848 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
rence'to see them sunning themselves in heaps on -wild 
rose bushes, logs, and rocks, and many a poor man has 
lost his dinner as he suddenly stumbled on a heap of the 
twisting slime. I may say again that in view of their 
numbers and isolation from accustomed food, that there 
is simply no other way than to adapt themselves to such 
food as comes in this territory, which was fish and an oc¬ 
casional blackbird. It is true of the black capped chicka¬ 
dee in winter, picking the refuse of the hog in the farm¬ 
yard, or Hon. E. B. Washburne eating mule meat in the 
siege of Paris. I may answer the query, therefore, pro¬ 
pounded in the last "number, that under certain condi¬ 
tions of food supply, the black snake lives wholly or par¬ 
tially on fishes. ‘ William Hosea Ballou. 
Hopper and Hornet.— a correspondent who signs 
himself “ Hop ” has sent us the note printed below. We 
suggest that the creature which attacked and carried off 
tlie grasshopper,, was a hornet of some species, as these 
insects commonly prey upon grasshoppers, whereas bum¬ 
ble-bees never do. What the hornet was after, was the 
juices of the hopper, not his “molasses.” Our corres¬ 
pondent's note is as follows : 
When I was attending the Custer Monument Unveiling 
at West Point, I sit near the platform, and, happening to 
see a grasshopper an inch long alight on the drapery, 
poked it with my cane. It made a jump of a yard or 
less, and had hardly come to rest before a big bumble-bee 
flew down over the"heads of the crowd, and wholly undis¬ 
turbed by their presence, swooped upon the unsuspicious 
grasshopper, and grappling him up as a hawk would a 
heir carried him off without apparent effort. 
Now, what did the biimble-bee want with that grass¬ 
hopper? Hid he wiBh to steal his “ molasses,” or suck his 
blood ? Does a grasshopper yield either blood or honey ? 
^ Hop. 
Death from Skunk Bite. —Our correspondent, Mr. S. 
F. Martin, of Oakland, Cal., sends us a clipping from the 
Mendocino. (Cal.) Beacon, of August 30th, with regard to 
this painful subject. Mr. Marlin states that he knows the 
account to he a reliable one, and we print it in the hope 
that it may reach the eye of some one who.can give us 
further information witb«-egard to this terrible disease 
than we now possess. 
The cutting is as follows: We learn from Jerry Dono- 
hoe that a man named Hagler, residing in hound Valley, 
died with hydrophobia at his residence on Saturday last. 
Mr. Hagler "was bitten on the toe by a skunk in April last, 
and on Friday was taken with convulsions. Medical aid 
was at once procured, but could render no assistance. 
The unfortunate man would snap and bite at every one 
who came near him, and the sight or Bound of water 
would throw him into convulsions. He died in sixteen 
hours after being prostrated. This is the first death from 
hydrophobia we know of in this county. 
Capture of Two Escaped Prisoners.— By an odd co¬ 
incidence the same mail brought us the two following 
items, one from New Brunswick, the other from Illinois. 
We confess to a feeling of sorrow for the unfortunates, 
which after having escaped so many perils, have at last 
been brought to bag. Mr. Geo. A. Boardman, writing 
from St. Stephen, N. B., under date November 12th, 1879 
says : 
A white-headed eagle has been seen for a long time 
flying about GrandManan Island with something attached 
to its feet. It was lately shot and found to be in a steel 
trap with about fifteen inches of chain. The foot bone 
appeared to have been fractured, but so long ago that it 
bad healed, and with such an enlargement of the bone as 
nearly to cover the jaws of the trap, which was with dif¬ 
ficulty removed. 
The other note comes from our Rushville, (Ill.) corres¬ 
pondent, “Aix Sponsa,” and is dated November 11th, 
1879. By grayduck we presume he refers to the'gadwall, 
(Chanlelamnux streperus). He writes: 
While three of us were hunting on Meredosia Bay, this 
State, toward the last of October, wo crippled a gray duck 
from a large flock flying over, and found a hole in the 
vrjb of its foot with a string tied in itina hard knot. The 
hole was almost the length of the foot and entirely healed 
around the edges. ^ 
—The crew of the Epes Tarr, a Gloucester fishing 
schooner, recently discovered off Sable Island Bank, at a 
depth of 250 fathoms, a valuable specimen of a crusta¬ 
cean, which proves to he one of the most remarkable of 
the new species yet discovered on our coast. It belongs 
to the genus Poly n teles, and most of the known speci¬ 
mens are from the Challenger expedition, and were never 
before known nearer our shores than off the Spanish 
Will Sharks Devour Men ?—Some time ago we had a 
discussion as to whether or not a shark might, could, 
would, or should devour a man. Several mariners bold, 
who had never seen the thing done were struggling in 
the negative of the question. Here is some evidence in 
point, told by the Fiji Times: “A canoe leftLomaLoma 
with twenty-five natives on board, bound for Totoya. 
