June 24, 1886.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



429 



You can guess my surprise at receiving such a costly rifle as 

 these gentlemen made me the present of. I shall think of 

 them and thank them whenever I use it. I shall remember 

 the Winchester Repeating Amis Company as free-hearted 

 gentlemen, and prize the rifle they sent me more than any- 

 thing I have got. I -will close. I remain yours truly, 



George M. Grant. 



"JUMPING DEER." 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Being thoroughly familiar -with the movements of the 

 Cariacm macroiis when in motion. I wish to correct an 

 error in the cuts given illustrative of the "Carbery Deer 

 Hunt" in the Forest and Stream of June 3. The "jumpers" 

 do not fold or bend the legs as represented in the cuts; but 

 let the legs hang as does a carpenter's work bench. Im- 

 mediately before touching ground the knees bend forward 

 and the hocks backward, and that instant the feet touch 

 bottom, the legs are forcibly jerked straight, the forelegs 

 giving the elevation and the hiiidlegs doing the propelling, 

 all by that one sudden jerk. That a deer can jump the dis- 

 tance ascribed to these animals is not incredible, but that 

 they do it without reachiug out is little short of the mar- 

 velous. The track of a jump made by one of these short, 

 though strong-legged creatures is a hole in the snow, all 

 the feet going down near the same spot. The ears, head, 

 neck and entire body retain a fixed appearance, while the 

 whole form goes bowling along unlike anything else in 

 nature. No dog can keep up, not even the view hound, 

 if the deer runs nearly straight, and a horse — the best 

 saddle-horse— loses gradually uutil the rider pulls him off. 

 Two miles will sicken any horse carrying 160 pounds or 

 upward in such chase. It is downright funny to ride beside 

 a jumper on the prairie and watch him bound along like a 

 rubber ball without seeming to lag; fact is he has himself 

 set for a stand still, but appears incapable of overcoming a 

 momentum which he received in the copse of brush that he 

 was started from by the sniffing hounds or your comrade's 

 horses. 



Repeatedly from the saddle and from my snow shoes have 

 I beheld this wingless thing really fly, in the "Carberry 

 Sandhills" and elsewhere; and I have killed them too. 

 Though much shorter-legged than the Virginia deer, they 

 average a heavier weight. Does will reach 170 pounds, and 

 bucks nearly 300. The "great rusty red beast charging 

 through the brush" is very true to life. - Mr. Seton's story 

 reads like that of an honest man, and his perseverance is 

 that of a true and enthusiastic sportsman. I assume that he 

 never had the fortune of a clear and prolonged side view of 

 the jumpers, else he would have rendered them standing, 

 even in the air. Huron. 



A CALIFORNIA OUTING. 



AWAY we go, leaving San Diego city at 4:30 P. M. one 

 afternoon in February, bound on a duck hunt. Driv- 

 ing north four miles we pass through Old Town (the oldest 

 white settlement in California), with its picturesque adobe 

 ruins and majestic old palms towering far above the quiet 

 deserted hacienda. We arrive at the San Diego River, turn 

 sharply to the left, drive down the levee placed there to turn 

 the river from its original channel (as it bid fair to fill up the 

 channel of the Bay of San Diego), cross the river and find 

 ourselves on the edge of a vast tideland covered with stubby 

 tule and eel grass, intersected by innumerable sloughs, de- 

 ceptive in depth, breadth, and generally covered with thous- 

 ands of ducks which come in to feed with the flood tides. 

 The marsh surrounds False Bay, a sheet of water three by 

 six miles, very shallow, and with a very narrow entrance 

 close to the famous mussel beds of our seaside resorts. The 

 surface of the bay is, in season, literally covered with black 

 brant, geese and ducks of every description, together with 

 every variety of shore birds, from the great heron to the wee 

 sandpiper, while the waters are filled with mullet, halibut, 

 bass and myriads of sharks and sting rays, the latter some- 

 times growing to an immense size. I have seen one cast 

 up dead on the beach measuring, as near as I could calcu- 

 late, nearly seven feet across. 



We located ourselves where the river tumbles off into a 

 slough, making a fall of a couple of feet, and where the 

 ducks were noted for coming to water. 



