Sept. 4, 1890.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



12 7 



way, caught hold of the railing and speeding down two 

 steps at a time reached the door and darted into the open 

 air; and such was the vi lence of the wind that I could 

 htrdly fight rny way to the house some 50ft. distant. As 

 I listened to the shrill tenor of the wild winds, mingled 

 with the hoarse bass of the breakers, and thought of the 

 sailors out in that raging sea that night, the old refrain 

 of the cherup aloft rang through my ears. 



The storm continued all the n< xt day with a northeaster 

 blowing with the -velocity of 50 miles an hour. One 

 could hardly put their ft.ce out oP doors, for the frozen 

 snowfi'kes were driven like miniature arrows almost 

 horizontally through tlie air. Mr. Fos said something 

 about going out to shoo'-. 



'•It would be suicide," answered the assistant keeper, 

 and keener sportsman never handled gun. "No craft 

 save a lifeboat could live in such a sea. You gentlemen 

 have a little patience, there will be first-class hunting 

 the coming week, for the storm has sc ttered the flocks 

 and they will shoot finely, that is, if the weather con- 

 tinues cold." 



Indoors everything was tidy and cosy; the wide fire- 

 places were filled to their utmost limit with great oik 

 logs, that warmed one's heart as well as body. Certainly 

 the Government takes good care of its faith ful keepers. 

 The house of the chief and his assistants fronted each 

 other; both were of brick two feet thick and contained 

 six rooms each, a wide porch ran along the front, the 

 windows were substantial and both dwellings had storm 

 doors. In the kitchen was a large cooking stove and in 

 the pantry attached a cistern with an unfailing supply 

 of pure water. 



At dinner we sat down to a menu worthy of a Wash- 

 ington lobbyist, one that would have cheered the soul of 

 a gourmand and made the eye of an alderman light up 

 with anticipation. Roast wild duck, that had committed 

 suicide the night of the storm; diamond-back terrapin 

 Btew, snipe, oysters in different styles, roast possum 

 served c »ld with vegetables, not to speak of the country 

 cured ham and home-made p ; ckles and preserves, with 

 native scuppernong wine. This grape seems to be at 

 home and thrives its best only m North Carolina. It 

 does not grow in clusters like all other grapes, but 

 singly, and is the siz ■ of a boy's marble, and deep purple 

 in color. It is wonderfully prolific; and a single vine 

 planted on a sunny side of a house will in a few years 

 cover a wide arbor and yield a fc re of bushels of 

 grapes, The natives make wine of it and there is much 

 rivalry among the neighbors as to who can turn out the 

 best brar-d. The wine is sweet and as strong as the 

 mu-catel. 



We talked shop all that evening, and the keeper gave 

 us a clear idea of the great quantity of every kind of 

 game. 



"The most plentiful of all," said Mr. Smith, "are the 

 snipe; the yellow legs and graybacks fairly swarm along 

 these shores at certain seasons of the year. Waterfowl 

 axe plentiful on the sound, and also on the ponds in the 

 banks." 



"Are there any deer on the mainland?" asked one of us. 



"The greatest abundance," was the reply, "but unless 

 they are shot before they reach the swamps there is no 

 chance of getting any venison." 



"T suppose you stalk them down here?" 



"What?" 



"I have read in the magazines that the way to kill deer 

 is to crawl up and shoot thern." 



The keeper laughed aloud. "They may kill your 

 Northern game that way, but I'll defy any man, woman 

 or child in these parts to creep on a North Carolina deer 

 unseen or unheard. Why, they always feed with their 

 eyes and ears wide open, and they have as quick glances 

 as a hawk or eagle. Even when they lie down they face 

 with the wind, so that they can see any way and smell 

 another, and. it is impossible to surprise them. If the 

 keenest hunter in North Carolina was to rely upon get- 

 ting meat in hunting deer in that way, he would have to 

 live on a fish diet the balance of his days. No, the only 

 way is to jump them with hounds, and then the gunners 

 on the stand plug them as they run by, as deer always 

 strike for the water when chased, and it is easy to guess 

 the route they travel." 



