62 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Feb. 15, 1890, 



UP IN A BALLOON. 



BALLOONING should be encouraged as a recreation. 

 As there is little ballooning done in this country, 

 very few know anything of this charming experience, 

 and nearly all have an exaggerated idea of its danger. 

 In Europe, and especially in Paris, free balloon ascents 

 are quite often made, and as a natural result the French- 

 men make good balloons. Ballooning is not more expen- 

 sive than yachting, and to my mind it is much more 

 interesting. A good silk balloon with a capacity for two 

 people — say one holding 24,000 cubic feet of gas — costs in 

 France five or six hundred dollars. Here it would cost 

 rather more. The gas is cheaper there also, but if one 

 has a good balloon and does his own work, the whole ex- 

 pense of ballooning here ought not to average over $100 

 for each ascent. With a little previous study and the 

 practical experience of a few trips, one can manage his 

 own balloon. Under ordinary circumstances two persons 

 make the best number for an ascent. A balloon club, 

 having a fleet of well-constructed balloons, could have 

 excursions and races on the same plan as that of yachting 

 and canoeing. It is an art or recreation that has been 

 neglected. At all events it has been left mostly to pro- 

 fessionals, who indulge in its most risky features and give 

 it the name of beiug a very dangerous sport, which it 

 need not have. My experience, as here related, has shown 

 me that there is more fun to be had "up in a balloon, 

 boys," than can be discovered "down in a coal mine, 

 underneath the ground." 



While visiting Paris and the exposition last fall, I made 

 several balloon voyages accompanied by a good aeronaut, 

 Dr. Eufus Wells. I had wished for some time to make 

 several experiments of a scientific nature from a balloon. 

 This I was able to do, and at the same time I was well 

 repaid by the pleasure of the trips themselves. A brief 

 account of them may interest some. The first ascent was 

 a short one, but was remarkable on account of the very 

 warm weather we found above the clouds; also for the 

 clouds themselves, which lay like a snow-covered prairie 

 below us. 



Oct. 25 I ascended in what would appear quite unfa- 

 vorable conditions. The weather was cold and the sky 

 quite shut out by low clouds. Rising from near the 

 Exposition grounds, we were greeted by the shouts of the 

 people in the streets. Soon we entered the clouds and 

 lost sight of the earth. Eapidly rising through very 

 damp clouds we emerged into bright sunlight. At this 

 point the balloon cast a distinct shadow on the clouds be- 

 low, and around the shadow of the car a beautiful rain- 

 bow halo appeared. As the balloon ascended this image 

 grew smaller, and soon disappeared. We were in a sum- 

 mer olimate, and at one time the thermometer registered 

 80° F., while on the earth it was cold and damp. This is 

 quite unusual, but is parti v accounted for by the very 

 thick clouds below. Phonetically the atmosphere was 

 good, for at the elevation of a mile every sound came up 

 distinctly. Even the chickens and ducks could be heard 

 as we passed over the country. The barometer soon indi- 

 cated that we were nearly two miles above the earth. 

 The feeling of isolation was then almost complete, for 

 very few sounds could be heard except when passing over 

 some town. Having no view of the earth, there was 

 nothing to show in what direction we were traveling or 

 at what speed. Soon after when the balloon was at a 

 lower altitude, the approaching and receding sounds such 

 as musketry and military music (which we three times 

 passed over), with the aid of the compass enabled us to 

 guess our direction and gave some idea of our speed. We 

 had left Paris at 1:30 o'clock, and although there was 

 plenty of ballast left we allowed the balloon to descend 

 at 3:45. Our first view of the earth since we left Paris 

 was gained at this time, when the small town of Essarts 

 le Roi seemed to come up to us. To avoid meeting it too 

 suddenly, we threw over enough ballast to drift : beyoud 

 it into open fields. Our anchor look sonic brandies out 

 of a treetop before striking the ground: but it soon took 

 good hold of the earth; and after opening the valve of 

 the balloon we descended gracefully to terra firma. We 

 then found that we had passed over Versailles and a half 

 dozen small towns in a southwesterly direction from 

 Paris, and had covered a distance of twenty-four miles. 

 The people of the town were much interested in the bal- 

 loon and our American flag, which was a new sight to 

 most of them. Among this provincial crowd was one 

 face that was quite attractive. It was that of a young 

 woman with a little child in her arms. Although of 

 rather a heavy type of beauty, she would have done 

 justice to a Murillo as a subject for a picture. After 

 packing our balloon we took it to the railroad station, 

 which was close at hand. Two hours later we were in 

 Paris. 



On Oct. 30 I made another balloon ascent from Paris, 

 which was truly delightful in every way. I took Dr. 

