[Entered According to Act of Cou<?ress, in the year 1879, by the Forest and Stream Publishing Company, in the Oillce of tho Librarian of Congres6, at Washington 



NEW YORK, THURSDAY, JULY 29, 1880. 



CONTENTS. 



Answers to Correspondents .. , 5:;i 



Archery :— 

 Tho Grand National Meeting; innovations in Archery; The 

 "Poep-Sightv" New York pa. Spuyten Duyvil; Orltani 

 Archers; Indian Archery 513 



Cbioket :— 



Matches and News Notes 519 



Editoiuae :— 

 Purchase of Carroll Island; A Disgraceful Squabble-; The 

 Halford-Hyrle Match; The Hisc iu Seamanship; Careless 

 Shooters; An Amateur Pistol Shot ; Greene Smith 514 



Pish Cditubb:— * 



Hatching the Spanish Mackerel; McCloud River Salmon; 



Imported SalbUng and Whiteflsh 509 



Game Baq and Gun :— 

 GrQuse Shooting I u tho Northwest ; Montana Game Fields; 



Is Trap Shooting Cruel:' Imported Trap Shooting Meth- 

 ods ; Shooting Matches 515 



Game Protection :— 



The Connecticut Woodcock law ; A Proposed Protective 



Society ; Migratory Quail 515 



The Kennee:— 



Cockers for Cover Shooting : Irish Wolfhounds as Deer and 

 Bear Hogs: Fatal Disease Among Dogs In the South; 

 Coursing Deer in a Two-Acre Lot ; Measurements of Bea- 

 gles ; Kennel Notes 511 



Miscellany :— 

 Sailing Southward 507 



Natural History:— 

 Bright Feathers; Count L. F. do Pout-tales ; The Senses of 

 Animals; A Proline Mother: White Hares; Hissing 



Suakes; Nesting riaees of the Grosbeak , 60S 



Ptjbusiisrs' Department , 512 



The Rifle:— 

 Range and Gallery; The Halford-Hyde Match ; Twist -versus 

 Velocity .517 



Sea and Uivek Fishing:— 

 More American Enterprise ; Trqntirjg in New Brunswick; 



Black Bass iv. Green Bass ; Mr. Dipsy Catches Trout; A 



Black Black Bass ; The Ru Elk Horn 



Valley; Who Can Beat This? SOU 



Yachting and canoeing:— 

 Challenge to the Anthracite ; A Great Steam Yacht Race; 

 The Bennett Challenge Cups; Seawanhaka Yacht Club; 

 Beverly Yacht Club 520 



jtai/imj Southward. 



Ex Route to Trinidad, July M. 



THE promise made four months ago, that I would 

 write a letter for Forest and Stream every month, 

 has haunted me like a nightmare ; yet such has been the 

 nature of my occupation — one day on board some coast- 

 ing vessel, another in town, the next in the country, and 

 again in the depths of the forest, that I have gladly pro- 

 crastinated. The pledge was unexpectedly brought to 

 mind some three weeks ago, and in this manner : It was 

 in the island of Nevis, latitude 17°, while I was the guest 

 of a large land proprietor there, Sir Graham Briggs. The 

 library of Sir Graham is well stocked with English books, 

 and among them I found one bearing the title, "Wild 

 Life in Florida." Glancing it through I found my own 

 nom de pluvie, and investigating further discovered that 

 the author of the book above mentioned had copied en- 

 tire one of my letters to Forest and Stream, written 

 six or seven years ago. He mentions having met "Prof, 

 Fred Beverly," and then gobbles entire a letter of mine, 

 filling ten pages of this purloined volume. I say pur- 

 loined, for even the very title to his book was taken from 

 the general one given to the letters I was writing for 

 your paper in tho times when wo were young. This was 

 enough to cause me at once to dip my pen and inflict 

 upon you a letter then and there ; but other matters 

 claimed attention, and it was postponed. Since then I 

 have winged my way still further south, byway of Mont- 

 senat and Dominica, Martinique and St. Lucia, and last 

 evening we left Barbados, and are now speeding toward 

 Trinidad. As 1 write iu the pleasant smoking room of 

 the Flamborottgh, one of the delightful steamers of the 

 Q. and G. P. S. S. line, wo are steaming past the island of 

 Tobago. A host of memories rush upon me now, Cor 1 

 am right in sight of my old hunting ground of two years 

 ago, Tobago ! an island all alone, forsaken, half-aban- 

 doned, yet containing in its dark forests and behind the 

 lines of cocoa palms that fringe its shores, such birds as 

 belong only to the great southern continent, and such 

 shooting as few other islands, except Trinidad, will give. 

 Like a great wave these memories of my past wandering 

 crowd tumultuously upon me, and the scones of my for- 

 mer wild adventures invite me again and again. 

 But we will not go back so far as that, but confine our 



attention to tho opening of the present voyage. The first 

 week in March I left New York on the steamer Hadji, 

 commanded by that .prince of true and gallant seamen, 

 so long and so well known to Southern travelers, Capt. 

