446 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



H. SI, 188f^ 



^ The Batlet Collf.ction of Eggs.— This splendid collec- 

 tion of the nests and egecs of North American birds is now in 

 process of arrangement on the top floor of the xlmerican 

 Museum of Natural History. It will be remembered that 

 this collection was purchased from Mr, E. II, Bailey by Mr. 

 M. K. Jesup, andhy him presented to the museum. The 

 price paid was said to be about |4,000. There are about 

 7,000 specimens, which will be displayed to the best advan- 

 ta.£re when the collection is finally opened to the public. In 

 many respects the display, it is said, will be very interesting 

 and quite unlike anything hitherto seen here. A part of the 

 plan m arraugiog the eggs is to have the male and female 

 bird mounted on boughs of the trees or shrubs mostly re- 

 sorted to by the species, and whatever may illustrate the 

 hfe and habits of the bird, including a plainly printed label, 

 giving the more important Facts. When completed this col- 

 lection will be fully apijreciated. and its usefulness in teach- 

 ing young naturalists will be great, as the specimens, being 

 scrupulously identified, w;ill serve the important purpose of 

 examples, with systematic nomenclature for purpose of com- 

 parison. The exhibition will not be open to the public be- 

 fore spring. 



Albino Ruffed GtKOttse.— We were shown a few days 

 since a curious and beautiful albino ruffed erouse, brought to 

 this office by Mr. Joseph E. Case, of Flemington, N. J. At 

 a little distance 4t looks like a pure white bird, but a close 

 inspection shows it to be the palest possible shade of sray 

 and the characteristic markings of each feather are still to 

 be seen. The specimen was shot about Dec. 1 by P. Skill- 

 man, in Tunkhannock, Pa. The head was shot off and it 

 has been necessary to put on the bTrd another head of the 

 ordinary brown color. The bird was mounted by Wallace 

 in excellent style, and mades a beautiful and interesting 

 specimen. 



HoiiNS OF THE Femaxe Cabibou.— Ncw York, Dee. 24. 

 Editor Forest and Stream: Some little time since there was 

 considerable argument regarding antlers on female caiibou, 

 I have just returned from the woods near to the Bestigouche 

 River, Bonaventure county, Province of Quebec, where I 

 have been hunting with "Globe Sight," of New Glasgow, 

 Nova Scolia. for the past few weeks, and have On exhibition 

 at No. 952 Sixth avenue for a few days, a splendid specimen 

 of female barren ground caribou with antlers.— Lawson B. 

 Bexx. 



•^«f^ 0^^* 



Address all communications to the Forest and Stream Publish- 

 ing Co. 



GUIDING VERSUS HUNTING. 



THE sportsman wlio desires to know what his chances for 

 the future are, can find their index in our great mar- 

 kets. It is interesting to follow these markets. Boston, the 

 "dumping ground," concerning which market so much has 

 been written, is not getting the usual quantity of game. 

 Now this is something to be glad about, good readers of the 

 Forest and Stream. There is no lack of energy on the 

 part of the game dealers, but gradually guides and'gunners 

 are finding that market hunting does not pay. Bestdcs the 

 thorough obedience to the game non-transportation law of 

 Maine, New Hampshire and New Brunswick, by the sensi- 

 ble railroad and steamboat officials, has cutoff the supply of 



fame from the North surprisingly small. It is mainly the 

 Vest that the sportsman now has to iremble for. A few 

 quail are coming, ostensibly from the West, and probably 

 they do so come in nine cases out of ten. Some fifty boxes 

 were received here yesterday, but there is nothing like 

 the 200,000 which were in store here two years ago; and 

 if we may believe the receivers, they are not on the way. 

 Of ruffed grouse but very few indeed have come to this 

 market — "Scarcely enough t© make a show of having 

 eny," as a prominent dealer remarked to-day. Prairie 

 chickens have been more plenty than partridges, but 

 hardly more than half of former seasons thus far. The 

 low prices received for them and the high cost of 

 freights discourage the Western shippers — so ' the market- 

 men say — and as for those who shoot the birds their payJs 

 merely nothing. 



