March 8, 1892.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



197 



forces whose eager yelling is borne upon their ears from 

 all sides through the run, crisp air, until the troop, in- 

 creasing in numbers, closes up upon the hunters with the 

 silent irresistible fury of the avalanche. 



For such sport a cool and courageous driver is of first 

 importance, for the horses .having an instinctive dread of 

 wolves, are soon wild with terror; striving to take the bit 

 in their teeth, and rush ahead with a blind fury, regard- 

 less of all obstructions. 



From the moment the wolves have ventured close to 

 the sleigh the tiring begins; at first with careful aim, but 

 as the wolves pour in from all sides, the air is filled with 

 a dense cloud of fine snow particles, obscuring the wolves, 

 and the hunters fire at random. The horses and sleigh 

 with its troop of wolves on flank and rear, enveloped in a 

 cloud of snow particles raised by themselves, roll on like 

 a whirlwind; the shouting of the coachman, the pquealing 

 of the pig, the howling of the wolves, the screaming of 

 the terrified horses, and the rolling thunder of the rapid 

 fusilade unite to create, a sense of terror and excitement, 

 in comparison with which tiger hunting on elephants is 

 as child's play. 



As long as the coachman maintains control of his horses 

 all goes well; but if he loses control, or if a horse falls or 

 the sleigh upsets, all i3 over. The next day or the day 

 after searching parties going out would find the sleigh 

 and harness and guns in the snow, but of the horses, the 

 hunters and the pig, only the big bones would remain to 

 tell the tale. 



It is now a little more than a year ago that the Prince 

 Repnine, with two companions, engaged in such a hunt, 

 which brought them more than the danger and excite- 

 ment they calculated op, and came within an ace of 

 being their last hunt. 



The party set out one evening in a large sleigh; each 

 hunter was armed with a pair of double-barreled guns 

 and a hundred and fifty cartridges. The Prince com- 

 manded the rear, and his companions took charge, one of 

 each flank. 



On reaching the steppe, an immense desert covered 

 with snow, the coachman shook his reins, the horses 

 broke off into a canter, the pigs began to squeal, a few 

 wolves howled in response, and ere long the hunters saw 

 the shadowy form of half a score of them following in 

 the rear, but they were few in numbers and maintained 

 a respectable distance, waiting for reinforcements. Grad- 

 ually their numbers increased, they approached the sleigh, 

 which was gliding at an easy but moderate pace over the 

 snow, the coachman holding the excited horses well in 

 hand! A band of at least twenty wolves was allowed to 

 come to close quarters before the firing commenced. A 

 shot was tired, a wolf fell; there was great excitement 

 and apparent disorganization of the troop, and it ap- 

 peared to the hunters that their pursuers had been dimin- 

 ished one- half. 



In fact seven or eight of the more famished brutes had 

 remained behind to feast on their fallen comrade, but 

 their ranks were soon full again; on all sides one heard 

 howlings responded to by bowlings: on all sides wolves 

 sprang up as if out of the snow, their sharp noses show- 

 ing themselves between a pair of eyes glowing like car- 

 buncles. 



They were at close quarters now, and numerous enough, 

 and the three hunters maintained a rolling fire into their 

 ranks, but although every ball hit home, the band con- 

 tinued to increase in numbers. 



Ere long the troup was swollen to vast numbers, which 

 began to crowd upon the sleigh: the pace increased with 

 the excitement, and the vast cavalcade flew over the 

 snow, silent as death but for the dismal howling of the 

 wolves. 



With their center a few yards in rear of the sleigh, 

 the troop formed themselves into a crescent, the two 

 horns of which were far in advance of the horses on 

 either Bide. 



The pig, which had before been stimulated to squeal, 

 was now kept as quiet as possible; the unexpected num- 

 ber of the wolves foreboded danger, and at every cry of 

 the pig their fury and audacity was redoubled. The 

 firing was maintained without intermission, but already 

 our hunters had fired away half their cartridges. There 

 remained only about two hundred between the three of 

 them, and they were surrounded by more than a thousand 

 wolves. 



The two horns of the living crescent began now to draw 

 toward each other, the wolves were evidently acting in 

 accordance with a concerted plan, they were bent on 

 forming a circle which should inclose their prey in its 

 center, and gradually close in upon them till escape would 

 be hopeless; for if only one of the horses were brought 

 down, resistance could hardly be prolonged another 

 minute. 



The horses snorted, screamed and plunged frightfully, 

 but nothing gave way , and the coachman maintained his 

 control over them. 



