382 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Deo. 8, 1887. 



Address all communications to the Forest and Stream Pub. Co. 



SAM LOVEL'S CAMPS.-II. 



JOSEPH HILL was the first to awake next morning, 

 and deliberate in all things he awoke slowly. While 

 yet in the drowsy borders of dreamland he imagined him- 

 self at home and began as usual to "tell M'ri" something 

 of yesterday's performances or to-day's plans. Then the 

 odor of the cedar bed beneath him and a glimpse of the 

 canvas roof slanting close above him brought a dim reali- 

 zation of his unaccustomed surroundings, more forcibly 

 impressed upon hhn when he crept forth through the 

 tent flaps and saw between the tree trunks the channel of 

 Little Otter sinning through the film of mist that over- 

 spread it like a broad stripe of silver veiled with gauze, 

 and heard a kingfisher clattering along it, and from far 

 out on the lake the crazy laughter of a loon. Then he 

 got out a new pipe, and filling it, began, since Uncle Ty- 

 ler had taken his well-seasoned cutty, the old smoker's 

 unpleasant task of mellowing the unripe clay of this. 



The burning of the match, the fiz of the damp tobacco 

 or a mute demand of the inner Joseph, reminded him of 

 breakfast, and then arose the question of what that repast 

 . should be composed? Unlimited fish at all meals had 

 been the alluring promise of this expedition, and now 

 there«was not one fish in camp to furnish even lenten 

 fare. A noble ambition seized him to provide fish for 

 breakfast, and with unwonted promptness he took a pole 

 and bait and stole away to the creek where above the 

 Slab Hole the shore and a patch of weedless water met. 

 He looped a great tangle of worms on to the hook and 

 cast it out with a splash that troubled the quiet surface, 

 but did not seem to have frightened the fish beneath it, 

 for presently there came a slow, dogged pull upon the 

 line, which then began to cut the water with a strong, 

 'deliberate sweep that needed half of Joe's strength to 

 check. There was a short but lusty struggle, and then 

 the angler thought he must be towing ashore all the 

 bottom of the creek, but in the raft of old and young 

 water weeds that his steadfast pull stranded he discovered 

 the form of a great fish, which he pounced upon and 

 bore well back into the grassy field before he loosened his 

 hold upon it. Then, as it threshed the sward with sullen 

 strokes, he gloated over it. Dull in color, small-eyed and 

 wide-mouthed, rimmed with a long dorsal fin that met 

 the round tail where it was marked with a spot of black, 

 its captor was obliged to admit that it was not handsome, 

 but its size made amends for all lack of beauty. Its 

 weight could not be less than eight pounds, and Joseph, 

 with an angler's generosity, set it at three or four pounds 

 more. What a grand breakfast it would make, all the 

 more to be appreciated for its unexpectedness. 



The place offered conveniencies for dressing it, a slab to 

 scale it on and water to wash it, so Joseph at once set 

 about preparing it for breakfast, having no desire to dis- 

 play it with its now useless adornments of head, scales 

 and fins. Possibly he thought there would be no loss of 

 glory in guessing at the undressed weight. So he dressed 

 and cleaned it and bore it to camp. 



He wondered a little, perhaps was rather disappointed 

 that none of his companions were astir to be astonished 

 at his luck, but the tent was silent except for the slow 

 regular breathing of the sleepers, which he was sure he 

 heard. It would be an immense triumph to have the fish 

 cooked when they awoke and surprise them with a break- 

 fast already set which they had not dreamed of at all. 

