Nowbmbkk 24, 1881.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



329 



STRATEGY VS. STRENGTH. 



THE sand-hornet is tbe greatest villain that flies on insect 

 WibgS, and lie is built for a professional murdett r. 

 He carries two keen cimtters besides a deadly poisoned 

 poniard, and is armed throughout With an invulnerable C ial 

 Of mail. He has things all his own way ; he lives a life of 

 tyranny and feeds on blood. There tee few birds— none that 

 1 know of — that care to swallow such a red-hot morsel. It 

 is said that not even the huteher-hird hankers after lorn. 

 Tne toad will not touch him, seeming to know by instinct 

 what sort of chain lightning he oontatas. Among insects 

 this hi met is the harpy eagle, and nearly all of them are at 

 Hs mercy. Even the cicada, or drumming harvest- ily, an 

 Insect often larger and heavier than himself, is his very 

 Common victim. Considering these characteristics, it was 

 of especial interest to witness'such an incident as i have here 

 picured, where one of these huge tyrants -was actually cap- 

 tured and overpowered by the strategy of three black auts. 

 (J Jl bad left the meadow, and was ascending a spur of the 

 mountain by the edge of a pine wood, when suddenly I es- 

 pied the hornet in question almost at my feet. He im- 

 mediately took to wing, and as he flew on ahead of me I 

 Observed a long pendent object dangling from his body. 

 The incumbrance proved loo treat an obstacle for continuous 

 flight, aud he soon dropped again upon the path, a rod or so 

 in advance of me. J overtook him, and on a close imp: c- 

 tion discovered a plucky black ant clutching lightly with its 

 teeth u| on the hind-foot of its captive, w'hilevvith its two 

 biDd-legB it bu»g desperately to a long cluster of pine 

 nei dies which it carried as a dead -weight. iNo sooner did 

 the hornet touch ihe ground than the ant began to lug aud 

 yell for help. There were certainly evidences to warrant 

 such a belief , for a second ant imuiediaely appeared upon 

 the scene, emerging hurriedly from a neighboring thicket of 

 pine-tree moss. He was too late, however, for the hornet 

 again sought escape in flight. But- this attempt was even 

 more futile than the former, for that plucky little assailant 

 had now laid ho'd of an another impediment, and this time 

 not only the lomr pine needles, but a small branched slick 

 also, went swinging through the air. Only a yard or so was 

 covered in this flight ; and as the ant still yelled for re-en- 

 forcementf, its companion again appeared, and rushed upon 

 the commi n foe with such furious zeal that 1 felt like pat- 

 ting him on the back. The whole significance of the scene 

 he had taken in at a t lance, and in an instant he had taken a 

 vise-like grip upon the other hind-leg. Now came the final 

 tug of war. The hornet tried to rise, but this second pas- 

 senger was too much for him ; he could only buzz along the 

 ground, dragging his loadafier him, while Ids new assailant 

 clutched desperately at everything within its reach, now a 

 dried leaf, now a liny stone, aud even overturning an acom- 

 cup in its grasp. Finally, a srnall rough stick the size of a 

 Batch »»s secured, and this proved the "last straw." In 

 vain were ihe struggles of escape. The hornet could do no 

 more than lift his body from the ground. He rolled, and 

 kick<d and tumbled, but to no purpose, except to make il 

 very lively for his captors: and" tbe thiusts of that lively 

 dagger were wasted on the desert air, for whether or not 

 those ants knew its searching propensities, they certainly 

 managed to keep clear of ibis busy extremity. 



How long this pell-mell battle would have lasted I know 

 not, for a ihiid ant now appeared, and it was astonishing lo 

 see him ; with every movement of the hornet, he in turn 

 would lay hold of a third stick, and at (he same time clulch 

 upon those pine needles lo acid their impediment to the 

 buiden of his own body. 



Practically the ants had won the victory, but what they 

 intended to do with the floundering elephant, in their hands 

 seemed a problem. But it was to them only ;t question ef 

 patience. They had now pinned their victim securely, aud 

 held him to await assistance. It came. The entire neighbor- 

 hood hud been apprised of the battle, and in les3 than five 

 minutes tie grouud swarmed with an army of re-enforce- 

 ments. They came from all direclions ; they pitched upon 

 that hornet with terrible ferocity, and his complete destruc- 

 tion was now only a question of moments. — Willis m Ham- 

 ilton Gibson, in Harper's Magazine for December. 



