OOTOBBB 31, 1880.] 



FOEEST AND STREAM. 



229 



H / liQcome thoroughly oducatPfl, and when flushed the huii- 



-mielimes has to wait till near sundown or roosting-time 



I TL> he r-nn <Mt them to answer; and when they have con- 



i tu cniiie they will slip ou you without saying a word. 



ii ili(_- LuuMT liiids them so wild as this he has'to he very 



-iK-ultir, whi.'ii the game comes In sight, not to move iiny 



Hiiou of his body, or the wary hird gives his nolo nf ahinu 



nil I) and is off like a Inillet. If a niuRquito lights on the 



iiiiliT's nose- he must lot hini remain and bitc^ or lose his lui'- 



y. I have sometimes found them so wild in the latter part 



the winter, just before "gohhlingtiDjt^" that when I would 



iiph rhem in the early part of the day they would pay no at- 



i 11 i ■ I yelp any time during that day. I nught catch 



!i, -; 'in me and kill i(, lull when I'flnd thoni so wild 



li'tly leave Ihem and gel among them early tlie 



; uj!.;i iiiiig, and find no dilllcully in killing one or (wo at 



.:•! lime: 1ml after. I hnve (irr-il m'v nim onci! or twice, tliO 



liii'3 become ver>- sliy au.l an- hard l.j kill. Keno. 



' ■ Keno " has promisrd us an art iele on Mississippi bass lish- 



A MUD DUCK HUJJT. 



~V rBAKS ago a httlf dozen of ns rollege diums used I o npend 

 X OUrspringVaC:ili iii! : I ,, ,,,l" inst the water-fowl 

 wliicli weTesoahnii(i:ii - llic ea.st hank of 



Hie Father of Watoi-. ■: v. a. (Ti-cck roots 



ami eonic sections Wl: J i;ai.:...,i: i.u... i.;,; uiinils, and we at 

 li ast bad a free and easy lime, with no learueil professor or 

 f .1 iceited tutor to spend several hours a day in lir,dinL,f uui iiow 

 Ihile we knew, iillln/iieb there were numerous allend-ani 

 liiinlslii|)h'. V. ,i : ;,Mii.ed ou an island several miles 

 liel'-'W I lie I ; ilielalior of rowing haek e\'Cry 



ei^'lil. and i 1; ,[ weallier-elerk who was ou duly 



duiinir Maie-ii o, .,,„,, in-|uenliv made h deeidedlv uncoui- 

 f<.i-!al,le fur us. Yet when nature refuse.) to smilj we tried 

 the lianler 1,0 he merry, anil willi Hie assistuiiee uf Hie wit of 

 I la; eollege, who was always one of tlic liarty, geuer:illy suc- 

 c.eded fairly well. 



We picked our company, and were disposed to he amused 

 wiien "The Duke" proposed to go along. But when he iu- 

 fiisted on going, in spite of unmefous broad hints that his ab- 

 sence would not be painful to us, it bectime positively annoy- 

 ing. Jones, our humorist, came to the rescne, and with a sly 

 twinkle that promised fun, said the Duke must go. It was 

 aei ..nlindv an-an-d that he should lie one of the iiarl v. 



'I'he Duki; was one of Hie eliaraelers iliai tieli, make U|) a 

 variely in the wajrld, though just what he was ereated lor 

 was nevii' clear to me. lie was a born and bred dandy, a 

 niaseuline Flora j\lcFlknsv, and only just a trifle lessfeminine 

 Uian his fairer sisters. The chief objects of his life were to 

 wear tine clot lies, take care of Iiis iiM^niii. . -' v.I, inkers and 



to listen. It would he ini]Kissilile i . .' , o, Imnian 



lieingfarllier remove,! lro,,i tlie lyiiieal ,■ i^.i loo.a... Jial uliat 



Duck shooting has been better here this fall tbtm for nnniy 

 years, hut the mallard are not in ns good condition as autumn 

 ducks gciieridly are. • X. Z. 



