212 
FOREST AND STREAM 
PARODY ON THE BEGGAR’S PETITION. 
[from the sporting magazine of 1802 .] 
P ITY the sorrows of a poor old mare, 
Whose trembling limbs scarce keep her from the ground; 
Whose wearied days are lengthen’d to despair, 
For I am lame and wretchedly unsound. 
Yon alehouse sign erected near the wood, 
With tempting aspect drew me from the road, 
To shelter there—for “entertainment good 
For man and horse” was painted on the board. 
Haidis the fate of the infirm and poor ! 
Here as I craved a handful of their hay, 
An ostler drove me from the stable door, 
To seek again my solitary way. 
Oh! take me to yon hovel’s straw-built shed, 
Keen blows the wind and piercing is the cold* 
Oh! spare some litter for a scanty bed, 
For I am lame and miserably cold. 
Should I reveal the sources of my pain, 
How long I’ve borne oppression’s direful sway, 
Your hand would not withold some little grain, 
And I in humble gratitude would neigh. 
Myself descended from the noblest race, 
Oft from Newmarket’s course the palm have borne; 
Or ran the foremost in the joyful chase, 
When roused to action by the sprightly horn. 
Hard riding makes the stoutest horse decline; 
Hard riding brought me to the state you see; 
May your own horse’s fate be ne’er like mine 
The foal of famine and of misery. 
Doom’d to draw sand, I labor’d thro’ the day, 
With toil oppress’d, to earn my master’s bread; 
Then turned adrift, this dreary waste to stray 
Unheeded and unhoused, and worst of all, unfed. 
Blind Dobbin, late companion of my age, 
(Oft did the cruel whip his carcase flay) 
Fell, stumbling fell, sad victim to blind rage. 
And left the cart and cruelty to me. 
Pity the sorrows of a poor old mare, &c. 
<giz1l §ultur L e. 
This Journal is the Official Organ of the Fish Cnltur- 
ists’ Association. 
^ GRAYLING IN MONTANA. 
W E are enabled herewith to add another important chap¬ 
ter to the history of the American grayling. Of the 
perfect accuracy of the statements there can be no doubt. 
The author is a surgeon in the U. S. Army (with which'he has 
been connected since 1846),-and was a medical director of 
the Department of Dacotah. Strange to say, he never 
knew of the existence of the Michigan grayling until the 
publication of Mr. Mather’s letter in Forest and Stream, 
which was very thoughtfully sent to him by Dr. Coues, of 
the Smithsonian Institution, with whom he had correspond¬ 
ed and talked about the Montana grayling long previous. 
Thus, facts are gradually being developed which we have 
no doubt will identify this fish as one of our familiar resi¬ 
dents, hitherto scarcely deemed worthy of notice. Whether 
those of Montana and Michigan are different varieties, or 
whether they are identical with Richardson’s thymallus 
signifer of Mackenzie’s River and the 62d parallel, remains 
to be ascertained. We are promised additional information 
of the Montana fish next July, after the streams get low, 
subsequent to the June rise:— 
The very interesting letter of Mr. Fred. Mather at page 
164 of your present volume, the notice of the “Mich¬ 
igan Grayling” on page 168 in the same number (April 23, 
1874), and the statement in your “ Answers to Correspond¬ 
ents,” March 19th, that “there are no grayling * * * in 
the United States, so far as has been discovered, except in 
Michigan,” lead me to think that “ What I know about 
grayling ” may be not without interest to your readers. 
In the summer of 1860 I accompanied a detachment of 
troops from Fort Benton, the head of navigation on the 
Missouri, to the Columbia River, over the route known as 
Mullan’s Wagon Road, then just opened. All of the region 
traversed by this road, east of the Rocky Mountains, was 
then a wilderness—the discovery of gold in Montana was 
made some jmars later—and the virgin- streams, uncon¬ 
taminated by placer-washings, made of it a fly-fisher’s 
paradise. In these streams, flowing southward to the Mis¬ 
souri, I took, beside Lewis’s trout, many fish of a species 
which the distinguished naturalist, Dr. J. G. Cooper, who 
accompanied the expedition, believed to be as yet unde¬ 
scribed. The adipose fin indicated its relationship to the 
Salmonidse; and certain peculiarities—especially the large 
dorsal fin , recalling the drawing of Back’s grayling in 
Richardson’s “Fauna Boreali-Americana” — induced me 
to suggest that it was probably a thymallus , in which 
opinion Dr. Cooper concurred. 
The fish in question abounds in the same waters with 
trout—is a much bolder biter* taking the fly readily—but 
makes less fight than a trout of the same size. It ranges 
from a quarter of a pound to a pound and a half. 
