1032 
FOREST AND STREAM 
street comer, as we would to go hunting for mutton. It 
requires a strong nature, and great powers of endurance 
and patience, to hunt deer. Two Indians will leave here 
in their canoe—say, to-day—to-night, if the moon is up, 
they will squat all night by the side of trails; if the deer 
don't come to-night, it will to-morrow, or next night. 
They we as comfortable squatted there as they would bo 
squatted on the beach here, and they can stand the cold 
and wet and snow, for they have been brought up to it 
from childhood. When on the mountains I was aston¬ 
ished to see my packers tramp bare-footed on the snow. 
I have got beyond astonishment at such a trifle as that. 
We have had three weeks of cold weather, and the lake 
(Piseco Lake, I have named it), is covered with ten-inch 
ice, built by a temperature at times as low as 10 degrees. 
On that ice children and women slide and play bare¬ 
footed. And the snow which now covers the ground 
does not seem to incommode them. Little hoys clad in 
but single blankets slide down hill on bits of board or 
Bbeet-iron ; and when the board, as it did sometimes, slid 
out, and the blanket did not slide in, the cold friction 
did not seem to mar tlieir happiness, and (I can hardly 
believe it, but) I was told on the ice, by a man who kept 
a roller-skating rink in Wrangel, that buck Indians 
would come in barefooted, strap on the skates, stamp in 
the brads, which project upwards into, ordinarily, the 
boot—and thus accoutred, seem to enjoy themselves. I 
think thejexplanation of this hardiness is “the survival 
of the fittest.” From birth they are accustomed to cold 
and wet, and those who don't die, get tough. I have 
seen, where the thermometer stood at 20 degrees in the 
mornings, mothers bringing baked infants to the beach 
and holding them in the water for several minutes. 
However, as the temperature of the water was the high¬ 
est, it may not have been so very had—for an Indian. 
But those of us who have not been so hardened, prefer 
to leave deer-butchering to those who have. I never 
realized, nor do I believe the most experienced doer slayer 
among your readers ever did (unless he has also lived a 
winter in Sitka), how many uses venison could be put to. 
I’ve heard old sailors say that in a porpoise there are five 
distinct kinds of meat, viz., beef, fish, veal, pork and 
mutton, and some very old-fashioned tars, who have 
been down among the Fijis, claim that from what 
“they've beam,” the taste of “long pig” can also be 
discerned. I never could find these various flavors, but 
with our venison it is very different. Left to his own 
resources, my chef de cuisine prided him self on giving 
me in succession, breakfasts of lamb chops, mutton 
chops, veal cutlets and beef steaks ; and dinners of roast 
venison, beef a la mode, and venison pot-pies—all from 
deer meat, and I admired his skill; but by last steamer a 
French butcher came here and opened a shop, and he has 
developed (unthought of deiiaecies. My breakfasts now 
have heart, liver, sausages, blood pudding and tripe 
added to the carti ; and brains, “mountain oysters” 
and pickled tongues set forth at my evening’s repast—all 
good. 
Two years ago deer carcasses brought from one to three 
dollars, according to size ; now the demand is such that 
they are worth and bring from five to eight. Occasion¬ 
ally we have halibut, rock cod, or flounders, the only 
flsh attainable ; all very good, and far more toothsome 
than their congeners in the Eastern waters. The flound¬ 
ers resemble in flavor the “ Rusty, or Norway flounder,” a 
fish plentiful off the coast of Norway, and as plentiful 
off our own coast, yet it remained unknown until two 
summers ago the Fish Commission steamer found by 
hauling trawls in deep water, between the inner and 
outer banks, that this valuable fish could be procured in 
quantities. We get no codfish here ; there is now and 
then a fish called a codfish, hut it is a different family. 
There are though, as I have told you in previous letters, 
good cod fishing banks thronged with the genuine article 
in Alaska waters. From the Shumagin banks eight ves¬ 
sels captured and carried to the San Francisco market 
during the season of ’79,656,000 fish, and the previous sea¬ 
son 524,000, averaging probably ten pounds each. There 
is in San Francisco a ruinous competition between three 
fii-ms to monopolize the fish trade, and prices are kept so 
low that no outsiders dare venture in. 
