FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Jan. 16, 1890. 



tie fyarkn\m ^anrist 



"PAWNEE HERO STORIES AND FOLK-TALES." 



"VX^HEN the deft hands of cuuuing science frame, 

 ^" From t.be rough fosails found in long-dried lakes, 

 A jointed skeleton, each fragment takes 



A meaning new, ind the vast wreck can claim 

 Its place in time's long list. With kindred lore 

 Here one has woven from a hundred shreds 

 Of myths' and legends' many-colored threads 

 The stately robe a vanished nation wore. 



No ! not yet vanished. For the stalwart hones 

 Are clothed with living flesh. The nerves can thrill 



With hope at the grave leader's earnest tones— 

 The gallant records that these pages All 



Would rouse to mutiny the Roman stones, 

 And give despair heart for the future still. 

 Dec. 4, 1889. II. G. Dulog. 



WINTER GLIMPSES. 



THE snow came hard all night and the following 

 morning:, hut ceased in the afternoon, Sunday after- 

 noon. The first winter landscape is complete, and there 

 is a place where it might, be fairly viewed, but the path 

 to Jason's Hill is a mile Ions: and a foot deep. Once in 

 the road, a primitive country highway, we are chagrined 

 to note that the wilderness of snow, yet unscarred by 

 wheel or runner, has been invaded by a pedestrian, "We 

 can only fall in and take a lesson in trailing — an easy 

 lesson. Deduction first, a boy, from the diminutive 

 track. Deduction second, top boots, for see how he 

 shuns the easy places, and kicks through the drifts. 

 Third, a whip, from the serpentine coils and lengths im- 

 printed. And lastly, the proof of it all in the full-length 

 mould where he threw himself, arms extended, whip and 

 all, in very wantonness of life. The snow retains it all, 

 but the wand has gone off w'ith the whistle and laughter. 

 "f " * " '#' ' " # # 



A low farmhouse, a black barn and a barnyard, with a 

 bunch of young stock — yearlings and over — black and 

 white, the whole six. They simulate an interest in a few 

 trampled cornstalks. Their coats are rough, unkempt, 

 cowlicked. A melancholy group. 



******* 



A farmer, in a yellow sleigh, breaking track toward us. 

 Can this spirited Dobbin be the drooping plow-slave of 

 the spring? He has forgotten his spavins. His nostrils 

 spurn every breath to try another. The check hangs 

 loose: his neck arches from side to side: the knees act 

 high and the hoofs strike through to the ground, thud, 

 thud. He goes by with a plunge that strains all the fast- 

 enings and alarms the bells into chime. 



• * " v ■ 



Jason's Hill, a massive white house with closed blinds 

 and nailed doors, well back from the road in conserva- 

 tive fashion. A clump of laurel in the corner of the 

 wall, a rustic seat, newly upholstered in snow, and a 

 magnificent spruce, gracefully bending under its new 

 w eight of foliage, an ideal Christmas tree. The clouds 

 have not dispersed, but are drawn out in ranks to show 

 their linings, while the sun has taken advantage of an 

 opening low down to establish a throne. The view 

 slopes gently down to the valley a mile away, where a 

 single smoke from the village, a thin graceful smoke, 

 pours aspiringly up, up, up. Above and beyond the 

 woods begin, thin at first and interspersed with frozen 

 acres, mere snow patches at this distance, but growing 

 thicker and ending in a forest of oak with its withered 

 foliage blending with the sunset to make a purple horizon. 

 A patch of leafless forest in shadow shows absolutely 

 black, and the pastures with underbrush above the white, 

 furnish all the shades of brown, but only the evergreens 

 seem really indigenous to the scene. The oak rustles and 

 shivers under the obnoxious burden, but the pine spreads 

 its hospitable arms, and the tiniest needle is a perch for 

 a snowflake. At the foot of the hill the swamp, inac- 

 cessible at other seasons, is recognized now by its fringe 

 of alders, and the black streak of ice kept clear by the 

 wind among the yellow bogs. 



The sun is beginning to abdicate his reign, and all 

 the splendor of the scene is gone. The apparent sparkle 

 of warmth has become a genuine glitter of cold, and the 

 attenuated air seems full of invisible icicles. Darkness 

 comes and brings the wind of the night before to acceler- 

 ate the retreat of the intruder and obliterate the obnox- 

 ious tracks. Jefferson Scribb. 



HUNTING THE HORSE-HEAD SEAL. 



THE great gray seal (Haliehxerns grypus) is known at 

 the Mingan Islands as the "horse-head." This 

 name has been given to the species by the coast residents 

 because in shape and size the gray seal's head has a 

 fancied resemblance to the head of a horse. 



