Feb. 24, 1887.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



83 



four acres apart, right after night, before and after the 

 1st of September, notwithstanding the game laws being 

 strictly against it. You may well imagine such work 

 has greatlv interfered with the pleasures of being quietly 

 paddled through the reeds and getting a true sportsman's 

 shot at a rising bird, for the ducks now shun those danger- 

 ous feeding grounds. This, however, only applies to the 

 species of duck visiting the shallow waters near shore. 

 The bluebills and other fall ducks, called by some the 

 divers, still frequent the lake in enormous numbers; in 

 fact I have seen this fall as large flocks as I ever saw on 

 the waters in Florida, where, from their number cover- 

 ing such great space, they are called raft ducks. 



"For the lover of shooting, possessed of a good dog for 

 snipe, and another for woodcock, and who can spare the 

 time, I know of no more delightful spot to camp on than 

 some of the beautiful islands of Sorel. The scenery is 

 charming; the channels among the many islands most 

 intricate and interesting; the different fresh-water fish, 

 from the maskinonge to the perch, plentiful; and intelli- 

 gent and reliable guides with cauoes may be had at the 

 usual charges. But he who possesses a light draft sail 

 boat, with fair accommodation for a genial companion 

 and self, and who can sail away with his quarters to new 

 spots made bare by the falling of the waters, winch often 

 occurs to the extent of from 5 to Sin. in one night, especi- 

 ally if the weather is dry and the wind blows strong from 

 the west, such a one will find snipe, when others on the 

 old ground are wondering if there are any birds left in 

 the country. My experience shows that snipe have a 

 strong liking for new ground, and he who can follow 

 them or take advantage of being on some new, known 

 spot where the waters uncover, is sure to be rewarded for 

 has pains." 



ON THE WEST COAST.— I. 



IN the winter of 1883 I set out to visit Florida by water 

 on a trip combining business with pleasure. Taking 

 no pleasure in going alone, I hunted up a companion, a 

 Swedish gentleman, who was both sailor and artist. After 

 laying in a goodly store of useful things for a cruise 

 among the keys and along the west coast, we took steamer 

 for Key West about the first of January. On the third 

 day out we passed Carysfort Eeef light, the extreme east- 

 erly light of the long line of reefs. There are hundreds 

 of these reefs, some inhabited and others roosting places 

 for birds; and varying in size from miles to yards in 

 height by a few hundred .yards to feet in width ; all are 

 low and "most of them timbered. We steamed along the 

 outer or submerged reef, the northern barrier to the deep 

 blue Gulf Stream, carrying thirty fathoms to the coral 

 rock of which the reef is composed. This is surmounted 

 by screw pile lighthouses at intervals of about thirty 

 miles along the whole distance to Key West. Between 

 the lighthouse reef and the keys is a large body of water 

 similar to Long Island Sound, with plenty of depth; 

 north of and between the keys the water is very shoal, 

 excepting two channels, which carry 12 to 14ft. of water, 

 the rest of the thousands of narrow crooked channels 

 have only from 8 to 5ft. We landed in Key West on the 

 third day after a very pleasant trip. The weather was a 

 pleasant contrast to what we had left in New York. We 

 found the flowers blooming, trees in full leaf and the 

 lively little mosquitoes quite frolicsome, the thermom- 

 eter at 80 J and the atmosphere delightful. The town is 

 quite interesting to a Northerner. It has a population of 

 about 10,000; the principal industry is cigar making, out 

 of the wonderful Havana tobacco, although I saw a 

 schooner (the same one I had seen loading in New York) 

 unloading a full load of Western tobacco. 



Our first move was to hunt up a yacht and gain in- 

 formation as to channels and water supply; the latter is 

 very necessary to look after, as it seldom rains in mid- 

 winter in southern Florida. We found a suitable sloop 

 of about three tons, in good order, into which we soon 

 loaded the supplies, shipped from New York. We pur- 

 chased a lot of heavy fishing tackle and grains, it being 

 perfectly useless to have any light tackle. Then we ship- 

 ped a cook and pilot combined in a native. Sail was 

 made and the boat headed in an easterly course. The 

 Bessie made good headway in the light breeze, and the 

 sim was warm enough to render the shade of the sail 

 agreeable. Winding and twisting through the many 

 small channels, whose rocky bottoms are covered with 

 sponge growth, with an occasional clear patch of sand, 

 the water a deep blue; then suddenly running into deeper 

 holes, in which lie silent and dangerous swordfish or 

 man-eating sharks, and having everywhere an abundance 

 of food fish of various kinds in the waters beneath, and 

 in plain sight; all this makes cruising among the keys 

 very interesting to a Northern yachtsman. Many of the 

 small keys passed are entirely under water at high tide, 

 and have a dense growth of mango bushes covering the 

 surface of mud; others have a rocky surface of coral, 

 with stunted growth of timber and elegant limestone soil, 

 which can be only cultivated with hoe and spade, so 

 rocky is the surface. Generally on some portion of the 

 keys" that are cultivated are low spots which grow to per- 

 fection the Florida mosquitoes; they are immense insects, 

 as we found to our entire satisfaction the first night of 

 the cruise. After passing an eventful day bumping on 

 sand bars (our pilot knew where they were), graining 

 swordfish, sharks and jewfish, and reeling in a few 

 sheepshead, we dropped a tripped anchor off the east end 

 of Sugarloaf Key, to be driven at sunset still further off 

 shore by the mosquitoes that swarmed out to us in clouds. 

