July 22, 1893.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



81 



of lla.inas* winding along the narrow path, we gazed 

 do\yn 3,000ft. on the green valley b:'low, where a tiny 

 stream, the Maranon, the headwaters of the mighty 

 Amazon, flowed Uke a silver thread. A horse could have 

 jumped it there. We had no thought to foUow it down, 

 however, a journey never then accomplished, for further 

 on its banks teemed with unseen warriors, whose air- 

 guns and poisoned darts sent traveler and trader alike on 

 a longer journej^ than the one they had undertaken. One 

 of these tribes, by an unknown process and without any 

 apparent incision after decapitation, removes all traces 

 of bone from the heads of the slain and allows the flesh 

 to dry. Of these heads, one seen by us was no larger 

 than an apple, and yet the features were perfectly pre- 

 served, and with the long hair had rather a ludicroiis 

 appearance. 



Well, our mountain journey was over; if we had 

 danced we had also paid for the music. As we rode 

 through the plain the scenery became more tropical, 

 birds' nests 3 or 4ft. long hung from the trees, and swarms 

 of butterflies arose from the ground and hovered round 

 us, flitting to and fro in such dense masses of color that 

 they looked in places for all the world like the shifting 

 scenes of a kaleidoscope. At length we reached Moya- 

 bamba, the capital of the department of Loreto, the great 

 wooded district of Peru. It was the home of a Prefect to 

 whom we had letters and who took us in until we could 

 secure peons to carry our luggage, for here our journey 

 by mule-back terminated, since further over the low but 

 precipitous hills and across the fords and torrents not 

 even a dog could follow. 



The Prefect was a bachelor and really seemed overjoyed 

 to have us with him, and over brandy and water urged 

 us to make a protracted stay and take a rest. But in those 

 days it made us tired to rest, and I counseled my friends 

 to give the Prefect no peace until our quota of peons was 

 secured, We passed a sleepless night, as is usually the 

 case when one first rests under cover after camping in the 

 open air. The population of Moyabamba is almost entirely 

 Indian. Many of the women are i-eally beautiful, plump, 

 with high color, and some with Madonna-like faces; in- 

 deed, Moyabamba is celebrated for two things — the beautj' 

 of its women and the excellence of its Panama hats. 

 These hats were the finest in the world until the more 

 enterprising inhabitants of Guayaquil bore off the palm; 

 for in all the seven thousand inhabitants of Moyabamba i 

 think there could hardly be found as much enterprise as 

 is possessed in one real live Yankee. The Limanians and 

 the people of the coast, Heaven knows, are indolent 

 enough, and to every request requiring action they in- 

 variably return tlie same reply, "Maiiana," to-morrow; 

 bat the residents of the chief town of Loreto surpass even 

 them, their answer under similar circumstances always 

 being "Passado manana," day after to-morrow. There is 

 nothing like leaving a good safe margin. 



Moyabamba draws its supplies from Brazil, finding it 

 somewhat cheaper, though American flom- at the time of 

 our visit was worth forty dollars a quintal, about one 

 hundred pounds. We sold our saddles and bridles at 

 nearly their cost price in Lima, and also our heavy blank- 

 jsta, retaining ponchos of wool and rubber. 



Clarence Bloomfield Moore. 



* Llamas fproTJounced yamas) are ill-tempered beasts and spit 

 viciously wheu aroused. Llamas in Peru are all domesticated. The 

 buauaco, which much resemble them, is found wild, as is the now rare 

 vicuua, with long silken fleece in former times reserved for the gar 

 meats of the Incas alone. 



LOS CLARINEROS. 



A BROA0 veranda runs around three sides of the inner 

 court, the patio, which is entirely surrounded by the 

 house itself. On the red bricks, each nine inches square, 

 with which the corridor is paved, stands the table at which 

 we sat for our 11 o'clock breakfasts and our 5 o'clock din- 

 ners. Cafe at 7 in the morning each took in his or in her 

 own room, and chocolate about 9 in the evening we had 

 in whatever one or more of the rooms we happened to be 

 gathered in ^\'hen the girl appeared with tray balanced on 

 her head and cups and cakes and chocolate on the tray. 



When at table on the corridor my back was to the wall 

 of the casa, which was as white as snow and as smooth 

 and hard as marble. Before me was a well-supplied table. 

 Beyond it an orange tree rose from a little circle in the 

 cobble-paved patio, and bore at times a profusion of 

 snowy blossoms most generous of their rich fragrance; at 

 other times a multitude of golden balls which one liad 

 only to reach, almost from the edge of the corridor itself, 

 to enjoy in all their fresh juiciness. The walks, laid with 

 thick flags sawn from soft gray talpatati quarried from 

 the side of the mountain which looks down upon the table 

 where we sat, were bordered by geraniums and holly- 

 hocks, by oleanders and jasmine, and pomegranate and 

 roses, that luilf hid the great circidar basin of concrete 

 wherein lilies forever bloomed in water which ever fell 

 from the fountain that rose from the center of the pool. 



