Oct. 6, 1887.] 



J-UKKbl AWJJ blJAlLiUlll 



WE MET BY CHANCE. 



IF her flour had not become weevily I should never 

 have met her. . 

 A series of accidents had been apparently especially 

 arranged to prevent such meeting, wliich had it occurred 

 would probably have been a very common-place event; it 

 was the non-occurrence, taken in connection with the 

 subsequent occurrence, which made a rather singular 

 affair of it. . 



The lady to whom I have referred as " ber, is still to 

 me an "unknown quantity," for as though the series of 

 accidents should be completed, I have lost the memoran- 

 dum book in which, some eighteen years ago, I 

 carefully noted down either her name, or that of her 

 husband, the name of the vessel he commanded, for he 

 was a whaling captain, and probably their home address; 

 and said names have as completely left my memory as 

 has the memorandum book my possession. Therefore L 

 can in this story refer to the lady only as "her or "she, 

 unless indeed, excused by the poverty of our own lan- 

 guage to meet such an emergency, I borrow a title from 

 another, and call her Madame; this sounds more respect- 

 ful, and I will. . 

 There is a vague impression upon my mind that tne 



schooner hailed from somewhere on Cape Cod, 



and that between the heel and toe of that boot-shaped 

 peninsula was, and I hope still is. the home of my friend. 



In the hope that the far-reaching influence of the 

 Forest and Stream will carry this story to that region, 

 and that it will attract his or her attention , or that of 

 some friend, to whom he or she may have related this 

 story, and that friend, or he or she, will recognize it. and 

 by communicating with the Forest and Stream, supply 

 the missing links, and re-establish the continuity, I will 

 now give my version of it, which will bo as true a version 

 as can be expected after so many days. 



Early in the morning of the fourth day of July, lSiU. 

 the little tug-gunboat Palos, under my command, on the 

 thirteenth day of a voyage from Boston to China, ran 

 into Horta Bay, a harbor of the island of Fayal. As soon 

 after anchoring as possible, I, tired and sleepy from an 

 all night on deck, turned in for a nap, from wluch, an 

 hour or so after, I was broken out by a messenger, who 

 delivered to me a note, addressed in a lady's handwriting, 

 thus; "The Captain of the American man-of-war, Horta 



B As nearly as I can remember, the contents of this note 

 were as follows: 



Dear Sir-I hope vou will pardon the liberty I am about to take 

 in asking of you a. (treat favor, in granting which you will rentier 

 most valuable and ever to be appreciated aid to a fellow country- 

 Woman in great distress. Can and wiH.you lend me a flour Sieve} 

 The steward has most carelessly lost mine overboard, and I cannot 

 obtain such an article in Fayal; and unless you can help me I don t 

 know Avhat 1 shall do, for our flour i3 so full of Weevils that I oan- 

 notuseit. Very respectfully, . 



Mrs. -, Am. wnaling schooner . 



Fortunately, I was the owner of a very good flour sieve, 

 and, as a matter of course and duty— for in my instruc- 

 tions I was charged to "render all practicable assistance 

 to American vessels in distress"— I sent it. After break- 

 fast I went on deck to take my usual two miles constitu- 

 tional and my first smoke. 



I was never quite sure about having fairly accomplished 

 the two miles of my "stint," for, as my promenade was 

 quite limited, 578 turns were required, and I found con- 

 siderable difficulty in mechanically counting correctly, at 

 the same time thinking of other matters; but by carrying 

 578 beans in my outside pocket and dropping one at each 

 terminus, I presume that my reckoning was often tolerably 



While tramping this morning, my attention was so 

 taken up by the scenery, which included mountains, a 

 pretty white city, fishing and bumboats, that I lost the 

 run of my progress altogether. 



Naturally I sought out the schooner from which the 

 note had came; there was no difficulty in identifying her; 

 the four or five whale boats hanging at her davits and 

 astern proclaimed her vocation, and her nationality was 

 so plainly marked by a large and new American ensign, 

 which in honor either of Independence Day or our arrival 

 was floating from her peak. 



Another point made identification very easy and sure; 

 excepting ourselves and her the harbor was bare of ves- 

 sels. Although at times quite a number of the pluin- 

 puddingers, as the whaling schooners which go out but 

 tor a single season's work are called, make of this harbor 

 a resort for the procurement of water, fruit and provis- 

 ions, and to enjoy a "gam," as is termed in whaler par- 

 lance a chatty ship visit. 