CnicAOo, HI., Oct. 15. 



Ed;f"r Foi-fiil am' Rtrni,,, : 



A paper tliat can give ns such clear, intelligent and deijisivc 

 articles, as was yenu- late treatment Of the "Dittmar Sporting 

 I'owder," is just Hie luuduf a jom'ntil the American Sportsmen 

 want. All<iw rue, and numerous others in this city with me, 

 to thank yon for having set at rest, once and forever, the 

 Ciuestion of the safety of Mr. Dittmar's powder. The avei-agc 

 gunner has no time to study these things. You have shown 

 lis that hereallei ^ve may rely on the Pokest aud SteeaM for 

 just such iiiformalion and advice. K. N. J. 



NAsUTiiiE, Tenn., Oct. 13. 1880. 

 Ed/iiD' Forent and Mream: 



I have lieen using the Dittmar po^^'der for the last year and 

 just ordered a box from Ml'. D., who failed to send it, his 

 charge d'atTairs writing: "Mr. D. has Lcen sick for some 

 time and we are out of pow-der." lin! a friend of mine 

 loaned me one of your papers (Sept. 2o. ts.SOiaml called n,\ 

 attention to your lemrihy article on Dittmar powiler, ami 1 

 must say I am greatly surprised at what I learn. I'ni 

 circumstances t of course will disca 

 and am now amazed that all iluse tl 

 hooded imtil lately. A party lo^t a 

 hv his Lnm explnd'int; : it was said 

 Sl.I.oinsaiid waslhe-'iioiseless.'- Ii 

 to the Diitmar. 1 have oflcn womk 



so njucli more effective than oil, . . _ 



as it is clean and free from that " blarsted " cannonadiuE that 

 we have in the black. ""y. 



.npp 



f this powder ; 

 diould have remained 

 a liere some time ago 

 -lowd.a- was made 'in 

 ise it Avasilosely allied! 



ly like to shoot it, 



edtliat, la 





the depot he had enoiu 

 ITe had never owned nor 

 host in the market for li 

 tion was more than Hu 



len we calli'd foi' him on our way tO 

 1 ha-uage lo till a Saraloga tnmk. 

 landli'd a gun, hut liad purchased the 

 L- oeeasion. His supply of amunmi- 

 whole party could use", and he had 

 laid oni. IJni, the Duke's costume 

 was immense. The da\^ was warm, and he had on a new 

 light suit, naming necktie, longdegged pateiUdeather hoots, 

 silk hat and lavender kids. We remonstrated in vain, and 

 I he Dnkc started oifthe best dre.ssed man that ever left home 

 tor a week in a swamp. 



When we were fairly o(T Jones unfolded his |ilan, which 

 was simply lo give the Dnke a innd hutli. The swanip is fnll 

 of channels, in whieli Hie waler is two or three feet deep, and 

 all the soil is sofl mud, washed In by thi' freshets, si.i that the 

 boats were ill constant use. There" were eiglil in the party, 

 and the plan w-as to take three boats, in one of whieli should 

 beoidy the Didie aud one other man, and al the first good 

 chance to dump hinj. It was agreed to, the wcll-woru cards 

 brought forth, and while the "Duke innocently looked on 

 .Jones was condemned lo put Ids own plan in execution. 



Earl v next morning we pulled out of Easi T. i!in_li-i, .oi-I 

 two or'lhiei. miles bekw lierraii lo reach the 1 ■ ^ ,, ;-:. 

 where the ducks were liu.-;y wdth Hieir nirir.ii-. In 



boys couldn't resist tin- tein|itation for an i, ; ,. -in,,,. -,n,d 

 Shot. Tin- Dnke eau-lit Hie fever, and leaviui^r .Jones to 

 mana^-e the boat, was soon lianu-iinr awav as fast as he could 

 load and in sneh a reckless style thai, he was in more danger 

 Of shooHiej; himself or .some of the other boys ttian a eluek. 

