January 37, 1881.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



505 



Mr. Willougliby afterward in speaking of tliis interview 

 remarked "that tlie Cap. plaj^ed it low down on tlie old Si- 

 wash and rakctl in the pot," whatever that may mean. 



We h-id planned for «n excur.si(iti to the glaciers, but an 

 advance guani of icdn-ri;'.'* whieU were drifting past the 

 n outli of the harlior panaed as it rtachtd the western cape, 

 recoiioilered ns, and whirling began to slowly advance npon 

 lis. The leader who was a iiutrr I'ellow soon paused, for liis 

 foot cmno in contact with the boltoni, but several smaller 

 ones were not so eoiisidf-mtn, tmd we c-ame to tie conclusion 

 that it was best to iv.^iht; ihrir pri'-eiiiplion cUiiuis and seek 

 for a belter abcller, sn liui rif! uij our anchor and Hturtod for 

 Mnd T!ay, where we i-assed a roM.f.M fable niglU. 



Having thui? brought the log up to dale, I will devote a 

 few lines to the sea otter, whicli in my last letter I spoke of 

 as a ool)!e animal. To mo he so seems", both from a commer- 

 cial utii' -11 11 -■ii:ii!',-; point fif view. 



TIh Hti;r in woriJv iriore than that of any other 



anim,. rov;il cniiiiie it Ijrings in Alaska from 



fifty to wi.c ;i" , ' |M:i"niiT-,i,,ii-,,-.. UnlikeftllotherskiMBof 



this country. ■ "':''■ fVoni the fur-dresser's 



arts; the b"l;,-i: . . i, and ihe white ones not 



sewed in, tb.eiin, ill im_ ___''■''}' iroin thr iuiitution called 

 "pointed beaver," and Yr'an the fur seal, tlie raw pelt of 

 •which has no more, beauty than that of a calf. 



They are very wary animals and are worthy of being con- 

 sidered game, for none but the most e.vpert hunters are sue- 

 cessfnl in their pmsuil. Unlike the fur seal, millioDS of 

 which return annually iu great herds p. the Pryliololf Islimrts 

 where they are driven and Blaiigliterud by clubbing, the ot- 

 ters go singly or in pairs, an<l liu-ir range is a large one. I 

 believe Ihey are foum ! < n i he western shores of Behiing 

 ■ iitmits, and they have been iilentiful from our westcrnniost 

 possession, the island of Atton, along through tlie Aleulian 

 group ihrougli llie Oulf of Alaska, and the Indiana of Van- 

 couvera Inland kill them on the western coast while in spring 

 niakin_- •! r'- ,-■ riortli. 



M MS join in their pursuit, and even undergo 



the i: II lent to marriage with native -women for 

 their H:i;.j 



The otter was to a certain extent protected. No white 

 man could kill them, and no tircarms could be used in hunt- 

 ing them, but with inatlequate force to carry oulrthe law it 

 soon became a dead letter. A nundjcr of white men of va- 

 rious nationalities had settled upon tin; ishuid of Ounga f near 

 the south point of Aliaska Peninsula), and empl.jyed them- 

 selves in otter hunting. In IS78 the Treasury Bejiartment 

 gave special permission tosueli wbite.s as were ruarried to na- 

 tive wixnen, and intended lo remain in the territory, to hunt 

 them, wiiicli permission put otters at a discount and women 

 at a premium. But very little ceremony was needed to give 

 them full rights, to both otters and women, which without it 

 Ihey had owned. 



These sipiaw-men liy (heir stendy hunting, freipienlly with 

 guns, are greatly reducing llie supply. .-Vt Atton, 'where 

 they were once aimndant, liul seven wen; killed last year, 

 and in other resorts they are decreasing. A skin worth $5 

 per square foot is worth working for. 