We are having a little sensation now over the apparent 
probability that in a few years one great production of 
these Northern seas may become exhausted—there is the 
most ruthless slaughtering going On among the walruses. 
It is estimated that at least 35,000 pounds of tusk ivory 
will have been secured this season ; the tusks weigh on 
an average perhaps ten pounds per pair, for as many half 
grown as grown animals are killed :thns at least 3,500 
walruses have been captured, and certainly a large per¬ 
centage wounded-has escaped to die. The total value of 
the ivory brought in is less than $4,000, it not being worth 
over ten cents a pound. It will not take long to exter¬ 
minate these creatures, as the fur 6eals have been from 
all but a very limited locality. And to the dwellers on 
our Aleutian Islands the extinction of the walrus means 
simply starvation, and here’s where my interfering in the 
matter comes in. Lots of our friends in Sitka are closely 
connected with families dwelling among the islands. I 
understand that the Lands Officer of the Richard Rush 
revenue cutter has made a full report on the subject. 
As I glance over this letter I find that it takes in a shape 
that may well he termed “ Another howl from over Al¬ 
aska’s desert shore,” and I don’t know any reason why it 
should not be. It's nearly six weeks since we got our last 
mail, which was then three weeks old, and of the six 
fully four weeks have been cursed with tne gloomiest, 
darkest, rainiest, chilliest, blue-devil-inspiringest weather 
one can conceive of. And we have simply existed and 
grown morbid, and amused ourselves by fancying all 
sorts of unhappy events occurring at home. 
Even our mining fever, that for a time kept us ani¬ 
mated, has worn down terribly. The mountains are of 
course covered with snow. Nothing is being done at any 
of the mines except the Stewart, and we get no new 
bricks to stir us up. In spring if, as we anticipate, there 
is a “ boom” here, we will probably have another spell, 
but just now we are in the dumps. On the 19th the first 
steam mill in Alaska started to crush ore at the Stewart, 
and in a week has produced, I am told, about $1,400 
worth of bullion. Some assays of the Great Eastern ore 
have been obtained, running up to over $300 per ton. 
There is absolutely nothing more to add to this letter 
worth the space it would occupy in your columns, so aw 
revoir until brighter days, PiSECO, 
P. S.—The sun got up this morning (at least I suppose 
he did ; I haven’t seen him, and uow at noon am writing 
by lamp light) a.t 8.44 A. M. and will go down again—and 
he may go for all the good he does in the meantime—at 
3.15 }'. M. And he will continually grow worse in this 
respect until the 22d, when he will give his culminating 
effort by furnishing us with a day just six hours and 
thirty-four minutes long. From that period he will im¬ 
prove gradually until next summer, when we shall again 
enjoy days of eighteen hours. 
GAME PROTECTION. 
MIGRATORY QUAIL. 
Boston, Jan, 22. 
I N accordance with a promise made in your paper of 
December 25th, I herewith publish Mr. Braun’s prices 
for migratory quail to be shipped in the spring of 1880:— 
For one cage containing 100 migratory quail, S 35 00 
For ten cages “ 1,000 “ “ ®5 00 
For forty “ 4,000 ‘ 1,200 00 
Mr. Braun agrees to put one hundred live, healthy 
birds into each cage, to mark the address in full upon the 
cage, to deliver it on board the steamer, to provide abun¬ 
dant food, to pay the steward for caring for the birds, to 
pay the freight to America, and to ensure the purchasers 
against loss from shipwreck. After this they are at the 
risk of the purchaser. Judging from the success of our 
shipment of last year this risk is small, as the loss,of 
birds in that importation was only one per cent. The 
smallness of this loss is due to the great care taken in 
selecting and boxing the birds. Upon this point Mr. 
Braun writes as follows: “I always keep the birds for 
about ten days before putting them on board, so that they 
may accustom themselves to the cages. If they were 
shipped the same day they were brought in from the 
country, or a day after, the proportion of loss would be 
much more considerable. Before putting the birds ou 
hoard I select all those which seem to have got hurt when 
caught, so that all birds are shipped in perfect health.” 
The cages in which the birds are put are boxes five feet 
lorm, seventeen inches wide, and four and a half inches 
high. The top of the box is made by stretching across it 
a piece of jute cloth, in which are two hand-holes, closed 
by gathering strings. The birds are thus prevented from 
injuring themselves by flying against the top of the box. 
