July 19, 1888.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



511 



mentioned here unless it was phenomenal, and from my 

 knowledge of the captain's indomitable energy and from 

 my examination of the nature and condition of the stream 

 in which the feat was performed, I unhesitatingly assert 

 that it was not only possible but probable, and as for that, 

 the facts are a matter of record and can be verified to the 

 letter. 



We lunched at noon on a beautiful island upon which 

 was an unique and tastefully arranged summer camp or 

 club house, huilt in the shape of an octagon with four wings 

 extending from the main parallels, with doors and porches 

 between. It was covered entirely with cedar bark, but 

 in so neat and workmanlike a fashion that it bad an ex- 

 ceedingly comfortable as well as picturesque appearance. 

 The owner, however, certainly possessed more of taste than 

 of that spirit of hospitality which it is natural to expect 

 in out-of-the-way places like this, for on one of the doors 

 to this aristocratic dwelling in the wilderness was printed 

 in stenciled letters a warning to trespassers in thiswise: 



: THESE ARE PRIVATE PREMISES. ': 

 : DO NOT LAND HERE. I 



Now, seeing that we could not possibly ha ve known 

 that we wore not to land hero without first landing, and 

 hence were beforehand convicted trespassers on the 

 premises, we could not restrain some little disgust at the 

 snobbishness of the unknown private party and proceeded 

 to express our dissatisfaction at being thus entrapped, as 

 it were, for an insult, which we had no disposition to oc- 

 casion or receive, by arranging to stay as long as we 

 wanted to "in spite of my Lord Cardinal." But if the 

 human aristocrats who owned the premises were un- 

 friendly to the wayfarer, the non-human creatures who 

 actually had possession — the moose birds — were very 

 friendly indeed. One of the little rascals actually took 

 the butter from my bread, which I had laid on a stump 

 not two feet from me while I was pre-occupied by en- 

 deavors to sketch the house from one of its many angle?. 

 I left the bread also for him to take if he so minded, 

 which he did indeed, but I regret to record the jealousy 

 of his tribe, for lie was scolded right soundly by an en- 

 vious crowd of its members both for his good fortune and 

 his selfishness, I take it, in not wishing to share it witli 

 them all. blow they settled it I don't know, for we came 

 away while the matter was still in hot dispute. 



Below this island the Brule widens at intervals into 

 lakes with narrows, and consequently rapids, between, 

 and here is where the fun commenced. When it is stated 

 that none of our party had had any actual experience in 

 running rapids, that the river was high and in places 

 reported as running a mill race, that we had been warned 

 that we never would get through without getting wet 

 (that is, capsized) if we got through at all; I say when 

 all this is stated it is a sufficient excuse for the manifesta- 

 tion of a feeling of curiosity, to say the least, as to how 

 we would get through, and as we approached the big falls, 

 which was certainly as much of a mill race as had been 

 represented, I must confess to some excitement, which I 

 think was shared to some degree by the other members of 

 the party. Had any one of us had any experience I think 

 we would have attempted this fall and would probably 

 have got through all right. As it was, we concluded to 

 make a short portage and pull the boat around the rough- 

 est water, for we felt it better to take our first lesson in 

 rapids running from something a little less savage. And 

 we were not long in coming to the experience, for the 

 swift water soon sent us dancing merrily down the river; 

 no sooner out of one series than we shot into a,nother. In 

 one of the first we ran into I broke my paddle in trying 

 to make a sharp turn, but fortunately had an extra one, 

 which served me in good stead for the balance of the trip. 

 Once we hung up on a large boulder, and it took our 

 united efforts to keep the boat from filling. Fortunately 

 we were so near one of the banks that Ed could jump 

 it, and he pulled us off easily, sending the commodore 

 and I waltzing down the stream at a great rate, pulling 

 up at the first opportunity to take him aboard again. This 

 first experience was very exciting, and I could not refrain 

 from giving a lusty war-whoop at our first mishap and 

 lucky escape. 



