512 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[July 19, 1888. 



but on afterthought I came to the conclusion that if any 

 people need to know, and ought to know for their self- 

 protection, these wild men, exposed to every outdoor 

 danger, would be most likely to. Later I took one of 

 these Indian boys to my home to educate him and fit him 

 for the changes fast overwhelming their tribes. He often 

 mentioned the fact that Indians did not fear snake bite, 

 and that the medicine men cured it. The persistency of 

 these statements caused me to believe that there must be 

 something in them. A few summers ago I had occasion 

 to cross the Indian Territory, after children for the train- 

 ing school at Carlisle, Pa. , and I determined to investi- 

 gate the matter, and, if possible, possess the remedy. I 

 traveled 300 miles toward the setting sun, and became 

 well acquainted with thousands of Indians of many tribes, 

 and entered their lordly dwellings, where I was received 

 with the pride and dignity of crowned heads. They 

 treated me as an old friend,' for many remembered my 

 interest in them during their exile and imprisonment. 

 They knew I came to befriend them and if possible aid 

 their children to gain an education which would fit them 

 to meet the changes inevitable in their future lives. I 

 saw some of their noted medicine men, and in cultivating 

 their friendship I felt sure of gaining the information I 

 wanted. Everywhere I heard the same story, that 

 Indians do not mind snake bite, that an Indian poisoned 

 by a snake does not die, the medicine man cures him. I 

 told my boy who had lived in my house four years, and 

 recently returned to his home among the Kiowas, that I 

 wanted to get the erne for the poison of snakes. He said 

 he did not know it, that only the medicine man knew, 

 and it woidd be eertain death to any one to reveal the 

 secret, that it was one of their greatest secrets and was 

 guarded in the most sacred manner by chose in possession 

 of it. 



I saw these disgusting snakes living in harmony among 

 the prairie dog villages with the owl and the rabbit: dis- 

 pelling the myths long current on this question. The 

 dwellings of the Indians are among these villages, and I 

 was told that very often the snakes woidd be found in 

 their blankets and sleeping robes, and that the Indians 

 were sometimes bitten, but they were not alarmed and 

 only sought the medicine man as if for a cut finger. 

 Our boy told me that one night when the nights were 

 beginning to get chilly, he wrapped himsel up in his buf- 

 falo robe and soon he felt something move under him, and 

 when lie looked he found a great rattlesnake, but he was 

 too cold to bite, and he threw him in the fire in the tent. 



Their secret was so guarded that I began to lose hope, 

 and became desperate and used every honest device to 

 gain the information. I could not gain the secret for 

 friendship; money would not buy it, and I tried to win 

 over the most prominent medicine man, Black Kettle, but 

 found him as dumb as a stone. My Kiowa boy said he 

 would try to find out, knowing the secret would be sacred, 

 but to no purpose. I finally gave up my efforts with 

 great reluctance and extreme chagrin, hoping eventually 

 that some more fortunate mortal would yet discover the 

 secret. That the Indians know the antidote to the poison 

 of any serpent I do not now doubt for a moment, and I 

 am confirmed in my belief by the reports of the many 

 agents and government employees who told me that 

 snake bites do not kill the Indian. And last winter I 

 learned from the Apaches confined in the same old fort in 

 St. Augustine that they had a remedy in Arizona that 

 cured snake bites, known only to their medicine men; it 

 was a secret guarded by death, and that Indians, horses 

 or dogs do not die from snake bite. So thoroughly do I 

 believe these stories that if I had means to allow nie the 

 leisure I would go to the Indian Territory this summer 

 and spend some time among these people and pursue the 

 search for that secret remedy, which, if discovered, would 

 be a blessing to all who are ever likely to be in danger 

 from the venomous creatures that lurk in our paths and 

 fill the hunter with constant apprehension for himself and 

 his faithful dog. Horace Caruthers, M.D. 



TARRYTOWN, N. Y. 



BULLS ON THE TEXAS RANGE. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



In riding, some six weeks ago, from my sylvan shelter 

 to Ranger, on the T. & P. Railroad, distant about forty-five 

 miles, I frequently noticed companies of bulls herding 

 together, with no females of their kind near them. One 

 of these companies numbered fourteen great bulls, pro- 

 digious creatures, most of whom were lying by the road- 

 side chewing the cud in a contented, dreamy sort of way; 

 and though we passed within a few feet of them in rather 

 a gay equipage, not one even deigned so much as to raise 

 his head to look at us. This reminded me of a friend of 

 mine who had a soft spot in his head. He became am- 

 bitious to own a fine rig with which to cut a swell 

 and draw attention on the fashionable drives. To this 

 end he saved his money so closely that he well-nigh 

 starved; but in a few months he appeared on the drive in 

 a most beautiful rig, drawn by a noble black steed whose 

 hide glittered like polished silver. The sidewalks were 

 thonged with richly dressed promenaders, and Tom was 

 constantly turning his head this side and that to see who 

 looked. But, by common consent, as it seemed, nobody 

 looked at all, and both he and his rig were totally dis- 

 regarded. The experiment was repeated several follow- 

 ing days with a like result. It broKe his heart and he 

 soon sold out, but has since made a fortune by selling 

 oals. 



