to. e, issij 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



46B 



Prairie Fox in Ka-ssas— Editor Forest and Stream: 

 A little over a year a.n;o Mr. Fi-ed Whitney killed a praii'ie 

 fox {^ndjies macrourvs, Baird) in Cowley county. He had 

 the aninial mounted . and it is now at his home in Meade 

 county. It is the Ught colored variety spoken of by Prof. 

 Baii-d in his work on mammals, P. E. R. Report, vol. 8, 

 p. 130, a,nd the first, to my loiowledge, captured in the 

 State. Mr. Whitney savs tliat another one has since been 

 killed in the same vicinity.— ISr. S. GOSS (Topeka, Kan.. 

 Dec. 37, 1886). 



'mm ^^if md 0mi 



Address all communimtions to tJie. Forest and SU'emn, Puh. Co. 



THE EXPERIENCES OF A NOVICE. 



SOMEWHAT worn out by strict attention to an exact- 

 ing i^rofession, and disgusted with tlie disputes of 

 litigants and the noise of the com-ts, I speedily came to 

 the conclusion that nothing but communing with nature 

 and the pmsuit of sundry specimens of the genus Oervidce 

 would alleviate my condition, and having resolved iipon 

 tliis, the question arose of where to go. The majority of 

 my friends said Pennsylvania, of com'se; others recom- 

 mended me to the Muskoka district in Canada, wiiile stdl 

 others said, why not try the vicinity of Eagle Lake lying 

 north of Hahbm-ton, tlie terminus of the Midland division 

 of the Grand Trmik? To these last I barkened, and thus 



it came about in November, , I found myself leaving 



Buffalo on a Grand Trunk train, armed with a Winches- 

 ter .45-90, model of 1886, and filled with glowing antici- 

 pations of the game I was about to bag. Crossing Sus- 

 pension Bridge below Niagara Falls, I was compelled to 

 leave a deposit of twenty per cent, upon the value of my 

 gun with the genial (?) representative of the Canadian 

 customs, as a guaranty that I would not dispose of my 

 piece while in Her Majesty's dominion, with the assurance 

 that upon my return said deposit would be refunded me 

 if the rifle was still in my possession. Of this more anon. 

 Arriving at Toronto I found it impossible to proceed that 

 night, but the following morning at some unearthly hoiu- 

 I helped myself on board an accommodation tram" going- 

 north, and reaching Lindsay about 11 o'clock, was in- 

 formed by the conductor that I would have a pleasant 

 wait of fotu- hours there before the train left for Hali- 

 burton, fifty -five miles away. Those who have ti-aveled 

 much in Canada will readily appreciate the delights of a 

 four hoiu-s" wait in Lindsay, but at last 3 o'clock came 

 around, and a mixed train of freight and passenger cars 

 assumed the disagreeable task of carrying me still further 

 north. I say disagreeable, because tliat wretched train 

 insisted upon making stops of half an hom- or more at 

 every miserable little hamlet on our way, and their num- 

 ber was legion, so we didn't reach HaJibiuton before half- 

 past seven in the evening, where I found good sleighing, 

 and my guide waiting for me to drive me out to Eagle 

 Lake, ten miles distant. 



It was a bright moonlight night, with keen, frosty air, 

 and the drive through the woods over an undulating 

 coimtry, with beaver meadows and l^arren hills, was about 

 the pleasantest thing I had struck on the trip so far. 