Grotjbk Swallowing Snakes. — Some two weeks ago 

 while camped on ihe Nicatonas stream, a half mile from the. 

 Junction with the Passidumkeag, in the State of Maine, 1 

 took from the intestines of a ruffed grouse, while dressing a 

 a pair of these birds for the roa-ting pan, a striped adder 

 seventeen inches in length. The snake was whole and 

 perfect, except ils head which had entered the gizzard. 1 

 should have preserved the snake and gizzard had I had any 

 means at baud of doing so. Is it a common occurrence for 

 grouse to make use of such food when it happens to come in 

 their way. 1 have dressed hundreds of grouse and this is the 

 first instance of tho kind I ever saw or heard of. These 

 splendid game birds in the State of Maine feed almost entirely 

 on beech-nuts this fall, at least this is the case in the 

 Passedumkeag region where we have been on a three-week's 

 trip. The hard-wood forests consist largely of birch and 

 beech, and the bountiful crop of nuts of the lalter having 

 fallen to the ground from the action of ihe heavy frests upon 

 the burrs, gives the grouse a rich fiast until freezing weather 

 arrives, which will cut off this food supply eniirely. Nearly 

 every grouse dressed dining our trip had fed on these nuts 

 exclusively, no olher food having been found in the crop. 

 Grouse arc very scarce here ihis season, u e found only 

 single birds, two being the largest number found together 

 with the exception of a tingle instance. We learned from 

 the settlers that the chicks were nearly all killed by the cold 

 rain storms in Ihe early summer.— 11. L. M. 



Lynn, Nov. 5, 1881. 



TmiiTY Quail is Thirty Days.— Memphis, Tenn., Nov. 

 1881 — Editor Forest aint HLrcwiu : 1 have often heard il 

 doubted if any one could eat thirty quail in thirty consec- 

 utive days, but my doubts on that point have betn dis- 

 pelled, a lady in my house having UEed thirty-four in thlriy- 

 i'.jur rj&3 s — a convalescent. They were difb rently and eiainti- 

 ly prepared aud she did not know they Wi re to be served, and 

 ofien ihey were for various meals. I think the idea of kac- 

 i/iff lo eat them, Willy mliy, is the reason of failure, Many 

 boarders would like the experiment. 



Speaking of Bob Whites 1 had a unique incident some 

 seasons ago while shooting wilb Judge S. P. W-, on thcQueui- 

 Kfil estate. Knowing 1 would the a salule at every other 

 bird, alu mating with him, he wagered me a fine chapeau my 

 score would exceed twenty-five buds by night. Our game 

 carrier reported at dark I had won, as- twenty-four was my 

 "hetid," but near our wagon in the field Countess pointed ; 

 we fired in opposite directions both barrels in the twilight, 

 and her whisking in with a brace for u-e cost me a new hai. 

 Couldn't stand ihe temptation, Gnoo, 



(§<w(e j§dg and %nn. 



THE GAME OF MINERAL MOLKTAIX. 



Tl/pHERAIj MOUNTAIN is in the southwestern part of 

 -"J. Ihe ureal fanning Stale of Missouri ; the country in- 

 clude'! in the following description comprises the counties of 

 Washington and Crawford. The mountains here con n 

 exhaustible stores of lead ore, while the surface of toegtound 

 is covered by nutritious grasses, with abundance of mast, 

 and a grazing range unbounded for hundreds Of miles. The 

 valleys teem with fertility, and the farms here are produc- 

 tive. The hills produce a fine growth of timber, consisting 

 of white and black oak, post oak, shellbark-hickory, black 

 hickory, honey-locust, white and sugar maple, white aud 

 black walnut, elm, baekberry, cherry and excellent pine for 

 building purposes and the manufacture of the finer kinds of 

 furniture. Beneath ihe surface of these hills, below the 

 limestone rock, is deposited a rich store of galena and lead 

 ores. 



