258 
FOREST AND STREAM 
animal escapes them once there is no possibility of finding 
it again until it reaches the river or sea. As" I write this 
the memory of my last hunt where four of us killed forty 
deer in five days, rises before me, but it is not the number 
slaughtered that arouses emotions of pleasure, but <he 
musical chorus of the pack that echoed and re-echoed 
through the dense forests, and the mellow sound of the horn 
as it recalled stragglers or those which had carried pursuit 
too far from our posts. Some operas are delightful and fill 
our aesthetic cup with pleasure, but for virile music and 
bounding pleasure, give me hounds and horns and a rosy 
morning and a full-grown black-tailed stag going at a “view 
halloo” pace. Every tree and shrub seems to be filled with 
the melody of the pursuing pack and glad to re-echo its 
varied tones; while speed is typified by the fleeing antlered 
creature, whose every movement is replete with grace. 
Deer hunting is permitted at all seasons of the year in the 
Territories, but in Oregon the season is limited to the 
months intervening between July and December; and 
though many are killed in that interval, yet it does not 
apparently diminish the number of the animals; at least 
they seem equally numerous in all the wooded portions of 
the region. 
The white-tailed deer, (£7. leucurus ,) another variety, ap¬ 
proaches nearer its eastern congener, C. Virginianus, than 
any other of the family. It is about the same size, nearly 
of the same color, but the cauda is, I think, longer; hence, 
it is also called the long-tailed deer. It is very common in 
the forests; yet, Its favorite habitat seems to be the copses 
skirting the borders of prairies. Being smaller than its 
congeners, it is not deemed as good for sporting purposes 
as the others, though its flesh is soft and tender. When 
pursued by dogs it will not double like the black-tailed, but 
will make a straight shoot for the river, following the 
course of one of the numerous trails which it makes to its 
watering place. Its jumps are shorter and more rapid than 
those oftlie other varieties, and it also seems to tire more 
quickly, for if it is checked on its way to the river and 
made to retrace its steps it is often caught by the hounds 
after a run of three or four hours. The males of this 
species have many deadly quarrels during the rutting 
season and one is often found dead in the woods.. They 
are also very bold at this time, often jumping into the 
garden attached to a farm house to lead the female to good 
and delicate pasturage. In many places they are so abund¬ 
ant as to become a nuisance, t'pr no fence will keep tliem 
out; hence, poison is sometimes resorted to in order to 
check their depredations. I have known instances in 
Washington Territory where one man with a rifle killed 
eight in his own garden one evening; nor did he have to 
move from his chamber to do it. Their abundance may be 
deduced from this fact. 
An Albino deer is found on Whilley Island, at the north¬ 
ern termination of Puget Bound, and it is said to be the prin¬ 
cipal species there, though it is not found in any other 
portion of the Territory. It is generally of a pure white 
and rufous mixed; some spots being pure white, others bay 
or red. That it is a hybrid is evident, but from what de¬ 
scended cannot be very well stated, as the only other deer 
found there is the white-tailed, (Cervus leucurus.) An ani¬ 
mal of this species was captured recently on a low range of 
hills in Oregon, and was given to the Museum of Natural 
History in Portland. I examined closely to try and dis¬ 
cover from what species it was transmitted, but failed to 
satify myself on that point. The only fact I could prove 
was that it was more closely allied to the white-tailed deer 
than to any other species; and yet it differed from the 
former in many ways. I measured the specimen and from 
my notes give you the following as its dimensions, hoping 
some one will definitely define its standing among the 
cervidse:— 
Length of body, thirty-five inches; length of head, nine 
inches; length of cauda, nine inches; height, twenty-seven- 
and-a-half inches. 
The front part of the head, near the antlers, is white; 
below near the nostrils it merges into a dark chestnut with 
greyish tips; cheeks white; ears white inside; reddish- 
brown outside; a broad white dorsal band on body extend¬ 
ing from ears to cauda; sides dark chestnut, mixed with 
greyish white; belly and flanks as far as knee, pure white; 
lower part of leg light rufous. The under portion of the 
cauda white, the top near the base white mixed with brown, 
the former prevailing; middle ashy or pale rufous, and tip 
white. It is a beautiful animal, and in gracefulness will 
equal any of the family. It is very scarce where this spe¬ 
cimen was found in Oregon, and as it is not mentioned in 
any work on zoology, we must suppose it to be a new 
species. A very appropriate name for it would be cervus 
vari-color , or variatus , for it has hues and spots enough to 
entitle it to either cognomen; so, acting on this idea, we 
have given it the latter. I have heard from old hunters 
that a snow-white deer frequents the highest peaks of the 
Siskiyou Mountains which separate Oregon and California, 
but that it is rather rare, and very difficult to approach ow¬ 
ing to its vigilance and the rocky character of its exalted 
domicile. I supposed at first that they had reference to 
the mountain goat, but their anatomical description was so 
correct that I gave credit to their assertions. I subsequent- 
1 y learned from an aged Indian that such an animal did ex¬ 
ist but that it was a new arrival, their forefathers not being 
acquainted with any such animal. He stated that it was 
first seen previous to the advent of the white man, and that 
their prophets predicted from this circumstance that a white 
race of men would drive the red man from his home; and 
that like the white deer, the pale face would be cautious, 
vigilant and hard to kill, and would finally prevail by 
numerical superiority. This legend, poetical as it may 
seem is founded on truth if its distribution among the 
various tribes is a proof of its veracity. Should this ani¬ 
mal exist, it would account for the hybrid mentioned, as it 
‘would then be a cross between it and the white-tailed deer. 
