FOREST AND STREAM. 
232 
A WEEKLY JOURNAL, 
Devoted to Field and Aquatic Sports, Practical Natural History, 
„Fish Culture, the Protection op Game.Preservation op Forests, 
and the Inculcation in Men and Women op a healthy interest 
in Out door Recreation and Study : 
PUBLISHED BY 
Rarest mid jf ffublishing (Usomgmjg, 
-AT- 
17 CHATHAM STREET, (CITY HALL SQUARE) NEW YORK, 
[Post Office Box 2832.] 
and 125 SOUTH THIRD STREET, PHILADELPHIA. 
Terms, Five Dollars a Year, Strictly in Advance. 
A discount of twenty per cent, for five copies and upwards. Any person 
sending us two subscriptions and Ten Dollars will receive a copy of 
Hallock’s “Fishing Tourist, 1 ' postage free. 
Advertising Hates. 
In regular advertising columns, nonpareil type, 12lines to the inch. 25 
cents per line. Advertisement s on outside page, 40 cents per line. Reading 
notices, 50 cents per line. Advertisements in double column 25 per cent, 
extra. Where advertisements are inserted over 1 month, a discount of 
10 per cent, will be made; over three months, 20 per cent; over six 
months, 30 per cent. 
NEW YORK, THURSDAY, MAY 21, 1874. 
To Correspondents. 
All communications whatever, whether relating to business or literary 
correspondence, must be addressed to The Forest and Stream Pub¬ 
lishing Company. Personal or private letters of course excepted. 
All communications intended for publication must be accompanied with 
real name, as a guaranty of good faith. Names will not be published if 
objection be made. No anonymous contributions will be regarded. 
Articles relating to any topic within the scope of this paper are solicited. 
We cannot promise to return rejected manuscripts. 
Secretaries of Clubs and Associations are urged to favor us with brief 
notes of their movements and tr. -reactions, as it is the aim of this paper 
to become a medium of useful aim leviable information between gentle¬ 
men sportsmen from one end of the country to the other ; and they will 
find our columns a desirable medium for advertising announcements. 
The Publishers of Forest and Stream aim to merit and secure the 
patronage and countenance of that portion of the community whose re¬ 
fined intelligence enables them to properly appreciate and enjoy all that 
is beautiful in Nature. It will pander to no depraved tastes, nor pervert 
the legitimate sports of land and water to those base uses which always 
tend to make them unpopular with the virtuous and good. No advertise¬ 
ment or business notice of an immoral character will be received on any 
terms ; and nothing will be admitted to any department o the paper that 
may not be read with propriety in the home circle. 
We cannot be responsible for the dereliction of the mail service, if 
money remitted to us is lost. 
Advertisements should be sent in by Saturday of each week, if possible. 
CHARLES HALLOCII, Managing Editor. 
WILLIAM C. HARRIS, Business Manager. 
CALENDAR OF EVENTS FOR THE CUR¬ 
RENT WEEK. 
Friday, May 22d—Beacon Park, Boston, Mass.—Boston vs. Athletic 
at Brooklyn. 
Saturday, May 23d— Practice day Harlem boat clubs, Harlem—Open¬ 
ing day Prospect Park Cricket Club—Columbia College athletic meeting 
St. Georg e’s Grounds, Hoboken—Boston vs.Atlantic B. B. C. at Boston, 
Mass. 
DAKOTAH AND SOUDAN. 
I N a singularly interesting communication by our well- 
known contributor, Prof. Cope, which we find in the 
Penn Monthly , on “The Succession of Life in North Amer¬ 
ica,” in treating of the various stages of vegetable life 
in that portion of our country now known as Kansas and 
Dakotah, the author makes the following statement:—“The 
land was covered with a rich and dense forest vegetation, 
and the bog-moss encroached on the lake.But 
the moss performed its old function of coal maker. Hum¬ 
blest among plants, its existence has been more important 
in world-building than that of all the lords of the forest. 
Its mosses died and new layers of living plants grew upon 
them, until the descent of the new land and encroachment 
of waters deposited the stone lid upon their treasury of 
carbon, not to be unsealed until the long future day of 
human empire.” 
