412 



FOREST AND STEEAM. 



great beard, and rendering bis appearance, if possible, more 

 frightful than ever. The wound instead of weakening him. 

 seemed absolutely to increase his ferocity. He fought with 

 the renewed strength of ten men. He cut down two of the 

 crew who advanced to the rescue. Bnt his life-blood was eb- 

 bing fast. Only that fierce, indomitable will was bearing him 

 up. Like the gladiator in the Roman arena, his doom was 

 fixed ; it was only a question of time now— a few moments 

 more or less. 



For a little while the chiefs were separated in the fray. 

 Between them raged the combat. The decks were slippery 

 with blood. They had no breath now to cheer, or even speak. 

 The clink of the steel was the only sound, as eye gleamed and 

 hand, red with gore, essayed to drive home the blade of the 

 knife. No one asked for quarter — not one of the pirates 

 against whom the fight seemed going. For the huge form of 

 their leader was still in the front and, true to his oath, his 

 sword was rifling and falling like a threshing blade. Already 

 he had five bullets, in his body. He had received twenty 

 wounds from the cutlass ; and not till the blood was drained 

 from his veins would he yield. See I he is about to pull the 

 trigger of a freshly drawn pistol ! 



He falls to the deck, stone dead! When that towering 

 form went down the battle was decided. Eight, of the four- 

 teen were already dead, and of the six who were still fighting 

 all were wounded. They begged for the quarter they never 

 voucshafed to others' prayers, and they received it. 



The carnage was dreadful. Of the fifty men of the King's 

 good ship Banger, twenty were killed outright— three, it was 

 said, by Blackboard's own hand. Every one was more or less 

 wounded, with the solitary exception of the mate, who, dur- 

 ing the whole struggle, escaped without a scratch. 



The other sloop of Maynard's returned unsuccessful from 

 the chase, the pirate ship having taken advantage of the 

 tortuous channel to withdraw from pursuit. 



No event in the annals of American history was ever more 

 daring, desperate and determined than this battle with the 

 pirates in Okerecoch Inlet. Blackbeard was no ordinary foe 

 to encounter. Under different circumstances, with good im- 

 pulses at work in his heart instead of bad, he had qualities 

 that would have rendered his name famous. As it was all 

 his great courage, his indomitable will united to genius,' his 

 born leadership of men, his fertility of expedients, prepared 

 the way for his violent and bloody death, and he but reap- 

 ed what he had sown. He died as be had lived, asking no 

 quarter, giving none— shedding blood to the last. 



His head was severed from his body and fastened to the 

 prow of Maynard's vessel, when he sailed home in triumph. 

 The sailor placed by Blackbeard to blow up the vessel lost 

 the necessary nerve and was found concealed in the maga- 

 zine with the cocked pistol in his hand. He only was pardon- 

 ed by turning king's evidence; the rest being tried and hanged 

 in Jamaica, where they were sent a few weeks alter their 

 capture. 



An ovation awaited Maynard and his brave crew on their 

 arrival in Virginia with their ghastly trophy. The Governor 

 gave a great ball to celebrate the event, and the handsome 

 Englishman walked the minuet de la cour with her ladyship 

 the Governor's wife. ' 



Here my chronicles have end. "Would I could follow the 

 dictates of my fancy, and tell how my dauntless hero won the 

 hand and heart of some beautiful Virginia heiress, and lived 

 ever after in the highest state of mortal happiness. But 

 writing facts, truth compels me to say that history is silent as 

 to Maynard's future. It is a matter of deep regret that the 

 ame so linked in Virginia's traditions with the bravest and 

 most heroic encounter of all her many daring and worthy 

 deeds should have passed away with no " record of his future 

 ife. Certainly the gratitude of the oppressed and Buffering 

 were ever his, to follow him with blessings wherever he went 

 living or dead. 



