FOREST AND STREAM, 



[APRIL 7, 1887, 



WEIGHT OF QUAIL. 



AUGUSTA, Ga., March 25.— Editor Forest and 

 Stream: "Nemo," in your issue of March IT, notices 

 my comment on the differences in quail, and in brackets 

 at the bottom of his note is this: "There is but a single 

 variety of quail in Georgia.*' This bracketed sentence, I 

 take it, is from the editor of the Forest and Stream, and 

 is intended as a reply to "Nemo" and myself. As far as 

 it applies to this section of Georgia and South Carolina 

 the editor is certainly mistaken, for most assuredly there 

 are two kinds of quail here. As I have stated, the swamp 

 bird is two ounces heavier than the highland bird, and is 

 at least two shades darker in color. Every hunter here 

 knows the difference as soon as he sees the bird and can 

 separate the species immediately. Whether this is brought 

 about by the habits of the bird living in the swamp and 

 canebrakes I am unable to say, but that the "difference" 

 exists cannot be doubted after one has noted the fact. 

 There is as much difference as between the common field 

 sparrow and the English sparrow, the latter being a 

 darker brown and larger. The swamp and highland rab- 

 bit bear the same difference. The swamp rabbit is darker 

 and has not the "cotton tail'' like the highland rabbit. 



Augusta is situated at the foot of the hills, low and 

 flat, with the Savannah River running by her doors, con- 

 sequently near the city are a great many undrained 

 swamps and canebrakes. These quail have found these 

 brakes good hiding-places, and do their feeding by 

 scratching up the young roots and eating moss and 

 acorns, in a great many places they are surrounded by 

 uncultivated fields subject to overflow, and get nothing 

 from the fields except grass seed. It was in one of these 

 places last January where I killed four quail. When I 

 got home I weighed them, and the scale balanced at 2Goz.. 

 this was an average of 64 oz. to the bird. No highland 

 quail weigh so much, at least not in this section. 



J. M. W. 



[There is but one species of quail in Georgia known to 

 naturalists, and that is Orlyx virginionns. If, as our 

 correspondent thinks there are two, specimens of the 

 second should be sent to some ornithologist that it may 

 be added to our bud list. If such specimens be sent to 

 this office we will undertake, in the event of there being 

 two species, to have the new one named in honor of our 

 correspondent.] • 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



There is a typographical error in my communication 

 upon the weight of quail, published in your issue of 

 March 17, in the weight of the fourth quail' given, which 

 was 6|oz., not 5joz. as published. This makes the aver- 

 age weight of the four a little more than ojoz., or very 

 nearly 6oz., and this, I believe, will be found very nearly 

 the average weight of fully matured Cuban birds. 

 "J. M. W, ! ' gives the average weight of Georgia quail as 

 about 5|oz., and I would like to ask him how many speci- 

 mens, actually weighed, formed the basis of his average, 

 and it might be interesting to other readers as well to 

 hear from correspondents on this subject in Florida, 

 Texas and the New England States. Not guessing, but 

 weighing should be the basis of such communications. 



I ought to mention the fact that the four birds that fur- 

 nished the basis of my average were killed in February, 

 just after the harvest of the millet fields, in which they 

 thrive at their best, although their food is at all times 

 abundant on this island. NEMO. 



Habana, Cuba. 



Hibernation of tiie Hare.— Toronto, Can., March 

 26. — Editor Forest and Stream: In your issue of Feb. 24 

 Mr. Geo. E. Walsh, in support of his belief that squirrels 

 hibernate, quotes an article from the pen of Mr. W. F. 

 Kirby, which concludes with this sentence: "Other 

 species of this order hibernate less perfectly, or only oc- 

 casionally, like the hare, which will he beneath snow in 

 a small cavity just large enough to receive her body for 

 some weeks unliarmed." I should be glad to learn if any 

 reader has observed this habit in either of our common 

 northeastern hares, Lepus americanus and sylvaticus. — 

 Ernest E. Thompson. 



Large Flocks of Geese.— South Berwick, Me., April 

 4. — The largest flock of wild geese that has been seen for 

 a number of years passed over this place this morning. 

 Their loud and continued honking attracted the attention 

 of many people, who turned out to see the strange and 

 rare sight or hundreds of wild geese flying north ward. 

 They were low down in the air and seemed to be very 

 tire J. Game in this section has been pretty well thinned 

 out long since, and sportsmen have to tramp far and stay 

 late to get even a shot at the few birds and squirrels that 

 are left.— W. 



Doves in New England.— West Medford, Mass., March 

 28.— I shot to-day in an old cornfield near the house a 

 wild dove (Zenaidura carolinensis). As the bird was new 

 to me I plead curiosity for its destruction. Is not it early 

 for them to appear in this locality? And are they a "com- 

 mon summer resident*' in Ne .v England ?— E. B. [The 

 bird is not uncommon in southern New England.] 