We next inquired about the fishing. It was first rate 

 in the summer and fall, and that gamest fi>h that swims, 

 the drum, was very abundant in the late spring, The 

 hogfi h, sheepshead and sea trout were most plentiful. 

 Indeed nature had blessed this section with a great vari- 

 ety of fish flesh and fowl, and it required but little labor 

 to keep a full stomach. This spot would be a paradise 

 for a lazy man, for he could keep stuffed, and with lux- 

 uries, too, for the smallest amount of exertion. 



One evening Wesley proposed a coon hunt. The "banks" 

 around Hatteras are a raccoon paradise, there are more 

 of thei-e animals to the acre here than in any other place 

 on earth. There are regular paths through the brush- 

 wood and sea grass leading to the ocean's edge made by 

 these nocturnal prowlers. The beach was their market 

 pi ce; here they would get their crabs, oysters, young sea 

 birds, woundtd waterfowl, frogs, shellfish and carrion. 

 There never had been any organized attempt to thin the 

 coons out, and they had multiplied to an enormous ex- 

 tent. They roved and wandered at will all over the 

 inland, and* the keeper could not retain a cat upon the 

 premises, for just as certain as Mrs. Pu«s or Mr. Tom re- 

 mained out of doors at night, ju-t so sure would its man- 

 gled form be found in the morning, for anywhere a cat 

 can cbmb its foe can follow. A coon is as fond of a 

 scrimmage as a grizzly bear, and he can whip anything 

 his own weight that goes on four legs, for his hide is so 

 tough and his pluck so great that he never gives up. A 

 coon fights on its back, and its feet are armed with curved, 

 lieen claws, which are used wiih fatal effect; while as a 

 reseive, he has sharp teeth and a jaw'like a bulldog's. 

 On many a Virginia plantation where a pack of hi irnds 

 is kept, the lai gett and most savage dog has generally his 

 ears torn to ribbons and his dewlaps cut in two. This is 

 the maik of his battle wiih the coons. Young hounds 

 will attack the varmints on sight, but rarely a second 

 time; and it is only the leader of the pack, noted for his 

 size and strength and ferocity, that will undertake to "put 

 a head" on a coon. 



In an evil moment we consented to Wesley's proposal, 

 and u ged the keeper to go with us, but he tUclined. 'T 

 don't want to spoil your pleasure, gentlemen," he re- 

 marked ; "but coon hunting isn't the thing it is cracked up 

 to be, at least I have not found it so." 



An indignant remonstrance arose from the listeners. 

 It was glorious sport we all agreed ; and it was pure lazi- 

 ness in him, nothing else. "Well, have it your own 

 way," he said; "but I would not go in the swamp in the 

 night, not if every coon that was treed would come down 

 as he did to Captain Sc<lt." 



Probably all of the readers of the Forest and Stream 

 have heard of the story of Captain Scott and the coon, 

 but I will venture to add that not one of them who liveB 

 north of Mason and Dixon's line could repeat the tradi- 

 tion correctly. Anyway, I will tell it as Keeper Smith 

 narrated it. 



Captain Martin Scott was a Virginian and an officer in 

 the regular army. The coon episode happened sometime 

 in the year 1830. Captain, then Lieutenant, Scott, was 

 stationed at Fort Smith, a frontier post on the Arkansas 

 River, which was commanded by Captain Bradford, who 

 was the author of the famous story. It was a very com- 

 mon recreation for Scott to shoot the darting chimney 

 swallow on their darting erratic flight with a > ullet from 

 his long Kentucky rifle. This is a degree of skill almost 

 incredible, for there are few shots of the present day 

 who can kill three out of five wi h the improved breech- 

 loader. Lieutenant Scott's boon companion was Quarter- 

 master Van Swearingen, who, like many other amateurs, 

 imagined that the rifle was bound to kill something when 

 he was at the big end of it. He was a great admirer of 

 the Lieutenant's sporting gifts, and loved to bask under 

 the luster of his companion's great skill. 



