FOREST AND STREAM. 



ieft 



(in bo little doubt that ihcv'- nnm;i;iM .1 iii cq an d 

 ! to the Old \ 



Returniugc e more to the upper Eocenej we find another 



fine of descent starting from Qrornerj/x. which, as we have 

 had apparently then just become differentiated from the 

 older Eunoilr.nl, type. Throughout the middle and upper 

 Miocene this line is earned forward by the genus Lnptomcrt/.r. 

 nntl its near allies, which resemble so Strongly the Pliocene 

 Getvida that they may fairly be regarded as their probable 

 progenitors. Possibly some of these forms may be related to 

 the. Trat/>did,i; but at present the evidence is against it. 



The Deer family bag representatives in the upper Miocene 

 of Europe, which contains fossils strongly resembling the 

 fauna of our lower Pliocene, n fact always to be borne in 

 mind in comparing the horizon of any group in the two con- 

 tinents. Several species of C<nu<la:. belonging to tbc genus 

 ■■-, arc known from (lie lower Pliocene of the West, ami 

 ■'■-;: very small antlers, divided into a single pair of tynes. 

 The statement recently published that most 'of these antlers 

 had been broken during the life of the animals is unsupported 

 by any evidence, and is erroneous. These primitive Deer do 

 not have the orbit closed behind, and they have all the. four 

 metapodia! bones entire, although the second and fifth are 

 very slender. In the Upper Pliocene, n, true 0,-nms of large 

 size has been discovered. In the Post-Tertiary, O&nrus, Abes 

 and Tarandush&ve been met with, the latter far south of its 

 present range. In the eaves of South America remains of 

 M have been found, and also two species of Antelopes 

 one referred to a new genus, LepMlterium. 



The Hollow-horned Ruminants, in this country, appear to 

 date back no further than to the lower Pliocene, and here only 

 a single species of Bison has as yet been discovered. In the 

 Post-Tertiary this genus was represented by numerous indi- 

 viduals and several species, some of large size. The Musk Ox 

 I was not uncommon during some parts of this epoch, 

 and its remains are widely distributed. 



No authentic fossil remains of true Sheep, Goats or Gi- 

 raffes have as yet, been found on this continent. 



The Proboscidians, which arc now separated from the t vpi- 

 cal Ungulates as a distinct order, make their first appearance 

 in North America in the lower Pliocene, where several species 

 of Mastodon have been found. This genus occurs, also, in 

 the upper Pliocene and in the Post-Tertiary, although some 

 Ol the remains attributed to the latter are undoubtedly older. 

 The Pliocene species all have a baud of enamel on the tusks, 

 and sonic other peouliaritias observed in the oldest Mastodons 

 Of Europe, which are from essentially the same horizon. Two 

 Species of this genus have been found in South America, in 

 connection with the remains of extinct Llamas and Horses. 

 The genus Ekphm is a later form, and has not yet been iden- 

 tified in this country below the upper Pliocene, where one 



febrate:! have been described by Lund, Owen, liurmeister, 



fervais, Hun ley, Flower, I tesinaresf, Ayniurd, Plctol , 



Nodot. Darwin anil Wallace have likewise contributed valu- 

 able information on this subject, as they have on uearly all 

 forms of life. 



In this long history of ancient life I have said nothing of 

 what Life itself really is. And for the best of reasons, be- 

 cause 1 know nothing. Here at present our ignorance is 

 dense, and yet we need not despair. Light, Heat, Electricity 

 and Magnetism, Chemical Affinity and Motion, are now con- 

 sidered different forms of the same force ; and the opinion is 

 rapidly Raining ground that Life or vital force is only another 

 phase of the same power. Possibly the. great mystery of Life 

 may thus be solved, but whether it be or not, a true faith in 

 Science admits no limit to its search for Truth. 

 ( To bo Continued.) 



K 



A CRUISE AROUND NANTUCKET. 



iihc species was abundant. In the Post-Pliocene remains 

 ol tins genus are numerous. The hairy Mammoth of the Old 

 World (JSkpIins prhnigeniux) was once abundant in Alaska, 

 and great numbers of its hones are now preserved in the 

 frozen cliffs of that region. This species does not appear to 

 have extended east of the Rocky Mountains or south of the 

 Columbia River, but was replaced there by the American Ele- 

 phant, which preferred a milder climate. Remains of the 

 latter have been met witli in Canada, throuirhoui the United 

 States and in Mexico. The last of the American Mastodons 

 phants became extinct in the Post-Tertiary. 

