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NEW YORK, THURSDAY, JUNE 4, 1874. 
Volume 2, JVuml>ert7. 
17 Chatham St. (Cityllall Sqr.) 
THE GENTLE CRAFT. 
A BARD is weak enough you’ll find, 
A humble cat-gut twangler; 
But for a man of simple mind 
Commend me to an angler. 
He’ll fish and fish the whole year round 
Devotedly fanatic, 
To catch one fish that weighs a pound, 
And then his joy’s ecstatic. 
Tor twelve long months for such a catch 
Who’d be on banks a dangler ? 
But ’tis a fearful joy to snatch 
To the contented angler. 
And off he goes and “weighs it in,”* 
For breakfast has next morn it. 
A cat, the thinnest of the thin, 
Though fond of fish, would scorn it.| 
And after that he goes about 
The anecdote to retail 
Of how he caught that one-pound trout, 
With every little detail. 
' And rival brothers of the craft 
Will listen to the story, 
And puff their pipes and round him waft 
A baccy el®ud of glory. 
And all about the how and when 
He’ll argue like a wrangler; 
There seems no bliss for mortal men 
Like that which waits an angler. 
And when he’s old and bald and gray, 
His children’s children dun him, 
To tell them of that fish, and say 
What great renown it won him. 
More blest than men who write for books, 
Or versifying mangier, 
(Whose lines have rhymes instead of hooks) 
The simple-minded angler. 
So with this epitaph no doubt 
His mild existence closes— 
“The man who caught the one-pound trout 
Beneath this stone reposes.”— Fun. 
off the ^orth=Western 
fumitories. 
- « - 
THE CERYID^:. 
lSf ^ tllis continent will compare with the Paciff 
Coast in the number and variety of the cervidse; fo 
here they have a mild climate and an abundance of shelte 
hhd herbage at all seasons of the year; and they have be 
sides that varying outline of land best suited to be tli 
habitat of the different species; hence, as a natural result 
the antlered stag can be encountered in almost every cops 
west of the Rocky Mountains, but especially in the woodei 
portions of Oregon and Washington Territory. Th 
argest of the family is the elk, (cervus canadensis ,) and tha 
is very abundant along the foot-hills and low mountains 
ts habitat extends from Montana to California, but it i 
^iost numerous between the parallels of forty-two and flft; 
e grees. It frequents the coast mountains running throug] 
iegon and Washington Territory in immense herds vary 
ln g m number from one to three hundred. It seems to b 
exceedingly gregarious and very much attached to it 
}onng; and in localities where hunters are scarce it is sail 
o e quite docile, often allowing a man to approach it oi 
e leeward side to within a few feet, 
band of elk will scamper at the sight of man if the; 
j . 8 s cent, but will scarcely notice him if he is on tliei 
e . e side; hence, we must naturally conclude that their sens 
self-protection is governed entirely by smell. I remem 
ei hi one case where a party of four of us, bent on an el] 
lu ot, approached a herd of fifty to within twenty pace 
. the y did n ot even attempt to move. They would rais 
eir heads every few moments to look at us, but the es 
Passion of the eyes displayed more inquisitiveness as t 
c 0 LM 16 °kj ects approaching them were, rather than wha 
th U -i P m ’P ose - That we were the first of our orde 
e ) T had beheld, was evident from their fearlessness; s 
acting on this supposition, we approached them boldly, yet 
taking good care that they did not get an opportunity of 
sniffing our odor, and in this manner got within twenty 
yards of them. Fearing they would run after the first fire, 
and knowing the difficulty of killing one unless shot in a 
vital part, each selected his animal and aimed at the heart 
or fore-shoulder. Taking deliberate aim, the crack of four 
rifles was heard at once, and as soon as the smoke cleared 
away, we saw two animals lying on the ground, but the 
other two were apparently uninjured, as they retained their 
place in the herd. A second volley was poured into them 
and one succumbed, but the fourth did not yield until it re¬ 
ceived the fourth shot; it then gave a grunt, attempted to 
walk, toppled and fell over on its side. The remainder 
trotted off on the discharge of the last round,but did not go 
over half a mile ere they stopped again to browse. We 
should have killed some more of them, but did not wish to 
destroy what we could neither use nor save, so were con¬ 
tent to dress what we had secured, as it would prove suffi¬ 
cient for our wants while we intended to follow the chase 
in that region. On making inquiries of our guide, an old 
hunter, as to the apparent stupidity of this animal, he 
stated that where it was little hunted it did not seem to care 
for the presence of man unless it smelled him; but where 
it was driven by dogs that the sight of a hunter caused it 
to bound off at a tremendous pace, and that it would not 
stop until it placed many a league between itself and the 
pursuer. If a herd is startled a stag leads it, the cows and 
calves being in the centre, and the rear is closed by the 
stoutest males of the throng. With heads thrown back to 
keep the antlers from becoming entangled in the branches, 
and the nose, as a consequence, high in the air, the herd 
dashes through the shrubbery and undergrowth at a long, 
trotting gait, and in this manner they will run all day long 
if pursued by even one cur-dog. 