They were going about, when a sudden squall sent the 
sail against the roast, capsizing the canoe. The unfortu¬ 
nate passengers clung to the canoe, and might have 
escaped with consequences no worse than those which 
would have attended discomfort and exposure, but for the 
tact that the capsize occurred in a locality infested with 
sharks. These ravenous monsters seized their victims 
one by one, devouring twenty-three out of the twenty- 
live. unfortunates whose lives were thus placed at their 
mercy. Of the two who escaped, one is a woman ; but 
her situation is very critical, the whole of the flesh hav¬ 
ing been taken off one leg. 
Limpet Producing a Marking Ink.—O f the species of 
limpet, a shell-fish found here (Minehead) at low water, 
some are red, others white, black, brown, yellow and 
sand color; when the shellis picked off there "will appear 
a light vein lying traversely in a little furrow next the 
head of the fish, which may be taken out by a bodkin or 
any pointed instrument, and will form an excellent mark¬ 
ing ink. The letters or figures made with this liquor will 
change to several colors when placed in the sun. accord¬ 
ing to the time of day and season of the year, and will 
ultimately finish in a fair, bright crimson, which, after 
being laid out to dry, *will abide all future washing. — 
Coltinson’s History'of Somerset. 
Capture of a Swan in Rhode Island.—Providence, 
R. I., Nov. \5th.—Editor Forest and Stream :—On the 
12th inst. I found a swan (Cygnus Americanus) in a mar¬ 
ket in this city. Upon inquiring about it, beard, to my 
surprise, it was killed in this State. Wrote to the party 
who sent it to market, and received the enclosed letter, 
which tells the story. 
This is the first" swan that has been killed in Rhode 
Island, as far as I know, for thirty years, and how much 
longer I cannot say, for that is as far as my record goes 
back. Nhwton Dexter, 
P. S. The locality spoken of in Mr. Stanton’s letter is 
in the south part of the State, on the ocean shore. 
Charlestown, R. r., Nov. 18th. 
Mr. Newton Dexter: 
Sir— Mi-. Joseph C. Church received a letter from you in re¬ 
gard to that swan in Mr. Stoke's market. As I killed him, Mr. 
Church gave me your letter. I was at the Narrows nt Qtiono- 
contaug Pond last Sunday morni ng, and there came two of these 
swans from the east, about fifty yards high. I killed the head one 
and George Noyes, who was with me, wing-tipped the other, hut 
he got to sea. Your friend, Mr. Vnrs, of Niantic, will lell you who 
T am. Hoping that we may sometime have a nearer acquaintance, 
I am very respectfully yours, A. F. Stanton. 
Romans jfc.oltmtt ♦ 
Philadelphia, Nov. iBth, 1879. 
Editor Forest and Stream :— 
Sir : I have read with much interest and no little 
amusement the various letters from sportsmen’s wives, 
and with your kind permission will add mv mite. 
I think the great mistake of the ladies alluded to above, 
was, that they did not begin right. I, too, am a sports¬ 
man’s wife, but I never had a tithe of the trouble they 
speak of. I have been married nearly twenty-five years, 
and have often accompanied my husband upon his "quail- 
shooting excursions in Maryland and Delaware, and have 
enjoyed myself very much, Of course I did not shoulder 
a gun and “march with him over the fields and through 
the woods and branches and cripples ; but while he was 
off with the men and dogs I was enjoying myself with 
those of my own sex. But I have often thought that if I 
were a man I, too, should be a sportsman. 
One beautiful afternoon in November, about six years 
ago, my husband asked me if I ever saw a dog point a 
covey of quail, and upon my answering in the negative 
he said : “ Just slip on your hat and shawl, and well find 
a covey in less than fifteen minutes, for tlieyare out feed¬ 
ing now.” I did not care much to see the dog point the 
birds, but to please my husband I accompanied him. He 
helped me over the fence, and we took our way across a 
stubble-field, down towards a large pine woods, the dog 
(old Nat) scampering on ahead. When we were more 
than half way across the field the dog stopped, threw up 
his head, stood a moment, then, with liis nose close to the 
ground, walked in a slow, zigzag manner. “ Step,” said 
my husband; “he’s trailing them; don’t crowd him.” 
