28i 



FOREST AND STREAM 



It was now nearly noon, and we had ton flue fish, and I 

 concluded that we had had glory enough for one day, and 

 told Bob that I believed I should stop and go up to the house, 

 as Tom and I were going rabbit hunting after dinner, and he 

 rowed the boat back to the bridge. 1 stepped out and was 

 about to start up the road when Bob said ; 



"Hold up, sir; ain't ye gwine to take no fish? Lor, I 

 want ye to take dese free biggest fellers— an' more ef yc want 

 'em— but dese free, anyhow." 



He insisted so strongly that 1 had to take them, and as it 

 was only a little more than a quarter of a mile across the fields 

 to the house, and he had slipped a string through their gills 

 with a piece of stick to <ako hold of, I started off with my 

 load to the bouse. 



Bob shouted after mo, saying : " I'll see ye up de branch 

 dis ebenin, sir, an' fotch my two puppies (his puppies were 

 about six years old, but they were always puppies), an' we'll 

 find lots o' rabbits." 



" All right," said I, "come along." 



Bob met us as he had promised, and Tom and I killed eight 

 rabbits and three gray squirrels, of which Bob got a goodly 

 share. Chas. Count. 



For Forest and Stream and Hod and Gun. 

 THE FEATHERED GAME OF NORTH 

 AFRICA, 



Tangier, Morocco, Feb. 25, 1870. 



TO nearly every one this seems such an "out-of -the- world" 

 kind of a country, that perhaps few of your readers 

 ■would care to know or hear of it ; but sure I am, that if they 

 could once enjoy its glorious sport, see its beautious land- 

 scapes, enjoy its glorious climate, and partake of the kind hos- 

 pitality of the Christian portion of its inhabitants, they would 

 feel that this portion of the " dark continent " is one of light 

 and enjoyment. This city, so well described by Mark Twain 

 in his " Innocents Abroad," is a pleasant place for the invalid, 

 the lover of nature, or the tired man of .business, whose hard- 

 worked brain needs a recuperative season of rest and entire 

 change from the scene of his hurrying life ; and it is so easy 

 of access, being but three hours from Gibraltar by steamer, 

 from which point one can get a direct steamer to almost any 

 part of the world, including our beloved New Tork. Many 

 of the wealthy residents of Gibraltar have handsome country 

 houseB here, where they paas the summer, and deligbtf ill it is 

 in that season, ,the thermometer rarely ever rising above 80 

 degs. Fahrenheit,.and there is nearly always a cooling breeze 

 from either the Atlantic or Mediterranean. Thete country 

 seats are for the most part on high lauds, bordering the 

 Straits of Gibraltar, and one of the highest points is called 

 Mount Washington. The view from these residences is grand 

 beyond description, having at one side, toward the west, the 

 mighty Atlantic rolling its foaming billows far toward the 

 setting sun; and you feel, as you look upon the vast expanse, 

 a eatisfaction, knowing there is naught between you and the 

 " laud of the free and the heme of the brave." On the north 

 there is a beautiful view of the Spanish coast, from Trafalgar, 

 the scene of Nelson's victory, toTaufa, the southernmost cape 

 of Spain, and to Gibraltar, that mighty monument of the pride 

 and prowess of England, and thence out upon the blue Medi- 

 terranean, stretching as far as the eye can reach to the east ; 

 toward the south the green hills and rich valleys of Morocco 

 delight the eye, and beyond them the Atlas Mountains, whose 

 hoary heads have looked down upon the fleets and armies of 

 the Phconicians, Gieeks, Romans, Carthagenians, English, 

 French, Spanish, Moors, etc. ; have seen tneni each occupy 

 their little niche in the chronicles of time, and fade away into 

 the past as shadows, while they remain firm and immovable, 

 " monarchs of all they survey." 



But I am drifting away from the subject of sport, which 

 •was the incentive of this rambling letter. 