 Wells with me as before. There was more wind this 

 time and there were few clouds in the sky. Rising from 

 Boulevard de Grinelle at twenty minutes past twelve we 

 floated over the Exposition, looked down on the Eiffel 

 tower and had a splendid view of the gay city at this 

 gayest of times. Gradually ascending and rapidly drifting 

 northward, we left Paris behind us, or to speak more 

 properly, the city seemed to go away from us. Unlike 

 any other means of locomotion, in a balloon one seems to 

 be stationary, for there is no apparent motion of the 

 balloon even when drifting with a strong wind; so that 

 instead of feeling that you are floating off and up, the 

 apparent feeling is that the earth is moving away from 

 you. 



We soon struck higher and stronger currents of air and 

 went on quite rapidly, having a delightful panorama of 

 the country below us. Very soon we were traveling at 

 a lower level, and my bugle woke up quite a number of 

 sleep y-looking towns to great demonstrations as we passed 

 over them. Just before reaching the Forest of the Com - 

 piegne the balloon was descending quite rapidly, and to 

 avoid the trees we threw over a good deal of our sand 

 ballast. We rose at the rate of 1,000ft. a minute, and at 

 a height of two miles passed through some clouds into a 

 colder region. Then we took our lunch, which tasted all 

 the better for having been postponed. 



Our highest altitude was about three miles, and the 

 fastest speed about thirty miles an hour; while near the 

 ground the speed was much less. For the benefit of the 

 towns we passed over we let down messages attached to > 



paper parachutes; and to my friends in Paris I sent off 

 three carrier pigeons, two of which arrived all right. 

 The third, which was sent off at a high altitude above 

 some clouds, did not return. 



One peculiar thing in ballooning is that at any con- 

 siderable height no hills are to be seen, and unless there 

 are mountains about, the country is like a great many 

 colored maps, seeming to be quite flat. At great altitudes 

 the earth seems to be concave, not convex, as would 

 naturally be supposed. This is because directly below 

 there is great depth, but the horizon seems about as near 

 as from the ground. 



At half-past three we descended in a green field, and 

 the people for two miles around assembled to look at 

 what they had never seen before, a real balloon inhabited 

 by two handsome Americans. 



After packing our balloon in the basket, doing up our 

 instruments and. other paraphernalia, we put all our traps 

 on a wagon, and accompanied by a plebian retinue we 

 walked a mile and a half to the nearest village, which 

 proved to be Morsain, seventy-one miles from Paris. 

 There we spent Ihe night at the Hotel du Lion Rouge. 

 That evening all the people in the place gathered at this 

 inn and inspected the two Americans who had come from 

 the clouds. My electric lainp and scientific instruments 

 seemed to give them an appreciation of our greatness, 

 and they made the most of the occasion by shaking 

 hands with us. This part of the show I did not enjoy, 

 but knowing that as a future President of the United 

 States I should have to go through this process many 

 times I submitted to it with good grace. The next morn- 

 ing we looked over this primitive village. There was a 

 funeral in the old church, and from curiosity we attended. 

 This proved to be a relief to the mourners, for they all 

 seemed to forget their grief in their interest in observing 

 us. At noon we took the diligence to the nearest rail- 

 road station and the train to Paris, where we arrived in 

 tlie evening in time for dinner, William Lyman. 



RANGE OF THE WHITE GOAT. 



BY JOHN FANNIN AND GEORGE BIRD GRINNELL. 



UP to the present time, little has been definitely known 

 as to the range of the white antelope. In the notes 

 of the old Spanish writers on California occur allusions 

 to two species of wool- bearing quadrupeds, one of which 

 may possibly be this species, but their statements are too 

 vague to positively identify the animals alluded to. The 

 earliest positive statement that we have found which re- 

 fers to the range of this animal is made by Lewis and 

 Clarke (Edition 1814, Vol. II., p. 169): "The sheep is 

 found in many places, but mostly in the timbered parts 

 of the Rocky Mountains. They live in greater numbers 

 on the chain of mountains forming the commencement 

 of the woody country on the coast and passing the Co- 

 lumbia between the' falls and the rapids. * * * From 

 the Indian account these animals have erect pointed 

 horns; one of our engagpos informed us that he had seen 

 them iu the Black Hills and that the horns were Imiated 

 like those of the common sheep. We have nevertheless 

 too many proqfs to admit of a doubt of their existing, 

 and in considerable numbers, on the mountains near the 

 coast. " 



Hamilton Smith, in his excellent paper on this species, 

 published in the "Linnean Transactions" (1822), says that 

 he is "assured" that this species is found as far to the 

 southeast as "the Lake of the Woods near Lake Supe- 

 rior, and from thence on the west of Hudson's Bay to 

 the shores of the Northern Pacific Ocean," This state- 

 ment has been accepted for years and copied by many Eu- 

 ropean writers, but there can be little doubt that it is erro- 

 neous, A few instances have been recorded of the capture 

 of the white antelope in the plain country, but it is quite 

 certain that the animal is distinctly an inhabitant of high 

 rough mountains. Even within the range where it is 

 most abundant it is usually found only on rugged peaks 

 at considerable elevation, and very rarely occurs in the 

 low lands or the flat country. It is true' that there are 

 one or two hints in certain directions which suggest that 

 at some time in the past this species may have ventured 

 out on the plains more commonly than it does now, but 

 there is nothing that can really be called evidence which 

 points to the conclusion that "it was ever other than the" 

 alpine antelope which we find it to-day. 



