Sept. 1, 1887.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



10 7 



hill, through swamps and swales, but not a bird nor trace 

 of a bird rewarded our industry. In the tops of various 

 trees we found squirrels' nests, and the writer fired into 

 one in hopes of starting out one or two squirrels, but none 

 came out and we kept on down by tbe pond at Cusbing's 

 mill, and tben out back of Austin Atwood's. No birds, 

 nothing to shoot at in any field or wood we bad traversed. 

 On we went after a brief rest by a, fence. This time we 

 crossed the main road and hunted through and along the 

 edge of the South Purchase. We did start one grouse in 

 a bunch of pines near the South Middleboro road; he 

 treed, and we tried to sight him but could not, and all at 

 once he flew right across the road, and Allie fired and 

 scored a miss. We went on in the direction which, he 

 flew but never saw him again. 



Two hours later we stood around the cheerful tire in 

 the dining room; tired, discouraged and hungry. We 

 ranged ourselves around the table and tried, while eating, 

 to explain why we had not found more buds. All sorts of 

 reasons were advanced and none seemed very reasonable 

 after all. A little while before sunset we went down the 

 road toward the mill and turned into the neck. Here we 

 found a covey of partridges and one fell to Frank's gun; 

 it was only winged, however, and we called Roy to find; 

 he struck the track and was out of sight in a swamphole 

 before we could get up. In a few minutes he came back, 

 bringing the bird. Frank also killed a rabbit which he 

 kicked out of a clump of brush. We called in the dogs 

 and started back, reaching the house at dusk. The next 

 morning we started out on the road beyond the mill and 

 went through the fields by Pape's Point brook; here in an 

 isolated clump of woods we found a covey of grouse. Allie 

 got a shot and missed. Another came out from the tree- 

 tops right over my head, he went within ten feet. I turned 

 and gave him a shot from my left barrel and he dropped 

 with a broken wing, I caught him just as he reached the 

 woods on the other side of the meadow. We put up two 

 or three more but did not get a shot at them. We took a 

 long stroll around by tbe Weantic meadows, where in 

 times past we had started and shot snipe; but none were 

 there that day, and we went home without seeing any- 

 thing larger than a chippy. In an hour we were on our 

 way home with both dogs' chained in the wagon and two 

 grouse, one rabbit and one quail in the game bag. Not 

 much for show, but st ill we had enjoyed the society of our 

 friends very much, and the game was of little consequence 

 in comparison. It was, on the whole, one of my most 

 successful hunts without finding. Mergus. 



Massachusetts. 



SHOOTING NOTES. 



THE ruffed grouse (partridge) season opens to-day in 

 New York State under the most favorable auspices. 

 The breeding season was a good one, and there is a large 

 crop of birds in consequence. Still, for some reason the 

 broods are smaller in Orange, Ulster and Sullivan counties 

 than usual, the number of birds to each hatching appear- 

 ing not to exceed ten or a dozen. These young birds are 

 now nearly full grown, and the shooting promises to be 

 excellent, 'although hundreds of partridges have been 

 killed in the three counties named by the August wood- 

 cock shooters. 



