186 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Ootobkk 6, 1881. 



Sioux River, which affords water-power and mill-sites 

 throughout its course, until it debouches into the Missouri, 

 midway between Sioux City and Omaha City. 



These lakes abound in fish such as buss and pickerel. The 

 fl'h appear to have brighter colors than the same species in 

 other waters. On the occasion of my hist visit 1 stopped 

 with 'Old Crandall," a pione< r, and one of the few who es- 

 rap'd the Indian massacre. He keeps a eoscy tavern ol the 

 cabin style. A party of us camped near the Jake will) Crfltl' 

 dall as ourgukle ; fished in the lake, and shut | ittnated grouse 

 chickens on the neighboring prairies. We lmd the mosl sig- 

 nal success in both sports. When night came on our host 

 cooked us one of his famous fish chowders of which I had 

 heard and read, but to which all descriptions had failed to 

 do justice. 



lierte Lorillard, of New York city, many years auo dis- 

 cover d by some means ihisparadise fir sportsmen. He also 

 discovered that \\ est Okohoji, from its elevation, depth and 

 s ze, was a natural pluce for yacht sailing, and bo purchased a 

 considerable body of land on the west side of the lake, where 

 he has a laige boat house and all conveniences lor shooting, 

 fishing and sailing. Mr. Lorill :rd and a lew friends have 

 hsd One sport, and comparatively to themselves for years, 

 but lately their solitude has been invaded, and a rush of tour- 

 ists have made tLis their favorite summer resort for the past 

 two years. 



Three tail roads are in course of construction having these 

 lakes for i heir objeetive point. One of them, the Burlington, 

 Cedar Hapids and Northern, has purchased a tract of land, 

 and will erect in time for next season's business an immense 

 hotel fur the accommodation of sportsmen, fishermen and 

 pleasure seekers. Measures are also being taken to preserve 

 H e h-h of the lakes horn wholesale slaughter by sieves in 

 summer and fishing through the ice iu winter. * For hook 

 and line fishing the supply is inexhaustible. In less than an 

 hour our parly caught, all we wanted, and spent the after- 

 noon on the praines, where each shooter bagged some twen- 

 ty turds. During the fall, commencing late in October, ike 

 waterfowl on these takes are innumerable. A skillful sports- 

 man cum stand on the crossing places between the lake-, and, 

 iu a favorable day shoot a can-load of ducks and geese. 



When 1 Itfi spirit, Lake on the occasion of toy first visit 1 

 took passage in a hack. The proprietor carried the mail. He 

 was a m.n t fifty and a pioneer. The nearen railroad sta- 

 tion • u my way to headquarters at Sheldon was Sibley. The 

 route was an interesting < re. We passed u succession of 

 tmad lakes. On this occasion I was the only passenger, and 

 the driver was quite communicative, being well acquainted 

 Willi every lake and stream; lie had for each some traditional 

 romance to relate. Rush Lake attracted my attention. It 

 derives its name from the abundance of bulrushes of unusual 

 s ze that grow in water from six to leu feet deep, aud cover 

 the greater part of the surface of the lake with their green 

 spike-like stocks, extending from three to s ; x feet above the 

 surface. A shooter can conceal his boat in the rushes late iu 

 the fall, and kill ad unlimited number of geese and ducks. 



Tie next lake on the rouie is known as Silver Lake. It 

 derives its name from the color of its water, which iB not 

 transparent, as is name would indicate, but is much the 

 c 4ur of silver sand as if riied by sides and bottom of chalk. 

 The po I road crosses a low iust : c bridge over ihe inlet of 

 this lake jus where it empties is current of ell ar water into 

 the c i earn- colored lake. The stream, for many rods beyond 

 its mouth, maiutaius its identity as if running between light- 

 colored «alls. 