It was a beautiful sunset . We were looking directly west, 

 and the sun was just dipping its beams behind the low sand 

 dunes; the sullen roar of the Pacific was brought to our ears 

 just loud enough to make it musical. Before us for a num- 

 ber of miles was nothing to be seen but tules, and on the 

 right the northern edge of the bay surmounted by low hills, 

 the sky one mass of rose-colored clouds and edged with the 

 fine gold of a gorgeous sunset. To the left, grand Point 

 Loma, crowned by the lighthouse, loomed up majestic and 

 somber, brought into added prominence by the lights of Old 

 Town and the lights of the hshing fleet which anchor under 

 its lee. Behind us is the beautiful Bay of San Diago, calm 

 as a mirror, save where now and then a waterfowl disturbs 

 its glassy surface, reflecting the lights from various shipping, 

 and the thousands of city lights and the wide, white moon, 

 just rising into view behind Mt. San Miguel. The air is soft 

 and the whole situation so entrancing that I regret to break 

 the quiet. Not a sound is heard save the melancholy cak, 

 cak, ka-a-a of the rail buried deep in the tules, and the occa- 

 sional long-drawn sigh from one of the dogs. 



Still Merritt and I sat there, our guns apparently forgotten, 

 our eyes bent seaward and our whole being evidently wrapt 

 in a contemplation of nature's beauties. It was a beautiful 

 sight — one will never forget, and if only a brace of old green- 

 heads would — bang — thump — and ' 'fetch him here. Rowdy, 

 good doggy. Look at this mallard," spoke up Merritt, as 

 his dog proudly brought in as fine a specimen as I ever saw. 

 But I hadn't time to look. The tide had been running in 

 for several hours, and the ducks seemed to be all coming in 

 at one time. In every direction could be seen band upon 

 band of ducks all headed for the one goal, the mouth of the 

 river, where we were awaiting them. " The fun waged fast 

 and furious. We became excited, stepped off into the 

 sloughs two or three times, used up more shells in half an 

 hour's work than I thought possible, and the dogs were 

 simply frantic— one would stai-t to heel with a bird, and 

 thump would come a big duck almost on top of him. 



The flight came in spurts. For ten minutes one wouldn't 

 see a duck, and presto— whio-oo— swish— bang, bang, "Dead 

 bird, fetch him here, you Rowdy; come in, Trix;" bang, 

 bang, and so it would go again for a full ten minutes or bo, 

 and then the flight would stop as suddenly as it began. 



We ran out of shells about 9 o'clock, and proceeded to 

 retrieve and hook up, and thus ended a most enjoyable little 

 nimt. A. B. Pearson. 



San Diego, California. 



MONTANA'S CATTLE KINGS. 



[Correspondence New York Times.] 



WASHINGTON, June 20.— The report that Agent Williamson, of 

 the Indian Office, has been disregarding the law or his duties 

 by permitting the illegal occupation of Indian lands in Montana is 

 doubted by Commissioner Atkins, who furnishes some of the facts 

 concerning the lands alluded to in a recent issue of the Forest and 

 Stream. Agent Williamson was the personal appointment of Secre- 

 tary Lamar, who had known him for 40 years, lie has been known 

 by Mr. Atkins for 50 years, and both Mr. Lamar and Mr. Atkins are 

 prepared to vouch for his integrity in this matter, believing that 

 nothing has been done that will not hear the strictest scrutiny. 



The agreement made by the United States with the Crow Indians 

 for a cession of the western part of their reservation provides in one 

 section that in case the tribe consents to permit cattle to be driven 

 across the reseivation or grazed thereon, the Secretary of the Interior 

 shall tlx the price to be paid for the privilege, all income from such 

 sources to be turned over to the tribe. Wheu Agent Williamson took 

 charge in December, 1885, he found a number of persons grazing 

 cattle on the reservation, notably Briggs and Ellis, Ash and one 

 Wilkerson, to whom he has been charged with issuing permits. The 

 Indians bad no objection to make to their presence on the grazing 

 lands. Subsequently Briggs and Ash asked for renewals of their per- 

 mits, aud the Columbia Land and Cattio Company asked for the 

 privilege of -grazing a herd of 5,000 cattle in the northeast corner of 

 the reservation, all agreeing to pay such a tax per head per annum 

 as the department should fix, and agreeing to leave the reservation 

 whenever they should be ordered to do so. On May 1 2 last these 

 applications were referred to Agent Williamson to ascertain the 

 wishes of the tribe and to recommend such a compensation as he 

 might deem reasonable. 



Mr. Williamson investigated the matter and reported to the depart- 

 ment that the Indians had no objections to leasing the lands for 

 grazing purposes, provided there was no interference with their 

 farms. Mr. Wilhamson also reported that there were no Indians on 

 the land asked for for grazing purposes, and reported that tres- 

 passers were on the ground from whom no revenue was received. 