Although it is not generally known, the best woodcock 

 shooting, both summer and fall, is along the west shore 

 of Lake Cham plain. There are excellent covers border- 

 ing the foothills of the Adirondacks, and the few sports- 

 men that are posted make big bags for these days. Owing 

 to the deep snows in April, the summer woodcock shoot- 

 ing in both this State and New Jersey was much inferior 

 to that during the past five years, especially so when com- 

 pared to that of 1885, which was so excellent in the last 

 named State that it reminded the sportsmen of old 

 times. The young birds having been killed this year, 

 either in the shell or in the down, only the old 

 birds were found to shoot at. To illustrate how univer- 

 sal the destruction of the young buds was, it may be 

 said that out of sixty-seven cock killed along the Wall- 

 kill, in Sussex county, New Jersey, and neighboring 

 mountain swales, by the shooters who reside in that 

 district, the writer discovered but two young birds in the 

 lot and they were twins of one hen, who probably hatched 

 them out under some shelving rocks high up on the side 

 of Pochuck Mountain. The nests of all the birds that 

 were located on the islands in the "Drowned Lands" were 

 destroyed— either submerged by the high water or covered 

 with late snows and ice. This occasioned the parent 

 birds to resort to the hillsides on the east side of the Kill, 

 where many of them proceeded to try their luck again at 

 raising a family. Just as they were taking a second start, 

 the laws of New Jersey turned tbe shooters loose. This 

 was on July 1. Fortunately, owing to the wet condition 

 of the ground, the birds were widely scattered and hard 

 to find. The heat, too, of July was so intense, and the 

 mosquitoes so thick, that city sportsmen gave up shoot- 

 ing in despair and left the longbills to be mown down by 

 the rhinoceros-hided country shots of the vicinity. On 

 July 9 the writer killed seven birds, five of which con- 

 tained eggs. On July 15 thirteen birds more were shot 

 on the same beat, and of these four had eggs. Had a 

 close season pre ailed these eggs would now be hovering 

 birds. The stock in trade having been killed off it will 

 be a long time before the Wallkill swamps are replenished. 

 So much for Jersey summer woodcock shooting. 



In the Pequot district the law breakers and market- 

 hunters had a bad time of it. The swamps were sub- 

 merged, and there were but few birds except on the large 

 tract preserved by Mi'. Franklin Satterthwaite, of Newark. 

 Even there the birds were very scarce as compared to 

 former years. With the exception of poacher Bib Gran- 

 din, of Danville, and a rag-and-bobtail following from 

 Easton, who sneaked on to the preserve on the morning 

 of the 1st, and then got fired off, there were but few guns 

 fired. Mr. Satterthwaite killed thirteen birds there one 

 morning and four copperhead snakes of assorted sizes, 

 and then fired himself off. Seven of these birds and 

 three of the snakes were young ones. Since then the 

 birds and snakes have been religiously preserved. 



During July several breeding English snipe were killed 

 by woodcock shooter-. On July 4 one was killed on Flat 

 Island on the Wallkill, on July 16 one at Allamuchy, N. 

 J., and several more were reported to have been shot on 

 the Newark, Hackensack and Elizabethtown meadows. 

 Altogether the snipe have been acting very strangely this 

 season. Perhaps this is due to the fact that many of the 

 islands on which they breed, located in the mouth of the 

 St. Lawrence and along the coast of Labrador, were sub- 



merged. The Indians on the north shore reported to the 

 writer that such was the case. This undoubtedly occa- 

 sioned many old birds to turn their bills southward much 

 earlier than usual. On the Newark meadows scattering 

 birds were shot as early as Aug. 10. At Pine Brork, N 

 J., there was a flight on or about the 15th of the same 

 month. Reports vary as to the numbers. Mr. Speath, of 

 Newark, says he saw five hundred on that day, and Mr. 

 Sam Castles and Mr. C. M. Heddeu, both veteran crack 

 shots, did kill a bag on the "Big Piece" a few days later. 

 The Newark Sunday Call estimated it at 63. Mr. Castles 

 himself says he saw fourteen birds in one flock besides 

 many yellowlegs. Mr. Frank Class, of Pine Brook, also 

 has killed some early English snipe. The ground in this 

 section is in excellent condition this season for waders of 

 all kinds. The meadows have been continually flooded, 

 even to such a depth that the farmers have been unable 

 to cut their grass. This has prevented the parching of 

 the grounds and destroying the worms and other food 

 that snipe get fa,t on. From the present outlook it is safe 

 to say that the English snipe shooting wall be fairly gooi 

 in New Jersey this fall. 



The Long Island grass plover shooting thus far has 

 proved a fizzle. There have been but very few birds 

 killed on Montauk. Mr. Arthur Duane, however, killed 

 19 near Southampton, L. I., and some few birds were shot 

 near Mecock Bay and in the pastures east of East Hamp- 

 ton. It seems as if the wary plover were giving Long 

 Island the pass-by in these times for the purpose of con- 

 centrating m Now Jersey. They bred in this State in 

 goodly numbers this year, especially in Salem and Somer- 

 set counties. The crop of plover in the first-named county 

 was immense, and large shipments of these delicious birds 

 found their way to Robbing & Coy's stalls in Fulton Mar- 

 ket. The great flight of these birds from their northern 

 breeding grounds passed over Newark on the nights of 

 Aug. 22, 23 and 24, They could be heard calling from 

 sundown to daw n. 



