Mat 12, 1887.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



345 



open air. In many places, besides this unglazed ware, you 

 find glazed jars and pitchers with coarse, curious coloring 

 and of oiiginal forms. 



In the market places in the City of Mexico you can 

 buy these pretty jugs for two, three and six cents at 

 retail. Even strangers can get them for that price; 

 heaven knows what the natives pay. Usually a whole 

 village will have a specialty of manufacture. One vil- 

 lage, for instance, making pottery with all the artistic 

 waywardness and variation that the hand alone can give 

 and that production by machinery loses forever. Another 

 village will be famed for its corn-grinders: another for its 

 mats, and so on. 



Through this nearly roadless land a large amount of 

 freighting is done by men. Donkeys and mules carry 

 the heavier merchandise, but you will meet troops of men 

 with a kind of three-storied cane cage ("lmacal") on their 

 backs, towering high over their heads, and filled to the 

 brim with fragile wares. 



The earlier miners used no hammer and drill, but a long 

 steel '-vara," which answered both purposes. A bar of 1 

 steel 5 or 6ft. long, would be pointed at one end to use as 

 a pick, while the other end had two teeth cut in it called 

 a "boca." The miner braced himself and swung the bar 

 like a churn handle at the rock. The writer has seen 14ft. 

 of porphyry drilled in half a day by a man armed with 

 this tool. 



Drill men and hammer men are now common, as well 

 as those skilled in the use of the "vara." And men as 

 good as any Swede or Cornishman who ever used a ham- 

 mer in Leadville get fifty cents a day for their work. 



At a large mine in the State of Mexico the highest 

 wages paid are less than seventy-five cents a day for 

 miners, and the bulk of the men, such as ore earners, 

 etc., get from twenty-five cents to thirty -seven and a 

 half cents a day. 



But the "peones" on the farms have the most work and 

 the least return of created men on this continent. Six 

 and a quarter cents a day are fair wages in central Mex- 

 ico, and benighted Americans sneer at the lack of modern 

 machinery. 



Not all these laborers are pure Indians to be sure, but 

 the vast majority have more Indian blood in them than 

 anything else. And with this labor and these returns 

 the life of the people must of force be simple. "White 

 cotton drawers and shirt, a straw hat, a serape and a pair 

 of rawhide sandals will meet the requirements of the 

 usual dress. A little dirt-floored adobe house, or a still 

 humbler dwelling called a "jacal," made of wattles, and 

 sometimes daubed with mud, is what they live in, while 

 two devices called a "tepesh" and a "petate," the one 

 being a frame of canes and the other a mat, usually of 

 palm leaves, do duty for a bed when a bed is needed. 



Their food is the unleavened "tortilla," with jerked 

 meat at times, and beans and fruit in their season. The 

 writer has known an entire village to five for weeks on 

 the "pitaya" cactus alone. Yet so poor as a class, the 

 Indians are not without spirit. Look at the Yaquis in 

 Sonora. Two rivers, the Yaqui and the Mayo, run into 

 the Gulf of California, from. Sonora, near its southern 

 end. The flats around the mouths of the rivers are held 

 by two tribes, of which the Yaquis are the more consid- 

 erable. These Indians form the best laborers in Sonora. 

 They built, for the most part, the Sonora railroad. They 

 are everywhere engaged as the most reliable workers in 

 the country, but they still keep their tr bal organization, 

 return periodically to their homes and forbid the entrance 

 of intruders therein. Last year the Mexicans endeavored 

 to enter in and possess the land. The Yaquis under their 

 chief Cajeme, gathered together and inflicted a stunning 

 defeat on the invaders, returning afterward to their 

 peaceful ways. 



