Nov. 21, 1889.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



345 



things, to time, to apace, sky and earth, to the last of 

 human motives— the last in the crucible when all others 

 are evaporated — the desire of life and companionship? 

 The author is just, and a very good advocate, too, to put 

 the Indian thus in the box and let him tell his own story 

 for hiniself. We listen intently, almost reverently, to 

 this strange voice, to this mind that seems great; we 

 think of the speaker after he has stepped down and gone. 



There are other points in the book that cannot be ad- 

 verted to here — the more detailed matters of composing 

 and executing it — the thrilling, engrossing character of 

 the hunting and warpath stories when the author tells 

 them himself; his simple, excellent English that puts 

 you side by side with the man he is telling- you about: his 

 modesty, too, in declining some of the honor that would 

 naturally come to him and shifting it off on to the shoul- 

 ders of Mr. J. B. Dunbar, who seems to be a brother spirit 

 with the author; and, last of all, the affection seen in 

 every spot where he speaks of Major Frank North, and 

 his brother, Captain Luther H. North, the famous scouts, 

 and seen, perhaps most touch in gly, where he dedicates 

 this book, not to Major Frank North, Pa'-ni Le shar, but 

 to His Memory. 



Mr. Grinnell is not an enthusiast, nor a sentimentalist, 

 over the Indians. There are bad Indians, he says, as 

 well as good. From his nearly twenty years' acquaint- 

 ance with the Pawnees, hunting with them and living 

 with them, having their esteem, he has been enabled to 

 get a good knowledge of them. Lo! he has found them 

 human; he tells us so, and tells it fascinatingly. It is 

 hard to say whether the book will be found more valua- 

 ble for its entertainment or its truth; it is very unusual 

 to find one and the same document embodying so much 

 of both; and, most of aM, so deep a philosophy and love. 



John Elliott Curran. 



"Captive Giraffes."— The types say that no female 

 giraffes were added to the collection in the London Zoo 

 from '38 to '67. They should read two females were pur- 

 chased. The original four consisted of three males and 

 one female, and it would have been hard lines for the 

 single one to have produced seventeen youngsters; par- 

 ticularly as the period of gestation is sixteen months. — 

 F. J. T. 



'unit mid $ut* r 



TRAPPERS OF THE RAPPAHANNOCK. 



A COLD, sweeping, searching east wind lifted the 

 tide of the Rappahannock higher and higher against 

 its banks, which rise from the form of marsh and shallow 

 sandbar to that of the precipitous cliff. Great masses of 

 light but incessant rain pursue each other across the 

 fields, and penetrate the skin of the dejected cattle, 

 until they shiver disconsolately in the fence corners. It 

 is the first approach of winter, and the contrast with the 

 lovely October weather of yesterday is sharp and strik- 

 ing. Recent frosts have killed the densely matted crab 

 grass which covers the cornfields, and in fertile bottoms 

 the ragged forms of the lifeless prince's feathers bow and 

 toss their mangled plumes, like war-stained veterans at 

 the close of a long campaign. All the color has been ob- 

 literated for some weeks, and now the bright crimson 

 of their heads and stems is changed to the dull and lifeless 

 hue of dingy brown. Beneath their shelter the little 

 brown-coated sparrow and ortolan, sleek and fat with 

 the prosperity of the fall seed harvest, rustle among the 

 mats of crab grass and scarcely rise in their low, brief 

 flittings, even at the approach of the passer-by. High in 

 the air long bands of wild geese hold their carefully 

 selected course among the clouds, and prepare for then- 

 descent upon the rushing waves of the river, which the 

 winds have capped with crests of foam. 



Just on the bank of the river rises a peculiar structure. 

 It is the home of the trapper for the furring season. 

 Built like a wigwam in shape, it is formed by poles 

 placed on the ground in a circle, and converging to a 

 point at the top, which is left open to permit the passage 

 of the smoke arising from the fire, when lighted in the 

 center of the floor. The hut is covered first with rude 

 and coarse grass, and then coated over with earth and 

 mud to exclude the wintry winds, which are very pene- 

 trating on the bleak marshes. Between the fire in the 

 middle of the floor and the shelving sides of the hut are 

 placed the rude articles of furniture, usually consisting 

 of a wooden chest, in which can be locked the ver-y 

 limited supply of cooking utensils when the householders 

 are engaged with the traps, and the large sacks, which, 

 when filled with straw, serve for beds. 



