Aug. 4, 1887.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



23 



I clutched liini and Bwam to the dock, but while I held 

 him up with one hand, I vainly strove to clasp the oozy, 

 slimy dock logs with the other. Help soon came, they 

 flung me a rope; in a twinkling I had it over him and 

 myself with a bowline. "Haul carefully, boys;" and 

 up we went on dry land. I never from that day to 

 this, and it was several years ago, heard one word from 

 that lad, good, bad or indifferent. Whether bis big 

 brother went back on him, and his mother spanked him 

 to death, or whether he still lives, I know not; I only 

 hope he will never regret T pulled him out of the water. 

 I never have. 



I may say I am a little inclined to be, superstitious, how 

 else can I explain how ill luck always pursued me after 

 that memorable ducking whenever I donned the gray. 

 Let the sky be cloudless when I sallied out, 1 was sure to 

 get a soaking. If I were out sailing, overboard I would 

 go. There seemed no escape from a drench ing. I turned 

 it into a hunting suit with no better luck; still the rain 

 marked me for its own, until despairingly J gave the 

 clothes away, and that seemed to break the charm— as 

 far as I was concerned. 



But all things come to an end, and the Flying Clam 

 and myself were soon to part company. I had sought 

 fresh hunting and fishing grounds, and my dear old craft 

 still followed my fortunes. I had taught my youngest 

 boy how to row' and fish, and had had many a joyous 

 frolic in the old boat with him, when it pleased God in 

 his wise providence to take him from me. In a moment, 

 in the twinkling of an eye, a fatal accident left me child- 

 less. I gave the boat to an old farmer who had been very 

 kind to my boy. But "the tuck" was all out of me and I 

 never put foot in her again; nor have I ever seen her 

 since. 



Some of the happiest days of my life were passed on 

 board the boat. She was inseparably connected with the 

 tenderest associations, but the cruise was for ever ended 

 of the Flying Clam. Cart. Clayton. 



HUNTING IN THE HIMALAYAS. 



Lights and Shadows of an Indian Forester's Life. 



XT; 



ABOUT a week after I had written to the Colonel, I 

 sent my tent and bed down river to the plains; and 

 having got as many bamboos and as much sawn timber 

 together as was necessary for a trial raft, I seated my- 

 self on it and dropped down stream, taking Charley along 

 with me. We dropped down the eight miles without dif- 

 ficulty, in less than three hours, much to the amusement 

 and delight of the raftsmen and natives at the depot. It 

 was still early in the afternoon, and finding the superin- 

 tendent there with his elephant, and my own elephant 

 ready, Charley and I were soon mounted and away in 

 quest of small game. We secured five brace of black 

 partridge, a brace of jungle fowl and a peafowl, and re- 

 turned to a cold collation, the cooks having been left be- 

 hind to provide breakfast for our expected guests. The 

 next morning we were out again at daylight, bagged a 

 brace of hare, another four brace of partridge, three 

 jungle fowl, three peafowl and a hog deer. The last shot 

 was at a peafowl, and was at once followed by the report 

 of a rifle above the road, warning us of the approach of 

 our visitors. We immediately struck a beeline for the 

 camp, but before reaching it we sighted and joined our 

 guests, who were in high glee, having bagged a stag and, 

 horribile dictii, two fat hinds. I gave them a hearty 

 welcome, a few words sufficed to make us all known to 

 each other, and in ten minutes we were at the tent, 

 where we -just stopped for a glass of beer and then pushed 

 on to Boksar, passing their camels en route. 



Liberal encomiums were passed on the viands, but for 

 myself I was beginning to detest the sight and smell of 

 both venison and peafowl. A few recent scratches on my 

 hands had resulted in nasty sores, which I had no hesita- 

 tion in characterizing as scurvy spots, and I was not sorry 

 to learn from the Colonel that they had brought half a 

 sheep along with them, for my last mutton had long since 

 gone the way of all flesh. I had realized the desirability 

 of a change of diet only a week earlier, and had sent in a 

 camel for a couple of cases of bottled fruit, and green peas, 

 asparagus, and other canned luxuries, which I expected 

 daily, and meantime I confined myself mainly to fish and 

 birds. 



The afternoon was given up to fishing. Charley and S. 

 'commenced operations near the bungalow, fishing up 

 stream. The Colonel strolled with me a mile or so up 

 river, where I dropped Mm to fish down stream, and I 

 went on another half mile before I took my rod apart. 

