Nov. 18, 1893.J 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



428 



itself under the granary, where he shot it. It evidently 

 had some disease which had entirely deprived it of its 

 hair, except a little patch on the shoulder; it apparently 

 had suffered much from the cold, judging from its 

 violent shivering. 



Notwithstanding the abundance of the prairie wolves, 

 much attention is being directed now to sheep farming, 

 for it. proves to be very profitable, and a bell on the neck 

 of each animal is found an ample protection from his 

 traditional foe. 



I scarcely stayed to see Winnipeg I was so anxious to 

 get back to my own, my ancient hunting grounds about 

 Carberry, so I boarded the train and sped westward. 

 Part of my plan for the summer had been to sow wild 

 rice {Zizania aquatica) in as many localities as possible, 

 so with this object in view I laid in a supply, and when- 

 ever the train crossed a slough or pond I contrived to 

 throw a paper bag of the seed into its deepest water. I 

 fear it was rather late to be successful, but if it fails I 

 shall try again at the next opportunity and do what I can 

 to induce others to try it. At Carberry ultimately I 

 sowed the seed in many ponds and lakes, but the lateness 

 of the season and the fact that the seed was last year's, 

 and therefore probably dead, was against the experiment. 



At length I reaciied Carberry, the town that grew up 

 after I came, the town which I felt almost my own, so 

 well did I know every individual and building in it. Six 

 years had flown by since I left it, and now of all the 

 crowd about the station platform I saw not one familiar 

 face and was recognized by no one. (I need not bother 

 you with my personal feelings.) I went to the hotel of 

 an old friend and found a stranger in possession, and on 

 all the store signs were new, strange names. I was 

 gloomy and sad when I turned in, but next morning 

 brought a change. I did find that a few of my old chums 

 were left and the changes in the country, it must be 

 admitted, were decided improvements. The old prairie 

 trails were all gone and, indeed, forgotten, for the new 

 farmers do not know what a trail is, the Government 

 roads are everywhere in use now, all fenced, ditched and 

 graded in the most approved Eastern style. Virgin 

 prairie is a thing of the past and the big plain is now a 

 vast region of highly-cultivated farms. 



In a long walk taken across the country next morning, 

 I was surprised at several changes in the district. 

 First— The meadow larks, shore larks and vesper sparrows 

 seemed to have increased enormously. Second— The 

 Missouri skylark has totally disappeared. Third— Where- 

 ever a little patch of the original prairie has been pre- 

 served, it is now covered with poplar trees {Populus tre- 

 muloides). Fourth— The amount of water has greatly de- 

 creased, what were bogs are now pasture lands, what 

 were marshes are bogs, and what were great lakes with a 

 belt of rushes are now great marshes with a little central 

 pond, or no open water at all. So much for the changes 

 of a few years. Another change in animal hfe I must 

 not forget, viz., the striped gopher (S. J3-lineatus), seems 

 to be nearly extirpated, while the yellow gopher (S. 

 richardsonii) has been excessively multiplied. They have 

 become a plague to the farmers, and I am informed that 

 last season the county council at Carberry alone paid 

 bounties on 40,000 gopher tails. I attribute the disap- 

 pearance of the striped goplier to the plowing of the 

 land, for this species burrows so near the surface as to be 

 within reach of the plow, while the yellow gopher 

 makes a burrow several feet deep. The great multiphca- 

 tion of the latter, Jiowever, I attribute to the destruction 

 of the hawks, chiefly Swainson's hawk, which was once 

 so very abundant throughout this region, and has of late 

 been greatly reduced in numbers. 



Two other changes in the wild life were noticed. First — 

 The mourning dove, once rare in the country, and never 

 seen on the big plain, is now abundant about every barn- 

 yard that is near trees and water. Second, and yet more 

 surprismg, is that the sharptailed spai-row (Ammodramus 

 caudacutiis nelsoiii), never before seen so far north, is now 

 also abundant in the great sloughs about Carberry and lias 

 also been taken at Winnipeg. The common shore lark 

 {Otocarys alpestris xnaticola), as already remarked, has 

 also greatly increased and manifests a remarkable parti- 

 ality for breeding on vacant lots both in Winnipeg and 

 Carberry, At the latter place I found three of their nests 

 on the baseball gi-ound, and although the ground was 

 played on every evening, the young were reared. 



