848 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



TNov. 30. 1883, 



The Boston Deeh Gone. — Boston, Muss., Nov. 24, — 

 Owing to repented failures to obtain an appropriation for a 

 new fence for the deer park on the Common, the Committee 

 on Public Grounds have, decided to get rid of the. deer, 

 Which have given the public much amusement since 1804. 

 Councilman Eddy took two deer; Councilman Barry sent 

 two to friends in New Hampshire; two were sold ami sent 

 to Central Park, New York: two were bought by Lowell 

 gentleman, and three were exchanged for swans. There 

 now remain only three, and they wili be disposed of as soon 

 as possible. The rickety fence will come down. A small 

 part of the park will be reserved for hotbeds, but most of 

 the space will lie thrown open to the public 11 cost $800 a 

 year to keep the deer. Recently three of them escaped 

 owing to the rotten fence. One of them ran down Boylston 

 street to the Providence depot, where he cleared a street ear 

 at a. leap, lie was killed. Another got as far as Brnokb'ne, 

 and. in gamboling on some cliffs, fell ovcra precipe - broki 

 its legs, and was killed. The third one ran down Charles 

 M:, i to Mcuoun, and jumped the sea wall into the Charles 

 River, lie was captured and returned to his quarters. 



Tjtf, "Am SriCB" in Ripi.es.— Philadelphia, Nov. 85.~ 

 In considering the statement matte by me last week, that "a 

 normal bullet can be fired from a rf& « itll safety even if it 

 be many inches distant from its powder ohftrgi ." I reque&l 

 reader,-, to remember that I am speaking of rifles, anil that 

 I aui by no means discussing the eftV. I oi thine, other than 

 bullets — such a.s snow, ice, sand, snakes, rags, etc. — Oi) the 

 barrel of a rifled arm. I assert, as a thing that, goes with- 

 out saying, that wet sand, e. </., will burst a rilie nearly 

 every time. My experiments are as yet incomplete and un- 

 tabul.ttcd. [dare not assort of the shotgun, as I do of the 

 rifle, that an "air space" will not harm the gun. —W. McK. H, 



Side Hunts. — The valuation nf game adopted by the 

 Gulf Oily Gun Club, Mobile, Ala., foi their annual hunt, 

 held Nov. 19 and 30, was as follows: Bear 300, wildcat 150; 

 deer— buck 125, doe 100; fox 100, rabbit 12, squirrel 7, 

 goose, 75; turkey — gobbler GO, hen 50; chicken hawk 25, 

 owl 20, sparrow hawk 10, woodcock 20, quail 7, wild pigeon 

 10, Wilson's snipe 5, plover 5, papabot 10, dove 4. robin 1, 

 lark 1, rail 1, poule d'eau 1, king rail 2. gallinule 2; ducks— 

 canvas-back 25. black mallard 20, mallard 10, chick cock 8. 

 pintail 8, widgeon S, redhead 8, teal 5, all other ducks 5. 



Massachusetts. — Weatfield, Nov. 22.— For some reason 



woodcock have not paid us their annual visit this year, and 

 there were very few' to the manor born. But to make up 

 for this loss quail and ruffed grouse are more plentiful than 

 for years, Where do they coTm.' from? "Coon hunters are 

 very successful this fall, that article being in abundance 

 near by town. We are very anxious to get hold of a good 

 'coon dog, but all we have tried so far are found wanting. — 

 G. A. S. 



FiOfiTDA Game. — Sanford, Orange County, Now 20. — 

 The outlook for quail this season is most propitious, as their 

 last breeding season was the most favorable one they 

 have had for some years. One of my neighbors told me h'e 

 had already shot 300 birds this season. Snipe are very 

 plentiful, and I get some almost every day 1 go out. St 

 Johns is full of ducks, ami it looks as if we Should have a ( 

 good year for all kinds of game. — Tut Ml'. 



Kentucky,— North Middletown, Nov. 18. — Partridges 

 are in Bourbon county comparatively scares, but. reports 

 come in from the mountain counties that partridges, ruffed 

 grouse and wild turkeys ure very abundant. AVill start on 

 a trip to mountains about Dec. 2; when we return ahull re- 

 port again. — Little Sandy. 



Canada. — Quebec, Nov. 18. — We have had a very mild 

 fall, and our birds left because they are accustomed to do 

 so, for they were not driven away, as usual, by severe 

 weather. — G. 



