Nov. 33, 1882.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



323 



trigger "bang" went his gun and the goose began to faU. 

 though loo late for me to check up. "Gloan work," says 

 he, and upon asking 1 1 i rn where 1 1 » - other goose bad a-oiic, 

 "Got two with my flrsl barrel," ho replied. 



One day Hathawnygol sis geese mil of oue fJoeU, one 

 with each barro wki a they first caanc in. thou thesaroc fl« 

 they came in. ;... -mi the saffie when they ctecoyed for the 

 third time. At this juncture the rest of the flock begun to 



taped SOifletfcing was wrong and took their departure. 

 Adams was too awfully fat to "walk to dinner, and' one of 

 the parly usually eareii d it to him. On Hie last day of the 

 hunt. ae we were going ba 1< to Our blinds from dinnc- , we 

 SOW B trig tioek of "geese set their wings ami sail for Adnms. 

 d. topped ouihe bar and watched for the result. The 

 entire Hook alighted anion his tecoys, and while we were 



i 1 i w wing lie man had gone to sleep, up went the tioek, 

 thentwo puffsof sproKo Tolled out ol'tbQ blind and down 

 cam.' five geese, one of which soon recovered and flew away. 

 the others coming 10 bag. 



There was we day ■- 3 will not name il -whan our score 

 was ii'vrly .; Imtrik, Kv cry man in I he .country for miles 

 inland seemed to Jiave concluded to go bunting. It was a 



cool, frosty morning and there ws 'thin ice On the small 



fore we reached it.acoupl - e. : n'the oppo- 



site shore attracted him and he waded over to interview 

 them. As I Massed the little island abreast of our blinds I 

 was confronted by three countrymen in black, with mus 

 kefs, standing in line on a sandbar as near our decoys as 

 they could get tore, nmaow channel of water that inter- 

 vened, while the black hat of a fourth .stuck out of Baum's 

 blind as a prominent warning to nm goosi 'going that way. 

 As I walked out to where this jndrodual was he remarked, 

 by way of ajralogy, thai seeing a good laj out and no one 

 about," he concluded to occupy -one of the 'blinds. He said 

 that some geese has been flying about there, but that none 

 came into the decoys. I told liira if he thought a goose 

 green enough to hover around so near where a party of men 

 were on parade with loaded muskets he was very much 

 mistaken. With this remark I began taking up the artificial 

 decoys, the wind having set in so strong as to shake them 

 up too much . besides we had sdme sb 5 dead jeese setup 

 Directly the man holding the fort "vacated; and joining 

 his companions the;, started up the sandbar al] 1 recast; 

 Before they had gotten out of speaking distance three more 

 came in sight, and I had the task of freezing these out by 

 sitting dowu in my blind and keeping quiet. And thus it 

 was through the entire day. A drove of cattle were driven 

 down to the bank opposite us and herded there. At one 

 time eight men 011 horseback were eii rging about among 

 the hero, and separating Hie younger ones from the rest of 



the herd. Later tw ] 1 ich having a musket, took a 



seat On the bank near the benefit of our' decoys, 



not, knowing that neithei of us would get a shol while they 

 sat there, so we had to persuade them, to depart, but they 

 went only two hijiiiii! e ;, a :l,- down t-hi river and settled 



noon. .fust below u-. a \:.:n'v -a, - : : , Ini-el. I'or pistol' and 



rifle practice, and banged away there for hours. The others 

 of our party Lad similar experiences. Of course one could 

 not expect a bis.- fie- iln&ersuoi circumstances Bauin and 

 I got only SiS geese all day. three of wfcioli he brought a- 



the result of his side Issue in Che morning. Wiethe! 

 these three geese ivers Ricked up dead of bounded or 

 pilfered -from the blind of some absentee, I will never 



know. That night we ); -tided out geese into the wagon .and 

 hauled them up to Urn l„.u-e. 



The following dav v , mrlast, and we made it count. 

 1 occupied the blind with Lanham. and enjoyed that excel- 

 lent fellow's company as much a - 1 d'd -lanem-- .,-,- ..•,.,.,,,. 

