486 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[JA.NUAET 19, 1882. 



utter f lilure. Occasionally a brigllt arch would shoot across 

 the htavens for u inollli ut, then all would be pitch dark, the 

 air ami Water blended iu one color, inky Muck. The red 

 light of sl passing vessel became suddenly visible within hull- 

 ing distance, and ihe Captain cried out, " Hello I Where's 

 Connerstown ? " " God knows I " came back over the water, 

 and the red light passed away in the darkness. The little 

 dingy behind began beating like a battering-ram on the stern 

 of the Peggy, and the Captain crept back to secure it in a 

 different way, steering the while with Ids ankle pressed 

 against the tiller. Finally ibe wind sealed in a southwest 

 direction, and although it blew a hurricane the little fishing 

 smack stood up to it bravely ; and the crew, gradually be- 

 coming accustomed to the state of affairs, began to feel a 

 sort of pleasure in thus flying along at full speed over an 

 unknown course, aud even essayed to light his pipe in a 

 momentary lull of the storm. Hue the matches were all 

 damp, aud only spluttered without lighting, so be bad to 

 content himself wbh shouting a gay song to the accompani- 

 ment o! the roaring elements, The storm had lasted over 

 an hour, wheu slinight ahead tuere appeared a line of light 

 on the water. " Breakers! " shouted ihe Captain, instantly 

 putting the helm to starboard. But they were not breakers, 

 being instead Use i tiled ion i>p the water of the summer full 

 moon, winch had just shown its face at the ragged edge of 

 the black thunder cloud, ttow the fotce of the storm was 

 neatly tnontj and the clouds were fast passing away; but 

 the triad asserted Eta light to stay awhile longer, and ihe 

 waves still lulled angrily. As the moon shone out witn all 

 its bfillianoy the Ciptain saw, to his astonishment, that the 

 smack was only a short distance from the shore, wben he 

 had ih.ught her to be far out to sea. And did not that 

 booked point Of and and that forest of hackmatacks hiive a 

 sort ol lauuliar look.? It was, it surely was, the bay at the. 

 mouth of Cob Creek — the same place from which he had 

 started ihe afternoon before. As he became aware of this 

 the Captain give a -bout of joy, and running the Peggy into 

 the well-known channel hi i had a safe anchorage, and 



with everything made sHUg. was soon lying comfortably in the 

 little cabin, sipping a hot glass of grog to take the chill off. 



••1 told ye," said ihe old oysterman, when the Captain 

 afterward reined to him the adventure. "I told ye that 

 'eie smack could find her way all alone by herself; an' you 

 needn't teil me she didn'i know what she was doin' when she 

 brought you straight home out o' that gale." Sbkeoa. 



MEMORY IN LIONS. 



DURING the month of September, 1869, whilst residing 

 iu r-ntal, South Africa, I came into possession of a 

 hue pair of lions, about one year old, and as they were exceed- 

 ingly tame and good natured, I had a large cage especially 

 c nstrucied, and was constantly in the habit of going in and 

 romping with them. It was always my custom to go inside the 

 cage and ficd them from hand, and January, the. Kaffir who 

 br ught ihe meat, never failed' to take a stand in front of the 

 den, in order to see ihe last of "JN'kos," whenever the lions 

 should see t to add him, by way of dessert, to their regular 

 diet of Irean beef. He always met me, ou my exit from the 

 rear of the cage, with tt e astonished ejaculation of " Wau!" 

 and 1 never cou d succeed in convincing him but ihat some 

 sort ot sorcery had been exercised. 



In the J ear 1870 1 was smitten with the " diamond fever," 

 whtcn was raging throughout South Africa, and leaving my 

 lions with afriend, with directions to sell them, I started 

 with Jauuary and a Basmo pony, used as a pack animal, on 

 a weary tramp ot 550 miles to the "Fields." Having re- 

 peatedly tiaveled with wagons over the road before, the 

 whole country was well known to me; consequently, 1 was 

 frequently ab e to leave the main road and make short cuts 

 across the countiy. tn so doing we would often pass in the. 

 neighborhood of Kaffir kraals. So sure as one haopened to 

 be seen some little s distance odour path, January would sud- 

 denly remember thai it was the residence of a brother, or 

 some other relative, and would ii"k leave V» pay a passing 

 call. Generally 1 would stop, light my pipe, enjoy a whiff 

 and allosv the pony to graze while the ceremonious visit was 

 being mad.-. Immediately after the arrival of my henchman 

 at the kraal 1 wmjM notice I hat there would be a sudden 

 emptying of all tbellurB, whose inmates would assemble in 

 clusters and view me with all the indications of awe and fear. 

