298 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



produce any good results, and T believe only tend to make 

 the mass of the people entirely disregard all game laws. 



A Vermonter. 



What our correspondent appears to object to, is that a 

 trespass act has for the first time been introduced into the 

 game laws of Vermont. The provision is to the following 

 effect:— 



"if a land owner desires to protect the fish and game on 

 his premises, he must post, at fit places, a notice to the 

 effect that he forbids shooting or fishing on them. This 

 being done, any person trespassing for the purpose of fish- 

 ing, hunting or trapping, may be sued for such trespass 

 and be made to pay $10 for every offence. Under this act 

 it is not necessary that the trespasser shall catch a fish or 

 shoot a gun even. If he is seen on the land with a fishing 

 rod, a gun, or traDS, the law makes the act presumption of 

 intent to trespass, and punishes it as if he actually caught 

 fish or killed game. The act does not hinder the entrance 

 upon land for the purpose of killing any noxious animal, as 

 foxes, raeoons, bears, lynxes, etc." 



Now this act is almost identical with that in force in 

 this State, and none of the objections or unhappy results 

 predicted by our correspondent have ever come to pass. 

 We consider that the principle which involves a man's 

 right to say who shall or shall not come upon his land, of 

 even more importance than the question of the ownership 

 of game upon it. A farmer or land owner of any descrip* 

 tion may or may not post his lands as he sees fit; the pro- 

 bability is that it will not be done in one case out of a 

 hundred, and even then, unless the land owner has an eye 

 to profit, I he chances are that any respectable person can 

 obtain permission to shoot or fish. The law is not nearly 

 ss stringent as that in many other States. In Kentucky the 

 fine for tiespass when the lands are posted is $25; in 

 Mississippi $10. Connecticut has a trespass law which does 

 not even require boards or public notice. North Caro- 

 lina has a law similar to the one complained of, and in 

 New Jersey the fine for fishing in any pond or water after a 

 notice has been posi ed adjacent to it is $100, so that our Ver 

 mout friends need not think that they are being badly 

 treated, or curtailed of any privileges to which they are 

 legally or justly entitled. 



Canada — A correspondent at Quebec sends us a slip con- 

 taining the latest tinkering to which the game laws of that 

 province have been subjected to at the bauds of the loose 

 legislation. He says: — m 



"The changes proposed are of a very sweeping nature; 

 the close period in mostly every case is made shorter. Pot- 

 hunters are not satisfied with appealing to the greed of the 

 white man, in order to kill the goose who lays the golden 

 eggs; the red skin is also enlisted for the nonce. In order 

 to make the destruction of game doubly sure, the Indian 

 declares that for him no "close period" should exist, and 

 that as he does not wish to till the soil or make baskets, 

 the caribou and deer, even when big with young, is to be 

 indiscriminately slaughtered to furnish liiixi with tobacco 

 and rum. You will be pleased to hear that the Montreal 

 Fish and Game Protection Club, as well as several private 

 individuals, have done their belt to protect and multiply 

 game, thereby furnishing food to both the white and the 

 red man." 



We regret that our space will not permit us to print in 

 full the proceedings of the Committee on game laws, but 

 we give below an abstract of the evidence of the chief wit 

 ne3ses called. Mr. Rintoul, Secretary of the Montreal Fish 

 and Game Club, Paul Picard, Head Chief of the Huron 

 Indians at Loieite, and Francois Gros Louis, a chief of the 

 same tribe. 



Mr. Rintoul said that, with respect to the clause of the 

 bill relating to the deer family, the Club were of opinion 

 that until the 1st of February was much too long to put 

 back the opening of the close season— at least in regard to 

 red deer. He was not so well acquainted with the habits 

 of the moose and carribou; but he believed there was not 

 a very marked difference between those of the one and 

 those of ifee other. In February and March, red deer were 

 usually heavy in fawn; moreover the snows were deep, and 

 the chances were against the poor animals, who were then 

 easilv and uselessly massacred. If they were killed only 

 for food, there could be no objection; but unfortunately, 

 in the majority of cases, they were hunting for their skins. 

