102 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Skft. g. 1883. 



SHOOTING IN CUBA. 



HAVING been for several years mi habitual reader of 

 Forest and Stream, entering fully Into the enjoy- 

 ments of Us many skillful narrators bffield spoJ'tB from Hud- 

 sou's Bay to the Gulf of Mexico, and knowing there are Other 

 interested readers besides myself on this island, T have thus 

 far met with no communication from them in your columns, 

 this remaining a Urra incu'jnilu to American sportsmen. 



Although it offers no trout streams for their delectation, 

 the speckled beauties requiring colder latitudes for propaga- 

 tion, yet Hob While is ubiquitous, and deer abundant, 

 affording goood sport from November to April, also the la- 



foons arc fairly populated with wood ducks, which migrate 

 ere from Florida during the winter months. There are no 

 close seasons here, the shooting continuing nearly the whole 

 year by the native hunters, who, when remonstrated with 

 will tell you they only shoot males in the breeding seasons. 



Under' these circumstances it would be. surprising that 

 game continues abundant, did we not consider the other 

 .special conditions of its existence. For instance, the snow, 

 which is at the North such an exterminating enemy to the 

 quail, does not fall here, there is ample cover for them at all 

 seasons, and well bred pointers and setters with their fol- 

 lowers do not abound, the native shooters taking more to 

 hounding the deer, 



Also, the district near the capital, in which I am accus- 

 tomed to shoot, is all occupied by large cattle farms (had 

 end as), interspersed by sugarplantalious, through whose woods 

 and pastures roam herds of cattle, and not unfrcquently 

 numerous guinea fowl, which are considered private prop- 

 erty. Overseers are constantly going their rounds on their 

 little ponies, looking after the stock and warning off all per- 

 sons not provided with a special permit from owuer of the 

 plantation. 



Sunday is a general holiday here, and is the day usually 

 selected by the city sportsmen to go into the country for "a 

 day's shooting. It is my custom during the fall aud winter 

 mouths to take a Saturday afternoon train two or three 

 hours into the country and be out before the sun next morn- 

 ing. My setter seldom fails to rind three to Ave bevies aud 

 retrieve me a fair bag of quail, or when I choose to follow 

 the houuds, three times out of five we bring in a deer, fre- 

 quently two, and several times iu my experience three have 

 been t.iie trophies of a single day's shooting of two or three 

 persons, who usually constitute a party forcleer. 



The method here employed is to post hunters at different 

 runs, while one of the party makes a circuit with the hounds. 

 In this way several deer arc not unfrcquently aroused in one 

 piece of woods, which may take to the fields directly away 

 or mav double back and forth, running the gauntlet of sev- 

 eral of the hunters, wdio successively try their skill at long 

 or short range, and thereafter feel a chill of disappointment 

 or thrill of pride, as the case may be; but iu either case the 

 excitement of these stirring momenta give to the heart a new 

 impulse of life, to the nervous system a most healthful stim- 

 ulation that sends a ruddy glow 'mantling to the face, threat- 

 ens with a collapse the most plethoric of knapsacks or saddle 

 hugs, aud menaces with ruin thewhole tribe of pill peddlers. 



Returning to feathers, those here desirous of wjug prac- 

 tice have no need of clay pigeons, as the natural birds are 

 so plentiful they have only to go to one of their feeding 

 grounds, easily accessible, or drinking ponds during a 

 drought to tire of this noisy sport within an hour or two. 



Pigeons us they rise from the trap or corn stubble are not 

 difficult for a skilled shot to bring down; but when one can 

 bring to bag two out of five as they sweep past in their 

 flight from one part, to another of their feeding grounds, he 

 will require no further wing practice for quail shooting. 

 My experience in this kind of practice convinces me that 

 the first twenty shots of most novices will average about 

 two yards behind their birds. 



It will be noticed that my shooting has been limited to the 

 most settled part of the island. In the "Oriental Depart- 

 ment," where the little "onpleasantness" occurred, there are 

 large tracts where the cattle farms were destroyed, and these 

 districts relegated to their original wilderness. These must 

 be now, in all probability, overrun with game. 



