324 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Novxmbkb 24 1881 



" A Dec, ts PERSONAL Pi:i>1'ki:ty .— A judgment lias been 

 recently rendered in the Nat? Fork Court of Appeals, which 

 is of interest to owners of valuable dogs in ibis State, since 

 it establishes the principle that a dog comes within the defi- 

 nition of "personal property." in the Revised Statutes, and 

 may be mage subject of larceny. The. ease, as we find it 

 briefly reported in the "New York Weekly Digest," of Nov. 

 11, was thai, of Mullal.y, plain! If in «W, vs. The People, 

 defendant* in rrr.,r : decided Oct. U, 18B1. The plaintiff in 

 error was indicted for grand larceny for stealing a dog of the 

 value of $90, and was convicted of petit larceny, the value 

 of the dog being admitted to bo only $25. His counsel 

 claimed that stealing a dog is not larceny. Wm. F. Kintz- 

 ing, for plaintiff in error. Daniel &,. Rollins, District Attor- 

 ney, for defendants in error. " Jit Id, That while at common 

 law the crime of larceny could not be committed by feloni- 

 ously taking and carrying away a dog, this nile has been 

 changed by ihe Revised Statutes. 2JI. B., 690, §1; id., 

 -703, § S3 ; 1 Park. 0. P.. 593; 4 id., 380 ; 10 Abb. K. S., 

 132. The definition of • personal property ' in section 38 of 

 2 Revised Statutes 703, as used in that; chapter, as 'goods, 

 chattels, effects, evidences of rights of action,' and certain 

 written instruments, is comprehensive enough to include 

 dogs, it is to be taken literally, and the law makers intended 

 to make it the crime of lareeuy to steal any chattel which 

 had value and was recognized by the law as property. A 

 system for the taxation of dogs having been at the same 

 time enacted, 1 P. S., 704, it can scarcely he supposed the 

 legislature meant to reg-rd dogs as property for the purposes 

 of taxation and yet leave them without protection from 

 thieves. The definition of personal property found in the 

 statute is not to be ret'err. d to lire common law, but to the 

 common understanding at the time when the statute was en- 

 acted. Judgment of General Term, affirming judgment of 

 conviction, affirmed. Opinion by E,i.H, J. All concur, ex- 

 cept Folger, Oh. J-, dissenting." 



BYE-WAYS OF THE NORTHWEST. 



EIGHTH 1\U'BK. 



THE usual full day's paddling against both wind and 

 tide brought us to our camp at Struggle Cove about 

 four o'clock. The country here looked better for hunting 

 than any 1 had yet seen. The woods were open, the ground 

 carpeted, and the trees draped with a luxuriant growth of 

 bright green moss, on which ihe foot fell as noiselessly as 

 upon a cushion. Higher up on Ihe mountain side there was 

 the usual tangled growth of underbrush, but the little valley 

 that skirted its base was comparatively open. With ihe Ad- 

 miral as a companion I started out lo look for deer. We 

 took several fresh tracks, all of which, however, led sooner 

 or laterinto the ihic.k brush, where it seemed useless lo follow 

 them. The last one that we took kept up the valley, and, as 

 it had been made but a short time before-, I had strong hopes 

 that we Bhonld see the deer. We followed it. very curefully, 

 and it grew more and more fresh, when, just as we were 

 about entering a low gtowth of hemlocks, where I confidently 

 expected to see the game, my companion, who was behind 

 me, caught his foot in a root and fell with a Pud crush into 

 a pile of dry sticks. As he did so I heard a deer jump not 

 fifty yards away, and bound oil up the mountain side. I 

 turned and looked at the nautical hero with sad, reproachful 

 eyes, but did not dare lo l rust myself to speak, He, all un- 

 conscious of the mischief he hid if me, after disentangling 

 himself from ihe brandies among which he bad fallen, 

 seemed prepared to advance. Put 1 had no spirit left for 

 hunting, and, as it was m arly dusk, dejectedly led the way 

 toward camp. 



'Ihe next day was noteworthy, because during a part of it 

 we had a fair wind. We le.d paddled to the end of the west- 

 ernmost, of the Thurlow Islands, and on reaching that point 

 a fair wind sprang up, and sve made ; ail, ran through a part of 

 Cardero Channel, and up Loughborough Inlet to its head, 

 camping late in the afternoon in Fraser Pay. The scenery 

 was very beautiful, though not so bold as I had expected. 

