Forest and Stream. 



A Weekly Journal of the Rod and Gun. 



Terms, $4 a Year. 10 Cts. a Copt. ) 



Six Months, $3. 1 



NEW YORK, JULY 5, 1888. 



I VOL. XXX.— No. 24 



I No. 318 Broadway, New York. 



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Forest and Stream Publishing Co. 

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CONTENTS. 



Editorial. 



The Old Sportsman. 



Public Fish and Private 

 Waters. 



Snap Shots. 

 The Sportsman Toubist. 



The Ghost of the Rio Azul. 



Memories of the Mastigouche. 



The Squatook. 

 Natural History. 



Musk-Ox, Bighorn and Moun- 

 tain Goat. 



That Bullsnake. 

 Game Bag and Gun. 



Deer Hunting at Murrell's 

 Point. 



With the Ruffed Grouse. 



A Bewitched Guu. 



Game in the Water. 

 Sea and River Fishing. 



Maine's Trout Supply. 



Jock's Lake, 



A Week with the Trout. 



St. Lawrence Bass Fishing. 

 Camp-Fire Flickerlngs. 



FlSHCBXTTTRE. 



The Ohio Commission. 



Shad in the Hudson. 



American Fishes. 

 The Kennel. 



The National Dog Club. 



The Southern Field Trial Club 



Dog Talk. 



Kennel Notes. 

 Rifle and Trap Shooting. 



Range and Gallery. 



The Trap. 



Canadian Trap Notes. 

 Canoeing. 



The A. C. A. Meet. 



Goster Gleanings. 



Canoeing Notes. 

 Yachting. 



The Coming Yachting Season. 



Norton's System of Naval 

 Construction. 



Sail Area and Measurement. 



Eastern Y. C. Regatta. 



Lake Ontario. 

 Answers to Correspondents. 



THE OLD SPORTSMAN. 

 O INCE Forest and Stream first saw the light many a 

 ^ man, who welcomed its birth and the new era in 

 sportsman's literature which began with it, has been 

 obliged to confess that he has grown old, while the paper, 

 measured by men's lives, is yet young. Only to himself, 

 perhaps, has he made admission of the fact which stiffen- 

 ing joints, dulling of outward senses and failing of youth- 

 ful vigor force upon him, but the plain fact is not to be 

 disputed by himself to himself. He finds himself framing 

 excuses against going afield and accepting the validity of 

 such as would, have seemed too trivial for his notice ten 

 years ago. It looks likely to rain, and a wetting is a sore 

 affliction to rheumatic joints. A decade ago no such 

 aching brake had been put on his locomotion, and he 

 laughed at the lazy old fellows who made it a plea for stay- 

 ing at home. It is too windy, or too cold, or the snow is 

 too deep. Ten years ago the wind might have cracked 

 .ts cheeks in vain to stop him; the cold could not have 

 nipped in the bud his purpose of an outing, nor drifts pile 

 so deep that he should be snowbound. But any of these 

 and lesser obstacles may keep him at home now, and he 

 contents himself with promises of better days and prep- 

 aration therefor, in cleaning of guns, loading of shells, 

 and overhauling of tackle, and in this and in anticipation 

 binds more pleasure than in use and realization. 



Yet when he does go out for a day among the covers or 

 •Jong the stream, he feels much of the old ardor. His 

 leart beats the old familiar accompaniment to the sudden 

 jhunder of the grouse, the woodcock's whistle, the hound's 

 bugle note, the chatter of the reel; he notes with as much 

 delight as ever, perhaps with more, every beauty of 

 nature, each circumstance or accident of wild life, 

 wxd at times feels almost young again. But for all 

 ,hese there is something lacking, and with them, 

 something given. He remembers how in times long 

 east an indescribable aroma of the woods tingled in 

 lis nostrils from morning until night, and how a 

 lontinual wild intoxication thrilled his senses through- 

 out the day. Now there come to him only faint 



elusive wafts of subtle fragrance, only touches of the old 

 exhilaration. Then he was never tired, or never knew 

 that he was, till the day's sport was ended; now he must 

 often confess weariness and frequent inclination to rest. 

