FOREST AND STREAM. 



63 



summer, and nearly always rise to the top, besides not being 

 so choice in their food. It is hard work and consumes time 

 to pxill in two large snappers from a depth of eighteen to 

 tb.h'ty fathoms. Where the fish are taken near the top they 

 Jo not suck iu so much wind, and are not so apt to die. A 

 fishing crew consists of live men for summer and six for win- 

 ter After reaching good banks, they will often fill the well 

 of their vessel with 1,000 to 2,000 fish in six or eight hours. 

 One can imagine how active and expert they must be to ac- 

 complish this with hook and line. I have spoken of the di- 

 ver. He goes down into the well, and passes under that part 

 which is decked over, to see if there are any dead fish, and if 

 so, to bring them out. Those near the mouth of the well 

 can he seen trom deck, and brought up with a hook fastened 

 upon the end of a pole. The wells of course vary in capa- 

 city, aecoiding to the size of the vessel, and have from 250 to 

 300. and perhaps 400 openings to the sea, say two inches in 

 diameter. If the sea is rough, the change of water is con- 

 stant ; but if it be calm, and the vessel cannot deliver at 

 once, it sails about till the hour for discharging its cargo ar- 

 rives, or until a rough sea comes on. Otherwise, if the Ave II 

 were full, the fish would die. The fishermen do not believe 

 in sick fish, and rarely, if ever, deliver any that have died in 

 •the water. When they show signs of exhaustion, such as 

 ig to the top and " spitting water," they are hooked out 

 and pitched overboard. 



It may not be amiss to mention that the liver of the shark 

 is saved for its oil. Its liver is nearly all oil, and will try 

 itself out in the sun iu real warm weather. Before noon the 

 next day, after catching the one spoken of, the captain had 

 dipped over ten gallons of oil from the liver, which he put. in- 

 to the half barrel, and the indications were that he would get 

 as much more. While at Mobde a smack lying alongside of 

 us had just come in from a cruise after sharks for their oil, 

 but its crew had had poor success. They ought to have been 

 fait with us, with a little stronger tackle, and they might have 

 filled up. B. H. P. 

 ■». .. — 



For Forest and Stream a?)d Hod and Gun. 

 MY FIRST COON HUNT. 



I MAY say, by way of introduction, that I am just over 

 from England, where I have had the pleasure of partici- 

 pating in all the sports fashionable in that country, having 

 hunted the fox, hare and otter, and shot every species of 

 winged game, from the toweriug pheasant to the erratic flying 

 snipe. My first experience of that most exciting chase, a 

 coon hunt, occurred last fall while I was upon the Illinois 

 River after ducks. 



We had gone into camp during the afternoon about one 

 hundred and eighty miles up the river, and had everything 

 fixed in proper order before sundown, and thus had a chance 

 for a shot at the ducks then making their evening flight into 

 the lake about two miles from camp. Three of us went to the 

 lake where we had splendid sport, and returned to camp after 

 dark heavily laden with ducks. After cleaning my gun, 

 which I always do the first thing, and faring sumptuously off 

 the results of our short hunt, I was making myself comforta- 

 ble, blowing a cloud from a short pipe, with back against a 

 log, my feet to the fire, when the stillness was broken by a 

 couple of dogs giving tongue a short distance away. This 

 started two dogs which were in camp with us at full speed in 

 the direction of the excitement. On making inquiry as to the 

 probable cause of the row, I was informed that Jack Short, a 

 noted coon hunter of the district, was camped about a mile 

 down the river, and that no doubt his dogs had treed a coon. 

 We were quickly assured that something was on foot, as we 

 soon heard two shots fired in rapid succession. Three of us 

 shouldered our guns and started off in the direction of the 

 shots, and just came up to the tree, around which the dogs 

 were baying, as Jack dropped a fine coon out of the top 

 branches. On being told that an Englishman wished to see a 

 coon hunt, Jack was quite willing to oblige the stranger, 

 although he had not intended hunting that night. Jack Short 

 had two dogs; one Growler, an old coon dog, and the other a 

 young one just learning the business. And we had two ; one 

 a foxhound, and the other a cross between a mastiff and a 

 hound, but Growler was the only one worth anything except 

 for making a noise. 