 Faircloth. We were bound for St. Thoma3 by way of 

 Porto Rico, and if I were to say that we arrived eventu- 

 ally in safety, I should but give utterance to a foregone 

 conclusion. We sailed southward, crossed the gulf 

 stream in due time, and successfully passed through the 

 strong passage between Hatteras and the Bermudas. The 

 second day we could venture on deck without overcoats, 

 and the fourth found us sighing for a touch of winter. 

 And so the days passed on, and the North Star sank 

 lower and lower, and the gales blew milder and balmier, 

 as the Hadji plowed her way onward, with her prow 

 pointed toward the Caribbean sea, There were but three 

 passengers, and at least one-third of the number was 

 sick, For the fortieth time I lay in my berth and re- 

 solved never again to venture on the sea. I always do 

 this when I go to sea — decide that I do not mean to re- 

 peat it. But then, what's the use ? Just as soon as my 

 foot touches land the old longing for new scenes comes 

 over me ; I am just as much refreshed by a touch of 

 earth as that old giant of mythology. But what a hor- 

 rible thing is seasickness ! I shudder at the bare thought 

 of what I have endured when suffering from that afflic- 

 tion. And the worst of it is, one cannot overcome it. 

 For seven years I have been a victim, and seven times 

 seven is the number of my attacks. I have tried every- 

 thing, but without avail ; the nearest approach to a cure 

 is to seek a shady spot and lie down as quietly as you 

 can, You lie at full length in your bunk, and groan in 

 misery, and there comes up out of the water a vague and 

 watery shape, taking the form of a devil fish, and it 

 squats upon your stomach and envelops you in its slimy 

 arms, and squeezes out of you all life and all desire to 

 live. The remedies prescribed for seasickness are as 

 many and as various as those in vogue for a cold iu the 

 head. 



OUTIFT FOR CAMPING IN THE WEST INDIES. 



Every time I start out for the Southern forests the 

 question arises : What shall I take with me ? And every 

 time I return, no matter how much I have taken, but a 

 small portion of my original outfit returns with me. It 

 is, of course, desirable to travel as lightly equipped as 

 possible ; it is equally desirable to cany all one wants — 

 this axiom is thrown in gratuitously. Combining in my- 

 self the two occupations of collector of hirds and the 

 photographer, I am obliged to carry, in addition to what 

 would answer the wants of tourists in general, special 

 apparatus and equipments ; yet I am not very heavily 

 weighted with my trunks, having learned, from a bitter 

 experience with porter and boatmen, how to dispense 

 with what I don't need. 



Now, theie is the matter of clothing ; take nothing 

 but what is light and loose and easy fitting — in a word, 

 take all the old clothing you can collect. You will never 

 find a people more grateful for old clothes than the ne- 

 groes you will meet in the woods and in the country. A 

 " Yankee coat," or shirt, is more preferred by them than 

 great riches, and for a pair of trowsers they will call 

 down upon you the richest blessings of Heaven, I can 

 almost trace my line of travel by the line of garments I 

 have left behind me — "Here," I might say, "1 gave 

 away a coat, here a vest," etc. — it is such a pleasure to 

 give away to a grateful recipient that for which you 

 have no further use. The best material for clothing in 

 this co'untry is linen, duck, or drill ; and though it is uni- 

 versally worn here, and the tailors here have made gar- 

 ments of it from time immemorial, yet it would be bet- 

 ter to have them made in tho State than out here. MoBt 

 of the tailors here are either black or colored men. Now 

 though there are some trades for which the negro is es- 

 pecially adapted, and in which he fairly shines, while the 

 white man appears mean and despicable — such for in- 

 stance, as that of the barber or waiter — it was very evi- 

 dent that he was not created for a tailor. That profes- 

 sion requires art and calculation, neither of which is pos- 

 sessed by the son of Ham. A " ready-made" suit from 

 the States, even of the lowest price, will far surpass an 

 ordered one here. Take, then, a fair supply of cool cloth- 

 ing, such as you would wear North in the months of 

 July and August. 



For the rough climbing in the mountains and the rid- 

 ing over rude trails, one needs an ospecial outfit. Fortu- 

 nately for me, just previous to my departure I bethought 

 myself of an advertisement in tho Forest and Stream, 

 and invested a small sum in asportsmau's coat, two pairs 

 of leggins and a pair of shoes. No investment has ever 

 paid me a better rate of interest than that one, and I 

 have only regretted that I did not make the thing more 

 complete and add several of the other articles which the 

 last three months of forest life have shown to be go neces- 

 sary. In the first place, the coat, being of light, water- 

 proof canvas and full of pockets, has been worn by me 

 whenever I have been in the woods, and hears the marks 

 of many a stain from leaf and tree, but never a rent. It 

 attracted attention and encomiums wherever I wore it. 

