every one, (where perhaps quite un- 

 forunately people find themselves too often into print 

 when they don't want to get there,) it is considered very 

 much more of a common event, and the custom of the thing 

 has taught contributors, when they advance opinions or 

 differ from others, to do so in a courteous way. We may 

 be rather uncouth in the viva voce wav, but when we write, 

 remembering that scripta verba manent, though we may think 

 daggers, we are careful to put them in velvet sheaths, so 

 that the readers can handle them without cutting their fin- 

 gers. Of course men will differ in regard to a gun, a rod, 

 a dog or a horse, or a fish, but without adopting the forced 

 methods of super-Chinese civility; there can be no use in 

 being vituperative about these matters or for calling hard 

 names. 



—Would any of our readers like to go to Unkomofiaze or 

 to Limpopo? Of course everybody knows where those 

 happy hunting realms are. It is the land of the elephant 

 and the rhinoceros, where hippopotami, giraffes, lions, 

 gnus, elands, koodoes and panthers abound, somewhere in 

 Mid Africa. Such is the want of hunting opportunities in 

 England that people advertise these unknown countries 

 and get up parties to enjoy sport there. Perhaps the 

 Messrs. Cook the great tourist guides will undertake pleas- 

 ure trips of this character at some future period. Why 

 cannot we be imitative to a certain extent? We think if 

 a well known hunter (we could mention a score of such) 

 knowing the ground well, would start at the proper sea- 

 son from New York an expedition of this character toward 

 the Rocky Mountains with grizzly bears in prospective he 

 might soon collect quite a number of enthusiastic sports- 

 men who, under his guidance, would see no end of sport, 

 and have as an excitant the chance of a neat brush with 

 the red men. 



—We have several times noticed the tiger killing in In- 

 dia with its various English interpretations. So far we are 

 pleased to state this correspondence has been of the most 

 approved parliamentary character. "Smoothbore," the 

 well known correspondent to the London Field, has an ex- 

 cellent communication on this subject. The writer is 

 doubtful whether tigers kill more human beings now than 

 they used to. Deer and pigs are, it is stated, the natural 

 food of the tiger, "but," says "Smoothbore," "when by 

 every mean?, fair and foul, in season and out of season, 

 these are killed by the natives, the tiger is forced to fall 

 back on the bullocks and buffaloes." Now when he kills 

 the latter, which animal belongs to the natives, these stupid 

 natives, says Smoothbore, have not even the sense to al- 

 low him to eat the carcass. The sequence now follows; 

 tigers being driven away by the man, he tries to see what 

 kind of a dinner a native will make, and finding much to 

 his surprise and pleasure that a man is good eating, and 

 not hard to kill, he becomes a homophogist, i. e., a confirmed 

 man eater. The whole question is a strange one in animal 

 economy, and reminds one of the endeavors to carry across 

 in the same boat the wolf, the goat and the cabbage. The 

 same thorough authority states that the Coimbatore district 

 is noted for its maneatiug tigers. In 1870-71 they ate five 

 human beings and 1,258 cattle; but in 1872-'72, 108 human 

 beings and 1,509 cattle. It seems to us the appetite in- 

 creases in what it feeds on, aud that the more cattle they 

 eat the more men and women they devour. *A method 

 proposed to get rid of these man-eating tigers is advanced 

 by a Major Beddome. This gentleman advises raising com- 

 panies of volunteers, armed with rifles and muskets, and 

 opening a regular campaign against the animals, the tiger 

 corps to be prepaid in every way for field service with 

 tents, baggage, supplies, &c. 



—In Land and Water there is ."given the experiences of a 

 gentleman who was attacked by a mad dog and the method 

 he employed to cure certain animals which had been bitten 

 by the dog. Three horses and a cow were bitten by the 

 dog. Some were treated with nitrate of silver, and one 

 with the nitrate acid of mercury. Two horses aud a cow 

 treated with lunar caustic (nitrate of siiver) all died in the 



most fearful agon}', w T hile a mare, the property of the gen- 

 tleman who whites the account, wdiich had had the nitrate 

 acid of mercury applied to her wounds has so far suffered 

 no inconvenience. A fact of this character is most worthy 

 of notice, and we are glad to give it publicity. It might 

 be fully worth while to give the nitrate acid of mercury to 

 persons who might have been bitten by a dog supposed to 

 have rabies. In the case noticed by us the dog was a New- 

 foundland. We are chary of Newfoundland dogs. From 

 a careful study of this subject, notes of which we purpose 

 to publish some day, in regard to the species of dogs most 

 prone to have h} r drophobia, we are forced to place this 

 fine dog, the Newfoundland, in unfortunate prominence. 



—Where is Stawell? Who knows where Stawell is? 

