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NEW YORK, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 187; 



i). 



i Volume 5, Number 13. 



1X7 Chatham St. (CityHall tour.) 



For Forest and Stream. 



m ^m\t ttf 



THINKING probably that you would be glad to hear 

 something from one of your readers in this far off 

 portion of the American Union, I have concluded to give 

 you a brief account of a deer hunt in which I had the 

 pleasure of participating. 



On the 24th of September last, about one o'clock,?. M., 

 our party, consisting of nine persons, among whom were 

 Capt. Burton, U. S. A.; Judge Jacobs, J. J. Hunt, pur- 

 veyor general of the party; Wychoff, a capital shot; two 

 other veteran hunters, as well as three soldiers of Capt 

 Burton's command, a leash of nine hounds, left in an open 

 boat the wharf at Port Townsend for Lopez Island, distant 

 across Admiralty Inlet about twenty-five miles. It will be 

 remembered that Lopez Island is one of the islands long in 

 dispute between the United States and Great Britain, and 

 which was finally awarded to the United States by the de- 

 cision of his majesty, the Emperor of Germany. It lies 

 northeast and parallel with the historic San Juan Island. 

 It is on an average four miles in width, and twenty in 

 length. It is lower than the surrounding islands, is mostly 

 covered with brush and fir and alder timber, but the land 

 is generally fertile, and the climate very mild. There are 

 no wolves, bears, panthers, cougar or other destructive an- 

 imals on the island. It is the home of the deer, and is the 

 hunter's paradise. There are a few settlers scattered over 

 the island, living in a state of primitive simplicity, most 

 of them having Indian women for wives. Our objective 

 point was one of these settlers named Barlow; but none 

 of the party knew on what portion of the island said Bar- 

 low lived. All being pioneers, however, we did not doubt 

 our ability to find Barlow's; therefore, with sails unfurled 

 and a fair breeze, we ploughed through the tide rips that 

 abound in this portion of Admiralty Inlet, and steered to- 

 wards the southern end of Lopez Island. But alas! about 

 eight miles from our destination the wind failed us, and we 

 were compelled to propel our heavily loaded craft with 

 oars. Late at night we succeeded in making a landing in 

 a small bay at the southern end of the Island. The hounds 

 were eager for the fray, and notwithstanding all our ef- 

 forts, one of them broke away, started a deer close to 

 camp, and the music of his voice . resounded in the woods 

 until long after midnight. Early the next morning the 

 Captain and myself, Mr. Hunt and Wychoff, two and two, 

 started off to find Barlow's. Directing our course north- 

 ward, we wandered through dense brush, over logs and 

 under logs, for about an hour, when hearing the sound of 

 a woodman's axe. Ave directed our course thither, found the 

 chopper, and he put us on a trail leading to Barlow's, about 

 four miles distant. Word was sent to the rest of the party, 

 and we all arrived at the objective point about two o'clock 

 ° M. Mr. Barlow is an old resident of the island. He 

 was formerly a British subject. He has a farm of about 

 one hundred acres. By extending a fence across a narrow 

 n cck of laud spreading out into three peninsulas, he has 

 enclosed by about eighty rods of fencing full fifteen hun- 

 dred acres of land. On the northern peninsula, containing 

 ibout two hundred acres, we turned loose all of our hounds 

 a oout three o'clock, and in an hour the party had killed 

 three fine deer. This ended the hunt for the day. One 

 "oble old buck successfully ran the gauntlet of five hun- 

 ters armed with Henry rifles, and passed, with tail flying, 

 barlow's clearing into the woods beyond. The purveyor 

 general, a man in whose vision death was supposed to 

 dumber, the gallant Captain and the crack shot, each got 

 iQ 8ev eral shots, but to no purpose. They all declared they 

 JJ'onldnoi : shoot at that buck again, even if they should 

 bad him sleeping on bis sylvan couch. 



The next morning was foggy and drizzly, and the hunt 

 md not commence until about ten o'clock, when the 

 pounds were turned loose upon the same ground as before, 

 short time the woods were wild with their noise. 



