204 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[October 13, 1881. 



that they were so rapt hi admiration as to become insensible 

 to such material objects as pens, ink and paper. Hence in 

 writing this article we chose the beading which you see 

 above. 



Some One to Blame.— In a Brooklyn shooting gallery 

 last Saturday night, Harry Heat hoote, a boy sixteen years 

 old, attended to the targets. An unknown man had fired 

 four shots, and Heathcote went to the end ot the gallery to 

 take down the target. While he was there the man fired the 

 fifth shot. The bullet struck Heathcote in the right side of 

 the neck, killing hirn almost instantly. After firing the shot 

 the stranger coolly walked away, The proprietor of the gal- 

 lery is to blame for this fatality. Ritie ranges may be con- 

 structed like that in Conlin's gallery, this city, in which such 

 so called "accidents" as this are utterl}' impossible ; and the 

 proprietor of a gallery, who neglects to provide his range with 

 these appurtenances of safety, should be held criminally re- 

 sponsible for the consequences of his negligence. In Conlin's 

 gallery access to the target is had only by pushing open a 

 heavy iron door, which swings back upon the end of the 

 tunnel and interposes itself between the target room and the 

 firing point. This device insures absolute protection to the 

 attendant who is arranging the target. 



The Wilt, of the late Inslee A. Hopper, of Newark, N. J., 

 who for many years was President of the Singer Manufac- 

 turing Company, gives all of his property to his wife excepting 

 his fishing tackle, guns, and other sporting implements. 

 These he bequeathed to his two sons, expressing his desire 

 that they will cultivate a love for fishing and field sports. Of 

 the intrinsic value of the sporting outfit we are not told ; but 

 the advice we know to be worth many thousands of dollars 

 to young men. There are hosts of gray-haired veterans to- 

 day who would not exchange pleasures found in field sports 

 for a very considerable money consideration ; and we know 

 one gun and one dog and one fishing-rod which a small for- 

 tune could not buy. 



Smothered Dogs — The misfortune which overtook the 

 kennel of a Philadelphia gentleman, who exhibited at the 

 London dog show, calls for sirong language and vigorous 

 action. This is not the first time that valuable dogs have 

 been destroyed while being transported in railway baggage 

 cars, nor until some better method than that now employed 

 shall be adopted can we hope that it will be the last. The 

 occurrence argues either very insufficient accommodations or 

 gross carelessness on the part of the railway employes, aud 

 we trust that such decided action may be taken in this 

 matter as will enable dog owners to feel more safe in the 

 future, when forwarding their dogs by rail, than they can at 

 present. We have not the details of the imfortunate affair, 

 but hope to have them next week. 



Guns Given Away.— The cheap gun speculaior has ap- 

 peared again. This time it is the " Saxon," an arm which, 

 the advertisements tell us, all the " sporting papers " speak 

 highly of. We dropped in to see the "Saxon " gun the other 

 day and to inquire what "sporting papers" endorsed it. The 

 man in charge scratched his head, and cited two or three 

 European papers ; but he could not specify the issues con- 

 taining the " Saxon's " praises. The "secret" of the cheap- 

 ness, he volunteered to us confidentially, was that these 

 "shot-guns" were originally rifles made for the Zulu war, 

 and afterward rebored aud fitted to stocks to be sold to 

 "farmer's boys" and "countrymen." It must be a very 

 green chap who invests in the "Saxon." By the way, we 

 should like to stand at a safe distance and see the agent of 

 these arms shoot one of them off once. 



Massachusetts Glass Ball Association.— This flour- 

 ishing organization is composed of sixteen clubs, and has a 

 membership of six hundred. It holds two tournaments 

 each year. Trap shooting in Massachusetts has quadrupled 

 since the substitution of glass balls for pigeons. The Asso- 

 ciation's fall tournament began on the grounds of the Natick 

 Sportsman's Club yesterday morning; and will be con- 

 tinued to-day. 



