126 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



titiBCH 16, 1881 



rous companions that I could truly say that I did not envy 

 him his good fortune. 



Instinctively realizing that remarks of mine would he en- 

 tirely inappropriate, 1 turned to resume my post. Fancy 

 my feelings when I heheld, not twenty yards' from where I 

 had been sitting, this satanic imp standing in the middle of 

 the road and coolly gazing at us. Although he was good 

 eighty yards distant 1 instinctively brought my gun into 

 position and as lie .sprang for the hank, threw it well ahead 

 of him and impulsively pulled the trigger. With proudly' 

 heating heart I saw him miss his footing at the edge of the 

 bank and tumble back into the ditch. With loud exultant 

 shouts I voiced the tumultuous feelings of joy and pride that 

 were surging in my bosom. But my triumph was of short 

 duration, for gathering himself up he took the bank and wall 

 with a prodigious Hying leap and disappeared. 



Notwithstanding the painful revulsion in my feelings I 

 noted with no small degree of satisfaction that the derisive, 

 flourish of that beautiful brush, with which he was wont to 

 wave mo his adieu, was entirely wanting, and that his usual 

 nonchalant appearance of fearless abandon was suddenly 

 changed to a frightened look of mortal fear and dread. 



Some of the dogs had now reached the road and were 

 howling and tearing at the stones at the mouth of the little 

 bridge. Yelling to" them at the top of our voices, wc soon 

 had them at the spot where the mauy r bright red flecltB upon the 

 snow plainly showed us that he was grievously hurt. As the 

 screaming dogs, made frantic by the smell of the warm 

 blood, rushed after him with terrific speed, we congratula- 

 ted ourselves that the chase would soon be over and that we 

 could soon proudly boast the possession of that long sought 

 white-tipped brush. We saw by the marks that he left that 

 his right fore leg was broken ana uselessly dangling. There 

 was a large quantity of blood upon the snow, and we fol- 

 lowed the trail and saw that at almost every jump the red 

 life current had spurted from the wounds for more than a 

 foot. We again shook hands and raised our voices in exultant 

 shouts of victory. Our companions now joined us, and as 

 they beheld the gruesome sight, raised a prolonged cheer that 

 made the welkin ring again. 



The chase led down wind, and the dogs were soon out of 

 hearing; indeed, most of them were running "still" and exert- 

 ing every nerve to overtake the wounded fox; this was no 

 time to expend the panting breath in futile noise; precious 

 moments could not be wasted now to thrust the eager nostrils 

 into the warm track and dally with the perfume ; but mute 

 and relentless as fate, with bloodshot, glittering eyes and pro- 

 truding tongue, every muscle and tendon of the swiftly flying 

 forms was Strained to its utmost tension as they sped along in 

 this wild, exciting race. 



We followed on about a, hundred rods to the brow of the 

 hill, expecting to find upon the broad slope below the panting 

 forms of the dogs lying upon the snow around the mutilated 

 form of their victim; but when we arrived at the spot and 

 glanced down the hillside there was nothing to be seen save 

 the bloody trail, almost obliterated by the rushing dogs. We 

 stood here a momeut, and, as our ears caught the sharp cries 

 of the dogs far to the west of us, with one impulse each man 

 started back at the top of his speed. 



Hearing a heartfelt grunt just behind me, I glanced over 

 my shoulder and beheld a sight that I shall long remember. 

 Close to me was an old, gray-headsd patriarch standing on his 

 head and gallantly essaying to reverse his position, while a 

 little to one side of him a compatriot was struggling waist-deep 

 in the treacherous depths of a spring hole that had been hidden 

 by tie: snow. I had been ardently longing for my old stand 

 on top of the mountain, but now I was more than reconciled 

 and perfectly satisfied with my position. A glance at the 

 wildly eccentric evolutions of those frisky boots, and a 

 glimpse at the wonderful contortions of that mud-besmeared 

 visage were very consoling to my feelings. With renewed 

 vigor I pressed on to the old road, and, tearing through the 

 narrow laurel thicket, rushed up the slope, and breathless 

 and thoroughly blown reached the ridge. I was still more 

 than 800 yards from the little pines, hut to save my life I 

 could not go another step. 