Yes'terday fifty saddles of vension were received from 

 Minnesota,'the tirst large shipment to this market this sea- 

 son. These saddles, enveloped in the hides, brought $18 per 

 cwt., laid down in the market here — too good a price, for it 

 may encourage the shippers. But after all the hun ter got 

 but very little for this venLson. The freights and cartages 

 count nearly $3 per cwt., besides there are commissions 

 and dealers, profits to be deducted. It is hardly probable 

 that the hunter got more than .$5 apiece for the deerjhe 

 kiUed. If the Western railroads looked upon the game of 

 the regions they penetrate with the good sense of Superin- 

 tendent Tucker of the Maine Central — as sources of wealth 

 to his road from future summer travel — they would refuse 

 to forward game from the fast depleting Western States. 



As an instance of how poorly the hunter who kills the 

 game is paid, a single caribou shipped to this market last 

 month may be mentioned. The specimen, a fine one, came 

 from Lincoln, Maine, He came secreted in a car-load of 

 potatoes, else the railroad officials would not have taken 

 him. It was mentioned that the animal was dragged by 

 tand six or eight miles through the woods to the vicinity 

 of a team, then carted 15 miles to the railroad. Very 

 cautiously he had to be smuggled into the potato car, and 

 after reaching Boston the carcass minus the entrails, sold 

 for ten cents per pound. The horns, a fine pair, very 

 slender and smooth, were knocked off in transit, and dis- 

 appeared. 



Guiding numerous city sportsmen after this caribou— who 

 never would get him— say 100 days at i|;2..50 per day, would 

 have paid the hunters much better. The more intelligent 

 hunters are beginning to see through the problem. Put the 

 Forest aud Stream, for six numbers, into any hunter's 

 hands, provided he can read, and he turns from hunter to 

 guide. In the one case he follows often inuiginary moose, 

 caribou and deer, with a would-be sportsman who feeds him 

 well and houses him witli the best tliei^e is. Besides, his pay 

 is sure— game or no game. In the other case, he follows 

 the animal perhaps for days; hungry, cold and often alone. 

 If he kills his prey, then cornea "a terrible lug," without 

 which there is no reward. "No more market hunting for 

 us," say the hunters who are beginning to be informed, 

 "but give us plenty of guiding." The sportsmen say, 

 amen! Yerily, does not this solve the problem of game de- 

 pletion? Speciaj.. 



A LEAF FROM THE PAST. 