However, to be so disregarded by these great bulls, had 

 no other effect upon me and my companion than to raise 

 in us a good-natured smile. One or two couples of the 

 bulls were standing up facing each other, playing boxing 

 and fencing with their horns in a very friendly way. My 

 companion, who is a cowman, remarked that these bulls 

 are very friendly now, but in two or three weeks they 

 will part company, make the woods roar with their bel- 

 lowing, and when they meet again it will be as enemies. 



Such is the way of bulls in the great Texas herds. 

 When winter comes on, cooling their blood and shorten- 

 ing the crops of herbs, so that they must rustle for a liv- 

 ing, they withdraw from the cows, collect in companies 

 and go away, secreting themselves in solitudes. They 

 forget the battles they have fought with one another in 

 the lusty days and become very near and dear friends. 

 At such times they seem truly to hate a cow, or at least 

 to consider her presence as very undesirable. Should one 

 cow come among them, like a hoyden or a tomboy, they 

 will not drive her off, but will themselves quietly leave 

 in a dignified manner, but at the same time clearly indi- 

 cating to the cow thart she must not follow. And to the 



credit of the cow be it said, very few attempt to force their 

 company on their bellowing lords when in the quiescent 

 state, needful of rest. On the contrary, the great mass of 

 them seem truly to have a delicate sense of propriety, and 

 cannot be induced to intrude. I was a witness to this. 

 When my friend and I stopped in the afternoon to camp 

 there was a company of bulls near, and about half a mile 

 off there was a company of cows on a hill. I persuaded 

 my friend, an expert cowman, to drive the cows upon 

 the bulls, so that we might see what capers would 

 ensue. In a few minutes he had the cows approaching, 

 but when they presently saw the bulls very near them 

 they raised their heads with what looked like amaze- 

 ment, as if shocked with their own immodesty or rude- 

 ness, and after apparently considering a moment what 

 to do, they suddenly broke and ran off as fast as they 

 could scamper. 



The stockmen tell me it is only thus with graded bulls; 

 that is to say, with such as have across of imported blood 

 in them; that the native Texas bull of the full stock is 

 ready to roar at all seasons and never withdraws from the 

 society of cows. I, too, was a cowman years ago and did 

 not notice such behavior among my bulls, all pure 

 natives. The cattle of Texas are now much graded up 

 with Durhams, Devons, etc. 



I was led to these remarks by what occurred near my 

 shelter this morning. While casting up the figures of 

 some angles I heard an exceeding great roar of bulls, so 

 great that the woods seemed to shake with it. Going to 

 the door I saw r the cattle collecting in an opening in the 

 woods of about twenty acres, on the west edge of which 

 my shelter stands. These cattle seemed as if they were 

 greatly impressed with something or other. They were 

 eager in then movements, and their eyes showed intense 

 interest. They came running in all directions to the 

 opening. I soon saw what excited them. On the south 

 side of the opening, advanced a little into it, stood a 

 gigantic dark red bull, pawing the earth, his tail erect, 

 his eyes flaming, uttering a deep-toned roar, expressive 

 of enormous strength. On the north side, also advanced 

 a few yards into the opening, stood a black ''peided" 

 bull, equally gigantic, equally roaring, and equally 

 terrible in aspect. I now saw that a great duel was on 

 hand between two mighty champions, and it was clear 

 that the cattle understood it as well as I did, and were 

 greatly excited with interest in it. They did actually 

 seem to divide themselves into two parties, as their sym- 

 pathies reached out to one or the other of the great bulls, 

 a3 to which should vanquish in the struggle. The 

 younger bulls, yet mere youths, roared and pawed 

 with excitement as if they would push on the fight. For 

 all the world I was reminded of a Roman populace 

 gathered to witness a fight of gladiators. I walked 

 among them, and though a portly figure, they no more 

 regarded me than if I had been a mouse, their eyes being 

 intently fixed on the two great champions. 



