"\THE AMERICAN SPORTSMAN'S 



[Entered According to Act of Congress, in the your 1879, by the Forest and Stream Publishing Company, in 



JOURNAL. 



the Office of the librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



NEW YORK, THURSDAY, MAY 6, 1880. 



CONTENTS. 



Answers to Correspondents 269 



AnciiEnv :— . , _ 



The Highland Park Archer? ; Eastern Archery Association ; 

 Angling in the Sandwich islands 26S 



Chick kt :— 

 MatoUsSj Notes; Devolving in Cricket 27;> 



Editorial :- 

 Who Goes With Ton; George Washington and Tiish'Wolf- 

 Hounds; Spring- lever : A Brace of (ieese; Notes and 

 Queries; George C. Col burn ; Notea 271 



Fish Oin.Tr he;— 

 Rapid Grow Hi of Brook Trout 21n 



Bams bag and Gun :— 

 Texas Dees Shooting : A Carom in Gooae Shooting; Lunch- 

 ing wiih a Grizzly: Anent the Cats; NoteSl Shooting 

 Matches - 271 



Game Protection:— 

 Another Good Suggestion 271 



The Kknnel:— 

 The New 1'orl; Dog Show: Maui-on Square Garden; Point 

 Juda-ing ut Shows; Ena-lish F,i-ni>m in Do- flesh ; Tho 

 Hinging and the Dinging of the Hell; Prof. Huxley oo 

 the Dog; A Dog Storv from (iibraller: The Watch-Dog 

 Instinct , 267 



Miscellany :— 

 Grand Falls, New Brunswick: Fish and Game About Port 

 Custer; Dints for Adirondack Visitors; How n Strikes a 

 Stranger 263 



Natural HiSTOBY:— 

 Argvle vs. Audubon ; An Invitation to "Peregrine ; " A Pet 

 Squirrel; Parasites in a Duck's Flesh ; Swallows and Bed 

 Bugs; Spruce Partridge? : When Do Bearers HaveToung? 

 Do Gray S.juirrel'F lay Up a Winter Si ore of FoodV Tax- 

 idermy wiihout a Teacher... 265 



PrniLiprrEHs' Depabtment 277 



Tub Rifle:— 

 Bangeand Gallery; National Guard Practice for 1SS0; Aus- 

 tralian Biiiemen 273 



JBea and KrvER Fishtno :— 



Fancy Fly-Ho, is iv. whittled Poles; An Acknowledgment ; 

 Nous; Preparing for the Black Bass Campaign; Trolling 

 For Salmon Trout ...... 265 



Yachting, and Canoeing;— 

 Yachting News; The Crusader; An Eastern Association; 

 Canoes and the Canoe Congress ; A Ten Days' Cruise in '79. 27-1 



$mid rgnlk, 



humwick, 



AS you must have niauy readers who, deriving infor- 

 mation and amusement weekly from your columns, 

 Overlook their obligation to contribute their quota to the 

 general fund of information interesting to sportsmen and 

 tourists, I desire (being myself an arch offender in this 

 respect) to cast off my burden of ingratitude, which en- 

 cumbers my soul, and gain absolution by offering some 

 suggestions to my fellow readers, anent a corner of the 

 eartn which seems little known to the "Walton's" or 

 A Cotton's " of this continent, and also a terra incognita 

 ["to the blase children of fashion, who have long ago 

 Syoted Niagara a bore, and Saratoga, Long Branch, etc., 

 "played out." 