Blackbeard, it is certainly conceded, hid an immense 

 amount of treasure at different parts along the coast. Some 

 averred the place of concealment was in Hogg's Island, next to 

 Cape Charles; others, that Okerecoch was the locality; and in 

 the olden time not a few of our people believed that a vast 

 amount of the pirate's money was buried at Crany Island in 

 Norfolk Harbor. In this belief many an acre has been turn- 

 ed up with the spade by eager, hopeful seekers of these riches 

 It is beyond doubt that Blackbeard hid both money and 

 plate. The night before his death he acknowledged the fact 

 to the skipper with whom he was drinking. Being asked if 

 in case of his demise, any of his wives knew where this 

 treasure lay, he replied that no one but himself coidd find the 

 spot, and his it should be who lived the longer of the two In 

 nought but the distempered fancy of the" dreamer have the 

 vast collection of ingots and ban of precious metals, the 

 Dutch gmlders and the Spanish doubloons ever been dis 

 covered. Like Kidd's treasures, they are as myths 



It is no hallowed spot; there no flowers spring in all their 

 heavenly punty; no child's voice lingers on ihatair. Indeed 

 I saw it in my dreams-bleak, desolate. No step but his who 

 ba f ieC U" s ^-S^'eu £ ain8 beneath the sod has ever trod its 

 sod The solitude was unbroken by any sound, save the cry 

 of the sea-fowl as he wheels his flight above the waters the 

 monotonous beating of the waves upon the shore and the 

 mournful Sighing of the winds, dashing across sea and land 

 ike lost spirits chained to earth. Within its narrow precincts 

 the serpent lifted his crested head and darted his forked 

 tongue ; trailing, poisonous vines and dark mosses, entwined 

 in matted rankness, locked m the buried secret; Venomous 

 toads and slimy lizards lived and bred in the damp and dork- 

 malarial airs and deadly vapors hung like a thick mantle over 

 the scene and challenged life and interference. And it is said 

 on bleak, wild nights, when the noise of the breakers rises 

 high above the shrieking winds, let loose in tempest-" when 

 the stars and moon are blotted out in murky darkness- when 

 the ram dashes madly down, and the lightnings play in lurid 

 darts, a figure steals furtively along the wild. His great beard 

 is tossed rudely by the wind; the hands grasp lantern, spade 

 and mattock. The eyes have a strange, unearthly glitter The 

 light he carries gives a low, phosphorescent i learn' which 

 on1heb n ands C Sh&d ° W8} and shil,es ful1 u P° n th * Wood stains 

 Reader, dear reader, should you or I meet alone at such a 

 tune upon sue], a coast this frightful apparition, it would be 

 given to us to know the great Blackbeard had come bark 

 this world oi ours to unearth his wondrous treasure 



Alex. Huxtek. 



'•■ . ■ . 



-A few gentlemen wishing to join a first-class snooting aim tuhing 

 association can Jiear of a favorable opportunity by addressing SSf 

 tins office,— [Adv. ° ' 



S$t § "%f 



AQUATIC PLANTS ONCE MORE. 



Tub Way they Do It at the Hrn.-As a guarantee of 

 Qie future prosperity of Forest and Sthram, we have just 

 received a Boston dub of twenty-five new subscriptions. 



HAD it not been for the Foeest and Stream and the dis- 

 cussion of various subjects in its columns, how many 

 of us would have forever remained ignorant of much that is 

 of inestimable value ? Thus, in regard to aquatic plants suit- 

 able for fish ponds and the aquaria, how much have we learn ed. 

 Some may think that this and many other subjects have been 

 exhausted, but as science advances we shall wake up some 

 morning in the future, and after looking over the tiles of our 

 old papers, come to the sudden conclusion that then we were 

 babes, fed only on milk, not strong enough or knowing enough 

 to grasp all in one age. But to tbe point. Although I have 

 had many years of experience with aquatic plants, I have 

 waited, wrongfully, perhaps, for others to "speak my piece." 

 Now what I wish to say is this-. Of all the aquatic plants 

 which I have been enabled to obtain for more than twenty 

 years past, I have never found any to compare favorably with 

 the water-mullfoil, family Myrwphyllum. The plant grows 

 wholly submerged, the flowering stems alone coming to the 

 surface to mature. It is propagated from its branches', which 

 flourish for a season equally well, floating. But to continue 

 its growth the branches must be anchored in the mud or sand. 