 Most of the mountains were rounded or dome-shaped, and 

 timbered to their summits, though here and there would 

 be seen one which ran up lo a sharp granite peak and was 

 covered with snow. We saw none, however, that seemed per- 

 manently snow covered ; that is, none which might not be 

 expected to be bare before the summer was over. The hills 

 are from 1,200 to 5. 000 feet in height, and stand well back 

 from the shore, being thus much less imposing thaa if we 

 could look directly up to them. Like all those which we 

 have yet seen on the mainland, they are Of white granite, often 

 intersected by dykes of basalt, and often spotted and mottled 

 with fragments of darker rock. The rock, thus included in 

 the granite, is perhaps taken up by a molten granite vein, 

 which in its ejection has crushed ihe sir ila through which it 

 passed, and has carried With it fragments which, on the cool- 

 ing andhardeniug of the granite, have become incorporated 

 with it. Instances of this kind, are not very uncommon, but 

 they a>e rarely seen on so 1 fgc .-■ scale as among these 

 mountain- Some of the rock slopes on these hills are so 

 steep as to h . [i ban ol regelation, but in most cases the 

 ascent is much mm* gentle, and Ihe Douglas fir, cedar and 

 spruce clothe the hijlsides almost to their summits. We had 

 some difficulty i Btasfaotory camp in Fraser Iky. 



We did not wish to spend the night on the meadow at the 

 river's mouth as tin; chances were that the mosquitoes would 

 be too abundant there for comfort, so we decided to camp on 



a little flat, barely above high-water mark. Indeed, as 1 

 looked it over before deciding to make camp on it, I saw a 

 few fragments of seaweed on the grass and shingle, but they 

 were old and dry, and the fresh meadow grass growing on 

 the Ant assured me that it was seldom covered hy the tide. 

 Camp made and supper over, the Sergeant with both the Si- 

 washes started off to look for game. Not very long after 

 their departure, I observed that the water was rising higher 

 than I had expected, and as 1 watched it creep up, it became 

 apparent that we should have to move if it rose four inches 

 more. It advanced quite rapidly, and, at last, I was obliged 

 to shout to all hands to help save our equipage from the 

 water. It took but a few minutes to roll up the bedding and 

 carry it to higher ground, the mess outfit was piled on the 

 drift-logs, and the fly hastily torn down. In half an hour we 

 were all snug again in the woods, and our former camp was 

 six inches under water. 



The next day we started down the Inlet following the op- 

 posite shore. Part way down we came upon two deer 

 standing on the rocks— a buck and a doe — paddled up to 

 within 150 yards of them, and might have got much 

 nearer had not one of the parly through a misunderstand- 

 ing fired a shot at them. This was the signal for a 

 general fusillade, in which both animals were hit, but 

 neither was recovered. It is too apt to he the case that, 

 when half a dozen men are firing at one object, it escapes. 

 There is always a little excitement, each man is anxious to 

 "get his work in," and is a little afraid that some one else 

 will kill the game before he does. The hurry and con- 

 fusion throws every one a little off his balance, 

 and ibe result is poor shooting. At the mouth of the Inlet 

 and between that point aud the entrance to Phillips Arm, 

 there is a very strong tide. We had a fine sailing breeze 

 with us, and besides worked hard at the paddles, yet were 

 barely able to stem it. The appearance of the current 

 rushing through these narrow channels is very curious. We 

 are accustomed, in looking at any considerable sheet of 

 water, to assume that it is horizontal, since to the eye 

 its suiface appears approximately a plane. But, by 

 taking a position somewhat above the hurrying flood 

 of ono of these passages, ihrough which the tides ebb 

 and flow with such tremendous force, it is seen that in the 

 direction from which it comes the water is much higher than 

 in that toward which it is flowing. We had no appliance for 

 measuring the difference in level, but in some cases it seemed 

 as if it must be several feet. The effect is very odd and un- 

 like anything that I have ever seen elsewhere. Just before 

 reaching Phillips Arm the wind fell, and we landed and 

 tracked the canoe around the last point into the quiet water 

 beyond it. After dinner we resumed the paddles, not 

 camping until after dark. To find a level spot on which to 

 spread one's blankets is not, in this country, always easy, 

 and when the search is continued after dark it becomes 

 difficult. We were lucky enough to find a place near the 

 mouth of a little creek where the ground was moderately 

 smooth, and by the light of a fire, and with the axe and 

 hatchet plied by willing and energetic hands, brush, stumps, 

 and rocks were cleared away, and holes filled up, so that we 

 passed a comfortable night. In fact, as the Sergeant re- 

 mark, "Anything better than that would have been scan- 

 dalous." 