The dogs ware about a mile to the southwest of me, and 

 were swinging toward the mountain and rapidly ap- 

 proaching. Soon 1 saw our now thoroughly frightened hero 

 with lolling tongue and trailing brush come over a rise, and 

 with incredible" leaps, steer straight for my favorite staud. 

 Not more than ten rods behind and in full view of him, were 

 three of our swiftest dog J, straining every nerve to overtake 

 him. Now they are at the top of the hill, and as they reach 

 the descending ground I can sec that they are slowly but 

 surely gaining upon him. Poor old fellow! your race is 

 nearly run. A few more weary leaps for life and' the gleam- 

 ing fangs of the relentless fiends so cloje behind will be fas- 

 tened in your quivering flesh. Sadly I gazed upon the scene. 

 Profound sorrow was id my heart as I realized that this was 

 the last of those many days of rarest sport, that we had en- 

 joyed with him; and as I saw the gallant fellow — weak and 

 wounded — gamely struggle on, tears were in my eyes, and 1 

 cursed the hour that hind of mine had wrought him harm. 



The open-mouthed dogs are now close upon him. As they 

 spring to seize him, he nimbly doubles upon them, and they 

 go sprawling and sliding down the hill, while he, with brave 

 leaps, climbs the steep ascent, But, new disaster awaits him 

 here, for another dog has now arrived and cut.? off his re- 

 treat. Game to the last, he boldly faces the new comer and 

 fastens his sharp teeth in the end of his nose. With howls of 

 pain the cowed dog tears himself lorjse, and with crestfallen 

 looks sneaks away 7 Fatal delay; ere the fox can recover and 

 resume hie flight, cruel jaws have closed upon his beautiful 

 form, and with vengeful shake and ever tightening grip, 

 soon finish their bloody work. 



My companions ' IU 1 l10 "'' 7 arrived, and together we wended 

 our way to the spot. Deep feelings of sadness were in our 

 hearts, and hushed and low were the few words that we ut- 

 tered. Almost reverently we raised the mangled, bleeding 

 form, and with misty eyes and husky voices, gave three 

 cheers for our gallant hero, the Old Red Fox of Bald Moun- 

 tain. ' Shadow'. 



Me. Aimiiters Exploit. — The Richmond Whiff reports : 

 Mr. H. M. Albert, of Puiaski county, recently fired into a 

 flock of ducks feeding about one of "his fodder stacks. IL 

 had loaded his gun heavily for just such an opportunity. It 

 was an antique gun, with a bore like a pint pot. L'pon this 

 occasion it capped the climax of all its murderous achieve- 

 ments by slaughtering outright twenty-live ducks, maiming 

 an indeiiiui u j! en! ' r. besides knocking its owner senseless, 

 and finally concluding its own career of carnage by bursting 

 into ten thousand and odd pieces. Mr. Albert did not pick 

 up his gams, but it seems that one of the farm hands did pick 

 up him, and Eorsome time little was thought of the ducks, 

 until it was ascertained that Mr. A. was not seriously hurt. 



ADIOS. 



TO one who has (raveled far nearly two months with no 

 other means of locomotion than mules and horses, the 

 sight of a railroad is most refreshing. Even if the traveler 

 make, what maybe called, "Mexican connection" — that is, 

 cud himself just twenty-two boms late for the train— it is 

 pleasant to reflect that be is, at any rate, in a portion of the 

 country where a train runs at stated intervals, even though 

 but once a day. For sixteen days previous to my reaching 

 Espetsnfca I had been in the saddle; in the last three I had 

 ridden one hundred and seventy miles, sixty miles in the last 

 day, and reached the station above named in a state of ex- 

 haustion and fever. The great heat of the Southern valleys, 

 in violent contrast to the high plateaus traversed by the rail- 

 way, were responsible for the latter. 