 For the aquaria it is the most beautiful and valuable plant 

 known, and will afford more oxygen for the life of the in- 

 habitants than any other plant growing in our Western waters. 

 This is the plant that abounds in our private and natural fish 

 ponds and trout streams in this part of the country ; and where 

 it abounds it is almost impossible to over-stock the waters. 

 In onettf these ponds I have seen more than a yard square of 

 this plant cut off close to the ground by the" trout. It was 

 shaved down as neat and as even as you could do it with a 

 knife. What the object was I have not yet been fully able to 

 ascertain. Some thought it for the purpose of clearinga place 

 for beds, but I do not believe this, for the only place thus cut 

 was at or very near iha foot of the pond, and in deep and still 

 water. My own impression is that the trout found some 

 nourishment in the fat stocks, or they cut, away the plant to 

 get at some animalcula that they could not otherwise obtain 

 from the thick matted beds. 



There is another idea. These branches when liberated were 

 taken in amass by the current and lodged at the gateway, 

 making a fine living shelter for the fish, and this, too, at the 

 very place where the fish delighted to congregata The plant 

 affords such a great amount of oxygen that I have long 

 thought that it might be successfully used in cans for the 

 transportation of fish. For a full and specific description of 

 the Myriophyllum we refer the reader to Gray's Botany. In 

 June and July we can furnish any quantity of it, or it can be 

 had of Fred Kaempfer, dealer in aquaria, 137 Clark street, 

 Chicago, and perhaps at other natural history depots. 



The Vallvmeria abounds in all our lakes and sloughs, but 

 not in our trout ponds or streams. With me it has proved al- 

 most a failure for the aquarium, but as an aerator for lakes 

 and more sluggish streams it may be of great benefit, but cer- 

 tainly for trout ponds and streams it has no value to compare 

 with the Mcyriopltyllum. Now let me say that the discussion 

 of this plant question will prove of immense value to us. By 

 it we shall surely learn that there are no waters, however 

 sluggish, that, cannot be made a natural and healthy habitant 

 for some kinds of fish , and certainly that all living, running 

 streams can be made the home of the brook trout or some of 

 the salmo family, 



Lalte City, Minn. De. D. C. Estes. 



[Thanks to Dr. Estes for beautiful specimens of this plant. — 

 Ed.] 



Mnml 



For Forest and Stream and Rod and Gun. 

 THE DEATH OF PONGO. 



By Feed. Mather. 



Litebpool, England, Nov. SO, 1877. 



A PRIVATE letter from Berlin, dated the Mth insi., an- 

 nounces the death of Pongo, the well-known gorilla of 

 the Berlin Aquarium. His death is a loss to the scientific 

 world, and was quite unexpected. I had an audience with 

 him on the 5th, through the kindness of the Director, Dr. 

 Hermes. Pongo was then slightly ill from a cold, and was in 

 a warm room in bed, but on our entrance he uncovered bis 

 head and offered hia hand to the Doctor, while turning his 

 large, intelligent eyes upon the stranger. 



t'pon a request from his friend, which Pongo seemed to 

 accept as an introduction, he gave me his hand, and would 

 that 1 could utter, as Tennyson sings, " the thoughts that 

 rose," as I took the honest hand of this direct deseende.nt of 

 one of the oldest families ! It needed no gaudy armorial crest 

 with rampant lion, nor asthmatic herald with brazen trump 

 to proclaim his nobility ; his long hony arm and powerful jaw 

 would have been envied by Richard Occur De Leon, or Reginald 

 Front du Boef. I read his thoughts beneath Ids pitying glance, 

 and his great soul was evidently sorry to see that I had so far. 