Another much smaller band of Indians, living in the 

 mountains near Pinos Albos, are so renowned for their 

 courageous devotion and honesty that to their hands was 

 intrusted for years all the bullion carried from the mines, 

 with never a loss. Nor do the Indians remain always in 

 low places. Of the many distinguished Indians perhaps 

 Benito Juarez is the most prominent. He was not, how- 

 ever, as is sometimes thought, taken directly from his hut 

 to rule the State. Juarez began life as a lawyer, and was 

 a judge of the Supreme bench and a noted politician 

 before his election as President. He may be well com- 

 pared to Santa Ana to illustrate the difference between 

 the Creole and the Indian character. Santa Ana, treach- 

 erous, selfish, of enormous energy and resource, but lack- 

 ing dogged persistence; Juarez showing in a coarse mould 

 many of the traits of Washington, and in particular the 

 unwearied stubbornness that makes up for so many 

 defects. 



These few examples will be enough to show the capaci- 

 ties of the Indian races for modern life and the traits that 

 enable these races to flourish under conditions that would 

 discourage more ambitious men. You find none of the 

 fanciful heroes, such as Cooper drew, lamenting in poetic 

 style the downfall of their nation before the greed of the 

 cruel whites, and occupying themselves with deeds of 

 romantic generosity in the pauses of oratorical pathos; 

 but you do find a great, laborious population, working 

 uncomplainingly and well for the scantiest returns; a 

 population without whose strong arms and patient toil 

 Mexico would cease to be a State. H. G. Dtjlog. 



The Grass Plover's Cry. — To-day I heard the cry 

 of a grass plover, a voice that I had always believed 

 asserted the final and firm establishment of spring in 

 this region. But the cold lowering skies and chill north 

 wind, the fields almost as drear this 30th day of April as 

 they were in the last days of November, and the Adiron- 

 dack peaks white with snow, almost shook my faith, and 

 I feared the bird was lying or woefully mistaken, till 

 to-night, when I saw Split Rock shining again, and knew 

 that the lake was clear of ice once more, and was assured 

 that the plover knew whereof he had affirmed. — Awah- 

 soose. 



Wild Coose Hybrids.— I winged a wild goose with a 

 rifle, in the air, took it home and turned in with my tame 

 flock. The wild bird was a gander. It bred with a 

 domestic fowl, and though they produced young yet the 

 young would no longer breed,* neither with the tame 

 goose nor the wild gander, nor with each other. They 

 were to all intents and purposes of breeding mules. I 

 cannot tell of what species the wounded gander was. 

 Some of these mule geese are still living, they lay eggs, 

 but the eggs do not hatch. — Amateur. 



THE PREJUDICE AGAINST SNAKES. 



I HAVE another snake problem which I should very 

 much like to have Miss Catherine Hopley's views 

 upon, as she is possessed of more snake lore than any 

 one else I know of. 



I was not fortunate enough to see the snake myself 

 which I describe, but it was examined and described to 

 me by Mr. C. H, Purvis, an assistant engineer, whose 

 statement is perl'ec tly reliable. 



About April 1 he "found the snake, which had been 

 recently killed by levee laborers, lying on the levee in 

 Coaboma county, Mississippi. It was about 5ft. long and 

 quite thick through the body, with blunt tail. But the 

 striking feature about it was the colors. All of the upper 

 part, back and sides was of a unif omi brilliant black, 

 resembling jet (Purvis says tha blackest snake he ever 

 saw), while the under part was in alternate transverse 

 bars of red and white, each about half an inch wide, the 

 colors bright and clean cut. He examined its mouth 

 and found no fangs and only one row of small teeth on 

 each side in the upper part. 



I never saw nor heard of such a snake before, though 

 I notice carefully every snake I see. 



Ttie more my snake observations are extended the 

 more I am convinced that very many varieties of snakes 

 which are generally supposed to be venomous are really 

 non-venomous. And it is remarkable that the harmless 

 snakes are for the most part much more pugnacious than 

 the poisonous varieties. All of the adders and chicken 

 and bird snakes are ever ready for a fight, and strike 

 viciously when disturbed, but they have neither fangs 

 nor poison. There is a notable difference between these 

 snakes and the dangerous ones in then- manner of strik- 

 ing. The rattlesnakes and moccasins coil themselves in 

 spirals, and when disturbed strike from that position. 

