FOREST AND STREAM 
377 
Fish Stories. —Inclined as we niay be to give credence 
to all kinds of stories about the devil flsli, we can hardly 
stomach the yarn ' produced in the India Homeward Mail. 
The narrative tells of the Schooner Pearl off Cape Gfalle, 
pulled over by a devil fish, and all hands drowned, and the 
vessel sunk. The Japanese made pictures of junks over¬ 
whelmed in the same way. That the octopus, or squid, or 
cephalapod is much larger than was estimated, the facts 
told in our columns by the Rev. Mr. Harvey amply prove, 
but we can’t accept the sad fate of the schooner Pearl. By 
the way, it is quite curious to see what strong stories emanate 
from the antipodes. The India Homeward Mail has inven¬ 
tive powers hardly surpassed by the Virginia City Enter¬ 
prise, who told us the other day about a man who was 
frozen to death in the midst of the burning sands because 
he could not unbuckle in time a patent refrigerating appar- 
tus he had on— Credat Judaeus. 
■ -- 
—It seems to be well authenticated that Mr. Keatly of 
Brooklyn, when bathing a week ago off Coney Island was 
bitten by a shark and had his thigh badly lacerated. Col. 
de Yoe tells us that in 1865 a man swimming in the Sound, 
from off the schooner Catherine Wilcox, was attacked and 
fearfully mangled by a shark. The G-reenport Watchman 
who reported*the accident, said: “The case attracts atten¬ 
tion because of the fact that the shark must have been of 
the species known as the “man eater,” which are common 
in low latitudes, but are rarely seen in shoal water. The 
common sliovel-nose shark of our waters seldom, if ever, 
attack mankind.” We believe such occurences are of rare 
character. The more we study the range of all kinds of 
fish, the wider we tliiuk it will be found to be. 
^porting ffrom Jf bt[ond .. 
[from our special correspondent.] 
The Oxford and Cambridge Match at “ Lords.” 
The Sales of Thoroughbred Stock. Polo 
Between the Lords and Commons, Etc. 
T HE polo match between the House of Lords and the 
•Commons created some excitement amongst lovers of 
the game, and I am no advocate of “accidental birth” 
and Norman descent, yet I will willingly admit that blood 
and breeding in man and beast generally mean pluck and 
perseverance, though put good education and good feeding 
in their place, and you will attain somewhat similar results, 
albeit & cart colt won’t train into a Derby favorite. The 
Lower House played one man short, and their six opponents 
included the Marquis of Worcester, the Marquis of Queens- 
berry, Yiscount Cole, Yiscount Downe, Lord Kilmarnock, 
and Lord H. Yane Tempest. The five M. P.’s were Sir 
Baclie Cunard, Hon. T. W. Fitzwilliam, Hon. C. W 
Fitzwilliam, Mr. A. D. de Murrieta, and Mr. C. de 
Murrieta. The latter had at first much the best of it, play¬ 
ing with great combination, and gradually forcing the ball 
away. After some desultory play, Sir B. Cunard obtained 
the first goal by a brilliant stroke* In the second game 
the Lords played determined to retrieve their losses, and 
after a very spirited struggle, Lord Tempest made one of 
the best hits of the day, and scored a goal after it had been 
unsuccessfully attempted by the Marquis of Worcester. 
After a rest, and change of points, the ball was set rolling 
again, and a race for the first hit resulted in the ball being 
jammed, honors being divided between Lord Kilmarnock 
and Mr. Fitzwilliam. A well-played run by Mr. C. de 
Murrieta followed, the goal being saved by the Marquis of 
Queensberry. Two goals were made on each side, the play 
being tolerably level throughout. Lillie Bridge is now 
getting to be quite a fashionable “rendezvous,” and great 
pains are being taken to breed ponies small and active 
enough for this Anglo-Indian pastime, though the Dartmoor 
and New Forest breeds seem tolerably cut out for the pur¬ 
pose. The unfortunate part of it seems to be that, in the 
charges and scrimmages these plucky little animals are 
often very much cut and knocked about. The Marquis of 
Queensberry, whom I have mentioned, is the well known 
supporter of the almost defunct prize ring. He gives every 
year a number of silver cups, to be sparred for with the 
gloves by the heavy, middle and light weight champions. 