Mbleett's Aquarium.— We have received a colored litho- 

 graph of the Japanese gold fish, "Kingio," etc., to be seen 

 in the aquarium of Hugo Mulertt, 507 Race street, Cincin- 

 nati, O. It is well done. These fishes are sports of the ordi- 

 nary gold fish, and are singularly supplied with extra tails, 

 long tails, protuberant eyes, etc. Some of them are very 

 beautiful. 



That Mysterious Law.— We have heard from time to 

 time indefinite rumors of a law alleged to have been passed 

 at the last session at Albany, prohibitingall shooting of game. 

 Such a law exists only in the imagination of the wiseacres 

 who originated the story, and who repeal it with all the 

 mysiory attending a conspiracy to murder Cn-sar. 



Gibson's Tkapfi.sci.— Mr. William H. Gibson has pre- 

 pared another edition of his well-known work on trapping. 

 The Harpers publish it. We will notice the book at greater 

 length. 



The Gambling Question propounded by a rifleman in 

 our last issue has drawn out a response from Boston. The first 

 shot is fired at Bunker Hill ; it may yet echo round the 

 •world. 



BY-WAYS OF THE NORTHWEST, 



FIFTH PAl'EB, 



TWELVE miles from where it puts off from the main In- 

 let, the. North Arm ends in the narrow but heavily 

 timbered valley of Salmon River. We ran up to the head 

 of the Arm, and, anchoring not far from the shore, landed 

 and lunched under a superb Douglas fir. One of the mouths 

 of the river emptied within a few steps of the spot where we 

 were seated, and after lunch Mr.- H took a rod to make a 

 few casts, and try to capture some of the trout with which 

 the river was said to swarm. Mr. Fannin, Seammux and I 

 got into the Indian's canoe, and pushed off up the river, to 

 see if we could not discover a white goat feeding on the 

 mountain side. We did not expect, even if we saw one, to 

 be able to kill it, but I had never seen this curious animal 

 alive, and was anxious to behold it in its native wilds. 



It was about low water when we left the steamer's side, 

 aud paddled up the river. The water near the mouth was 

 nowhere more than afoot or two deep, and little riffles, or 

 rapids, were encountered at every bend of the stream. In 

 some of these the water was extremely shaflow, so much so 

 that it was quite impossible for us to get the canoe up them, 

 while it was so heavily loaded, aud all but Seammux were 

 obliged, more ihan once, to land and walk around the rapids. 

 It was a fine sight to watch the Indian as he stood with his 

 pole in his hands preparing to drive the canoe up stream 

 against the turbulent current. Quietly pushing along until 

 he had almost reached the rushing water, he would set his 

 pole firmly against the bottom, and, leaning back against it, 

 would send the little sbell fifteen or twenty feet up the 

 stream, and then, before its way had ceased, would have his 

 pole again fixed in the bottom. Standing as he did in the 

 stern, the nose of the canoe rose high out of the water, and 

 looked, as it rushed forward, like the head of some sea 

 monster whose lower jaw was buried beneath the surface. 

 No matter how furiously the water rushed, nor how it boiled 

 and bubbled on either side, the light little craft, held per- 

 fectly straight, moved regularly onward until, the rapids 

 passed, we would step aboard again, and resume the paddles, 

 which would only be laid aside for the poles when another 

 riffle was reached. 



Mr. Fannin had brought both his rifle and shot-gun, the 

 latter for the benefit of any interesting birds that we might 

 happen to see ; while I had only my own rifle. All the guns 

 were pretty wet, since the canoe sat quite low, and in the 

 rushing and broken torrent of the rapids took in considerable 

 water. 



I have scarcely ever seen the dipper (Cinclus meticanus) 

 more abundaot than it was on Salmon River. On every lit- 

 tle reach of still water one or more would be started and 

 would fly from rock to rock, bobbing comically at eacb point 

 where it alighted, in the most grave and absurd fashion. 