 Midnight found me snugly in bed at the comfortable 

 farm house near Eagle Laike, occupied by my guide, and 

 that night I dreamed of all the animals of the forest who 

 were so soon to fall victims to my prowess du.ring the 

 three following days. The guide's name was Emerson, 

 Austin, who had lived in that country for many years, 

 and whose father and brothers were, with himself, the 

 ablest guides, the best shots and the keenest sportsmen 

 the region afforded. We awoke the next morning bright 

 and early, and after a hurried breakfast, Emerson, his 

 father and myself, with two small mongi-el hounds in 

 leash, set out for the first day's hunt. The snow was 

 about ten inches deep and the air still cold and clear, and 

 after sliding down about half a mile of a very steep hill, 

 we found ourselves on the ice of Eagle Lake, said ice be- 

 ing about five inches thick and nicely cushioned with an 

 inch of snow. Walking the full length of the lake, about 

 two miles and a half, we came to the portage leading 

 over to Big Red Stone Lake, and climbing up over a high 

 lull we descended into the valley of a little creek, where 

 numerous tracks showed the deer had started to form a 

 winter's runway, and on which I was posted about forty 

 feet fi'om the creek, behind the upturned roots of a large 

 tree. Any deer coming down the hill facing me on the 

 runway would have to jump the creek (at least so the 

 guides said) between a young cedar and an old dead birch, 

 and would land where I could, as the guides also said, 

 "blow a hole tlu-ough 'em," with which gratifying intel- 

 ligence I was naturally much pleased. The" hour was 

 then half -past ten, and leaving me there the elder Austin 

 took position upon a hillside about half way betsveen me 

 and Eagle Lake, while his son, with the dogs, went over 

 toward Red Stone with the intention of bearing around 

 to the right, and driving some deer over toward me from 

 the hills lying to the eastward. 



The snow was dotted ^vith tracks of numerous wild 

 animals, principally deer, fox, fisher, mink and hedge- 

 hog, and, after taking dtie note of these, I amused myself 

 with looking tlu-pugh my rifle sights at imaginary deer 

 jumping the creek in front of me. This occupation^ how- 

 ever, soon became monotonous, and I busied myself with 

 arranging a comfortable seat on the log of the tree which 

 shielded me from view on the creek side. Tliis satisfac- 

 torily accomplished, I began to realize that it was very, 

 very cold, and was also conscious of a sti-ange gnawing in 

 my stomach, arising from the absence of a noonday meal. 

 I looked at my watch; it was 1 o'clock, and the only game 

 I had so far seen was numerous red sqturrels and a small 

 but very interesting specimen of a mole. It seemed to 

 me to grow colder and colder, until I was fairly chilled 

 to the bone, although warmly clad, and I began to M^onder 

 if I should never hear those "dogs. By passing my hand 

 slowly over my right side I could locate the chunks of ice 

 forming on my liver, wliile my breath fell in cakes to the 

 gi-pund. By "and by, however, I heard a faint baying 

 which sounded miles away, and my hopes began to "rise. 

 By "this time my hands and feet were almost frozen, and 

 picking up my rifle I found I was shivering so that I could 

 hardly hold ^. steady, even if the deer were tied to a tree 

 right in front of me, to say nothing of the possibility of 

 the chattering of my teeth driving him away. The music 

 frpoi the hoimds was slowly swelling in volume, and 



presently they burst over the hill in full cry, possibly a 

 thousand yards from me. "I hope it's a buck," said I to 

 myself, and braced myself to give him his quietus with 

 the rifle which I had never tried. A moment more and I 

 thought I would have him, when he suddenly turned to 

 the left, while still out of sight, and crossed the creek 

 fully five lumdred yards below me and went up the other 

 hill beyond. The music gradually grew fainter and 

 fainter, until I lost it altogether, and I knew that my 

 hopes for that day were ended. Leaving my position, I 

 slowly worked out to the lake shore and began the home 

 journey, reaching the farm house about 5 o'clock, and 

 having probably walked some ten or twelve miles. An 

 hour later the guides came in, having had no better luck 

 than I had, and explained my disappointment by saying 

 that the deer must have scented me. But slightly com- 

 forted by tills reflection I retu-ed for the night, hoping for 

 better luck another day. 



The next morning I Avas placed on a presumptive run- 

 way about a mile and a half from the house, near the 

 banks of the stream constituting the outlet of Eagle Lake, 

 and patiently froze to death all that forenoon, with the 

 result of the dogs driving two deer across the stream 

 about a quarter of a mile below me. The older guide and 

 myself then returned to the house to dinner, after which 

 we took another hound a-nd set out to work some high 

 land Ij'ing to the west of Eagie Lake, he taking the dog 

 along "the road to put him into the woods over toward the 

 lake, while I took to the ice for about a mile, and then 

 climbed a small mountain wliere I could look down into 

 a valley on either side, and indulge in some long range 

 rifle practice if anything came within sight. On the way 

 up I found at least a dozen places where deer had slept 

 and browsed, but they were all old, and after a two hours' 

 wait I set out to return across country. Selecting the 

 valley to my left, I slid down very rapidly to its bottom, 

 and started to climb up the other side. The snow here 

 was only about six inches deep, and the leaves underneath 

 were frozen together, making the walking so slippery 

 that I had literally to haul myself from tree to tree, at last 

 climbing up the face of a nearly jierpendicular piece of 

 rock to the summit above. Fi-om this point it was easy 

 walking down to the road, and thence home, but the 

 result of the day's efforts AA^as most discouraging. Total 

 distance covered, about eight miles. 