The cause he advocates is, I am afraid, almost hopeless. 
“Bell’s Life” is nearly sick of it after fifty years of friend¬ 
ship, and though I believe the champion belt won by Tom 
Sayers is still at “the office,” yet “The Ring” occupies a 
very unimportant place in the weekly sheet. The prize 
fighter of the present day is not a scientific gladiator, with 
self-control, honor and courage, but a low-lived ruffian, 
half bully and half coward, and very different from Men¬ 
doza and Ten Caunt, or even Mace, Heenan and Coburn. 
The Marquis has, I think, done well in his endeavor to 
prevent the science of boxing from expiring, and if any¬ 
thing will revive and re-ennoble the “ P. R.” it is the 
patronage of a man who won a severe steeple chase with a 
broken leg, and when but a boy, thrashed a gigantic and 
insolent “rough” into a cocked hat, at the expense of more 
punishment than that which “shut up” the celebrated Goss. 
The May fly season is just over or drawing to a close, and 
the creels seem to have been pretty well filled this season. 
In many trout streams,-especially those round Winchester 
and Southampton, the very best time of the year, th o creme 
de la creme of sport is during the ten days on which the 
May fly makes its appearance. It goes as suddenly as. it 
appears, and whilst it is on the water nothing else will 
tempt the trout. As soon as it arrives anglers have a fine 
time of it, and are sure to land some heavy fish and many 
of them. The green drake, which is the favorite species of 
May fly amongst the speckled natives of the streams, is 
very difficult to imitate successfully, and although a hungry 
trout does not exercise much discernment in the choice of 
viands, yet when he has taken his fill of green drakes he 
looks suspiciously at their barmecidal imitations, unless a 
cunning hand has tied the feathers from the mallard’s 
wing, and died the hackles to the exact olive tint. This 
difficulty in giving the blue steel Kirby hooks a delectable 
and inviting appearance has been got over by the sugges¬ 
tion of a practical entomologist. The natural transparent 
wings of the fly are coated with a peculiar varnish, which 
preserves their genuine appearance, and at the same time 
makes them tough and indestructible, and in this condition 
they are mounted on the hooks, and floating lightly down 
the stream, deceive the most wary. The fish that age and 
experience have rendered insensible of the charms of 
coachmen, black gnats, palmers and spinning minnows, 
rush eagerly at this gay deceiver, like town demoiselles to 
hear a new curate. I suppose you have in America your 
own peculiar fancies in artificial bait; but I tried last season 
a plano-convex minnow, made by Mr.'Hearder of Plymouth, 
and the way it killed trout in the streams was a continual 
source of agreeable surprise to me, as also was its cost, 
some eight and twenty cents. 
The sales of thoroughbred stock have been well attended, 
and Messrs. Tattersail have not had to send back many lots 
without purchasers. The Stud Company’s sale realized no 
less a sum total than £9,570, giving an average of two 
hundred and ninety guineas for each lot sold, amounting 
to thirty-three in number. As I have it on the authority 
of “Bell’s Life,” that it pays wonderfully well to sell 
thoroughbreds as yearlings at £150 each, the profit could 
not have been much under £5,000, and as the company is 
only just out of debt, and was started, more with a view to 
improve the race horse than to make much profit, the result 
is very satisfactory. As I glance down the catalogue I see 
the favorite stallions are Blair Athol, General Peel, Mar- 
syas, and Beadsman. The success of Blair Athol at the 
stud has been almost equal to that of the famous Stockwell. 