The method of hunting the otter, as practiced by the In- 

 dians of Southeastern Ala«l5a, and T presume much tlie same 

 elsewhere, is as foilows : Theinruters go incompaines of three 

 canoes, eaeli carrying ten paddlers, the one in llie bow be- 

 ing aruied witli a spear or bow and arrows. Lately, muskets 

 have been iutroducid, which are loaded wilh buek-shot; but 

 this is illegal, and lends to drive Ihe aainuils from their 

 breeding gi'ounds, which are on rocky i,-,lands close to the 

 shore, just to the northward of t'ape .':^iieiieer. 



Tile animals seek tlese isleis in May, and the himters 

 rendezvous at them. Wlieji an otter is seen approaching 

 they endeavor to form a circle to seawarti (.^f it, as tpiietly 

 as possible, and then clos(; (in it. W'beji alarmed the otle"r 

 dives and endeavors lo make its way to sea. Although less 

 able to remain luider than the seal, its first dive will some- 

 times last for half an hour ; but if (piickly discovered and 

 followed on reappearing, it soon becoi]ir.t; tallied, and falls to 

 the lot of the boat which lirst wounds it. (beat cm-e is 

 taken to hit it iu the head, and some e'f the Indians are ex- 

 pert shots. 



Any dispute as to ownei-ship is referred to old Kah-hoo- 

 doo-sak, who listens to aU of the evidence, and gives a de- 

 cision which is never questioned. AVilloughby was present 

 at one such arbitral ion. The old man gav<' Ihc skin, worth 

 S7l), to one of Ihe contestants, who was to pay lo tla? other 

 seven blankets, wca'th^Sl. 



All captains of eonipimies report to this chief the number 

 of their otters, and li.; keeiis a tall}'. This year 137 have 

 been tallied, wiaih pi,,!jahiy at least .flO,000. The JntUans 

 say lh::i 111" M i-:il ■ i- lemale at this spring season, but 

 tlicplii ' •! ! ' : i 1-1 pups are frefpientiy on sale. I 

 aupii'i^. i,i,, 1,.; ,. 11, fully as nnjch asdoes the ordi- 



nary supp'iiiei "i .i,aiai; i.itvs in ifew York from kiUingdoes 

 when in the Adiroudacks and out of meat. 



In fall there is another sliorl season, during which all 

 adults are killed wiihout distinction. On nearly everyone 

 of the Aleutian Islands, inseveral places in the Alaska penin- 

 sula, and in as many or more along the western coast, the 

 Alaska Commcreinl Company and the Northwest Pur Com- 

 pany have ngeuls slatiotied who practically monopolize the 

 market in the vieiiiity. 



Hoouah Diek aibnilleil that some of the Alaska hunters 

 used guns, 1 asked him why thev did it, and he said that the 

 English Indians used them; and' unless Ihey did also ibi-y 

 could not got near enough to kill the otters by other means. 

 He and Kah-hoo-doo-sak have promised to break up the 

 custom. 



To-morrow we start for Ghilcat and the glacier. Piseoo. 



PROM NOKTH CAROLINA. 



IT has been said tiiut we, like Kip Van Winkle, sleep. I 

 do not write to deny the charge, but to tell you how 

 blue the sky and bright the sim uudL-r wluch we sleep. We 

 do not know much about the e.Kcitemeuts and turmoils which 

 disturb a great city, nor do we awolter through a brcezeless 

 night among heated brick walls. We do not liearMr. Beeeh- 

 er or Mr. Talmagc on Sunday, or know ab.nii the last opera. 

 We see the caricatures of Nast and occasionally read of the 

 mud which your poliiicians and our own stir u]i, but hajipily 

 we, the negro inchisive, no longer d'Slurb om minds aliout 

 it, but revel in the genial climate, harvest fields, summer 

 fruit, shady LOO ves and soft winds, sweetly dreaming of the 

 charms of ;li' I" autiCul forest, "the mellow horn," "tlie 

 voice iif the hound oil the breeze of the morn" and the rust^ 

 ling wing— at the falling of the leaf. The United States of 

 North America is probably by natural endowment the finest 

 country iu the world, and North Caroliua is as rich in all 

 that goes to make a nalm-al life desirable as it is possible to 



bring together in any one Stale. . Why should we not be 

 happy, and, if we wish, sleep? The game prospect is iiuite 

 good. Most of the early lirorjds are large enough to escape 

 the recent heavy rains, so ilj;ii in i. i Mug w'ill probably 

 be very lino. I miderstaiiu i. i ^ reat inany J'oung 



turkeys, and no doubt the di i : ,:i ■ i -j - well. 



