328 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[NoTEMBEn25, leSO. 



arrived at the abruptness of the descent was somewhat start- 

 ling The ground fell for the first ship's length after the de- 

 clivity commenced full 150 fathoms, and for three sliips' 

 lengths 450, or 1,350 feet. It was a lung this margin that princi- 

 pally the zoolo;j:icHl inlerc?t centered. The elevated plateau it- 

 self which adjoined the shore ^vaH prnctiCHl! v swept clear of s!it 

 and mud liy Uie evrr-resrles? cmTcn.ts coursing over it; but 

 upon il8 extreme ninrcrin die deposit was something enormoiLS, 

 and ihe exi.edition found at the outfall nf the Gulf Stream a 

 wealth of marine liEe larger than at anv p^inl in the tropics. 

 Tlic shot would sometimes sinl^ from eighteen to twenty feet 

 into this slimy mass, which had been clenned from tlie level 

 platea,uby the action of the water, and here dropped in an 

 enormous drift which was pcoijled with submarine fauna. 

 Of course, owing to this frucdom fiorn slit, the plateau could 

 not furnish food for any large development of animal life, 

 and it was consequently coneeuiraied in a narrow belt .it the 

 margin, which furnished an inlerfsling field fur investigation. 

 Tlie deposit did not appear to embrace any great nunilier of 

 species, and was msiinly reniarkiilile for imnien.''e quiinlily 

 rather than for varietv or range. In summing np the re- 

 sults of his suinmfr'.s worlv in eonncrtiim wilh' the .«/,-;,/:,-, 

 Professor Agassiz reported tlwif tlu! important point was the 

 pvi-onfdiat the deep-sea f-iniin of tlic Atlantic bottom ex- 

 tended slinreward to a de))tli veiy cnnsideralily less than had 

 been heretofore supjiosed by niUurabsi.s. It luid l)een ascer- 

 tained tliat it was sul.alantiallv idr-ntioil wiUi that of the 

 Gulf of ;\re.xico, wliile the fauna of the AVest Indian traek 

 was of the peculiar f, pc he had styled o'uKinenlal. Th.' 

 cnn-ent of the Gull" Siream being extremely stronc, its truck 

 was peculiarly liairen in forms of animal life, aiul the exten- 

 sion of the continental fauna from Ihe West Indies nortli- 

 ward was to be .sought only along the edge of the plateau he 

 had previously described. He would allude in conclusion 

 to the great success of the expe.lition. Their facility in 

 dredging had become something extraordinai'y by long prac- 

 tice, and the work they hnd been able to accomplish hi si.^! 

 weeks was wonderful. When the Blalci made her flrsl 

 cruise ono haul a day was considered pretty active era- 

 ployinent; the last day they were out they made eight 

 hanls. 



Professor Cope read an important paper on " Extinct Ver- 

 tebrates," and Professor Marsh an interestingoneonihe "T)i- 

 inensiousof the Brain and Spinal Cord in Some Extinct Tiep- 

 tiles." Some of the Dinosaurians have In-ains scarcely larger 

 than the spinal cord. In SU-g<:mirnts the bruin is not larger 

 than a common sized tumbler, but there is an enlargenient of 

 the spinal cord in the region of the sacrum eight times a? 

 large as the brain case proper. The Academy will meet 

 again in April, 1881, at Washington. 



. — ^ — . 



Pebsistbnt HoriSE Wkems — VaU, Imm, iSet'. 10. — Edilsr 

 Foi-est and Stream : While visiting a friend last summer 1 

 noticed an inverted collar-box nailed to the topnf the wooden 

 pump near the door and inquired why it was there? I was 

 told that a pair of house wrens liad talten up quarters in Ihe 

 pump and persisted in building their nest there, nor woidd 

 they abandon their project iintil the lio.v was furidshed fhem. 

 They then immediately took possession of it, built their nest 

 and "soon became so tame as to alight on persons eoing there 

 for water. ■ JE. B. B. 



