186 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[March 27, 1890. 



TO " NESSMUK." 



METHlNKS kind nature in her sweetest mood, 

 Hath led thee far from haunt of worldly man, 

 A-Ud, ia the inmost cloister of some hallowed wood, 



Ttevealed her strange, divinely-ordered place. 

 For thee each nymph and naiad has a song 



For which our duller ears may list in vain; 

 Each bird and breeze and brook that leaps along, 

 Chimes with thy lute in soft and silvery strain. 

 To us, bound down by grosser cares and ties, 



Thy music comes with a mysterious spell, 

 And in its inspiration we may rise 



And join the ehoir sublime, invisible. 

 Oh, poet! skilled in forest rune and rhyme, 



Take thou this tribute from the purple West, 

 From one to whom, in distant clime. 

 Thy woodland song, to-night, brings peace and rest. 



Shoshone. 



DUNGENESS-A WINTER HOME.-V. 



I^HE day following Washington's Birthday we ran 

 - two deer out of the pasture, but Morris missed, and 

 we were unable to stop the pack. While Frank and Rone 

 rode up in the pine woods to gather them again, the rest 

 of us waited at Baltimore Gate. They were gone a long 

 while, so Will and I amused ourselves down in the swamp 

 field practicing wing-shooting at wild doves. We only 

 had a few No. 8 shot shells, but got eleven birds; and it 

 was doing well, even if I say it, for they fly faster than 

 wild pigeons and are also a much smaller mark. The 

 delay of the others was explained when they hove in 

 sight, for Frank had back of his saddle the largest deer 

 of the season, one of two he had seen in the woods. They 

 also had some of the dogs, and with these we made a 

 drive. The deer came out by Jack and he brought him 

 down. It was his first, so we dyed his face a bloody hue 

 to commemorate the event. 



The best shooting these few days while the birds staid 

 was at the doves, but they were extremely hard to kill; 

 even after our knocking a bunch of feathers out they 

 would fly on. 



Eugene knocked at the Tabby door early one morning 

 and said that a darky had come over, from the main- 

 land with two dogs guaranteed to find and tree wild- 

 cats. That was just what we wanted, so Will, Jim and 

 I soon drove off in a buggy to prove the guarantee. Near 

 the gate, two miles up the avenue, we met Max, who 

 called our attention to some tracks and showed where lie 

 had seen a bear cross that very morning. Having the 

 day before us, we got out of the rig and sent him to Staf- 

 ford after Cray Pratt and the dogs. Cray was employed 

 on the island then to ride around and keep off poachers. 

 Max was not gone long and with him came Pratt and the 

 dogs. Remus, the pride of the pack, soon took scent, 

 and the others followed, but not so hot. Remus kept 

 after the bear, but the others jumped a deer. Will had 

 a long shot, hitting the buck in one leg: then I fired, also 

 hitting, so that he partly fell; then the darky shot and 

 the deer, unable to stand any more, fell dead. We waited 

 quite a time for the bear to come out and then unsuccess 

 fully hunted Old House Scrub for cats. The dogs were 

 worthless, for they did not start one. As we passed 

 toward home we still heard Remus trailing the bear, and 

 upon reaching Dyngeness told the boys about it. Only 

 Frank came back with us, and he stayed on the road 

 while we went in the scrub to urge on the pack. We had 

 not gone half way into where Remus was, when the dogs 

 at our heels started off on a dead run with noses close to 

 the ground. Away they went, into the thick woods, 

 where the brush was so close that we could not follow. 

 While trying to push through we heard a shot, and run- 

 ning out into the road expected to see a dead bear. In- 

 stead, by Frank lay a dead wildcat, weighing as near as 

 we could guess about 401bs. The surprise to the cat was 

 hardly greater than it was to Frank. It was a beauty, 

 too, with its formidable strong paws, mottled skin and 

 smellers several inches long; it looked for all the world 

 like an immense domestic cat. 