 Jones walched hiscluniee, and it soon camel The boat was 

 got close up to a pan iiaUarly soft nnid hank, and when Ihc 

 excited Duke was standing up in the stem and ready to lire, 

 a quick jerk did the business. The ^nm went, in lirsr, and he 

 followed it as far as his shoulders. lie nianaured to set out 

 alone, and, half strangled, made a da.sh for then tank "^to ,get 

 out of the water. This fairly buried his lower esU'emilids, 

 and he had to be helped ont. 



What a spectacle he was ! His glory had departed in an 

 instant, and his love for duck hmUimx had gone with il. All 

 he wanted then was to i^n houie, and w-e lislied ont his loiii, 

 put him in the small lioal, and started him for Burliie.:toii, 

 sadder, wiser and not half so haruksoine as when he sliirled. 

 In spite of his injunction to secrecy the story leaked out, and 

 lu bia mortification the Duke went off on "a European trip, 

 andlailed to return. He ha.s probably been in places since 

 where he had more sport than duck hunting on the Mississip- 

 pi marshes, but he don't know to this day that his misfor- 

 tune was not solely the result of an accident. C(n{K. 



A DnTHAn PO>VDEa rnAtlEDY. 



I. 

 Boy, 



Gun I 

 Joy, 



J'tm, 



ii. 

 Gim, 



Bust, 

 Boy, 



Dnat. 



INFOKMATIOI^ WANTED. 



1. F. W. D. wants good quail and wooflcock shooting 

 witliin 100 miles of New York. 



3. S. T-. T. wants to And a place where he can liuut and fish 



for a living. 



y. AV. K. Aniies: ■■! am a cousimiiHive, and am desirous 

 of pa.ssiiig the coming winter in .some location wliere .game is 

 abundant and il is also lje:ililiv." 



4. Mr. E. M. L. win- • .,0,;,... as lo hesl place 1 could go, 

 about 850 or 4-50 miles 1 1 ei n. 1 ,, or south of Xew York(,'i"iyi 

 where I can find gooti on. k si, ■■ iing and a comfortable board- 

 ing house." 



5. Will some reader of the Foiiest akp Stueam inform 

 " Lower Bunk" tJirough its cohmms where the best place to 



camp out is, in the r'-- -d- nf Maine. A place where 



there can be foimd n 1 iiniose. or feathered iranie. 



Also what would 1"- 1 1 imaied j of e'aeli one of a 



party of six starting : ■ ■ : el .:d, (Jomt. In camping ihe 

 party to be Independent uf hotels or log cabins, preferring to 

 rough it in tents. 



(5. Win vou or some of the readers of your valuable paper 

 please Inform me wlielbei- wild rice will grow «diere the 

 white pond lily has irot, so that it alino.sl covers Ihe surface 

 of the water y _' Will it kill the lilies ont ? Kciucixjs-e]'. 



7. '' (.'. S. Ix.," Dakesville, Ct., wants a Florida comjianiou. 



GmcTTMTigNTiNG Old Bhows.— How often do I trim your 

 ptiges over, and how I long for Saturday to come. I often 

 wash you came twice a week. But sometiuies you make me 

 sick and discontented. I know you mean no harm, dear 

 FouicsT, but when i reiul of Ihe game and fl.sh that others are 

 taking, and selfish I can only steal oil a few hours at a time. 

 Once, before my wings were clipped, I too enjoyed my gun 

 and dogs. 



1 knew- a swamp .:if about a mile in length 



•.'••'•'k jnsi, laughed because no one was'al- 



iii Hiai swauipi. It was owned by an old 



uie of Brown, a veritable dog-in-the-manger, 



shooi himself nor allow visitors lo shoot. 



