340 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



been to a great extent unfished. The stream for some ten 

 miles is one succession of dams, all of them broad and deep. 

 It is encouraging to an angler to know that such places as 

 these do keep turning up now and then, otherwise we would 

 grow hopeless for the future. 



The next morning saw a repetition of the one first men- 

 tioned, until at noon we were sufficiently loaded down with 

 game to start for the railroad. This we did reluctantly, 

 even as a man hates to give up any good thing. But 

 Keuster's is the place for real old sport. The region round 

 about has been a sealed book until lately. At the proper 

 time duck and geese are plenty there, with squirrels, hares, 

 and in short all kinds of small game. * N. H. B. 



For Forest and Stream. 

 SQUIRRELS IN FLORIDA. 



I HAVE hunted the black squirrels in Canada, the grey 

 and fox squirrels in Central Virginia, the grey squir- 

 rels in the chestnut woods in Connecticut, but I never saw 

 as many in an all-day travel in either of those places as I 

 have seen at one time standing in a hiGkory hammock in 

 Florida. Last year about the 10th of November I was 

 in the hammock known as Hutching's hammock, which 

 adioins the thrifty farm of Yankee Smith in Orange Dale, 

 Marion County, I counted thirteen large grey squirrels 

 gathering nuts on one tree, and on every tree all around 

 they seemed equally as abundant. I stood in one place, 

 and having one of Stevens hunters' pets, No. .22 calibre, 

 I exhausted my shells, and the squirrels seemed as plenty 

 as when I commenced to shoot. I counted out fifteen fat 

 squirrels on my return to the house. Here let me say to 

 any and every one visiting Florida to take with them a 

 strong light folding camp stool ; one needs it everywhere 

 while calling wild turKeys, or shooting squirrels, or wait- 

 ing for ducas to gather into crowds, or shooting deer. I 

 never had anything that was more conyenient. I after- 

 ward learned that one of your correspondents, A. A. 

 Mo wry, shot a noble wild turkey from off one of the very 

 hickory trees that I bagged my squirrels. The fox squir- 

 rels abound in the pine woods in this vicinity; they are 

 very large and beautifully variegated, some with black 

 back and brown belly, and others brown back and a black 

 head and belly. With a good squirrel dog I think one 

 could readily get a dozen fox squirrels on any two hours' 

 cruise. 



And here let me say to any one visiting Florida for 

 health that I found Marion County superior to any other 

 part of the State. I was twenty days in the saddle on one 

 trip through the State, and prefer Marion County to any 

 other county I visited. The land is high and rolling, and 

 as it is a grazing, cattle-raising country the farmers burn 

 the grass off every winter. '1 his has destroyed all snakes 

 and annoying insects. In conversation with a Mrs. Ross, 

 the postmistress, she said she had never yet seen a rattle- 

 snake tne 27 years she had lived near Orange Dale, and she 

 had walked two miles through the woods to church most 

 every Sunday. But I am getting away from the squirrel 

 question, but will say that last winter Mr. McGault, 

 standing on the piaza of my house, shot a very large varie- 

 gated fox squirrel with brown black, reddish sides, with 

 white muzzle and throat, black ears and belly. I will also 

 say that any one desiring to know about the west central 

 part of Florida, by inclosing postage stamp and writing 

 their questions, I will cheertully tell them to the best of 

 my knowledge, as I am very familiar with that country. 



Putnam, Conn. G. F. Ws. 



#4 gnlitut*. 



AMERICAN SALMON IN NEW ZEALAND 



WATERS. 



CATCHING A DEER BY THE TAIL. 



From the Lake City Leader. 