One day a dog treed a coon in a tall cotton wood down 

 in the lowlands, a short distance from the fort, and the 

 dog not being able to climb the tree commenced barking 

 to attract some one's attention. The story goes that the 

 coon sitting in a crack of a limb looking down in 

 supreme contempt at bis four-footed foe, at last growing 

 tired of the monotonous yelping, he hailed the dog and 

 told him to shut his jaws, that he had no intention of 

 c lining down. This made the dog more angry, and he 

 continued his yelping. Again the coon called to him 

 ironically and advite l him" not to break a blood vessel, 

 and the coon was so pleai-ed with his joke that he 

 wrapped his tail around a limb, swung himself in the 

 air, and laughed until he showed every tooth in his head. 

 "Y u will laugh on the wrong side of your mouth soon," 

 howled the dog; "and here comes one who will make 

 you do it, you thieving, chicken-stealing, carrion-eating, 

 loud-smelling old varmint, you." 



"Who is he, you bandy-legged, stump tailed, egg-suck- 

 ing reptile?" cried the cuon as he repaired to the shelter 

 of the tree. 



"It's Lieutenant Van Swearingen," growled the canine. 



The coon grinned until his eyes disappeared in his face. 



"Little Van." he grunted derisively, 4 why be may 

 shoot and be blanked. I'll bet my valuable hide against 

 your mangy pelt, that he don't get me out of this tree." 



Van Swearingen appeared and blazed away at .he coon 

 who did not even condescend to hide behind a branch. 

 H wing shot all of his ammunition away the quarter 

 master retired in high dudgeon. Shortly after another 

 figure appeared on the scene, and pouring some fresh 

 powder in the pan prepared to fire. 



"What's his name?" inquired the coon. 



"Scott," yelled the dog. 



"Who?" inquired the coon, fearfully agitated. 



"Lieutenant Scott," bayed the dog. 



"Martin Scott," squealed the animal. "I'm a gone 

 coon. Cap'n Scott, Cap'n Scott, don't fire, I'm coming 

 down." So saying, he folded himself in a ball and dropped 

 to ground, and yielded his lite to the dog without a 

 struggle. 



There was a nondescript mongrel on the Hatteras Cape 

 who was worthless for anything under the sun; but he 

 would hunt coons. Leaving our guns behind us, we 

 started about an hour after sunset, Wesley leading the 

 way with a lantern in one hand and an ax in the other. 

 We kept up the causeway and in about ten minutes heard 

 Jeff give tongue. 



"He's treed," cried Wesley, "come on," and waving his 

 lantern as a signal he disappeared in the chapperal, which 

 was so dense, fco thorny, so full of holes, hog wallows and 

 quick sands as to be nearly impassable in the day time: 

 and as for making our way through it in the dark, it was 

 an undertaking we soon found out too much for any 

 civilized being. We had begun to taste the delights of 

 coon hunting. 



We t olio wed Wesley's light, that shone as weirdly as 

 the^ deceptive "Jack o' lantern" itself, and worked our 

 way carefully among the hanging vines, and charged by 

 main force through the tangled briers, Jeff all the time 

 barking frantically some two hundred yards away. After 

 we had picked, screwed and crawled about half the dis- 

 tance, a slimy, sluggish creek stopped onr further pro- 

 giess. "There used to be," said We^-ley, "an old tree that 

 had fallen across the stream. If it is there now we can 

 cross on that." 



After a scuffle and scramble over prostrate timber, and 

 fallen rotten trunks, we reached the natural bridge. It must 

 have been there for a long time, the outer wood being 

 soft and the whole body covered moss. Holding tight 

 to each other, we slowly wabbled our way across. All 

 went well until we reached the middle of the tree, when 

 Wesley, who was leading, suddenly uttered a profane 

 ejaculation and attempted to jump back, but too late. 

 The combined weight was too much for the bridge. It 

 gave way, and all three went down together in freezing 

 black water, up to the arm -pits. The lamp went out, of 

 course, and we &crambled out as best we could in the pro- 

 found darkness, each one making his own remarks on the 

 situation. 