The only species of the cervidse not enumerated, is the 
antelope, (Antiiocapra Americana,) and that is very abund¬ 
ant throughout the North-west in the region lying between 
the Cascade Range and the Rocky Mountains. Its vigil¬ 
ance and fieetness make it difficult to hunt, so the most 
common method of capturing it is to arouse its inquisitive¬ 
ness by tying a red rag to a pole stuck in the ground and 
lying in wait until it approaches close enough to be shot. 
Greyhounds have been used in one or two places to hunt it, 
but they were left so far in the rear by the fleet-footed 
creature, that they could not be induced to pursue it at all 
after a few trials. If one wishes to practice patience and 
perseverance, the best way I know of is to send a person 
hunting antelope for a week or two, and if he does not learn 
it then, there is little use in further efforts. 
Mortimer Kerry 
For Forest and Stream. 
TIGER HUNTING IN COSTA RICA. 
* * T THINK we had better camp here,” said the Profes- 
1 sor; “there’s fresh water in the lagoon there, and we 
won’t be likely to find a more convenient place for a ranche 
anywhere else before dark.” 
The sun was just above the line of the horizon, glinting 
its almost level rays over the water, and lighting up the 
comb of the long line of breakers with a ruddy glow. The 
view landward was bounded by a line of low mangrove 
trees, unbroken save at the spot where we stood, and where 
a little lagoon, whose waters seemed as black as ink in the 
shadow of the canes and swamp bushes, offered a slight 
relief to the prevailing monotony of the landscape. 
Our route lay along the beach, upon whose surface the 
evening mist was already marshalling its gray and shadowy 
battalions, soon to combine and sweep over the whole ex¬ 
panse. Sodden logs of drift wood, which, in the uncertain, 
dreamy light, might have passed for the debris of count¬ 
less wrecks, lay all around. The only bit of life and color¬ 
ing anywhere visible was that occasioned by our little 
party, tramping wearily along, clad in colored flannel 
shirts and blue Dungaree overalls, our belts, from which 
depended shoes, rifles, revolvers, knives, pipes, pouches, 
etc., in picturesque confusion, slung carelessly over our 
shoulders, and our faces and necks, despite the protection 
of immense coarse straw hats, burned to the color of mu- 
lattoes. 
“With all my heart,” replied I, in answer to the Professor’s 
suggestion, and, relieving myself of my burden of death¬ 
dealing instruments, I seated myself, not unwillingly, on a 
bit of drift, and commenced filling my pipe in that leisurely 
and scientific manner which denotes your true lover of the 
fragrant weed. The Professor, after a long draught, au 
naturel , that is. obtained by stretching himself on his belly 
at the brink of the pool, followed my example, and soon 
the incense from our blackened clays was floating skyward 
in undulating rings and long drawn filaments, whose grace¬ 
ful windings through the still air we watched with philosoph¬ 
ical contemplativeness born of the solitude. One by one our 
Indian packmen loomed up through the mist, toiling under 
their loads over the heavy roads, and soon our whole party 
was grouped around, busily engaged in the usual simple 
preparations for our comfort during the silent hours. 
A fire was soon built, and a ranche constructed, consist¬ 
ing ot posts, over which our rubber cloths were suspended 
in order to form a protection against any casual showers. 
Its unaccustomed shape evidently offered a new problem to 
the reasoning faculties of some half a dozen buzzards, 
who had appeared in their usual mysterious fashion from 
the Lord only knows where, attracted by the flesh of a 
turtle which the Indians had killed the night before, and 
which they carried in chunks on the outside of their packs. 
Tu-lus, who, in virtue of his position of leader of the In¬ 
dians, had left all the menial labor to his inferiors, and had 
wandered off to a short distance, now attracted our atten¬ 
tion. “Un tortuga,” signores, said he, “eltengo bien lago,” 
which, being translated from the. barbarous Spanish of the 
coast, meant that he had discovered traces of a large turtle. 
