FOREST AND STREAM. 
116 
T>r ih< W i Tria ^ r-rF 
gone, and the IMw Virginianus * (Baird) or Laughing Owl of 
the North was before me. 
Oh, the reaction of that moment! It was almost as painful 
as the previous terror. I was as weak as a child, and could 
have really cried with emotion. Ah, George! to have been 
brought up in the woods, and then to be so scared by an 
owl! 
I dropped to sleep and rested undisturbed until the sun 
was well up. I traveled all day probably nearly in a circle 
looking for our line, (presume I was going back and forth 
parallel to it all the time,) until nearly dark, when I found 
a tree with the limbs so arranged that I could sleep with 
something of ease and safety. The day following, being the 
third out, during the forenoon ^discovered what appeared 
to be an old blaze on a tree, but I had been so often de¬ 
ceived I'hardly dared hope, but on looking on the other side 
there it was again; then I perceived one on another tree, 
then another. I had struck a section line; I followed it up 
to the corner. I was safe! Ah, how good those figures 
looked, the Town and range. I knew where I was then, 
eleven miles only from our line and about fourteen from 
the last pimp. As we were moving only about six miles 
a day through the heavy timber I had an easy job before 
me. I lay down and slept an hour, then reached camp 
about four P. M. I had been given up by all hands. They 
had been back on the line, had built fires, fired guns and 
blown horns, but had finally bid good bye to George. But 
not soon shall Lforget my first study from life of “laugh¬ 
ing owls.” Jacobstaff. 
*The great Horned Owl of North America has a great variety of cries 
peculiar to itself. Bonapart mentions the distinct utterance of the 
words “Waugh oh Waugh” as it rushes by, and other words in close imi¬ 
tation of the human voice. 
---* 
For Forest and Stream . 
A. B ULL FIG HT. 
B ULL fighting is still the popular amusement in Havana. 
These barbarous exhibitions are given at the plaza de 
toros , a large amphitheatre just outside the city. The 
centre of this building is occupied by an arena surrounded 
by a fence some six feet high, and strong screens placed at 
intervals, behind which the footmen find protection when 
hard pressed by the bull. From this arena tiers of seats, 
supported on arches, rise one above another to near the 
summit of the outer wall. The upper tier for nearly half 
the circle is fitted up into boxes arranged and furnished as 
at a theatre. As the combat begins at 4 P. M., the western 
wall oposes a barrier to the sun and divides the interior of 
the building into the sornbra , (shady,) and the sol, (sunny,) 
the former being the fashionable quarter. The seats over 
the entrance to the arena are occupied by the musicians. 
The exhibition I shall attempt briefly to describe was 
given a few weeks since in Havana for the benefit of the 
wounded soldiers, under the patronage of Captain General 
Jovellar’s daughter, who with her father, and several mem¬ 
bers of his staff, occupied a conspicuous box, about which 
were seated a company of volunteers armed with muskets. 
At 4 o’clock the bugle sounded, and two picadors, armed 
with long pikes, and mounted on blindfolded horses, and 
six chulos, or footmen, provided with colored cloaks, enter¬ 
ed the arena as a triumphal procession, and bowing low to 
the fair patroness and the assembled multitude, took their 
several stations. After a moment’s pause a gate near the 
main entrance was opened, and the bull ran wildly into the 
ring with a large rosette of fancy colored ribbons imbedded 
in his shoulder. To remove this rosette the footmen eager¬ 
ly set to work, and the successful competitor leaping "the 
fence forced his way through the admiring crowd to the 
Captain General’s box and presented it—its sharp barb 
dripping blood—to his smiling daughter. Meantime, the 
bull, fretted by the cloaks which the chubs flaunted before 
his face, espied one of the horses. Pawing the ground for 
an instant he sprang forward with a loud bellow, but was 
caught by the picador on his pike, and so firmly held that 
after several ineffectual attempts to advance he backed away 
from before the pain, but only to turn upon the other horse, 
whose rider, from want of strength or skill, failed to stay 
the powerful animal, and his horns ripped a ghastly wound 
through which the entrails protruded, while the poor blind¬ 
folded brute stood quivering with pain, and the walls of 
the amphitheatre resounded with the plaudits of the baser 
brutes looking on. The ladies, less demonstrative than the 
men, but equally desirous of -expressing approbation, tap¬ 
ped their dainty palms with their fans, and lisped ‘ ‘Buenos!” 
