62 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Aug. 19, 1886. 



Addrmt oil commmicatiom to the Fortst md Stream Pub. Co. 



SAM LOVEL'S CAMPS.— II. 



SAM and liis partner lounged about camp waiting for 

 the opening of the water, and there was not much 

 to break the dull monotony of those days of waiting. For 

 the most part there was little to do but cook and eat the 

 simple fare, and sit by the camp-fire trimming muskrat 

 bows and tally sticks. Now and then a chopper would 

 stop at the shanty to light his pixie, and if a Yankee, to 

 ask no end of questions; or if a Canadian, to iabber with 

 Antoine till Sam was driven almost wild with the inces- 

 sant jargon so unintelligible to him. A mile down the 

 creek a party of lumbermen were building a raft of logs 

 upon the ice, and often to pass the time away Sam and 

 Antoine would visit them, and being expert axemen, helj) 

 them make "knock downs" wliile thej' chatted and joked. 



One day Sam was hunting about camp for something, 

 and Antoine asked, "What you look see, Sam?" 



"I'm a lookni' for a mushrat car kiss. I seen where a 

 mink's ben gallopin' 'raound, an' I want some bait for a 

 trap." 



"Wal naow, sell, Sam, you goin' b'lieved what Ali 'E 

 tor you. 'Taut no use for settlin' bait for minks to heat 

 naow. He '11 goin' sparkin' dis tarn year an' he ant cares 

 no more for heat as you does w'en you '11 goin' sparkin'. 

 Set you trap in road where he '11 goin' see Tiees Mamselle 

 Hudleh, Sam, den you '11 ketched it." 



"Like 's not you're pretty nigh right, Antwine," Sam 

 said, laughing, "but he might be comiu' hum hungiy 

 arter his sparkin'. I've knowed of such cases," and having 

 found a bait of odorous muskrat flesh he himg it over a 

 moss-covered trap in a hollow log, and nejct morning 

 brought in the lithe slender feUow whose brown coat of 

 fur became so fashionable and valuable in after years, 

 though then worth no more than the muskrat's. 



Once they went coon hunting in the Great "Woods,'and 

 after a half day's wallowing through the soft, deep snow, 

 tracked tlnree coons to a big hollow pine stub, and, chop- 

 ping it down, took out five residents and visitors, whose 

 pelts made a showy if not a rich addition to their slender 

 display of peltry. 



Along the winter roadway of ice, now made the most 

 of by teamsters while it lasted, frequent loads of logs and 

 wooci or empty returning sleds came and went, crunching 

 in and out of sight and hearing. To the eastward beyond 

 the wide fields, from where the smoke of farmhouse 

 chimneys drifted upward, came sounds of busy life; the 

 jing-jong of old-fashioned "Boston" sleigh bells faring to 

 and fro on the highway, the steady thud of flails in barns, 

 the lowing of cows and tlie bawMng of calves, the cackle 

 of hens and the challenge of chanticleer; at noon the 

 shouts of schoolboys and the mellow blasts of the conch 

 shells sounding for dinner. To the westward were the 

 woods, their primeval solitude almost undisturbed, their 

 sUence only broken by the strokes of a far-off axe, fol- 

 lowed by the dull boorn of the falling tree. At night the 

 gloomy, cryptic aisles resounded with the solemn notes of 

 the great "horned owls, and once or twice the trappers 

 heard there the wild caterwauling of a lynx. So forty 

 years ago the nairow Slang was the dividing Line between 

 broad fields that had long been cleared and cultivated 

 and a thoiisand acres of ancient forest. 



In this way the days passed, while the snow slowly 

 melted oif the fields and the ice slowly rotted. More 

 tawny knolls cropped out in pasture and meadow, gray 

 streaks of ice came to the sm-face along the creek 

 and Slang, and in the woods the snow sunk loAver and 

 lower its winter litter of twigs, shards of bark and slender 

 evergreen leaves, till here and there a hummuck brown 

 with last year's fallen leafage, or a moulderiag log bright 

 vtdth ever- verdant moss, came to the checkered simlight 

 again. 