Esperanza, a station on the Mexican Railway, 152 miles 

 from Mexico, and 111 miles from Vera Cruz, lies at an alti- 

 tude of nearly 8,000 feet above the sea, consequently it is 

 cool all day and windy all night. It is below this station, in 

 the direction of Vera Cruz, that the scenery of the road i.'i of 

 such magnificence that people come from all quarters of ( he 

 world to look upon It. Eighty-two miles from the coast is 

 Orizaba, a town lying on the line between the tropic and the 

 temperate zones, with a profusion of tropical vegetation and 

 a soft, agreeable climate. It has been selected as the place 

 for an exhibition of the products of the State of Vera Cruz, 

 and the "exposition buddings" were about the dimensions of 

 those used in county fairs in the States. The show took 

 place in December. A return fever obliged me to lie over 

 one train — twenty four hours — at Orizaba, and here I was 

 left to puzzle during mv waking hours over a problem. It 

 was this: Two months previously I had left Cordova for 

 Southern Mexico, taking with me' but little luggage, as the 

 travel was to be on horseback. Nearly all my effects were 

 left in charge of a worthy man, whose "acquaintance I had 

 made a few days before. Now, I was in Orizaba, but seven- 

 teen miles from Cordova, and the question was how to get 

 the trunks without stopping over another day; the steamer 

 was advertised to sail the next day, on arrival of train; there 

 was but one train and but one steamer. Two months before 

 the vomito, the yellow fever, was within eighteen miles of 

 Cordova, at Paso' del Macho, and rapidly advancing up the 

 mountains. Now, it was in Cordova, and raging still more 

 fiercely than at the coast, This was another reason for not 

 stopping at that delectable place, and as this was not suffi- 

 cient, the smallpox was carrying off such as the vomito 

 spared. There was but one way, to telegraph, asking the 

 gentleman, whom I barely knew, to send the luggage to the 

 station. Three telegrams were sent, but no answers received, 

 and it remained a matter of doubt whether my friend had 

 not fallen a victim to the fever, until the dreaded station was 

 reached and the things found in possession of the agent, 



It is a very strange fact — but nevertheless apparently a 

 fact — that no matter how much the vomito has devastated a 

 place, the prominent men all seem to be spared. Here in 

 Cordova it was reported a dozen people had died daily for 

 a month, yet at the depot all was as usual; the same officials, 

 the same "porters, even the same women and children sell- 

 ing mangoes and jfine apples. 



Dreaded by many is the passage through the city of Vera 

 Cruz during the summer or the autumn months. Every pre- 

 caution is taken against delay there, and people en voyage 

 hurry through without daring'hardly to draw a deep breath 

 till safe on shipboard. My calculations bad been made with 

 an eye to this fact, with the intention of going direct from 

 train to steamer, but there was a great obstacle to the carry- 

 ing out of this plan. As we got down clear of the moun- 

 tains and was crossing the Llanos, we were saluted by furious 

 blasts, the pine trees were wildly lashing their trunks with 

 their long leaves, and the wind whistled and howled through 

 the train. Long before we had reached the city we knew 

 that there was a "norther" blowing, that there would be no 

 going on board that day. 



For a city that has passed through such a pestilence the 

 past season," Vera Cruz looked very fresh and inviting. The 

 scars of its sufferings do not show to one walking through 

 the streets, (which are very clean) or to one conversing with 

 its inhabitants. 



The ravages of yellow fever and smallpox have been really 

 terrible, yet" the people seem almost to have forgotten the 

 dreadful visitors and are as light-hean sdattu ho i d ui as ever. 

 The official returns cannot be relied upon, and it is not be- 

 lieved that thy represent the half of those who died, yet 

 they admit about 400 as the number of deaths from vomito 

 during the months of June, July and August. In, June, the 

 number is admitted as 23.5, when the fever was at its worst. 



It is thought that the norther, blowing when we left, will 

 have rid the oily of the last vestige of feves for the season. 

 It lasted three days; the second day was a holiday— the 

 Mexican Fourth of July— their anniversary of indep in [ence. 

 This they celebrated with rockets and bands of music. At 

 night the lovely plaza was illuminated and '.he people 

 crowded there to enjoy the fireworks. Then the fever patients 

 and invalids crawled out of their heated sick rooms and sat 

 in the breeze, even enjoying the fierce gales. 



A chronic complaint along the coast of Vera Cruz is this 

 blast of Boreas called the "Norther." It swoops down upon 

 the sea like a bird of prey, sending Ships ashore and lying 

 low many a forest monarch and many a residence on land. 