Setting aside as of no especial importance except for 

 their historical value the earliest references to the range 

 of this animal, we find that Harlan, in his Fauna Ameri- 

 cana (Philadelphia, 1825), quotes a letter addressed by 

 Major S. H. Long to the Philadelphia Agricultural 

 Society, which gives some definite though general in- 

 formation on this subject. The statements in this letter 

 are based chiefly on information received from Donald 

 Mackenzie, Esq., who, as chief factor of the Hudson's 

 Bay Company, was long stationed at the junction of the 

 Assinaboine and Red rivers in what is now the Province 

 of Manitoba. Major Long says: "The Rocky Mountain 

 sheep [white antelope] inhabit the elevated region com- 

 prised in that portion of the mountain range from which 

 its name in derived, situated between the forty-eighth 

 and sixtieth parallel of north latitude. They are found 

 in great numbers near the headwaters of the' North Fork 

 of the Columbia River, where their flesh constitutes the 

 principal food of the natives. The country at the sources 

 of the Muddy (Marais River of Lewis and Clarke), Sa£- 

 katchawin and Athabaska rivers are also inhabited by 

 them; but they are said to be less numerous on the east- 

 ern slope of the Rocky Mountains than upon the western; 

 they are seldom or never seen at a distance from the 

 mountains, the climate and productions of which appear 

 best adapted to their nature and mode of life." A few 

 years later Richardson {Fauna Boreali- Americana) speaks 

 of it as inhabiting the loftiest peaks of the Rocky Moun- 

 tains, and conjectures that its range "probably extends 

 from the 40th to the 64th or 65th degree of latitude. It is 

 common on the elevated part of the Rocky Mountain range 

 that gives origin to f our great tributaries to as many differ- 

 ent seas, viz., the Mackenzie, the Columbia, the Nelson 

 and the Missouri Rivers." 



The statements made by these authors are fairly exact 

 —the latter remarkably near the truth — yet they 'give us 

 after all only a generai idea of the white antelope's range. 

 To say that it inhabits the mountains of Northwestern 



America is vague, and we search* the books in vain for 

 any definite information which will give us approxi-] 

 mately the limits beyond which this animal does not pasa.lj 

 On the northwest coast the white antelope is found on J 

 the mainland as far to the west as the very shores of theJ 

 Pacific Ocean. While seated in a canoe which floated on 

 the salt water, we have seen them on the glacier-scored] 

 mountains which rise so sharply from the shores of Bute 

 and Jervis Inlets, Howe Sound and Burrard Inlet, and 

 abundant testimony from Indians and white hunters as-J 

 sures us that they occur in great numbers all through theJ 

 coast range of British Columbia, being perhaps more 

 abundant there than anywhere else on the continent. 



In the State of Washington they are found in consider- 

 able numbers on the high mountains to the west of 

 Puget Sound, and ou Mount Rainier. Mr. L. L. Bales' 

 writes us that they are common on Mt. Baker, in What-' 

 com county, and thence northward. They are also* 

 abundant on the Olympian Range mountains through 

 which flow the Quinneault, Quillinto, Duckeybush, Doce-, 

 wallup, Dungeness and Skokomish rivers, on the Smilka- 

 meen and its tributaries, on Mt. Shupaka, and generally 

 throughout the State, wherever there are mountains' 

 adapted to them. 



About its occurrence in Oregon less is known, yet it isi 

 certain that on the higher mountains, such as Hood, 

 Adams, St. Helens, this species finds a congenial home. 

 Hon. W. A. Massie, of McAllister, Oregon, kindly writes 

 us as follows: "I have been told by hunters named 

 William Asher and Henry Bowan that they have> 

 killed 'white goats' in the Cascades about the head- 

 waters of the Deschutes and McKenzie rivers. These 

 rivers head in the high rough mountains from Mt. Jeffer- 

 son fifty miles south; Mt, Jefferson and the Sisters being 

 the culminating peaks. It is not found in the region of 

 Klamath Lake." On the other hand , Hon. JohnB.Waldo^ 

 of Oregon, asserts with great positiveness that this species 

 does not occur on the Cascade range from Mt. Jefferson 

 south to the State line. 



