Aug. 29, 1389.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



103 



Clambering painfully over logs and through the bushes. 

 I reached at length the spot where stood the historic 

 lnossback, pointing with a cornstalk upward into a tail 

 tree. 



"Where is he?" ^ 

 "Yender he is, jest right thar he lit, anyway, n tbet 

 bunch o r leaves. ' I earn t fa'rly see him in self, but I 

 kno^ he's thar/' v . 



No grouse could I see: but, horrible to tell. I amiecl de- 

 liberately at the broadside of the cluster of leaves, and 

 sure enough down dropped a flue cock grouse. This 

 answered inv purpose, and declining John's friendly offer 

 to seek for more, I bagged the bird and leisurely sought 

 my camp. On the way t perceived another grouse sit- 

 ting upon the top rail of a snake fence, where he re- 

 mained until 1 had approached within a few yards, then 

 taking wing, he crossed the road and disappeared m the 

 thicket. I did not move the gun from my shoulder but 

 moved on. wondering meanwhile what sort of a shot Bo- 

 gardus would have made at my grouse, had be thrown a 

 stick to scare the bird and fired when it darted down- 

 On one occasion while at this camp I went fishing— not 

 precisely because I wanted fish, but that I chose to try if 

 the bass would bite. After looking over the artificial 

 flies minnows, spoons and other baits in my kit, 1 

 turned to the mes< pail, and taking therefrom a piece of 

 salt pork. I severed a portion of the rind and proceeded 

 with the point of mv hunting knife to carve it into the 

 rude semblance of a frog. I next jointed my light lance- 

 wood rod and attached the reel, which is of the Hen- 

 shall-Van Antwerp pattern, and runs with remarkable 

 freedom. These were made by Thomas H. Chubb, and 

 have served me well in the capture of many heavy fi b. 

 Placing the queer-looking image on the hook, T put forth 

 into the lake and slowly drifted along the shore before 

 the breeze, casting as I did so. over the likeliest spots tor 

 black bass. . 



Soon there was a tug, and I shortly drew to the side ot 

 the boat a pickerel of moderate size, which I did not 

 want. I therefore permitted him to disengage himself 

 from the hook, and moving onward, I n eared the head 

 of the river which leads to the lake bel w. 



Here was a likely spot for bass, but would they bite.'' 

 To solve the problem I cast the bait as far as the rod 

 would send it over the black wafers of a httle cove which 

 lay behind a projecting poii t of land and straight there 

 was business at the other end of the line, while the water 

 broke to the leap of a lordly I ass, some 60ft. away. 



1 thought of the classifications of Mr. Henry Gny Carle- 

 ton, and mtirmured as the fi-h leaped, "Mycropterus 

 buster !" Some writers seem possessed with a belief that 

 the big-mouthed ba-s is inferior to »he small-mouth in 

 game qualities. Had one of the^e gentlemen been at the 

 buit cf my eight-ounce rod, 1 1 hink that he would have had 

 no occasi m for the next fifteen minutes to charge the 

 fish with an undue lack of activity: but wearied at 

 length, the bass floated near the surface, the net passed 

 under his gleaming side, and with scarce a struggle he 

 was duly transferred to the bottom of the boat. 



The contest ended, I returned to camp, satisfied that 

 the fidi would bte. 1 did not weigh the bass, but any 

 angler can arrange that part of the performance to suit 

 hims-elf. Kelpie. 



(MUTUAL Lake, Michigan. 



[CONCLUDED >TSXT WEEK. | 



SHOOTING ON MOUNT OLYMPUS.-I1I. 



(Cmtimted from Paye 6?.) 



BEFORE retiring for the night, I gave instructions to 

 Turn vanes that the venison and other game was to 

 be divided in accordance with the custom of the country, 

 and that I would arrange for the rations for the beaters 

 in the morning. I instructed him further to secure a 

 man to take off the bear and wolf skins. 



The sun was half an hour above the horizon the fol- 

 lowing morning when Timayanes aroused me from my 

 :slumbers. and reported breakfast ready. I felt disposed 

 to turn over and indulge in half an hour's sleep on the 

 .other side, when he added that the village headmen had 

 already putin an appearance, presumably for their several 

 willage snares of the rations. 



On hearing this I jumped out of bed, made my toilet 

 .with all diligence, anil knowing that there was no possi- 

 bility of disposing of the matter with promptitude. 

 American fashion, I decided that the village elders must 

 wait until I had taken breakfast. 



However, time is of little importance with these peo- 

 ple, and as there had been but Lttle leisure for gossip the 

 day before. I had no doubt they would be glad of the 

 .opportunity of discussing me before I made my appear- 



The lives of these people, thought 1. are so uneventful, 

 ithat years hence they will probably date events from the 

 ipeiio'd when the Frank came and did a day's hunting 

 With them. So I ate my venison and sipped my coffee 

 leisurely; then, lighting my pipe. I went out and joined 

 Sthem in their confab. 