 The open roadsteads of this coast offer no protecion except 

 for the slight ah ill a offered bj the island and castle of Baa 

 Juan de ulna, in the bay of Vera Cruz. The sea. dashes over 

 the quay tn grpal waves and over the sea-wall into the streets, 

 covering the custom house with spray and the houses o.i 

 even the back si reels with encrustations of salt, The wind 

 howls through the streets, filling everybody with sand aud 

 consternation, but it is a welcome yMfcbr, nevertheless, and the 

 amount of disease and fever germs it dislodges and sends off 

 to be dissipated in thin air cannot be calculated. During the 

 "Norther" all the small boats and lighters are drawn out aud 

 hauled up beyond the reach of the surf. Larger boat! and 

 steamers are made as snug as possible, and Ihe crews hold on 

 to their hair and rejoice in a short period of enforced leisure. 

 The boatmen avail 'themselves of a privilege the law allows 

 them, during the season of "Northers," and charge a pas- 

 senger two or three dollars for passage to the .steamer (half a 

 mile) instead of the regular fare of fifty cents. By this series 

 of gales the steamer was detained three days beyond her 

 usual day of leaving, and 1. who had made sueh frantic 

 efforts to reach her, had ridden so fast and far to catch her, 

 found myself stranded (as it were) iu Vera Cruz till the storms 

 were over. At the U S. Consulate, all the old family who 

 have been there so long and have made Americans so wad- 

 come, Were residing— except Dr. Trowbridge, the head of it, 

 who was absent in the United States. The "sad ending of the 

 recent attempt to replace him, by the death of his successor 

 after but thirteen days' residence", should read a lesson to those 



in office in Washington who appoint men to foreign stations 

 for which they are not qualified nor acclimated. The twelve 

 years residence of Dr. Trowbridge here as our consul, dur- 

 ing which he has discharged the duties of the office faith- 

 fully and won respect from everybody, should entitle him to 

 a reappointment. It is impossible for one not acclimated to 

 reside in this city long without receiving a visit from " 'Yel- 

 low Jack," which may prove fatal. The Doctor aud his 

 family have passed through many bad seasons; they have all. 

 had the fever, and it is to be hoped they may be spared yet 

 many years to live in a place they seem" to like. For a city 

 of 23,000 people Vera Cruz does not present a broad water 

 front, as seen from the sea, nor is it far from the sea wall 

 to the sand hills that bound it inland. It presents a lovely 

 picture from the steamer, the soft tones of its walls harmonize 

 so well, the many towers and the peculiar covered domes 

 glisten in the sun, and far beyond the sand hills and the 

 Llanos and forests, on a clear day, rises the Snow-white peak 

 of Orizaba. It is surprising how far the two great peaks, 

 Orizaba and the Cofre de Perote, can be seen. We discerned 

 them on Sunday at Tuxpan, a hundred miles north of Vera 

 Cruz, and it is said that the former can be seen sixty miles at 

 sea. 



Nothing could be learned regarding the commencement of 

 work at Anton Lizards, the port that Gen. Grant contem- 

 plates making the rival of Vera Cruz, but reports stale that a 

 great work is being done at the River Coatzeoalcos, on the 

 Tehuantepec railroad. Fifteen miles are said to be finished, 

 and the grading carried well into the country. This is a 

 railroad that seems likely to enter upon profitable work as 

 soon as it is completed. 



Beyond River Coatzeoalcos, where, at present, the steamers 

 do not stop, is the chief and only port of the State of Tabasco, 

 a place of some importance, called Frontera. At Frontera 

 the great river, Tabasco, or Grijalra, discharges a turbid 

 flood, and it is up this river that one must steam and paddle 

 if he wishes to reach the famous ruins of Palenque. 



Glorious country this land of surprises, of deep, impenetra- 

 ble forests, shrouding from human view cities born thousands 

 of years before our history began. How one longs to get on 

 shore at these ports that lie wrapped in haze from six to ten 

 miles distant! We know that they are the points visited by 

 Cortes, by Cordova, by Grijalra; that here occurred a skirmish, 

 there a bloody battle; that here the heathen were converted 

 ch masse, by the thousand, and worshiped, not only the God 

 of the conquerors, but the Spaniards themselves and their 

 horses. It is when off Campeche, perhaps, that one feels he 

 has reached historic ground, for it is a point mentioned in the 

 earliest chronicles of "New Spain. Here, as in Yucatan, -there 

 are numerous deer and small birds, like quails, and in the 

 lagoons great swarms of water fowl. But the scrub that 

 covers Campeche is infested with the garvrrpnln. a species of 

 tick that worries the life out of one penetrating it, The very 

 name of the country in Maya, the language of the native 

 Indians, Cham, a serpent, and piiAc, a garrapata. A.s these 

 ancient Mayas never bestowed a, name unless it was weLl 

 deserved, it seems that serpents abounded .in Campeche a.s 

 well as ticks. They are nasty beggars, these ticks, and when 

 smarting from their bites, on the occasion of many an excur- 

 sion in Yucatan, 1 have thought a serpent would be much 

 pleasanter to meet. Not a serpent too big too handle nor too 

 small to be easily discovered, but a good average one, from 

 which you might escape with nothing worse than a fright. 

