FOREST AND STREAM 
024 
strangers. Wlion we landed at tlio dock we were met by 
Mr. Henri Lo Ronde, tlie Hudson's Bay Company's agent 
here, whom ill the two days of our stop at the port, we 
found to be a most estimable and intelligent gentleman. 
Some of the Indians recognized Wassy and VVabagnbo. 
and the “Bon jours” flew thick and fast. Mr. Le Ronde 
gave us a fine camping-place within the Company's en¬ 
closure, but our wannest welcome was from the black 
fly, which was abundant and active. We were soon in 
camp, settled down for Sunday, Some Ash were pro¬ 
cured from the Indians, and we made ourselves oomiort- 
ftble, as only old campaigners know how to do. 
But what we learned about trout and other things will 
be told in another paper. 
GOOSE-HUNTING IN VIRGINIA. 
W E had made up our minds that we would kill those 
geese, and provided ourselves accordingly. Gud¬ 
geon, not content with one gun, took two, with shot and 
powder enough for twenty. Tho Doctor carried a tre¬ 
mendous swan gun, ns tab as himself—a gun that quietly 
knocked him down ten times or more during a day's hunt. 
His ammunition was in proportion. Spurr bad an old 
muzzle-loader of mighty bore and a mighty “kicker," 
with the admirable quality of getting its ramrod hope¬ 
lessly hung whenever Spurr labored under excitement. 
“But when she did go oil” Spurr would say, “She 
knocked ’em 1” It was always difficult to understand 
whether he referred to the hunter or the game. He 
loaded the gun five fingers on the ramrod, and used half 
a newspaper for wadding. It would be superflous to 
mention the number of times Spurr put the shot into the 
gun first, and the energetic language he used, when ho 
snapped off fifty caps to get the thing to do its duty. 
When squirrel-hunting, Spurr had a miserable habit of 
fancying that he saw a squirrel in every other tree we 
passed, and would bang away for an hour to satisfy his 
curiosity' and enthusiasm. 
I closed up the rear of this interesting goose excursion 
with a light sporting gun and an extremely heavy and 
awkward apparatus, which he chose to call a reflector. 
Our combined efforts and knowledge of what a ducking 
rettector was like had been brought into play, and the 
result was a square three-pound canned-good's box, lined 
with heavy tin, two sorry-looking candies, and a broken 
pane of window glass at the opening in front, “to keep 
out tho air,” Bald Spurr. Our experiments in the barn 
were not as satisfactory as they might have been, and 
the only fact disclosed at tho trial was, that the thing 
was heavy. We trustedj that in open air, aroused to 
greater efforts through the excitement of the hunt, it 
would “refteot" credit upon itself. My ammunition was 
iu proportion to the lavishness displayed by my fellow 
huntsmen. 
And so were we four loaded down as we stepped into 
the wherry, at 6 o'clock on Monday evening, that was to 
convey us to the happy goose-grounds on the other side 
of the river. 
Our start was inauspicious from the fact that the reflector 
fell overboard in my clumsy attempt to enter the boat, 
Ten minutes were lost in fishing it out again, and another 
ten minutes in running up to the store for fresh candles. 
Then the Doctor’s Panama blew into the river, and, 
strange to say, sank. As this happened when we were 
some distance from tho wharf, Spurr simply said:— 
"Why, hang it, Doctor, tie a handkerchief around 
your head and brave it out. We can’t lose any more time 
now, in.getting a hat.” 
The Doctor did so. He was a mild man, and invaria¬ 
bly swallowed any sensible suggestion. 
Wo had rowed perhaps a mile or more, when Gudgeon, 
greatly excited, rose from liis seat and yelled, that “ there 
was a wild duck right under our bow.” We didn’t men¬ 
tion that the yell might frighten the bird off, but we 
looked it. Of course, the duck disappeared, and a mo¬ 
ment later came to the surface some thirty yards to the 
rear of the boat. Gudgeon was already at an aim, and, 
when we shouted, “ There she is ! Blaze away, old boy ! ” 
be murmured a maudlin “Where?" and fortunately, 
catching sight of the duck, banged away with a reckless¬ 
ness of manner that aroused our earnest sympathy for 
him. He had only broken a wing of the “ black neck.” 