 Agent Williamson also reported that he consi ierea the terms offered 

 — 50 cents per head — to be reasonable and satisfactory to the tribe aud 

 recommended that the permits asked for be granted. Under them 

 from 8,000 to 10,000 head of cattle would be given pasturage. The In- 

 dian Department has not passed upon the question of these permits, 

 owing, it is said, to the pressure of business. Haskins and McGirl 

 have asked for a similar grazing permit, but Mr. Williamson, to whom 

 the matter -was referred, has not reported ou their application. 



Relative to the statement that one Barry had grazed several thous- 

 and sheep on the reservation — he had asked in February last for per- 

 mission to graze 3,000 sheep for three or four months, for which priv- 

 ilege he offered to pay 5 cents a head or $150 fot the lot, whicb terms 

 the Government ref u.-ed to accept. Nevertheless he grazed his sheep 

 there and didn't pay for the privilege. 



With regard to Losvell, Nelsou Sto r ey and Dilworth, to whom the 

 Forest and Stream charges that permits have been granted, the 

 Government has no information, nor has the department received 

 applications for permits fr -m them, thoueh one McCormick, of Junc- 

 tion City, had recently applied for a permit to graza 1.000 head of 

 cattle. In 1884 the Crows leased 1,500,000 acres of their reservation to 

 Glake & Wilsch for grazing purposes for a period of ten years from 

 June 1, 1885, at a rental of §30,000 per annum, payable semi-annually 

 in advance. It is possible, so the Government officials believe, that 

 ic is part of this land, leased by the Indians without tbe approval of 

 the Indian Department, upon which the parties complained of by the 

 Forest and Stream are grazing their cattle, and that, none of them 

 hold permits granted by Mr. Williamson. There are supposed to be 

 many of these unapproved leases, issued by tne Crows to the cattle- 

 men, of which the Government knows nothing, and it is known that 

 part of the reservation is infested by trespassers who bave no shadow 

 of right upon the lands. Because of this last fact Agent Williamson 

 favors the granting of grazing permits, as he believes the parties who 

 hold such permits would drive off the trespassers. To sustain the 

 claim of the department that Agent Williamson would not grant 

 grazing permits, as it has been charged he has done, the authorities 

 point to a letter sent by him to R. B. Briggs, of Big Timber, Montana, 

 under date of May 20 last, in response to nis request for a renewal of 

 his grazing permits, in which Agent Williamson says: 



"I have been greatly annoyed from complaints of parties who 

 have been trespassing on the reservation, and others who desire to 

 have permits to graze cattle on the reserve as well as other privileges, 

 that - you are enjoying privileges which they can't understand.' I 

 therefore desire to be distinctly understood that all my actions are 

 open to the inspection of the world, and I do nothing without the ap- 

 proval of the department at Wasbiugtou, as these matters are of no 

 profit whatever to me, but on the other hand, are of very great annoy- 

 ance, besides taking my employes from the great and pressing ser- 

 vice I have for them to perform here and sending them to look after 

 matters of this kind." 



In brief, then, tbe department denies, in behalf of its Crow Indian 

 agent, the truth of the assertions of the Forest and Stream relative 

 to the illegal granting of grazing permits by Williamson, basing this 

 denial upon a thorough knowledge of his probity, and a lack of any 

 accurate information as to whether the Crow Reservation is used by 

 the stockmen, either with or without permits, or under leases granted 

 by the Crows without Government approval. 



Minnesota Game Notes.— Ashby, Minn., June 17. 

