^04 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Oct. 12. 1882. 



over hull' a million dollars, but none of the sanguine expecta- 

 tions entertained by the shareholders were ever realized. The 

 transportation of Cite] from gre.al distances, 1 lit- shipment of 

 the i educed ore to Quebec, whit-li is the. nearest centra) de- 

 pot of communication, and also the want of sufficient quan- 

 tities! of workable ruw material, presented so many slum- 

 bling blocks, and led to tho complete abandonment of au en- 

 terprise of which so much bad been expected, but from 

 which virtually norabglrot unpaid debts were realized. 



The ore itself turns up til various points along the -shore 

 of the gulf In form of ft black magnetic iron-sand, commi- 

 nuted into its present fine-ground state in !he course of long 

 ages. It bas probably ai ver been eorrcctlj d< te mined aov 

 deep the superficial foyers extend whiclifringe theshore, 

 .•lose io iin- watrrVc.lt;,'. : i, u i it was left to the liappy illusious 

 of the stockholders thai thej were inexhaustible, Ifanyof 

 thetnhad only taken the pains to xis.it some of the gwal ircjn 

 ore depositu in the mountains of ISforth. Carolina, where there 

 arc imnuiicrabi deposits awaiting development, and lie un 

 used because they are not near enough to any trunk line of 

 quick communication, they would have probably I In m- In 

 twice before engaging haphazard ill a -cheme which was 

 ycieulitieally and financially unsoiindlo its very bottom. 



1 oalled at Seven Islands just in time to witness the de- 

 parture <d a large number of 'Montngnais Indians, men. Wo- 

 men, and children, for (heir xvinter hunting-grounds. They 

 presented a Spectacle of the most abject human misery and 

 Squalid, ragged appearance imaginable. The great forest 

 tires of last year had destroyed the game in their regular 

 banting and trapping grounds, and, as a consequence, they 

 came back half starved and without furs. Al. the agency .if 

 the Hudson's Bay Company, at Seven Islands, the usual' ad- 

 vance of provisions and clothing bas been wilhheld this 

 summer on account. Of the unreliability on the part of the 

 Indians to ever fulfill any given promise to pay debts, and 

 some of these families, consisting of half a dozen or more 

 members, leave now for a six months' sojourn in the far, icy 

 wilderness, with nothing more than a barrel of Hour and 

 some ammunition. How they will manage to survive is im- 

 possible to say. It is fair to assume that more than one half 

 must petish, as the ban necessities to maintain life (Ire lack- 



1N THE OLD VIRGINIA LOWLAND. 



Y\nfAT a picture Comes back to my mind of an old nu- 

 T T rest rat Virginia plantation as 1 sit on the porch of ye 

 ancient place called Tower Hill — au old home, the typical 

 Old Dominion dwelling in Urn ante helium days, when a 

 rich Virginian counted his broad acres by the thousands, 

 his sable sc.rvh.ors by the hundreds. Ids horses by the score, 

 and he lix^cd his life like a baron of the good old age of 

 Squire Allworthy and Squire Western, though xvilh more 

 retirement and style than the sixteenth century pos ed 



A big plantation was the Tower Hill. The house, like 

 mosl planters' mansions, was of that order of architecture 

 brought from Holland by the .Dutch, xvith steep gable roofs 

 and small dormer windows. A wide, spacious lawn of 

 twenty acres surrounds the dwelling. 



In it" time the plantation comprised a goodly .settlement ; 

 a blacksmith and wheelwright shop stand side by side; a 

 ii house, cotton-gin. clot broom, spinning-room and 

 Rtillhouse, while back of till the servants' quarter runs. 

 Neat log-cabins they were, with garden in front. The 

 stables, OUt-bouses, ' cotton-barns, 'machinery-rooms were 

 scattered about, iri independent irregularity. "Most of these 

 structures are mouldering down now. and a Texx lie prone 

 upon the ground, showing only too plainly that the ancient 

 regime, with all of its splendid faults and noble virtues, is 

 ■ ... Eorevef. 



The typical Virginian of those days was a thorough 

 sportsman. A fterhis morning ride around the place he had 

 nothing to do, and his horses, dogs and gnu in bright 

 weather and Ids library in foul constituted his employment 

 ind pleasure. 