In an instant we were all as excited as Gudgeon, and 
stood up to a man, with our guns cocked, awaiting the 
reappearance of the duck. It came up some ten feet off, 
and, with a roar that would have rivalled United States' 
artillery, we poured about a pound of shot at the poor 
creature, It dove in time, however, to escape the hail, 
and appeared again at an oar’s length from us. Spurr, 
being the nearest to the duck, bawled for an oar. We 
provided him with one simultaneously, Giving a mighty 
grunt, he threw it recklessly at the wounded bird. Dear 
reader, shall I say that he missed it? Out of pure re¬ 
spect to the memory of Gudgeon, 1 shall remain silent. I 
will Bay, however, that Gudgeon tried it again, Spurr 
tried it, and nearly went overboard in so doing. I tried 
it. The sauve Doctor tried it. Our darkie rowing the 
boat tried it. Spurr’s excitement was at so high a pitch, 
that I verily bekeve he would have thrown his gun at the 
duck, had wo not restrained him. He proposed to send 
tho reflector at it, but I sat down indignantly on the 
thing and said “ No I ” (To say the truth, the reflector 
was mainly a pet idea of mine, made under protest; but 
on my agreeing to carry it, the rest consented that we 
should take it with us.) 
How long the yelling and frantic splashing would havo 
continued 1 can’t say, had not our darkie suggested that 
we should "Shoot him, Massa!” Fools we I And we 
did ; and when Spurr calmly picked the creature out of 
the water, we all wore such hypocritical smiles that the 
glory of the killing departed at once. 
The rest of the row was made in silence. 
The other side of the river readied, we looked about 
anxiously for the conveyance that was to have taken us to 
the goose-haunts, which, we were told by the natives, was 
some eight miles up the road. We looked high and low, 
■With a flock of grinning darkies at our heels, hut not a 
voutige of the wagon was to be seen. Here was a pre¬ 
dicament surely. Eight miles before us ; our tremendous 
load of guns and ammunition to carry, and approaching 
night, were things that did not sound funny when taken 
into consideration. There was no alternative left, how¬ 
ever, but to foot it. Paying our boatman, we started up 
the road, with hut vague directions of the whereabouts of 
our stopping point. The Doctor was mad ; Gudgeon was 
mad ; Spurr was mad ; and I was mad. Our conversa¬ 
tion was not lively, as we trudged up the road in sand up 
to our ankles. The Doctor seemed to think that it was 
all our fault that the wagon had been missed, and forged 
ahead with tremendous strides, which developed a gait on 
our part that was severely trying. It was not long before 
we came to a fork in the road, and to 6olve the question, 
as to which branch we should follow, we solemnly drew 
lots, and rusliedjnto the one fate had ordained us to take. 
We were utterfyat sea now, and had not the slightest 
idea of where the road was leading us to. 
Spurr timidly suggested that it would have been better 
f we had not come at all. Miserable wretch I And that 
waB all the sympathy we got. 
I shall not weary you with the details of that distress¬ 
ing walk. It might be summed ujj in three words: Sand, 
perspiration and silence. But our enthusiasm had not 
entirely left us. The spark burned sufficiently long to 
carry us to the happy hunting-ground, for very fortu¬ 
nately we were on the road that led to it. 
We found a fine old farm-house, a genial host, and a 
good supper awaiting us. The supper despatched, our 
fellow-feeling had so far returned that we suggested a 
goose-hunt right then and there. The night was dark, 
no wind was blowing, and what was better, the farmor 
assured ns that just before sunset he had seen a fine flock 
of geese settle in the swamp below. 
“ Where can we get a boat?" suggested Spurr. 
Down at the creek—Jake’s boat. Pretty small, but I 
guess it will hold you all,” said the farmer. 
We were now at the highest pitch of the “goose ” craze, 
and started away for the creek with our full complement 
of guns, ammunition and reflector. 
For the first time since the organization of our hunt 
the Doctor, Spurr and Gudgeon looked favorably upon 
my reflector. Spurr even offered to carry it for me, but 
I would not trust him with it, for too much depended on 
the apparatus to be ruined by any recklessness. To our 
dismay, when we Teached the creek leading to the sw'amp 
we found the boat chained and looked to a sapling cedar. 
Wo were very charitable in our expressions about the 
farmer for the space of a minute, and the mild Doctor 
even went so far as to say that he would punch that gen¬ 
tleman’s head without pecuniary consideration, and in 
the darkness we saw his eyes flash indignantly. 
I lit the reflector to get a better view of the boat and our 
surroundings, There stood the tall, slim cedar, towering 
in a dignified way into the blackness, above, with the 
chain lying cozily at its foot. The boat also lay very 
quietly, and we stood about it as quietly, thinking in¬ 
tensely, Finally Spurr drew a huge jack-knife from his 
pocket, and grasping tlie tree commenced to whittlo. We 
laughed grimly. We had not long to wait, for the sap¬ 
ling fell slowly and gracefully, under the combined influ¬ 
ence of our pulling weight. The boat was ours, and we 
were happy again—for the time being. 