From the mouth of Phillips Arm to Amor Point on Bute 

 Inlet is twenty-two miles. We started on through Cardero 

 Channel in the morning with a gentle breeze, which encour- 

 aged us to drop the paddles and trust to the sail. But the 

 wind was not steady, aed sometimes failed us altogether. 

 There was a good deal of feeble, desultory paddling and some 

 sailing, and our progress was not rapid. The day was the 

 most exciting we had passed up to this time, for we ran two 

 rapids, which were as swift as anything we had yet seen. 

 The shortest of the two was very narrow, less than a hun- 

 dred yards wdde, and the water was white for its whole 

 length. The canoe darted through the channel at snch a 

 pace that it seemed impossible for one to work fast enough 

 to feel the water with his paddle. We could do nothing 

 more than keep the craft straight and trust to luck. We had 

 scarcely time to think about the passage before it was over, 

 for I think no express train evir flew along faster than our 

 canoe, and the channel was not more than half a mile in 

 length. In the still water and in the eddies at the end of the 

 rapids, we saw a great number of fine trout from ten to 

 fourteen inches long h'ing close to the bottom, perfectly mo- 

 tionless except when the shadow of the canoe fell upon 

 them. Then they would move slowly away from it into the 

 sunlight. ThreadiDg our way along among the many islands 

 of the channel, we passed a point where there had been a 

 fishery for dogfish, and, turning north, entered the passage 

 between the mainland and Stuart Island. The shore here 

 wai strewn with the carcasses of dogfish captured by the 

 Indians, and the trees were in some places almost black with 

 the ravens and crows, which had collected here to feed on 

 the odoriferous re:iqvM. So fame were the birds that tlioy 

 declined to move when we passed by them within a few 

 yards, and the Admiral, a second Ancient Mariner, drew his 

 trusty rifle from its case, and shot one of the respectable 

 black birds. 1 might curry out the parallel to its legitimate 

 end aud show yen how by this thoughtless ar.d ill advised 

 act misery and sorrow, in the shape of rainy weather, were 

 brought upon our whole compmy for the remainder of Ihe 

 trip, but were I to do so I should perhaps add to the suffer- 

 ings of our comrade, who has already been sufficiently pun- 

 ished for his hasty deed by the stings of conscience. 



Just before we came to the rapids we stopped at a Siwash 

 village, where nearly a hundred years ago Vancouver passed 

 a winter. The village is at the head of a deep bay, into^ 

 which flowed a beautiful stream of clear, cold water. A 

 method of Ashing which I had never before seen was prac-fl 

 ticed here-. A long, stout line, about the size of a clothes-line 

 was anchored on the beach at one side of the bay, and sup- 

 ported at intervals of fifty yards hy log floats, ran across to 

 the other, at an average depth of from three to six feet be- ' 

 neath the water's surface. At intervals of twenty feet along 

 the main line were tied smaller lines about six feet in length, 

 each of which carried a baited hook. As the line inclosed 

 nearly Ihe whole bay, no fish could enter or leave it without 

 passing close by some one of the hooks. 