 Logwood and mahogony come to mind when we think of 

 Campeche, for is not the former designated as GamprcManuinf 

 HaetnOioxylon Oamrmrluauiuit, is a long name for a rather 

 short tree, and in this case ba rely more than the name re- 

 mains, for the trees have all been cut down. 



The lagoons, which lie along the coast, especially Lu/pitm 

 <:/,■'■ Tdrtninoa, which the first Spanish navigators thought the 

 termination of the new world, were formerly lined with log- 

 wood. But now the logwood cutter must penetrate far into 

 the forest, ascend the swift rivers and thread the unhealthy 

 swamps before he can find it in abundance. At the port of 

 Progress, at the extreme tip of Yucatan, we finally said good- 

 bye, to Mexico. Seven months previous I had lauded on this 

 very shore, a stranger, not knowing a single soul. I had 

 gone into the interior and had since traveled many a mile 

 through the forests and over the plains and mountains of New 

 Spain Now, I was returning to the States, laden with the 

 spoils of man}' a foray in historic fields and rich in the recol- 

 lection of many friends — pursued, perchance, by the curses 

 of a few enemies. It seemed like parting from scenes of 

 home when we finally steered away from Yucatan and the 

 low sand hills with their fringes 01 palms, amongst which 

 nestled red-roofed houses, sank down behind the sea. We 

 heard that yellow fever had got that way, too, and that some 

 of our friends were dead. Good friends— they are all good 

 friends in Yucatan— may your souls rest in peace! Two 

 days later, Ave were dodging the carriages in the streets of 

 Havana, and listening tothe band at evening, as it filled the 

 cool air with music in the Purque de J.:<,e .'.v/. Havana, too, 

 was stricken wiili yellow fever, but we heard more of it be- 

 fore we reached the poitl ban afCr we bud entered it. In- 

 deed, these officials, rotten with pestilence and jaundiced 

 with pest, fevers, wished to place us in quarantine, instead of 

 warnimr us again it infection on shore. But we sauntered on 

 shore, iind took aboard cargoes of sugar and tobacco, and 

 really gaye the fever little thought. Nor had wc occasion to, 

 though we were saddened and reminded that the climate of 

 Mexico had some bad spots in it, by the death of one of OW 

 number, only one day out oJ Havana. We buried him next 

 day at sea, almost within sight of the Florida coast, right 

 abreast ox Indian "River, this foutig man, a son of Brigham 

 Young; aright good young' man, and whom we regretted 

 should die such an untimely death. 



Four days later we had cross d the Gulf Stream and were 

 heading up towards the noble city where the Forest and 

 Stream and other pipers are published. It was a Sunday 

 when we arrived, I remember well it was the Sabbath, be- 

 cause the revenue officer on duty said I had better give him 

 five dollars so that he wouldn't "have to break the Sabbath by 

 looking at my trunks. How praiseworthy, reflected 1, is the 

 conduct of this officer, who has such respect for the holy 



": ay; and 1 could not, help conttaatrag it with that 



of my late companions, in Mexico, who were probably ,al that 

 Simeon their way to a bull-fight, And did I give him that live 

 ,.:,,;] I,-. ,,, ■[,;■■•'.- ;", hi-' ile-. eieie.n of the day, anil to eke out 

 his scanty salary':' Ask him! 



It was not for me to indulge in reflections at such a time, 

 but to get my luggage out "of that officer's way before- he 

 changed his mind and broke my boxes open. And, likewise, 

 I believe it is best to act with mv reader, aud take myself 

 away with my baggage before he breaks my metaphorical 

 head. Reflections, I Know, are not in order; but let me 

 linger t wish the gentle re der aMo$; and, reader not quite 

 so gentle, adtos! our voyage is ended Omen. 