About the Mingan Islands is one of the very few local- 

 ities where this animal can be found, and the fact that it 

 still exists here is sufficient proof of its extreme shyness 

 and acuteness, qualities which are essential to protect it 

 from extermination. Could it be easily approached it 

 would soon be destroyed by the coast fishermen and the 

 Indians of this region, who would kill the animal for its 

 pelt to barter with the traders. And it would also be- 

 come the target for the rifles of sportsmen who not in- 

 frequently visit southern Labrador in summer, and who 

 would no doubt find much gratification in shooting at 

 such noble game. That the gray seal has been shot at 

 more or less goes without saying. Its larger head and 

 heavy snout, seen occasionally above the water among 

 the Mingan Islands, are too great a temptation for the 

 average individual to resist who chances to have a "shoot- 

 ing iron" handy. But these chance shots seldom have 

 any other effect than to frighten the seals. The conse- 

 quence is that they have been educated to the extent at 

 least of learning that man is their most deadly enemy, 

 and the wariness and intelligence they exhibit in avoid- 

 ing Ins immediate presence, while remaining in his prox- 

 imity, is remarkable. With a keen scent and quick ear. 

 this animal depends more on the sense of smell and hear- 

 ing than on sight for protection, or rather for escape 

 from its enemies. While it appears to be not at all de- 

 ficient in sight, and quickly notices the approach of a 

 vessel, boat or man, if the latter is walking upright, the 

 great luminous eyes cannot, however, so certainly detect 

 the presence of an enemy as the organs of hearing and 

 scent. An Indian dressed in seal&kin, crawling along 



the shore among the boulders and carefully imitating 

 the actions of a seal on shore, may deceive the 

 wary watchers hauled out on some projecting 

 ledge. But let them once get a sniff of Mr. Lo, even at a 

 distance of a hundred yards, or catch the sound made by 

 a stone falling beneath his feet, and instantly they plunge 

 into the water. Nor will they always haul out again un- 

 til they have patrolled the shore for some distance, watch- 

 ing, listening and sniffing to detect the presence of a foe. 

 On the occasion of our first visit to Mingan Island we had 

 a fine opportunity to note this peculiarity in the habits of 

 this species. Although Mr. Lucas and the writer had 

 secured a position where we lay in perfect concealment 

 from the seals off shore, and which were to leeward of us, 

 we repeatedly saw them come to the surface, raise their 

 heads and shoulders out of water to look around, and an 

 instant later disappear with a great splurge as they got 

 our scent that the stiff breeze wafted down to them. " The 

 gray seal is said to haul out invariably on the lee side of 

 the island or reef which it frequents. The Indians, who 

 concede that this animal is "heap smart," believe that it 

 has a double purpose in thus choosing its hauling ground. 

 By doing this it has smooth water, and no surf, where it 

 approaches the shore, and, in choosing a projecting, iso- 

 lated ledge or reef to leeward, it is able to scent the ap- 

 proach of an enemy from the landward side. Thus, tak- 

 ing into account the wariness of this creature, and its 

 almost human intelligence in avoiding danger, together 

 with the fact that it immediately sinks and is lost, if shot 

 in deep water, the task of securing specimens of it is by 

 no means so easy as it might seem to be. 



Commander Wakebam, of the La Canadienne, very 

 kindly interested himself to secure for us the services of 

 two Indians who were at the Hudson's Bay Po. ; t, at Min- 

 gan Harbor, to assist us in the attempt to get specimens 

 of the horse-head. One of these was a half-breed, and, 

 like most half-breed voyagers, who figure in stories of the 

 North and Northwest, be answered to the name of Jean 

 Batiste. The name awakened half forgotten memories of 

 stories we had read in years long gone by, wherein adven- 

 tures with wild animals, frontier fights, portages, elc, 

 were inextricably mixed with some remarkable being of 

 the half-breed persuasion, who gloried in the name of 

 Jean Batiste, and who, unlike his famous prototype, John 

 the Baptist, never lost his head. 



On Monday, Aug. 15, the Indians paddled alongside at 

 an early hour in the morning, and though they expressed 

 their doubts about the fitness of the day for seal hunting — 

 their opinion being that the wind would blow "heap too 

 hard" — they were willing to go. Immediately after they 

 came on board our anchor broke ground and the Gram- 

 pus went skipping out of the harbor, and we steered for 

 the Perroquets, a group of islets and rocky, wave-washed 

 reefs, about two miles to the westward of Mingan Island. 

 This group is said to be tho favorite haunt of the gray 

 seal; and here a great number of puffins (or perroquets) 

 breed, also a few gannets, murres and terns. 