“Buenos !” The ever-watchful chubs sprang to the rescue, 
and by skillful activity drew the attention of the bull, who, 
maddened to desperation, tossed to and fro the worrying 
rags, driving the holders for safety to their screens. Again 
he attacked the wretched horse, whose rider once held him 
at bay, and despite of eveiy obstacle, although the sharp 
pike ploughed a deep furrow in his quivering flesh, over¬ 
turned both horse and rider; but the chulos were at hand 
and succeeded in enticing him away to another part of the 
arena, thus affording the picadors an opportunity to remove 
their wounded horses. Then appeared a bandc')ill-cro, and 
watching his opportunity he adroitly planted two darts 
furnished with explosives deep in the shoulders of the bull, 
one on either side. The moans of the tortured animal were 
plainly heard above the shouts of the spectators, and as he 
looked up with an almost human appeal in liis wild eyes 
the mute entreaty provoked only jeers and laughter. 
Although torn and bleeding he stood in the centre of that 
arena the only hero of the fight, and my heart was with 
him. The banderillero again approached to place a second 
paii of darts, but quick as a flash the bull caught and tossed 
him high in the air. I shouted with the loudest, and in¬ 
voluntarily breathed a prayer that the puny soul of tha 
t 
fragment of a man might then and there find its everlasting 
abiding place. But on falling he hugged the ground and 
the curved horns of the bull failed to reach him. He was 
saved by the chubs , who twisted the animal’s tail, and 
blinded his eyes with their cloaks. The injured man was 
removed and the lady patroness waved her hand for the 
matador to end the combat. But as if the spectacle was too 
pleasing to be shortened the people shouted “No! No!” 
but the lady -was inexorable, and the matador attracting the 
bull by means of a small red flag plunged bis sword between 
his shoulder blades, severing the neck and spine. For an 
instant the strickened animal stood transfixed, then with a 
shudder, fell forward upon his knees and sank slowly to 
the ground. A poniard, thrust just behind the horns, end¬ 
ed his misery, and the delighted multitude threw into the 
arena hats, handkerchiefs and cigars, so beside themselves 
were they with excitement.. The band struck up a lively 
air, three gay \y caparisoned mules galloped into the ring, a 
noose was thrown over the bull’s horns, and the bloody 
carcass was dragged away. Six bulls in all were slaughtered, 
and the crowd separated greatly pleased with the afternoon’s 
sport. (?) * T. E. L. 
- - 
For Forest and Stream. 
HOW TO SHOOT AT LONG RANGE. 
NUMBER TWO. 
I T is proposed in this letter to consider the errors of the 
instruments themselves, viz: the rifle and its ammuni¬ 
tion. There is very little fault to be found with the best 
target rifles as made by Remington, Maynard, Sharp, 
Burton, and others, except as regards their sights. The 
twist must of course be as sharp as one turn in eighteen or 
twenty inches, so as to give sufficient velocity of revolution 
to the projectile, which is a cylinder of at least three 
diameters in length; and the metal of the barrel must be 
thick and heavy enough to stand without excessive recoil 
and vibration the necessary charge of powder. 
The sights, however, are generally inferior to those of 
the English long range rifles, and without good sights a 
rifle is useless. A rifleman should try the various kinds 
and stick to that which suits his eyes the best. We will 
describe those which we have chosen, after examining and 
trying all sorts, and which John Krider, of 2d and Walnut 
streets, Philadelphia, has attached to our Remington. The 
front sight is a well defined globe or pill supported on a 
slender stalk and enclosed in a tube three eighths of an inch 
diameter and same length. The whole rests on a plate 
moving in a notch. A thumb screw below it and attached 
to it, works in a piece of metal fixed to the barrel. By re¬ 
volving this screw it moves the sight to the right and left 
and holds it firmly in any position. This last is an indispen_ 
sible requisite. There is a scale divided into fiftieths of an 
inch on the movable part and a pointer on the fixed part. 