 In ihe meanwhile J .uuaty would harangue the crowd for a 

 short time alio then relurn, reporting how much pleased b » 

 relative had lie a 10 lii,d him traveling in such good com- 

 pany. These vis is finally became so frequent lhat [ began 

 to suspect January eiher of claiming consanguinity back to 



liani, or of llsi g me, for Some purpose best known to him- 

 self, o) advance his own interests. A few nights aft< r my 

 suspicions wire aroused, and January had during the day 

 1 a d several ceremonious visits, 1 was lying rolled up in my 

 blankets wiltn my attention was attracted by his auspicious 

 muvBmenJa n out me expiring tire. Feigning Bleep to tl row 

 htm i ff bis uiatd, i saw him cautiouRly produce from under- 

 neath his on y garment— en extremely dilapidated and ab- 

 breviated WOrUei shirt— several pieces of shrivelled meat, 

 Which he proceeded to grill over the coals. Knowing the 

 pei feci craze- wi i< -h all Kaffirs have for meat, even in a 

 1 utr d Condition, Uere v as but little difficulty in arriving at 

 a soKni..ti . t the vis ting mystery; Springing to my feet I 

 faced i be rricaBti r and made him acknowledge that he bad 

 been eslui iting rue for a sorcerer, clinching his assertions by 

 relating ihe wondafiil things be had seen me do with the 

 lions, and threatening his and ence with dire evil if they did 

 not instantly seek my go d will by seeding as apresent a bit 

 of meio. Fiom that time for waul there were no more rela- 

 tions on our mad ; and whenever I thought January needed 

 n.ed, a bit of biltong (dried antelope meat) was handed him 

 from Ihe small s ore carried in Ihe pony's pack. 



A few mouths af'i r my arrival on the Fields, my friend, 

 in whose care 1 had left ibe lions, came up also, and informed 

 me that they bad been sold to some party, who wished to 

 take them to England. After some two years diamond-dig- 

 ging, 1 sinned overland to Cape Town en route to Australia, 

 who 1st January turned lus lace homewards, in company with 

 seme returning ox teams, instead of N'kos. 



In Octobi r, 1873, I reached Melbourne, and the day after 

 my arrival very uai orally found my way to the Zoological 

 Garden. It was a fine Sunday afternoon, and after wander- 

 ing around ihe grounds for some time, my attention was at- 

 tracted by a crowd of visitors, in front of a large den stand- 

 ing alone under a huge eucalyptus tree. On going up and 

 looking into H, ) saw lhat it contained a pair of Bleeping lions, 

 which, on a closer ins- flection I was sure were my old South 

 African pets. In older to test the matter, I drew back until 

 1 reached the outer edge of the group, and concealing myself 

 behind a alanling .umbrella, held by one cf the visitors, I 



called out to my old friends as I had been accustomed to do 

 before leaving Natal. Both animals instantly sprang up and 

 began rapidly pacing to and fro, anxiously looking out be- 

 tween the bars, as if they were endeavoring to ascertain from 

 whence came Ihe sound. Finally the female reared up and 

 looked for some time over the heads of ihe visitors, but the 

 umbrella screened me, and I gradually worked away unseen 

 for some distance, when I met a keeper, whom I accosted, 

 remarking that the Society were in possession of a pair of fine 

 lions. 



"You may well say that, sir." 

 " How did you get them ?" 

 "I brought them from Soutb Africa." 

 " But how did you get them from South Africa ?" 

 "I went up in the interior and got the natives to catch 

 them in pitfalls for me." 



"My friend, ihe natives of South Africa are rot in the 

 habit of catching linns in pitfalls. Moreover, lam positively 

 certain that tbose lions were once my property." 

