Feb. 3, 1893.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



97 



The Alton Gun Club. 



Alton, III., Jan. 13. — ^Many who rcraember the old 

 Alton Gun Club will be pleased to lea in of the reorganiza- 

 tion of that merry band of local iiiiurods. Prof. Wm. 

 MoAdams has been chosen president of the club, with Dr. 

 D. C. AVhite treasurer and Mi-. J. G. Melling, secretary. 

 The new organization has a membersliip of twenty-seven, 

 The club has for its motto "the protection of game and 

 fish," and its efforts will be directed toward securing the 

 proper I'egulation and observance of the game and fish 

 laws. It is also the intention to take at least one grand 

 camping and hunting trip per year and to hold a shooting 

 tournament at the same apioointed time. The Marais 

 Tem]js Clair Gim Club, of St. Chaiies county. Mo. , has 

 purchased a quantity of wild rice seed to sow on the hunt- 

 ing gi-oimds for the duck season. 



Michigan Small Game. 



Holland, Mich., Jan. 28. — The game prospects for the 

 next year are not bright for this locality. With snow 3ft. 

 deei3 on the level the quail do not stand much show. The 

 shooting, except for rabbits, was poor the last season; the 

 duck and snipe shooting a failure. Woodcock were more 

 plentiful than for years. Quail not so abundant as ex- 

 pected, although the wet spring had a great deal to do 

 with this. I lost my field spaniel in September, so did not 

 get as many birds as I would otherwise. Am successfully 

 trainmg my Lord Graphic pointer pup by Hammond's 

 method. Have made some fair bags oA^er him, although 

 he was but Ql months old when the season opened. Could 

 have shot more, but I paid more attention to training the 

 dog than to making a large bag. A. G. B. 



Cheat Mountain Association. 



At a meeting in Pittsburg Jan. 16, the following ticket 

 was elected for 1893 by the Sportsman's Association of 

 Cheat Mountain: President. W. M, Kennedv; Vice-Presi- 

 dents, W. K. Shiras, D. Mcl^. Lloyd, W." S. Edwards, 

 LTtilles Baird, Natham'el Ewing; Secretary, Theophilus 

 SprouU: Treasurer, D. P. Corwin; Naturalist and Surgeon, 

 Dr. J. W. Riggs: Board of Directors (seven to elect), W. 

 G. Brown, A. P. Tallman, C. C. Scaife. Dr. Jos. N. Dick- 

 son, S. B. Elkin^, Geo. Shii-as, IIL, H. P. Pears. 



Spencer Stream Moose. 



A Maine correspondent tells us that Messrs. Henry 

 Pierce, of Farmington, A. S. Douglass and Joe Stober, 

 after a month (December) of hunting at the Spencer 

 Stream, returned with three bull moose and five deer. 

 One of the moose, shot by Mr. Pierce, was the largest ever 

 known in that region. 



Colt's Hammerless Shotgun, 



which ia advertised elsewhere in our colunms, is one of the finest field 

 or trap guus ou the market to-day, and is unexcelled for strength, 

 beauty of finish and shooting quaUties. Cxfeat penetration and uni- 

 form pattern are iusui-ecl in tliis g-un by the manner of boring, the 

 respective gauges being of niinimuui size and permitting no waste of 

 the propelhug gasses. Ever3- shooter who is not already familiar with 

 this gun should send his name on a postal and receive descriistive 

 catalogue.— jidu. 



"That Eeminds Me." 