WHEN I read the delightful graphic account of the man- 

 ner m which "Mississippi Lowlands" killed his first 

 deer, memory carried me away back nearly a quarter of a 

 century to the time when, a raw youth just released from the 

 thraldom of the desk, I plunged into the free-and-easy back- 

 woods hfe of Vancouver Island. The golden glitter of Car- 

 iboo had dazzled many a green young Britisher and tempted 

 him to try his luck in the far west. A goodly share of these 

 unsophisticated individuals landed in Victoria in the winter 

 of '62, months too early to accomplish anything in the direc- 

 tion of reaching then- El Dorado. Being one of the number, 

 I made up my mind to inure myself to prospective hardships 

 by passing the winter in Cowichau with an old friend, who 

 liad preceded me by a few months and who had pre emptcd 

 a piece of land there. After a trip by land and water of forty 

 or fifty miles, I found S. snugly housed with his next neigh- 

 bors, a pair of sturdy Englishmen, whose name, to all who 

 know them, is still a synonym for hearty hospitality and 

 sterling M^orth. The brothers' cabin was literally packed 

 with incoming settlers who had not yet been able to build 

 homes of their own, and prominent among these was a 

 Scotch Canadian, usually known as "Tarn," an odd mixture 

 of cynicism and good nature, and passionately fond of 

 hunting, 



Tam and I struck up a warm friendship from the start, 

 and when I confided to him my keen longing to kill a deer, 

 he, sympathetically voluntered to lend me his beloved Ken- 

 tucky for a day's hunt, an offer which was of course gladly 

 accepted. As I was utterly unaccustomed to the use of a 

 rifle, he carefully explained the action of the triggers, the 

 style of sighting, the corrrct method of loading and so on, 

 tUl I was quite satisfied that I knew it all. He then started 

 me up the mountain whore lower slopes ran down to the 

 settlement, cheering me with the parting remark that I need 

 not be afraid of getting lost, for "any fool could tell whether 

 he was traveling uphid or down." I had climbed steadily 

 upward for proljably half an hour, and was on a sharp back- 

 bone bordered by deep ravines, when a forked buck started 

 from his bed sixty or seventy yards away, and stood, broad- 

 side on, calmly surveying me. Till that supreme moment I 

 had tlioroughiy understood everything connected with the 

 management of the rifle, for, to tell the truth, I had made 

 assurance doubly sure by experimenting a little on the way 

 up. But now, alas!, the delirium of buck fever had firm, 

 hold on me, and, no matter what I did with that devoted 

 weapon, I could not make it go off. That's exactly where it 

 differed from the buck, for, after gazing pityingly at my 

 fruitless efforts, and apparently disgusted at the idea of 

 wasting his precious time on a tenderfoot, he turned tail and 

 went off up the ridge in une style. Under the circumstances 

 I thought his example a very excellent one to follow, so I 

 turned tail also and struck for home, completely crestfallen, 

 and dreading the roasting that awaited me. The boys were 

 merciful, however, and let me down easil3^ the bitterest pill 

 of all being Tam's curt refusal to let me have anything more 

 to do with his rifle, until I had practiced for a time with a 

 shotgun. I am strongly inclined to think that in Tam's eyes 

 my vile handling of his darling had somehow brought dis- 

 credit on her, for he instantly emptied her at a mark and 

 gave her a thorough overhauling inside and out, as if to wipe 

 away the unmerited disgrace 1 had inflicted upon her. 

 _ During the following' week S. and I were engaged in spUt- 

 ting rails and making preparations for the erection of his 

 cabin, the scene of our labors being probably three-quarters 

 of a mile from our temporary home. Every evening, just 

 before quitting work we used to chop down a fir or two, and 

 every morning we would notice that deer had been browsing 

 on the mossy branches. This suggested to S. the idea of an 

 early morning visit on my part with every probability of 

 getting a shot. He had a handy single-barreled gun, throw- 

 ing ball tolerably well, and, seeing that Tam's riHe was un- 

 available for the present, he offered me the use of it. Just at 

 dawn of a drizzly day he handed me the gun, carefully 

 loaded by himself and warranted therefore to be O. K. He 

 pooh-poohed the notion of taking any extra ammunition, tis 

 I would be able to get a close enough shot to make sure work. 

 On the previous evening we had mapped out my course, and 

 had fixed on a giant fir from which I was to shoot. Having 

 reached its foot I waited a moment or two to steady myself and 

 then, when I peeped past its gnarled trunk, my heart 

 thumped and banged enough to take my breath away, for, 

 browsing on the bait we had felled, were a fine buck and a 

 couple of does. I can never forget the noble sight he pre- 

 sented when, half-conscious of an intruder, he raised his an- 

 tlered head and gazed inquhingly in my direction. A brief 

 space I stood with the cocked gun rested against the side of 

 the tree, my finger on the trigger, ready to shoot. Well can 

 I remember that, even in the ardor of my longing, there 

 flashed across me a pang of compunction at the thought that 

 another instant woidd end the life-course of the beautiful 

 animal. Shaking off the unworthy weakness, I took delib- 

 erate aim behind his shoulder, pressed the trigger, and 

 down came the hammer — clink. He gave one startled jump 

 and stopped. Hardly able to hold the gun from excitement, 

 I raised the hammer again, pulled again, and— clink — again. 

 Away bounded the buck and his companions into the imder- 

 brush, leaving me, like Lord Ullin, lamenting. 1 am afraid 

 that lamenting was succeeded by something suspiciously akin 

 to upbraiding when an examination into the cause of my dis- 

 apj)ointment revealed the fact that my infallible friend had 

 neglected to put a cap on the nipple. 



Piqued by adverse Fortune, I determined to kill a deer in 

 spite of the" fickle goddess, so 1 started oft' the next morning 

 for a quiet hunt, being particular this time to have a cap on 

 the nipple. Part of the land w^hich S. had taken consisted 

 of a thick, swampy bottom much frequented by deer, and 

 skirted by a gentle sloping ferny ridge. While traveling 

 along this slope I saw a doe leisurely get up and stretch her- 

 self. Taking careful sight at the spot where I supposed 

 her head to be, I fired, and .simultaneously with the crack of 

 the gun she fell. Was there ever a prouder or more de- 

 lighted youngster in the world? I threw my cap heaven- 

 ward and gave vent to my overcharged feelings in a lusty 

 "hurrah." Scarcely had the triumphant sound escaped my 

 lips before that provoking animal had struggled to her feet 

 and was beginning to make off, slowly at first, but gaining 

 strength by rapid'degrees till at last she backed out of sight 

 as briskly as if she had never been touched. Down went 

 the corners of my mouth ; the heart that had been hght as a I 

 feather a minute before felt as heavy as lead, and I turned 

 my steps homeward profoundly impressed with the futility 

 of bucldng against fate, I had a flickering hope that, on 

 hearing my tale, Tam might be moved to remove the embar- 

 go from his rifle, but on throwing out a gentle feeler, the 

 only consolation I got was, "Come down to buckshot, my 

 lad," 