 " Beg pardon ! but you must be mistaken."" 

 "Do you really think so ? .Let's go back to the den and I 

 will convince you that I am right. 1 ' 



I instantly began to retrace my steps, with the keeper fol- 

 lowing, and looking very much as if he bad "caught a Tar- 

 tar." On getting up to "the rail in front of the cage, I found 

 that both lions had lain down and were dozing. On calling 

 their names, they again bounded up, and I, in spite of the 

 frantic efforts of the keeper to prevent me, and the terrified 

 ejaculations of the visitors, scrambled over the rail, ran up 

 to the bars, and, no doubt in the eyes of many of the spec- 

 tators, made a great fool of myself'in fondling and caressing 

 my old pets. At length the keeper ventured to approach and 

 say: 



■' Be kind enough not to blow on me, sir?" 

 "I will keep quiet under one condition." 

 "What's that, sir?" 



"That you never attempt, to tell that pitfall story again." 

 "I'm blowed if I do, as I've managed to tumble into the 

 blarsted thing myself." 



By this lime it had been noised around the garden that 

 something unusual was going on at the lion's den, and in a 

 few moments the space in front of it wa? filled with people, 

 all anxious to see the Yankee play with the lions. After 

 satisfying their curiosity I got the veracious keeper to pilot 

 me to the office of Mr. fee Socuf, Secretary of the Society, who 

 kindly informed me that the animals had come direct from 

 Natal, in a vessel laden with sugar, the Captain having pur- 

 chased tbem from the party who originally intended to take 

 them to England. Fbank J. Thompson. 



Zoological Oar dens, Cincinnati. 



MINNESOTA GAME RESORTS. 



THE first poin*; is Sauk Centre, a quiet little town of 

 about fifteen hundred inhabitants. It is 117 miles 

 from St. Paul, on the line of the St. Paul, Minneapolis and 

 Manitoba Railroad. This town lies at the foot of Sauk Lake, 

 from which it derives its name, and is in the very heart of a 

 splendid prairie-chicken country. Sauk Lake abounds in 

 game fish of a superior quality, is nine milts long, and its 

 shady banks afford fine shelter for the angler. There are 

 some five sail boats on the lake, notably one owned by E. J. 

 Harrison, who is a true lover of the rod and gun. One can 

 find plenty of sport on this nice little sheet of water — fishing, 

 ducking (in the fall large numbers of ducks congregatehere), 

 yechting, bathing and picnicking. 



Westport is ten miles due west of Sauk Centre, and here 

 is where one will find the ducks aud geese in quantities to 

 suit. Between this point and Sauk Centre is a broad prairie 

 country, partly settled, and with plenty Of grain fields wherein 

 Tetrno cupitio browses in quiet unless disturbed' by the sports- 

 man's gun. You can enter any of these fields and rest as- 

 sured no one will disturb your "piece of comfort" while you 

 make the prairie ring with ihe breech-loader's brazen voice. 

 A Cam can be had at Sauk Centre for $3.50 to take you out 

 to this place, where you can then find board witn some 

 fanner, who will show you every attention. Board, $3.50 to 

 §5 per week. 



Birch Bark Lake lies twelve miles east and north of Sauk 

 Centre, and is one of the most attractive resorts, especially 

 for " variety hunter?," or those who desire to fish a little", 

 hunt a little, sad a good deal, aud have a genera! good time, 

 driving dull care away. 



Ihe lake is surrounded on all sides by a real wilderness, 

 where the red deer bounds lighilyin his wildwood home ■ 

 where the grave yetfleice-looking " bruin" meanders leisurely 

 over hill and dale ; where the partridge rises on whirring 

 wings, and flits like a shadow away from his strange in- 

 truder ; where the plunge of the pickerel, as he makes a 

 grab at some lesser than he, is heard, coupled with a nice 

 little waterfall which sings a wild, soothing lullahy, and 

 where I nearly baptized myself and companion in "running" 

 the rapids. 