I mean comparatively, for he has not of course had time 
enough. Marsyas got George Frederick the winner of this 
year’s Derby, but for all that his stock did not fetch the 
high prices I had expected. Captain Machell was a very 
prominent buyer, and he commenced by bidding 1,000 
guineas for a bay filly by Beadsman out of Eglantine, foaled 
May 11th. A Blair Athol chestnut colt, with three white 
legs and a blaze, fetched 1,050 guineas,, to Mr. Peck, the 
trainer; and the observed of the sale was the brother to 
the yearling which last year sold for 2,000 guineas. There 
was, however, a lack of quality about him which prevented 
his filling the eye like his brother, and 600 was all he went 
for. Mr. Chaplin bought another son of Blair Athol out of 
Circe, at 1.200 guineas, and one of Gladiateur’s offspring 
fell to Captain Machell at 620 guineas. The sale of the 
Middle Park yearlings on Saturday at Eltham produced the 
somewhat larger sale of 10,120 guineas, the average being 
246 guineas. The death of the late Mr. William Blenkiron 
had rendered the fate of the annual gathering at Eltham 
rather problematical. It was found this year that be had 
a worthy successor in the person of his son, and that there 
was no fear of the ploughshare turning up the splendid 
paddocks that have been the birth place of so many steeds 
of fame. The loss of the original founder of the stud 
made necessary, however, the scattering broadcast of many 
gems of price, which had been collected at a vast amount 
of trouble and expense, but the present Mr. Blenkiron being 
a generous bidder for anything of real value in the equine 
world, he has got together a stud almost as large and well 
selected as the former one. The best of various lots offered 
was a daughter of Rosicrucian out of the dam of Blue 
Gown, a Derby winner who won, it may be remembered, 
when his owner, Sir Joseph Hawley, declared to win with 
another horse, and fancied him least of all his three entries. 
This bay filly fell to Mr. J. Porter, the trainer, at 1,500 
guineas, which, being Americanized, means not less than 
7,500 dollars. Mr. Chaplin went as far as 1,350 guineas, 
and Mr. Tattersail intimated that he had himself a telegram 
to give a cool thousand. A son of Lord Lyon sold at 620 
guineas to Mr. J. Moon, and a similar sum was paid by 
Mr. Porter for a Breadalbane colt. Blair Athol, Macaroni, 
Beadsman, Gladiateur, Parmesan, and other famons stallions 
and performers on the flat, were well represented, and in 
the 44 lots brought to the hammer, there seemed no lack of 
variety in blood and breeding. 
The Royal Cinque Ports Yacht Club held their channel 
match from Dover to Boulogne and back, under rather 
unfavorable circumstances as far as wind was concerned. 
There were fourteen yachts entered, and all but three 
started—comprising five cutters, seven schooners, and two 
yawls. The £100 town cup was won by the schooner rig¬ 
ged Gwendolin of 197 tons, belonging to Major Ewing. 
On Saturday the Highland Brigade sports came off at 
-Aldershot, between the Seventy-eighth, the Seventy-ninth 
and the Ninety-third regiments. The sports consisted of 
flat, hurdle, and heavy marching order races, quoit 
throwing, and the usual games peculiar to the high¬ 
land clans, and ancient as their old granite boulders 
and heirloom claymores—amongst these Scotch pastimes 
are tossing the caber, throwing the hammer, putting 
the stone, reel dancing, bagpipe playing, and the tug 
of war. The caber we know about, but the tug of 
war may be novel to you. The tug of war is generally 
more for the amusement of the spectators than anything 
else. It takes place over an artificial ditch full of muddy 
water. Ten men are placed at each end of a rope which 
crosses this ditch, and they endeavor to pull the opposing 
party into it. The teams are taken from the strongest men 
of each regiment, and on this occasion the Ninety-third- 
were victorious, having beaten all the rest. There were 
also prizes awarded for the best dressed Scotch soldiers, 
and the competitors were all such models of smartness and 
neatness that poor Sir Duncan Cameron, once a colonel in 
the Black Watch, of Ashantee prestige, was quite unable to 
decide which of the skilled warriors deserved the silver 
tankard. I believe it was eventually determined to call in 
the best looking woman that could be found as a referee. 
What with other headed sporrans, silver brooches set with 
yellow crystals, thistle pins, bog wood handled dirks and 
daggers, plaids and basket liilted swords, the Scotch sol¬ 
diers in full costume, boast a “get up” which must have 
rather surprised the benighted Africans on the Gold Coast, 
where the men wear only a little paint and the women a 
broadish smile. 
The cricket match between the rival universities of 
Oxford and Cambridge came off on Monday and Tuesday, 
and proved a very one-sided event. It could scarcely be 
called a two days’ match, and the whole thing was over 
so soon that the spectators had to take the luncheons back, 
with champagne corked and the pigeon pies’ crust unbroken. 
The first to go in were the Light Blue repre entatives, and 
they stripped (to use a turf word) in such good condition 
and had such fine previous form to recommend them, that 
it was popularly supposed to be a very close thing indeed. 