At the suggestion of my guide, the loquacious back driver, 



I stood with him a few minutes on the bridge looking into 

 the current. Soon we saw the heads of fish slowly and cut- 

 tiously peeping from the sides of the lake into the cl< ar 

 water of the stream, an I wl en undisturbed they ventured 

 out, but at Ihe slightest movement by us they would dart 

 back out of sight. Mr: Jehu made a loop and a noose of his 

 whiplash nnd hung it iulo the water, leaving it motionless 

 for a short time, a d ihen with a sudden jerk landed a ven- 

 turesome tush which he called a bull-head. (It is customary 

 in t.i is ( onii' crion to give the scientific name of the fish, bur 

 not beiug an ichthyologist, 1 am uncertain to which cLss it 

 b, longed, bur on the auhority of the captor I suppose it was 

 a Tnun/ti caput ) 



In due iiu.e 1 arrived at Sheldon, Bnd found friends ready 

 to join me with dogs and guns. We usually did our shoot- 

 ing in the evenings, and it was not uncommon for each sports- 

 man to bag two dozen ttfrda on these excursions. 



ThePoyd River runs near Sheldon. Its source is iu 

 Minnesota, a few ruins north, and the stream is but small. 

 It receives tributaries and enlarges aud flows south. At be- 

 mars it turns a large flouring mill, and keeps on its course to 

 the Missouri at Sioux City. 



The beaver and otter still make their abode on this stream. 

 On oneoccasiou I was shooting prairie chickens with a party 

 ol f i lends near the railroad s'alion at Sheldon. I stood on 

 the bank of the stream. A bevy of birds had been flushed 

 by ny frr nds on the prairie, and one flew toward me, high 

 in the air, I shot it directly over my head. lis velocity 

 carried it behind me, where ii fell into the water. Instanta- 

 neously there was a splash and tumult, and before I could 

 turn around one of th.se furred animals had captured my 

 bird and disappeared wi h it under the water, leaving only 

 bubb.es and circling wavelet b to mark the spot. 



In addition to the attraction of the country about Sheldon 

 for sportsmen il possesses great advantages to the agricultur- 

 ist. The cheapness of lands and their fertility are already 

 attract Dg emigration. The settlers thus far have been from 

 "Wisconsin, Central Mew York and Northern Ohio, with an 

 occasional German aud Scandinavian. 



Mr. W. R. Cl'se, a g-aduate of Cambridge University in 

 England and captain of the university crew which I' d Oxford 

 in ti (■ r ce of that year, came to America in 1876 to row iu 

 tie Centennial rega ta. He chanced to fall into conversation 

 with a gentleman from ibis region, who told him of the 

 graBStloppflr panic, which had disparaged one of the finest 

 and most fertile portions of the continent, and of the fine op- 

 portunity for chtap lauds. Close accordingly went by the 



II inois Central Railroad to Lemars, the "nearest railroad 

 point, sa'isfied himself that the visits of the grasshoppers 

 were accidental, that they bred far away and were as likely 

 to strike New England the next tune us the .Northwest, and 

 be invest! d largely in improve;! lands, lie established cable, 

 communications with bis brothers in London, -and received 



- ir in iliem to inveEt in their behalf. He at ouce secured 

 SJO.OtW seres, all of which, under ti e name of Close Brothers, 

 they still retain and are also farming as their individual pro- 

 perty. By re-son of their reputation and extensive connec- 

 tions in Eiglaid. they were So tied wnh inquiries, and Ml". 

 W. B. ClOBr, to satisfy Ihe sudden and growing interest in 

 his native idand. wroie 'uncles for the Times, ihe Fidd and 

 other leading English papers ; and finally a conference was 



had with the celebrated John Bright, whose support was 

 given to an enterprise which had already been suggested by 

 the Close Brothers, three of whom promptly engaged in the 

 work. They decided to engage farm pupils for a fixed com- 

 pensation, and to systematically encourage colonization. The 

 enterprise culminated in the purchase of all the lands of the 

 Sioux City and St. Paul Railroad Company. 