All this time Remus was yelping along on another trail, 

 so leaving the cat by the road side, Will and I again 

 entered the scrub, for we thought the bear was coming 

 toward us. The entering spot chosen was in a sink of 

 ground where the oaks and bushes grew but waist high. 

 We did not have long to wait before ahead of us where 

 the brush was high and thicker a cracking of twigs and 

 snapping of jaws was heard, and believing we would at 

 last be rewarded for patient waiting, I cocked my gun 

 and Will his Winchester. Thus prepared we pushed in, 

 expecting every minute to see Bruin's shaggy coat. The 

 faster we went the more noise we made, and this must 

 have been what scared our game, for he immediately 

 made tracks toward the beach and we after. Long pen- 

 etration through such a thicket was impossible, and 

 much disappointed we again reached the road, but none 

 too soon, for I heard the rest of the pack break out into 

 one of their tell-tale cries. To jump into my saddle and 

 away as fast as Cooney could bear me took but a minute. 

 Out into Gray Field we flew, faster still as I saw the dogs 

 had crossed the road, until I was nearly at Stafford line 

 and close to the Sound Side Scrub. There I jumped down 

 and twisted my reins about a stump, knelt and waited. 

 I heard the dogs coming closer and closer, and at last 

 saw them come out of the scrub and start to cross the 

 field. Turning quickly around I saw Will coming along 

 on a gallop and yelling like mad. Out from behind a 

 clump of little oaks the big buck jumped, not over 60yds. 

 away, and then I took a rapid aim. and fired, calling to 

 Will to head him off. No stopping was needed as four 

 buckshot were in his side, and when I rode up I found 

 he was dead. When Frank arrived we threw the deer 

 behind my saddle, and as the afternoon was about over 

 slowly rode home, stopping on the way for the prize, our 

 cat, and thoroughly satisfied with the day's sport. 



After dinner we enjoyed some true Henry Clays, a box 

 of which was the standing prize for a dead wildcat. 



A strange thing happened the next afternoon when 

 we were shooting birds in the Swamp Field. Probably 

 between us we had twenty-five shells, and when these 

 were about exhausted I saw a deer come out of the woods 

 and slowly walk across the field. I was partly hidden, 

 having knelt behind some cornstalks, but what surprised 

 me was that a deer would enter a field where so much 



firing was going on. Of course I took a try at him, hit- 

 ting, I thought, the hindleg; but Will laughed and said, 

 ''A clean miss." 



That little occurrence shows what headstrong animals 

 they are, having once made up their minds to cross a 

 field or road it takes a good deal to stop them. Old Cray 

 almost met his death once when trying to change a deer's 

 course, and he never has recovered from the experience. 

 The deer he tried to head was coming on a run obliquely 

 across a field, and putting his horse in a gallop Cray tried 

 to reach the corner first. The deer saw him coming and 

 went faster, so that horse and deer met just on the road. 

 One horn of the deer entered the chest of the horse, 

 causing both animals to stumble and fall, landing Cray 

 off about 10ft. against a tree and crushing in two of his 

 ribs. The horse was badly wounded, the deer was killed, 

 and Pratt had broken ribs which to this day painfully 

 recall the collision. 



As the days grew warmer, and consequently the hunts 

 less frequent, more time was given to qUail hunts and 

 fishing. Nothing could have been more lovely than the 

 evenings we spent in a midnight sail otit to sea, a ride up 

 the pretty St. Mary's River, or a walk upon the broad, 

 smooth track. I often thought of the island's former 

 owners and what times they had or how they spent their 

 leisure hours. 



It was on one of these walks that I chanced to wend 

 my way down the shady avenue which ended at the little 

 cemetery with its gravestones. With but little trouble I 

 read their inscriptions. Three large slabs lay fiat upon 

 turned columns two feet above ground. Inscribed on the 

 first slab was this: 



Catherine Milt^er, widow of the late Major Genl. Nath. Greene 

 (Commander-in-Chief of the American Revolutionary Army in 

 the Southern Dept., 1783), who died Sept. 2d, 1814. Age 57 yrs. She 

 possessed great talentp, and exalted virtues. 