•Id nii>, one time when I ventured on the 



nild nmmier, that Mr. B. did not allow 



1 llial 1 had tietter leave, and forthwith 



1 l.a-Lied liftv and sixty hirds 



Two years aL' 

 where the wooi 

 lowed to sliooi 

 farmer Viy then 

 who would nol 

 His hired man I 

 ground, not In i 

 any shooting there, a 

 1 left. Years befor- 



ind 



des 



' pos-sesscd me thai I 



F,< HOES OF THE "DITTMAR SPORTING POWDER." 



HA-Nee'CK o\ Dnr.^n.n .Peiw dek. — Forest a.sd Sxkea.m, the 

 loadiiiL' -\iMiiieaii sporHiii; paiier, is making war on the Dlt- 

 Uiar powder and says ii is m,.i lit for use. — .r/)/: //o/j/vM- fJV'. 

 Y.) Herald. 



IMacox, Ga., Oct. 12. 

 Editor Forest nnd Stream: 



Al low me, as one of y om: subscribers, to thank you for the en- 

 tirely convincing articles concerning Dittmar powder. I have 

 frequently used this powder, but you have so clearly demon- 

 strated its danger that henceforth I discard it. J. S. B. 



Fui.TOS, m, Oct. 16. 



Edit<ir FM-td r/nd Stream: 



Yom writimr up the true character of the Dittmar powder 

 ■was appreciated by many Western readers of the Pobest and 

 Strham. 



per day in that swamp 

 must hunt that swamp. 



1 lieard of the Ditiinar powder, no smoke and very little 

 noise. 1 went up to the city; saw the gun-dealer: he 

 showed me a sample of the powder, and I ordered a'tan, 

 thinking all the time of my pet swamp of woodcocks. In 

 due time I received the powder, aud how well I remember 

 my iniaginallons as I rode home, thinking of the following 

 day's sport. jVlready I could see my two setters, Dash on a 

 point, nnd Dandy liackiiig him rip. Then I was looking 

 through the alders to find an opeuinff where I would be the 

 mostlikely togel ashol. Then I would speak very low to 

 my dogs, " Go on," aud Dandy would cre,?p np, "'Weeter, 

 weeter," would go Ihe bird. Then I would throw up my 

 gun ; a puff, a liitle noise, and, yes, I could see the fin"e 

 feathers through the top of the alders. Old Brown couldn't 

 hear lliat— no. "Dead bird." In would come Dash with a 

 fine longbill. But where is Dandy ? Stooping dovm T would 

 see him just a little further on stllf as a poker— and so did my 

 thoughts rmi. 



I was home about two o'clock. T loaded up six shells with 

 Dittmar according to the "directions." I knew of a small 

 flock ofi|uail ne.ar home, and in less than two hours Dandv 

 and Dash brought up hard on. I always let my dogs stand 

 one or two minutes. WhUe I was waiting I thought It was 

 such a good place to shoot I must have two birds, and so I 

 took the Dittmar cartridges jioni my gim and put in two of 

 Hazard's. I could rely on those. T s:nt one bird with each 

 barrel when they lirsl aot np itv good, I thought. 



Now iorDitluinr. The m , s shot. I looked 



acros.s my old Parker cxpee;. - , i,-,. feathers. Well, 



the gmi went off, but not uiUii aiiei uic oiid had gone before 



it. Aud with the language of one of old I cried, "Great 

 Pompy, ye are too slow !" I tiled aiiotlier Dittmar cartridge 

 With the same result, and that was euomrh. 1 .shot two more 

 birds wilh lilaek powder, and I came hrmie. I fired the four 

 remaining cartridges at bar iiosls witli very poor results.^ 

 They all wont off, but some of them haled to, awfully. 



But 1 did not give up about that swamp. You .see, dear 

 Forest, old man Biown had a daughter, and she was jiretty, 

 too. Well, to make a long story short, I made Miss Mary's 

 acquaintance, and through her good gr.aces I received an in- 

 vitation to come up aiurput my horse in her father'.s barn. 