Cold nights and cold days were not infrequent when 

 the saturated snow was crusted hard enough to bear a 

 horse, and a roaring fire was needed at the shanty front 

 to keep the trappers warmed into anything like comfort. 

 But after each "cold snaj)" the south wind blew warmer 

 than before, more crows came sagging heavily along on 

 it from their winter exile, the woodpeckers sounded 

 oftener their cheery roll, bluebirds and the first robin, 

 came, a phebe called sharply for his mate and found flies 

 enough in sunny nooks to keep him busy while he awaited 

 her coming, and a dusky chorus of blackbirds gm-gled out 

 a medley of song from the tops of the maples, while the 

 tardy spring ck-ew nearer. 



In these warmer days hollow, imearthly moans and 

 roars, rising at times almost to a yell, were heard along 

 the lake, at first faintly from afar," then nearer, till every 

 jagged steep of Sx^lit-Rock Mountain echoed with the 

 wild voices, then fading away to a humming murmur in 

 the distance. It was as if some tormented demon was 

 fleeing over the ice, or a phantom host of the Waubana- 

 kee was rushing in swift, superhuman haste along the 

 ancient warpath of the dead nations. It was the booming 

 of the lake, a sound strange and almost appalling to Sam 

 who, tm now, had never heard it. 



At last a gTeat rain came with a strong southerly wind, 

 and the two made quick work of the snow melting, and 

 the brooks poured down then- yellow floods till the slug- 

 gish cm-rent of the Slang was stirred. The ice, for some 

 days unsafe to venture upon, was now honey-combed, and 

 presently was only a mass of loose, slender, upright spires 

 of crystal, undulating when disturbed in long, smooth 

 swells, and tinkling a faint chime as if a million fairy 

 beUs were knolhng its dovmfall. Watery patches began 

 to show here and there on the marshes, great flocks of 

 geese journeying northward harrowed the gray sky, and 

 ducks in pairs and droves came whistling down and 

 splashed inte the open water to feed and rest. 



Then one morning, when Sam and his companion 

 crawled out of the shanty, they beheld the long wished- 

 for sight of marshes clear of ice, and after a hasty break- 

 fast they launched the birch and dugout and loaded them 

 with the ti'aps ah-eady strung on the tally sticks, and each 

 with axe and gxm they set f oi*th to coast the low shores. 

 The boats kept close together, the pine leading the birch, 

 for Antoine was now to take the part of instructor. 

 Scanning every half -submerged log they passed, he soon 

 stopped his craft alongside a fallen limbless tree whose 

 roots still clung to the bank, while its trunk slanted with 

 a gentle incline into the turbid water. Abundant sign 



about the waterline showed that the long-imprisoned 

 muskrats had ah'eady made the most of their newly 

 gained liberty to swiin with heads above water. 

 "Dah seh, Sam you see he been here, lob of it, an' 



{)rob'ly he '11 comin' 'gin. Naow, chawp nawtch in de 

 awg, so," and -svith half a dozen strokes of his axe he cut 

 a neat notch in the log just below the waterline, wide 

 enough to hold a trap when set. It was a pine, well pre- 

 served, and the chips and notch were bright and fresh. 

 "Naow you see, w'en de nawtch mek it too shone, you 

 wan' put it on some weed, mud, sometings," and he over- 

 laid the cut with a thin layer of sodden water weeds. 

 "Moosrat he ant very cunny, but he lak see ting where he 

 been look kan 'o usual." Then he drove the tally pole 

 firmly into the soft bottom, and set the trap in tlie notch 

 with no covering but the two inches of muddy water that 

 ripjjled over it in the light breeze. 



"Dah," he said as he resumed his paddle, "if de water 

 ant rose or don't fell, you as' dat trap to-morrow mornin", 

 he tol' you, moosrat, bah gosh!" 



