Aug. 10, 1895.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



119 



game country, though I am not sure it comes properly 

 under the head of "Chicago and the West." 



Strange Death of Hunting Dogs. 



Advice from Warsaw, Ind., to Mr. Moran, of Mont- 

 gomery Ward & Co.'s gun department, states that his 

 two hunting dogs, Domino and Brownie, both died 

 shortly after a recent day's hunting on woodcock. A 

 veterinarian said the trouble was from the dust of weeds 

 lodging in the throat. The throat of each dog was 

 entirely raw throughout its length. Strangely enough, 

 Mr. Wm. Werner, of this city, has also lost two dogs 

 from exactly the same cause. He had a purchaser for 

 the dogs, who said he would take them if they did well 

 in the field. Mr. Werner and he took the dogs and 

 hunted them one day on woodcock in upper Indiana. 

 The next day they were both dead, their throats raw and 

 sore as noted in the Warsaw dogs. Is it possible the 

 pollen of some poisonous plant does this? B. Hough. 



909 Shcdbity Building, Chicago. 



CORRAUNG ANTELOPE IN CALIFORNIA. 



We had camped late in the evening on the shore of 

 Lake Elsinore. Our tent was the regulation tent of Cali- 

 fornia—the starry sky. Near the center it was patched 

 with the silvery disk of the moon, supported on one side 

 by the bristling heights of the Santa Ana range and on 

 the east by the towering crown of San Jacinto, on which 

 through the clear air the snow lay gleaming. The coyote 

 sang our lullaby, to which the burrowing owl played his 

 somniferous interlude; while the red fox barked his ap- 

 proval, in which the 'poorwill, pitching about in the night 

 above, heartily concurred. 



By the time the rugged hills were pictured in the placid 

 face, of the lake the next morning we were in them look- 

 ing for deer, for at this place fhe plain was too flat to 

 hunt antelope. Nearly a thousand feet we climbed 

 upward, but saw no fur except that on the little chaparral 

 hare, whose woolly tail flickered here and there across 

 our path. Everything was as well adapted for feeding or 

 spending the day as a reasonable deer could wish, but 

 where the soft purple of the vetch still trailed over the 

 golden green of the sumac we saw no hair glisten in the 

 rising sun. Nor where the white spires of the sage 

 towered above the yellow bloom of the lucerne, or the 

 orange floBS of the dodder wove its shining whirls around 

 the snowy top of the wild buckwheat, could we see the 

 sun glitter on anything like horns. 



As we sat down to muse upon our luck, my companion 

 said: "What are those little dots away off there on the 

 plain? They seem to change from white to brown and 

 then to white again. They can't be sheep." 



Some two thousand feet below us, and nearly three 

 miles away, were some dots of changing color on the 

 great brown plain that on the farther side curled upward 

 into low rough mesas, and on the south swept away in a 

 long valley toward Mt. Palomar. Here and there a grove 

 of sycamores nodded from some wash or ravine, and there 

 a bunch of live oaks stood darkly green at the mouth of a 

 cafion or solidly massed in little basins in the tumbling 

 hills. But the greater part of the land was robed in sun- 

 dried grass, and rolled in swells so gentle that game 

 could see a long way over the highest of them. 



"Antelope," I replied. "I know that band of old. 

 There are about fifty of them, and unless you catch them 

 in the hills you need not waste time with them." 



"They are going to the lake for water," said my friend 

 after we had watched them for a while. There was little 

 comfort in that remark, for miles of the edge of the lake 

 were all open and about as flat as the plain. But still we 

 watched them. 



Where the long green arms of the wild gourd spread 

 over the brown carpet of alfileria and clover they paused 

 for a moment to nibble the dry feed and then went on at 

 a steady pace. The green pods of the astragalus sprawl ed 

 over the plain among its green leaves, but they stopped 

 not there, nor where the chilla hung out its woolly leaves 

 and on its tall stalk shone in tier on tier its heads of soft 

 lavender flowers. On they went, becoming more dis- 

 tinct in outline as they approached the lake. Soon horns 

 could be made out, but it was probably fancy's eye, for 

 the distance was still great. But no horns look so nice 

 as those seen by imagination when you know they are 

 there; like the horns in pictures of deer half a mile away. 



On moved the band of antelope toward the water, and 

 we could plainly see the kids play and the larger ones 

 stop and nibble something, scan the landscape for danger 

 and then move on. Could we believe our eyes, or were 

 they really headed for the tongue of land that ran out 

 nearly half a mile into the lake? Surely they would not 

 go out on that when there was water so much nearer. 