 His enthusiasm never ff-.gged. VvTien a flock set their wiuas 

 for our decoys, and la- had cautioned toe to "keep close?" 

 "lie low ; " etc., he invai'ifl.bjj sp.it vigorously upon his hands 

 before clutching hi, Scotl iiammerless £01 the assault. 

 Directly after dinner 1 ;. ,,- - -■ : arryiilg the dead geese 

 from around the blinds in the house, taking twenty-four on 

 the horse each trip, li was after chirk when he got through. 

 Some of these, deed ge, ,,, h.ei served as decoys for five days' 

 being left on the bars night and dav. Four were inissing 

 from the blind of Baum and myself the morning there was 

 such an outpouring of natives, and those were the only 

 ones we lost during our stay. 



Our count was (&8 geese, two sandhill cranes and thirty- 

 one ducks. A.t four o'clock next morning, with Mr. Foote's 

 wagon, with sideboards on, loaded With geese as long as 

 toe would lay on, and thirty or more; and our traps 

 Sri George's wag to we I ated for Juniata, which place we 

 reached in time for the est ward bound train. Here Mr. 

 Adam, .-..pressed thirly-Jive aeese to his friends in Burling 

 ton, and we tagged .. bm me of the railroad 



gentlemen, and at fret, dumped off fifty or sixty for Jack's 

 host, of friends, taking the rest on to Lincoln, where; they 

 were hauled up-town "to the stoic of I). ct C. L. Bauni and 

 given away. 



The gentlemen connected with the- railroad treated us 

 royally, furnishing us with even- facility lor I he tiansporta- 

 tiou of our same and traps, and doing it cheerfully and 

 pleasantly. To the Ka-u rti people who were at the depot 

 when our cargo of em-- .1, -■",'■ '•■ ; h wis -, novel si "-lit 



Wild gee-,, by s. „",,„„, load We - - thinff UCW tO them 



If any one'wams ,„. - , a.-,, v?on't wear him 



out, let. him go up on the Platte in the tall, when the geese 

 have come down from the North, and 'fake a bout at 

 them, while he may -ii in a sofl seat in a, comfortable blind. 

 And if j_..- - , - :,, hue way of Juniata, let, him be sure that 

 George Watkins, the prince of fellows, takes him over to 

 Mr. Foote's, where Mother Foote will treat him as though 

 he were a favorite, orphan. Bur; it H.Polk. 



Lincoln, Nebraska. 



FROM MOOSE TO RUPERT'S HOUSE. 



as™ 



hay here has. to be i 

 the marsh. It is p, 



brackish water whi 

 boat is about thirty 

 had as a companion 

 chare-e of one of the 

 House. We had 1 

 sible lo do much wi 

 best was - -!,---- ,- 

 Arrived at Middi 



on the 3(ltli of June, at about one 

 on. in one of the hay boats. Our 

 li! a distance of fifteen miles from 



qualify and slightly sail from the 

 wsover it during high tides. The 

 one and Of n shallow draught. I 

 2iit'leman who was going to take 

 el posi , in connection with Rupert's 



square sail, which made it impos- 



a fair wind, and oars, which at the 



Middlehoro Island, at the mouth of the river, 



'■"' - .. ,, I, ,, j uj to come in and the wind 



svas agatpSt US, Our marquees being pitched, we prepared 

 supper, and after a few pipes we turned in. Although we 



had two tents we used one to sleep in and put. our baggage, 

 etc., in the other, as we found it rather solitary work sleep- 

 ing alone. We did not do much in the way of sleeping, 



1 he Hies being too mini 

 For this reason we wet 

 WOlte us at 4 A, M. A 

 far as Ship's Sands, off 

 fry anchors. The wind 

 too rough, here we bar 



f'lll'i.hereVv'ervTairg, 



litoes, black Hie 

 ) start wit 

 ve started 

 ICi from fl 



id, 



nd du 

 r Cam 



the bine. ~ At Rupi 



at Albany the whit, 



two kind's. It is certain tliaUhi 



that the blue- also keep together, altl 



. shooting hei 

 t geese, both 

 tnd only the 



d eoun- 



,e water 



for had 



lowhere 



In the 



, it being quite au exeeptio 



vhite 



blue, 



ghat tii 





and blue mate, but it is rare. W 

 a few ducks, urinicks and stock ducks, but I spam mosl - 

 the day wandering about lookiugfor plants, of which I Dm 1 . 

 found 'a few grasses and reeds. 