The third day opened bright and warm, and donning 

 my moccasins I walked up the road toAvard Haliburton 

 about two miles with the younger guide and sat on a log 

 facing a large sAvamp while he explored the same with a 

 dog. Result, no deer. We then went east along the top 

 of a high ridge about two miles to the Lake of Islands, so 

 called, Avhere we of course found very comfortable walk- 

 ing on the ice, from which Ave Avent further east about a 

 mile along an old wood road, seeing no fresh tracks; and 

 then he mquired if I felt equal to a trip over to Deer Lake 

 about a mile away. I stated guardedly that I thought 

 I was equal to it, and then followed the roughest Avalking 

 for a,bout two miles that I ever struggled through in my 

 life. The snow Avas deeper here, in places being nearly a 

 foot, and where there were no holes in the ground there 

 were unavoidable brush-heaps, and by the time we got 

 half way to the lake I Avas completely used up. Though 

 accustomed to walking, having done much of it, and 

 rather gifted by nature in that Avay, I was not equal to 

 keeping up with a man who weighed 251bs. less than I did, 

 AA^hose muscles were like whipcords and who would bound 

 up a steep sidehill over logs and brush, with the snoAv knee 

 deep, without sweating or puffing, andAAdiose feet seemed 

 to fairly reboimd from the ground when he was in a 

 luu-ry to get anywhere. So I sat down and consumed a 

 few cookies I had been Avise enough to put in my pocket 

 before starting out that morning, while he said he be- 

 lieved he would take a run around the hill and through 

 the swamp on the other side to see if there were any deer 

 in hiding there. He was gone about fifteen minutes and 

 must have covered nearly two miles from what I could 

 see of the topography of the country, but returned fresh 

 and smiling and said he guessed "it Avas about time we 

 moved on. We accordingly moved at no snail's pace 

 doAvn to Deer Lake, across the lake, climbed over and 

 through the Ailest cedar swamp in two counties and found 

 ourselves in an open field two or three miles from home. 



How I got home I don't very distinctly remember, but 

 half -past 12 o'clock found me sitting dowii to the mid-day 

 meal, so tired that I could hardly eat. After duiner I 

 found my feet so lame from the unaccustomed use of 

 wearing of moccasins that I Avas obliged to put on my 

 heaA^ grain leather hunting shoes, and the old guide and 

 myself again set out for the river where I had been un- 

 successful the day before, and took position on a favorite 

 runway, he standing right on the river's bank, Avhile I 

 stopped about 100yds. above him on the hillside. The 

 younger Austin put the dogs in up near where he had 

 started them the day before, but thej- were so unf ortimate 

 as to take after a large faAAm, Avhicli paid no regard to 

 runAvays, the formation of the country, or the expecta- 

 tions of a huntsman from afar. So he crosssed the river 

 500 or 600yds. aboA^e us, Ave getting the full benefit of the 

 music from the dogs, Avithout a sight at the animal they 

 Avere pursuing. It AA^as after dark AvhenAve reached home, 

 tired, discouraged, no deer, and 15 or 16 miles to be 

 credited to that day's record. Every deer we had started 

 Avent in the direction of Red Stone Lake, imtil it seemed 

 as though the Avoods must be full of them over there, and 

 we had decided to go hunting there on the following 

 morning, Saturday, Avith the hope of shooting a carload 

 at least. But I learned that no ti-ains left Haliburtoyi on 

 Sunday, and so I was compelled perforce to drive that 

 night back to Haliburton, in order to get the train the 

 f oUoAving morning to Toronto. 



Of the numerous Avaits on that return journey I will 

 not speak, it is sufficient to say that it took me the best 

 part of tAA'o days to get back to Buffalo, and the deposit 

 on my gun I was imable to obtain, because the particular 

 insj)ector avIio had taken it from me on my entry into 

 Canada had gone to attend the Avedding of his deceased 

 Avife's sister, or something of the kind, and because of the 

 unfailing discourtesy and lack of accommodation Avith 

 which Canadian custom officials are inspired. Nor have 

 I ever been able by correspondence since to get the same 

 refunded to me, and I can only comfort myself AA-ith the 

 remark of the gentlemanly (?) official at Clifton, Ontario, 

 that "if I didn't like their way of domg business I needn't 

 come OA'er there to hunt." On the Avhole, after matui'e 

 reflection, I am inclined to think that he Avas right. 