 —From present indications we are led to believe that prairie 

 chickens will be unusually plentiful the coming season. Old 

 birds were more numerous than usual during the spring 

 months. There has been no rain nor thunder storms to 

 injure the eggs or to destroy the hatch. Young birds are in 

 fine condition at present writing. Ducks that hatch in this 

 section of the county are also in excellent condition and 

 plentiful. We have a good hotel, the Hotel Kittson, livery 

 teams and experienced drivers can be had at reasonable 

 prices. D. A. Lindley of New York, and George Smith of 

 Chicago, with other friends, found this a very satisfactory 

 place to shoot ducks last fall, killing from 100 to 200 red 

 head ducks per day during their stay. M. A. Gilbert of 

 Chicago, spent 30 days shooting here. The largest number 

 of ducks killed in one day was 213, the smallest 46; Ids total 

 killing was 2,760 ducks, principally redheads. This 

 shooting is done in Christina Lake, "three miles north 

 of Ashby. Stationary blinds are built with brush, etc., 

 from 200 to 300 yards out from the shore, large enough to 

 cover a boat in which one or two men sit, placing 20 or 30 

 decoy ducks to lakeward from the blind. The places chosen 

 to build the blinds are in the natural feeding place for the 

 ducks. Many thousand ducks were killed in this way by 

 sportsmen from all parts of the country. Col. John Wilson 

 and his son B. M. Wilson of Chicago; Dr. A. Head, U. S. N., 

 Hartford; L. C. Thomas, Columbia, Tenn. ; J. L. Grandin, 

 Tidioute, Pa., spent the last hunting season here with their 

 families and many friends, who would stop for a day or two 

 shooting. Mrs. J. L. Grandin made an excellent record at 

 shooting both prairie chickens and ducks; she is very proud 

 of her ability as a shot. Hundreds of the lovers of shooting 

 make this their headquarters during shooting season, the 

 most of them from St. Paul, Minneapolis and Stillwater. 

 Among the most prominent are G. R. Finch, C. Seabury and 

 J. Tarbox, St. Paul; Chas. Nelson, Senator Sabin" and 

 J. Castle, Stillwater; F. E, Daniels, C. H. Russell and John 

 Hall, Minneapolis.— W. S. F. 



Pennsylvania Notes.— Athens, Pa., June 14.— One day 

 last week a farmer living about four miles east of here killed 

 a bald eagle measuring seven feet from tip to tip; it was 

 thirty-eight inches long and weighed nine pounds. When 

 he fired only one shot hit it, breaking the end of the wing, 

 and it came at him so fiercely that he" was obliged to club it 

 to protect himself. This is the first one killed near here in 

 several years, and I mounted it for the G. A. R. post of this 

 town, and they will place it in their rooms. Grouse have 

 bred well, and last week a friend saw two fine coveys of 

 young about the size of quails. He was also fortunate 

 enough to shoot four mink at one shot that were living quite 

 near them. 1 hope the bounty on minks, owls, weasels, etc., 

 will so thin them out that grouse and quail will have a chance 

 to breed without being molested. — P. 



The Boomerang. —Vicksburg, Miss.— Editor Forest and 

 Bream: Noticing in Forest and Stream of June 3, an. 

 article on the boomerang, in which Mr. Barnum is said to 

 have pronounced it a myth, 1 copy for you the report of 

 Charles Wilkes, Commander of the XL S. Exploring Expedi- 

 tion, on the above-named weapon. In speaking of the 

 weapons of New South Wales the author says: "The most 

 extraordinary is the boomerang. This is a flat stick three 

 feet long and two inches wide by three-quarters of an inch 

 thick, curved or crooked in the center, forming an obtuse 

 angle. At first one would calculate it was a wooden sword 

 very rudely aud clumsily made; indeed, one of the early 

 navigators took it for such. It is an implement used both 

 for war and in the chase. In the hands of a native it is a 

 missile efficient for both, and is made to describe some most 

 extraordinary curves and movements. It is grasped at one 

 end iu the right hand, and is thrown sickle-wise, cither up- 

 ward into the air, or downward, so as to strike the ground 

 some distance from the thrower. Iu the first case it flies with 

 a rotary motion, as its shape would indicate; after ascending 

 to a great height in the air, it suddenly returns in an ellipti- 

 tical orbit to a spot near its starting point. The natives in 

 its use are enabled to strike objects which lie behiud others 

 with great precision, and to reach those near as if by a back 

 stroke by throwing it at a particular angle. The diagram 

 exhibits the curves of the angles of 32°, 45° and 65' respec- 

 tively, which I have attained in .making experiments with it. 

 On throwing it downward on the ground, it rebounds in a 

 straight line, pursuing a ricochet motion until it strikes the 

 object at w.bich it is thrown. Birds and small animals are 

 killed with it and it is also used in killing ducks. The most 

 singular curve described by it, is when thrown in the air 

 above the angle of 45°, its flight is always then backward; 

 and the native throws it standing with his back instead of 

 his face to the object he is desirous of hitting. It is a 

 favorite weapon with the natives and is frequently seen in- 

 geniously carved.— D. M. P." 



An Adirondack Guide's Night Trip.— Sunday a tele- 

 gram was received at Boonville for John W. Chisholm, of 

 Boston, who was supposed to'be on the Seventh Lake of the 

 Fulton Chain, announcing the serious illness of his wife. 

 The telegram was not sent until Tuesday morning from 

 Boonville and as the case was an urgent one George Good- 

 sell and James Kitts started in a rowboat from the Forge 

 House to Seventh Lake at nearly dusk, the message having 

 arrived there at about that time. The journey up the lake 

 was made in a very fierce wind, and under a disadvantage 

 owing to the darkness. Upon arriving at Seventh Luke," a 

 distance of about sixteen miles from the Forge House, Guide 

 Goodsell could find nothing of the party, and in almost total 

 darkness returned to Hess camp, where it was learned that 

 the party of which Mr. Chisholm was a member, had gone 

 to Big Moose Lake, about eight miles from the camp. 

