FOREST AND STREAM 
624 
least we .-judged from the marks on the log. Finding that 
he could not leap out of the hole, the animal next as¬ 
sayed to climb tip the hemlock trunk. 
“ For mercy’s sake don't let him climb up here 1" 
shouted Kilburn, who was trying to take aim for another 
shot. Tho huge brute had already got foothold on the 
tog, growling like seven lions. The case was urgent. 
Seizing a great stone, which would have weighed twenty 
or thirty pounds, I hurled it down on him, and my friend 
fired again at almost the same moment. This bullet hit 
the creature in the neck. The ball and the stone together 
caused it to loose its footing, and it blundered back into 
the water. With this it seemed to lose its courage. In¬ 
stead of trying to get to ur, it now ran to shelter beneath 
the overhanging rocks. Kilburn. kept shooting. At every 
shot, for a dozen times, the beast would splash from one 
side of the pool to the other, which was already reddened 
with gouts of its blood. At length, reaching down, my 
friend fired a shot into its head, near the left ear, which 
seemed to kill it almost instantly. Altogether he had 
fired near thirty bullets into the bear; but for the ad¬ 
vantage of its being in a place from which it could not 
easily get out, we should hardly have mastered it. I do 
not believe that so big a bear was ever killed with a re¬ 
volver before. Kilburn and I could no more get it up 
out of the pool, alone, than if it had been a mountain, It 
took Methot and both the Molosses with us, tugging 
hard, to haul it up. 
Methot took the hido off for us. How much the bear 
would have weighed, wo could only estimate, there being 
no scales nor steelj-ards in Sllebawanahning that would 
have weighed it. My friend set its woight at eight hun¬ 
dred, and I should say somewhere from seven to eight. 
It was an enormously bony brute, and was in pretty 
good flesh. Nearly every halfbreed in the place came 
and got a piece of the meat to ea t—as much as each could 
comfortably carry home. And there seemed enough 
for all. 
Whether this was indeed the same bear whieh liad 
menaced the pappooses and eaten our sheep bait so freely, 
I am ahle only to guess. To tell the truth, I now have 
my doubts about any bear ever coming near our pitfall, 
or our trap, and deem it more than probable that Methot 
or his confreres took the mutton bait after pocketing the 
price for the sheep—and sprung the trap to conceal the 
trick, Ah, these lialfbreeds are a bad lot; not very in¬ 
tellectual certainly, blit depravely cu nn i n g and tricky, 
REEL FOOT LAKE. 
I T was the good fortune of this writer, in the year 18—, 
to accompany a party of gentlemen in an exploration 
of the lakes of the lower Mississippi, On the 3d day of 
November, our two skiffs were lowered from the deck of 
the good steamer, Dictator, just opposite Madrid Bend, 
Our party consisted of Bix persons. Two stalwart indi¬ 
viduals o'f the African persuasion, who acted during tho 
trip in a variety of useful and ornamental occupations, 
viz : cooking, rowing, cleaning game, fish and stuffing 
specimens ; playing the banjo, dancing and whooping; 
four gentlemen, one savant from Parec ; the other three, 
good shots, good anglers and good fellows generally. We 
had four muzzle-loading shot guns, best make, and two 
Hudson's rifles, small calibre, fishing rods, ammunition, 
camp equipage and full outfit. 
Reel Foot Lake was tlie initial point; of our voyage. 
Seeing an agriculturist on the bank who was evidently 
admiring our whole proceedings, and doubtless thinking 
that we were all slightly cracked, we saluted him in our 
suavest manner, whereupon the following conversation 
ensued:— 
Native:—“Whar in thunder you gwine with them skiffs 
an’ niggers? gwine to fish, or going to duck it? powerful 
sight ox ducks over on Reel Foot, now, atl'—but say now, 
hev you got a drink?” 
Voyager:—“ Sir, it is our intention to kill every duck 
in Reel Foot Lake, catch every fish, and then moving on 
to New Orleans, dean out the Gulf of Mexico of its finny 
inhabitants,” 
Native 'Thar, now, you talk like a book and you look 
like one ; but I say )>ow, hev you got a drink? I’m pow¬ 
erful dry.” 
Having satisfied his curiosity on this point, in fact du¬ 
plicating the required drink, the cockles of bis heart 
were so warmed with the generous liquor that be vol¬ 
unteered to* transport us, bag and baggage to the Lake. 
