Deo. 16, 1886.J 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



405 



dogs, Penrlrag-oD find Corinne, in a, wagon, and set out 

 for "the bills Ijpyoiid hVntlaii'l," or, in plain Englisli, for 

 some siileudid connfry ou tho east sidt- of lla\v River ami 

 about midway botwixt Pittsboro and Cljarid Hdl. The 

 gentleman, on whose laiids Ave proj^osi'd l oiinut. not being 

 at home when we reached Lis house, at my suggestion we 

 went on to a larg'e old plantation, at present the i^roperty 

 of the University by dev^se oi: tlie late mvner. Miss Mary 

 Smith, We found the superintendent, who vejy in-omptly 

 informed us that the land was "posted." To t]iis I replied, 

 with significant emphasis, that I had in. that locality a 

 right of eraincnt domain, and no one could forbid my 

 entrance. He saw the x>oint, and we sonn coinmenced 

 shooting. Our chief obje<;tive point was the residonc:^ of 

 Edmund Atwater. Esq., an mtelligeuf. and thrifty farmer, 

 who lived about two miles east of tlie place ^vlTero wr^ got 

 out of oiu' vehicle. The superintendent. Mr. Colo. ])roni- 

 ised to take the wagon to Mr. Atw ater's, whit:' L. and 

 myself ranged the fields. Corinne was left, and we 

 depended upoji Tendragon and Argo, T!"n_^ latter took it 

 on foot for the eleven, miles we had "traveled. Going hur- 

 riedly alon.g. M-e round a small covey, and upou .sln^otiug 

 We were hailed 1 ly a jiloAvinan and ordered off the prem- 

 ises, T ap.priiached him and told him \\hn I was, and 

 inform e<l him of my right, as one of the legal owners* of 

 the estate', to Inmton it with my friends wlienever T chose 

 to do so. He did not kneiw me; imt tlien n.ty d(,'terniined 

 manner and frnthorilative styip of talking had their etfcct, 

 and we were not fur tlier molested. When we reaciied a. 

 point near the residence of our friend ;\i v ni er we l.nd 

 fifteen birds, and I liad besides a skinned iil;!ce at tlie 

 lower extremity of the tendon .4 c// ///(■/— \v]i ate ver that 

 is — ^Avhich lioded badly for m;^'' capacity to walk. L. and 

 "I were exactly even in onr tropldes, one bird being in dis- 

 pute. 



Om* wagon with Corinne came to us about 1 otloclc, 



and our lunch basket was eagerly sought and its contents 

 joyously appropriated. After a. good rest Mr. Atwater 

 made his a\)pear;i.uce and \\'elcoraed us to his house and 

 his lands. lie had a niuzzdeloader. bivt being out of am- 

 munition, we ofxo-ed tt) let hiui lia ve the use of our guns, 

 when he chose to slnxit. This he declined, alleging his 

 preference to see how we could do. Pendra.tcon was tied 

 up, being somewliat sore-footed from his mori ring's tramp, 

 and Corinne aud Arg< >, tlie indefatigable, irrepressible, 

 untiring little pLel>i;m, were to do the labor. We found 

 bu'ds a.lmndant. well-grown and fat, and th.e fields excel- 

 lent for shooting. When we reached the house at night 

 we had twenty-live more birds, of wdnch f.. had. tlnrteen, 

 I had eleven and our host one, which he liad kilJed very 

 nicely with L.'s gun. 



Our friend lives in a conrf ortable and commodious home 

 which is nicely furnished, and our room contained every 

 convenience to make our .stay in it a matter of luxury. 

 All the ap'pointments were simply excellent and our host 

 and his w-ife and dangliter knew exactly how to ma.ke 

 our s<.)jouj-a as ];)leasant as heart coitld wish. The hos- 

 pitality was simple elegance — unstudied a.n.d hearty — ele- 

 gance in its highest a.iid liest sense. And just such as 

 this was our ]:)ortion at oA^ery dAvelling AA-hich we had oc- 

 casion to A isit during the trip, a part of wliose incidents 

 it is my present pu.r]>nse to describe. 



That night we slept soundly, and my friend L., whose 

 nocturnal InJlaby jji iNe\\' York is tliat peculiar din, com- 

 posed, in the main, of the contact of iron with cobble- 

 stones or other jiaving uiatej'ial, nia.de no cojnplaint that 

 his repose had been distiu-bed by less harntonious sounds. 