''What do you think of it, Ivan?" asked the Prince of 

 his coachman. 



"The enraged beasts have tasted blood," said he, "and 

 the longer you continue firing the more their numbers 

 increase. If you will leave it to me, Prince, I will turn 

 the horses' heads homeward and give them their heads." 



"Can you rely upon them?" 



"I will answer for them." 



"And will you be responsible for us?" 



The coachman did not reply; he saw that the critical 

 moment had arrived in which the Prince and his friends, 

 awed by the growing terror of their situation, were not 

 unwilling to see him take the command. Without an- 

 other word he wheeled them gradually round in the 

 direction of the chateau, and gave them their heads. 

 The noble brutes, wild with terror and excitement, no 

 sooner felt their heads free than they bounded off at a 

 furious pace, the sleigh scarcely seeming to hamper their 

 movements. 



The coachman, while letting the horses go at their best 

 speed, continued to wheel them round, and almost in an 

 instant they charged down upan one of the flanks of the 

 wolves, which scattered right and left as the horses 

 plunged among them. The horses were no more gallop- 

 ing now, they were flying. At this moment the hunters 

 raised their guns again for another shot. 



"For your lives," cried Ivan, "don't fire!" They obeyed. 



And now it was seen that the wolves had come to a 

 standstill: they were evidently nonplussed by the unex- 

 pected maneuver, their tactics had been spoiled and they 

 did not know what to do next. 



In. this minute of indecision the horses, straining at top 



speed, had shot nearly half a mile ahead, and when the 

 wolves renewed the pursuit they appeared to follow but 

 slowly, the huntsmen soon ceased to fear that the wolves 

 would overtake them. 



But there was no slackening of speed, and a quarter of 

 an hour later our hunters entered the courtyard of the 

 chateau. The Prince estimates that in this quarter of an 

 hour the horses had covered a distance of six miles, but a 

 severe critic might remark that he probably did not look 

 at his watch unl il some minutes after the start. 



The following day the Prince and his party visited the 

 field of battle on horseback, and the bones of over 200 

 wolves attested to the steadiness of the shooting and to 

 the numbers that were present at the banquet. — Translated 

 from the French for Forest and Stream by C. F, Amery. 



THE MONGOLIAN PHEASANT. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Judge O, N. Denny, late counsellor to the king of 

 Corea, and to whom we sportsmen of the northwest 

 Pacific coast owe such a deep debt of gratitude for intro- 

 ducing the Mongolian pheasant into this country, has just 

 favored me with a most delightful chat about the char- 

 acteristics of the bird in its native country. 



It will probably be remembered by many of the readers 

 of Forest ant> Stream that while the Judge was TJ. S, 

 Consul-general at Shanghai, China, he procured and sent 

 to us, at his own expense, about 50 pairs of pheasants of 

 various varieties, including the ringneck Mongolian, green 

 Japanese, copper, tragopan, silver and golden, none of 

 which cost his less than $8 per pair in China. 



Some of his remarks will be of interest to those 

 numerous persons who have been trying to determine 

 whether these pheasants will be able to endure the rigors 

 of Eastern winters. The Judge says that they undoubtedly 

 can. He informs me that 40 degrees below zero is nothing 

 unusual in that part of Mongolia where the pheasants 

 bearing that name were procured. Then there is another 

 trait that is characteristic of all of them. They exercise 

 good judgment during cold snaps and seek out sheltered 

 places and visit the stacks, sheds and barns of the farmer, 

 and are hardier and better "rustlers" than even the Bob 

 White. The Judge says that all this talk about the 

 pheasants being destructive to the farmers' crops is bosh, 

 and the birds are made the victims of such slanders by 

 those who are seeking excuses for killing them. Before 

 he sent any of the birds here he thoroughly investigated 

 their habits and characteristics, to the end that he might 

 not be held responsible for introducing a pest into this 

 country, as he "did not wish Americans to curse him as 

 the Australians curse the man that introduced rabbits 

 into their country." 



He wpnt into the fields of China and was shown where 

 the pheasants had turned clods in their search for crickets, 

 worms, etc., and after careful inquiry and observation 

 unreservedly declares them to be insectivorous and the 

 friend of the farmer. He also pleasantly referred to their 

 pugnacity and said that in China hawks and kites let 

 them severely alone. 