The Stale is divided into three belts running northeast and 

 southwest. The first is from one hmLdred to one hundred 

 and fifty miles wide, and lying 'in the coast (sea) kmjwn as 

 the pine belt, is a level country, and has for game quail, tur- 

 keys, ducks, deer, and in the heavy sv,-am|is r,ejir the coast 

 black boar. Tin; middle belt is a rofliiig e(aintrv and extends 

 about one hundred miles turtlier inland. Being a small grain 

 country it has more quail uud sciuirrels. Turkeys and door 

 are reasonably plenty. The nest, the niouiUaiiious portion, 

 has grou.-o, quail, tiirkoys, deer and bear. 'I'li.-: middle and 

 western portioji, e.sp .i I il;, ilv . : 1". 'i " ■ ' n- tine quail 

 shooting as any r. - ,, ; i,; ,,1,. There 



are an abundance ui iure are so 



many eimvenieiit s\\:i,ii|,- i,,,. i,m, ; . , , ,ii,.„ ; hej- tisually 



lake at the iii'st fli,^:li'. liiai "nievviiat expert in 



thick covi-r tei make a gi — 1 :■_ i n" -,1, he need by no 

 means lie ashamed to bag emly ii df lii^' -hols unless he is a 

 poke who takes only open shots. 



There is hardly a place in North Carolina where a true 

 sportsman may not enjoy himself. The great trouble with 

 those who como into this State for shooliiig is tIj!it4brough a 

 long smnnier they have dreamed oi: and wished the time to 

 eon'ie, until when they flo start it is with inflamed imagina- 

 tions, and they are smei d'cf,.,,-,,-' nO i ]-»;■-,,•■.. ri.n- ,l,.,rt drop 

 immediately into an !i I I ' m nlso 



glare and glitter, tin ' ' , : , nnv 



to scmie weeks with Ml' ;■ ;iii, ,■ ;,. , im :-, rmd 



he may be assured that will ho tind it, with fair apii 1 1 added, 

 in North Carolina. lie can amuse birnRelf wilh ignorance as 

 primitive as the most fastiditais could desire or test liis man- 

 ners with intedigence and grace as courtly as adorns any 

 home in America. He ran .sue a • iiille' Kpeekled bull" in 

 harness to the plow, and nol ;i milr distant llie most perfect 

 modern machinery and iniplcmeiils of agriculiiu-e. Alto- 

 gether we offer both a field of sport and interest. We are a 

 peculiar people, with our "pecuhar institution" gone, and 

 although we have goi ten used to the loss, we have not all 

 leartjed the most profitable ways of the "new departiue." 

 It is sad to thi/ik that many years will couK! before a clear, 

 round shape will lie given to wdiat should be the prosperity 

 of a people so Plr-i'-rd in soil, climate and mind. The saving 

 that it is bar. :-■.■.' ■ • 'M doo^ neu irie.ks is as applicable 



to men as di.; , i,,i iii,|in,,d o. think it esia'cially .so of 



men who live iii;i..'r ■ s-ie ii;.in ,,,iu. >..) fMiiilii ion, however, 

 of climate, age or p..,verty sijl-uis lo dnii the senses of sports- 

 men for the fine points eif the ''new departiue " in guns 

 and dogs. In early autumn the sharp crack of the breech- 

 loader is heard all over the State from the sea lo the moun- 

 tains. Those lieantiful October flays, when the lihie hills 

 seem sleeping in the distance, the fsiiniest misty wii haiius 

 over the gay vroodlaud, and the eye searches ijut, here and 

 there, the fields of brown stubble, more beautiful to us than 

 foliage or flower. 'Tis blessed to have life on such a day, no 

 matter now how much we " think what might have been" 



E. L. H. 



iithtrd Wi^tonj 



DOMESTICATION OF THE OSTRICH. 