Of the hundreds I have taken, none, I think, exceeded the 
latter weight. It is known to the rustics in Montana as the 
“ half-trout but sportsmen of that region have for years 
spoken of it as the grayling. 
On the 9th of July last I took from Sheep Creek, a tribu¬ 
tary of Deep Creek, which flows northward into the Mis¬ 
souri, some miles above the Great Falls, about seventy of 
these fish and perhaps a dozen trout. The mouth of Sheep 
Creek is about 65 miles southwest of Fort Benton, and 45 
miles northeast of Helena, M. T.—as the crow flies. 
A few weeks since, being enabled by the kindness of 
Prof. Milner to examine at the Smithsonian Institution 
seme specimens of the Michigan grayling preserved in 
alcohol, I recognized at a glance my old Montana acquaint¬ 
ance, with a difference not at first noticed; the general 
form, size, scales, and the Y-shaped or imperfectly crucial 
black spots were identical; the colors appeared to be the 
same; but, on closely examining the large dorsal fin, I was 
surprised to find a faint tinge of red , and still more sur¬ 
prised to learn that in the living fish, it is very marked. 
Nothing of the kind had ever struck me in the Montana 
grayling; nor have I fever seen the vivid colors so vividly 
described by Mr. Mather, which, did they exist in the 
Montana fish, it would seem impossible to have overlooked. 
I should never think of calling the Montana grayling a 
“ brilliant ” fish. 
An effort will be made to have some specimens from 
Montana forwarded as soon as practicable to the Smith¬ 
sonian Institution, and. to obtain notes of careful observa¬ 
tions of the colors in the freshly taken fish, a copy of which 
I will endeavor to send you. 
Enough is already known to warrant the statement that 
the grayling abounds in Montana; that the species is almost 
certainly identical with that found in Michigan, the dif¬ 
ference in color being possibly a sufficient ground for dis¬ 
tinguishing it as a variety of the latter ; and that it has been 
well known as a grayling to sportsmen on the head waters 
of the Missouri for ten years or more. 
In every stream in which I have seen it, trout were also 
abundant. On the expedition of 1860, I landed together a 
trout and two grayling, with a cast of three flies. 
J. F. Head. 
JSt. Paul , Minn., May 4th, 1874. 
V -- 
The Michigan Greyling—Seth Green’s Reconnois- 
sance.— The following notes from'Seth Green’s diary have 
been kindly furnished us according to his promise, which 
our readers will join us in acknowledging with thanks:— 
“ I left Rochester with M. A. Green April 28th at 6 
P. M.; arrived at Detroit at 6 A. M., April 29th; left De¬ 
troit by Bay City Road and arrived at Bay City at 12:30 
P. M. I found D. H. Fitzliugh and Lem. Jewell, the 
guide, on hand; (they are the pioneers of grayling fishing 
on the Au Sable) with provisions and camp equipage all 
right. We left Bay City at IP. M., and arrived at Gray¬ 
ling, or Crawford, at 5:30 P. M.; found a good hotel kept 
by a Mr. Hart wick; had grayling for supper and breakfast; 
they were cooked to a turn; started on 30th down the river 
in two boats, Lem and I in one and Mr. Fitzhugh and my 
brother in the other; the boats are propelled with poles; 
Lem. is a star, with him in the stern the boat goes where he 
wills it. There are plenty of men that can row, but to 
take a boat down and up such rapids, and over and under 
such logs as there are in all grayling rivers, is no fool of a 
job, and any man that undertakes it without a Lem. will 
get one end of him wet before he gets far; and if he goes 
down the river eight miles he will walk back just eight 
miles and send a Lem. for his boat. All the natives that 
live in the neighborhood of these rivers know how to use a 
pole with great skill. We had proceeded down the river 
about two miles when I heard a splash; it was not Lem. nor 
myself, but one of the parties in the other boat was floun¬ 
dering in the water. He got out, went ashore and built a 
fire, got a change of clothes, and got warm, then started 
again. When we had arrived at the camping grounds, 
eight miles farther down, we had caught fifty grayling, and 
before our tent was fairly pitched there were some of them 
broiling on sticks and some in the frying pan. They are a 
good eating fish, but I would rather have a trout or some 
other kinds of fish; but I think they would satisfy the ap¬ 
petite of any man after a day’s fishing. They have a pecu¬ 
liar flavor, such as I never have tasted before; the flesh is 
firm and coarse-grained and is free of bone as a trout’s. 