The Furdey Guns.— A valuable acquisition to a sports- 

 man's outfit is one of the "new rebounding kaearnerless guns" 

 manufactured by James Purdey & Son. 2S7 and 289 Oxford 

 street, London. This gun takes its name from the internal 

 hammers or strikers rebounding to full cock on opening the 

 gun. It is provided with a very simple, but none tbe less 

 effective, satety catch, which precludes all danger of a pre- 

 mature discharge. The blow struck by the hammers is very 

 powerful, thereby doing away with the possibility of a miss- 

 tire unless the cap is defective, The excellence of the guns 

 manufactured by Messrs. Purdoy & Son, both in shooting 

 quabties and appearance, is so well known that it is needless 

 to eulogize them here. All who use their guns heartily in- 

 dorse them, and during the past season they have not had one 

 complaint. The solo right to manufacture their guns in this 

 country is for sale, subject to oertain conditions. 



fan mul 



OrEN Seasons.— See hihle ofoiwn memomfor game and <l:ih 

 in issue of niiii week. 



FISH IN SEASON IN DECEMBER. 



i. I Striped bass ( Uoekflsh), lioccits 



spe- Ifaeaiui. 



Wldte bass, /,'wi-Hs dn-i/i >ps. 



PUBLISHER'S DEPARTMENT. 



Important. Shelton's monthly Issue to sportsmen.— Adv. 



Any persou sending their address to B. H. Pooler, Serena, La Sail, 

 Co., 111., will receive in return free a Due colored lithograph repre- 

 senting pinnated grouse shooting on the prniries, also a catalog): 

 of cartridge holders, belts, vests, &<;.— Adv. 



Fur Quotations.-Mx. Ramsey MaenaugliUin. with his usual onte 

 prise and ability, 1ms devised and copyrighted a price list that 

 wonderfully complete and comprehensive. It is entirely new an 

 original, and b,-M,l,-.; price.; on each grade contain-; valuable pruot 

 cat suggestions. Any one sending reasonable proof by letter , 

 business card ttial Ih'T arc in Ihe fur trade can secure one from M. 

 Macaaiu-htan. :j lb. ward street. New York.-.4tic. 



off: 



fori 



L-th." If your t 



'our pericardium, hit 



our gun. Kit break-: 



cr looking corpse ttn 



Don' ' 



of your .-..nii-ad.-'s head look like a gr'rz/.ly be;:: 

 mistakes have occurred in this St u..- :'.,, : ,,■■ 



every time. Finally, don't : 



of you don't know enough to handle a gun an} 

 are too sensitive t" endure a run of buck fever ■ 

 yourselves or your companions— Northwesteri 

 We call the attention of our readers to the a 

 Signal Service Barometer in another column 

 excellent thermometer, a storm-gla-w or ire: 

 prising accuracy, rendering it an article off 

 mcr. and to all others who feel an interest in it 

 "What will the weather be to-morrow'-" Barn 

 tions. Kone genuine without the trade rn: 

 J. A. Tool on the buck of each iustrumeli 

 Parties; sending money to .1. A. Pool or the 

 vv,,.l.- nay rely on their getting go.'ds prompt 



Pike iXe 



',: II, | Id - 



Pickerel, J&oxretieula&ttt. 

 l'lke-perch (Wall-eyed pike) &H- 

 zoslethrum. 



Yellow perch, Purca fluvialilis. 



SALT 



Striped bass, Boccta Uneaiw. 

 White peroh Ifei m< amerioma. 

 mwni mordai 



8 in Issue ot next; 



Crappie (StrawDtfrrj basf i 



t'oe: nxi.'H nnrutnari'latnA. 

 Bachelor. Pomoxys annularis. 

 Chub, Semolilus DufittrfS. 



Red baas. 



Toincod. . 

 pecial br 



But angling is not atone a health retaining and a In-all h-giviug pas- 

 inn'. It is a medicine to the mind as well as Hi the body: and unlike 

 OO mftny plcasur, 8 of life, it scatters no seeds from which the nettk 



yeep because he look lish with m 

 it has become a proverb no angle 

 nele Toby's hasty speech had lice 

 icarl while plying his vocation, u 

 i to blot out the record. Blessed 

 , hut whose stm casts a perpetual 

 an" who, regularly as I he return of 



"the time of the singing of birds," sayeth to hiins.il f, "1 go n fishing.'' 