In the autumn and winter months, parties of three to 

 ten persons are made up, and, taking with them tents, 

 camp equipage, and all necessary appurtenances to delight 

 and make comfortable, make a day's march into the interior 

 and find an Elysium for sport, -where the African partridge 

 (a bird similar to the partridge of the Eastern part of the 

 United States) is to be found in great numbers, and affords 

 most excellent shooting, as they lie well to the dog and the 

 undergrowth is thick ; also the migratory quail abounds, and 

 in its biennial journeys they are almost too numerous for 

 pleasure. Woodcock, snipe and plover are also to be found 

 in large quantities in the marshy lands of the valleys, while 

 on the lakes, within thirty mites of this place, several vari- 

 eties of ducks are to be found and good sport obtainable. All 

 these, together with the countless thousands of rabbits and 

 hareB, will keep the sportsman busy during the days of the 

 encampment, while the nights wdl be passed in slumber that 

 •would do credit to a healthy two-year old baby j so that at 

 the breakingup of bis habitation in the wilderness, when bis 

 Arab servants "fold their tents and silently steal away," he 

 will many a time, on the return journey, turn his eyes back 

 upon the scenes of his recent exploits and long fcr " the next 

 time" to return soon. There is also fine wild pigeon shoot- 

 ing to be had on the coast from Tangier to Cape Bpartel, in 

 the rocky caves which abound, and it is very agreeable, alter 

 a day snent in that sport, for the party to go to the light-house 

 at the Cape for lunch, if they are fortunate enough to be 

 friends of the Foreign Ambassadors in Tangier— for you 

 must know that that light-house is under the control of the 

 Foreign Ministers and Consuls, although paid for by the 

 Morocco Government,— and after the inner man is appeased. 

 then ascend to the tower, and while the keepers " trim their 

 lamps as the sun goes down," feast his eye and soul upon the 

 view over the "wild waste of waters " and think how many 

 anxiouB eyes have looked upon that light, away up on that 

 rock-bound coast. To some it has been the beacon of des- 

 truction, but to millions it has been the guiding star of hope. 

 There is another diversion hers in the way of sport, which, 

 while it has a spice of danger in it, becomes all the more 

 savory to almost all who love the gun and the attending sports 

 thereof. It is boar bunting. The hunt is conducted by the 

 formation of a large party of the Foreign Ministers and their 

 families and guests, who go to the interior and encamp, tak- 

 ing from one hundred to two hundred Moors with them, who 

 beat the forests in a regular manner, the huntsmen on horse- 

 back with spears being posted on the opposite side of the 

 forest, and at the appearance of the boor, give chase and spear 

 him if possible. Sometimes he turns upon his pursuer, and 

 the horse, in his movements to protect himself, unseats his 

 rider, who may have a tough time with his Bwiuish Majesty 

 it assistance be not close at hand, In a hunt last month St 



J. Druumvmd Hay, the resident British Minister, was severely 

 wounded in the calf of the leg. The ladles are generally 

 witnesses of this sport, and there ensues great rivalry among 

 the sterner sex to secure the boar's head and to receive the 

 encomiums of the fair ones. 



There is a capital hotel here — ' ' The Alhambra " — clean and 

 comfortable, and kept by as pleasant and accommodating a 

 proprietor as I have met in a long and varied traveling "ex- 

 perience, Mr. Deardeu by name, and I feel that I owe him a 

 word for his kindness and attention to mo, my friends and 

 my dogs. 



Americans who come here they have a treat in store- 

 viz,, the acquaintance of our Consul-General, Col. Felix A. 

 Mathews, of California, and his most estimable family. The 

 Oolonel is a gentlemen in every sense of the word, and not 

 only does he make himself popular and agreeable to his own 

 countrymen, but he is loved and respected by every one who 

 knows him, and English, French, Spaniards, Jews and Moors 

 all unite in his praise. He is a worthy and able representa- 

 tive of our great Republic. If General Grant had visited 

 here, as he thought of doing, the Colonel had in preparation 

 a reoeption and a boar hunt, which would have "put in the 

 shade" many of those "gold-laced" affairs that have been 

 forced on the General in Europe. 



Mr. Editor, as the Spaniard Bays, "I kiss the hand to you." 



Oetyx. 



A SPRING CAMP ON PICKEREL LAKE. 



COLOJEBT/S, OWO, April 8, 1=76. 