BY B. B. Eiaa.VTt. 



IT will perhaps surpiisi' sdiHH t 

 AND StkBAM to leain tliiil Dl 

 now used in the civilized eounlri 

 farmers and are clipped from Ian 

 from the slieep. Yet such is the 

 that all readers of (lie Forks'i 



f Ihe readers of the Pokest 

 ist of the ostrich feathers 

 s come from the hands of 

 ed svings as wool is taken 

 tase, and its I iiaveno doubt 

 Stkeaw would be glad to 



lcnowsomethingofthe.se "farms," I will take them 

 Imaginary visit to one in the colony of the Cape of Good 

 Hope. It was here, about twenty years ago, that a Cape far- 

 mer, whose sheep had failed him through disoa.se' and drought, 

 conceived the idea of domesticafinLt the wild ostiieh and 

 breeding them for Ihc sake of his feaihers and nf making a 

 business of the iudustrv. With much pultlic spirit ho advo- 

 cated this for the lienedit of his fcllow-ailouisls as well as 

 himself ; hut although some farmers had occasionally, from 

 almost the earliest days of settlement, caught soine wild 

 chicken and kept it on their f irm.s, no one seems ever to ha 



thought of making it a trade 



tioiied above, who.se name was Ki 



the sale of the feathers was pjo/iia' 



about 18(55 that other farmeis begai 



In that year ttiere were eighty ttune 



various districts, but sli |irLi/iiabl.- d 



and such a mania did i i . , . ; 



tenyesxrs Ihcnumiiei ii i i i . i 



past five years that ;■■ ■ 



now, therefi'o i 



through the mi, i, 



jeci of this a I 



give seime idi;a -i. lU.; c.i.„... ■ ; \ C. 



life the farmer leads. Imagine yrai 



inland district, or as it would be cal 



Capo, say Graaff Reiuel. In one ep 



haps some craggy mouulain rises hi 



land, but on aU other sides is a Ivare 



tions, rolling endlessly e>ui of sight, 



closer view, wo see far a\v;iy a clum 



gray rock, answeiing a.s migin, u ■' i 



to break the monotouy uf wave ; e.n 



washed dwelling shines likes the lai 



bosom of the oceau. It and its attached tiuililiti; 



only houses in sight, and these are the ostricl 



faimier is not an olti Cape colonist of Dm.: li .;;•, i 



genial EuglLshmau, and to your asti I, 



the accent and polished stylo of an i 



did ho gel here in this wilderness, rt 



refined society iu an enlightencLl n;i:0. 



comfortable surroundings of a fashionabk 



haps? And he tolls you as we ent<a- his ho 



are the very things that have driven him here, 



that English refi^uement is cloaked liypacriB\ 



flve-meal-a-day style of living is bringing i i u 



man with liis contemportu-ies down to the en n n- 



nien. Ue has Iimken tlacmgli Ihese toils ami is now hero in 



an air where lie geis a ,^..nd a|i[.eiiie, and endeavors to live a 



life more m aeeordanee' with nainro. Brown bread, mutton 



and the plainest, lighteSL pudding now takes the place of the 



ness. Thi 



niiiar. demonstraled Ihat 



lie, i-n' \i was not until 



; '' ■ :.'!"nn. : lis- business. 



■■-■I ■■!. !,• Ill i,ie colony in 



■ i '•'■■' iin--n!!-,s^, turn out 



n L the succeeding 



liiiO, and within the 



nil doubled. It is 



iifl industry, spreading 



Africa. It is not the ob- 



re "trade," but rather to 



le f.irms and the kind of 



■self planted down iu an 



led here, a county of the 



larler of the horizon per- 



y\i over the surrounding 



ocean of treeless Undida- 



.11 ere and there, on ;i 



p of bu.slies, or a ridge of 



vJiite cap" on the water 



d here before us, a whi'e- 



f a light -house on the 



are the 



farm. The 



raeiion, hut a 



■ :; you with 



n'nr. How 



■■.nil alT'ua; 

 : lite, per- 

 iiie thai these 



111-' O'lls v.ill 



injurious dainties of the English "highly civilized" table, 

 and he finds his dyspeptic miseries Tanishing ■without medi- 

 cine. But we have come to see his ostriches not to hear his 

 life. "You hear that noise ?" asks the firmer in seemingly 

 irrelevout reply to our statement of the object of our visit. 