 Muny of those which we saw were young not long from 

 the nest, aud were quite without fear, allowing the canoe to 

 approach within a very short distance of them before they 

 would fly. The young of this species are readily distinguish- 

 able from the adults by the color of the under parts, which 

 is pale brownish on the breast, fading to a pinkish tinge on 

 the median line of the belly. AVe also started a number of 

 broods of young harlequin ducks, some of them almost able 

 to fly, while others seemed to be just hatched. Whatever 

 their age, they seemed abundantly able to take care of them- 

 selves, and they could always keep ahead of the canoe until 

 they had rounded a bend, after which they would not be seen 

 again. Everywhere along the stream grew the salmon 

 berry bushes laden with mature or ripening fruit. This 

 shrub (liubus apectabttis) resembles in its manner of growth 

 andinils berries one of our Eastern species of blackberry, 

 but its fruit when ripe is either red or yellow, berries of both 

 colors growing on the same bush. They are pleasant to the 

 taste, but have little substance. 



We pushed on for some distance % up the stream without 

 seeing any animal life larger than the ravens and eagles, 

 which occasionally flew over us, going up or down the valley. 

 At one point we saw where a bear had crossed the stream, 

 and at another noticed some old deer tracks. At length, 

 about two miles from the mouth of the river, we came to a 

 long sand, or rather gravel, bar, and landing on its lower ex- 

 tremity, we strolled along examining the hillside for 

 the white goats that we hoped to see. The 

 guns had been lying in the water, and we took 

 them out of the canoe, Mr. Fannin holding his two down to 

 drain, and then placing them against a stick of driftwood to 

 dry in the sun. I shook and wiped the water from mine as 

 well as I could, and walked along with it in my hand. We 

 had gone perhaps forty yards from the canoe, when Fannin 

 and the Indian stopped, and began to scan the hills carefully 

 while I walked on toward the upper end of the bar where 

 there was a huge log, from which I hoped to get a better 

 view than could be had from the water's level. Reaching 

 the log I climbed on it and looked back at the others. As I 

 did so I saw Seammux speak earnestly to his companion aud 

 point across the river, and in a moment Mr. Fannin turned 

 toward me, gave a low whistle, and beckoned with his hand. 

 Thinking that a doer had possibly shown itself in the brush, 

 I dropped down from my perch on the log and ran toward 

 them. I felt sure that it could not be a goat that they saw, 

 for Seammux had evidently pointed to the opposite bank of 

 the river, and the goats at this season are found only on the 

 mountain sides. As I ran toward them the loose stones on 

 he bar made what seemed to me a horrible clattering under 



my feet, and I feared, forgetting the noise of the rushing 

 waters, that, whatever it was that they saw, it would hear 

 me and run off into the brush. W hen I was within about 

 fifty yards of the watching pair, Mr. Fannin turned toward 

 me again and made a gesture recommending caution, and, 

 just as he did so there came in sight from behind a bush a 

 fine bear. I had slipped a cartridge into my rifle as I started, 

 and as soon as the animal appeared, dropped on one knee, 

 and was about to fire. As the bear, however, was perfectly 

 unconscious of our presence, I waited a few seconds for him 

 to stand still, for, with two spectators, I was particularly anx- 

 ious not so miss him. He was about one hundred yards off, 

 and there would be no excuse for failing to hit him. He was 

 gathering berries and was evidently giving his whole mind 

 to it. Where the fruit hung low he would merely reach up 

 his head like a cow picking apples from a tree, and winding 

 his long tongue about the branch would strip the berries and 

 leaves from it, leaving merely the bare stem ; at other times 

 he would stand up on his hind legs, and, reaching his fore 

 paws to the higher branches, would pull them down to within 

 reach of his mouth. Two or three times I was about to fire, 

 but waited for a better chance, which came at last. 