Mr. vV R. Close, in the meantime, married an accom- 

 plished American lady, and returned to London in 

 furtherance of his scheme, while his brothers James B. and 

 Fred B. Close remained to receive their newly arriving re- 

 cruits. Soon the tide of emigration began, and the few scat- 

 tered pioneer settlers were gladdened by the new life which 

 was in fused into the couatry about tbem. The new comers 

 We re i neii of character and large resources. Among the num- 

 ber may be named Capt Reynolds Moreton, R. N., who is a 

 brother of the Earl of Ducie ; Lord Robert, the future Earl 

 of Buckinghamshire ,- the son of Admiral Sir Sidney Dacres, 

 K. C. B. ; the two sous of Admiral Farguliar, of the Royal 

 Navy ,• a son of Sir John Lubbock, the member of Parlia- 

 ment for the City of London ; the son of Lord Alfred Paget ; 

 R. Potter, ihe son of the president of the Cobden Club, and 

 others of equal note. The Duke of Buckingham with a party 

 of English gentlemen and capitalists visited this region dur- 

 ing the present summer, aud were driven over the prairies 

 west and northwest of Sheldon. The party were so pleased 

 with what they saw that on their return to England they were 

 influential in the formation in London of the "Iowa Land 

 Company, Limited," with a capita) of £500,000. Among its 

 trusti es are several of the Duke's party. The capital was 

 promptly paid in, aud the Close brothers were made mana- 

 gers of the company. Breaking teams were at once -set to 

 work and over twenty-six square miles of prairie were broken 

 the present year, and 100 houses were erected. These lands 

 are mostly sold to English settlers, and the balance are rented 

 OB eas}' terms. Several hundred houses had been previously 

 ereciecl within the last two years in Sioux, Lyon and Ply- 

 mouth count! s, under the supervision of the Close brothers, 

 and many additional tenement houses were erected on their 

 own lauds. 



It might be supposed that the purchase of lands on such a 

 gigantic scale would he viewed with dislike by the American 

 farmers of the vicinity; but such does not appear to be the 

 fact. On the com rary they appear to be pleased with the 

 rapid settlement and cultivation of the soil. 



All of the lands embraced in the Englishmen's purchase are 

 populated with farmers, some of whom have bought their 

 larms, while others are tenants. The settlement and popu- 

 lation of the country is what all parlies desired. The 

 English gentlemen, true to their love of British sp arts, have 

 their race tracks and cticket grounds. Hurdle races were a 

 novelty in that region until introduced by these colonists. 

 They have as yet made no purchases in the neighboring coun- 

 ties of O'Brien, Clay aud Dickinson, which are equally fer- 

 tile, and where unimproved lauds maybe had at prices vary- 

 ing from $5 to $10 per acre. 



One instance shows what enterprise maydo. Some parties 

 last spriug purchased for $5 per acre a tract of 3,000 acres in 

 Omega Township, O'Brien County, ten miles south of the 

 station of Han ley on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul 

 Riilroad. J key broke two thousand acres, sowed flax on 

 the sod and harvested twelve bushels per acre from it, all in 

 one season. The product of this year will more thau pay for 

 the land. It seems slrauge that farmers with small means 

 will struggle along for a scanty living in the sterile hills of 

 IbeEas'eru States, where lands sell from $50 to $100 per 

 acre, instead of rushing to the Northwest where the broad 

 rolling prairies may be purchased so cheaply in the immedi- 

 ate vicinity of good markets. 



The. pioneers of the E ist had to spend the best years of 

 their lives felling trees aud clearing forests before they had 

 any surplus produce for markets. On the matchless prairies 

 of the Northwest they may break their prairies aud have 

 grain in market without vexatious delays. With the use of 

 of improved agricultural machinery the vocation of a farmer 

 ceases to he one of toil ; but, on the contrary, his life on the 

 ptairie becomes one of luxury and independence. 



To the farmer, the sportsman, the angler and tourist, 

 there can be no more inviting fields than the prairies, the 

 lakes and the streams of this Northwest. 



SPORT AND GAME IN NEWFOUNDLAND. 



HAVING in a previous paper treated of the cariboo, which 

 is the king of game animals in Newfoundland, I now 

 venture an article upon the chief of our game birds, the noble 

 Bernicla canadensis or Canadian wild goose. 



When I term it a game bird, I may stale that, owing to the 

 peculiarity of its haunts and the physical character of the 

 country, rendering access to those haunts laborious and un- 

 certain, few wild geese fall to the gun of our sportsmen proper, 

 who devote themselves chiefly to the more certain enjoyment 

 of grouse shooting, aud shooting of smaller game. 



