462 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Jan. '6, 1887. 



around, and the pound remains open in winter. The 

 licensed gang of snatchers who scour the streets in search 

 of unattached dogs have committed a number of gross 

 outrages this season by wresting pets from ladies. It is 

 well enough to capture the lumber yard, garbage dump 

 and ash barrel canine wi'etches and an act of mercy to 

 put them out of their misery, but the dog-catchers dis- 

 play far greater zeal in efforts to steal dogs which are 

 well cared for and likely to bring blood money for redemp- 

 tion at the pound. The purpose of the law would be ful- 

 filled if a regulation were adopted prescribing that the 

 catchers' gangs should be permitted to prosecute then- 

 calling only in certain defined districts. There is no 

 reason under the sim why these fellows should invade the 

 central avenues and adjacent streets. 



Mr. William Trefethen, the fish dealer, of Portland, 

 Me., referred to in our issue of Oct. 28 as having been 

 convicted in Maine courts on the charge of having short 

 lobsters in possession, advises us that neither of the cases 

 referred to were ever decided adversely to Mm. The in- 

 dictments were found before a police judge instead of a 

 Grand Jury. The fii-st case, without ti-ial in the police 

 court, was carried up to the Superior Court, where the 

 jvury disagreed. On second trial the verdict convicted the 

 defendant of having in possession 123 shorts. Exceptions 

 were filed and granted, the verdict set aside and case dis- 

 missed. The district attorney refused to try the second 

 case before the jury which had disagreed on first case, 

 Trefethen refused to give bonds, surrendered himself to 

 the court, and was released on his own recognizance last 

 May. 



The "U. S. Fish Co." is a concern receiving mail at 

 Columbus, O., with which theU. S. Fish Commission dis- 

 tinctly disclaims all connection. It appears that Prof. 

 Baird has received a mxmber of applications for carp, the 

 requests being made out on blanks which seem to have 

 been sold by the "U. S. Fish Co." Prof. Baird calls 

 attention to the similarity of names as likely to deceive, 

 and reminds the public that the United States makes no 

 chai-ge for fish fry application blanks. The Columbus 

 concern must have done a large business, for the Com- 

 ?nission has received these spxu-ious blanks from many 

 States and Territories. 

 \ 



'a letter is printed elsewhere relative to a case of extor- 

 tion by a baggage man on the St. Louis, Iron Mountain 

 & Southern Eailway. Communication with the general 

 passenger agent developed the fact that this subordinate 

 was practicing an unauthorized imposition for the benefit 

 of his own pocket. Other sportsmen having been bled on 

 tliis road wlU do well to communicate with the officers, 

 who desire to be advised of such offenses that they may 

 punish the perpetrators. 



Wisconsin has a law forbidding the transportation of 

 venison; but when the Legislature made this law they 

 provided no means for its enforcement. It has been a 

 dead-letter. A correspondent advises us that 3,245 car- 

 casses of venison have been shipped from the State ia the 

 past season. United States District Attorney A. K. De- 

 laney, of Milwaukee, is now preparing a bill for the next 

 Legislature, providing for a game warden system to en- 

 force the statutes. 



A French genius has invented a boat which propels 

 itself by artificial wings acting on the air, instead of sails 

 acted upon by the air. This device will fill a long felt 

 want, particularly in international yacht racing. Tlie 

 patent wings ought to be applied to the yachts in the next 

 America Cup race over the New York Yacht Club course; 

 they would make an end of drifting matches and of blan- 

 keting by excursion steamers. 



Dog talk in the New York Mail and Express: "Ah! if 

 broken dogs were only sold by the yard or by the square 

 inch, then I could understand that a pointer or setter 

 should fetch more money than a climber or a Sussex and 

 especially a Crocker." The "cUmber" ought to make a 

 good partridge treeing dog, and the "Crocker" must be a 

 black spaniel. 



Certain anglers have affected to sneer at the element of 

 accuracy involved in some of the contests in fly-casting 

 tournaments. In practical angling, they contend, accu- 

 racy plays no part. This reasoning is fallacious. Accu- 

 racy is absolutely essential in fly-fishing for big game, 

 witness the experience of "L. S.," narrated elsewhere. 



Ontario sportsmen are discussing the practicability of 

 doing away with deer hounding. The conditions there 

 are very similar to deer hounding grounds in the Adu-on- 

 dacks, where deer are driven into the lake and butchered 

 by hunters in boats and canoes. 