In spite of my ill luck I saw enough to convince me 

 that the country north of Eagle Lake must abound in 



deer, and the numerous lakes and streams make it a 

 beautiful region to traverse in canoes, where you have 

 guides to carry the same Avith your baggage over all the 

 portages. As some one has remarked, it must have "rained 

 lakes" up there at an early period of the world's history, 

 and fifty miles from Eagle Lake there can still be found 

 plenty of moose and bear. But it is to me little satis- 

 faction to shoot in a territory wliere you are not allowed 

 to bring back with you even so much as a solitary saddle 

 of venison as proof of your prowess, and where an in- 

 sufficient bounty for wolves scalps cause more deer to be 

 destroyed by hungry packs than all the sportsmen of 

 Canada can kill with their guns. Ahmeek. 



THE EMPTY KENNEL. 



/^N the kennel floor tlie chain lies, 

 " Where it lay a year ago. 

 Rusty, knotted, Avound in eohweb, 



"VNTiere cold spiders hide below. 

 Creaking on its imnsed binges, 



Swings the loose door to and fro; 

 And the kennel straw is mildeAV'ed, 



Dampened by the sifting snow. 



NoAV thei-e is no dog to care for. 



Silence ouiy when I call. 

 But I must call: Grouse! My beauty! 



flarkl A moan behind the wall. 

 Oh! What sound Avas that I heard then? 



Moans the wind there— that is all. 

 Sighs the Avind about the kennel, 



WTiile the rustling dead leaA^es fall. 



When the dying leaves were falling, 



Just one year ago to-day. 

 Grouse, the noblest of the setters, 



Listened through the morning's gray 

 'Till he heard my footsteps coming; 



Leaping, sprang at me in play, 

 Shook his sides AA^th doggish laughter. 



Said to me all he could say. 



And he told me that he loved me, 



Said he wanted to obey, 

 Said he knew just where a partridge, 



Hidden 'neath the Avindfall lay. 

 There he pointed, staunch as granite. 



While Bonasa dared to stay; 

 Brought the dead bird back so proudly. 



Asked if that Avas not the ■way. 



And I. praised the dear old setter, 



Looked down at his earnest eyes, 

 'Till AA^e felt like two good fellows, 



Bound by all the hunter's ties. 

 And I said to him: Now, Grousie, 



Many a year before us lies. 

 Many a day we'll hunt together, 



Ere the soul of either flies. 



So we ranged along together, 



Over meadow, ridge and swale; 

 In the swamp the twittering woodcock, 



In the brush the calling quail 

 Found their hiding spots discovered, 



Found their tricks of no a\-ail. 

 All in vain the running partridge 



Tried to throw us off his trail. 



When at noon aa-c stopped a moment, 



At the spring beneath the pine. 

 If he put his nose in first there. 



His was just as good as mine. 

 For we shared our things together. 



On the moss Ave'd drink and dine; 

 Side by side, our single shadow 



Made a pretty friendship's sign. 



Late that day the slanting sunbeams 



Reddened all the rocky hill. 

 With a strange, unnatural lighting, 



Colors boding something ill. 

 Through the forest sped a rabbit. 



Daring me to try my skiU; 

 T'was no rabbit, but a spirit. 



Some foul thing I could not kill. 



Soon its evil AA'ork was ended. 



Grouse came;slowly back to me. 

 Looked up at me, asked a question, 



Laid his head against^my knee. 

 On his neck there was a blood stain, 



But no mortal eye could see 

 What the wound was— how it came there. 



Boy! asked I, AA'hat can this be? 



Is it true that I have harmed you? 



Oh! if you could only spealv. 

 Do not pain me with f orgiAdng, 



But on me a vengeance Avreak. 



Said he: "Master, If you did it, 



Then I know it muBt be right; 

 I have been a true companion. 



Worked and loved Avith aU my might. 

 If from you I should receive this. 



Then my dying pains are light; 

 If my day has brought you pleasure. 



Gladly pass I into night." 



Tenderly I laid him out there, 



On a golden Avood brake sheaf. 

 Made for him a brilliant covering. 



Of the sumac's scarlet leaf. 

 Sadly left him with the Dryads, 



Asked of them to share my grief:— 

 Faithful friend of man— the setter. 



Dead— Avith friend of njTiiph— the leaf. 



On the kennel floor the chain lies, 



■\¥here it lay a year ago; 

 Rusty, knotted, wound in cobweb. 



Where cold spiders hide below. 

 Creaking on its unused hinges, 



Swings the loose door to and fro'; 

 And the kennel straw is mildewed, 



Dampened by the sifting snow. 

 Neav York, Nov. 6. Robert T. Morris. 