Here and there we came across a pole si uck in the soil 

 with a lot of goose hone- and the beak upon the top tied up 

 in a bunch. These are the bones of the first goose an Indian 

 has eaten in the spring, and they are placed here as food for 

 rabbidoes, an imaginary sort of Robin Goodfellow, who has 

 to be propitiated, and also to bring good luck. The skull 

 of the bear and beaver, the feet of deer and the antlers are 

 treated in the same way. The great northern diver or loon 

 is a bird of mystery ; its bones arc thrown into the water, 

 for the Indians say that, in time they come together again 

 and become another loon. Sometimes the bones of the 

 beaver are thrown in also but not. always. 



When the snow lies deep the geese keep to the rivers, as 

 their food is scarce in the swamps. Occasionally in the fall 

 a goose is found frozen into the ice: one was found last No- 

 vember frozen in by his legs. I noticed here a nest of a. 

 grass-tit close up to the side of my tent. The birds did not 

 seem to be frightened in the least "of us but would come and 

 take crumbs scattered in front of the tent door. We only- 

 saw a few small, three-spined sticklebacks in the small 

 creeks and no other fish at all. 



In the evening, having nothing else to do, I gave a. small 

 conjuring entertainment to our Indian crew. It was most 

 amusing to watch their faces, as it would be of no use to 

 expect to hear them express surprise, for I cannot, soy thai 

 I ever heard it, The true Indian conjuring consists mainly 

 of ventriloquism and a few very eriide tricks. When an 

 Indian conjures he builds himself a tent of seven sticks 

 peeled and set in a ring of about four feet; he then places 

 three hoops of willow round it, which are fastened to the 

 sticks, around this is strained his tentings ; he then takes his 

 place in the center with his conjuring drum and drops the 

 tenting — there is no roof to the tent He then begins his 

 conjuring scng and beats his drum. Presently the tent 

 bcgtng to rock backwards and forwards more' and more 

 furiously. At last a voice different from the conjuror's is 

 beard talking in the tent, the drum beating the whole time, 

 which is taken as a proof that the movement of the tent is 

 not. caused by the conjuror but. by the spirit. I had at home 

 spent much time in learning the art of magic and have had 

 much amusement from it here among the natives; and hav- 

 ing spare time I have made myself pretty perfect in it. 

 Some of their other tricks are more of the nature of the 

 modern conjuror's illusions, but of course they put it down 

 to supernatural causes. 



Wc turned in and did our best to sleep in spite of the flies. 

 Hose again at 4 A. M. and left the sands and got to within 

 six miles of Netitiche, when the wind turned "dead against 

 us, and large quantities of ice being in front of us distant, 

 about half a mile, we w r ere obliged to run back again for 

 Ship'sSands, which we reached about. 5 P. M. Wehad hardly 

 camped when a heavy shower of rain came on that 

 lasted for about an hour" and after this Was over the flies 

 came out in all (heir might and nearly devoured us. During 

 the night I heard a bittern booming. We got off again in 

 the morning at about 5 A. M., passed Netitiche at about 10 

 A. M. and got into Hannah Bay, which was full of ice. but 

 by dint of shoving off the smaller pieces and dodging the 

 larger ones, we got as far as Mistoquamish by i P. M. Our 

 goose hunt takes place at Spanish Bay, and as we depend 

 largely on salt goose for winter provisions you may lie sure 

 a good hunt is of great interest to us. I cannot say I have 

 yet. acquired the taste for salt goose, not that if cooked 

 properly it would be bad, but anyone wishing to see to what 

 a- pitch bad cooking can be brought should visit Moose and 

 then he will be satisfied with the dirtiest restaurant in New 

 York or London afterwards. At one time there was a post 

 in the bay called Hannah Bay House; this was about forty 

 vears ago. The Indians made a raid on the place and mur- 

 all the inhabitants. One man, an Indian, is still alive 



had hi: 

 on his 



•otbc 

 way t 



and brought the 



chief instigator. 