Beyond tliese, and on either hand, were the red roofs 

 of the casa, sloping far down from ridge toward the 

 court witliin. The tiles which covered the roof once 

 were red, but lichens now covered great spots, and in the 

 gutters formed by the tiles fuzzy, prickly cacti grew, 

 their rounded heads adorned by pretty blossoms above 

 the needle-like thorns. Over the roof we saw the ijines 

 that fringed the crest of the white cliffs of La Leona, a 

 thousand feot above the city it overlooks. High above 

 them the zopilotes floated among the sunlit clouds that 

 drifted southward before the never ceasing northeast 

 trades. 



Whenever we sat at table in our ideal dining-room we 

 were sm-e to see strutting on the roof the veriest dandy 

 and braggart of all bird creation — a fellow filled to over- 

 flowing with deliglitful vanity, abounding impertinence 

 and limitless audacity. There was also no little music 

 and plenty of cheerfulness in his .soul. Somewhat of a 

 i-obber he was, too. but he disdained sneaking ways in 

 which the cunning or brain takes the place of courage 

 ■ and of that might of muscle which so long made sole 

 right of man — in which ova- brave bird may possibly not 

 be much woi-se than some who imagine that they are 

 of higher type of creation. 



Whenever we gathered at table some clarmero would 

 surely alight on the roof, strut mincingly about for a 

 moment, and stop expectantly to eye us. Then he would 



trot down to the edge of the roof, cock Ms head aside and 

 survey the patio and the table. I would fillip a crumb of 

 bread or a bit of tortilla toward him. He would hop 

 straight up in the air as soon as he saw the flying bit of 

 food, then settle on the edge of the tiles and carefully 

 survey the ground. If he could see no sign of his im- 

 placable foe, the chachalacca, the sleek pheasant whose 

 duty it was to keep watch and ward over the young 

 chickens, and whose pleasm-e it was tyrannically to rule all 

 other birds about the place, if nothing could be seen of 

 that harsh-voiced enemy of peace and quiet, our glossy, 

 black-coated dandy would drop to the ground, seize the 

 crumb and in great haste fly back to safety on the roof. 



There he would thresh the piece on the tiles until it was 

 broken into bits small enough for swallowing. That 

 done he saucily cocked his big white-rimmed eye at us, 

 lifted his wings and gave them a quick flirt, jerked his 

 trim tail up and down two or three times, pointed his bill 

 straight toward the heavens, turned his head around until 

 the lower part thereof was over his resplendent, metallic 

 green and black neck and shoulders, and opened his 

 throat. Out from his swelling breast poured a rich volume 

 of high, clear notes, sweet and pure — the song that has 

 given to him the name of el clarinero, the trumpeter. 



It was a pleasure to go, early in the mornings, to the 

 ancient bridge of brick and stone and mortar that has 

 bound them together these centimes for resistance to the 

 attack of swift floods from the near mountains. There I 

 would lean on the smooth, rounded top of the parapet 

 and look down on the broad backs of dusky Indian girls 

 as they arose, glistening like seals, after a plunge in the 

 clear pool. 



On the rocks and gravel near by, and in the shallow 

 water that rippled about them, the clarineros trotted 

 about. Now and then one would thrust his bill suddenly 

 into the water, then throw his head up. A gulp would 

 follow, and a minnow was forever lost to sight. 



The clarinero is by no means an exclusive bird, nor is 

 inclined to confine himself to city life. He contributes to 

 the cheerfulness of every hamlet, and never neglects the 

 lonely hacienda. Indeed, he is often seen and heard 

 near the yet more lonely rancho, in which laborers sleep 

 and the herdsman rests from the arduous task of watch- 

 ing his cattle. If there should be staked on the ground to 

 dry in the bright sunshine the skin of a newly-slaughtered 

 goat or bullock, our clarinero will be by no means back- 

 ward about helping to pull off whatever shreds of flesh 

 or fat may be attached to the hide. Nor is he bashful 

 when he finds the flesh cut into long strips, himg on 

 poles and raised high on a frame in the open au-, to dry 

 into tassajo, but he promptly alights on the strips and 

 tug^ away at any bit of meat on which he can get a good 

 hold. E. W. P. 



HONDXJRAS. 



The Mourning Warbler in Niagara County, N. Y. 



LOCKPORT, N. y., July 9.— In my list of birds of Niagara 

 county, N. Y. , published in Forest and Stream Septem- 

 ber, 1889, I intimated that the mourning warbler (Geoth- 

 lypis Philadelphia) breeds in this county, mentioning 

 that on .June 8, 1888, I saw a male of this species and 

 three days later a female at the same place, but did not 

 succeed in finding a nest. 