 At a comfortably early hour we A\-ere summoned, to a sub- 

 stantial breakfast of broiled tiirds, buttered toast, good 

 butter, coffee and other country delicacies, and were 

 ready for another day's tramp, Onr '!og-s were hi excel- 

 lent trim, having fared simiptnonsly the preceding night, 

 .and Pendragon and Argo Avere east off to do their best 

 ranging.' We vrere joined by .Tohn W. A . , a coirsin of 

 our host, but cointesy induced these gentlemen to allow 

 li. and myself to take tlie lion's siinre of the ami.isement. 

 "We found several coveys, but ihey sought safety, as a 

 general thing, in the Avoods. Still we bagged some. Un- 

 fortunately, we went too far, and got '.iff of the besthunt- 

 ■ing grounds. At lunch, we had tAventy-Jive of as .splen- 

 .did specimens of Bob Wldte as ever charmed a sports- 

 man's heart. Of these your correspondent claimed thir- 

 ■teen. L. ten, and the others fell before the guns of oiu- 

 friends, who occasionally shot to shoAv us that Ave Avere 

 not the oidy foUoAvers of Nimrod to be found in the coun- 

 try. 



The clouds had noAv begim to thicken in the west and 

 southAvest, premonitory of a rain. This Avas far fronr 

 agi'eeable to i.is, inasmuch as we confidently expected to 

 hag more rhan tlu'i-ty hixdH on oux way to tiie house. At 

 Jialf past two o'clock aa-b started and had not gone more 

 than a hundred yards bei'ore the dogs were on a iidl 

 stand. Not AA^ith standing the I'ain commenced falling, we 

 braved the storm and got five l ards from the coA'ey. But 

 the grass was too Avet, and Ave, reluctantly, took refuge 

 in an ohl stable and found even its shelter far better than 

 an exposure to the Aveather. We ga.ve u[) all hope of 

 further huuting, and so soon as there Avas a lull in the 

 tempest Ave ''dragged our sIoaa' lengths along" tOAvard the 

 dwelUng of our hospitable friend. On the Avay om- UTe- 

 pressible dogs started tAvo more coA^eys, from AvhicL L. 

 got five and I got two. 



We spent the night Avith our kind friends and left, after 

 breakfast, for other quarters. An earnest invitation to 

 come again was extended, which Avas accepted Avith 

 the usual conditions. Proceeding toAA'a,rd Pittsboro, we 

 reached the honre of my old friend, E. J. P., and 1 stopped 

 to remain Avith liira and his excellent Avife during the 

 day, while L. Aveut on to spend Sunday A\'ith his father's 

 family. By agreement he Avas to come up at an early 

 hour on Monday morning so that Ave could seeAAdiat sport) 

 the fields in that neighhorliood afforded. I had a pleas- 

 ant^sojourn Avith T. , during AAdrich we talked oA^er past 

 reminiscences of the locaHty where both of us Avere born, 

 and in which Ave liA^ed rmtil Ave reached man's estate, 

 when the demands of Imwiness led us to try our fortunes 

 at other places. In the afternoon I Avas honoi'ed with a 

 visit of several of the leading citizens of Pittsboro, who 

 are generous enough to regard me as a well-wisher of 

 their town and cormty. 



The folio whig mornmg my sporting companion, L., 

 drove up to the gate, and soon thereafter we took aU our 

 dogs and began to range OA'er some good looldng stubble 

 on the estate of the gentleman with whom I Avas stopping. 

 We found very fcAV birds, and succeeded m getting, after 

 a laboiious tramp, less than ten. During our walk I was 

 ^hown the site of an old dAA^elling, in which once lived a 



— ^ — ^- 



citizen who Avas the father of oneof our governors, of one 

 of the -Justices of the Su]n-eme Court, and of one of the 

 most eminent of the Baptist divines in the Bouthern 

 States. All of them Avere born at that spot. 



After an excellent lunch we tried another fa.rm, and 

 met Avith poor success. At ahout '1 P. M. Ave bade our 

 frieuds farewell and took the road for the residence of 

 Mr. L., the father of .my companion. Just about sun- 

 down we reached a smaU stj-eam,not over 500 yards from 

 the house, and my little dog Argo, who as usual was 

 "working his passage," came to a stiff point through an old 

 fence Avliich in (dosed a sedge field. L. got out of the 

 vehicle anil secured the nervous eaidne, to keep iiim from 

 doing harm by his unta.meable eagerness. We hitched 

 the "horse, ai'..d turning Corinne loose, the flekl was 

 entered. Tt took h-ss than ten minutes to get fourteen 

 shots and bag nine splendid bn-ds. Two others w^ere 

 brought <]owit. \mt we failed to find them. 