Their clothes were coarse; Ahmed Khan wore a long 

 robe of unbleached muslin that reached nearly to his 

 feet, and the others all wore robes of similar material 

 but dyed blue. The cloth was evidently of home manu- 

 facture; and, indeed, from where I was seated I caught 

 occasional glimpses of a woman weaving, as she period- 

 ically reached the end of the web exposed to my view. 

 The men wore turbans to match the tunic. 



All rose at my approach and salaamed courteously 

 and being again seated, Timayanes had first to put num- 

 erous questions to me concerning how I had slept and 

 how I felt this morning; and having given satisfactory 

 replies and propounded similar questions tlirough my in- 

 terpreter, and re-echoed their pious expressions that it 

 was all through the goodness of God, etc., the conversa- 

 tion gradually slipped round to the events of yesterday, 

 which were discussed in detail, and numerous congratu- 

 lations and compliments poured upon me for my success 

 .and skill as a, marksman. 



In return I complimented the slayers of the boars and 

 the one who had laid mv stig low for me, and then made 

 inquiries »h to what each of the others had slain. As all 

 this bad to be done through an interpreter, it took time; 

 but I bad the satisfaction of knowing that it was all be- 

 ing doue regularly and in order, and that T had my 

 bieakfast inside of me. 



"And now, Ahmed Khan and gentlemen," I said, by 

 way of plunging boldly into business, "if you will say in 



a lump what the ration and its cost amounts to, it shall 

 be adju-ted." 



"The regular ration," said Ahmed Khan, in reply, "is 

 an oki of meal with a quarter oki of olives and half an 

 oki of dried dates, but what is that," continued he, "be- 

 tweeu us and thee? We and our people and belongings 

 are all at your disposal. Let that pass.'' 



Of course I didn't let it pass until I had made him say 

 how many beaters there were there — a matter which in- 

 volved discussion, enumeration of names, and some cal- 

 culation — and the local market price of meal. There 

 were sixty-two beaters, then I counted a triple ration for 

 each of the village headmen, calculated the price of the 

 eighty rations in sequins, product d tbe coin, amounting 

 to about eight dollars of our money, laid it before Ahmed 

 Khan, and asked him to be good enough to see to its 

 proper distribution. 



But I had made other and more liberal provision for 

 hunting on Mount Olympus. There were a dozen bowie 

 knives in my bag, fresh from Sheffield, and instructing 

 Timayane a , a glittering blade was laid before each of the 

 headmen, with a request that he keep it in remembrance 

 of my visit. This was unexpected, and my hosts made 

 no attempt to conceal their pleased surprise. 



The conversation now turned to guns, but more especi- 

 ally to my Winchester. A repeating rifle was something 

 new to them, and although no direct request was made, 

 I knew they were ail very anxious to be made acquainted 

 with its mechanism and workings. 



Timayanes was accordingly sent to fetch it, a mark 

 was set up at a hundred and lifty paces, and after J had 

 fired two shots, Ahmed Khan and each of the villagers 

 fired one in turn, and appeared lost in admiration and 

 desire for its pos-ession. 



Returning to our seats, they asked what good the rifle 

 would be to them without* the cartridges, how many 

 cartridges I had brought with me, etc., and Ahmed Khan 

 appeared so disappointed when I told him it would be 

 necessary to send to America for renewals, that it struck 

 me as a passing thought, that he expected me to give it 

 him, or wanted to make a trade for it. 



I next diverted conversation to a new channel, by in- 

 quiring about the game in the higher ranges, and was 

 told that there were chamois and mountain sheep above 

 the timber, and bears also, and thar. they would be down 

 now on their summer feeding grounds, but that the 

 country was rugged and difficult, and that it would be a 

 long and fatiguing day's march to reach the timber limit 

 from the village. 



I told them that 1 had come resolved to reach the 

 upper mountains and engage in a chamois hunt, and, if 

 possible, secure a mountain sheep, that I was willing to 

 spend two days there, and asked what arrangements 

 were necessary , and whether I could get a good guide. 



Alter some conversation which appeared to me some- 

 what constrained. Ahmed Khan suggested that if J would 

 stay three days at the village, they" would send up and 

 get down some heads of both sheep and chamois, which 

 would come much cheaper than if I were to organize an 

 expedition, and go for them myself. 