 Logs were troublesome hindrances then, now they are 

 grateful seats. Then a good shot brought only pride and 

 exultation and thirst for more; now, with the astonished 

 thankfulness that all quickness and skill have not de- 

 parted from eye and hand, comes pity for the creature 

 slain and less desire to kill. How childish he would have 

 thought such a feeling, such a little while ago as it seems 

 till he has counted the years; but he is not sorry that his 

 heart is softening or his head grows white. Perhaps he 

 is growing young again ! 



Well, what if his eyes are dimmer, his hand less ready 

 and his step has lost the elasticity of youth ? 



He may yet enjoy the woods and waters without leav- 

 ing his fireside. "Yo" will climb the mountains for him, 

 "Nessmuk" will thread the unmarked paths of the wilder- 

 ness and paddle his fairy canoe on unknown streams for 

 him, "Kingfisher" and "Wawayanda" fish for him better 

 than he could for himself, and many another sportsman 

 who wields as well the pen as the rod and gun lead him 

 under green leaves and by pleasant waters. 



So, more than when he first saw it, the aging sports- 

 man is thankful for Forest and Stream. 



Therein he, too, grown garrulous, may tell the story of 

 his own exploits, and though as seen through the haze of 

 years they may be somewhat magnified and multiplied, 

 he may be assured of an indulgent audience, for it is no 

 less an accomplishment of the sportsman to believe a good 

 story than to tell one. 



derstood to be private. Hundreds of thousands of trout 

 fry have been sent from the New York hatcheries at Cale- 

 donia and Cold Spring Harbor to streams and ponds owned 

 or leased by individuals and clubs. "We have already ex- 

 pressed the opinion that too much attention has been 

 given to this branch of the work at the expense of others. 

 The clubs which lease lands and waters can as well pay 

 for their trout fry as for their quail; and there are pri- 

 vate trout culturists who can supply the demand for such 

 purposes; while the several fish commissions have an 

 abundant field for their appropriations and labors in re- 

 storing the supply of commercial food fishes. It is in the 

 cheapening of the food supply that fishculture to-day finds 

 a justification for the expenditure of the large sums ap- 

 propriated to it by the Legislatures. 



SNAP SHOTS. 



PUBLIC FISH AND PRIVATE WATERS. 



IN their report of 1887, the Connecticut Fish Com- 

 missioners wrote of the complications growing out 

 of the stocking of streams where the public was forbid- 

 den fishing rights. Numbers of waters which had year 

 after year been stocked wdth trout fry from the State 

 supply, on the supposition that the streams were public, 

 were subsequently found to be posted. One instance 

 was related by the Commissioners where a public-spirited 

 gentleman, who had for years paid the expenses of the 

 transportation for fry to a certain brook, went one time 

 to catch some of the trout, but found the waters posted; 

 and he afterward learned that the proprietor through 

 whose land the brook flowed was in the habit of catch- 

 ing a string of fish every week to sell to a Hartford res- 

 taurant. The Commissioners further wrote that the 

 question would in time come up in the courts, " whether 

 a party who has stocked a stream with trout from the 

 State, with the understanding that it is a public trout 

 stream, has the right to prevent any and all persons from 

 fishing therein, thereby reserving to himself the entire 

 proceeds of the State's distribution of young trout in 

 that particular stream." 



The question is one which will probably be given early 

 consideration by the courts, for the issue has been raised 

 by the Middlesex County Game and Fish Association, of 

 Middletown. This society, as has been said before in 

 these columns, has undertaken to protect the game and 

 fish by leasing the exclusive right to shoot and fish in the 

 territory it controls, giving at the same time certain 

 broad privileges to the community, so that its leases shall 

 work injury to no one. The association has done much 

 in a public-spirited way to replenish the game covers and 

 trout streams. Among waters stocked by its agents is 

 the Hammonassett Eiver, a natural trout stream. Into 

 this for a number of years the association has placed fry 

 obtained from the State. Now that the fish are grown 

 and there is sport to be had in taking them, the Middle- 

 sex Association wakes up one fine morning to discover 

 that the lands along the Hammonassett have been leased, 

 as to their fishing right, to a New Haven club of anglers 

 known as the Hammonassett Club, whose members claim 

 the exclusive privilege of harvesting the crop sown by 

 the Middlesex members. The officers of the Middlesex 

 Association have determined to carry the matter into 

 court and to make a test case of it. • Dr. J. W. Alsop, the 

 president of the association, and some of the members 

 went fishing on the Hammonasett, and were driven off 

 by the proprietors of the land on the ground of trespass. 