 "Tes; it is Uke the low trill of a policeman's whistle. 

 What is it V" "' Here, Nasili.N'ana," says the farmer, " take 

 the cover olf th.at bo.x." Nasilwana, a stout, well-condition- 

 ed, colored girl, born probably in .some wihl-bush doll iu 

 PiugoUuid, removes a rug from a biscuit box in the corner, 

 and up starts the head of a beautiful birel. Y'tm name three 

 or four birds which on after-thought you conclude it isn't, 

 and then you make up yoiu mind it is some wild African bird 

 you have never seen. And it is, for it is a chicken ostrich. 

 "And is that the way you hatch them?" you may ask. 

 " No ; that is a chick, the last of a whole luood. I suppose 

 the old bird got tired waiting for it to come out, and left it 

 to its fate. But the old birds are generally very careful 

 hatchers, and when a chick is too feeble to pick through the 

 shell, they help it out often by breaking it themselves." "I 

 thought they hatched their "eggs in tiic Saud like a turtle." 

 "Not in this eouatry. 3lany of them never leave their nests 

 during the whole time of sitting, not even for an hour ; but 

 some birds lay their eggs about, and will not hatch at all. 

 WUd ostriches are often so disposed, tlie_v say. anrl ibis has 

 been the origin of the notion among hnulcrs that eggs were 

 hatched in the saud. This little cliick I brought out yester- 

 day, and am making this box answer the place of a mcther 

 tilf to-day. When I bring the old birds up I will try to smug- 

 gle this bird among them, for they sometimes refuse to ac- 

 knowledge a chick that is not their own, and frequently kill 

 them — perhaps eat them afterward." 'i\w. chick is now set 

 out on the floor, and what a beautiful creature it is to be sure. 

 Its scaly legs, very stout, but not ugly, stand upon two toes 

 each — two comical looking members, one large and one 

 small, the large one terminating in a lioolted nail that de- 

 velops into a formidable -n'oapon in the old bird. Its cliumpy 

 body is already as largo in appearance as a hen's and is covr 

 ered with a down, yell.jwish on llip breast and brownish on 

 the back, while over this down little porcupine-like quills, 

 about an inch locg, some dark and some light, stick out iu 

 all directions, as if chopped hay had been sprmkled over the 

 creature's back. Its well-shaped neck is covered wilh a sort 

 of fur like fine seal, prettily mottled and striped in black and 

 brown, and tills organ is surmounlod by the most beautiful 

 and shapely head possible to imagine in 'an undeveloped bird, 

 covered with the same fur but darker brosvn in color. Its 

 intelligent looking crown spreads above a pair of eyes re- 

 markably full and expressive, and a most comely beak com- 

 pletes the picture. AVhen placed upon the lloeir he sits comi- 

 cally upon his haunches and looks inqubsilively about as if to 

 nqiure what is the meaning of it all We are now told that 

 fliis is the way they do for the first two or three days of their 

 open air existence and that at the end of that lin'ie Iho first 

 thing they eat is not food hut pelibles and sand and pieces of 

 then- own shells. I'his is to prepare ilioir gi'/.7.ard for the en- 

 trance of food. They then eat iiLseels, snakes, lizards and 

 grasses. Now let us ifollow the farmer to the osirich camp. 