We lunited. but little the foUnwing day, partly because 

 '.N-aikiug was painful and laliorious to nic and ]iartl_y to 

 enjoy the company of orrr friend P. and his wife, av ho 

 had Visited the family of Mr. L., and were to dine v.ith 

 us, 



Ou Wednesdfi.y I bade my hospitable entertainers fare- 

 well and G. T. L. and T took- (die locf)motive for Moncure. 

 Soon after arriving we sta.i'ted for the railroad bridge 

 over Deep KiA^er, on our Avay to the residence of Mr. N. 

 M.. Bryan, who had. generously offered to meet us with a 

 earri'ige and take ns to his house, where we proposed an 

 afternoon's hinil vviUi .some of the canine nobility who 

 were iT'C(.'iving coile.uiate training under tAvo ju'ofess'ors, 

 j.ireiiaratory to the eoiumen cement exercises at Hi. gh Point 

 f)n. the "i2d. Mr. 1'.. was on hand, We lunched at his 

 house and afterwanl loolced at the Juveniles in their pia.r- 

 ters. SoTue of them wonw suffering tr(.)in distempier of a. 

 mahgnant type. QniXc a nnmber of these dogs were got.id 

 looking specimens of their res])ective races, hut there was 

 one liver coloi-ed pointer, who at a bench show where 

 ixgly commanded a premium, would ha.Ae '-tak'en. tlie 

 rag off of the bush" against all eom]ietiiors. He had the 

 head, of Harlequin, intensified, and was yirofusely sugges- 

 tive of Comedy. After inspectin.g as much as Ave desired, 

 one of the luofessors kindU' olTei'ed to take two of the 

 students under him, a,nd let us Avitness an. exhibition of 

 their qualities. I shall not mention their names. One 

 Ava.s a fine-looking, well-maHved pointer, "Avhalpit some 

 place far abroad," and to im]iort Avhom the owner "parted" 

 with money enough to buy a respectal)le farm. The other 

 AA^as a s]!lendid specinum of a blue lielton bitch. The 

 style of movement and acute sense of smelling of both 

 were faultless: but they ai.ipeared to me to be lacking in 

 some valuable qualities. They Avere cautious in tlie ex- 

 treuTe, and, as 1 thought, did not thorough]}' under.stand 

 the art of locating the birds. They both shoAA'cd fatigue 

 in a greater degree than my mijiedigreed Argo Avould have 

 done at the close of a three days' hunt. With all this, I 

 Avould have accepted the bitch as a jiresent, much preferr- 

 ing her to the dog. We got about eighteen birds and did 

 some very uriskillful shootmg. This I deeply regretted, 

 because I Avas anxious to "show oiP' in the presence of the 

 L.L.D.'s, both of whom were courteous and accommo- 

 dating. That night I took the train for liome, Avhere I 

 safely arrived. 



1 noticed that L. 's dogs did not seem to be able to locate 

 as well as my dog Argo; nor cordd they range over so 

 nmch ground. Wone of them were better retrievers than 

 lie, and none had the ]i0Aver of endm'ance which he pos- 

 sesses. I)( )es h igh breeding beget constitutional weakness? 

 If so, I prefer a lower grade. ^ Wells. 

 RoCKOTorTAAr, C, November, 1886. 



A VISIT TO THE STIKINE FLATS. 



QITUATED m the mouth of the Stikine River is a 

 high island, AA-hich diAudes the river mouth into 

 two liranchcs. The up])er of these empties into what is 

 knoAvn as the Dry Passage, which connects Frederick 

 Sound and Stikine Strait. The loAver mouth is the navi- 

 gable one, and discharges Us Avatei'S into the Stikine 

 Sti-a.it. The survey of tliese parts is not yet completed, 

 and it may be there are more islands than this one in the 

 mouth of the river. The side of the island looking up the 

 river is high, Avhile the other shore is Ioav and forms the 

 Stikine Flats. Between the flats and the base of the 

 mountain is a large tract of IcA-el ground Avell adapted for 

 cultivatiojT. This is what they call in Y/rangell the 

 "Farm,'" and is probably the only tract of land in Alaska 

 that bears that iKmoralile name. It Avas formerly occu- 

 pied by n trans]:!ortation company doing business on the 

 Upper Stikine, Avho brought their stock doAvu tliere to 

 v.dnter. Enough natmal grass was cut from the laud to 

 subsist the animals during their stay. It is now a part 

 of a training school system carried on by the missionaries 

 at Wrangell for the Indian youths of that part of Alaska. 