As was the case with my friend, these schooners gener- 

 ally anchor well outiide, for many of their crew, among 

 whom there is always a large proportion of brand new 

 sailors, never before used, are apt to fancy that they need 

 refreshments other than those which the captain will pro- 

 cure, and they are very likely, if at all handy to the 

 wharves, to give themselves liberty and obtain them. 

 The schooner was a line-looking craft, and it struck me 

 that it would not be a bad plan for me to go on board of 

 her, call on the Madame, and offer any further assistance 

 in my power. This I proceeded to do, and in a short row 

 my gig brought me and a bundle of latest papers along- 

 side of her. I was received by the captain and ushered 

 into the cabin, where I was presented to his wife, my 

 still unknown correspondent. They were young people, 

 evidently glad to see me as I was to see them, and we 

 passed a "very pleasant two hours. 



As is the custom when one goes visiting on board some 

 one else's vessel, and too great a strain upon truthfulness 

 is not involved (not so in this case) I complimented the 

 captain on the remarkably clean and tidy appearance of 

 his vessel, and the Madame on the cosy, bright and home- 

 like cabin, in every part of which were evidences of 

 womanly taste. 



They were not to be outdone in politeness and assured 

 me that the mate, who had carried the note to me that 

 morning, had returned charmed with my vessel, which 

 he reported to be in most beautiful order, or as he ex- 

 pressed it, "Slick as a parlor." Of this I had some doubts; 

 it was my impression that while that whaleboat was 

 alongside we were very busy hoisting ashes, holystoning 

 decks, scrubbing paint work and in other ways making- 

 ready for port. I did not, however, correct bun; modest 



as a man may be, he is not bound to reject compliments, 

 even if not wholly deserved. No doubt the mate enjoyed 

 his visit very much and his views were colored. My mate 

 was a Cape Codder also, and a very hospitable, cheery, 

 nor'wester sort of a man, and they probably had a most 

 delightful "gam," during wliich exchanges of souvenirs, 

 scrimshawed whale teeth, tooth ivory pie crust crimpers, 

 etc. , on the one side, versus navy plug tobacco on the 

 other, added to the enjoyment. 



The Madame accepted my compliment as to the cleanli- 

 ness, but to my surprise did not seem to altogether approve 

 of it. She said that, for her part, much as she loved 

 cleanliness her happiest times were when the vessel was 

 in a most filthy condition. Seeing tbat I was puzzled, 

 she explained that she referred to "cutting in" days, 

 which on every occasion mean a goodly sum of money 

 ahead and a shortening of the cruise. At such times the 

 captured whale is secured alongside by stings at each end," 

 so arranged that the body can revolve. The hook of a 

 masthead purchase is inserted near the head, on each side 

 of it a spiral tranverse cut is made, and the strip of blub- 

 ber, flesh, etc., is hoisted: when high enough, a second 

 tackle hook is inserted, the hoisted strip cut oft just above 

 the last hook, and the great slice, perhaps 30ft. or more 

 by 3ft., is lowered to the deck, and there reduced to 

 dimensions suited to the try-pot. During this process the 

 vessel naturally becomes very bloody and greasy, with 

 patches of soot profusely sprinkled. 



After explaining to me, the Madame asked: "Did you 

 ever see a whale cut in?" 



Fortunately I had. She asked when and where, and 

 this is the story I told her: "It was in March, 18:5, that 

 the U. S. S. Connecticut, of which I was executive officer, 

 while making a cruise through the West Indies, went into 

 Bridgetown Harbor, Barbados. We passed, anchored in 

 the outer harbor, an American whaling schooner, along- 

 side of which a dead whale was secured, and the crew 

 were busy 'cutting in.' As soon as we could get a boat a 

 party of us started for the schooner to witness the work. 

 We went on board, and your description of the state of 

 affairs hardly does justice; it was about the hardest-look- 

 ing place we ever got into. The mate told me that the 

 day before, the captain and nearly all hands being on 

 shore, this whale blew, not more than a mile outside, and 

 that lowering away he, with the cook, cabin boy and a 

 couple of hand-, had. gone out and captured him.'' 



The Madame listened very attentively, and seemed 

 greatly interested. She asked me, "Were there any 

 ladies on board of that schooner?" 



"Not that I know of," was the answer. "I did get a 

 glimpse of a petticoat just vanishing through the cabin 

 door, as I went over the side, but the mate told me that it 

 was a washwoman come for the old man's wash." 