At the next promising place Antoine superintended the 

 setting of a ti-ap by Sam, and pronounced it, "Pooty well 

 do, for 6ee-gtn. ' So they fared on throitgh the marshes' 

 floating weeds and bristly thickets of button bush, now 

 over the submerged shore among the ti'unks and sprouts 

 of willows, water maples and ash that bordered it. Often 

 they were startled by the sudden splash and flutter of 

 frightened woodducks that arose before them and went 

 squeaking away to some imdisturbed retreat. Great 

 flocks of the more wary dusky ducks swam safely far out 

 from shore, but at the approach of the boats they' too took 

 wing with a tremendous uj^roar of splashing and quack- 

 ing. More than once they surprised some strange water- 

 fowl whose like they had never seen before, some resting 

 wayfarer on that gi-eat thoroughfare between northern and 

 southern seas. Sam's eyes ranged wider than those of 

 Antoine, who was looking only for places where traps 

 might be set. The tall Yankee laid down his paddle, took 

 up his gun, and after a second's aim at a brown Imnp that 

 made a scarcely perceptible motion on an insular sLmnp, 

 fired. The lump disappeared at the report of the gim, and 

 close beside the stump the legs of a dying muskrat pawed 

 the air. 



"Horhali for horrah!" Antoine cheered, as Sam picked 

 up liis game. "Nev' min'. Ah show it to you to-naght 

 'baout sun gone daown haow shoot moosrat! Yas sah! 

 Call it raght up, clear "cross Slang, sah, you see?" 



"All right," Sam said, "I wanter see' you do it. D'ye 

 shake a dish o' corn at 'em an' holler 'caday!" or whistle 

 'em up as ye would a dawg, er haow?" 



"Nev' min', Ah show you, Ah tol' you truth, jis same 

 always All do." 



Sam got two or three more shots and then, when the 

 afternoon was well worn away, all the traps they had in 

 their boats were set on logs, bogs and the ruins of houses 

 where the rats had come to feed on the succulent under- 

 water growth they had reft and set afloat, they went 

 home to the shanty. Then they had a hearty supper, a 

 part of which was the roasted bodies of two of the musk- 

 rats Sam had shot and which he, much against his preju- 

 dices, was forced to confess were an agreeable change from 

 salt pork. When the shadows of the tall trees touched 

 the eastern shore of th6 Slang the trappers took their 

 guns and went thither in then- canoes, Avhich they 

 ran ashore, and there sat in waiting for the 

 game to appear. The fires of the sunset glowed 

 in the western lim of the clear sky, and their muTored 

 counterfeit shone as brightly in the quiet water below the 

 black reflections of hemlocks and pines and the fine tracery 

 of the water maples' graceful limbs. Presently a shinmg 

 wake cut the shadows as a muskrat came up from the 

 entrance of his burrow and cruised swiftly along the 

 western shore, whining out a call to his lady love. As 

 Sain watched the point of the lengthening streak of gold 

 and listened to the plaintive impatient voice, so like the 

 wlnmpering cry of a young puppy, he was stai'tled to 

 hear it repeated close "beside him. As he ttmied cau- 

 tiously in his seat, cocking his gun, he saw nothing but 

 Antoine with his lips jiressed firmly together blowing his 

 breath out between them with what seemed a painful 

 effort, for he was very red in the face and his eyes were 

 bulging from their sockets. But his simulation of the 

 muskrat's call was perfect, and the little swimmer at once 

 shaped his course toward him. The treacherous call was 

 kept up till the poor fool was within four rods of the 

 muzzle of lintoine's musket, which then belched forth its 

 fatal charge. "Dahi' said the Canuck, as he picked up 

 the riddled muskrat, "Ah guess hees hole folks ant be 

 worry for heem be aout sparkin' naghts some more, don't 

 it? Bah gosh, ant Ah tol' you Ah'U call it, bein?" 