 Bending on an artificial minnow, I succeded after half an 

 hour in hooking my first fish in some rapids, where he 

 fought very gamely for a small fish — he was a six or seven 

 pounder — but my 18ft. rod with a trolling top was too 

 much for him, and he was soon landed. The next cast at 

 the entrance to a hole, hooked a whopper, which set my 

 wheel spinning at top speed, until some forty yards had 

 run out. There was a pause, for the fish had reached a 

 sand bank on the opposite side of the hole, I wound in 

 carefully, there was a drag but no living elasticity about 

 it. I increased the strain ; the bait came slowly for a 

 minute and then broke free — not from the fish , but from 

 the sand, into which I suppose he had dived to rub off the 

 hooks, which must have struck his hps only. I did not 

 see him, but I guess he was the biggest fish I had ever 

 had on. Dropping down stream I hooked four more fish 

 irom six to ten pounds, after which I put my rod togeth- 

 er, and set off to see what the others were doing. 



1 found the Colonel busy with a fish, now Avinding in 

 now running along the bank, and shortly after my arrival 

 he had him safely stranded — a 15-pounder or thereabout 

 — making a good brace with one he had previously 

 caught. He too was satisfied with his achievement, so 

 we strolled on together to S., who had seven fish running 

 from 6 to 121bs. Charley was in sight nearly half a mile 

 lower, and as we approached we saw that he had a fish 

 on and that his ehuprassee was stirring him up with 

 stones. S. told us that he believed Charley had been 

 playing the same fish the whole afternoon, an opinion 

 which Charley confirmed. The "beasts as he called him 

 stuck to the "bottom, and when stoned out took only a 

 short run before he would be down again. Just then he 

 started, and Charley keeping a tight rein on him soon 

 turned his head in shore, and suggested that some one 

 put a charge of shot in him as soon as he came near the 

 surface. The Colonel took the gun, the fish came in 

 quietly to within ten yards, when he put his head up; the 

 Colonel fired; there was a flounder; the next moment all 



was still and Charley landed the fish of the season, which 

 he had no means of weighing but which certainly was 

 not less than 401bs., and some estimates placed him as 

 high as 60. Returning to camp there was a general dis- 

 tribution of fish among the servants, who, with the ex- 

 ception of the new arrivals, were tired of venison. 



The next morning we were seated at oiu- coffee at pale 

 dawn, but as I had not yet found time to inspect the more 

 distant sawing and fire line operations since my return to 

 Boksar, I had arranged over night that Charley should 

 get my elephant for the first day out after "shipes," 

 while I took Govind Mam, the superintendent, along with 

 me on a day's inspection. Charley took his faithful shik- 

 aree, and providing the others with a good, man each and 

 a sketch map of the country they were to beat up, and 

 advising them to return at 3 in the afternoon as there was 

 no fodder within easy distance of camp, I saw them set 

 out with stern resolve to account for anything they might 

 ran across. I went straight up the valley seven miles to 

 the limit of sawing operations, and , taking a sawyer along 

 with me, struck into the forest and spent the rest of the 

 morning wandering round from pile to pile of timber, 

 swept round to the top of the range, getting back by one 

 of the fire fines to the sawyer's camp about noon. I put 

 up a dozen or more hinds and fawns, and saw one big 

 troop of probably a hundred and fifty deer, the latter out 

 of range. 1 rested and had a lit tle chat with the sawyers, 

 who were doing good work with the hollow trunks, and 

 then started for camp. We had gone two or three hun- 

 dred yards when a brace of pheasant rose to my left, and, 

 passing behind me, were out of range before I could get 

 my fowling piece to bear. I saw them drop in a little 

 solitary patch of tree jungle not more than seventy or 

 eighty yards off. The clump was only about a quarter of 

 an acre, with a dozen or so of small trees, interlaced with 

 giant creepers, with a dense prickly undergrowth. All 

 around was the bare plain, with the young green grass 

 shooting vigorously and abnost concealing the charred 

 stumps of the previous season's crop. The road was fif- 

 teen or twenty feet above the plain; so calling a halt, I 

 dropped a couple of No. 5 cartridges into my pocket, 

 loaded my gun with another two, and jumped off. 



Raising the hammers I made straight for the clump, 

 and taking up my position close to a tree, began to peer 

 round for a few moments. I saw nothing, and then as 

 my eye took in more details, I was suddenly aware of 

 another pan eyes fixed on mine. I suppose it could not 

 have been more than a few moments, but it appeared to 

 me quite a measureable time that the tiger and I — for 

 tiger it was — looked quietly in each other's eyes, whether 

 it was because he looked so gentle I cannot say, but 

 although I rapidly revolved chances in my mind, I was 

 scarcely conscious of any excitement while I brought my 

 piece up and took a steady aim between the eyes. I 

 pulled, sprang on one side, and with a roar of rage that 

 sent my blood beating wildly enough in my veins, the 

 beast charged, dashed against the tree by which I had 

 stood, fell over, and then in impotent rage sat and com- 

 menced rubbing his eyes with his forearms. I was not 

 three yards from him, and no sooner had he reached a 

 sitting posture than aiming at his ear I gave Mm the 

 second barrel. He fell instantly, and by tMs time, the 

 elephant being close at hand, I went for it and got into 

 the howdali, not knowing whether the shot had done 

 more than stun the beast. We were alongside im- 

 mediately, and conscious of being excited, I handed my 

 rifle to the superintendent and told him to take a steady 

 shot at the middle of the forehead. He did so, and as the 

 ball crashed into the brain the extension of the hind 

 limbs, followed by a wag of the tail and a slight shudder 

 of the whole frame, proved my surmise correct. I had 

 aimed my first barrel between the eyes; the whole charge 

 nearly was in his right eve. One shot only had penetrated 

 the left. 



