FROM THE GAME FIELDS. 



285 



bad to think of everything lying under 10 

 feet of water, even their guns. They bor- 

 rowed a boat from the farmer and from the 

 Government locks they got drags and 

 hooks. 



The outfit had included a lot of decoy 

 ducks and these floating marked the place 

 where the boat had sunk. They had good 

 luck and got everything back except one 

 gum boot. 



W. W. Wood, Franklin, 111. 



A bill has been introduced in the Arkan- 

 sas legislature which prohibits the shipment 

 of fish or game out of the State, makes the 

 commissioner of mines, manufactures and 

 agriculture State fish and game warden, 

 with power to appoint one deputy in each 

 county who shall have equal authority with 

 himself. The bill makes it unlawful to catch, 

 kill or injure prairie chickens for a period 

 of 5 years, and Mongolian or English 

 pheasants for 10 years. It further provides 

 that: 



" Any person who shall have in posses- 

 sion, or who shall sell or expose for sale, 

 any feathers or skins or parts of birds for 

 use in millinery or similar purposes, or shall 

 kill for such purposes any birds in this 

 State, shall be deemed guilty of a misde- 

 meanor, and on conviction shall be fined 

 not less than $25 nor more than $50 for 

 each bird skin, or part of skin, or parcel of 

 feathers so sold or offered for sale or killed 

 for that purpose; provided, this act shall 

 not apply to ostrich feathers or feathers of 

 chickens or other domestic birds." 



Verily, the handwriting is on the wall 

 and the bird-bedecked hat must go. Selah. 



S. A. Lewis, in your February number, 

 refers to the malaria of the Dismal Swamp 

 and to " the ague laden breeze of that dread 

 place." I must correct him. The Dismal 

 Swamp has been known for 200 years as 

 particularly free from malaria and extreme- 

 ly healthful. 



The ante-bellum planters who had a sur- 

 plus of slaves and were averse to selling 

 them, were particularly anxious to hire 

 them to the Swamp Company as shingle 

 makers, and because of the healthfulness of 

 the swamp. That a person can drink any 

 quantity of the water without any ill results, 

 is proof of my assertion, because if any 

 malaria exists it is in the water. I have 

 drank it that was 30 years old from the 

 tanks of a U. S. man-of-war and it had 

 made several voyages around the world. 

 It was the custom of the old navy to water 

 the ships with Dismal Swamp water when- 

 ever the opportunity offered. It keeps to 

 eternity, and is light and healthful. 



James F. Duncan, Norfolk, Va. 



I have some of the finest specimens of ducks 

 mounted, which I intend sending home to 

 my native country, New Zealand, where 

 Recreation goes also. The gray duck 

 here is identical in every respect with the 

 same species in New Zealand. We have 

 many species of ducks there, but no other 

 game bird or beast, save the moa, a bird 

 standing 17 to 18 feet high and which is 

 wingless. We have also the blue wood 

 pigeon, the kaka, a species of parrot, and 

 several varieties of wingless birds not con- 

 sidered game. We don't shoot the moa any' 

 more for he became extinct in his wild state 

 about 600 years ago. The country is, how- 

 ever, fairly well stocked with imported 

 game which is doing well. Also with the 

 big land monopolist, not yet quite so per- 

 nicious as the same species in America. 

 H. A. Walmsley, Vancouver, B. C. 



Allow me to thank Ar-thur F. Rice and 

 you for that delightful bit of outdoor paint- 

 ing, " Skitchewaug," in your January 

 number. It fairly takes one captive and 

 leads him among the grand old trees and 

 rocks, where squirrels bark and grouse 

 drum at their own sweet will. 



Mr. Rice's charming story is so well told 

 that away through the vista of the trees, 

 and through the hazy atmosphere one can 

 see the gray piles of rocks, and revel in the 

 whole grand picture of God's great out- 

 doors. 



That it brought to me so much joy and 

 pleasant reminiscence, one chilly, wet day, 

 down in Georgia, where I was wintering, 

 is my excuse for these too few and feeble 

 lines. 



Recreation grows better every month, 

 and there's no telling where you will bring 

 up if you keep on. Arthur Munson. 



Stamford, Ct. 



Philadelphia, Pa. 

 Editor Recreation: Yours of 21st re- 

 ceived. The party who accompanied me 

 was David L. Ward, Ed. L. Robinson. Chas. 

 Warfield, Jacob Espenbeck, Fred. Glasser 

 and John I. Lcary. We shot 3 deer at Hat- 

 teras island and during a week's stay there 

 killed 200 brant, 50 geese and about 75 red 

 heads. At Ocracoke island, where we lay 

 about a week, we shot 300 red heads, 2 

 swans, 30 geese and about 100 black heads, 

 beside a lot of quail. 



John F. Betz, Jr. 



And yet some men complain because cer- 

 tain states have passed laws exacting high 

 licenses from non-resident sportsmen. 

 North Carolina should pass a law requir- 

 ing such as these to pay a license of $100 

 each. And it should be rigidly enforced too. 



I have been doing a little shooting about 

 the islands and along the coast line here. 



I have just finished reading February 

 Recreation, which I have found unusually 



