FOREST AND STREAM, 
751 
The Return of the Vega.— The safe arrival of Prof. 
Nordenskjold at Yokohama after his long imprisonment 
in the Arctic seas is most satisfactory news, and the suc¬ 
cess of his expedition may be hailed as a favorable omen 
for the other exploring parties now striving to wrest some 
of her secrets from the Far North. The northeast pas¬ 
sage lias been proved to be practicable, and even if no 
great results, from a commercial point of view, should 
follow, the success of this attempt cannot fail to be of 
the very greatest benefit to science. 
The Vega was frozen in the ice near the Ishuctshe set¬ 
tlement from September 28th, 1878, to July 18th of the 
present year, a period of no less than 264 days. On mak- 
her escape from this point, the vessel passed East Cape 
on the 20th of that mopth, and was soon in the Pacific 
Ocean. After touching at Port Clarence, on the Ameri¬ 
can coast, the ship’s course was directed to Kornian, 
dredging a,11 the way. It can scarcely be doubted that 
the results of this investigation of the sea bottom will 
prove most interesting when they shall have been worked 
up. Behrings Island was visited, and here the remains of 
the huge extinct Rhytina StelleH were discovered. This 
animal belongs to the order Sirenia, which contains also 
the manatee and the dugong. It was discovered about the 
middle of the last century by the celebrated explorer who 
was wrecked here in 1741, and after whom the island was 
named. He found the place inhabited by great numbers 
of these huge creatures. The species was first, described 
by Heir Steller. It would appear that the extermina¬ 
tion of the Rhytina was speedily accomplished, for none 
have been seen alive since 1768. This group, the Sire- 
nian, stands almost alone in the animal kingdom, though 
they have some affinities with the Proboscideans. They 
were formerly included among the Cetaceans, or whales. 
The Vega sailed from Behrings Island for Japan on the 
19th of August, and arrived at Yokohama in safety Sep¬ 
tember 2d. It is pleasant to leam that no deaths took 
place from the date of the vessel’s departure from Swe¬ 
den until her arrival at Yokohama. 
Punch hailed the bold mariner with the following lively 
verse;— 
A MODERN SAGA. 
[ With Punch's aehnowleclgments to Professor Longfellow.] 
Named like some Viking old! On, tilt with ice pack close 
Thy deeds, bravo NordenskjOld, Compassed and endless snows, 
Nq Scald In song- hath told, 
No Saga taught us! 
Telegram brief and terse, 
Did the strange tale rehearse. 
Worthy of deathless verse, 
The news it brought us 1 
They, midst the frozen iloes, 
Fixed winter quarters. 
Nigh thrice a hundred days, 
’Neath half a sun's scant rays, 
booked in those ley ways, 
White waste of waters! 
On, past that Kara Sea, 
Erst ice-bound mystery. 
Now, tu its stout keel free, 
Slowly yet surely, 
Eastward the Vega bore, 
Till round that headland hoar, 
Never yet turned before, 
Sailed she securely. 
Many a hunt ing bout 
Helped the long winter out, 
While, the Norse savans stout 
Searched, watched and noted. 
Then, that grim season past, 
Scattered the lloes, and fast 
Through Behrings Strait at last 
Safely they floated. 
Then, spreading wing, she flew, 
Where, while the white whale 
blew. 
Labored her learned crew, 
Dredging and sounding. 
True modern Vikings they, 
Bom of our better day, 
Finding in bloodless fray 
Pleasure abounding. 
Fighting a dauntless fight 
'Gainst Nature's Titan might. 
Winning from Arctic night 
Light for their fellows. 
Fearless and scorning easo, 
Sure stouter souls than these. 
Ne'er of those Norther)! seas 
Braved the chill billows. 
So courage wins the game 1 
Brave Swede, thy Viking name 
Banks on the roli of fume, 
Northern De Gaum 1 
Who shall applause refuse 
To that long Arctic cruise. 
Told in that brief, swift nows 
From Yokohama ? 