IssTrscT TS Eels.— The fishermen on Shinuecoclc Bay, 

 Long Island, snv that when the bay closes by the filling iip 

 of the inlet and 'imprisons Uionsands of eels (hat the latter 

 can bo seen in great numbers where the inlet was, when ihcy 

 wish to go to sea again. The bay is now closed and v.'e are 

 informed Ihatnear'the point where the eelsciune in la.st 9nm_ 

 mer they are now gathering in force, searching for the lost 

 inlet. 



OLD TIME FIS HINa I N TENNESSEE. 



Feankmn, Tenn. 



rilTIlNKlXO that it II !-iit in: rrr,-t, aomeof yoiir many read- 

 I ers to K.?e ii fiw Hi i > ■ m i ' Imckwootls and wi'lds of 



Middle Tennessee, 1:1111 \,v. ;. /nd you a few. 3Iy piirt of 



the State is nearlv as oidas tiK' iiiu.>, and almost in the suburbs 

 of the Capital of the Stale, whieli is about to eelebrate its 

 centenniid this yoiu-. That shows Hint we are 100 years old, 

 and yet all appearances indicate tliat we arc quite young 

 still. When Davidson County wns laid off f.ud ^"aslivillr 

 was located, it was quite a wildcrncs?, and a great l;rcadlh of 

 land being embraced in Davidson C^oun: y. In October, 17fi9, 

 the Legi-siature of Ihe Stale aiii" 'iH i i :■•'' <>\ oomniissirinrrs 

 to survey and lay oft out of 1 > . ': - 'ili of n, :i nrw 



counlv to be called Williain^-in ,-,•.■. -l . ' oiK' of our In- 

 dian tlghtina: crounds. Tlie .■..,iii..i.,.,i.i.u;is proceeded (o llie 

 discharge of llicir duties, ami by January 1, 1800. laid tis oiT 

 quite a'nicc county, localed the ctamty site, and called it 

 rranklin, on the south side" of Big Harpcth River, on a niiig- 

 niiicent section of 640 acres of excellent level land : and in 

 Februnry. 1800, the county was established and wo hav(- 

 been peiaing away ever since. Ten miles south of tliis town 

 was the' Indian boundnry, but some of them still claimed Big 

 Hirpetli River as the boundarv, and were yery reluctant to 

 Yield up that boundary becaus.- the valleys of Little Harpetli, 

 hig llarpcth and West Tlarpulli rivers, three powerful streams 

 running across the cfiuntv. wore miiguificenthinUing grounds, 

 abounding in hear, deer and nrber wild animals, and the 

 streams with almndance of splendid fi-sh. 



My ancestors had settled in this pjortion of Davidson 

 County two years before the county i>f Williamson was laid 

 off, and among the very first who hnd dared to do so, and of 

 course the descendant's have gi-own np wilh the country, 

 fought the Indians wilh General Jack.son, and aided in clear- 

 iivg up the wilderness and fiiuiiliarixing themsolvis wilh the 

 forests and streams. lam familiar with the stories of my 

 fathers and uncles of the bear hunts, Indian fights and fish- 

 ing frolics of the early times, of the great aliimdance of game 

 and the wanton destruction of the same from the first settle- 

 ment of the ccmnty to the )iresent time. The story told on 

 one of my uncles' is something like this: The first year of 

 his settlement in this county was 17.S0. Provisions were verj- 

 scarce, and he had rather a large family, and all the pro- 

 visions he was able to lav in for his year's support were five 

 bnshelsof Indian corn and one boa:. Being visited by some 

 of his North Carolina friends, and theybeing told what his first 

 year's Supplies were, they osked my imcle how on earth he 

 tnanagod to support so large a family on so little. He replied 

 ho never lived better in his life. He said he used liear for 

 meat and wild tm-key for bread, and the children and ser- 

 vants subsisted on eggs and grew fat. 