The numberless chains of gently swelling mountains, which 

 encompass the valleys on each side, are in most parts check- 

 ered With cornfields, meadows and green {pastures, abound- 

 ing with cattle and sheep The valleys for the most part are 

 of a rich, loomy soil, producing the finest growth of corn, 

 wheat, flax, hay, oats and tOQHCCP. The lalter can be grown 

 as profitably as in either Kentucky or Virginia, and equal in 

 quality, producing the price of Sf'per pound. One acie pro- 

 duces l,O0u pounds of eh'ice growth, so that ten acres, with 

 proper attention, will annually realize ftlO.OOO. 



For stock this country cannot be surpassed. The great 

 mast yearly takes the place of corn in early fall, for fatten- 

 ing all kinds of stock, while the produce of the valleys- 

 corn and hay— need not be used until December. The graz- 

 ing throughout Ihis endless timbered region affords nutriment 

 tor all stock, on which they fatten. This food is abundant 

 from April until December, aud thousands i f sheep will sub- 

 sist all winter on brush, etc., just as do the deer, which 

 abound numerously in every section of hill and dale. 



There is great profit in stock raising in this country. 

 Throughout this region good milch cows are bought for from 

 $16 to $20 i-ach; yearling steers for from 85 to $G each; 

 two-yeax old steers, $8 to $10; eheep, $L7o to S3, being of 

 tbe very best breeds for mutton and wool, the latter annual- 

 ly producing the cost price of the sheep. 



Dressed b.ef of tie finest quality is sold for from 6 cents 

 to 7 cents per pound ; lhat is when a tanner kills a beast too 

 large for his own family use ; but in seasonable weather 

 beeves are weekly' slaughtered and sold as above. 



Now, take the prices "al St. Louis, a distance of sixty-one 

 miles from Poiosi, via the Iron Mountain R. R., by which 

 stock can be shipped, or oihewise driven on a good country 

 road, with good pasture all the way. The St. Louis prices 

 are for good milch cows from $60 to $80 each: steers, three 

 year old, 1000 lbs. gross, $60, and so in proportion to their 

 age and size ; fal sheep from $0 to $6 each; dressed sheep 

 from fifteen cents to eighteen cents per p mnd. This shows 

 tbe great profit in raising stock in this great range of country, 

 audits facilmes to the best market in a couple "of days. In 

 addition to this, rich mineral deposits of lead are deposited 

 in the Mini ral Mountain, when can be prospected and 

 worked in conjunction with farming. In a year or two the 

 poor toiling farmer of the Eist here attains independence, 

 with peace and plenty around his cottage, and the beauties 

 of nature for his surrounding, in a climate unsurpassed for 

 health and loveliness. Mineral wafers eushing spontaneously 

 from never-failing springs in very direction, empty them- 

 selves in the various creeks, as pure as crystal, whose clear, 

 sparkling waters abound in fish, comprising buffalo, bass, 

 trout, perch, etc., with abundance of game, as deer, wild 

 turkey, grouse, squirrels, wild pigeons, quail, etc., in sur- 

 prising quantities, affording in the seasons "dainties of 

 brook, of earth and air," for the table; and to the lover of 

 dog and gun pleasures exhilarating, healthful and roinaotie. 



The Mineral Mountain and its surroundings presents a 

 scenery of magnificent beauty. On the weft Side' of the 

 mountain is a meadow of some len acres, gemly undulating, 

 at the top of which stands a good log cabin, with outbuild- 

 ings. This may be used as a sportsmen's lodge, while it 

 commands wild mountainous and woodland scenery for 

 miles in extent, and hills o'crlopping hills in their stately 

 grandeur. Storms in these mountains, and immense forest's 

 which covtr them, impart to the echoes a character of wild 

 grandeur ns the wind howls through the gnarled branches of 

 the , old oak and dies away on the mountain tops, with i' s 

 distant, plaintiff sound. The king of the forest, the oak, 

 here stands forth conspicuously in all his rnajesty r , with his 

 fifty arms so strong, 



The brave old oalc, 

 That h.ilh ruled tu the greenwood ton?, 

 Ann still nourish lie, a bale green tree, 

 When a hundred years, aie gone. 



Below are the valleys, relieved by rich pasture and corn 

 lands, while the sublimity of mountains aud forests fills the 

 contemplative mind with awe and reverence. In spring time 

 all is changed to serene loveliness. The clear, sparkling- 

 waters of pure, limpid springs, tbe murmuring rill, and dis- 

 tant gushing sound of the cascade, impart a thrill of music 

 which l dds its charms to the. lover of nature ; woile the var- 

 iety of wild roses, the sweet briar, the honey-suckles Of var- 

 ious kinds, Ihe wild grape U SSOtn, (he fragr nee of the 

 morning, aud the rosy tints of the sun, give a new poetry to 

 these fair productions of ihe eanh, as the dew hung in pearls 

 of crys'al on all Ihe branches. 