NESSMUK'S POEMS. 



Some of the lines in these poems are worthy of the best poets.— 

 Staunton (Va.) Spectator. 



Mr. Sears writes genuine poetry. Ee puts feeling and grace iuto 

 all his efforts and delights bis readers. His versification is smooth; 

 it rings melodiously, and the sentiment is always touching and 

 refreshing.— Pit iladclph ia Item. 



He heartily sympathizes with Ms less gifted fellows in tcil, and 

 his denunciation of the order of things by which the rich and crafty 

 make themselves richer and tbe poor poorer has, with much of the 

 rhythm, all of the Spirit of Tennyson's most scathing lines. 

 Several of the poems treat of such themes; a visit to South 

 America bore fruit in a number of them, and the ci Til war inspired 

 a few. Many are pathetic and some humorous. Notable among 

 the latter are "The Banshee of McBride" and "An Arkansas Idyl," 

 in the manner of Bret Harte. Bat the best, as well as the most 

 characteristic of the poemc are the "Forest Runes." The volume 

 is handsomely printed by the house that a few years ago issued 

 the more practical results of Nessmuk's camp life in his little 

 book on "Woodcraft," which may he supposed to tell all about its 

 subject that is worth knowing.— Suracum Standard. 



The Travelers, of Hartford, guarantee to pav von the amount 

 written on your policy, not what your fellow-mertlbers cbooae to 

 pay, not exceeding that.— Adv. 



mm 



faff Htid 



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



BEAR STALKING IN CANADA.— I. 



£ 1 ANABA is the land of the sportsman, if one knows 

 \_J where to go. There one finds salmon and trout fish- 

 ing from June to September, and hear, moose and caribou 

 hunting from September to late in the winter. Fishing 

 and hunting has beeu written up in the FOREST AND 

 Stream again and again, but I have not seen a descrip- 

 tion of bear stalking as practiced by the Indians in 

 Canada in the early fall. 



Such a hunt was undertaken by myself and my friend, 

 the Colonel. Our salmon fishing' had been a failure last 

 summer, and before we left our river one of our Indians 

 had given my friend a description of hi?, annual Septem- 

 ber hunt for bears; we determined to try the experiment. 

 Our Indian was an old friend, and bad been with us, as 

 canoeman and guide, for a number of years, and we had 

 every confidence in his representations. We agreed to 

 be off the mouth of his river early in September, ami 

 there to take on board himself and such Indians as he 

 might select, thence to make our way to the proposed 

 hunting grounds, which were about seventy miles to the 

 northward of the Saguenay or the Port Neuf River, on 

 the north shore of the St. Lawrence. We were to have 

 four Indians and two canoes to carry us. 



In many parts of Canada and "especially along the 

 rivers, the forests being burned off on the sides of the 

 mountains, the berry bushes spring up in immense num- 

 bers and the fruit ripens early in September. The bears 

 are very fond of all kinds of fruit and now congregate in 

 these burned grounds to feed upon the berries. When 

 undisturbed they will remain there as long as the berries 

 remain, feeding in the mornings and the afternoons and 

 retiring into the woods during the middle of the day and 

 at night. The method of hunting them is to go to these 

 burned districts, watch and locate the bear, stalk in upon 

 him and shoot him if you can. Very easy and simple you 

 will say, but wait until you go with me on the trail and 

 let no man undertake it unless he is a good rifle shot and 

 of good lungs and great endurance and is in good training 

 besides. 



We were going to the special hunting ground of two of 

 the Indians, who were to be with us and who were 

 strangers to us, but vouched for by our own man Ed- 

 ward. Special hunting grounds, I ' say, for by the un- 

 written law of the Indians the wild parts of Canada are 

 divided up between them, so that a family will have a 

 certain tract of land set apart as their own special " ter- 

 rain'' or hunting ground. This right goes from father to 

 son, and so far as the Indians themselves are concerned, 

 is very strictly respected, although of course not recog- 

 nized by law or by the Canadians. But as their districts 

 are hard to reach and are entirely outside the bounds of 

 civilization, the Indians are generally undisturbed in 

 their possessions. The reader must not suppose that these 

 Indians resemble those of the western territories or of 

 the more northern part of Canada, for this would be a 

 great mistake; many of them are more or less of a mixed 

 race, for they intermarry with the -French Canadians; 

 some of pure blood are fine specimens of manhood, all 

 belong to the Roman Catholic church and are, as a gen- 

 eral rule, sober and perfectly trustworthy and make the 

 best of guides and servants in the woods. In an experi- 

 ence of 3 r ears I have found them far superior to the Can- 

 adian gaides, although the latter as a class are better 

 canoemen. The Indian? speak only French and their 

 native language, and it is rare to find one who can either 

 speak or understand English, it is therefore essential for 

 any one going off into the woods with Indians or with 

 even French Canadians to be able to speak the French 

 or have some one with him who can act as interpreter. 



