926 
FOREST AND STREAM 
nearly snow-white. The tail was a pure crimson red, 
much redder than a fresh gill of any other fish. The gills 
were four in number, and very heavy- and strong. 
This fellow was caught on a hook baited with a piece 
of mullet, and gave fine sport. The scales were as large 
as asilver five cent piece, and very soft and translucent. 
The flesh was white, firm and full-grained, and better 
flavored than any fish I tasted this year. 
I can find no nearer description in “ Hallock’s Sports¬ 
man’s Gazetteer,” pp. 403, than under the head “ Elacti- 
dce,” the “crab-eater, cobia, sergeant fish,” etc., but this 
description omits the most remarkable distinguishing 
feature, viz., the orimson red tail. When caught (Oct. 
15th) it was lull of spawn. 
1 trust this stranger will stay with us, as he is a very 
valuable food fish; out I am afraid that, like the gulf 
thread fish, he will leave when the shrimp do, to be seen 
no more until they return in August. Bexar. 
Having submitted the above description and the draw¬ 
ing to Prof, Theo. Gill, we have received the following 
identification, that proves our correspondent was mis¬ 
taken about the teeth 
The fish apparently belongs to the genus Sphyraera, and 
is, perhaps, the barracuda (S. Picuda), but if so, is er¬ 
roneously stated by “Bexar" to be “ without teeth.” 1 
know of no fish like that indicated destitute of teeth, 
Theo. Gill. 
FISH SWALLOWING FISH. 
tSfThls contest Is a go-as-you-please, hut open only to ama¬ 
teurs. Professionals barred. 
V Boston, Dec. lath. 
Editor Forest and Stream 
I am going for that hook, and this is the hand I do it on. A few 
years ago I was fishing; through the loe for pickerel. They bit so 
fast that 1 had only time to out one hole and tend the line by 
hand, hauling them out as fast os I could bait. Onoe, as I dropped 
In the shiner, and while it was in sight, two piokerel rushed for 
It at the same instant. The smallest one, of about two pounds 
weight, barely getting the bait as the other closed his jaws, catch¬ 
ing far enough into the head of the first fish to be impelled with 
the hook, and both were safely landed, or iced rather. 
WAJElflKLD. 
Our correspondent says “honest Injun”, this is true, 
and adds that some of the others are fishy. To be sure 
they are. Fishy or nothing, 
Washington, D. C., Dec. 13th, 
Editor Forest and Stream 
Be good enough to listen to my fish story before you award that 
big fish hook. In the; summer of 1875 the ship .Mary Schuyler, 
of New York, Peterson, master, was cruising among the West 
Indies. The cholera broke out aboard of her, and several of the 
men were attacked. One of them, William Frith, died. He was 
duly prepared for bis watery grave ,by being sewed up in a por¬ 
tion of an old sail, together with an old grindstone, an axe and 
one or two other pieces of Iron. These were to sink him at once. 
The preparations being completed, he was thrown overboard. 
His son, a boy of some ten years, who was on the vessel, was 
inconsolable at the death of his father. When the body was 
dropped into the ocean the hoy jumped overboard, and before 
any thins could be done to resue him, disappeared, Shortlyafter- 
wards an unusually large shark was seen following the ship, und 
attracted by its size some of the men determined to capture It if 
possible. The big hook was gotten out and baited. It was not 
long before the monster of the deep lay dead on the deck. As the 
men stood by admiring his size a strange sound was heard to pro¬ 
ceed from the fish. The sound continued and the curiosity of 
the men was aroused to such an extent that they out open the 
shark. They found that it had swallowed both father and son; 
that the boy had, with his pocket knife out his father out of his 
winding sheet; that the father was not dead, but had only 
ewooned, and the singular noise was made inside the shark by 
the father grinding the axe on the grindstone preparatory to cut¬ 
ting a way out of his llving.prison. 0. B. 
We stall not damn this truthful and affecting incident 
by any ill-timed faint praise. There are certain impres¬ 
sive occasions when silence is far more eloquent than 
words. The present is such an one. 
Albany, N. Y., Dee. 0th. 
Editor Forest and Stream 
■X Although the "Man in Albany,” has said nothing about “fish 
swallowing fish,” it is not because he has nothing to sny. In com¬ 
mon with all old fishermen, 1 oould supply you with a whole page 
of curious incidents in that line; but as I remember nothing 
wbioh;would eclipse "L L. R.'s” alligator screed, 1 will make 
a cast or two in another direction which may provoke a rise 
from some new aspirant for the proffered medal. 