 EDITOR F0UI8T AND STBBAM : 



We toot passage on board the Yallsy Queen on tar trip from Cheboy- 

 gan to tbe head of'Crooked Lake— the landing-place tor Fetoskcy stage 

 —with our tent, bunting and fishing traps and eatables, with a good- 

 s'.zed clinker Ekiff in tow. Passing through Bart Lake, Crooked Elver, 

 and Into Crooked Lake, the Btenmer took ub near to the mouth of the 

 email stream leading to the lake, and which la Its outlet, when we 

 started on our cruise. One of the first things we did was to fill to over 

 (lowing all vacant spaces In our boat with dry marsh hay from a fiat 

 piece of land near the mouth of the creek for oar spring matiress. 



This body of watsr Is reached from a point abont half a mile from the 

 lower end of Crooked Lake; on the south side by a narrow, shallow 

 creek, barely deep enough to pole through, and on account of the high 

 maishgrasB and reeJa, it Is Impossible to see far ahead. Winding 

 through a small piece of woody swamp-land, you are suddenly surprised 

 to find before you a deep, blue pool of clear water, covering, I should 

 think, about three acres. Crossing this pooj, we find another small 

 creek, similar to the first one, but not quite bo long, when jou come 

 upon Pickerel Lake, a beautiful sheBt of water, about three and a half 

 to four mileB long, and from one to one and a half mUe wide, full of tlsh 

 and quite deep. The shores of this lake are skirted on all Bides by 

 dense forests which are almost impassable. 



We fonnd a very pleasant camping ground about midway from each 

 extremity ot the lake, on a point projecting into the water on the east 

 shore, commanding a full view from one end of the lake to the other, 

 with a spring of water, very cold and slightly tainted ,vlth Bulphur, 

 within twenty-five feet of our tent, and another, not quite so palatable, 

 within ten feet; the latter being in the shade all da? answered our 

 purpose remarkably well for a refrigerator. 



To the left of our camping ground we found very fine bass fishing, 

 catching quite a number ot black bass weighing four pounds each, and 

 f rom that down to two piunda. This was the only place where we had 

 been able to catch what I call regular black bass ; at aU other places 

 we caught nothing but the green bass, some of them quite dark, and 

 in this country as well as elsewhere, bass, it mattera not to what family 

 they belong, are black bass. 



To the rl^ht of the potut we had excellent pike and pickerel flBhlng 

 Here my friend, Mr. E G. Savage, captured a pickerel weighing five 

 pounds on two hooka at one time, the fish picking up the two minnows 

 a'.tached to his line, which must have been between three and ftiar feet 

 apart, swallowing both. We canght, none weighing over six pounds, 

 and being, for pickerel, quite lively, they made it excellent sport. 



For bait wa used minnows, which we had no trouble tn securing In 

 the edges of the lake, and In the stream on which we entered, the 

 greater part of the time having them of good elze and lively. Angle 

 worms are something almost unknown In northern Michigan, a party 

 froai Indianapolis, Intl., having the only "fish worms" we saw while 

 lu northern Michigan. I would advtee all who wish to fish with that 

 kind of bait to take them along with them, as they cannot be found at 

 all In the sandy soil there. They are very convenient, no trouble in 

 keeping fresh water on them, and are excellent bait, all kinds of flsh 

 taking them greedily ; even the bass seem to have an appetite as vora- 

 cious for flah worms as the perch have. Any one having an oppor- 

 tunity to vtslt thiB lake and enjoy Ub fine sport I am sure will never re- 

 gi tit It. 



While Investigating the shores of thi? lake about a quarter of a mile 

 above our tent, just in the edge of the woods, we discovered the re- 

 mains of a bear trap, which had been constructed by the Indians by 

 building a pen of cedar posts from four to six inches In diameter and 

 five to Blx feet long, driving them securely In the ground close to- 

 gether, forming a V-shaped inclosnre abont five feet deep and tour feet 

 wide In front, with au opsning like a door, the balance and top being 

 secured with similar cedar posts, with a figure 4 spring trap on the In- 

 side, connecting with a long heavy tree truni suspended just above 

 the entrance to catch the bear across the back when he should make 

 raid on the free lunch set for him Inside. The bear had been titer 

 and had evidently gotten his caroaaa too far In before springing the 

 I rap, so that Instead of the Iree trunk catching him across the back, It 

 had evidently struck him on the rump just enough to drive him In and 

 cage him. Finding himself la such a fix, he had deliberately I 

 work and gnawed the entire pen all to pieces. Such a mass of pum- 

 iced pice 1 never saw. He had not been satisfied to merely gnaw his 

 way out, but ha'l chawed the entire pen all 1 1 shreds. There was cer- 

 tainly a good -sized cart-load of splinters, not one of them over two feet 

 long, which convinced ub that as a kindling maker a bear would be a 

 success. Frank N. Bjsebe. 