About the occurrence of Mazama in California, it ap- 

 pears that little is known ; yet as they occur in that State 

 on the Sierra Nevada Mountains, a long way south of its 

 northern boundary, there is no doubt that in past times^ 

 they were found throughout the whole length of that 

 range in northern California. There is a tradition that 

 they were once abundant on Mt. Shasta, but at the pres-i 

 ent day, according to Mr. Livingston Stone, they are 

 unknown there. Hon. W. A. Massie, in the letter already 

 mentioned, does much to connect the Oregon records, 

 with those of California when he writes, "I have what is 

 to my mind positive evidence of its [Mazama] presence 

 in at least one locality in the State of California. Within 

 the last six months I have been told by two men (strangers, 

 to each other) that they had seen the white goat in the 

 Granite Creek Mountains in Lassen county, Cal. These 

 Granite Creek Mountains are very near the line between 

 California and Nevada." The men mentioned by Mr. 

 Massie are Morton Black and Charles Walker. Lassen 

 county lies southeast of the Klamath Lake country. It isi 

 from California that we have the southernmost record at> 

 present known for this species: a record which we owe 

 to that indefatigable naturalist, Gapt. Chas. E. Bendire. 

 In aletter to Forest and Stream, published Feb. 26, 1885, 

 Capt. Bendire says: 



"This post [ Camp Independence, California | (now aban- 

 doned) is situated on Oak Creek, in Owens River Valley, 

 on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevadas, three miles 

 west of Owens River, in Inyo county, California, latitude 

 86° 55' north, longitude 41° 7' west, at an altitude of 

 4,958ft, And right here is where I saw more or less of 

 the Rocky Mountain goats during the winters of 1866, '67 

 and '68. One of the local names by which this animal 

 was known throughout this region of country was 'ibex.' 

 At that time Owens River Valley was but sparsely set- 

 tled, and game of all kinds was plenty. The Sierra 

 Nevada Mountains in this vicinity reach a higher alti- 

 tude then at any other point of this extensive range, and 

 Mount Whitney, some thirty miles south of Indepen- 

 dence, is, I. believe, considered now the highest peak in 

 the United States. On the western slope the mountains 

 are densely timbered to an altitude of about 10,000ft., 

 while the eastern slope is more or less barren, and timber 

 is met with only in patches here and there. The moun- 

 tain sides are also much steeper and rougher. Here on 

 the bare, rocky crags, the Rocky Mountain goat finds a 

 secure and congenial summer home, where it can rear 

 its young almost undisturbed, and where the crack of 

 the hunter's rifle is seldom heard. The mountain sheep 

 or bighorn (Ovis montana Cuv.) is also found here, as 

 well as on the Inyo or Monache range, on the eastern 

 side of the valley; but this latter is, as far as I know, 

 not frequented by the goats. It is only some 8,000ft. 

 high, while the Sierra Nevada Mountains opposite tower 

 to a height of 14,000 to 15,000ft. 



"The snow lies the year around on all the higher points 

 of these mountains, and in winter the goats, which at 

 that time were by no means rare, are unquestionably 

 compelled, by want of food, to visit the. lower foothills, 

 and here at an altitude of some 6.000ft. I killed my first 

 goat, where I have several times known others to be 

 killed. I remember one very successful hunt in particu- 

 lar, and a very one-sided one it was, too, in which a friend 

 of mine, one of the best hunters and surest shots I have 

 seen, killed not less than fi ve of these goats in less than 

 that many minutes with a Winchester rifle, before the 

 flock, consisting of some twenty, were able to get out of 

 range. We carried the game out on pack mules next day, 

 and the leader of the herd, which was among the slain, 

 gave us considerable trouble to get him aboard of a mule. 

 If my memory serves me right, he weighed over 2501bs. 

 dressed. I think, however, that the average weight is 

 little, if any, over 1251bs. * * *" 



No doubt this species occurs on other high peaks in 

 this region, and Dr. Merriam advises us that it has been 

 found on Mt. Kearsage, near Mt. Whitney. 



In the country directly east of the point mentioned by 

 Captain Bendire we have no authentic information of the 

 occurrence of Mazama montana until we come to Colo- 

 rado. While it may possibly occur at isolated points in 

 Nevada, Utah and even in Arizona, we have no record of 

 its having been taken within these limits. That it is 

 found in Colorado admits of no doubt. Mi*. W. T. Horna- 

 day. of the Smithsonian Institution, tells us that he knew 

 of a lot of about 200 skins of this species in Denver, which 

 the Denver Fur Company purchased for fifty cents each. 

 Whether all or any part of these were killed in that State 

 is not known. Many years ago Mr, Grinnell saw the* 