Swan Lake, proper, is situated twenty miles northeast of 

 Sauk Centre and four miles southwest of Pillsbury, Todd 

 county. It is a broad expanse of bright, blue water, about 

 four and a half miles long and. from one-half to three- 

 quarters of a mile wide. Immense beds ot wild rice form a very 

 attractive lure for the wary old mall ird, blue- wing teal, can- 

 vaK-back and "whistler." The bank on the east side is 

 heavily timbered. In this forest are found plenty of deer, 

 bears, pa- 1 ridges, squirrels, etc. At this lake my old frieud, 

 J. Frauk Locke, who is a true lover of all the beauties of 

 nature and a genuine sportsman, and myself have had some 

 capital .-port with rod and gun. Ou one trip we killed 

 sixty-seven ducks, and we did not count those that went 

 away, either ; ODly the dead ones which were brought to 

 b >at. Mr. Locke still resides there and could, no doubt, 

 entertain a party of four. 



Baas Lake derives bs name from the endless quantities of 

 black and striped, or calico, bass, with which it abounds. 

 In company with a gentleman I took forty as fine bass as 

 ever one saw, in about seven hours' time. Some of these 

 beauties weighed as high as 81bs. They are "clean grit" 

 and will make a reel sing the time merrily. This lake lies 

 one mile east of the one above-mentioned, and is about a mile 

 long by one-half mile wide. It is very deep, and on the east 

 bank may be found a limpid stream of ice-cool water awav 

 up on the bluff above and overlooking the lake. There! 

 have lain and enjoyed the view of the 'surrounding scenery : 

 or have read, ard drank the cooling spring water and listened 

 to its merry ripple as it dashed over moss-covered stoneB and 

 finally to mingle with the waters of the lake. This would be 

 a grand place fur some wearied business or professional nun. 

 Here he might refresh and lighten life's heavy burden. It 

 would be necessary to take a boat at this point, for there 



were none on the lake but an old Indian's dug-out when we 

 were there. The proper way for a party t o get to this point 

 is to come direct to Sauk Centre, and then hire a team and 

 go out by the way of Round Prairie. 



Rice Lake is about ten miles northeast of Long Prairie, 

 and twenty-eight miles north from Sauk Cent re. It is a large 

 sheet of water, well supplied with Wild rice, whence its 

 name. Messrs. A. W. Sheila, editor Todd County Argus, 

 and W. C. Brower, editor Sauk Centie Trihuit-e,, in company 

 with several other gentlemen, spent a most enjoyable time 

 here among the ducks last fall. All would nave passed 

 pleasantly enough had it not bean for W. O. B.'s unlucky 

 plunge into the lake, with the mercury a " little low." But 

 more than one hundred ducks were brought to bag by the 

 party in a very short time. We think that -my one desiring 

 to visit Rice Lake would find capital sport, and if they 

 wanted a jolly gopd boy along, let them take Arth. 



Goose Lake is situated in one of ihe best sections of conn- 

 try I know of for the pursuit of this magnificent game bird. 

 It is 9 miles northeast of Sauk Centre, and is 1 23 miles from 

 St. Paul, on the M. St P. & M. R. R. The sportsman 

 should leave the train at Sauk Centre and hire a team. He 

 could go nearer by rail, but would not be likely to get so 

 good an overland rig at West Union, the nearest place by 

 rail. A camping party could have a grand time by hiring a 

 team and go for a two weeks' sojourn to this splendid re- 

 sort. I have killed niany a wwy old "honker" here, and 

 sent many a "whistler" to his long, long home. Around 

 this lake is a good settlement, and plenty of stubble fields, 

 fairly alive with prairie chickens and mallard ducks. There 

 are other smaller lakes in this vicinity which abound in ducks 

 of all kinds. No fish worthy of note are found here. 



The Ashley River heads in West Port Lake, and winds 

 around among hills, through valleys and level prairies, for a 

 distance of about: fifteen miles, the bend:* taken into measure- 

 ment, and finally empties into Sauk Lake at a point about 

 a mile above the town site of Siuk Centre. The way I do 

 this river after ducks is to take a good ducking skiff with a 

 team up to West Port ; there launch the boat, aud with a 

 good pilot, or in fact any one who can keep a boat in the 

 centre of the stream, paddle and float down, keeping a sharp 

 lookout for ducks in the bend ami bays. Tn some places 

 the boats will require a little "working" in ore! r to progress 

 properly. In this way one may go for a distance of fifteen 

 miles or more and find most excellent shooting all the 

 way, and without getting fatigued, meeting your team at 

 Sauk Centre in the evening, ornext day if you choose to linger 

 by the way. First class shooting is the reward. Your boat 

 is back where you started from with little or no trouble. 



