148 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Sept. 11, 1890 



A! 



GAME IN MEXICO. tain and emerges from the great canon, the country is 



S the sportsman crosses the Rio Grande at Laredo, comparatively flat and swampy. Every pond and stream 

 Texas, on the Mexican National Railroad, his first W girdled with a thick growth of bamboo, a famous hid- 



view of Mexico will not impress him favorably, as no 

 prospect of game will be seen for the first hundred miles. 

 The country is almost barren, with stunted cactus and 

 sage brush, and now and then a few scattered musquit 

 trees, gnarled and stunted for want of water. Now and 

 then a chapparrel cock will dart out of the way of the 

 train at race horse speed, or perhaps a jack rabbit will 

 hop lazily out of the way. 



The first hunting ground is Morales. Here the country 

 is broken with deep canons and high peaks. A fine 

 stream crosses the track near the station, and for miles on 

 either side groves of pinon trees grow high up the hill- 

 sides. The pinon is a variety of pine which sheds its nuts 

 in abundance, the sweetest and richest of all nuts, and 

 the best turkey feed. Here the sportsman can tarry for 

 a few days and enjoy turkey shooting to his heart's con- 

 tent, as they are very plentiful. The natives have no 

 guns, and very few hunters have ever been in the locality. 

 There are a few quail at this point, but not in sufficient 

 numbers to justify the trouble. 



When the turkeys are hunted and killed to the sports- 

 man's satisfaction — and he will soon be satisfied, for he 

 can kill all he wants and more in a couple of days — he 

 had better take the train and proceed to Saltillo, which is 

 the end of the first division. A lovely place, with its 

 running streams, fountains, orchards and gardens. A 

 stop here over night at a good hotel, kept by an Ameri- 

 can, and you are ready to take the train for Cameras, 

 the summit of the mountain, a distance of twenty miles. 

 In going from Saltillo to Cameras you pass directly 

 through the famous battle field of Buena Vista-, where 

 General Tyler fought a lot of half-famished school boys 

 from Chapultepec, and won by a "scratch," if it could be 

 called winning. As you proceed up this heavy grade and 

 around the great horseshoe, you will see covey after covey 

 of quail, with their jaunty white plumes elevated, scam- 

 pering off to a safe distance or sunning themselves at 

 easy gunshot from the track. If you can withstand the 

 temptation to jump off the train, and wait till it stops at 

 Cameras, you will be in the land of quail and deer, such 

 as few localities can boast of. The blue grass grows in 

 great tufts knee high; and here the quail will lie well, 

 and there is no cactus to injure a dog. There are ponds 

 in every direction surrounded by long grass; and moim- 

 ing and evening, when the quail come for water, one can 

 shoot till his gun gets hot. They are a fine bird, in color- 

 ing much like a California quail — blue on the back and 

 wings, and pale gray, mottled with white and russet, on 

 the breast. Their flesh is dark, like the prairie chicken, 

 but delicate and of fine flavor. They are not so plump 

 and round as a Bob White, but much larger. The plume 

 on their head can be raised and lowered at will; and on 

 the old cocks it grows sometimes to an inch in length, 

 snow white. Where the ground is bare they will not 

 take wing readily, but run with surprising speed until 

 they find suitable cover. They are chary of taking wing, 

 but when they do, they fly like a bullet, and it takes a 

 hard shot to bring them down. 



There are high peaks on every side, and rich valleys 

 and tablelands for miles and miles, where the deer graze 

 lazily, almost undisturbed — the most beautiful of all 

 deer. In color they are like the white-tailed deer of the 

 Northern States, but small, and as symmetrical as a 

 gazelle. It is rarely that they weigh over lOOlbs. In the 

 latter part of September, when they are "in the blue" (as 

 the old hunter terms it, that is when their winter coat is 

 scarcely lin. long and presents a bluish appearance), they 

 are as fat and sleak as mules and keep in good condition 

 till February. The ex-Governor of Coahuila, Don Jose 

 Maria Garga Galan, is something of a hunter. Hie home 

 is in Saltillo, He keeps some fine hounds and is always 

 ready to take a hunt, and has killed several Mexican lions 

 in this vicinity. 



