THE AMERICAN 



[Entered According- to Act of Congress, 



SPORTSMAN'S 



the year 1B79, by tha Forest and Stream Publishing Company, 1 



JOURNAL. 



the Offlco of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.! 



NEW YORK, THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 1880. 



CONTENTS. 



AXSWEKS TO CORP.KSPONnENTS 149 



Ancniinv :— , , 



Usefulness of Indoor Practice; "Hounders" in Archery; 

 New York Archery Club; Correction; Good Suggestion; 

 Tenuis and Archery Club; Cincinnati Association; Battle 



Creek Archers 1« 



Cricket :— 

 Port Hope Club; Northwestern Team; Baltimore; Oregon; 

 Wonderful Scoring in Australia 146 



Removal ;' Game and Fish Hcsorts; The New York Bench 

 Show: The New York State Tournament; Notes; Presi- 

 dent Adams on Dogs ; A Century Beneath the Waves 150 



Fish Ouhccbb:— 

 American Fish Cultural Association ; Ilrook Trout In Ponds; 



TheMcCloudBivorDam 14fi 



Game Bao and Gun :— 

 Coot Shooting- on Long Island Sound; Beach Shootlnjr on 

 Jessup's Neck, My First Shooting on Au Saut.le Flats; 

 Notes; The St. Mary's and Okeefeenoke; Strange Cap- 

 ture of aDoye; Shooting Matches 151 



Game Protection :— 



Hbiokbirds for Central Park ; What is the Hcmedy? Belle- 



< . >i .... ' i i . .iL-.i's Ciub ; Ohio • New Montana Clubs 151 



The Kesnel :— 

 New York Hog Show: A Gladstone Puppy ; Importations; 

 Exercise Chain with Traveler: Essex County Hunt; 



Worms in Dogs ; Bare Spots on Dogs ; Kennel Notes 147 



Miscellany:— 

 The Attractions of Arkansas: Second Paper; A Day in the 



Woods 143 



Natural History :— 

 Giant Lizards of the Jurassic; Notes; Parasites In a Ducks 



Flesh «.... 115 



Publishers' Department 158 



The Rifle:— 

 Hange and Cnllcry, Team Shooting: Vernier Sights for 



Hunting; Hunting Bines ; Swaging Evei lasting Shell 154 



Sea and River Fishing :— 

 Wawavainifi Fishing Club: Grayling Fishing; Varnished 



Fly-Hods; Trout Fishing in Connecticut llii 



Woman's Column-:— 



"Max's" Reply to "M.f A Batch of Recipes - loG 



Yachting and Oanoelng:— 

 Constitution of the N. Y.A.; The N. Y. A.; Measurement: 

 The Herreshoff System: "Corinthian" Answers: Yacht- 

 ing News ; Drift 155 



Attractions of ^jhnnsns. 



v : SECOND PAPER. 



IN touching upon the river system of Arkansas, it will 

 not be necessary to lie very statistical. A glance at 

 the map will show that the Mississippi River flows along 

 the greater part of the eastern boundary of the State, 

 and the Red Eiver of Louisiana along a small part of 

 the southwestern. 



Beginning then in the northeast, we find first the St. 