This long box is divided by a transverse partition into 
two parts, each of which contains fifty birds. By means 
of the hand-holes any bird that may die on the passage 
is easily removed by the steward, and the live birds are 
taken out readily upon reaching their destination. The 
box has a grated front, made by vertical wires standing 
three quarters of an inch apart, between, which the Birds 
can thrust their heads to reach the food and water in a 
long trough nailed to the box in front of the grating. In 
this way the food is kept clean and the water cups are 
not overturned. The thorough adaptation of this box to 
its purpose is shown by the admirable condition in which 
last, year’s importation arrived, there being, as nearly as 
could be ascertained, a loss of only about thirty birds m 
a shipment of over 3,000. The live birds were apparently 
as tough as hickory nuts, and so tame as to feed from the 
hand. It was a pretty sight to see the hundred little 
heads, with their shining eyes, thrust through the grat¬ 
ing when food and water were put into the trough. 
Returning to the matter of prices, I say that it is pretty 
evident from correspondence already received by me 
that orders enough will go forward to Mr Braun, through 
me, to make the entire shipment more than forty cages, 
and so to secure for all the benefit of the lowest price. 
The price then for the birds, shipped to New York with 
all expenses of the passage paid, will be thirty dollars per 
cage ; but as the flights are uncertain, being sometimes 
very small, and as the shipments to England and France 
this year will doubtless be large, in view of the fact that 
there is danger of an Italian law being passed forbidding 
exportations after this season, Mr. Braun reserves the 
right to return the money if he shall be unable to procure 
the birds without loss to himself. This however is not 
likely, and there will be probably an abundance for all 
demands if the flight is ordinarily large. 
Since this may be the last opportunity to introduce the 
migratory quail into America, I now, in order to induce 
as large an importation as possible this year, repeat the 
offer made in a recent issue of yours, to wit: 1 will take 
charge of an importation of quail, and will give my ser¬ 
vices, free of charge, to any gentlemen who have not 
facilities or time for managing their own importation. 
All the responsibility that I assume is as follows : 1st. I 
will forward all the orders as one general order, so that 
the price to each gentleman will be the lowest wholesale 
price, namely, thirty dollars per cage, even if he ordeic 
only a single cage. 2d. I will receive the money that is 
sent to mo with the order, will pin-chase foreign ex¬ 
change with it, and will forward the same to Mr. Braun, 
with such instructions for labelling the cage with pur¬ 
chaser’s address as may be given to me, 3d. Upon the 
arrival of the birds in New York I will see that they are 
passed through the Custom House duty free (unless there 
is a change in the tariff, which is not likely), and will 
also see that they are delivered to the express companies 
to be forwarded to their respective destinations. Gentle¬ 
men ordering will please name egress company, if they 
have any choice, by which the birds are to be sent to 
them. Orders and remittances should be sent in at once. 
The flight reaches Sicily about the middle of March , and 
Mr. Braun must have time to make his arrangements with 
the catchers before the birds arrive. The Birds cannot 
be furnished excepting in boxes containing one hundred 
birds each. Orders must therefore be made for even 
hundreds only. 
Any gentleman desiring to import outside of this com¬ 
bination will doubtless receive full and courteous atten¬ 
tion hv addressing Mr. Carl F. Braun, care of U. S. Con¬ 
sulate", Messina, Sicily. Horace P. Tobey. 
17 Oliver Street, Boston, 
Migratory Quail. — Belvidere, N. J., Jan. 21 st .—The 
migratory quail imported last spring (one hundred), ninety 
ol’ which were received in good order, were released in 
lots of from fifteen to twenty in a place, mostly on ad¬ 
joining farms. Out of this importation it has been ascer¬ 
tained that only three covies were hatched. One of six¬ 
teen remained here as late as the 16th of November ; at 
least I know of their being on the farm near where they 
were liberated as late as the above time. Very few of 
the old birds could be found this fall. I have heard of 
four or five being shot by sportsmen mistaking them for 
oin' native “ Bob White’s.” Israel Harris. 