The feat of eating one quail a day for thirty successive 

 days has been tried by two men in Chicago. One of them 

 was overcome by nausea on the twenty-eighth day; the 

 other succeeded in the task and was advertised to have 

 received $1,000 for it. 



Mr. H. H, Thompson, Secretary of the New York Com- 

 mission of Fisheries, has prepared a synopsis of the game 

 law of that State in convenient form for posting. The 



complex statutes are here reduced to inteUigible state- 

 ments, and a wide dissemination of the posters would be 

 advantageous. Mr. Thompson may be addressed in care 

 of Com. E. G. Blackford, Fulton Market, New York. 



The Massachusetts Fish and Game Protective Associa- 

 tion has adopted resolutions asking Massachusetts Sena- 

 tors and Representatives to support Senate Bill 2,436. A 

 communication from the President, E. A. Samuels, Esq., 

 is printed elsewhere. 



The Michigan Sportsmen's Association convention at 

 Lansing, Jan. 18, promises to be an important meeting. 

 Michigan is in sore need of game and fish wardens, and 

 the convention will give special attention to this subject. 



New York's law against spring shooting is a half-way 

 measm-e. It applies only to Long Island. Make it gen- 

 eral ta application, applying to inland waters as well. 



The abolition of spring shooting is contemplated in Wis- 

 consin. In fact the movement of public sentiment is 

 toward such a law throughout the Union. 



The paper on Scrknshawiag, intended for publication in 

 1886, has been delayed and will be given in an early 

 issue. 



An esteemed and generally intelligent contemporary 

 speaks of a man as having been "shot and wounded." 



WHITE GOAT HUNTING. 



(Concliaded from page 4-13.) 



THE scow having been hauled up from the lower lake, 

 and the canvas boat -put rathe water, we were all ready 

 to begin our explorations of the upper country. So one 

 bright morning, leaving the cook and herder to watch 

 the main camp and horses, we started out with a stiff ash 

 breeze in our favor. The lake was perfectly quiet, and 

 the boats, especially the canvas affair, were heavily 

 loaded, so we hurried along, hoping to get to the head of 

 the lake before the wind rose. For about six miles the 

 lake is quite wide, perhaps 1-j miles at the broadest place. 

 On the south side is the great pine-covered ridge which 

 divides the Arctic and Atlantic waters. On the north 

 old Singleshot looms up, a wonderful maze of rock, bright 

 and beautiful now in the sunshine, far different in aspect 

 from when "Yo" and 1 groped along its side in the dense 

 fog. We kept close to the north shore going up, as it 

 was the shortest route, and made the narrows in about an 

 hour and a half. Here the steep mountains rise on each 

 side, and the narrows are two great ledges of rock which 

 jut far out into the water. In places they are perpen- 

 dicular and several hundred feet high. Old Time has 

 worn great holes in them at the water's edge, and as we 

 passed along the rising waves siu'ged into them with a 

 melancholy roar. It made one shudder to think of an 

 upset there. The water is inky black, a sign of great 

 depth, and along the slippery ledge is no crevice or foot- 

 hold. Passing through, we found that the lake widened 

 rapidly to a breadth of abou.t two miles. On the south 

 shore, "^commencing at the narrows, is a series of moun- 

 tains, rising ever higher and higher, until they join the 

 summit at the head of the valley. Between each moun- 

 tain or peak is a basm, often walled by ice, from which a 

 small stream comes tumbling dowit into the lake. On 

 the north shore, separated from Singleshot by a deep and 

 narrow canon, is a long, liigh red rock mountain which 

 reaches nearly to the head of the lake. It is crowned by 

 pillars and fantastic groups of time-worn rock of great 

 height. This is the "Goat MountaiQ," where "Yo" and I 

 one day attempted to hunt in the rain and fog. 



The water was geti;ing pretty rough, and after a further 

 piill of about two miles we landed in a little cove to rest 

 and eat our lunch. Opposite this point, quite a distance 

 from shore, is a small, rocky island, on which grow a few 

 wind-bent pines and quaking asps, I have named it 

 Nat-os'-ap-I Island, after a chief whose spirit has long 

 since gone to the "sandhills." The meaning is Sun-old- 

 man, and although it is a queer name for an island, it is 

 at least original and much better than stony island, pine 

 island, stormy island or any such common name. We 

 resumed the oars, still hugging the north shore, and about 

 three miles from where we ate om- lunch on a low point 

 in a grove of tall pines made camp. On the far end of 

 this point a glacier stream flows swiftly into the lake, its 

 milk-colored water making a vivid contrast with the 

 cleai" green waters of the lake. 