 Nothing daunted the guide and his companion, and over 

 lake and through the trail of the woods they continued, ar- 

 riving at Big Moose Lake at about two o'clock in the morn- 

 ing, where they delivered their message. Mr. Chisholm at 

 ouce accompanied them, started at daylight and reaching 

 Boonville at about 5 p. m. of the same day, where he took the 

 train for his home. Considering the roughness of the lake, 

 the darkness aud distance traveled, the carrying of the boat 

 from lake to lake and other obstacles overcome, it was a 

 trip which took pluck and perseverance. About forty miles 

 were traveled by lake and carry, and most of it in darkness. 

 Many of the Fulton Chain guides are made up of the right 

 material and George Goodsell is among the number. — 

 Boonville (tf. Y.) Herald. 



A Sensible Agreement.— Gainesville, Texas, June 16. 

 — Editor Forest and Stream: The inclosed agreement looks 

 strange, coming as it does from one of the best game dis- 

 tricts in the State, but it will show whicb way the wind 

 blows in Cooke county. — C. C. The agreement is as fol- 

 lows: In the absence of a law to protect game we herebj r 

 agree not to kill any prairie chickens before July 15 next, or 

 quail before Sept. 1, and limit our bag of chickens iu one 

 day to the number opposite our names: (Signed) C.Cham- 

 bers 12, F. A. Tyler, Jr. 12, J. B. Spragins 12, W. O. Hus- 

 ton 12, J. M. Potter 12, C. C. Potter 13; J. M. Rowland 12, 

 M. V. Cheatham 12, Joseph Cottraux 12, L. K. Hawkins 12, 

 Burt Simpson 12, J. B. Turner 12, J. B. Morgesou 12, B. S. 

 Brooks 12, J. Means 12, J. C. Rollins 12, J. R. Stevens 12, M. 

 H. Brown 12, H. D. Buck 12, A. L Frick 12, R. E. Phillips 

 12, J. H. Garnett 12, S. D. Parkinson 12, Walter W. Hud- 

 son 12, J. T. Rowland 12, J. Z. Keel 12, E. P. Hill 12, C. O. 

 Turner 12, E. P. Bomar 12, Claude Weaver 12, Green Weaver 

 12, Geo. F. Peery 8, J. W. Phillips 12 (Gainesville, Texas, 

 June 14, 1886). ^_ 



Kansas.— Cimarron, June 11— I went to the buffalo, 

 southwest of here, in November last ; saw two bunches of 

 three and six and killed a two-year old heifer; my compan- 

 ion killed a cow. I am going again in November and shall 

 get meat or stay till I wear the prairie out traveling over it. 

 They are scarce and wild as mustangs. Prairie chickens are 

 nesting here for the first time this season. I am trying, with 

 fair success, to keep them from being killed. Antelope are 

 almost all driven south by the settlers who are setting up the 

 country along the A. T. & S. F. R. R. They are abundant 

 and tame one hundred and twenty-five mile south and south- 

 west from Cimarron. We shall have a large time in Novem- 

 ber about Great Bend, Kan., coursing jack rabbits, at the 

 meet of the National Coursing Club. — W. J. D. 



An Ardent Hounding Protector. — The Boonville, N. 

 Y., Herald gives this report of what will be done by one of 

 the gentry whose cause the Herald espoused last winter: 

 "The Sherman party report seeing many deer. At Beaver 

 Lake they saw five at one time; but the preparations for 

 destruction this season are formidable. At Indian Lake ou 

 the South Fork, a person who was last year suspected of 

 doing a good deal of unlawful hounding, has erected a large 

 camp aud got in a thousand pounds of supplies. He intends 

 to stay all the season, and in the fall to furnish illustrations 

 of how to fill up the woods with deer by driving them with 

 hounds, according to the plan adopted at the recent session 

 of the Legislature." 



Ironton, Mo., June 19.— Quail wintered splendid. At 

 present they are very plentiful, more so than usual. Turkey 

 were numerous in the spring, and we have had a very dry 

 season, which will help our fall shooting considerably. 

 Squirrel are plentiful iu the St. Francois River bottoms, 

 about eight miles from here. Deer may yet be found within 

 two miles of Ironton. Fishing was not good this spring; 

 the season was too dry.— W. E. B. 