But on this, my first extended excursion, my heart was 

 greatly cheered with the sight of two or three'unchanged 

 ancient landmarks. One or two were simply hills, 

 pointed cones of sand and beyond the reach of harm by 

 human hands; but the others were anc'ent historic ti-ees; 

 great tall spire-like spruces— old Stimson's spruce north 

 of Carberry; Castleman's spruce north of Fairview, and 

 the Lone spruce on Sewell Hill, and my heart leaped for 

 joy to see them standing yet. When the first settlers 

 came on this plain m 1878, ere yet there were roads or 

 finger posts, these spruce trees stood silent sentinels on 

 the hiUs and were their landmarks and their guides. 



Butler when he crossed our plain in 1870. speaks of the 

 solemn spruce tree standing on the hill by the crossing of 

 Pme Creek (Murphy's), and away back in the buffalo 

 days, when Larivieres and McKenzies killed their winter's 

 meat where Caiberry now stands, these black pointed 

 monuments were the witnesses of the slaughter and the 

 fingerboards of their temporary camping grounds. 



Long may they be spared from ruthless lire and wanton 

 axe to be the mementoes of the past, the only visible 

 memorials we have of the romantic days that are gone. 



Ernest E. Thompsok. 



Capt. Beardslee's Heroism. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



It was very handsome in j'ou to caU attention editorially in your 

 last issue to Capt. Beardslee's heroism at Port Royal. But while 

 recognition is made officially and otherwise of this distinguished 

 service, I trust that his equally signal efforts at Key West severaj 

 lyears ago will not be forgotten or overlooked. It was mainly by his 

 help and the assistance of his naval brigade on that occasion that the 

 town was not entirely destroyed by fire. His mastery of tbat con- 

 flagration was a strategic piece of work, for which pubhc credit has 

 not appareuUy been given him. And if philanthropy and bravery 

 wUl go still further back for illustration, why there was his efQciejit 

 work in Alaska in 1878-80, and at Formosa several years before, in each 

 of which critical occasions the sole responsibUity was Jthrown upon 

 him, involving careful judgment, quick expedients and prompt action; 

 and in never a case has he score«3 an error or a mistake. May his 

 shadow nerer grow less. Oh^ H^lwcr. ' 



THER CHIPPYMUNK. 



He skipps along ther orchard wall beneath ther autumn sun, 

 With fluffy tail tucked on his back wOe work's a-bein' done, 

 A pilin' heaps o' nuts, to pack um in his largest trunk, 

 Thet serious leetle acrobat, knowed as the chippymunk. 



I seen one in ther woods ter-day, en watched him on ther sly; 

 He stopped off workin' ter give nuts (with twinkles in his eye) 

 Unto a troubled feller "monk" wat couldn't elknb a bit 

 (Was waitin' with leg smashed up till natur' mended it). 



Also he smoothed his fur, upsot like burrs up m ther tree. 



En didn't show he thot he'd sunk his rustic dignity. 



'Twarnt enny his own relations 'cause his coat was thin en bare, 



While ther chestnuts was a-fallin' an' frost was in ther air. 



Some things we need remindin' ov, a chippymunk ken tell 



Erbout heart "eddycation" ef we only listen well. 



Wen he stroked ther httle feller on his faded, rumpled skin, 



He showed thet tetch o' natur' as binds ther hull world km. 



Eemarkin', "I won't notice w'at ther proud chipmunks 'ell say, 



For a brudder's bin is empty an' his fur is der wrong way." 



Clarence Pixneo. 



SOME TRICKY LEOPARDS. 



Should any of the readers of Forest ajjd Stream dur- 

 ing their visits to some traveling menagerie question the 

 keepers in charge of the cat animals as to which gives 

 the most trouble in escaping, I will warrant that the 

 answer in a large majority of cases will be "leopards," 

 and I am forced to acknowledge that my experience con- 

 vinces me of the truthfulness of the assertion. The nar- 

 ration of some of my leopard scrapes smacks so strongly 

 of fiction that I dare not describe them but for the fact 

 that there were always other parties present on each oc- 

 casion who can verify every statement which I shaU 

 make. 