On being ordered by Jack, old Growler broke away into the 

 thicket ; the others stopped with us. After walking some dis- 

 tance without hearing a sound from Growler, Jack remarked : 

 " We might as well sit down and rest, as we would hear 

 nothing from the dog until he got on the trail of a coon, and 

 that we might now be traveling in the wrong direction." We 

 hadn't long to wait, for soon after sitting down we had no- 

 tice from Growler that a coon was on foot. At the first sound 

 the three dogs with us dashed off to join in the fun. Growler 

 seemed to be about half a mile east of us, and when the young 

 dogs joined him the woods fairly echoed with the music, the 

 deep tone of the mastiff making not an unimportant addition 

 to the harmony. We now started off at a run after the dogs. 

 After running a short, time the chase turned towards the lake, 

 and Jack expressed a fear that our chance of getting the coon 

 was a forlorn one ,- but the dogs were still running, so we 

 kept on. Jack suddenly stopped, and after listening awhile 

 remarked, "They have treed him;" and sure enough they 

 had driven him into an old hollow stump of a tree standing 

 near the edge of the lake in about six inches of water. When 

 we got up Jack asked Growler, "Is he there, old fellow?" 

 The old dog sniffed round the trunk, and then threw back 

 hie head and gave a Jong howl; this settled the ques- 



tion in Jack's mind, as he said he never knew Growler 

 to make a mistake. Yes, the coon was treed ; but how to 

 get him out of his stronghold, was the question. The trunk 

 was about twenty feet high without ,vny branches, so we 

 could not climb it ; and we had no axe with us to cut it down. 

 Everything of a combustible nature was either thoroughly wet 

 or too damp to burn, and as fire seemed to be our only means 

 of dislodging him, we all, except Jack— who stopped with the 

 dog— started for dry land. In about a quarter of an hour we 

 had collected sufficient dry material for our fire, which we 

 soon started ; and, as the wind was blowing pretty strong, we 

 soon had the trunk changed into a miniature blast furnace. 

 My hopes of the coon being there were fast falling, for as the 

 flames kept rising higher and higher, I had no idea that any 

 animal could stand for an instant the heat and smoke that were 

 driving np through the hollow stump. Growler was, how- 

 ever, correct, as in a short time out jumped the coon and sat 

 on the top of the Stump on his hams just like a bear, and 

 looked disconsolately round on his pursuers. There was an 

 immediate cry for me to shoot him, but shooting was the last 

 thing I thought of doing, so I suggested we should knock him 

 off and let the dogs kill him. This seemed to meet their 

 views ; but, as none of us were base-ballists, it was some time 

 before a lucky shot dislodged the coon, and down he came 

 among the dogs, who had been anxiously Avatching our opera- 

 tions. Now began the fun, the dogs and coon rolled and tum- 

 bled round iu the water, while we jumped and shouted on the 

 bank. It was the only thing I ever saw that equalled the ex- 

 citement of being at the death of an otter, when the dogs are 

 allowed to do their own killing and are not assisted by the 

 men who spear the animal and call that sport. The coon was 

 soon dead, so we made our way to dry laud and started old 

 Growler off again. We kept up the hunt until after four 

 o'clock, when the moon went down and left us in darkness. 

 We captured three more coons, but these we had to shoot, which 

 did not afford any sport in comparison to the first death. Af- 

 ter the excitement of the hunt was over, I think I never was 

 mora tired and sleepy. We arrived at camp all right and 

 found a good fire burning, so I dried my clothes and laid down 

 to sleep, too tired to dream of my first coon hunt. 



J. J. L 



SPl § Wtaffr 



CALIFORNIA SALMON. 



* Toledo, O., Aug. 38, 1877. 