1 endeavor* d to convey to him through the interpreter 

 that, although the climbing of mountain heights involve 

 some hardship, it is pie i&ant to look back upon the labor 

 performed, when sitting at home at ease, and that in 

 years to come, when my hand shall perhaps be palsied 

 by age, it would be satisfaction to point out the trophies 

 of the chase to my bons and grandsons, and say: " I too 

 was once young and vigorous, my feet pressed the moun- 

 tainside, iny hand was" steady, and my aim sure. These 

 trophies are my witnesses." 



"God is great!" exclaimed they all. "The Frank 

 has come from a far country to kill game in Mount Olym- 

 pus, and what was there to hinder him ? The country 

 and the people were at his command, and he was iree to 

 come and go at pleasure. The Frank was doubtless a 

 great man in his own coun'ry ? (this inquiringly) and was 

 perhaps prepared with letters of introduction to Futteh 

 Ali Shah?" I had to confess that I had nothing of the 

 sort that in point of fact I had never heard of Futteh 

 Ali Shah. "Who is he?" I asked: "the headman of some 

 village in the mountains?'' 



" Well, no," was the response after some consultation 

 among themselves; '• there isn't any village, at least no 

 village like this with women and children. Futteh Ali's 

 followers do not take their wives to the mountains, at 

 least not as a rule, and they are rather unsettled in the 

 matter of habitation. Caves are plentiful in the moun- 

 tains, and they dwell in them mostly." 



" Tney are not robbers, are they ? " I asked. ' 

 " Now Allah forbid that I should speak of the moun- 

 tain chief in these terms," said he. " Futteh Ali Shah 

 is a good neighbor who never despoiled one of the value 

 of a, kid, but pays honestly and in tub" for all the supplies 

 he gets from us, but he is chief of the mountain ranges, 

 an I it might be as well to ask his permission before en- 

 tering his territory. At least people who go to visit him 

 generally communicate with his agents at Broussa or 

 Stambuul. it the Effendi had any suitable present with 

 h m, and would send it by the hands of a villager, he 

 would return on the third day, and if the present was 

 accepted, the Effendi mignt go with confidence." 



I explained that I was unwilling to force myself so long 

 upon his hospitality, to which he leplied that he and Ins 

 village were mine as long as I liked to remain, and that 

 they felt my pre-ence an honor; but I passed tbis over, 

 and asked him what he thought of my going directly to 

 Fucteh Ali's camp, and asking bis ptrmission to shoot 

 in the mountains. On this point the villagers were 



actually step between him and his quarry; but they would 

 not betray j ou nor take part in the spoils, Ahmed Khan 

 was so much interested in your repeating rifle, br cause 

 he was sorry that it should fall into the hands of Futteh 

 Ali Shah." 



"Then would it not be the best course to pack up our 

 traps and go down to Broussa at once, before the bandit 

 gets news of our presence or our contemplated trip up- 

 ward?'' 



"It is now too late," said Timayanes; "Futteh Ali 

 Shahs agent in Broussa had news of your Highness's in- 

 tended trip, and sent word to the bandit, along with a 

 full account of your pedigree, as far as it could be gath- 

 ered in Stamboul. One of his men was in the village last 

 night, and it is as dangerous to go down as to go on to the 

 mountains. We are trapped!" 



"And what hand have you had in this?" I asked, eyeing 

 him scrutinizingly. 



"You wrong me, Effendi," be answered; "I have heard 

 of Futteh Ali Shah as a noted bandit, who goes shares 

 with the authorities, or sets them at defiance, as it suits 

 him, and who, when hard pressed, takes to the moun- 

 tain.-; but I had no idea he was in this neighborhood until 

 last night, when I discoursed with one of his men, and 

 learned that your every movement was known to Futteh 

 Ali Shah since you reached Stamboul, together with 

 the exact amount of your letter of credit, drawn nine 

 months ago for ah >ut two thous tnd sequins, and now re- 

 duced to a balance of five hundred." 



I eyed the wily Greek keenly, but he showed no dis- 

 turbance. Was it possible that he bad got hold of my 

 letter of credit, or made inquiries at the banks? Possible: 

 but then it was just as possible that the bandit's agents, 

 hearing of my meditated trip up the mountains, had in- 

 stituted prompt inquiries through channels familiar to 

 them 



And they had got the figures down to a fine point. I 

 had. left home with $3,500, and had now something less 

 than a thousand, designed to defray the co-ts of a trip to 

 the land of the Pyramids and return to the United States. 

 And now how would this matter turn out? Fighting was 

 out of the question, and escape perhaps impossible, even 

 with the aid of Ahmed Khan, who would be willing to 

 aid me at a price if he dared, but who dared not incur 

 the animosity of his troublesome neighbor, who held 

 court for the avenge of his own wrongs. 