Three hundred years or more 
On that far Arctic shore, 
For way that eastward boro, 
Man hath contended. 
Now, thou hast reached the 
goal. 
Swede, sage and stout of soul, 
Slmal! to'lhee, Norseman,Skoal ! 
Thus the light’s ended 1 
"Malt.” —Malt, an English setter belonging to Mr. 
Henry Aitenbrand, of Brooklyn, was brought into this 
office the other day to exhibit his acquirements as a math- 
matician, euchre-player and master of English orthog¬ 
raphy. Malt's master spread out upon the floor in a circle 
a pack of cards, and one of the gentlemen present called 
for the ace of spades, which Malt promptly picked out 
from the pack and deposited in his master’s lap. Other 
calls were made at random, and the dog soon showed a 
most depraved intimacy with the paste-boards. Then the 
letters of the alphabet, printed on cards, were substituted 
for the cards, and Malt proceeded to spell out "Forest 
and Stream.” Then die canine showed his political sa¬ 
gacity by prompdy choosing greenbacks from a quantity 
of other paper currency. In numerous other ways the dog 
proved himself an apt and very intelligent scholar, We 
are assured that, with all his other acquirements. Malt has 
not forgotten the greatest excellence of a sporting dog, 
namely, good work in the field ; his performances there 
are the pride of his master, and at the bench show of 
dogs whose owners think the best in the world (there are 
thousands of them), Malt shall have a blue ribbon. 
Going to the Post-office.— "VVedon’t know how many 
times a day our Camp Cheleur, W. T., friends go to the 
post-office, hut judge not more than once or twice. A 
subscriber writes : “We are well in the wilderness here, 
and send 213 miles to Walla Walla for our mail.” 
—Lucy Ann Lobdell Slater, aged fifty, known as the 
“ Female Hunter of Long Eddy," has just died, at Delhi, 
N, Y. She was noted for her wonderful skill with the 
rifle. She. was married at seventeen, and her husband 
soon after deserted her. She donned male attire and lived 
the life of a hunter. 
A TRIP TO NORTH PARK. 
(EIGHTH PAPERO 
("from our staff correspondent.] 
F ROM Hosier's we proceeded down the Michigan to 
the crossing, and then turned south, following the 
road which leads to the Owl Creek Mines; our purpose 
being to cross the range into Middle Park. The Hot Sul¬ 
phur Springs are well worth a visit, and the fishing in 
the tributaries of Grand River is usually very good. The 
road which we followed passes over the rolling plateau of 
North Park, at a considerable distance from the moun¬ 
tains, and no game was to he seen except antelope and 
sago grouse. Coyotes were rather abundant — attracted 
to the neighborhood of the road by the carcasses of the 
antelope which are killed by travellers. 
As we bad but little meat in the wagons, all hands 
were on the lookout for game as we came down the 
Michigan. Antelope were extremely abundant in the 
stream bottom, hut were rather wild, and for some miles 
we got no shots. At length, however, a band of about 
twenty ran out of the brush a little ways ahead of us, 
and stopped on the bluff about three hundred yards off. 
I dismounted and fired at a buck, not raising my rear 
sights but holding level with the tips of his horns and just 
over his shoulders, thus allowing for a fall of about two 
feet for the ball. As I lowered niy rifle I saw the ball 
strike the bluff just beyond the animal, and, as I re¬ 
mounted, Kosier, with whom I was riding, said, “Well, 
that was a olose call, anyhow.” The band tore up the 
hillside at railroad speed ; but, before they had gone fifty 
yards, the buck turned around and dashed back, almost 
to where he had been standing when I fired, and fell. On 
riding up to him we found that the ball had pierced’ both 
shoulders — a lucky shot. 
After leaving the Michigan we crossed Owl Creek, 
along which are some placer washings which are digni¬ 
fied by the pretentious title of the Golden Gulch. They 
have not proved specially rich, I believe. The whole 
country contains more or less gold, and there are num¬ 
berless claims staked out all through the mountains. 