 Another of the interesting changes in mammals during Ter- 

 tiary tunc was in the teeth, which were gradually modified 

 ■with other parts of the structure. The primitive form of 

 tooth was clearly a cone, and all others are derived from this. 

 All classes of vertebrates below mammals, namely, Fishes, 

 Amphibians, Reptiles and Birds, have conical teeth, if any, or 

 Some simple modification of this form. The Edentates and 

 Cretaeeans with teeth retain this type, except the Zeuglodonls, 

 which approach the dentition of aquatic Carnivores. In the 

 higher mammals, the incisors and canines retain the conical 

 Shape, and the premolars have only in part been transformed. 

 The Jitter gradually change to the more complicated molar 

 pattern, and hence arc not reduced molars, but transition 

 forms from the cone to more complex types. Most of the 

 early Tertiary mammals had forty-four teeth, and in the old- 

 • e-st forms the premolars were all unlike the molars, while the 

 crowns were short, covered with enamel, and without 

 cement. Each stage of progress in the differentiation of the 

 animal was, as a rule, marked by a change in the teeth ; one 

 Of the most common being the transfer, in form at least, of a 

 premolar to the molar series, and a gradual lengthening of the 

 Clown. Hence it is often easy to decide from a fragment of 

 a jaw to what horizon of the Tertiary it belongs. The fossil 

 of this period, for example, gained a grinding tooth for 

 le they lost, one in' each epoch. In the single-toed ex- 

 isting horses, all the premolars are like the molars, and the 

 process is at an end. Other dental transformations are of 

 equal interest, but this illustration must suffice. 

 The changes in the limbs and feet of mammals during the 

 period were quite as marked. The foot of the primi- 

 mamrnal was doubtless plantigrade, and certainly five- 

 Many of the early Tej-fiary forms show this feature, 

 ff-S'S'i is still seen in seme existing forms. This generalized 

 foot became modi lied by a gradual loss of the outer toes, and 

 increase in size of the central ones, the reduction proceeding- 

 according to systematic methods, differing in each group. 

 ; »mding changes took place in the limb bones.' One re- 

 sult was a great increase in speed, as the power was applied 

 so as to act only in the plane of motion. The best effect of 

 tins specialization is seen to-day in the Horse and Antelope, 

 each representing a distinct group of Ungulates with five-toed 

 ancestors. 



If the history of American Mammals, as I have briefly 

 sketched it, seems as a whole incomplete and unsatisfactory, 

 We must remember that the genealogical tree of this class lias 

 its trunk and larger limbs concealed beneath the debris of 

 llesozoic time, while its roots doubtless strike so deeply into 

 the Paleozoic that for the present they are lost. A decade or 

 two hence we shall probably know something of the mam- 

 malian fauna of the Cretaceous, and the earlier'lineage of our 

 existing mammals can then be traced with more certainty. 



The results I have presented to you are mainly derived 



from personal observation ; and since a large part of the 



ku'gher vertebrate remains found in this country have passed 



Ihrough my hands. 1 am willing to assume full responsibility 



for my presentation of the subject. 



For our present knowledge of the extinct Mammals, Birds 



-■miles of North America, science is especially indebted 



dy, whose careful, conscientious work has laid a secure 



lion for our vertebrate paleontology. The energy of 



is brought to notice many strange forms, and greatly 



. d our literature. Agassiz, Owen, Wjunan, "Baird, 



■ock, Dcane, Emmons, Lea, Allen, Gibbes, Jefferson, 



I'eJvay and Harlan deserve honorable mention in the history 



branch of science. The South American extinct ver- 



"\A/ K lay ° Ver a cot *pi e ol (la y s al Nautucket, took out our 

 » » bowsprit, and put in a temporary one strong enough 

 to hold a man-cage at tbc forward end, took in a couple of 

 weeks' water and a sword fishing outfit and pilot, and one 

 bright fall morning bade the old town good-bye, and stood 

 away over the shoals for No-Man's Land. 