He was faithful to his promise, 
Scarcely had the rosy fingers of tlie blushing Aurora 
been entwined in old Sol’s bead in order to awaken liim 
from his final nap, or in plain English, scarcely was it 
dawn when we launched our skiffs upon Reel Foot Lake, 
State of Tenuesee. I had shot ducks on all the streams of 
southern Kentucky ; I had killed them by hundreds on 
the prairies of Southern Illinois and Missouri. I thought 
that I had seen ducks plentiful and in galore, but I had 
never dreamed of seeing them in such countless numbers 
as I saw them on Reel Foot Lake. They were flying high 
from some cause, but tlie Eley’s wire cartridge did the 
work most effectually, and by nine o’clock wo had had 
our fill of sport, having brought to bag, seventy-five 
birds. 
We were gentlemen, and did not propose to slaughter 
the thousands of birds around us, merely liom the brute 
instinct of slaying. And yet it was bard self-denial; for 
it is with a keen sense of personal triumph that you 
knock over, right and left, two swift flying mallards, and 
see the sudden, helpless closing of the wings arid the 
heavy, headlong thud into tlie water, which tells that 
your aim has been good and that your gun is of the right 
stamp, Ducking is certainly thrilling sport, and one that 
faxes the eyo and hand more than any other in the whole 
category of field sports. In the North, you submit to all 
kinds of discomfort on a good ducking day; here you 
can shoot all day with a light suit of waterproof duck and 
be perfectly comfortable. 
Near the centre of Reel Foot Lake Is the home, by pre¬ 
scriptive right, of the cormorant. This settlement is called 
<• water Turkey Town.” Here the cormorants collect and 
build then nests by thousands in the branches of the tall, 
dead cypress trees. Millions of blue catfish, some of them 
in weight as much as a hundred pounds, collect under 
these trees to eat the pieces of the fish dropped by the 
old birds while feeding their young ones. Although the 
season of nesting was over we determined to visit the place, 
gam and Dick, our sable friends, had each of them out a 
cane on the banks of the lake the evening before, which 
rods would liavo horrified a “complete angler." They 
were about twenty feet long, about the size of one’s lower 
arm at the butt, and strong as steel. If there is anything 
on tho earth that can delight the soul of a negro, it is fish¬ 
ing for catfish. In a stream swarming with fine perch, 
you will line at intervals on Saturday, an old darky seated 
comfortably over a deep hole with his rod stuck in the 
bank fishing for “ cats.” Let not tlie Northern reader 
suppose that they are like his own catfish. No, they are 
long, t rim ly built, with a forked tail, and having as much 
game and dash about them as any bass. Indeed, I th ink 
that a five pound channel cat, ceteris paribus, will give 
more troublo in its capture than the same weight bass. I 
know this, that at forty yards, 1 have had them snap a 
braided silk line for mej xhalgre line rod and Milam reel. 
Anchoring the skiffs near the middle of “Turkey town,” 
we told the sable anglers to pitch in and distinguish them¬ 
selves while we ate our lunch and smoked the pipe of 
peace. Quickly disemboweling one of the ducks, the 
entrails of which make an excellent bait for catfish, they 
dropped a line of invitation to their finny friends. Cat¬ 
fish after catfish, weighing from ten to twenty pounds, 
amid the uproarous shouts of the negroes was lifted into 
the boat, until Sam having hooked one more than twice 
as large as any that had been caught, finding that the 
fish would pull him out of the boat if he maintained his 
hold of the cane, coolly let it go and sprang after it. 
After a most exciting chase, and many winding dowlings 
and sudden turnings Sam got hold of the rod, and bracing 
himself on a log, succeeded in taking the enemy prisoner. 
We rescued him from the log, and threatening'to box his 
ears if he did another trick, tho fishing was resumed. 
Now, Dick who could not swim like Sam, after witness¬ 
ing that worthy’s capers, bethought him of a bright plan 
to capture a “big urn,” should he bite. He tied a piece of 
strong cord round his wrist, and then secured it firmly to the 
butt of his rod. Not ten minutes after he liad thus “fixed” 
himself, a “ cat," a veteran of the Reel Foot, an old citi¬ 
zen, seized the hook. Never shall I forget the look of horror 
that overspredthe dusky countenance of that sable fisher¬ 
man. We were much astonished when, with a loud yell, 
Dick, in imitation as we thought of Sam, plunged headfore¬ 
most into tho lake. Amid the loud cries of the negroes we 
could distinguish the words, “ Tied to my arm.” Gradu¬ 
ally the true state of things dawned upon us, and as we 
could not spare Dick it was incumbent upon us to rescue 
him from ins perilous condition. This was very quickly 
accomplished by cutting the line, but not until the fish 
had dragged Dick many times under the water. Dick 
never tied another rod to his wrist. Fabulous tales were 
in circulation in our neighborhood among the negroes 
about that fish after our re turn, Dick swearing most 
solemnly that he weighed a thousand pounds, while Sam 
would back it by saying that he was as “ big as a horse.” 