Editor Forest and Stream : 



I see in No. 25 of the last volume of your paper an account 

 of the taking of a California salmon (Balmo quinnat) in Lake 

 Ontario, over the signature of Sam. Wilmot, in which he 

 claims " the credit of heralding to yourself and your readers 

 the capture of the first Califomian this side of the Pacific 

 slope." If Mr. Wilmot will refer to page 29 of the Ohio Pish 

 Commissioners Report for 1876-77, he will find the following, 

 in my report to them, dated January 13th, 1877 : " In the 

 fall of 1874 the Michigan Fish Commissioners planted some 

 young California salmon in the River Raisin, and in the fall of 

 1876 (Oct. 1st) Messrs. Davis Brothers, of Toledo, caught at 

 Cedar Point, Mauruee Bay, a salmon of that species thirteen 

 and a half inches long, a healthy fish, perfect in color and 

 flavor." I also, in November last, communicated this fact to 

 the Michigan Fish Commissioners, which was fully noted in 

 the able report of Mr. George H. Jerome, Superintendent of 

 the Hatching in that State, for 1876-77. In the spring of 1876 

 I placed in the 'rapids of the Maumee River, twelve miles 

 above Toledo, over a thousand young California salmon, and, 

 in May this year, a number of them over five inches long were 

 taken* with a hook at that place. I ate the salmon taken by 

 Messrs. Davis Brothers at Cedar Point, and am not mistaken 

 in the fish. I made a pen sketch of it, and sent it to Prof. 

 Baird, at Washington, who pronounced it a genuine Califor- 

 nia salmon. 



I write this, not that I think there is any particular merit in 

 heralding to you or your readers the capture of the first Cali- 

 fornia salmon taken this side of the Pacific slope, but merely 

 to vindicate the truth of history. Very truly, 



Emery D. Potter. 



[A California salmon was also taken from the rapids of St. 

 Clair River, Michigan, last fall, being probably the result of 

 spawn deposited in Black River, Michigan, in the fall of 1874. 

 Salmon have also been caught in the Great Nemeha River in 

 Nebraska, as before noticed in these columns.— En.] 



Massachusetts. — The last work of the Fish Commissioners 

 was the shipment of four cases of shad fry to Smith's Ferry, 

 where they were placed in the Connecticut. There have been 

 hatched at the Smith Hadley Falls Hatching House, the past 

 season, about four and one-half millions of shad fry. 



New Jersey.— Twenty thousand salmon fry, hatched at the 

 Thompson establishment, New Hope, Buck's Co., have been 

 during the last year distributed in the waters of New Jersey, 

 including the Delaware River. 



Tennessee. — Prof. A. W. Brayton, of Chicago, D. S. Jor- 

 dan, of Indianapolis, and other gentlemen connected with the 

 United States Fish Commission, are making a tour of inspec- 

 tion through Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama. This work 

 is preparatory to the intended stocking of suitable waters with 



shad. 



, > ■•■ « — 



— Seth Green writes to the Eoahester Express that he does 



otbelieye that fish sleep. 



Intwnl ^istarg. 



NOTES ON THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 

 SOUTH WESTERN TEXAS. 



'I BY DR. BENJAMIN F. POPE, V. S. ARMY. 



FIRST : Is thero a carp indigenous to American waters? 

 Unless I am misinformed the carp has not yet been dis- 

 covered in American waters, except as placed there by pisci- 

 culturists and by migration from their original points of de- 

 posit. 



Perhaps it ma3 f be of interest to your readers to know that 

 two months ago some fish were brought to this port by a 

 strolling Mexicau which, if they do not prove to be the verita- 

 ble Cyprimis carpo, are certainly .marvelously like unto it. 

 Unfortunately, the fishes were both scraped and cleaned before 

 being presented for sale, but there was enough of the speci 

 mens left for me to give a fairly accurate description of their 

 distinctive features. 