There is no risk in bringing valuable dogs here, as the 

 venomous serpents that iu Florida arc such a constant dan- 

 ger to them I have never seen here, and, so far as I have been 

 able lo learn, no venomous snakes iuhabit this island. 



Of the innoxious ophidians we have but one, the maja, 

 (pronounced maha) of any considerable size. The maja, a 

 true boa, grows from two to three yards in length, (seldom 

 Been) but so harmless that iu some country houses, where 

 there are no fowls, the maja is fed to keep him near the 

 buildings to stampede the rats which know, as if by instinct, 

 when a maja is near, and flee in utmost terror from the 

 buildings he approaches. The maja feeds on rats, rabbits, 

 birds and barnyard fowls when accessible; but 1 have never 

 heard of his attacking a dog nor man, even iu self defense, 

 though he is said to give exciting chase to the jutia, a nim- 

 ble, Burrowing, rat-shaped quadruped, weighing from ten to 

 iwcnH pounds, that feeds principally on the foliage of trees. 

 This animal is so terrified by the proximity of the reptile 

 that it takes to the nearest considerable tree, up which the 

 snake follows it to the topmost branches, where the. jutia, 

 paralyzed with fear, falls, or with a cry of despair leaps into 

 the air, in either case to be caught and entangled in the 

 crushing folds before reaching the ground. 



The lacertian reptiles are represented here by innumerable 

 varieties of little insect feeders; also their largest species, 

 the alligator and crocodile, are found in the lagoons near 

 the south coast, more especially in the Cienaga de Zapato. 



These, however, from the retired location of their habitat, 

 are seldom seen by the sportsman and consequently not avail- 

 able as game, though I have had good sporl with them on 

 i.be Magdali na River, in South America. 



The modern conical rifle ball, if it strikes them squarely 

 behind the fore shoulder, will usually finish their business 

 for them, though they will, in nearly every case, manage to 

 flop themselves over from the bank into the water and sink 

 to the bottom or crawl under a bank, whence their bloated 

 carcasses rise to the surface when the gases of decomposition 

 fill I he peritoneal cavity. 



This island is every succeeding winter becoming more 

 and more a resort of Americans fleeing from the. in- 

 hospitable season at the North, embarking ou the commo- 

 dious steamers of the Ward or Alexandre lines (two per 

 week to and from New York and Havana), also on the 

 steamera of the Florida and Havana line (two per week he. 

 'tween Havana and Cedar Key, touching at Key West). 



Five years ago lire passenger list on the steamers of this 



line comprised the names of from two to seven or eight 

 persons. Now, from forty to sixty is about the average 

 during the winter months, in which we have a very equable 

 climate— about like the months of September and October in 

 New York— prolonged through the winter, with very few 

 evenings when it is not delightful to promenade and listen to 

 the bands of music in the park, or sit uncovered on the 

 balconies nr housetops, and feel the gentle movements of the 

 atmosphere playing around us. 



Four hours by steam railroad and otic by tram car, Ibis 

 last road iu construction west from Bahama at San Diego, 

 are the famous Sulphur baths, situated in the side of a small 

 river as it debouches from the mountaims into the fields. 

 The water is so strongly impregnated with sulphuretted 

 hydrogen as to be perceptible to the olfactories some distance 

 from the village that has grown up around them. During 

 the height of the bathing season, February to April, much of 

 the best of Havana society is lodged here, either in the hotels 

 oi' in the little private houses built here for rent by the 

 bathing season, to families wishing to bring their own furni- 

 ture, and to receive their friends in then own houses while 

 here. 



One can easily imagine it to be a delightful chance foi a 

 rheumatic invalid fond of shooting to transfer his winter 

 residence from the vicinity of snows and rains to one of 

 these little houses or one of the public hotels, for a two or 

 three months' camp beneath the bright skies of San Diego, 

 taking, when able, morning ranges with dog and gun 

 through contiguous fields, or midday plunges through its 

 wooded mountains, which approach to within a hundred 

 yards of the village. 



Among these well-shaded mountains that stretch east and 

 west to many leagues away are scattered many coffee, plan 

 tations that in former times made large fortunes for their 

 owners. Coffee requires shade aud produces best iu rich 

 mountain soil. Coffee was king in those days. Sugar af- 

 terward pushed it off its regal stool. 