About the middle of August the upland plover arrive in 

 countless thousands and stay till about the first of Novem- 

 ber. They grow as fat as butter and are fine eating, but 

 afford little sport. The best way to hunt them is on horse- 

 back. If one cares to shoot jack rabbits he can have his 

 fill. They bother a bird dog very much. There never 

 was a dog that would not run them, no matter how well 

 'trained. A jack will jump up in front of his nose and go 

 off with a hop and a skip, with his ears elevated and, to 

 all appearance, one hind leg broken. Your dog will take 

 after him sure, and get within five feet of him, he knows 

 the dog can't catch him and keeps just far enough away 

 to taunt him. Turn a greyhound loose and it would sur- 

 prise you to see the change; Mr, Jack will lay his ears 

 down, sethis broken leg and, instead of his high gallop, 

 will assume a gait of business. Instead of the great big 

 thing he looked to be he will resemble a common walking 

 stick more than anything else. If your dog is a good one 

 and can stand a four-mile run at a rattling pace, he will 

 turn him. If he has wind enough left to repeat he will 

 doubtless catch him. It must be remembered, and I 

 mention this fact to ease the mind of sportsmen owning 

 good dogs, that there are good jack rabbits as well as 

 good greyhounds, and there are some that no dog can 

 catch. 



If the sportsman wishes to remain here for any length 

 of time he can make Saltillo his headquarters, whence he 

 can reach the hunting ground in an hour, leaving at 6 

 A. M. and returning at 7 P, M. He can hire for a bit a 

 day a sandal-footed native, who cannot lift 501bs. off the 

 ground, but who will carry all that five men can put on 

 his back. You cannot make him understand much, even 

 if you talk Spanish; but as a necessity he will do in place 

 of a burro. 



South of San Luis Potosi, on the line of the National 

 Railroad from Jaral to San Maguil, is the very paradise 

 for ducks and geese. For sixtv miles along this rich val- 

 ley it is like one great grain field. Barley and wheat a.re 

 sown and harvested every day from October to May. On 

 this the ducks, geese and brant feed the whole winter 

 through. Adjacent to the ponds and irrigating ditches 

 they can be knocked up like snipe— the prettiest shooting- 

 in the world. 



The Tampeco branch of the Mexican Central, which 

 was opened to travel last May, and which runs from San 

 Luis Potosi to Tampeco, has opened up one of the great- 

 est hunting resorts in the world for deer, turkeys, bear, 

 mountain lions and tigers, to say nothing of the wild 

 hogs, lynx and civet cats and big gray wolves. The 

 road crosses the Sierre Madre range, and a wilder region 

 cannot be conceived. After the road crosses the rnoun- 



ing place for bruin. The great palm and cypress trees, 

 which lift their heads high above the dense undergrowth 

 of swamp oak and vines, are homes for millions of par- 

 rote. The woodduck hatches in the deserted nests dug 

 out by the parrots and woodpeckers. The bears have 

 plenty to eat the year round , and do not lie dormant, as 

 is their custom in the North in the winter. There are 

 pecans, acorns and fruit, grapes, plums, and better still, 

 tunes, the fruit of the cactus. The species of cactus 

 known as the prickly pear on the northern prairies grows 

 into a great tree in Mexico; and around the disc of every 

 leaf is a row of fruit as large as goose eggs, food for bird, 

 beast and human. The natives put the tunes in a sack 

 and roll them to free them of the thorns with which they 

 are covered. Old bruin rolls them between his tough 

 paws and eats to repletion. He is not to blame, for they 

 are very good. 



There is a doubt in many people's minds in the United 

 States as to the existence of tigers in Mexico. There is 

 a mounted specimen in the museum in the City of 

 Mexico, which was captured on the line of this branch. 