 He collected some dry fallen limbs very silently, and 

 started a fire, listening when it cracked loudest to assure 

 himself that the sleepers were not disturbed. He got a 

 chunk of pork out of the kit and cut some slices off it, 

 which he soon had sizzling in the pan, then took them out 

 when they had yielded fat enough, and filled then place 

 with great cuts of fish. The savor hardly answered his 

 expectations, and when he turned the pieces with a fork, 

 unwashed since the last meal, they crumbled in a way 

 that reminded him of frying frozen hasty pudding, but he 

 was magnanimous enough to blame his culinary skill more 

 than the quality of the fish. How could so great a fish be 

 otherwise than good? Glancing frequently behind him 

 in momentary expectation of seeing some one overlook- 

 ing the experimental cookery that he was almost sorry 

 for having undertaken, and even wishing that M'ri was 

 in his place for a little while, he urged the fire with fre- 

 quent jabs of the poker to do its best. "It beats Sam 

 Hill," he whispered to himself as he paused to wipe the 

 sweat from Ms brow and look at the quiet tent again. 

 "It beats Sam Hill 'at the' don't some on 'em wake up!" 



At last the fish was done beyond all doubt, for the fork 

 went through the thickest piece without resistance, 

 which he had heard M'ri say was a sure sign. And now 

 he bethought him that he had forgotten the potatoes! 

 But if there was fish, what did it matter if there were no 

 potatoes, nor bread, nor anything else? But there was 

 bread enough, and so he pulled aside the tent flap and 

 loudly announced breakfast. He was greatly surprised 

 that no response came from it; more so when, with a 

 vague fear that some strange calamity had befallen his 

 companions, he peered into the dim interior and found it 

 empty. Joseph was not a superstitious man, but for a 

 moment he wondered if some judgment of heaven had 

 come upon them for such sacreligious use of Brother 

 Foot's old camp meeting tent, sanctified as it must be by 

 annual service in the religious picnics of the past twenty 

 years. When he backed out on his hands and knees he 

 noticed, as he had not before, that all the fish poles but 

 his own were gone, and knew that his friends were out 

 on the same errand that he had been. His loud shouts, 

 or perhaps the voiceless calls of hunger, soon brought 

 them back, when their admiration of his whole perform- 

 ance gave him all the reward he desired but the final one 

 of gustatory approval, which he hoped would soon be 

 given. The full frying pan was set out, the bread and 

 pickles were brought forth, and while Joseph apologized 

 for the lacking potatoes, as much missed at a Yankee 

 feast as at one of the descendants of Irish kings, they 

 gathered around the festive board, which, be it said, was 

 not a board, but a flat rock. As each took his first mouth- 

 ful he looked about and saw the others furtively regard- 

 ing him as they slowly and dubiously tasted then own 

 morsels. 



"Wal," said Sam, the first to break the silence, "this is 



turrible nice fish, but somehaow 'r nother it don't seem 

 tu be ezackly the kind o' fish 'at I like." 



"What kan of feesh you'll call dat, Zhozeff?'' Antoine 

 demanded with a grimace of disgust. "You'll fan heem 

 dead on de water, or he'll got so hoi he'll can' died an' 

 come 'for you for keel heem, hein?" 



"Wal, I guess you'd ha' thought he was live 'nough 

 an' spry 'nough 'f you'd a hed a holt on him! He pulled 

 like a yoke o*tew-ye'r-ol' stags— I d' know but three-ye'r- 

 ol's— an' flew 'raound like a nigger tu a quiltin'. But, I 

 swan! it's a fact he don't taste so good 's I expected f 'm his 

 looks, for I called him ri' daown harnsome. Anyways, 

 he was big enough tu 'a' ben turrible harnsome 'f he'd ha' 

 took a notiern tu run tu beauty. But I s'pect the fault 's 

 in the cookin', er aour appetite t' eat, er suthin — the 

 cookin', I guess, for I never could cook nothin' wuth a 

 snap, anyways. Naovv, oncte when M'ri was gone off 

 vis'tin' her folks tew three days, I ondertook tu make a 

 johnny cake, I b'lieve it was— mebby 'twas a short cake; 

 guess the' couldn't nob'dy tol' which 't was meant for— 

 an' when 't was done, I snum the young uns turned up 

 all the' noses at it, an' I'll be duni'd if Liern 'ould tech it? 