On the next slab I read: 



Sacred to pure affection. This simple stone covers the remains 

 of James Shaw. His virtues are not to be learned from perish- 

 able marble: but when the records of Heaven shall be Unfolded; 

 it is believed they will be written there in characters, as dnral.de 

 as the volume of eternity. Died Jan. 6th, 1820. Age 35 yrs. 



Upon the last stone was cuts 



Louise C. Shaw, relict of James Shaw, Ssti,, and youngest 

 daughter of Major Genl. Nat. Greene of the Army of the Revolu- 

 tion. Died at DUngeness, Georgia, Apr, 24, 1831. Age 45 yrs. 



Leaving my seat Upon the slab of marble I went and 

 stood by a gravestone upon which I read these words: 



Sacred to the memory of Gen. Henry Lee of Virginia. Obiit 

 25 March, 1818. .aStat 63. 



How this celebrated man of a by -gone generation came 

 to be buried there, I have since learned from the memoirs 

 of his son, Robert E. Lee: 



"At the breaking out of the hostilities with England he 

 raised a company of cavalry, and soon after the battle of 

 Lexington joined Washington. Quickly promoted td the 

 rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, he was assigned command 

 of an independent corps known as Lee's Legion. His 

 services during the war were conspicuous, and at its close 

 no one had acquired more permanent or deserved repu tac- 

 tion than Light Horse Harry. Soon after the War he was 

 elected to Congress and then Goyerhor of Virginia* to 

 which office he was three times elected, subsequently re- 

 turning to Congress. Upon the death of Washington, he, 

 by the direction of Congress, prepared the eulogy in which 

 occur the memorable words, 'First in war, first in peace, 

 first in the hearts of his countrymen.' By a second mar- 

 riage he had three boys and two girls, Robert E. Lee being 

 the third boy. In 1814 he was in Baltimore, the guest of 

 Mr. Alex. C. Hansen, and when the house was attacked 

 by a mob, received injuries in its defense from which he 

 never recovered. In 1817 he went to the West Indies. 

 Finding the tropical climate did not improve his health, 

 he returned to his native shores. On his return voyage 

 failing strength caused him to direct his course to t 

 coast of Georgia and to claim the hospitality of the 

 daughter of his old friend and comrade, C.en. Green, who 

 occupied her father's residence on Cumberland Island. 

 After lingering a short time in this hospitable mansion, 

 his noble spirit took its flight to join those who had pre 

 ceded him. 



"Nearly half a century later," writes the author whom 

 I have quoted, "this event was brought in a, most striking- 

 manner to the writer of this work, who was accompany- 

 ing General Lee during the civil war on a tour of inspec- 

 tion along the coast of Georgia and Florida. While pass- 

 ing through the channel which separates Cumberland 

 Island from the mainland, the steamer stopped at a 

 plantation wharf, and the General then asked me to ac- 

 company him on a sacred mission. After following for 

 some distance a road shaded with live oaks and magnolias, 

 we passed through a gate opening into extensive grounds, 

 dotted with groups of olive, orange and lemon trees, 

 intermingled with brilliant sub-tropical shrubbery. In 

 the midst of the grounds arose an extensive pile of build- 

 ings, whose unfinished state bore evidence that the design 

 of the projector exceeded his means of execution. This 

 was the residence of General Greene. We entered a 

 spacious hall, and after admiring for a moment the richly- 

 carved frames of the ample windows that lighted it, and 

 the stairway that wound its spiral course along the un- 

 finished walls of shell and mortar, we descended a flight 

 of steps into a garden which, though neglected, exhibited 

 signs of taste and cultivation. 