The Canada goose is a regular aunua) visitor to Newfound- 

 land, coming along from southern regions in early spring 

 (April), remaining during the breeding season, and taking its 

 departure in large flecks iu September. They breed abun- 

 dantly on this island, laying their eggs upon islets in the bog- 

 holes or lakelets which dot the Urge savannahs or marshes, 

 so numerous in the interior wilds of Newfoundland. They 

 thus isolate their nests as far as possible from the designs of 

 enemies, and as the young brood approach maturity they are 

 conducted by the parent birds to the brooks which course 

 through the interior parts of the island to the bays and sea- 

 shore. 



On this point I must correct a mistake made in a very in- 

 teresting aud instructive work, entitled "Game Birds in the 

 United States," by Thomas Alexander, author of Fish and 

 Fishing, and other works on sport, and published in New 

 Vork in 1879. 



Writing of the Canada goose Mr. Alexander says : "He 

 conies up from the south in the earliest spring, bravely mak- 

 ing the longest known migration in search of a breeding place. 

 How far to the north he goes before his particular taste in 

 this matter is satisfied is unknown, for no mortal eye has yet 

 gazed upon the breeding pliers of the Canada goose. Ex- 

 pl i) ers within the Arctic Circle have met them, with long necks 

 Outstretched toward the pple, still pursuing their journey. 



" Possibly they find the bug sought open Polar Sea and 

 rest securely on its desolate bosom until their young are 

 grown to sufficient maturity to undertake the mighty journey 

 to the far south, wheie they spend the winter." 



Writing in ignorance of the subject, as these statements 

 show him t,o have been, it would have been wiser not to 

 have sid positively asserted such au egregious error as is con- 

 tained in them, and which any one in this country having 

 the remotest knowledge concerning wild fowl could refute. 



Wild geese may have been seen heading for the North 

 Pole ; this is not questioned ; and they may have solved the 

 problem that has baffled the efforts of generations of the 

 moBt daring navigators ; but I opine the season of summer 

 within the confines of the Arctic Circle is of scarcely 

 sufflcieut duration for the breeding and rearing purposes of 

 birds which require nearly six months from the time of 

 nesting until the period of autumnal migration to Southern 

 climes. No matter how much farther North they may have 

 been seen it is a matter of fact that the Canada goose breeds 

 in Newfoundland. Every year fishermen in some of the 

 outlying settlements are accustomed to go off " into the 

 country" in search of the broods of wild geese while they are 

 still young, and frequently bring out the birds when about 

 two-thirds grown and before their wings are sufficiently de- 

 veloped to enable them to escape. This is quite a common 

 occurrence, and the birds so captured are, in the fall, sold to 

 amateur poidtry fanciers in the Capital and elsewhere at a 

 good price. Those domesticated wild geese, may, at any 

 time, be seen in dozens of poultry yards about St. Johns, 

 and they breed in their captivity, both inter te and with the 

 common domestic goose, producing a hybrid bird much es- 

 teemed for the table. 



The fishermen also sometimes manage by means of rafts to 

 get at the nests of the birds, and bring out and hatch the 

 eggs under the common goose. The writer has himself seen 

 au instance of this. 



If further proof were necessary in support of this correc- 

 tion, I may state that while the Game Act of Newfoundland 

 establishes a close time under heavy penalties for infraction, 

 in reBpect to ad other game birds, wild geese and the eggs of 

 wild geese are specially excepted from the operation of the 

 law, so as not to interfere with the small source of emolu- 

 ment the fishermen and poor settlers may derive therefrom. 

 It is thought also that as those birds breed in such generally 

 inaccessible places, no extensive injury will thus result to 

 them ; still the wisdom of molesting any animal valuable to 

 man in its season of procreation is very questionable. 



Towetrd the end of September large flocks of geese are seen 

 on the " barrens," which they frequent for the purpose, pre- 

 paratory to migration, of feeding up on the partridge berries 

 and marsh berries which, in some localities and seasons, are 

 very abundant. These so-called "barrens" ate extensive 

 strips of high barren land, interspersed with vast peat 

 marshes, generally undulating, with clumps of stunted fir- 

 trees here and there, but chiefly on the slopes of the hollows 

 or water courses. At this time the birds are very wary, and 

 there is little chance of a near approach to them. 