A movement of a fiftieth of an inch can thus be made and 
recorded. Each fiftieth of an inch movement of the fore¬ 
sight corresponds to two feet upon the target at 1,000 yards. 
This shows the necessity for delicate means both of adjust¬ 
ment and record. 
The rear sight consists of two steel bars about five inches 
long, connected at top, bottom, and hinged to the stock 
behind the trigger in the usual way. Between them slides 
the sight-holder, and there is a fixed tliumb-screw on one 
side, upon which the sight-holder forms a movable nut. 
By turning the screw either way the sight rises or falls. 
This is less cumbrous and less likely to be moved than the 
English sight with its double set of screws and clamp. The 
sight-proper consists of a cup-shaped disk, one and one-eiglitli 
inch in diameter and about one-fourth inch deep. This disk is 
made to unscrew from the holder so as to enable us to insert 
eyepieces with holes of different sizes according to the bright¬ 
ness of the day and the clearness of the view of target. On 
one side there is a vernier scale recording the actual eleva¬ 
tions of the rifle to minutes. At the risk of being tedious 
we will describe how this is graduated, for there can be no 
just comparison of rifles unless their actual elevations are 
recorded, as from these elevations the velocities and 
trajectories may be calculated for every range. 
Measure the distance between front and rear sights. Call’ 
this for example thirty inches. Set the rear sight the same 
distance above the axis of the bore as the top of the fore¬ 
sight. The line of sight then coincides with the line of 
fire, and tlius is our base line, and we mark as it as O on 
our vernier scale. Now by a very simple problem of tri¬ 
gonometry we learn that the elevation of the rear sight will 
be the tangent of the angle of elevation, which is the angle 
included between the line of sight and the line of fire, and 
to mark a distance of one degree we multiply the distance 
between the sights by the natural tangent of one degree. 
In this case 30 in. x.0174551=.523, say 52-100 of an inch, 
which we lay off on the scale measuring from the O mark. 
Put on as many degrees as necessary, say four. Divide 
each degree into six spaces of ten minutes each. Divide 
the width of a degree on the vernier into five spaces of 
twelve minutes each, and the vernier will read to two min¬ 
utes by its lines, and to one minute when they do not coin¬ 
cide. One minute of elevation on the rear sight corresponds 
to about nine inches on the target at 1,000 yards range. 
Now, considering we have such minute quantities to deal 
with, is it not foolish for people whose sights are knocked 
with the handle of an old knife and marked by a scratch of 
its blade, to try and compete with those who have taken 
care to provide themselves with instruments of precision? 
The perpendicularity of the sight can be best attained in 
our judgment by the use of a little pendulum attached to 
the rear sight. This can be more easily seen than the 
bubble of a level placed near the foresight. T. C, C, 
MOOSE IN NEW YORK STATE. 
Philadelphia, March C, 1874. 
Editor Forest and Stream :— 
In your issue dated February 19th I find an interesting 
paper on the moose. In speaking of the geographical 
range of this animal the author alludes to several books, 
amongst others those of Audubon and Bachman on the quad¬ 
rupeds of North America, and remarks, “It is quite cer¬ 
tain that there was not a single representative moose in the 
northern counties of New York State when the last named 
works were issued.” He also adds, “I think there has not 
been one killed within the State for the last sixteen years.” 