"Passing on we came to a dilapidated wall inclosing a 

 neglected cemetery. The General then in a voice of 

 emotion informed me that he was visiting the grave of 

 his father. He went alone to the tomb, and after a mo- 

 ment of silence plucked a flower and slowly retraced his 

 steps, leaving the crumbling stones and the spirit of the 

 restless waves that perpetually beat against the neighbor- 

 ing shore. We returned in silence, and no allusion was 

 ever made to this act of filial affection." 



How swiftly the hours and days seemed to slip by as 

 the end of my visit grew nearer and nearer. Let me 

 record the history of one hot day toward the latter end of 

 March, nearly the last hunt I went on. The party con- 

 sisted of Jack, Bone, McClurg, Mr. S., Will and myself. 

 Reaching the lake we put out in a boat, gliding along the 

 placid water shaded by the leaning, moss-covered boughs 

 of oaks, palm trees and magnolias. Turtles slid from 

 points of logs, where they had been sunning themselves, 

 and gray and white herons arose from shallow spots, 

 and in awkward flight trailed their long legs behind 

 them. Suddenly Will motioned to McClurg to stop row- 

 ing, and looking ahead I saw a little black object no 

 larger than a water rat moving across the lake. As it 

 stopped midway, crack went the peal of Will's rifle, and 



then went skipping on up the lake. The alligator sank 

 immediately. We rowed as fast as we could, following 

 in the wake of the air bubbles which rose to the surface | 

 of the water, but failed to get another skoti 



Lifting a limb, the leaves of which hung in the water 

 we moved into a narrow tree-encompassed lake, which t< 

 our first view appeared to have no other outlet than that 

 by which we had entered. At the further end of this 

 calm spot another alligator was seen swimming across, 

 but the mark was small and he also sank unhurt, leaving 

 a bubbly trail behind, following which by pushing weeds 

 aside we were once more in the broader lake. Several 

 more arose as we moved along, and all but one little fel- 

 low escaped, even though each of us took our turn at the 

 oars and then in the bow or vantage seat. The nearest 

 we came to any in the boat was 50yds. , and showing 

 above the water as they did but two little eyes and a 

 piece of skull, the mark was far from being an easy one 

 to hit-; and for my part I would much rather have risked 

 a shooting reputation at running deer 100yds. away 



So the happy days went by, and all too soon came the 

 end of my stay at Bungeness. Reluctantly 1 turned my 

 face northward, my regret tempered only by the antici- 

 pation of another visit to that charming winter home— 

 an anticipation, which before these lines shall be printefl 

 will have been already realized, G. F, Blandy. 



T 



NOTES BY THE WAY.-II. 



HE threatened rain of the morning still threatened 

 only, and the guides with one of our party were a 

 mile or more ahead upon the rough and winding trail, 

 by overtaxed courtesy called a road, when the others 

 halted for a moment to rest unaccustomed muscles now 

 first brought Into play, to light the needed pipe, and to 

 await the wagoU with "camp duffle 1 ' which creaked and 

 crashed and rumbled some sixty rods behind, 



All about the primeval forest loomed beech, birch, 

 hemlock, spruce and pine, interspersed with a twisted 

 and brush-like undergrowth now well advanced as the 

 season grew toward ripeness. A week's outpouring from" 

 the low-hanging clodds had left earth and tree saturated 

 The trail ran little rivulets that gullied and rfitted its 

 already uneven surface or gathered in treacherous pool? 

 in sunken spots and in the depressions between the pro: 

 cession of hills. The forest earth steamed in the August 

 air, and the tardy drops still fell on every side with 

 sullen persistence from drooping leaf and bough; Sign* 

 of life were few, birds most conspicuous by then- absence 

 and the in9ectivora only appeared seeking in whatsoevei 

 dryness they might chance to find, a short renewal o 

 strength and existence. Strong odor* from ground anc 

 log, Crushed leaves and water soaked woods and grasses 

 fil led the nostrils. 