The wind, which was from west-north west,blew so strong 

 by the time we had reached our destination, that it kicked 

 up a choppy sea of considerable size that broke heavily 

 on the Perroquets. The Indians shook their heads sig- 

 nificantly, grunted in disapprobation, and finally told us 

 that nothing could be done on the reefs while such a 

 wind and sea prevailed. We were determined, however, 

 not to lose the day absolutely, if we could help it; there- 

 fore, we up helm and ran down under the lee of Mingan 

 Island, where we anchored. It was our intention to land 

 on the island and collect birds, plants, etc., but a small 

 herd of seals were seen hauled out on a projecting point, 

 about a half mile from the vessel, and their discovery 

 was followed by an instant resolve to try and bag one, at 

 least. Jean Batiste and his more aged coadjutor had 

 little hopes of success with such a breeze blowing, but 

 they were willing to try. The possibility of achieving 

 success, coupled with the fact that failure would leave 

 us no worse off than before, and the interest we had in 

 watching one of the Indiana personate a seal, fixed our 

 determination to make the attempt. Accordingly, 

 Mr. Lucas and the writer went on shore, accom- 

 panied by our two native assistants. Our landing 

 w T as effected about 1,000yds. from the seals. Soon after 

 the oldest Indian drew on a garment of sealskin, with a 

 hood attached to represent a seal's head. Having made 

 this change in his dress, and loaded his gun with bullets, 

 he started for the seals. But, notwithstanding, he crawled 

 and crouched, worming his way among the boulders and 

 elevated ridges of stone, with the proverbial cunning of 

 the aboriginal hunter, and although his external appear- 

 ance at a distance bore no mean resemblance to a seal, 

 nevertheless, all of the seals but one, were so suspicious 

 that they flopped off into the sea and began their usual 

 cautious patrol of the shore, their great heads being seen 

 now and then a little way out as they rose to make a 

 reconnoissance. The imagination cm best picture the 

 intense interest with which we watched that seal on the 

 rock, and our hunter wriggling hi-? way slowly toward 

 the animal. Unaided by our glasses, we could not dis- 

 tinguish either seal or man from the ledges, but the binoc- 

 ulars enabled us to watch closely every movement. At 

 last the Indian, having approached the seal as closely as 

 possible (perhaps within 30yds.) without getting directly 

 to windward of it, rose on his knees and fired. We had 

 many regrets and some mortification when we saw the 

 animal flounder off the ledge and plunge headlong into 

 the sea. We knew full well that, even if mortally 

 wounded, its first instinct would be to get off shore into 

 deep water, where, in the event of its death, it would be 

 lost to us. Besides, it was certain that seal hunting was 

 ended for that day, for, if badly frightened, these animals 

 often leave the locality for some other island. And soon 

 we saw them swimming past, as fast as they could go, 

 pokiug their heads out now and then to talie a hasty 

 glance around, and then diving beneath the surface. 

 Our noble red claimed that he had killed the seal and 

 that the latter had sunk near the shore. But this state- 

 ment in its entirety was accepted with a reasonable 

 amount of salt, though no audible doubts were expressed. 



The seals having gone, Mr. Lucas and I turned our at- 

 tention to shooting birds. We met with the best success 

 in bagging snipe or beach birds (Tringa ruficoUis), which 

 were very abundant. I knocked over 47 of these birds 

 with one discharge of both barrels, and my companion 

 did nearly as well. 



The next day proved more favorable. A party was 

 left on Mingan Island early in the morning, to make col- 

 lections of such game and other material as could be 

 secured there, while the Grampus went over to the Per- 



roquets and anchored. It was flood tide at this time, and 

 since the seals haul out only on the ebb, I improved the 

 opportunity thus presented of visiting two of the inlets. 

 We went entirely unarmed, for it would have frightened 

 the seals to have fired a, gun. 



However, we did not return empty-handed to the ves- 

 sel. A fine series of young puffins, in various stages of 

 plumage, an adult bird of the same species, several mur- 

 re's eggs, and a young and an adult rutin e were obtained. 

 These were taken from their nests and the birds, of 

 course, alive when we got them and in first-class condi- 

 tion for specimens. The adult murre was put into the 

 well of the Grampus, and though it was extremely shy 

 at first and would dive on the smallest provocation, it 

 soon became quite tame and would eat fish from our 

 own hands, with as much readiness as a chicken would 

 take crumbs, The securing of live specimens of these 

 sea birds is often of considerable advantage to us, for the 

 naturalists are thus enabled to study more closely their 

 attitudes and habits. 



As the tide ebbed Mr. Lucas, the two reds and I went 

 on shore upon a rocky reef, around which we saw a 

 dozen or more of the great horse-heads, some of them 

 evidently somewhat disposed to haul out, though none 

 of them would stay on the rocks longer than a few min- 

 utes at a time. During the afternoon we all did a rea- 

 sonable amount of crawling and crouching & la Indian. 