Shortly after my grandfather's settlement here he had oc- 

 casion to cross over Big Harpeth Elver one day when 

 the water was even, and lie discovered an immense 

 ■quantity of fish in the moulli of a little sn-eam emptying into 

 the river, and when he relumed home he informed the' boys 

 of his discovery. To Ijua'c a lillle fun, nnd also to get soni'e- 

 thing to eat, they felled a tree and dug them out a canoe ns 

 quickly as possible, and launched it in the stream about five 

 ndles I'lelow where the ti.sh had lieen seen, anrl paddled up to 

 tlie place and readil.v found great mirabers of fi.sh. They 

 pilciied into the water with their paddles, and in n, very short 

 time killed enough fish to load Ibeii' craft down, leaving just 

 room for one boy to sit and paddle their boat homeward. In 

 the meantime they sent runners across the neigliborhood, 

 notifying the neighbors of their catch, and lo meet them at a 

 certain place and'divide with them. On the arrival of the 

 craft at a jioiut within a mile of their home Ihey met their 

 mothers and sisters, the matrons and maidens of their neigh- 

 Viorhoad, and they had a general division and scaling of fish 

 and a merry time. 



The strea'ins were so well stocked wilh A.^h I have often 

 her.rd niv father say Ihat when lliey wanted fish they would 

 prnvid.- iheiii'^.-lvcs vdth [..nlirsof a dark night, just padiUe 

 up or down plrcflrn. and Ihe fish would jum]) into the canoe 

 until it was tilled and they would be con'ipelled to extinguish 

 their lights to stive their cnuoe from sinking and from being 

 swamped by li.sh jumpinn; in. The principal lisli then in the 

 siniiins v,ei"o what the> oiilloil * M rout :" now you call them black 

 '.ass. striped and speckled t.ass. red horse, black and red 

 perch, suclcers and e;it. Giviit qminlities of these lish swam 

 in thi'Sf Will CIV, iiiiiii the c.-ine w:is destroyed and the couiilrv 

 oleurMl ir. ihi 1 .i:;.v diminished by decrees, and Ihev tie- 



n.iuN- ■ .. in- rivers luiviiig filled up to a LTeat ex- 



u-nt wi i; ;;:, , . ,; ,„, (he clrared land. Xow we have some- 

 what of a IJ.sli proioction law .'igaiust seines or nets, and the 

 waters are ai;ain hlling up rapidly, and line sport is offered 

 lo the angles and it really makes an amateur angler siek to read 

 ■mewthe'lrout stories in your paper, and the lly-flshing and fun 

 the anglers have, while we are con fined to what you call bass or 

 I'lcrch lisliing. Well, there is a little more sport iu it than 

 \'ou might imagine. I will tellyou somethina: about it, and 

 maybe some! hill- alsoutijrld sports. 



Recollect 1 ;un ali'iui ,-i\lY Buminers, but I do not fail to 

 go with the boys, and I generally count np with, if not ahead, 

 if the best of them. We do not, have these twenty-five, fifty 

 ;m<i one hundred dollar rod.s, and finch fine and expensive 

 lackle as the New Yorl; Ixiys can afford, fmt for our rods we 

 use the best native and .lainine^e eioe , We send to Bates 



md gel the finest hooks, the ■., j ds, and prefer 



sinirie to double snoods. know Hales is 



rather crahlied, and 1 was in h ,,. . .. jcrasi.m and I 



was anxious to get the longesi eiii I e'lUhi iiud to please the 

 boys, and after lookins over his lot so,.i,: [one. 1 said, -'Mr. 

 Bates, is this the longest gut I can tiiid r" lie, replied, crust'i- 

 ly. "Yes. do vou suppose one worm has a L JiiL^er tent Ihan 

 niolhory" I subsided and look a fen ii,iri.-he-=. We use 

 rhe best silk or .Tapan('Se grass lines and Mtck's re, l.s. ,vUieli 

 eost tisfrom ttlil'l to $21 each. In sin-n \\,- •"-, en,' deeently 

 well rigged to take in the bass and jae! i ., i ni n leauteen 

 pounds. The sport last fall was li. i i ; ever .saw 



it, and lasted from September to i ,iiM.,r, and 



lur parties, nil told, took in liclween e^iiii and l.oiii.i line fish. 