 Yet at this time they were little disturbed here, for the 

 range of the game was so great and so little of the coun- 

 try was rolling enough that besides myself but one other 

 person ever troubled them. On the point was some green 

 grass and along the edge of the water little mud, and 

 mud is something antelope admire no more than the 

 domestic cat if dry land is just as convenient. 



By the time we had concluded our reasoning the ante- 

 lope were actually on the base of the point and headed 

 for its end. If they should go to the tip and we could get 

 well up the point before they could see us, would they 

 take to the water or try to run past us? If the latter, how 

 many would our repeaters upset in the operation? Such 

 were the questions we discussed as fast as the breath left 

 in us from our speed down the gulch would allow. 



There was little time to waste, for antelope, like deer, 

 linger little at water in this country. Hot and breath- 

 less, we were soon on the plain and the antelope were on 

 the end of the tongue of land. Across the water we saw 

 them loom in the mirage formed by the smooth surface 

 like ghosts on stilts, some 40ft. high, a floating haze of 

 white and cinnamon mounted on long strips of white. 

 Some were turned upside down, some pulled out length- 

 wise, some expanded in all directions, some had swelled 

 bellies and others dropsical legs. Stooping low, we soon 

 reached the place where the point joined the main body 

 of the plain. The further down the point we could get 

 before the game started the better, for it was gradually 

 narrowing. So keeping on one side and. stooping low, 

 we started for the end as fast as we could go without get- 

 ting too much out of breath or too nervous to shoot when 

 the time should come. 



Not far had we gone when some of the keen eyes of the 

 keenest-sighted of all animals saw us, though we were 

 several hundred yards away and had the advantage of 



considerable mustard and arrow grass between to make 

 the air quite hazy. Instantly there was commotion in the 

 band of antelope. All stopped drinking and huddled to- 

 gether for a moment, then scattered out a bit, and then 

 all stopped with heads turned toward us. Though there 

 was not one chance in a thousand of their taking to the 

 water (for it was over a mile to swim to land at the near- 

 est point), we felt some fears and dropped as much out of 

 sight as possible. Brightly pictured against a background 

 of smooth water they stood for a moment with white and 

 cinnamon sides aglow with the morning sun in an air so 

 clear that we could plainly distinguish the black curved 

 horns of the larger antelope. 



But not long did they stand at gaze. Like a meteor 

 the white of a big buck shot over the background of 

 water where it was darkened by the reflection of the 

 chaparral-clad hills, and in a twinkling he was skirting 

 the shore line of the point with the whole band strung 

 out in line behind him. The kids made as good time as 

 the rest, their little legs now flickering lines of white, 

 now blending with speed into a soft gray haze, while the 

 old ones rolled along with that low easy canter whose 

 speed is so deceptive. It was plain they intended to run 

 past us, and equally plain that if we expected to hit any 

 of them we should have to do some rapid running. For 

 where we were the tongue of land was some 200yds. 

 wide, while the game was not ROOydB. away and skim- 

 ming likelthe wind the purple of the sage along the shore, 

 while the gold of the sunflowers along their path blended 

 into orange by the swift passage across it of the white 

 and cinnamon of the game. 



Over the big white trumpets of the stramonium we 

 sprang, and under our flying feet the dark blue of the 

 larkspur fell never again to rise. Yet the distance across 

 the point seemed painfully long, while the distance of 

 the antelope from the part of the shore where they would 

 pass us seemed alarmingly short. But a moment ago we 

 would have given little for a guarantee of half a dozen, 

 and now it began to look as if we should be glad to get 

 one. We strained every nerve until the bright purple of 

 the pentstemon and the soft lavender of the phacelia 

 almost blended as we skipped over them. Yet our pace 

 seemed miserably slow beside that of the intended victims 

 that were scattering the light blue flowers of the iris and 

 the golden cups of the summer tulips at a rate more 

 alarming than ever. 



Vainly the pink racemes of the snapdragon bent beneath 

 our speed, and the rich glow of the scarlet larkspur 

 streamed by us like fireworks. Yainly the burrowing owl 

 bobbed his head and cleared our path, and the meadow- 

 lark vacated the top of the milkweed on which he was 

 singing. The chaparral cock, losing confidence in his 

 nimble legs, stretched out his wings and long tail and 

 sailed gleefully out of our way, followed by the large 

 hare whose gray ears bobbed above the red and purple of 

 the horsemints, and by the cottontail whose snowy ap- 

 pendix flickered out of sight among the mustard stalks. 

 Everything seemed afraid of us but the antelope, and 

 they came on with pace smooth and soft as that of time 

 itself. 



As we reached the middle of the tongue of land they 

 came down the shore line as if shod with the whirlwind. 