Mr. Fowler, of Mazeppa, relates to us an incident that 

 occurred out in his neighborhood the other day, which 

 betrays pluck, chance, luck, and that a tail hold has again 

 proven its excellence as a hold. A young man named 

 Albert Bright — a neighbor of Mr. Fowler's— was saunter- 

 ing along the bank of the romantic Zumbro a few days ago 

 and, in the absence of a gun, he was enjoying a little hunt 

 with an old Colt's revolver and a hatchet, which he had 

 slung iu a belt. Upon turning a bend in the stream, he 

 saw a short distance in advance of him two deers standing 

 in the edge of the stream. He quietly crept up and, 

 taking careful aim he fired, wounding the largest of the 

 two somewhere in the leg. At the crack of the old pistol 

 the deer made a spring for deep water, and young Bright, 

 in the flush of excitement — his first case of genuine "buck 

 fever" — made a leap into the stream in pursuit of his prize. 

 Strange as it may seem, he reached the plunging animal, 

 grasped hold of its tail, and hung on for deer life — and 

 about this stage in the proceedings the ball opened and the 

 fun commenced. The deer, more f lightened than hurt, 

 now commenced a frantic voyage of discovery— trying to 

 discover what style of raring and plunging was best cal- 

 culated to liberate its narrative from the firm grasp of 

 young Bright. It swam into deep water and into shallow 

 water, across the stream, up the stream and down the 

 stream but to no purpose. Bright could sometimes touch 

 bottom and sometimes he couldn't 1 ., but he held on all the 

 same. The deer tried to kick him off, but being in the 

 water the force of its kicking did not avail much. After 

 towing young Bright all over the stream and down about a 

 quarter of a mile, the deer seemed to resolve on a new 

 style of tactics. It every little while made a frantic effort 

 to turn about and combat its foe with its front feet and 

 horns, and the young man had to do some tall "swimming 

 around the circle" to prevent the accomplishment of its 

 designs. After it had tried this repeatedly, Mr. Bright 

 struck an idea that he thought might win, which was that 

 as soon as he struck bottom again where he could get 

 good footing he would court this turning-around notion of 

 the fleer and kill the animal with his little hatchet . So, 

 as they went sailing along through a deep channel, he 

 succeeded in getting his hatchet out of his belt, and they 

 soon struck a bar, where both found good footing. The 

 deer no sooner touched bottom than it made a turn on him 

 again, and Bright, letting up on the tail, allowed it to turn 

 and "come for him," and as it did so he delivered it a well 

 poiaed blow that " laid it out." After getting his breath a 

 little, he dragged his fine prize ashore, and went home to 

 change his clothes and get a team to take it home. This 

 beats all the deer hunting we have had to record lately, 

 and young Bright can justly claim the champion's belt 

 Until some fellow actually catch.es a. deer in his hat. 



THROUGH the courtesy of Prof. Spencer F. Baird, 

 U. S. Fish Commissioner, we are enabled to lay be- 

 fore our readers the following interesting correspondence 

 relative to the efforts of the Government of New Zealand 

 to introduce our salmon to those waters, efforts which have 

 been ably seconded by the U. S. Fish Commissioners, and 

 which are duly recognized. The first is an autograph let- 

 ter from the Colonial Secretary of the Colony, and the 

 others from the President and Secretary of the Auckland 

 Acclimatization Society. Together with the newspaper 

 extracts following, they so fully detail the proceedings that 

 no further explanation is required: — 



. / Colonial Secretaky's Office, ) 



<K Wellington, N. Zealand, Nov. 16th, 1876. ) 



Prof, the Hon. Spencer F. Bairi>, Chairman U. 8. Fishery Com- 

 mission,, Smithsonian Insiitution, Washington, D. C: 



Sir- Upon the return of Dr. Hector from the Centennial Exhibition 

 at Philadelphia, and having received hie report of his proceedings in 

 the United States', it becomes my gratifying duty to tender to you the 

 thanks of the Government of New Zealand for the eminent and valua- 

 ble assistance rendered by you to this Colony in the person of its repre- 

 sentative at the Exhibition. 



I desire further to thank you for the hearty co-operation of the Com- 

 mission over which you preside in the efforts of this country to obtain a 

 stock of food Hah from America. You will be glad to hear that the first 

 consignment to the Government of 84,000 salmon ova contributed by Mr. 

