846 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



iNov. 19, 1891. 



SONG OF A GOAT HUNTER. 



The white goat, 3Iazama, mnntana, often descrihed in these 

 columns, is allied to ihe chamois of Europe, and inhahits tbe 

 highest and most dilfieult peaks of the Bocky Mountains. The 

 "Song" is from tbe pen of a hunter who has killed many a goat, 

 and its truth will be appreciated by any one who has ever hunted 

 these sturdy j-ock climtiers. 



TT was a goat, a goat of two— 



Ever sing pantingly, pantingly— 

 Who climbed a peak to take a view, 

 Hunters live enchantinely. 



'Twas there he met his snowy mate- 

 Ever sing pantingly, pantingly— 



Who graceful on her haunches sate. 

 Hunters live enchanlingly. 



The hunter climbed that ridge so tall— 



Pantingly, oh so pantingly— 

 In deadly fear to get a fall 



Adown the slide rock slantingly. 



The huuter got within a mile — 



Pantingly, oh so pantingly — 

 The placid goats above him smile, 



Hunters live enchantingly. 



The hunter hied him weary home— 



Pantingly, oh so pantingly— 

 The mild-eyed goats uninjured roam. 

 The mountains rise enchantingly. 



H. G. Dttlog. 



WINTER SPORTS IN NORTH CAROLINA. 



I. 



BY CHAKLES HAXLOCK. 



A COUPLE of successive visits to the eastern counties 

 of North Carolina within the past three years, to- 

 gether with some previous acquaintance with the game 

 resorts of other portions of the State, including the 

 mountain region, has prompted me to pitch my tent here 

 at Newbern for the winter, where the climate is suffi- 

 ciently warm without being enervating, and where th<?re 

 is plenty of game and iish at hand in great variety. The 

 sounding ocean is but twelve miles distant as the crow 

 flies, but the penetrating salt sea breeze is tempered by 

 its passage over the land. The piny woods country lies 

 directly back of us; the wire grass and saw grass prairies 

 are below us, and the sweeping buzzards in the air are 

 above and all around us. Morehead City and Beaufort 

 are within an hour's ride by rail, and tbe Neuse and 

 Trent rivers, which inclose the city, run up into the 

 homes of the Tar Heels and Crackers. Surely such a 

 happy combination of seashore and upland, of river, lake 

 and brackish sound, of meadow, marsh and forests, of 

 rank lagoons and barren sandy points, of sunken ledge and 

 broken reef, of blue sky and genial, bracing atmosphere, 

 can seldom be found in the winter season anywhere. Of 

 course there are raw bleak days at intervals; but this is 

 the weather that hardy sportsmen want, for it brings in 

 the ducks and geese, and there is no field sport that can 

 compare with it. Yet the average day is as nearly per- 

 fect as capricious man could desire, and happy is he, I 

 say, whose lines may happen to fall in such pleasant 

 places. 



Friends and followers of Nimrod and Izaak Walton can 

 find an abundance of diversion all over North Carolina 

 from coast to mountain, but when It comes to the "best 

 sport in the world," a local writer says the eastern 

 counties bear off the palm, and I am not disposed to 

 question his testimony, though I intend to prove it by 

 personal tests forthwith. Faith I have. It is not the 

 grain of salt, but the grain of mustard seed which enters 

 into this equation. This gentleman says: 



Our fall and winter hunting is pretty near perfectinu. lathe 

 first place, our weather during those seasons is nearly perfect. 

 This, of course, is of the utmost importance to those who desire to 

 leave the frosts and snows of the North, with its accompaniment 

 of lowering skies and icy winds behind them, and are in search of 

 a country where they can revel in balmy sunshine, and whose soft 

 winds bear upon them the breath of eternal spring. 



The climate of eastern Carolina compares with that of southern 

 France. There are comparatively few cold and wet days, the 

 winter weather being for the most part, bright and crisp. It is 

 claimed that there are several points along our coast where frost 

 has never been known. On the mai aland, on our coast and the 

 islands adjacent, the climate is nearly perfection on account of 

 the proximity of the Gulf Stream, which tempers the cold winds 

 coming from the North. 