Here, iu Sussex county, was the finest hunting probably 

 in all the Middle States, for the county is not only adapted 



for the propagation ol game, but was very thinly settled, the 



few estates being .d immense area, chiefly devoted to the 

 production of cotton. Then, again, the landowners strin- 

 gently enforced the game law. 'The slaves, of course, were 

 forbidden to carry or possess anv firearm, and confined 



their hunting operations to the legitimate darkcv game— the 

 'coon, the rabbit and the 'possum. The poorer cj of 

 whites could not afford to keep dogs, and so the whole pre- 

 serves were for the pleasure and sport of a very few rich 

 landowners. 



Deer were the chief in the list, and wcrv so plentiful that a 

 dozen were frequently killed in a day by a small party of 

 three or four. It was not then the uncertain sport it is now, 

 for at that time, the land being under cultivation and in- 

 closed wdth what is known as the Virginia snake-fence, the 

 deer ayoided them, so that in the drives the sportsman al- 

 ii i knew exactly xvhere to stand. 



The fields teemed with birds. In the winter lime there 

 were ai this place frequently dozens of partridges, in huge 



coops, thai were kept iii high condition and turned loose in 



the spring— thus the supply was always kept up. The hunt- 

 ing was splendid — ai that period the canebrakes and tiftpas- 

 sable moi-issiv.i -were cleared, and the bird.-, had notanim- 



penetrublc fastness to 11) to when flushed. Big bags were 

 the order of the day. Even xvilh their doc Mantou muzzle- 

 loaders, iifty birds to a gun was no uncommon result of a 

 day's hunt. 



Ami the fox hunting xvas something to thrill our hearts 

 now to think of them. They were grand affairs, these 

 gatherings 01 the neighboring gentry /called '•meets," and 

 were to the master what the corn-shucking jubilee was to 

 the si, ve. As many as one hundred and fifty hounds, the 

 property ol the planters for fifty miles around, were often 

 in full cry alter a single fox. Imagine, if you can, the ec- 

 ftal music from such an orchestra tts that 'if there are any 

 sum ter, mote tuneful notes in this terrestrial sphere of ours. 



The grand sweep of the grounds and the picturesque 

 mansion are all that remain of the old plantation; the busy 

 bum of life, the sound of the blacksmith's hammer, the 

 whirr of the spinning-xvhe.d are no longer heard— xvhile (he 

 old mammy, that autocrat xxho queened it ovbr'all, ItiV dis 

 eel ■,.■ -.l — ■■ven the master and mistress acknowledged her 

 sway— for u ■ sht i 01 raised them from puling infancy to 

 lusty man and maidenhood — and on her sympathetic DOBOin 

 had not their tired childish heads I via found B resting-place! 

 Ah. mo! the vision of that aged but erect liguie. clad in 

 bright Calico, With a gaudy bandana handkerchief covering 

 her grizzled bead, rises before me now; then the stately 

 butler, with his Chcsterfieklian manners; the proud coach- 



man, the envy of the field-hands ; the Tat cock, no unim- 

 portant personage, 1 can assure you: the likely maid ser- 

 vants, and the whole tribe of pickaninnies — have all gone 

 and vanished in the dim past. 



An nir of Sabbath-like stillness broods oyer the quaint old 

 place, a half a dozen hornets lie stretched out Under the 

 shade of the trees, a couple of setter* are snapping ill the 

 flies on the porch, three or four horses graze contentedly on 

 the lawn, while a lame fawn is gamboling on the green.' 



Throughout these mutations the love oi' Sport has survived 

 nli changes, all vicissitudes. The stable xvhere eight hunters 

 fattened in the stall, now hasone, which is used both as a rid- 

 ing horse for the ladies and to follow tne hounds with. 



The splendid gamekeepers have gone the way of all the 

 rest, and a deer a week is about the average in September. 

 Where there were a dozen just after the war, there is one 

 now. and the ubiquitous darkev is I he cause. They never 

 work until forced by hunger, arid live always in cabins in 

 the woods. Each African is the possessor of an old army 

 mUSket and two or three mongrels, who will chase anything 

 from a squirrel to an antlered buck. It is a common' thing 

 to pass in one hunt a dozen negroes with their gangs of curs 

 scouring the woods and old fields for deer— or meat, as they 

 call it— and a cordon of (hem watching for the game to pass. 