Wc had a good top-sail breeze from the southward until 

 evening, when it died away, leaving a nasty sea on, in which 

 we pounded and "lucked " all night with hardly enough wind 

 to keep our sheets out of the water. Towards morning 

 the breeze, freshened, and before noon our pilot pronounced us 

 on the grounds and went on lookout. While the watch b*low 

 were taking a bite we heard our Nantucketer sing out to his 

 helmsman, "Let her off a couple o' pints— so— stiddy ;" and, 

 sotto voce, " Thar's so'thin' off thar I can't 'zactly make out." 

 John's coffee and sandwiches were forgotton, much to our 

 ebony cook's digust, and we were on deck before our course 

 was fairly changed ; but it was some time before we could 

 distinguish the speck, rising and falling with the sea, which 

 had attracted the old whaleman's attention. Soon he pro- 

 nounced it a " fish," and after putting us on the other tack to 

 rundown partly to leeward of it, went below to briug up the 

 irons. When we had worked perhaps a mile before it, we lay 

 to for our final instructions, the skipper took the wheel to 

 "keep her head on if yer can," and the one who held the air 

 tight barrel was told "when y're sure I've struck him, oyer 

 with it." 



He was as cool as a cucumber as he took the harpoon and 

 cutting spade forward, coiling the line (one end of which was 

 fast to the harpoon, the other to the barrel) carefully on deck, 

 with the caution, " Ware when it flakes out," and taking only 

 enough with him to his roost on the bowsprit end to give him 

 simple elbow room. His station reached, he fixed the spade 

 in the support ready to receive it, laid the iron in front of him 

 across the cage, waved his haud, aud we filled away, close 

 hauled. Never was a mile more slowly sailed by the little 

 group in the pit of the White Cloud. Never had our hearts 

 beaten fiste.r than as we neared the fifteen feet fish, rolling, 

 asleep, in the trough of the sea. Now the pilot is almost 

 over him; slowly ne raises the iron, braces himself, and hurls 

 it with all the strength of both sinewy arms. The iron sinks 

 deeply into the sleeping flsh ; there is a mighty surge, the line 

 flakes overboard as quickly as thought, the float sp ashes as it, 

 disappears beneath the water, then all is still. We luff and 

 wait, Presently up bobs the float. The fish Uncling the strain 

 of the air-tight barrel too severe is coming to the surface. 

 Now the water bubbles and boils just under our lee, and the 

 sword fish breaches half his length out of his element, shakes 

 himself savagely, and swims at lightning speed for the barrel, 

 lie snakes it again and again with his sword, but ft rests so 

 lightly on top of the water that he cannot injure it. Then he 

 stops, looks at us an instant, and darts toward the boat. We 

 have not time to bring her head around, aud if he strikes it 

 will be amidships. The pilot comes quickly aft, bringing his 

 lonti'-haudled, three-cornered spade, and as the fish comes 

 within striking distance, aims one swift, unerriug blow full at 

 his forehead. The terrible sword drops harmless, the upper 

 muscles at its base are severed, and he passes under us, jarring 

 the boat and splashing us with water as he sounds. ' 



Again the float goes under and is out of sight a longer time 

 than before. Again the fish throws himself out of water, 

 showing his sword hanging down at an angle of forty-five de- 

 grees. He swims once or twice around the barrel, then starts 

 to windward at too furious a speed to last with the float plow- 

 ing behind him. When we beat up he is feebly fighting it. 

 He sounds for a short time, hut comes up exhausted. Once 

 or twice he rolls over on his side, but recovers himself and 

 swims on in short tacks. We press him too closely, and he 

 charges us again, but we make no effort to avoid him, know- 

 ing that now he is powerless to injure us, nor does he try to 

 strike, apparently realizing that his weapon is useless, hut 

 goes under, coining up the other side. 



And so he sounds and swims, fights and runs, until at last 

 he succumbs to exhaustion and lies still. We work up along- 

 side, and as we luff, the pilot puts a lance into his very life. 