The lovers of the rod and gun can find no more delightful spot, 

 neither can they iind one where they will meet with greater suc- 

 cess. They will fiad the waters teeming with game fish, and on 

 the main land and islands plenty of game. It seems in'-redihle, 

 but it is nevertheless true, that within less than a day's journey 

 from New Vork, and a few hours from Washington, bear, 

 deer, wild turkeys, wild cattle, wild hogs, etc.. are to be found 

 in great abundance, while during the fall and winrer mouths 

 the lakes, rivers and sounds swarm with all kinds of water 

 fowl. Swan, geese, brant, wild ducks of all kinds, shore birds and 

 in fact all kinds of water fowl to be found in this country. The 

 woods and meadows are full of small game, squirrel, partridge, 

 snipe, woodcock, CLUail, opossum, raccoon and many other kinas, 

 plentiful enough to delight the heart of the hunter. 



Then as to fishing, whether in the ocean or the landlocked 

 waters near the coast, the fisherman has but to drop his line to 



Eull out a plentiful supply of the gamest kind of fish, such asblue- 

 sh, mackerel, bass, trout, chitb, pike, etc. 



To give an idea of the variety of the sport we give the result of 

 a hunting and fishing trip made by a party of gentlemen to the 

 country near the Albemarle Sound. They brought home the 

 skins of three wildcats, two ottei's, the antlers of three large 

 stags, and a wagon load of fish and turtles. They also killed a 

 large number of minks, squirrels, raccoons and opossums, besides 

 a large amount of small game. 



Deer, bear and wild turkey are very plentiful, and along our 

 eastern streams an occasional shot may be had at an alligator, 

 and if a fisherman gets tired of the famous sport of inland fishing 

 he can take a sail otit upon the broad Atlantic, fitted out with the 

 proper tackle, and after catching a shark or two he will have all 

 the excitement and exercise he will need for some time. 



There is certainly an encouraging outlook for the ama- 

 teur sportsman with an ample field for prowess; and the 

 best of it is that the statements put forward are fuUy 

 substantiated by intelligent correspondents of Fokest 

 AND Stream who have hunted the State over. Just at 

 present there is captivating sport at Morehead catching 

 sea trout or weakfish, and the fish very large and fine; 

 but as it is altogether deep sea fishing with handline in 

 ten fathoms of water, I soon tire of it myself, though 

 others like it fresh every hour. The best of the run will 

 be over by December, but it is no trick at all at present 

 to catch 2001bs. per dajr. 



A week ago I came m from a tour of tbe landlocked 

 sounds which lie between Norfolk and Newbern, and I 

 candidly declare that I never enjoyed a short salt water 



cruise more heartily. This is saying a good deal for an 

 old barnacle like myself, who has coasted almost the en- 

 tire Atlantic and Pacific coasts from Labrador to Alaska, 

 "as I sailed;" but in fact the whole voyage is so novel, 

 and so cheap and comfortable withal, that I am con- 

 strained to press the like enjoyment upon any one 

 who requires a week's or three months' relaxation and 

 change of climate at this season of the year, or at 

 any other season for that matter. One can run out of 

 the latitude of snowfalls and sleet in twenty-four hours, 

 and tie up at Newbern with bright- leaved perennial 

 plants, good friends, and no end of oysters all around 

 him. He can curl himself up in the sunshine like an old 

 house dog on a south verandah, with rosebush and 

 wistaria climbing over if, and enjov contentment until 

 his heart is full. If he be from the East he will find lots 

 of folks here whom he has long missed from home and 

 wondered where they have been these many years. Here 

 he can contemplate the -'New South" in its changing 

 aspects, with the African penumbra gradually passing 

 oft' and giving place to the bright efl'ulgence of a better 

 day, and a community of elements, once discordant, but 

 now so intimately blended that politics cannot split 

 them. And when he has chewed his clover cud of 

 fancy for two days and a half, until the return steamer 

 sails back to Norfolk, and been the recipient of unwonted 

 hospitality from the energetic residents, and visited the 

 oyster canneries, the pulp and lumber mills, the ginnery, 

 and miscellaneous factories, and inspected the fair 

 grounds, the coquina sea wall, and the cemetery inclosed 

 by the same quaint shell rock dug from the river bed, he 

 will go away with new impressions and advanced ideas 

 of this peninsular section and its capabilities. 