 .\mong onrselves we sav noul. Iilack. sjieckled. while and 

 Uripod but your fishermen would say bass, WM. we will 

 not dispute about that. If one of ye.nr heesi anglers could 

 cast hi.o hook in our clear waters hihI tttke a ii lb. luiss nnd he 

 did not give him all the fun le' wanted I am no judge of fun 

 and frolic. I will wairei no anejer in the Vnlted States can 

 tell a gamer ba.sfi .story llian I eun. 



Some time sinee a jiarty of four 'n' us weiil out. u.s we said, 

 fishing. Two of the fonr'were (l.diermen, ilie sillier two knew 

 lait little about il. We went deovu ihc river frtim our own 

 town about three miles :uid the day was hot. AVe cauic lo a 

 tall, rocky blull anil the .sun was beaming down. I and one 

 other of the party cast in at the foot of the bluff. 1 rcmamed 

 hclow and advised in v f liend to go on the top of the bluff and 

 rlrop in where 1 ktje\v be was likely to get a bile. He didso, 

 and I tlirew rmt =it that our lines ran pretty close together. 

 fn less Ihan 11 luinnie my fiiend's cork O'e sonielimos uses 

 eorksi fiew by me abnosl like lighlning, and soon he gave it 

 I quick ierk.'and a live-pounder llirled outofthe water about 

 four feet and broke olT his 1 ip ;uid afiout a foot off the end of 

 Ids rod, and away went the fish. He fame down to me and 

 said he was done, for his pole was liroken and he could not 

 fish anv more. T told him that was, uoi ,so. he could fish as well 

 wilh a'stiffrod as ajry other, and 1 look bold of hi.srod. netted 

 on the line lo Hie end of hi.? ))ole qniekly n.s jiossible. put 

 on a minnow for iiiniand directed him to \:u buck to his place 

 on the bluff and droii liis minnow in tlie same place. He did 

 so, and in less than a minute he broughl iqi tlie male to his 

 first fish about ten feet out of the water. It fell back, leaving 

 the minnow on the hook, -which was dro|jped hack to him, 

 and this thing Was repeated fifteen times by my friend, and 

 he cave it up in disgust and hiid himself and rod on the 

 LOTmiid, 



In the meantime another of Ihe parly came np and pulled 

 out the fi.sh in the same way tiiree lime's and irave ir uo, i:\- 

 tills time the third, who was a splendid fisbr nnan, came u],, 

 and he dropped in and brought U|) Ihe fish three liuies and 

 lost liiin, and he gave it up. 1 was lyine by waiebini; the 

 operations. I then told the party thai I ^ve>idd bet f<\m to a 

 nickel that I could call up a coimtry boy. v.dio was lielnw with 

 iny pole, and that he could catch that fish in one minute. 

 Tfjey lauched at me. 



I called the boy up, told him lo lay aside my pole, take bold 

 of the broken pole and take out that trout. He did so and 

 his first effort failed. He dropped back innnediately, and 

 in less than a minute dropped the trout in my baud. 1 lo.ik 

 him ofli the hook mvself, .and he weighed '2,t lbs. and was a 

 male fish. On esaminalion w^e found that the skin which 

 holds the rim of the mouth httd all been pulled off, except 

 abe.ul Ihe size of my finger nail, and by the old-fashioned 

 jerk of the boy the liook was jerked into- the roof of the fish's 

 mouth and he was secm-ed. 



After we left the bluff the boy went off and got a net and 

 caught the first fish which had been booked. It was a female 

 and weighed 5 lbs. The upshni of all thi.s was that my friend 

 had dropped his minnows within a ring, being watched by 

 the male and female trout. When the female had been 

 wounded ahe ran off, but the male fought tor the nest to his 

 death. 