 The laws in Ontario and Nova Scotia were very strict on 

 this head. In the latter, moose killing had been altogether 

 prohibited for three years, and the authorities had met the 

 case of evasions of the law by prohibiting the traffic in 

 moose hides. This measure was absolutely necessary to 

 prevent the complete extermination of this noble ruminant 

 in this Nova Scotian forests. It was positively inhuman to 

 butcher the poor beasts, when heavy with calf and in a 

 helpless condition on account of the deep snows. 



It was agreed that it be a suggestion to fix the com- 

 mencement of the close season for red deer in Quebec at 

 the 1st January. 



Mr. Rintoul said, with regard to the different species of 

 wild ducks, such as black ducks, wood ducks and teal, 

 which bred about the Sorel marshes, and throughout the 

 Province, they came in very early. Mr. Lemoine had shot 

 one on the 23d April, and, on examining where she had 

 risen from, had found a nest of eggs, thus showing that, at 

 that time, these species had already commenced to hatch, 

 and any killed after that destroyed whole clutches. The 

 10th of May was too far on to postpone the opening of the 

 close season. If spring shooting was not altogether for- 

 bidden, the close season should be made to begin at least 

 on the 20th April. He also explained that, while snipe 

 came up the river, these ducks came from the west, follow- 

 ing the ice as it broke up. 



It was agreed, as a suggestion, to change the close season 

 from the 1st May to the 1st September, to from the 20th 

 April to the 20th August. 



Snipe and woodcock shooting was then fixed at the same 

 date of opening in the fall as duck shooting— the close 

 season for such birds to commence on the 1st March. 



Mr. Rintoul objected to the snaring of partridges. He 

 thought there could be no surer way of exterminating 

 them. Shooting gave them a chance, and was, to some 

 extent a sort of protection, on account of the difficulty and 

 trouble it gave the sportsman in hunting up the game. 

 With snares, however, a whole hmk wu}& by quickly de 



Mr. Gauthier said that hares could not be caught in any 

 other way than by snares, for market, and, as long as 

 snares were set for hares, partridges would be caught in 

 them. 



Mr. Rintoul thought the 1st April was too long to put 

 back the close season for hares. 



Mr, Price suggested the 15th March. 



Some conversation ensued, the tenor of which was that 

 no close season was, in fact, needed for hares at all. As 

 long as there was a forest in the country, there would be 

 hares. 



The subject here dropped, without any change being 

 made in the conclusions already come to on these heads. 



Chief Picard, of Lorette, here asked to be allowed to ad- 

 dress the Committee, and, permission being granted, he 

 went on to say that the territory between the St. Maurice 

 and the Saguenay, had been conceded by treaty both with 

 the French and English Governors to the ancestors of the 

 Huron tribe of Indians as their special hunting grounds, 

 with power to kill moose and caribou at all times for their 

 wants, and he had a paper to that effect. They under- 

 stood the necessity of preserving these deer, as much as 

 possible ; but if the Indians were prevented completely 

 from killing them during the close season, it would be a 

 source of very great hardship to them. He said the In- 

 dians had no land, no cattle, no sheep ; and if they were 

 deprived of this means of subsistence, it was difficult to 

 say how they were going to live after such a period of hard 

 times, when there was no sale for their snow shoes, train- 

 eauz, moccasins and bead work, and with the prospect of a 

 severe incoming winter. He argued that it was not the 

 Indians, but the whites who were exterminating the moose. 

 He asked that each head of a family in the Huron tribe be 

 permitted to kill at least two or three mouse during the 

 close season. 



Chief Gros Louis said many families in Lorette would 

 starve next winter unless they had the right to hunt and 

 fish. 



The Chairman said the Committee desired to protect the 

 Indians ; but the difficulty was, in making discrimination, 

 to obviate the abuse thereof. 



Chief Picard said he was an old man, with white hair 

 known to them all, and he gave his word that any abuse of 

 the permission to kill more than the prescribed number 

 would be immediately reported. He also said no law was 

 necessary for caribou. They were here today and 30 miles 

 away to-morrow. Moreover, they were so plentiful that 

 there was little reason to apprehend their extermination. 

 For moose, however, some legal protection was necessary. 



The Chairman said the Indians in New Brunswick en- 

 joyed the privilege asked by the Hurons. 



Mr. Rintoul said it was not so. Moose, could not be 

 killed at all during the close season and, in the open season, 

 the number to be killed by each Indian should not exceed 

 two. 