Some of my best ducking I have had in this very river, 

 where, at times, they flew so fast I hardly had time to throw 

 out the empty shefls ; and 1 did most of my shooting on the 

 wing. 



I have given a brief sketch regwding several important 

 points, and by the great variety every Teader will see I have 

 written in the sportsman's interest only, as I have no '• axe 

 to grind." Any one desiring to vi.-iit these places can do so 

 and will find my figures facts, not fiction. I have been as 

 explicit as possible. Dell. 



DO CROWS HOLD COURTS ? 



NiAOAJiA Falls, N. Y., Jan. 1881. 



GOAT ISLAND, as all ihe world doth know, is ihe 

 the island which divides ihe falls of Niagta. Itisl «w, 

 aud has been time out of mind, a great root-ting place for 

 crows. Thousands of these dusk}' scavengers roost there 

 every night, scurrying off in all directions with their dis- 

 cordant crowing at the first streak of daylight, but always 

 returning at dusk every evening no matter how stormy the 

 weather or how far they have strayed during the day in 

 search of food. It is curious to notice how cunningly they 

 keep out of gun-shot until ihey get over to ihe' island, 

 "where of course they are proteco d, do one being allowed 

 to i hoot .there." There, feeling themselves perfectly safe, 

 they seem to call a meeting, appoint officers and call the 

 roll, each member answering to bis name separately, after 

 wnich they all join in a chorus flitting troni limb to limb, 

 and gradually quieting down for ihe night. 1 have never 

 seen them start in the morning, but have no doubt they go 

 through some such regular routine. 



Oue evening last fall, while on ihe Island, I noticed three 

 crows in a row on a limb of a tree, two of them beieg ter 

 ribly noisy, the other quile quiet, but looking sick; his 

 feathers seemed all to grow the wrong * ay and a more mis- 

 erable looking crow it "would be impossible to imagine. I 

 came to the conclusion that the middle enow had been shot 

 at and wounded, or was sick, and ihe o her two were looking 

 after him. After a while I noticed the two outsiders make 

 a start to fly, like starting for a race, but 



they 



le sick one, 



mmediaiely 



times, the 



.tiention to them. 



9 abor the sick one 



nost piieously, and 



•a J the three crows 



sat on the tree. I 



since, but could 



Which was in the middle, did not 



came back to score. This they repeated 



centre crow not appearing to pay any 



Suddenly the two crows c imminced to 



with beak and wings, until he Bcxeama 



on the next trial there was a good start, 



flew away together in a line hey] 



have thought much about this incidt 



never satisfactorily explain it to myself uutil 1 noticed the 



following clip from an English patter, which has convinced 



me the two cro.vs were officers of ihe law and ihe third a 



culprit. The extract says : 



" I have just now an authentic case of curious intelligence 

 or insdnct iu birds, which 1 hav verified for the benefit of 

 my readers. A clergyman living in York-hire tells me that 

 in the spring of a few years ago he and bis daughter were 

 walking in some fields, where, ihe crows were busy in the 

 trees building their nests. Always noisy ai this time, they 

 were more than usually so on this oceasion, and a number of 

 villagers coming home to dinnei Stopped to see What was 

 the matter. Close by the gate where my friend stood he 

 saw about a dozen crows engsged in the most noisy and vio- 

 lent gesticulations, aud ou the branch of a tree at hand sat 

 two crows, with a third looking crow 



between them. When the clamor had in some, degree sub- 

 sided, a enow stepped forward from the crowd and seemed to 

 address those seated on the trees- when, quick as thought — 

 the two side crows flew T upon the unfortunate wretch between 

 them, and With their beaks deal, himauch ab.owonthe 

 head that he f.dl dead without a single flutter. After this 

 act. Of justiee, es it, undoubtedly was, the birds ceased to 

 make any soiuid and then flew tiff as if satisfied. 



" This tale is corroborated and supplemented by an incident 