The boat was originally intended to carry two, at least 
it appeared so ; but as no two of ua were magnanimous 
enough to stay at home while the other two sallied forth 
after geese, the result was that the boat must carry us 
all. I should take the bow, with a paddle and the reflector, 
the Doctor was to shoot over my head, Spurr was to rake 
to the right, and Gudgeon rake to the left. The theory 
was excellent, and we proceeded to carry it into effect. 
The Doctor volunteered to try the boat first, to see if it 
leaked or not, for we would rely no fiu-ther on the dia¬ 
bolical farmer. 
‘ 1 Have you got the paddle ?” 
“Yes, in the bottom of the boat,” says the Doctor, 
“ Get in and in got the Doctor, while we three seized 
the boat and with a tremendous effort pushed it far out 
into the creek. The Doctor recklessly stood up before 
the boat bad lost headway, and a dismal splash finished 
the tragedy. Again we laughed in grim chorus. We 
continued to laugh as the Doctor waded ashore, chatter¬ 
ing and muttering fiercely. Before we could stop our 
laughter the Doctor had picked up that big swan-gun, 
and giving a mighty grunt as lie lifted it, he hissed that 
he was going off after squirrels ! 
' Are you mad?” yelled Gudgeon. 
Are you insane?” yelled Spurr. 
Are you an idiot?” yelled I. 
How are you going to Bhoot 'em in the dark ?” we all 
yelled at once. 
The Doctor paused in his “ fierce career,” a.nd turning 
said very mildly for one in his condition of mind: “ . 
suppose those geese out in tho swamp are used to yell- 
lessly for it to illuminate a flock of geese. Finally, as 
we rounded a bend in the creek, we saw, on a broad ex¬ 
panse of water before ub, a magnificent flock lying mo¬ 
tionless, They did not remain so long. At the very in¬ 
stant we rounded the bend, and my reflector brought to 
view the geese, a tremendous report rang out from some 
bushes at the side of the creek nearest us, Before the 
smoke cleared away the geeBe had disappeared, with a 
vast amount of noise, into the darkness above. 
A low laugh came from the bush, and throwing the 
rays of my reflector on the spot, whom should we see 
but the tall Doctor looming up in ghostly majesty, quietly 
loading that big swan gun. 
“ Come ashore,” he sang out, “and let mo gather in 
the two I’ve' killed ; and, remember, never laugh at me 
again." And -we didn’t. 
The reflector and I parted company then and there, 
with a pious benediction on my part, as the waves closed 
over it, We took the Doctor and his two dead geese 
aboard; paddled silently back for Spurr; landed the 
boat; walked moodily home, the Doctor chuckling oc¬ 
casionally, in which we did not join ; slept poorly, and 
trotted on home the next day, sworn friends, 
W. H. Winslow, 
ing?” And turning again he walked away with long and 
manly strides. 
Secretly we exulted at this unexpected turn in our 
affairs, for now we were only three to patronize the boat, 
and a positive fate through drowning was to be avoided. 
But we took good care not to impart such selfish exulta¬ 
tions to each other. It might have resulted in an indig¬ 
nant row. Meanwlrile the boat lay very peaceably on the 
water, without the slightest intention of budging an inch 
towards our eager, outstretched hands. Spurr tried to 
whistle for it, but a combined whistle and smile is a 
physical Impossibility. Gudgeon proposed to sink the 
abominable thing by hurling heavy stones at it. But 
then Gudgeon was mad and shivering audibly, with his 
enthusiasm fast dying out. The night was growing bit¬ 
terly cold ; a sharp wind was setting in from the north, 
and our patience was losing ground, Finally Spurr, with 
admirable recklessness, rushed into the water, seized the 
boat, dragged it ashore, tossed his dudds into it, got in 
himself, all in the twinkling of an eye, and grasping the 
paddle said that “he was ready 1" So were we, as soon 
as we had recovered our balance, amazed as we were at 
the fearful enthusiasm of Spurr. 
By holding our breath at frequent intervals we man¬ 
aged to keep the boat afloat. But as this operation grew 
tedious, Spurr proposed that he would get off on one of 
the numerous clumps of grass in the marsh wherever a 
firm footing could be found, and shoot into the air as 
the geese passed over him. He smiled in a very sickly 
manner when he made this proposition. He didn’t give 
us time, however, to ask how lie was to hit them in the 
dark, but made a landing on a small islet that we had 
just reached very summarily. 