 The writer has never seen one alive, but has seen several 

 green hides brought in by the Indians. It should be re- 

 membered, hoAvever, that he has never lost any tigers. 

 If any of the sportsmen of the North care to take a hunt 

 in Mexico I feel sure they will be richly repaid for the 

 time and expense. The strange customs of the people 

 and the habits of game are so different from in the United 

 States. Many trophies can be gathered up worth a great 

 deal to the hunter and naturalist; and for fine climate 

 and health this is exceeded by no place on earth. No 

 sultry sun, no chilly winds, a continual ideal September 

 the whole year round and the purest air mortel ever 

 breathed. Mejtcano. 



A SOUTHERN TEXAS GAME COUNTRY. 



MTHE Junior and the Scribe arrived on Nov. 10, 

 • of 1836, at Rio Grande City, a small town on the 

 left bank of the Rio Grande River, about 98 miles, as the 

 crow flies, from its mouth. Having heard of the fine 

 sport to be had all along the lower Rio Grande River, we 

 had decided to spend one month following its course 

 overland in easy stages and to get all the shooting we 

 could possibly crowd in that time. At Rio Grande City 

 we remained three days. We were told that the sur- 

 rounding country was fairly alive with quail, and hiring 

 a conveyance for a day for the small sum of $1 Mexican 

 money, or about 82 cents American currency, we set out 

 about 7 A. M., taking our dogs and 100 rounds of ammu- 

 nition each. We had hardly left town when M.'s pointer 

 drew on a bunch of weeds and pointed. The driver 

 called our attention to the dog; we dismounted, and 

 when we came within about 20yds. a large covey of "Bob 

 Whites" rose; our guns spoke and we dropped three 

 bfrds. We had not hunted over more than about five 

 miles of ground when our ammunition gave out and re- 

 turning to town about noou we counted 164 birds, where- 

 upon M. exclaimed: "What glorious shooting. What 

 is the use of going further? This beats anything I ever 

 dreamed of. There is nothing like quail shooting over a 

 good dog. Just think of a couple of market butchers get- 

 ting in here and taking pot shots; they would flood the 

 New Orleans and St. Louis markets in two days' shoot- 

 ing." Arrived in town our driver asked whether he 

 could not take us some other day to a lagoon about nine 

 miles northwest of town, where we would find ducks 

 very plentiful. Being eager to interview the ducks we 

 arranged for the team for the following morning at day- 

 break. We spent the evening visiting Fort Ringgold, 

 adjoining Rio Grande, a military post garrisoned by two 

 companies of infantry and one company of cavalry. The 

 post is nicely laid out, the buildings are substantial, and 

 taking ice machine, waterworks and saw mill in con- 

 sideration, is as modern as possible. The grounds are 

 kept scrupulously clean, and the contrast between them 

 and the filthy town is so great that we dreaded to return 

 to our lodgings. 