Now if any man can produce and show a gamer fish than 

 this two anda half potinder I will sni-ender, I find that 1 

 am growing rather lengthy, and will stop, promising to tell 

 you'something more about our fish and fishing and some- 

 thing about our field sports, quail, pheasants and foxes. 



J. B. M. 



FISHING FOR COUNT. 



TIHE Albany Etenfag Jotimal, whose editor in chief, Mr. 

 ^Gi.'o. Dawson, is n salmon angler of perhaps fifty years 

 staiuling, lakes a text from Pop.est Asn Stkea.m, and com- 

 ments tipon it in no uncertain tones, winding up with a jxr- 

 sonal letter from Mr. Dawson himself. We give the text 

 nnd sermon entire. 



We have spoken hi no tmcertaia tone upon several occasions of 

 the desb-uctive [a-aetiee of killing small fish for the purpoBe of 

 sweUmg the count. We intend to keep nt it until the whole body of 

 anglers juiu hi the obonis and etv 'shame" on the man wlio ia 

 guilty of it.— /"ez-fsi anO- i^O-mm. 



This " fish for count " has depopulated half of our trout 

 streams and will soon destroy the best salmou rivers on llio 

 Continent. Last year three titled flunkies froui England 

 killed six hundred salmon on the Cascapedia. Most of these 

 were taken tliirt>- or forty miles from any habitation where 

 they could be ut'ilir.ed. The result was that most of Uiem 

 had to be buried as olTal. But this disgraceful fact did not 

 necompany Ihc pnbli.shed score, whieli went llie rounds of all 

 Ihe sporting papers in the world as the fiest eatdi on reeea-d 

 and as proof of the great skill of the fellows who perpetrated 

 the slaughter. 



But there was no special skill about it. The river was 

 siinijly full of fish. Every pool was packed, and the only 

 thing necessary was to cast, strike and kill as rapidly m 

 muscle iind gait couhl perform their office. The fellows 

 were '-iisliing to count," and they kept up their slaughter so 

 long as Ihe season la.sted. 



And what v.'as the result? Of the six hmidred .salmon 

 killed quite one-half of them were full of spawn. The killing 

 of these three humlred ripe fish was the killing of three 

 hundred thousand embryo fry and a most ruinous draft upon 

 the producing power of the best salmon river in the world. 



The effect of this disgraeefnl slaughter was .seen the pre- 

 sent season, when (we are told) not one-rpiarler of sis hun- 

 dred were caught by those who visited the river. 



Anglers who visit a stream where fish, whether trout or 

 salmon, are abuudaut, will, unle.ss they are the merest cock- 

 ney pot-himters, keep- within sporisinen-like limits in their 

 catch. To "fish for count" where the count, because of the 

 abundance of the fish, can be made ten limes what is reason- 

 able, is lo violate every hiw of the "gentle art." 



As a case in poinl. and to show how an angler should be- 

 have under such circumstances, we subjoin a note sent to one 

 of the brotherhood who was never known to " fish to count " 

 unless it was lo catch the exact number needful for use or for 

 legitimate distribution : 



Aleakv, Nov. 6, 1880. 



The talk we had ycaterclny on Ihebadhr.bit of " fishing to epiud " 

 caUed to mind an incident of my .angling tour in the -nildB nC 

 fjanada hiBt amnmer. 



Thesuhuon not liBTing yet shown themaolvea in our river, mv- 

 self and the .ludge detcrmiaerl lo risU a trnnt lake we liad hOiU-d 

 of a mile or two from camp. Wo reaclu d the laU.3 in tlie middle nf 

 the afternoon, when the sun was n-gliiro, and fuund it an hour's 

 work for hotli of us to take fish enough fnr aiipper. Uut wo took 

 them and relished them. 