A few days later, Tam and 8. arranged to ha 

 near a creek flowing by the outskirts of "the settleu hv Mr 

 magnanimously gave me permission to join them. H M, <- 

 paring for the great event I took Tarn's advice an Jn-^e 

 down to buckshot. To avoid any difficulty that might arise 

 from the extreme hkelihood of my being lost in the bush 

 they instructed me to keep close to the bank of the stream' 

 a course which I followed so faithfully that I might certain- 

 ly claim to have emulated that famous character whose re- 

 markable exploits in a bramble-bush have beeuimmortahzed 

 in the familiar nursery rhyme. However, if my flesh and 

 clothes were lacerated, my conscience was not, for I had 

 very literally obeyed orders, even at a slight sacrifice of 

 common sense. After toiling along for a considerable time 

 through brake and brier, a distant yelp announced that a 

 fourth and uninvited party had joined the chase in the per- 

 son of a mongrel cur remarkable beyond his fellows for a 

 ravenous appetite and a mania for disobedience. As his 

 Irequent and nearing barks warned me he was on the track 

 ot a deer and was driving it toward me. I had just reached 

 the edge of a little clear space in the woods, and was wait- 

 ing m the shade of a clump of firs when the hunted deer 

 came bounding across the opening. As he was passing me 

 about forty yards off I let him have the load of buckshot, 

 but without any perceptible effect, for he never swerved 

 but ran down the bank of the creek. When the dog came 

 along on the track he followed into the creek bed and 

 crossed it, but failed to pick up the scent on the other side. 

 He tried it again and again but without success, till at last, 

 being completely bafBed, he gave it up as a bad job. While 

 I was looking for sign S. came up, and instantly plunged 

 into the water and hauled out what Tam was careful toln- 

 form us was the most diminutive specimen of the deer fam- 

 ily he had seen in Vancouver Island woorLs, but what cared I 

 for that? As home is home no matter how humble, so a 

 deer is a deer no matter how small, and my luck had turned 

 at last. When we had skinned and dressed the prize. S. 

 proudly pointed out the hole in the heart where the buck- 

 shot had done its deadly work, while Tam, who had been 

 examining the skin, calmly inquired, "Oh! man, do you use 

 only one buckshot in your gun?" But then Tam was doubt- 

 less jealous, for notable hunter as he was, he had failed to 

 score. I regret to say that the four-footed cause of my suc- 

 cess afterward came to an untimely end through his ina- 

 bility to restrain his passion for eggs. B. M. C. 

 Cache Creek, B. C. 



THE VEST BILL. 



FOLLOWING is the text of the bill (8. 101) introduced 

 into the Senate on Dec. 8, 1885, by Mr. Vest, read 

 twice and referred to the Committee on Territories: 



A BILL to amend sections twenty-four hundred and seventy-four 

 and twenty-four hiin(Jred and seventy-fiTe of the Kevised Statutes of 

 the United States, setting apart a certain tract of Jand lying near the 

 headwaters of the Yellowstone River as «. public park. ' 



Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 

 United States of America in Congress assembled, that the boundaries 

 of the Yellowstone National Park, as now fixed by section twenty- 

 four hundred and seventy-four of the Kevised Statutes, shall here- 

 after be as follows: Beginning at a point on the torty-flfth parallel of 

 north latitude where said pai-allel is intersected bv the meridian of 

 one hundred and eleven degrees west lousjitude; thence due east do 

 a point five miies from the eastern boundary of the park as now es- 

 tablished ; thence due south five miles; thence due east to tbe merid- 

 ian of one hundred and nine degress and thirty minuies west longi- 

 tude: thence due south along said meridian to the forty-fourth 

 parallel of north latitude; thence due west aloug said parallel to its 

 point of intersection with the meridian of one liuiidred and eleven 

 degrees west longitude; thence due north aloug said meridian to the 

 place of beginning; and it shall be the du It of the Secretary of the 

 Interior to cause an acciu'ate survey to be made of the boundary lines 

 ot said Park as established by this act, said survey to be recorded in 

 the offices of the surveyor-general and Commissioner of the General 

 Land Office of the United States, as provided by la w. 