— Qecfffi Dim-nun, ".P'f UN-era of Anglhiy.' 1 



the heart. Like the U I 



eto 



ided 



joyous memories. Pete 



•di 



d not 



or angle, hut because in 



di 



I wha 



can do and have "luck.' 





d if T_ 



as free from guile asm] 



an 



•ler's 



angel's tear need to h, 



ye 



r.,i;,- 



pastime, whose day m 



TBI 



er.d-- 



radiance upon the "simi 



lc 



vise n 



WINTER TALKS ON SUMMER PASTIMES. 



UI. — ABOUT GliATLING. 

 Hide me, ye forests, in your coolest bow 'rs, 

 Where flows the murmuring brook, Inviting dreams. 

 Where bordering hazel overhangs tbe streams. 



<i<i... 



IT so happens that no one of the local brotherhood, ex- 

 cept my self, ever fished for grayling. All have frequently 

 resolved to do so, but none of thorn have vet found leisure 

 to put their resolve into execution. As the next last thing, 

 they require of me an annual recital of my visits to gray- 

 ling waters. T am nothing loth, oi' course. On the ornlriiry, 

 il i-. ;i great pleasure, only less enjoyable than the reality 

 itself. My "talk" this year was on This wise; 



"A few'ycars agotlie'Au Sable was t lie most famous and 

 best stocked grayling river in Northern Michigan, When 1 

 became acquainted with it, the lish were very ubuudatit. 

 In :iu hour's casting at almost any point, asuliicient num- 

 ber could be taken to surfeit any reasonable angler for a 

 (lay. But, unfortunately, nil auajers are not reasonable. 

 While making ready tot a few days' sojourn on the rivr, 

 a party came in with a barrel of flsh they had taken, and 

 .which' ihe.y proposed i" carry home with them. They may 

 h.ive had a thousand or more, and to secure that number of 

 sizable fish they had probably killed four times as many. 

 With the utmost care the whole lot would doubtless be nail 

 seating!}' stale before tiny reached their destination, The 

 purpose of the party was well enough; for it is always 

 commendable to remember the loved ones at home; but" I 

 never felt that I greatly complimented a friend by present- 

 ing him with a mess of stale fish; and, except under very 

 favorable circumstances, all lish become stale, however 

 carefully packed, that can only be eaten a week, more or 

 less, after they are taken. Neither grayling, nor trout, 

 nor salmon, are in full flavor if they have been so much as 

 twenty-four hours out of water. Many an honest angl 

 has lost caste with his friends because the promise to the ear 

 has been broken to the palate. His praises were based 

 upon their flavor when freshly caught: their judgment upon 

 their flavor when eaten. The original flavor of' salmon re- 

 mains longer thau that of either trout or grayling. But 

 even salmon greatly deteriorate in two or three" days, how- 

 ever carefully packed. Whenever I bring any of my sal- 

 mon catch home with me, I see to it that they are kept con- 

 stantly encasud in fresh ice and that they are not exposed 

 to anything above a frigid temperature until they are 

 passed over into the hands of the cook. In this way t have 

 sometimes enabled my friends to get a fair, if not a perfect 

 idea, of the exquisite salmon flavor. 



"Since I first visited the Au Sable it bus fallen off in both 

 the number and weight of its fish. But it still affords good 

 sport to those who do not engage in the pastime simply to 

 see how many fish they can kill. 'Catching to count* is a 

 species of vandalism in which no honest angler will engage. 

 1 hose who do, whatever they may call themselves, have the 

 'low down' spirit of the pot-hunter, although they may uot 

 have his dollar-and-cent cupidity. 



"I remember a great many years ago, hearing one of a 

 party of four boasting that they had, in two days, taken 

 twenty-two hundred trout from the waters of 'Stony Clove.' 

 in the'Catskills, and I once saw a then famous judge "scoop- 

 ing up' trout from the same waters with a bed-tick he had 

 either bought, borrowed or stolen from one of the neighbors. 