Rarely does the number of trappers exceed three, and 

 sometimes only one pursues this laborious occupation 

 alone. If the marshes, which are rented for the trapping 

 season, from November until April or May, are very 

 large, the trappers use hundreds of steel traps, varying in 

 size from the small muskrat single-spring trap to the 

 heavy otter trap. These traps are placed in the "leads," 

 which are water pathways intersecting each other, and 

 extending over the whole surface of the marsh at inter- 

 vals. Some of the larger animals are trapped by a group 

 of traps, so placed as to catch more than one of the 

 animal's feet. These traps require very close attention, 

 as they must be frequently moved to new situations, and 

 many of the trapper's victims make their escape by gnaw- 

 ing off their own feet if left more than twelve hours in 

 the traps. The method of killing the animals is by a 

 blow upon the head with a short club, which the trapper 

 takes in his hand. The muskrat is the commonest ani- 

 mal found by the trappers, and his skin sometimes sells 

 for 30 cents, but usually 12 to 15 cents is the amount of 

 its value. 



The mink furnishes fur in two colors, red and black, 

 and these skins are worth about 40 cents. The raccoon 

 has very handsome gray fur, and its ringed tail is a 

 special ornament, as it is always left attached to the skin. 

 * Its value is about 75 cents. Frequently the red and gray 

 foxes are trapped upon the marshes: but by far the rarest 

 and most beautiful of the fur-bearing animals is the sleek 

 and silky-coated otter. Its skin is worth from §6 to §10, 

 and the capture of this powerful animal often requires 

 more than one large trap. It is an interesting spectacle 

 to see a family of otters inlaying on the ice when the 

 river is frozen over. They are expert fishers and capture 

 their prey through openings in the ice. Otter hunting 

 with dogs, which is so much enjoyed in Europe, is never 

 practiced upon the Rappahannock, and the trapper is the 



only human enemy which this wary denizen of the marsh 

 has to fear. Upon the light soils bordering the river the 

 persimmon abounds, and both the raccoon and the opos- 

 sum are very fond of its fruit. One hunter, in a single 

 month of autumn, captured over fifty opossums and quite 

 a number of raccoons by following these animals to their 

 nocturnal feeding grounds. 



Through the marshes ruu many creeks and estuaries of 

 the river, and as these, are usually very circuitous in their 

 courses, and bordered by a dense growth of tall grasses, 

 they afford most excellent opportunities for the duck 

 hunter. The elbows and bends of the creeks are rather 

 wider than the very narrow courses of the streams, and 

 it is in these wider spots that the ducks come to feed. 

 Seated in a small skiff, the hunter silently propels his 

 tiny craft through the shallow water; where a sudden 

 bend in the creek reveals his presence to the ducks, when 

 too late for them to escape his gun. But so excessively 

 shy and vigilant are the birds, that it is necessary to 

 select a peculiar state of the atmosphere and a particular 

 direction of the wind to secure the successful approach 

 of the hunter. Late in the winter flocks of swans appear 

 on the Rappahannock. Their flight is often during the 

 night, and the elevation of their course is almost beyond 

 the range of vision. They are recognized by their pecu- 

 liar note, which descends from the moon-lit clouds with 

 a weird and almost supernatural effect. They alight on 

 the waters of the river, but too far off to be reached by 

 an ordinary shotgun. It is a very interesting sport to 

 shoot these birds with some of the improved rifles of 

 long range, as it is a most difficult and rare achievement. 



Hawks" in great variety abound on these riverlands, 

 and a trapper once found a wild duck caught in one of 

 his muskrat steel traps, and a hawk in another, just a 

 few feet distant from the duck. Evidently the hawk 

 had attacked the duck and been caught in a trap himself, 

 although neither trap had been set with any view to 

 catching either duck or hawk. The wild geese are some- 

 times caught in the steel traps, which are placed in the 

 wheat fields, where they feed upon the young wheat, but 

 it is believed that they rarely ever revisit the field where 

 this result has been accomplished. During the winter 

 vast armies of blackbirds move over miles of the river 

 country, and sometimes they literally darken the sky as 

 they pass over, startling the air with the rushing sound 

 of their countless wings. Frequently the bluewhig hawks 

 hang upon the flanks of these sable hosts and cause great 

 devastation in their ranks. P. S. Hunter. 



THE GUN TESTS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Your contributor "Nick" has thrown a flood of light 

 on the gun tests. From his figures I draw some conclu- 

 sions as to gauge. The 10-bores beat the 12s every way; 

 for instance, at 40yds. the average for the fifteen 12-gauge 

 pattern is 52.5; at the same distance the 10-bores average 

 54.6. At 60yds. the average for the 12 is 22.2, the 10-bore 

 scores 26.0. In penetration the 10 is still ahead at all dis- 

 tances, and both barrels. At 40yds, the 12-bores, right 

 barrel, for 14 guns, average 14 sheets, left barrels average 

 11. At 60vds. the right barrel 12s average 7, the left 

 6. Now, the 10-bores at 40yds., right 21, left 23: at 

 60, right 13, left 14. This is the average for 14 guns, 

 leaving the Winchesters out. Like "Mck," I am sur- 

 prised that the firms mentioned are not represented. 