In this connection permit me to relate a little incident 

 that transpired down at the Honeyman Shooting Preserve, 

 on Sauvie's Island, near Portland, not long since, the 

 truthfulness of which is vouched for by Mr. James Honey- 

 man and two other well known Portland sportsmen: 



The gentlemen had gone to the houBe for lunch, when 

 their attention was attracted by the actions of a large 

 hawk near the house. A cock Mongolian was standing 

 on the fence intently watching and boldly countering 

 every movement of his hawkship. The hawk would 

 circle and dart, but Mr. Pheasant was always ready for 

 him and met him squarely in mid-air with spurs and 

 beak. The battle lasted a long time, as the hawk seemed 

 loth to lose such a tempting dinner. Now and then the 

 hawfc would circle over an adjacent bunch of grass and 

 then return to the gentleman on the fence. Presently, 

 while the hawk and cock was engaged in battlp, a hen 

 pheasant left the bunch of grass and hurried into the 

 thick sal-lal brush, where the cock soon joined her, leav- 

 ing the hawk to seek his dinner elsewhere. 



Portland, Oregon, Feb. 22, S. H. GREENE. 



A MONTANI AN ON THE PARK. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Some time ago a bill was introduced in Congress by 

 Senator Sanders, which granted a right of way from 

 Cinnabar, the terminus of the National Park Railroad, to 

 Cooke City. It now appears from the papers that an- 

 other bill has been introduced by the same gentleman, 

 asking the Government to segregate that portion of the 

 National Part up the Gardiner River, taking in Soda 

 Butte Creek and East Fork Yellowstone River. Both 

 these streams are the home of elk, deer and a few buffalo 

 that live in the Park, and as maps will show, to segre- 

 gate that portion of the Park, would about divide the 

 Park in half. 



Now, it is necessary that Cooke City should have 

 means of transportation, and if the proposed route via 

 Gardiner was the only practicable route, it would seem 

 unreasonable to deprive them of the right of way through 

 the National Park, provided surveys could show the 

 above route a practicable one. This has not been fully 

 demonstrated by survey. But there are practicable routes 

 from the Northern Pacific R, R. to Cooke, perhaps the 

 best being that which has been surveyed by way of 

 Clark's Fork of the Yellowstone, and which would in 

 no way interfere with the "National Park." Some years 

 ago that route was found to be eminently practicable: 

 without heavy grades, and it was learned that it would 

 open up the most extensive coal fields in Montana, and 

 new mining districts as well. The fact that the "Clark's 

 Forks" route would open up the best coal fields in Mon- 

 tana would perhaps be a reason for the N. P. R R. Co. 

 to oppose this route to Cooke City, since that company 

 now contro's the coal supply of eastern Montana, and 

 will do so until other railroads penetrate new fields. 



Another route for a railroad to the "New World" min- 

 ing district (Cooke City) is what is known as the Still- 

 water route, •which would be a road from Stillwater 

 town on the N. P. R. R. to Cooke City about 63 miles 

 long, upon which a preliminary survey has b?en made 

 and found practicable, the route following the Stillwater 

 River to its' source near Cooke City. 



In addition to the above two routes, which are proven 

 by mapB and surveys to be practicable, perhaps a route 



from the N. P. R. R, at Big Timber following the Boul- 

 der River would be fcund available. Ail those routes 

 would reach the heart of mines tributary to Cooke City, 

 besides opening up others, which would probably prove 

 equally as good. 



Now, I believe that if it was left to a vote of the people 

 of Montana, we would find that a majority was opposed 

 to any railroad being allowed to pass through any part of 

 the National Park, as well as to the cutting off any por- 

 tion to accommodate any railroad company, and further, 

 they would vote No on the question of the segregation of 

 any portion of the National Park, especially that part 

 north and east of the Yellowstone River and Soda Butte 

 Creek. 



The countless thousands of buffalo and elk which a few 

 years ago roamed over the country are now practically 

 extinct, except the few that find refuge in America's 

 only National Park, protected by the strong arm of the 

 Government, and even deer, mountain sheep and ante- 

 lope have become very scarce outside. The valley of the 

 East Fork of the Yellowstone, which Congress is asked to 

 segregate, is one of the least elevated and most open por- 

 tions of the Park, and there the game of all kinds congre- 

 gate in winter — a fact that no honest man in America 

 can deny — and a railroad, with its accessories, would 

 drive all the game out of the Park, destroying their last 

 winter refuge, and in a few years elk, deer and buffalo 

 would be as extinct as the mastodon. 



Besides, it is not proven that the route via Yellowstone 

 River and Soda Butte Creek is practicable. I have been 

 in Montana for many years and have failed to find any 

 one who knows that even a preliminary survey has ever 

 been made to Cooke City from Gardiner over the proposed 

 route. 