Although our team was on hand promptly, it was some 

 time after sunrise next morning (Nov. 12) when we got 

 into our conveyance. We reached the lagoon at about 

 8:30. While we were filling our pockets with ammuni- 

 tion a ragged boy drew near, and our driver engaged 

 him in conversation, ascertaining that the little fellow 

 knew a favorite feeding ground, where he had seen a 

 large number of ducks that morning. He was willing to 

 act as our guide, and to sharpen his wits I gave him a 

 quarter. Our little guide led the way through thick 

 chapparal and high rushes, over flooded swampy ground, 

 and after following him with difficulty for about a mile, 

 a noise like distant breakers struck our ear. Continuing 

 our tramp the noise became louder and more distinct, 

 and our hearts began to thump when we distinctly dis- 

 tinguished that it was the calling of a large number of 

 ducks of nearly all— to us — known varieties. Meanwhile 

 we had been conducted to a piece of high ground, and 

 right before us, not more than 200yds. distant, through 

 some live oak timber, we saw a many-colored mass of 

 wildfowl literally covering a small pond of open water, 

 surrounded on three sides by a thick canebrake. We en- 

 joyed the strange spectacle for some time, and decided 

 to try and get within easy range and let drive into that 

 living mass. About 200yds. to our right the chapparal 

 was very thick, and ran on the edge of the canebrake up 

 to the water's edge; we retraced our steps, and after get- 

 ting below the high ground out of sight, reached the 

 thicket without disturbing the ducks. Our dogs we left 

 tied in charge of our guide with instructions not to fetch 

 them up until we would call, We then began the hand 

 and knee act, and after tearing our lower garments in 

 many places and pricking our hands and shins, we man- 

 aged to get within about 30yds. unperceived. After rest- 

 ing a few moments we rose simultaneously and fired one 

 barrel each between wind and water and the other barrel 

 when the mass took to wing, and at least two of us got in 

 two more shots before all got out of reach. When the 

 smoke cleared away we noticed our guide and both of 

 our dogs in the pond, and all our calling did not induce 

 either to come to shore and give us a show for some more 

 slaughter. The dogs were frantic in their efforts to over- 

 take winged and wounded ducks and could not be gotten 

 down to their retrieving work for some time; our boy, 

 however, went at the matter in hand in a business way, 

 showing that he was well broken and knew what species 

 were most valued. He waded about and carefully selected 



among the killed, bringing to shore on his first trip nine can- 

 vasbacks and one mallard drake. When our dogs calmed 

 down they assisted, and in about thirty minutes all dead 

 and badly crippled ones were brought in, fifty-one all 

 told; twenty-nine green and blue-winged teal, eleven of a 

 species called down there cornduck, turkey brown and 

 very large, nine canvasbacks and two mallards. It was 

 not 11 o'clock, and we decided to take our fowl to the 

 wagon, ride part of the way to town, then send the team 

 home and hunt in the remainder of the way. When we 

 left the wagOn, about two miles from town, we took 

 twenty-five cartridges each and brought down forty-two 

 birds between us. I never Baw dogs get down to business 

 as ours did on this second day, and I was so taken up 

 with their action and style that my companions dis- 

 counted me as far as the shooting was concerned. 



After returning to town we set to work separating our 

 camping outfit with a view of shipping some necessary 

 articles of wearing apparel, bedding and our saddle kits 

 by steamer to Brownsville, and succeeded that same even- 

 ing in hiring a light covered spring wagon and four horses 

 to take us to the same place, in such drives as we might 

 desire to make, for a consideration of $3 Mexican money 

 per day, and forage for man and beast, the team to be 

 ready to start at 8 o'clock A. M. on Nov. 14, thus having 

 a day to purchase some extra supplies, load ammunition, 

 and gather whatever information we could pick up con- 

 cerning the best camping grounds. Because it is gener- 

 ally omitted, I will detail cost of our trip as I go along, 

 I therefore specify here expenses during our stay at Rio 

 Grande City, viz. : 



1 cool room with two clean ben's and otherwise fairly well 



furnished and attendance, $1 per day $4 00 



Meals in Mexican restaurant (d 'la carte), well prepared, clean 



but not choice and of limited vanety 10 00 



Hire of vehicle 8 days at $1 per day 2 00 



Expenses for i men 4 days, Mexican money gl6 00 



In our currency $13.12, or one man, 4 days, $3.28. 



Pedro, our driver, brought the team around promptly 

 at the stipulated hour; he was a bright-looked fellow of 

 about twenty-eight years of ago, who proved to be honest, 

 handy, willing to assist in anything, and of a very cheer- 

 ful disposition. We got our traps and ourselves aboard, 

 and although we had enjoyed some fine shooting during 

 our stay at Rio Grande City, we all were as glad as school 

 boys to be on the move again. The ponies were sprightly 

 little animals, and we traveled at a gait that a party 

 pressed for time would have to pay in the North Woods 

 $20 a day for. The road is very hard and smooth, the 

 country covered with thick chapparal and every imagin- 

 able species of cactus, the thickets appearing at intervals 

 absolutely impenetrable. Here and there we passed small 

 openings from thirty to about one hundred and fifty 

 acres, and I noticed that they were grazed down to the 

 roots by either sheep or goats; of ranch cattle we saw but 

 few, and ponies and goats appeared to be the only stock 

 raised to any extent. A drive of about one and one-half 

 hours brought us to a small settlement situated on the 

 high bank of a large lagoon. Pedro told us that there 

 were quite a number of ducks and any quantity of quail 

 waiting to be hunted, and that the light man hunting the 

 low hills to the left of the road would be almost sure to 

 get a shot at a deer toward evening. 