Silence made her home here except as the tinkle of 

 the water and the drip from overhead, and the distani 

 cry of the wagon driver, the rattle of the cart, or thi 

 grinding, metallic crash of its heavy wheels among th< 

 stones eame distinctly to the ear. After a time these 

 too, Ceasfed. and for the space of a full pipe nature wa 

 undisturbed. Then came wonder followed by anxiety 

 and as the travelers arose from their damp rest to resunv 

 the toilsome journey, one turned back along the trail 

 lend such aid as might perchance be needed because i 

 broken reach or harness. 



Worse; far worsel A mired horse, half suuk in a blad 

 slough, his veins and weeping oyen showing all the p&l 

 and terror brute nature could endure, and a diatractet 

 driver worn out with vain efforts and vainer ottttes 

 raise his fallen steed, disconsolately standing by. 



Later, a group of woodsmen < guides and tourists gatii 

 ered from the hostelry we had left in the early marfliii] 

 surrounding the half-capsi2?d wagon and apparentl 

 dying horses sitting upon the load the owner in chare 

 placidly smoking and waiting; and in a good light a littA 

 in the foreground the ubiquitous amateur photographer 

 bound to have this scene just touched by an uncertain 

 watery sunlight, to jog his memory of forest life in wifll 

 ters to come. Still' later, by the* aid of brawny arm J 

 horses and cart. again afoot, unhurt but headed baekwarJ 

 toward the starting point of the morning, for the driveil 

 a novice in such work, had sworn by all the saints in hil 

 calendar and several others, that he would not furthel 

 risk his team on such a road, "No, not ef ye'd give ml 

 the hull neck o' woods, by gum!" 



Sixteen miles of winding river lay between the "durTiei 

 on the bank and Carter's, where our party would haltfo 

 the rear guard. With two boats and guides the trip wal 

 completed just as the threatening day faded into th 

 shadows of a more threatening night and a solitary wan 

 derer stood beside the bags and boxes of camp outfitting 

 watching the receding boats disappear on their home 

 ward trip, utterly alone and half a mile from the shanty 

 where he hoped to find shelter and mayhap his friends. 



"two pistol shots brought the tardy reply of a rifl 

 crack, echoing along the plains that surround this spt 

 and "caching" the stores, the belated one picked his wa| 

 through water-soaked bogs and across a stony ridge ti 

 the little cabin of the "Judge, 1 ' happy there to couipa* 

 supper, a bunk and a companion who had waited for hiti 

 while the others fared on for the more distant camp. 



In the moony mist of the late evening a careless rabbji 

 feeding, with sight of sharp eyes, from the low door 

 way, stopped a chance rifle bullet; and the next mor 

 at breakfast his white flesh added much to the bread ani 

 tea of our host, who, however, declined to eat of bunn| 

 himself, since, forsooth 1 he feared he might have be< 

 one of his especial pets. In vain to point out that in th: 

 wilderness he saw twenty rabbits each day and that twic 

 twenty played about his door each night. This migi 

 have been one of his particular favorites, and eat 

 would not. 



When men go into the wilderness they shed the clot! 

 ing of civilization; they doff the linen, broadcloth ai 

 patent leathers of the towns and appear only in sui 

 garments as individual comfort suggests, and in equs 

 degree do they generally escape from the shell whic 

 society and policy have created about them, and sho 

 themselves in the true color of their individualitie 

 "Nothing like the woods to prove a man," is an old sa; 

 ing, but no less true than trite. And if to wild life 

 added the discomfort of bad weather and poor sport, a 

 the latent selfishness, irritability and general cussednet 

 of a man will rise to the surface and there bubble an 

 simmer and contaminate the air about. The individug 

 who retains his suavity, equanimity and jollity; who 



just by the side of the black object a bullet struck, and ready and willing to do camp work when necessary, wi 