 Francis River, flowing out of the State of Missouri 

 through low lands, cypress swamps, cane-brakes, etc., 

 in a generally southerly direction, and emptying into 

 the Mississippi. This river is navigable by steamboats 

 for a portion of the year. It is stocked with all the 

 courser varieties of fish, and has some bass, and many 

 perch of different varieties. Then comes LTAnguilla, a 

 sluggish and unimportant stream. Proceeding west- 

 ward, Crowley's Ridge, a low range of hills, is crossed, 

 and Cache River reached. It is a thin, chocolate colored 

 stream, with immense " bottoms " and cypress swamps 

 — all of which are, at certain seasons, filled to overflow- 

 ing with dii ty water. The stream rises in Missouri, and 

 empties into the White River, in Monroe Comity. But 

 for a railway bridge near the mouth, this stream would 

 be navigable for light-draft steamers. The river is well 

 stocked with fish, and flows through a notable game coun- 

 try, much of which is in its native wilderness state. Deer, 

 turkeys and bears abound aloug the course of this river, 

 and wild fowl in astonishing numbers visit its sloughs 

 and shallows. A portable boat would be a great help in 

 this region. Going still westward we come to the Black 

 River, a fine stream of dark-colored water — properly 

 named — rising in the mountain country of Missouri, 

 flowing southward through the northeastern part of the 

 State, and emptying into the White River at Jackson- 

 port. The stream is rough and rapid in its upper course, 

 and smooth, but not sluggish, in its lower. It is well 

 stooked with game fish, as well as tho coarser varieties, 

 and there are some notable trolling places along its 

 oourse. Both the main stream and its tributaries are 

 noted for the hunting grounds in their vicinity. Wild 



fowl, in their annual migrations, pursue the course of 

 this river. The stream is navigable for steamboats most 

 of the year to, and into, Missouri. Packets ply regu- 

 larly as "far as Pocahontas, Ark. The " boss" of this line 

 never neglects an opportunity to place a sportsman under 

 obligations to him. Being of the fraternity himself, he 

 calls it " being good to his own sort." At Jaeksonport 

 the Black River is joined by a stream of the clearest 

 water in the Stale, one as well entitled to its name of 

 White River as is the Black. This river rises in the Bos- 

 ton Mountains in the northwest corner of this State, and 

 flows northeast into the Missouri, thence southeast again 

 uto this State, and eventually into the Mississippi. This 

 stream is navigable, and actually navigated by steam- 

 boats to Batesville all the year, and as far a? Forsythe, 

 Mo., during the winter and" spring months. It is abun- 

 dantly stocked with game and food fishes. Its banks 

 abound in good hunting grounds, and the mountain 

 scenery along the upper waters is exceptionally fine, and 

 worthy of far more attention than it receives. Tributary 

 to this are several rivers of lesser note ; as Little Red, 

 Sycamore. Buffalo Fork, King's River, etc., all well 

 stocked with fish, and all running through noted game 

 regions. In While River and its tributaries, the Ohio 

 River salmon or glass-eyed pike (Stizostedeum arneri- 

 cana), the striped bass (Roccus ehrysops), and the croppie 

 or speckled perch (Pomoxys hemicanthus), are taken in 

 greater numbers than elsewhere in the State — or in the 

 world for that matter. 



In the southern part of the State, tributary to the Ar- 

 kansas, nre the Petit Jean (pronounced Petty John), and 

 the Font cite la Fave (Foos.li la Fay) rivers ; and tributary 

 to Red River are Little River, Washita, Bayou Moro, 

 Saline, and Bayou Bartholomew. The most considera- 

 ble of these, the Washita, is navigable for steamboats— 

 ndeed are all the others to a somewhat less extent. 

 It will be seen that this is preeminently a land of naviga- 

 ble streams— and consequently of steamboats— so that it 

 is comparatively easy to reach any desired point in the 

 State. To this may be added, fair railway facilities ; but 

 the prime favorite with the native population i3 the 

 steamboat. 



In the bottom lands, along the lower course of these 

 rivers, and within the district covered by their annual 

 overflow, is a system of lakes, lagoons, or ponds, usually 

 lying low— any thing but inviting in aspect— surrounded 

 by cypress trees of large si/.e, possessing and needing no 

 long streamers of moss to intensify and set oft their un- 

 speakable dreariness. The sportsman soon becomes habit- 

 uated to these gloomy scenes, and learns to find not only 

 fish and game, but pleasure in exploring them. They 

 usually have one bluff (but not very high), and one low 

 or sloping bank. Tho high bank is not unfrequently 

 covered with a luxuriant growth of cane, furnishing un- 

 limited supplies of fishing-rods, as well as affording cover 

 and concealment to the oareful hunter. The lakes are 

 generally supposed to be old river beds, and are uni- 

 formly of the width of tho parent stream. They are re- 

 sorted to by myriads of wild fowl in the winter months. 