 No marvel that that once prolific stream is now compara- 

 tively barren. Scores upon scores of other streams have 

 been similarly -depleted in this State and elsewhere. But I 

 am happy to know that this unsportsmanlike habit, of 'catch- 

 ing to couut' is now deemed 'more honored in the breach 

 thau in the observance' — thanks to the admonitions of the 

 public press and the belter education of the present gener- 

 ation of anglers. 



"On my first visit to the Au Sable I took all the fish 1 

 wished within a mile from camp. On my recent visit it 

 look me a whole afternoon, casting over the same ground, 

 to catch enough for supper tiud breakfast. 1 was told they 

 were plenty as ever fifteen or twenty milesdown stream, tort 

 I didn't care to make the journey. ' I preferred to work for 

 what I caught, having long since ceased to find my highest 

 pleasure in angling where neither skill nor patience is re- 

 quired to fill my creel." 



"In what," I was asked, "do grayling, in their haunts and 

 habits, differ from trout?" 



"Their haunts are the sunt-, in every material quality. 

 Thai is, the Au Sable has every feature of a trout stream, In 

 the clearness, flow and temperature of its water, and iu its 

 ripples, eddies and pools. To simply look at it, any expert 

 would pronounce it as promising a trout stream as" he ever 

 stiw. When I began t,o cast, I expected a rise from a. trout 



rather than from a grayling; but often as I have fished the 

 river I have never yet BO much as seen a trout," 



"How do you account for their absence'?'' was the next 

 query. 



"1 have been frequently asked that, question, but I. have 

 never been able to answer it. and the answer is all the more 

 puzzling from the, fact that the earlier settlers have a tradi- 

 t ion (and some assume to speak from personal know led ce} 

 that there was once trout in the river, and that even innv 



there arc both trout and grayling in other waters far off. 



If the tradition is truthful i'n a gard to tin - riv r, what has 

 become of the trout? Have the" trruyling destroyed Ihem? 



If so, how did it happen, after ha. ii:. dv i • b.er in unity 



since the creation, in these latter days 'the one has been 

 taken and the other left?' I know that (rout have dis- 

 appeared from a great many streams because of the changes 

 temperature or diminUhed supply of the water; caused by 

 the artificial draiiemeof swamp,-, the ;i! ,-,.-. >.| ion or diversion 



of springs and the denndatii i treats But bo such 



causes have operated here. Willi en!.-:; ■; exceptions— ferj 

 and far between— the swamps Slid springs and forests re- 

 main as they were when 'the morning stars sang together.' 

 li I rout ever were in the river I can conceive of no reasofi 

 why they should not be there still, and if in waters where the 

 two fish are still found the trout an- rapid! v oi-apixn'iiig :;is 



allcgt 'I: the mystery is nil the more inexplicable, I wish 

 some one better acquainted with grayling and grayling 

 waters than I am would i saaj to Solve this problem, 



"So much for the haunts of the grayling Now a word 

 about their habits; 1 find them iu jiisi,' such spc-tfcBS I 

 would look for trout in the early season - on the riffs, It the 

 foot of rapids, under old logs and in all kinds of shady 

 places, bul not often in deep pools. And they are like I <•< tit 

 also iu the maimer in which they take the fly, except Iba! I 

 thought they did not come upa.-."lai out Of the watery?: trout 

 sometimes do when (hey 'rise;' but they take the 11 v as 

 sharply, shoot off us rapidly and light as gamely. They 

 make a more stout resistance at the outset than trout o1 tM 

 same weight, chiefly because of the great dimensions of their 

 dorsal tin, which gives them a powerful levOr when they 

 shoot across the. current, as they usually do when struck. 1 

 do not think, however, they have Ihe i rout's staying' qual- 

 ities, but they are all game, and afford the angler quite as 

 much sport as trout iu any waters. 



"There is one thing about the grayling especially worth 

 mentioning— the peculiar thyme-like aroma they emit when 

 taken. The ancient Greeks recognized this fragrant odor 

 in the fish. 'Hence its generic name T/h/hhMhx, which is 

 derived from Tk>ii,«ilh,«, Ihe ((reek icrm for thyme' [Hal- 

 leek's Gazetteer, p. Moo.] 1 had never heard of Ih IGI ills 

 arity, and for a time 1 fancied myself moving through a 

 forest warden of swett smelling herbs. None or this aroma 

 Ls perceptible after cooking— except to a very lively imag- 

 ination. In point of flavor, the gray ling is the peer of I bo 

 trout. Indeed, neither in its haunts, its habits, its jimy 

 qualities or its flavor, is it at all inferior to that favorite 

 lish. if not as handsome when landed it is eveu more beau- 

 tiful in the water. In reeling one in, with the sun at a proper 

 angle, its great dorsal I'm, with its blended body hues of olive, 

 brown, rose, blue, green and pink, reveal it'll the dazzling 

 colors of ihe kaleidoscope. 1 am afraid I sometimes unne- 

 cessarily protruded my 'piny' to enjoy tbe exquisite piel are. '' 