BtE'oUE. Mile Run, Va.— This place is not only a much 

 Warequented resort for Washington anglers, but boasts of 

 two club houses, the clubs being composed of well known 

 theatrical gentlemen. Not long since while woodcock 

 were in season. Captain Kidd, a member of one of the 

 clubs, had several guests with him, and at the solicitation 

 of Tom tlie official of the place. Captain Kadd and his 

 friends accompanied Tom and his noted dogs on a hunt 

 for these wary birds. Two of the guests, Mac and Pete, 

 were not very well acquainted with field lore; Mac, how- 

 ever, is never at a loss to interpret what he hears, even if 

 he does go wrong some time. Tom and his dogs went 

 into the marsh and stationed the gunners outside; Mac 

 and Pete being together and some distance from the 

 others. A bird was started and Tom cried out, Mark! 

 when down to mother earth Mac went, at the same time 

 mging his friend Pete to do likewise. Some one fired and 

 killed the bird. In the meantime one of the party a 

 "knowing one," moved nearer to Mac and Pete, and Tom 

 again caUed, Mark! This time both Mac and Pete with- 

 out any more ado went to grass and the bird came out of 

 the marsh directly over them, and the aforesaid "knowing 

 one" got the shot, at the same time asking Mac why he 

 did not shoot. "Siioot?" Mac replies, "Shoot? Why, didn't 

 you hallow Mark! and doesn't mark mean 'Get down, I 

 am going to shoot?"' The -'knowing one" at that came 

 near having a spasm from hmghter. The whole party 

 were called together and the story as I have told it re- 

 lated. But when the comjjany of which Mac and Pete 

 and Captain Kidd are members, are now on the road, let 

 some one poke his head in the car door and scream Mark! 

 Then see what will happen. Spotty. 



Ideal Handbook Number Four. 



Ttds haudboolc contains much new matter of interest to shooters, as 

 well as important changes in the price hst of implements. The matter 

 in regard to express and spht bullets is of particular int-erest. Sport.s- 

 nien sending for this catalogue should specify ''No. 4"' and inclose 

 stamps to the Ideal M'f'g Co., New Haven. Comi.^Adv. 



A liost Lietter. 



'The largest, ontHsh ever captured on the 3Iississippi was caught 

 about three yeiu s a,u:o, iw o miles from Cairo, bv a negi-o fisherman. •■' 

 said J. G. Ilarvry, ot 31urphysboro. 111., at the Lindell yesterchi}^ "He 

 -was a monster, sure enough, and more resembled a whale than a cat- 

 fish. The negroes had been talking for a long time about having seen 

 a big fish in the waters. They had shot at him repeatedly and had set 

 all Idnds of trot hnes to catch hurt without success. Finally there 

 came a rise in the river, audwhen the waters receded from the swamp 

 back i..t tile i-ivfi the fish was gromided and captured. He weighed 

 aiSlbs., auil « Leii cut open they tound m his storoach two fishhooks 

 and a hue, a teuDcnuy nail, a gold rmg. and, the most ouiinus thine- nf 

 all, a 1 , tLi 1 1 tt I ildies^^ed I I tke H u W iltei M^iin ei h.-l )t 

 JUchmocd. \a., which had been lost for two weeks, and which had 

 srrven the pustal aiit bonnes uuboimded trouble. The q.ueation wasaud 



h.'w did tiia t II I !(■]■ I'vi-r Hud itji way fi'omthepostaJ etir to the fish's 



\m mid 



The FifiJi Ld im nf the United States and Canada, in the 

 ' Oa.mc La ws ■/.«. Brief," sr, cents. In the "Book of the 

 ' Qame iau's " {f ull taxi), SO cen.tn. 



WITH A FLY-ROD. 

 A Sentiment to Co With a Gift. 

 I. 



Accept, oh friend, this magic waud, 



And as it bends above the stream, 

 Waved in the sunshine by thy hand, 



May thy contentment be supreiae'l 



II. 



I cannot wish thee less than this. 

 Nor give thee what invokes thee more 



Delight in life— more earthly bliss— 

 By rippling lake or river shore. 



III. 



Then use it oft — ''twill bring thee peace 



And pleasaunce in the wild- wood ways 

 And bounding health— from care release, 

 A "floiu'eynge aege''* and length of days, 



J. HajikinotoiV Kbbne. 



* Dame Julyana Berners. 