It was through these mountain solitudes, the peaks rang- 

 ing from one to four thousand feet, above the sea, that Nar- 

 ciso Lopez and his American followers wandered several 

 weeks in 1851, waiting for something that never turned up, 

 victims to misplaced confidence or deceptive promises. 

 From twenty to forty miles west of San Diego, about Con- 

 solacion del Sur and' Viuales, is the most famous tobacco 

 district in the world, where Bartagas and Cabanas had Iheir 

 choicest Vegas iu the time of their greatest fame. Guano 

 was not at that time used on these plantations, and the natu- 

 ral flavor of the tobacco of this small district was particu- 

 larly fine. 



The use of guano as a fertilizer has siucc become general. 

 It produces a much larger crop, but this at the expense of 

 the flavor lost. 



It has been my aim in this letter to lift a little comer of 

 the veil that hangs between Cuba aud American sportsmen, 

 so as to give them just a peep at. the general aspect of shoot- 

 ing in Cuba, in the hope that it may stimulate American 

 residents of the interior to send you some of their shooting 

 experiences, which will have the merit of presenting, per- 

 haps, some features peculiar to Cuba, which if foi 

 esting to American sportsmen, 1 may hereafter give 

 details of some of my successful days of sport ai 

 quail or deer; also would cheerfully give 

 tion to any brother sportsman who may lei 

 the Forest and Stream Publishing Company. During tl 

 month of October I expect to be in New York, to retu 

 here iu November. NEMO. 



ud intar- 



them the 



long the 



iuforma- 



address of 



A NEW STYLE OF SHOOTING. 



TnE schooner yacht Heartsease, Admiral R. B. Roosevelt, 

 left her moorings on Friday last for a cruise after the 

 long sought snipe, which prey have been uuusually scarce 

 this season. Aud litre, par ptri.iithai, why is this thus? 

 Some say it is on aCCOunt of the terribly dry weather, others 

 that the birds, by experience knowing that there are two 

 guns to each bird waiting for them, have taken other courses 

 to get South, and still another view— that of the ultra pessi- 

 mists— is held, that the race is becoming extinct. But be 

 any or all more or less correct, the Admiral and his friends 

 lett home and friends on Friday to brave the perils of the 

 deep and of breech-loaders in their friends' hands. The 

 pany consisted of four, the most, notable being that enthu- 

 siastic sportsman, Mr. A. A. Eraser— be who will walk all 

 day for one woodcock, and two days for an English snipe. 

 His sou Aleck and the writer of this completed tile quartette. 



We left our dock at 6:80. The wind, which had caused 

 our desire to start, being iu the southwest, at 0:40 veered to 

 northeast, and from being our friend became our implacable 

 foe. Nor was this all; we could have put up with a rousing, 

 swaggering fellow, but this was a puny, mean, homeopathic, 

 contemptible air, if even it could be called an air. JNo tide 

 being with us. we drifted slowlv and lazily the live miles 

 which lay between our port and destination. The walk- 

 ist and his son turned in after enveloping a large meal, 

 and made the yacht cabin roar like the caves of ocean when 

 lashed by frenzied waves. The Admiral, skipper and my- 

 self came to our anchorage soon after 11 and turned in. 



About 5 the party, except one, left for the bank, where 

 they lay until 8, during which time they captured one yelper, 

 one surf snipe, and three ox-eyes. The one who stayed at 

 home did better, for he captured about six pounds of Hue 

 eels from the hole of a dirty black sloop that he discovered 

 in the distance, and which eels he at once transferred to the 

 frying pan, so that when the famished hunters, lean, gaunt 

 and hungry sat down to the meal, they gave him glory and 

 honor, Alter having eaten several pounds, however, they 

 concluded that the eels were not cooked properly. The one 

 who made this discovery, it musl be stated, found it out iu 

 the ninth round, and as he helped himself to a tittle over a 

 quarter of a pound each time 1 forgave him, as he still I rav- 

 eled on three times more; but it required severe sell -control, 

 as he became more vicious each time that he helped himself. 