For my own part, I am here to stay until the end of 

 spring. This is a restful place. Before me is a lawn 

 bespangled with roses and cape jasmines, and shaded by 

 the glossy-leaved magnolia and the dark-hued cedar. 

 The sweet gum, the catalpa, the china berry and the 

 mimosa are just passing out of leaf and baring their 

 limbs for the winter tussle; hue there is left a great pro- 

 fusion of clambering vines and bright-leaved plants, ever 

 green, to grace the halcyon season. From a broad ver- 

 andah which flanks my sitting room I have an unob- 

 structed view of the noble Neuse River, here a full mile 

 wide, with woodpd bluffs of autumn foliage along the 

 opposite shore. Near by a yacht club has its cosy quar- 

 ters, where jaunty crafts ride at anchor, or spread their 

 white wings' betimes and speed away. A ghostly revenue 

 cutter lies in midstream, one of the milk white squadron. 

 In the distance a vista opens down river toward Pamlico 

 Sound, twelve miles off, in the blue. The outlook is very 

 charming. Our steamer came up this river at sun-up one 

 still, bright morning, when the reflections of the wooded 

 banks were distinct upon the surface of the water; and 

 during all this week "the silvery moon has been casting 

 its silvery sheen upon the ripples at night, and at the full 

 bridging it with a lambent zone which stretches from 

 shore to shore. One evening I fancied that I saw a young 

 water sprite or naiad diving off from the edge of it, but 

 it was only the splash of a sturgeon in the moonbeams. 



These sounds of eastern North Carolina are a great 

 deal larger than they look on the map. Pamlico Sound 

 is forty miles wide at its broadest. Vessels in mid chan- 

 nel are always out of sight of laud, or would be were the 

 bottom not so near the surface. Land is often visible 

 alongside over the rail. On the shoalest spots small cab- 

 ins are built on iron piles to serve as beacons for mariners 

 by day and night. Being far from land and apart from 

 intercourse with men, the isolated keepers are apt to dis- 

 cover in due course of time that solitude and inaction are 

 not rest.and peace. Such man have abundant opportunity 

 to imagine what existence might be if it only were. 

 Gulls would become lonesome in such places. Of course 

 agriculture does not enter into their industrial economy, 

 though it is a current joke among the "combers" and 

 beach men that they raise [from below] all that they eat. 

 Quiddities like this, however, are tolerated only on the 

 forecastle deck on a cold day. 



Besides Pamlico Sound, there are the Albemarle, Cur- 

 rituck. Roanoke and Croatan sounds, all of which the 

 regular packets traverse on their watery routes. These 

 constitute a pleasant alternation from the navigation of 

 the canals through which they have to pass on the way 

 from Norfolk or Elizabeth City. The whole hy drographio 

 system is much like a chain of lakes with slack water 

 connections. Altogether the voyage is a novel experi- 

 ence, and well worth a description in my next letter, I 

 think. 



It is very easy and comfortable to get one's luggage 

 snugly stowed aboard one of the elegant steamers of the 

 Old Dominion Steamship Line, at New York, say the 

 Guyandotte or the Roanoke, and have no more care of it 

 until it is put ashore on the company's dock at Newbern. 