 These tests are very valuable to all classes of shooters, 

 and tell a true tale of what guns will do when fairly 

 tested. They prove the superiority of the 10 over the 12, 

 and I think the good work should go on until the whole 

 line of guns are tested , and then comes the loading in 

 endless variety, I am anxious to see the Ithaca put 

 through the test. D. 



Irontoh, Ohio, Nov. 5. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Your correspondent "Nick" has placed under obliga- 

 tions those who are interested in the reports of your trials 

 of guns at target. His table of patterns, percentages and 

 other details brings the otherwise somewhat-hard-to-grasp 

 mass of statistics into manageable form and compass. 



Referring to his comments accompanying the compiled 

 table, I am unable to draw the same conclusions. His 

 first is that "it pays to put plenty of charge in a gun." 

 If he means powder, the proposition is not sustained by 

 the performance of the first gun on the list, the Reming- 

 ton 16-gauge, which, with only 2idrs. and loz. shot (ac- 

 cording to the generally accepted theories one would say, 

 too much shot for the powder charge), gives a penetration 

 equal to any on the record and pattern among the best. 

 Compare Remington 16-gauge, 24drs., loz. , pattern 60 per 

 cent., penetration 22 and 16, with Parker 12-gauge, 3|drs., 

 l|oz. , pattern 67 per cent., penetration 14 and 16. The 

 same Parker 12-gauge in the first trial, with powder and 

 shot in the proportion of 1 to 51, gives better penetration 

 than the above, where the powder charge is greater 

 relatively — viz., 1 to 5^. 



As to whether it pays to buy a cheap gun depends on 

 what is meant by cheap. The f 80 Parker is a cheap gun 

 compared with the $350 Greener, and its target compares 

 favorably with that of the latter. There are now some 

 very well built guns in the market at $25 and thereabout, 

 which shoot well in the field, and it would not be sur- 

 prising if some of them would show well at the target 

 in competition with the most costly guns. 



"Nick" says in regard to hard hitting, "It is hard to see 

 what advantage a heavy 10-gauge gun has over a 12 or 

 even a 16," and the targets show that it has none. In 

 pattern the larger gauges should, and do, show an advan- 

 tage, because the charge is larger, and the guns shooting 

 equally well, the larger gauge gets more on the target. 



I think these points are about the only ones on which 

 the targets throw" any light, viz., the advantages, if any, 

 of large over small gauges, and the best relative propor- 

 tions of powder and shot, and if my deductions are cor- 

 rect the answer to the first is, there is none in penetration 

 and some in pattern. The second question I think the 

 most important of all, and the showing in the trials is so 

 contrary (as to penetration) to the generally received 

 opinion" that I think it should not be accepted as conclu- 

 sive until confirmed by further experiment. 



Now let us assume the purpose of the trials to be to 

 ascertain first the best weight, length and proportions for 

 guns of each gauge. Suppose we take a 12 like the 

 Parker, already used as representing an excellent weapon 

 of that size. Try it against others of greater and less 

 weight and the same quality. Do the same with the 

 other gauges, using of course the same charges for all of 



similar calibers. Take the gun that gives the best results, 

 and with it try carefully various combinations of powder, 

 wads, shot and modes of securing the charge, including 

 the use of the brass star wad, which ought to be very 

 good, although it has not been much used so far as I 

 know. 



This matter of fastening the shot wad is another very 

 important one and worthy of patient experiment. In 

 these days of machine made guns, it is fair to suppose 

 that the load that does the best work in one good gun 

 will do well in all; and as ammunition will be bought 

 fixed hereafter, it is of the utmost consequence that the 

 loading be as nearly perfect as possible. It is claimed 

 that the combinations adopted by the various ammuni- 

 tion makers are correct and approved by experts, and 

 perhaps they are all right; but a series of experiments 

 under your system would be very satisfactory in cor- 

 roborating this or otherwise. The same operation would, 

 of course, be needed for each gauge and for each size of 

 shot. 



To recapitulate, ascertain the best weight, length, etc., 

 for each gauge of gun; the best proportion of powder to 

 shot with each size of shot; the mode of wadding on 

 powder and the best way of securing wad over shot. 

 This would give definite aim and purpose to the trials 

 and the result would shed light on the most important 

 questions involved in the use of the gun. Instead of this 

 we have so far a miscellaneous collection of statistics 

 showing how M)-. Brown's 10-gauge performs with one 

 load, Mr. Jones's 12 with a second and Mr. Robinson's 16 

 with a third, all interesting but hardly furnishing data 

 from which to draw conclusions of practical use to Smith 

 when he wants to buy a gun or load or order cartridges. 