INDIAN OCEAN SHARK SHOOTING. 



Probably there has been less written concerning sport 

 on tlie Island of Mauritius than almost any other spot on 

 the face of the globe; but that is not because there is no 

 sport to be had there, for this little palm-shaded, fern-clad 

 cluster of mountaios that rises abruptly out of the almost 

 always placid bosom of the southern Indian Ocean 

 abounds with fish and game. Tlie soft, balmy, tropical 

 climate is so mild and even that when a species of bird or 

 animal is once introduced here there is httle to hinder it 

 from multiplying. The island has two of the m0.st beau- 

 tiful and complete pubhc gardens in the world, where 

 every known kind of plant and tree thrives, oranges, 

 lemons and mangoes grow almost in the shade of apple, 

 peach and j)ear trees, huge cocoanut palms overshadow 

 spice trees, and every variety of fern and vine thrive iri 

 such half wild profusion as is only to be found in the 

 tropics, where the heat is continuous and rain plentiful. 

 The lakes in these gardens are well stocked with German 

 carp and golden ide from the Danube, but up to the time 

 of my visit the introduction of Salmonidas had not been 

 attempted. WhUe part of the island is almost one vast 

 sugar plantation, and nearly all the valleys are cut up 

 into smaU. farms, it abounds with deer and feathered 

 game, which is always to be found in the mountains, 

 where the country is too broken and rough for agricul- 

 ture. 



Jitst at the close of the Zulu war in South Africa, a 

 party of five, including the writer, took a small steamer 

 trom D'TJrban, Natal, to Port Louis, the pruicipal Mau- 

 ritius seaport, and at the end of a short and imeventful 

 voyage landed on the stone quay in front of the custom 

 house, where, after the usual insj)ection of health certifi- 

 cates and baggage, we were permitted to proceed to the 

 Hotel Maas and enjoy a good breakfast, cooked and 

 served in such a manner that had it not been for the 

 duske}'' Malabar coast servants, we would have thought 

 ourselves in the South of France, for although Mauritius 

 is an Enghsh crown colony, it is as French as France her- 

 self in everything but government. 



We presented our letters of introduction from the Natal 

 government dm-ing the second day of our visit, and sud- 

 denly found the doors of the whole' island open to us, for 

 it is one of the most hospitable places on earth. The 

 steamship agents informed us that we would be obliged to 

 wait two weeks for the French steamer to Bombay; and 

 we settled down to enjoy a rest, jjull otirselves together 

 and recover from the effects of an African campaign. 

 We took long walks, dehghtful rides and charming little 

 picnic cruises in the jieculiar lateen sail rigged boats of 

 the Hindoo and Malay fishermen, and climbed the moun- 

 tain back of the city to inspect the signal station, which is 

 a genuine cm-iosity. 



The house occupied by the signal service squad is built 

 of stone and ironed down to the top of the cliff by huge 

 rods of steel that pass over the roof and fasten into the 

 solid rock on either side. Near this house is a large cave 

 or cellar that is kept provisioned and suj)iDlied with water 

 enough to last five men a week; this is a hm-ricane ref uge, 

 as Mauritius is in the center of the southern hurricane 

 belt, and is sometimes, although not frequently, visited by 

 storms that destroy whole villages and lay waste hundreds 

 of plantations. The signal house that formerly occupied 

 the peak on which the present one is built was swept 

 away dm-ing a hurricane, and the occupants were blown 

 off the face of the chif into the ocean— it is supposed— as 

 no trace of them was ever found. So severe are these 

 storms that every house on the island is prepared for them 

 by beiag provisioned and having a well dug ia the cellar, 

 as the battle of the elements frequently will last for five 

 or sis days. The windows are aU guarded by soUd heavy 

 wooden shutters, and when the rapicUy faUing weather 

 glass and the gims of the citadel give warning, all the 

 members of the household shut themselves up to await 

 the storm. The citadel is an old-fashioned stone fort 

 built on a hiU near the city. It is gan-isoned by a com- 

 pany of Enghsh artillerymen, who, when they get the 

 signal from the mormtaui-top, fire a 12-pound gam as a 

 warning; if the storm is a certainty a second gun is fired, 

 and if the indications are that it will be very severe a 

 third shot booms out over the quaint old city, warning all 

 shipmasters in the harbor to put to sea or lose their insur- 

 ance, as the bay affords little shelter, and vessels are fre- 

 quently blown on shore and battered to pieces on the 

 rocks. 