They rise at a fly as readily as a trout and make a good fight 
before you land them. They take the same kind of flies 
that trout do; a number six hook is about the right size; 
but I caught them on flies tied on number four and up to 
number twelve. For the benefit of those that would like to 
know what I think the best taking colors for grayling flies, 
I have sent the last leader and flies I used to Andrew Clerk, 
48 Maiden Lane, New York. 
We slept in camp four nights, mercury ranging from 16 
to 20 degrees above zero. It thawed during the middle of 
the day and that was the time we took grayliug. We caught 
about sixty per day, weighing from two ounces up to one 
pound; they average one half pound. They commence 
spawning in the Au Sable April 1st and are done spawning 
April 12; they spawn on gravel bottom in the most rapid 
water. They make a hole in the gravel and cast their spawn 
and cover them up the same as trout do. The spawn is 
transparent and as large as the smallest size of brook trout 
spawn. I think they are about forty days in hatching. The 
temperature of the Au Sable is 40 degrees. It is filled with 
springs and 1 think they make it their business to cast their 
spawn where there are springs in the rapids. They had 
done spawning when I was there, but 1 dug 106 spawn 
out pf the gravel and brought them home without the loss 
of one. 1 shall hatch every one of them. They are far ad¬ 
vanced; some of them are trying to break their shell now. 
I took them from three different beds. There were about 
ten days’ difference between the age of the spawn. I was 
disappointed when I came to dress the grayling to find they 
were through spawning, and to be equai to the emergency 
1 dug enough out of the gravel to experiment with. The 
106 spawn will put the country one year ahead in hatching 
them. I think it would be difficult to strip the spawn from 
them without killing the fish, but that can be overcome by 
using the Ainsworth screen or A. S. Collins’ roller. I left 
the town of Grayling, May 5th, with eighty large grayling in 
eight twelve-gallon milk cans, and arrived at Caledonia at 
11, A. M., the 6tli, with the loss of one dead and two hurt 
so that I killed them. Mr. Collins has charge of the gray¬ 
ling and spawn at his Caledonia Trout Ponds. He will 
keep the papers posted. I found by talking with the 
land-lookers and trappers that there were eight rivers in 
which there were grayling—namely, the Au Sable, Manas- 
tee, Muskegon, Boardman, Cheboygan, Augray, Rifle, and 
Marquette. The Cheboygan has both grayling and brook 
trout. Some of the above rivers empty in Lake Huron, and 
some into Lake Michigan. 
Some years ago Prof. Agassiz wrote a full description 
and drawing of the English grayling and their habits. 
Those found in Michigan are the same fish. 
Yours, Seth Green. 
—We regret to learn that of the 190 grayling transported 
last month from Hersey River by Mr. Fred. Mather, of 
Honeoye Falls, N. Y., only a hundred or so remain alive. 
Those that died were sold to Mr, Sutherland and served at 
his restaurant in Liberty street some ten days ago. As to 
Mr. Mathers query as to whether trout and grayling inhabit 
the same streams, there is abundant evidence that they do. 
We have seven letters from Michigan, all hastening to 
authenticate this fact, and from them we learn that the 
are found together in at least three rivers, namely the 
Jordan, the Bowen, and the Boardman, all of the Grand 
Traverse region. We quote from one of these:_ 
“I have fished those waters for the last seven years and 
have had very fine sport, both with grayling and trout 
The grayling, for a short spurt, is much the gamiest fish of 
the two, but they do not hold out like a trout. They f r( f 
quently, however, after being hooked spring two and even 
three feet out of the water. The best fly I ever found for 
them in June and July was a brown hackle. As to the 
flesh, I would not snap my fingers for choice of them and 
trout. Yours, Fisherman.” 
-- 
—It is proposed to stock the Marsh River and its tribu¬ 
taries in the town of Brooks, Maine, with land-locked sal¬ 
mon, black bass and smelts. 
--a-*-*--- 
STOCKING THE HUDSON. 
” New York, May 4,1874. 
Editor Forest and Stream:— 
In common with many others, I have read the essays and remarks at 
the late annual meeting of the Piscicultural Association, and was pleased 
to learn that so much has already been done to increase the supply of fish 
to say nothing of the hopes of achieving much more. But, after all, the 
public estimates the importance of all projects by their practical results 
and so (interesting as may be the history of success in raising speckled 
trout, grayling and other small game fish) the oi polloi are eager only 
for the introduction of large food fish to our waters and tablos. Beyond 
the circle of anglers of which I am glad to count myself one, it is hard to 
interest the general public in such things as fly-fishing and the stocking 
of preserves. And thus we are brought to the subject of the introciuc* 
tion of shad and salmon. 
We know already what has been done in shad culture, and trust that 
our Fish Commissioners may succeed in procuring laws for a proper 
“close time.” There is no other reason why one hundred million shad 
fry should not be annually placed in the Hudson and other rivers of our 
State, instead of five or ten million as now. 