 The first night on board is generally an uncomfortable 

 one; the bed is hard and the yacht" uneasy. Then the 

 sand flies that came on board. 



In the morning we tinned out at sunrise, built a smudge 

 hi the cabin and had breakfast, consisting of ripe toma- 

 toes, baked sweet potatoes, boiled kingfish with lime 

 juice, hard tack and coffee. After breakfast we pulled 

 ashore in the dinghy, and were met by the only inhabit- 

 ant, an old man of 60, who lived in a hut entirely built of 

 palmetto, the leaves being used to thatch both sides and 

 roof. We found he had about two acres under cultiva- 

 tion, raising tomatoes, bananas and yams. His greatest 

 difficulty was in protecting them from che small deer that 

 range all over the keys, wading or swimming from key 

 to key. We also found two other varmints that roamed 

 over the keys, and they kept us very much interested in 

 how we moved about on shore; they were the large rat- 

 tlesnake and the wildcat. The snake was a terror to the 

 key people. The death of one young man was caused by 

 rattlesnake bite shortly before our arrival. As soon as we 



heard of that lamentable fact we fortified ourselves then 

 and thereafter against snake bite by the usual pleasant 

 remedy. The artist made, as usual, a pen and ink sketch 

 of the native and castle, perhaps he would have made a 

 better looking likeness of the hermit if he had not got a 

 scolding for tramping on his plants; sailorlike, weeds and 

 plants looked alike to him. After hunting here and get- 

 ting a glimpse of some of the smallest deer I ever saw, 

 but not getting within shooting distance (they were about 

 as tall as sheep and as red as the palmetto they disap- 

 peared in), we tripped the anchor and stood on for Little 

 Pine Key, distant fifteen miles dead to windward. We 

 passed several rocky keys, the rendezvous of wreckers, 

 spongers and charcoal burners, the last a tough crowd. 

 Wind hauling to S. E., we kept on and made No Name 

 Key, a spongers' hamlet of four houses, plenty of red wild 

 hogs, fleas, mosquitoes, with small attempt at cultivation. 



We gradually discovered the that Bessie drew about 

 one foot too much water and harbored about a million too 

 many mosquitoes. Having a good tent on board, we 

 scribed a line along the outside of our cabin and sawed 

 off the top, leaving height enough to the side for a lOin. 

 combing; then we could get rid of the mosquitoes by rais- 

 ing our tent under the boom, stopped down on deck with 

 a mosquito net in the after end. We were then masters 

 of the situation; and great comfort we had in hearing the 

 gentle buzzing outside. The natives build smudges 

 inside of their houses, driving out everything by smoke; 

 then rushing in they shut up everything and turn in to 

 rest, and they seem to enjoy it. 



A sponger's outfit consists of a smart small sloop or 

 schooner with a crew of from three to five men, carrying 

 two or three skiffs with as many long-handled two- 

 pronged rakes, and water glasses (made out of water pails 

 with the wooden bottom knocked out and a glass one in 

 to fit. There is always a big smell aboard caused by the 

 decayed sponges; and the devil-may-care crew, as oc- 

 casion may require, turn their hands at wrecking some 

 luckless vessel on the outer reef, fishing, or now and then 

 a turn at smuggling from some passing craft from Cuba 

 or Nassau. Fishing for sponges can only be carried on 

 during calm weather. A man, taking a glass and rake, 

 jumps into a skiff and rows off to clean rocky bottom. 

 Taking the glass (or pail) in one hand, with bottom down 

 in the smooth water, he puts his face into the pail, exclud- 

 ing the light as much as possible. This gives him a good 

 view of the bottom where the sponges grow. Using his 

 right hand and shoulder as a lever to the long rake, he 

 secures the marketable sponges that grow fast to the 

 rocks. They are black and glutinous when first caught. 