 Some of them "are quite deep, and many are fed by cool 

 springs at the bottom. These latter are exceptionally 

 well stocked with fish. Concerning the system of lagoons, 

 of which these form so considerable a part, I quote from 

 good old " Uncle Thad " (Am. Angler's Book, pp. 112) :— 

 "The lakes, as they are oalled (though they are more 

 properly ponds), along the alluvial banks of the Missis- 

 sippi become very low after a succession of dry seasons 

 atid the fish cease to breed in them ;, this, with excessive 

 fishing with nets and hooks, almost depopulates those 

 waters, but when a good rise in the river overflows the 

 bottom lands, the ponds are swept of the foul water and 

 replenished with fresh, and at the same time restocked 

 with fish. Then it appears almost miraculous where the 

 vast numbers of croppies, bass, perch and other fish come 

 from, and there is no other way of accounting for this 

 fact than by supposing that all the lakelets and streams 

 of Wisconsin and Minnesota to the north, have thrown 

 off their surplus production, which they appear to have 

 garnered up." 



To give any adequate account of the numDor, extent 

 and resources of these lagoons would far exceed the al- 

 lowable limits of this paper. I will only add that they 

 are as a general rule stocked with our game fishes— pick- 

 erel, bass and perch, independently of the character of 

 the parent stream. To illustrate: it is generally believed 

 here that the Mississippi, the Arkansas and Red rivets do 

 not present the conditions necessary to these fishes, and 

 that they are consequently not stocked with them, as Sup 

 the Other rivers— the White, the Washita, etc. My owt 

 observations have satisfied me of this fact, The lake 

 along these streams, on the contrary, are well stocks 

 with choice specimens of the bass and perch tribes, In- 

 deed, the fiuest pickerel and black bass I have seen in 

 the State came from a lake in the vicinity of Arkansas 

 River, when not a specimen could be taken in that stream 

 in a week's fishing. Both the Arkansas and Red rivers 

 fiow r across the "plains" and are subject to the "red rise" 

 at high water in the spring or early summer, when the 

 waters are discolored by contact with some formation 

 through which rhev pass. Assuming that this is the 



keep them witl: 

 a fault, yielded 

 labor invested, 

 ithcr 



than the' 

 ■p, ho ' 



cause of tho absence of game fish from the main streams 

 the Mississippi above the mouth of the Missouri should 

 be. Blocked With them, and probably is. 