As the shadows began to sliow themselves upon the anrface of 

 the lake the ti'out began to show theniselve.s idsuhi such munbers 

 as I had never di-eamed of. The liltle lake was almost literally u 

 boiling ]iool. and ns the sun wont down I determined to lish llarli, 

 ,niniil,s. oxpectuiK to ho able, in that time to kill all we should 

 iicodi>i>, .'f as, iiielndin^eoek nnd guides) for an early breakfast. 

 '■ id a rise'imd a Htrilre. 

 led tinfitliz-ftee h.nlf 



and H I 



BUQieie 



lotted i 

 Btroug, 

 nienibei 

 took Tia 

 SUUie ir 

 were ^ 1 

 imdvei 

 honor. 

 Nor 



liaveatiBteforllie 



tiird 

 n-h ten 





Mild 



I If 



iuntes of i 

 an to keep ou Was very 

 ears ol angling I oulvre- 

 1 like to lorget— when I 

 li either con- 

 conditioii. to those who 

 ■re than ttiis nre vandalx, 

 lore, and yet claim the 



.UKbb'l 



led to anglcr-i. Although no 

 -onigramuies 1 Imvo often eomc aernss 

 I that had been wantonly slan^diteved to 

 ill help edacide np to their duty all who 

 e or love to go a-fiahing. G. D. 



The Lakoest Tautog. — ^It ia an interesting fact to know 

 the extreme size attained by any fish, and we do not remem- 

 ber to Iwve seen the black fish, or tautog (Trmtoga cm-itU), 

 recorded as a fish of great size. The ordinary specimens are 

 from one to five pounds, with an occasional ten pounder. 

 Last week Mr. Blackford had one which tipped the beam at 

 twenty-one pounds. 



Rhode Islasd— JVew Ber/J'urd.—Jhe. wreck of the sieainer 

 Rhode Island is furnishing a good fishing ground for most of 

 our lisliermen at |n-esenl. They iTsh for ' tlie sunken cargo 

 which is yieldbig a rich harvest. Some fiew boats still Cfllieh 

 a few niaekerel, oihers try for qod and hlackfish, AVilliani 

 Huehes and Bill Brown, being high line, catching 800 lbs. of 

 blaektisli fuesday, 9th. 



i'l.suiXG Near New Ok;,e,\n8 — SVew Oi'lmtu, CM. 8. — ^Mr. 

 Thorn, Jlr. C. Mehle and myself wont on Sunday and caught 

 , iij- fine fish, forty shcepheads, balance redflsh or bass an<l 

 sea trout. The fish were caught in "back Bay of Bolivia," 

 Miss., Just the place for Northern gentlemen wishing nici 

 winter sport. Can reach New Orleans in a short rini of 

 tlu-ee hours by rail, visiting our French Opera and ditteront 

 theatres. Plenty of duclis and snipe, etc. S.O.B, 



— The photographic copy of " Fysshynge Wyth an An- 

 gle," by Dame Juliana Beruers, A. D., 1498," ia aliaiulsome 

 "plaunflet" in the old " black letter." Our readers will do 

 well to remember that we have sevcr.il copies of the deliglil- 

 ' ' ' - ■ edited by Mr. George N. Van Siclen. hand- 

 : and in good plain type with the quaint spell- 

 , which we can supply at .$1.50 per copy. (A 

 u ., .,. ...d copies at $1.35."; Send your orders to this 

 office soon. 



* Those Ranoeiet Trout ^v^yrs—RnngeUy Lakes, Me.. 

 ifov. 12.- It seems that your correspondent, whose ,irt\c-\r 

 appeared in a late issue of Forest .wo Sjiitiam. under ih" 

 head of '• Spawn-Fishing in the Raugeley Lakes." has a very 

 wrong idea of the use that the trout .ire frnt lo that are taken 

 out of season by gentlemen- authorized to fish by our Fish 

 Commissioners. These trout, after being caught with an ar- 

 tificial fly and carefully handled, were put in tanks prepared 

 for them, and when ripe the e^s were taken from and do- 