A shout soon brought a score of sawyers to our assist- 

 ance, and after numerous Wah-wahs of admiration from 

 them and some demur on the part of the elephant we got 

 the beast loaded and made the best of our way to camp, 

 which we reached at 4 o'clock. 



The others were ahead of us, and long before we had 

 alighted the tiger was sighted and the news passed from 

 mouth to mouth. Amid numerous exclamations I heard 

 the Colonel charging me with having sent them out of 

 the way while I stole off and killed the tiger. 



"I have oMy got this one," I replied, ''how many did 

 you get?" They had nothing to show, but a great Gerao 

 stag and a small bear, but they had put up three tigers — 

 probably a tigress and a pan of full grown cubs — over 

 one kill*, and got much excitement out of it, but they 

 brought home no skins. I gave orders to have the tiger 

 skinned, but the Colonel insisted on having Mm first 

 measured; so we laid him out,, extended tail and nose 

 and driving in a tent peg at either extremity, the Colonel 

 next proposed a fifty-cent pool on the measurement: by 

 arrangement each of us wrote his estimate on a scrap of 

 paper. When we had done Charley called 8ft. 6in. , the 

 Colonel 9ft. 6in., S. 9ft. 3m., and I 9ft. 4in. The tape 

 gave 9ft. 4|in., and the Colonel declared laughingly that 

 I measured him before I brought Mm home. 



My arrival had disturbed the party at luncheon, at 

 which I soon joined them; there were beer and claret on 

 the table, both contributed by om- guests, who insisted on 

 providing the liqmds as a fair set-off against the solids, 

 an arrangement on which I proposed to contract for the 

 rest of the season. As the claret circulated and tongues 

 wagged freely over the adventures of the day, I thought 

 of a witty suggestion of Cardinal Richelieu's, and thought 

 it probable that Ave were a party whose beards would all 

 grow gray before the hah- on our heads. 



The man eater had been well discussed at table, and 

 her identification by the human hair in the fasces, and S. 

 said he should have' thought it would have been too much 

 digested for identification. A reference to the carcass 

 outside was proposed, and lunch being over and our pipes 

 lighted, we adjourned to Ram Buksh's camp, where the 

 tiger was being skinned. We waited for the completion 

 of the task, and then opening up the Jong gut, imagine 

 my surprise at finding a ball of what I recognized in a 

 moment as human hair. I picked it out, and bid- 

 ding the party adjourn with me to the bath-room 

 I washed it out, uncoiled it, and afforded them all un- 

 mistakable evidence that it was a long thin tress of 

 human hair, probably a woman's. This then was a cub 

 of the man-eating tigress, and was probably chargeable 

 with a fan half of the depredations laid to her charge, 



♦Kill, i. c, the carcass of an animal killed by them; it is usual 

 here to speak of a timer's kill. 



unless indeed there were another cub of the same litter 

 still alive. When I came on the beast he was unquestion- 

 ably lymg in wait for the sawyers, watching for a stray 

 man to get far enough away from the party. There was 

 no clue to his last victim, no kill having been reported, 

 but if is a common saying among the villagers on the 

 outskirts of the forest that when a farmer gets tired of 

 his wife he sends her alone to the forest to cut grass for 

 the cows. 



The Colonel suggested that it might be hair from a 

 horse's tail, and although I knew it was too fine for that, 

 I sent it to headquarters for microscopic c xamination. I 

 requested that it might not be talked of to the natives, 

 but they had recognized it already for what it was, and 

 when we went out agam they had another half dozen 

 hairs straightened out. Shikaree. 



Camp Boksar, Sewalik Ranges, Upper India. 



HUMMINGBIRD AND SPARROW. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Among the hundreds of accounts of battles between the 

 English sparrow and other birds received at the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture during the past year, the following 

 is one of the most remarkable, and at first sight seems 

 almost mcredible: "Brooklyn, Conn., Oct. 2U, 1886. — 

 The following facts have been furnished me by Mr. Geo. 