 There is a shudder along his whole body, his fins work convul- 

 sively a moment, and then he lies motionless aud dead. Wc 

 rig a tackle to our mainmast, and after considerable labor get 

 him aboard, where we can examine at our leisure his peculiar 

 shape, and admire his graceful "clipper build." Our Nan- 

 tucketer estimates his weight at between five and six hundred 

 pounds. His sword is over three feet in length, its broken 

 point and nicked edges proving that its owner was an old as 

 well as a fighting fish. 



Our fish is on board, and after reserving a few choice cuts, 

 turned over to our pilot, who asks that we run in to Martha's 

 Vineyard that he may dispose of him before he spoils. Aud 

 so we set gaff and jib top-sails, haul off before the wind, and 

 lay our course northward. At sunset the wind died away 

 again, and we lay becalmed for several hours. After a well- 

 earned supper of fried swordfish, which, by the way, is a 

 coarse, but not unpalatable dish, we stretched ourselves on 

 deck aud watched the purple tints fading away in the west. 

 The gray crept over the east, the clouds above us lost their 

 under fringe of crimson, and the stars— those sentinels of the 

 night— came slowly on watch, and then those other sentinels, 

 the light-houses aud fight-ships, flashed their warning rays 

 over the quiet sea. 

 Our pilot, resting his broad back against the mast, tells us 



through clOUdS Of tObaeQO BniOke, Of Ins advent errs by sea 

 aud laud. How a sword was found, a third larger than ours 

 while repairing a New Bedford whaler, piercing the vessel's 

 side, and wedged so tightly into a cask of oil that none had 

 leaked away. How his brofber's boat was struck by a fish on 

 the same grounds wo were on, staving her quarter, and sink 

 ing her from under the three men, who pulled ashore in a 

 dory ; bow he had once been pierced, but had saved his boat 

 by drawing canvas over the leak. And then, as he cuts an 

 other filling from a plug of " navy, " rubbing it to pieces be 

 tween his horny bands, aud settles himself more comfortably 

 against the mast, he tells of the wrecks that strew his island 

 every year, and almost every gale ;. of the ship Newton with 

 a crew of over twenty men, that grounded on "Tom Nevero 

 Head " on Christmas night of '06, going to pieces and drown- 

 ing all but one poor lellow, who got ashore and crawled a mile 

 through bitter cold and blinding snow, only to die within a 

 lew rods of shelter ; how the surf was filled and the beach' 

 strewn for miles and miles with debris from the wreck with 

 here and there a ghastly dead thing rolling in the undertow - 

 how all the recovered dead are quietly sleeping side by side in 

 the green burying ground at N. He tells how a schooner 

 came ashore with all sails set, not a soul on board not a drop 

 of water in her hold ; a cat purring contentedly before a 

 bright coal tire, and the log written up to twelve o'clock the 

 night before. "Took to then boats and were swamped " he 

 said. Then, knocking the ashes from his pipe, went below 

 and turned in. 



The others soon followed his example, and the watch on 

 deck was alone. The sails hung motionless from stavs and 

 gaff, or else flapped lazily as a wandering puff partly filled 

 them. The moon came up, and sent a great silver wake 

 across the sea, brightening the crests of the gentle swells roll 

 ing in from the southward, leaving their troughs in shadow 

 throwing so ghostly a light on the sails of a distant vessel that 

 the watch involuntarily started as he saw them through the 

 gloom. A faint streak of light to the northward marked the 

 passage of a steamer, and farther west the bold light of Gav 

 Head flashed out. The night wore on, and before the watch 

 was changed a cat's paw came out of the west followed ore- 

 sentry by a gentle breeze. ^ 



When morning dawned the sandy cliffs of the vineyard lay 

 dead ahead, and in a short time we were moored alongside 

 the wharf at the camp grounds, where the pilot soon disposed 

 of his fish, realizing quite a little sum from its sale We wan 

 dered through the rows of cottages and big and "little tents 

 heard part of an open-air sermon, then went on board and 

 were soon under way. A vote was taken on the question of 

 more sword fishing, and w^as almost unanimously negatived 

 so it was decided to rim into Nantucket, refit our bowsprit' 

 retain the pilot and take a turn at the shark and bluefish that 

 abound among flic neighboring shoals. 