Then to the dog—“ Steady, boy ; ho 1 ho ! ” and presently 
the dog stopped, his limbs became rigid, and his long, 
feathery tail stood straight out on a line with his body. 
“What's the matter with Nat?” I asked. “Why, bless 
your little heart,” said my husband, "he’s got the birdB 
as firm aB a rock." •' Where are they?” I asked. “ Not 
three feet from him,” replied my husband. I strained 
my eyes to get a glimpse of them, but not a bird could I 
see, while the dog stood as firm as though carved of stone. 
“Now,” said my husband, “stand right still, and I’ll 
fiuBh them and make a shot.” He stepped just ahead of 
Nat, and such a “ whir-r-r” I never heard in all my life 
before. I seemed to be surrounded by birds. “ Bang, 
bang,” and away flew the birds to the pine woods, while 
I stood trembling scarce able to speak. When I came to 
my senses Nat stood ia front of me, wagging his tail, and 
two birds were lying at my feet. The whole perform¬ 
ance was enacted so quickly that I could scarcely realize 
it, and for weeks it was fresh in my memory. 
Let me say another word or two to those ladies whose 
husbands require so much waiting on. My husband al¬ 
ways has his 1 ‘ traps, ” as he calls them, ready. If he were 
called on to-night to go “down the river’’to-morrow 
morning, he would he ready. He has a large box with 
ever so many cartridges of all sizes of shot ready. His 
“big gun,” as he calls it (and it is a big one, for I can 
scarcely lift it) is always clean and bright. His breech¬ 
loader. of which he takes especial care, and which shines 
along the inside of the barrels like burnished silver, is in 
its case ; and he can get up at any hour of the night, pre¬ 
pare his own breakfast, and he off to the boat-house with¬ 
out disturbing me. That’B the way 1 brought him up. 
He is commodore of a yacht club, and very fond of 
sailing. Last June when the Quaker City Yacht Club 
had its spring regatta he was one of its judges, and al¬ 
though he had plenty to occupy his attention he found a 
good place for me on the judges’ steamboat, and I had a 
fine view of the yachts as they rounded Chester buoy; 
and I assure you, sir, it was a grand sight. No wonder 
men love yachting. Dear me ! I just felt as though I 
would like to have been on one of those beautiful yachts, 
skimming over the rippling water like a bird. 
Now, sir, I fear I have intruded too much upon your 
/aluable space, arid will say to my sisters who have 
sportsmen for husbands, and who sometimes put up with 
inconveniences, especially in the matter of dogs (I have 
raised six), that there are many worse creatures than 
sportsmen, and that there is a vast difference between a 
sportsman anil a “sporting-man.” Sallie. 
A Wisconsin Sportswoman.— Oconto, Wis., Nov.Sth.— 
Editor Forest and Stream:—We were to have started for 
our ride of thirty-five miles at 8 A.M., but the gentleman, 
in order to make an early start, always has to commence 
starting the night before ; it was noon before we were 
fairly off, a.nd then we went without him; didn’t give 
him time enough. However, he followed us the next 
day. 
Our friend’s residence stands upon the hank of a sheet 
of water which would have delighted the heart of “ Deer- 
slayer” himself to see. His farm is new, and only a small 
clearing breaks the wall of green which encloses as heau- 
tiful a little lake as can bef ound, It is well named ‘ ‘ Crys¬ 
tal Lake.” The water is so pure and limpid one’s boat 
seems to be floating in the ah. The waters teem with 
the ftnert fish—immense black-rook and yellow bass, 
perch, and catfish. One pickerel was caught last spring, 
the first and only one, while away down in its subterra¬ 
nean depths, where the sounding-line has yet failed to 
find bottom, are supposed to lurk trout which would put 
to the blush the fabulous ones of the Rangeley Lakes. 
The water of this lake is softer and purer than rain water, 
and would'rival famous "Tahoe” for transparency. It 
has no apparent outlet or inlet, and is about a mile in 
diameter. 
About four miles distant the “ south branch” of the 
Oconto River affords as fine trout fishing as you will find 
in the North. The hanks of the lake plainly indicate that 
at some time this lake must have found an outlet into the 
South branch referred to, hence we infer there must be 
brook trout in the lake. 
The forest surrounding it is full of deer; bears are quite 
numerous, and “quill-pigs,” as a friend from Maine calls 
them, are abundant. There are also partridges, and. lots 
of them ; altogether, a sportsman may find plenty of 
amusement and something better than glass balls for a 
target. 