Protection in Monroe County.—R ochester, N. Y., 
Jan. 20£7i.—Our Board of Supervisors are debating a law 
for this county that will prohibit duck shooting except 
the three last days in the week, and prevent woodcock, 
quail and grouse shooting for three years. I suggested 
the clause relating to ducks, for I believe it would give 
us good shooting on the bays and ponds of this county, 
where it is now poor, but was formerly unsurpassed. I 
was in hope the Supervisors would have limited the pro¬ 
hibition of duck shooting during the first four days of 
the week, to the towns of Irondequoit and Greece on Lake 
Ontario, where the only waters are situated that any 
number of water fowl frequent. I drew up a hill for that 
purpose and had it introduced before the Board. But I 
soon found that, like the historic individual who released 
the genii, I had started a power I could not control, for 
the county law makers went on amending my bill until I 
now hardly recognize it. I deem it nonsense to prohibit 
woodcock shooting here, since they migrate, and birds 
that are bred in this county may he shot in Louisiana. If 
all would observe the quail and grouse clauses of the law 
it might do some good, but I think unscrupulous pot 
hunters will reap the harvest, law to the contrary not¬ 
withstanding. The Supervisors are also debating a fish 
law to protect in local waters fish from netters. The de¬ 
bate is hitter, but I think the friends of protection will 
prevail. Diving Decoy, 
Massachusetts — Sophtinton, Jan. 22 d .—The rifle club 
held a match at their range at Claflin’s Grove last week. 
The weather conditions were favorable and the light very 
good. The conditions of die match were 200 yards, off¬ 
hand, 10 rounds, reentries being permitted. Below is 
the summary:— 
N. Jewell.-. 44355 5 544 4-45 
W.B.Olaffin. ••■•3 55435544 4—43 
O. A. Sumner..... 34344454 4 5—40 
F. S. Phipps. 3 5 4 5 3 4 3 3 5 4—39 
Re-entry... 5 43555444 4-41 
G. P. Woods. 2 8 5 4 4 4 3 4 4 4^30 
Re-entry. 3 3534 4 444 i—87 
C. A. Frost. •.■■■• ........ 4 4 3 4 3 4 4 3 3 4—33 
Boston, Jan. 23d.—This week at the Mammoth Rifle 
Gallery has been the best of the month for brilliant shoot¬ 
ing. Mr. J. Merrill made a clean score of eight bull’s- 
e\ es and received $20 in gold for the same. This is 
the third time he has accomplished this feat, and begins 
to think the Mammoth Rifle Gallery is a gold mine. The 
following is the summary to date ; 150 feet; rounds 8 ; 
possible 40: — 
J. Merrill. 39 39 
N. W. Arnold. 39 39 
W. B. Harrison. 39 39 
W. H. Jackson. 39 30 
U. A. Pollard. 39 39 
E. B.Souther. 88 39 
N. C. Stone. 38 39 
E. Walters. 37 38 
E. F. Richardson. 37 38 
GoorgeLamb. 37 38 
A. L. Enuiea. 39 
E. Bent.38 3T 
A. E. Robbins. . 38 37 
J. Ames. 87 37 
The Now Year rifle match closes on 
month a new match, called the “fifty 
will commence, and continue during 
tions same as this month’s match. 
the 31st, and next 
dollar rifle match,” 
the month ; condi- 
Boston. Jan. 24th—Walnut hill to-day had one of those 
glorious bits of weather for the riflemen that has made it 
so famous. An added glory was the honor of having 
some of the crack shots from New York to participate in 
the day’s sport. W. M. Farrow, the finest shot in the 
world, who already having made a. full score, honored 
Walnut Hill, and added to his well earned fame by put¬ 
ting up another full score of ten shots. His first five 
shots on liis re-entry were bulls, so he made 15 straight 
bufiseyes. or a full possible of 75, which is most wonder¬ 
ful shooting, and places him the king at 200 yards, hip 
rest. His companions of the Empire Club, F. T. Holton, 
A. Hubbell, T. Fitz, C. J. Falco and J. W. Todd, shot 
well, and every one had a good time. The Walnut Hill¬ 
ers will try to make it pleasant, and will be pleased to 
see more of the riflemen from other clubs, J. N. Frye, 
Esq., the President, was in his element having a good 