Permit me to take exception to the last statement. Dur¬ 
ing the summer of 1861, a small party of Philadelphians, 
including myself, were encamped for several days upon 
Raquette Lake in the Adirondacks. Many of your readers 
will recollect the wild and picturesque stream called Marion 
river that discharges into Raquette Lake the waters of that 
beautiful, clear sheet of water called by some Lake Em¬ 
mons, by others Blue Mountain Lake. It is a stream full 
of remarkable windings, a second Meander. We were 
camping on Raquette Lake right opposite the mouth of this 
stream, and used frequently to cross the lake, pass up the 
stream a few hundred yards, and try for speckled trout 
that were wont to frequent a cold spring-hole in the vicin- 
ty. It was almost three o’clock one afternoon of a beauti¬ 
ful golden day. We had been angling with some success, 
and were returning to camp for a late dinner. There were 
six persons in all, t)vo boat loads. Our guides were row¬ 
ing leisurely along, and the rest of us were enjoying the 
pure mountain air, the golden flood of sunlight, the spark¬ 
ling waters, and the thousand genial sights and sounds of 
that grand wilderness region. We were rounding an ah' 
rupt turn in the river when we suddenly caught sight of a 
huge beast up to its waist in the water, and feeding leisure¬ 
ly upon the lilly pads. We were within a half rifle shot of 
it before it perceived us. The first boat having no suit¬ 
able weapon halted. Our guide instantly seized his rifle 
and sprang to the bow. The animal turned and walked 
slowly toward the shore,, the mud in which he was treading 
preventing a more rapid exit. As it turned its huge flank 
the guide leveled his rifle. The occupants of the first boat 
discharged their guns, loaded with bird shot, at the ears of 
the creature wi h no visible effect except to provoke the 
laughter of the company. Our guide covered his game, 
but was very deliberate, waiting for a better exposure. 
Finally he pulled the trigger, and the beast dropped, quiv¬ 
ering and dead, on the edge of the bank. 
It turned out to be a large cow moose. After some effort 
we got her into one of the boats, which she weighed 
down to the water’s edge, We all found place in the 
remaining boat and towed the moose behind us. I will 
remember that as we began to cross the lake a fresh breeze 
prevailed, and we were threatened with quite a sea. How¬ 
ever, we got safely across. The moose was an acceptable 
addition to our stock of provisions, although she was not 
in very good condition. 
Your contributor may therefore record that during the 
summer of 1801 a veritable female jnoose was shot on Marion 
river near Raquette lake, twelve years ago last summer. 
The persons present were Isaac Gerhart, lawyer; Mr. Bur 
gin, Rev. Augustus Smith, now settled in West Philadel¬ 
phia, and the undersigned, all residents of Philadelphia. 
The guide, who did the shooting, was one Palmer, 
of Long Lake. An account of this was recorded on the 
travelers’ book at Bartlett’s, on the Saranacs, as the party 
went out. I have understood the record is still there, but 
that sundry envious and disappointed sportsmen have indi¬ 
cated their disbelief of the story by certain ironical and 
sceptical comments. Nevertheless it is a true stor}q every 
word of it, and if Mr. Lamberton will visit Philadelphia I 
will introduce him to the parties, and will show him a bone 
taken from the foreleg of the beast. E. C. S. 
Waterproof Paint for Canvas.— The following is a 
cheap and simple process for coating canvas for wagon 
tops, tents, awnings, &c.; it renders it impermeable to mois¬ 
ture, without making it stiff and liable to break: Dissolve 
soft soap in hot water, and add thereto a solution of sul¬ 
phate of iron. The sulphuric acid combines with the pot¬ 
ash of the soap, and the oxide of iron is precipitated with 
the fatty acid as insoluble iron soap This is washed and 
dried, and mixed with linseed oil. The addition of dis¬ 
solved india-rubber to the oil improves the paint. 
—We find a floating paragraph which states that frogs 
will shriek if subjected to torture, and instances a case 
where a frog was slightly struck with a small switch. At 
first it sought to escape by amazing leaps, but finding the 
effort fruitless, it comme'nced to cry, its plaint imitating 
that of a small child so nearly as to have deceived any one 
not aware, of the kind of creature from which it emanated. 
The cry appeared to be caused by fear, and not actual pain, 
for the switching was so gentle that it could not have given 
pain. 
—A gray hair ivas espied by a lady among the raven 
locks of a fair friend of hers a few days ago. “Oh, pray 
pull it out,” she exclaimed. “If I pull it out, ten will 
come to the funeral,” replied the lady who made the un¬ 
welcome discovery. “Pluck it out, nevertheless, said the 
dark haired damsel; “it is of no sort of consequence how- 
many come to the funeral, provided they all come in 
black.” 
—A hooded owl has been captured near Centreville, Leon 
county, Florida. The bird is of a white and yellow color 
with a snowy hood around the face. When provoked, he 
swells out and utters a hissing sound like a small steam 
escape. 
—When you see a woman winding her watch in a horse 
car, you may make up your mind that she has not had a 
watch very long. 