 But the harmless snakes when made angry assume the 

 "serpentine" shape of Ss and then straighten out the 

 bodv in striking. 



In the Southern swamps the bayous and ponds are in- 

 fested by a great many large, ugly, rusty-looking water 

 snakes, which are, in the popular mind, considerel very 

 deadly. I found one a few days ago which had been re- 

 cently killed, and on examination found no fangs nor 

 poison sacks in its mouth. I believe they are non- 

 venomous, though they are called "water moccasins," 

 and bear very bad reputations. 



Last sunnier, while mak ng a survey through a cane- 

 brake and battling with a horde of pestiferous mosqui- 

 toes, being a little way ahead of the party, I discovered 

 a bird snake, one of the tree climbers, a grayish mottled 

 snake, about 4ft. long. I put my foot on it, and taking 

 it by the neck allowed it to coil itself about my arm and 

 hand. I approached George Eobinson, one of the party, 

 holding the snake behind me, and told him I had found 

 something that would keep off mosquitoes. George was 

 much interested in the discovery and came up to see it, 

 when I suddenly thrust out my hand toward him. He 

 was greatly startled by the proximity of the snake and 

 wondered at my temerity, and also at my permitting it to 

 run away instead of killing it. 



There is a great deal of senseless prejudice againt the 

 whole snake tribe, most persons being disposed to ki 1 

 them all without discrimination. By far the greater 

 number of snakes that are commonly encountered are 

 quite harmless and, indeed, are very beneficial in destroy- 

 ing vermin, and it is a superstitious barbarism which 

 prompts the ignorant to kill them all without mercy. 



It is a curious fact that the constrictors and other non- 

 venomous snakes strike at their enemies as do the veno- 

 mous kinds, though they are not provided with weapons 

 to be used in that manner. Coahoma. 

 Memphis, Tenn. 



Mr. Sutro's Aquarium. — Mention has been made in the 

 newspapers from time to time of an aquarium that Mr. 

 Adolph Sutro intended to build out upon the ocean beach, 

 near the Cliff House. Those who have been out to the 

 Cliff House and hav? descended the steps that lead to the 

 beach will doubtless have noticed a little cove sheltered 

 between two high rocks about 100ft. from the steps. In 

 this cove the aquarium is now being built. The aquarium 

 will consist of a round wall of rock 50ft. in diameter, 15ft. 

 thick and 14ft. high, and will be roofless. The flooring 

 will be made in a unique way, according to Mr. Sutro's 

 plans. Solid pathways of rock will be built around the 

 interior of the aquarium, and between them there will be 

 little ponds of water that will be 3 and 4ft. deep at low 

 water. The water will come into these ponds from the 

 ocean with fish and other marine objects m the following 

 manner: A tunnel 300ft. long and 8ft. high will be bored 

 through the rock between the ocean and the aquarium, 

 and at the seaward side of the tunnel there will be wire- 

 screen gates, which can be opened and shut. At high 

 tide the gates will be suffered to remain open, so that the 

 water and the living objects in it can come freely into the 

 aquarium. At high water the whole aquarium will be 

 flooded — the pathways and everything — and no one can 

 go in then. When the tide begins to recede the gates are 

 shut, and only the water can flow through them. The 

 living objects will be retarded, and will seek the com- 

 paratively deep water in the ponds, and thus they will be 

 caught as in a trap. When the waters have receded suf- 

 ficiently from the pathway the public will be admitted 

 inside the walls. Sea anemones, devilfish, angel fish, 

 starfish, crustaceans, shells, all varieties of large and 

 small fish, and perhaps even occasional seals may be 

 caught in this aquarium. At low tide, there will always 

 be something interesting to see there. — San Francisco 

 Call. 