In the eveniu, 



we camped upo 



shot in his arms \ 

 :> give the alarm at Moose. An armed 

 -pfcure the murderers, which they did, 

 ) Moose, where they were tried and the 



1 found ourselves off Gull Islands, where 

 e stones — rather a hard bed, but as no 



headed gulls and kittawakes, we came across a bear's track, 

 but he had evidently swam oft again. The next day we got, 

 to a stony point of land on which, an Esquimaux intcrpertei- 

 lies buried under a pile of stones. Wc camped near this. 

 A very large erratic block of stone about twenty feel, long by 

 twelve high and about the same thick, evidently carried 

 there by the ice, lies just behind the grave. The whole ol 

 the coast is covered with these blocks, but as a rule they an. 

 smaller than this one. Duringthe whole of the day we svr,-, 

 among the ice and were unable to get ashore, so 'we were 

 obliged to do our cooking by a fire lighted on a barrel of 

 sand in the boat. 



day. Aflei we sla.rled it deepened 'in to a fog .is soon as we got 

 among the ice cakes, and with care wc m.amojed not to darn - 

 age the boat. In Ihe middle of the day the fog cleared and 

 we put ashore for dinner on a small stony point. ( iulls had 

 built on this point, but some one had been there before its and 



taken the eggs as the nests were all empty. In the after 1 



about five o'clock, we got clear of the. ice off Cauiinerpem 

 cashe, and a good breeze springing up, we soon flew past 

 Black Bear Point and reached Rupert's House at, about 10 P. 

 M., not at. all sorry to have got, over the trip, only a distance 

 of about one hundred and twenty miles, which we should 



have done in two days with a good wind and no b-i . instead 

 of in six. Rupert's House is a v, re pretty little post with a 



baekgrouml ol trees Ileal, show npits f\ How 1 t lite mee-e 



will-, their red roofs to advantage*. A EeW Indian leuts were 



pitched outside the pickets, bUI li" ''- oe Indians were 



not yet in. 

 After a very please nt four ' 1 <\ stayfhero [started back 



■" d e I layi . . 1 ola -. ','■■ el . . ..',.., ii a, m „ "--, 



ins, On leavini the pc 1 an tndia tarti I smokii a 



for a fair wind. 'blowing th- - mere is. ihe . 1 ;,'-.-,• ion the I tad 

 is required lo come lev,. ■ '■ ■■.■_■■ aecerdingto their ideas 

 a ee. tan, way of obtaining it if lie -.- 



juror. We reached Black Bear Point in time to have dinner; 

 where I heard a lot of snipe but, did not get a -hot at them. 

 By about six o'clock in the evening we were' off Oaminer- 

 pcrcashc where we had to camp. To gel ashore W8 were 

 oblige to wade for a.t least a mflfi through mud and water. 

 AfLeraboni. lour tfips W 111 LI Ig I ... .. : ftll our bedding 



lefTihe boat at Kiip-a, ,, iioie.e.'ae.i returned in a; half-Blued 



canoe with I hree Indians —w. a went to worl; to makefile 

 camp. .lu„t iis we were going to pitch the tent, we con- 

 cluded to change tin- place, 06 we icmnd that a. nest of 

 snakes had been before us, A family of eight were curled 



a few in bed was not pleasant, The ten! being pitched 

 nearer the shore. 1 walked nbuut a. hi; to see if there was 

 anything to shool I sae, bofH and .e tracks, but no game. 

 Two of the Indians followed the bear tracks, hut came 

 back saying they could not see the brute. We eat smokine/ 

 after our supper, wi n one of the. Indians jumpei 1 1 and 



said the e e tvas off. Sure enough, w, 'con t] .-. U ■ :' . 



inu; in the breeze. They got up to it just pvas starting 



after a slight rest one m. II -;,.,a:- 1 >f them slaved in her 



al! night, the other two cane ame... .,, ,j . cessedond went to 



bed. 