Half an hour out wc caught'sight of a low lyin°- yellow line 

 which gradually arose from the waves until the island was in 

 view, a white lighthouse glistening in the sun on its northern 

 point. Nantucket lies in a semicircular form, or rather like two 

 sides of a parallelogram, the ends connected by a parabolic curve 

 and the apex rounded. The longer side of this parallelogram 

 points westward. At its end lie two small islands Toekemuck 

 and Maddeqmt. The shorter side runs northerly on the end 

 of which, as I have stated, stands Great Point Light The 

 town of Nantucket lies near the centre of the curve and 

 northeast from it, separated only by a narrow point (Coatue) 

 from the outer harbor, lies the inner one. This, at its farther 

 end, almost cuts through to the ocean beyond. Indeed so 

 narrow is the beach between that in the days of the island's 

 prosperity a ship canal was projected and came very near 

 be. ng excavated here. Entrance to the harbor is made between ' 

 Brant and Coatue Points, on the former of wdiich stands a 

 harbor light with other smaller " bearing Uo-hts" near by 



Across the island from the town, eight miles away 

 a ",, aea p i be ' mil A' nai y a Pex, lies the little fishing 

 village of Sinsconsett, perched upon a sandy cliff, while 

 to the northward, a mile or more, stands Sanko'ty Head HBht 

 house, one of the finest on the coast, whose light has been 

 seen nearly thirty miles at sea. Southeast from ibis thirty 

 miles away, and marking the outermost edge of the dangerous 

 Smith Shoal, lies a light-ship. Monotonous as is the life on 

 a light-ship it is not a hard one, and there are plenty of broken 

 down seamen on this island of sailors who gladly shir 

 The crews are on board from three to six months, and an 

 equal length of time on shore. Their only duties are "to 

 keep their ship and lights m trim, aud to stand regular 

 vyatches night and day. They amuse themselves in the mean- 

 time by making baskets and "gew-gaws," which they take 

 ashore and sell, and by fishing. Occasionally they are hailed 

 by a passing vessel, and sometimes receive godsends in the 

 shape of newspapers from the same source. At intervals a 

 gale or a wreck furnish variety, hut the life is one of such 

 terrible monotony that but few young men can be induced to 

 go out a second time, in consequence of which the captain 

 and his crew are generally old gray-headed water-do-s 



Some years ago the captain of one of these Bhipseame 

 ashore for supphes, leaving his mate in charge, and his wile 

 and children on board. During his absence a gale " came on 

 to blow (in island vernacular), preventing his return. It 

 soon increased to almost a hurricane; the vessel's iron cables 

 wore through her hawser holes and forced the crew to cut 

 Ihey set a mainsail on the crazy old craft aud tried to work 

 her into port but the rotten canvas blew out of the bolt rope, 

 and left her at the mercy of the gale. The crew managed to 

 keep her before the wind, and she scudded by Great Point in 

 tub view of the agonized captain aud drifted out to sea Ten 

 days after she was sighted off Cape Hatteras. Her crew were 

 taken oil, and the ship sank before the rescuing vessel was 



OUt Ol St££Q.t. 



As we came in over the bar, which stretched to the right 

 and left for miles, our pilot told us of the gallant rescue of the 

 crew ot an ice-bound schooner by a few Nantucketers The 

 vessel lay just inside the bar surrounded bv loose ice the crew 

 out of fuel, aidd the schooner leaking badly, her decks and 

 rigging a mass of ice. The rescuers, taking their lives" in 

 then hands, started in dories, taking planks to aid them in 

 crossing the tender ice. They were several hours in getting 

 out to her but finally succeeded in getting every one safe l| 

 ashore All were gi ven medals by the Humane Society in re- 

 ward for then bravery. J 



Nantucket-with its rambling, grassy streets and quaint old 

 buildings, each surmounted by a platform, on which the town- 

 people used to gather in the old prosperous times to see tbo 

 ships come m from their whaling voyages with oily cargoes 

 and bronzed crews; with its crumbling warehouses and 

 rotting wharves-blinks lazily at the visitor, as if, Van Winkle 

 like it were just awakening from a sleep of many years 



One cannot follow the windings of the almost deserted 

 streets and realize that only forty years ago they were blocked 

 with toads of oil and whkbone and ships' s Io7e 8 fffiS 