June 13, 1891, I secured nest and three eggs, as well as 

 the female bird. This nest was in a small opening of a 

 dark, heavy timbered woods, and placed in the center of 

 a cowslip. This nest and eggs are now on exhibition at 

 the World's Fair, in Mr, Frank H. Lattin's exhibit of rare 

 nests and eggs. 



In 1892 I searched these woods and others in the vicinity 

 thoroughly, but failed to find this species. On May 30 

 last I could not get into these woods on account of so 

 much waterj and concluded that it would be useless to 

 look for these birds there in June. I therefore have not 

 visited the vicinity until to-day. 



I was gathering wild flowers when I noticed that some 

 small bird seemed very much excited, probably on account 

 of my presence there. On looking at it through my glass 

 I saw it was a female mourning warbler with a' small 

 worm in its bill. Soon the male bird came, and I had a 

 good view of them for some time, but did not succeed in 

 finding their nest or young, although convinced that they 

 were there. 



An hour later, in another piece of woods, while watch- 

 ing three young screech owls sitting in a row about 10ft. 

 from the ground — which were also watching us, with 

 their heads turned nearly half way around — we saw an- 

 other pair of mom-ning warblers, which also seemed anx- 

 ious aoout the presence of ourselves or the owls. We 

 watched the warblers for some time, often being within 

 10ft. of them, but were again unable to find their nest or 

 young, although fully satisfied that they were there. 



The mourning warbler is not a rare migrant in Niagara 

 coimty, as was formerly supposed, but it is an uncommon 

 summer resident. J. L. Davison. 



'dtti^ ^dg md ^ttti^ 



'^OaineLawa in Brief." June, 1S9S, revised. Game and Fish laws 

 of all the States. Territories and Provinces. Correct, reliable, hand- 

 somely illustrated. Published by the "Forest and Stream.^'' Sold by 

 all dealers. Price 3,5 cents. 



THE SOUTHERN CAMP HUNT.-Il. 



[Concluded from last week,] 



There are eight htmters, and a deploy of one himdred 

 yards apart will make a line a half mUe in extent, which 

 will cover a good belt. The irregular V, or crescent, is 

 the thing as nearly as can be maintained in a broken 

 country. _ There is a right, a left and a center guide. 



On this occasion my brother was selected as center 

 guide, as he rode a white pony and could be seen further 

 by the terminal guides, thus acting as a pivotal bearing 

 to all concerned, as all moved by the center guide, and 

 both right and left v/ings swung around him as the 

 com'se of the hunt and topography of the country in- 

 dicated. 



The rules of the hunt are these; when a deer is sprimg, 

 or "jumped," the one who bounces him hollers "Look 

 out" or shoots, or both as the case may require, then all 

 hands immediately stop. The deer will usually run 

 ahead a short distance, then surely turn to the right or 

 left, when the guns will begin to play upon the flying 



quarry and some one is apt to grass him before he gets 

 through the gantlet. If the deer is killed outright the 

 killer gives three long blasts of his horn, when all hands 

 assemble to him as soon as possible. The deer is quickly 

 skinned, cut in quarters, put in the wallets, with which 

 each one is provided, when the line is again deployed and 

 the "breasting" resumed. This is called "breasting," and 

 the most exciting and war-like of all the methods of deer 

 hunting, and when you have been on one of these hunts 

 with the right kind of men you will get enough to last a 

 year to the day; but you will want to do it some more 

 every year so long as you live. When the line encount- 

 ers a broken piece of country one guide gives two toots 

 of his horn, the other two guides reply with one long 

 blast each, thus enabling all to maintain a regular line in 

 the roughest country. 



The dogs are kept in the rear as much as possible, never 

 allowed to follow false scent or break over imtil put after a 

 wounded deer. In open woods it is easy enough to con- 

 trol the dogs; but occasionally, when the line is traversing 

 a black-jack rough or morass, or reed brake, the dogs see 

 their chance for fun, and there's no use, no argument will 

 stop them— the loud yelp of an old hound will stir the 

 enthusiasm of the other hounds and "gush" of the half- 

 breeds; then the deer and hunters must look out. As the 

 hounds warm up, the half-breeds rush in with their yaf, 

 yaf! and the deer is up. Now a general cry ensues and a 

 wild pandemonium is turned loose in the jungle, and out 

 come the frightened deer in every direction without 

 regard to the order of running or the person or thing run 

 over, when a wild, reckless fusilade takes place among the 

 excited hunters. 



There is great excitement in this way of hunting, nor is 

 there another place where it is so practiced as in the local- 

 ities I have mentioned, and in few other points in Florida, 

 Alabama and lower east Louisiana. 