A Stray Pelican.— Oakland, Md., May 7.— Editor 

 Forest and Stream : An immense pelican was shot and 

 killed by a fourteen-year-old boy in this county on April 

 31. The head was cut off and sent to this place, where it 

 was mounted. The bird measured from the tip of its 

 beak — which is about 16in. long — to the end of its short 

 tail, 5$f t. Its extended wings covered 9ft. The pouch 

 underneath its lower bill would hold at least a gallon. 

 It is of the species Pelicanus erythrorhyncus of North 

 America, having a horny excrescence developed upon the 

 ridge of the upper bill, which is peculiar to the males of 

 this species in the breeding season, and is said to fall off 

 when it is over. The probabilities are that this bird 

 escaped from some traveling menagerie and wandered off 

 to where it was killed, as its species have never been 

 seen in this vicinity before. — Sportsman. 



Captured Buffalo.— St. Paul, Minn., May 2.— Having 

 business at LaMoure, D. T., last week, I made mquiries 

 about the small herd of buffalo reported to have been seen 

 in that vicinity last fall. I found that a party of hunters 

 were out in the hills, thirty-five miles west, hunting 

 antelope and small game, when they accidentally run 

 into a herd of seven buffalo, five old ones and two calves. 

 They killed one old bull, wounded a second, and captured 

 alive one bull calf. I drove out seven miles to Grand 

 Eapids and saw him. He is a fine specimen of a yearling, 

 as tame as if he had never known anything else. The 

 owner is out West looking for a mate for him, he having 

 heard of one owned by some Sioux Indians, and if suc- 

 cessful in getting one intends to raise a herd. — F. A. K. 



Capture of a Gannet. — Bridgton, N. J. — A farmer 

 drove in town a few days ago with a large bird of a species 

 never before seen in this vicinity. It is about the size of 

 a large black brant, is of snow white plumage except the 

 tips of the wings, which are black, and the top of the 

 head a dingy yellow. The bill is long and pointed and 

 steel colored. The eyes a steel blue, feet dark and webbed. 

 I suppose it is an adult gannet. Can you tell me what it 

 is? The f arme r found it in a spring by the side of a much 

 traveled public road, and was able to secure it before it 

 could take wing. He sold it for $5 to a shoemaker here, 

 who exhibits it at five cents admission and is making 

 money. His advertisement is worth the price of admis- 

 sion. It is " White throat Guarnett of the Meditranian." 

 — C. [No doubt a gannet (Sula bassana).] 



Recent Arrivals at Philadelphia Zoological Gabdejt. 

 — Purchased — Two roe deer {Ccrvns caprcuiw) $ and ¥ , one 

 white-throated capucin (Celnts hypnlcucws), one Indian ante- 

 lope (Antelope cerviedpra) S, one echidna (Tachyglnssus hystrlr), 

 two red-headed ducks (huligvLO, ferina amcricava), oue black- 

 footed penguin (SplienwuB d cine mis), two skylarks (Alawia 

 arvcnsiii), and one suowy owl (Africa Mvea). Presented— Two 

 opossoms (DUlelphais viiyin-imnt), one gray squirrel (Seivrvs earoii- 

 nensis), one red-tailed hawk (Bidco borcali.s), one bald eagle (Hali- 

 aetusleucncephalits), one screech owl (Scops aula), two turtle doves 

 {Turtur rlsm % lm), one European thrush (lurdua mv&icus), one great 

 horned owl (Bubo virtjinianus), four alligators (MK(i(U<rr miss^sip- 

 piemiS), and one green snake {Cycloplris re waits). Born m Garden- 

 Two Virginia deer (Cerv us virg nianus), two Angora goats, one 

 eland (Oreas canna) S , one buffalo (Bison americanus) ? , 1 zebu (Bos 

 i-ndiews) ! . 



wme j$<tg and %m\. 



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



JACK RABBITS AND ANTELOPE. 