 Stone, the officer in charge of your establishment at the McCloud river, 

 has arrived sftfely and in good order, so far as yet reported on. You 

 will no doubt be informed of the result of the separate shipments to 

 private order from Auckland, Hawkes Bay and Canterbury, by the local 

 administration societies at those places. 



I shall have pleasure in ding you advices of the further progress of 

 the Government importation by future opportunities. I have instruct- 

 ed Mr. Creighton to ascertain from Mr. Stone, and to draw for any 

 amount that may be due from tbe Government of this Colony to the 

 United States Commission on account of the shipment of ova per 

 "Zealandia' 1 in October. 



We shall be very glad to receive, through your kind offices, a ship- 

 ment of whitefish ova in February next, as has, I understand, already 

 been arranged for by Dr. Hector, and shall always be thankful to your- 

 self, the Commission, and the United States Government for your fur- 

 ther co-operation and aHsistunce on future occasions in our endeavors to 

 increase the stock of food fish in New 7ealand by impoitation from 

 America. I have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient servant, 



Daniel Pellen. 



Auckland, New Zealand, Nov. SOth, 1S76. 

 TttE Hon. Spencer F. Baird, U. 8, Chief Commie doner of Fisheries, 

 Smithsonian Institution, Washington, I). C. 



Sir— i have the honor to inform j ou that the salmon ova forwarded by 

 your kind instruction from the United States Fish Commission from its 

 establishment at the McCloud river, California, have arrived in excellent 

 condition. 



1 have also to inform you that the barrels of ova intended for Dr. 

 Hector and the Napier and Cautorbury Societies, were duly forwarded. 

 I am advised that the two former lots arrived in good order, and have 

 since hatched out well. From Dr. Hector I have not heard. The Auck- 

 land portion have been placed in hatching houses erected by our Accli 

 maiization Society iu very suitable localities under my personal super- 

 vision. You will be glid to learn that, owing to the almost perfect fe- 

 cundation of the ova, and the admirable arrangements made by Messrs. 

 Crop & Co., of San Francisco, for their safe transport, the hatching has 

 been most successful. 



There is now, I think, every probability that the great experiment of 

 introducing California salmon into the rivers of New Zealand will be a 

 splendid success. For this result we are entirely Indebted to the noble 

 generosity of the United States, more especially is the Colony indebted 

 to you, under whose charge the U. S. Fish Commission carries on its 

 most useful and wide-extended labors. 



On behalf \A the Auckland and Canterbury Acclimatization Societies 

 I beg to tender you the warmest thanks for your generosity in supply- 

 ing the Colony of New Zealand with the king of fisnes. 



The consignment of last year also came from you, of which, at the 

 time, we were ignorant. I inclose a slip giving some particulars of their 

 disposition. Regarding this shipment, I may say that young salmon 

 seven to eight inches in length have been seen in the rivers in which I 

 placed the ova last year . I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient 

 servant, J - C. Firth, 



President of the Auckland Acclimatization Society. 



Auckland Acclimatization Society, ) 

 Auckland, Nov. 17th, 1876. j" 

 Prof. Spencer F.;Baird, Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries, Wath' 

 ington, D C: 

 Sir— I am directed by the Council of the Auckland Acclimatization 

 Society to convey to you their very hearty thanks for the consignment 

 of California salmon ova forwarded to us, under your directions, by 

 Mr Commissioner Stone, and which was duly received by the last mail 

 steamer. You will be glad to hear that the consignment arrived in ex- 

 cellent condition, and has been hatched with an unusually small per 

 centage of loss. The young fish are now doing well, so that we have 

 every reason to hope that your kind and liberal action in this matter 

 will be the means of enabling us to establish in our rivers a fish of great 

 economic value, and thus confer a benefit of lasting value on the whole 

 community. I inclose an extract from the Dady Southern Cross news- 

 paper, published in this city, that may perhaps interest you; and again 

 expressing my »ense of the obligations under which you have laid this 

 Society, I beg to subscribe myself your» most obediently, 



T. J. Cheeseman, Secretary. 



San Francisco, Dec. 15th, 1876. 

 Hon. Spencer F. Baird, TJ. S. Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries, 

 Washington, D. C. 