From primeval Dakotah to the present Soudan, both 
chronologically and geographically, the period and the dis¬ 
tance is immense. The following abstract made, however, 
from a letter of Ismail Pacha Ayozer, Governor-General of 
Soudan, under date of March 18th, addressed to the Sec¬ 
retary of our American Geographical Society, will be found, 
strange to say, most pertinent to this very question of im¬ 
mense vegetable growth in rivers and swamps. The Egyp¬ 
tian officer writes:—“I dare say you will be acquainted 
with the fact that one of the principal obstructions which 
explorers and merchants bound for Central Africa, who 
chose to go by the way of the White Nile, had to encounter 
was the ‘Sudd,’ a great mass of vegetation which in the 
course of ten years so obstructed the navigation of the 
White Nile entirely, that only in the rainy season small 
vessels could reach Gondokoro. .... It has been my 
constant aim to have this obstruction cleared.” Under in¬ 
structions from the Khedive, the Pacha undertook the 
work. He tells of how an enormous portion of the “Sudd” 
gave way and surprised the party in the middle of the night, 
and how five ships were lost and a steamer was upset. As 
a curious accident of this break iu this vegetable mass an 
hippopotamus was crushed to death against the sides of the 
steamer. 
Nature thus repeats herself. AYhat happened in North 
America at a distance of time, which, chronologically, we 
can hardly determine, is now occurring in Africa. A 
curious speculation enters here, of the newer element, that 
of man, which, to a certain extent, more or less appreciable, 
may singularly modify the course of terrestial events. As 
it is, changes now going on under our very eyes, may 
singularly aid us in studying the actions of those forces 
which were spent thousands and thousands of years ago. 
NEWFOUNDLAND—ITS BEASTS, BIRDS 
AND FISHES. 
W E are indebted to Alexander Murray, Esq., F. G. S., 
well known for his geographical surveys of New¬ 
foundland, for numerous documents, which have been of 
material service in acquainting us not only with fhe geo¬ 
graphy of this most interesting country, but with its Flora 
and Fauna. During the numerous surveys undertaken, 
not only coastwise but in the interior, Mr. Murray seems to 
have devoted a great deal of attention to the animals and 
birds of this region. In a lecture, delivered at St. John’s 
last year by this gentleman, we have certain apercus of the 
zoology of Newfoundland, which we avail ourselves of. 
Mr. Murray remarks that what struck him most particularly, 
though the Straits of Belle Isle are but twelve or thirteen 
miles across, this narrow passage is so frequently blocked 
up with ice, that it must not be difficult for animals to cross 
The only deer indigenous to Newfoundland, is the caribou 
Mr. Murray states that though larger than the reindeer of 
Lapland, they are even bigger than those of the neighbor¬ 
ing continent. Our authority informs us that they cannot 
be tamed, and that the caribou dies under restraint. One 
very interesting portion of Mr. Murray’s discourse, in re¬ 
gard to the killing of the caribou, we give in full:_ 
“Many very absurd stories are told about the wanton and 
wasteful destruction of those noble animals by sportsmen 
who occasionally come here, from different parts of the 
world, at great personal trouble and expense, for amuse¬ 
ment and adventure. A knowledge of the habits of the 
deer will immediately refute this accusation. Destruction 
and waste there most assuredly are, but it is not on the part 
of sportsmen. It is rather on the part of those in particular 
who originate the stories to which I refer, as I shall pre¬ 
sently show. The habits of the animal are gregarious be¬ 
tween the beginning of November and the month of Mar' 
and during the early months of the year they sometimes 
herd in hundreds, if not thousands, together. But between 
the 1st of June till nearly the end of September they are 
nearly or altogether solitary; the stags especially, and the 
does rarely, have any company besides their fawns. They 
are also migratory; and in their migrations they travel to 
the north- ward (speaking generally) in the spring, or during 
the months of March and April,and ww^-wards in the tall 
between the middle of October and the end of November! 
Now the only time that sportsmen engage in their warfare 
against the deer is f om the beginning of August till the 
early part or middle of October, during the time fhat the 
animals are more or less solitary, and consequently when 
they could not , even if they would , possibly kill more than 
one or two in a single day. On the other hand, those that 
are not sportsmen but pot-hunters choose their time, when 
the poor creatures are migrating in great herds in October 
November and March, intercepting them in certain well’- 
known lakes, and butchering them by every conceivable 
means and weapons—sometimes in hundreds in a single day. 