 Each day's catch, when convenient, is taken to some 

 sheltered place and dumped into a pen or crawl made of 

 sticks stuck upright into the sand under water. If they 

 have not decayed enough they remain a short time and 

 are then trodden out, washed, strung a dozen together, 

 and hung up to dry; afterward limed, washed and then 

 sold at auction at Key West 



The weather being all a yachtsman could desire, plenty 

 of wind, thermometer ranging, from 71 to 80 °, we made 

 sail for Big Pine Key, wind S. E. and increasing. After 

 coming out from under the land we hove to and tied in 

 a single reef, the clouds threatening a big blow. If there 

 was one thing more than another that our pilot was look- 

 ing for, it was a "harricane" from the S. E. We con- 

 cluded he was about right before the end of our cruise in 

 the Bessie. After passing a few small keys we dropped 

 anchor abreast of Mr. Lowe's end of the key, and going 

 ashore found a well cultivated farm of about ten acres. 

 Here were growing tomatoes, yams, bananas and small 

 vegetables, of which we laid in a stock. Weather re- 

 maining unsettled we stood on for the southerly end of 

 the key for better harbor, wind piping through the rig- 

 ging. Heaving to we tied in another reef and ran for 

 the shelter of Summerland Keys, dropped anchor on the 

 edge of a sand bar. the wind still blowing a gale, causing 

 us to drag off into a deep water channel, and the roar of 

 the breakers reaching us over the keys from the outer 

 bar, distant three miles. This channel, Bahia Honda, is 

 the first deep water channel running north and south 

 throug the keys east of Key West, through which vessels 

 carrying 14ft. may pass, going to or from the Gulf of 

 Mexico. Although unlighted it is buoyed out. We found 

 excellent fishing in the channel, and soon had the sport 

 of landing a dozen or more kingfish. To a hungry man, 

 after a hard day's sail, a kingfish boiled in salt water, 

 well buttered and served with lime juice, has no equal. We 

 hove our tent down to the second row of stops, thereby 

 reducing the height i'ft., turned in and dreamed of the 

 dreadful "harricane'' that did not reach us this time. 



In the morning we found that we were not alone at our 

 anchorage, for during the night wreckers, spongers and 

 fishermen had dropped in until quite a fleet was gath- 

 ered. A cruising party being such a novelty they became 

 suspicious that we wanted to occupy some of the many 

 fertile keys on which they had squatted. Some of these 

 key gardens have been made the source of considerable 

 revenue by the most thrifty. They raise garden truck 

 for the New York market, sailing into Key West on 

 steamer day and reaching the market in fair condition at 

 an excellent profit. Tomatos in J anuary at $2 per half 

 peck, leave a good margin for the Key Conch as the 

 native inhabitant is called. Our artist, as usual, made 

 sketches of the surroundings. Here we had to dive our 

 anchor loose; it had caught under a rock, our pilot being 

 wise beyond his years in failing to trip it when cast. He 

 didn't mind going overboard several times a day (except- 

 ing in sight of a shark) to shove off from a bar or shoal. 

 We shook out the reefs and under full sail and a nice 

 breeze from the westward, stood over for Key Vacas. 

 This is the home of Captain Watkins, who has altered 

 his boat-scraper into a hoe, and has turned farmer to 

 good advantage. In the day's run of about tw T enty 

 miles we were obliged to keep a man aloft on the gaff 

 most of the time, looking for the channels; twenty miles 

 would represent the distance in an airline. We passed 

 several large turtles lying motionless on the surface. In 

 one of the deep channels we passed over some devilfish 

 or sea bats, and as they scuttled out from under her bot- 

 tom they made the Bessie pitch and roll as if she were in 

 a seaway. The man aloft having sighted them on the 

 white bottom coming toward us head on, suffered con- 

 siderable uneasiness as to whether they would go 

 through, over or under us; the channel was narrow and 

 not over five feet deep, and our dinghy towing astern was 

 filled by the commotion, for after running into open 

 water we lay to waiting for the sundry articles lost out 

 of the capsized dinghy to drift along, Y. H, 



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



DOMESTICATING RUFFED GROUSE. 



IF THERE is any game bird that has thus far escaped 

 the domination of man, that bird is the rutted grouse. 

 Independent, always alert, crafty as a fox and of indo- 

 mitable spirit, he is a primeval denizen of the wilderness, 

 and cares as little about contact with civilization as the 

 deer or the panther. Other varieties of the grouse and • 

 the Virginia quail increase as the settlements widen, but 

 the rutted grouse moves further and further back, and 

 seeks to shun all contact with the greatest enemy of his 

 race. 



It seems to have passed into a tradition, both written 

 and unwritten, that the ruffed grouse is incapable of 

 domestication. Old hunters tell you so when you men- 

 tion the matter, although not many of them base their 

 belief on actual experience. The books all express the 

 same opinion from Wilson down, and the encyclopedias 

 have reiterated the assertion. Of late days we have be- 

 come so accustomed to taking this proposition for granted 

 that experiments looking to its correctness have, to say 

 the least, been exceedingly rare. My own investigations 

 in this field have been attended with so much of interest 

 and pleasure, and have resulted so differently from the 

 generally accepted belief that I have jotted down this 

 very unsatisfactory account for the information of your 

 readers. These experiments, 1 regret to say, by way of 

 preface, cannot be regarded as entirely successful, yet 

 they were so beyond my expectations, and their failure, 

 in so far as they did fail, did not arise from any inherent 

 difficulty but to untoward accidents, which did not affect 

 the main issue. 