 For an instant he stood still facing me and 1 

 fired at the white spot in his breast. Just as I 

 pulled he started to rear up for some berries above 

 his head, but as the gun cracked, he thought better of it and 

 whirling about lumbered off into the brush. He had disap- 

 peared almost before I had lowered the rifle from my 

 shoulder. A moment later I stood by my companions (tad 

 asked them, "Did I hit him?" Neither could tell, but the 

 Indian offered to go across and see, if I would lend him my 

 rifle. This I declined to do, and was about to wade the 

 stream myself, when F. told me to wait, and sent the 

 Seammux to fetch the canoe up to where we were standing. 



While waiting for the craft I explained my refusal to let 

 the Indian take my gun to go across for I he bear. It would 

 have been a regular Indian trick for him to have crossed, 

 and if he had found the bear dead, or badly wounded, to 

 have fired a shot and then claimed that he had killed it. 



In a moment the canoe came up, and springing on board we 

 soon reached the opposite shore. Mr. Fannin and I climbed 

 up the steep bank and ran to the point where the bear had 

 disappeared. We had hardly gone four feet in the bushes 

 when we saw a broad leaf covered with blood, then thick 

 drops, and further on a place where it looked as if a teacupful 

 of blood had been spilled on the ground. The trail was a 

 plain one. Mr. F. said: "I am afraid he bleeds too 

 much," to which I replied: "If he will only keep on 

 bleeding we will be sure to get him." By this time Seam- 

 mux, having secured his canoe, came up, and we hurried 

 forward on the trail. Once we lost it for a moment, but a 

 low call from the Indian soon told us that he had found it 

 again, and as we overtook him he stopped with an ex- 

 clamation, and pushing by him I saw the bear lying a few 

 yards away, curled up on his side with his paws over his 

 nose. The Indian did not seem inclined to approach him, 

 so holding my gun in readiness, I stepped up behind the 

 brute and gave his back a push with my foot. What sounded 

 very much like a snarl of rage was emitted from his throat, 

 but it was really only the air escaping from his throat and 

 wouuds, as I pressed my foot on him. He was quite dead, 

 the ball having pierced the white spat and torn his lungs to 

 pieces. 



With some trouble we lugged him out to the river bank, 

 and dropped him oil' into the canoe ; aud soon after, as we 

 could sec nothing of any goats, we turned down stream and 

 hurried merrily along by the dancing waters, took our way 

 toward the steamer. 



It was very exhilarating to fly down the rapids, dashing by 

 the bank at almost railroad speed, giving now and then a 

 stroke of the paddle to keep the canoe straight or occasionally 

 to turn her when a threatening rock appeared under her bow, 

 and seeing the rapids, that had been surmounted with so 

 much difficulty, disappear behind us almost as soon as they 

 were reached. It took us but a short time to run down to 

 the mouth of the river, and we were soon alongside the 

 steamer. We found steam up and everything in readiness 

 for a start, and received the cordial congratulations of the 

 whole company on the unexpected success of our short ex- 

 cursion. 



As we were about to start, attention was called, by the In- 

 dian to two very minute white specks high up toward the 

 top of the mountain on the west side of the Arm. Glasses 

 were at once in requisition, and after watching the objects 

 for some time it appeared quite certain that the objects were 

 goats. Although ^they were so far distant that no motion 

 could be detected in them, it was apparant that they gradu- 

 ally changed their position, both with regard to each other 

 and to surrounding objects. They were too far off, however, 

 and the day was too far spent, to allow us to think of pursu- 

 ing them. 



Our sail down the inlet was no less beautiful than that of 

 the morning. The shadows of the trees and of the moun- 

 tains were so different from those we had seen earlier in the 

 day, that the effect of certain portions of the scenery was 

 wholly changed, On our way we saw on a little grassy point 

 a bear feeding at the water's edge, but before we came within 

 range he had taken the alarm, aud a shot from one of the 

 party, fired at a distance of four or five hundred yards, had 

 only the effect of making him take a long look at us and then 

 trot off into the brush. 



Seammux told us, on the way down, a rather interesting 