On the Jersey coast the bay bird shooting was poor up 

 to last accounts. I interviewed Bill Chadwick one day 

 last month and he talked common sense. He said there 

 was a row of houses now from Sandy Hook to Cape May, 

 just in the old track of the birds. That the shooting at 

 Barnegat was no longer on the beach, but mainland side. 

 The meadows were "in good order around Chadwick's 

 famous stand, but the birds were scarce. Mr. Frank En- 

 dicott was summering up at Bill's and indorsed all the 

 old gunner said. What few birds were being gathered 

 in were falling to Mr. Endicott's gun. He had one yelper 

 the day I saw him. It was regarded as a curiosity. Down 

 at Egg Harbor there were some birds, ami small flocks 

 could be seen passing Mantoloking (which is three miles 

 north of Chadwick's); far out to sea these birds were 

 trading up the beach and w^ere mostly little yellowlegs. 

 Mr. Howard Hays, of Newark, in company with Mr. T. 

 H. Powers Farr, of Orange, did some shooting south of 

 Mantoloking with but small results. 



From Port Ebzabeth (N. J.) on the Maurice River, 

 where for some years past the largest number of rail have 

 been boated in this country, comes word that the meadows 

 have filled in and that it will take an unusually big 

 spring tide to go over them. The rail shooting in New 

 Jersey begins to-day. J. L. 



New Yobk, Septal. 



THE WILD RICE HARVEST. 



A FEW days ago I went with a friend from New 

 Orleans to pay a visit to Mr. Charles Gilchrist, the 

 Fishery Inspector at Rice Lake, a very old-time school 

 fellow of mine, who met us with radiant smiles at the 

 station at Harwood, glad to welcome us to his hospitable 

 quarters situated on the lake shore. We had with us 

 rods, reels and landing net, as became fishermen. This 

 water has been long famed, not more for its extensive rice 

 fields than for the quantities of mascalonge, bass and 

 wildfowl which inhabit it. The lake is twenty -four miles 

 long, from three to four miles wide, and studded with 

 twenty-two islands of various sizes and shapes, making a 

 pleasing landscape. The Otonabee River enters at its 

 western extremity, and at its eastern it flows into the 

 River Trent. Mr. Gilchrist has begun to take in the pres- 

 ent rice crop from the Indians to cure for market. It is 

 used principally for planting in waters frequented by 

 waterfowl. It finds its way to England and the States. 

 Mr. G. hopes to secure 100 barrels this season. 



It may interest some of your readers to know how it is 

 harvested. This is the modus operandi. An Indian 

 kneels in the bow of his 15ft. canoe and paddles through 

 the rice. His squaw in the stern holds in each hand a 

 light stick 2£f t. long tapering from the butt to a sharp 

 point. With one of these she draws the rice plant over 

 the edge of the canoe, amidships, while with the other 

 by quick strokes knocks off the seed which droiDS into the 

 canoe. When the canoe is filled, the squaw joins in 

 with her paddle and they make for the granary, where 

 Gilchrist awaits them. The grain is then bagged and 

 weighed. The squaw wears a black veil over her dusky 

 face while at work, not to save her complexion but to 

 protect her nostrils from the broken rice spears floating 

 about. It is an odd sight to see these people paddling 

 and hammering away in all directions by the hovu in 

 silence. This crop is also used for human food, and 

 excellent it is boiled and eaten with milk. For this pur- 

 pose it has to be tramped and winnowed after drying. 

 The Indians parch it in kilns, using it both cooked and 

 raw. With a couple of pounds of this in his pocket, an 

 Indian is good for twenty-four hours' work he chews 

 away at it all day long, now and then moistening his 

 mouth from the blade of his chipping paddle silent and 

 content. After the rice has been garnered Mr. Gilchrist 

 has to turn it five times daily until thoroughly dried, 

 when it is barreled. 