Sec. 3. That all of the territory embraced within the limits of the 

 Park as herein established shall be reserved and withdi-awn from 

 settlement, occupancy, or sale under the laws of tbe United States, 

 and dedicated and set apart as a public park or pleasure ground for 

 the benefit and enjoyment of the people of the IJnited States; and 

 said territory so set apart shall be under the control of the Secretary 

 of the Interioi", and subject to all the provisions of sections numbered 

 twenty-four hundred and seventy four and twenty-four hundred and 

 seventy -five of the Revised Statutes of the United States, except as 

 herein otherwise provided. 



Sec. 3. That the Secretary of the Interior shall make and pubh'sh 

 such rules and regulations as he may deem nece.ssary and proper for 

 the management and care of the park, especially for the preservation 

 from injury or spoliation of all timber, mineral deposits, natural 

 curiosities, or wonderful objects within said park, and for the pro- 

 tection of the game animals found In the Park, to prerent their cap- 

 ture or destruction. He shall cause all persons u-espassujg upon tbe 

 Park to be removed therefrom, and shall take all oieasures wt-ich be 

 may think necessary to cany out the purposes of this act; and the 

 Secretary of War is hereby dii-ected to make such detail of troops as 

 the Secretary of the Interior, with the approval of the President, 

 may require for the purpose of preventing trespassers or intruders 

 from entering the Park with the object of destroying the game 

 therein, or other illegal purposes, and for removing such persons 

 from the Park. 



.Sec. 4. That the killing, woimding, or capturing at any time of any 

 bufEalo, bison, moose, elk. deer, mountain sheep. Rocky Blountain 

 goat, antelope, beaver, oLtor, martin, fisher, grouse, praii-ie chicken, 

 pheasant, fool-hen, partridge, quail, wild goose, duck, eagle, magpie, 

 swan, heron, sparrovy. robin, meadow lark, thru.sh, goldfinch, flicker 

 or yellowhammer, blackbird, oriole, jay, snowbh'd. or any of the 

 small birds commonly kno-wn as singing birds, is prohibited within 

 the limits of said Park; nor .shall any flsh be taken out of the waters 

 of the Park by means of seines, nets, traps, or by the use of drugs or 

 any esplo^ive'substanees or compounds, or in any oiher way *han by 

 liobk and line. Any person violatmg these prowsions of this sectioii 

 shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall 

 be fined for eich offense not less than twenty nor more than one him- 

 dred dollars, or by imprisonment for not more than three mouths, or 

 by both such fine and imprisonment. Possession within the said 

 Park of the dead bodies or any part thereof, of any of tbe animals or 

 bu'ds hereinbefore mentioned shall be prima, facie evidence that 

 the person or persons having the same are guilty of violating this 

 act. Any person or pt-jsons, or stage, express or railroad company, 

 receiving for transportation any of clie animals, birds or fish named 

 h-'rein, knowing or having reasonable cause to believe, that such 

 animals, birds or flsh were killed orcaptm-ed in violation of this act, 

 shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall forfeit and pay 

 for every such offense the sum of two hundred and fifty dollars, to 

 be recovered by a proceeding in the nature of an InforLoation before 

 any territorial or United Sta'es district court, within whose jurisdic- 

 tion such offense was committed; and it shall be the duty of the dis- 

 trict attorney of the United States for such Territory or district to 

 institute and prosecute said proceeding in the name of the United 

 States, the amount collected from the party offending to be paid into 

 the Treasury of the United States. 



Sec T>. That the Secretary of the Interior may lease small 

 portions of ground in the Park, not exceeding ten acres in 

 extent for each tract, on whicti may be erected hotels and 

 the necessary out-buildings, and for a period not exceeding 

 ten years; but such lease shall not include any of the geysers or 

 other objects of euriosit.y or interest in said park, or exclude the 

 public from the free and" convenient approach thei'eto. or include 

 any ground within one-quarter of a mile of any of the geysers or the 

 \''eUowstone Falls; nor sball any hotel or other buildings be erected 

 within the park until such lease shall be executed by the Secretary 

 of the Interior; and all contracts, agreements or exclusive privileges 

 heretofore made or given in regard to said park, or any part thereof, 

 inconsistent with this act, are hereby declared to be invalid ; nor shall 

 the Secretaiy of the Interior, in any lease which he may make and 

 execute, grant any exclusive privileges within said park except upon 

 the leased gtoimd. 



Seo. 6. That the President ahaU appoint, by and with the advice 

 and consent of the Senate, a commissioner, who shall reside at Mam- 