 I hove it in t' hawgs, an' they fin'ly wore it aout rhuttin' 

 on it raound. I wish 't I hedn't never ondertook tu cook 

 the duni'd fish! I'd ort tu ben satisfied wi' ketchin' on it. 

 But the' 's 'nough on 't left tu try agin; pitch in, Antwine, 

 'n' see what you c'n du with it." 



"Yes, du, Antwine," Solon urged, "the 's no knowin' 

 but what wi' your cumilary skill you c'ld make it quite 

 palatial." 



"Ah b'lieve," said Antwine, closely examining some of 

 the uncooked portion, "Ah'll know what kin' o' feesh 

 dat was be. Where hees head was?" 



"Why," Joseph answered, "on the for'a'd end on him, 

 jist the same as any fishes' — an' his tail was on t' other 

 end on him, er most on 't was, 's nigh 's I c'n reelect, do' 

 know but some on't was on his back, though, come tu 

 think." 



"Ant you'll s'pose Ah'll know dat? Where you'll lef 

 hees head of it?" 



"Oh! Naow I begin tu onderstand ye, Antwine. Over 

 there where I ketched him." 



"Bah gosh! Ah guess you'll on'stan' more better as 

 you cook, what Ah'll meant. Where you'll t'row hees 

 tail of it?" 



"Oh, I d' know. It's layin' raound here some'er's, I 

 guess," and he joined Antoine in the search for the miss- 

 ing link, 



' 'Bar!" cried Antoine, swooping down upon something 

 and then holding aloft the rounded tail with its authentic 

 black seal, "ant Ah'll guess what Ah'll tol' you? Jes 

 same what Peltiet shoot dat tarn he'll tink he do so big! 

 Oh, Zhozeff, don't you shame rnek us heat dat? Ant 

 you'll see where de dev' put hees t'umb w'en he'll peek it 

 it an' t'row it 'way cause he so bad he won't have it 

 hese'f ?" 



Shame-faced with downfall of pride, Joseph said as 

 Pelatiah had on a similar occasion, "Wal, I hed fun a- 

 ketchin' on him — an' some, I d' know but I did, a-cookin' 

 on him — more, anyways, 'n we've hed a eatin' on him. 

 I'm turrible sorry 't he ain't no better eatin', but I du 

 think," he' added, loth to relinquish the fish's claims to 

 edible excellence, '"at the fault is mostly in the cookin'?" 



"Wal, seh, Zhozeff," cried Antoine, throwing his hands 

 out from his breast and wide apart, as if in final banish- 

 ment of the subject, "you'll ant wan' be sorry for dat. 

 Bah gosh! Ah tol' you, all de mans and all de hwomans 

 was be de bes' cook in de worl', have it all de bur'r an' 

 peppy an' salt was ever mek, can' mek dat bowfins fit for 

 heat de dev'." 



Upon this assurance they attempted no further experi- 

 ments with the despised fish, but made their breakfast of 

 fried pork and bread. 



Then they set about spending the day in accordance 

 with the chief purpose of the expedition. Sam fitted up 

 a tolling rig after the approved pattern of Uncle Tyler's, 

 a bit of his flannel shirt furnishing the red rag unpro- 

 vided by their kit, and trolled up and down the creek in a 

 bark canoe. Antoine, intent on circumventing the bull- 

 pouts that would not bite, made a rude spear of a cedar 

 pole and sharpened nails and prowled along the low shore 

 of the creek in quest of spawning fish, while Solon and 

 Joseph, unwilling to trust themselves in birch and dug- 

 out, wandered westward along the safe and stable shore 

 of the bay. 



Addresss all communications to the Forest and Stream Pub. Co. 



JACOB. 



ON my first trip to South Africa, in 1865, 1 made my 

 headquarters at Port Elizabeth, Algoa Bay, and it 

 was my usual custom to attend the early morning mar- 

 ket, for the purpose of picking up odd living specimens, 

 which were frequently brought in by the country wagons. 