Wednesday morning Sept. 9, icund us at Quebec on 

 board the steamer Union, bound for Laduesac, at the 

 mouth of the Saguenay River, whence we were to proceed 

 up the St. Lawrence about seventy miles in a sailing 

 craft to the mouth of the Port Neuf River, up which we 

 were to make way for about sixty miles in canoes to our 

 proposed hunting grounds. The next morning found us 

 embarked on our voyage in a very yacht-like cutter with 

 a fine westerly breeze, bound first for the Esqueinin River, 

 where we were to meet nor Indians and canoes. When 

 we came off the mouth of the Estate min, Edouard was 

 soon on board and with him our men— Edouard, his son 

 Joseph, a nephew also named Joseph, all of whom had 

 been with us before; Leon and Charles and a third Joseph 

 Edwards, son-in-law; Leon and Charles were thorough- 

 bred and had consequently showed much more of the real 

 Indian character than the others, and these two were the 

 proprietors of the "terrain" where we were to htmt. 

 About daylight Thursday morning we came to anchor 

 four miles from the mouth of our river, with a low tide 

 and no prospect of getting in until high water; a threaten- 

 ing gale and altogether a dismal prospect. One difficulty 

 on the St. Lawrence is that on both shores the water is 

 shallow, and the tides rise and fall from 15 to 20ft., so 

 that at low tide a sailing boat drawing oft. can not ap- 

 proach nearer than half a mile, and can not get into the 

 rivers. The only alternative for us, therefore, was to 

 land in our canoes, which we finally succeeded in doing, 

 with our stores, leaving our trunks on board with in- 

 structions to our captain to meet us at the mouth of our 

 river on the first day of October. Then we saw our cutter 

 running away for the Saguenay, and we were cut off 

 from the outside world for a month at least. 



Breakfast was now in order. A fire was made, water 

 found, tea made, the cold round of beef opened; and 

 breakfast over, one of the Indians went off inland to look 

 for a cart, and soon we were on our tramp, with all our 

 stores, while the canoes made their way up along the 

 shore. Soon the rain began, and wet and cold , we arrived 

 at our river and found we had to ride about three miles 

 to the lumber mill, where we expected to find shelter for 

 the night. A buekboard was soon found, and we arrived 

 about noon at the mill, where we found a warm welcome 

 from the hospitable superintendent, to whom we had 

 been recommended by friends in Quebec, and a hearty 

 dinner and a warm fire soon restored our equanimity. 

 The storm still continuing, we spent the night with our 

 friend, who was delighted to have- our company and to 

 hear what news we were able to impart about matters in 

 the outside world, and it was with some difficulty that he 



at last permitted us to turn in. This can be easily imag- 

 ined, when one considers that he is shut up here, with 

 hardly a soul to speak to, from one year's end to the other. 

 Saturday, the 4th, brought us a fine day, and leaving our 

 last letters and loading our canoes, we' finally started on 

 our long journey up the river, the whole population of 

 the mill turning out to see us start and giving us a heartv 

 cheer as we paddled off. Four miles of easy work brought 

 us to the first falls, and a portage of about a mile and a 

 half to the river again, above a second fall: and here we 

 camped for the night and over Sunday, for the Indians 

 do not travel on that day. except in' cases of absolute 

 necessity.^ Tins portage gave us the first hint about our 

 force. -A e had three canoes and our stores, blankets, 

 tents and clothes, and although these were reduced to 

 the lowest limit consistent with comfort, yet it made a 

 pretty formidable pile. One Indian to each canoe left us 

 but three men for the rest of the luggage, and conse- 

 quently two trips had to be made on each oortage. Three 

 Indians would start off, each with a canoe turned over 

 with the gunwale resting on his shoulders, looking for 

 all the woild like a huge turtle, and with such other "arti- 

 cles as he could carry besides, and thus loaded make his 

 way up and down places where I could hardly with my 

 rifle and light bag without risking a fall, which might 

 mean a broken limb. After reaching a certain point he 

 would deposit that load and come back on a jog trot for 

 another, and then a fresh start and a second journey, 

 until tbe evening camp was reached. Then the tent had 

 to be pitched, wood cut, fires made, hemlock boughs cut 

 for the floor of the tent, supper cooked and blankets un- 

 packed. And all this was done without a murmur or a 

 word; and even when loaded down with wh»t seemed a 

 crushing weight, these men would hardly be satisfied if 

 we carried anything, even our rifles. 