Among the many genial men with whom my love of angling 
has made me intimate, I cherish with peculiar pleasure, the 
memory of the late Rev. Dr. Campbell of this city. His reminiscen¬ 
ces were always interesting, because the pastime always brought 
to him other and higher pleasures than are to bo found in the 
mere mechanism of the art. During one of these never-to-be- 
forgotten “BOoiables," I mentioned this incident, During my 
then recent visit to the North Woods I had taken a nine pound 
lake trout in whose stomach X found a large trolling hook In a 
state of perfect preservation. The fish was In splendid condition, 
and gave me as fine play as any one of the score or more I cap - 
tured during that visit. 
i Thereupon the Dootor gave me this 11 Boland ” for my“ Oliver." 
"During my sojourn at Lake George last summer, I anchored my 
boat on the shady side of a pretty island, ratherto read and medi¬ 
tate, than to fish. 1 took my tackling with me, of course, and of 
course, also, I dropped my fine so that, should any straggling bass 
pass that way he might find something to amuse him. I became 
quite absorbed In the book I was reading before I was disturbed 
by so much as a nibble; and when the nibble came It was so 
slight that X paid no attention to it until it was so often repeated 
that 1 deemed It prudent to haul up to examine my bait. To my 
surprise, however, I was met by a very unusual resistance—indi¬ 
cating a fish of five poundB at least; and to my Btill greater sur¬ 
prise, when the resisting object came into view, Isaw, not the 
head of a black bass, but the neokof a black bottle. That appari¬ 
tion was startling enough, but it was dwarfed into insignificance 
when, on examination, I found that my hook bad been taken by 
a AbU inside the bottle, and that (more marvellous still) the fish 
was as large as the body of the bottle and more than four times os 
large as the bottle’s month.” 
If this story had been told me by any one olse I would have 
simply whistled, and proceeded to matoh It by some equivalent 
marvel, drawn, of course, from that inexhaustible reservoir from 
whence come so many of those wonderful verities technically 
known as " fish stories.” But I received it with beooming as¬ 
tonishment, of course, but with no shadow of doubt of its exaot 
fidelity to exaot faot. In due time I asked this question; 
“How do you explain the mystery, Doctor?'’ 
“There can be but one solution," was the reply. “That fish 
entered the orifice of the bottle in his infancy, and either because 
he liked his quarters or eould'nt find his way out, be continued to 
live and wax fat until ray bait dropped into his prison, beguiled 
him to his undoing, and gave me a new experience in our pleas¬ 
ant pastime. He weighed three-quarters of a pound, I had him. 
for breaktast next morning, and he was the most toothsome tnor- 
eel I ever knew to come out of the belly of a black bottle." 
I saw then, as I see now, a chance to crack a score of jokes over 
this story, but, as you know, I am no joker, so I pass the oppor¬ 
tunity over to those who think they are. G. D. 
P. S. This story does not:, ot course, place me in the category of 
competttorsforthathook,whlehasl understand it, is to he award¬ 
ed to whoever shall tell the largest story of a fish (not a bottle) 
swallowing a fish.” It is, of course, no groat feat for a bottle to 
swallow a fish, for we all know how common it is to trace to the 
bottle the debris of inusBire palaces and landed estates. G. D. 
Our readers will share with us the hope that “the 
Man in Albany,” who can write more good things about 
fish and fishing than any other man in America, will not 
refuse to give us a farther installment from his store of 
angling reminiscences. We should write out his name 
in full had he not himself subscribed his initials ; but 
then every one knows who he iB. 
^ Hartford, Conn., Dec., 13tft. 
Editor Forest and Stream 
The summer of 18681 spent at Moosehead Lake, enjoying camp 
life with a merry party of sportsmen. When not fishing, we 
spent considerable timein rifie shooting. One day “ Doctor," the 
genius of the party, proposed tying a quarter of a dollar to a long 
string und then fastened the string to the branoh of a tree tnat 
extended oyer the water, so that when it swung to and fro we 
could shoot at it a-la Carver. After arranging it we wont to dinner. 
While eating our attention was attracted by a crow sitting on the 
limb where we had tied the string, apparently untying it. Being 
untied, the string slipped so as to allow the silver piece to touch 
the water, when to our astonishment It was immediately seized 
and swallowed by a large perch. The crow by this time had ob¬ 
tained a good hill-hold on the string and the oontest between 
them was very exciting. Several times the crow, by diligent use 
of claw and bill, succeeded in lifting the perch out of the water. 