Again the river widened into a fine lake about half a 

 mile wide and perhaps two miles long, along the banks of 

 which we could not but notice with longing eyes the 

 numberless beautiful, nsoss-carpeted camping grounds, 

 which thick canopies of over-hanging cedars made SO 

 very inviting; and had it not been that further prospec- 

 tive adventures in rapids running, and the desire to reach 

 the Northern Pacific Bridge that night, in order to pre- 

 serve our trout catch, I should have insisted on spending 

 a night here at one of these lovely spots. At the foot of 

 the lake another series of heavy rapids through the nar- 

 rows, which we probably would have run entire (for our 

 experience bad by this "time accumulated so as to give 

 us confidence enough for anything) but for a great tree 

 which had either fallen or been felled here across the 

 only possible channel. After dragging our heavy boat 

 around this obstruction, the rapids immediately below 

 looked so inviting and suggestive of trout that we tied up 

 to one of the branches of the obstruction for a fish. Ed 

 had a couple of fine ruddy-colored half-pounders, and 

 the commodore one of three-quarter pounds before I 

 could get my line out, but to compensate for the delay I 

 was not long in reeling in a one-pounder which was the 

 king fish of the party so far. Nothing else of any size 

 heeding our enticements we put up our rods again, made 

 ready and let go for another douse between boulders and 

 over rocks innumerable, which we scraped or thumped 

 in our rapid course down the foamy current. By this 

 time we had grown quite experts in avoiding boulders 

 and equallv confident. Ed, on the lookout in the bow 

 with his stout pole, would sing out to the right or left, as 

 the case might be. and I, in the stern, with an equally 

 stout paddle, would if possible head her for a straight 

 shoot into the right course, while the commodore amid- 

 ships would pole or paddle as the emergency might sug- 

 gest and tell us how it should be done. That this was an 

 excellent programme no one will gainsay, but that 

 there must be no mistake about it is very certain, 

 for of this we soon had an experience which was 

 quite convincing. For whether Ed had sung out 

 to the right or to the left I am now uncertain, or 



whether I labored to the left or right I am equally un- 

 certain, or whether the commodore had sung out in 

 either way we were both just as uncertain. But certain 

 it is that Ed and I worked at cross purposes, and before 



we knew it the stout boat was on a boulder amidships. 

 As she struck, her bow naturally climbed into the air 

 and the commodore suddenly for a moment or so ap- 

 peared far above me against the sky. This fact struck 

 my sense of sight and of humor at the same time with 

 such comical effect that I cannot help breaking into the 

 gravity of my narrative witli an allusion to it. It seemed 

 to me that as we struck the boulder I saw the commo- 

 dore's hat raised bodily from his head by the sudden up- 

 rising of his short stubby hair, that the" sudden appear- 

 ance of Iris whole body* so far above the horizon only 

 produced this effect for a moment I am perfectly well 

 aware but had it been ever so much more than an opti- 

 cal illusion I would have had no time to investigate the 

 phenomenon , for, thanks to my avoirdupois the stern of 

 the boat was field down until caught by the current 

 which swung us around like a top until stern foremost, 

 when she easily slid off the pivot. Now, although we 

 had. in more senses than one, been turned completely 

 around by this rapid maneuver, we had still sense 

 enough left to know she must neither bo left to go down 

 stern foremost nor sideways, so we exerted all our strength 

 at once to get her righted, and when faced bow on we let 

 her skip again and another shout went up above the war 

 of the rapids for the second lucky termination of an ad- 

 venture. 



From this on, although there are more or less rapids all 

 the way to the Northern Pacific crossing, we had no mis- 

 hap worth recording and reached the bridge just as dry 

 (if not drier) than when we started, and with an appetite 

 that must have astonished mine host A.ngus at the Brule 

 Hotel. Here we fell in with a number of genial spirits, 

 among them old Captain Angus of Lake Superior pioneer 

 fame, with whom we spent a very xdeasant evening re- 

 counting our adventures and listening to theirs, from 

 which we gathered that the running of the Brule by 

 greenies like ourselves without accident was yet con- 

 sidered quite a feat, and we felt quite flattered of course. 



We took the train the next morning for Duluth, more 

 than satisfied with our trip and promising ourselves the 

 continuation of it at some future day from the Northern 

 Pacific to the lake. This is a field for trout and adven- 

 tures even more promising than the one just made, and 

 if the readers of the Forest and Stream should see fit to 

 want more of the same I may be prevailed upon to give 

 them another chapter. Berlin. 



J£*%#7 HjjftBtotQ. 



EXPERIENCE WITH RATTLESNAKES. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Being a lover all my life of the dog and gun, and hav- 