 Stawell, where the Australians have played their Olym- 

 piad game of cricket, and where the Stawellians beat the 

 Grace Eleven, making the second defeat the vaunted 

 boatsmen and bowlers and fielders have met with on the 

 Island Continent. But so it is, and cricket men all through 

 England hold down their heads, and are listless and moody, 

 and believe now in the New Zealander or Australian look- 

 ing at the ruins of Lord's Grounds of London and theWater- 

 loo Bridge. The news is brief; we give it in all its im- 

 pressive brevity. Mr. W. G. Grace's Eleven vs. Twenty- 

 Two of the Stawell club, which began on the 9th was 

 completed on the the following day. The eleven went in 

 first and scored 43 runs against 71 Stawell. Particulars of 

 the second inning are wanting. The result, how T ever, is 

 stated to be in favor of Stawell, who won the match w r ith 

 ten wickets to spare. All Australia ought to hold a grand 

 corrobbrrie in approved native style. Our own clubs in 

 New York had better profit by the example, for from the 

 far West looms up a club which this season, we are in- 

 clined to think, will reap all the laurels. Of course, Mis- 

 souri is not as far off as Australia. 



— Dogs are dogs, and represent, when good ones, no 

 small amount of money. A twenty-five hundred horse cer- 

 tainly means both beauty and speed, but a £500 setter must 

 stand for something canine worth almost his weight in sil- 

 ver. Yet the Irish Times says £500 was offered for the cel- 

 ebrated red and white setter, Dash. This dog hails from 

 Ireland, and is the property of P. P. Stone, Esq., of Coler- 

 aine. County Deny. 



— The exportation of English horses must be decreasing. 

 The price at home evidently must meet the views of those 

 wishing to dispose of their horses. In 1872 the value of 

 such animals sent out of England was £180,082; for the last 

 year it was not half of it, only £76,442. 



Whe MmwL 



fe5S> "OS© 



FIELDTRIAL RULES TO SUIT AMERICAN 

 BRED SETTERS. 



BEFORE our gentlemen sportsmen enter into competi- 

 tion with the English pointers and setters in a field 

 trial in England, there are many matters of marked impor- 

 tance that w r e should wish to bring to the attention of our 

 readers. 



1st. We would suggest that a slight alteration be made 

 in the marks of excellence as regards points. 



2d. That the introduction of retrieving should receive 

 special notice as being of great benefit to our sportsmen. 



3d. That if a dog in a field trial retrieves a bird, having 

 worked a long distance on his marked bird, it should be 

 considered and allowed that this educated instinct in the 

 setter is worthy of several points in a field trial. 



We offer these suggestions for these reasons: Taking 

 the setter as being undoubtedly the most useful dog over 

 game birds for our country, the power of scenting game, 

 or the strength of nose, in a pure and well bred setter is 

 simply a question of inheritance, which no doubt may be 

 slightly improved by patient and careful practice. The 

 nose being the most prominent characteristic feature in the 

 setter, the rules very justly give to "scent" the highest 

 number of points, namely, 30. Pace and style of hunt- 

 ing are almost wholly embodied in Breaking, the style and 

 staunchness in Pointing, and Drawing on game; these sev- 

 eral grades of merit have already, by the rules and regu- 

 lations of field trials, their average points allotted to them. 

 Pace in ranging, and the style or manner in which the set- 

 ter beats the ground, are inherent in the animal, and may 

 be much improved by constant education and training. 

 As for instance, take nine out of every ten dogs into the 

 field of those which are commonly called thoroughly broken, 

 and they will range or beat, and run over the ground in a 

 most excited and erratic manner. Breaking and dropping 

 to "word" or shot, is a matter which rests almost wholly 

 with the master, and it depends upon the owner or dog 

 trainer whether the animal is thoroughly taught or not. 

 Backing is the bringing out of the dormant instinct while 

 the dog is still in his youth. Take the puppy out in the 

 field along with the mother and let him see the parent 

 "stand on a point;" the little fellow will back her, that is 

 stand on his parent's point alongside of her, simply because 

 of his strong imitative powers, instinct, and also that he 

 smells game. At Balla for this mark of excellence in a dog 

 they allow 10 points, if perfect. Pointing again is also a 

 question of a pure strain of a long line of ancestral blood or 

 inheritance, and it depends solely on the careful selection 

 in the cross of the different breeds of setters. 



Therefore if a dog has a good nose, if his pace and style of 

 hunting be excellent, and his breaking perfection, we might 

 then with propriety reduce the pace and style of hunting 

 and pointing 5 points each, which would then make room 



for retrieving. To instruct a setter to retrieve, either on 

 land or water is the easiest of all lessons which the animal 

 has to be taught. Having explained this system fully in 

 previous issues of the Forest and Stream, we wish only 

 to say that in shooting snipe or w r oodcock in a thick swamp, 

 where the birds drop dead one hundred yards from the 

 shooter in the almost impenetrable swamp grass and bog, 

 which is not of uncommon occurrence, it is of vital im- 

 portance that the setter should be able to fetch the bird, with- 

 out one's having to g:> to the expense of procuring and the 

 trouble of unleashing a "retriever" to gather the birds, as 

 is the custom in field trials abroad. 