 She toldmc Uiat some of the neighbors did not allow hunting 

 on their farms, but that 1 was welcome to hunt anywhere on 

 their farm. I thought to myself, '■Bles,s your lii"art, I only 

 want to hunt down in your father's swamp"; have beei'i irving 

 to get there for two months." Of coiuse I went, and I made 

 the old swamp just ring. The first day I bagged twenty- 

 seven birds, not all lougbills, there were three partridge.s and 

 five quail among them. Dash and Dandy backed iip each 

 other, and more thau once did I lose them and find them stiff 

 as a poker. ■ John Pox. 



L\KF, OKKEcnonEE,— Until lately liUle interest has been 

 maiiifes'ed reuarding ^outbern Florirla. With the infius of 



seHlers^oid pleasure seekers, the reirioii, made of interest by 



the h -nm.,,'' >,M, I . ,, :r,.ri,i:i,: r.iO' ..,,r;. ,:,,;,. Tiic expedi- 

 tion ' i-'.- ,.-.:,■ ■ ., , ', ,. I ,,,:,, a of Lake 

 0'<ec. , „ , ■',', .. :;,:, :! ,, :,,,,, ., ■\icnt of the 



gl:!'i' V , ■I,:;]. Corning down the St. .Jolm's Kiver last 



Api'i ' :jor Allen, who still owns the liitle canoe, 



Pol, a;: I i ' ,> a, left by the e.vpcdidition on Hie , shores 



oj that inlane I iiiiii- Allen has for several years lived 



neiir Okceeh ,; med well informed regarding itsex- 



tentandsun- iino: ij,- j he shores of this lake, which is 

 Sixty ndles long ainl l-aty wide, are lined with fine black and 

 rod mangroves, cypress and crab forests. Ob.servation I,skmd, 

 long and fiat and the resort of numerous wild fowl. Is the 

 largist of iisi^linds 



SuK ilii ixpediliouof llK loiisi >\D Siic\w Hit sob- 

 tiahshi ( bundistuibid by ibllh si. iniliiU fatU nine feet 

 lonL niiiiid lh< ^hiyjjill SiMid times it his mide 

 thetiiptiomnc u I iki tluM\ ilio ( Lnliipiisi down the 

 UarioH s(i|)rntme Kissimei Knu ind iiouiid I d L OUc 

 cliobec lh( cxcurMonist y 1 11 pioyikd with sportmgmi 

 lends leiytsthi S| lohusln,. 1, mil. tt it Tuscnwdh 

 onLiki II u (\ 111. I ill. I iwi^.aiiil. ot ei lib (u miles is 

 plated on I u.l H 1 lillh sii um 1 s mm 1-, tinng biiskh 

 aw I) It ilb^itoi du< 1 luddiii ptithuKt surpnistd by 

 Ihemtiudtr Flotks of ei mts ibes a: mats indcmlrwsuse 

 continually Theu isnobna phcc m lliauU foi th' ti\ 

 idermist t is. i foi b dhuit plum u .ml n. w white plmnrs 

 thm this 11. ' I III ! ,,,[ ^,„ie or 



bird IS win 1 , iitruvcis 



Asriownllii 11 •'. ill, L' ,i,L , I, , , I., r distance in 



astraight line, ..en- i.bjeeis..i iniei,/,-^, ail- . oiiinnially beingdis- 

 Closed. For len days or iw.i w.-eks Hie excursionist Hres, 

 only from the monotony of tiring from juorning until nighl. 