This country is. llie best game region of all the places 

 hitherto visited by the writer, during some thirty years of 

 handling the double gun and bagging game right aud left, in 

 various parts of England, Scotland and America, the half of 

 which (fifteen years each) having shot in the two hemis- 

 pheres, and on the great prairies of Illinois having made 

 some large bags among the pinnated groijBe and quail. It 

 nM be difficult to imagine liner sport than lhat afforded i" 

 the mountains and foresrglms, which abound in deer, wild 

 turkey, ruffed.- grouse, squirrel, wild pigeon. The valley.- ate 

 alive with large bevies of quail, which may I e fully ac- 

 counted for by the fact that they are not bunted, foryoumay 

 travel fifty miles and not see a shot-gun -merely the ten or 

 fifteen dollar rifle, carrying one. hundred and sixty or two 

 hundred balls to the pound; while the setter and pointer is 

 altogether unheard of. 



As 1 nave frequently made my double tell at squirrels 

 Mi „ i il. ndslde fence, or 

 in' they rise, my gun and self are 



looked upon with indescribable surprise "shooting on the 



wing." As dexterous, however, as the living shot may he, 

 these mountaineer are. equally good with their heavy rifles, 

 for they seldom fail of "plugging He squirrel in the eye." 



It is a common and every day oeeurrenre as one rides 

 through ihe hills, to see the deer »n the hillside, valleys and 

 gl ns, while in every few miles 'hey c i as and re-ems your 

 path n thi com s rands th ougb the f reai»— and as these 

 mountains extend" for hundreds ol Itty crowu with 



heavy timber, the number of deer is immeiee. During the 

 war, however, 'he inhabitants bad no rifles or guns to disturb 



them; E H nd her were allowed to be kept by either farmers 

 or miners, consequently ihe deer increased. Beyond doubt 

 this is the finest hunting ground for deer in the United 

 States, at least that, portion of the land inhabited by the 

 white man. 



The wild turkey, this noble bird, the king of all feathered 

 game, is as plentiful herein proportion, as is the prairie 

 grouse in Illinois. The woods abound with their broods un- 

 til the leaves begin to fall, when they pack, or ga'her in 

 large "gangs" (so called here) of sometimes one" and two 

 hundred. They arc easily approached, and shot boih from 

 horseback and on foot "When the trees are leafleBs, and 

 winter approaches, they appear in ihe valleys ami fn qnently 

 may be seen flying across a valley from ridge to ridge to 

 their roosting-p'lace ; the outline of lb-m is discernible on a 

 Hear, moonligntnight against the horizon at a great, distance. 

 Here they attain a large growth, having such a feeding 

 rar«e white young. Tue dewberry, strawberry, huckle- 

 berry, blackberry, etc., which grow pro'usely, serve as food 

 in the early season, and when grown this mighty region of 

 mast fattens and fully develops them for the sportsman's gun 

 and table. 



The ruffed grouse (pheasant frequently termed,) abound in 

 plentiful numbers; on the hillsides and "the bottoms you can 

 seldom go far without springing them, and most excellent 

 sport for the dog and gun can be here enjoyed. In the 

 I' Qg time the. woods sound both far and near with their 

 drumming. This bird is probably the most gamy bird of 

 America, having more of the epicurean flavor resembling the 

 red grouse of Scotland : the flesh, however, is as white as 

 that of the. quail. 



Squirrels to the farmers in this region arc most destructive. 

 The gray and fox squirrel abound in thousands in many in- 

 stances when the crop of mast fails, they destroy whole fields 

 of corn, and farmers employ boys, finding I hem rifle and 

 ammunition and one cent per scalp for all killed around 

 their fields. 