 Dear Sir— By the last steamer from New Zealand I leceived a few 

 lines from the Hon. J. D. Ormond, Government Agent for the Province 

 of Napier, in which he says: "The ova per steamer Zelandia was re- 

 ceived in splendid condition by the Hawkes Bay Acclimatization Socie- 

 ty, and the fish are now batching rapidly. Will you kindly report to the 

 proper authorities at Washington the success of the experiment so far, 

 and express on behalf of the H. B. A. Society our sincere thanks for the 

 very liberal treatment we have received. A proper official acknowledge- 

 ment shall be sent to the Hon. Spencer F. Baird so soon as we are able 

 to report the hatching and turning out of the fish. " I can only add my 

 own thanks to those of the H. B. A. Society. I have the honor to be, 



yours respectfully, Hobt. P. R. Duff, 

 4 — 



The following extract from the Daily Southern Cross of 

 November 7th, alluded to above will be found interesting. 



ARRIVAL OF LARGE CONSIGNMENT OF SALMON OVA. 



It is satisfactory to learn that a large consignment of 

 salmon ova from California has arrived by the mail steamer 

 n excellent condition. This consignment consists of 400,- 



000 ova, forwarded to New Zealand by Professor Spencer 

 F. Baird, chief of the United States Fish Commission, 

 from their establishment at McCloud river, California, for- 

 warded under the management of Mr. Livingstone 

 Stone. We may mention that the colony is extremely in- 

 debted to Professor Baird for his thorough good nature 

 and public spirt in the matter of this important consign- 

 ment which has been furnished the New Zealand Societies 

 by the United States Government free of cost, excepting 

 the charges attending the transit from McCloud river to 

 San Francisco. There is greater reason of indebtedness in 

 the fact that last year through inadvertence, the consign- 

 ment shipped with such characteristic generosity to the 

 Napier Society, and so successfully managed by the Auck- 

 land Acclimatization Society, was creuited to Columbia 

 river, instead of to the United States Fish Commission, a 

 mistake that might naturally cause some annoyance. We 

 are therefore more anxious to render honor to whom honor 

 is due in the matter of such magnanimous, spirit in the dis- 

 tribution of this valuable article— salmon ova. The 60 

 boxes of ova now received have to all appearance arrived 

 in very excellent condition, due perhaps in a great measure 

 to the fore-thought of Mr. J. C Firth, who has taken great 

 interest in the matter. The Auckland Society has had the 

 practical management of the consignment, and in anticipa- 

 tion directed the preparation of moveable ice houses for 

 convenience of transshipment at Kandavu. These arrange- 

 ments were made under ihe active and cordial superintend- 

 ence of Messrs. Cross & Co., an eminent Euglish firm in 

 San Francisco. The New Zealand Societies are also largely 

 indebted to Mr. R. J. Creighton for his active eo operation 

 in the matter, and in overcoming all preliminary difficulties 

 naturally attending the procuring the shipment of a con- 

 signment of such magnitude. To Captain Ferries, of the 

 'Zealandia,' and Captain Cavarly, of the 'City of New 

 York,' and their officers, a meed of praise is due for their 

 careful attention to the precious charge. This is more es- 

 pecially due, as it must be borne in mind that the trans- 

 shipment of the ova from the 'Zealandia' to the 'City of 

 New York' had to be made at Kandavu under a tropical 

 sun. Mr. Firth had taken the precaution to ship from Mr. 