The deer Imntiug is esjuadally fine. The ranges are 

 Ihrough regions seldom hunted, and wdiere the noise of your 

 guns often only aAvakens curiosity. Last winter, thirty 

 miles from this region, 1 was surprised one day by a deer 

 walkina: up 10 within thirty yards, and there standing looking 

 al me, as much as to say, 'A^dio are yon? What are you 

 doing here ?" A little later I tired s.^veral rille shots at tw-0 

 deer slanding al alioul one hundred and fifty }ards, without 

 exciting anything hut their pia-pilexed lairhosily. 



it isnot an unsusal occurrence t..i see fifty or seventy-five 

 deer during a, day's ride thromih this iv-ion. Next- ndnler 



anolherminialure boat is ,-, r\: ■, hinrched, so that 



trills can be made lo Okee.m .'.. ,. . ,i 1 nth, Okee- 

 eholiee seems to be chane. I .e .,,.,, .,n,,M.e land coDi- 

 jiaiiy, in wlii<-h some En2:lish eapiialists are intere.sted. have 

 .secured a cliarler from the ytate for the drainage of the: Lake. 

 info the f;ulf of Mexic'o. Bel ween the Lake and thi' tliilf 

 there is a fall of Ihirteeii feet, which would drain two-thirds 

 of Hie lake, as It is supposed. An outlet of about five mites 

 in length has to be cleared througha sawnTa.ss .swamp, and the 

 lake will gradully drain itself. Their otijeet is to gain several 

 millions of acres of rich bottom lands, aud after" givin.f Ihc 

 Stale lis portion lo sell at reasonable rates alternate sections. 

 This laud, it is hoped, will lie i.roductive of tropical I'niits 

 and early veg.-tatiles, which the steamers wall transp.irt norlh- 

 wai-d. Whether lli.' seb,:.ino will succeed we eaniiot, tell, liut 

 we do know that this retrion is one of the finest places for the 

 hmiler and inland iisherujan in Florida. 



"Plrlng from morning until night" from the. deck of a 

 steamer is not only monotonous but It is disgraceful and 

 aljominable. The captains of these boats ought, for the sake 

 of decency, to put some liuiit to the cruelty of their passen- 

 gers. 



Fl.M!U)A Game Noriis.— fyw//' limnmock Ihmse, Otter 

 Cren/c, Ze»f/ Count!/, F^/,— Florida, from present intlica- 

 tions. -will have an abundance of game this fall and winter. We 

 arc having fine hsiggiug of quail, curlew and diiek right in 

 front of the house (&ulf Hammack House), hm Capiain Win- 

 gate has stopped the shooting of them until more guests 

 arrive at Ihc house. The gues'ts that are here u.jw arc havlui' 

 fine spjort and delightful woalher f. .r Ininl ing. For our bear 

 hum the other day we started at fi o'clock. AVe had to ride 

 about a mile, and when we got there we foinal llial Hie bear 

 hail left about an hour and a halt before; bni our dous were 

 eager for Ihe fray, and so were we (six of us , and olT we 

 started. AVo had a run of some eight miles before Hie dogs 

 brought him to bay up in the top of a large live oak, juitfa 

 very bad place for a shot. We concluded lo let lum have the, 

 contents of one of the cartridges out of a Henry ride, when 

 he came tumljling down like a bag of com; he no sooner 

 struck the ground thau the dogs laid hold of him, and he did 

 Ihe same with them. One nniu in his excitement ran up and 

 struck bruin across the head -with his flue Scott gun and com- ■ 

 plfitel^- ruined it, which taught him a dear lesson that bruin's 

 head 13 hard. We had to let the bear have the contents of 

 one more cartridge out of our Henry, which firu.shed him. 

 When dre,ised he weighed a trifle ove'r 300 pounds. We also 

 brought in a fine deer ydih us. The Capiain has secured one 

 of Ihe best liear hvmtitrs in this country, Sir. Watkins, with 

 his pack of dogs. We will evidenlly have fine sport fishing 

 aud hunting this winter In Gulf Hamiiiock. MoP. 



Chickens, Ducks axd Qx-wu—MUford, Neb., Oet. 8.— I 

 left B jsion the last day of August. My first stop was at 

 Wonhington, >Iirin, My party consisted "of myself and four 

 dogs, and I had my hands f uU wilh the vario'us changes of 

 baggage-cars and btiggage-masters. I spent tha montli of 