Gudgeon and I were alone in tlie boat, secretly exult¬ 
ing again, We paddled very quietly do wji the creek for 
a quarter of a mile or so, my reflector shedding a beauti¬ 
ful light on the water ahead. There was no doubt of Us 
being a success. Wo watched expectantly and breath- 
&>4 §nUmt, 
THE DUTCHESS COUNTY SYSTEM. 
T HE Board of Supervisors of Dutchess County, this 
State, have taken commendable interest in supply¬ 
ing the waters of the county with food fish. They appear 
to have been alive to the importance of pisciculture and 
to have adopted a very satisfactory plan of work in this 
direction. The restocking of the streams has been 
placed in the hands of a judiciously selected committee, 
which consists of the following gentlemen: J. S. Yan 
Cleef, chairman; P. A. M. Yan Wyck, Peter H. Christie, 
Albert Emans, David Warner, James H. Weeks. During 
the year 1879 the distributions of brook trout fry has ag¬ 
gregated 80,500; of land-locked salmon, 10,000, and of 
black bass spawners, 126. The annual report of the com¬ 
mittee we publish below. It is an argument for the local¬ 
ization of fish culture, the supplementing of the State 
Fish Commissioners’ efforts by individual town and 
county organizations. This is the tendency of the more 
advanced sections of the country in fish culture and 
game protection. The report reads as follows 
To the Hon. the Board of supn-visora of the County of 
Dutchess: 
Gentlemen— The Fish Committee of this county ap¬ 
pointed by you last year, respectfully render the following 
report of their proceedings for the current year :— 
Earlv in the year dilligent effort was made to ascertam 
what waters in the county still needed to be Btockad 
with fish, and the desired species. The result was not 
very satisfactory. 
It was hoped that by this time suffieent information 
would have been furnished to enable us to prepare and 
submit a statement showing the location and size of tho 
principal streams and ponds in the county, tlie character 
of the water, and to what extent and with wliat varieties 
they abound In fish. ... 
It seems impossible to obtain such information in re¬ 
sponse to requests through the public press ; and yet the 
necessity for it is too obvious to need any detailed expla- 
The funds apropiiatedby the Supervisors should he so 
expended that every town will be benefitted in proportion 
to its needs, but in the absence of proper information, 
your oommitee can do little else than distribute such fish 
as they may get to those who take the trouble to call for 
them. To illustrate ; Black bass were introduced into 
Sylvan Lake many years ago.—From that lake they have 
emigrated into all the waters connected with it especially 
Fishkill and Sprout Creeks ; and tho destruction of soma 
varieties which used to abound in these streams, notably 
the pike, has been almost complete. 
Now the ordinary wliin-fish, frequently called chub, 
will thrive alongside of the bass, and it will take the fly 
almost as freoly as a trout; and it might prove a decided 
benefit to these streams if information were given show¬ 
ing to what extent the whin-fish which used to abound 
there have survived the attacks of the pike which was 
the predecessor of the bass; and also whether this fish 
abounds in any other waters in this county now stocked 
Last year we were supplied with 10,000 land locked 
salmon. The want of proper information prevented an 
extended distribution of these fish. ... 
From all the information that could be obtained your 
committee were of the opinion that it was desirable to 
procure brook trout almost exclusively last year. A few 
black bass were furnished by the State Comnnsion with¬ 
out solicitation and they were gladly accepted and were 
principally used in stocking waters which were already 
partially stocked with bass. 
It was the intention to so appopriate the funds in our 
hands that a balance would be left over for use in case 
of demand for assistance in prosecutions for violations of 
tlie law, but after the appropriation had been made, 
notice was received from Hon. Spencer Ft Baird, United 
States Commissioner of Fisheries, that we could he sup¬ 
plied with 10,000 land locked Balmon spawn to be hatched 
at our expense; and still later we received a telegram 
from Mr. Seth Green*stating that he had sent a messen¬ 
ger with 25,000 more of the small fry of brook trout. 
We deemed it unwise to reject these gratuitous supplies, 
even though we had to advance the necessary funds for 
their reception and distribution. 
The additional expense caused by tins action was over 
$100, and creates a deficiency of $71.68, as will appear by 
the statement of expenses which is hereto annexed. 
At the request of the other members of the committee 
the chairman went to Albany last spring to meet the 
Assembly Committee on Game and Fish; and as a result 
of that conferrence the general law was so amended 
that the provision then existing excepting Wappmgers 