They were rather broad, flat bodied, and averaged thirty- 

 two inches in length and when fresh must have weighed from 

 eighteen to twenty-two pounds. There was a single, long, soft 

 rayed dorsal fin, reaching from the middle of the back to the 

 tail, which was forked ; the ventral fins, also soft rayed, were 

 placed behind the pectorals. The scales, although removed 

 by scraping, I judge to have been very large from the size of 

 their matrices, and they were arranged in twelve longitudinal 

 rows bet\veen the dorsum and ventrum. For so large a fish 

 the head was remarkably small and compressed, its nostrils 

 prominent, mouth diminutive and placed well underneath ,- 

 the lips were fleshy and nearly three quarters of an inch 

 broad ; there were no teeth on the jaws, but the pharynx was 

 well armed with them ; whether there were any barbels I do 

 not know, as they might have been removed as were the 

 scales. 



I can give neither their color nor skin markings for reasons 

 already stated. The flesh was pink and tolerably firm, free 

 from bones and of a muddy flavor. 



The fishes were said to have been taken in what is known as 

 Toyah Lake, a body of soft, still and rather muddy water— a 

 pond we would call it in the north — which is laid down on 

 Major Moore's map of explorations in South-western Texas 

 (1809) as being in about lattitude 31 deg., 20 niin., longitude 

 103 deg., 50 nun., not over thirty-one miles south of the Pecos 

 River, with which it was probably connected at some remote 

 period of the Geodic history. Its distance from Fort Stockton 

 cannot be over fifty miles north-west. 



Last September, Captain N. , of the 10th U. S. Cavalry, and 

 myself, with his command, when returning from a scout to 

 the upper waters of the Pecos River and the Guadaloupe 

 Mountains, attempted to reach this pond by going east from a 

 point on the river which was about forty miles above "Horse- 

 head Crossing." 



We failed to strike it, however, and were obliged to put 

 back to the river, because our animals had been thirty-six 

 hours without water. During the coming autumn we hope to 

 visit this locality, which until very recently has been almost 

 unknown to white men. I shall then make every endeavor to . 

 secure specimens of the fish for a more accurate examination 

 and for preservation. I feel quite confident that it will prove 

 to be an indigenous variety of the Carpw cyprinus, and that a 

 new fact in regard to the distribution of the species will be esa 

 tablished. 



Second : The Vinagrone. 



There is a peculiar insect found near the Fort, which, if it 

 has not already come under observation, cannot fail in being 

 of interest. Nowhere do I remember to have met a descrip- 

 tion of this member of the Araehnidian family, though it may 

 be my own fault, as my reading has not tended in this direc- 

 tion, and there are no books on the subject now at my com- 

 mand. 



Among our native Mexican population who seem particular- 

 ly to dread its appearance, it is known as the "vinegrone," a 

 contraction, doubtless, of the words vinagre-grand, or big vine- 

 gar. The name is a descriptive one, and arises from the in- 

 sect's habit of ejecting a pungent, irritating secretion, which 

 has the odor and chemical reaction of vinegar or acetic acid; 

 and for this reason, if for no other, I think the name a good 

 one. 



In general appearance, the vinegrone much resembles a 

 large scorpion, though evidently not belonging to the same 

 family. From the head to the commencement of the tail, the 

 adult specimen measures fully two inches in length, and is 

 about three-quarters of an inch broad. Its color is reddish 

 brown and grayish wliite between the anticulations. The 

 thorax and head are amalgamated, while the thorax and abdo- 

 men are separated by flexible tissue which is so constructed 

 as to give the insect somewhat of a waspish appearance. Its 

 legs are six in number, with thoracic attachments ; they have 

 each five articulations, differing in length, and are covered wilh 

 bristles or hairs ; the first articulations form the anterior cov- 

 ering of the thorax. The trunk and head are protected by a 

 single dense, black dorsal plate ; the abdomen has sixteen dis- 

 tinct dorsal and ventral lamime or plates, which overlap ; 

 they would form continuous rings, were it not that they are 

 curiously separated laterally by elastic tissue, in which the 

 open mouths of the respiratory ducts may be seen. This di- 

 vision of the abdominal rings affords considerable flexibility 

 and gives the insect the appearance of bearing about him an 