 departed from the original type as to "have but little hair upon 

 my face, aud none to speak of on my hands ; that I had to de- 

 prive the living sheep of its wool to take the place of the hair 

 which covered my forefathers, through the effeminate customs 

 of mj immediate progenitors in luxuriously clothing them- 

 selves with skins and fins, thereby rendering the hair Bujper- 

 flous, and consequently causing it to fall off. He glanced at 

 my foot (luckily a calfskin prevented the mortification of ex- 

 hibiting to him a foot without a thumb on it capable of hold- 

 ing to a limb while plucking bananas with bath hands and 

 the other one); he stuck out his admirable pedal and wiggling 

 its thumb raised his eyebrows as if to say : '•" Got 'em ?" My 

 first impulse was to nod and say, "Oh! yes, I've got 'em, 

 but don't use 'cm now," but a Ionic into that honest face, and 

 like Macbeth's "Amen," the words stuck in my throat. 

 Wherefore could I not lie to this simple minded brother ? 

 Something in the very confiding manner in which he asked 

 the question banished all thought of prevarication, aud de- 

 manded that his frankness be met with truthfulness at no 

 matter what cost of personal pride or self-degradation. I de- 

 spised myself for the thought that for the first moment I en- 

 ea of deceiving him in regard to tMfl and wits a chsck 

 burning with humiliation 1 shook my head aud acknowledged 

 that the polished calfskin hid a member useless for sun 

 but the simplest locomotion. 



He accepted it with a pitying nod, and generousl 

 taimting me by any further exhibition of movement in tb 

 direction, aud'at the earliest moment allowed by etiquett 

 showed his good taste bj r unostentatiously withdj 

 evidence of pollcxial superiority beneath his blanket, while 

 could not help fancying him with his juvenile companions I 

 the wilds of Orangumbesi enjoying a sociable 

 "thumbs up," and gleefully showing "four of a kind " wffl 

 "Simon says wig- wag !" 



Dr. Hermes is a very accomplished physician and zoologist 

 and did not then consider Pongo's cough and low fever o ' 

 dangerous, hence I was surprised to hear of his death so s_ 

 and feel pleased that I seemed an imperial photograph 

 this, the only relative of that branch whom it has t 

 good fortune to meet personally. 



Pongo, you will remember, was brought from Af rto 

 Dr. Falkenstcin, of the German expedition for Africar. 

 ploration, who founded a station at Chincozo, but who i 

 unable for some reason to penetrate to the centre of the C 

 tinent. They remained there several years, and when t 

 abandoned the coast of Loanzo they brought the subjei 

 this obituary to Europe. He was a' present, I believe', ] 

 some native tribe, who, being able to talk or to jabber 'sc 

 thing intelligible to themselves, have thereby fallen intc 

 fallacy that they are the superiors of the other mamma! 

 that region ; but my prophetic vision bcholdeth ships lane 

 the civilizing Anglo-Saxon, with a very small Bible in his . 

 and a large Sharps' rifle in his right hand, following up i 

 moccasin tracks of Stanley, and opening a new world to co 

 merce. But that does not bear on the gorilla question, I 

 cept as to his probable capacity of yielding "sport" tot 

 rifleman or profit to the animal trader. Poor Pongo ! yof 

 was truly a "short fife and a merry one ;" never was gor 

 so feted before. His age I do not know, he had been in I 

 lin nearly a year and a half, and might on a guess be fron 

 to ten years old. 



His life in Europe was one grand holiday. He held i _ 

 tions, and, on his recent visit to England, sat at the tabic 

 ate with the* nobility ; was fond of beer and other j 

 things, and was as good tempered and well behaved a l 

 as one could wish. Never did he have to be confined 

 submit to the indignity of a chain -, but in his apartmfeL 

 the Aquarium, with .his companion, the Chimpanzee, and 

 dog, alternately slept and played away life. In Englan' 

 was respectfully known as Mr. Pongo ; a title rather r. 

 freely used there than in America, and evidently besfco 

 from anthropological reasons. 



On his return to Berlin his arrival had all the chart.. 

 the triumphal entry of a distinguished personage, 

 thusiastic reception was accorded him ; all the offli 

 Aquarium received him in full dress, a grand banquet and] 

 serenade was given him, and the Berliners" flocked in crowd 

 to see their old favorite. 