To the geologist and the student of natural lustorv, 

 Arkansas presents a field full of rare attractions. But 

 time and space alike are wanting to even touch upon 

 them. I write in this letter only for the sportsman, and 

 id I but set the bauds on the dial-plate of Time back 

 mtyvftve years, then indeed might I hope to say some- 

 thing of interest to that class. That was indeed a " bliss- 

 ful and never to be forgotten age, when everything was 

 better than it has been since, or ever will be again." In 

 those days game was too plentiful to afford sport. The 

 ts of the people were few and simple, and easily sup- 

 plied. If meat were wanting, the man of the house 

 •ould rise a little earlier than usual and repair to the 

 cods with the faithful dog and the trusty gun. Early 

 breakfast time would see him back again with the choice 

 parts of a fat buck. At the approach of cool weather in 

 the fail, a week or so set apart for that purpose would 

 produce an abundance of animal food for tho winter 

 supply. Many are the tales of adventures with panthers, 

 etc. , happened upon in excursions after the more useful 

 animals of the chase. Occasionally the animals classed 

 varmints " becoming too numerous for comfort, 

 neighborhoods would turn out to destroy them, and thus 

 ' u proper bounds. The soil, generous to 

 i most; disproportionate reward to the 

 Cattle and hogs came on apace, with no 

 re able to bestow upon thein- 

 seem never to have thrived, 

 and never have been able, even unto this day, to gain 

 favor in the eyes of the people, owing probably to a mis- 

 taken notion that they bite and worry the dog ! How- 

 ever, as I have already remarked, the wants of the peo- 

 ple were few and they were happy. Money, that great 

 ■orruptet' of human morals, was net In all the land. The 

 unit of currency, the dollar of the Arkansas daddies, so 

 to speak, was the skin of the deer. Change was made 

 in coon-skins and the aristocratic five and ten dollar bills 

 were represented by the outward coverings of the brar 

 and the beaver. Even taxes were paid in this currency. 

 "Bug-juice" was obtained and used in moderation — on 

 account of the malaria — and that custom is honored even 

 unto this day. 



I have spoken of the Boston Mountains in the north- 

 western part of the State. Whether these elevations on 

 the fair face of the State were named for the " Athens 'of 

 America" and the "Hub of the Universe," is not now to 

 be even conjectured. One thing, however, is certain, the 

 "Athens" of Arkansas and the seat of her only Uni- 

 versity of learning, the town of Fayettville, is in the 

 very heart of these mountains, and all the region round- 

 about boasts of the culture and refinement of her peo- 

 ple. It is in these mountains that the scene of tho story 

 of lite "Arkansas Traveler " is laid, a story from which 

 it is said file general impression of the people of our 

 State is almost wholly derived. This story has been in 

 print and may bo familiar to many of your readers ; to 

 many of the younger, however, it will be new. I have 

 procured a copy from B. S. Afford, Esq., formerly of 

 Little Book, Ark., now with his brothers, A. & A. G. 

 Afford, 23 S. Calvert street, Baltimore, Ark., gun deal- 

 ers, who kindly gives permission to publish. 



"Col. Sandy Faulkner, the original 'Arkansaw Trav- 

 eler,' was born in Georgetown, Scott County, Ky., 

 March Sd, 180a. He came to Arkansas in 1820, and set- 

 tled in Clticot County, on the Mississippi River, as a cot- 

 ton planter. In 183'.', Co). Faulkner (with his father, the 

 late Nicholas Faulkner, a Virginian by birth) took up Iris 

 residence in Little Rock, where he died August 4th, 1874, 

 at the age of seventy-one years. 



"It is well known throughout the Northwest that Col. 

 Faulkner was the original personator of the 'Arkausaw 

 Traveler ; ' it was Iris pride to be known as such. The 

 story, it is said, was founded on a little incident wdiich 

 occurred in tho campaign of 1810, when he mado the 

 tour of the Stale in company with the Hon. A. H. Sevier, 

 Gov. Fulton, Chester Ashley and Gov. Yell. One day in 

 the Boston Mountain, the party approached a squatter's 

 for information of the route, and Col. 'Sandy' was 

 made spokesman of Hie company, and it was upon his 

 witty responses the tune and story were founded. On 

 return to Little Rock, a grand banquet was given in the 

 ■ :o stand Dear the An- 

 was called upon to play 

 t-ward it grew into pop- 

 went to New Orleans, 

 -eler ' bad gone ahead of 

 nking glasses and bril- 

 .■iolin by the then Gov- 

 ernor of Louisiana, and requested to favor them with 

 the favorite Arkansas tune. At the old St. Charles Hotel 

 a special room wa^ devoted to his use bearing in gilt let- 

 ters over the door, 'Arkausaw Traveler.'" 



A lost and .bewildered Arkansas traveler approaches. 

 the cabin of a. squatter, about forty years ago, in search 

 of lodgings, and the following dialogue ensues, tb* 



famous ' bar-room ' wh 

 thorn- House, and Col. 

 the Utue and tell the si 

 ularitv. When he sut 

 the fame of the 'Arkf 



leh used 



ir\ Ai'tc 

 us aw TlW 



htm, and at a banque 

 liant toasts, he was 1 



, amid el 

 anded a 