Finally, just as its tail was leaving the water, there was a rush and 
we saw the perch disappear in the mouth of a four-pound trout, 
The combined weight was too much for the crow, and the string 
slipped so as to allow the fish to regain the water; but the crow 
quiokly seized the string with its bill, and then commenced the 
moat exciting and novel struggle that was ever witnessed. The 
trout was darting to and fro. and the crow was tipping and bob¬ 
bing, owing to the struggles of the fish. Never did an expert 
disciple of old Isaac play a fish, with light tackle, better than did 
this crow, and we were betting high on the crow to win, when to 
our surprise the bird was jerked from off the limb, its feet becom¬ 
ing entangled in the string, the fish swimming out into the deep 
water of the lake, und the crow flying to keep up. We watched 
the crow for nearly an hour, when from exhaustion It dropped 
into the water, and was lost from view. But now comes the 
singular part of the story, The next forenoon Doctor and I were 
fishing with live bait, from separate boats twenty yards apart, 
when I had a heavy strike and hooked my fish—it proved a ten- 
pound pickerel. Upon landiug It I was surprised to find two lines 
In Its mouth. I related the fact to the Dootor, who had also Just 
captured a fine pickerel, and was surprised to learn that his fish 
also had two lines in Its mouth. Wo each pulled In the line Out of 
the water, and to our mutual astonishment we found each had 
hold of the same line, so we pulled the boats together by it, and 
proceeded to investigate by dissection the strange ease. Upon 
opening my pickerel I found iv four-pound trout with the lineIn 
its mouth, and in this trout I found a perch, and In the perch, at 
the end of the line I found the quarter of a dollar that we sus¬ 
pended from the tree. A dissection of my friend's pickerel dis¬ 
closed our fisherman crow entangled In the line. As we were in 
the dissecting business, we dissected the crow, and in its stomach 
we found seventeen minnows, three hair-pins, a red string, sev¬ 
eral trout flies, and a gold badge that 1 recognized as one I lost 
the year previous when on a fishing tour to the Thousand Islands. 
Please place the above truthful occurrence to the credit of 
NI7TSIE0. 
The Editor of this paper has come to a realizing sense 
of his awful responsibility for tempting his brothers of 
the rod to perjure themselves. Now let him say, once 
for all: If any man contemplates the attempt to out-tell 
the specimens of American fish fiction published in 
to-day’s Forest and Stream, he must do so " on his 
own hook.” We disclaim all moral responsibility for the 
action. 
A Rochester, N. Y., Dec. 13th. 
Editor Forest and Stream 
That story by “ 0. L. R.,” regarding the minnow-turtle- rnoccas- 
sln snake-trout-alligator, was a good one, but I think he will net 
be awarded the big prize fish-hook, If a certain hoy who used to 
livdin this State Is alive. I referto the one who some years ago 
was out boating with his mother on (I think) Conesns Lake, and 
while gazing from the stern of the boat into the water had his 
nose seized by n large salmon trout, which he pulled Into the boat 
hanging from his nasal orgao 1 Was there everlsuch a hook and 
line used before or since ? The truth of this story is vouched for 
under oath, and photographs of the boy with his laearated nose 
and the fish were sold as curiositlea. E - E - 
Our correspondent is guilty of a slight inaccuracy. The 
hoy was sitting in the bow of the boat, with his nose 
running aft and trailing astern, rigged with reel, line and 
trolling spoon. Who couldn’t catch a fish with such a 
rig ? This was the boy, too, we believe, who hoisted his 
ears for sails. 
—A double-aboil race—olanw- 
Hjistorg. 
NOTES ON APLOCERUS COLUMBIANUS. 
T HIS animal, known also as the white goat, moun¬ 
tain goat and ibex, is much more numerous than 
commonly supposed to be. It abounds in British terri¬ 
tory from its southern to its northern boundary, and is 
not confined to the Rocky Mountains ; but I am inclined 
to believe, from the best information to be obtained, that 
it is even more numerous in the Cascade and Coast ranges 
than in the Rockies. However this may be, it is undoubt¬ 
edly plenty in all of the above named ranges, and the 
general impression of its rarity probably arises from the 
fact that its skin is not an object of trade, and conse¬ 
quently is seldom seen except in close proximity to where 
the goat lives. The skins are shorn by the Indians of all, 
or nearly all, of the different tribes on this coast. The 
wool is spun in the most primitive kind of manner by the 
the squaws, who twist it on the bare knees with 
the palm of the hand. This yarn is woven into 
blankets on a very rude kind of loom, by passing 
the weft over and under the warp with the hand, 
without the use of a shuttle or other appliance. 