 ing lately spent my winters in St. Augustine, Fla. , I have 

 been deeply interested in the experiments reported in 

 your journal by Dr. H. C. Yarrow, in the treatment of 

 snake poisoning, and having had some practical acquaint- 

 ance with the subject, I have been urged by friends to 

 send some lines to the Forest and Stream with the as- 

 surance that they would not be annoying. Some years 

 ago I had a foreman in charge of one of the well known 

 and beautiful places near Tarrytown, N. Y., brought to 

 my office suffering from the bite of a bastard rattler. He 

 had been an old patient, and when he entered his appear- 

 ance presented the most abject and mental suffering, and 

 his first inquiry was, "Dootor, what are the chances for 

 life?" I told him there was no time to lose in speculating, 

 but to lie right down on the floor, for he could barely 

 stand, was trembling in every part, and great drops stood 

 like beads on his face. I laid open the part bitten, which 

 was the thick part of the thumb on the right hand. I 

 gave him a few drops of ammonia, whisky and sweet 

 oil, and after applying a cupping glass, saturated a cloth 

 with ammonia and placed it on the wound, and sent him 

 home, promising to follow in a few moments, as soon as 

 I could gather a few needful articles. This man was an 

 oracle among the Irish in our village, was superior to his 

 class, and of course his accident made a great stir in the 

 wigwam. His friends in a few moments after the acci- 

 dent had given him some whisky and tied a ligature 

 around the wrist, and then drove in haste to mv office, 

 the time since bitten being about three-quarters of an 

 hour. I had some hope, for Mr. M. was well preserved 

 and abstemious, though an old man. His heart acted 

 feebly and his nervous symptoms were terrible. Still I 

 recalled two successful cases of rattlesnake bites that re- 

 covered in my father's hand when a student in his office 

 in Savannah, Ga., and I determined that I would make a 

 hard fight for this life. 



I watched the old man, using every known antidote 

 externally, even to the warm chickens, making a broad 

 line around the arm with caustic, and from time to time 

 using the cupping glass and ammonia. During the latter 

 part of the day his admirers all tried the whisky treat- 

 ment too, and with more decided results than I could get, 

 for they all got drunk, and raised Ned, and ply the arti- 

 cle as I dare, my patient barely felt it. It was difficult 

 to produce anything more than a partial rally from the 

 shock. But I felt 1 held my own with the whisky, am- 

 monia and sweet oil. The drunken rabble around the 

 house became ugly after a time, and wanted to eject me. 

 nolens volens, insisting on having an Indian doctor 

 apply his remedies, to which I objected, declining all 

 responsibility if interfered with. These wild Arabs 

 next insisted on calling other doctors, to which I agreed 

 at once, told them they could call all the legitimate aid 

 we could get, that I should be glad to have all the pro- 

 fession see the case. They brought a Scotchman, Dr. L. , 

 a man of some prominence among these people. He re- 

 commended a remedy which I at once protested against, 

 stating plainly if he used it he would kill my patient. 

 He insisted, and I made him stay and give it. He gave 

 one teaspoonfid and in about five minutes it caused nau- 

 sea, and shortly after vomiting, producing the very ef- 

 fects I had struggled for hours to avoid; great depres- 

 sion followed and we lost much we had gained. The 

 old man, still conscious, though weakened, called to me 

 and said, "Throw that cup, spoon and stuff, out the 

 window, and give me no more of it," and reproached me 

 for failing him. I felt it, and after obeying his directions 

 I determined to allow no other interference. The doctor 

 left in disgust. I watched him all night with varying 

 hope, and in the morning found him with a fair pulse, 

 no more nausea, and able to bear his dram, and some 

 beef tea. The wounds at this time did not look encourag- 



ing, the glands in the axilla became swollen and pain- 

 ful, he was a little off at times, still I had greater hope 

 than the day before. I called in several of our local 

 physicians to see the case, and none seemed to express 

 much encouragement. The second day the wounds 

 looked a little better, gave off a little suppuration, but 

 the glands under the arm were so enlarged that I poul- 

 ticed them, and soon opened one. My patient on the 

 third day was evidently improving, and from that day 

 on continued to progress favorably, and Anally recovered 

 with a shriveled thumb, withered and contracted like a 

 dry branch. 



Some winters ago I was compelled to seek a change of 

 climate. A long and laborious life in my profession, 

 amid the snows and winds of New York, had broken up 

 a once splendid constitution. I visited St. Angustine, 

 Fla. There I renewed at intervals my old love of younger 

 days, and with a grand old dog, Don, spent many a life- 

 giving hour near the ancient city, but always with some 

 apprehension of the great danger to man and dog, from 

 the numerous venomous snakes in the swamps and woods. 

 I always carried in my hunting coat my hypodermic in- 

 strument with ammonia and permanganate of potash, 

 ready for use, and I volunteered to take charge of any 

 of my friends' dogs if they met with an accident. 

 About three winters ago our vice-commodore was so un- 

 fortunate as to have a favorite dog struck by a snake of 

 large size, which he thinks was a rattlesnake. The beast 

 struck the dog in the point of the nose, and as the dog 

 started backward, throwing up his head, he carried the 

 horrid tiling, still clinging to him, into view for a mo- 

 ment. The commodore started immediately for the city, 

 after giving the dog some whisky. On arriving he 

 entered the Plaza drug store, sending for me; I being out 

 at the time he requested one of the local physicians to use 

 the remedy I had advised; and Dr. A., who declared he 

 knew little about the matter, still willingly tried his skill. 