 Sixty or seventy yards long a line of white and yellowish- 

 red undulations, gentle as those of the summer sea, glid- 

 ing along the shore about 100yds. ahead of us. Above it 

 glittered black horns, some curved inward, some a little 

 outward, some a little backward, while belOw it a haze 

 of nebulous white obscured the lake beyond. While we 

 were trying to shorten the shooting distance a few yards 

 more there was a sharp skr-r-r-r-r-r-r, and with head 

 some 2ft. high over the center of the coil a yellow rattle- 

 snake some 5ft. long and as thick as one's arm rose right 

 in our path about 6ft. ahead of us. There are few more 

 startling sights than this, and though the danger is not as 

 great as that of being struck by lightning in any Eastern 

 State, such a surprise jars the nerves more than a thun- 

 derbolt that shivers a tree within 20ft. of you. As we 

 stopped and sheered aside at the same movement, I 

 landed with one foot in a badger hole and my companion 

 ran against the sharp needles of a prickly pear. By the 

 time we had collected our scattered energies, the antelope 

 were sailing over another 100yds. and were already well 

 past us. All our hopes of "corraling" the band by head- 

 ing off and confusing them having vanished, speed of fire 

 was our only remaining chance of getting even one. My 

 companion, who was not as well educated on rattlesnakes 

 as I was, turned his fire first upon the snake so as to 

 make sure of that, and left me to open the ball. 



Turning the sights of the rifle some 10ft. ahead of the 

 leading antelope I pulled the trigger. A distinct whop 

 followed the report of the rifle and the water flew from 

 the surface of the lake beyond and went skipping away 

 over its glassy face. But there was no break* in the line. 

 It only seemed to hug the earth the more closely and 

 glide more softly. But the kids were falling to the rear, 

 though the filmy haze made by their little legs seemed 

 thinner than before, 



Bang! went the rifle of my companion, who had fin- 

 ished the snake at the first shot. The smooth surface of 

 the lake was again broken in half a dozen places as the 

 ball skipped over it, but the line of antelope seemed only 

 to flatten and straighten, with the kids falling more to 

 the rear, though the haze of their legs grew still thinner. 



Bang! bang! went two more shots, one from each rifle 

 and almost together; but the water flew from the lake 

 again and the fine seemed to move, but more gently, with 

 the kids falling still further behind. 



That soft and deceptive speed, that no man can conceive 

 who has not seen it through the sights of a rifle, left us no 

 time to calculate distance. We were so demoralized by 

 our run and by the snake that speed of fire was our only 

 hope. Bang, wang, slam, bang, went our repeaters as 

 fast as we could work the levers. A black curved horn 

 flew from a head, a whirl of white and brown went over, 

 a distinct whack came back on the air, and the rest of the 

 line, hugging the ground more closely than before, 

 sailed along more smoothly, with the kids falling still fur- 

 ther behind. 



But we had not come so far to be satisfied with one, and 

 again the rifles woke the echoes of the hills beyond and 

 the balls went gliding over the lake. And still the line 

 went on the more swiftly and smoothly, and was soon 

 blending into brownish gray, through which white rumps 

 were softly undulating. Before we knew it we stood 

 with empty rifles, wondering whether the whole were not 

 a beautiful dream, when suddenly there was a little disor- 

 der in the orderly array now fast fading into mirage. 



Something seemed to turn over in a hazy vision of gray, 

 something like a leg rose for a second above it, and as the 

 scudding line dissolved into haze there was a whitish spot 

 upon the shore behind it that was not there before. 



T. S. Van Dyke. 



"GAME BIRDS AT HOME." 



"Game Birds at Home" is the title of Mr. Theodore S. 

 Van Dyke's latest work. In it he treats of quail, wood- 

 cock, ruffed grouse, pinnated grouse, sharp-tailed grouse, 

 wild geese, American cranes, plover, California quails, 

 Wilson snipe, salt-water birds, wild turkeys, and a chap- 

 ter is devoted to "Days in Illinois," which vividly por- 

 trays the abundance of animal life in that State in years 

 gone by. Mr. Van Dyke attempts more than the title of 

 the work implies. He deftly interweaves the emotions of 

 the hunter, the manner and thrill of pursuit, and the 

 dog's aid in seeking, all embellished by the circumstances 

 of season, f oliage,color,habitat,lights and shades, thus add- 

 ing an interest which is absent in such works as are dryly 

 and plainly descriptive. The killing and desire to kill 

 form but an incidental part of the whole and are treated 

 with all the refinement of the higher sportsmanship. At 

 times one feels that the coloring is too uniformity high 

 and alike and the imagery too severely studied. The fol- 

 lowing excerpts, the first describing wild goose shooting, 

 will give an idea of the author's spirited style and realis- 

 tic descriptive powers: 



"If not very careful you may be too late to shoot. 