After we had inspected aU this and were beginning to 

 wish om- steamer would arrive, the harbormaster came to 

 us one evening with a proposition that threw us into a 

 state of 'wild excitement, as the event suggested was 

 nothing less than a shark hunt in the outer harbor. We 

 hailed the stm-dy old East Indian officer as our preserver, 

 and unanimously accepted his invitation. All the next 

 day was spent ha getting rifles and ammunition. The 

 American Consul had a 3,000yds. Winchester and plenty 



of cartridges, while I had a couple of 73 model .44cal. 

 Winchesters but no ammunition. We got some cart- 

 ridges for these at the ofiicers' quarters, however, and 

 witli a double-barreled express, the property of the major 

 (the harbor-master) and two Martuii-Henry falhng-block 

 model mihtary rifles that would kick you over and kick" 

 at you after you were down, as they fired a .500 bore 

 (English) long bottle cartridge, we were ready and went 

 on board a small tug belonging to the harbor department, 

 and steamed out to the lightship on the evening of the 

 day following our invitation. 



Om- arrivtil was hailed with delight by the crew of the 

 hghtshii), who j)laced the cabin at our disposal, and we 

 turned in early. I say we (I believe the doctor spent some 

 time that night teaching the major our national game), 

 and was informed that he had a pupil so apt that what 

 few rupees he had brought out with Mm went ashore 

 with the major. We slept well, and were up in time to 

 see old Sol get out of his bed in the Indian Ocean and lick 

 the heavy dew ofi: our decks. After a plate of fruit, some 

 fine fish and fresh eggs, with a cup of fragrant coffee, we 

 got out our battery and watched the movements of a 

 clumsy lugger that the outgoing tide and the gentle morn- 

 ing breeze had brought down from the city with the very 

 odoriferous carcas of a. horse, which, the major explained, 

 was the decoy we were to shoot over. The dead horse 

 was hoisted overboard and anchored about eighty yards- 

 below the hglitship, and the higger stood about for home. 



One of the sailors Avent aloft and kept a lookout from 

 the lantern cage, while we ranged om-selves along the 

 breast-high bulwarks, rifle in hand ready for the first 

 flight. We had not waited long when the major said: 

 "Now, boys, don't shoot the decoys," and the doctor ob- 

 served something about its being Iris blind; this u-relevant 

 convei-sation was interrupted by a ''There is one!" from 

 the lookout; and we saw a sword-bladed fin shooting 

 toward our bait at a ten-knot speed, cutting a ripj)le on 

 the smooth smface of the water, and leaving a wake that 

 flashed in the morning sunhght. We knew the game was 

 there, but how to hit it? In a moment we saw another 

 fin, and then another, until there were fully a dozen in 

 sigh t. The great fish fir,st circled aroimd the horse as if 

 to make sure that he could not resist their attack, when 

 we saw one turn in the water and a portion of his white 

 belly show above the surface as his saw-Hke teeth tugged 

 at a great chunk of horseflesh. Crack went the major's 

 express, and a bright red circle where the shark sank 

 testified to the accuracy of his aim. The other fish did 

 not notice the shot butattacked. the horse like a pack of 

 ravenous wolves, while we shot at every sj)ot of shark 

 that showed above the water, until we had converted the 

 turquois blue of the southern sea into a sangutntuy red. 

 While the sharks paid no attention to the shooting, they 

 seemed infuriated with the blood, and battled around the 

 dead horse until the water was lashed almost into a foam. 