While getting camp in shape the elder gentlemen had 

 jointed their fly-rods, and now came a shout for landing 

 nets. Rushing out we found a fisherman on each side of 

 the stream where it empties into the lake. Both rods 

 were bent, and the fines cutting through the water at a 

 gi-eat rate. The trout were gamy and foiight long and 

 valiantly. When brought to the net they weighed re- 

 spectively 2i and 3ilbs. The next fish, caught by the 

 Governor, weighed 4|lbs. While we were admiring this 

 the Colonel struck one. It made for deep water and 

 played back and f om-th for what seemed to us an inter- 

 minable time. However, he was finally landed and 

 weighed, and pulled down the scales to 51bs. plump. We 

 had two sets of scales and both registered the fish at olbs. 

 plump. This was the largest Salmo piirpuratus caught 

 on the trip, and in fact the largest one of the kind I ever 

 saw. If any reader knows of a larger one, will he kindly 

 mention it in Forest and Stream? Several other fish 

 were caught, none under 21bs. or over 3^1bs. weight. 

 During our stay here we often whiled away a spare hour 

 catching lake "trout. Standing on the shore and fishing 

 with bait or spoon one could catch as many as he wanted. 

 They did not average so large as those caught at the foot 

 of the lake, the largest one weighing only Tibs. 



Next morning Cecil and I seemed to be the only ones 

 who cared to hunt. So after breakfast we shouldered our 

 guns and struck out. The glacier stream on wliich we 

 were camped heads between Goat Mountain and the next 

 one to the west, which, on account of its great height, I 



have named Nat-o-y5' tup-po— Going-to-the-Sun, Follow- 

 ing up tills stream for a mile or more, we came to a very 

 steep hiU of slate rock, tlu-ough which the creek had cut 

 a nan-ow chaimel. We could see up it about 100yds. to 

 where it made a bend to the left. From top to bottom 

 this part of the cafion is about 200ft, in depth, and of an 

 even width of about 4ft. We would have tried to go 

 through it had it not been for several little falls, where 

 we would have been sure to get wet. Lucky for us that 

 we did not make the attempt, for half a mile fm-ther on 

 we couldn't see the creek. Here the top of the cafion is 

 about 30yds. across, and the steep sides are so slippery 

 with dead pine needles that we did not dare attempt to 

 look down into it. It must, however, be very deep, for 

 we could hear the faint roar of a waterfall, which sounded 

 as if it were way down in the bowels of the earth, A 

 mile fm-ther we emerged from the pines and found omr- 

 selves at the enti-ance of a big round basin hemmed in by 

 mountains of great height, some of which are perpendiciii- 

 lar walls of rock rising far into the sky. On the west 

 side of the basin, high up, are several glaciers, from which 

 flow good-sized streams, but falling from such great 

 heights and broken by several ledges, they are lost in 

 spray before reaching the bottom. In the 'basm and on 

 the less steep sides of the moimtains stunted pines and 

 beds of juniper grow in profusion. All m all, it is one of 

 the grandest places I ever saw. 



We had made a hearty breakfast and felt like climbhig, 

 so we went half way up the basin and started to climb on 

 the right, the easiest place we could sec. We had no 

 dangerous places, but it was very steej), and we were 

 four- hom's in reaching the summit. We had seen, half 

 way up, many fresh goat signs, but here on top was not 

 a single track, old or new, save three fresh trails in the 

 snow, made by a mountain lion and her young. Except 

 for the beautiful basin below, it was a di-eary view from 

 this elevated position. The Goat Mountain shut out aU 

 sight of the prairie, and of the vaUey of the lake. Look- 

 ing the other way, was nothing but peak after peak of 

 bai-e rock, ice and snow. Yet the scene was not without 

 value. It gave one an idea — so far as man can compre- 

 hend such an idea — of the great force which was requii'ed 

 to upheave these masses from the level plain. 



We ate our lunch up here, and for diink ate snow. 