A Card.— We are very glad that Mr. Stone has decided to 

 print the following disclaimer against the gossip-mongers 

 who are so numerous nowadays. If those who carp and 

 criticize would work more and talk less, they might possibly 

 render some service to the interests of Fish Culture : 



Cou> Spris'q Taonr Ponds, CuiBLEarowjf, N. n., May i, isto. 

 Emtok Forest and Stream : 



In several newspaper articles and S^ate reports, I have been quoted 

 as saying that " All California salmon die after spawning." At unt I 

 thought I would not mind anything ttbout It, but the matter has bsen 

 alluded to so often lately that I will now be greatly obliged to any one 

 Interested In the subj act who will have Me kindness to tell me when 

 and where I made the statement in question. Livingston Stone. 



New Yoek.— The shipments from the State Hatchery 

 House at Mumford, N. Y., are now about completed, there 

 still being 400,000 brook trout fry which are destined for dis- 

 tribution in the vicinity of Mumford. The shipments for 

 the season have been as follows : Salmon trout ejjgs to Lake 

 George and Green County hatching houses, 31(3 600 ; salmon 

 trout fry to Otsego, Franklin, Putnam, Hamilton, Clinton, 

 Orange, Livingston and Herkimer counties, 300,600 ; white- 

 fish eggs to Lake George, 100,000; California salmon fry to 

 Green, Monroe, Ontario and Cayuga counties, 86,000; Cali- 

 fornia mountain trout eggs to Sociele d' Accltmatatwn, Purls, 

 France, 400 ; to tributaries of Fulton chain of laUes, 4,000 ; 

 brook trout egg3 to Orange, Ulster and Herkimer counties, 

 194,000; to McOloud River, Cal., 5,000 ; to France, 8,000 ; 

 brook trout fry to more than twenty counties, 1,130,000. 



Tub Gibohdtn Disinfectant.— The following letter, shows 

 the appreciation in which the Girondin Disinfectant is held 

 by the Westminster Club, it having been used at the dog 

 shows in this city for the past two years : 



Westminster Kennel Club ) 

 New York, May, 1670. I 

 Mr. Jama, llcyer, Jr.: 



Dear ii'r— We take pleasure In acknowledging our entire satisfac- 

 tion with the purity of the atmosphere at Gilmore'a Garden during 

 our Third Aunual Benelt Show. We had 953 dogs on exhibition and 

 an average attundauce of 6,000 daily, and the purity of tbe air was 

 maintained to the end by the liberal use of yonr Girondin Disinfectant. 

 Saturday morning we ceased using it, and by noon the air had become 

 very disagreeable and offensive. Tours, etc, 



w. s. Webb, a Du Bon Wagstafp, H, Walts* Wbbb, Eobt, a 

 Cobnell, and others, 



Codfish Hatching. — The cod hatching experiments at 

 Gloucester, Mass., last winter were so satisfactory that 1'rof. 

 Baird is now constructing a steamer especially for the further 

 prosecution of the work. 



Otstkb CuLTtrBK in Fbanob. — The culture of oysters in 

 France dates from the year 1853, and has now— after many 

 attempts and failures— become an important branch of in- 

 dustry in that country. Immense masses of youne oysters 

 and oyster-spat are now caught yearly, especially in Auray 

 and Arcachon, and deposited into the artificial breeding beds 

 and fattening ponds. They are considered fully developed 

 and fit for consumption as soon as they reach a diameter of 

 live centimetres, or about two inches. 