The irruption of miners and prospectors this spring has 
caused much hard feeling among the Utes, who regard 
this section as their hunting ground, and view with sus¬ 
picion and dislike the encroachments of miners and cat¬ 
tle men. The Utes have always been friendly to the 
whites; and although occasionally wild spirits among 
them have robbed or murderod, these acts have been con¬ 
demned by the tribe at large, and the perpetrators, when 
it was possible to capture them, have been punished. It 
is too likely, however, that if the rush into-this country 
continues there will be trouble. The Indian, however 
friendly, if constantly pressed upon by the white man, 
will turn at last, and make a brave, if despairing, strug¬ 
gle. As to what inherent right a few thousand Indians 
have to occupy as a hunting ground a section of country 
that would support ten times as many white men, 1 have 
nothing to say. This is a great question in ethics on 
which there are different opinions ; but all will acknowl¬ 
edge that it is sad to see a nation of brave, fine people 
driven from their homes, as I fear the Utes must soon 
be. I have a particularly warm feeling for these Indians, 
for just nine years ago I spent some time hunting with 
the tribe, and was most kindly and hospitably treated by 
them. In the event of a war with them, many of my 
old friends among the mountain men would come to 
grief, for the Utes are brave, and good shots, and the In¬ 
dians, after great losses, would be conquered and moved 
away, so that I earnestly hope that the threatening dan¬ 
ger may pass away. 
Just after passing the diggings of the Golden Gulch Min¬ 
ing Co., the road crosses a timbered spur which here runs 
out from the mountains, and then strikes the prairie 
again, and soon crossing the Illinois leads almost directly 
toward Arapaho Peak. The day had been cloudy and 
threatening, and, after crossing the Illinois, we had a 
couple of snow storms, the last one so severe that we 
could not induce our horses to face it, but were obliged 
to turn our backs to the wind and wait for the gale to 
blow itself out. Just after the last of these snow storms, 
as we were riding along muffled in our rubber coats 
and blankets, I saw W. and Hosier, who were ahead, 
halt on reaching a low creek, and gaze earnestly at some 
object off to the right. As soon as I reached the ridge, I 
saw a black object, about a mile off, feeding on the prai¬ 
rie. If I had been in what I supposed was a buffalo 
country, I should have shouted “ Buffalo ! ” and been off 
at once ; but as it was, I bad to have recourse to my glass 
before 1 could believe that it was really a bison. Old 
mountain men Bay that the mountain buffalo, or, as they 
call them, in contradistinction from the plains' buffalo, 
bison, is quite a different animal from his once more 
abundant couBin of the prairie, but there is no good evi¬ 
dence in support of this statement. No zoologist, so far 
as I know, has ever been able to separate the two by any 
good characteristics. The inhabitants of the mountains are 
said to be larger and darker than the plain dweller, but I 
know Of no more decided differences than these. 
Of course when we saw the buffalo I was very anxious 
to get him, and at once started to try to kill him. The 
boys accompanied me, for it was impossible to resist their 
eager excited glances. The hunter’B spirit was thorough¬ 
ly aroused in them, and both were determined to have a 
shot at the bull if any one did. Every hunter knows that 
to kill game, the fewer there are in the party the better. 
Two individuals may hunt together successfully, if they 
fully understand each other, but usually it is better, if 
meat is wanted, to hunt alone. The great fault with most 
men new to the mountains is that, when hunting, they 
want to see everything for themselves, and I have seen 
an old hunter stand with tears in his eyes, and swear till 
all was blue, because bis companion, an eager greenhorn, 
had frightened away a hand of bighorns by incautiously 
raising his head above a ridge. 
Well, we did not get the buff, but it was through no 
fault of my young companions, both of whom did splen¬ 
didly. The fault, if any there was, was on my part. This 
is what took place : The bull was feeding towards the 
mountains, and the cover among the foot-hills was good; so 
we rode briskly along until we were near the point where 
he would enter the hills, and then, leaving our horses, we 
advanced on foot. I soon saw the game, and by cautious 
stalking reached a point on the bare hillside above him, 
with a fringe of quaking aspen brush below us, behind 
which he was feeding. Here we posted ourselves, waiting 
for him to appear at either point of the bushes below us. 