 They soon became so mmierous that it was ahnost im- 

 possible to get a shot at any i^articular one, and we 

 stopped firing and watched the fighting, seething, bleed- 

 ing mass. The justice of the title, "Tiger of the Deep," 

 was apparent to all now, as no more ferocious and blood- 

 thirsty creature inhabits either land or water than the 

 shark of the South Seas. The little tugboa,t tha,t had 

 brought us doAvn the harbor lay alongside the hghtsliij), 

 tugging at her lines, throbbmg and panting as if anxious 

 to participate in the fray. When the battle was at its 

 height the major led us to the foredeck of the httle 

 steamer, when we cast ofi: from the larger one and were 

 soon among the fighting leviathans, who apparently took 

 no heed of otu- arrival, but continued to battle as viciously 

 as before. We steamed arotmd and around the horse, 

 shooting every fish that appeared; some of them would go 

 down when hit, while others wofild continue the fight. 

 It is doubtful if a single shot killed any one of them. The 

 crew brought up some small harpoons and fastened to 

 three large sharks, which were towed out of the battle 

 and hauled away up to the town to be skmned. The fish 

 seemed to have exhausted their fury after an hour's 

 struggle, and we steamed back to the wharf after stop- 

 ping a few moments to thank the officers of the hghtship 

 for our entertainment, and to leave what cigars and glass- 

 ware we had with us for their consmnption. 



On the way up the harbor, shark stories were in order, 

 and many were the wonderful tales we hstened to. The 

 major told us that the sharks were so plentiful in the outer 

 harbor that many people were eaten by them every year, 

 while dogs and cattle were often killed in the edges of the 

 water. Bathing in the surf is never thought of in the vi- 

 cinity of the island, but may be indulged in freely in the 

 inner harbor, as the sharks never come up there. The 

 captain of the tug was an old South Sea navigator and 

 told many stories of adventures with sharks that were 

 evidently true but most marvelous. 



He had seen sharks caught from the deck of a sailing 

 vessel with a hook and line and hoisted on the deck, dis- 

 emboweled and thrown back into the water, when the 

 fish, regardless of the gaping Avoimd, would swim around 

 the shij) and take the bait on another hook. He had seen 

 a school of sharks fight imtil one was seriously wounded, 

 when afl the others Avould set upon the injured one like a 

 pack of wolves, He said a shark would seize anythmg 

 bright, and that for that reason food cans thrown over- 

 board in those waters seldom reached the bottom. 



The major told us of an adventure on the coast of New 

 South Wales. While enjoying a swim in a smafl bay near 

 Sydney harbor he saw a great shark swimming slowly 

 abreast of him not over one hundred feet away; he knew 

 that should he pause for an instant that shark" would dart 

 at and seize him, and he kept his stroke until in shallow 

 water, when a companion, seeing his pvu-suer, seized an 

 oar, and by beating the water and shouting drove the fish 

 away. Then Ave were told how the Malays fight sharks- 

 in the Avater by diving beloAv and rii^ping them open VAath 

 a keen knife as they come up under their foes. 



When we reached the landmg, we were so pleased AAith 

 om- experience that we thanked the major for his efl'orts 

 to make our stay on the island a pleasant one, and insist- 

 ed on his accompanying us on a Adsit to the tomb of Paul 

 and A^^irginia and an alfresco luncheon in the Gardens of 

 Curpepe. J. Charles Davis. 



Mr. Battelle's Notion of an Exacting Citizen. 



He would be a very exactui^and impracticable citizen who wotdd 

 not be charmed -with the Toeest and Stream in its new suit and new 

 head. It is plam, however, that the latter, to reverse the old maxim, 

 is obviously a new head on old shoulders, since the rejuvenated paper 

 has aU the grsicaajid atti'activeness of its-fdrmei- "iucai-uation." 



J. B, Battelijj. 