 Harris, of this town, on whose land they occurred. He 

 noticed a hummingbird, near its nest, darting repeatedly 

 at an English sparrow and apparently plunging its bill 

 htto its antagonist. Although he did not see the sparrow 

 killed, fc e afterward found the sparrow and one or two 

 other birds (one of which was a kingbird) dead on the 

 ground beneath the hummer's nest. He did not examine 

 the dead birds particularly and so cannot describe the 

 nature of the wounds they may have received, but has 

 no doubt the hummer caused their death. There were no 

 telegraph or telephone wires near the spot, and no other 

 assignable cause for the death of the birds than the attack 

 of the enraged hummer when its nest was threatened. 

 The nest eventually came into my possession.— Richard 

 King." 



The reckless courage of the hummingbird duiing the 

 breedmg season is well known, but I confess to much 

 doubt as to the dead birds having been killed by the bill 

 of the hummer, and it is difficult to imagine how the bird 

 could in any way have killed such well-known pugilists 

 as the kingbird and English sparrow. 



It is possible that the kingbird and sparrow killed 

 each other, and that the place of death, close to the hum- 

 mingbird's nest, was merely an accident. Yet this ex- 

 planation is not entirely satisfactory. 



The account was sent to the Department in all good 

 faith, and is published not only on account of the inter- 

 esting facts, but in the hope that it may elicit others, 

 more or less similar, which will help to simplify the mat- 

 ter. Walter B. Barrows, Ass't Ornithologist. 



U. 8. Dep't of AgriCoi/eube, Washington, D. C, July 29. 



Male Quail on the Nest.— Nottoway County, Va., 

 July 29. — Editor Forest and Stream : I have witnessed a 

 strange phenomenon in bird life this summer and these 

 are the facts. On the lawn or front yard and distant 

 from the front door not over two hundred paces, one 

 afternoon in June, m company with two of my sons, I 

 discovered a partridge's nest containing apparently eigh- 

 teen or twenty eggs with neither hen nor cock bird upon 

 it at the time, but upon visiting the nest several days 

 afterward I saw a cock bird sitting upon it. I have vis- 

 ited that nest from two to three times a week ever since, 

 always finding the cock bird sitting upon it, save once, 

 and then no bird was upon it. I was there again this, 

 afternoon in company with one of my sons, and not only 

 did we see the cock bird upon the nest, but we saw little 

 birds peeping out from under the old one. So I am as 

 well convinced as of my own existence that the cock 

 partridge (or as often called, the cock quail) and he alone 

 has in this particular case done all of the incubating and 

 is at the time of this writing hatching out the young- 

 brood. I have known for many years that in Virginia 

 the cock partridge sometimes sat upon the eggs, but 

 thought he oMy did that while the hen was off feeding. 

 But in this mstance I am perfectly certain no hen bird 

 has ever sat upon the nest since she finished laying the 

 eggs.— T. E. Epes. 



The Blacksnake.— Milford, Del.— Editor Forest and 

 Stream: This cutting I take from the Philadelphia 

 Record, The story came from New Jersey: "Miss Al- 

 welda Cresse resides with her parents a short distance on 

 the mainland from Cape May. Returning from church 

 last Sunday night she went to her room, where to her 

 horror she discovered a huge blacksnake coiled on the 

 mantel. . It sprang at her, and coifing about her person 

 paralyzed her with fear. Her screams brought her father 

 to the rescue, and after a five-minutes' fight with the 

 loathsome reptile it was killed and found to measure six 

 feet." I do not believe the above statement at all. I 

 have frequently irritated blacksnakes and have never 

 been able to make them spring at me; 1 doubt if they 

 could spring clear of the ground if they wanted to do so. 

 I caught a blacksnake a few weeks ago which was prob- 

 ably 5ft. long; it did not even attempt to bite me, as I 

 picked it up in my hand, I wished to see if it would coil 

 about my arm, but the reptile could not be persuaded to 

 do so. In fact the snake was only anxious to get away, 

 but as it was a fine specimen I kept it for its skeleton. 

 The blacksnake is a harmless and useful creature to the 

 farmer. I will not allow them killed, but encourage the 

 belief, prevalent here, that by killing snakes you bring 

 much rainy weather.— Victor M. Haldeman. 



Rail in Captivity.— Trenton, N. J., July 28.— Editor 

 Forest and Stream: I saw this morning hi Ribsam & 

 Son's (florists) window a female Virgmia rail bird and 

 four young about as large as one-day old cMckens. The 

 young were caught in the marshes of the Delaware oppo- 

 site this city, where they were drowned out almost by the 

 heavy rains and consequent Mgh water. The young were 

 then put mto a trap and the mother sought them out and 

 was captured. They are all very fine, lively and healthy, 

 and the young follow the mother as chickens do a hen. I 

 think it very rare to see rail and young. — C. J. Rutgers. 