 Vain is any thought of stopping the wagon to allow you 

 to take aim. The driver could not stop it in time if he 

 would, and he will have his hands full to stop it in time 

 to save your bones anyway, for the horses are in runaway 

 speed. You must hold yourself in place and shoot as best 

 you can before too near the center of the flock. You 

 must be a good shot from a running horse or wagon, and 

 quite able to keep your balance, mental as well as phys- 

 ical. Amid a general slam-bang-rattle-ty-bang you toss 

 the gun to your shoulder, catch a glimpse of the end in 

 line with something like revolving gray, and pull the 

 trigger. For a second it seems as if the universe were 

 whirling around you as one of the great birds falls with 

 heavy thump on the back of one of the horses, with an- 

 other gyrating almost into the wagon, while hundreds 

 more are climbing with clamorous throats toward the 

 dome of heaven as you rush on beneath at a pace that is 

 quite alarming."- 



And of the ruffed grouse: 



"Who can forget the feelings with which he first heard 

 the mysterious drum of the ruffed grouse throb through 

 the bursting woods of spring, or later from the dark 

 mountain side, where the soft pink and white of the rho- 

 dodendron light up the dark jungle of its leaves, or where 

 the leaves are falling through the haze of Indian sum- 

 mer, or as sometimes heard even in the noon of night, 

 in the depths of the great forest? And who ever failed to 

 love him from the moment he first caught a glimpse of 

 his fanlike tail as the graceful bird flash ed amid a maze 

 of crimson and gold, or pierced like a shaft of light the 

 green tangle of the cat-brier swamp? And who does not 

 feel that he has lived when, after many vain shots, he 

 sees the brown wings come whirling out of the leaves 

 through which they were roaring at a speed that has no 

 equal among birds of the woods?" 



The work contains 219 pages, and is beyond question a 

 valuable addition to the literature of the higher sports- 

 manship. 



This Man had no Trouble. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I noticed in your issue of July 20 Mr. C. M. Starke's 

 tale of woe about his trials and tribulations and imposi- 

 tions in getting a moose transported in Maine. 



Permit me to say that my own experience does not bear 

 out Mr. Starke's representations, for in that same year I 

 made a trip to Maine for moose and on my return found, 

 no annoyance whatever in transporting my game. None 

 of the train hands refused to handle it. Nobody told me 

 I must ship my moose by express. I did not have to fee 

 any one to lug the carcass from platform to car. In a 

 word, I had not the slightest intimation of a shadow of 

 suggestion of trouble of any kind, and I might add for 

 Mr. Starke's satisfaction that I had no moose nor caribou 

 nor deer nor any other game. Dick 03? Connecticut. 



Another Game Commission Chairman "Next Tear. 



Ithaca, N. Y. — Senator Donaldson, that mighty hun- 

 ter beloved of game dealers and market-shooters, was so 

 successfully hunted for among the swaying sycamores of 

 Saratoga, Schenectady and Washington counties last 

 week that he won't return to grace the halls of legislation 

 the coming Senatorial term. Senator Donaldson didn't 

 even win in the primaries of his own county, Saratoga. 

 All of which is so satisfactory that the sportsmen of the 

 Empire State can well afford to "wait till the clouds roll 

 by." That "possession of game out of season" clause in 

 the Donaldson law is bound to defeat the eloquent gentle- 

 men who fathered it. M, ChIll. 



Vermont Quail. 



S wanton, Vt.— Jt may interest you to know that quail 

 have appeared in this vicinity. Mr. Noyes Burton, who 

 has a farm just north of here, says he has been hearing 

 "Bob White" night and morning for some time, remind- 

 ing him of Kansas, where he has a ranch ; and one day 

 recently he saw ten. These birds were put out in the 

 town of Highgate, Vt., last year, by Mr. N. P. Leach^ a 

 resident of the town. They endured a severe winter 

 without any artificial protection. Wheelock. 



Quail in Doddridge County* West Virginia* 



Jake, do you notice any quail about your place this 

 year? 

 Quail? 



Yes, quail— -partridges. 



O, pat-ridges. No; th'aint a one. Th'wuz a great big 

 flock uv 'em used 'round there last yer, but a big hawk got 

 to usin' on 'em, an' I guess he got every durned one uv 

 'em. Chas. W . Walker. 



Game Laws in Brief. 



Tna Qame Laws in Brief, new edition, now ready, August 87 has 

 n ew game and fish laws for more than thirty of the States. It covers 

 the entire country, is carefully prepared, and gives all that shooters 

 and anglers require. See advertisement. 