 He introduced the dilute ammonia into the shoulder on 

 the right side; and in a few moments I arrived and took 

 charge of the sufferer. It had been over an hour since 

 the dog had received the poison, and a more pathetic- 

 looking object has seldom been seen. His head was en- 

 ormously enlarged, and looked more like a great puff bag 

 than anything else; he had barely life enough to wag his 

 tail, and lay in a hopeless mass. In a few hours I repeated 

 the remedy, and watched anxiously for every change, 

 and by nine o'clock at night I felt the old fellow would 

 recover. He gave a faint wag of welcome and gratitude 

 to his friends, and tried to take through his swollen hps 

 some beef tea and milk, which was finally introduced on 

 a rag. In the morning a more disreputable object cotdd 

 scarcely be imagined. He was literally bunged up, but in 

 better spirits, evidently making the best of a bad job. He 

 recovered with two small sloughs in his shoulders and 

 hips where the needles entered. His owner hunted him 

 the rest of the season without discovering that he had 

 been injured in any way. Poor Bran was reserved for a 

 violent death after all, for he was on the chain in an out- 

 house of the St. Augustine Hotel, when it was destroyed 

 by fire the following winter, and was lost. 



That year of the great fire a friend of mine hunted a 

 handsome red setter, Duke, who was unfortunately 

 struck by a rattler in the neck. His master started with 

 him for home, being some miles from town, and on foot. 

 He gave poor Duke whisky from time to time as hia 

 powers flagged, and literally dragged him along, encour- 

 aging the plucky fellow, who did his best. When he 

 reached town about 2 o'clock I was summoned, and gave 

 him injections of ammonia, alternating with the perman- 

 ganate, all the afternoon. The heart failure was exces- 

 sive, and it was evident that I failed to make any im- 

 pression on the poison. There was not the great suffering 

 noticed in the first case, but the poor fellow was awfully 

 sick. He lay like a wet rag, not a spark of energy left in 

 him, with his great eyes enlarged to twice their size and 

 the most appealing look for help I ever saw. I am con- 

 vinced I did this dog service; he did not have a spasm, 

 and nothing through all his suffering like a convulsion; 

 he simply wilted and sunk away, and died so quietly at 

 9 that night that those around him hardly knew when he 

 passed away. I regret now I did not push the remedies 

 a little more persistently in this case. 



Last winter there were several dogs struck by rattle- 

 snakes, and our good commodore was again unfortunate 

 in having another favorite struck by a great monster, and 

 this time he was fortunate enough to see and put his 

 mark on the beast. He immediately used the whisky, 

 and having long since armed himself with a hypodermic 

 and the permanganate, he used it on the spot; but the 

 remedy made no impression, and the dog had repeated 

 spasms and convulsions. He repeated the dose and 

 started for town, but the convulsions became so terrible 

 that the poor thing at last threw himself out of the wagon 

 and the commodore ordered him shot. 



When I saw my friend he looked about ten years older, 

 and certainly seemed as if he had lost a friend. He told 

 me he saw "the beast, and as he was escaping into a 

 gopher's hole he shot at him, not feeling absolutely cer- 

 tain whether he had hit him or not. I told him it would 

 never do to leave the matter in doubt, and proposed to go 

 out on the next day and unearth the wretch. The com- 

 modore did not seem over-anxious, but finally concluded 

 to go. We found the monster sunning himself near his 

 den, and a forbidding object he was. I had my gun in 

 my hand and felt like drawing on him at once, but a 

 hunter who went out with us insisted on being allowed 

 to take him alive and take him to town on exhibition. 

 He caught the uncanny thing and put him in a box, and 

 we found the commodore had filled the lower part of his 

 body with No. 9 shot. 



My old dog Don and I have tramped about Florida for 

 over eight years and never encountered a rattlesnake, but 

 I have shot three horrid water moccasins right under the 

 old fellow's nose. He points them as warily as if he were 

 perfectly aware of their dangerous nature. He will in- 

 dicate the proximity of danger as plainly as if he could 

 speak by working around in front of me, between the 

 beast and myself, keeping himself well out of danger. 

 Let no one tell me there is no power of reasoning in dogs. 



That the antidote to serpent venom exists I have never 

 for a moment doubted; and that it is found in our land 1 

 am convinced. A few winters ago I thought I was in a 

 fair way to discover the secret, at any rate I made a per- 

 sistent effort to do so. The first Indian prisoners at the 

 old Fort San Marco, at St. Augustine, told me that the 

 medicine men on the plains knew and applied the anti- 

 dote to snake poison. I could hardly believe the story, 