Shining wakes streaked the darkening water in all 

 dnections, and Antoine called lialf a dozen more deluded 

 victims to their doom before the gloaming thickened to 

 the niu-k and gtm-sights were no longer to be seen. As 

 they wended homeward, guided by the faint light of their 

 low camp-fii-e, Sam swore, "By the gret horn spoon, I 

 wish 't I hed the ol' Ore Bed here! It 'ould be fun to pop 

 them swimmm' mushrats with it." (Tlie Ore Bed was an 

 ancient rifle owned by him, liearing a township fame for 

 its shooting quahties," and owing its name to the many 

 pounds of iron in its barrel.) "I wish 't I hed it here!" 



"Wal, Ah dunno— probly 'f hole Bahtlett don't usin' 

 hees big hoxens you can sen' lett' an' get heem drawed it 

 daown here; but All dunno, sleigliin' all gone naow," said 

 Antoine, as the canoe bottoms scraped the landing at the 

 shanty. 



As Sam lay on the buffalo skins smoking, between 

 whiffs he practiced the muskrat call that Antoine had 

 taught him till he became so proficient that his tutor 

 called sleepily from his bed, "Dah, Sam, you betteh stop 

 you foolishin', fore fus' you know moosrat come an" bit 

 off you nose off." 



A PIGEON FLEW OVER A FIELD. 



It happened at Kesliena, Wis., last week. 

 A pigeon flew over a field. 

 A liawk struck it. 



Hawk and pigeon fell to the ground. 



A bov ^vitll bow and arrow ran after them, 



The boy's mother followed Mm. 



She stumbled, fell, and a stick pierced her neck and sev'ered an 

 artery. 

 The woman bled to death. 

 A pigeon flew over a field. 



"FoBEST AND STREAM" FABLES (seven of them vdth a like num- 

 ber of illustrations) are for the edification of the wise and the 

 instruction of the foolish. In this journal they are ad 'trtisea for 

 the wise. The foolish we cannot reach. The i able* are sent post- 

 paid on r«coipt of ten cents. 



Addrtii all comrmmicat/iom to the Forest and Stream Puh. Cq, 



CERROS ISLAND. 



OF the numerous islands of the Pacific Coast many 

 are known only to the navigator; to the commercial 

 and scientific world they are a blank. Bold, rockv, iso- 

 lated, often inaccessible, their ragged coasts ' apparently 

 offer but Httle inducement to commercial enterprise, but, 

 like mines, their value can be ascertained only by investi- 

 gation. 



With this idea in view a party of capitahsts obtained 

 from the Mexican Government a concession of land which 

 included the island of Cerros. This island, lying just 

 north of latitude 28° and about fifteen miles from the 

 west coast of Lower CaUfornia, was chiefly desirable, 

 from a commercial point of view, for the stock of goats 

 by whicli it was inhabited. In order to form an estimate 

 of the number of goats on the island and to obtain 

 samples of the skins, the company having chartered the 

 steamer Edith for the purpose," sent an investigating 

 party to the island on the first of January, 1885. Having 

 received' an invitation to accompany this party I gladly 

 accepted, that I might explore the island in the interest 

 of science and make a collection of natm-al history speci- 

 mens. 



On her way south the Edith touched at San Pedro, 

 Cal. , for water. Taking advantage of the opportunity to 

 go ashore, I collected a few specimens of the large-billed 

 sparrow {Ammodramus rostratus), wiiich were common 

 about the wliarf and along the railroad track, nearly all 

 that I shot being found among the wheels and axle gear 

 of box cars standing on a side ti-ack. The bii-ds were not 

 shy, but so quick in their movements, flitting about under 

 the cars, that they were not easy to shoot. Being routed 

 from their position they alighted upon higher objects; 