There may be some excuse for this wholesale slaughter in 
the fall, when the animals are in prime condition, or in the 
earlier days of the year, when the herds approach the coast 
mountains; but there is surely none for the destruction in 
the spring, wheu the flesh is literally worthless, the .skins 
good for nothing, and every doe on the point of giving birth 
to a fawn.” 
> The subject of the Phocidse or seals is one which we 
always approach with some hesitation. We entirely con¬ 
cur then with Mr. Murray, when he states “that it is aston¬ 
ishing how little is known of the habits of many of these 
creatures, on which the prosperity of the country so greatly 
depends.” All we know about them is, that they produce 
their young on the ice in March. Of the four species, the 
harp, the hood, the bay seal, and the square flipper, all 
are found, and they contribute largely to the wealth of 
Newfoundland; one, the bay seal, perhaps never leaves the 
coast; but as to the others, as far as their migrations go, it 
is as yet all a mystery. 
We have drawn most liberally from the instructive les¬ 
sons Mr. Murray has given us, and we trust in subsequent 
articles to treat of the geography of the country and the 
various explorations made into the interior. We have now 
in type an article on the great auk of Newfoundland, to¬ 
day an extinct bird. It has been prepared tor us by the 
same writer whose account of the Octopusappeared in our 
columns some time ago. We trust in time, through the 
columns of the Forest and Stream, to make Newfound¬ 
land something else than a terra incognita to our readers, 
and by the help of our numerous friends in St. John’s to 
shed thereon a full flood of light. 
Tuesday, May 26th—Maryland JockeyClub, Pemlicc Course, Baltimore, 
Md.—Lawrence Riding Park Association, Lawrence, Mass. 
Wednesday, May 27th—Maryland Jockey Club, Baltimore, Md.—Suf¬ 
folk Park Association, Philadelphia, Penn. —Scranton Driving Park As¬ 
sociation, Scranton, Penn.—Lawrence Riding Park Association, Law¬ 
rence, Mass.—Match day St. George’s Cricket Club at Hoboken. 
Ti.ursday, May 28th—Maryland Jockey Club, Baltimore, Md.—Scran¬ 
ton Driving Park Association, Scranton, Penn.—Suffolk Park Associa¬ 
tion, Philadelphia, Penn.—Southern District Agricultural Society, Cali¬ 
fornia-Annual Regatta at Savannah, Ga. 
THE SPORTSMAN’S CONVENTION. 
W E arc very glad to see the liberality conveyed in the 
very general invitation extended in the following let¬ 
ter. It is judicious and important just at this time to 
gather as much light as possible on the momentous ques¬ 
tions which sportsmen and conservators of game are dis¬ 
cussing. “ Out of a multitude of counsellors there is 
wisdom.” 
New York State Association, ) 
for the Preservation of Fish and Game. \ 
Oswego, N. Y., May 18, 1874. 