 To all s uc I would recommend a trip, this coming 

 [iltaiauier, to Grand Falls, New Brunswick. I fattcy I 

 . hear scores of anxious voices asking " Where on earth is 

 that, and how shall we get there ? " so here goes to sup- 

 ply the information. From Boston, take the Eastern 

 Bail way to Portland, thence by Maine Central Railway 

 to Bangor, there connecting with the E. and N. A. Rail- 

 [ way for McAdam Junction, there taking the New Bruns- 

 wick and Canada Railway to Woodstock, and thence by 

 L-New Brunswick Railway to Grand Falls ; the whole 

 I distance being about 400 miles. Baggage cau be checked 

 I through from Boston. Should time not be an object, 

 | this route can be varied by taking steamer from Boston 

 I pr Portland to St. John, N. B., from whence (after due 

 I admiration of the public buildings) let tho tourist hie 

 him away to Froderickton, where he will most likely 

 I have to stay over-night. The hotels are, however, good 

 I .and reasonable, and the city, being the seat of laws and 



[yearning, and noted withal for the piety of .its inhabit- 

 ants, the. brief sojourner will doubtless improve his moral 

 | and intellectual tone, especially if he should perchance 

 I hail from the wicked regions of Wall street, or some 

 I other shrine of Mammon, 



I Being now in proper trim to enjoy the beauties of na- 

 ture, he will take the New Brunswick Railway for Grand 

 Falls, This line has evidently been constructed with a 

 > prospective eye to the -welfare of pleasure Beakers, as it 



sinuous course enables the eager traveler to take in the 

 beautiful woodland scenery to be found in so many 

 places along the route. Arrived at the Falls, no vocifer- 

 ous and extortionate backmen salute the ears of the 

 weary traveler with their clamor, nor will he be torn 

 limb from limb by energetic touts. A civil young gen- 

 tleman may indeed proffer bis services to take checks 

 and escort one to the hotel 'bus, and there the trouble 

 ends, for in five minutes we may be smoking a cigar 

 with mine host Herbert, as genial a New Englander as 

 ever it was my fortune to meet, A retired sea-captain, 

 he possesses a fund of anecdote and a most refreshing 

 flow of spirits ; and, if one enjoys real hearty good-hu- 

 mored chaff, he may have his fill at the "Captain's" 

 hands (or mouth) to the heart's content. The Grand Falls 

 Hotel is amply furnished with the requisites for the com- 

 fort of the tourist and his family. Good rooms, a capital 

 cuisine, and excellent attendance, are all to be found 

 within its portals, and to crown all, you will never make 

 a wry face when your bill is presented. 



As for the falls, I must confess that my usually facile pen 

 fails me in the attempt to describe them. Niagara, with 

 its vast unbroken sheet of water falling from a stupen- 

 dous height, impresses us with a sense of awful sublimity, 

 increasing as we gaze upon its wonders ; but for rare 

 charm and exquisite beauty the St. John River cataract 

 stands without a rival. The immense mass of water, 

 pitching from a precipice eighty feet high, hurls itself into 

 the boiling cauldron beneath, its bulk being broken in the 

 descent by jutting rocks into a thousand fantastic shapes 

 and feathery spray, which in the bright rays of the sun 

 produce bows of surpassing brilliancy. Below its plunge 

 the river (before a broad and smooth expanse) is confined 

 in a narrow gorge, in places not more than thirty feet 

 wide, hemmed in by huge and beetling cliffs over 300 

 feet high flowing on the water beneath, which, for three- 

 quarters of a mile, rushes along in mad career, surging 

 and boiling with frightful force and turbulence, till it 

 reaches a spacious basin beneath. In this gorge are to 

 be seen five large natural wells from thirty to forty feet 

 deep, and fifteen feet in diameter, worn by the action of 

 the water as smooth and symmetrical as if hewn and 

 polished by the most skilled artificer ; also, an enormous 

 cavern ho'llowed out of the surface of the cliff. Still 

 lower down the stream, tho eddying water forms a whirl- 

 pool called the "Coffee Mill," within whose gaping jaws 

 logs of large ;size are drawn and gradually crushed to 

 matchwood. A commodious stairway is provided to de- 

 scend and view these wonders ; descending which we 

 reach the water's edge, and gaze upon the weird and un- 

 couth forms assumed by the furious watery element, 

 while above, the sky is seen only as a narrow strip of blue, 

 the luxuriant foliage surmounting the wall-like cliffs, 

 seeming almost to meet overhead. The view by moon- 

 light, with the pallid rays feebly struggling to pierce the 

 somber gloom which envelopes river, rock and tree, 

 is simply indescribable. The lumberiug operations, car- 

 ried on so extensively up the river, necessitate the logs 

 being sent over the falls, they being afterward secured 

 and rafted in the basin below. Standing by the fall, we 

 can see immense trees take the plunge, often remaining 

 below the surface for a minute, when they shoot up sud- 

 denly, twenty or thirty feet above the water, like some 

 great monolith reared on end, falling back with a tre- 

 mendous splash into the water. 



But I am forgetting, m my enthusiasm, all about the 

 angling to be had in the neighborhood, and such ang- 

 ling ! Ye gods and little fishes ! No, not little fishes, 

 but great lusty, hard fighting trout abound in the numer- 

 ous streams and lakelets, within an hour's drive from the 

 village. To describe or locate all these would fill a book, 

 and having, I fear, been already rather prolix, 1 will 

 simply suggest to the lovers of the angle coming this 

 way the necessity of filling their books with suitable 

 lures for the unsophisticated piscines, and above all 

 things not to forget their landing nets, or woe betide 

 them when they get among the two or three pounders. 



For off days there are plenty of pleasant drives, notably 

 to the Dominion Salmon Hatchery, about three miles 

 down the river ; the Danish settlement, about eight miles 

 away on the banks of Salmon River ; St. Basil's Nunnery, 

 up stream about eleven miles, and other places of interest 

 reached by good roads, through wild mountain scenery. 



For information as to facilities for fishing, gunning, 

 etc., other than that now afforded, I would advise your 

 readers to address F. W. Brown. Fsq., the Collector of 

 Customs at Grand Falls, who will, I doubt not, be happy 

 to answer anv enquiries. 



I hope that my suggestions may prove the means of 

 bringing many of my fellow sportsmen this uext sum 

 tuer Into these "fresh fields and pasturesnew." 