It may be that some one has surveyed the coal fields 

 near Mount Everts, and that this is only a scheme to get 

 hold of these coal lands rather than one for a railroad 1 



The route via Yellowstone River and Soda Butte Creek, 

 even if found to be the most practicable, would inevit- 

 ably be controlled by the N. P. R. R. Co. , and the cost of 

 transportation would possibly be but little less than now. 



Another thing to be considered in the matter is the fact 

 that if the N. P. R. R. Co. is allowed to pass through the 

 National Park, or to have a slice cut off, to accommodate 

 that company, it is quite probable that the Great 

 Northern, Union Pacific, Burlington and Missouri, and 

 other railroads leading in that direction, would ask the 

 same privilege. 



Now that the Park has been extended south and east to 

 include a larger area, additional efforts should be made 

 to protect the fish and game, and wardens should be ap- 

 pointed who would honestly endeavor to do their duty; 

 men acquainted with the country, not old "skin hunters," 

 but men who would protect instead of destroying or per- 

 mitting others to do so. 



My view is that the National Park is the property of 

 the people of the United States. Montana is no more 

 interested in its preservation than the people of Maine or 

 Texas, the grounds being the wonderland of all worlds — 

 and while Senators or Representatives from Montana 

 may have friends interested in such encroachments as 

 that proposed — it is hardly to be supposed that Senators 

 and Representatives from Middle or Southern States have 

 any interests, save to stand by the National Park, and to 

 them we look to preserve the Nation's pleasure ground 

 intact. And while syndicates and corporations have been 

 unceasing in their efforts to so obtain and control the 

 Park so that all visitors would be forced to pay them 

 tribute, we are under great obligations to many Senators, 

 and especially to Senator Vest, for their loyalty to 

 America's National Park, as it is now comparatively free 

 and intact. 



If the Government wants to cut the Park up to favor 

 one railroad, I say take the soldiers away and open the 

 Park wide open, and then if the people want to see any 

 game, they may find it in Alaska, where one skin- 

 hunter told me there was plenty of room for our game. 



Thousands of dollars have been sent to Washington to 

 lobby this bill through. Segregrate never. 



Uncle Sam. 



A JACK RABBIT DRIVE. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I send a photograph illustrating the "drive" method of 

 destroying jack rabbits, practiced in southern California. 

 On last Saturday a drive took place near Fresno in which, 

 it is said, nearly two thousand horsemen engaged. A 

 tract of country embracing about twenty square miles was 

 swept by the riders, who closed in from alt sides driving 

 the rabbit* before them. About 15,000 rabbits were thus 

 forced into a central corral of wire, where they were killed 

 with clubs. 



More than 50,000 rabbits were killed in a series) of drives 

 which was made near Bakersfieid last winter. Fruit 

 growers are compelled to thin out the jack rabbits occas- 

 ionally, or the large, rapid-breeding creatures would eat 

 up everything they could plant. 



It was announced that the rabbits taken at Fresno would 

 be distributed among the poor of San Francisco; but this 

 was not done as they were not in good condition. At times 

 the rabbits are infested with the larva of the Ooznurus, a 

 parasite of the tapeworm group. These appear as large 

 watery blisters on the flesh of the animal, the succeeding 

 stages in the development of the Camurus taking place in 

 the stomach of the coyote, or other carnivorous animals 

 preying upon the rabbits. 



So many coyotes have been killed here during the past 

 year that their decrease may have the effect of relieving 

 the rabbits of this parasite in some degree, by preventing 

 its complete development in the coyote's stomach. The 

 bounty of five dollars, which is paid in California on coy- 

 ote scalps appears to have had the effect of increasing the 

 jack rabbits in proportion as their natural check was re- 

 moved. The coyote law, made in the interest of shep- 

 herds, has proved detrimental to the interests of the hor- 

 ticulturists. It is said to have induced systematic coyote 

 killing in other States, the scalps being smuggled across 

 the State line for this ridiculously large Californian 

 bounty. 



As a natural result of the wholesale slaughter'of coyotes, 

 it has become necessary to adopt active measures to pro- 

 tect the ranches from the rapidly increasing jack rabbits. 

 San Bernardino county now off ers a bounty ol 25 cents on 

 rabbit scalps, and other southern counties will soon be 

 compelled to do the same. C. H, Townsend. 



San Fbancisco, Gal., Feb. 16. 



