404 



RECREA TION. 



bears and walruses, all winter long. They 

 killed 21 polar bears, made beds of their 

 skins, and lived and grew fat on fried bear 

 steaks, and on bear meat, boiled over wal- 

 rus-oil fires, and dipped in walrus-oil. 



Of walruses they killed quite a number, 

 with great and greasy labor gathered in 

 the " product," and utilized their thick 

 hides, their flesh and their fat in every pos- 

 sible way. The voyagers photographed 

 many of their walruses at short range, and 

 we rejoice that the negatives were not 

 spoiled by any one of the score of evils that 

 beset the camera and the plates of the ex- 

 plorer. For the first time we have, in Nan- 

 sen's book, some pictures which show us 

 the actual form of the Atlantic walrus in 

 life, on his native ice. For 15 years I have 

 waited and watched for the appearance of 

 such pictures as are shown opposite pages 

 386 and 396; and to me, they alone are 

 worth the price of the book. To my think- 

 ing, Nansen throws more light on the 

 moral character of the Atlantic walrus than 

 any other writer who has encountered 

 him. 



They killed polar bears until they were 

 tired. On October 21st, that species disap- 

 peared, for the entire winter, but returned 

 in force early in the spring, and prowled 

 around the hut and the blubber-heap, only 

 to get shot for their desire to be sociable. 

 The walruses also disappeared during the 

 winter, but the arctic fox remained to en- 

 liven the dreary months. Judging from 

 Nansen's records, Vulpes lagopus is, for his 

 inches, the champion thief of the world* 

 The versatility of his talent for appropria- 

 tion knows no bounds save the limit of his 

 carrying capacity. Under varying condi- 

 tions, the foxes stole and carried away 

 everything they could carry — such as 

 pieces of bamboo, harpoons, harpoon-lines 

 and steel wire. The thermometer was 

 stolen once, recovered, and stolen again; 

 and even Nansen's collections of stones 

 and mosses were not slighted by those per- 

 sistent prowlers. 



On the journey southward, in the spring 

 of 1896, hundreds ,of walruses were en- 

 countered, and more than once the lives of 

 both the explorers were imperiled by them. 

 It is not good nor wise for a full grown 

 walrus to try to climb into a thin-skinned 

 kyak, in the open sea, especially into a 

 kyak that never was built for 2. Of what 

 they saw on June 14th, Nansen writes as 

 follows: 



" The walruses here were innumerable. 

 The herds that had been lying on the ice 

 and had now disappeared, were large; but 

 there had been many more in the water, 

 outside. It seemed to seethe with them on 

 every side; and when I estimate their num- 

 ber to have been at least 300, it certainly is 

 not over the mark." 



* WHERE ARE THE WILD PLGEONS. 



Editor Recreation; The question is fre- 

 quently asked, " What has become of the 

 wild pigeons, which 20 years ago were seen 

 in such countless numbers?" 



During the past 17 years I have seen but 

 a iew small flocks; hence it seems they 

 have nearly all been destroyed. In May 

 last I learned, to my great delight, that a 

 vast body of these birds had passed North- 

 ward through Shasta county, Cal. From 

 hunters living there I have since learned 

 that where they roosted, in their passage, 

 large limbs were broken from the trees; 

 and that their tumult was so great that 

 sportsmen shooting in the roost, a few rods 

 apart, could scarcely hear the reports of 

 one another's guns, above the continuous 

 roar of wings. I should be glad to hear 

 from any of your correspondents who have 

 any knowledge of the whereabouts of these 

 beautiful birds at this time. 



Chief Pokagon, Hartford, Mich. 



The birds seen in California were doubt- 

 less the band-tailed pigeon. 



The American passenger pigeon is not 

 known on the Pacific coast. If any reader 

 of Recreation knows, definitely, of the 

 whereabouts of any members of this latter 

 species I should be glad if he would send 

 me a full report of the facts. — Editor. 



THE MIDDLETOWN BUFFALO HEAD. 



Editor Recreation: In the August 

 number of Recreation I notice the cor- 

 rected measurements of the J. Guenther 

 buffalo head, and as they seem to me all 

 out of proportion, I carefully measured 

 the top spread, 30M2 inches, then the widest 

 spread, 41^2 inches, and as the distances 

 between horn bases were not given. I 

 measured several of my largest buffalo 

 skulls and found the distance across skull. 

 at lower horn base, to be 14 to 15 inches, 

 straight line measure. Now, allowing 

 even 16 inches from horn base to horn 

 base, straight line measure, I fail to make 

 connection even with 21 inch outside horn 

 curves; and as the lengths of horns given 

 are only 19 to 21 inches, respectively, it 

 would be interesting to see a photo of 

 the Guenther head, with correct tape line 

 measurements. I think the Guenther head 

 must have a wider skull than nature pro- 

 vided. 



The photo of the buffalo head in the na- 

 tional museum shows it is from a young 

 bull. 



Aug. Gottschalck, Bozeman, Mont. 



A STUDY OF EYES. 



Questions frequently arise, among sports- 

 men and others, as to the color of the eyes 

 of some animal or bird. Few men observe 

 minor points in birds or in animals as they 