This timidity closes, however, when a stag is brought to 
bay; then it will fight with a vigor and determination that 
cannot be excelled. In a contest with a bear I once saw a 
magnificient male pierce bruin through the body with its 
many-pronged antlers at one charge, and it did not quit its 
charging until the bear ceased to breathe. With a proud 
mien it then stamped on its adversary with the fore leg, 
and finding life extinct, turned around and trotted off into 
the damp, dense forest. The contest was so interesting 
that I cound not find it in my heart to shoot the noble-look¬ 
ing, victorious animal, so let it depart in peace. That this 
species will face man, even before wounded, if cornered, is 
evident from a tale once told me by an old hunter. He 
stated that he was at one time escorting a mail-carrier 
through a new section of country which had just been 
opened as a mail route, and that while clambering up a 
densely wooded mountain they suddenly encountered two 
elk, a male and female. The trail they had been following 
was formed by various animals on their way to and from a 
small stream that flowed on the opposite side of the moun¬ 
tain, and where they slaked their thirst; and this was the 
only passage across the mountain, for on one side of it were 
ranged huge cliffs of basalt, and on the opposite was a 
growth of dense shrubbery which extended to the sea that 
loudly surged at its base some thousand feet below. Both 
men and elks gazed at each other a few moments; then the 
latter wheeled suddenly and ran for the summit as fast as 
the nature of the ground would permit. The men being 
unarmed and knowing the animals could cross to an ad¬ 
joining hill only by swimming a rough portion of the sea, 
concluded that they would not attempt it, but return and 
force a passage by them; so they began to look out for some 
means of escape in order to avoid being trampled or gored 
to death. They soon found a tree low enough, but ere they 
had made up their minds to leap for its branches, the ani¬ 
mals had again come into sight. Having surveyed the 
means of escape, the elk finding that they could not clam¬ 
ber over the cliffs that lined the path on one side, nor 
descend into the sea to reach the opposite hill, reasoned, 
apparently, that they could clear the human obstructions 
before them with more ease than they could overcome the 
natural difficulties; and acting on this supposition the male 
lowered his head when he came in sight of the men and 
dashed down the trail at his best speed, closely followed by 
his mate. The men had not selected their retreat too soon, 
for they had scarcely swung themselves into the tree ere 
the animals dashed furiously past, the antlers of the male 
being as close to the ground as they could be placed. The 
hunter stated that he had been in many dangerous situa¬ 
tions, but he never really felt that benumbing fear which 
deadens the faculties until that day. 
The antlers of a full-grown male have from four to seven 
prongs, but the number never exceeds the latter figure, and 
they vary in width from five to eight feet, that is from the 
outer tip of one antler to the tip of the other. During the 
rutting season, when the contests between the males is so 
fierce, many lose a portion of their antlers. It is no un¬ 
common thing to see a burl}* stag shorn of part of his 
pronged appendages, leading the herd and ready to defend 
it against all comers. 
The size of the animal ought to fit it for domestic pur¬ 
poses, such as drawing a wagon or carriage, or it could be 
bred for its flesh. Its speed is so great that it certainly 
could be used to advantage in a carriage, or it might be 
employed by couriers who have to ride long distances. 
The faults of the male could be overcome by treating it like 
geldings, and this also renders it more docile and social. I 
saw a pair of stags, treated in this manner, trained to har¬ 
ness, and they certainly could leave far behind them any 
brace of equines on the rood. Something certainly should 
be done to domesticate this splendid animal; for in a state 
of nature it is good for naught except its flesh, and the 
flavor of this could also be improved by domestication. 
The next largest species of the cervus family is the mule 
deer, (cervus macrotusf) an animal that receives its appella¬ 
tion from its long ears and caudal termination, for it is not 
entitled to it on any other grounds that I can see, as its 
macrotian qualities cease with these. Its ears, which are 
certainly mule-like in contour, are nearly as long as the 
cauda, and the latter appendage, which is slender and de¬ 
void of hair beneath, has a black tuft at the end. The hair 
of the body during the winter is of an ashy brown color 
with light grey annulations. Its favorite habitat is the 
mountainous region between the Rocky and Cascade 
Mountains, and it is never found west of the latter. It 
may be said to be the deer of the plateaus and mountains, 
as the Columbia deer is of the forest and lowlands; Its 
flesh is very palatable, and so far as my taste extends, supe¬ 
rior to that of any of its congeners. It is not so numerous 
as the other varieties,and is also more difficult of approach, 
as it is very vigilant and a rapid runner; hence, one must 
have a sure eye to kill many during a season. It is more 
abundant in the Blue Mountains, which traverse Eastern 
Oregon, Washington Territory and Idaho, than in any 
other portion of the continent, as it finds there plenty of 
food and shelter, 
The next in importance is the black-tailed deer, {cervus 
columbianus ,) which takes its name from the Columbia 
River. This splendid animal, which is larger than the red 
deer of Virginia, frequents the heavy forests of fir, and 
there it browses in comparative security, unless chased by 
dogs, for it is difficult to find it in still hunting, owing to 
the luxuriance of the shrubbery. When pursued by hounds 
it will follow the course of ravines and canyons as much as 
possible, and will double on its track until becoming 
fatigued, then, and not till then, will it head for the water. 
Its mode of locomotion is by long bounds, and the distance 
it will clear in astride is certainly very large; and in a 
steeplechase no horse that ever ran at Puncliestown or 
Doncaster can at all approach it. It will clear the branches 
of a fallen tree that may jut up some seven or eight feet 
with the greatest ease; and in one instance I measured a 
high leap made by a splendid buck and found it was fully 
ten feet. No sport on earth can, I think, compare with the 
pursuit of this animal with a good pack of hounds; and 
that it is appreciated here is evident from the large number 
of hounds of all grades of purity one meets in many por¬ 
tions of the North-western States and Territories^ 
It is pertainly very exciting for all to know that if the. 