 The good Avill of the transportation company, along with 

 their buildings, v.'as purchased for i|oOO, and the money 

 l^emg raised in Pennsylvania, in honor of tliat State it 

 was called the Pennsylvania farm. 



The season of 1886' Avas very backward in soutlieastern 

 Alaska: A\ inter lingered late in the la^i of spring. Dming 

 Aiu-il, and even as late as the early part of Jlay, long 

 d iglits of geese Avere seen cleavmg the ah- in the neighbor- 

 hood of Wraugell. They Avere bound for their breeding 

 grounds ill tlie intei-ior— ^about the headwaters of the ti-ib- 

 utaries of the Mackenzie River. For weeks they remained 

 on the flats at the mouth of the Stikine River, waiting for 

 the ice and .snow to disappear from their nesting places. 

 These were A\^hite-f rented {A. albifrons gambeli) and 

 tlutchins's geese. The Canada geese were already pau-ed 

 oft', and were nesting in the long grass along the shores of 

 the islands in theA-icinity of Wrangell. 



I AA^as invited by Mr. Young, the farmer, to accompany 

 htm home for a day's shootmg on the flats. Three of us, 

 Young, a tTader from the Upper Stikine and myself got 

 into a canoe at Wrangell at 4 P. M., to ,go the distance of 

 nine miles. I selected the middle seat, between the row- 

 locks, and pulled a i^air of sculls. One of my companions 

 sat in the bow and paddled, and tlie other ui stern and 

 j)addled and steered. We made a straight com-se from 

 the end of Wrangell Island across the head of Stikine 

 Strait to the mouth of the river. The seats each had 

 selected at the start liad to be retained for the entire dis- 

 tance, for the canoes are so cranky there is great danger 

 of upsetting them by trying to change places, and the 

 Avater was too deep and cold to make any risky experi- 

 ments. In consequence of my ci-amped position I was 

 pretty well played out in my arms, and my feet were icy 



cold before we made a landing on the other side. Here 

 two of us got out and Avalked across the flats, about two 

 tniles, to get warm and to have a trial at the geese. Wo. 

 saw flocks of them, also ducks, sprig, mallard and teal, 

 but thej- were too wary to get a shot at. 



The extent of ground uncovered by the tides is very 

 great, being three or foru- miles in length and nearly as 

 much in breadth. It is a yielding sand and is crossed 

 here and there by sloughs. So level is the surface and so 

 rapidly does the incouring tide sweep over it that, we 

 were told, if a person were in the middle of the flat he 

 would be submerged before he could reach high land. 

 Along the margin there is a. stri]) of liigher ground that 

 remains dry except at the time of large tides and during 

 a southeast blow. This is sparsely coA^ered with a coarse 

 groAvth called goose-grass, Avhich'was just sprouting from 

 the ground. The geese nip oft" the tender shoots and dig 

 up the roots with theii- bills. About the farm land are 

 Luany fresli-water ponds AAdiere the ducks love to gather. 

 That e\-ening, as Ave walked across the flats, we heard the 

 blue grouse booming all over the steep mountain side at 

 the back of the farmhouse. What an ideal place for a 

 Imnting lodge! Of l)ig game, deer and bear are plentiful. 

 The moutli of the Stikine is a noted place for the bears 

 whose skins are prized for theh glossy blackness. One 

 hunter from Wrangell killed thirteen' there in one week 

 last s}iring. Further \\\) tiie riA^er are found the white 

 goat and mountain siri'ep, and by traveling still further 

 into the interior the hunter may iind moose and caribou. 



The farming is carried on in a primitive fashion. There 

 were foiu- cows, three sheep and some chickens on the 

 place. The stock, Ave AA'ere told, needs very little shelter- 

 ing <^luring the winter. .At the time of our visit they had 

 no hoi ses. The grmmd Avas turned up with spades by the 

 Indian b<)ys. The soil is light and warm and yields well 

 of potat<.)es and other I'oot crops. Barley also ripens. 

 The household C(msisted of the manager, a son and 

 daughter, and six or eight Indian boys. The family slept 

 in two little cupboard rooms, and the Siwashes in a loft. 

 They gave my companion and me the floor of the only 

 other room i'n the house, alike the dining-room and 

 kitchen. The planks were very hard and kept me turn- 

 ing over all night to find a soft spot in them where the 

 sharp points of my bones would fit. 