In the fall of 1884, having successfully reared a fine 

 brood of native quail from a pair of birds confined in the 

 yard, I was seized with the idea of trying a similar ex- 

 periment with the ruffed grouse. I knew very little about 

 them, and what I could learn was not very encouraging 

 to any attempt looking to then domestication. The task 

 of procuring live buds showed quite conclusively that 

 they were about the most difficult creature abroad to 

 capture, and that the majority of the few which had been 

 "reduced to possession" had been taken by accident. 

 These inquiries also showed that for some unknown 

 reason, nearly all these captive birds were females. In 

 all I succeeded in getting track, during the winter, of 

 but six grouse in confinement, scattered about in differ- 

 ent parts of the country, at least two of which were not 

 for sale. But the first week hi April, 1885, 1 secured from 

 a gentleman in Fremont, O., a live bird supposed to be a 

 male, and the same week another from Springfield, Mass., 

 said to be a hen. They were put outdoors on April 23 

 following in a double or L-shaped coop, built against the 

 house, each part about 4ft.xl2f't., with ground floor and 

 wire netting side and top. These coops fronted to the 

 south and west, and as they stood at right angles with 

 each other, they were connected by a small opening about 

 a foot square," which was closed by a swinging door 

 operated from the outside. This gave as much privacy 

 as was possible on a small city lot flanked on two sides 

 by streets. 



'My principal effort at this time had been directed to the 

 securing of a pair of grouse, but with the single exception 

 of the Ohio bird, all were set down as hens. Being a 

 little fearful that I might not have obtained what I 

 wanted, a commission of experts was appointed, compris- 

 ing two of the most experienced hunters in town. These 

 gentlemen, having carefully examined my two hires, 

 gave it as then united opinion that the Ohio bird was a 

 male, and the Massachusetts one a female. Thereupon I 

 breathed easier and waited for developments. Perhaps 

 it should be stated just here that the former had been 

 in confinement about a year and the latter about six 

 months, and both appeared to be sound and well. 



On the 11th of May my notes record that a place was 

 prepared in the further part of the more secluded coop, 

 for the hen to nest. This was arranged by putting in dry 

 oak leaves about a foot deep and placing over them" a num- 

 ber of pieces of brush. The weather for the few days fol- 

 lowing continued warm and hazy with occasional light 

 rains. Meantime my notes, under date of May 12, say: 

 "The male (Ohio) grouse has for several days manifested 

 the greatest uneasiness, constantly walking back and 

 forth in the front coop. The other bird seems quiet and 

 perfectly contented when not disturbed. Think the male 

 bird's actions indicate the mating fever." (I quote this 

 latter remark as simply going to show how little I knew 

 about the matter.) The diary continues: "May 15. — The 

 first grouse egg was laid to-day, and it seems probable by 

 the alleged male grouse." 



May 21 I returned home from a five days' absence, to 

 find that the Ohio grouse had five eggs in her nest. In 

 order to test the matter thoroughly the two birds had 

 been shut up into separate coops, and all the eggs were 

 with the Ohio grouse. What was the most unfortunate 

 feature was the discovery that these eggs, and any that 

 might be laid by the other hen, were necessarily sterile. 

 (I pass by in silence my feeling of disappointment at this 

 most unexpected turn of affairs.) About this time I made 

 what was undoubtedly a> hazardous experiment by shut- 

 ting the laying hen into the other coop. Here she yielded 

 to necessity, made a new nest and went on laying as if 

 she had never been disturbed. The Massachusetts hen 

 showed no signs of laying, but her companion continued 

 laying with occasional intervals of a day, until on the 

 5th of June, having deposited fifteen eggs" in all, she be- 

 gan sitting. Four game bantam eggs were placed under 

 her, and on the 28th of June these were hatched out, the 

 grouse eggs, of course, proving infertile. My experience 

 with these chicks, all four of which the fester mother 

 brought to maturity , has already been given and need 

 not be repeated here. It is worth mentioning that while 

 the Massachusetts hen failed to show any tendency to 

 nest, while the. other hen was sitting she became seized 

 with a desire to assist in the incubation, and it finally 

 became necessary to remove her from the coop. Thus 

 ended my first year's attempt at breeding grouse in con- 

 finement. Of the second I shall hope to write in another 

 paper. 



In the early part of October, '85, I received frcm the 

 Muskoka country, in Canada, a male ruffed grouse. This 

 ' bud had wandered into an old barn and been captured 