We could write on this matter more fully, as the ques- 

 tion is an interesting and novel one to our sportsmen. 

 Any information we may gather or that w T e are in posses- 

 sion of, w r e shall be pleased to give to our readers verbally 

 or by mail. The pointer we will treat in a later issue. By 

 examining the table of points as in use in the field trials at 

 Bala, England, issued in our last number, the differences 

 suggested by us may be be better appreciated. Appended 

 are the alterations in value of points we would advise: 



VALUE OF POINTS WHEN PERFECT. 



so 



20 



20 



15 



10 



too 



ALTERATION IN MARKS OF EXCELLENCE FOR SETTERS. 



Name 



of 



Dog 



3 

 o 

 on 

 P 



Pace 



and style 

 of Hunting. 



1 

 S 



Pointing 

 (Style and 

 Steadiness 

 in) 



to 

 g- 



5 



5" 

 < 

 tp 



Drawing h 



on Game S- 



orRoading.l EL 



Forest. 



30 



15 



20 



10 



10 



10 



5 |l00 



We shall be glad to hear from correspondents on thia 

 matter. 



We publish another letter from Mr. Price, of Wales, on 

 the International Pointers and Setters Challenge. We feel 

 sure that it will be read with much interest, as it settles all 

 disputes, and answers in a very proper manner the letters 

 of English gentlemen to BelVs Life and other sporting 

 papers. We cannot interfere on this side of the water 

 with any unpleasantness or discussions that may arise in 

 field trials or any other sports in Great Britain, as we havo 

 quite enough to do to attend to our own. 



Rhwilas, Bala, North Wales. 

 Editor Forest and Stream: — 



I wrote to you some fortnight ago, stating that the choice 

 of the English representatives, and the arrangement of de- 

 tails, wonld be, in case of the challenge being accepted, in 

 the hands of the committee of the Kennel Club, our Eng- 

 lish Jockey Club, in shooting matters. I write to repeat 

 that statement, seeing in BelVs Life, a letter from Mr. 

 Llewellen in which he challenges the right of Mr. Mac- 

 dona and myself to call our dogs first class, and suggesting 

 that his own are better. Mr. Macdona's "Ranger" and 

 "Belle" won all their engagements last summer, and Mr. 

 Whitehouse's "Pax" and Mr. Barclay Field's "Dick" also 

 secured or divided all the stakes they ran for. I take it 

 that these four dogs may be acknowledged to be the best 

 in England at the present time; whether their owners will 

 permit them to compete in the international match is 

 another thing, and a question for the committee to decide. 

 Mr. Llewellen's "Countess," an undeniably first class ani- 

 mal, and one that has beaten "Belle" on the first occasion 

 that they ever met, was beaten this year by both Mr. Mac- 

 dona's "Ranger" and by "Belle." I write you this plain 

 statement of facts, and beg to conclude with the assurance 

 that should the challenge be accepted the best dogs will he 

 selected by the Kennel Club for the match, or should they 

 decline to interfere, which I do not anticipate, Mr. Mac- 

 dona and myself will guarantee to find the dogs and the 

 money for the contest. I am, dear sir, yours, truly, 



R. I. LI. Price. 



[We are in correspondence with the Kennel Club of Eng- 

 land.— Ed.] 



— — ♦ ' _ 



— Our correspondent, S. C. Clarke, in acknowledging re- 

 ceipt of pointer Belle's photograph, writes, aud we think 

 very "justly, as follows: 



"I am bound to say that I have seen handsomer speci- 

 mens of the pointer, and which showed higher breeding. 

 I think she appears too long in the legs, and somewhat 

 coarse in those limbs, as well as in the tail. I can see that 

 she may be an animal of great powers of ranging and en- 

 durance, and I am aware that to appreciate the points of a 

 dog as well as of a horse you should see him move. 



S. C. C. 



Retrievers.— I thought I knew something about 

 shooting and the dogs necessary for the sporta, but Die 

 notice of the day's sport at Rhiwlas Bala — three guns, with 

 sixteen dogs, "retrievers," 103 head — has completely upset 

 all my ideas on the subject. For what on earth could three 

 gentlemen take sixteen retrievers out with them. I have 

 always thought one retriever enough for his own particular 

 business? If tiny used them for other purposes than their 

 legitimate business, surely other breeds are more useful.— 

 Lmdo 7i Field. 



—Mr. It. D. Purcell Llewellen's letter to BeWsLifein 

 London, which is copied in the New York Herald of Febru- 

 ary 2d, is answered by Mr. Price's letter in our issue of last 

 week. Mr. Price and the Rev. J. Cumming Macdonna 

 leave the Anglo-American challenge entirely in the hands 

 of the Kennel Club of England. 



—Strange that game should be so dear when the efforts 

 of every sportsman are directed to "bring it down!" 