Our supper consisted of boiled breasts of teal, along 

 Avith bread and canned peaches and one cup of weak tea. 

 I was very hungry and filled up on the bread, of which, 

 fortunately, there was plenty. The next day Avhen I saw 

 the process of bread-making I Avished I had not eaten so 

 much. The baker Avas a dii:ty little Indian boy about ten 

 years, with a dirty nose. This bread-making is a part 

 of their education. We had grace before meat, and a 

 chapter read from the bible and prayers before turning 



r. Godliness goes before cleanliness somebody tells us; 

 would have it the other Avay. The Indian heathen 

 child, I observed, was very much like his white brethren 

 of the same age and condition, they skylarked and giggled 

 during the tiiue of Avorsliii). 



After breakfast Ave started out for the flats. A few 

 rods from the bank was a large snow bank, left over 

 from last winter; on the north side of an island not far 

 distant was a similar accumulation. The tide was in and 

 the geese were f eedmg on the grassy area. There were 

 thousands of them ia flocks, it seemed. The sloughs 

 were full of water and could not be waded, and we could 

 not approach the game across the open ground. I shot 

 two teal as we were going out. 



About noon the tide had fallen enough to allow us to 

 wade the sloughs. This was our only way of getting 

 at the geese. 'When we saAA'- a flock near the edge of a 

 slough we would wade along it, concealed by its high 

 banks. I got only one chance at them, A large flock 

 Avere feeding at the edge of the flat where the bank was 

 high enough on the Avater side to hide me from their 

 sight. After a long and hot stalk doAvn muddy sloughs 

 and along the high shore I got witliin striking distance, 

 pom-ed both ban-els into them, and when the flock had 

 floAATi away I saw five of their number left on the ground. 

 Before I could get to them three of these took Aviiig. The 

 two I secured were broken-winged. I was using Nos. 1 

 and .3 shot. They Avere the white-fronted geese. There 

 Avere flocks of Hutchins's geese also. Young's boy, who 

 accompanied me, got a shot at these and bagged one. I 

 had an Indian boy to carry my game, and together we 

 tramped the soft sand imder a hot sun for two hours, try- 

 ing to get another shot, but it was in vain. As the tide 

 receded the geese went further out on the flats, where 

 there was no more chance of getting at them than if they 

 had been on the water. We gave it up about 2 o'clock 

 and returned to the house. I bagged another brace of 

 ducks on the way back. For dinner Ave had baked goose 

 and it was delicious eating. 



After the dinner Ave started for our boat to return, 

 stopping at the famous Garnet Ledge at the mouth of the 

 Stikine to gather some of the fine crystals. We found 

 our canoe high and dry on the sand, a mile from the 

 house, and a long distance from the naAugable waters of 

 the river. But the Iavo of us managed to drag it down to 

 the river, and got aboard about half past three o'clock. 

 We carried a boy to pilot us to the mme, and a hammer 

 and cold-chisel to chip the rock. It is on the right bank 

 of the river's mouth, a.bout 50 rods from the shore. A 

 winding, and in some places a steep trail folloAvs the 

 general course of a little stream, to where it pitches over 

 a roclcy ledge as a Avaterfall. There is the mine, as any 

 one can see, by the gai-uets everywhere sticking in the 

 rock. A sign-board had been nailed to a ti-ee claiming 

 ownership to the ledge and warnuig others from mining 

 for the garnets. This Ave tore down. The rock is a mica- 

 schist and is full of crystals, which are very perfect. The 

 largest I obtained measures 14 in. in diameter. The state 

 of the tide limited our stay, else I verily belicA-e we could 

 have gathered a half a bushel that afternoon. We skirted 

 the shore going to Wrangell, so that Ave could shift places 

 when we became stiff from sitting in one position. I got 

 on board the ship at 5 P. M., tired enough. T. H. S. 



SOUTHEBK Pines, North Carolina, is a new town , in the 

 Aucinity of wliich Ave are told there is good quad, tiu-key 

 and deer shooting. It is west of Raleigh, on the Air Line, 

 reached in tAventy-tAvo hours from New York. There is a 

 hotel kept by W. R. Raymond. 



Florida. — Tampa, Dec. 6, — Ducks are plentiful around 

 here now, and I see a good deal of venison brought in 

 from the country. Fishing is also good, sheepshead, salt» 

 water trout and redflsh bitmg freely. — B. 