Breakfast being over, we all started for the bank, where we 

 sat and smoked, that being all there was to do, whi 



id\ 



ished, tl 



isit the islands 

 we might peradven 

 with whom we migl 

 put into practice am 

 innocent ox-ey 

 island, where t 



noble deti; 



i .Mr. Fra 

 lity, hopii 



t to lake the be 



; that a 



Wand 

 ght enter into combat. This motioi 

 ud we waylaid and slew some halt 

 finally we reached a wild and de 

 at-tail and bull-rush waved their pe 

 aiarlial'music being furnished bv il 

 We hi 



.utlally 



of black grass played upon by gentle breezes 



and as there seemed lo be no one about but the aforesaid 



cat and bull, took possession in the name of Congress ami 



ourselves. We separated in order the better lo circumvent 

 this wild island. On it we found miniature lakes, the vulgar 

 call tbem pond hole?. As the writer approached one of these, 



he beheld c-mergiug from the rushes bordering the opposite 

 side one of the most ferocious of black docks. Fire sparkled 

 from her eye; the time for action had arrived; his weapon 

 was clutched and raised, the finger was pressing the trigger, 

 when some goddess held il back: the weapon was lowered. 

 and at the same moment two oi three young ducklings pressed 

 forward lo take a hand in the conflict. 



Mr. Fraser was despatched to the yacht to enlist the ser- 

 vices and help of the skipper, who caine, bringing with him a 

 bag and basket and scalping net. Now, we placed the skip- 

 per at an angle of the pond, Mr. F. at another, while I took 

 the third angle armed with the net. Cautiously I made a 

 dash and delicately scooped up a duckling, once 1 landed 

 three at one fell swoop. Very soon I had" all within the 

 basket. The old party fought well, but t lie net WW too 

 much for her tactics, and she at last fell a licum to our 

 wiles. She entered the bag swearing and carting like a 

 trooper. Then we took her on board the yai lit' ami the 

 whole family were put into n large tub; over' the tap was 

 placed a wire window screen, food and water were put 

 within, and they were left to their own devices. The skipper 

 relates that before long the mother began to show the infants 

 the way to eat, and before night 1 hey appeared to be con- 

 tented but not happy. By dark we had them in a pen at 



Mr. Eraser's, where we hope to be able to raise a family of 



decoy ducks for the winter's sport. 



As 1 have never heard of the capture of a flock of these 

 ducks before I hare thought it might be interesting to von 

 to hear of this fact. Some ill-natured fellow says that i't is 

 an old tame duck that we have bagged. But we scorn the 

 imputation exactly eight times, that being the size of the 

 fanuly. lit BrciiTON. 



A NIGHT WITH THE VAQUEROES. 



HEBE in Idaho grows the long wavy bunch EJH158, SO 

 sweet and nourishing. All kinds of •etoek prefer it 

 for food, and it grows abundantly everywhere, to among the 



lava rocks, in the sun, aud in the' shade': sometimes fevering 

 the gentle hill-slopes like a green . arpel Spread to th< ei | 



edge of the sparkling musio-hiden mountain RtretllQli I . 



times, touched by ihe passing breeze, gentlj waving buck 

 and forth or swep't by the wild blast up the t (Irion's side, lis 

 sweet agreeable taste pleases while it nourishes; and on 

 these vast lava plains bands of horses love to roam iu search 

 of dainty bits of grass. They love to play and feed tfflhg 

 over miles of range, slopping here and there to pick some 

 sweet morsel or have a skirmish or wrestling match with 

 each other. Their wrestling matches would dehghf Ihe 

 champions. Nor do these great bands of horses seem to luck 

 rules and laws among themselves. They are accustomed tu 

 be forced into inciosures called corrals quite frequently, and 

 would run over aud kill one another in their fright, were it, 

 not for this seeming regard for horse law. Nor will they al- 

 low strange horses to joiu them without propel' inlrortuc'tiou 

 and ceiempny. 



Horse ranches here have summer and winter ranges, and 

 some carry as many as 1,000 head ol horses. Bummer 

 ranges are up in the mountains where cool springs Of water 

 are plenty, and where the gross all the summer Is green. 