 You simply change at Norfolk from a sea-going vessel to 

 a smaller light draft craft, that will carry no more than 

 7ft. through the canal. There is satisfaction in traveling 

 in this way. You are at home all the time; you are the 

 guest of the steamer. You lounge, play cribbage, eat 

 and smoke; you are not hustled, your rest is sweet and 

 unbroken, if the weather be fair, and T have never hap- 



Sened to strike bad weather yet. You need not, in these 

 ays, if you take pains to consult the weather forecast of 

 the U. S. office. This is a marvelous age! 



The supplementary steamers of the Old Dominion Line 

 leave Norfolk for Newbern every Monday and Thursday. 

 The duration of the round trip is three days, and the cost 

 $2 per day and all found, if one sticks to the ship. I left 

 New York on a Wednesday at 3 o'clock P. M. , arriving at 

 Norfolk at 5 o'clock in the evening of Thursday, and so 

 had three days in that city and Richmond before leaving 

 for the south on Monday, with lots of time to visit the 

 clubs and the markets, and to inspect the Navy Yard and 

 Naval Hospital, the North End improvement, the docks 

 and warehotises, the peanut factories and all points his- 

 torical from way back, besides attending service at Christ 

 Church, and visiting the ancient churchyard of St. Paul's, 

 with its collection of rare plants and trees, its tombstones 

 250 years old, and a round shot imbedded in its walls of 

 imported bricks. 



Norfolk is a sort of nursery for sportsmen, market gun- 

 ners and fishermen. Many of its resident gentlemen are 

 members of the Currituck'gun clubs, the Ideal, Rugged 

 Island, Martin's Point, Deal's Island, Knots Island, and 

 others. Steamers run regularly from Norfolk to Knot's 

 Island, which is three miles from the grounds of the 

 Currituck Shooting and Fishing Club. Trains run daily 

 over the Norfolk & Southern R. R. to Virginia Beach and 



thence there are stages to Martin's Point, twenty-five 

 mites, and to other points along Carrituck Sound. Mar- 

 tin's Point is a new venture, started last spring. Its 

 ofllcers are Capt. Geo. W. Taylor, President, and Mr. J. 

 B. White, Secretary. It has a membership of thirty- 

 eisht now, and there are twenty-two shares for sale at 

 $500 each. The point boasts the finest beach and bay 

 bird shooting in the country. Last Atigust Mr. A. B. 

 Simmons, of 49 Wall street. New York, shot 1,500 yellow 

 legs, gray backs and plover in thirteen days, just to see 

 what could be done. It was cruel slaughter, I vow. but 

 it demonstrated the abundance of that sort of game. 

 There are also English snipe and bay snipe. In the season 

 there are swans, geese, canvasbacks, widgeons, sprigtails 

 and black ducks. 



On my way south, Nov. 9, I saw a bunch of geese afloat 

 in Currituck Sound off Buck's Island, with a few blinds 

 already up, and the wind blowing light from the east. In 

 a few more days, if the weather be rough, the shooting 

 will be good. Any gentleman who has not the entree to 

 the clubs can get what he wants at Mrs. Midget's, at Coin- 

 jock, which is on the direct route of the sound steamers. 

 She controls several excellent points and is accustomed to 

 accommodate sportsmen. I'd advise any reader who is 

 willing to be advised to take this in, and if possible to 

 take passage with Capt. Soutbgate on the Newbern. 

 This boat can accommodate two dozen comfortably. 



SOME IDAHO FIELD NOTES. 



AUTUMN in its annual return brings to our people 

 this year unusual meastire of plenty and sources of 

 happiness. Here in Idaho the October just past brought 

 only days of sunshine, with cool and occasional frosty 

 nights. This perhaps should be limited to the valley 

 portions west of the mountains. At the close of October 

 no rains had fallen since early in July. Even now the 

 hunter or prospector may go iar toward the summit of 

 our high mountains without need of care for cold beyond 

 his camp-fire and blanket. Soon, however, the higher 

 ranges will be covered with deep snow and the big 

 game, elk and deer, then come down to the foothills and 

 about the thickets bordering the rivers running through 

 the valley. With such autumn weather the sportsman 

 and all who love the forest and mountains should be 

 fully satisfied. 