We are not fully informed as to the progress made by our commission¬ 
ers in the introduction of salmon, but I fear they have allowed them¬ 
selves to be deterred by seeming obstacles from attempting this experi¬ 
ment on a scale commensurate with its importance. I trust that Mr. 
Roosevelt and his confreres in authority will accept all the California 
and Penobscot salmon eggs and fry which Mr. Baird can furnish, and 
place them in a dozen of the numerous suitable streams running into the 
Hudson between Glenn’s Falls and Troy. The Boreas, Ausable, Saranac 
and many rivers running into Lakes Champlain and Ontario might have 
a few thousand placed in them; but for purposes of commerce and in. 
dustry I regard the Hudson as the important point. The only obstacle 
is the dam above Troy; but as every salmon fisherman knows, this is 
hardly an obstacle, and can be easily remedied in time for the return of 
the salmon to the place of their birth two or three years hence. On 
freshet the salmon could run up this dam as it now is, and the cost of a 
fish way would not be great. Considerable inquiry in Canada as to the 
value of fishways introduced there of late years has convinced me that 
these devices have met the decided approbation of salmon, as evidenced 
by the use of the facilities thus afforded on many streams where their 
passage to the headwaters had been obstructed by dams for, in some 
cases, thirty years. 
I trust that our Fish Commissioners will "stock the Hudson with all the 
salmon fry they can get, and continue to do so annually. It does seem to 
me so important that the free offer of salmon fry by Mr. Baird should 
be availed of, that I hope our journals may take up the subject. Never 
has an opportunity of establishing a new industry so cheaply and on so 
large a scale been offered. Let ns embrace the chance, and there is no 
reason why our Hudson River fisheries should not become more import¬ 
ant than the take of our shad seiners. 
The introduction of salmon also into our inland lakes would be an in¬ 
teresting experiment. Cut off from the sea, I think the result would be 
the production of something like a Schoodic or land-locked salmon, the 
gamest fish of its size that swims. But the Hudson River is the im¬ 
portant point, and now is the time to begin. This season should not be 
lost. I understand that Mr. Slack has still many thousands of young 
California salmon fry to distribute. Manhattan. 
--♦♦♦■- 
AS TO LOBSTERS. 
* Rochester, N. Y., April 28,1874. 
Editor Forest and Stream:— 
I wrote the lobster article to set the people to thinking and experi¬ 
menting, and I am sure that it will be the means of making lobster cul¬ 
ture a great and thriving business in a very few years. I am sure it can 
be done, and if it cannot it will not be many generations before they will 
become extinct. I believe they have a certain season for spawning, and 
that if they were put in any small body of water near the large body of 
water that they were taken from and only a small neck of low land be¬ 
tween their large natural water and the small place of confinement, that 
they will walk over. They will surely, if they can walk on land. I 
know the fresh water lobster can and would. There are but few people 
that know anything of the great reasoni ng and instinctive knowledge of 
dumb animals. Seth Green. 
-- 
Winchester, Ya., May, 1874. 
Editor Forest and Stream;— 
I am sorry to inform you that the Virginia Legislature has again failed 
to make an appropriation for the furtherance of her fishery interests. The 
bill passed the House but was defeated in the Senate by a small majority. 
This untoward result has been owing partly, no doubt, to the lamentable 
condition of the State finances, but mainly, I fear, to culpable ignorance 
of the importance of the subject on the part of many of our “legislators, 
so called,” as Bill Arp would say. However, the friends of the fish wil 1 
keep “pegging away” u’ntil we achieve our ends. 
Yours truly, A. Wale. 
\iitnml history. 
DO QUAIL WITHOLD THEIR SCENT? 
Editor Forest and Stbeam:— 
1 have shot quail for years, shot thousands of them, and tried my best 
to find out if they do, but I don’t know. E. S. Wanmaker says that “a 
wet bird, or a dead one, a running bird, or a wounded one, a good dog 
will readily find.” I have never yet seen the dog that could smell a live 
quail three feet when there had been a brisk rain falling long enough to 
give the birds and their cover a good wetting. I have shot O'er dogs 
that had no trouble in trailing them before they were flushed, and the 
same dog utterly failed to do it after they had been flushed, particularly 
if the birds had run over dead leaves. I have seen dogs point single 
quail (closely hid and of course badly frightened) from one to two rods 
distant, and have seen the same dog go within a foot of one that had 
just been shot dead and not smell it. As to smelling a wounded one, n# 
dog has any trouble there, and I positively believe that at least one dog 
I know can tell by the scent whether a bird is wounded 
the wing or not, as he invariably goes for a winged one the moment e 
scents it, but points one wounded in the leg or body just as firmly as a 
sound one. It is generally impossible for the dog to scent quail jus 