 Tiieir weapons are loaded with all kinds of shot, mostly 

 squirrel shot, and they pepper every deer in the section, anil 

 the consequence is, that one rarcl, kills a buck or a doe 

 without Hurling a pound or so of small shot in the carcass. 



They shoot anything, even a wild turkey hen sitting on 

 hi r nest, 



The formation of a darkey's stomach is as different from 

 that of a white man's as a Congo African's head is from the 

 skull of the Anglo-SaXOn. The lowest class of negroes have 

 no desire for fixed meals. They eat when they are hungry, 

 and will often get up at 'I o'clock in the morning and scoop 

 clean the hominy pot. 



No white man can go to work xvilhout breakfast. Such 

 an attempt will surely result in afaiutnessor nausea, but tit 

 colored man and brother can labor on for hours without ea 

 ing. 1 have often heard one say in the harvest field: 



"Hum! Isegettin hongiay." 1 iiaint eaten nutliin sent 

 yestidday." 



Then they have neither imagination nor anticipation, for 

 they go to Bleep the minute they are at rest. Where game 

 is plenty they subsist entirely on' that, and in many of their 

 cabins there litis not been a dust of meal for txvo Weeks. 



The only species of bird thai is safe from them is the part- 

 ridge, and as there is rarely a deep snow in this section of 

 the State xvhere they can track them. Bob While walks the 

 field in full security against their ancient, brass-mounted, 

 straight-stock, hard-triggered musket, thai throws three 

 ounces of shot and makes a report like a six-pounder. 



I have never In uix" life seen the partridges so numerous 

 as they are in and around here this year, and there will be 

 line sport this fall. 



There are but few sportsmen in this section, young Qem a ■■ 

 Blow being the foremost. Over fifty pair of antlers deco- 

 rate the porch, the result of his gun. ' 



On the side of the barn tire spread Out and nailed up sixty- 

 three fox skins, all of which he caught in one year. 



lie has eschewed hunting now, and presented Hie pick of 



his liaimd pack of hounds, six in number and probably the 

 finest-drilled dogs in America, to Mr. Harry Ferguson, of 

 the Baltimore F. H. Club. ' Cn.xssK.uit. 



Sessex nocNTx'. Virginia. 



THE WOLVES OF BYWYA. 



IW AS much pleased with an article by "A. Mule." en- 

 titled. "A Swamp Episode," in your issue of August IT, 

 as it carried me back to my life in that glorious hunting 

 land many years, ago, 1 have hunted through the counties 



nd Chickasaw. 1 

 t Oktibbeha with tin 

 Which forms the bri 



upon. It 



.tin 



of Winston. Lowndi 

 had three months of bunting li 

 best friends God ever gave to n: 

 period of all my life to look I 

 that the sun never shone upon such a stretch 

 territory as lay between Mayhew prairie, south of Stark- 

 ville, and the center of Chickasaw county. The two great, 

 swamps, Trimcanc and Bywya, meet in the northern por- 

 tion of Oktibbeha, and together make a stretch of forty 

 miles of continuous sxvamp averagiug-from one-half to two 

 miles wide. These same dear friends— two of them long 

 since dead, with the one still living in Texas — were types of 

 that generous and manly growth which seems to prevail 



:, ng the betier educated Christian families of the South. 



1 speak oi the far-back ante-bellum days, and presume 

 that, the same holds good still. 1 never knew their like for 



-.el lis 1. 1 



imp: Ise and kindly 

 ot strength and self- 

 t which gave me any 



s, the black and 

 that thev have 



downright 



nature.' They Were young, bv 



reliance, and no labor sras toi 



gratification. 



i would like to tell you of 

 which continued through lot 

 three friends, and which was a 

 There were in the South two k 

 the gray, or tawny, and it is 

 great antipathy to the dog wore than lo tiny other animal, 

 and will take bis track whenever they (jross it and follow it, 

 audit a number of them can gather in lime, woe be to that 

 purp, for he must either find shelter at once or be very fleet 

 of foot. 