Maitkl-de-I'emme, N, B, Salmo Fontinaus, 



FISH AND GAME AT FORT CUSTER. 



-p-^ORT CUSTER, Montana, is situated on the northern 

 JP point of the Big Horn Plateau, near the confluence of 

 the Big and Little Big Horn Rivers. On the west and 

 north is the valley of the Big Horn ; on the east the Little 

 Big Horn valley, and on the south and southeast tho 

 plateau gradually rises until it culminates in the range 

 known as the Big .Horn Mountains. 



These two rivers contain several varieties of fish, 

 among which may be named pika, cat, sturgeon and buf- 

 falo, but no trout, the nearest trouting being about 

 thirty-five miles distant. 



Canon Creek— so called because its bed is so much de- 

 pressed from the level of the surrounding country — is 

 claimed by local sportsmen to be the best trout stream in 

 the vicinity. One party informed me that the trout they 

 caught in this stream averaged three pounds each. On 

 account of the depth and steepness of the walls of the 

 canons in which the stream has its bed, it is very difficult 

 of access, the walls being about thirteen hundred feet in 

 height and almost perpendicular, and the points at which 

 the descent can be made are few. The stream is about 

 fifty yards in width, although, gazing from the level, it 

 appears to bo about one yard. The fishing grounds are 

 almost directly south of here. 



About twenty-five miles beyond Canon Creek we reach 

 Pryor's Creek, and the point at which it leaves the Big 

 Horn Mountain. This stream is also of good repute as a 

 trout stream. Canon Creek is a tributary of the Big 

 Horn River, and Pryor's of the Yellowstone. 



Leaving Custer on the Rock Creek and Fort Custer 

 stage road, in a southeasterly direction, we find several 

 more good camping grounds for the exercise of our skill 

 as trouters. Grass Lodge Creek, a tributary of the Little 

 Big Horn, is about thirty-five miles distant, the latter 

 stream also containing trout ten or twelve miles further 

 up. Tongue River and tributaries, at a distance of about a 

 hundred utiles from its mouth — it is a tributary of the 

 Yellowstone — also shelters the much sought-f or mountain 

 trout. 



The two first-mentioned streams are not accessible by 

 any regular mode of travel, and a person visiting them 

 would be compelled to camp out, although this would be 

 an additional pleasure to a person who had been cooped 

 up by four walls for any great length of time. But the 

 other streams are of easy access, being all on or near the 

 route of the Rock Creek and Fort Custer Stage Line, and 

 accommodations can be secured at almost any of the 

 points named. At a distance of about seventeen miles 

 from Custer, on the same road, is the scene of Custer's 

 last charge, another point of interest to the tourist. I 

 understand that there is a movement under way to erect 

 a monument on the battle-field to the memory of the 

 fallen general. 



Game of all description is very plentiful, but is fast 

 being reduced. Bear, black, cinnamon and silver tip, the 

 latter being called grizzly by some, are to be found in 

 the Big Horn Mountains, at a distance of thirty-five or 

 forty miles. There were about twenty-five killed by 

 hunters from the post last fall. Buffalo may generally 

 be found after a few hours' ride, unless driven away by 

 the Indians who continually hunt them. Elk are to be 

 found in the foot hills of the Big Horn Range, also white 

 and black-tailed deer. One herd of elk, in the vicinity 

 of Canon Creek, was variously estimated to contain from 

 one to two and one-half thousand. One hunter, alone, 

 killed eighty-three in eight days. Antelope are encoun- 

 tered by a two or three hours' ride. One herd of them, 

 numbering three or four hundred, had the temerity to 

 enter the garrison, but remained a short time, although 

 they continued in the vicinity for several days. Jack 

 rabbits and cotton-tails run around loose almost every- 

 where, 



Blue mountain, pinnated and pintail grouse, sage 

 chicken, curlew, and upland plover, are pleutiful in the 

 timber on the banks of either of our rivers. Mallard, 

 grayhead, redhead, canvas-back, black and gray, or pin- 

 winged ducks, widgeon, bine and green-winged and pin- 

 winged teal, and butter-ball, are to be obtained in the 

 marshes of the Big or Little Big Horn Rivers, or any of 

 the streams in the vicinity. 



During the spring and summer, Fort Custer is easily 

 reached. From Bismarck, D. T,, boats run continually, 

 during the, navigable season, as far as Fort Keogh and 

 Terry's landing, the former, 140, and the latter point 35 

 miles distant. During high water, a boat occasionally 

 succeeds in ascending the Big Horn as far as this place ; 

 but that occurs but once or twice in a year. From Fort 

 Keogh and the Landing we have a daily coach. The 

 Onion Pacific Railway will probably be completed to 

 Fort Keogh by next fail. 



From Rock Creek, Wyoming, on the Union Pacific 

 Railway, there is also a line of daily stages, which crosa 

 a nurnber of the trout streams meutioued above. 



Fort Ouster, Montana, 1879, C. S, Poagjs, 