As we had had an entert ainm ent, better than “H. M. S. 
Pinafore," and had laughed until our sides were sore 
over the mishap of Dick, we made them quit fishing, and 
wended our way back to camp. On our way we took a 
dozen or two trout and a fine lot of speckled pereli, the 
best pan fish in these or any other waters. 
We spent a week on Reel Foot—a most enjoyable week. 
AVe killed ducks, squirrels, quail and a few snipe. We 
lived like kings, and nowhere in the world can the sports¬ 
man have that acme of his wishes—plenty of sport and 
freedom from annoying insects—in such perfection. The 
golden haze of the Indian summer, the sweet stillness of 
the Beene, all combine to render this the sportsman's par¬ 
adise. Putting our traps on board a passing steamer, our 
next point for exploration was a chain of lakes below 
Vicksburg,’Miss., which we were told reached to Baton 
Rouge, La, We found this to be true, for our portages 
in no case exceeded more than five miles. We found the 
lakes, all of them, swarming with fish, which to take re¬ 
quired the merest novice in angling. As a striking illus¬ 
tration of this fact we were one day exploring a large lake, 
shooting sometimes a duck .and lazily enjoying the per¬ 
fect weather. All at once we came upon a’“school” of 
the speckled perch, mi llions, no doubt, in number. AVe 
had no bait, having expended our last worms the day 
before. I suggested a fly of tlie white duck feathers, 
After long and patient manipulation I succeeded in catch¬ 
ing one perch. Cutting this into very thin strips like a 
minnow, we took in less than an hour fifty or more, and 
could have caught barrels of them with the same bait. 
These were the very largest perch that wo saw on the 
trip, many of them being eighteen inches in length and 
weighing from two to three pounds. With a delicate 
line, a pliant rod, and no sinker, they are very game, and 
give the angler his full share of trouble in capturing them. 
These perch are very voracious, but when they cease bit¬ 
ing it is an evidence that the “school’' has moved to some 
other locality. St. Clair. 
Bartow, Go,., June 31st. 
t0isf( (jfjiJtitrc. 
The Luscious Oyster. —Thousands of men are afford¬ 
ed employment by lire oyster business in Maryland and 
A T irginia waters, besides those employed in the immense 
packing-houses in Baltimore. Fleets of schooners and 
sloops cruise in every bay anti inlet, gathering in their 
harvest, to be distributed all over the country. A 
schooner generally carries from 2,000 to 2,500 bushels, 
and a sloop from 200 to 600, The latter rarely make 
long trips, but the schooners go into any waters where 
the harvest is good, as they are more fitted for the rough 
usage to be encountered on an open sea. Planting 
grounds range from one acre upward in size, and are 
bought and sold just as other real estate. The grounds 
rent for from $35 to $150 per acre, and sell for from $100 
to $600. There is, however, ail immense natural growth 
of oysters extending from Pool’s Island to Cape Henry, 
which maybe considered almost inexhaustible. Agood 
ground consists of three requisites for the successful 
growth of the spawn planted, viz.: Moderately shallow 
water, so that they can bo easily dredged, a free tide to 
afford them sustenance, and a fairly firm bottom to pre¬ 
vent smothering. If an oyster is dropped in water which 
is perfectly still, it may live, but will never grow fat. 
The amount of seed usually sown to the acre is 400 
bushels, and is done bv shoveling them from boats, 
which are pushed slowly through the water. This 
amount must, however, be regulated by the time they 
will 'be allowed to lie. Any man has the privilege of 
staking out and planting ground not already occupied, 
and there is no place which affords so good a field for 
energy and enterprise in this line as the Chesapeake Bay 
and its surround! ngR. 
The best grounds in Maryland waters are Tangier 
Sound, Pocomokc Sound, Patuxent, Little and GreatCliop- 
tank, Weir, Miles and South rivers. 
Millions of dollars are invested in tlie wholesale busi¬ 
ness, and expended in schooners, sloops, scows, offices, 
implements and beds. An ordinary capital ranges 
from $25,000 to $50,000, though there are many men in 
Baltimore to-day with a nourishing and profitable, busi¬ 
ness who can go baok to the time when they had only a 
small Bloop and one or two dredges. All these men gen¬ 
erally commenced their business by dredging for natural 
oysters, which they kept up until they had acquired 
a sufficient sum to rent or purchase a bed of their own. 
The oyster-packing business is, however, a special feature 
of Baltimore enterprise, planting occupying the chief 
position in Virginia and other States. 
Some of the largest firms in Baltimore have a capital 
which will probably exceed several millions. 