We had established our camp jest at the junction of these 



two greai swamps^ Tilrrjcffne and Bywya— and were hav- 

 ing very CXeit fog drives by day and fire hunting by night. 

 Deer were much pleutier than birds, or squirrels , ri , in out- 

 sort hern woods. 1 counted from thirty 10 fifty a day. 

 Two of us had beer. :at on a fire r.rit until afctut midnight, 

 leaving the others in camp, and when we returned, as we 

 rode UltO camp, we noticed that one of the hounds had 

 broken bis t.ther and xxas gone. We xvere some twelve or 

 fourtei a miles from any plantation, ai d we knew he had 

 taken our track and xvas'protmbly then thre.ee or four miles 

 from camp. Calvin, our oldest, hoy, very quietly remarked, 

 "Now. look out for fun; the wolves will tiring him into 

 camp on the double quick, or they hax'e got to be pretty 

 sharp if they catch him.'' We began blowing our horns to 

 give the hound our direction. In about ten minutes, and 

 while we were listening, a wolf far up the swamp gave a 

 long, mournful hoxvl, and was answered by one a mile oil' in 

 another direction. Soon one gave a sharper, quicker note, 

 and was answered by a number in different parts of the 

 They seemed to be all gathering in the direction 

 st wolf. Then a long, querulous note and the 

 whole pack broke into full cry. and it seemed that a hun- 

 dred of them were on the poor dogs Hack and rushing him 

 down the swamp toward us. Such clamor and noise from 

 such infernal throats I had never listened to. 



Stirring up the fire and snatching- up our guns we stepped 

 to the bank of the slough — for we xvere camped just in the • 

 edge of the cane — and waited the finish of this race for life. 

 Pity for the poor dog was uppermost and we fairly raged 

 with a desire to get a shot at the wolves. If his strength 

 & speed held out — and they xvere coming like a hurricane 

 — he would reach us before they gathered on him. But we 

 could not forget — 



"Their long, low gallop that can tire, 

 The hound's deep hate, the hunters' fire." 

 And we trembled for the poor dog. On they came, a hun- 

 dred black throats in full cry. We cock«d our gnus and 



strained eyes to pierce the darkness and gloom of the 



sxx amp beyond. Then suddenly, as thev came nearer and 

 nearer with a rush, pell-mell and hubbub 'most devilish, dog 

 and WOlveS piled into the slough before us and Calvin on top 

 of I hem. We dare not lire, lest we should kill the generous 

 fellow- as he stamped and struck xvith clubbed giui'in what 

 seemed such an unequal contest. The poor dog had but 

 barelv made it and his life was saved; but we did not. kill 

 a single wolf We could bear them all around us iu the cane 

 Whimpering for the rest of the night, hut were not disturbed 

 and did not, fear i.l em. H. B. 8. 



Marietta, 0.,Oel. 



UP IN THE ROCKIES. 



^ THOUGH 1 promised to send you sketchings of my 

 . -rambles in Colorado as anything occurred worth noting 

 in the line of field sports, I have up to the past few days 

 H01 attempted tb da more in hunting and fishing, than to 

 wear away the summer mouths by rambling about the banks 

 of the beautiful and historic Rtr am. the Kio Grande, whose 

 bright waters swept along one side of this quiet little village. 

 Occasionally i have amused myself with the rod and fly, 

 whipping the rapid shining current fort hose gaiuv little para- 

 gons, the speckled trout, whose number seems to be countless 

 in all the mountain streams, especially in that of the Rio 

 Grande. I have had no field companion, except an occa- 

 sional stranger, who might chance to halt here for a few 

 days on his way up the nvcr to the so-called Wagonwheel 

 Gap, and sometimes above to Antelope Park; the gap being 

 thirty miles above here and Antelope Park about thirty miles 

 above that, all on the Kio Grande Kivcr, and it being "under- 

 stood that the higher up on the n\-er the better the fishing. 