Our camp was prepared there. Arriving at our camp- 

 ing place, the Indians in charge of the tout had cut two 

 uprights, with forked branches at the top, and driven 

 them into the ground opposite to each other: a ridge pole 

 was then cut, which was inserted in the top of the tent 

 and then laid on the erotched uprights, the tent was then 

 drawn out on each side and tied down to small poles; in 

 the meantime other Indians provided bundles of hemlock 

 boughs, and covered the ground in the tent thickly with 

 them, laid in a particular manner, so that the branches 

 would all be covered by the leaves, and a bolster was made 

 in the same way. at the upper end. The stove was put 

 up and lighted, and then came our part of the work. We 

 each spread out an Indian rubber sheet, then over this 

 one large blanket, this made the bed. Then we laid out 

 our covering blankets and rolled them up toward the top 

 of the tent, ready to be spread out again when we should 

 turn in. In the meantime they served as a seat and also 

 as a pillow for our backs. Then the candle sticks were 

 brought in, pieces of wood about 2ft. long, sharpened at 

 one end, and with a slit in the other end, m which is in- 

 serted a piece of birch bark, rounded out at the side, so as 

 just to hold the candles, which can thus be raised or 

 lowered as required. We then make ourselves comfort- 

 able and are ready for supper, which Edouard, who is our 

 cook, and a very good one at that, has been preparing 

 this time. In the meantime the Indians have been putting 

 up their own tent, which is open in front, while ours can 

 be entirely closed: and in front of their tent a fire of logs 

 is kept going all night, while, the fire in our sheet iron 

 stove must necessarily be allowed to go out and we must 

 depend entirely upon our blankets for warmth, while tin- 

 logs will burn for a long time, and there is alwavs some- 

 one among them who will be on hand to keep their 

 fire going. They are, in fact, warmer than we are, for 

 while our tent keeps us dry, yet it does not keep out the 

 cold, and on several nights when water froze in our tent 

 we suffered a good deal. It was after one of these nights 

 and just here at camp No. 1 that the next morning after 

 breakfast I found the Colonel hard at work with needle 

 and thread on his blankets, and in response tomy question 

 as to whafdie was after, he said he was sewing the bottom 

 parts together so as to make a sleeping bag. This idea, 

 which he had picked up while camping in the West, 

 seemed to me so good, that with the help of his instruc- 

 tions I arranged mine in the same way, and after that 

 found myself entirely comfortable. 



1 have'mentioned the candlesticks, but there are many 

 other things besides which the Indians will make for 

 you, in a moment, cut of birch bark. You are thirsty 

 and want a cup, from a birch tree your Indian will, hi a 

 moment, cut a slip of bark, fashion it into a cup and 

 bring it to you full of water from the spring or stream. 

 You stop for dinner and want to wash, from the same 

 bark he will make a basin and place it before you filled 

 with water, while you are getting your soap and towel 

 out of your bag. In fact, there is hardly anything he 

 will not manufacture, from a birch canoe down to a birch 

 plate. 



Sunday, the 12th, rained hard all day. Such a day in 

 the woods is a severe trial to one's patience. You can not 

 walk outside without india rubber coat and leggings, and 

 your feet will be wet through in a moment; you can 

 stand up, it is true, but for the most part you must worry 

 through the day, lying down, reading, sleeping, smoking 

 and eating. You are warm and comfortable, thanks to 

 your stove, without which you would be miserable in- 

 deed ; but it is wearisome and one of the discomforts of 

 our life, which cannot be remedied. 



On our way we passed an Indian family, moving to 

 their hunting grounds, about thirty miles "up this same 

 river, and as Edouard told us that there was a very good 

 chance to find a bear on their territory, we told him to 

 negotiate with them for permission to hunt there for a 

 day or two on our way up. A treaty was made by which 

 they accorded permission to hunt one day ; on condition 

 that if we killed anything we were to give them the meat, 

 and if we wanted the skin that we should pay them what 

 they would get for them from the dealers ; to this, as we 

 expected to do the same thing with our own Indians, 

 except that we would help the latter to eat any bears we 

 might kill, we gladly assented. 



The hunter in a canoe sits down in the middle, with 

 his back resting against the thwart behind him; one In- 

 dian kneels down in the extreme forward end, with his 

 legs bent under him, padddle in hand, and the other In- 

 dian occupies the same position in the extreme stern; 

 and the direction of the canoe is principally in his hands. 

 Both use the paddle, where the current will allow it, but 

 in the rapids, the Indian in the stern stands up and forces 

 the canoe up the stream by the aid of a pole some fifteen 

 to twenty feet long, while the bow man helps with his 