During the early portion of the '60s I was in the habit 

 of making Boston my headquarters, and very naturally 

 became acquainted with various parties in the different 



sliipping offices, sailor boarding houses, etc., where I 

 would be most likely to pick up news of the arrival of 

 anything in the wild animal Kne, that might come into 

 port. One day one of my scouts came in with the news 

 of the signalling of a vessel from Calcutta, and proposed 

 that I should accompany him down the harbor in a row- 

 boat, so that the ship could be boarded before her arrival 

 at the wharf, thus giving him a chance to pick up board- 

 ers for his house, and myself an opportunity to bargain 

 for a stray monkey, or anything else in the way of wild 

 beasts. We boarded the vessel just off Fort Warren, and 

 found that the captain and first ofiicer had made aVen- 

 ture on their own account for my especial benefit. It 

 consisted of a tigress, pair of leopards, three sloth bears 

 and four zebras; aU on deck, while a portion of the cabin 

 was occupied by a delegation of rhesus and bonnet mon- 

 keys. 



Having bargained for the entire lot, I hurried ashore 

 and immediately telegraphed Mr, Frost, manager of the 

 Van Amburgh Menagerie, which was just going into 

 winter quarters in the building on Broadway, New York, 

 just above Spring street, formerly occupied by a Chinese 

 museum. Before Mr. Frost's arrival I had landed all the 

 animals, and in so doing just managed to escape a claw- 

 ing from the male of the pair of leopards, which was 

 about as wicked a brute as I had ever handled. 



I disposed of the entire lot to Mr. Frost. They were 

 immediately shipped to New York, and on their arrival 

 were shifted to the different cages which had been pre- 

 pared for them in the various portions of the building. 

 This took place at night, and the leopards were taken up 

 to the second floor to an apartment which ran back to 

 Mercer street, and in which there was a large gothic win- 

 dow, glazed with frosted glass, which reached down to 

 the floor. In shifting them into the stationary cage some 

 one remarked that the bars seemed rather vdde apai-t but 

 Van Amburgh instantly vouched for the safety of the 

 ^rating, and nothing more was thought of it. When the 

 ast animal had been properly shifted Van proposed that 

 the entu-e party should accompany him into the Prescott 

 House, which adjoined the menagerie building, and take 

 something in honor of the occasion. Just as they had 

 ranged up in front of the bar the menagerie watchman 

 burst^into the room and yelled out, "There's one of those 



infernal leopards loose." Thereupon the convivial meet- 

 ing instantly adjourned and an immediate break was 

 made for the door. 



On returning to the menagerie it was found that the 

 brute was promenading back and forth on the floor 

 against the lai-ge gothic window, with nothing but the 

 g:lass between him and the open street, on the opposite 

 side of which was planted a gas lamp, whose light made 

 the leopard appear like a huge moving silhoutte. Luckily 

 the shipping cage had not been removed, and to tear off 

 the remaining portion of the front left after transferal 

 was the woi'k of but a few seconds. It was then turned 

 on its side with the open front toward the leopard. Two 

 men crouched behind and shoved it toward him. He 

 squatted and when it came within a short distance of him, 

 ran into it and allowed it to be shoved against the glass. 

 The removed boards were immediately thrust down be- 

 tween the case and the sash without a movement on his 

 part, but the moment the case was turned top upward he 

 commenced a series of charges which required a good 

 deal of nerve and strength to withstand, and so to prevent 

 a second escape while the boards were being firmly nailed 

 down. After everything was properly secured Van 

 moved a second adjournment "to see a man," and laugh- 

 ingly said, "I don't think the guests in the St. Nicholas 

 Hotel would sleep much if they knew that a leopard had 

 been loose in this neighborhood to-night." 



About a year after the above-mentioned incident I went 

 with a lot of animals by steamer direct from Boston to 

 Philadelphia. They were stowed on the main deck for- 

 ward, which was closed in and roofed by a hurricane 

 deck. Among them was a female Indian leopard and a 

 pair of Bennett's wallabys. On the first night out I was 

 just in the act of turning in when one of the crew thrust 

 his head into my stateroom door and said, "Mr, Thomp- 

 son, that elephant cat of yours is loose. Will it do any 

 harm? ' I have a distinct recollection that my reply was 

 terse. Hastily drawing on my trousers and thrusting 

 stockingless feet into shoes, I hurried forward, and in so 

 doing passed through the officers' mess room, a door from 

 which communicated with the compartment in which the 

 animals were stowed. On the table stood a lantern, which 

 had evidently been left by the terrified seaman. Picking 

 it up, I opened the door, stepped inside and by the dim 

 hgbt made out the leopard playing with the body of a 

 wallaby, precisely as a cat would with a rat. 