 After visiting the market I would stroll along the main 

 street and amuse myself watching the crowd of enormous 

 wool wagons, which were so numerous that the authori- 

 ties were compelled to detail special policemen to prevent 

 the long ox teams from becoming entangled, and the 

 consequent rows between the relative drivers. One 

 morning while listening to the vituperation, in mixed 

 English, Boer and Kaffir, bandied between two transport 

 riders, whose teams had become thoroughly jumbled, my 

 attention was attracted by the gesticulations and guffaws 

 of two half-bred Tottie women just ahead of me. On 

 looking in the direction in which they were pointing, I 

 was dumbfounded by seeing a large Chacma baboon 

 (Cynocephalus porearius) acting as forelooper to a team 

 of oxen. With the reins, fastened to the horns of the 

 leaders, grasped tightly in one paw, he walked gravely 

 along on three legs, threading his way among the con- 

 fusion, constantly looking over his shoulder, to catch a 

 wave to the right or left, of the long bamboo whip in 

 the hands of the driver. I was so amazed that the team 

 got almost out of sight before I thought of following, but 

 coming to my senses started after it, and finally saw it 

 draw up in front of a large wool warehouse. At the 

 shout of * "Ah now !" by the driver, the baboon whirled 

 around, facing the team, and coolly sat down, still hold- 

 ing on to the reins, and the grimaces he made when one 



* Equivalent to "whoa." 



of the leaders would toss his head, to shake off a biting 

 fly, would have been a fortune to any pantomimic clown. 



Here was a new phase in the labor question to me, as 

 it was perfectly evident that man, that inexorable tyrant, 

 was forcing a baboon to labor for his food and furnish 

 his own raiment, and I determined, if possible, to free 

 1 him from his bondage and transport him to a region 

 where his daily task would be the consumption of unlim- 

 ited quantities of peanuts and apples. Recognizing the 

 clerk who was receiving the wool as an acquaintance 

 formed at the hotel, I crossed the street and solicited his 

 aid in endeavoring to purchase the baboon. He prom- 

 ised to open negotiations with the driver and said he 

 would report progress at lunch. At noon he informed 

 me that the transport rider was willing to part with the 

 animal and that he had made an engagement for a meet- 

 ing at the outspan after business horns in the afternoon. 

 On walking out to the outskirts of the town we found the 

 driver awaiting our arrival, but the baboon was missing. 

 He informed us that he generally accompanied the. oxen 

 while grazing, but always returned with them and acted 

 as a watchdog at night. That his sole reason for wishing 

 to get rid of him was his incorrigible thieving propensi- 

 ties. Nothing in the way of eatables could be so secured 

 as to prevent him from getting at it, and one of his 

 favorite feats was to break the mess chest loose from its 

 fastenings and tear it open in order to get at the sugar, 

 etc. In a short time the herd came in with the oxen and 

 the baboon in company. Taking his long whip in his 

 hand the driver called out: 



"Yawcub, come here and show the gentlemen how you 

 can dance." 



He slouched up in front of his master, and on the whip 

 being threateningly shaken over his head, stood up and 

 executed a very fair Kaffir war dance. I soon bargained 

 for him, the owner promising to keep him until a suitable 

 shipping case could be made, and I hurried off to find a 

 carpenter. The next afternoon the cage was carted to 

 the outspan. Jacob called up, a heavy collar and chain 

 which I had provided put on him, and at his master's 

 bidding he sprang up on the cart and walked into the 

 cage, the sliding bars of which were immediately slipped 

 into their places and securely fastened. After I had paid 

 for him and was turning to leave, the driver said, 

 "Remember his name is spelled Jacob, but pronounced, 

 Boer fashion, 'Yawcub,' and I want you to understand 

 that you have a regular devil, who never knew but one 

 master." 