A farmer told me that lust, spring during corn-planting 

 lime, squirrels were to be seen, from fifty to a hundred at, a 



time, on the fences and around the field, scratching up the 



ucwly-plai led grains of corn. As many a-, twenty have 

 been treed and killed on one tree; this elm stood alone at 

 one end of the field. The farmers lose fully a fourth of all 

 the corn grown annually, by the squirrels, and a good shot 

 on a squirrel hunt may easily kill in one d iv from ri fly to a 

 hundred. They also grow very large. There are a. few 

 blank ones to be seen in the fall, "but ihe.se only occasionally. 



Wild pigeons are mostly birds of passage, although they 

 have their pigeon-roosts sometimes in the mountains, where 

 thousands can beslaughtersd, and many are killed by. clubs 

 alone. The wild pigeons aunnally appear in I he fall about 

 the beginning of October and continue through the winter 

 and spring; they fly in large! ■ • I ugh all 



parts of the mountains, flarti g through the air wiih immense 

 velocity Frequentlj from twe ty tptbirty may bebmught 

 down by the double ihot; lie.: ■!'■■ ' ' lulu in nets in 

 large numbers. 



Quail abound chiefly in the valleys, being the more do- 

 mtst cited game bird ; they are seldom shot at, and as before 

 remarked, aie never hunted by dog aud gun, therefore, in the 

 corn fields and meadows skirted with the hazel bush are very 

 plentiful. The sportsmen with his pointers or setters and 

 double gun can enjoy a day's shooting, vary ing bis sport to 

 that in the mountains. 



Rabbits are seldom seen, in fact I have only seen one rab- 

 bit during three mom lis in the mountains and valleys; this, 

 however, is accounted for through the number of f'xesaod 

 wolves. The fox is here hunted by do^s alone, as it should 

 be, and some frequeut good runs occur, Reyn-ird being 

 generally brought to grief by a pack of half a dozen or so of 

 UOOd hounds. The wolf, both bl :Ck and gray species, are 

 "plugged" by the rifle at ad chances, ""as ihey prove 

 destructive to sheep, of which every farmer keeps 

 some, the wool affording Consumption for the spin- 

 ning-wheel, which is seen at. every house, through hill 

 and dale. When a wolf bunt, is decided ou, in any vicinity, the 

 hunters join in, and take their stands in various parts of the 

 hills most likely to he visited by the wolf when hard run ; 

 Ihe hounds are well trained to their spurt and work well at 

 the trail. Deer here are seldom hunted by dogs, being sO 

 plen'iful that, any hunter wanting a den will -park" his 

 rifle, and return in an hair or less" with a fine buck, wilh the 

 ball planted in the exact, mark behind the shoulder — to me, 

 however, still-hunting has not the pure charms lhat iB 

 afforded by the full cry of the dogs, while each hunter is 

 posted near some branch or range the deer is sure to take, 

 then with tbe double gun lay him m bis tacks while on the 

 bound. Others are abundant in the creeks, particularly in 

 the cotojs, which runs at the foot Of Mineral Mountain, the 

 water running deeper in this creek than in many others. 

 Otters here ai lain a larger growth, their skins are reruarkibry 

 fine and valuable, anil in my Opinion decidedly the richest 

 fur made up, of eft] it) art in. Miuksjalsoare 



very abundant add of a dark rich color. 'Coons; 



are too numerous to be considered valuable, although the 

 ooon skin in quantities would Wt il repay the rapper; but 

 they do not t dee the Iroub'e to catch ibeia. So abundant 

 are 'he coons that as many as fourteen were taken one even- 

 ing from off one tree, in a 'coon hunt. 



1 have given the sportsman hut a faint idea of actual reali- 

 zations to be made in these primeval > i re sti bill well 

 knowing th d. such pleasures aiv appreciated ten-fold when 

 tully enjoyed wilh tint keen mountain air and delicious 

 springs at the hunter's rump, wliere the sportsman ran recite 



, , ,i ' I. p mi, ',i , i ,,•■■.•■ | C-lOltd rises 



and vanishes, and the tang of the hunter reBdimdB through 



hill and dale; 



A tire on thee in a nir iii'itree, 



, ,, 

 i , , i — its ball, 



but the bone- i , i i i ., 



W. ETn". 



Lo;>o. 1m,!miFjoi,is. — It is repot- m-rsin 



county have com hi ed to suppress indiscriminate 



bunting ever tu ir lands. They will ask the Legislature to 



put a stop to the slaving rjf chicken- b$ UOteK ', aud to 

 check the ■ | -Hxe. 