As soon as we stood on the shaky ground, I told Wesley 

 to lead us out of the cursed wilderness, that I for one h-id 

 enough sport. My comrade said as he had had all the fun 

 he wanted, he was ready for home. Wesley, whose fault i 

 was swearing, ripped out an oath, that he was a blanked ' 

 fool for bringing us on ouch a trip. We promptly agreed , 

 with him. 



Our file leader started with his followers close at his | 

 heels, but be had evidently 1 >st his benrings. He led us 1 

 over fallen trees, who-e dead branches were festooned 

 by trailing vines as tough as iron wires; then we got into 

 a brier thicket armed with thorns as long and sharp as a 

 shoemaker's awl. Worrying through this trap, leaving 

 scraps of torn clothing behind, we wandered in a jumble 

 of mixed bamboo and fox-grape shoots as strong as whip 

 cord, in which snarl we got completely tied up; and 

 Wesley's profanity at this stage was appalling. We j 

 actually had to use our knives to get out of this place, ' 



and finally, after a hard fight we emerged panting from 

 exhaustion. After getting our breaths, we made an- 

 other essay, and steered right into a mixture of brambles 

 and prickly o ar with the o ze underneath reaching to 

 our hips. Wesley got to fighting the tangled vines and 

 clinging creepers like a very fiend, for while we could 

 not see him, the whole neighborhood could hear him 

 thrashing and wrestling about Ike mad: and then he ran 

 right into a thicket of the matted spined branches and 

 spiked stems. Surely the uproar must have frightened 

 many a skulking coon back to his lair. Out of this slough 

 we wriggled s meliow almo-t desperate, for things were 

 getting serious. The perspiration was running down 

 body and face alike, though it was so cold that even the 

 sheltered pools were freezing. 



We could hear, with many an ejaculation of thankful- 

 ness, the welcome sound of the turf beating upon the 

 shore, and we knew r that we were nearly out of the worse 

 than Cretan labyrinth. So we plunged onward and 

 walked from "the frying pan into the fire," for all hands 

 got involved in anabitis that seemed composed of every 

 kind of vine that would trip, every creeper that would 

 emhrace, every thorn that would pierce, every curved 

 spike that would tear, every jagged branch that would 

 bar our way. A veritable chevaux defrise, so dense, so 

 impenetrable, that the cunning hand of man could never 

 have intermingled such a tangle. It was like a huge 

 spider web, whose threads were composed of elastic 

 vines strong as manilla hemp, as elastic as India rubber. 

 Underneath was the yielding sand that sucked the feet 

 down and held on like the clinging fingers of a drowning 

 man; overhead, and all ar ound us was the thick dark- 

 ness. The struggle to extricate ourselves from this 

 noisome, infernal spot was one that none of us will ever 

 forget. Wiih hands torn and bleeding, and clothes 

 gaping wide with many a rent, we wormed along inch 

 by inch, breathing heavily and breaking out ever and 

 anon into an ecphonesis of maledictions that even the 

 best of men frequently use when they wear tight shoes 

 or mash their fingers with a hammer. 



"This beats 'he devil," roared Wesley, as the tough and 

 stout wooden cobwebs envelop him and tie him as fast 

 as the L lliputians did Gulliver. "Come here, some of 

 you," he shouted, "and help me out. I'm worse off than 

 a turtle on his back." We reac> ed him and by using our 

 knives carefully got him clear of the vines and creepers 

 that had circled him around and around, and warned 

 him that it was safer and surer for him to coon it than to 

 charge through the jungle like a rhinoceros. 



I suppose we were fully two hours getting out of this 

 pi Cr>, and it was only by husbanding our strength and 

 oreath, and being guided by the sound of the sea, that we 

 got out at all that night. We were completely exhausted 

 when we broke through the brake and reached the beach, 

 and we lay down on the sandy fehore at full length gasp- 

 ing for breath and feeling as if every muscle of our 

 bodies were wrung and stretched and every b >ne broken. 