It was the old horse-jockey story over again, I had 

 been only shown the good points of my purchase and 

 would have to trust to after-experiences to find out his 

 bad ones. I started after the cart feeling rather uneasy, 

 but Jacob's behavior somewhat reassured me. He sat 

 up in his cage and seemed highly delighted at the pranks 

 and shouts of a swarm or boys, colored in all shades from 

 whitey brown to coal black, who followed the cart. On 

 our arrival at my lodgings, the carman and myself car- 

 ried Jacob into the back yard, placed him under a shed, 

 and I seated myself at my window on the ground floor 

 and anxiously awaited developments. Jacob came to the 

 front of his cage, peered out, poked his paws out between 

 the bars, sat down and seemed bewildered. He went 

 back, did a headspring, and on arising appeared amazed 

 that he was not outside of the cage. He tried a second 

 time with the same result, when it seemed to sudderdy 

 dawn upon him that he had been trapped and was a pris- 

 oner. Going to the back of the cage, he screamed and 

 made such a determined rush for the bars that I thought 

 they would fly from their sockets. Springing through 

 the window, I seized a stick and attempted to beat him 

 back from the bars. In an instant it was wrenched from 

 me and I lost the half of a leg of my trousers. By this 

 time the yard began to fill with a gaping, jeering crowd, 

 and I retired to repair damages, being perfectly willing, 

 if Jacob succeeded in escaping, to allow him to take up 

 his old occupation of forelooping for the balance of his 

 days. While in my room he jumped the cage half across 

 the yard and caused the precipitate retreat of his entire 

 audience. Taking a piece of rope, I lassoed the box, drew 

 it back under the shed, and finally succeeded in lash- 

 ing it to the posts, so as to prevent the thumping, which 

 was disturbing the whole neighborhood, and left Jacob 

 until the next morning. So soon as I made my appear- 

 ance he commenced yawning and showing his enormous 

 canines, a sure sign of anger with all baboons, so I con- 

 cluded to attempt his subjection singlehanded, in order 

 to learn him that he had to serve a new master. Pur- 

 chasing a set of small blocks and tackle with some extra 

 rope, I locked the yard gate and commenced operations. 

 After a deal of trouble I managed to get hold of his chain 

 and instantly hooked it to the tackle, which had been 

 previously fastened to one of the posts of the shed, and a 

 few pulls sufficed to draw him up against the bars of the 

 cage. Then taking two pieces of rope, which had been 

 made into slip nooses, I finally succeeded in catching 

 first one and then the other of his paws, which were 

 drawn out through the bars and securely fastened. By 

 this time it seemed to occur lo Jacob that he was so situ- 

 ated that it was impossible to do any harm and the best 

 thing for him to do was to capitulate. All the fight was 

 taken out of him and he allowed me to pass my hands 

 through the grating and pat him on the head, without 

 any movement beyond slightly wincing, as if he expected 

 further energetic treatment. His fastenings were then 

 cast off, and without showing the slightest wish to renew 

 hostilities he withdrew to the back of the cage, where he 

 remained for the rest of the day, in spite of all my at- 

 tempts to coax lnm to the front. So soon as he met me 

 the next morning approaching with his breakfast he 

 slowly came to the bars, .acting as if he dreaded a repeti- 

 tion of the previous day's lesson, but finding that nothing 

 of the kind was intended, he quietly ate his meal, while 

 I was attending to some other specimens in the yard. 

 On approaching to remove the pan I expected that he 

 would retreat, but he did not, and I offered some fruit 

 from my pocket, which he gingerly took, and from that 

 time forward there was a thorough understanding between 

 Jacob and myself. 



A short time after I purchased a female of the same 

 species, whose cage was placed alongside Jacob's, with 

 auger holeB bored through the two, so that they could 

 see each other, but I am sorry to say that Jacob did not 

 seem to fancy the company of the opposite sex, and 

 always endeavored to bite her fingers, which she would 

 occasionally thrust through the holes. 



Having secured passage on the barque Falcon for New 

 York, on the afternoon before the day appointed for sail- 