LAST November found me in Berlin. I had crossed 

 in July and so long as we kept on the move my 

 himting instinct lay dormant. True, in Scotland, there 

 was a constant watch kept among the Mils for grouse, 

 and stray salmon fishers with magnificent fly collections 

 created a momentary excitement. Traveling through 

 deer forests (so called, an Irish- American of" our party 

 suggested, because there were no trees in sight, nor deer 

 either), we kept a sharp lookout for the stag of ten, but 

 not even the Trossachs gave us a view of one, though 

 doubtless there were deer hid from our sight in some of 

 the hollows of that really picturesque region , which also 

 rejoices in some pretty woodland. By the way, had Fitz 

 James read the articles on hounding that frequently appear 

 in the Forest and Stream and its contemporary, he 

 would have hesitated before turning loose those hounds 

 of black St, Herbert's breed, and consequently when the 

 stag rose from his couch, sprang forward and stood for 

 an instant the ' 'unerring shaft" of the royal huntsman 

 would have speedily converted him into cold venison; 

 and several distressing incidents that add interest to 

 Scott's verse would have been avoided, to wit, first, 

 death of gallant Gray; second, attempted mash of the 

 fair Ellen; third, difficulty with Eoderick Dhu — all favor- 

 ing still-hunting vs. hounding. 



In Switzerland we saw several chamois; and of course 

 in London saw the Zoo and the animal collection of the 

 British Museum, each magnificent : Paris with its Jardins, 

 and finally Berlin, where the Zoologische Garten claimed 

 many days; but in a museum on the Fiiedrich Strasse we 

 saw a living walrus; small indeed, about oft. in length, 

 but unmistakably a walrus, shivering and evidently mis- 

 erable. In an adjoining cage were three beavers, and I 

 wondered if they were blood relatives of those I had seen 

 on the Jim Eiver in Dakota a year before. 



Thinking I would stay in Berlin through the winter, I 

 sent for the Forest and Stream a d the London Field, 

 Here began trouble. From waiting impatiently each 

 week for the papers, I began to grow uneasy to be once 

 more afield. Often in the evening I would walk through 

 the Thier Garten, a large wooded, uninclosed park, to the 

 little lakes, and, sitting on the bank under an old linden 

 tree, watch the wild mallards come through the thicken- 

 ing dusk till it became too dark to see them, and only the 

 whistling wings gave notice of their approach. Again, 

 remembering my strolls through our home markets in 

 the game season, I would visit the stalls where wild boars, 

 stags, roe deer, pheasants, hares and the little striped 

 European quail were displayed. All this tended to bring 

 about the final result, and about the 15th of November I 

 wrote to an old hunting chum in the States, telling him 

 that I was coming over and wanted him to join me, if 

 possible, for a protracted hunt. Early in December I 

 reached home and found a letter from Dan (my hunting 

 friend), dated from Syracuse, Kan., and reporting "lots 

 of jack rabbits, a good many coyotes, a few gray wolves, 

 antelopes quite plentiful." He inclosed a c ipping from a 

 paper printed in a town not far from Syracuse, reading as 

 follows: "J. C. Youngblood has just come in from a ten 

 days' trip. He brought in seven antelope, ten wolves and 

 five buffalo." I had given up hopes of kilhng tufCalo, 

 and nothwithstanding the fact that an Austrian count on 

 board the Fulda frequently repeated the phrase, "I kill 

 bif-fa-lo" — the only English that he possessed—! hadn't 

 the slightest idea that he would do so, especially as he 

 was going to Florida. I had supposed the animal o be 

 extinct in the United States, excepting in the National 

 Park, northern Montana and in Dakota, where a few 

 strays have been killed each year. 



However, jack rabbit coursing with greyhounds prom- 

 ised excitement, antelope shooting would be decidedly 

 novel, and with a coyote chase occasionally would serve. 

 I have forgotten to say that Dan said he had been out the 