An addition to the clause was suggested to give to the 

 Hurons the privilege asked for, each Indian to make a 

 declaration upon oath before the game keeper of the num- 

 ber of deer killed by him, and to produce the same when 

 offering the venison or skin for sale. 



Chief Picard agreed to this. 



It is almost painful to contemplate the views held by 

 some of the gentlemen comprising the Quebec Legislature 

 on the subject of game protection, and we regret that our 

 space will not permit of our printing the proceedings in 

 full. One gentleman considered that the curtailment of the 

 Spring duck shooting would wcrk great hardship to those 

 who lived by fowling, notwithstanding that it was shown 

 by Mr. Rintoul that at the proposed commencement of the 

 close season ducks were sitting on their eggs. As we in 

 the " States" have an interest in those ducks which find a 

 winter refuge and feeding grounds on our bays and rivers, 

 the gentleman in. question will be entitled to the thanks of 

 all our sportsmen. Another gentleman suggested that 

 hares could not be caueht for market in any other way 

 than by snaring, and as partridges would unavoidably get 

 themselves into snares, snaring should be permitted. A 

 nice argument truly. It is fortunate for the sportsmen of 

 Quebec that they have such a body as the Montreal Fish 

 and Game Club with such active and efficient officers as 

 Mr. MacPherson Lemoine, President, and Mr. Rintoul, 

 Secretary, to look out for their interests. 



New York. — Our Niagara Falls correspondent writes 

 under date of December 0th: — 



"The first snow of the season fell last Friday, and Ihe pot- 

 hunters have been out in force. One of them reports kill- 

 ing eleven at one shot, of a bevy of twelve quail sitting in 

 the snow. I am of the opinion that quail shooting, after 

 December 1st, ought to be abolished, or the utter extinc- 

 tion of them will be. the consequence. They have enough 

 to contend against in the hard winter, without being 

 tracked up in the snow and systematically potted. 



Niagara." 



We cannot agree with our correspondent as to having 

 the close season commence on December 1st. We think 

 quail shooting should commence hereabouts at least, on 

 November 1st, and one month's shooting would be hardly 

 enough. Better "pot' your pot-hunters, and stop destruc- 

 tion in that way. 



—Owners of ground at College Hill, Hamilton, Ohio, 

 and vicinity are disposed to protect the birds . The conse- 

 quence is that pot hunters do not find it pleasant for their 

 business thereabouts. College Hill and Spring Grove, 

 with the intervening territory, now forms one of the best 

 bird preserves in the country, being well wooded, well wa- 

 tered and well watched. Boys, do all you can to protect 

 the birds, especially those that stay with us the winter 

 through. 



• *♦♦■ 



—The St. Augustine hotels are now open, and visitors 

 are arriving in force. The Indians are still at Fort Marion, 

 and will furnish one of the chief attractions of the ancient 

 town during the winter season. 



—Ice was common ia Florida last week— not only at 

 Jacksonville, St. Augustine, and other points east, but at 



porting <^otes ^\om ^branl 



FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT. 



London, November 27th. 



It is pleasant to note that one at least of your sporting 

 contemporaries on this side of the Atlantic is willing to 

 admit to its columns an occasional kind word for manners 

 and things American. Fortunately the ridiculous and 

 scurrilous statements of the Field correspondent, who re- 

 presented that journal at the Centennial regatta and 

 revenged the defeats of his countrymen or some fancied 

 lack of courtesy to himself by slandering the country, are 

 generally taken for what they are worth. There are too 

 many intelligent Englishmen visiting the United States 

 now a- days for the vaporings of one idiot to have muck 

 effect, and while real or imaginary peculiarities of speech 

 are jestingly reproduced, the great masses of the English 

 people are appreciating American worth and industry. 

 The Sporting Gazette alludes to the return of a well-known 

 member of Parliament, Mr. C. M. Cambell, and a speech 

 made by him on the occasion of the presentation of an ad- 

 dress by his workmen, in which he said that during his 

 visit to America he had experienced nothing but kindness, 

 and that Americans could teach their British cousins, 

 among other things, respect for women, and sobriety. A 

 word of such testimony is sufficient offset to all that could 

 be said by a dozen "Caracta-cusses." By the by, the ad- 

 dress to Mr. Cambell mentioned above was presented to 

 him by four workmen whose united period of service with 

 his firm aggregated 207 years. 