In 



e y swung around towards Wychoff; we heard the re- 

 J>wt of & g r j£ e ^ we C0UD t e< i one . th en to thepurveyer 



general, and he was out of luck; then to Bates, one of the 

 veteran hunters, and he scored one; then to the gallant 

 Captain, and he got in two shots and counted two; then to 

 your humble servant, and he scored one. There were many 

 more shots, but they failed of their mark. The hunt for 

 the day closed in about two hours, and we all being thirsty, 

 repaired to the camp to take a drink— of water, of course! 



The next morning was bright and glorious, and the 

 hunters were early at their stands. Soon the baying of the 

 hounds was heard, and from its deep base and frequency 

 we all knew that they had started au antlered monarch. 

 Round and round he swung, but keeping constantly with- 

 in the dense brush; eager and more furious became the 

 chase— the whole pacK of hounds were bellowiug close in 

 his rear. In about three-quarters of an hour they drove 

 him from his brush retreat into the open ground. He 

 passed by two hunters, who fired at him, but he plunged 

 over the bank into the water with the hounds after him, 

 swam about a mile, and reached the shore of another pe 

 ninsula, and entered the brush again. The fleet-footed 

 Barlow confronted him as he came out of the water, and 

 to the astonishment of all fired and missed. The hounds 

 soon brought him back to the water again, when he boldly 

 struck out across the channel to the Sau Juan shore. The 

 old veteran, Bates, was on hand with a boat this time, and 

 then commenced a row for life. The old veteran gained 

 at every pull, and half a mile out, or more, came within 

 rifle range. He took his rifle, fired six shots, but missed, 

 finally clogging a cartridge in his gun. He again seized 

 the oars, and pulling alongside of the noble fugitive, 

 seized him by the horus, and ignobly drowned him by 

 holding his head under the water. He brought him in tri- 

 umph to the shore, and we weighed him; he pulled down 

 two hundred and five pounds. This chase disorganized 

 the hunt for a short time, but late in the afternoon three 

 more were added to the killed. This closed the third day. 



The fourth day was to close the hunt, and all were eager 

 to make this their great day. We early took our positions 

 on the southern bank, and along a road leading across the 

 base of a densely wooded peninsula, about a mile south of 

 where we had hunted the previous days. The hounds 

 were taken upon said road and let loose about seven o'clock. 

 In less than ten minutes they gaye tongue. Shortly a shot 

 was heard, and one of the veteran hunters counted one. 

 Soon another shot was heard, and the gallant Captain ad- 

 ded to his list of laurels a fine barren doe. Another shot, 

 and Wychoff counts another, and so on, until the number 

 of the dead arose to six, as the result of about four hours' 

 hunt in the forenoon. In the afternoon we were reinforced 

 by quite a large party of gentlemen from the revenue cut- 

 ter Oliver Woleott, which happened into an adjoining bay 

 on a cruise for smugglers, who abound in this archipelago. 

 The hunt in the afternoon, in which our friends joined, 

 was very exciting, but not as fruitful in results as desired 

 or contemplated . The hounds had three large bucks in 

 the water at the same time, and the firing for fifteen or 

 twenty minutes was very continuous; and yet, Mr. Editor, 

 those noble animals reached the cover of .the woods again 

 unscathed. Still, it may be said, in extenuation, that the 

 firing was down a steep bluff, at a running object, and at 

 long range. Nothing but the head of a deer can be seen 

 while he is swimming, and when there is anything of a 

 swell it requires some practice to hit that head with a rifle. 



The hounds, chilled with swimming, returned to the 

 woods with but little spirit to force the hunt. Two more 

 were started, however, and both killed, and our jolly 

 friend, the purveyor general, covered himself with glory. 

 In four days we had killed twenty deer, and had at least 

 eighteen hundred pounds of venison. As we were kindly 

 tendered a. tow to Port Townsend, we gladly embraced the 

 opportunity, and arrived with our freight at that beautiful 

 town about two o'clock in the night, refreshed, reinvigora- 

 ted and rejuvenated. O. J. 



Prep akation.— Parson's daughter (to the Squire's 



Keeper)— " What are you doing with the pheasants, Mug- 



glesV" — Keeper — "Well, Miss, there's a lot o' city gents a 



coming down with Master to shoot on the let, so I'm a 



* takin' a few o' their flight feathers out!" 