I had a very uncomfortable rime of it, left to my own 

 reflections. It was possible that he might hold me for a 

 big ransom, which there was none to pay, in which case 

 he would be certain to have my head taken off as a point 

 of honor. More likely that knowing the amount of my 

 resources lie would demand a check for the sum, hold 

 me captive while it w&s being collected, then act the good 

 fellow and give me five sequins and a letter of recom- 

 mendation to the authorities, begging them to see me on 

 my way to America, or to commend my case to the con- 

 sideration of the IT. S. Minister at Constantinople. But 

 grave as was my dilemma, and foreseeing clearly as T did 

 that my holiday would be brought to an abrupt termina- 

 tion, I could not help being anxious as to whether I 

 should get a few days of chamois and mountain sheep 

 hunting, whde the messenger was absent securing my 

 ransom. 



Gradually it dawned upon me that the wisest course I 

 could adopt was to put the best possible face on the mat- 

 ter, and recognizing the inevitable, endeavor to mollify 

 matters by submitting with graceful resignation and en- 

 deavoring to preserve a show of ban camaraderie toward 

 my captors. I intended to spend the money in travel, 

 and the worst would but cut my holiday short, and so. 

 before the day was far advanced I sent Timayanes to 

 Ahmed Khan to announce my determination to go up the 

 mountain the following morning, to ask him to get me a 

 good guide for the chamois hunt and necessary packmen, 

 and to intimate that they would all be pid before start- 



ing. 



A. 



OYSTERS ON TREES. 



BUSINESS recently called me to Honduras, and I have 

 just now returned well pleased with my trip. My 

 friend Bliff, accompanying me part of the way, served to 

 add to the enjoyment, for Bliff is a cheerful companion 

 at all times, and takes the rough and the smooth without 

 complaining. We have been boon companions many a 

 day through flood and field, and when I broached the 

 hope of his accompanying me, he jumped at the chance. 

 We were duly installed as passengers on board the steam- 

 ship Wanderer. This steamer is subsidized to carry 

 Queen Victoria's mail that comes from England via New 

 York and New Orleans to her little colony down in Hon- 

 duras. 



On the fifth day we arrived at Belize, in British Hon- 

 duras. On entering the pretty harbor of Belize ever- 

 green islands could be seen on every hand . My companion 

 and I had laid out a programme o*£ trips to be made here 

 and there in the interest of business and pleasure, and the 

 town of Belize was to be our base of operations. Mine 

 host of the Union Hotel was quite accommodating, and 

 whenever we chose to take a trip to the neighboring 

 country or adjacent islands, he procured us horses, boats 

 and attendants, and supplied a substantial lunch. After 

 our arrival at Belize, Bhff and I would sally out with our 

 samples and drum up the town for a few days, and then 

 we would change the programme by taking a ride into 

 the country or making a trip to some of the islands or 

 cayes in the vicinity. 



I had often heard of oysters growing on the trunks 

 and bran ches of trees— groves of 1 1 ving green um braeet us 

 unwilling to express an' opinion. They gave verbal trees, with oysters growing upon them— and my friend 

 approval, but it was so much qualified by their manner ! and I set aside one day to investigate the fact. We hired 

 that it was evident that thev did not wholly recommend the services of a young negro boatman called Lightfinger. 

 the procedure; and thinking that thev would discuss the His boat resembled most of the small boats used on this 

 matter more freely in my own and Tunayane's absence, coast. It was thirty feet long by six feet beam, and with 

 I asked them to consider the matter and let me know a depth of hold of about three and a half feet amidships, 

 their conclusion later in the day. Meantime I begged and a slight rising sheer at bow and stern. It was hewn 

 that they would have a guide and some men to carry the out of a solid log of wood, of the tree called "toobroos." 

 pack if the journey were decided on. | The forward and after ends were decked over, and water- 



(• What do you think of their making so much fuss j ways exteuded along the sides of the cockpit. A plat- 

 about it?"' 1 asked Timayanes. t form of boards covered the floor, and beneath it rested 

 "Simply that Futteh A i Shah is a bandit," he replied, iron ballast, of which there was about a ton. Three or 

 "who will bargain through his agents tor safekeeping at four removable thwarts were arranged along the cock- 

 a moderate price while you are « utside his net. but who pit for seats, and upon tbem were placed pigs of iron of 

 is apt to name his own pi ic\ and put it high, too, if you about one hundred weight each, for shifting ballast, 

 enter Ids precincts without stipulation " Hooks wtre attached by pieces of rope to the pigs, and 

 "But Ahmed Khan," I inquired, "and the other vil- by these hooks they were held jam up to the weather 

 ' ers. Are they in league with him?" | coaming, and in coming about they could be easily de- 

 No." said Timayanes, "they fear him, and would not tached a,nd slid over to the other side. Sharp as a knife 