We waited for some time, and I finally made up my mind 
that the animal must have laid down on the lower side of 
the bush—and slipped cautiously down to one point of 
the fringe to see if my supposition was correct. Just as 
I reached the edge of the brush I heard alow whistle, and 
looking around, beheld a sight which I shall never think 
of without the most hearty amusement. At the upper 
edge of the brush, about thirty feet from A. and W., stood 
the bull, only his gigantic head being visible to my com¬ 
panions, though from my position further down the hill, 
I could see his shoulders just above the low bushes from 
which he was emerging. The buffalo was standing still, 
looking at the boys who were glancing in turn at him. In 
the excitement of stalking the game they bad dropped 
their hats upon the ground, and frequent wipings of their 
brows had caused their hair to stand on ends like the pro¬ 
verbial quills of the peevish porcupine ; their astonished 
eyes were like saucers, and altogether they presented a 
most laugable spectacle. It was evident, however, that 
although surprised they were not flustered, for their guns 
were at their shoulders, and just as I looked around, I saw 
the smoke leap from each rifle, heard the reports, followed 
by the “clap clap” which told me that both balls had 
struck, and saw the bull toss his head contemptuously and 
hurl himself backward into the brush. All this took place 
in an instant. I had just time to take it all in, but not 
enough to raise my own rifle and fire. We ran to the top 
of the hill, hut nothing more was to be seen of the buf¬ 
falo, nor did we again catch sight of his huge black car¬ 
cass. He had come up through the thick brush so quietly 
that he had reached his point of observation without be¬ 
ing detected, and it was only by accident that he was seen 
by W., who, when he first beheld him, was impressed with 
the idea that the grandfather of all the grizzly bears had 
come down from the mountains for the express purpose 
of making a meal of us. The shots fired at the bison had 
struck him in the head, the only part visible to the 
shooters, and had evidently not done him any material 
injury- 
Slowly and sadly we retraced our steps, reaching our 
camp on Buffalo Creek about the middle of the afternoon. 
The next day we crossed the range by the Arapaho or 
Muddy Pass, and toward evening camped at the foot of 
Whiteley’s Peak on Muddy Creek in Middle Park. As soon 
as the wagon reached camp, our rods were set up and two 
of us, A. and myself, fished for an hour, but without any 
very marked success. The fish were small, the largest 
which I took only weighing half a pound, and not very 
abundant. The past summer has been so dry that all the 
mountain streams are low, and the fish are consequently 
inactive and but little inclined to take the fly. A dozen 
or twenty trout were all that we took. The next day we 
followed down the Muddy as far as the Hermitage 
Ranche, the home of old Jack Rand, and from there cross¬ 
ing to the Troublesome and following that, stream down 
to the Grand, we reached the mouth of Corral Creek 
about dark, and camped there. That portion of Middle 
Park which we traversed is a barren desert in comparison 
with North Park. There are few antelope here, and these 
few are very wild; but it is said that blacktail deer are nu¬ 
merous in the neighboring mountains. 
Four miles beyond our camp, on Corral Creek, are the 
Hot Sulphur Springs, on Grand River. These springs 
have proved extremely valuable in cases of rheumatism 
and in certain other complaints, and invalids come from 
long distances to bathe in their waters. Their tempera¬ 
ture varies from 112° to 117° F., and the waters are strongly 
impregnated with sulphuretted hydrogen. The hot springs 
are on the north side of the river, and ou the south there 
are several cold sulphur springs, the waters of which are 
by no means unpleasant to the taste. The hot springs are 
owned by our old-time correspondent and friend, Col. W. 
N. Byers, of Denver, Col., and one of the main objects 
of our visit to Grand City was, if possible, to Bee him 