Two canoes with rice reached the shore, from the sterns 

 of which stepped Mrs. Gopher and Mrs. Crow, the former 

 aged and wrinkled, with deep-set, piercing eyes, the 

 other much younger, thin as a shadow and noseless. 

 They talked agreeably together while the rice was being 

 emptied by their husbands. When the canoes had started, 

 side by side, I sought the cause of Mrs. Crow's loss, and 

 learned that years ago Mrs. Gopher was jealous, and to 

 get revenge, at a favorable opportunity downed the Crow 

 and with a knife cut cleanly off her nasal organ. No 

 legal proceedings were resorted to. Peace and confidence 

 were restored between the f amities. The "hatchet" is 

 buried, and as they passed out of view the "pipe of peace" 

 from the mouths of all four was sending forth the evi- 

 dence of a lasting reconciliation. 



We had a most enjoyable day or two with the bass. 

 This fish, taken in these waters, is delicious — no muddy 

 flavor — and cooked as my friend cooks it is fit for a prince. 

 He takes off the skin, deprives it of the entrails and bones, 



Euts the pan on the coals, fries some sweet strips of fat 

 aeon and then puts in the fish, constantly turning and 

 shaking the boiling fat over it until well cooked and 

 nicely browned, and then — and then— my mouth waters 

 as I write, doesn't yours? R. P. J. 



Pictou, Ont., Aug. 20. 



BEAR TRAPPING. 



Editor Forest and. Stream: 



Will you kindly allow space to one who has trapped 

 bear "a little bit," to reply to some points made by 

 "Special" in the article headed as above. Bears are not 

 considered as game up in the backwoods of Maine, but 

 noxious vermin to be destroyed at all times, and bounties 

 are paid to insure extermination. Bears are the bete 

 noir of settlers in the backwoods, and but for the use of 

 traps, crops and flocks would be oftener destroyed. The 

 settler's lot while the country is new is a hard one at best. 

 Whether those Boston sportsmen were unduly elated or 

 not at their success in trapping the brute, they did a good 

 job. No one, I trust, desires even noxious animals to 

 suffer needless pain n their taking off, but had the bear 

 been shot at by the whole crowd, even, he might have got 

 away to "suffer untold agonies." But why waste sym- 

 pathy on such a brute ? Is it because he got both feet in 

 the trap? Rather pity the deer, caribou and moose that 

 are in countless numbers every year maugled by firearms. 

 It is greater sport to shoot bear than to trap them ; that 

 goes. But not every settlement has its French and Tom. 

 Yes, "bear-trapping is dangerous." I know of several 

 casualties from bear traps besides those mentioned; but 

 such casualties compared with those from firearms, are 

 not as a drop in the bucket. "Special" must not expect 

 that settlers and trappers will let up on the use of traps 

 so that outsiders may find better shooting. Don't claim 

 the earth. 



Anent tbe subject of bears aborting, referred to some 

 time ago by one of your correspondents, I have dissected 

 bears taken in steel traps and never found fetus in utero, 

 but have often found the cavities that appeared to have 

 been quite recently evacuated. It is the opinion of all 

 bear hunters that I have met that bears abort if taken in 

 a trap or hard-pressed by hunters or dogs. Wabfield, 



Maine. 



Los Angeles, Aug. 13. — A large number of represent- 

 ative sportsmen assembled at No. 8 Court street last even- 

 ing for the prrrpose of forming a club. The meeting was 

 a very enthusiastic one, and the Los Angeles Rod and 

 Gun Club was organized with the folio whig officers: 

 President, Eugene Maxwell; vice-president, T. E. Walker; 

 secretary and treasurer, John Morton. The club starts 

 out with a good list of members. Among others who 

 have joined are: Messrs. H. Slotterbeck, Jr., J. B. Wins- 

 ton, E. linger, A. West, R. W. Kinney, J. G. Holbrow 

 and Mr. Hoiton. The constitution and by-laws for the 

 new club were adopted. The initiation fee is $25 and the 

 monthly dues $1. This club was formed for the benefit 

 and pleasure as well as the advancement of its members 

 in the art of wing-shooting, and for the protection of 

 game and fish by the enforcing of all the game laws. 