The October numbers of Forest a^'D Stream, contain- 

 ing so many descriptions of rambles lor game in these 

 autumn days, have given me untisual pleasure. I used 

 to wonder from whence the hunting stories would come 

 when the old-time race of hunters had passed away. I 

 need wonder no longer. The stories of grand hunting 

 trips, "great killings," and narrow escapes ai-e plenty yet. 

 During two months of our warmest weather I was, 

 with one companion, camped high enough in the hills 

 for comfort, and on a good trotit stream— one of the trib- 

 utaries of the Payette River. An hour's fishing each day 

 furnished us with all the trout we could use. Beyond 

 that we sought to kill no trout, and so of other game. 

 Three varieties of grouse were to be had in almost any 

 ravine about our camp. 



The first and second nights of our camping on the 

 creek I received uncommon visits from a very common 

 animal. On the first night I was aroused from sleep by a 

 loud scratching at my provision box. The moon was 

 shining on the front of the tent and the box just inside, 

 and I saw a large skunk busy at the box. I made a noise 

 in rising, and he left. Assuming there would be a second 

 visit the next night I made preparation, and when he 

 came I shot at him with tine shot when only about twenty- 

 five feet away. Instead of being killed or driven off by 

 my shot, he came towards me as fast as such vermin can 

 run, evidently meaning to bite. When he had nearly 

 reached the muzzle of my gun I fired again, missing him. 

 He came on until I was obliged to push him away with 

 my gun until I could throw down the flap of the tent be- 

 tween us. Evidently he meant to bite and discarded the 

 use of the usual skunk weapon. After waiting inside the 

 tent for a minute, I foimd he had left. It is said that 

 their bite is fatally poisonous. However that may be, I 

 was glad he was gone, leaving no unpleasant reminder of 

 his visits. Perhaps it did not fare so well with him, but 

 I saw him no more. The small spotted skunk of the 

 coast is not found here. In southern California one of 

 the small sort came into the house and took up his abode 

 in the lower one of the drawers of my bureau, entering 

 the drawer through the bottom, where the boards had 

 shrunk, leaving a space scarce more than an inch wide. 



The trout in the creek we were on and in all the other 

 creeks, I believe, which empty into the Snake and Colum- 

 bia rivers, are of the rainbow variety, the larger of them 

 from six to nine inches long, and thousands of them from 

 two to six inches. I frequently put back into the stream 

 five or six, as too small for use", for one saved. The size 

 does not vary, whether taken from a large or small 

 stream, only so its waters flow to the ocean. 



In the spring it annually occurs that great salmon 

 work their way up these creeks in pairs (the female being 

 much the larger) and deposit spawn as they work their 

 way up as far as the depth of water will permit. I have 

 watched the female salmon, when only a few feet away, 

 come to a gravelly riflie, and with nose root away a little 

 of the sand and deposit eggs. The male comes up quick 

 alongside, turns partly over, and sometimes when a foot 

 of water is running between them, throws his milt like a 

 streak of lightning to the spot where the eggs have been 

 deposited. Both then make their way up the stream 

 until another satisfactory place is found, when the pro- 

 cess is repeated. The number of salmon running up one 

 of these creeks is so considerable that if only a small 

 fraction of the eggs hatched the stream should be filled 

 with fish, as it is; and at the proper age they should find 

 their way to the sea. Is the rainbow trout a distinct 

 species? Is he found anywhere (unless transplanted) ex- 

 cept in streams flowing into the sea from the Sacramento 

 River, north? One gentleman writes that rainbow trout 

 have, transplanted, attained to several pounds weight. If 

 fed well, I think he may expect they will get t© weigh 

 some 15 to SOlbs. 



In October I made a second trip into the hills, and m- 

 terested myself mostly with ruffed grouse. Their habits 

 vary, of course, in different latitudes. Here we expect to 

 find them iix t^p thick willows which line the water 