While grouse shooting ou one occasion upon a " barrens" 

 in St, Mary's Bay, about seventy miles from St. Johns, my 

 setter dog, a thoroughly staunch and reliable 

 one, stood firm at the leeward end of a long 

 stretch of gently ascending dry ground. It was 

 the very spot for grouse, so dismounting from the 

 pony I rode, and handing the bridle to my atteudant, 1 said : 

 •' 1m pretty sure of a shot here." After advancing a bit, with 

 the dog still setting, every moment expecting a covey to rise 

 in front of me, I happened to cast my eyes a little further 

 on, and there, at about one hundred yards off, were nine 

 geese standing erect watching our proceedings. At the same 

 instant that 1 saw them they took flight. Those were what the 

 dog stuck to, though they were the first he had ever seen or 

 scented. I had no chance of firing at them as they were out 

 of shot, and even had they not been, I was only charged 

 with No. 5. 



Along the shores of many of our larger bays are natural in- 

 lets or creeks, barred by beaches along the coast line, having 

 an opening or .gut, through which the ou er waters ebb and 

 flow. These minor stretches of water are generally called 

 ponds, and frequently harrisways, from the French term, 

 barrachoix. They sometimes contain islets or peninsulas, 

 upon which grows goose grass, a favorite food of the birds. 

 At the periods when fl icks of geese are expected to frequent 

 those haunts, the fishermen of the neighborhood sometimes 

 erect a kind of blind, or as they call it, "gaze," within shoot- 

 ing range of those spots where eeese are in the habit of land- 

 ing. The "gaze" is rough, close framework of fir trees and 

 boughs, having room inside for a couple of men to lie and 

 watch for the birds and to fire from when the proper oppor- 

 tunity arrives, and often considerable execution is thus done 

 among them. The "gaze" must be constructed before the 

 time when the birds are expected, so that they may see it 

 when they come, for so cunning is their instinct that if built 

 after they have arrived at a pond they regard it as a suspi- 

 cious innovation, whose neighborhood it is best for them to 

 shun. 



I have not thought it necessary to go into a description of 

 the Bernicla canadensis, as it, is well known to all who take 

 an interest in sporting matters. Terra Nova. 



New Jbhsbt Aeohkry — The second annual N. J. State 

 archery meeting took place Wednesday at Waverly. The 

 attendance was good and the scores, notwithstanding the 

 very high wind, were an improvement on the 6cores of the 

 previous meeting. Iu the morning were shot the champion 

 matches. Mrs. Gibbs, of the "Newark Toxopholites," car- 

 ried off the charapioness gold medal ; Miss Brandigee, of the 

 same club, second, winning a silver medal, and Mrs. Holber- 

 ton, of the Oritani Archers, third, a yew bow. 



In the Gentlemen's Champion Match, W. Holberton, 

 President of the Oritani Archers of Hackensack, won the 

 State Champion Gold Medal, aud Mr. C. de R. Moore, of the 

 same club, won the gold medal for highest score. Mr. 

 Frazer, of the N. Y. Club, wou the first prize, a yew bow, in 

 the long range match. 



The Team Match in the afternoon was very interesting 

 and closely contested — 48 arrows at 60 yards. The Oritani 

 team won by two points only, the Brooklyn team coming in 

 second, and the N. Y. Club team third. The Newark Tox- 

 opholites was the only club to send a ladies' team and, hav- 

 ing only scratch teams to compete with, won an easy first. — 

 Akohbb. 



TriK third annual tonrnament of the Eastern Archery As 

 sociation will he held in Boston on the Base Bill Grounds, 

 October 13, 13 and 14. Those desirous of participating are 

 requested to send their names as early as possible to George 

 D. Underwood, City Hall, Boston, Mass. 



Exports of Wan Animals.— Messrs. Chas. Reiche & 

 Bro., of this city, made quite a large shipment of small 

 American animals to Bremen, Germany, on Saturday last. 

 Among them were a South American ocelot, Rocky Moun- 

 tain wild cats, prairie wolves and dogs, a large raccoon, 

 Mexican pigeons, etc. On the same day they received from 

 their African hunting grounds a giraffe, several swans and a 

 | quantity of fancy birds. 