 Then, becoming cliiUy, we went along a little further, 

 and finding a shale slide which reached clear to the foot 

 of the basin, we started down, and rimning, sliding and 

 jumping, soon reached the bottom, Down by the creek 

 we found some huckleberry bushes fairly loaded Avith 

 fruit, and were feasting on them, when happening to 

 look up, I saw a big goat, nearly opposite us, feeding. 

 He was at the foot of the rock wall, just at the edge of 

 the shale, half a mOe away. Between, the shale sloped 

 at an angle of 50°, and as it was a very old slide, covered 

 in places with grass, stunted pines and bunches of 

 juniper, it afforded excellent slielter for us to creep 

 up to him. Just as we were about to start for him 

 there was a roar and crash which fairly shook the moun- 

 tains. Such an awrful, deafening roar I never before 

 heard, A large mass of ice, tons and tons of it, had 

 broken from a glacier far up on the mountain side, and 

 shivered into fine fragments, was pouring over the wall, 

 glistening and scintillating in the sunshine like diamonds, 

 Down, down it came, and falHng into a branch of the 

 stream, was soon sweeping by us, a tinkling, seething 

 mass. All this roar and confusion of sound had not dis- 

 turbed the goat any; he was still quietly feeding, as if 

 yvith him this was 'an every day sight. As soon as the 

 ice had all passed we crossed the creek and began to 

 climb. We got along all right until witliin 2o0yds of the 

 animal, when he smelled us, and sitting down on his 

 harmches like a dog, head down, he proceeded to scruti- 

 nize the valley. Cecil now went on alone, and got within 

 150yds. of him. The climbing was very steep, and before 

 Cecil could regain his breath, the goat started to walk 

 along. Cecil fired both barrels at him, one after the other. 

 The goat stopped, looked around and then resumed his 

 walk. Twice more the rifle spoke, and this time one of 

 the bullets struck near the animal and it started to climb. 

 Going up a piece he struck a narrow shelf and ran along 

 this faster and faster, for Cecil's buUets were flying 

 around him pretty lively. Now the animal stopped. Be- 

 fore him was a very steep and dangerous place, for the 

 spray from a glacier made the rocks very slippery. The 

 goat" turned back. Shoidd he come toward us a hundred 

 yards, there was a place where he could ascend the moun- 

 tain and soon get out of sight. Then I began to fire, too. 

 Three times the goat ran back and forth, stopped each 

 time by the bullets strikmg before him. The third time 

 back lie made some desperate leaps, crossed the slippery 

 place, ascended a few yards, made two last mighty leaps, 

 and stopped on a small shelf not much longer than his 

 body. Above, beyond, below was the sheer rock wall. 

 He could go no further. The little ledge aft'orded him 

 room to turn, and there vv^as a crevice in the rock, into 

 which he backed, concealing half of his body. I was sat- 

 isfied that he never could get down from his perch. He 

 had reached the place by two prodigious jumps while 

 strong with excitement. A very small projection afforded 

 him a hold to make the last jump, and I thought that he 

 would not dare to come down for fear of missing his foot- 

 ing and being dashed on the rocks far below. And I was 

 right. We had corralled a goat. Cecil beckoned me to 

 come up to him. On the way I sUpped and fell, the 

 glasses (in the case) dropped from my hand and went 

 bounding down the mountain a himdred yards or more, 

 and striking a boulder, stopped short, "I have no car- 

 tridges," said Cecil, I felt in my belt and found one, in 

 the magazine was another. "I have two," I replied, 

 "take my gim and go and kill Mm." 



He hesitated, but I m-ged him to do so, and laying down 

 his now useless double barrel, he took my rifle and started 

 up. Gaining the shelf where the goat had nin along we 

 followed it to the slippery place, where he was within a 

 hundred yards of the animal, fitting down and taking 

 a rest he fired. The goat did not move. Once more he 

 fired. The game was unhurt and the last cartridge was 

 gone. 



Night was coming on. The last rosy tint had faded 

 from thie lofty peaks. Without stopping to look for the 

 glasses we hastened homeward, i-unning at every oppor- 

 tunity. On the way Cecil tried to explain why he had 

 missed the goat. He had never before shot at an animal, 

 and I knew from his words that he had had a bad case of 

 "buck fever;" I knew just how it was, for a long time ago 1 

 had "been there myself." AiTived at camp, we ate a 

 hearty supper, and then CeoU related the events of the 