When we consider the subject, his death is hot l~^ 

 much to be wondered at. My friend Conklin, of the Cei_ 

 Park Menagerie, and others versed in the habits of the qu 

 riunana, all say that they do not live long when rcmot 

 from their own country. Most monkeys die of coi 

 or decline of some sort. Even the hardy Esquimaux, wh 

 brought down, cannot stand our climate, neither can 

 savage from the tropics. Civilized man alone, of all bej 

 on tn'is earth, can endure all climates; reared in tj 

 ate zone he can stand the Arctic winter with the dwellers. 

 Upper Navick, or bear the burning sun on African sanda wi 

 the woolly-headed and delicately-perfumed Zambesien. i 

 again, the civilized stomach, through long generation 

 abuse, has a power of endurance unknown to savages. 

 the years of drunkenness that the white man can proud" 

 call, and mark the few months in which the red brot) 

 laid with his toes to the roots of the daisies after wort 

 at the shrine of a frontier Bacchus. Perhaps this may 1 

 bearing on the liveB of these. elder scions of our family i 

 under consideration ; not that I would insinuate that t 

 was at all bibulously inclined, or even indulged if so incl 

 but there most evidently has been change of food which v 

 sooner or later have seriously affected this primitive 1 

 creature had not catarrh anticipated it. 



Adieu, Pongo ! No cloud-piercing column will challei 

 the passer-by to pause and read thy many virtues, penned 

 loving fingers ; but thy bones will be mounted for the ben 

 of the anatomist, and thy skin stuffed to resemble life ir. 

 or less naturally, and instead of being doomed to " lie in c 

 obstruction and to rot," like us less favored bipeds, thou i 

 still keep good company. 



Dr. Hermes has several very excellent casts of P 

 iu life, which I saw and had therefore on opportunity of coi 

 paring with the original; they only wanted coloring to 'j 

 perfect. Pongo's countenance w T as that of an old negro J 

 an exaggerated nose that looked as if it might have been 

 ally ' 'put on hot arid run all over ;" the eye was bright an 

 pressive, and the face generally pleasing — such a face as 1 

 Tonimight have had, only no nigger ever had hvj ' 

 matter how well-developed specimens of compressed 

 organs can be shown in " Ole Virginny." 



I do not remember that Pongo made any allusion to t 

 feature : perhaps he only regarded it as ornamental, i 

 rather a question of taste than physical superiority; or, in 

 chivalric spirit, forbore to press comparisons further afl 

 triumph in the exhibition of thumbs, his generosityforbi 

 him to trample on a fallen foe. Retiring to my hot* 

 eating a good dinner, I think that I must have fallen :i 

 over my coffee and cigar, served in my own room, for I 

 tinctly saw the door open and Pongo entered, but 

 changed; he wore a hat of the "nail-keg" pattern, |" 

 most dissolutely on one side, and his unsteady ■, 

 shocking fact that he was inebriated; further evidence c 

 was furnished by his seating himself on the table aud \ 

 ing at me while twirling all his thumb's, and 

 husky voice the following refrain, which seemed 

 familiar : 



" My name is J. Pongo, I was born on the Loanjso, 

 To keep me in Hoangbvrngijiji my father did try ; 

 But 'twas no use in talking, 1 slipped down the Grombesoloi 

 I was hound to see the Aquarium in Berlin or die." 

 Noticing by an expression of sorrow on my face 

 not in sympathy with his roystering, lie sudden 1 1 

 lour bunds, and, grasping mine, stammered out \ 

 ole I el'; ta-ta; be good to, yourself ; 

 he departed. It is a great pleasuri 

 was not a reality now that he has departed, for 1 

 entertain a profound respect for his mem 



lias gone to the land of the great G a 

 Where ho sits in a tree to watch the moon 



iaila o'er the flat Gronibooliuii 

 And we never, no never, shall B6« 



<u u recent number of Nature we learn thi 

 sad death of Pongo. Thi 