 But before Mr. Lucas and I entered opon this we gave 

 the Indians a reasonable opportunity to distinguish 

 themselves. The seals were too shy, however, to be be- 

 guiled by even the wily old red hunter, who tried in vain 

 all his arts of imitating the calls and movements of the 

 animals that were watching him from a 3afe distance, 

 their curiosity being blended with sufficient caution to 

 keep them out of danger. Jean Batiste wounded a seal 

 pretty badly in the water aud probably it died, but before 

 we could reach the spot in our dory it had vanished. 

 Other shots were fired at the seals, but although we 

 thought some of them hit the mark no game was secured. 



A low barometer and the rather threatening appear- 

 ance of the weather, together with the desirability of 

 taking the Indians home, induced us to start for Mingan 

 Harbor in the evening. On our way we picked up Mr. 

 Palmer and Capt. Baxter, who had bagged a good lot of 

 specimens at Mingan Island, among which wore some 

 young black ducks in three varieties of plumage. 



J. W, Collins. 



U. 8. Fish Commission, Washington. D. C. 



MIXED FEATHERS. 



" ¥ A GRIPPE" has been upon my trail ever since I 

 returned from Maryland, where I had been tarry- 

 ing for several weeks sampling the quail of the Eastern 

 Shore and reviewing old landmarks; but that European 

 disorder has at last brought me to a point where the doc- 

 tor steps up and bangs it into me right and left. 



Since I last wrote for these columns I have had the 

 misfortune to lose my dog Dan. Poor old fellow, I trust 

 he has found comfortable quarters in dog heaven, for he 

 richly deserved reward for his good work on earth. His 

 death determined me to drop the gun and resort to rod 

 and reel for amusement. Now, 1 had never attempted 

 fresh- water fishing, and to prepare for the new order of 

 things I read all the finny literature in sight and pur- 

 chased an outfit. The first trip was to the headwaters of 

 the Hudson after black bass, and resulted in no fish; but 

 I acquired considerable aptness in the matter of procur- 

 ing bait. Next Milton Lake, in New Jersey, was tried. 

 I know there are bass in that lake, for I have seen and 

 talked to them. The first day the weather conditions 

 were not favorable. The next day, after fishing several 

 hours and expecting a strike every minute, it began to 

 rain. I was beginning to grow discouraged, and had I 

 not met a man who had seen another man who had 

 caught a bass in Milton Lake two years before, I should 

 have given up in despair. So I tried again, and carried 

 with me this time six different kinds of bait, one of them 

 being raw beef. The bass did not seem to want it, but it 

 must have attracted a large, unfriendly- looking dog that 

 came sauntering down through the woods, and who 

 made me feel very uncomfortable by his presence. But 

 he departed without doing violence to my person, and 

 left me discontented and meditative beside that pretty 

 stream. It was as likely a bit of water as I ever read of 

 in which to fish for black bass. Placid p>ols, noisy rapids, 

 moss-fringed rocks and overhanging banks, and a perfect 

 autumn afternoon, with the birds hoppingabout in search 

 of food and the leaves fluttering to the ground as the trees 

 disrobed for their long winter sleep. A pretty picture to 

 dream over, but I had come for bass, and did not feel 

 "fully repaid" for my ill-success by the beautiful scenery, 

 as I have read others have. I am now calculating the 

 probable cost of my first bass. 



So far falling had not been the brilliant success I antic- 

 ipated, and when the bird* grew ripe I concluded to 

 pluck a few. Last month I bought a ticket for Easton, 

 Maryland, on the eastern side of "the Chesapeake Bay, my 

 former home, and where I first learned to handle a gun. 

 My mission was quail, with jrobably a rabbit hunt by 

 way of variety. The quail of Talbot county are scarce, 

 strong flyers, and educated to a degree that is simply 

 astonishing. When the young brood are able to navigate 

 and retain impressions the mother hen calls them about 

 her and points out all the magnolia swamps and impene- 

 trable thickets in the vicinity of their feeding grounds, 

 and they never forget the way to these retreats. She 

 also instructs them to rise early and get breakfast over 

 before the gunner gets around, and then retire to the 

 woods untifthe afternoon is well advanced, when tbey 

 may come out and take supper, not forgetting lo remind 

 them to always sleep in a clearing or open field in a 

 bunch, with their heads out, I have often been asked 

 how far quail can fly. That depends entirely upon how 

 far they are feeding from a swamp or thicket. They 

 always manage to get there. 



I fancy they fly a little mite faster and spend more of 

 their time in the woods than they used to in the "good 

 old days" before pot-hunters and hawks were so numer- 

 ous. Speaking of hawks, Talbot county for many years 

 paid, a bounty of fifty cents on hawks, but several years 

 ago a great flock of hawks crossed the bay into one of 

 the districts of the county, and by night there was hardly 

 a charge of powder and shot remaining in that portion of 

 the county, aud when the returns were all in the county 

 treasury was about as empty as the guns. There ia no 

 bounty 'on them now. 



Quail shooting in Talbot necessitates a great amount of 