I may state that this was the fortieth anniversary of the 
match, and that Cambridge had won nineteen to Oxford’s 
eighteen, the remainder being drawn or not played out. 
The only man who has made three figures in one innings is 
Mr. Yardley, who scored 100 in 1870, and 130 in 1872. As 
this match is only excelled by the boat race and Eton and 
Harrow contest in the public interest which it excites, the 
ground at “Lords ” was densely packed. The result was 
startling. Oxford beat Cambridge in a single innings. The 
way the Oxford bats, especially Lord Harris and Mr. 
Wallroth slashed into their slows, was indeed a caution to 
snakes. Result—Oxford, single innings, 265; Cambridge 
two innings, 109 and 64. Total, 173. 
—Some of the matches of the Irish Rifle Association which 
took place on the 26th of last month, may be of interest. 
J. K. Millner won the cup, scoring 425; William Rigby 
took the second prize with 414; John Rigby the third with 
414. Weather very bad—rain and heavy wind. At the 
conclusion of the match, Major Leech, chairman of the 
Association, made an appropriate speech. In speaking of 
the intended visit of the team to the United States, he said: 
“In reference to our match witli America, I have only to 
express my confidence in the Rigby rifle and the Irish eye 
and nerve, for the greatest number of bullseyes at the 
longest ranges (hear, hear). We will not boast before the 
battle, but wish cordially that the best men may win (hear 
hear).” 
— 1 he following are the best scores made at the annual 
prize meeting of the City of Edinburgh, and Mid Lothian 
Rifle Association, at the Braid Hills on the 15th of Lst 
month : Sergeant Lamont, 7 shots, 200, 500, 600 27 22 
22, total 71; private B. Luke, 200 yards, 25, seven shots - 
Captain Hawley, 500 yards, 27, seven shots; sergeant 
Mclsaac, 600 yards, 27, seven shots; Capt. Moliineaux 500 
yards, 26, seven shots; Private Anderson, 500 yards 26 
seven shots; J. Todd, 200, 500, 600 yards, seven shots at 
each distance, 67. ’ 
The selection for the English eight at last accounts was 
going on. The method is, fifteen shots at 900, 1 000’ and 
1100 yards. It is difficult, with the new system of marking 
to form an accurate idea of the shooting. According to 
the old method, 400 was the highest possible score on the 
new system, 500. The following are some of the best 
scores made; Captain Screven, 438; Captain Heaten 432 • 
Captain Poxley, 430. Idstone, Jr. ’ 
Forton Barracks, Gosport, July 17 , 1874 . 
Editor Forest and Stream:— 
Like the Wandering Jew, unable for any length of time 
to remain in one spot, you will see by the above that I have 
once more shifted my quarters from the Emerald Isle to 
the southern coast of England. I have been here about 
ten days, and am likely to be a fixture till Christmas, when 
I shall get leave for the shooting. These barracks are one 
of our three headquarters in England, and are very large 
and comfortable. While on shore we are to ail intents and 
purposes “soldiers,” taking our share with the regular line 
regiments of all the garrison duties in the shape of guards, 
courts martial, etc., as I suppose your marines do also when 
disembarked. We have plenty of drill. I am on the parade 
at 6:30 A. M., drill till 7:45, then parade at 10 o’clock; 
drill from 11 to 12:30, and again from 2 to 3 o’clock. If 
the weather was warm it would be as much as one would 
care about; but so far there has been no summer for 
though here, as elsewhere, there has been little or no rain 
the winds have been strong and cool. We play cricket a 
good deal, and have been successful in most of the matches. 
Talking of that, the University match is, I see, just con¬ 
cluded, and though Cambridge began well, scoring seventy- 
four for the loss of one wicket, she has been defeated in 
one innings, and ninety runs to spare. Such is the glorious 
uncertainty of the game. The fielding of Oxford was 
they say, something wonderful, and no doubt to that may 
be attributed, in great measure her success. We are close 
to the Isle of Wight, and can run over to Ryde or Cowes 
by steamer in half an hour. The latter place is, as I dare 
say you are aware, the headquarters of the Royal Yacht 
Squadron, and a great many of our best yachts fit out 
there. Mr. Thellason, the commodore, has just had a new 
yacht built for him by Camper & Nicholson, of this place. 