The bulls in the meantime had advanced within twenty 

 steps of each other, not at any time by a quick movement, 

 but slowly, cautiously, never for a moment taking then- 

 eyes off each other. What seemed a little strange, they 

 did not move upon one another in a direct line, but each 

 by an oblique fine, which if continued would meet at the 

 apex of an angle of about 45". I therefore marked the 

 spot at which the battle would probably take place, and 

 took my stand at the most favorable point for observa- 

 tion. This method of advance compelled them to watch 

 each other out of the corners of their eyes, or with "wall 

 eyes," showing all the white of them, and this caused 

 them to appear all the more terrible and hideous. Now 

 they were within ten steps of each other, roaring like a 

 continuous roll of thunder, and pawing so greatly that 

 the dirt flew high over their backs and fell several yards 

 away. In this position they had stood perhaps ten min- 

 utes, when suddenly a cowboy riding a skewbald Mexi- 

 can horse appeared on the scene. Said he, "Would you 

 like to see these bulls fight?" "No," said I, "let us see 

 them quarrel, but prevent a fight." "I want to see them 

 fight," said he. Saying this he threw his big flap hat into 

 the air so that it fell within a few feet of the red bull's 

 head. This caused him for a moment to avert his eyes 

 from the other, and quick as a flash the peided bull 

 darted upon him. But the other detected the movement 

 in time to square himself. They came together, front to 

 front, like two thunderbolts, with a shock that seemed 

 veritably to shake the plain. There was no pawing or 

 roaring now. There was no noise but the clashing of 

 their horns and the deep breathing of the huge combat- 

 ants, eyes to eyes and nose to nose. Their horns were 

 locked together, and each was straining every nerve to 

 break the other's neck, or push him back upon his 

 haunches and roll him over and plunge his swords into 

 him to the hilt, They were so equally matched that 

 neither could budge the other an inch. As they strained 

 and pushed, the muscles of their necks and all over their 

 bodies stood out like great cables under then skins. In 

 the meantime the cattle around seemed to have become 

 crazed with excitement, so that I stood as near the cow- 

 boy on his horse as possible to prevent them from tramp- 

 ling over me. 



I now suggested to my cowboy that we had seen enough 

 of it and tried to persuade him to ride between the bulls 

 and separate them. "No, sir," said he; "I would not ride 

 between them bulls for all the bulls and cows in Texas. 

 They would make a lunge at one another under the belly 

 of my horse, and both me and horse would be killed. I 

 haven't seen enough of it yet." So saying, he rapped 

 upon the horn of his saddle with the wooden handle of 

 his whip. Immediately the bulls dashed upon each other 

 again, coming together with such force that both stag- 

 gered and reeled. For a few moments the struggle was 

 the most terrible and desperate they had yet had, but re- 

 sulted soon in the same deadlock as before. In their 

 panting their bodies swayed all over. Their eyes were 

 bloodshot and great drops of blood fell from then sides. 

 I was most anxious to put an end to the furious fight, but 

 what could I do ? 



At this juncture another horseman rode up, a man of 

 sober years and a good man, not loaded down with the 

 curiosity of science. He. too, was a cowman, bearing 

 the common badge of that calling, a bulldozer. Said he: 

 "Men, why do you let these bulls fight in that way for? 

 It is a shame. They are the most valuable bulls in the 

 country." I responded that I was most anxious to sepa- 

 rate them, but knew not how; that I would not venture 

 to take one by the horns for all the world, and that should 

 I take one by the tail while my companion so took the 

 other, it would be of no use, pull all we could. 



In a few minutes the great bulls were panting fearfully, 

 so that it seemed one or the other must soon succumb to 

 the pressure. Then came a mighty struggle in which 

 each put forth Ins mighty utmost to crush his adversary to 

 the ground. The ground flew from under then feet, as 

 if unable to bear up under such warfare. But neither 

 yielded the eighth of an inch. It was terror meet terror: 

 Two irresistible bodies in collision, with apparently no 

 result possible but mutual annihilation. Presently. they 

 came to a dead halt in a deadlock, the panting being 

 painful to witness. Presently, as if by mutual consent, 

 they drew apart, stepping backward slowly and cau- 

 tiously until separated about ten feet; their heads still 

 lowered and their eyes still watching one another nar- 

 rowly. In a moment the deep-toned roars began again. 



Fortunately at this moment the huge creatures let go 

 of one another, stepping backward a few paces, panting 

 as if half dead, but with the fires of unsatisfied battle 

 still flaming in their blood-shot eyes. They pawed and 

 roared as before, but the pawing was not so strong nor 

 the roaring so deep-toned and thunderous. The spirit 

 was still proud and eager; the flesh only was weak. 

 "Now, men," said he of the sober years, not burnt with 

 the love of science, "let us stop this, every man, you 

 take that peided bull, and I'll take this one." With that 

 the two on horseback rode between the bulls and poured 

 upon their fronts lash after lash with their long whips, 

 which gave forth reports like the popping of Shrapnell 

 shells in action. Under this the bulls quailed gradually 

 and finally turned tail. Then the fire opened on their 

 rear, and they fled, one one way and the other the 

 opposite way. I never saw a more disgusted crowd of 

 spectators in my life than were the young bulls and 

 heifers when they witnessed this unexpected termination 

 of the great duel. Even the sober, motherly old cows 

 evinced much disgust. For a long time I heard the great 

 bulls bellowing defiance at one another at a distance, but 

 neither ventured again toward the other. 