 Pardon my presumption in offering these suggestions. 



AIMING AHEAD. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



When a flying object is to be hit, a baseball club and 

 a gun arc one and the same thing. And it no more be- 

 comes a good marksman to take sight along his gun 

 before shooting at a bird than it would a ball player to 

 take sight along his bat before striking at a curving in- 

 comer of a ball. 



The article by "W." in your last week's issue, on the 

 subject of aiming ahead, is very instructive from a mathe- 

 matical standpoint, and very interesting to those of us 

 who profess to be wing-shots: but are you aware, Mr, 

 Editor, that hundreds of anxious embryo wing-shots are 

 poring over that article and thhiking how nicely they 

 will apply the principles when next they go into the 

 field? My advice to any one who really wants to shoot 

 birds upon the wing, is to defer the mathematics of the 

 thing until after the a,rt has been acquired. He who 

 would become a wing-shot must look at the bird and not 

 at the gun, just as he looks at the ball instead of looking 

 at the bat; and then in the field he will soon learn to bat 

 the birds with the shot. If you ask him how far ahead 

 he aimed when a fine cross shot was made he will be 

 unable to tell you. The estimation and relative placing 

 of all of the factors in the problem, i. e., the distance, the 

 speed of the bird, the speed of the shot, the angles and 

 curves of flight, will all be done intuitively. There 

 are a certain number of men who learn to shoot accur- 

 ately by taking sight along the gun, but if one of these 

 men is placed in a thicket where ruffed grouse are abund- 

 ant, the grouse will all come out, and so will the gunner, 

 and all will be in good condition after they are out. That 

 at least is the rule, as far as my observation goes. Brush 

 shooting includes a factor that cannot be managed by 

 the accurate "sighter," and that is the point of suppress- 

 ing the image of the trees on the retina of the eye, when 

 grouse is dashing through the branches. It is only the 

 man who looks at the bird and not at the gun who can 

 kill ruffed grouse well in thick brush, and the comical 

 accident of firing the whole charge of shot into the trunk 

 of a large tree while watching the bird and suppressing 

 the images of all other surrounding objects often occurs 

 to him. That reminds me that the gunner often has a 

 practical demonstration of the fact that it takes an ap- 

 preciable amount of time to think. When a bird is fly- 

 ing away from A. and B., the bird is killed stone dead by 

 A. B. knows that the bird is dead, but he was so nearly 

 ready to shoot that his brain does not have time to send 

 word to the muscles to stop, and so they continue action 

 and B. shoots at the bird which he knows to be already 

 dead. 



In conclusion let me again warn beginners against 

 aiming ahead according to the mathematical lesson given 

 by "W." in the last number of Forest and Stream. If 

 they do not learn to use the gun as they do the baseball 

 bat, their ambition to become wing-shots in the brush 

 will lead to disappointment. 



I do not remember ever to have put my head anywhere 

 near the gun when wing-shooting, but I have frequently 

 killed more than half a dozen ruffed grouse in succession 

 in thick brush. Perhaps I have as frequently missed half 

 a dozen in succession, but that isn't such a pleasant thing 

 to remember, and I'll be blessed if I'm going to try to 

 think of anything of that sort. Robt. T. MORRIS. 

 New York. ____ 



The Question of Bores. — Editor Forest and Stream: 

 Being a reader and admirer of the Forest and Stream, I 

 take the liberty to ask a question of your readers, which, 

 if answered, will settle a question which I have been try- 

 ing to solve by experiments and observation for some 

 years. Which do you consider the best "all-around" gun, 

 a 10 or 12-gauge of equal grade? What I mean by "all- 

 around" gun, is one for general shooting, such as grouse, 

 quail, woodcock, wild duck, etc. I have owned several 

 of each, and never have been able to note the difference. 

 Of course, by using a 12-gauge we can use a lighter gun. 

 A reply will be thankfully received.— W. S. K. 



Virginia "Partridges" and "Quail."— A gentleman 

 who returned Oct. 16 from Virginia, reports that quail 

 are very abundant in the hills around Charlottesville, the 

 county seat of Albemarle county. In that locality he 

 says young quail are called "partridges" and old ones are 

 always quail. Probably the old "quad" may really be 

 ruffed grouse. 



The Connecticut Snaeers.— Fredrick Chase, a Hous- 

 atonic station agent, at Kent (Litchfield county), was 

 arrested last week charged with selling ten ruffed grouse 

 that had been snared. Chase will have his trial Nov. 25 

 before Justice of the Peace Perry Hefcut of Kent, — G. 