Besides the immense quantities of oysters canned for 
internal and foreign shipment, they are also shipped to 
Western cities in tin boxes, packed in ice, and sell there 
for a handsome profit. Cans of Baltimore cove oysters 
have been shipped to Cairo, Egypt, and enjoyed there as 
a most delicious bonne-bouehe. European" oysters are 
well known as being decidedly inferior to American. 
They are almost universally put into tanks of stagnant 
water, where they acquire a greenish hue, and coma 
upon tlie table small, shriveled and lean, without sub¬ 
stance or flavor. But within recent years a party of 
English capitalists, appreciating the superiority of the 
fresh American oyster, have formed a company for trans¬ 
porting them to English waters, where they are planted, 
just as is done here. 
The spawn is taken over heaped in the hold of vessels, 
and although it is estimated only about one-half ever 
survive, yet it has been found that the profit from the 
business is considerable, and they are rapidly becoming 
more popular there with the public. The spawn is ob¬ 
tained from the beds in Tangier Sound . — Baltimore 
Gazette . 
Virginia's Oyster Trade.— The president of the Nor¬ 
folk Oyster Packing Association says "that 8,000,000 
bushels of oysters will be taken from Virginia waters 
this year, and more than one-third of these will be 
handled by the packers of Norfolk and Portsmouth. The 
average value of oysters is 85 cents a bushel, making the 
oyster trade of Norfolk something like $350,000 a year. 
The business has been built up since the war, and is 
steadily increasing. 
How Seth Green Began.— If old St. Anthony, instead 
of preaching to the fishes, had studied their domestic 
habits and started fish culture, he would have been a great 
deal more sensible saint than he was. What St. Anthony 
did not do, Seth Green did. A correspondent of tho Cin¬ 
cinnati Inquirer, has this bit of gossip about him :— 
Among the interesting men of Rochester is Seth Green, 
the patron of fish culture in America. He is a broad- 
shouldered man, a square, seaman-like face, reddened by 
the sun and good living. He has a fine white beard flow¬ 
ing over his chest, and he generally wears a sort of brown 
velvet sacque and drives a good horse. He is worth about 
$55,000, accumulated as a fisherman. I said to him, iu a 
few minutes conversation we had: “ Mr. Green,what put 
you in the notion of hatching fish and restocking our 
streams?” “Ifished Lake Ontario,” he said, “foraboutone 
generation. I had 100 miles of net and 100 hands before 
I was done. 1 kept a fish market in Rochester, and sup¬ 
plied whitefish, salmon, trout, pickerel, etc., all over the 
country. I was a good line fisherman, and went up the 
streams leading into the lake to get brook trout, Salmon 
and other game fish. One day when up the stream, I saw 
a fine female salmon, weighing about six pounds, come 
up, attended by her mate and three or four other fish. I 
had to jump behind a tree aud take an observation, and 
there I saw the salmon begin to scoop out a place in the 
bottom of the brook with her tail. After scooping a 
while she would go off eoquettishly, and then come back, 
and the other fish seemed to help her. It occurred to 
me that she was putting her spawn down there, beyond 
the reach of the other kinds of fish. There is nothing in 
the world so delightful to brook trout as to devour sal¬ 
mon spawn. You know how salmon multiply. Put the 
spawn out of sight and it will multiply into little salmon; 
let it lie in the water and the trout will eat it. I became 
so interested in that incident that I got up in the tree next 
day and made myself a kind of seat there among the 
boiighs, where I could look down in the Clearwater at tlie 
operations of those fish to protect their spawn. I made 
up my mind then if 1 ever got a little more money 
than would keep me I would go at fish culture. It had 
been begun in England, and I began to read on it. As 
soon as-I bad $1,200 a year more income than my neces¬ 
sities, I went at this "fish business, and took a brook 
near Rochester, where I had five miles to myself, in¬ 
vented my hatohing boxes and started in. The only money 
I have made in this business was by the sale of the brook. 
I have made $11,000 on it. However, the work lias been 
started in various parts of the country, and we shall not 
leave the generation to succeed us without fish aud 
sport. ^ 
One. —Of tlie 180,000 shad deposited in the Detroit 
liver, Mich., some years ago, one was caught the other 
day. If one from 180,000 appears a very small harvest 
for a very big sowing, we may remind our Michigan 
friends that the first had to be caught some time, 
and that first could not be more than a single one 
unless by some freak of nature. Stewart was worth some 
millions of dollars when he died, but Stewart had to make 
liia first one dollar before he mado his millions. One is a 
good point to start from. 
—An Englishman is to try the experiment this fall of 
transplanting 200 American catfish to British waters. 