The 300-mile walk between O'Leary, the American cham- 

 pion, and Crossland was brought to a conclusion on Thurs- 

 day night by the latter withdrawing, an accident to his 

 leg in the early part of. the match having disabled him. 

 At the finish O'Leary was fourteen miles ahead, having 

 walked 264 mile3 in 74 hours 10 minutes and 34 seconds. 

 The times, from 121 to 251 miles, are the fastest on record, 

 viz., 28h. 2min. 7sec, and 67h. 59min. 50scc, compared 

 with 32h. 26min. 23sec, and C9h. 13min. 29sec. It was es- 

 timated that 15,000 persons were present at the finish, and 

 39,000 in all attended during the four days. O'Leary can 

 now safely claim to be champion, although he is to walk 

 another match at the same distance in a few days for that 

 title. He has shown such wonderful powers of endurance 

 that the odds will be largely in his favor . Nothing more has 

 been heard regarding a match with Weston, and the 

 chances are that the cornet player will avoid a meeting. 

 O'Leary's diet appears to have been liberal; stewed oysters, 

 beef tea, jellies and champagne. If he should meet 

 Weston the match would be a very exciting one, and even 

 if Weston lost he could exclaim with Bombastes, "he 

 conquered all but Fusbos, Fusbos he." 



Speaking of champions; it was hoped that a sculler's 

 match for the championship of England would be ar- 

 langed between the two great aquatic artists, Boyd and 

 Higgins, but a hitch has occurred which will probably 

 prevent it. Higgins issued the challenge, but wants to 

 row on the Thames, where the championship matches have 

 heretofore usually been decided, but Boyd will only row 

 by his own Tyneside. This Higgins "can't see," so there 

 will probably be no match. 



The irrepressible Captain Boyton has been heard from 

 again; this time from the river Po, on a paddling voyage 

 in costume from Turin to the Adriatic. He has at last 

 found his match, however, and was obliged to abandon his 

 task after being upwards of eighty hours in the water. 

 While en route he wrote a note to a friend, which he flung 

 on a bridge in passing, which is as follows: "On the Po, 

 Nov. 5th, near Valenza, 28 hours out. 'Dear Friend:— 

 This is the worst river I ever struck paddle into. I have 

 run on rocks a hundred times since I left Turin. This 

 morning, above Casaie, during a heavy fog, I fell over a 

 dam, and I wonder I am alive to tell you so. A few hours 

 since I ran into a mill, and then under it. There is always 

 a heavy fog on this river during the night, so that it is 

 most dangerous to run. I am making slow time— am 

 strong and hearty. — Boyton.' " And yet after all the gal- 

 lant captain had to give it up. 



The abandonment of the Kennel Club Bench Show at 

 Alexandra Palace is occasioning some comment and much 

 disappointment among intending exhibitors. It is said 

 that the Palace Company is in "difficulties." The Bir- 

 mingham Show commences on the 14th prox., and the 

 entries are already closed. By a singular coincidence the 

 number is precisely the same as it was last year, 1,000; 

 and includes 120 fox terriers, 79 pointers, 39 English set- 

 ters, 30 black and tans, and 38 Irish, 70 retrievers, 46 mas- 

 tiffs, 41 St. Bernards, 68 collies, 29 bulldogs, and 27 pugs. 

 All the celebrities will be there, and there will be the 

 usual surfeit of correspondence in the sporting papers 

 afterwards regarding the decisions. Bristol had a dog 

 show last week for the first time, the entries for which 

 amounted to some 350. Some of the regular "mug hunt- 

 ers" who are found at every show were on hand, so that 

 good specimens were not wanting. Fox terriers ^were as 

 usual a very large class. It is wonderful the rage for this 

 dog which exists throughout the United Kingdom. It 

 must be because he combines the qualities of many breeds. 

 As perfect a "varmint" destroyer as any other terrier, he 

 seems to possess all the pugnacious qualities of the bull- 

 dog, or at least the bull terrier. The stud services of some 

 of the champions command almost as high prices as the 

 most fashionable greyhound. And that reminds me that 

 ihe ' celebrated Mf^mk setter Dash II. 3 who test ye** 