Editor Forest and Stream :— 
Gentlemen:— As the time for holding the Annual Con¬ 
vention of the “New York State Association for the 
Preservation of Fish and Game ” draws near, will you per¬ 
mit me through the columns of your paper to extend an 
invitation to all Field and Stream Shooting Clubs in this 
State to send five delegates, also two county delegates to 
represent their respective clubs in the convention at Oswego 
this year This invitation is particularly extended to clubs 
in the eastern part of the State who have never (or not 
recently) participated in our annual meetings. It is hoped 
and expected that every club in the State will be repre¬ 
sented at the annual business meeting, to be held on the 
evening of the first day of the convention, when the elec¬ 
tion of officers for the ensuing year will take place; also, 
the place for holding the next annual convention will be 
fixed. The local club (the Leather Stocking) under whose 
auspices the convention will be held this year, hope to be 
able to fix the time of meeting early in June. Ample 
hotel accommodation (at special rates) have been secured 
for all delegates and members of clubs, both active and 
honorary. I ant sincerely yours, 
A. C. Mattoon, Prest. State Association, 
in regard to the birds and animals of Newfoundland, was 
the remarkable lack of variety. On the neighboring con¬ 
tinent, separated from the island by but a narrow strait, the 
moose, the deer, the lynx, porcupine, glutton, wolverine, 
mink, fisher, and American hare, with some three kinds of 
squirrel, and the marmot, all abound, while in Newfound¬ 
land, the animals are limited to the caribou, the black bear, 
the beaver, musk-rat, martin, wolf, fox, weasel, otter, a 
large species of mouse, and the Arctic hare. As to birds, 
while in the Canadas there is an endless variety of migra¬ 
tory ducks, teal and widgeons—there are only two species, 
the black duck and the green-winged teal on the island. Wild 
swans and geese are absent. The ruffed grouse is unknown, 
the spotted grouse are rare, but the ptarmigan, of which 
there are two species, flourish gloriously. The American 
eagle, the osprey, two varieties of kite are found; and of 
owls, there is the great white Arctic owl, one species of 
horned owl, and one small variety. The raven, carrion 
crow, are here too; but of woodpeckers, while iu Canada 
there are eight or nine species, but two small species have 
been observed in Newfoundland. Occasional specimens of 
the blue jay and kingfisher have been noticed, but of the 
larger butcher-bird, these are found in quantity. The pas¬ 
senger pigeon, or the •woodcock, Mr. Murray says, have never 
been known to exist on the island, but the common snipe, 
the same as abounds on the continent, lives on the island 
unchanged in appearance. Of four species of thrushes the 
red-breasted, the long-tailed, the brown, and the cat-bird 
bound on the continent; but one, the red-breast, migrates 
to Newfoundland. 
This paucity of species in the denizens of the air is carried 
out as regards the dwellers in the water. The large lake 
trout, fhe white fish, the maskanonge, the black bass, all 
found swarming in the rivers and lakes of the mainland, 
are absent in Newfoundland as far as the inland waters go. 
Mr. Murray states that the catalogue of fish . only includes 
two species of trout, eels, minnows and sticklebacks, which 
is not encouraging for the sportsmen; however, salmon and 
sea-trout are found in abundance in the estuaries. 
Regarding the facilities for' the migration of animals, 
CREEDMOOR. 
THE OPENING MATCH—THE AMATEUR RIFLE CLUB. 
SHOOTING FOR THE AMATEUR BADGE. 
ATURDAY, May 6th, was not an auspicious day. 
Riflemen looked at the meteorological reports in the 
papers and read that the prediction was rain. The day was 
foggy, rainy, and threatening. Undampened, however,was 
the ardor of the members of the Amateur Rifle Club, 
for rain or shine the match was to be,shot. Now it must 
be born in mind by those of our readers ignorant of the 
peculiarities of rifle shooting that experience to be gained 
on rainy days, as to effect of light, appearance of target, on 
such stormy occasions are not to be overlooked. Matches 
and important ones are to be contested not only on those 
days when the sun shines bright and the air is clear, but 
when old Sol. is hidden behind clouds, and when the rain 
falls in torrents. In fach the dull grey light of wet weather 
gives the targets a uniform appearance, and permits of su¬ 
perior shooting. 
We need not mention that the opening day of the season 
of Creedmoor, the first event of 1874, has been looked for 
with a great deal of interest. With the match of the 
Irish team on our hands it was felt by the amateur Rifle 
Club, the eli%e of the N. R. A., that no time was to be lost, 
and that the sooner practice commenced the better would 
be our chances. So, disregarding the inclemency of the 
weather, and the possibilities of having to lie flat on their 
stomachs on the wet grass, providing no Inclia-rubber 
blankets could be had, some fifteen of the members were 
punctually at their post on the range at Creedmoor. 
It was noticeable that many of the experts tad their 
rifles new stocked with the pistol grip, and that the new 
Remington or Sharp sight were on most of the arms. A 
few of the members had been on the ground some short 
time before the match opened, and had thus been able to 
get their hands in as well as to ascertain the necessary ele¬ 
vation. Tlie.remainder, however, did not arrive upon the 
range until shortly before the prescribed time, and con¬ 
sequently, • although .using sights which they had never 