It was long after midnight when a melar choly proces- 

 si jn of torn and bedraggled men, so different from the 

 j iyous crowd of but a few hours before, pulled them- 

 selves into the house, each one too mad and miserable to 

 utter a word. 



All the coon hunters lay up for repairs next day, and 

 even Wesley, who certainly ought to be more tough than 

 we city men, was so used up that he literally crawled in 

 the evening up the spiral steps to his post in the top of 

 the tower. 



For several days we tried our luck behind the decoys, 

 but the weather, though in the midst of winter, became 

 as mild as if it were in the balmy month of May, and the 

 ducks were scattered everywhere, but there was no gath- 

 ering at any one place. They spread themselves over the 

 Sound and rarely came to the marshes It was hard for- 

 tune alike to the professional and the amateur. It was a 

 strange sight to see gunners in their blinds stripped to 

 their shirt sleeves. A hard, severe winter means abund- 

 ance of wildfowl and splendid shooting; an open winter, 

 such as this was, means a scarcity of ducks andgee.se, and 

 a very poor showing up indeed. Getting tired of this 

 sport we bundled up our traps and struck for home. 



I would strongly advise the Northern and Western 

 sportsmen who contemplate a trip to Southern waters to 

 wait the advent of the season, and if January and Feb- 

 ruary seem to have changed places with May and Octo- 

 ber, to remain at home and save the blastings of high and 

 sanguine hopes. 



A parting word of advice and I am done. If you de- 

 cide upon going on a hunting trip to eastern North Caro- 

 lina, go in a party of four, if possible, for the cost will be 

 lessened fully a third, and then four is the right number 

 for a trip; two to a blind require only one guide, and his 

 fee comes exactly to what one shooter would have to pay 

 alone Then, again, four men can entertain each other 

 better and form partners at cards, etc. Never ni^ke the 

 trip unless you know when and where to stop. A happy- 

 go-lucky voyage is almost sure to end disastrously. For 

 all routes to North Carolina waters, write to Messrs. Cul- 

 peper & Turner, agents for North Carolina transportation 

 lines, Norfolk, Va , and they will give you full and reli- 

 able data and most valuable advice. They are courteous 

 and accomplished gentlemen, and ardent sportsmen 

 themselves, and have a fellow feeling for the disciples of 

 the gun. 



When you reach the land of the swan, the brant and 

 the snipe, the region of the chills, the shakes and the 

 uhquitous guide, make all your bargains and contracts 

 beforehand; be strictly business for once in your life, and 

 remember that there are plenty of gulls along the North 

 Carolina coast without you adding to the number. 



Chasseur. 



The Yellowstone Park and Dining Oak Route.— The 

 Northern Pacific Railroad, str-tching irom the Great Lakes to 

 tbe Pacific coa^t. wPn. its elegant vestiatLed service ot dming 

 cars aad Pullman si- epers, uot only affords business men, tourists 

 and ot'ieiM a route of travel equal in ever- respacc to any in the 

 councry, but renders a-ce«siblH to sportsmen the only region In 

 which fan be found to-day the large game which was once so 

 plentiful m all the West. In addition to the large gam", the 

 SDort*man will trad in the conni.rv alone the line of the Northern 

 Pacific Railroad such quantities of small gunie as is unknown in 

 the Eas'. This nu< j , penetrating the. Lake Park region of Minn- 

 esota, and tunning through the va'llej s of sue h trout streams as the 

 Yellnwttoue, Gallatin, Hell Gate, Clark's Fork, Spokane, Yniiima 

 sn Green rivers, as wnll as ljiug ra close proximity to the bnot- 

 ing grounds of the Big Hjrn, Snowy, Belt, Bitter Rrot. Rocky, 

 Creur U'Alene and C'8<a e Mountains, 1s unquestionably the 

 sportsmen's route .of Amerira, The pamphlet, "Game Preserves 

 of North AmericH," togetbeV with other interesting publication, 

 descriptive of the Yellowstone Park and Alaska tours, will be 

 mailed free on application to Ohas, S. Fee, G. P. & T. A„ N. P. 

 R. R., St. Paul, Minn.— Adv. 