Thei-e is a creek near my cabin, and the two bulls lead- 

 ing then respective herds came to drink water at the 

 same time from opposite directions, and no doubt this 

 was the cause of the fight. Henceforth I imaghie they 

 will lead their herds to water at different hours, or one 

 will seek a point higher up or lower down on the creek. 



N. A. T. 



Young County, Texas. 



Panthers. — New Westminster, B. O— Can a panther 

 climb a tree? Yes. He goes up a tree with short con- 

 vulsive jumps, as a house cat does. He descends a tree 

 headforemost, as John says; that depends. If the body 

 of the tree is tall, without limbs, the great sneak cat backs 

 down until near the ground, then turns sideways and 

 jumps. Does a panther scream? If so will some one 

 describe the sound. One farmer within a few miles of 

 the town has recently had some thirty sheep killed by 

 panthers. Wolves are also on the increase here. — Stan- 



STEAD. 



The Bird Hosts. — A friend of mine who lives twenty 

 miles from Washington, on the road to Harper's Ferry, 

 says there are more buds in the country this season than 

 he has noticed before in twenty years. Among them 

 are some that he has never seen before. My friend is 

 not versed in bird knowledge, and is not able to testify 

 except as to numbers. It is a common remark here that 

 birds are more numerous than usual, and the fact is one 

 to elicit universal thanksgiving.— Jerome Burnett. 



Robin's Nest on the Ground.— High Bridge, N. J., 

 May 27. — Recently while walking through a railroad cut 

 I saw a robin fly from a little recess in the rocks. Looking 

 closely I saw a nest snugiy stowed away and in it were 

 four eggs. It occurred to me that it was an unusual 

 place 'for a robin's nest, although a very safe one.— Per- 

 oival Chrtstie. 



Recent Arrivals at Philadelphia Zoological Garden.— 

 Purchased— Two brown hyenas (Hyeeua brunnea), two young 

 rhesus monkeys CVlacacuserythrceus). oneBurehcU's zebra (Equus 

 burchelli), one Brazilian tree porcupine (Synthores prehensilis), 

 two piuchc monkeys (Midas cedipus), one mona monkey fCercc- 

 pithecus mona), one opossum (r)i(lelphysvirginiana),two kit foxes 

 (Vulpes velox), three flamingoes (Phoenicopherus ruber), one 

 brown-fronted maeaw (Ara severa), one St. Thomas conure 

 (Connrus xanthelasmas), two rosy-faced love birds (Agaporius 

 roseicollis), and one glass snake (Opheosaurus ventralis). Pre- 

 sented— One least weasel (PtttOTlUa vulgaris), one woodchuck 

 (Arctomys monax), one raccoon (Procyon lotor) two Virginia 

 deer, S and ?,(Cervus virginianns), two minx (Putorius vison), 

 one red-shouldered buzzard (Buteo lineatus), one screech owl 

 (Scops asio), two alligators (Alligator mississtppiensis), three 

 horned lizards (Plu-yuosoma cornuta), six speckled terrapin 

 (Chelopus muhleubereii), and one diamond-backed terrapin (Mal- 

 acoclemmys palustris). Born in garden— Two fallow deer (Cervus 

 dama), six prairie dogs (Cynomes iudovicianus). one muskrat 

 (Fiber zibeth.cus), one Japanese deer, S, (Hervus sika), one mule 

 doer (Cervus niaerotis), and seven Egyptian geese (Chelanopex 

 rogyptiaca). 



"That reminds me." 

 237. 



STEPPING off the train the other day on my return 

 from a trip to the trout I met a commercial traveler, 

 who, like all his class, is a pleasant fellow and anxious to 

 make himself agreeable. The following is the conversa- 

 tion verbatim : 



Com, Trav. "Hallo, been fishing?" 

 Angler. "Hallo, yes; just back from Moose River." . 

 Trav. "That so? Wish I could get off . What did you 

 catch?" 



Angler. (Thinking traveler an angler and brother.) 

 "Trout! what do you suppose? The finest you ever saw. 

 Had a splendid trip; fine scenery, pleasant party, good 

 camping grounds and no mosquitoes. I wish we could 

 have staid longer." 



Trav. "What bait did you use?" 



Angler. "Bait! Flies." 



Trav. "Oh. Common house flies?" 



Angler. (With disgust.) "No. Artificial," 



Trav. "Oh. They say bread is very good." W. 



Sherbrooke, Quebec. 



338. 



Hello! Fitzwater, just bacK from sea-shore, eh?" 

 "Yes, George, had a splendid time, too; but how did 

 you know I'd been to the sea-shore?" 