 All tourists and parties coming out Jicre, to have a full bene- 

 fit, strike at once for the bead' "waters, some stopping for a 

 few days al. this point, but the larger portion going directly 

 on. This is, so I ar as my experience goes, mostly a matter 

 of fancy. 1 found at all' times sport enough here, until in- 

 deed it ceased almost to be sport, because of success being so 

 common and so easy acquired that really to mc it. grexv stale, 

 and rather impressed the idea of cruelty instead of sport, 

 l.-ubiinarelv speaking. At any rate 1 always caught all and 

 more EhaBl had any use for unless 1 should condescend lo 

 become a potter and express them to Denver and sell them, 

 at which place they are always in brisk demand at. remuner- 

 ative prices and great numbers xvere sent there by the pot 

 fishermen during the summer, expressed by the Denver & 



Rio Grande Railroad from this point. 



Thus the summer months have been spent in this quiet 

 little village of the foothills of the great Rockies, the olimate 

 of which is the most delightful for a summer residence that 

 could be desired. At length my expected party of friends 

 arrived about, the latter davs of August. The company 

 consisted of the following gentlemen: Col. Tom Steel, Sr., 

 Tom Steel, ,lr. and Frank Cook, of Little Rock. Ark., and K. 

 McDonald, of Kansas City, Ho. They came to spend Sep- 

 and accordingly, 



. the 



■ to 



fine, partly rail, th 

 day, Aug. '->■(>, at th 

 of'Waltoniauproe 

 famous Hot Sprim 



swamp. 



The roa 

 ■ rest buokhoaru. We'arrived the same 

 it paradise for sportsmen, especially those 

 ixiti.s. Peck's Hotel, one mile below the 

 s. We spent the following day mulling, 

 ■d accommodating landlord, who keeps "a 

 good ' clean, neat house and excellent fare, and full teams of 

 horses, wagons, burros, etc., readily outfitted the party with 



said the x.n best fishing xvas. and so we found it to be. 

 Taking lunch with us we spent the day casting the fly on 

 those bright waters xvith success. On returning to Pecks 

 our sacks were emptied and the fish counted. They num- 

 bered 307, and weighed 11)4 pounds, several Weighing 

 se.uinoe - '. ". e! and 4 pounds. One weighed .Impounds. 

 ami was what the small boys call a whopper. 



The fish were turned oxer lo Peck, and the next morning, 

 -x n . . i - i 38 we commenced to outfit for the mountains. 

 which we found to be, '-sure enough." real mountains. Our 



un ninted on good, gentle horses', all except Cook, whose 

 horse was a burro. We left Peck's Hotel at 8 A. M., traveled 

 up the liver five or six miles, leaving the valley or rather 

 the river at mouth of Bellows Creek, thai reaches the river 

 through a terrific canyon, with solid rock walls three thous- 

 and feet high. Here tin: mountains set in on all sides 

 and to the north of the canyon a half mile a little old buffalo 

 trail was perceptible, and along this we commenced toclimb 

 the immense mountain before us. The o, 00b feet we must 

 ascend along that trail, which was not more than one foot 

 wide, between roush ledges of rock and along the margins 

 of yawning precipices. McDonald leads the pay < el. 

 Steel next, 'then the five little faithful burros, each without, 

 bridles or halters, and under a pack as large as himself, and 

 weighing aOO pounds, and close, at their heels tramps Tom 

 Bitii, the burro handler and our guide, wdiose Mexican lingo 

 seems to be as perfectly undetstood by these little donktes as 

 one Mexican understands another; they never refuse implicit 

 obedience. Cook and Steel, Jr.. and myself creeping along 

 in the rear our horses puffing and blowing like small steam 

 engines Looking away up at the ascending train and at 

 McDonald, reminds one of Fapolean ascending the Alps, 

 his horse xvith tsrrible effort si niggles up an ascent whose, 

 angle is not much less than forty -live degrees. 



At last we reach the summit of Bellow's Mountain and 

 pause while our slock "bloxv" and take a HI tic rest. Soon, 

 however we arc ready to proceed again along that little 

 trail that now leads obliquely down the side of a steep, sharp 

 o-oi-re from the bottom of which we again ascend as be- 

 fore: ' Then leaching the summit of at least another thous- 

 t-j.l feet and tur,:ir.g west, along its -.rest, and traveling 

 about three miles over the most terrible rough rocks and 

 through a dense forest of spruce timber, suddenly we de- 

 bouch into broad, beautiful parks, covered with beautiful 

 and luxuriant grass and dwarf willow. We camp on the 