 What is a camp ? On this farm it is an inclosure of varying 

 size from half an acre to ten acres, fenced iu with a hedge of 

 dry low bush known as "gras.s" in many paits here. The 

 fwice is only three or four feet high, yet it is sidflcient to 

 keep the largest ostrich within its bmit's, and we are confi- 

 dently told by the fai-mer would serve that purpose if it were 

 only one or two feet high. Our host goes to a rude little 

 gate and in a peculiar drawling voice calls out : " Cool-cool- 

 cool, cDol-cool-cool," and lo ! a big stick with a knot on the 

 top of it rises out of the thicket at the other end of the 

 camp. No, it is the neck of an oslrlcli, as wc can now^ see by 

 its large black body, moving out into the open space. He 

 knows the call well enough, but he is not so anxious to re- 

 spond even at the sight of a disli of mealies (Indian corn), 

 as he was befo.e he had charge of the little brood that may 

 now be seen moving about him. In fact, he has become the 

 molber more truly than the meitlier herself, who now appears 

 to view in another jiart of the camp. Whether he might 

 come if a stranger were not present is a question, but at all 

 events he merely walks to the other side of the camp and 

 takes observations. At last our host considers it best to 

 take the chicken in to him, if be will nol come 'Ihe little 

 l.ia-sket in which the chicken now is placed, covered from 

 sighl, is taken up, and he enters. ■■ Do we wish to go in wilh 

 him,'" Certainly we do. "Then talie this in oiie hand," 

 says thei farmer, Inmdiu!; one of two long thorn poles with a 

 cluster of the thorn bush left on the oiid.'^" What is this for?" 

 we ask. "That is a luck. When either of them make at 

 you just keep Ihat at his neck. As long as you can do so 

 you are safe. But if — ." 



At tills poini we cijncliide that it will be belter fim to sit 

 outside and watch. The farmer smiles a grim and cruel 

 smile and goes in alone with the "tuck" in eine hand and the 

 basket in Ihe other. On approaching the great black bird, 

 with his head high above the farmer's, sloivly Hai.ishis wings, 

 like the dcliberare swing of a punkah, and iidgins lo hiss like 

 a serpent. At the signal ihe chickens dutter, seatter and dis- 

 appear iu a most unaccountable wn\'. The farmer, after an 

 ejaculation of disapiioininieiil. edges the bird down toward 



where wo arc stay H ' ■ m the spot near where the 



liirds have disappi n ,oilage of a moment when 



the old one does nn: , Idling and empties the 



chick out. Strange LSI .Sill ., n , i: ., . ,^ |.,^^ 



from my sight in the grass. m- 



bles. We uow retire to a O' ,dt 



events. By and by, after tla ....__;, ieu 



that ^\e have not gone away, lie. cuek bird utters a pliuulive 

 sound, a, son of w hi.op wit henit 1 he p, and in a few moments 

 the oliickens, well km, wing ihe .somid, are again at his .side. 

 Rather to the siu-prise of ihe fannei, on countlue them Ihere 

 isone more chicken tlmn thr original Itrood con.sisled of, so 

 that the lately lialehed chiek had come, too, in ready re- 

 sponse to a call it had heard for the first time. And the old 

 bird, as it afterward transpired, did not know or did nol ob- 

 ject to the increase in the family. Now we go to another 

 "krall" or camp. Here Is another pair of birds whose pale 

 legs, sickly beaks and poor-looking figures are pointed out as 

 signs that they have linished their incubation, and their 

 broods lieing taken away jire recuperating their strength for 

 another season. At this time they are quite tame, and there 

 is seldom any need of the "tuek'" when going among them. 



In another eamp adjoining are a pair teat arc hatchine. 

 They have just begun their labors, wliiol, oilr.. p,sr, twice the 

 time of an ordinary hen, and theii ins si, n |i ;,„. crimson 

 rest in some parts. The hen is uo-,v ,.. n, and is not 



easily perceived, althougli ihere ain .1 , ' -hes in the 

 camp, and even those small and stragglio.g. Ihere she lies, 

 ■with her head and neck stretched prone upon the ground, but 

 her eye quietly watching our movements. IJuder her 

 doubled-up legs two or three of her monstrous eggs may be 