"You spenk," said one of ihe coterie, "of the Au Sable m 

 having the flow of an ordinary trout stream. The popular 

 idea is that the whole of Michigan, except its extreme north- 

 ern portion, is practically a uniform plane, with no high 

 hills and no mountain brooks nor swift flowing waters, such 

 as we have in our own Slate," 



"And this popular idea is not far wrong. There tire no 

 real mountains in Michigan. Nevertheless, the topography 

 of the center of the lower peninsula is such that many of the 

 streams move with considerable velocity. The current of 

 the Au Sable, for instance, flows from "one to four miles an- 

 hour, and its water is as pure and as transparent as any 

 mountain stream 1 ever saw. But when 1 have said this 'I 

 have said about all that can be said in its favor. It has 

 verv few beautiful scenic features. Its banks are generally 

 low' and uninviting. There are not, so far as 1 traversed it, 

 many pleasant caiupiog places directly on its borders. Oil 

 mylastvisit.I floated several miles before 1 found aspotwhwra 

 I was willing to pilch my lent, and when I landed au inci- 

 dent occurred that made me wish myself a hundred miles 

 away. It was this: A p:ii ty of ladies and gentlemen had 

 just broken camp as we landed, ami were awaiting their 

 wagons to take them to the village. While thus waiting, 

 the'ladies amused themselves in gathering wild flow era, and 

 in their rambles they bad encountered p isam. mi sassa iguffl 

 whose glittering eyes and warning rattle had sent them dying 

 and screaming back to camp. Although diligent searcl 

 was mndefoiMhe reptile, he remained undisi Overt :1. '1 he 

 incident was followed by the pleasant assurance from my 

 guide, that 'although a good many 'saugas weie round, they 

 very seldom bit anyone; or, if they did! a quart of whisky, 

 swallowed at once, was a sure cure.' As I ha.Vt the 

 whisky I didn't hanker after the bite. My sleep in the 

 woods, with nothing but a few hemlock boughs between 

 my body and mother earth, la usually sound and re- 

 freshing. But upon this occasion I was iiirihly nervous, 

 and more than once awoke with the fancy thai 'every hair 

 on my head was a masMts.sauga, and "the rustling of thu 

 leaves the seductive, music of their blood curdlinc; raltle. 

 Fond as I was of fishing, before morning 1 had resolved 

 that I wouldn't spend another such night lor all the grayliug 

 in the Au Sable. But 'how use dolh breed a liabil iu'a iiian" 

 With the dawn my nervousness took flight, and through all 

 the subsequent nights I spent upon the river, 1 'slept t ho 

 sleep of una a e ou in i h ence.' Still, the knowledge that 

 rattlers arc occasionally seen has made me less anxious than 

 I might Otherwise be to go after eravling. 



"It is one of the glories of ihe 'North Woods' that they 

 are infested by no venomous reptiles; and during all the 

 years I have visited salmon rivets, I have never seen nor 

 heard of anything of kin !o the rattlesnake family. I | u 8 

 of some splendid Iront, bass and musealonge walersnoilD 

 west, from Ottawa which I have hesitated about visiting be- 

 cause of their bad reputation in this respect, Bul even Ibis 

 will uot restrain me through am 6hei riim'er, if my health is 



' When are grayling in season?'' f was asked. 

 "The grayling is a spring spawncr, and is in season nag 

 where from July to mid-winter. They are, perhaps, in full- 

 life and flavor in Sepl tml tfd October, nud thus fur- 

 ih sport to the anglerafter itiB wrong to take trout c| 



inon. In Michigan then- c ;■ tellghtful month in 



the whole year than October. As a rule, it is an unbroken 

 (ndian summer, and as, late in the month, deer are in good 

 qi i b i are almost us plenty in the woods as grs 