Western Pennsylvania.— Pittsburgh, Aug. 27.— The 

 prospects for a reasonable amount of the various species 

 of game common to western Pennsylvania is promising 

 for fall shooting and the hunter still has use for his old 

 reliable. A remarkable fact, as well as favorable one, is 

 that the English sparrows here are disappearing, whether 

 or not they will reappear with their number strengthened 

 remains to be seen. — C. A. R. 



INDIAN ELEPHANT CAPTURE. 



MENTION was made in the Fobest and Stream, Aug. 11, of a 

 steam yacht building by Messrs. Bowdish & Co., of Skan- 

 eateles, N. Y., for Mr. L. P. Sanderson, of India. The yacht is to 

 be used by Mr. Sanderson in his work, which is the cap ture of wild 

 elephants for use in the Government service. The following ac- 

 count of the methods employed by Mr. Sanderson is copied from 

 Tlic Englishman: 



An invitation from Mr. Sanderson, Superintendent of Elephant 

 Kheddahs, to spend a short time with him during the elephant 

 hunting season, has recently enabled me to indulge a. long cher- 

 ished svish to see the method of working the well known Khed- 

 dahs, and an account of my visit to the Garo Hills may be ol some 

 general interest. Before relating how elephants are captured, I 

 may state that the Kheddah, or elephant catching establishment, 

 is a' branch of the Commissariat Department aud is under the 

 Military Department of the Government of India. The object of 

 the Kheddah is the capturing and training for service of the ele- 

 phants required for military purposes. The depot or headquar- 

 ters of the Kheodahs is at Dakka, which, from its vicinity to the 

 the hunting grounds and to abundant fodder supply, is a peculiarly 

 suitable place for the purpose. The Superintendent of Kheddahs 

 has at his disposal two Commissariat sergeants, a large staff of 

 native hunters and from 150 to 200 trained elephants. The hunt- 

 ing operations are carried on only during the months of December, 

 January and February, when the jungles are comparatively 

 healthy and there is little or no rain to interfere with the work. 

 Bv March the grass in the forests has become so dry that the use 

 of Are, which is largely employed in the operations, might result 

 in disastrous conflagrations. The water supply of the country 

 also becomes contracted, while large flies and other insect pests 

 spring into life, making the wild elephants restless and uncertain 

 in their movements. A little later, when the rains commence, 

 the forests become pestilential; hence the necessity for closing 

 hunting season before the middle of March. The first move 

 in the hunting season is to send the tame elephants to a base 

 camp close to the forest, selected for hunting. Each has two at- 

 tendants and carries its share of the tents, ropes, tools, etc., re- 

 quired in hunting. Meanwhile about 700 hunters trained to the 

 work are collected, generally in Chittagong, where the craft 

 chiefly flourishes. These are marched to the rendezvous, where 

 the tame elephants and stores have been already collected. Mus- 

 kets and tools are here distributed, and after certain religious 

 ceremonies of a curious kind, the hunters enter the forest. 



A hunting party usually consists of 350 men. Some of these, 

 acting as trackers, go in advance to examine the country- and to 

 mark do^vu the herds. A herd having been found the hunters 

 proceed with great chcunispection, and are led by the trackers to 

 within a mile or so of the elephants' position, when the men divide 

 into two parties, and, ruuning rapidly in Indian tile, under the 

 leadership of the trackers, one party to the right, the other to the 

 left, and dropping a man at every 30 or 10yds. as they go, they seek 

 to fetch a circuit round the elephants, and to meet on the far side 

 of them. If this movement, the execution of which demands 

 much skill and experience, he properly executed, the elephants 

 will be surrounded by men in a ring of six or seven miles in cir- 

 cumference. Each man so posted lights a fire at his station, con- 

 nects his position with those of his neigbors by clearing a path- 

 way, and takes every precaution to prevent the elephants breaking 

 through Lis portion of the surround. Musketeers are stationed 

 whenever the elephants show a disposition to break through the 

 I circle of guards, and special men go round the circle every quarter 

 of an hour both day and night to see that every one is on the alert. 

 Mr. Sanderson and the sergeants make unexpected night circuits, 

 I and the surround is rarely broken through. If the elephants ap- 