Al, 3:1:1b the next daj v, e were off again, and saw the loom 

 of ice in the distance, but not, near enough to give us any 

 uneasiness. We breakfasted on a long, "stony island near 

 Shaowan, where 1 sev, another gaiter snake. All these 

 stony islands are formed of water-worn stones of various 

 materials— gneiss, limestone, and a heavy hlack rock, etc., 

 showing that they have been most likely carried into their 

 position by the ice. on which 1. have often seen! ixge stones, 



land, as a north wind came up and prevented our going on. 

 After waiting some hours for any sign of a change we 

 pitched the tent and made Up our min i-tofij e 1 1 11 the next 

 day, so hiking rny gun I wenl 1 DE and ahof a few plover and 

 tired several times at a loon, which I did not. hit. Un- 

 less one basfired at these .totals he little, knows Jiow Quick 

 they me and what a difficult thine- il is to kill one. 1 also 

 saw a bear', track on the sand by the beach. The next 

 morning we were off again amon'a: the small islands and 

 shoals on OUT way to Hannah Bay. At a creek called 

 Washowhow we camped. The walking is very bad here, 

 the land being intersected With small ditches end creeks. It 

 is covered with a coarse grass and a. species of erraestiina 



not. tell. Cor til! the geese I have examined contain none of 



the coots in stomach or izzard, bi \ eral - some of 

 the roots of the cqalse grass that grows near the swamps. 



The place where we camped was very swampy indeed, so 

 much so that even with a good foot and ■< half of cut grass 

 under me I got quite wet. in the night. When we. left there 

 was no wind, so we had to paddle, which We did until we 

 got past. Netitiche, when the current caused By the tide 

 helped us a little, and we were able to take h, a tittle easier 

 reaching Ship's hands by about one o'clock, Here n e had 

 dinner and waited for the tide to turn: when it did we 

 went in with it, passingthe boatthat saa down laying the 

 beacons for the schi cmors A wind then sprung up; and 

 we came in m era" I -, -I, . passing the various islands and 

 brought, up at the launch in about five o'clock in the 



the 



thad hem vorj Bujoyablt nntthe 

 me glad when it was'over. 

 Moose Factory, Hudson's Bay, September, 1S82. 



JXISTASKIeSie 



ldm[d jffffiorg. 



CAGED PINE GROSBEAKS. 



IREGRKT much that 1 1 

 so seldom report on tii 

 stand 1 wrote out the "finis 

 history (for a he beat - -. 



■ciTuently a Utile late, and 

 m a 6 ,ers were on the 

 ich" -: his, or rather her, 

 coward of no account) 

 t .. failed tosei ditoi 1 «s ■■ u» consi - antlj half its 



examination, I was behim ,,ei ... • , .,.:,„., ,., ,,, 1 ;i, 

 a black racer, one- . ■ ;• ,,' 1 lii a '-. 

 reliable. Now in -:. •. -.,,.-, of the 

 pine, or Arctic ero-:,e d:. >ie a- . domesti- 

 cated, and flic lasl, f. a,- I hsu- .-ecr .... n no bird worthy 

 to take his place. 



1 well remember the 1 : I ... e,, ,, , ii. >,as north of 



hitiliKle-b) degree,, in Maine, m the wilder of '35-0, COm- 



of snow-drifts, tw nthe lied Crorii which 



he- out eve Idee, I had IV :-i befOP seen, One dropped 

 B moment in the snow on a roof ti few feet from me, and 

 then all disappeared, uttering a soft sweet note to avoid 

 separation in the blinding storm. 



[Twenty yeaxe 1 looked fu vain for that bird whose form, 

 color, and strange habits had been stamped on my brain. 

 At length in midwinter, in Springfield, Mass,, I recognized 

 my birds of the storm. They were fecdiugou seeds of ;the 



a- e : e i I .... ft pail e el: -ion ButlSiacl ii S: than I oyer 

 fell under -imiiar e; .- :■■ -e .--xyears ad, rwards the 



feeding 00 the berries of the mountain osh, seeds Of thfi 



black ash, ami buds of the Korway spruce. Observing 

 their quiet, unsuspicious habits, I captured with noose and 

 fishing rod live, three males, Placing them in enlarge cage, 

 I sat down lomakeiheir intimate acHuaintaucc. Tbej had 