We went into camp in a nice open spot in some live- 

 oak timber, pitched our tent and, after gathering a good 

 quantity of fire wood, I introduced Pedro to the contents 

 of the grub-box and our battery de cuisine, told him to 

 help himself whenever he felt hungry, and not to expect 

 us back till about dusk. We took some cold meat, bread 

 and claret aboard, shipped our artillery, and agreed to 

 hunt according to the following programme : The Junior 

 was to take the hills; M., who is a botanical crank, was 

 to explore the woods; and the Scribe was given to under- 

 stand that the party needed just about one-half dozen teal 

 for next breakfast. Until that day I had never known 

 game of any kind to be disgustingly plentiful, but leaving 

 camp with a view of shooting* sufficient ducks for one 

 meal, I ordered my dog to heel, and followed the lagoon 

 on its highest bank. I flushed large coveys of quail all 

 along at such short intervals that I had to fasten to my 

 pointer with a suspender, and often to drag him along 

 forcibly, when he would wind and try to point quail from 

 the trail. After following the lagoon for a distance of 

 about a mile, I noticed some ducks on the opposite bank 

 about 200yds. from me. They were too large for teal, 

 and walking in open sight until I came directly opposite 

 them, I clapped my hands to induce them to take to wing, 

 they glancea in my direction and resumed their medi- 

 tative and aggravating pastime of sunning themselves. 

 Thus dared, I let a charge of No. 6 drive at them, killing 

 two and winging a third one; the rest rose clumsily, 

 circled around twice, and would have dropped in around 

 their dead kindred had I not sent my dog in to retrieve. 

 He brought the three birds, which proved to be large 

 brown cornducks, as fat as butter. Having all we could 

 use for breakfast I retraced my steps toward camp, where 

 I found M. fast asleep in his hammock and our Mexican 

 factotum busily engaged preparing dinner. I pitched in, 

 and in less time than it would take to make out a bill of 

 fare we were served, and carefully selecting and setting 

 aside the most unsavory morsels for the Junior, whom 

 we did not expect for several hours, we acquitted our- 

 selves of our task with hunters' appetites. 



After dinner we crawled up in our hammock for a 

 smoke, and were undoubtedly fast asleep when a Co- 

 manche war whoop roused us from our meditations. The 

 Junior had returned, devoured all the delicacies we had 

 set aside for his dinner, and was clamoring for more in 

 such strong terms that I rose and promised to prepare 

 supper in a jiffy. He told us that he had jumped one 

 doe, seen two more deer without coming to shot, and then 

 exhibited the pelt of a large bob-tailed wildcat, the only 

 game he had slain. After supper we got in comfortable 

 positions to enjoy a smoke and decide on our next camp. 

 We were told that we would have a three-hours' drive to 

 Havanna (all these places are stock ranches, with store 

 and school house), where we would find no hunting we 

 cared for except quail. Further down, at Peditos or 

 Lomita, however, deer, turkey and ducks were plentiful. 

 Leaving the decision with Pedro, we told him to select 

 the best hunting ground within twenty miles for our next 

 camp, and to be ready for an early start. Mux. 

 [to be concluded.] 



A Book About Indians— The Fokkst and Stream will mall 

 free on application a descriptive circular of Mr. Grinnell's book, 

 "Pawnee Hero Stories and Folk-Tales," giving a table of contents 

 and specimen illustrations from the volume.— Acl/i). 