The face of the country is irregular; sometimes only 

 undulating, then quite broken, but universally covered 

 with a tall, rank grass, three to six feet high, interspersed 

 with an evergreen shrub, the gallberry, which forms in 

 dense patches from a few yards in extent to as many 

 acres, from two to eight feet high. In these patches the 

 deer often lie; but if not much htmted, they prefer the 

 open ground if the weather is warm, and lie in the tall 

 grass, and wfll so lie at times until the hunter rides right 

 upon them; then, like a bunch of quail, they suddenly 

 burst from under ybur horse's nose, and with keen snort, 

 great branching horns and flourish of white plumes are 

 up all axound you. You wonder whence they came or 

 why you did not see them before, and unlessVou have 

 the staimchest of horses, you will also wonder why you 

 are lying on the deer's bed, as I did on this memorable 

 trip. 



The line had passed across a valley between two long 

 ridges, and as we rose upon an open plateau on the sum- 

 mit, Dan Miley was riding to my right, but with no one 

 else in sight, when four deer bounded up obliquely before 

 us to my right and to his left— two does and two year- 

 lings. I fired my shot barrel at one doe: my fool horse 

 wheeled and prevented another shot. Miley put in both 

 barrels. I saw a yeaiiing he had slightly crippled slip 

 into a treetop and squat. I dismounted and ran there as 

 quickly as I could, whereupon the deer sprang out, but 

 the first leap met my rifle ball through his shoulders and 

 he changed ends The doe wenc but a short distance and 

 was dead. Miley had drawn first blood from the fawn, 

 hence the claim was his. This was my first and only luck 

 on the hunt, as my horse, a borrowed one, was unman- 

 ageable. The two deer were soon disposed of and the 

 hunt resumed. 



Having gone but a short distance I heard the crack of 

 Joe Miley's rifle very near me, across a ravine, then, the 

 ripity-rip-Hp of a heavy deer as he ran down a long point 

 of ridge through the black-jacks. I shouted, "Look out! 

 look out!" which was answered by the double discharge 

 of a gun, and a few minutes later there were other shots 

 at remote distances, then all was still. Three low toots 

 from the old man's horn and I appeared on the scene. 

 He had killed an immense buck by breaking his neck 

 with his rifle. Had ridden upon two big fellows as they 

 were "chawin' their cud, same as cows," he said, "and I 

 drawed er bead and broke that un's neck, see? T'other 

 tuck er tree on me only ter run over them 'tother fellers 

 whut couldn't hit the wheel-house uv er steamboat, Jes' 

 listen ter them dang fools er shootin', it's bang! bang! all 

 day an' kill nuthin'. I'd ruther be split'n' rails then be 

 bothered with sech derned fools." 



"Well, Mr. Miley," I said, "all can't be good shots, and 

 you know the boys wiU have their fun." 



"WeU, yas, I reckin yer right." 



By this time my horn had attracted the other huntei-s, 

 and this monarch was soon dressed and divided into the 

 sacks, and in a little while all are in the saddle again. 



The line had scarcely spread its length when the cry of 

 a dog broke upon the ear, and almost simultaneously, a 

 yell of "look out! look out !" bang, bang, "look out!" 

 bang, bang, look I bang, bang, bang. I stopped my 

 horse and held my breath, my heart set up a tattoo, then 

 a long pause, save for the mingled cry of the mongrel 

 pack that now had full sway, and were rasping the hills 

 and hollows with their wild demoniacal cries, up and 

 down, round and round the broken knobs, grassy gulches 

 and tangled reed brakes. Then a still remoter fusilade 

 broke upon the ear; bang, bang, bang. Then the scream- 

 ing pack seemed to swell into greater volume as they 

 crossed an elevation, now softening down into gentler 

 cadences as they passed beyond the distant hills; when 

 bang, bang, came again in subdued quavers, and all was 

 painfully still, like the calm when a storm has passed. 

 Not even the breathing of my horse could I hear, the 

 tumult had so subdued his nerves. But the suspense does 

 not last. Now comes the long, keen wail, in three notes, 

 from my brother's horn, another from Dan Miley's, then 

 a third from beyond the hills. Eiding quickly to the 

 horns I find ray brother with an immense buck and not 

 far from him Dan Miley with another siinilar one. They 

 were in a deep hollow when the main break was make, 

 and "a perfect band of old bucks burst upon them." My 

 brother shot one dead the first barrel, and his gun hung 

 fire on the second, hence a miss. ]\Iiley put both barrels 

 into one. One of the others got a fine doe. 



Everybody, dogs and all, being now in, we proceed to 

 butcher the two big bucks to put into the wallets and take 

 the doe in whole, and it being now 3 o'clock, we must re- 

 turn to camp. We were all soon in the saddle and the 

 Une stretching out, not, however, to so remain. 



I had just crossed a small branch or stream and gained 