These blankets, although occupying a long time in their 
manufacture, are still very common among the Indians, 
and at one time constituted their principal covering, es¬ 
pecially among the tribes living on the coast. The manu¬ 
facture of these blankets is yearly decreasing, however, 
owing to the importation of American and.English ones, 
and other causes ; and it iB safe to conjecture that this 
species of goat is on the increase, instead of decrease, as 
the fleece, and not the flesh, was the object sought for by 
the Indians. Not that the flesh is unpalatable and in¬ 
ferior, hut that other pursuits are less arduous and more 
profitable ; and among our Indians hunting is not so 
much practiced as when it was a necessity. The old 
adepts are fast dying off, and the young fry pay more at¬ 
tention to working for the whites as servants, mill 
hands, salmon fishers, cattle herders, etc., than to hunt¬ 
ing, the last twenty years having made a great change in 
their mode of obtaining a livelihood. 
The flesh of this species resembles, in some degree, 
mutton. That of the kids is exceedingly delicate, has a 
slight gamey flavor, is eaten by both Indians and whites, 
and by some of the latter is preferred to venison. 
The home of this animal appears to be about the snow 
line on the mountains. It is rarely, although occasion¬ 
ally, seen in the level bottoms. On one occasion I saw 
a goat shot by a person sitting in a canoe on salt water. 
It is more than likely that at times they pass from one 
mountain to another, and to do so must necessarily de¬ 
scend to the valleys ; and these, perhaps, are the only 
times that they are at low altitudes. 
They are gregarious at all times of the year, and flocks 
or bands comprising as many as twenty to thirty individ¬ 
uals are not uncommon, hut a smaller number may be 
assumed to he the rule. 
They breed but once a year, and have two kids at a birth, 
which are brought forth iuMay and June. The period 
of gestation, for obvious reasons, is unknown. 
They are very fleet in their rocky fastnesses, and know 
no fear in ascending and descending the most abrupt 
places, and the use of dogs of any kind in hunting them 
is not worth attempting ; the only means of any avail 
is by stalking, or as it is termed here, still hunting. The 
faculty that is accredited to them, of jumping down 
heights and alighting on their horns without injury, is a 
myth, pure and simple. “Why this animal should be 
classed by naturalists as au antelope, I fail to see, as in 
its looks, habits, and other characteristics, it is a complete 
goat, if there is such a thing. 
Both sexes bear permanent horns. They are very fine 
grained, of an intense, or jet black, susceptible of being 
very highly polished, and the tipper parts, or ends of the 
horns, have a very fine natural polish. They vary in 
length, but I think that eight or nine inches in length 
would be a fair average. They are curved backward and 
outward, being much wider apart at the tips than at the 
butts. They are corrugated, or wrinkled at the base, and 
the general idea, and a plausible one too, prevails, that 
these denote the age of the animal, in the same manner aB 
do the wrinkles on a cow’s horn, The tips come to a very 
sharp point which would be effective in goring, and in 
this respect suggests the idea of defenoe and offence, 
more than do the horns of the common goat, whose chief 
line of argument appeal's to be butting. 
The coat is of two qualities, namely : a fine white wool 
next the skin, of a fine grade, and a long white hair, 
straight and stiff, coarse in texture, never curly, as is the 
■wool in the domestic sheep. Sometimes the coat assumes 
a dingy white or yellowish cast, hut white is the normal 
color, 
This species is extremeiv tenacious of life and will 
often escape though desperately wounded. 
It may he said to never come to bay, at least m the 
sense that a deer does ; but when hard pressed will some 
times turn on its pursuer when no other means of escape 
is practicable. Iji support of this I may mention a cir¬ 
cumstance that came to my knowledge, by which a fine 
young Indian of my acquaintance, “ Wyhee’ by name, 
met his death. He was a noted goat hunter ; for almost 
all of these Indians have their particular forte, one being 
a bear hunter, another a canoe maker, another a deer 
hunter-, etc., etc. “Wyhee” had -wounded a buck goat, 
which while endeavoring to escape got upon a narrow 
ledge or shelf, terminated at one end by a bluff whioh no 
annual could get around or pass, and the goat was 60 to 
speak corralled, as the Indian came in by the other end. 
“Wyhee,” thinking that he had the goat at his mercy, 
cut a sapling, sharpened the end, and advanced with the 
intention of spearing the goat—Indian-like, wishing to 
save another charge of powder and lead. When close to 
the goat, however, it turned upon him and knocked or 
butted him off the shelf, and he, falling hundreds of feet 
below on the rocks was so bruised and mangled that his 
body, when recovered by his friends, was hardly recog¬ 
nized as the remains of a human being. 
In regard to a third description of sh< 
than this kind and the “ Bighorn” (Out 
lieve it is all a yam. My reasons are 
head, or horns have, ever reaohed any 
tion or naturalist except those of the fr 
no hunter, trader, trapper, goldminer, 
sep or goat other 
s mon tana), I be 
these No skin 
scientific institu 
wo above named 
or Hudson’s Bay 