 Gledhill's establishment a quantity of ice, which was ex- 

 tremely fortunate, as the ice on board the 'City of New 

 York' had nearly run out. Ail parties concerned will now 

 be glad to learn that the ova has reached here in splendid 

 condition, and, so far as present appearances go, there is 

 only a very small percentage of loss. Of the 150,000 ova 

 consigned to Auckland, and which have been received by 

 Mr. Abercrombie, the curator, 70,000 were yesterday de- 

 posited in the society's boxes at the Domain. This morn- 

 ing about 30,000 will be deposited by Mr. J. C. Firth in 

 the Oratea or Swanson creek, in the boxes prepared at the 

 expense of the society, and by which it is hoped the 

 Waitemata and all the small streams falling into it will be 

 peopled with the king of fishes. The balance (50,000) will 

 to-morrow be taken under the charge or Mr, Firth to the 

 Raparara— a perfect little salmon stream in the Patetere 

 district, from which the Thames river, with all its tributa- 

 ries will be supplied. With regard to the southern portion, 

 fresh ice having been put on board, the consignments, con- 

 sisting of CC.OOO ova for Napier, 80,000 for Dr. Hector, 

 Wellington; and 100,000 for Canterbury have gone down 

 under charge of Mr. Bach, the Curator of the Canterbury 

 Acclimatization Society. With this gentleman's care, and 

 a fresh supply of ice, there is little doubt the ova will reach 

 their several destinations in first-class order. Here the 

 hatchiug process is expected to take place in less than a 

 fortnight, and we shall watch with interest the result. The 

 public are deeply indebted to Mr. Firth for the interest, 

 trouble, and attention he has bestowed on the matter, and 

 for the onerous duties he has willingly undertaken. 



The following details refer to the distribution of and 

 progress made with the California salmon eggs sent to 

 New Zealand from the U. S. Salmon Hatchery Establish- 

 ment in 1875, and will be found exceedingly interesting :— 



DISTRIBUTION OP THE SALMON OVA. 



To the Editor of the Herald. 



Sir— Many persons having asked me to publish an ac- 

 count of the results of my expedition to place the California 

 salmon ova in the rivers of the Thomas and Waikato 

 country, on behalf of the Auckland Acclimatization So- 

 ciety, 1 forward you a copy of a letter 1 have addressed to 

 a sporting friend of mine in England. I hope your readers 

 will be good enough to excuse tne somewhat familiar style 

 of the communication, as I have not leisure to write an ac- 

 count perhaps more suitable for a newspaper. 



I am, &c, J. C. Firth. 



Auckland, November 19, 1875. 



"My dear C , —Let me give you a rough sketch of 



an expedition I have just made to place salmon ova in 

 some of the head- waters of four of our chief rivers in this 

 part of New Zealand. You will perhaps be more inter- 

 ested when I tell you that in this colony there is a remark- 

 able absence of plants, animals, or tish natural to the 

 country suitable for the food of man. To remedy this 

 deficiency in some measure, we started, some years ago, 

 an Acclimatization Society, whose object is to introduce 

 useful plants, animals, birds, and fishes. Our society was 

 greatly encouraged by the success which had attended the 

 efforts of one of our worthy citizens, Mr. Thomas Hender- 

 son, to introduce the pheasant. Thanks to him, this noble 

 bird has covered the country, and we can give you, and all 

 sportsmen who may come this waj, almost as good shoot- 

 ing as you can get in your pieserves at home. You would 

 be delighted to see so many of your old favorites, which 

 we have introduced with great success— the finches, lin- 

 nets, blackbirds, yeliowhammer, buntings, the unjustly 

 abused house-sparrow, and above all, that most charming 

 of English song birds— the sky-lark. Latterly our society 

 has turned iis attention to the introduction of trout and 

 salmon — both brown trout and salmon trout are promising 

 to succeed, and in a few years I hope to see the disciples 

 of gentle old Izaak Walton having many a day's good 

 sport. Hitherto our efforts to introduce salmon have been 

 total failures. About a week ago, however, fortune fa- 

 vored us. It happened in this wise : The mail steamer 

 Vasco de Gama arrived with 40,000 salmon ova for the 

 Acclimatization Society at Napier. Unfortunately the sup* 

 ply of ice had run out, and the gentleman in charge, fear- 

 ing a total loss if the ova were sent on, kindly and wisely, 

 as it has turned out, offered us half the consignment. 

 Late one night our curator called at my house and in- 

 formed me of the state of affairs, and we immediately 

 placed 10,000 of the ova in our fish-house to be hatched. 

 The remaining 10,000 we could not accommodate. I pro- 