He soon after came upon the sand nest of one of these cu¬ 
rious creatures, and, unearthing two large white eggs, 
brought them for our inspection. We looked upon them 
with a degree of interest which, it must be confessed, was 
chiefly occasioned by anticipations of the welcome addi¬ 
tion they would make in the shape of an omelette to our 
frugal supper of bacon. The marks of the turtle’s feet 
were still visible on the dry sand from the night before, 
and proved the animal to be, as Tu-lus had remarked, a 
very large one. 
We enjoyed a roll in the breakers, discussed our supper, 
and stretched ourselves on our blankets under cover of the 
ranche, smoking, talking, and musing in the red glow of 
the fire, around which the Indians were collected in an ear¬ 
nest group. They were talking in a patois of their own, 
but from an occasional Spanish word they used we learned 
enough to know that they contemplated watching for tur¬ 
tle that night. It was at the height of the breeding season, 
when the turtles land in great numbers, and they were 
pretty certain of capturing one, if not more, of these wel¬ 
come prizes. 
With the pleasant prospect of a breakfast of fresh meat, 
we prepared for the night, and in a few minutes, as far as 
the Professor and myself were concerned, the camp was 
silent. When I awoke it must have been after midnight, 
and, filling my pipe, I crept as softly as possible, in order 
not to awaken my companion, towards the now smoulder¬ 
ing embers of the fire to obtain a light. I had applied the 
spark, and was squatted on the grass puffing away con¬ 
tentedly, when 1 felt a most singular and unaccountable 
sensation stealing over me—a sensation of uneasiness, of 
impending danger, of the necessity for cautious move¬ 
ment; in short, one of those manifestations of an occult 
intelligence which we are accustomed to term instinct in 
animals and “a presentiment” in human beings. Having 
too thorough a reliance in myself, however, to pay much 
heed to manifestations of that description, I impatiently 
anathematized what I considered my foolish nervousness, 
and rose to return to the ranche. I had hardly gained my 
feet, however, when my attention was attracted by a move¬ 
ment on the beach, and there, within ten feet of me, was 
an enormous turtle, tossing the sand up into the air in 
clouds with her great fins, busily engaged in excavating her 
nest. The Indians had no doubt strayed off along the 
beach in search of the very prize now before our doors. I 
therefore silently awakened the Professor, who arose in his 
shirt, and we prepared to make sure of our game when— 
well, Vliouvrne propose , mais Dieu dispose —just as we were 
about to make the rush a dark body bounded past us, fall¬ 
ing on its victim, and the next moment we saw a great 
black tiger tearing at the shell of the turtle, endeavoring to 
detach it from the flesh. To reach our rifles was the work 
of an instant, and the two reports blended into one. Be¬ 
fore we could reload, the tiger (whether wounded or not we 
could not tell) threw the turtle over its back and disap¬ 
peared with it among the canes. The manner in which the 
Professor tangled himself up in getting into those trousers 
of his would have shamed the art of the most able contor¬ 
tionist, When he did succeed, finally, he was obliged to 
recommence operations in consequence of certain difficul¬ 
ties, likely to be experienced by any one trying to wear his 
clothes hind part before. The Indians at this moment put 
in an appearance, having been occupied down the beach, 
where they had turned two turtles. Their horror at learn¬ 
ing the nature of the turtle hunter who had interrupted 
our operations was comic enough. It was nothing, how¬ 
ever, to that which they expressed when we proposed 
them to join us in instant pursuit. This they implored i ° 
to refrain from, urging the utter uselessness of attemptin 
it in the dark, and reminding us that the tiger wketr 
wounded or not, would be sure to make a lieav.y mealnff 
the turtle, and lie down to rest somewhere in theneiu-hbo 11 
hood, so that we could commence the chase after daybrek 
with a much better chance of success than at present Tiy 
being the rational way of looking at the matter, we posted 
one of the Indians as sentinel, and lay down again to re i 
until morning. st 
With the first light of day the search began, and soon 
one of the Indians came upon the trail. It was marked 
with blood, and at first we congratulated ourselves on the 
certainty that one of the bullets, at all events, bad reached 
its mark; but subsequently, remembering the rough usage 
to which the unfortunate turtle had been subjected be 
fore its worse than Mazeppian ride, we had to count on the 
possibility of the blood having flowed from its veins in¬ 
stead of those of the tiger. It was no easy matter this fol¬ 
lowing the trail; the tiger’s lithe body had slipped throuo-h 
the canes and brush like an eel in an oil well, but we had 
to cut almosl every foot of our way. The ground, which 
was evidently under water at the height of the rainy sea¬ 
son, though dry enough just now, was covered with an 
almost impenetrable undergrowth, while vines and other 
twisting plants tied themselves among the canes in gordian 
knots, of which Alexander’s was the only practicable 
method of solution. In spite of all our care the locks of 
our rifles often caught in these tangles, and I have since 
wondered that pur expedition that day was not marked by 
the shooting of an animal higher in the scale of creation 
than a black tiger. 