 For a month and a half of this trip 1 was in islands well 

 overgrown with all kinds of cactus, prickly pear, Turk's 



head, etc., the spines of which wound one terribly. Sev- 

 eral times I have had my knee-pan stuck full of these 

 spines and have been made so lame that I could hardly 

 walk. Threading the tortuous goat-tracks among rocka 

 covered with these cacti, I have felt it a comfort and 

 consolation to have on the canvas leggins : and as for 

 the shoes — I can't render them justice. They were 

 broad-soled, armed with hob nails well riveted in, and 

 made of leather so well dressed that three months of al- 

 most constant wear finds them as soft and pliable 

 ss at the beginning. I have climbed hills and moun- 

 tains, walked mile after mile over rough stony paths, and 

 have waded for hours in shallow salt-ponds, and those 

 shoes have not abraded the least particle of skin from my 

 feet. Encased in these shoes and leggins I could bid de- 

 fiance to thorns and rocks, and could leap down the 

 steep mountain trails so rapidly that my negro attend- 

 ants were always left in tho rear. If there was one thing 

 I congratulated myself in bringing out, it was that pair 

 of shoes, for they gave me a feeling of real security 

 every time I put them on ; against dogs and snakes they 

 were a perfect protection ; with them on one could even 

 kick at fate itself. 



For a hat, wear anything but a black one ; by all odds 

 the best hat for a tropical climate is the " pith helmet " 

 of the East Indies, which can be obtained in St. Kitts, 

 Antigua, Martinique, Barbados and Trinidad ; in fact, in 

 nearly every island of importance. It is the only hat 

 that is actually sun proof, though, from the porous na- 

 ture of the material composing it, it will not do for rainy 

 weather. It is sold at various prices, eight to twelve 

 shillings (English) being the average. It is extremelv 

 light, helmet-shaped, protects the eyes and back of the 

 neck ; the rim is lined with green, to protect the eyes, 

 and it is well ventilated. No nearer approach to a per- 

 fect hat has ever been manufactured. Imitations are 

 much worn here of cork and caoutchouc ; but, though a 

 trifle more shapely, these latter are heavier and hotter. 



As it is necessary, in a tour for the collecting of birds, 

 to have a gun that will be useful in shooting humming- 

 birds and the like, I had long looked in vain for the right 

 article. Just before leaving, a friend showed me a small 

 gun with a pistol handle — a sort of compromise between, 

 a gun and a pistol— which was breech-loading, with a 

 barrel about two feet in length. There was no name to 

 indicate the maker, but upon the breech was stamped 

 the somewhat equivocal motto, "never miss." This 

 prejudiced me against the gun, for it reminded me of 

 that man who ordered his tombstone hi advance of his 

 death, and had inscribed upon it what the papers at that 

 time called a "rather premature statement" — "none 

 knew him but to love him." 



It was a conveniant weapon, however, and, riding or 

 walking, I generally carried it in my hand, as one would 

 a stick, For some time 1 did not even fire it ; but one 

 day (it was in the island of St. Johns), I went out with it 

 to a frangipanni tree that was full sf blossoms and of 

 birds. The first bird fired at was a large thrush, which 

 fell dead, leaving me astonished at the performance of 

 the spiteful little pistol ; then I shot at a humming-bird 

 with like result. Before I left the tree I had secured 

 nine birds in nine consecutive shots. This, taking into 

 consideration tho small size of tho charge fired, the few 

 shot, and the minuteness of the body of a humming-bird 

 ought not to be considered bad for the gun, In all I 

 have fired about four hundred shota with it, and have 

 had occasion to use it more than my larger gun. 



Though but few of the islands of the Lesser Antilles 

 contain animals large enough to he classed as game, yet 

 one must have a gun suitable for shooting' sea-birds 

 man-o'-war birds, pelicans, pigeons, etc., as well as the 

 monkeys and deer that abound in some islands. Such a 

 gun, of 13 bore, SB inch barrel, weighing seven and one- 

 half pounds, 1 have always had with mo as a mainp'cay 

 For the last eight years I have used, a genuine American 

 gun, and have never had reason to prefer any other • in 

 fact, the " Fox" gun, made by the American Arms Com- 

 pany, of Boston, suits me better than any other 1 have 

 ever used. 



This preference I maintained several years ago, before 

 the gun had arrived at the perfection of the present arm. 

 But now, with all its improvements, I am only strength- 

 ened in my opinion that it is the best gun for the 

 money, American or foreign, that the market affords. 

 The one 1 now own, though a comparatively cheap gun, 

 has every advantage that any gun can possess— pistol 

 grip, rebounding locks, etc.— and has attracted attention 

 everywhere 1 have been. The guns most in use out here 

 are tit' two kinds— the cheap. French, andths;higher-priced 

 English. The former are mostly pin-tires, varnished 

 stacks, and with stiff, clumsy action, with a profuseness 

 of showy engraving, and having a tawdry effect gener- 

 ally. Tho English guns are much inferior to equal priced 

 gnus of American make. In finish, action, Bymxaetry 

 and beauty, my American gun surpassed them nil, and 

 -everal gentlemen declared their intontioas of ordering a 

 imilav one before , the shooting season came round, 

 Powder and shot may he bought at any of the sea-torts 

 and in Barbados, sheds, cartridges, and, all the require- 

 ments f W a. br^ecb,-loa,der, 