 Winter range is on the Snake River bottom among the white 

 sage. Herding these horsee is n business bv itself, and the 

 details arc novel and interesting At sundown the dav 

 herder returns and gives up the hand to the night herder. 

 All being ready a fresh c.iuei i- , us: I signal h jiveu to 

 turn loose, and away they go, Sometimes in storms they 

 get bewildered, ana are then scattered for miles apart. In 

 manv of the bands all the horses are known by name, ven 

 oddly given, but perfectly recollected by the herders. Thus 

 there are Bete, Bowdv. lien, Mack. Buckskin. Boston, Port 

 land, Fremont, Fiddler, Bosic, Daisy. Dandy, Pinto, Flirt, 

 names according to the tastes, humors and notions Of their 

 owners or the vaqueroes who herd them. 



The night herding has always greatly interested me. 

 "What are you doing there, Rowdy?" cries the vaquem, as 

 the band starts put. "Co along to the front. Get up, 

 (bailey, and don't pull your mate Whitey along so savagely. 

 Stop biting and kicking HO. Get up, Fiddler, you and your 

 mate, and come back into the band." They go off hi ling 

 and kicking in fun as they are tied together by the neck. 

 "Stand up, old Mack; you and Dandy walk up." Poor bid 

 Mack; his forelegs are hobbled and he has lo go alone like a 

 clog dancer between a hop and a jump. "Don't go so last, 

 Ben; the old bell mare can't keep up, and Bete and Rowdy 

 and you will soon be a mile ahead at that gait." Pell) is the 

 best horse in the herd. He is a large, while, powerful 

 animal, eighteen hands high, and of magnificent propor- 

 tions, as gentle as a lamb and of great intelligence. Boor 

 fellow; he has each foreleg weighted with a short, heavy, 

 iron chain buckled on with a strap, one end loose, and as, he 

 goes along through the sage brush he makes a noise bio n 

 old-fashioned flail. It is old Bowdy who takes the lead in 

 straying, He is a fine large bay of long stride, and a splen- 

 did buggy or saddle animal. These two. Bete aud Rowdy. 

 are inseparable friends; whereof goes Got* go, 



"Come into the hand, Aleck! Posey is running around 

 looking for you. She has lust you aiid wou'l eat another 

 bite until she knows where you are." Posey is a bcaulil'ul 

 young wild mare, only a caught a few days before, and is in 

 love with Aleck, oi , a's I lie viiqueroes < all'il. is "stuck" after 

 Aleck, a large, dark brown horse, of good disposition. ami 

 great streu gth. She was necked to him for ft few days tO 

 keep her With the band, and now she prefers him to any 

 Other. Two days ago the wild roan stud en me into camp 

 and tried to coax her oil, but she showed an example ot con- 

 stancy in the female sex quite remarkable. "Come into the 

 band,' Smoky. Hostou and Borlland." 



Now, the "old white, bell mare has taken a small following, 

 Glasscock, Baldy, Spot and Binto. and Strayed off dOWii 



nl I toward the south, while the main band is beams ea-i. 

 The night has become dark and iheii muj tog P i tns I annot 

 be distinguished until one is close enough to fee] them, and 

 circling round the baud the herder goes upon Ms nimble: 



steed, depending for the safety of his neck "upon its intelli- 

 gence ami quickness, swiftly gathering up Ihe wilful strag- 

 glers, now and then administering his whip to en tore obedi- 

 ence i for these are precious moments) and teach them a lesson 

 about keeping together. First right, then left, wis 

 with a quick, 'rapid motion, regal dll fhoJ : 



rocks and chasms. Often, long and tedious hours are : 



iu this rough riding before' the band J. (ISl tej E iHei I gethei'. 

 ;■■! -eillv at about oue or two o'clock the horses stop quietly 

 and settle down for a short rest. 



The hours wear away .-lowly !o the Watchful keeper. 



The light gradually diffuses itself through the darkness 



little by little the forma of the horses become distinguishable. 

 The moon rises ragged and red, like a drunkard from hia 



debauch, and it gets lighicv. Some of the band may even 