The morning after our arrival my husbaud and myself 
took a boat and rowed over the lake to the hunting 
grounds. After walking until I was tired out, I was de¬ 
posited at the foot of a comfortable stump and told to 
wait “until I start a deer,” "Well, I waited and I waited, 
and then I waited; but alas I 1 waited in vain. No noble, 
branching antlers broke upon my strained vision, and 
gloomy thoughts of salt with a substratum of pork for 
dinner glanced through my mind. 
My lord came back a disgusted man, and I finally 
walked home around the broad white beach, while he fol¬ 
lowed at dusk, without having even shot some good 
farmer's calf. 
That night,in adrizzling rain, he and our friend started 
out with a lantern, and long after midnight they came 
in, cold, wet, hungry, and empty handed, and I wont re¬ 
peat the oration which was delivered on that occasion ; 
if not exactly a happy effort, it was forcible and to the 
point. 
The next day we tried the fishing, but with no better 
success. It was too late in the season, and the fish would 
no‘t take the hook, so we returned home with one poor 
little yellow bass as our only trophy. 
One of the children took the basket out of doors ,to 
clean the fish for the mocking bird. He carelessly left 
the basket out there. A pig came around to pick up his 
dinner and was suddenly picked up by the upper lip. 
And lo ! a fifty pounder on our hook. Theh began a most 
laughable race. Mr. --, his long figure clearing ten 
feet at abound, started in pursuit, with all the children 
after him. The pig squealed, the children shouted, and 
with seventy-five or a hundred feet of line unwinding 
behind him, poor piggy “put in” the best time ever made 
in an amateur race. Finally the pursuer caught the pig 
by one ear, but the effort was too much jfor him, ana 
down he came, a foot at a time, and shut up like a jack¬ 
knife on the pig, and after a protracted struggle he suc¬ 
ceeded in extricating his porcine highness from his pre¬ 
dicament. Diana, 
Those Sportsmens’ Wives.—D ear DMor:—Being an old 
reader of Forest and Stream, littlo in its columns escapes my 
notice, especially anything headed similar to the above. Now, 
these letters from Dianu, Ruth, and others are really getting to ho 
a serious matter. The truth is, my wife has been reading Forest 
and Stream, and I am likely to become a victim, she having 
threatened to expose the little eccentricities of a sportsman she 
knows of. Now, Mr. Editor, you must forbid the publishing of 
any more of thcselotters, or I must cease to ho a subscriber. I don't 
exactly moan to stop the paper, b-u-t, b-u-t well, lot those wives 
write us up insome other Journal (the Sun for instance) where no 
one will over see it. Tho description of the preparations fora 
“camp out,” as pictured by lluth, in your issue of Nov. 18th, is a 
shade too personal; it fits the heads of many of us too well, we 
can’t stand any more of it without being hoard from. So, please, 
Mr. Editor, devise some means for the relief o f the hunted sports¬ 
man. Yours, One of Them. 
FOREST AND STREAM ABROAD. 
[From the London Fishing Gnzelte of Nov. 1st, 1870.] 
T HIS capital sporting paper comes to us regularly 
every week from the office. No. Ill, Fulton street, 
New Y’ork, and every number seems an inprovement on 
the last. Many and many an interesting paragraph have 
we marked for quotation from its pages, but for want of 
space have had to place them amongst our store of valued 
sporting notes culled from all quarters. Now there must 
he a large number of our readers in various parts of the 
country who would like to know what our American 
cousins are doing in the way of fishing and shooting and 
bunting. To them we say with confidence, try Forest 
and Stream for three months. In time they will come to 
order the paper three years in advance! and pay for it too, 
jus some of the American subscribers do. Now that the 
long winter evenings are upon ns, we can imagine no 
greater pleasure for an all-round sportsman than a quiet 
hour or two in a cosy armchair, near a cosy English fire, 
with the latest number of The Fishing Gazette of course ! 
and Forest and Stream : and if to these are added tbe fra¬ 
grance of tobacco and an appreciative better-half who 
doesn’t object to smoking, why so much the better. The 
opera and theatre, concert and ballroom, have their 
charms; hut in our opinion they only teach us to value 
the more the quieter but truer pleasures of homo life. 
We never take up a copy of Forest and Stream with¬ 
out a feeling of thankfulness that such a grand sporting 
countrv as North America should be in possession of an 
English-speaking, and therefore English sport-loving race. 
Think of the continent of South America, equally S g 