 no less than thhteen were counted at one time upon the 

 ridge of a neighboring cottage. Numbers of Western 

 gulls {Larus occidentalU), a bird which had continually 

 followed the steamer, hovered about the town of San 

 Pedro, alighting on the roofs of houses or searching for 

 food in a slough beside the main street. A flock of about 

 one hundred was seen cu-cling over the hillsides back of 

 the tovra, probably working a plowed field in quest of 

 worms, grubs, etc., turned up by the plow, thus doing no 

 httle benefit to the farmer. I have seen a few guUs more 

 than a mile distant from water following a furrow as per- 

 sistently as crows- 

 Soon "after leading San Pedi-o the steamer was several 

 times obhged to stop and reverse her engine to clear the 

 propeller of the gigantic masses of kelp with which the 

 entrance to the bay is obstructed. From San Pedi'o we 

 steamed to Todos Santos (port of entry for Mexico), and 

 ancliored half a mile from shore. The wliistle soon 

 awoke the apparently sleeping town, bringing the Custom 

 House boat out to us. Tbis was launched tlnough the 

 surf by four Mexicans, on whose hat bands were gilded 

 the words "Hesguardo Marithna."' Our sudden appear- 

 ance off the quiet town had created quite a flutter among 

 the inhabitants, many of whom were sure tliat the place 

 was to be immediately bombarded. The Captain of the 

 MiUtary had donned his uniform and called out liia com- 

 pany of half-breed soldiery, clothed in blue and white, 

 with sandals to protect the soles of their feet, and was 

 parading the street with this formidable array. By the 

 time we arrived on shore we found quiet reigning supreme 

 over the town, as the Custom House officials liad already 

 certified to the harmless character of our craft. The war- 

 like captain (a most villainous looldng Mexican) had re- 

 sumed his citizen's clothes, but still wore in his belt a 

 large Colt's revolver. 



Wliile we waited for clearance papers I strolled about 

 the town, "seeing the sights." In the rear of a small 

 hut some chickens were gathered in the warm sunshine 

 and I was greatly interested in noticing in their company 

 a tame road-ninner (Oeocoeeyx californianus). He was 

 standing with his wings sHghtly Ppreail and his tail 

 drooped imtil it rested on the ground. The feathers of 

 the interscapular region were raised in a ruff back of his 

 neck, allowing the warm rays of the sun to fall upon the 

 downy feathers of the back, thus giving him the full 

 benefit of a sun bath. He turned lus head complacently 

 from side to side, and moved away only when I stooped 

 to pick him up. 



After "doing" Todos Santos we returned to the beach, 

 took off our shoes and stockings and rolled up our trousers 

 preparatory to chasing a receding wave down the beach, 

 that we might scramble into the boat which awaited us, 

 before the next wave sm-roimded it. The feat was ac- 

 complished successfully, and when a huge wave lifted 

 the boat we puUed for the steamer. As the sm-f was 

 light at the time we fortunately escaped a ducking. 



In the middle of the afternoon of Jan. 5 we cleared for 

 Cerros Island, a young man being sent with us from the 

 Custom House, perhaps to see that we did not carry oft" 

 the island. The next morning we were well out to sea, 

 the coast line being scarcely visible thimigh the haze. At 

 half past tlu-ee in the afternoon Cerros Island was sighted, 

 an indistinct point on the horizon, visible only from the 

 upper deck. At sunset the island was plainly in sight 

 and presented the appearance of two islands witli high 

 peaks in close proximity to each other. In reality the island 

 is one mass of broken ridges, interspersed by numerous 

 deep gorges and barren ravines cut by heavy rains. The 

 dawn of the following morning found us off the southern 

 end of Cerros Island, where preparations were immedi- 

 ately made to go ashore for the day. Before us lay a land 

 about twenty miles in length and eight wide and having 

 an altitude of 3,955ft. 



Upon reaching shore we followed the beach a short dis- 

 tance, and then turning inland began an arduous climb 

 up the mountain, following the course of a ravine. Half 

 a mile from om- starting point the member of our party 

 who was in possession of the hmch basket gave out ex- 

 hausted, and was obhged to retm-n to the beach. Constant 

 sea-sickness dm-ing the trip had left him in no comUtion 

 foi- mountaineering. It has since occmxed to me that he 

 passed the most pleasant day wandeiing along the beacli, 

 pickmg up shells and curios, and in possession of a lunch 

 basket pro^dsioned for five. ' In the meantime we were 

 climbing higher and still higher, seeing but few birds and 

 startling slender lizards that ran swiftly from one bush 

 to another, and vanished at our approach. A groimd owl 



