FROM THE GAME FIELDS. 



205 



farm an artesian well, the water of which 

 is becoming famed for its medicinal prop- 

 erties. Some marvelous cures have been 

 effected by it. 



J. E. F., St. Paul, Minn. 



CUBA A PARADISE FOR SPORTSMEN. 



Trinidad, Cuba. 

 Editor Recreation: 



Lovers of rod and gun and of nature in 

 her wildest state will find Cuba a sports- 

 men's paradise. Her mild climate, luxuri- 

 ant vegetation and beautiful scenery are a 

 perpetual delight. Game and fish are 

 abundant. The wild boar is plentiful, and 

 sometimes, if cornered, dangerous, espe- 

 cially the old leader of the herd. He will 

 tear a dog to pieces if it gets within hio 

 reach. The boar weighs 200 to 300 pounds 

 and often his tusks are 6 inches long. A 

 small deer is abundant in the mountainous 

 districts and out-of-the-way valleys. 



The jutia, peculiar to Cuba, looks like 

 a cross between an opossum and a rat. It 

 feeds on leaves and nuts, and is much rel- 

 ished by the natives. Two species are 

 found, the conga and the carabali. 

 The fiesh of. these animals was the princi- 

 pal food of the insurgents during the re- 

 cent war. Fowls are found in great num- 

 bers. Wild guinea hens abound in flocks 

 of 20 to 100. The flutter of the pheasant 

 and "perdiz" and the whistle of the quail 

 are heard all over the rural regions. Great 

 flocks of ducks come from Florida late in 

 the fall and remain with us until spring. 



Wild pigeons, somewhat larger than the 

 domestic bird, afford the greatest sport 

 imaginable. It is not unusual for 4 per- 

 sons to obtain in a few hours several hun- 

 dred. Tojosas. guanaros and rabiches are 

 found in the thick woods. Thousands of 

 birds, songsters of brilliant plumage, flit 

 from tree to tree. There are 45 species of 

 .birds which so far have been found only in 

 Cuba. 



Poey, the naturalist, says there are 600 

 distinct species of fish in Cuban waters. 

 Among those that delight the sportsman 

 are the sierra, red snapper, gallego, 

 manta, cubera and ronco. Delicious oys- 

 ters, clams, shrimps lobsters and crabs 

 abound. The lobsters weigh 7 to 12 

 pounds, and have no claws. They are 

 caught at night in shallow water along a 

 sandy beach; a torch, harpoon and net 

 being the necessary outfit. In some rivers 

 are alligators of enormous size. No poi- 

 sonous reptiles exist in Cuba. Of snakes, 

 the chicken boa, also called Cuban boa, 

 is the largest, some measuring 15 feet. It 

 is perfectly harmless. 



The climate of the island during the 

 winter months is deliciously cool. Here 

 in Trinidad the temperature from Novem- 

 ber until March seldom rises above 8o°, 



and is sometimes as low as 50 . The 

 nights are cool. During the summer cases 

 of sunstroke are exceedingly rare. The 

 sun is hot, but a fresh breeze is continually 

 blowing. The town of Trinidad is 3 miles 

 from the coast at an elevation of 136 feet, 

 and is one of the healthfulest places on 

 the island. O. A. Fischer. 



WE QUIT WITH TWO EACH. 



Hancock, Wis. 

 Editor Recreation : 



On October 28th, '98, 5 members of the 

 Hancock Club took the North bound train 

 for Ashland county, Wis. At Plainfield 

 we were joined by an old friend, who, years 

 ago, hunted deer through what is now the 

 potato belt of Central Wisconsin. We 

 reached Agnew Siding at 9.30 the follow- 

 ing morning, having been joined at Maren- 

 go by a local sportsman. 



As Tuesday. November 1, was the open- 

 ing day of the hunting season we spent 

 Monday in trying to locate game. Those 

 of the party who had hunted the ground be- 

 fore did not derive much encouragement 

 from the signs : fresh tracks were not nu- 

 merous, and no game was seen. 



On the morning of the 1st we divided 

 our force; one party going West of the 

 track, and the other East, to cover as much 

 territory as possible. We, the Western di- 

 vision, after hard work in climbing through 

 a heavy windfall, came to an opening at 

 about 1.30 p. m. Here one of the boys 

 started a doe and another killed her. The 

 other party killed a fawn in sighc of camp. 

 The next day we hunted a thicket about a 

 mile from camp. We started 2 deer, but 

 they escaped on the opposite side of the 

 cover. While returning to camp one of us 

 shot a big buck with good antlers. 



The third day we spent following trails, 

 crossing ravines and threshing through 

 thickets. We saw 3 deer and missed them. 

 Just before sundown the president of our 

 club shot a doe and her fawn. A day or 2 

 later we jumped a buck and 3 does. They 

 separated, and we succeeded in getting 2 

 of the does. 



After shipping 4 deer to our friends on 

 Monday morning we crossed the railroad 

 to the West, and within i J / 2 hours killed 3 

 deer out of 4 that we saw. Then, for 2 

 days we hunted without seeing game, but 

 on the third day we were more successful, 

 killing one and wounding 2. Not being 

 willing to leave the wounded to be de- 

 voured by wolves, we followed the bloody 

 trails from 11 a. m. until dark. On account 

 of the bare, dry surface tracking was dif- 

 ficult, but we gave up only when daylight 

 failed. 



The next morning some of the boys 

 started a buck, which they shot at but failed 

 to secure. At about the same time one of 