Immediately on my entry she dropped her prey and 

 began to scramble toward the top of a lot of bags of 

 potatoes which had been piled forward. Instantlv plac- 

 ing the lantern on the deck I shouted out to her 'in the 

 same unrefined language which I had addressed to the 

 sailor. She suddenly turned, sprang down and in a 

 twinkling was standing directly in front of me, with her 

 nose not a foot away from my knees. I impulsively 

 reached down, seized her neck with both hands, and as 

 she threw up both paws to rake my arms swung her 

 upward and slammed her down on the deck with suffi- 

 cient force to knock the wind completely out of her. 

 Just then I realized the critical position into which I had 

 heedlessly rushed and began to call for help. The door 

 was carefully opened for a few inches and I recognized 

 the keeper's voice asking what I wished. I requested a 

 rope on the instant. There was a shuffling of feet and I 

 heard some one climb the stairs to the hurricane deck. 

 By this time my attention was drawn to the leopard 

 which was reviving so rapidly that I was forced to 

 repeat the slamming process. That being finished I 

 agam shouted for rope and was requested to exercise a 

 little patience, as a man had gone on the upper deck to 

 ;et It out of a locker. It seemed as if a full hour passed 

 before he returned and then the keeper wished to know 

 what I wanted done with it. In lurid language I re- 

 quested him to make a halter knot in it and then join me 

 at which he showed a good deal of hesitation; but I finally 

 bulbed him mto venturing alongside of me, when on look- 

 ing down I found that the animal had again recovered, 

 but was completely cowed by rough usage. Not daring 

 to loosen my grip, with my feet I managed to get a bight 

 of the rope under her chin, and by dint of sharp language 

 forced the keeper to make fast the halter knot. He was 

 then directed to pass the free end of the rope into the hole 

 she had made in escaping and out again through the grat- 

 ing near the end of the case; from thence to take it to the 

 parties on the outside, who were told to pull with a will 

 when I gave the signal. All being ready, I raised one 

 foot for a kick to hurry her, let go, and called out to pull; 

 but she was too quick for us, as she darted into the case 

 as if shot from a cannon, and the pulling party fell all in 

 a heap. I instantly sprang forward and turned the case 

 topside up, picked up the loosened bar and held it up- 

 lifted, m order to keep it cowed. The keeper was then 

 ordered to bring in a board, hammer and nails; but the 

 moment he attempted to close the opening her claws just 

 missed catching him, and I was forced to do the nailing, 

 which was finished without the slightest protest on her 

 part. 



Some months later I secured a fine male from South 

 Africa, which was forwarded to Philadelphia, and I fol- 

 lowed shortly after. Not long after my arrival I deter- 

 mined to try and mate them. The male was shifted into 

 a small cage, which was placed on trestles; immediately 

 in front of the large one containing the female, with only 

 about 6in. of space intervening between the gratings. 

 They remained in this position the greater portion of the 

 day, without either animal showing the slightest ill will 

 toward the other. Late in the afternoon I got up on the 

 small cage, hfted a bar in the larger one containing the 

 female, and then drew up one in the male's cage. The 

 instant there was a clear opening, he sprang through like 

 a flash, seized the female by the throat and pinned her to 

 the floor. Impulsively I kicked the small cage off its 

 supports, and sprang into the larger one with a piece of 

 board in my hands, which I had picked up with the in- 

 tention of using it for forcing the male to shift, if he 

 showed any reluctance in so doing. The board was 

 brought down on the male's head, with sufficient force to 

 split it, whereupon he loosened his hold, and backed into 

 a corner, while the female staggered into another, the 

 pair spitting and snarling like demons, while I stood be- 

 tween them, with my back against the grating, beating 

 a tattoo on the floor of the cage with the two pieces of 

 board. 



Calling out to the parties who had been assisting me 

 and receiving no answer, I hastily glanced over my shoul- 

 der and found that the room had been suddenly vacated, 

 with the door leading into the adjoining apartment tightly 

 closed. A few strongly worded expressions caused it to 