The improvement and the successful results of the oyster 

 culture since the year 1867 are due principally to the ener- 

 getic and intelligent endeavors, and the inflexible perseverance 

 and obstinacy of the oyster-bed proprietors, who, making 

 good use of previous expensive experiments and experience:!, 

 have turned valueless and marshy soil into oyster-beds yield- 

 ing immensely rich harvests. The oyster-beds of Arcachon 

 alone produced during the season of 1876-77 the enormous 

 number of 202,292,225 oysters, of the estimated value of 

 nearly four millions and a half of francs, whilst Auray yield- 

 ed during the same period nearly one hundred and two mil- 

 lions of young oysters and oyster-spat, of the value of half 

 a million of francs. Most of the produco from Aunty is 

 consumed in Normandy, orexpoited to Belgium and England. 

 The young oysters derived irom the Arcachon and Auray 

 oyster banks do not require any arliflcial process fur alt lin- 

 ing their full development, while the artificial breeding beds 

 and fattening ponds are made use of principally at Conrfeulle, 

 Lahouge, Cancale, Vannes, Sables d'Olonne, the Island G!e- 

 ron. La Tremblade and Marenncs. 



The following figures denote the progress made- at Aroa- 

 ohon during the period of six years: lu 1871, only 731 oys- 

 ter-beds, with an extent of 1.470 acre3 were in existence ; in 

 1872 the number rose to 1,133 beds, with an extent of 2,650 

 acres, increasing by the end of 1874 to 1,706 beds, with an 

 extent of 4,350 acres; and at the end of '70 to 3,427 oyster- 

 beds, with a total area of 10,000 acres. About 1,400 fresh 

 beds were laid out aud established in 1877. 



During the season of 1S76-1877 (September 1 to April 30), 

 Vannes produced sixteen millions of oysters ; C'ourfeulle, thirly 

 millions: Cancale, fifty millions; Oleron, seventy millions; and 

 Marennes, eighty millions. The oyster fishery upon various 

 nearly exhausted banks have also — in consequence of the 

 energetic measures taken by the French Government respect- 

 ing the close time and for the protection of the oyster' cul- 

 ture—improved to a surprising extent. From the official re- 

 turns, it appears that the value of the artificially cultivated 

 oysters has in six years increased sixfold, the value of the 

 oysters withdrawn from the oyster-beds being thirteen mil- 

 lions and a quarter during the season ending in 1S77, as 

 against two and a half milbons in 1871. The total of the oys- 

 ter production during the same period has increased to nearly 

 tenfold the number, viz., from nearly thirty-four millions in 

 1871 to three hundred and thirty-five millions aud three- 

 quarters in 1877. The total of young oysters depi lited i 

 the artificial beds amounted in 1877 to two hundred and thir- 

 ty-six millions and a half, as against forty-four millions and 

 a half in 1871. The consequence of the immense increase in 

 the production of oysters has been a nalmal decrease in the 

 price of them; the oysters which were valued at 74fr. 40c. 

 per 1,000 in 1871, and 106ir. 38c. in 1873 are now sold at 34fr. 

 39c. the thousand. 



The Mmaqer de Paris announces the number of French 

 oyster-beds to be 35.500 at the present. These are distributed 

 over an area of 10,600 hectares, and have during the last, sea- 

 son produced six hundred and fifty-one millions of oysters at 

 the estimate I value of above twenty-three millions of francs. 



TbOdt Far— LuV.ow, SCcKean Count!/, Pa., May i.— 'F.ditor Forest and 

 Stream : We have sold all of our trout fry, thanks to your a Ivertice- 

 ment of the same. N. Friercuci, of Ludlow Trout Co. 



—The first steamer that ever plowed the waters or the 

 Delaware as high as the Delaware Water Gap passed up on 

 the 9th instant. She is a Bide-wheeler, 00 feet in length, and 

 will carry about 75 passengers, and will ply between the Dela- 

 ware Water Gap and Port Jervis. 



—Trains for Merlden, Hartford, Springfield, White Mountains, etc., 

 connecting with the New Haven steamers leaving Pier ar>, E. R. (PecS 

 Slip), at 3 and n p. m., will begin running ta-day. The New Palace 

 Steamer C. II , Xorrham Is now running, and the Continental (11 r, it. 

 boat) is pelng relurnlsaed,carpcteti, palmed, ana thoroughly overhauled, 