After what seemed miles of this travel, we came upon 
somewhat better ground, where a group of tall trees 
crowned a little knoll, surrounded on all sides, save that by 
which we came, by swamp. Here the trail of the tiger 
ended, and it was with a somewhat uncertain feeling, as 
regarded our tenure of life, that we became satisfied as to 
his lying hidden amid the brush before us. The Indians 
were more shaky on the subject than ourselves; they were 
afraid to beat the co.vert, and it was impossible to get a 
shot at him from without, even had we been perfectly cer¬ 
tain as to his position. Finally, however, it was deter¬ 
mined that the Professor and myself, together with Tu-lus, 
and Clianquoi, who had shot guns, should post ourselves 
behind a couple of huge sand box trees, while the other 
Indians, with the full permission to run on the first appear¬ 
ance of danger, should endeavor to scare the brute from 
his hiding place. The point we had selected for our stand 
faced a part of the thicket where several trees, felled by 
some tempest, had added to the density of the labyrinth. 
We had settled on this position from the fact that under 
one of these fallen trees, one end of which rested on the 
branch of another some feet from the ground, there exist¬ 
ed an opening in the brush which we thought marked the 
entrance to the tiger’s lair. Circumstances proved the cor¬ 
rectness of the surmise. Behind and on either side of us 
lay the swamp—a black quagmire, interspersed here and 
there by tussocks, covered with rank grass, and between 
which the gleam of water was frequently apparent—in 
front of us the lair of a savage beast, whom we must soon 
prepare to meet in mortal combat. It was one of those 
moments which string the nerves to an exceeding tension, 
and bring a fixed look into the eyes, an acquaintance with 
the appearance of which might often save a roystering 
bully from provoking his death wound at the hand of some 
quiet stranger. The Indians commenced operations at the 
other side of the thicket, confining their efforts, however, 
to making as much noise as possible outside, without ven¬ 
turing to penetrate into its recesses. Tired of inactivity 
I foolishly stepped forward and peeped into the opening 
in the brush. At first all was dark and still as death, the 
shouts of the Indians seeming to reach me over the thicket 
instead of through it. In a few seconds, however, I no¬ 
ticed two sparks of fire, motionless against the dark back¬ 
ground, just as my eyes, accustoming themselves to the 
gloom, were tracing out the form of the tiger, a low growl 
of horrible savage rage made doubt certainty. Up went 
my rifle, but almost at the instant of its report I felt my¬ 
self hurled on my back into the swamp, the water in my 
ears, a fearful weight on my chest, and something warm 
covering my face and blinding me. 
When I recovered consciousness I was stretched out on 
the grass, the Professor, canteen in hand, kneeling beside 
me, and bathing my face with rum. One arm was appar- 
ently*on fire; it was bound up with the fragments of an 
Indian’s shirt, through the folds of which the blood was 
still slowly spreading. Near by were Clianquoi and An¬ 
tonio, busily skinning the tiger. 
We found on our return to camp that the animal meas¬ 
ured four and a half feet. Our shots of the night before 
had wounded him, though very slightly. The Professor, 
Tu-lus and Clianquoi had all blazed into the tiger some¬ 
what recklessly, it must be confessed, as regarded my prox¬ 
imity, but with more fortunate result, the Professor’s bul¬ 
let happening to go slap through the brute’s heart. My 
arm was considerably torn, but a few days of quiet and 
a box of Brazilian ointment (of which we always carried a 
liberal supply) effected so radical a cure that 1 have never 
suffered any further inconvenience from the catastrophe ot 
my first tiger hunt in Central America. 
For Forest and Stream. 
DUCK SHOOTING IN IOWA. 
[ HAD been watching the ducks and geese fly over town 
L for ten days and could stand it no longer, so business 
^as dropped, the gun shouldered, and I was soon en route 
or the prairie, in the wagon of a returning farmer. Hiding 
ut about five miles I left the wagon and cut across t 
‘Parker’s pond.” The pond is half a mile in length, an 
quarter in breadth, except at one point near the ihjha 
sdiere it is narrow and passes on each side of a dry isian • 
)ne familiar with duck shooting would select the lsia 
t a glance as the point to shoot from. Passing along 
•oncl, which is grown up with wild rice, the ma ' 
ise in large clouds at every turn, but always too far < j 
o shoot. By tne way, ducks know the distance a shot g 
vill kill, every time. It was now 4 o’clock P. M. andik 
ands of ducks and brant were soon seen flying sou r ’ - 
ome distant cornfield; all flying too high to shoot. 1 £ne 
hey would fly lower on the return and so waited patien j 
or them. A little before sundown a pair of mallards da 
tear enough, and both fell into the water at the era 
hP rio-ht and left. I had no dog, and in I went. Bah! 