 This will be made a basis for a suit. 



While the Connecticut Commissioners distribute fry 

 only to public waters, it is the practice in some other States, 

 notably in New York, to stock waters which are well un- 



/^iTJE angling columns last week contained a commit- 

 ^-^ nication which spoke of the Eangeley Lakes as trout 

 waters whose glory had departed. Such a statement 

 could not be expected to pass unnoticed, and we are al- 

 ready in receipt of two letters in reply. These have 

 come too late for the present issue, but they will be given 

 next week. Meanwhile reports from the Maine fly-fish- 

 ermen continue good, but mosquitoes and black flies are 

 also in the ascendency. Gentlemen just returned from 

 Parmacheene say that they never had better sport with 

 the fly, though the trout caught were rather small. Still 

 other sportsmen have caught larger ones there. A Mr. 

 Leslie with his wife, caught at Littleboy's Falls, ten 

 trout weighing 151bs. At Bemis Stream, Lake Moose- 

 lucmaguntic, the fly-fishing is reported to be excellent. 

 Landlocked salmon continue to be taken in Rangeley 

 Lake later than usual this season. In short the record 

 of this season's catch already gives evidence that the 

 1888 fishing in the Androscoggin waters is above the 

 average. 



We hope that the appeal from the Franklin County 

 (N. Y.) Association for funds to carry on their fight 

 against the netters may be heeded. There is a principle 

 at stake here, and a very important one. As we have 

 explained, there can be no efficient means of breaking up 

 alleged netting, if the nets unlawfully used may not be 

 removed then and there. If a policeman discovers a 

 dynamite bomb on the sidewalk he is expected to remove 

 it, without first seeking to discover who put it there, and 

 to have it condemned by due process of law. The mode 

 of suppressing an illegal net ought not to be a bit more 

 comphcated nor less expeditious. The Franklin county 

 case is of more than local importance; the principles con- 

 cern all communities which number fisheries among their 

 natfcral resources; and anglers as individuals and clubs 

 have a direct interest in seeing the law against nets en- 

 forced and its constitutionality determined. 



Francis Henry Temple Bellew, the artist, died last 

 Friday, aged sixty-one. Frank Bellew, as he was better 

 known, wielded a facile and prolific pencil; for more 

 than twenty years his signature has been familiar to tens 

 of thousands of readers. Among the last things he wrote 

 and illustrated— and they were among the best things of 

 the character ever written by anybody — were the Boon 

 Gar Arrahbiggee papers published in the Forest and 

 Stream. The diary of Joseph Goater was distinguished 

 by a playful humor, a rich invention, and a verisimili- 

 tude which combined to make the series unique and at- 

 tracted for it wide attention. 



We publish the constitution, by-laws and show rules of 

 the new National Dog Club. These appear to have been 

 framed wisely, and no doubt will commend themselves 

 to the great mass of dog breeders in this country. In 

 fact the club is composed exclusively of breeders, and 

 whatever it may do ought fairly to represent the views 

 and interests of breeders. A meeting will be held at the 

 Metropolitan Hotel, in this city, to-day, to complete the 

 organization of the club. 



An individual named Frank Van Ness has been bragging 

 about his exploits in killing deer in June in Pennsylvania. 

 The Yonkers (N. Y.) Statesman reports that a deer killed 

 by this hunter weighed 358 lbs. There is nothing like 

 being exact in such matters, and Mr. Van Ness deserves 

 credit for restricting the weight to a figure only between 

 three and four times the average, when it would have 

 been so easy to make it a round 400. 