A BULL FIGHT 



For Forest and Stream. 

 IN TEXAS. 



ILOYE to sit on the sea-shore in the clear moonlight, 

 and, watching the long waves roll in, listen to the 

 heavy boom of the surf and dream. Many such an hour 

 have I spent on the shores of North Carolina,. Florida, 

 and Texas, and above ail, in dear old California, lying on 

 the white sand near the water's edge and looking out on 

 old ocean, peopling the beach with memories of bygone 

 days with fair ladies and brave men, many of whom, alas! 

 have long ere this wandered beyond i4 the shining shore" 

 which bounds the thither world. 



But 'tis not alwa} r s a dream, for many a brave and 

 knightly deed have I witnessed on the.smooth sea beach, 

 though as yet unheralded in song or story; and I once was 

 a spectator at as gallant a tourney as was ever fought in 

 the brave old days when the lelies of the Moslem and the 

 war-cry of the Frank rang over the desert, while Christian 

 and infidel strove together for the possession of the Holy 

 Cross and the Sepulchre of our Lord; albeit the combat- 

 ants were not mail-clad warriors, but used alone the weap- 

 ons provided by their Maker. 



One bright night in Texas, when the moon shone with 

 unrivaled splendor and the soft trade wind had cooled the 

 air after a hot, hot day, when the wavelets of the bay rip- 

 pled on the shore with a gentle murmur, and the sea birds 

 had gone to their rest, and the laughter and song of the. 

 camp had quieted down to the light and regular foot-fall 

 of the sentry as he slowly paced his lonely beat, the Cap- 

 tain and I lighted our pipes, and going a little distance 

 from the camp, sat down oh the pure white sand to smoke 

 and talk and dream. Long we sat quietly smoking, with 

 but a word now and then — for silence is golden at such 

 times — when three immense bulls came down from the 

 prairie beyond the bluff to the smooth, level sand of the 

 beach. They came about the same time, but by different 

 paths, some fifty yards apart; nor had we any notice of 

 their coming uy hearing them roar while on the prairie. 

 They came in a quiet, determined way, that at once at- 

 tracted our attention. Voiceless as they stemed while com- 

 ing down, no sooner were they fairly on the beach than the • 

 trio commenced a loud deep roar, which seemed to be the 

 very incarnation of wrath. This was done by all three 

 almost at the same instant — so much so that we could not 

 distinguish which commenced first. At the same time they 

 began pawing up the sand most viciously, and throwing it 

 in showers over their backs with their horns, while ever 

 und anon they would slowly advance toward each other a 

 few steps at a time. They were the biggest brutes that ever 

 I saw, fully a3 large as buffaloes, but with immense horns, 

 quite six feet from tip to tip (Texan cattle, as is well 

 known, are celebrated for their wide-spreading and long 

 horns.) It was very evident that there was to be a triangu» 

 lar duel, though not precisely like the one in which Mr. 

 Midshipman Easy figured. So the Captain and I picked 

 up our chairs and removed to a shady spot under the bluff 

 whence we could overlook the field and study the maneu- 

 vers of the combatants. 



The moon was shining so bright that it was almost like 

 day, and the shadows were as sharp cut as in the sunlight. 

 The moonlight of California and Texas is celebrated for 

 its magnificence. Travelers say that of Italy and the 

 Orient pales before it. To give a practical illustration, one 

 capable of being appreciated and understood by all your 

 readers, I will mention that one night in Texas while dis- 

 cussing this subje2t I proposed as a test the reading of the 

 small print of the New- York Herald, and upofl bringing 

 out a copy we found that we could read it with ease. If 

 any of your readers wish to test the force of tne illustra= 

 tion let them try the same experiment here. It is probably 

 due to the purity of the atmosphere, for I know that ob 

 jects on the Texan prairies are visible fully one-third fur- 

 ther than at other places, and I noticed the same thing in 

 California. 



After about half an hour of sullen roaring and pawing 

 the animals had approached within proper distance, when, 

 giving one last and most terrific roar, they rushed furiously 