This Madame seemed to consider a very good joke, 

 and indulged hi a laugh more hearty and merry than I 

 could see that the joke warranted. My surprise can be 

 better imagined than described, when recovering from 

 her laughter she remarked, "That he had no right to 

 say and he never told me that he did; I did tell him not 

 to let you into the cabin, nor to say a word about our be- 

 ing on board." 



"Who and what do you mean?" I interrupted, "Who 

 was 'our' r" 



Then she told me that she herself and her sister, a 

 young lady, were on board of that schooner, watched 

 our cutter coming toward them, admired our uniforms, 

 but when we rounded to alongside, scud for the cabin, 

 through the window blinds of wliich they saw us all the 

 time, vexed enough, that arrayed in their "cutting in" 

 clothes, they were not in condition to receive us. And 

 it was the very schooner which I had boarded in Bar- 

 bados, in wliich five years after at Fayal, this story, for 

 which I was indebted to weevils, was told me. 



The adventure supplied us with quite a stock of conver- 

 sation. It did seem so strange that we had so nearly met 

 before, prevented only by chance, and that after all this 

 time, a floiu sieve, or' rather the need of one, had brought 

 us together. Our conversation drifted into other channels 

 and we found ourselves comparing notes as to our nauti- 

 cal experiences. She told me of the hardest time she had 

 ever experienced, a tale of a voyage during which, with 

 almost no luck in catching whales, they did catch fever 

 on the Africa coast, and had dismal times and a gloomy 

 voyage. 



I in turn got up as pathetic a story as facts and imagin- 

 ation would furnish, of my dreary life on board of a 

 monitor, dilating on the foul ah, darkness, dampness and 

 other discomforts attendant upon being boxed up under 

 water in an iron box. 



She was truly and gratifyingly sorry for me; she had 

 "seen one of those horid vessels, and all of the whales m 

 the Atlantic would not tempt her to five on board of one. " 



I asked her when and where she had seen one, and if 

 she remembered its name. 



"Yes, it was the Nantucket. She ran into Provincetown 

 Harbor one day in the winter of 1863, and lay out a gale 

 there. I was visiting friends in Pi-ovincetown, and when 

 the blow was over we made up a party and went off to 

 her in a catboat. We meant to have gone on board, but it 

 was too rugged and we had to give it up." 



"Do you remember," I asked, "that when your boat 

 first made attempt to go alongside, an officer standing on 

 the turret hailed vou and warned you not to attempt it ? 



It was her turn now to be surprised. She did "re- 

 member very well that a man with a speaking trumpet 

 did warn us'off, and seemed quite excited, but he was 

 covered up with oilskins and I don't know whether it was 

 an officer or not." . 

 "What made you think that he was excited? 

 "Whv, at first he was all right, only when our captain 

 told him tbat he guessed he knew his own business, and 

 could handle that boat without any of his help, he got 

 very mad and swore at Mm awfully." 

 "What did he say?" 



"Why. he called our captain a blanked lubber, and — 

 "And so I still think he was," I broke in, "the sharp 

 edges of a monitor would be very apt to cut down and 

 sink any boat boarding in a seaway. I was the man who 

 hailed you; I don't remember swearing, but if your cap- 

 tain said what vou say, and I heard it, I have no doubt 

 that I did so." I can only say now that I regret very 

 much that I did not then know that you were one of the 

 party, for I would certainly have managed to get you on 

 board, and not have left it for weevils to introduce us. 



Two hours after the sieve came back, the schooner 

 sailed, and I have never (that I know of) met them since. 



PlSECO. 



Address aU communications to the Forest and Stream Pub. Co 



A WORD ABOUT OPOSSUMS. 



BY R. W. SHTJFELDT, II. D., U. S. ARMY. 

 Member American Society of Naturalists, Member A. O. U., etc 



IN the Proceedings of the U. S. National Museum, Vol. 