On Stuart Island is a very noticeable though not very high 

 mountain, the northeastern face of which is almost vertical, 

 and on looking at the island from this direction, it appears as 

 if a high wall were built entirely across it. We ran Arran 

 Rapids at high water, and meeting the ebb near the end we 

 had a hard struggle. At one time I thought that our efforts 

 would prove unavailing to carry us through, for the canoe 

 was going backward pretty fast, and all hands were working 

 about as hard as they could. This was evidently the opinion 

 of Hamset, our big Siwash, as well. He was doing splendid 

 work in the bow, but at last he turned to us and shouted to 

 make for the shore, and at the same time reaching down, he 

 caught up a camp kettle, which he said we must give to the 

 water or else we would all be drowned. Happily for our 

 kitchen, a few strokes carried us to an eddy which drew us 

 into the shore, along which we managed to creep until we 

 reached the more quiet water at the mouth of Bute Inlet 

 Just after leaving the rapids we came upon a camp of a few 

 families of Siwashes, belonging to the Homalko tribe, whose 

 main village is at the head of Bute Inlet. They had some 

 fresh porpoise meat, a few herrings and one twenty-five 

 pound salmon, which we purchased for fifty cents. They 

 told us that th e whole tribe was absent from the village fish- 

 ing, but described its location, as well as that of some of the 

 glaciers, to one of which they said a trail led from the vil- 

 lage. Passing on we entered the Inlet, and by hard paddling 

 managed to reach Amor Point just before sundown. 



An early start and a fair wind carried us the next day to a 

 point on the Homalko River about two miles above its mouth, 

 and we camped at the deserted Siwash village under the 

 shadow of Mt. Evans, and within hearing of the roaring tor- 

 rent, which thunders down its steep and rocky slope. Of 

 the wonderful beauties of the day's sail I can give no ade- 

 quate description. The ever-changing features of the scene 

 each moment presented fresh attractions, and held us spell- 

 bound and amazed as we viewed the marvellous glories of 

 Bute Inlet. 



The mountains are surpassingly beautiful. On either side 

 of the Inlet they rise at once from the water's edge. There 

 are no foothills to render the slope more gradual anl thus 

 dwarf the main peaks and make them seem less high. There 

 they stand directly above you. Scarcely anywhere in the 

 world can just this state of things be found. Usually, a 

 mountain, whether it be high or low, is surrounded by others 

 rising to a considerable elevation, from one of which it must 

 be viewed. The height of the point where the beholder 

 stands makes the altitude of the mountain at which he is 

 looking seem less, and it is more or less dwarfed by its sur- 

 roundings. On Bute Inlet, however, we stand on the sea 

 level and look directly up to mountains which rise from 

 5,000 to 8,000 feet above us. All the more gentle slopes me 

 thickly covered with the dark green Douglas firs, among 

 which the paler cedars are conspicuous, and in the little 

 gorges and valleys which run up their sides the brighter foli- 

 age of deciduous shiubs is to be seen. Many of the cliff?, 

 however, rise sheer for one or two thousand feet, and frown 

 down upon us, black and I hreatening, their smooth vertical 

 faces only occasionally relieved by some stunted fir, whose 

 roots have penetrated a crevice of the rock, and which seems 

 to cling painfully to the dark wall. At many points, mount- 

 ain streams fed by the melting of the perpetual snows that lie 

 upon the hills, plunge over these precipices in beautiful water- 

 falls and cascades. Long before the water reaches the rocks 

 below it is broken up into the finest spray, and a white veil 

 of mist waves to and fro before the black rock in fantastic 

 and everchang'mg shapes. Just to the north of Fawn Bluff 

 is the first glacier seen after leaving the mouth of the Inlet, 

 readily distinguished from the pure white snow that sur- 

 rounds it by the sky-blue color of the ice. Every consider- 

 able height on the Inlet is snow covered, and all the higher 

 mountains showed one or more glaciers. Prom one point of 

 view as we sailed up the Inlet, I counted eleven, and from 

 our camp on the river I could see thirteen. Many of 

 these glaciers are of considerable size, and when examined 

 with a good glass they are seen to be extensively crevassed. 

 Mount Superb, one of the grandest mountains on the Inlet, 

 has three glaciers, one of which is very large. Just north 

 of Superb, separated from it by alow saddle, is Mount 

 Helen, 8,040 feet, probably the highest mountain on the 

 the Inlet. Its rounded summit, pure and shining, stands 

 out above all and lovelier than all. The Needle Peaks, a 

 little further north, are not less impressive, though in a 

 'different way. High, thin wedges of granite, three in num- 

 ber, the intervals between them filled with snow and ice, 

 and their cutting edges turned toward the north, and thus 

 toward the water, rise to a height of over 7,000 feet, and 

 terminate in delicate pinnacles, which pierce the sky. 

 Black and weather beaten they stand, monuments of past 