 VH., 1884, there is an exceedingly useful contribution 

 entitled "A Provisional List of the Mammals of North 

 and Central America, and the West Indian Islands," com- 

 piled by Mr. F. W. True, the Curator of the Department 

 of Mammals in the U. S. National Museum. This List not 

 only presents us with the common and technical names 

 of all the mammals at present known to inhabit tho 

 countries specified, but an approved system of classifying 

 them besides. Now the present writer conceived it would 

 be a good idea to republish such an authoratative List and 

 Classification of our animal in the Forest and Stream, 

 and in doing so, preserve the same order and arrange- 

 ment adopted by Mi*. True in his Provisional List in the 

 "Proceedings." Further, it will be my aim to bring thi3 

 matter out in a series of chapters, and, as the adopted 

 classification refers to and includes animals that strictly 

 belong to our United States mammalian fauna, to offer 

 figures of such animals, and accompany them by short 

 sketches which will endeavor to present our latest 

 knowledge of then- habits and their geographical distri- 

 bution. This, of course, can only be done as my time 

 will admit, and opportunity offers. 



In the present article the leading part of this List will 

 be given, carrying it down to a point that includes an 

 animal or animals which will constitute the subject of 

 our succeeding contribution. 



It is hoped that if I am permitted to carry out such a 

 plan it will prove to be of service in more ways than one, 

 —it will, as I say, record an authoritative scheme giving 

 the latest classification of the mammals in our United 

 States fauna; by the figures, in many instances taken from 

 life, and even sometimes taken by photograph from the 

 living animal itself, present correct portraits of the ani- 

 mals in some life-like or characteristic attitude; it will 

 give, so far as our present knowledge extends, the 

 geographical range of the subjects; it will, by giving 

 concise accounts of the habits, distribution, reproduction, 

 and similar matters, incite others to carefully note, and 

 systematically record their observations relating to so 

 important a subject. 



The Provisional List and Classification of the National 

 Museum takes on the following arrangement: 



Class MAMMALIA. Mammals. 

 Subclass DIDELPHIA. 

 Order MARSUPIALIA. Marsupials. 

 Family Didelphld^;. The Opossums. 



Clrironectes variegdtus, Illiger. Water Opossum. 



Guatemala to Brazil. 

 Didelphys murinus, Linne. Murine Opossum. 



Mexico to Brazil. 

 Didelphys derbianus, Waterhouse. Derby's Opossum. 



Nicaragua to Peru. 

 Didelphys cinerea, Temminck. Ashy Opossum. 



Costa Rica to Brazil. 

 Didelphys quica, Temminck. Quica Opossum. 



Mexico to Brazil. 

 Didelphys aunta. Max. zu Wied. Azara's Opossum, 



Costa Rica to Uruguay. 

 Didelphys virginiana, Kerr. Common Opossum. 



United States to Guatemala. 



Subclass MONODELPHIA. 

 Order EDENTATA. Edentates. 



Suborder PILOSA. 

 Family Bradypodidje. The Sloths. 



Oycloturas didactylus (Linne), Alston. Unau or Two- 

 toed Sloth. 



Guatemala to Northern Brazil and Peru. 

 Cholopus hoffmani, Peters. Hoffman's Sloth. 



Costa Rica to Ecuador. 

 Bradypus infuscatus, Wagler. 



Panama to Peru and Brazil. 

 Bradypus castaneiceps (Gray), Alston, Chestnut-headed 

 Sloth. 



Nicaragua. 



Family Myrmecophagid^. The Anteaters. 



Myrmecophaga quadridactyla, Tamandua-Anteater. 



Mexico to Paraguay. 

 Myrmecophaga jubata, Linne. Ant-bear. 



Guatemala to Paraguay. 



Then follows the Suborder Loricata, but as this con- 

 tains the Armadilloes, and we have an Armadillo in 

 Texas,' we will reserve any further publication of the List 

 until we come to discuss those animals in some future 

 contribution. 



It will be seen from our classification, as far as now 

 presented, that it contains but one animal found within 

 the faunal limits of the United States, and this is the 

 Common Oppossum, an animal about which much is 

 known, and much has been written, but whose history, 

 find it where we may, is always full of interest, both to 

 the casual observer as well as to the naturalist. 



To the Common Opossum then, with a few incidental 

 references to its congeners, the present paper will be 

 devoted: and first it will be observed that our Opossum 

 is a marsupial animal, as is shown in the above classifica- 

 tory List. Now, although we find a few Opposums in 

 different parts of America, the great stronghold of the 

 Marsupialia is, as we are well aware, in Australia, and 

 outside of these two countries, animals presenting an 

 anatomical structure peculiar to them do not occur. In 

 the earlier history of our earth, however, marsupials en- 

 joyed a very general distribution over its surface. When 

 I say Australia I mean, of course, the Australian region, 



